52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

Ancestor # 52

Judocus Du Four (1758-1803)

Judocus Du Four was born in Sint Laureins, Oost Vlaanderen, Belgium on 7 March 1758ⁱ and baptized the same day. He died in Sint-Jan-in-Eremo, Oost Vlaanderen, Belgium on the 14^th day of Vendemarie in the 12^th year of the French Republicⁱⁱ which I believe equates to 21 September 1803. Judocus was the son of Petrus Joannes and Isabella (Dimmevet) Du Four. He married Helena Van Schoonacker on 13 Jun 1789ⁱⁱⁱ in Sint-Jan-in-Ereno, She was born in Sint-Jan-in-Eremo on 18 Jul 1768^iv and died in Sint Laureins on 25 Dec 1796^v (or the 24^th of Nivose in the 5^th year of the French Republic).

Researching in Belgium in the period from 1796 to 1810 can be a challenge. FamilySearch.org has filmed church records from about 1600 to 1796 when civil registration begins. The early civil records are difficult to read and are not indexed. Indexing began about 1810 and clerks began to either write the individual’s name in the margin or write the name in a larger darker form within the record so it becomes easier to scan the records looking for your person of interest. Here is where looking at all records for all children paid off for me.

I was looking through death records and came across Maria Jacoba Du Four. Her death record indicated that she was a daughter of Judocus and Helena Du Four. I did not have her on my list of children. She was 36 when she died making her birth date about 1796. This is the transition area for records. I looked through the civil registrations for births in 1796 but could not identify her birth record. I decided to see if she married and I got lucky. Not only did it give her birth date and place but it told me her parents were deceased and where and when they died. With this information, I was able to find Judocus’ death record but not Helena’s.

Children of Judocus and Helena (Van Schoonacker) Du Four, all born in Sint-Jan-in-Eremo:

1. Joanna Maria Du Four. b. 25 Jun 1790, bap. 27 Jun 1790, d. 26 Mar 1796.
2. Joannes Franciscus Du Four, b. 16 Jul 1791, bap, 17 Jul 1791 and d. 10 Feb 1856. He married Francisca Bernarda Caurvels b. 15 May 1794 in Sint Laureins and died in Sint-Jan-in-Eremo on 27 Dec 1862.
3. Judocus Du Four, b. 9 Sep 1792, bap. 10 Sep 1792.
4. Franciscus Du Four, b. unknown, d. 6 Oct 1795.
5. Maria Jacoba Du Four, b. 29 Oct 1796, d. 26 Dec 1833. m. on 13 May 1825 Joannes Baptista Brouwer, b. 20 Feb 1797 in Sint Laureins.

i Sint-Laureins, Oost Vlaanderen, Belgium, Dopen, huwelijken, overlijdens, Parochial registers 1628-1796, Dopen 1732-1761, baptism of Judocus Du Four, 1758. p.1714 film #4458936, digital images, FamilySearch.org (http://www.familysearch.org : accessed 23 Oct 2018).

ii Registers van de Burgerlijke Stand, 1796-1870”, index and images, FamilySearch.org (http://www.familysearch.org : accessed 24 Oct 2018), 1803, p. 51, death of Judocus Du Four,p 51, film #776566.

iii Sint-Jan-in-Eremo, Oost Vlaanderen, Belgium, Dopen, huwelijken, overlijdens, Parochial registers 1628-1796, “Dopen, huwelijken, overlijdens, 1786-1796”, Du Four – Van Schoonacker marriage 1789, p. 245, item 4, film #4,458,840; digital images, FamilySearch.org (http://www.familysearch.org : accessed 23 Feb 2018).

iv Sint-Jan-in-Eremo, Oost Vlaanderen, Belgium, Dopen, huwelijken, overlijdens, Parochial registers 1628-1796, “Dopen, 1764-1785”, baptism of Helena Van Schoonacker, 1768, p. 30, [tem 16, film # 4458807.

v Registers van de Burgerlijke Stand, 1796-1870”, 1825, #5, Brouwer – De Foer marriage, film # 776565.