Belgian Laces Volume 23-#87 June 2001 BELGIAN LACES Official Quarterly Bulletin of THE BELGIAN RESEARCHERS Belgian American Heritage Association Our principal objective is: Keep the Belgian Heritage alive in our hearts and in the hearts of our posterity President/Newsletter editor Régine Brindle Vice-President Gail Lindsey Treasurer/Secretary Melanie Brindle Deadline for submission of Articles to Belgian Laces: January 31 - April 30 - July 31 - October 31 Send payments and articles to this office: THE BELGIAN RESEARCHERS Régine Brindle - 495 East 5th Street - Peru IN 46970 Tel/Fax:765-473-5667 e-mail [email protected] *All subscriptions are for the calendar year* *New subscribers receive the four issues of the current year, regardless when paid* ** The content of the articles is the sole responsibility of those who wrote them* TABLE OF CONTENTS Letter from the Editor - Membership p25 Ellis Island American Family Immigration History Center: p25 "The War Volunteer” by Caspar D. p26 ROCK ISLAND, IL - 1900 US CENSUS - Part 4 p27 "A BRIEF STOP AT ROCK ISLAND COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY,"by Michael John Neill p30 Declarations of Intention, Douglas Co. Wisconsin, Part 1, By John BUYTAERT, MI p32 History of Lace p35 DECLARATIONS OF INTENTION — BROWN COUNTY, WISCONSIN, by MaryAnn Defnet p36 In the Land of Quarries: Dongelberg-Opprebais, by Joseph TORDOIR p37 Belgians in the United States 1990 Census p39 Female Labor in the Mines, by Marcel NIHOUL p40 The LETE Family Tree, Submitted by Daniel DUPREZ p42 Belgian Emigrants from the Borinage, Combined work of J. DUCAT, D. JONES, P.SNYDER & R.BRINDLE p43 The emigration of inhabitants from the Land of Arlon, Pt 2, by André GEORGES p45 Area News p47 Queries p47 Belgian Laces Vol 23-87 June 2001 25 Welcome New Members! Ellis Island American Family Immigration History 932. Paul Gerard, Green Bay, WI Center: 933. Elaine Lo Bianco, Coldwater, OH Family Trees Get New Link: Ellis Island puts immigrant 934. Roy J. Reynolds, Aloha, OR records database on Internet 935. Shirley W. Rowe, San Antonio, TX by Mae M. Cheng 936. Richard F. Strimel, Mililani, HI 937. Bernart R. D. Volant, Brussels, Belgium David Schwartzman of Manhattan spent years in an ultimately successful search for the immigration records of his paternal grandparents, who came through Ellis Island in the early 1900s. That information can now be found within Dear Friends, minutes. This year has already brought many great developments in A database housing about 22 million records of immigrant genealogical research. Most of you are probably already arrivals through New York Harbor from 1892 to 1924 will be aware and may have already begin using the Ellis Island made available to the public at Ellis Island and on the website to find their emigrant ancestors. Internet. There were so many ships, every year! And so many More than 12,000 volunteers from The Church of Jesus errors!!! Christ of Latter-day Saints have worked about 5.6 million But listen to our wonderful friend Matt himself. (his words hours since 1993 to extract the records from nearly 3,700 follow) rolls of microfilm and enter them into the database, according One business matter I need to bring up. The price of postage to officials with the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation is supposed to go up again in July. Depending on the Inc. increase in expense, it may be necessary to increase the "It's a marvelous way of helping people in this nation of membership dues for 2002. I will let you know for sure in immigrants to establish a tie,” said Richard Turley Jr., the next issue. managing director of the Family and Church History Anyway,… enough of me… Here's Matt! Department at the church. Take good care, For Schwartzman and others researching family histories, the Régine database is a valuable resource that can provide information such as an immigrant's date of arrival, age, ethnicity, port of "I finally got into the ship manifest for Alexina's ship, the departure and the ship that brought him to the United States. Belgenland, which arrived in NY from Antwerp on Jan 13, "This project is an important link between our past and our 1893! Finding Alexina's listing on line 281 solves several future,” said Stephen Briganti, president and chief executive mysteries: of the foundation. 1. The reason why we couldn't find Alexina's 1st husband Many of the original ship manifests were destroyed and the (Désiré MOLLE) in the EI search engine, is because his name immigration records held in rolls of microfilm at the National is badly misspelled in the ship manifest. He is listed as Archives and Records Administration, officials said. Before Desire MATLE (maybe this is how it sounded to the log the automation of the records, searching the microfilm for a taker?). particular passenger was often a time-consuming process. 2. Alexina did indeed sail to America with her entire (first) "It at least gives you a faster starting point,” Schwartzman family, including: said of the database. "If you look at a family tree and you go a. Desire MOLLE sr. (male, age 33) back four, five generations, you start to see how many people b. Desire MOLLE jr. (male, age 10) it took to make you who you are. It's amazing.” c. Valerio MOLLE (male, age 8) - Ellen's grandfather Valere The database will be accessible through 41 computer d. Alma MOLLE (female, age 5) - "Alexina jr." workstations at the Ellis e. Actrole MOLLE (age 2) - "Aschel" Island American Family f. Rachel MOLLE (female, 9 months old) - erroneously Immigration History listed as a male Center. Admission to the 3. Alexina did not sail by herself, and she didn't "elope to center is $5. Access to the America" with my great grandfather, Jean Philippe database can also be VIRONET (a.k.a., John Phillip VERONA), as stated by obtained free on the Internet family legend. I also noticed that most of the Belgians from at Jumet sailed together... there are 8 others from Jumet on this www.ellisislandrecords.org ship. Now if I could just find John Verona's ship manifest; unfortunately he came over in 1889, so he won't be listed on the EI site." Matt Verona - [email protected] 26 Belgian Laces Vol 23-87 June 2001 "The War Volunteer” Caspar D., 1988 - (taken from the VOX) Our national flag is a part of our daily life and none of us remain indifferent to it. However, very few know its history and the origins of its present form, or its trials through the centuries. Symbol of the Country. Burgundy Netherlands, imposed the Spanish colors to our The value, whether symbolical or sentimental, of our present flag by mixing them in with ours: red and yellow, symbols of flag goes back to the days of Napoléon. It is in those days riches, strength and purity, of faith and constancy. We now that the flag developed its own rites, its particular mystique. have a red, white and yellow horizontal flag. Before that, one admired the figure drawn on the emblem, sign of the noble or royal family. Since Napoléon, the flag The Revolution of Brabant has become an independent symbol: one pays honor to it or Responding to what seemed to them a provocation from the mourns its loss. emperor, the people of Brussels begin to wear a tri-colored The flag is a rallying sign. It unites a people conscious of cockade bearing Brabant's colors on May 30th, 1787. belonging to a particular country. It takes value when hoisted Brabant's coat of arms was sable (black) with a golden lion and unfurled for its citizens, on their soil. As a symbolical (yellow) armed and "lampasse de gueules" with red tongues. object, the flag is the privileged sign that the armies carry These colors were well chosen to rally the whole country as before them in combat or in celebration of victory or they corresponded also with the coats of arms of the other liberation. Belgian provinces and their black, yellow and red colors of The flag thus binds a country together. Folded, it survives in its lions. our memories by its colors: black, yellow, red. When the Revolution of Brabant broke out in 1789, our three But where did these colors come from? What did they go national colors appeared on a military standard for the first through over the centuries? time. On December 10th, 1789, during a Mass at St. Gudule's, as Our country: Lotharingia the faithful began to recite the credo, a big tri-colored In 843, the Treaty of Verdun dissolved Charlemagne's cockade was flown at the jube of the cathedral. Other smaller empire. Soon after, Lotharingia was born, made up, in large cockades are also given to the enthusiastic crowd. On part, of our provinces. February 25th, 1790, the French followers tried to pass around The standard of Lothaire II, King of Lotharingia (855-869), cockades displaying the French colors. This attempt failed. was as follows: three horizontal bands: red, white, red. The Brabant colors won. However by the end of 1790, the Red symbolized courage, bodness, and bravery. White stood Austrians were back in power. for innocence, virginity, and purity. This first standard is found in many coats of arms of families Momentary disappearance of the flag in Belgium. Between the Revolution of Brabant of 1789-1790 and the AT the end of the 12th century, our first flag disappears as the Belgian Revolution in 1830, our country saw a succession of Dutchy of Lotharingia becomes fragmented into several small foreign regimes: Austrian, French and Dutch occupied principalities, which each creates its own emblem.