, ' rom GREZ-DOICEAU to WISCONSIN Mary A. DEFNET Jean DUCAT Thierry EGGERICKX Michel POULAIN F , 590 : W35 J F76 1 1986 C.2 How did the Belgian American Heritage association begin ? Since 1983, thanks to Belgo-American collaboration, researchers on both sides of the Atlantic have received encouraging results. It was decided to gather those volunteers and create an association. Since our goals are to keep intact a moral heritage, our association was named «Belgian Amer:can Heritage». Our main purposes arc to be sensitive to the memories of the emigration of a great number of people, to invite those interested to maintain socio-cultural relations with the descendants of the pioneers, to link the regions touched by the emigration, and to create committees uniting the local skills. These committees already exist in Belgium, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.. The dynamics of these group members is sustained by inner sentiments of affection and respect toward the ancestral communities. For a dozen years, groups of Americans of Walloon origin, wishing to return to the land of their grand parents, have realized their dreams; some with a club, of which the oldest is the Peninsula Belgian-American Club of Wisconsin, and the newest is the Belgian American Heritage Society of Illinois. In tum, the families in Belgium who welcomed friends and cousins, have created a club, the Wallonie-Wisconsin Societe, to make return visits to their American cousins. At the occasion of these intercontinental trips, each participant has discovered a piece of important history in this luggage, such as reproductions of old documents concerning his Belgian Heritage. L 'association «Belgian American Heritage» Compte tenu des rcsultats encourageants obtenus grace a la collaboration etablie depuis 1983 entre des chercheurs americains et beiges, ii fut decide de regrouper Jes bonnes volontes jusque la dispersees. Puisque Jes uns et Jes autres souhaitaient travailler a la sauvegarde d'un certain heritage moral commun, !'association s'appelle «Belgian American Heritage». Voici Jes buts contenus dans ses statuts: - sensibiliser aux memoires de J'emigration beige un plus grand nombre de personnes, - inviter celles-ci a maintenir des relations socio-culturelles avec !es descendants des pionniers, - mettre en place dans Jes regions touchees par J'emigration et !'immigration des comites-relais reunissant Jes competences locales. Des comites existent actuellement en Belgique, en Illinois, en Pennsylvanie et au Wisconsin. Dans ces comites, le dynamisme des membres est soutenu par des sentiments innes d'affection et de respect envers la patrie des ancetres communs. II faut savoir que depuis une dizaine d'annees, des groupes d'Americains d'origine wallonne desireux de renouer avec la terre de Jeurs grands-parents ont realise leur reve, soit a titre individuel soit avec un club dont le plus ancien est pour le Wisconsin le «Peninsula Belgian American Club» et le plus recent est pour J'lllinois le «Belgian American Heritage». A leur tour, !es families d'accueil en Belgique, parents et amis, ont cree un club «W allonie-Wisconsin» afin de rendre visite a Jeurs cousins americains. A !'occasion de ces voyages intercontinentaux, chaque participant se decouvre une ame d'historien emportant dans ses valises des reproductions de documents anciens concemant le Belgian Heritage. From GREZ-DOICEAU to WISCONSIN From GREZ-DOICEAU S PC to F WISCONSIN 5 '10 \i\ 3 5" Contribµtion a l'etude de l'emigration ,wallonne vers r u Jes Etats-Unis d' Amerique au XIxeme siecle I I. :' .,.,! Mary Ann DEFNET President of BELGIAN AMERICAN HERITAGE, WISCONSIN Jean DUCAT President du BELGIAN AMERICAN HERITAGE, WALLO NIE-BRUXELLES Thierry EGGERICKX Historien Michel POULAIN Demographe, Chercheur Qualifie au F.N.R.S., Vice-President du Departement de Demographie de l'Universite Cahtolique de LOlNAIN De Boeck BELGIAN AMERICAN HERITAGE ~ DEPARTEMENT DE DEMOGRAPHIE Universite UNIVERSITE CATHOLIQUE DE LOUVAIN © De Boeck-Wesmael s.a., 1986 203 Avenue Louise - 1050 Bruxelles Toute reproduction d'un extrait quelconque de ce livre, par quelque procede que ce soit. et notamment par photocopie ou microfilm, est strictement interdite. Diffusion au SCnegal : Nouvelles Editions Africaines, Dakar Diffusion au Zaire : Afrique-Editions, Kinshasa Printed in Belgium D 1986/0074/ 146 ISBN 2-8041-0915-1 FOREWORD 'To forget our ancestors is to be like a river without a source, like a rootless tree". (Chinese proverb) Dear reader, This book is dedicated to all who restlessly search for their ancestors' early origins, to all who try to remove dust from forgotten and concealed treasures, to all who try to gather the pieces_ of their history in order to pass on to their descendants their proven origins. A little before my father died, I promised him that I would find information about one of his great-grand fathers who had gone to the United States. Our family had lost track of his adventurous steps. The note found in records at the former community of Petit-Rosiere, Belgium, confirmed the story of Antoine Ducat, born in Glimes, Brabant Province, who had gone to the United States the 24th of August in 1858 at the age of 54 years. Since the departure coincided with the large migration wave in the 19th century (a wave that took thousands of countrymen of Brabant to the Midwest), I traveled three times over to the old Belgian colonies in Illinois and Wisconsin. Once there, the same old questions came over and over again : Why did the immigrant ancestor leave and with whom ? Where is the native village situated ? Does his house still exist? I also wanted to know more about these Walloons who, during the past century, created a Roman Country in huge America. So, the idea was born to satisfy the natural and deep curiosity and to plan a long term project. On both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, people were ready for long researches. It was decided to stick to the rural emigration phenomenon only, and particularly to the East Brabant and Hesbaye Namuroise areas from which most pioneer families originated. Scientific help was found at the Demographics Departmenf of Louvain-la-Neuve University which is situated in the area touched by the rural emigration of the I850's. Research was first directed toward the village of Grez-Doiceau. This choice wasn't pure chance. The first expedition of emigrants originating from Grez-Doiceau opened the way to the Midwest for more waves of emigration after 1853, into Brown, Kewaunee, and southern Door counties in Northeastern Wisconsin. On the other side, Grez-Doiceau provided more than 500 pioneers who settled around the present-day Robinsonville-Champion area (originally called : «Aux premiers Beiges»). This book is relating the socio-economic situation of the Grez-Doiceau families at the time of their departure from Belgium. It's not the history of the Belgian colony created in America. The writers will detail each 6 FROM GREZ-DOICEAU TO WISCONSIN major event of the Walloon emigrants from birth until their arrival in the New World. In fact, we have studied this migration phenomenon underlining two specific aspects : its causes and its quantitative importance as well as aspects which have been revealed, thanks to modem computarized techniques. The book also tries to make a comparison between those families that left and those that stayed in the village. We hope this work will help our American colleagues, either to gather new information about Belgian emigrants or to enlarge their knowledge of history. In return, we expect them to give us new tracks to follow and new directions to look into. American and Belgian teams, working in such a way, will keep alive our national motto «L'union fait la force», a motto left by our common ancestors meaning «Unity is strength». Jean DUCAT President Belgian American Heritage Wallonie- B rux elles AVANT- PROPOS "Oub/ier ses ancetres c'est etre un ruisseau sans source un arbre sans racine". (Proverbe chinois) Ami lecteur, Ce_Iivre est dedie par ses auteurs a tous ceux qui recherchent avec obstination Jes origines lointaines de leurs ancetres, s'efforcent de les tirer de l'oubli et d'en ecrire l'histoire afin de la confier a leurs descendants. Peu de temps avant sa mort, j'avais promis a mon pere de faire la lumiere sur l'immigration en Amerique d'un de ses bisa"ieuls dont la famille avait tres tot perdu la trace. L'annotation relevee dans les registres de population de l'ancienne commune de Petit­ Rosiere en Belgique confirmait Ia tradition orale mais elle precisait en outre que Antoine Ducat, ne a Glimes, etait parti aux Ameriques le 24 aout 1858 a !'age de 54 ans. Puisque la date de ce depart s'inscrivait dans le vaste mouvement migratoire qui, au XIXe siecle, poussa des milliers de ruraux braban~ons vers le Midwest americain, je me rendis a trois reprises dans !es anciennes colonies etablies par des Wallons dans les Etats d'Illinois et du Wisconsin. La-bas, plusieurs descendants des pionniers me poserent invariablement les memes questions : «Pourquoi I'ancetre immigrant est-ii parti et avec qui ? Ou se situe son village natal ? La maison qu'il quitta existe-t-elle encore ?» A mon tour, je fus pris par le desir de conna1tre la destinee de ces wallons qui, au siecle demier, creerent un Roman Pays dans l'immense Amerique. C'est done ainsi que germa l'idee de donner satisfaction aux aspirations profondes des uns et des autres et de concevoir un projet a long tertl)e. II se trouva des deux cotes de l'Atlantique des personnes disposees a realiser cette etude par etapes successives. II fut decide de reserver les premiers chantiers aux families originaires des cantons du «Brabant Roman» oriental et de la Hesbaye namuroise.