PONCY Family Report Research Objective: The research goal is to research the surname line of Jean Mathieu Bonaventure PONCY (RIN: 1) and extend the information back four generations.1 Background Information: The client provided the following information for the start of the report: Jean Matieu Bonaventure PONCY married Françoise Marie Marguerite ALABERT (RIN: 2) 23 June 1885 in Prades, Pyrénées-Orientales, France. Jean Mathieu Bonaventure PONCY was the son of Mathieu PONCY (RIN: 3) and Anne HORTE (RIN: 4). Jean Mathieu Bonaventure PONCY was born about (abt.) 1862. The birth place is unknown but could potentially be in Prades. 1st Generation – Mathieu PONCY & Anne HORTE The research for this project began by confirming the known information. Having the date for the marriage of Jean Mathie Bonaventure PONCY and Marie Marguerite ALABERT, the research began in the civil registration marriage records. After 1792, all citizens in France were required to register any birth, marriage, or death with the commune (municipality) government. Many of these records can be found online through the different department archives. The records from the department Pyrénées-Orientales were accessed online for free. Finding the marriage is important because it would confirm information about the parents, birth place, and ages of the groom and bride. The marriage was located by searching image by image, and was found on image 217 on the exact date provided by the client. Following is a transcription and translation of the portion discussing the groom’s information: Acte de marriage de Poncy Jean Mathieu Bonaventure, maçon, né a Ria, domicilié a Prades, fils majeur des maries Poncy Mathieu jornalie et Horte Anne, domicilies á Prades…il a de produit 1º l’acto de naissance du future du trois Juillet mil huit cent soixante duex…2 Act of marriage of Poncy Jean Mathieu Bonaventure, mason, born in Ria, living in Prades, older [meaning of age] son of the married Poncy Mathieu, day laborer and Horte 1 RIN is the abbreviation of Record Identification Number. 2 Prades, Pyrénées-Orientales, France, Registres de Naissance, Mariage, Décès 1883-1885, 1885, p. 38, 112, Poncy- Alabert; archives.cg66.fr accessed 28 April 2015; Image 217 of 278, Doc. #1. ICAPGen Report Sample 3 Anne, living in Prades…he produced 1º the act of birth of the future [groom] of 3 July 1862. This marriage record provides a mountain of information regarding Jean. Usually a marriage will only give information regarding the age of the groom and bride while this one provided the exact birth dates. The information found confirms what was already known about Jean. In 1886, Prades held a local census, called Recensement de la population.3 The information in these records and time periods varied from town to town. The 1886 census asked for the following information: Surname Given Name Age Nationality Profession Position in the household In 1886, the family of Mathieu PONCY and Anne HORTE was found living in Prades. The following table shows that Mathieu and Anne still had three children living at home.4 Surname Given Name Age Nationality Profession Position in household Poncy Mathieu 50 French Mason Head Horte Anne 49 French [Blank] Wife Poncy Joseph 17 French [Blank] Child Poncy Therese 9 French [Blank] Child Poncy Joseph 7 French [Blank] Child This census helped start the construction of the family. The information appears to be for the Mathieu and Anne, parents of Jean. Jean was not with the family because he was married the previous year. The next step was to locate the birth of Jean and the other children located in the 1886 cenus. With an exact birthdate and location, it was a fairly simple process. The most difficult part was identifying the town of Ria. After searching through the website there was only one town that started with Ria; Ria-Sirach. It was important to identify its location in reference to Prades to help determine the probability of it being the birth town for Jean. Below is the Carte de Cassini giving the location of the closest towns to Prades. This map is useful because it shows old cities, mountain ranges, and river locations. By viewing the geography of the area it is possible to 3 Translation: Population Census. 4 Prades, Pyrénées-Orientales, France, Registres de Recensement 1886, p. 66, Famille du Mathieu Poncy; archives.cg66.fr/mdr/index.php/rechercheTheme accessed 5 May 2015; Image 34 of 62, Doc #2. ICAPGen Report Sample 3 better understand the migration pattern of the people in the area. All towns discussed in this report have been circled in red. Image 1: “Carte de Cassini,” GenCom, accessed August 20, 2016, http://www.gencom.org/France/Cassini.aspx?CARTE=20&LOCAL=NS&ID2=OiFZAkFkWSMrKkRIAFoJBUgAA1JSH QFPZmViOS03NzQ0LTcwYzItYmZiYWQ0M2M9REk%3d As seen in the map the city of Ria is just down the river from Prades and across the river from Sirach. These two towns were probably combined into one commune. The search started by looking in the Table Décennales (10-year index). Part of keeping the civil registration was to create these 10-year indexes. These indexes were made for births, marriages, and deaths. They are not available for every decade nor in every town, but when available a necessary resource to search. Ria-Sirach has these indexes starting in 1802 through 1883. By using these indexes, the following birth records were located: 1. Jean Mathieu Bonaventure PONCY, born (b.) 3 July 1862, RIN: 15 2. Joseph Michel François PONCY, b. 14 August 1864, RIN: 86 3. Marie Françoise Elisabeth PONCY, b. 17 September 1866, RIN: 97 5 Prades, Pyrénées-Orientales, France, Registres de Naissance, Mariage, Décès 1883-1885, 1885, p. 38, 112, Poncy- Alabert; archives.cg66.fr, accessed 28 April 2015; Image 217 of 278, Doc #3. 6 Ria-Sirach, Pyrénées-Orientales, France, Registres de Naissance, Mariage, Décès 1863-1867, 1864, p. 19, 57, Joseph Michel François; archives.cg66.fr, accessed 5 May 2015; Image 45 of 246, Doc #4. 7 Ria-Sirach, Pyrénées-Orientales, France, Registres de Naissance, Mariage, Décès 1863-1867, 1866, p. 12, 65, Marie Françoise Elisabeth Poncy; archives.cg66.fr, accessed 8 May 2015; Image 165 of 246, Doc #5. ICAPGen Report Sample 3 4. Jean Joseph PONCÉ, b. 28 October 1872, RIN: 108 5. Marguerite Marthe Marie PONCY, b. 23 March 1874, RIN: 119 6. Thérese Marie Joséphine PONCY, b. 1 February 1877, RIN: 610 One problem found with these records is a 6-year gap in the births of Marie Françoise Elisabeth and Jean Joseph. Most children are born every 2-3 years. This problem is discussed below. All of these records list that Mathieu PONCY as the father. The difference in the records mostly appears in the mother’s name and in spellings of surnames. The name of the mother appears as Anne, Marie, Marianne, and Marie Anne. Even with the differences in the name the rest of the information appears to match what was already known about the family. It is common for a child to have the name Marie added on to the name. Also, Marianne and Marie Anne are two variations on the same name. The registrar writing the record would write the name as it sounded. This also explains the differences in the surnames PONCY and PONCÉ. The mother’s surname also had some inventive variations. The following variations were noted: HORTE, HORTH, and ORTHE. All of these spellings sound the same when they are spoken aloud, indicating that they are all variations on the same surname. With all of these children found, there was at least one child missing. Due to the simplicity of searching through the 10-year indexes, research returned to Prades to search through the indexes there. While searching through the records a Joseph PONCY, b. 10 May 1879, (RIN: 7) was located.11 The information in this record matched all of the information found in the other birth records as well as the census. While searching through the 10-year indexes another interesting discovery was made, the marriage of a Martin Michel Joseph PONCY (RIN: 12). This record showed that Martin married Françoise Marguerite Marie SOBRA (RIN: 13) on 25 November 1891 in Prades. The record also stated that he was born on 3 September 1869 in Conat. He was the legitimate son of Mathieu PONCY and Anne HORTE.12 This information shows that he could be another son in the family. His birth fits into a 6-year gap found in the children born in Ria-Sirach. In order to confirm this child, the search moved to Conat. The birth record was found on the exact date mentioned in the marriage record. The birth record states that he is the son of Mathieu PONCY and Anne 8 Ria-Sirach, Pyrénées-Orientales, France, Registres de Naissance, Mariage, Décès 1868-1872, 1872, p. 13v, 46, Jean Joseph Poncé; archives.cg66.fr, accessed 8 May 2015; Image 195 of 244, Doc #6. 9 Ria-Sirach, Pyrénées-Orientales, France, Registres de Naissance, Mariage, Décès 1873-1882, 1874, p. 4, 19, Marguerite Marthe Marie; archives.cg66.fr, accessed 8 May 2015; Image 42 of 363, Doc #7. 10 Ria-Sirach, Pyrénées-Orientales, France, Registres de Naissance, Mariage, Décès 1873-1882, 1877, p. 4, 12, Thérese Marie Joséphine Poncy; archives.cg66.fr/mdr/index.php/recherecheTheme accessed 8 May 2015; Image 117 of 363, Doc #8. 11 Prades, Pyrénées-Orientales, Frances, Registres de Naissance, Mariage, Décès 1873-1879, 1879, p. 14, 51, Joseph Poncy; archives.cg66.fr/mdr/index.php/recherecheTheme accessed 12 June 2015; Image 221 of 290, Doc #18. 12 Prades, Pyrénées-Orientales, France, Registres de Naissance, Mariage, Décès 1889-1892, 1891, p.