Racicot, Olivier ²

   Another name for Olivier was Roscoe, Oliver.

  General Notes:

Dear relatives and friends,

The following is to advise you of my findings regarding my great great grandfather Olivier Racicot, his birth, his parents, his uncles and aunts, his siblings and why there was so little information handed down to his children.

Several years ago I thought I had found him, but alas, that Olivier was later determined to have been married to someone other than our Olivier's spouse of many years, Madeline Campbell.

Recently I started a new effort to find Olivier. I made a list of every male Racicot born between 1797 and 1814. Various censuses and his obituary indicate he was born in Canada between 1799 and 1813. The sources I used were the genealogy program operated by the University of Montreal (PRDH), RootsWeb, Family Search, Genealogy.Com, etc. and Google. I used films of parish registers from Boucherville, Vaudreuil, Rigaud and L'Ile Perrot, Quebec. Candidates were eliminated by their death or by marriage. Divorce was essentially non-existent in that era. Olivier could have been married first to a spouse who died young, but I was unable to find an earlier marriage. All the candidates for being Olivier were eliminated, except one, and that person was Thomas Olivier Racicot, born 20 Dec 1810 in Vaudreuil, Vaudreuil County, Quebec (about 20 miles WSW of Montreal). He was the second to last person I found and was only shown in one Racicot family with few details. The parents were identified as Clement Racicot and Apolline Lefebvre and they were married on 26 January 1807, no location given.

I also had made a list of all Racicot males that could have been Olivier's father who were born between 1745 and 1794 (ages 16 to 65). Three Clement Racicots were on this list. "Clement Racicot" was born in 1751 and he was the father of the other two, both Antoine Clement Racicot, born in 1784, and Laurent Clement Racicot born in 1785 in Boucherville, Chambly, Quebec. Clement Racicot's wife was Marie Charlotte Laperche dit Sabourin.

First Problem: Antoine Clement Racicot, or just Clement Racicot, born 3 Feb 1784 is predominantly shown on web site sources as the husband of "Hipolite Lefebvre", born about 1784, and married on 26 Jan 1807, no location given. However, on my original list of candidates to be Olivier's father, I had eliminated Antoine Clement Racicot because he had been buried on 15 Mar 1784 in Boucherville. The problem that all other researchers seem to have missed is that on his baptismal entry in the Boucherville parish record his mother is identified as "Charlotte Sabourin". On his burial entry he is shown as one month of age and his mother is listed as Charlotte Laperche. Records show that she was known by either name.

First Conclusion: Clement Racicot and Antoine Clement Racicot were eliminated, leaving Laurent Clement Racicot as the father of Thomas Olivier Racicot.

Second Problem: Olivier's mother was identified as Apolline Lefebvre, born in L'Ile Perrot on 31 Jan 1788 to Basile Lefebvre dit Laciseray and Angelique Bissonnette, yet ,most web sites show his mother to be Hipolite Lefebvre, born about 1784. I searched for all Lefebvre, Lefaivre, Lefavure, Lefebre, etc. females born between 1782 and 1792 who were identified as Hipolite, Hypolite, Hyppolyte, etc. All were eliminated. It appeared to me that Apolline and Hipolite Lefebvre were one and the same person. About then the film for the parish at L'Ile Perrot , Vaudreuil County, Quebec arrived and it confirmed that Apolline was born on 31 January 1788 to the legitimate marriage of "Basile Lefebvre dit Lacirray" and the "Angelique Bissonet". Another key entry on 26 January 1807 was the marriage of "Clement Racicot", son of Clement Racicot and Charlotte Laperche from the parish at Boucherville, to "Hypolite Lefevre dit Lacisserois", minor daughter of "Basile Lefevre dit Lacisserois", cultivator of this parish and the "Angelique Bissonet". My research showed that Clement Racicot and Charlotte Laperche didn't have anymore sons with the given named Clement and Basile Lefebvre and Angelique Bissonnette didn't have anymore unaccounted for daughters.

Second Conclusion: Apolline and Hypolite Lefebvre were one and the same person who married Laurent Clement Racicot and became the parents of Thomas Olivier Racicot.

Thomas Olivier was the third of eight children born to his parents, Laurent Clement Racicot and Hypolite Apolline Lefebvre dit Laciseray, seven survived early childhood. Laurent (all records show he always used Clement as his name) and Hypolite (she usually is shown as Hipolite) were married 26 January 1807 in L'Ile Perrot, which is about six miles north of the town of Vaudreuil. I also noted that Olivier's aunt, Apolline Racicot, also used the name Hypolite.

Olivier's father was born 8 Mar 1785 in Boucherville, Chambly, Quebec and became a merchant in Vaudreuil, Quebec. He died 11 May 1818 in Vaudreuil when Olivier was seven.

After her husband died, Olivier's mother was married again on 18 Oct 1819 in the town of Vaudreuil to a widower, Hyacinthe Cholet, who already had fathered twelve children by his first wife, Marie Rose Hyppolyte St. Julien. Of these twelve, six survived, but their last five children died before they were 14 months old. So, Olivier's mother had six new surviving step children, the oldest was already married. With these five young step children (ages 7-14), along with Olivier and his six siblings (ages 1-10), she then had twelve children to raise. Oops!, she had seven more children by her new husband before he died in 1836. She died at the age of 93 on 3 March 1881 in Rigaud, Vaudreuil County, Quebec. Rigaud is about 14 miles WNW of Vaudreuil.

Olivier's paternal grandmother, Charlotte Laperche dit Sabourin, died in Rigaud on 21 Jun 1822 when Olivier was eleven. I haven't yet found when his grandfather Clement Racicot died, but it was between 1800 and 21 Jun 1822. He was a carpenter in Boucherville, Quebec. She is identified as the widow of Clement Racicot in the parish entry for her burial in Rigaud.

Olivier's maternal grandmother was Marguerite Angelique Bissonnette who died 4 October 1816 in Vaudreuil when he was five. His maternal grandfather, Basile Lefebvre dit Laciseray, lived to 2 August 1857.

Olivier's step father, Hyacinthe Cholet, or Cholette, died 2 September 1836 in Rigaud.

No wonder Olivier received little or no Racicot Family information as his father, both paternal grandparents and his maternal grandmother died before he was twelve years old. Racicot family history probably wasn't a priority item, if at all, to Olivier and his extremely busy mother.

Oliver didn't leave a paper trail as he wasn't married in Quebec and didn't have any children there. Surely Olivier knew very little about his real father or his ancestry. His mother lived in Rigaud and it was a long distance in those days to where Olivier lived in Reads Landing, Wabasha County, Minnesota. Travel was dangerous, there were no telephones and illiteracy was high, so communication was extremely limited.

To further solidify my finding, I searched the parish film records to identify the godparents for Laurent Clement and Apolline's children. As you know, only close relatives or trusted friends are chosen to be a godparent.

a) Adelaide Racicot was born 27 Oct 1807 in Vaudreuil. Basile Lefebvre and Angelique Bissonnette (Hipolite's parents) were Adelaide's godparents.

b) Marie Clemence Racicot was born 14 Jan 1809 in Vaudreuil. Pierre Hainaut and Marguerite Lefebvre (Hipolite's sister) were godparents.

c) Thomas Olivier Racicot was born 20 Dec 1810 in Vaudreuil. Pierre Deschamp and Archange Dufort were the godparents.

d) Marie Clement Racicot was born 17 Sep 1812 in Vaudreuil. Josephe Fournier and Apolline Racicot (his uncle and aunt) were the godparents.

e) Luce Racicot was born 18 Dec 1813 in Vaudreuil. Jean Baptiste Fournier and Marie Charlotte Lefebvre were the godparents. J.B. Fournier was married to Laurent Clement's sister Marguerite Racicot (4 Jun 1798 in Boucherville). Charlotte Lefebvre didn't come out easily as a close relative. However, I did find a Charlotte Josephte Lefebvre. She was married to Antoine Huppe dit Lagroix (b. 24 Mar 1789) in Charlesbourg, Quebec on 22 Nov 1823. She died there in 1827 at the age of 38 making her year of birth to be 1789 also. Apolline's sister Marie Josephe Lefebvre was then the only living sister not yet identified as a godmother of one of Apolline's children and she was born 13 Feb 1789. Perhaps I solved another problem as I found nothing else on Marie Josephe Lefebvre that fit.

f) Michel Racicot was born 22 Sep 1815. His godparents were Michel Fournier and Cecile Racicot (Laurent Clement's sister). I have found nothing else about him.

g) Eleanore Racicot was born 27 May 1817. Her godparents were Jean Mure (or Le Mure) and Marie Des Anges Lefebvre. The godparent signatures were "John Le Mure" and "Angelique Lefebvre". Looks like Apolline's sister Marie Angele preferred to use Angelique for her name. I learned this was common for the names Angele and Des Anges.

h) Marie Angele Racicot was born 5 Oct 1818. Perhaps named after Apolline's sister Marie Angele Lefebvre. Godparents were Jean Baptiste Rigaud and Marguerite Racicot, her aunt.

Neither Clement Racicot nor his wife Charlotte Laperche dit Sabourin were godparents for any of their grandchildren. He died before 21 Jun 1822, but could have died as early as 1800.

Q How does Olivier's birth on 20 December 1810 match up with the information in the U.S. Censuses? Note that all of these censuses commenced on 1 June of the census year.

1830 Census: He should have been in this census as he was supposedly in Newark, NJ learning the Blacksmith trade from age 18 to age 23, i.e., 1828 to 1833. He was not yet an immigrant, so maybe he wasn't to be counted.

1840 Census: He was Oliver Racicot, and was marked in the "Age 20 to less than 30" column. This column was for births between 1 Jun 1810 and 31 May 1820. His birthday was 20 December 1810, so the census is correct for his age of 29.

1850 Census: He was Olivier Raccicot, age 40, born in Canada East. Canada East was Quebec and he was actually 39 years old for this census.

1860 Census: He was Oliver Roscoe, age 51. He was actually only 49 for this census.

1870 Census: He was Oliver Roscoe, age 65. He was actually only 59. I wonder if someone else provided his census information.

1880 Census: He was Oliver Roscoe, age 67. He was actually 69.

Olivier married Madeline Campbell on 9 February 1836 in the St. Peter's Agency (Coldwater), Minnesota. A marriage I found on the Internet year ago indicated that Oliver Racicot married Mardeland Campbell about 1837 in Green Bay, Wisconsin. William, their first child was born in Green Bay in 1838. This last marriage had me thinking that perhaps they were married twice, due perhaps because their first marriage was considered a "Field Marriage". I think that's the right term for remote marriages where no church official is available. The Wisconsin Territory formerly included a sizeable portion of Minnesota. On a second review, I noticed that the marriage recorded in Green Bay indicates that it was actually performed somewhere in Minnesota. Green Bay seems to have been a collection point for certificates of marriages performed in the upper mid-west territories, thus, there was probably only one marriage. Indian Agent Lawrence Taliferro, who performed the marriage, can be excused for misspelling Madeline's name. Now aren't you relieved? I am.

Now for any of you that still are skeptical, consider the following:

Thomas Olivier Racicot's older sister was Clemence Racicot.
Our Olivier's fourth child was Madeleine Clemence Racicot.

Thomas Olivier Racicot's brother in Law, Clemence Racicot's husband, was Joseph Hilaire Cholet.
Our Olivier's second son was Hilaire Pierre Racicot.

Thomas Olivier Racicot's next youngest sister was Luce Racicot.
Our Olivier's seventh child was Lucy Josephine Racicot.

Thomas Olivier Racicot's second youngest sister was Eleanore Racicot.
Our Olivier's sixth child was Ellenora Racicot.

The names of his three closest siblings, plus his first brother-in-law, are reflected in the names of four of his children.

I am very confident that Thomas Olivier Racicot is our Olivier Racicot (Oliver Roscoe) whom we knew so little about. I am already filling my computer with his Racicot and Lefebvre ancestors and their related families.

Sincerely, Miles René, Silverdale, Washington

  Noted events in his life were:

• Alt. Birth, 8 Aug 1799, Canada. ⁴

Olivier married Madeline Campbell, daughter of Antoine Scott Campbell and Margaret Menagre, on 9 Feb 1836 in St Peter's Agency, Camp Coldwater, MN.¹ (Madeline Campbell was born on 16 Oct 1819 in Michigan Teritory ² and died on 22 Mar 1899 in Minnesota ².)