I’ve been struggling with what I should write about in this first blog. As luck would have it, a new discovery simply cries out to be shared. Thus it is that I start with Louis J. Houlette, my 4x great-grandfather.
According to stories that have been passed down through the ages, Louis was born in Honfleur, France in 1764 and came to America in 1791 with his father, Jean Louis Gabriel, and his brother, Jean Baptiste. Despite years of research we have never been able to find any record documenting their departure from France or their arrival in America. An article I recently found on newspapers.com may finally provide a glimmer of evidence however.
The article appeared in The Pennsylvania Gazette (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) on 9 July 1791. It’s basically a Yelp style endorsement of the ship The Pennsylvania and it’s captain, David Harding. It reads:
We the under named passengers on board the ship Pennsylvania, Capt. David Harding, from Havre-de-Grace, happy, on our arrival in this city, to bear honorable witness to the polite treatment we experienced from the Captain, as to the excellence of the provisions we found on board his ship, take this public method of testifying our warmest approbation not only of the care and civility of the captain and his mate, but also of their attention to the ladies on board, and particularly the humane assistance received from them by one of the number, who lay in during gate passage ; —- a passage, which, though tedious, was by no means alarming as we still had provisions enough in store to last for a considerable time. Signed, BURGAIN, CANDON, LETERREUR, BILLY,CARDY, NICHOLAR, PIEROST, RICHARD, J. B. HOULETTE, L. HOULETTE, DIDIER, Le BLOND, AIMEE JULIE CARDIE, F. LETERREUR, F. NICHOLAR.
Philadelphia, July 9, 1791.
Note the signatures of J.B. Houlette and L. Houlette on this list. With this we now know that there was a J.B. and a L. Houlette who arrived in Pennsylvania from France in 1791 which is where and when our Louis and Jean Baptiste are said to have arrived. Additionally, Havre-de-Grace is the name of the port located at Le Havre, a town located at the mouth of the Seine River across from Honfleur, France.
While we cannot be certain that they are our Louis J. Houlette and his brother Jean Baptiste, it is certainly compelling information. Hopefully it will lead to someone finding further evidence of their departure from France and/or arrival in America.
Here’s a link to the original article: https://www.newspapers.com/clip/21250684/houlette_arrival_in_philadelphia/.
________________________________
How we’re related:
Louis J. Houlette & Anna Plumb
|
James Dale Houlette & Agnes N. Smith Clarke
|
Anna Margaret Houlette & Levi Slinker
|
Agnes Emeline Slinker & Peter Alexander Creger
|
James Iver Creger & Gertrude Ethel Blayden
|
Helen Pauline Creger & John Robert Nielsen
Hello! I, too, am researching the Houlette line and have been trying to find such info as you have in the newspaper article that you have been so kind as to post here! I am a grandchild of John Baptiste Houlette (born in 1813 in Massachusetts). Family lore (great aunts of mine, themselves great granddaughters of John Baptiste) shared that our JB's father came over from France at the age of 13 as a "bound boy." I suppose it could be that the J.B in the newspaper article is another son of Louis... or it could be that the Jean Baptiste Houlette is the father of our John Baptiste. But we are certain that our JB was born in MASS and married Martha Eunice Burdick (of NY). We descent from their first born child, John Thomas.
ReplyDeleteI am so happy to have run across your blog. Thank you for sharing! I hope we can continue to share info - best, Lachelle Norris (norrislachelle@gmail.com)