July 10, 2009 - Okonomiyaki and Hallelujah, I Am Wrong - It's Great-Grandaunt Célestine - Part 19

Good early morning,

A very different supper, Okonomiyaki... a Japanese pancake, maybe? A Japanese pizza, sort of? But actually so easy to cook and so good to eat... Chicken cutlet, cabbage, eggs, flour and stock... plus. All done within 30 minutes, and served with a sweet sauce and a hot sauce. Real different, and very good. Check out wikiHow to make Okonomiyaki.

And the great news! Two years of searching, and two years of searching, and finally success. Yesterday I received an email from an extremely kind soul at the Ministry of Culture and Communication (Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication), at Romilly-sur-Seine, Champagne-Ardenne in France. . Attached was an image of l'Acte de Naissance, the Birth Registration of great-grandaunt Marie Adèle Célestine July. I couldn't believe it. And it is a fantastic legible copy.

Great-grandaunt Marie Adèle Célestine's parents are Jean Jacques Alfred and Catherine Cora (née Merle) July. Finally we know her birth parents... and she is the youngest sister, so far accounted, of great-granduncles Pierre Gustave Henri and Jean François Albert, of great-grandaunts Marie Amélia Blanche and Marie-Eugénie Berthe, and of great-grandmother Marie Antoinette C.. Hallelujah!!!

Here's my attempt at the transcription of the l'Acte de Naissance, Birth Registration, from the Cayenne Civil Records:

No. 1 Naissance de Marie Adèle July.

Aujourd'hui trois Janvier mil huit cens soixante douze à trois heures de la matinée, par-devans nous, Alexandre Couij, Maire er Officier de l'état civil de la ville de Cayenne, est comparu le sieur Jean Jacques Alfred July, âgé de trente huit ans, marchand, afsiste des sieurs Jean Thomas Lisis Fleury, âgé de trente six ans, négocians, et Jean Baptiste Etienne Bonnefoy, âgé de cinquante neuf ans, commis négocians, tous domiciliés en cette ville, lesquel nous présenté un enfant du sexe féminin né de lui ed de Dame Catherine Cora Merle, son épouse, le dix Décembre dernier a midi et demi dans la maison reu de la côte No 22, suivans déclaration provisoire faite le lendemain, auquel enfant il donne les prénoms de Marie Adèle, X Et ons signé avec nous, le présent acte par triplicata, après lecture faite.

Cayenne, les jours, mois, et an que de depuis.

Jean Fleury, Alfred July, JBE Bonnefoy, A Couij.

Célestine

approuvé le renvoi

Jean Fleury, A July, JPE Bonnefoy, A Couij

And my translation:

No. 1 Birth of Marie Adèle July.

Today, the 3rd of January, 1872, at 3 am, appeared before us, Alexandre Couij, Mayor and first officer of the city of Cayenne, Mr. Jean Jacques Alfred July, aged thirty-eight years old, Merchant, attended by Mr. Jean Thomas Lisis Fluery, aged thirty-six years, Merchant, and Jean Baptiste Etienne Bonnefoy, aged fifty-nine years, an employed Merchant, all residing in this city, where we presented a female child born to him and Mrs. Catherine Cora Merle, his wife, on the 10th of last December, at 12:30 pm in the house at No. 22, Rue de la Côte, which the following provisional statement made the next day, which gave the child the names Marie Adèle, X, and they signed with us, after reading this Acte in triplicate.

Cayenne, the days, month and year as above.

Jean Fleury, Alfred July, JBE Bonnefoy, A Couij.

And in the margin the following:

X Célestine

Insertion approved,

Jean Fleury, A July, JPE Bonnefoy, A Couij

Now we have a real birth date for great-grandaunt Célestine: 10 December 1871. It's official. Her Death Certificate from Los Angeles is slightly off, just by one year. (See Part 8.) And I'm not sure why the Death Certificate states that her father's name was Henri. It was great-great-grandfather Jean Jacques Alfred. Maybe Henri was his nickname?

And here comes the other major find... All these years, (see Part 13j) I have been chasing my tail around the proverbial tree looking for the 1873 "Jugement, rectifiant les actes des enfants July". According to my contact's email the Jugement has nothing to do with the July family. I have been misreading the family's name. It is Suluy! Not July! Hallelujah! Bernard, we don't have to look for it anymore. My hair can stop going grey... Not July family!

And still I have to find great-grandmother Marie Antoinette's birth registration...

Enjoy,

Jim