GERARD LADURON 


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This biography submitted by Gloria A. Olson  


18:59 08/31/1999

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Gerard Laduron was born on 1/18/1843 in Meux, Belgium the son of
Maximilliam Laduron and Ann Joseph Herbignat. He left Meux on April 14, 1856
with his parents and went to Anvers , the Flemish way of saying Antwerp. They
stayed in Antwerp several weeks, while arranging passage to Quebec, Canada.
Their destination was Union Township, Door County, Wisconsin. The reason for
going to Quebec may have been that the ship was overloaded for its size. His
father's occupation is listed as day laborer but family stories also indicated
that they farmed. 

The United States had stopped allowing ships from Belgium, which were overloaded
to disembark their passengers. A ship that was overloaded was cheaper to sail on
and made more money for the steamship line. Some ships would stop in Quebec,
disembark some passengers and then sail on to a United States port. At this time
we do not know which ship they took from Antwerp to Quebec. The average cost per
person was $35.00, which included no food. The family of 9 had to bring aboard
ship all the food they needed till they reached their destination. Since
Maximillian was a day laborer in Belgium, they must have been very frugal people
to save enough money to pay passage for 9 people to the United States. Besides
Gerard and his parents their was Julie, Louis, M. Josephine, Alexis and Jean
Baptiste Laduron his brothers and sisters. Traveling with this family was
Boniface Pitaux, born circa 1848, Namur. 

Gerard, known as Jerry, stated it took 6 weeks to cross the ocean in a ship that
was too small and overloaded. They left Antwerp in April 1856. He told a lot of
stories regarding the trip over the most interesting one was going miles out of
their way, sailing around for days trying to avoid a whale that was following
them. They were afraid it would capsize the small overloaded ship, because of
its size. 

They must have left the country of Belgium with mixed feelings. Gerard Laduron
always said he was the seventh son of the seventh son. This would indicate they
left older siblings behind in Belgium. We known one sister Antoinette immigrated
to the United States in 1869, after her first husband, Francis LeCocq died. 

Jerry stated they left Belgium for more freedom and opportunity. Till he died he
always called the tenderloin cut of meat the king's meat. When they butchered in
Belgium the tenderloin had to be given to the king. They also were to have meat
only once a week on a given day, even if they raised there own. This was
strictly controlled; government inspectors would stop at mealtime, at random
times, to make sure you were not breaking the rules. Everything they grew, as he
put it, went to the king. Then what was suppose to be enough for the family was
returned, plus seed for the next crop. 

After arriving at Quebec, family stories have them traveling by ship to Mackinac
where they entered the United States on June 26, 1856. The other alternative
would have been to travel through Canada by a combination of rail and
stagecoach. If they did travel by boat they would have gone through the Erie
Canal. If there was no wind they would have had to be pulled through by mules or
wait until the wind came up. Being pulled through the canal by mule, they would
have traveled through the canal at the rate of 5 to 7 miles a day. 

There is no information or family story currently available on how they got from
Mackinac to Union Township. Jerry did not talk a great deal about the early
years in Door County. We do know his father purchased 40 acres of land on
January 3, 1860, in Section 27. His brother Louis purchased an adjoining
property at the same time. The Alex Laduron book states that the surveyors made
a mistake in mapping the area and listed it as swampland. This made the land
available for a bargain rate of $.50 to $.75 an acre as opposed to the normal
$1.25. They did not know what they paid. 

The one story he did tell about living in Door County was in regards to an
Indian. He was helping his father clean land, when all of a sudden, his father
decided it was time to go back to the house in the middle of the day. On
returning to the house they looked through the window to see his mother tied to
a chair, with a drunk Indian circling her with a tomahawk in hand. His father
shot the Indian through the window killing him. 

The family may have also become involved in making shingles. The shingles were
made from the logs they cut to clear their land. These shingles could then be
taken to Green Bay and sold for cash to help them purchase tools, livestock and
develop their land. The majority of these shingles were then shipped to
Milwaukee and Chicago by boat. 

Jerry married Ann Mathilda Fabry in Green Bay, Wisconsin on Jan. 9, 1863. Their
witnesses were Eugene Dupont and Denis Giles. Ann Mathilda, known as Mathilda,
was born 8/22/1843 in Belgium, the daughter of William Fabry and Joanne
Vananesse. They purchased their farm in Township of Oconto, one mile south of
Brookside on County Trunk J, probably in 1867 from James Abery. The exact date
is not know yet. They moved to their farm during the winter, so they could go
across Green Bay when it was frozen. This made the trip a lot shorter, then
going around the bay and through the city of Green Bay. 

They were later joined in Brookside by two of his siblings. Boniface Petaux, now
using Laduron for a surname, and M. Josephine Laduron married to Frank Noel. The
three farms were right next to each other on County Trunk J, in Town of
Pensaukee. 

We know Jerry & Mathilda had their first two children at Bay Settlement. Carolus
(Ronie) 6/27/1864 and Mary born 3/28/1867 who married Alexander David Russell.
Their next child Josephine was born 12/14/1868 in Brookside, and married Emil
Darr. They had a total of 12 children. The others are: Alex born 5/17/1870,
married Elizabeth Lefevre; Flora born 9/11/1871 died 7/13/1876; Ida Flora born
3/11/1877, married Albert Pomp: Frank born 2/3/1876, married Alida Walton;
William born 6/8/1878, married Ida (Edith) Pingle; Ann born & died 7/28/1877;
Desere Joseph born 4/10/1884, married Zora Couillard; and Gerard Laduron
10/07/1890, married Grace Livemore. With the exception of Frank who ended up in
Oregon, their siblings stayed in the Oconto and Brown County areas. 

This large family flourished in Brookside under the strict rules and frugal
supervision of Jerry. All were required to work on the farm. The girls worked in
the house and the boys in the fields and barn. He was very strict on what he
called barn talk, that was to stay in the barn and not in the home. Anyone
working away from the farm was required to give their earnings to their father
and he then gave them what he considered adequate spending money. 

The farm had a summer kitchen, a smokehouse, where they smoked their sausage,
hams and bacon and a brick outside oven. The outside oven was used once a week
to bake bread, beans and etc. The stone building, which was used as the summer
kitchen was there until after his son Desere sold the farm. 

The family wore wooden shoes made by Gerard when they were working on the farm.
These shoes were never worn into the house; they were always taken off before
entering the house. When his son later owned the farm there was what they called
a back porch, he always changed his shoes and clothes in this back porch before
entering the house and there was no barn talk allowed. 

The home was always kept immaculate and was simply but nicely furnished. The
family always was nicely dressed and had the latest equipment. In 1907 Jerry
ordered a vehicle from Sears Roebuck & Co. To read the letter confirming the
order you would think it would be a car, but it was a buggy with a fringed top.
The warranty states that contrary to popular belief if you drive the buggy into
the river to tighten the wheels the warranty is void. 

An insurance policy issued by St Paul Fire and Marine in 1890's tells us the
farm buildings, equipment and home furnishings were insured for $2,000. There is
a special rider on it to insure the sewing machine for a cost of $5.00 for three
years. 

Jerry and his family always made their own wine, which was used for special
occasions. Christmas was considered a religious holiday but New Years was the
time to celebrate. New Years was when all the family gathered for a festive
celebration of the holiday season, with wine and the additional requirement was
a large roaster filled with homemade Belgium sausage. 

As the children grew, as in all families, there were some disputes. Frank was
told to leave home at age 16 and returned very few times in his lifetime. Jerry
& Mathilda had a disagreement during World War I with their daughter Josephine
who had married Emil Darr who was German. They were very upset when Germany over
ran Belgium, and their daughter agreed with her husband that it was fine. She
only came back to the farm to attend her father's funeral. Mathilda sat and
watched her daughter's funeral procession pass the farm, but never went to the
funeral. 

Mathilda and Jerry returned annually to Bay Settlement to visit relatives, on
August 15, and to go to the Shrine of the Our Lady Of Good Hope at
Robinsonville. In 1923 he decided not to go. On that day while working at what
they called the Eighty, he fell and broke his hip and died on Sept. 4., 1923.
Mathilda blamed the accident on the fact that they had not gone to visit the
shrine. 

Mathilda lived on the homestead with her son Desere, Pete and his family until
she died on 6/8/1936. After Jerry died she had what she considered her rooms in
the house and very seldom came out of them. Both are buried at the Catholic
Cemetery in Oconto, Wisconsin. 

Gerard and Mathilda were considered prosperous members of their community and
instilled in their family the habit of hard work. They also enjoyed their wine
on special occasions and enjoyed a good family gathering. 

The information comes from family stores written by Helen Jelinski, and told by
Marion Ziesmer, granddaughters; family bible, The Alex Laduron Family book and
vital records. 

This biography prepared and submitted by Gloria A. Olson