In the past, when I discovered the origin of my mysterious “Gustavo” family, I was elated to learn the origins of my 4th great-grandparents with the help of two genealogists (one with connections to Guadeloupe and another to Martinique). You can learn more about these discoveries through these two posts:
These two connections allowed me to learn more about my ancestors before coming to Puerto Rico, one born in Terre-de-Bas, Guadeloupe (Gustave Jean Charles) and the other in Rivière Salée, Martinique (Julienne Malvina Lautin). Once my ancestors settled in Salinas, from my research it seemed that others had not joined them in Puerto Rico and the only Gustave/Charles family in the area were likely tied to my family. Though there are other Charles families in Puerto Rico, some are from other islands and do not connect to my family and these are likely found outside of the Salinas area.
So I asked myself – what about the name Chaleau? Some branches in Guadeloupe seemed to have taken Chaleau Jean Charles’ first name as their surname while when my family moved to Puerto Rico they chose the “Jean Charles” which ultimately became “Charles”. This could be for various reasons, when my ancestor was born about 1821 he was born into slavery and his parents were not married yet. Records point to Gustave Jean Charles’ affranchissement (liberty/freedom) occurring in 1833 along with his mother’s (Marie Lucie), though I haven’t been able to find their freedom records yet. Though my 5th great-grandmother Marie Lucie was manumitted in 1833 along with her children, her husband-to-be would not receive his freedom until 1842 and shortly a year later Marie Lucie and Chaleau were getting married in Terre-de-Bas, Guadeloupe.
So I figured why not search passenger records into Puerto Rico with the surname “Chaleau” instead of my typical searches of “Charles”, “Gustave”, and “Lautin” and their Spanish variations – all surnames that appeared in Puerto Rico. I was pleasantly surprised when an Emile Chaleau appeared to arrive into Puerto Rico from Guadeloupe – could this be a cousin?! Below you will see a snapshot of the record I found on Ancestry indexed for an “Emile Chalean [sic]”
This record was for a ship named “SS Quebec” traveling from St. Thomas, D.W.I. [Dutch West Indies] the 3rd of March 1908.
First Page
Nº 3 on the list is Emile Chaleau, listed as 28 years old [born about 1880], Male, Single, Machinist/Motorman[?], Able to Read/Write, French, African/Black, Last Permanent Residence, Point-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe, F.W.I. [French West Indies], Lists his father: Jean Charles Chaleau also living in Point-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe which was also Emile’s final destination.
Second Page
Emile lists he paid for the passage himself and had $50 on him and had not visited the United States before. He lists a brother-in-law living in Santurce, Puerto Rico with the name of Alex Ernaud/Eduard? (Hard to make out). Emile was listed as 5’10 1/2″ and Black, having been born in Point-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe.
More Than Just a coincidence?
When I saw the father’s name listed as Jean Charles Chaleau I thought – wait this is a brother for my 4th great-grandfather! But if Emile was born about 1880 and my 4th great-grandfather was born in the 1820s – how could this be one of his sibling’s sons? Could I find an Emile Chaleau born in 1880 in Point-à-Pitre connected to my family to prove that somehow this was a cousin of mine entering Puerto Rico? Notice also that he came to Puerto Rico in 1908, yet my family had been in Puerto Rico since at least the 1860s, first entering through Vieques and finally settling in the south in Salinas – would Emile have had any idea that he had extended family on the island?
There was a Charles Chaleau-Jean-Charles (notice he took all three of his father’s names as his surname here), sibling to my 4th grandfather, who married in Point-à-Pitre in 1848, could would it be through him how Emile and I were related – it at all? Below you can see an excerpt from the marriage which occurred in Point-à-Pitre listing Charles Chaleau-Jean-Charles, aged 28, entrepreneur of marine construction, living in this town, a native of Les Saintes (Terre-de-Bas), legitimate son of Chaleau Jean-Charles, marine carpenter and of Marie Lucie, both living in Les Saintes.
All I was missing now was finding my connection from Emile Chaleau to this Charles Chaleau-Jean-Charles, could they be father and son? Or was this a completely different Chaleau family? What were the odds?!
Emile Alexandre Chaleau
Luckily for me, the ANOM (Archives Nationales d’Outre-Mer) I have come to fondly love and appreciate and use while searching for my French-creole ancestors. I was able to find a birth record easily for a “Chaleau, Emile Alexandre” born in Point-à-Pitre in 1880.
So let’s dig in!
Emile Alexandre Chaleau was born in Point-à-Pitre the 16th of March 1880 (yesterday since I’m currently writing this the 17th of March). He was born in the house of his father Chaleau, Joseph Vincent Charles, 31 years old, a marine carpenter and his wife Elise, Maria Louisieme, 29 years old, both living in Point-à-Pitre. Despite Emile’s father being Joseph Vincent Charles Chaleau I wasn’t discouraged – why? Because I already had Joseph listed as a son of Charles Chaleau-Jean-Charles!
Joseph Vincent Charles Chaleau was born in Point-à-Pitre the 13th of April 1849. Sadly his father would never actually get a chance to meet him because Charles Chaleau-Jean-Charles died just three short days before Joseph’s birth on the 10th of April 1849 in Point-à-Pitre. This means that Clémentine and Charles would only have been married for only one year and likely and from research this was their only child together before Charles’ untimely death. Also notice they were married in 1848, this was a pivotal year for those who were enslaved on the islands. My family in Martinique received freedom this year via French law yet my most of my Guadeloupe family was freed before 1848. Just an important year to have in mind while conducting French Caribbean genealogy research.
This would mean that Emile Alexandre Chaleau would be my 2x cousin 4x removed since we share my 4th great-grandparents Chaleau Jean-Charles and Marie Lucie.
How long however did Emile stay in Puerto Rico? Is there more evidence of him in Puerto Rico?
Searching for more Evidence
It seems that though Emile entered Puerto Rico in 1908 and his ultimate and final destination was to return to Point-à-Pitre though it seems he likely spent more time in Puerto Rico than originally expected. For example, I was able to identify a WWI Registration Card for Emile listed under the name “Emile Chaleau Alexandre”.
We can see above that he lists his country of origin as France (Guadeloupe) and his birthday as March 25, 1880 (which despite him being born the 16th of March, the 25th of March is the actual day he was registered in Point-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe. He lists himself as living on Calle Ponce de León 94 in Santurce, Puerto Rico and working as a chauffeur. He lists José M. Sojo/Soto?, a friend, living on Calle Allen 89 in San Juan, PR as his closest person.
Likely this means that Emile was still living in Puerto Rico between 1908 when he appears on the manifest record and on the WWI Registration card marked the 26th of October 1918. However, so far I have not been able to identify a 1910 U.S. Federal Census that lists Emile Chaleau in/around San Juan or Santurce. I have tried search for any “Emile” born in 1880 and living in San Juan (leaving out his surname) and trying various variations of Chaleau or even Alexandre (though Alexandre was his middle name we see it was used as a maternal surname on the WWI Registration Card). So far these searches have yielded no results. Another interesting piece of information is that before leaving Guadeloupe, Emile Chaleau had a son in Point-à-Pitre by the name of Pierre René Thècle Emile Chaleau.
There are two important features to notice here however – one I have boxed in red and the other is less subtle. The subtle one is that Pierre was originally listed with the surname “Louise”, his mother’s surname. This would mean that though Emile Chaleau appeared at his birth, his parents were not married in 1898 when he was born.
The second is what is boxed in red, it states that Pierre René Thècle Emile was recognized by Emile Alexandre Chaleau in Puerto Rico the 14th of September 1917 . This would mean that Emile (still in Puerto Rico it seems) somehow recognized the birth of his son Pierre. I’m not sure if Pierre went to Puerto Rico or how Emile got word that his son was to be recognized?
The record also states that Pierre René Thècle Emile Chaleau later would marry in Point-à-Pitre the 14th of April 1925 with Françoise Elisabeth Zélie Marie (the whole surname was Zélie Marie). So here we can see some inter-island exchange of birth, travel, residence, and recognizing/legitimizing a child. I wonder for what reason? I know that my 4th great-grandfather from Puerto Rico sent to be recognized in April 1869 that his first wife Françoise Jackson died in December 1865 from cholera in Guadeloupe, this I imagine was due to the fact that Gustave Jean- Charles would shortly marry Julienne Malvina Lautin in September 1869. Their first child, my 3rd great-grandmother María Paulina, was therefore born out of wedlock in 1867, yet her brother Tomás Octavio born in 1869 was a legitimate son.
I’d have to keep researching Emile to see what caused him to recognize Pierre René Thècle Emile as his son. The record below provides a possible answer.
Per the Archives Départementales de la Guadeloupe, it seems that around the same time that Pierre was being recognized by his father Emile Chaleau he was joining the French forces in the military – likely for War World I since he is listed as campagnes, Antilles en guerre du 11 mai 1917 au 12 fev. 1919 (Campaign, Antilles at War from 11 May 1917 to 12 Feb. 1919). The top left of the document mentions the same thing as his civil birth, that his father Emile Alexandre Chaleau residing in Puerto Rico recognized him in 1917. It seems that he did it via an act through the French consulate while in Puerto Rico. Could Pierre have wanted to recognize his father as legitimate so that if anything were to happen to him at war he could receive some sort of benefit? Not sure if this is possible but something that crossed my mind. Or was he forced to provide a father’s name as he enlisted?
What/Where to search next?
As many genealogists know, the search for an ancestor sometimes (and usually more often than not) isn’t so easily wrapped up and packaged – sometimes we are left with loose strings and ends to meet. For example, where did Emile Alexandre Chaleau pass away? Will I be able to find him on the 1910 Census in Puerto Rico? Did he travel again back to Guadeloupe at some point in between and then returned to Puerto Rico shortly before 1917 before recognizing his son Pierre? Did he ultimately return to Guadeloupe before passing away?
My goal now is to continue searching for Emile’s presence in Puerto Rico and see what happens. It’s interesting he was in San Juan because part of my Charles family would later move up in the 1920s-1930s – would they have crossed paths or known about each other’s existence? What a coincidence of life!