There’s a handy-dandy feature on Ancestry‘s app that keeps the user up to date on birthdays and anniversaries. As long as the person is in your family tree, their name will pop up a day or two before that special day to remember.

Noticing that Grandma Vayo‘s maternal grandparents’ anniversary was today, it felt like a good time to write about them.

Only their anniversary was yesterday.

That’s according to one document: Onze Juillet. Another marriage document: Douze Juillet.

Onze ou douze? Eleventh or twelfth? At last, the French part of my double-major is coming in handy. C’est bien!

Let’s introduce the happy couple:

Thomas E. Hurley was born on May 13, 1839. He was the second youngest of Michael and Mary’s eight children. He was first-generation Quebecois, as his parents both emigrated from Ireland.

Clarense Mary “Clara” Delisle was five years younger than her husband. Born on January 22, 1844, she was also from Quebec.

Thomas and Clara married in 1869.

The wedding was either on July 11:

Or July 12:

Either way, they went on to have nine children.

That’s neuf enfants, if you’re playing along.

• Mary Ann “Maime” Hurley Gardner 1870-1948
• Catherine Philomene “Kate” Hurley Turgeon 1871-1950
• Joseph Michael Hurley 1873-1958
• Rosanna Wilhemine Hurley McCarthy 1874-1961
• Jane Anne “Jennie” Hurley Plante Scott 1876-1952
• Francis Xavier “Frank” Hurley 1878-1934
• Clarence “Clara” Hurley 1880-1939
• Matilda Josephine “Tilly” Hurley 1883-1957
• James Alfred “Fred” Hurley 1885-1945

Dad’s “Grandma Jennie” was the middle child.

The newlyweds moved in with the groom’s parents, who were both in their 70s. Their profession? Cultivateur! Yes, they were farmers.

Although Thomas’s parents lived well into their 80s, the same could not be said for the next generation.

Clara passed away on October 1, 1891. She was just 47.

Thomas followed on June 11, 1895. He was 53.

One other tidbit of information I found: Thomas was a member of the Wolfestown Infantry Company from December 5, 1868 through 1871. I had to squelch a snort when I saw the name of the military official credited with signing him up: John Baron. (This is one of those if-you-know-you-know things. Mille pardons, arrière-arrière-grand-père.)

A number of the Hurley children immigrated to the United States over the years – Maine, Massachusetts, even California – but Thomas and Clara stayed in Canada.

And here they rest, in Quebec’s Cimetière Saint-Julien.

Joyeux anniversaire de mariage!

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