L'Anse
Creuse Register
Father G.J. Boheme
translated and made available to Mount Clemens Public Library by Lorelei Maison Rockwell
An excellent book and rarely used resource has come to the attention of a few genealogical researchers. Because it is little known, is written in a cramped and difficult style, and is unindexed, its contents have not found their way into the established genealogical literature.
Father Ghislenus J. Boheme, a Belgian priest, was assigned to the Northeast Coast of Detroit from 1833 until 1841. What remains of his records - baptisms and marriages almost exclusively - are translated here. The original register is in the Archives at Notre Dame University. A copy is in the Archives of the Archdiocese of Detroit, among the nonchancery records and personal papers of Reverend George Pare. This copy was apparently made when Father Pare was preparing his outstanding work, The Catholic Church in Detroit, 1701-1788, published in 1951.
The surname spellings here have been standardized to conform with those in Father Christian Denissen's French Families of the Detroit River Region, 1701-1936. If there appears to be any question of the actual name, the name as written by Father Boheme has been placed in parentheses following the standardized spelling. In many entries the names of witnesses or sponsors have been left as recorded by the priest.
While it was impossible to work from the original register, in most cases the work photocopy was adequate. In a few instances, the entries were partially illegible. Also, a very few of the entries seem to have been made later than the initial ones, but all entries appear to be in the same handwriting. A number of locations familiar to users of Denissen appear in this manuscript:
--a la Saline, Belle River, Black River, Grand Marais, Pointe aux Roches, Pointe Gigoulette, Riviere a la Tranche, Riviere aux Cignes, St. Francois de Sales.
Most of the families whose life events Father Boheme solemnized appear in Denissen, but a great majority of the actual baptisms and marriages are entirely new and represent an important addition to the mostly French-Canadian material which has been published to date.
The register contains records for several parishes served by Father Boheme.
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