Ancestry Keeps Renewing/Alexandre Desrochers

I got into contact with a church that has burial records of my Great Grandfather, Alexander Stone, except this time, his name is Alexandre Desrochers. Goodie! Another version of a name! I can't believe how many different names one person can have when they're bouncing back and forth!


I'm also dealing with Ancestry woes. I paid for a month of World membership and the account information said it'd expire at the end of the month. After the month passed, I found out it automatically renewed. No problem. I found more information and then made it a point to cancel my subscription before the end of April. To my horror, I found out that it's been automatically renewed again.

I went through the whole cancellation process, again, and it said I don't qualify for a refund. I get to enjoy it straight to the end of May. Oy... It better end here.

Mail has arrived!

I was beginning to think that I'd be receiving two "No Record Found!" today but thankfully, my two requests to the state of Vermont has both been good.

Linda Lee Derouchie
Date of Death: December 19, 1949
Disease directly leading to death: Asphyxiation, accidental

How did injury occur?: While sleeping



Wow... Just six days before Christmas. That had to have been the worst Christmas for my grandparents. I wonder if my grandmother always thought about Linda every Christmas.



Marriage Certificate
For my paternal Grandparents:

MARRIAGE - GROOM
Name of Groom: Robert Wilbur Smith
Name of Bride: Elizabeth Marie Rivait Lovely
Residence of Groom: Vergennes, Vermont
Date blood test was done: November 2, 1945
Date of Marriage: November 11, 1945
Occupation: Electrician
Number of Marriage: 3
Widowed/Divorced: Divorced
Place of Birth: Addison, Vermont
Age in Years: 28
Father's Name: Wilbur E. Smith - Birthplace: Addison
Mother's name: Anna McEvila - Birthplace: Addison
Place of Marriage: New Haven, VT




All that's left is to wait for a letter from St. Peter's - assuming anyone ever responds to it and helps me out.

Two more requests...

I made out two more requests today. One for Linda Derouchie's death certificate - in hopes of trying to find out where she is buried. The other is for a marriage certificate of my paternal grandparents, Robert Smith & Elizabeth Rivait.

Linda Lee Derouchie

I got her birth certificate today. I guess my mother was right after all after a sibling born after her.

Place of Birth: Chittenden - Burlington
Usual residence of mother: Vermont - Chittenden
City or Town: South Burlington
Sex: Female
Legitimate: Yes
Weight at Birth: 8lbs
Name: Linda Lee Derouchie
Birthdate: October 11, 1949
Father: LIVING - Age 19
Mother: Thelma Ruth Hayes - Age 19

Birth Certificates - Thelma Hayes and LIVING Derouchie

My maternal grandparents' birth certificates arrived in the mail - his yesterday and hers today. It's pretty neat to have their birth certificates. The information on them is quite interesting!

LIVING Derouchie's parents:
Alex Louis Derouchie - born in Canada
Katharine Sophrona Abare - born in Shelburne, Chittenden County, Vermont

Thelma Ruth Hayes' parents:
James Edward Hayes - born in South Burlington, Chittenden County, Vermont
Dorothy Wood - born in Springfield, Windsor County, Vermont

Linda Derouchie

I made out another request that'll be sent out tomorrow. This time for a birth certificate of Linda Derouchie who died a few months old back in 1949 or 1950. My mother has been calling around to see if anyone remembers her. Her father doesn't recall much except he knew the name of a funeral home, Lavigne Funeral Home in Winooski, Vermont. She was also supposedly buried in Mount Calvary Cemetery in Burlington, Vermont.

She then called her aunt and she remembered. She must've been around eight or so... She said she remembers everyone crying and there was a little white casket. There's some speculation going on. It might've been crib death but there's something about how the poor baby may have been accidentally smothered to death when they slept in bed that night. I'm not really sure.

Some of us suspect that Linda may not have her own tombstone. There's a possibility that a wooden cross was set up for her... or perhaps an obscure marker... and no one ever went back to give her a proper tombstone. I think if we find her and it is true that she doesn't have anything, my parents may buy one for her.

Birth Certificates

Called a handful of town clerks in Vermont yesterday. Managed to track down birth certificates of my paternal grandfather, Smith, and my maternal grandparents, LIVING Derouchie and Hayes. I tried Vergennes, Addison, and Waltham to try to find a birth certificate for my paternal grandmother, Elizabeth Rivait, but no go.

The town clerks gave me information so I sent out three envelopes today to get copies of birth certificates. May have to go another route to try to find my paternal grandmother's bc.

Discovering an Aunt

My mother called a Great Grand Aunt, who is the daughter of Zenas Wood, to get information about her children and her siblings. We knew at least of twelve siblings that this Great Grand Aunt had. She said that there was actually fifteen of them altogether. Unfortunately, she came along so late that she has no idea who her earlier siblings were.

This got me to talking with my mother. If I discovered that I had fourteen siblings or more, I'd sit her down with a great big notepad and get all the information I could out of her on who they were and when they were born. Not because of genealogy but because this is my family.

Suddenly, my mother revealed something that was a total surprise for me. Apparently, she had a sister named Linda who was born after her. She died a few months old from crib death. My mother said she never thought about it until now.