My Gagne Ancestry

 

My 8th Great Grandfather, Louis Gagne. Page photographed courtesy of Ancestors Park historical archives
located near the Sainte-Famille Church, Île-d'Orléans, Quebec [1]

I like to say, "If you don't know how to pronounce Gagne, think champagne."

Not that it is pronounced "gain", but that is its essence. Think champagne means think French. But as you can see, there have been many variations of my ancestral surname. 

My mother was born Ruth Carrol Gagne. She told me such loving stories of her daddy, I have a bond with him through her. Sadly, he died before I was born. 

I felt compelled by a thirst for knowledge about him and learned all that I could from ancestry records about his parents and siblings. It was a discovery of the source of my resilience and creativity. My mother was the first most resourceful person in my life. 

Augustin and Minnie Gagne with their children in 1913, Sanford, Maine

Joseph Albert Gagne, my maternal grandfather, was born on Valentine's Day in 1905. No birth record found, but according to 1910 US Census, 5-year-old Albert Gagne lived with his parents, Augustin, 47, and Hermine ["Minnie"], 38, and siblings: Aldorilda ["Dora"] 16, Rosie 13, Florence 12, Cyrille 10, Edna, 8, and Alice, 4. His older brother, Joseph, drowned shortly before his sixteenth birthday in 1907, due to cramps in the cold deep water of the mill pond above Maine Alpaca Co. in Springvale. My grandfather -- Mom's Daddy was two years old when this loss gripped the family. Too young to remember, but certainly impressionable, and it was likely a grief that lingered. You can see it in their faces in 1913, when this family portrait was taken. These are the surviving children, out of twenty children born to Augustin and Minnie Gagne. 

I wonder if they spoke of Joseph. I wonder what little Albert knew and how he knew it. What did his siblings tell him, if anything? My mother did not talk about her parents when I was a kid. Their loss was too painful. The only reason I knew she had parents is that everyone does! But questions about them were discouraged with a soft, gentle whisper, a slight shake of the head, very early on, when kids start asking these questions, by older siblings who knew it made mommy cry. When I grew up and searched for details about them, it made me cry, too. 

Joseph Albert Gagne had two daughters, Gloria and Ruth (my mother). For this reason, I adopted my mother's maiden name as my pen name, as early as 1985, when I registered my first science fiction novel with the US Copyright Office (originally titled The Ills of Saardu, now known as The Genius of Saardu, a better reflection of a story that revolves around the first genius in the natural evolution of that planet). 

Available from Amazon and other ebook retailers and libraries 

From my research, I learned that Albert left Maine at the age of 19, next stop Fort Douglas, Salt Lake City, Utah. Apparently he joined the Army, though I could not find a military record. Only public records:

1. Salt Lake City, Utah, 1925 Directory lists Albert Gagne as a Pet at Ft Douglas
2. Sanford, Maine, 1925 Directory lists several of the Gagne family as workers at local mills and factories, and specifically says that Albert Gagne, shoeworker, moved to Salt Lake City, Utah

I learned from my mother's stories that her father adored her mother and doted on his daughters. He made furniture. He made a playhouse and little doll furniture. He repaired her shoes, she recalled vividly, her memory of watching him create new soles for her shoes. He made a wide poodle skirt for my mother -- they were a fashion favorite when she was a young girl. 

When I discovered this portrait of Sylvia Dorothy Tietjen, it was easy to imagine him falling in love with her, courting her, and ways they could have met. I wrote about this in my family love story, Albert Loved Sylvia, available from Amazon and other ebook retailers and libraries.

These family love stories were displayed at my mother's funeral, thanks to my baby sister, Suki Chan Morrey 

As you can see, my mother married a Chan. Her memories of him and of her parents and childhood are preserved in the above books, available in print and digital. I have written extensively about my wonderful, amazing Dad, my beloved Chinese stepfather, John Wang Leong Chan, affectionately called "Jon-Jon" by all who loved him as a local chef and restaurant owner in St. George, Utah. 

This is why my pen name is Carma Gagne Chan. And if you still don't know how to pronounce Gagne, don't worry about it. Just think champagne. Don't get hung up about it. It's my French-Canadian-American grandfather's name. I carry his legacy. ❤

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[1] More about Louis Gagne and Marie Michel, Quebec: https://fondationfrancoislamy.com/fr/maison-de-nos-aieux/locations
[2] Author: Carma Gagne Chan at Amazon and Books2Read

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