History of Edouard Drouillard

1861 Ontario Census - Sandwich West Twp

Last Name First Name Age Birth Place
Drouillard Edouard 51 Yrs Upper Canada
" Clara 36 Yrs Upper Canada
" Mary 21 Yrs Upper Canada
" Catherine 21 Yrs Upper Canada
" Joseph 17 Yrs Upper Canada
" Angelic 14 Yrs Upper Canada
" Florence 12 Yrs Upper Canada
" Angies 10 Yrs Upper Canada
" Amel 8 Yrs Upper Canada
" Eli 6 Yrs Upper Canada
" Ferdinand 3 Yrs Upper Canada
" Felix 2 Yrs Upper Canada

DROUILLARD, Edouard (father of Joseph Edward Drouillard) was in my "possibilities" folder for a time as there were too many missing bits of information about him. When I made the trip to the Monroe Library in Monroe Michigan looking for Joseph, his son, it seemed everything was also explained about Edouard and that all the pieces were starting to fit. Had I not found the marriage record for Edouard Drouillard and Clare Cousineau, I may not have come this far.

The marriage record I found in the St. Joseph, Erie parish records was Edouard's second marriage. It was written in Latin so roughly translated, it stated that Edouard was the Widower of Justine Cousineau, the son of Baptiste Drouillard and Catherine, he was 32 years old and that he lived in Sandwich. It also stated that Clare Cousineau was the widow of J. Baptiste Belcoure, the daughter of Basilie Cousineau and Marie Dusault, she was 25 years old and was from that area.

This would explain the gap in the baptisms of Edouard's children at Assumption. Both wives having the same last name, not seeing the second marriage record and Edouard moving to Canada in 1846 would explain how the entry in Denissen's "French Families" missed the second marriage and a couple children from that marriage.

However, the second marriage stated that Edouard's parents were Baptiste Drouillard and Catherine. Denissen stated that Edouard's parents were Louis Drouillard and Catherine Meloche. The second marriage record stated that Edouard was the widower of Justine Couisineau. The marriage record for Edouard and Justine Cousineau stated that Edouard's parents were Louis and Catherine Meloche. Nowhere could I find a marriage of a Baptiste Drouillard and a Catherine so I decided to mark the marriage record for Edouard Drouillard and Clare Cousineau to have a mistake.

One item Denissen didn't mention was Edouards birth. Estimating this to be about 1810, I had only a couple parishes to check. His baptism was finally found at St. Jean Baptiste, Amherstburg.

1870 Michigan Census - Blissfield Twp

Last Name First Name Age Birth Place
Drewyar Edward 58 Yrs Canada
" Clara 51 Yrs Michigan
" Miles 16 Yrs Canada
" Eli 14 Yrs Canada
" Eugene 13 Yrs Canada
" Felix 11 Yrs Canada

Several months later, when my research was beingfinalized and organized into a nice Family History book, I was contacted by someone who copied information out of the 1870 Michigan Census for Blissfield Township, Lenawee County regarding Edouard. At first the information was questionable but with all things considered, I claimed this information also.

In a nutshell, Edouard Drouillard was baptized at St. Jean Baptiste, Amherstburg, married Justine Cousineau at Assumption, Sandwich, had 2 children, moved to around Erie, Michigan (I presume after Justine passed away), married Clare Cousineau at St. Joseph, Erie, Michigan, had 2 or 3 children, moved back to Ontario, had a few more children and finally moved back to the USA. That's when Joseph met Emilie Lapointe, married her and moved back to Ontario.

Joseph Louis Drouillard
Baptism of Edouard Drouillard
Son of Louis Drouillard and Catherine Meloche
04 Jan 1811
Joseph Louis Drouillard
Marriage of Edouard Drouillard and Justine Cousineau
Assumption, Sandwich
09 Feb 1836
Joseph Louis Drouillard
Marriage of Edouard Drouillard and Clare Cousineau
St. Joseph, Erie, Michigan
27 Jan 1843
New entry: Denissen, French Families of the Detroit River Region Page 378

39. EDWARD5 DROUILLARD (Louis4 Simon Amable3 John2 Simon1)
      b 03 Jan 1811, bap 04 Jan 1811 St. Jean Baptiste, Amherstburg, m 1st 09 Feb 1836
      Assumption Sandwich JUSTINE COUSINEAU, b there 19 Mar 1820 dau of John
      Baptist Cousineau and Archange Carond dit Cabanac.
      m 2nd 27 Jan 1843 St. Joseph Vienna (Erie County, Michigan) CLAIRE COUSINEAU,
      b 20 May 1818 dau of Basilie Cousineau and Marie Dusault.

      Children by Justine Cousineau baptized at Assumption:
            i. Mary Justine bp 2 Jun 1838 Assumption
           ii. Catherine bp 23 May 1841 Assumption

      Children by Claire Cousineau:
          iii. Josephus b 20 Mar 1844 bap 01 Apr 1844 St. Joseph, Erie County, Michigan
          iv. Angelic b 28 Jan 1846 bap 30 Jan 1846 St. Joseph, Erie County, Michigan
           v. Mary Flavia b 13 Jun 1849
          vi. Ignatius b 16 Dec 1850, 17 Dec 1850 Assumption
         vii. Alexander b 23 Aug 1852 bur 3 Feb 1853 Assumption
        viii. Emile b 9 Nov 1853 bap 10 Nov 1853 Assumption
          ix. Hilary b 28 Mar 1855 bap 30 Mar 1855 Assumption
           x. Cesarius Ferdinand b 3 Feb 1858 bap 04 Feb 1858 Assumption
69.     xi. Felix Remi b 27 May 1859 bap 31 May 1859 Assumption

More information about Edouard's family can be found here: Edouard5