Philippe, Joseph
Joseph Philippe married Marie Elisabeth Philippe in 1851. They were married in Morges, Carroll, Ohio, USA. Joseph is enumerated with the family in the 1850 census as a farm hand. According to my grandmother, Elisabeth was 4′ 6″ tall and had bright red hair.
After having two children, the young couple moved from Morges, Carroll, Ohio to Saint Wendel Township, Stearns, Minnesota in 1855. On their way there, their third child was born “on the Mississippi”. That daughter is my second great grandmother. No location on the river was given but it’s thought that they may have camped through winter in the area of St. Cloud, Stearns, Minnesota on the banks of the river.
My grandmother and her sister, Margaret and Bertha Atckison, told me many times what they heard about their great grandfather. It came from their grandmother, Magdalena Philippe, who was his third born child. They said he held hopes of returning to France in glory and wealth. Those hopes were dashed with the outcome of the Franco Prussian War.
They also said he made quite big deal about being from Strasbourg not the country like his wife’s family. In fact, the 1880 US Census shows his birth place as Strasbourg and his wifes as Alsace (or more accurately Bas-Rhin Department of France). Also, he qualified how they were different Philippe families, which nobody really sorted out back then.
The photograph appears to have been taken around 1880. That would mean those in the photograph are (from left to right): Francis Xavier [1875], Joseph (Eugene Henri) [1817], Anna [1871], Henry [1867], Philomena [1877], Mary Elisabeth [1834], and Peter [1869]. The older children aren’t in the photograph, like my 2nd Great Grandmother who was remarried to David Fern at this point in time.
This information proved very helpful in finding his birth records. By inspecting the post Napoleonic records in Strasbourg, I did an complete search from 1810 to 1830 and found only four births for the surname Philippe in Strasbourg. Only one birth was close to the birth month and year provided by my grandmother of February 1818. That birth was for Eugene Henri Desire Philippe, the son of a Knight of the Royal Order of the Legion of Honor. He worked for Vandelin Philippe (who may be a distant cousin) in Morges, Carroll, Ohio before marrying his daughter Marie Elisabeth in 1851. They moved from Ohio to Minnesota between 1854 and 1855.
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Eugene Henri Desire (Joseph) Philippe
Born: 6 Feb 1817, Strasbourg, Bas-Rhin, France
Married: 13 Jan 1851, Morges, Carroll, Ohio
Died: 7 Oct 1896, Saint Wendel Township, Stearns, Minnesota -
Marie Elisabeth Philippe
Born: 30 May 1834, Lichtenberg, Bas-Rhin, France
Died: 26 Jan 1901, Saint Wendel Township, Stearns, Minnesota
The suspected relationship between Eugene and Marie correlates to Eugene’s great grandfather Francois Philippe. Francois was a Sergeant in the Royal Army and while his birth location is listed as Cartigny L’Epinay, Calvados, France. That’s an assumption based on his children’s place of birth (owing to convention of genealogical reseach). No records remain for the Vandelin’s parish before 1794. Vandelin was born in Reipertswiiler, Bas-Rhin, France, which was in the vicinity of battles fought during the 7 years war. Many soldiers were recruited into the Royal French Army from the Alasce Region during the 17th and 18th centuries because the area had a high population and lacked opportunities.
Joseph’s parents were:
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Henri Joseph Philippe
Born: 17 May 1786, Rouen, Seine-Inferieure, France
Married: 15 Jan 1814, Strasbourg, Bas-Rhin, France
Died: -
Anne Marie Pierret
Born: 29 Sep 1787, Strasbourg, Bas-Rhin, France
Died:
After Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo, Joseph’s father appealed to Louis the 18th for his pension benefits and apparently became part of the government in Strasbourg. This alignment seemed odd until I discovered a direct male ancestor as a non-commissioned officer in the Royal Army.
Why he changed his first name is an enigma but according to my grandmother he fled France as the revolutions began that would form the second republic in 1848. His granddaughter told my grandmother and her sister that he corresponded with Royalist interests up until the formation of the third republic in 1870. As Napoleon III formed a new republic he resigned himself to live and die in the USA.
Who are these children and who did they marry? They’re listed below with the surname spelling Phillippi in parentheses. This appears as the spelling in many nineteenth century Minnesota records. The family seem to have adopted Philippi as the spelling later. This variant is closer to the German spelling of the name. Also, nicknames are italicized and in double quotes:
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Joseph Philippe (Phillippi)
Born: 12 Mar 1852, Morges, Carroll, Ohio
Married:
Died: 16 Jun 1924, Saint Joseph, Stearns, Minnesota -
Maria Philippe (Phillippi)
Born: 16 Mar 1854, Morges, Carroll, Ohio
Married: Not Married, Nun
Died: 15 Dec 1937, Saint Joseph, Stearns, Minnesota -
Magdalena “Emma” Philippe (Phillippi)
Born: 28 Apr 1855, On the Mississippi, Minnesota
Married Whom: Oscar E. Johnson
Married When: 12 Mar 1878, Minneapolis, Hennipen, Minnesota
Died: 26 Jul 1940, Saint Joseph, Stearns, Minnesota -
Elizabeth Philippe (Phillippi)
Born: 30 Jun 1857, Saint Joseph, Stearns, Minnesota
Christened: 1 Jul 1857, Saint Joseph, Stearns
Married Whom: John Sand
Married When: 13 Apr 1875, Saint Joseph, Stearns, Minnesota
Died: 4 Feb 1933, Saint Joseph, Stearns, Minnesota -
Barbara Catherine Philippe (Phillippi)
Born: 9 Mar 1859, Saint Joseph, Stearns, Minnesota
Married: Not married, Nun
Died: 12 Mar 1930, Saint Joseph, Stearns, Minnesota -
Rosina Philippe (Phillippi)
Born: Feb 1861, Saint Joseph, Stearns, Minnesota
Married Whom: Anton Boemer
Married When: 6 Oct 1880, Saint Joseph, Minnesota
Died: 3 Aug 1945, Saint Joseph, Stearns, Minnesota -
John Philippe (Phillippi)
Born: 29 Jul 1863, St Joseph, Stearns, Minnesota
Married Whom: Lucy Hemmert
Married When: 30 Sep 1884, St Joseph, Stearns, Minnesota
Died: 29 Jul 1937, St Joseph, Stearns, Minnesota -
Henry Philippe (Phillippi)
Born: 12 Jan 1867, St Joseph, Stearns, Minnesota
Married Whom: Otillia Hemmert
Married When: 18 Feb 1890, St Joseph, Stearns, Minnesota
Died: 4 Nov 1963, St Joseph, Stearns, Minnesota -
Peter Philippe (Phillippi)
Born: 29 Aug 1869, St Joseph, Stearns, Minnesota
Married Whom:
Died: 5 Jan 1957, St Joseph, Stearns, Minnesota -
Anna Philippe (Phillippi)
Born: 18 Jun 1871, St Joseph, Stearns, Minnesota
Married Whom: George Klein
Married When: Abt 1892, St Joseph, Stearns, Minnesota
Died: 12 Apr 1949, St Joseph, Stearns, Minnesota -
Francis Xavier Philippe (Phillippi)
Born: 12 May 1875, St Joseph, Stearns, Minnesota
Married Whom:
Died: 10 Jun 1924, St Joseph, Stearns, Minnesota -
Philomena Philippe (Phillippi)
Born: 10 Jan 1877, St Joseph, Stearns, Minnesota
Married Whom: Haralmbos Koutchuveris
Died: 18 Mar 1958, St Joseph, Stearns, Minnesota
Magdalena’s first marriage was short-lived and she was divorced by 1879. It produced one daughter, Elizabeth Johnson. Magdalena then married David Fern, and had nine more children. Her first daughter, Elizabeth Johnson, married John Atckison; and they are my great grandparents.
Elizabeth’s husband John Sand is most likely a descendant of the same Sand family that lived in Lichtenberg, Bas-Rhin, France. Next time I’m in the LDS Family History Library in Salt Lake City, I may do some additional research to extend that line in case distant cousins ask.