Finding French Roots

On Wednesday, our third day of the trip, but our first real day of sight-seeing (you "loose" a day on the way over), we had a nice buffet breakfast in our hotel in Besancon. To give you a general idea where we were at, Besancon is about 215 miles east of Paris. From there, we headed out to find a very small village, Viethorey, in the hills of the Franche-Comte region in France. Viethorey is about 14 miles from Besancon. This region is very close to the Alsace region and it offers beautiful country sides,strong traditions and folklore. There is a strong local accent to the French language. The local cuisine is excellent, with cheese being an important ingredient.

After getting off the major highway and venturing into the countryside, I had moments of wondering if we would find Viethorey. After many twists and turns, and rolling hills, we saw a welcome site!

So, we knew we were on the right track. Even though it was a gray, rainy day, the weather couldn't spoil my delight! As an amateur genealogist, I have been researching the my husband's family - the Schenher/Girardot line - for several years. Gabriel Girardot is my husband's great-great-grandfather, his daughter, Elizabeth, or "Eliza," is Stan's great-grandmother. Eliza married Charles Schenher, also from France, in 1860 at Avilla, Indiana (Noble County) and they set up residence at Ege also. Charles is Stan's great-grandfather.

I had found that the Girardots had originally lived in Viethorey before coming to America. I had thought that the Schenhers had lived there also, but I now think they came from another area in France...still working on that link. Our first glispe of Viethorey was just how I pictured it. Maybe a little poorer, run down, but still a quaint old small village.

The story is that Gabriel Girardot, along with his family, came to the US in the mid 1800's and settled in Noble County, Indiana. The area where they settled became know as the Girard Settlement. Gabriel had promised to build a Catholic Church in the US in praise of his family's safe passage and start in their new country. He held to his vows and built a frame church near his homeplace. The church eventually burnt down and was relocated down the road at an intersection. It has had several fires over its history, the most recent being about 20 years ago. Each time the parishioners have had sure it was returned to its original glory - if not better. The name of the church is Immaculate Conception and the name of the Girard Settlement was changed years ago to Ege - pronounced Egg-ie - after Fr. Francis Ege, a popular priest who served there many years.

As far as our branch of the family, no one seemed to know much about the Schenher and Girardot families before they came to America, so stopping in Viethorey was a good starting point to hopefully gather a little more information.

First glimpses of Viethorey.

The church where I suspect Gabriel Girardot attended. They currently

have Mass just once a month.

Another view of the church.

This monument, on the side of the church, was in honor of the Viethorey residents who were killed in WW I and II. We knew we were in the right place when the very first name on the monument under those killed during WW I was "Xavier Girardot."

We decided to drive around and see if we could find the cemetery, which we did. Of course, as luck would have it, my batteries died in my camera and it was starting to rain harder by then. Luckily, my sister took pictures of the cemetery for me, which I will post later. Our adventure had just begun in Viethorey!