Genealogy Blog
This is a tribute to my father’s craftsmanship fifty years after we undertook a father-son project to build an astronomical telescope in 1975.
Fifty Years 1975 – 2025
This is a Richest Field Telescope (RFT). Its large achromatic objective lens (5”) and short focal length (24-3/4”) makes it ideal as a “comet hunter.” It has a wide-field of view (4°), low-power magnification (16.5x) and excellent light-gathering ability (f/5). It was constructed as a father-son project by my father John E. “Jack” Voisin (1925-1994) and me, John M. “Mike” Voisin.
Continue reading “Our Richest Field Telescope”At long last I discovered the parents of my great-grandfather Joseph Voisin (1855-1916) of Beal City, Michigan. Here I describe my initial findings about his birth, childhood and teenage years in Welland County, Ontario.
The childhood of my great-grandfather, Joseph Voisin (1855-1916), remained a stubborn mystery after many years of genealogy research. In other essays I described the known facts and many hypotheses. I explored genetic genealogy and used DNA testing to identify numerous distant cousins. However the lack of traditional genealogical evidence like birth, marriage, and census records did not shed light on Joseph’s birth or who his parents were.
Until now. While analyzing my DNA test results, I noticed several distant matches who did not fit my known family tree. I had to determine their lineages based on scant information. Next I found matches we shared in common and I determined their lineages too. I began to identify more and more distant cousins who descend from one man, Theobald Koebel.1
My great-grandfather Joseph Voisin wrote in his journal from Netherby, Ontario in 1875. I investigate the former village for clues about his parents and childhood.
When my great-grandfather Joseph Voisin (1858-1916) was 17 he wrote a whimsical poem in his journal. He signed his name and indicated he was at Netherby, Ontario on November 19, 1875. I’ve yet to discover who his parents were so here I explore the former village of Netherby for clues.
Continue reading “Netherby, Ontario”
My autosomal DNA test results indicate I’m 98% European, which is further broken down to 49% British Isles, 36% East Europe, 9% Iberia and 4% Scandinavia. The remaining trace 2% is either Southeast Europe or simply “noise,” which is unexplained variations in the data.
Ethnicity predictions depend on many factors and are only approximate. They represent similarities of my DNA, my past really, with representative samples from modern populations. The ethnicity map does agree strikingly with my mother’s lineage. Her father’s side was likely from Scotland and her mother’s side is proven to be from Hungary and Slovakia. However, I inherited roughly 50% of my autosomal DNA from my father. That means my father’s side is also some combination of this very same ethnic mix, with a little Spanish (9%) and Scandinavian (4%) thrown in somewhere.
A tattered ship’s passenger list from 1832 shows a mysterious Voisin family. The vague reference was not enough to identify my ancestors—until now.
I am related to Peter Joseph Voisin (1807-1892), the patriarch of the Voisin families of Waterloo County, Ontario, near Kitchener. This was proven by a Y-chromosome DNA match between me and a known descendant of the Kitchener Voisins, Clifton Voisin. I also determined Peter Joseph’s sister Maria Anne Voisin (1798-1879) immigrated to Waterloo county. The next piece of the puzzle was a family connection to Buffalo, New York. That’s where I found a third sibling, Henry Joseph Voisin (1801-?) and his family, in Welland County, Ontario, just across the Niagara River from Buffalo.
Thanks to my cousin Magdalena Voisin, I found more Voisin ancestors. I may be closer to identifying the parents of my great-grandfather, Joseph Voisin, of Beal City, Michigan.
I would like to take this opportunity to recognize Magdalena Voisin. She helped me find Joseph and Anne Voisin, who were my ancestors, and quite possibly my great great-grandparents. She provided such a big clue for a little girl only eleven years old. You see, she was born about 1841.
The Buffalo Connection
Magdalena was listed in the 1851 Canadian census 2 for Waterloo County in the household of Peter Joseph Voisin (1807-1892), the patriarch of all the Voisin families near Kitchener, Ontario. (The family is listed as “Wisong” in that census.) She was probably not his daughter however. Instead her usual residence was “Buffalo.” She was probably visiting the family and was from Buffalo, New York. This fits with another clue from the obituary of one of Peter Joseph’s sons, Anthony. It indicates his parents walked to Buffalo annually to visit relatives. 3
The lady in the book turns out to be my ancestor, but with a surprising twist. Her story is one of hard work, hardships and perseverance.
To find the ancestors of my great-grandfather Joseph Voisin (1858-1916) in connection with the Ontario patriarch, Peter Joseph Voisin (1807-1892), it helps to research other families in the area that may be related. They can help me “triangulate” in on my direct-line ancestors. With a little detective work, one such family proved to be a surprising discovery.
An early settler in Waterloo County, Ontario was Maria Voisin, and her son August Voisin, who was a tailor. A reference to her and her son is found in a history of the Catholic Church in Waterloo County. 4 The reference indicates she was present in or before 1850 and it includes a picture of Madame Voisin herself. I suspected she was related by marriage to Peter Joseph Voisin (1807-1892), and was perhaps his sister-in-law.
Great-grandfather Joseph Voisin: A case for genetic genealogy.
My paternal great-grandfather, Joseph Voisin was probably born January 10, 1858. For twenty-five years I’ve tried unsuccessfully to discover where he was born and who his parents were. I turn now to genetic genealogy, to both autosomal DNA and Y-DNA testing. Hopefully it will provide the additional clues needed to solve this mystery once and for all.
I have written about my “brick wall” (Brick by Brick Part 1, Brick by Brick Part 2). Here is a quick summary.
The names of Joseph Voisin’s parents are unknown, but his father’s name could also be Joseph Voisin. 5 He perhaps lived for a time near St. Clements, which is near Kitchener, Ontario. There are several Voisin families in this area today. They are descendants of the patriarch Joseph Voisin (1805/7-1892). However there is no evidence yet that links our Joseph to these families.
As a descendant I am of course detached from the ancestors I never met. I’ve undoubtedly inherited their physical characteristics and probably even their mannerisms. My history is somehow connected to them. I am their future. We also share a common future, one none of us has lived, or will live, to see.
Thus I think it’s fun to see what once was, and what it has become. I inherited this sense from my mother, Ruth (Stewart) Voisin, who always took time to connect the present to the past. Here she is as a twenty-year old standing with a friend in Pensacola, Florida and later, at the exact same spot, in her late fifties. It is not the plaque she is revisiting, it is a particular moment from her past, a memory of who she was, and who she had become. It is a connection in time at an ordinary place she went out of her way to revisit.
An article in the August 12, 1863 edition of the Buffalo Daily Courier lists names selected for conscription in the federal army during the Civil War. 6 Included was the town of Alden, near Buffalo in Erie County, New York. A Jacob Yuncker is listed among the 57 names selected in the previous day’s draft.
Since he was living in Alden, this is very likely my second great-grandfather, Jacob P. Yuncker. In the 1855 New York state census, 17 year old Jacob is listed as living in Alden with his parents Hubert and Barbara Yuncker. 7 A few years later, several tax assessment rolls 8 from the Internal Revenue Service show Jacob P. Yuncker paid taxes on boots and shoes, which were probably part of his shoe making business. These rolls span from September 1862 to June 1863 and they show his business was at Alden, New York. Jacob was a shoemaker like his father Hubert.
It’s been one hundred thirty-one years now. Proof enough that death does do us part, but that love lives on and never fails.
This story begins in 1881 when Mr. Jacob Yuncker purchased farm land near Beal City, Michigan. It happened to be across the road from a then 23-year old pioneer farmer named Joseph Voisin. Mr. Yuncker had a daughter, Mary Ann. She lived with her extended family on her grandparent’s farm down in Westphalia, Michigan near St. Johns.
Mary probably visited her father in Beal City and at some point she met Joe Voisin. They probably met a few times more. Joe played music at Indian dances and at square-dances. Mary attended some of these social gatherings, but since Joe was playing, they couldn’t spend much time together. This probably went on for some months.
Another of my great-granduncles, Louis William Yuncker (1877-1963), was my paternal great-grandmother’s younger brother. He is mentioned in his mother’s 1921 obituary as living in Saginaw, Michigan. A quick search online revealed unique items with a connection to the past.
Two trade tokens bear the name L. W. Yuncker’s. 9 It turns out Louis William Yuncker owned a meat market in Saginaw. He undoubtedly used these very same tokens in the family business.
circa 1923
One of my great-granduncles, John Ernest Yuncker (1881-1962), was my paternal great-grandmother’s younger brother. He is mentioned in his mother’s 1921 obituary as living in Los Angeles, California. I had found him listed in the California death index years ago, but I never traced him further. I recently did so and I found that he made quite a name for himself and even had a brush with history.
Here are photographs of the Rademacher family contributed recently by cousin Heather J. You can learn more about these individuals by exploring the Lorenz and Louisa Rademacher family group sheet. (Click on a thumbnail below for a larger view.)
One of the advantages of having your own family history website is cousin-bait. That’s when a distant cousin searches the Internet for their ancestors and finds their family names at your website. This often results in new information and leads for both parties.
I’m excited to say it’s happened again. This time I’ve heard from cousin Heather J. on my paternal grandmother Rademacher’s side of the family. Heather generously shared several old photographs she inherited from her grandmother, Evelyn Earl.
