{"id":693,"date":"2016-02-16T10:18:31","date_gmt":"2016-02-16T16:18:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/iseeancestors.com\/comm\/?p=693"},"modified":"2022-03-17T13:05:26","modified_gmt":"2022-03-17T19:05:26","slug":"in-the-shadow-of-what-was","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iSeeAncestors.com\/comm\/2016\/02\/16\/in-the-shadow-of-what-was\/","title":{"rendered":"In the Shadow of What Was"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"MomAs 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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

As much as I might want to meet my ancestors, it is only possible through a similar connection in time, and a visit to a particular place.  Take for instance the homestead of my great-grandparents, Joseph and Mary (Yuncker) Voisin<\/a>.  They had a 40-acre farm near Beal City, Michigan.  Today, nothing remains of the home where they cleared the forest, made a farm, and raised eleven children.<\/p>\n

\"Voisin
Site of Voisin homestead, 2015<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

These aerial views from 1981 show buildings that have since been demolished. <\/span>1<\/sup><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

\"Aerial
Aerial view, looking east, 1981<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Both the house and barn were built in 1900.  The porch on the house was added in 1907.<\/p>\n

\"Aerial
Aerial view, looking west, 1981<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Old photographs reveal the house and barn shown in the aerial views are indeed the original structures.  Below is a view of the house showing the same porch.<\/p>\n

\"Voisin
Voisin homestead, about 1912<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Next is a postcard photograph showing the house from a distance, and some of the outbuildings on the site.  Outbuildings included a dairy barn, grain barn, tool shed, root cellar, garage, hen house, chicken coop, and wood shed. <\/span>2<\/sup><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

\"Voisin
Voisin homestead, about 1910<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The barn, and probably an attached dairy barn (rear) and garage (left).<\/p>\n

\"Voisin
Voisin barn, undated<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

So much for the buildings.  It is the life of this family that happened here.  Joseph and Mary Voisin pose on their front porch, which was probably newly constructed.<\/p>\n

\"Joseph
Joseph and Mary Voisin family, about 1907<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A few years later, another family photograph.  Joseph died in 1916.<\/p>\n

\"Joseph
Joseph and Mary Voisin family, about 1912<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Here the boys of the family line up in birth-order near the front door.  Such a small house for a large family.<\/p>\n

\"Voisin
Voisin brothers, about 1911<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A family get-together, posing on the porch.<\/p>\n

\"Voisin
Voisin family, about 1913<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The dashing George Voisin with his Model-T Coupe in front of the homestead.  They always had to fix a flat, here with his brother Willie.<\/p>\n

\"Brothers
Brothers George and Willard Voisin with a 1924 or 1925 Model-T Coupe<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Great-grandmother Mary Voisin in her kitchen.<\/p>\n

\"Mary
Mary Voisin in the kitchen<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Here is Mary Voisin in the parlor, perhaps with one of her daughters.  Grandson Harold Voisin said kids were not<\/em> allowed in the parlor.<\/p>\n

\"Mary
Mary Voisin sitting in the parlor at Beal City<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Willie Voisin was home for a visit.<\/p>\n

\"Willard
Willard Voisin in the parlor at Beal City<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The grandchildren come to visit, here in front of the barn.  Notice the Model-T Coupe.<\/p>\n

\"Voisin
Voisin family, probably late 1920’s<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

My father Jack Voisin said chicken dinners were held Sundays on the farm.  Imagine the photographs in that family album, now probably lost to history.<\/p>\n

\"A
A family meal, perhaps a Sunday chicken dinner, late 1930’s<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The family continued to meet even as the kids were grown.<\/p>\n

\"Voisin
Voisin family, probably 1930’s<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The war interrupts the family.<\/p>\n

\"Voisin
Voisin family, about 1942<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The family matriarch, Mary Ann (Yuncker) Voisin at her 75th birthday.  Her grandson Donald Voisin remembers that she spoke with a heavy German accent, saying “Ja” for “Yes.”  She died in 1943.<\/p>\n

\"Great-grandmother
Mary Voisin, seventy-fifth birthday, October 1941<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The happiness and sadness that was here, the toil and laughs, the birthdays and weddings, and the babies who grew up at this place are all no more.  Just a connection in time remains, in the shadow of what was.<\/p>\n

\"Former
Former Voisin homestead, 2015<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 … Continue reading “In the Shadow of What Was”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":309,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,83,10],"tags":[108,107,101,97],"class_list":["post-693","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-life-and-times","category-paternal-ancestors","category-surname-voisin","tag-aerial-view","tag-beal-city","tag-voisin","tag-yuncker"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iSeeAncestors.com\/comm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/693","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iSeeAncestors.com\/comm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iSeeAncestors.com\/comm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iSeeAncestors.com\/comm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/309"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iSeeAncestors.com\/comm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=693"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/iSeeAncestors.com\/comm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/693\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1295,"href":"https:\/\/iSeeAncestors.com\/comm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/693\/revisions\/1295"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iSeeAncestors.com\/comm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=693"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iSeeAncestors.com\/comm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=693"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iSeeAncestors.com\/comm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=693"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}