Around 1847, Pierre François Burtcher, with his young wife, Marie-Celestine (Voisinet) Burtcher and daughter, Marie Rose Julie, left their home of Évette, Belfort, France and sailed to America. They settled in a small French Catholic farming community in southwestern Shelby County, Ohio. The first U.S. Census in which they appear is the 1850 census. (Click on image for larger view.)
Year: 1850, Place: Loramie, Shelby, Ohio, Roll: M432_729, Page: 243B, Image: 193
In America, Pierre François went by the name of 'Francis' or 'Frank' and Marie-Celestine went by just 'Celeste' or 'Celestine.' On this census form, their surname looks more like 'Baltaser' than Burtcher, but because of the family members' first names and ages, I have confirmed that this is the correct family. (In fact, most of the French family names in this particular 1850 enumeration district are grossly misspelled - there must have been a great language barrier in this part of the county at this time, when most of the French immigrants were relatively new arrivals.) The Burtcher family eventually changes their surname to 'Bulcher', and that is the name found on Pierre François' and Marie-Celestine's gravestone.
According to his Marie Rose Julie's birth record, Francis Burtcher (or Bultechert as it is spelling in her birth record) was a farmer by trade in France, and he continued to farm in Ohio, as well. Although difficult to read, the 1850 Loramie Township Agriculture Census shows that Francis owns 50 acres of land, only 12 of which are 'improved.' He has one horse, two milk cows, and two oxen. Interestingly, he had 21 pigs, which was more than even some of the larger farms in the area had. In the previous year, the farm produced 24 bushels of wheat, 18 bushels of oats, and as seen on page 2, 35 bushels of potatoes and 75 pounds of butter.
According to his Marie Rose Julie's birth record, Francis Burtcher (or Bultechert as it is spelling in her birth record) was a farmer by trade in France, and he continued to farm in Ohio, as well. Although difficult to read, the 1850 Loramie Township Agriculture Census shows that Francis owns 50 acres of land, only 12 of which are 'improved.' He has one horse, two milk cows, and two oxen. Interestingly, he had 21 pigs, which was more than even some of the larger farms in the area had. In the previous year, the farm produced 24 bushels of wheat, 18 bushels of oats, and as seen on page 2, 35 bushels of potatoes and 75 pounds of butter.
Year: 1850, Place: Loramie, Shelby, Ohio, Archive Collection Number: T1159, Roll: 9, Line: 37, Agriculture
At the time of this census, Francis and Celestine had two daughters, Marie Rose Julie (who went by Rose or Rosa), and Josephine Lucine (who usually went by Lucy). Sometime between 1854 and 1860, the Bulcher family moved into the larger French Catholic community in neaby Darke County, Ohio. In that time frame, they also added five children to their family. They had a total of eleven children, with the youngest being born in 1867.
(Pierre François and Marie-Celestine Burtcher were my husband's 4x great-grandparents.)
©2014, copyright Emily Kowalski Schroeder
(Pierre François and Marie-Celestine Burtcher were my husband's 4x great-grandparents.)
©2014, copyright Emily Kowalski Schroeder
