ProGen of New England's Favorite Finds

Louis David Ferdinand Bourrett was baptized on January 7, 1844 in St-Antoine-sur-Richelieu, Québec, Canada. Louis’ parents were David Bourrett and Adeline Cheval dit St. Jacques. Louis David Ferdinand Bourrett Baptismal Record In about 1872, Louis married Philomene Langlois and were living in Gilsum, New Hampshire when all three of their children were born between 1873-1876. In 1876, his wife Philomene and newborn baby daughter Philomene passed away. In June of 1878, Louis married his second wife, Laura Etta Miller. Later that year, on October 17, 1878, Louis Bourrett became a citizen of the United States of America by swearing the following oath at the Supreme Court in Keene, Cheshire County, New Hampshire, “I, Louis Bourrett, do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States and that I do absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to every foreign Prince Potentate or Sovereignty whatsoever and particularly to Victoria Queen of th...

  Florence Currier Bigelow On July 6, 1898, Florence E. Currier was born to Florence A. (Applegate) and Charles Frazier Currier in Boston, Massachusetts. At the age three, Florence   E. and her family were living in New Jersey, where both the Applegate and Currier families were from, and by the time Florence E. was 10, the family was living in Worcester, Massachusetts. In 1914, when Florence E. was 16 years old, her mother Florence A. died of tuberculosis at the age of 36. Florence E. and her brother Charles are found living with Aunt Mary Applegate in the 1915 New Jersey State census. By the time Florence E. was 18 years old, her father Charles died of pneumonia when he was 45 years old. At the age of 19, Florence E. Currier married John F. Bigelow of Worcester, MA and together they had four children. Florence died at the age of 63 years old in Worcester, Massachusetts. A few generations later, Florence A. Applegate and Charles Frazier Currier descendants have reconnected t...

Robert E. McKeon of Worc., MA Robert Emmett McKeon was born on the 12th of April 1927, the 7th child of Frank and Mary (Steemson) McKeon, in Worcester, Massachusetts. Robert was a twin to sister Mary C. McKeon. Robert's twin was born with spina bifida and she only lived for three months. Mary, Robert's twin, was the second baby that my Great-Grandparents would bury but not the last child that they would bury in their lifetime. Robert was a Private, 1st Class, serving with the 21st Infantry, 24th Division, as a Light Weapons Infantryman assigned to a post in Japan before the U.S. involvement in the Korean War. At the end of June 1950, Robert and his military unit were called to action to go to Korea to provide support to the South Koreans in what we would later learn was operation Task Force Smith. Robert was Killed in Action on 5 July 1950 in the Battle of Osan. My great grandparents were notified he was Missing in Action via telegram on the 18th of July 1950 and were later not...

Andrew Bigelow headstone Andrew Bigelow, son of Charles Bigelow and Lucy Bennett, was born the 24th of April 1764, in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts. According to the book the Boylston Centennial, the Bigelows were some of the first settlers of the town of Shrewsbury. At the age of 16 years old, Andrew enlisted to serve in the military during the American Revolution. The book goes on to say that, “These last “three years men” were subjected to great hardships, and by the depreciation of the “Continental Currency” received the least compensation for their services. His children remember his recital of the sufferings of the soldiers during one winter in the woods of Pennsylvania, from want of shoes, through inability of the government to provide better for her troops.” Andrew Bigelow was the father of 15 children from two wives, Sarah Fassett (my ancestor) and Lydia Sawyer. Grave photo curated from Ancestry.com and book excerpt from Boylston Centennial Celebration of the Incorporation of the ...