Marie James

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Husband

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           Born: 
     Christened: 
           Died: 
         Buried: 

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Wife Marie James

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           Born: 20 Mar 1831 - (Florissant, St. Louis Co., Missouri)
     Christened: 12 Dec 1835 - Florissant, St. Louis Co., Mo 1
           Died: 
         Buried: 

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         Father: John G. James (      -1834)
         Mother: Julie G. Crelis (1795-1883)

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Children

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General Notes: Wife - Marie James

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BIRTH and BAPTISM:

Marie and Joseph were baptized in 1835, Joseph on November 8 and Marie on December 12. In both cases the baptismal record specifies a birth date, and in both cases the year is explicitly given. It is unusual to specify the year in baptismal records since the baptism is usually no more than a few months after the birth. If a child were born in November 1834 and baptized in March 1835, the birth date would be given in the form "last November". In the case of Marie and Joseph the years are hard to read. Joseph's birth year appears to be 1833, and Marie's could be 1834 or 1831. It is very unlikely that Marie was born in March 1834 and Joseph in July 1833. Eliza's baptismal record is not hard to read, and she was born March 20, 1831. Marie was born March 20; only the year is problematical. I think they were twins, born on the same day. Both Marie and Joseph were provisionally baptized a few days after birth by a simplified procedure called 'oindement' in French and indicated in baptismal records by the verbal form 'ondoyé'. This simplified baptism is used in cases where imminent death is feared.

I conjecture that the long lag time between birth and formal baptism in the case of Marie and Joseph is due to the fact that they had already been baptised ('ondoyé') and that the year appears explicitly in the baptismal records because of the long lag time. It is thus reasonable to believe that individuals formally baptized in 1835 were born much earlier in 1831 and in 1833.

1 , Early U.S. French Catholic Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1695-1954, image 177/315. Repository: http://www.ancestry.com.