Charles E. Vanderburgh: Descendants, Part I
This is the third installment in a series on Judge C.E. Vanderburgh.
First installment: Charles E. Vanderburgh: Jurist of Minnesota
Second installment: Charles E. Vanderburgh: Benefactor of Minneapolis
You can also read about the origin of his photo here.
The time has finally come to move beyond Judge C.E. Vanderburgh's career and get a little more personal.
Stories of his life abundant, I came across multiple recounts of Mr. Vanderburgh's family life while researching his judicial career, which makes me hopeful that finding his descendants may be a bit easier than past cases. So, let's get into it.
Once again, I'll begin with what I found in The History of the Bench and Bar in Minnesota, an endless wealth of knowledge into the life of our subject. Charles married Julia Mygatt, born to William and Caroline Mygatt of Oxford, New York, on September 2nd, 1857. We can assume that this Mygatt family was somehow related to Henry Mygatt, in whose law office Charles was working in upstate New York prior to moving to Minnesota.
Charles and Julia had two children. William Henry Vanderburgh was born on July 5th, 1858, and Julia M. Vanderburgh was born three years later, in 1861. Unfortunately, wife Julia passed away on April 23rd, 1863, leaving behind five year old William and two year old Julia.
It seems Charles raised William and Julia alone for a period of time, and in 1871, it is written that Julia drowned while Charles "was holding court in Meeker country."
Two years later in 1873, Charles, now alone with his son William, married again. Anna Culbert became Charles' second wife on April 15, 1873. They had one child, Isabella, who "died, a young lady of promise, in 1893."
As Charles' only surviving child, our search for his descendants lead us to William.
William Henry Vanderburgh
William, like his father, pursued a judicial career. The History of the Bench and Bar in Minnesota writes that he "graduated from Princeton college and Columbia law school, and after studying for a period in Bigelow & Flandrau's law office, was admitted to the bar; then spent a long period abroad, was co-executor of his father's estate, and is now [read: in 1904 was] in active practice in Minneapolis."
The February 11, 1894 publication of The Saint Paul Globe reports that William Vanderburgh, son of Judge C.E. Vanderburgh, married Jeanne Perret in Paris on February 1 at the Eglise Evangelique de l'Etoile de l'Avenue de la Grand Armée - perhaps what is today the Eglise Réformée de l'Etoile?
But why am I the one to tell you about William Henry Vanderburgh's life, when you could hear it straight from the source? Astonishingly, I came across After Twenty Years: The Record of the Class of 1881, Princeton published in 1904. It includes short personal biographies written by each of the graduates, and Vanderburgh's is extensive:
"After graduation I came out and settled in my native city, Minneapolis, and entered into possession a large estate inherited from my grandfather Mygatt, of Chenago County, N.Y. I built, in '81 [note: that's 1881!] the first modern office-building ever put up in this city. I studied law for two years in St. Paul, and engaged in real estate operations in St. Paul, Minneapolis, and Duluth. I went to Columbia Law School, graduating there in 1885, and was admitted to the Minnesota Bar soon after.
Meanwhile, I took no less than fifteen trips to Europe, remaining all the way from three to eighteen months each visit. In the summer of '85, I walked all through Switzerland, with Dave Breckenridge, and again spent a whole year and a half with him in '87 and '88, traveling over Europe - and we had the greatest time on record!
In 1894 I was married to Jeanne Perret, of Paris, France, - a cousin of Paul Deschanel, the distinguished French statesman; the religious ceremony taking place January 31st, and the civil, February 1st. From 1894 to 1898 I lived in New York, trying to gain back fortune in Wall Street, but times were not propitious. In 1889, my father, the late Judge Vanderburgh, Minnesota's best known jurist, died, having served continuously during the first thrity-five years of the history of the State; and I came to Minneapolis to take charge of his estate as one of the executors. The builk of his estate was bequeathed to religious organizations. I have considerable real estate interests in Minneapolis requiring my attention.
I have two children: a girl, Francine Mygatt, aged four, and a boy, Charles E., aged one. I belong to the St. Paul Town and Country Club, and the Minnesota Club, St. Paul. In politics, I changed from Republican to Democrat on the silver issue, and voted for Bryan in 1896 and 1900. In the latter year I took an active part in politics in this county, running for the Democratic nomination for Congress at the primary election; and made such satisfactory showing that there appears to be ground for thinking that I have a good chance for nomination in 1902.
My residence address is 923 Seventh Street South, Minneapolis."
William died April 6, 1938, but his children, Charles and Francine, would go on to become quite the world travelers.
Just so you're all caught up to this point, the Vanderburgh family tree is as follows:
Charles and Francine: Off to Paris
In 1919, our young 19 year old Charles applied for a passport. Though a seemingly normal event, passport applications can provide a wealth of information for a genealogist. They often include an affidavit, in which the subject provides an explanation as to why they are submitting the application. Charles' affidavit reads the following:
I, Charles E Vanderburgh 2nd make this day an application to get a passport to go to France. I am an American citizen, was born in Minneapolis, the 10th of May 1900. I left this country in 1908 with my mother and sister and went to France (Paris)where I have been living until September 1918 when I came back to this country to attend to military duty and entered an O.T.C. I was discharged from the army in December 1918 and decided to study one year at ___ University [illegible continuation of sentence]. I desire to go back (1) to finish my studies at the University of [cut off from page] (2) to go back to my home, 38 rue des Sablons France, which is the home of my mother, now Mrs (cut off from page) (3) to enter law school where I was registered in October. I am now spending the summer in Minneapolis, my native city, awaiting for a passport. I need to return and hope I will have no difficulties in getting it. Yours truly, Charles Edwin Vanderburgh.
From this affidavit, we learn that Jeanne, Francine, and Charles left the United States 30 years before William's death in 1938. Jeanne Perret had remarried and moved to France. This is curious. Divorce in that time was extremely rare, and necessitated adultery, abuse, or another fault of one particular party; in fact, this lasted until the 1970s when no-fault divorces were legalized. First, I thought perhaps FindAGrave had the wrong information on William Vanderburgh's date of death, but I checked with the Lakewood Cemetery database and indeed, it is correct. In addition, we know that William remained in Minneapolis and did not go to Paris: according to the Minnesota Legal History Project, William participated in judicial elections in Minneapolis every two years from 1918 to 1936 (notably losing each time...). I dislike making assumptions about personal lives of those who lived before us, but perhaps William was so dedicated to his judicial career - a desire to live up to his father's name? - that Jeanne and the children moved on. I'm sure with a bit of deeper research, we could determine the cause of this mystery, but it is not the purpose of this blog to do so, so we too will move on.
From Francine's application, we learn that she was born May 30th, 1897 in New York - this would have been during the time when William had moved to New York to "gain back fortune in Wall Street." In her affidavit, Francine writes: I, Francine Mygatt Vanderburgh, make this day an application to get a passport to go to France. I am an American citizen, was born in New York at the 30th of May 1897, left this country in 1908 with my mother and brother, and went to France (my mother's native country) where I have been living ever since. I came back to this country in June 1919 to visit relatives and also to assume my nationality of an American citizen, as I am of age, and always intend to remain an American, although I desire to go back to France (1) to go to my home which is the home of my mother, now Mrs. Girodeau, 38 rue des Sablons, Paris, France. (2) to continue my studies in "art" and painting.
Francine's affidavit has a clearer depiction of Jeanne's new name: what appears to be Girodeau. I could not find any records pertaining to Jeanne, or why she would have remarried. Curiously, I found that both William and Jeanne were living in Paris together in 1907, at 83 Avenue Victor Hugo. Whatever happened between that time and 1908 where the children moved to Paris with their mother - we may never know. Francine's aunt served as a reference for Francine's American citizenship, and curiously the address she provided in Minneapolis is the same address Charles asked for his passport to be sent to, which leads us to believe that while in Minneapolis, Charles and Francine were staying with their aunt rather than their father, even though we know he was residing in Minneapolis at the time, as he was running in judicial elections.
I could not find any records pertaining to Francine Vanderburgh's life beyond this passport application, so it would seem that our journey to find descendants is now limited to our young Charles Edwin Vanderburgh 2nd.
Records for Charles are abundant, and deserve their own blog post. So, until next time...
If you would like to explore the passport applications, you can visit the digitized document here.
Next installment: Descendants, Part II
First installment: Charles E. Vanderburgh: Jurist of Minnesota
Second installment: Charles E. Vanderburgh: Benefactor of Minneapolis
You can also read about the origin of his photo here.
The time has finally come to move beyond Judge C.E. Vanderburgh's career and get a little more personal.
Stories of his life abundant, I came across multiple recounts of Mr. Vanderburgh's family life while researching his judicial career, which makes me hopeful that finding his descendants may be a bit easier than past cases. So, let's get into it.
Once again, I'll begin with what I found in The History of the Bench and Bar in Minnesota, an endless wealth of knowledge into the life of our subject. Charles married Julia Mygatt, born to William and Caroline Mygatt of Oxford, New York, on September 2nd, 1857. We can assume that this Mygatt family was somehow related to Henry Mygatt, in whose law office Charles was working in upstate New York prior to moving to Minnesota.
Charles and Julia had two children. William Henry Vanderburgh was born on July 5th, 1858, and Julia M. Vanderburgh was born three years later, in 1861. Unfortunately, wife Julia passed away on April 23rd, 1863, leaving behind five year old William and two year old Julia.
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| Charles, wives Julia and Anna, daughters Julia and Isabella, and son William are buried at the family plot in Lakewood Cemetery in Minneapolis. |
Two years later in 1873, Charles, now alone with his son William, married again. Anna Culbert became Charles' second wife on April 15, 1873. They had one child, Isabella, who "died, a young lady of promise, in 1893."
As Charles' only surviving child, our search for his descendants lead us to William.
William Henry Vanderburgh
William, like his father, pursued a judicial career. The History of the Bench and Bar in Minnesota writes that he "graduated from Princeton college and Columbia law school, and after studying for a period in Bigelow & Flandrau's law office, was admitted to the bar; then spent a long period abroad, was co-executor of his father's estate, and is now [read: in 1904 was] in active practice in Minneapolis."
The February 11, 1894 publication of The Saint Paul Globe reports that William Vanderburgh, son of Judge C.E. Vanderburgh, married Jeanne Perret in Paris on February 1 at the Eglise Evangelique de l'Etoile de l'Avenue de la Grand Armée - perhaps what is today the Eglise Réformée de l'Etoile?
But why am I the one to tell you about William Henry Vanderburgh's life, when you could hear it straight from the source? Astonishingly, I came across After Twenty Years: The Record of the Class of 1881, Princeton published in 1904. It includes short personal biographies written by each of the graduates, and Vanderburgh's is extensive:
"After graduation I came out and settled in my native city, Minneapolis, and entered into possession a large estate inherited from my grandfather Mygatt, of Chenago County, N.Y. I built, in '81 [note: that's 1881!] the first modern office-building ever put up in this city. I studied law for two years in St. Paul, and engaged in real estate operations in St. Paul, Minneapolis, and Duluth. I went to Columbia Law School, graduating there in 1885, and was admitted to the Minnesota Bar soon after.
Meanwhile, I took no less than fifteen trips to Europe, remaining all the way from three to eighteen months each visit. In the summer of '85, I walked all through Switzerland, with Dave Breckenridge, and again spent a whole year and a half with him in '87 and '88, traveling over Europe - and we had the greatest time on record!
In 1894 I was married to Jeanne Perret, of Paris, France, - a cousin of Paul Deschanel, the distinguished French statesman; the religious ceremony taking place January 31st, and the civil, February 1st. From 1894 to 1898 I lived in New York, trying to gain back fortune in Wall Street, but times were not propitious. In 1889, my father, the late Judge Vanderburgh, Minnesota's best known jurist, died, having served continuously during the first thrity-five years of the history of the State; and I came to Minneapolis to take charge of his estate as one of the executors. The builk of his estate was bequeathed to religious organizations. I have considerable real estate interests in Minneapolis requiring my attention.
I have two children: a girl, Francine Mygatt, aged four, and a boy, Charles E., aged one. I belong to the St. Paul Town and Country Club, and the Minnesota Club, St. Paul. In politics, I changed from Republican to Democrat on the silver issue, and voted for Bryan in 1896 and 1900. In the latter year I took an active part in politics in this county, running for the Democratic nomination for Congress at the primary election; and made such satisfactory showing that there appears to be ground for thinking that I have a good chance for nomination in 1902.
My residence address is 923 Seventh Street South, Minneapolis."
William died April 6, 1938, but his children, Charles and Francine, would go on to become quite the world travelers.
Just so you're all caught up to this point, the Vanderburgh family tree is as follows:
Charles and Francine: Off to Paris
In 1919, our young 19 year old Charles applied for a passport. Though a seemingly normal event, passport applications can provide a wealth of information for a genealogist. They often include an affidavit, in which the subject provides an explanation as to why they are submitting the application. Charles' affidavit reads the following:
 |
| Passport photo of Charles E. Vanderburgh, 2nd |
From this affidavit, we learn that Jeanne, Francine, and Charles left the United States 30 years before William's death in 1938. Jeanne Perret had remarried and moved to France. This is curious. Divorce in that time was extremely rare, and necessitated adultery, abuse, or another fault of one particular party; in fact, this lasted until the 1970s when no-fault divorces were legalized. First, I thought perhaps FindAGrave had the wrong information on William Vanderburgh's date of death, but I checked with the Lakewood Cemetery database and indeed, it is correct. In addition, we know that William remained in Minneapolis and did not go to Paris: according to the Minnesota Legal History Project, William participated in judicial elections in Minneapolis every two years from 1918 to 1936 (notably losing each time...). I dislike making assumptions about personal lives of those who lived before us, but perhaps William was so dedicated to his judicial career - a desire to live up to his father's name? - that Jeanne and the children moved on. I'm sure with a bit of deeper research, we could determine the cause of this mystery, but it is not the purpose of this blog to do so, so we too will move on.
 |
| Passport photo of Francine Mygatt Vanderburgh |
Francine's affidavit has a clearer depiction of Jeanne's new name: what appears to be Girodeau. I could not find any records pertaining to Jeanne, or why she would have remarried. Curiously, I found that both William and Jeanne were living in Paris together in 1907, at 83 Avenue Victor Hugo. Whatever happened between that time and 1908 where the children moved to Paris with their mother - we may never know. Francine's aunt served as a reference for Francine's American citizenship, and curiously the address she provided in Minneapolis is the same address Charles asked for his passport to be sent to, which leads us to believe that while in Minneapolis, Charles and Francine were staying with their aunt rather than their father, even though we know he was residing in Minneapolis at the time, as he was running in judicial elections.
I could not find any records pertaining to Francine Vanderburgh's life beyond this passport application, so it would seem that our journey to find descendants is now limited to our young Charles Edwin Vanderburgh 2nd.
Records for Charles are abundant, and deserve their own blog post. So, until next time...
If you would like to explore the passport applications, you can visit the digitized document here.
Next installment: Descendants, Part II
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