As I've researched my family history over the years and found so much information and many details about my ancestors, my great grandparents, Florian & Odilia LeGrave, have fascinated me the most. They were typical, hard-working, Belgian farmers in northeast Wisconsin, raising a family of 13 children (including my grandmother Emerence) in a small farmhouse. They had 65 grandchildren and 175 great grandchildren (including me)! Over the years, I've had the fortune to meet several of my relatives with whom I'm connected through those 13 children. Note that Odelia was commonly called Odile; I've used those names interchangeably here.

Family group sheet

Here's some data that you might find on a traditional family group sheet. Notice that a number of the dates are missing. If you know any of the missing information, please let me know.

Florian LeGrave — b. Mar 1, 1880 Rosiere, WI, d. Jan 31, 1960 Rosiere, WI (79)
     married 1900
Odile LeRoy — b. Aug 7, 1882 Red River, WI, d. Jun 26, 1971 Algoma, WI (88)

1. Daniel LeGrave — b. Aug 24, 1901, d. ?
       ↳ m. Jul 1923, Palmy Gerondale
   
2. Elsie LeGrave — b. Feb 15, 1903, d. ?
       ↳ m. ?, John Nellis
   
3. Rosemund LeGrave — b. Jun 1, 1905, d. ?
       ↳ m. ?, Steven "Goldie" Nellis
   
4. Clayton LeGrave — b. Dec 21, 1906, d. Oct 10, 2001 (94)
       ↳ m. Jun 11, 1921, Myrtle Virlee
   
5. Anna LeGrave — b. Aug 14, 1908, d. ?
       ↳ m. ?, William Virlee
   
6. Mary LeGrave — b. Dec 18, 1910, d. ?
       ↳ m. ?, George Dart
   
7. Celia LeGrave — b. Apr 10, 1912, d. ?
       ↳ m. ?, John Adams
   
8. Lawrence LeGrave — b. Jun 7, 1914, d. Oct 13, 1991 (77)
       ↳ m. Sep 16, 1936, Dora Agamaite
   
9. Florence LeGrave — b. May 10, 1916, d. Sep 22, 2011 (94)
       ↳ m. Jun 6, 1934, Myron Lardinois
   
10. Emerence LeGrave — b. Jul 25, 1918, d. Apr 7, 2000 (81)
        ↳ m. Nov 12, 1935, Wilfred Crevier
    
11. Clifford LeGrave (twin) — b. Aug 23, 1921, d. Jan 10, 2003 (82)
        ↳ m. ? 1942, Esther Vandervest
    
12. Ruth LeGrave (twin) — b. Aug 23, 1921, d. May 7, 2012 (90)
        ↳ m. Oct 18, 1939, Edmund Engebose
    
13. James LeGrave — b. Aug 10, 1926, d. Nov 24, 2008 (81)
        ↳ m. Apr 10, 1945, Mathilda Guilette
        ↳ m. Dec 16, 1972, Betty Weyenberg

Doing the math, when Florian and Odile married, he was 20, she was 18. They had their 13 children over the next 26 years. When their last child was born, he was 46, she was 44.

Ancestors

Florian & Odile lived on the family homestead in Kewaunee County, Wisconsin, originally settled by Florian's grandfather, Alexis LeGrave. Alexis was born in Ohain, Belgium and emigrated in July 1856. His son Francois LeGrave and Francois' wife Harriet (Meunier) LeGrave, Florian's parents, bought the homestead in 1868. In 1907, Francois and Harriett retired from active farming and sold their land to three sons, including Florian.

Here's a chart of Florian's ancestors and here's a chart of Odile's ancestors. (I'm always open to receiving new data to fill in the holes in my tree.)

The spelling

An interesting thing happened back around 1900. Florian's uncle Alexis (b. 1869 Rosiere, Wisconsin) and his wife Amanda (b. 1872 Rosiere, Wisconsin) had 10 children: 8 boys and 2 girls. Their third child, Henry (b. 1898 Rosiere, Wisconsin), changed the spelling of his name at some point in his life from "LeGrave" to "LeGreve". I've heard a few stories about the reason for this but I don't recall what is true. Perhaps it was a simple misspelling on a government document.

Nonetheless, all of his descendants now have the surname "LeGreve".

Family photo

This photo includes the entire family, yes, all 13 children. I don't know the year or occasion. I figure that with such a large family, a photo like this must have been rare and perhaps a very special occasion. The boy in the front center looks like the youngest, so that must be James. He looks to be about 14 or so, which would put the photo at about 1940. The woman in the front far right is my grandmother Emerence (who turned 22 in 1940).

Click the photo to see an enlarged version with the names I know of indicated.

50th wedding anniversary

Florian & Odile celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in 1950. This photo (with all 13 children like the one above) along with the article below was printed in the Algoma Record-Herald on Thursday, November 9th, 1950. They got this picture outside the church at a special Mass a week earlier. What a treasure to have!

Belgian roadside chapels

It's a very common tradition for a Belgian farmer to build a small chapel on his farm, usually dedicated to a specific cause or saint. Most of these chapels are near the road and open for all to use. The LeGrave homestead is no exception, with their St. Jude chapel being at the northeast corner of the farm.

Several organizations have published pamphlets and maps of these chapels over the years, like this one. On most of those maps, the LeGrave homestead is chapel #15.

If you want to learn more, here are some related links:

• Faith Along the Road: The Belgian Roadside Chapels of Northeastern Wisconsin - Fr. Edward Looney
• Belgian Roadside Chapels of NE Wisconsin (Facebook page)
• Belgian Roadside Chapels (Brown Co. Historical Society)

Census

I found Florian & Odile and their family in the censuses of 1920, 1930, 1940, and 1950, all in the Town of Red River in Kewaunee County, Wisconsin. When you click on a census image below, you'll see the full image of that page from the census, with Florian and Odile's household outlined in red.

In addition to the images, I've transcribed as best I can the key data from each image and listed it in table format for easy reading. Some of the text is very difficult to read, especially in the older documents. Even the column headings can be difficult to read. I'm open to any thoughts or corrections you may have.

Interestingly, from 1920 to 1940, Florian was the head of household. But by 1950, the census shows that he and Odile were living in the household of his son, Clifford LeGrave and his wife Esther (Vandervest) LeGrave and their two children.

Census observations

1920

• This census tracks the birthplace of each person's parents.
• Note that both Florian and Odile's parents were born in Belgium.
• Ten of their thirteen children were living, ranging in age from 1 to 18.

1930

• Only six children remain at home, ranging in age from 3 to 15.
• Florian and Odile have a 3-year-old son, James, and a 2-year-old granddaughter Esther. This closeness of age in different generations is bound to happen in such a large family.
• Sons Clayton and Daniel are both married and living nearby in their own households.

1940

• Only two children remain at home, ages 13 and 18.
• Their farm is valued at $2,000.
• While this census tracks wages, none are listed here. Their farm income was not considered a wage.

1950

• Florian and Odile are now living in the household of their son Clifford, his wife Esther, their 6-year-old grandson, and their 3-month-old granddaughter.
• Florian is listed as not working, while Odile works 20 hours per week.

Obituaries

I've included the text of their obituaries here to make them easy to find when searching the web. In addition to the obituaries, a nice memorial was written about Odelia by her sister-in-law Grace LeMense. Grace (Florian's sister) was married to Harvey Lemense. I believe this was submitted as a letter to the editor to a local newspaper (I don't know which one). My grandmother (Emerence) saved it along with the death notice at the top.

Be sure to click the "newspaper article" link in each of these to see the original.

Cemetery

Florian and Odile, along with many LeGraves, are buried at St. Hubert's Cemetery on the grounds of St. Hubert's Catholic Church in Rosiere, Wisconsin. Their headstone is located at these coordinates: 44.674715, -87.612724.

Geography

These links are maps to some key locations:

• LeGrave Homestead (St. Jude Roadside Chapel)
• St. Hubert's Catholic Church
• St. Hubert's Catholic Cemetery
• Florian & Odile LeGrave gravesite

Links

There are a couple of sites that feature a single web page for one person. These links are to the unique pages for Florian and Odile.

• Find a Grave: Florian LeGrave
• Find a Grave: Odelia (LeRoy) LeGrave

Grateful

I was fortunate to have heard stories first hand about my great grandparents and life on their farm; I didn't have to just read it in a book. I've been able to visit the farm on occasion and chat with my cousin who still owns it. This connection has given me a great appreciation for how they lived and what it took to for me to be here today. I find it hard to complain about anything these days, knowing how they persevered.

I'm grateful for their faith in God, and for passing that down to me through our bloodline.

Last update: Sat, Jul 12, 2025