The Ellusive John Buchanan

John Buchanan (1869-1941)

My great grandfather

me-->Bruce Albert Buchanan-->Robert Amos Buchanan-->John Buchanan

When I was 12 years old, I found out that we didn't know who my great grandfather's parents were.  I decided to find out.  Little did I know what I was in for.

John Buchanan circa 1940

I'll save how I found him for another post. I want to write about who he was and who he became.


Right before John Buchanan died in 1941, he gave a few clues as to who he really was.  These are the only four clues I've had all these years.

1. I was born in Highland, Illinois
2. My mother was from France.
3. My mother's name was Susan "Boo-shan" (never spelled it).
4. My father's name was Nathan.

Well that should be plenty right?  I mean all I should have to do is look in 1870 census records for a little baby named John Buchanan in a household with Nathan and Susan Buchanan, right?  Wrong.

John Buchanan wasn't born John Buchanan.  He was born Joshua Demoulin.  Here's the story.

Nathan, John's father, came to America from Northern France, with his father Martin Joseph.  They bought a farm in Clinton County, Illinois.

He met a girl named Susanne Besin also from France.

They were married soon after, and had their first child.  His name was Nathan Jr. and he was born still.

They had three more children all girls, Evodie, Lydia, and Susanne (Susie).  On October 18, 1869, they had another son.  This time he lived.  They named him Joshua and nicknamed him John.

In November of 1871, Susanne had another little girl.  This time the baby and the mother both died.  Nathan is now left with 4 children, the youngest not even two.

His father, Martin, died 5 years later.

Tombstone of Martin Demoulin in Jamestown Cemetery, Illinois.

Nathan remarried another girl, Fanny Combe from Switzerland.  They had 6 kids.

Evodie married Samuel Noel, then William Thomas.  She died at the age of 51.

Lydia never married and died at the age of 40.

Susie never married and died at the age of 86.

Joshua disappeared in 1905 without a trace.  The family just assumed he died and never had any children.



They were wrong.  He changed his name to John Buchanan, married June Miller, and became my great grandfather.

 

After 24 years of looking, I finally found him.  Nice to finally meet you Joshua Demoulin.



The 24-year Genealogy Class

Me (1969-living)

Heather Ruth Buchanan Pack

In the fall of 1988, I registered for a Rel C 261 class.  It's official name was "Family History-Genealogy."

Our entire grade was based on a single project.  Completing our pedigree chart.  All semester long we were supposed to collect photos, certificates, and other documents of our great grandparents and great great grandparents.

I had a problem.  I didn't know who all of mine were.    My Dad's line ended with his grandpa, John Buchanan.  So I filled in what I could and turned it in.  My grade?  D+.

 The very next semester I took HIST 262R, also known as Family History Research Lab.  This was a much better class.  My grade was either Pass or Fail.  You passed based on how many hours you logged researching, not what you found.  I logged lots of hours, I found nothing.  I passed.

Now, I could have been discouraged and frustrated.  I could have said, "I guess when it come to researching my ancestors, I'm a D+ student.  I'll let someone else do that."  But I didn't.  I didn't give up. 

Those two classes sparked a desire in me to continue looking for John Buchanan and his parents.  I never stopped looking.  Well, actually I did stop looking.  I stopped on March 22, 2013.  I stopped, because that  day I found him. I didn't just find him, I found his parents, siblings, half-siblings, in-laws, nieces, nephews, cousins, grandparents, great grandparents, and so on, all the way back to the 1500s.

Do you think it's too late to ask for a grade change?  After 24 years I think I deserve an A.

One Step Closer

Susan Bezin? Berzin? Bazin? Bousien? (1840-?)

My second great grandmother

me --> Bruce Albert Buchanan --> Robert Amos Buchanan --> John Buchanan --> Susan

For those who don't know, I've been searching for my great great grandmother for over two decades.

Yesterday I believe I came one step closer.  I mentioned previously that I found a Susan Bogin living with a family, the Eismons.

Initially this seemed like a dead end because I couldn't find the Eismons in any future census records, nor on any passenger lists.  Turns out the census taker and the those who indexed the names got the family's names wrong.

The head of household wasn't Fenlon Eismon.  His name is actually... are you read for this?

Irenee Foulon

Pretty different, huh?  Well, there's more.  His wife's name is Lydia Foulon.  They had a son named Irenaeus Dielschristo Foulon.  I was able to find his death certificate.  His mother's maiden name is listed as, drum roll please.

Lydia Bousien

Bousien could sound like "Boo-zhan" don't ya' think? 

This means that Susan Bogin was living with someone whose maiden name sounded quite a bit like her last name.  So I'm thinking they are related, what about you?

But wait, there's more.  While writing this post, I found another death certificate.

Do you see that?  It gives her father's name as Wer Berzin.  Now if someone who hears the name "Lydia" and spells it like "Littia."  What name was this person trying to spell by writing Wer Berzin?

The quest continues!

Desperately Seeking Susan

Susan ? (?-?)

My second great grandmother

me --> Bruce Albert Buchanan --> Robert Amos Buchanan --> John Buchanan --> Susan

Desperately Seeking Susan

When I was about 12 years old, I asked my mother to help me fill out my pedigree chart for the first time. Even then I had a love for learning about my ancestors.  I still remember how I felt when my mother told me that we didn't know how to spell my great grandfather's mother's name.

Only that it sounded like "Boo-jean."

and that she was from France.

I couldn't believe that my Buchanan line ended so abruptly.  How can my dad not know the name of his great grandmother?

Thus began what has turned out (so far) to be a life-long quest to find Susan.  I have taken genealogy classes, visited countless family history centers, and ordered or tried to order court documents.  And yet all these years later (30 to be exact) Susan's information remains the same on my chart.

Here's what I know:
John had parents.  (This seems obvious but frankly there have been times when I've wondered if he was dropped off by aliens at the turn of the 20th Century)
John says he was born in Highland, Madison County, Illinois (I have never found any official documentation proving this.)
John says his parents names were Nathaniel and Susan.  His mother was from France; his father, Kentucky.
John says his birthday is October 18, 1869.
John worked on the railroad as a locomotive engineer.
Family tradition says he left home at the age of 14 and spent time in Mexico.

Here's what I've discovered:

John was married before he married my great grandmother, June Miller Eckstein Buchanan.
Her name was Catherine Shepler.
They married on December 31, 1898.
They were living together in Pueblo, Colorado in 1900.
She sued him for divorce on January 27, 1905 for desertion and non-support in Pueblo, Colorado.
John could speak French, Spanish and English.
My grandfather told my father that we are French, not Scottish.  This makes me wonder if Buchanan is an American version of "Boo-jean" and John took his mother's not his father's name.

The paper trail ends there.  But I have found something that looks promising.

This is the only Susan from France that I have ever found living in Madison Illinois around the same time as John's birth.  She's listed as living as a servant for a family also from France the Eismons.  The reason why this census record looks promising is because her last name is Bogin.  Sometimes census takers would write down the person's name based on what they heard and was not necessarily how it was spelled.

I have spent many long frustrating nights trying to find even the smallest of information about John's mother.  But I wouldn't trade this journey for anything.  This quest has developed in me a deep love for all of my ancestors, not just the Buchanan line.  In looking for Susan, I have found literally hundreds along the way.

So I no longer consider myself desperately seeking Susan.  Just seeking Susan.  She'll appear when it's time.
Update:  I found her on March 22, 2103.  Read about it here. 

Disclaimer:  I do not think I'm related to Madonna.