Dieu Donne Leruquin & Victoria Martin

Dieu Donne LEURQUIN was born on the 22nd day of September, 1865 in Temploux, Belgium, the son of Desire LEURQUIN and Cecelia BOURNOUVILLE. At the age of 6 he immigrated with his family to settle in Wisconsin. They departed from the city of Antwerp, Belgium arriving at the port of New York on the 3rd of October, 1871.

Victoria MARTIN was born on August 28th, 1871, in Rosiere, Belgium the daughter of Felician (Felix) MARTIN and Theresa CORBISIER. Immigrated to the United States departing from Antwerp, Belguim and arriving in the port of New York, aboard the vessel the "Westerland" on the 8th of October, 1884.

     Dieu Donne Leurquin                       Victoria Martin

Dieu Donne and Vicrotia Martin were married in 1891 according to the 1900 census.

The 1900 Census of the United States lists the family as follows:

• Leurquin, Antone (Dieu Donne) age 35 b. Sep. 1865 in Belgium, married 9 years, immigrated 1871.
• Victoria age 28, b. Aug 1871, Belgium, 4 children - all living, emmigrated 1884.
• Desire (Jerry) age 8, b. Mar 1892 in Wisconsin.
• Mary age 6, b. Apr 1894 in Wisconsin.
• Adline age 4, b. Jan 1896 in Wisconsin.
• Cecelia age 1, b. Oct 1898 in Wisconsin.
• Desire - Father, age 75 b. Mar 1825 Belgium, emigrated 1884.
• Cecelia - Mother, age 70, b. Apr 1830 Belgium, 6 children - 4 living emigrated 1884.

Dieu Donne's Petition for Naturalization approved by the court in 1929,  lists nine surviving children of the couple's ten children all born in the town of Humbolt:

• (Jerry) Desire was born March 20th, 1893, married Mary TAUSCHECK They had seven children.
• Mary Louise born April 28th, 1894, first married Joseph Henry MASSEY Boncher and had three children (Frank Killian MASSEY, Robert Clarence Lawrence BONCHER, and Norbert Chester BONCHER).  Joseph died in 1917 (see Joseph Massy Family History) and Mary married a widower Theophile Joseph BALZA.  They had three children together (Theophile Balza Family History).
• Adele was born June 26th, 1896, and married Art DAUST (no known children).
• Cecelia born October 11th, 1899, married John Anthony MATHYS and the couple had two children.
• Genevieve born August 30th,1901, married Thomas BONCHER and had three children.
• Caroline born November 10, 1902, first married William L. RONSMAN and had one child. After William's death she married Andrew WATZKA.
• Emma born March 20th, 1904, married Joseph WATZKA and had ten children..
• Irene born June 19th, 1906, married Wenzel JAKLIN and had 6 children.
• Lorraine born August 16th, 1913, married Orville James CAIN (no known children).
• The tenth child was Arthur.  There are no known details about this child.

Letters of Intent to become citizens of the United States were filed with the Brown County Clerk, on 31 March, 1927, by both Dieu Donne and Victoria.  Dieu Donne's Petition for Naturalization was approved and filed with the Brown County Courthouse, on the 28th of June, 1929. Victoria's Petition for Naturalization was approved and filed with the Brown County Courthouse on 13 November, 1929.

Dieu Donne owned and operated a farm in Sugar Bush, Wisconsin.  After he retired the farm was worked by Wenzel Jaklin until his son Jerry took it over. Dieu Donne had diabetes in his later years and eventually went blind because of it. Dieu Donne died January 14th, 1935 in the town of Humbolt, Wisconsin (death certificate). Cause of death is listed as Chronic Myocarditis, Chronic Pacanchynotus, and Nephictis. Victoria died at the age of 65, on September 7th, 1936, in the town of Humbolt, Wisconsin (death certificate). The cause of her death was cancer of the stomach. Both are buried in the Sugar Bush Cemetary (gravestone).

Memories:

LEURQUIN Ancestry 

The LEURQUIN surname is very much a research in progress.  The origin of the Leurquin family like the Balza family is Belgium.  According to the immigration records they come from the area around the city of Temploux.  Our earliest known Leurquin ancestor is Hubert LEURQUIN who married Marie Jaqueline ROSAR and had at least one child  Desire LEURQUIN (1706 - ?).  Desire married Maire Barbe RENARD  and they had at elast one child Dieudonne LEURQUIN.  Dieudonne married Marie Catherine MOUTON and had at least one child Jean Baptiste LEURQUIN.  Jean Baptiste married Ann Marie MOUTHUY and had at least one child  Desire LEURQUIN (1824 - 1910) who married Cecelia BOURNONVILLE (1830 - 1918).  Together they had four children (Desire Leurquin Family History).  The third child of this union was Dieu Donni LEURQUIN (1865 - 1935) who married Victoria MARTIN (1871 - 1936).  Dieu Donne and Victoria raised the ten children described above.

BOURNONVILLE Ancestry 

The BOURNONVILLE surname is a subject of research at this point.  Very little has been found about the history of the Bournonville family.  The origin is assumed to be Belgian.  The oldest known Bournonville relation in this history is J. J. BOURNONVILLE who married (mother unknown) and sired Cecelia BOURNONVILLE. Cecelia married Desire LEURQUIN.  Desire and Cecelia were blessed with four children (Desire Leurquin Family History), one of whom was Dieu Donni pictured above.

MARTIN Ancestry 

The MARTIN surname is also assumed to originate in Belgium.  The earliest known MARTIN ancestor in this history is Daniel MARTIN  who married Theresa NOREAN.  This couple had at least one son Felix (Felician) MARTIN (1849 - 1909) who married Theresa CORBISIER (1849 - 1912). Felix and Theresa (Felician Martin Family History) had at least one daughter Victoria MARTIN who married Dieu Donne LEURQUIN, they are described above.

CORBISIER Ancestry 

At present there are no details known about the CORBISIER family or surname.

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Last updated: November 14th, 2020
Copyright 1999-2020, by Richard M. Balza
To make corrections or obtain more information contact: Richard M. Balza