Moses LaVoy, Sr. b. 1841 Erie, Mi d. 19 Dec 1929 Stateline Home (Toledo, Ohio)

1841 - 1929 (88 years)

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Name	Moses LaVoy
Suffix	Sr.
Born	1841	Erie, Mi
Gender	Male
Died	19 Dec 1929	Stateline Home (Toledo, Ohio)
Person ID	I00023	Tombeau Family Tree
Last Modified	24 Feb 2007

Father	Charles LaVoy, Sr., b. 10 Aug 1809, Detroit, Mi , d. 4 Sep 1858, Erie Twp, MI (Age 49 years)
Mother	Catherine Robidou, b. 25 Nov 1814, St. Antoine, River Raisin, MI , d. Aft 1860, Erie, MI (Age > 47 years)
Married	18 Oct 1831	Erie, MI (St. Joseph Catholic Church)
Family ID	F0040	Group Sheet \| Family Chart

Family 1 Eunice DeShetler, b. 1845, d. 4 Dec 1879, Stateline (Toledo, OH), lung inflammation (Age 34 years)

Married 30 Mar 1862 Erie, MI, St. Joseph's

Children

+	1. Agnes LaVoy, b. 1863
	2. Twin of Agnes LaVoy, b. 1863
	3. Ametus or Amay or Amy LaVoy, b. 13 Aug 1866, d. 7 Apr 1868, Erie, MI (Age 1 years)
	4. Seymour LaVoy, b. 1869, Erie, MI , d. Bef 1880, Erie, MI (Age < 11 years)
	5. Israel LaVoy, b. Abt 30 Oct 1869, d. 30 Nov 1875, Bedford Twp., MI (Age 6 years)
+	6. Stella LaVoy, b. Abt 1871, Michigan
	7. Moses LaVoy, Jr., b. 31 Jul 1876, d. 4 Sep 1917, Angola, IN (Age 41 years)
	8. Morril LaVoy, b. 31 Jul 1876, d. 15 Sep 1856, Bedford, MI (inflammation of bowels)
+	9. Peter Toussaint LaVoy, b. 1 Nov 1877, Stateline (Toledo, Oh) , d. 14 Mar 1971, St. Vincent Hosp., Toledo, OH (Age 93 years)
+	10. Frederick Andrew LaVoy, b. 14 Aug 1879, State line (Toledo, OH) , d. 19 Dec 1964, Toledo, OH (Whiteford Un. Cemetery) (Age 85 years)

Family ID F0038 Group Sheet | Family Chart

Family 2 Sarah Anne Knaggs, b. 1855, Bedford Twp. Monroe Co., MI , d. 29 Oct 1921, Stateline Home (Toledo, Ohio) (Age 66 years)

Married 10 Feb 1880 Erie, MI, St Joseph Catholic Church

Children

	1. Henry Walter LaVoy, b. 6 Nov 1880, State Line, Toledo, OH
	2. Guy LaVoy, b. Abt 1881, Stateline, Toledo, OH , d. 10 Sep 1891, State Line, Toledo, OH (cause: diphtheria) (Age 10 years)
	3. Eunice LaVoy, I, b. Jul 1882, d. 4 Dec 1882, Bedford Twp, Monroe Co., MI (Inflmmation of lungs) (Age 0 years)
	4. Julia Adelaide LaVoy, I, b. Abt 23 Jul 1882
	5. Eunice LaVoy, II, b. 11 Jul 1883, Bedford Twp., Monroe Co., MI , d. 6 Dec 1883, Bedford Twp, Monroe Co., MI (cholera) (Age 0 years)
	6. Louis LaVoy, b. 7 Sep 1883, Stateline, Toledo, Oh , d. 15 Sep 1891, Stateline, Toledo, OH (cause: diphtheria) (Age 8 years)
	7. Harry LaVoy, b. 1885, State Line, Toledo, OH , d. 4 Aug 1902, Toledo, OH (drowned) (Age 17 years)
	8. Varnie LaVoy, b. 21 Jul 1888, Stateline, Erie, MI , d. 5 Mar 1889, Stateline, Erie, MI (Age 0 years)
	9. George LaVoy, b. 1890, Stateline, Toledo, OH , d. 6 Sep 1891, State Line, Toledo, OH (cause: diphtheria) (Age 1 years)
+	10. William Earl LaVoy, b. 29 Aug 1890, Stateline (Toledo, OH) , d. 5 Mar 1977, Toledo, OH (Toledo Memorial Cemetery) (Age 86 years)
+	11. Gertrude Sarah LaVoy, b. 25 Aug 1891, Stateline Home (Toledo, OH) , d. 19 Apr 1944, Detroit, MI (Age 52 years)
+	12. Julia Adelaide LaVoy, II, b. 3 Apr 1893, Toledo, Ohio (Stateline) , d. 14 Jan 1964, Berkley, MI (Age 70 years)
+	13. Eurdie LaVoy, b. 1892, State Line, Toledo, OH

Family ID F0039 Group Sheet | Family Chart

Photos » Slide Show		Moses LaVoy, Sr., Sarah Knaggs LaVoy, Esther LaVoy Poulin, Alex Poulin.
		Painting of Moses LaVoy, Sr.'s Stateline Home
		Moses LaVoy Sr.'s Stateline Home in the 1960's
		Moses LaVoy, Sr.
		Moses LaVoy, Sr. and Sarah Knaggs LaVoy with (l. to r.) Gertrude LaVoy, Peter T. LaVoy, Eurdie LaVoy, Elroy Deszell, and Julia LaVoy
		At least one living or private individual is linked to this item - Details withheld.
		At least one living or private individual is linked to this item - Details withheld.
		Knaggs' Reunion (After 1912) Moses LaVoy Sr. (man behind and to the left of Victor Knaggs. He is my great-grandfather. Patrick LaVoy Tombeau Written on the back of the photo: Old women with white lace collar in center leaning in her chair is Angeline Cousino Knaggs, my great-great-grandmother. To her right is Sarah Knaggs LaVoy, my great-grandmother. Gertrude LaVoy Dusseau, my grandmother, is the fourth women from left standing in white. My grandfather Harvey Joseph Dusseau stands behind the man holding the child (fat face). Victor Knaggs (my great-grandmother's brother) stands behind Angeline. Patrick LaVoy Tombeau

Documents

Newspaper Article showing the Moses LaVoy, Sr.homestead on the Michigan-Ohio state line

Notes

Moses LaVoy, Sr., And His Many Children

Moses LaVoy, Sr., according to family tradition, was the seventh son of Charles LaVoy, Sr., and Catherine Robidou. Moses' brother-in-law, Rollie (Lorenzo) Knaggs, his second wife Sarah's youngest brother, stated to this writer in the late 1950's or earl;y 1960's that Moses had special powers as the result of his seventh son status.

Rollie stated that Moses cured his wife's tooth ache by laying his hand on her jaw. Ben Robidou's bleeding nose was also cured by the laying on of hands of Moses. Ben was the husband of Ellen Knaggs, sister of Moses' wife Sarah Knaggs.

Moses was also able to cure scrofula in children. Scrofula is a constitutional condition affecting the tissues in the young. characterized by a predisposition to tuberculosis, lymphatism, glandular swellings, and respiratory catarrhs (colds).

Fr. Lambert LaVoy, a distant cousin and former pastor of St. Joseph's Church, Erie, MI, stared that Moses was a singer with operatic talents. Rollie Knaggs gives a coroboratory anecdote. He sttes that Moses and his older borther Frances C. LaVoy used to go around the Erie Community every year for two weeks beginning Janaury 1, without returning home, singing and dancing in their neighbor's homes.

This was a tradtion among the French Canadians to visit their relatives and friends in this manner in the New Year. No doubt in a farming community people had much time on their hands and spent their winters in this fashion until Lent when the Mardi Gras ended the feasting for a 40 day fast.

It is said by Rollie Knaggs that Moses would improvise surprise songs at his host's expense while staying with him. Moses would accompanmy hjis own singing with a fiddle. Some of Moses' improvised songs, however, were sometimes too barbed in their observations of his host which would get him into trouble or thrown out of his host's cabin.

It is tempting to speculate whether Moses and his brother Toussaint, now old men in their seventies, along with their brother FRancis, tried to resurrect this old custom of visitation and sining leading to the tragic death of Toussaint of double lobar pneumonia on 24 February 1911. Toussaint had come to Erie after an absence of 26 years, having set up a homestead in South Dakota in the 1880's. He came on New Years' Day and was to leave in late February for South Dakota. He was staying at his brother Francis' house who used to go around with Moses to sing and dance when they were much younger.

Toussaint LaVoy's obituary indicates he died in the home he was born in, suggesting that his older brother occupied the home of their father, Charles LaVoy, Sr.

It is believed, based upon the statements of oral tradition made by Mrs. Esther LaVoy Templin that the Charles LaVoy home was at 8720 Suder Rd. in Erie Township. Mrs. Esther LaVoy Templin states that the home was built in the Cape Cod style of 18th Century French homes in Detroit which appears to have been the home of Francois and Marie's first child, Charles LaVoy. Regrettably the home was torn down in the 1970's after a tornado struck it. Today the property can be located, as mentioned, at 8720 Suder Road in Erie Township. It is owned by Rick Murbach (1990's) who by an extraordinary coincidence remodeled the home he bought with Cape Cod dormers. His home approximates the size and appearance of the original home on the property. The old home's site before being torn down was near the road side in the curent driveway to Mr. Murbach's home.

It is also said in a taped interview by Dennis Au of Fr. LaVoy that Moses also took his satircal songs into a bar in Erie to entertain and satirize the people there.

Moses' son by his first wife, Eunice Deshetler, Frederick LaVoy, told this writer in the 1960's that Moses could speak and write the Huron language. Moses was also a farmer and butcher according to the 1880 census and oral tradition.

Moses LaVopy owned forth acres of land on the west side of Dixie Road, south of Benore Road, and overlapping the Michigan-Ohio stateline, according to family resources. In 1898 he sold the land at a loss in order to pay the farmersin the Erie community for their cattle when his slaughter house went bankrupt with the coming of the the large meat packing businesses like Armour which could undersell Moses with their volume.

Moses was a big husky man with male patern baldness which he hid in most of his pictures with a hat. he stood at least six feet tall accoridng to family memebers and his pictures attest to his stature compared to his adult children standing beside him. He used his strength for the good of the community as, according to family memebers, he helped grade the third and current St. Joseph Parish, Erie, Cemetery. He himself lies in an unmarked grave in this cemetery.

Rollie Knaggs gives us a picture of Erie, Monroe County, Michigan in Moses' day with an anecdote about Moses and his second wife Sarah. A block north of Erie Rd, where in the 1960's a gas station stood, was the house of Ed Drouillard on Dixie Highway. On the same side of Dixie was Sam LaPoint's Saloon and next to it a blacksmith shop. On the other side of Dixie Rd, opposite the Drouillard Homestead, stood a mil and next to it were wagon sheds.

Moses used to bring cattle into town to sell at the slaughter house and then go over to Sam LaPointe's Saloon for refreshment. The saloon did not close util 11:30 PM. Sarah, his wife, no Doubt displeased by her husband's long absence, use to go to the palnk road that ran from Erie past their home and listen to Moses' horses, which it is said, could be heard alll the way from Erie. Perhaps this is a playful exagerration as the writer's recollections of this distance is that it is about nine miles.

Rollie Knaggs credits his brother-in-law Moses with a rather waggish bon mot about his marital relationship with his second wife: "My wife and I get along fine. She's willing to work and I am willing to let her."

From both the 1850 and 1860 Censuses, Moses appears to have been in 1841. His death certificate would yeield more information. His baptismal record has not been found in St. Joseph's Parish Records. Some of the baptismal records of his brothers are also missing. This suggests that soe of the baptisms must have occurred at another church either in Michigan or Ohio, even though St. Joseph's was founded in 1819.

Moses is found in the 1850 Federal Census in his father Charles LaVoy's entry. age 9. (ErieTwp. Monroe County, MI, p. 313, entry 105-105, dated 22 November, 1850). He is found in his mother Catherine LaVoy's entry in the 1860 Federal Census, age 19. (Erie Twp., Monroe County, MI, 10 July 1860, p.219, entry 615-621)

Moses LaVoy, Sr, married twice. His first marriage was Eunice DeShetler, daughter of Jean Baptiste DuChatlet or DeShetler. His second marriage was to Sarah Knaggs, daughter of Isadore Knaggs and Angeline Cousino. Rollie Knaggs stated Moses had 22 children by his two wives: 10 by Eunice and 12 by Sarah. Eunice's obituary indicates she did indded have 10 children, but the 1900 FEderal Censsu indicates that Sarah had 11 children. Still a remarkable feat for one man.

Moses LaVoy married Eunice DeShetler, born 1845, in St. Joseph's Church, Erie, MI, on 30 march 1862. He would have been about 21 and she 17. (Monroe County published Marriage Records)

Eunice died of "inflamation of the lungs" 4 December 1879, age 34 (Obituary, Monroe Commercial, 12 December 1879, pg. 6, col. 1) (A picture of Eunice is held by this writer made from an orginal owned by her son Frederick LaVoy) Her obituary states she had ten children: six boys and four girls, five of them survived to adulthood.

The 1870 Michigan Federal Census for Erie, dated 7 June 1870 (Dwelling 136-136, p. 263) documents the following for the Moses laVoy Family:

LaVoy, Moses, age 29, farmer, real estate valued at $300 and personal proerty valued at $300. He is unable to read or write. Unis (sic), age 25, keeping house. She is unable to read or write. Agnes, age 7, Seymour, age 1. It is clear from this census that already that at least two young children have died, considering the gap between Agnes and Seymour's ages.

Moses' family is recorded twice in the 1880 Federal Census because his straddles the Michigan-Ohio Stateline. His entry is recorded on p. 49C, dwelling 318-314, Washington Twp., Lucas County, Ohio on 22 June 1880 and on 23-24 June 1880 in the Michigan Federal Census, Bedford Twp., Monroe County, dwelling 304-309. The Family members are the same in both states' censuses, but their ages differ. The Ohio entries incldue Moses, age 38, Sarah, age 26, Aga (Agnes), age 15; Stella, age 10; Moses (Jr.), age 7; Peter, age 2; and Freddy 10/12.

In the 1880 Michigan Census Moses is able to read and write, contrary to the 1870 Census, but his wife Sarah is not. At this writing (2005)
the 1910 and 1920 Censes for Moses have not been searched.

Based upon statements made by Mrs Sarah laVoy McCarty, family members, St Joseph's baptismal records, the Censuses and the Monroe County published Death Records the following children of Moses LaVoy and Eunice DeShetler have been identified.

1. Agnes LaVoy, born 1863 (1870, 1880 Censuses) According to her brother Frederick Andrew LaVoy, Agnes had two children: unidentified child who died young and Geroge Perkins.

George was sent to an orphanage and adopted out under the name of George Orians. His last known address (1954) according to his Uncle FrederickLaVoy was Pell Lake, Wisconsin, phone: Genoa City 2254. He worked at the Dryon Night Club as a janitor and lived in the back of the club. He may have moved to Milwaukee. He was suppose to be given $50 by each child of the first marriage of Moses LaVoy and $25 by each child of the second marriage of Moses. A review of the Social Security Death Records in 2005 indicates ony two George Orians in the U.S.: George Orians #1 was born12 February 1905, died May, 1961, in an unspecified location, but whose Social Security Card was issued in Ohio, #289-09-7233; George Orians #2 was born 19 April 1899, died April 1985 in Toledo, Ohio. His Social Security Card was issued in Ohio, #299-36-8539. A further search on these two men has not been done. But Social Security Card applications can be searched after death for further details. A Toledo, Ohio, obituary also may exist for one or both.

2. Agnes' twin: attested to by Mrs. Sarah LaVoy McCarty. This twin died at an early age.

3. Ametus LaVoy, born 13 August 1866 (St. Joseph's Baptism Records, III, p. 52) There is no know translation of this Latinized name found in the baptismal records. No other record of his existence has been found at this writing. (2005) He apparently died as a yong child, before the age of four, as he is not mentioned in the 1880 Census.

4. Israel LaVoy: his existence is attested to by Mrs. Sarah LaVoy McCarty as "Isra". In addtion his presumed date of bis about October 30, 1869 as the published Monroe County Death Records indicate that he died November 30, 1875 in Bedford Twp., MI, of the croup.

5. Seymour LaVoy, born 1869, according to the 1870 Census, but must have died before the age of 11 as he is not mentioned in the 1880 Census.

6. Stella LaVoy, born in 1870-71, according to the two 1880 Censuses (Ohio and Michigan) enumerating this family. Her brother Frederick stated she died of pneumonia as a result of burns recieved in an explosion when she poured gasdoline into the oil of an oil stove to make it burn faster. her husband worked for the railroad. It is unclear whethr she married a man by the name Wenz. In which case she had at least three children: Jenny, Louis, and Ray Wenz. In a couple of LaVoy Family reunion pictures, there are people whose last name is Wenz present. These people were known as my mother's (Lucille Dusseau Tambeau) aunts and uncles, but she states they were only older cousins. The Monroe Historical Libary obits or those of Toledo, OH may give further leads on this branch of the LaVoy Family.

7. Moses LaVoy, Jr., was born 31 July 1876 (St. Joseph, Erie, MI, Baptismal Records, Vol. IV, p. 2) and married twice: (1) Marie Younglove of Ohio, according to Mrs. Sarah LaVoy McCarty. (2) Ada Pierson of Angola, IN, peviously married to the late Dr. Wilkinson of that area. Further details of this woman can be found in the letters of Mrs Bert McNett and Mrs Myrtle Butler in this writer's collection.

Moses, Jr., can be found in the Toledo, OH, Street Directory for 1901-02 as a laborer and as a treamsdter in 1903. living at 192 Phillips Ave. and again in 1907 at 943 Curtis as a car repairer. Thereafter no further entries are found for Moses, Jr., in the Toledo Directory.

Moses. Jr., moved to Angola, IN, where he married a second time. Lucas County, OH, records woul determine whether he was divorced from Marie or she died.

Moses, Jr.,'s brother Frederick told the writer the following. Moses, Jr., was a good butcher like his fathr from whom he learned the trade. He was a tall thin man. about six feet tall, with a mustache like the actor David Niven. Two pictures are in the family collection that verify this discription.

After he moved to Angola, IN, he became deranged. His brother Frederick believes he suffered from syphilitic insanity. Fred states that Moses, jr., used to putt pepper in his shoes as one of his many measures he took to fight imaginary microbes that were always attacking him.

Moses, Jr., was a crack shot and always carried a gun on his person. During one of his periods of mental ilness when he was in Angola, IN, it was necessary to develop a strategy to subdue him without his captors being shot. One day while husking corn in the field, he was teased into shooting at ears of corn thown in the air. When he had used up all of his bullets, his companions made a signal to the Sheriff who was in hiding nearby in the fields and he took Moses into custody.

Mrs. McNett, wife of the undertaker in the area, who rembered Moses into the 1960's, believes Moses was taken to the State Hospital in Richmond, IN. At the time Moses was living between Angola and Orion on his farm about ten miles from the Michigan Stateline.

The day he was captured, before being transferred to the state hospital, he tore out all of the plumbing in the jail.

Moses, Jr., spent about six to seven months in the asylum beofre being released. He told people at the time it was a good thing the way they subdued him or he would have killed them all.

About six months after his release, he told his wife Ada that he was going to go around to the neighbors so sel some of his butter. When he did not return home for some time, his worried wife went out to the barn where she found Moses hanging from a beam, a few feet from an overturned box. he was taken down by Mr. Butler, the caretaker of the Lake Gage Cemetery in Jackson Twonship, Steuben County, IN, where Moses LaVoy, Jr., is buried in Lot 199. His grave is marked by a gray granite stone, 24" x 24" by 12" high.

A Certificate of Death from the Steuben County Board of Health, Angola, In, indicates that Moses LaVoy, Jr., died 4 September 1917, a suicide by hanging, age 51. (He was actually only 41.)

In 1966, the farm where he died still existed as did the barn. At that time it was owned by the Widow Wise and Mrs. Butler notes that it was West of her husband's (Mr. Billie Butler) farm.

Mrs. Butler in a letter to this writer confirms one of Moses' brother's descriptions of his illness. She states that when Moses was having one of his nervous breakdowns, he felt he had something crawling on his feet and he would cut his feet trying to relieve the feeling.

It is beleived that Moses LaVoy, Jr., at least of his second wife, had no children, as no survivors are recorded in the report.

8. Peter Toussaint LaVoy was born November 1, 1877 (St. Joseph, Erie, MI, Baptismal Records, Vol. IV, p. 31). He married at age 23. residing at Toledo, OH, as a laborer at the time, to Maud Tasylor, age 21, the daughter of Irvin Taylor and Esther Henderson, on 17 October 1901, St Joseph, Erie, MI.

Toledo Directories record his presence there, starting in 1904. In 1907, he is l;iving at 943 Center and is listed as a car inspector; 1909, he lives at 111 Western, and is a car inspector; 1910-1912, 1007 Heston, car inspector; 1913, 1007 Heston, car repairer; 1914, 1007 Heston, laborer; 1915-16, no entry; 1917, 117 Ralph, brick maker; 1918, car repairer; No further searches were conducted.

The writer has a picture of Peter in his old age in the 1950's when he still maintained a home alone in his 80's.

9. Frederick Andrew LaVoy was born August 14, 1879. (St. Joseph, Erie, MI Bsaptismal Records, Vol IV, p. 46.) Contrary to family belief, Frederick's mother did not die in child birth with him as his mother died four months later on December 4, 1879 of "inflamation of the lungs".

Toledo, OH Street Directories report his presence ther ein 1904, living at 1870 Finch as a car repairer.

He married twice: (1) to Nora Tiedermann, born 13 January 1887 in Toledo, OH, the daughter of Christopher and Alice Tiedermann. She died in Temperance, MI, 17 Janaury 1955, age 68. Services were held from the Farnham Funeral Home. She was a member of the Temperance Baptist Church. (Obituary, MEN, 18 January 1955)

His second marriage was Marie M. Teal. born 23 June 1890, in Circleville, OH. They were married 31 March 1934 in Columbus, OH. They had no children. She died at their home, 6203 N. Detroit, Bedford, Twp., MI, on 5 October 1960. This litle white house still stands (2005) just across the stateline and is now used as a real estate agency. It was on the land originally owned by his father and stood slightly to the south and behind his father's Stateline home when it existed (Stateline has been torn down for several years and a car repair garage was built in its place.) Marie was buried in Whiteford Union Cemetery. Her Teal ancestry was placed by thewriter at her request in Burton Historical Collection, Detroit Main Library.

Frederick Andrew LaVoy or Frederick C. LaVoy, as he styled himself as an adult, died 19 December 1964, Bedord Twp., MI. He was a building contractor. His obituary indicates he was 85 years old and lived at 1601 Tmperance Rd., until he moved into the Golden haven Nursing Home. He was survived by two brothers Peter and William LaVoy of Toledo, OH. He was a mmember of the Temperance First Baptist Church. He was buried in White ford Union Cemetery, Whiteford Twp. He was survived by six children of his first wife: Carl and Argus LaVoy of Temperance. Ellis LaVoy of Fresno, CA, Arthur LaVoy of Orange, CA, and daughters, Mrs. Nora McKinley of Temperance and Mrs. Lucille Kramer of Toledo, OH.

Marie and Fred LaVoy very kindly provided meals and a place to stay for this writer when he was working on the LaVoy Family History in the late 1950's and early 1960's.

Moses LaVoy, Sr., age 38, married a second time to Sarah Ann Knaggs, age 26 (born 1854), daughter of Isidore Knaggs and Angeline Cousino, on 10 February 1880, two months and six days after the death of his first wife, Eunice DeShetler. Family tradition has it that Sarah, who lived across the street (Dixie Highway) in her parent's home, which is still standing (2005), acted as a baby sitter for Moses after the death of his first wife. Agnes LaVoy, Moses' oldest child, age 17, acted as the maid of honor.

Sarah Knaggs, despite her English ancestral origins, was more French Canadian than otherwise, and spoke very little English because she was afraid her children would make fun of her, according to her youngest brother Rollie Knaggs, who spoke to this writer in the late 1950's in flawlwss unaccented English. Rollie went on to say that she spoke to her children in Franch and they answered to her in English.

My mother, Lucille Dusseau Tambeau, remembers her grandmother Sarah giving her pennies to run down to a nearby candy store. She also remembers being in her funeral procession to St. Joseph's Cemetery. The roads were muddy, heavily rutted, and nearly impassible. My mother was five years and eight months old at the time.

Sarah died, age 66 of typhoid fever on 27 October 1921. Moses LaVoy, Sr., died 19 December 1929, age 89. The writer has obtained the telegram to his grandfather Harvey Dusseau, announcing Moses' death.

Moses LaVoy, Sr., and his wife Sarah Ann Knaggs are buried in St. Joseph's Cemetery, Erie, MI, in unmarked graves, but believed to be near Victor Knaggs' grave which is marked as is his parents.

According to the 1900 Census, Sarah Ann Knaggs LaVoy had 11 children. "The History of the Knaggs Family of Ohio and Michgan", 1902, edited by Robert P. Ross, p. 27, lists only nine children for Moses and Sarah Knaggs LaVoy. He states mistakenly that five of these children died of diphtheria in 1892. Those children of Moses recorded as dying of diphtheria died in 1891 according to the published Death Records of Monroe County, MI. Adding to the confusion, Ross gives the names of children not recorded in either the birth records of St. Joseph's Church or the death records of Monroe County. Ross state the following were the names of the Moses and Sarah children: Guy, Louis, Geroge, Charles, Adeline, Harry, Gertrude Julia, and Eurdie. He does not mention William Earl, born in 1890 who survived to adulthood.

Consequently it has been necessary to revise Ross' list of Moses' children by Sarah and challenge whether Sarah only had 11 children as the 1900 Census suggests. Based upon the St. Joseph's baptismal records and the published Death Records of Monroe County, the following list of children of Moses LaVoy, Sr., and Sarah Knaggs has been created, although some records may be in error about dates as an unusual number of twins would have had to occur to justify the dates in the records. There has been no confirmatory oral history about this unusual number of twins. Further research in St. Joseph, Erie, MI baptismal records may shed more light on the following individuals. Some childen have been omitted from the Ross list as there are no birth or death records known to this writer which confirm their existence.

1. Henry Walter LaVoy was born 6 november 1880 (St. Joseph, Erie, MI, Baptismal Records, IV, p. 59). Nothing further known. Presumed deceased in infancy or early childhood. May have been called Guy. See below.

2. Guy LaVoy, died of diphtheria on September 10, 1891, at age 11, making his birth year 1880. (See Vol. 3, published Death Records of Monroe County, MI.) If this is correct, he is either Henry Walter or a twin of Henry. Further review of St. Joseph's baptismal records may shed light on this issue.

3. Julia Adelaide LaVoy I, perhaps the Adeline mentioned by Ross, was born about July 23, 1882, according to St. Joseph, Erie, MI, baptismal records. No further records. May have died of diptheria in 1891, per Ross.

4. Eunice LaVoy I: There are two Eunices mentioned as the children of Moses and Sarah LaVoy in the published Death Records of Monroe County. Vol. 2, p. 111. Eunice LaVoy I is recorded as dying on on 4 December 1882 at Bedford at the age of 5 months of "inflammation of the lungs". This would place her birth date in July, 1882, and that would make her a twin of Julia Adelaide I above.

5. Eunice LaVoy II: (Vol. 2, p. 111) is said to have died 6 December 1883 at Bedford, age 4 months, 26 days, of cholera infantum. This would make her birth to be July 11, 1883. and a twin of Louis below. The coincidence of two Eunices with almost the exact birth and death dates a year apart may be due to an errors in the records which was subsequently corrected. Eunice was the name of Moses' first wife and she may have been a twin as well.

6. Louis LaVoy, baptized 7 September 1883 (St. Joseph Erie, MI, Baptismal Records, Vol. V, p. 26). There is a "Suda" in the Death Records of Monroe County (Vol. 3) who died of dephtheria on September 15,1891 at the age of 8 years. This is apparently Louis LaVoy. Suda may be a misreading of "Ludo", short for Ludovicus, the Latin word for Louis which appears in Louis' birth record.

7. Harry LaVoy, born 1885, died 4 August 1902 in a drowning accident, age 17. (Obituary, Monroe Democrat, 8 August 1902, pg. 5, col. 1); buried St. Joseph's Cemetery.

8. Varnie LaVoy: born July 21, 1988 and died March 5, 1889. According to the published Death Records of Monroe County, MI, Vol. 3. Varnie died on March 5, 1889 of diphtheria at the age of 8 months and 15 days. It is possible that this is the Charles LaVoy Ross refers to in "The Knaggs Family of Ohio and Michigan" as this latter individual is unaccounted for by death or birth records, but is mentioned in
Ross as dying of diphtheria. Further reseach in the baptismal records of St. Joseph, Erie, MI, may clarify the identity of Varnie and Charles LaVoy.

9. George LaVoy, born 1890, died 6 September 1891, of diphtheria in Bedford Twp., age 1 year (published Death Records of Monroe County, Vol. 3). We would have to infer from this data that once again this is a twin, the twin of William Earl LaVoy below, or that he was actually older than one year and born in 1889.

10.. William Earl LaVoy, born 29 August 1990 at Stateline He married twice: (1) Bertha Perry, 30 March 1910, St. Joseph Chruch, Erie, MI. She was the daughter of Charles Perry and Flora Horusky. (2) to Pearl L. Martens on May 15, 1922. William died March 5, 1977 in Toledo, OH.

11. Gertrude Sarah LaVoy was born 25 August 1991, Stateline. She married Harvey Joseph Dusseau on 30 April 1912, St. Joseph, Erie, MI. She died April 19, 1944 of post operative embolism. Family tradition has it that she was born during the diphtheria epeidemic and taken for dead was placed on a pile of her other deceased siblings. However, death records indicate that the siblings did not die all at once but over several months time. See her brother George LaVoy above for instance.

12. Julia Adelaide LaVoy II, known as Julia, was born April 3, 1893, at Stateline according to her obituary. She married Elroy Deszell 30 November 1911 at St. Joseph Church, Erie, MI. She died 14 January 1964, Berkley, MI.

13. Eurdie LaVoy was born about 1895 at Stateline, Bedford Twp., Monroe County, MI. She married Thomas Raymond, according to Sarah LaVoy McCarty. They had one daughter Pearl Raymond who married a man whose last name was Lawrence. The last names of these two men have been confirmed by other members of the family. They lived in Jackson, MI. An additional clue for further information may lie in the Social Security Death Record Index for a person named Thomas Raymond who lived in Jackson, MI, was born June 30, 1882 and died Febraury, 1974, in Jackson, MI. Thomas Raymond was described as a small man. Pictures of Eurdie and her daughter Pearl indicate both were morbidly obese.

List of children updated February, 2005 by Patrick L. Tombeau