The following is in regard to one of my father’s Franco-Swiss ancestors who lived and died in Montecheroux. It appears that he was one of many French Catholics who were not fans of the Revolution and Napoleon. He was a large landowner in the area and his name appears frequently as a witness to the births, marriages, and deaths recorded in the Montecheroux BMD records. Following the restoration of the Bourbon monarchy, Jean received an appointment that guaranteed that his name would now appear on every BMD record from 1815 to 1826.

Early Life and Heritage

Jean Germain Voisard was born in 1754 in Montécheroux, Doubs, Franche-Comté, France. He was the son of Jean Jacques Voisard (c. 1710 – October 29, 1755) and Jeanne Antoine Jourot (c. 1732 – October 5, 1783), who were married in Montécheroux on May 23, 1751.

His father, Jean Jacques Voisard (c. 1710 – 29 October 1755) was born and died in Montécheroux, Doubs, Franche-Comté, France. He was the son of Jacques Ignace Voisard (born 20 December 1687 in Fessevillers; died 2 May 1743 in Montécheroux) and Agathe Prétot (born c. 1690). Through his father, his paternal grandparents were Étienne Voisard (c. 1662 – 28 March 1734, of Fessevillers) and Jeanne Noroy (born c. 1660). Jean Jacques married Jeanne Antoine Jourot on 23 May 1751 in Montécheroux, a union that brought together his paternal Voisard line with the Jourot family (daughter of Jean Jourot and Barbe Denis) and produced descendants who carried the lineage forward through his son Jean Germain Voisard.

On May 30, 1774, Jean Germain married Marie Angélique Lachat (born c. 1750 in Montécheroux), daughter of Jean Pierre Lachat and Marie Anne Labbe.

Mayoralty and Religious Strife in Montécheroux

Following the final defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte at the Battle of Waterloo and his subsequent exile to Saint Helena, the French monarchy was restored on July 8, 1815. In December 1815, Jean Germain Voisard was appointed as the “royal” mayor of Montécheroux, serving in this office until 1826.

During the 18th century, Montécheroux was a Protestant-majority enclave under Catholic French rule. Under Louis XIV, a special religious arrangement known as the simultaneum (or église simultanée) had been enforced, requiring Protestants to share their church facilities with local Roman Catholics. With the onset of the French Revolution, the simultaneum was abolished, and on September 9, 1790, the church temple was returned exclusively to the Protestant congregation. On the eve of the Revolution in 1789, birth, marriage, and death records indicate that Protestants/Lutherans in Montécheroux outnumbered Catholics by approximately five to one.

With the Restoration of the Bourbon monarchy, Jean Germain Voisard and other local Catholic residents anticipated the reinstatement of the old religious policies. By 1825, as the Catholic population grew, a petition was formally submitted to authorities requesting the re-establishment of the simultaneum. When the authorities rejected the request, Voisard, a devout Catholic, made the drastic decision to sell all his possessions and arrange emigrating to the United States. However, he passed away in Montécheroux on March 30, 1826, at the age of 72, before he could make the journey.

Children and Family Legacy

Jean Germain Voisard and Marie Angélique Lachat had several children in Montécheroux:

• Pierre François Voisard (February 13, 1775 – September 6, 1777)
• Jean Joseph Voisard (born June 12, 1777)
• Pierre François Xavier Voisard (born March 9, 1779)
• Marie Anne Voisard (c. 1781 – after 1848)
• Jeanne Angélique Voisard (February 6, 1783 – before 1850)
• François Victor Voisard (born November 18, 1784)
• Jean François Voisard (born June 8, 1786)
• Pierre Louis Voisard (born October 3, 1788)

His daughter, Jeanne Angélique Voisard, married Joseph Faivre (born April 29, 1782 in Grandfontaine, Jura, Switzerland) on November 5, 1809, in Montécheroux. Though her father was unable to fulfill his goal of reaching America, Jeanne Angélique and her family fulfilled the emigration dream, traveling to Stark County, Ohio, in 1834. With the money inherited following her father’s death, Jeanne Angélique Voisard and her husband, Joseph Faivre, fulfilled the dream of emigrating to America. They departed from Havre, France, aboard the SS Barque Turbo and arrived in New York on May 19, 1834, eventually settling in Stark County, Ohio. Joseph Faivre established himself as a merchant, operating a dry goods store in the community of Belfort, Nimishillen Township.

Their daughter, Marie Elise Faivre, married Jean Baptiste François Xavier Jeanin-Gaume on August 17, 1834, in Louisville, Stark County, Ohio. Their son, Francis “Frank” Gaume, served as a volunteer soldier during the American Civil War. Following the war, Frank married Cordelia Pickering of Pennsylvania in 1867. Tragic circumstances followed when Cordelia passed away on June 2, 1868, shortly after giving birth to their daughter, Della Gaume (also recorded as Delah). Della was the paternal grandmother of the author’s father. Unable to raise his infant daughter alone, Frank left Della in the care of her grandmother, Marie Elise, while he traveled “out west”. Frank later remarried Augustina Blanchard in 1871, and father and daughter were eventually reunited when he relocated his family to St. Marys, Pottawatomie County, Kansas, in the 1880s. This is where Della met and married Dr. August Vital Francois Joseph DeBacker. Marie Elise Faivre Gaume passed away on October 26, 1891, at Louisville, Stark County, Ohio, at the age of 81.