The Ancestors of Henry Joseph Georges

My second great grandfather, Henry Joseph Georges

100% Belgian

My grandpa Faulkenberg gets his first name from his own grandpa, Henry Georges, whose maternal grandmother was born Marie Madeline Sosson in 1789 in Vance, a town in the French-speaking Luxembourg region of Belgium where she lived her entire life. She has some traceable ancestors who lived in the towns of Virton and Meix-le-Tige, but both are less than a 20-minute drive in modern cars.

In her hometown, Marie married Andre Auguste Backes in 1808, then eventually gave birth to a number of children, including Rose Honorine Backes in 1826. Rose is Henry Georges’ mother, and her name is sometimes recorded as Rosalie, which makes sense considering Henry’s daughter was named Rosalia (sometimes pronounced “roe-ZAY-lee”). Marie died in 1845, and eight years later her husband and daughter migrated to America.

Top: Vance, Belgium

Bottom: an old picture from Meix-le-Tige, Belgium

When the 67 year-old widowed Andre Backes moved to the US, he was making the voyage with a few more of his adult children, as well as Rose’s husband Francis Georges and their three oldest kids. The Georges family is from Hachy, another town in Belgium just down the road from Vance. Their ship, the Samuel Radger, departed from Le Havre, France and arrived in New York City on December 5, 1853. Before long, the family settled in Seneca County, Ohio, where some of them remained.

An old picture of Hachy, Belgium

I don’t know exactly when Francis and Rose arrived in Perry County, Indiana. But their son Henry was born there in the town of Leopold in 1857, just a year before his maternal grandfather Andrew (formerly Andre) Backes died back in New Riegel, Ohio.

Pierre Georges (born 1803 in Belgium), grandfather of Henry Joseph Georges

It wasn’t until after all this happened that Henry Georges’ paternal grandparents made the trip to join their family in Indiana. Their names were Pierre Georges and Marguerite Devillez. They came to America with their younger children, one of which gave an account about their trip years later. According to him, this second group of Georges left Hachy, Belgium on Friday, October 27, 1863 for the nearby town of Habay la Vielle, where they boarded a train.

Marguerite Devillez Georges (born 1804 in Belgium), grandmother of Henry Joseph Georges

The train then took the Georges clan to Le Havre, France, where they eventually boarded a ship called the Lancaster. Though they might have stayed somewhere between Hachy and Le Havre for a little while because the Lancaster didn’t arrive in New York City until March 15, 1864. From there, the family traveled to Buffalo before passing through the Ohio cities of Cleveland, Tiffin, and Cincinnati, where they stayed overnight at the Lafayette Hotel. Our ancestor’s brother specifically says they then travelled by boat from Cincinnati to Louisville.

Cincinnati in 1865, a year after Pierre and Marguerite Georges passed through

I imagine they mostly travelled by boat between New York and Cincinnati as well, but I suppose it also could have been by train. Either way, on March 26, 1864, Pierre and Marguerite Devillez Georges and company arrived in Leopold, Indiana, where they met their seven year-old grandson Henry Georges for the first time.

Pierre Georges (left) and the Rickenbaugh house (right)

After arriving in Indiana, Henry’s grandfather, Pierre Georges, started going by “Peter”, the English version of his first name. Back in Belgium, Pierre had worked as a stonemason, and in 1874 he and two of his sons were hired by Jacob Rickenbaugh to build a stone house. Although Henry Georges would go on to be a farmer, his father Francis (one of Pierre Georges’ sons) was a stonemason as well. But it does not appear that Francis helped his father and brothers with this particular building.

Years later, Pierre’s (or Peter’s) great granddaughter Rosalia Georges Faulkenberg and her husband Marshal would build a home not too far from the Rickenbaugh house, which by then had been converted into the Celina post office. During World War II, Roslia and Marshal would walk to the post office every day to see if there was a letter from any of their three sons who were serving, which includes my grandpa Henry Faulkenberg, who spent some time in Belgium during the war.

One more way our family is connected to this house, which as of July 2023 is still standing in good condition and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, has to do with my grandpa Henry Faulkenberg’s paternal grandfather, Otto. In 1926, Otto was convicted of assault and battery with intent to commit manslaughter against Emory Rickenbaugh, Jacob’s son who was born the same year the historic home was completed. The case made it all the way to the Indiana Supreme Court, where the conviction was upheld. For what it’s worth, in 1926, Otto was 68 and the victim was 52.

The stone church at St. Augustine in Leopold, Indiana was completed in 1878 and was constructed by the Georges. This probably includes Henry’s grandfather Pierre. Even though he was in his late 70’s by then, he was listed on the census as a stonemason two years later. Pierre is also buried not far from where this picture was taken.