52 Ancestors: Francois Xavier Christie (1866 - 1922)

Well, here is my next ancestor post.  I was relectant to write it as I feel they are all starting to sound the same and don't provide much information or interesting facts. So far most of my ancestors have the same story; they are born, raised, marry, earn a living as a farmer or marry a farmer, have children and die all in the same area.

This week I am writing about my Great Great Uncle Francois Xavier Christie. Francois was the last child of William Christie and Tarsiel Arseneau and the brother of my Great Grandfather Alexander Christie. He was born about Dec 8, 1864 in Peter's River, between Bathurst and Beresford, New Brunswick, Canada. I have not been able to find baptism or birth records to verify his birth date; this  birth date was taken from census records. I'm pretty confident that this is the correct year and month, as his age has been consistently reported since 1871 and there were several times December was listed as his birth month.

Francois like his older siblings went to school at a young age (6) and continued until he was at least 16 years old learning to read, write and speak English. On Nov 10, 1890 when Francois was just shy of his 26th birthday he married Margaret Comeau. His brother William was one of his witnesses;who two weeks later married Margaret's sister Marie Anne. Francois and William lived, in the parish of Beresford, village of Robertville, next door to each other and raised their families side by side until at least 1901. When he was first married Francois earned a living as a labourer, by the time of the 1901 census he was earning a living as a farmer and had three children (2 sons and a daughter). In 1911, he was still living and farming in Robertville however his family had grown by another 2 sons. In 1918 Francois would become a widower and would raise his last two sons alone.

On Dec 12, 1922 in Saint Therese parish, Robertville, New Brunswick, Francois would die. The death certificate states that the cause of death is no medicine. His burial is listed as the catholic cemetery at St. Therese, NB.