Regina Marchand's mother Clara Currie

[Mike James]

Mike James and Regina Marchand, Circa 1980

Lately I've been concentrating on my grandmother Regina Marchand's ancestry. Her family was of French extraction. As a matter of fact when she met my grandfather, Richard James, she apparently only spoke french.

Her father was William J. Marchand a farmer from North Dakota, born August 28 1877. Here mother was Clara Currie (actually Schneider, see below) was born in 1884 in North Dakota.

CLARA CURRIE (SCHNEIDER)

Her father was born Henry Schneider, August 1856 in Iowa. He probably met his wife Delia Dorval in North Dakota while traveling there as a "Harvest Hand" with his brothers. They were married June 5th 1877 in North Dakota.

This part of the country known as the Red River Valley (named for the Red River of the North), was a rich wheat growing area. Many of the homesteaders to this region, the Dorval's, Marchand's and Morin's included, were French-Canadian and had immigrated from Quebec around 1875.

According the 1880 census Henry Schneider is listed as a farmer. The census also lists his two brothers but no Delia. He may have still been a harvest hand at that time.

Clara is shown as the first born in 1884. Clara's two brothers were Fred born in 1886 and Louis born in 1887. Sadly, Delia Dorval passed away the same year.

Henry remarried Amanda Boisvert around 1890. They had six additional children.

In the 1900 census Henry Schneider and his family were farming in Kurtz County, Minnesota, across the border from North Dakota. Clara was now 16 years old.

As far as Clara's real last name, is it Currie or is it Schneider?

At some point Clara and her family changed their last name to Currie (her brother Fred kept the Schneider name). The story is that her father, Henry Schneider, lost the family farm in a card game. In order to get
another plot of land through the "Homestead Act" he changed his name to George Currie.

In 1902, Clara was to be married a man by the name of Greenwood, a marriage arranged by her parents, but she became enamored by the best man, William Marchand, and married him instead.

They began their life together on a farm in Minnesota. In 1903 Regina was the first-born at Brainard, Minnesota in 1903. They added to the family with Antonia; 1904, Henry; 1907, William; 1916 and Doris; 1920.

I don't think life was easy on the farm, living in a sod house, crop failure, tornadoes, floods and locust.

Clara later suffered with mental health issues, she spent the last four years of her life in the North Dakota State Hospital, a "hospital for the insane." She died there from Tuberculous, May 1925 at the age of 41. On her death certificate Manic Depression and Psychotic Mania ( a form of schizophrenia) are listed as contributory factors in her death.
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[Zina Stockinger]

Hello! In talking with my Aunt Katie and my Mom, Sidney (Doris Marchand's children), we have a bit of a different take on what might have happened to Clara. My Aunt gave me an extensive genealogy done by Antonia Marchand's husband Richard. It covers both sides of their family and includes a section called "Antonia's Story," an informative rendering of her early years and what it was like growing up on a farm. There are xeroxed photos that are hard to decipher, but in the later years are many pictures of happy family reunions. It was good to see my Grandmother Doris smiling with her family that lived so far away.

Delia and Henry married in 1883, on June 5th and Clara was born 10 months later. That is why Delia did not appear with Henry in the 1880 census, I believe. Fred and Louis were born in the following two years. The information in the book states that the boys died in their teens. The family seems to use both the Currie and Schneider names at different times, but Henry, or George Currie as he came to be known, died in 1905 and it was said that he was quite successful and owned a home near the school in Moorhead.

Clara was described as a very kind and gentle mother. It brought tears to my eyes to read those words. My Grandma had said at one time or another that her parents were warned by doctors to not have anymore children because Clara had apparently suffered some adverse effects. However, this was before 1920, and contraception was virtually non-existent and against Church teaching. My Grandmother was born in February of 1920 and that's when Clara broke. We feel it's possible that she suffered from a kind of post-partum psychosis, a condition that is quite treatable with modern science.

Jumping back to the idea that Delia's children were adopted: I have a hard time believing that. What I think is more likely, is that they were "adopted" by Henry Schneider's second wife (who also happened to be his housekeeper!), Amanda Boisvert. Henry and Amanda had many children of their own. I only have a picture or two of Clara and none of her brothers, but she does resemble a picture of her father that is shown in the book.

I hope to keep learning more and would love to take a trip to North Dakota and see what else I can find.