Ernest Joseph Girardin

Ernest spoke French. He was a diabetic. He lost one leg and had bad eye sight. He suffered from Ptosis (p is silent) an eye condition where the eyelid won't stay open. He was tall and slender. He was the son of Emilie Dubois and Joseph E. Girardin. He descends from the first French settlers who came to Detroit in the early 18th century. The first one to arrive was Jacques Campau who was married to Cecile Catin. They made Detroit their home in 1708. Jacques was Ernest's 4th great grandfather.

Prior to that his family was in Canada and prior to that France. His lineage can be traced back to kings and Queens of France in the 11th and 12th century.

about her family and she said, oh no, I can't write anymore. She used to be such a good writer. I got her to tell me a lot about her grandfather, Ernest Girardin and some of her other relatives. She is 79 now and has MS and it is hard for her to write or type so I'm not sure she'll be able to write it. I can try to write it but I know it would be so much better if she could. I should have recorded the conversation.

There's no French Canadian recipes, no songs, nothing specifically French other than the fact that Ernest spoke French. He was the son of Joseph Girardin and Emilie Dubois. Joseph was a descendant of the Girardin and the Genest dit Labarre families of Canada and Emilie descends from the Dubois and Campau and Cuillerier dit Beaubien lines. Well Ernest went and fell in love with Emilie's upstairs Irish maid, Delia Oles. They married and Emilie was not pleased at all. She disinherited Ernest. Ernest worked on Belle Isle and operated the boilers. He shoveled coal. Then he got diabetes and lost leg. He had a wooden leg and walked with a cane. His family would help him shovel coal so that he wouldn't lose his pension. My mom and her parents lived with them for a while and later he and Delia lived with my grandparents and my mom. Families helping one another. 

After Joseph died Emilie married Rufus Shermerhorn who was quite the business man. Rumor has it that he used a lot or maybe all of Emilie's money for all of his business ventures. And to think her son had to shovel coal on Belle Isle, the island one owned by Barnabas Campau, Ernest's second great uncle. I really wonder what kind of person Emilie Girardin was.
http://www.archives.com/GA.aspx?_act=ImageViewCensus1940&FirstName=...

Ernest only went to the 5th grade of school. He was 77 in 1940.