Celestine (Lancelle) Coppesmette

Lifespan: 1853-11-18 — 1933-09-07

Summary

Born in Beauvechain, Brabant, Belgium to Jacques Joseph Lancelle and Anne Catherine Durdu. Emigrated to Wisconsin. Married Isidore Joseph Coppesmette on July 9, 1871 in Robinsonville, Brown County, Wisconsin — a Belgian Catholic settlement.

Bore twelve children; nine still living at the 1900 census (FamilySearch records the surviving nine as 5 sons and 4 daughters). Seven are confirmed by name through FindAGrave: Eli, Vital, Leona, Odile, Frank, Joseph, and Laura. Two more were living in 1900 but remain unidentified — likely Elina Lena (m. Macco/Mocco) and Octavien Joseph, both born before Eli (1877) and already out of the household by the June 1895 state census, which records only 7 children at home.

Lived in Red River, Kewaunee County, Wisconsin for about 25 years. By 1920 was in Sappa Township, Harlan County, Nebraska. Died September 7, 1933 in Green Bay at age 79. Buried at Allouez Catholic Cemetery and Chapel Mausoleum, Green Bay — sharing a headstone with Isidore.

Birth year note: FindAGrave + headstone record her birth as 18 Nov 1853. The 1900 census enumerator wrote May 1850 / age 49 — a 3-year discrepancy. Census ages were often estimates given by household members; the headstone is treated as authoritative here.

Coppesmette is the original Belgian spelling — Americanized to Coppersmith.

Relationships

• Parents: Jacques Joseph Lancelle & Anne Catherine Durdu (Beauvechain, Belgium)
• Spouse: Isidore Joseph Coppesmette (m. 1871-07-09, Robinsonville, WI)
• Children (7 confirmed via FindAGrave):
  • Eli Coppersmith (1877–1950)
  • Vital Coppersmith (1879–1942)
  • Leona Coppersmith Prevost (1879–1964) — same birth year as Vital, possibly twins
  • Odile Coppersmith Leanna (1881–1924)
  • Frank Joseph Coppersmith (1885–1959) — direct line
  • Joseph O. Coppersmith (1887–1972)
  • Laura Coppersmith Engels (1891–1963)

Sources

• FindAGrave Memorial #88935559 — Allouez Catholic Cemetery, Green Bay. Headstone shared with Isidore. FindAGrave family page lists the 7 children.
• 1900 US Census — recorded as wife of Isidore, mother of 12 children, 9 living. Census ages give birth as May 1850 / age 49 (vs headstone 1853 — discrepancy noted).
• 1895 Wisconsin state census, Town of Red River, Kewaunee County — household of 9 (5 male, 4 female; 7 US-born children + Isidore and Celestine foreign-born), neighboring the Barrette and other Walloon Belgian families.
• FamilySearch person record — describes the 9 surviving children as 5 sons + 4 daughters.

Research Notes

• Beauvechain is in Walloon Brabant, French-speaking Belgium — confirms the family as Walloon Belgian, not Flemish.
• Robinsonville, WI (now Champion) is the Belgian settlement corridor adjacent to Dyckesville.
• Nebraska detour (1920) — Sappa Township, Harlan County. Many Belgian-Wisconsinites homesteaded in Nebraska. Some returned.
• Jacques Joseph Lancelle and Anne Catherine Durdu could be traceable in Belgian civil records (Beauvechain commune).
• Two FindAGrave-undocumented children were living at the 1900 census — find them in 1880/1910 census or parish records.