Désirée Juliana Meuron

Lifespan: 1815-12-02 — 1891-07-18

Summary

Born in Mélin, Brabant Wallon, Belgium to Pierre Joseph Meuron (1789–1818) and Anne Marie Barbe Logis (1791–ca 1858). Same village as her husband Alexis Joseph Copesmette (1811–1889). Her father died when she was 2 years old; her younger sister Hortence Meuron (1818–1880) was born the same year (possibly posthumously). Worked as a seamstress (couturière) in Mélin — confirmed by the 1835 Mélin civil register entry for her eldest son. Married Alexis on June 8, 1835 in Mélin (per Geneanet) at age 19, ~5 months pregnant; their first child Ferdinand was born November 22, 1835. They had 11 children per her 1891 obituary; 9 are now named with dates per Geneanet.

Emigrated from Belgium to Wisconsin with Alexis and the children, arriving in New York on March 29, 1856 (per her 1891 obituary). The family settled in Red River, Kewaunee County, where she lived for ~33 years and was remembered as “one of the oldest settlers” of that Belgian Catholic community. After Alexis died at Red River in July 1889, she moved to Green Bay (likely to live with a child) and died there on Saturday, July 18, 1891, age 75 (the obituary rounds to 79 — a common newspaper-age error of a few years). The funeral was held at 9 a.m. Monday in Red River and her remains were laid to rest there. Five of her eleven children survived her: two sons (Ferdinand Désiré in Green Bay, Isidore in Red River) and three daughters (still to be identified). The other six had predeceased her, several likely in childhood.

Appears under multiple name variants across records: Julienne Désirée, Julianne Desiree, Désirée Juliana; surname as Meuron or Meurens. American papers and clerks sometimes wrote her first name as “Desire” — the Anglicized form of Désirée — which has caused at least one merge error in derivative databases (see Sources note on FamilySearch).

Relationships

• Father: Pierre Joseph Meuron (1789–1818, Mélin)
• Mother: Anne Marie Barbe Logis (1791–ca 1858) — possibly emigrated to Wisconsin with the family in 1856; see her stub.
• Sister: Hortence Meuron (1818–1880) — only known sibling; possibly posthumous.
• Paternal grandfather: Philippe Jacques Meuron
• Paternal aunt: Marie Barbe Meuron (1796–~1880) — Pierre Joseph’s sister
• Spouse: Alexis Joseph Copesmette (1811–1889; m. June 8, 1835 in Mélin per Geneanet, at his age 24 / her age 19)
• Children: 11 per her 1891 obituary (5 surviving + 6 predeceased); 9 now named with dates per Geneanet (the remaining 2 likely Mélin infant deaths the parish source missed):
  • Ferdinand Désiré Joseph Copesmette (1835–1923, b. Nov 22 in Mélin) — eldest; named after her (Désirée → Désiré); emigrated with family; settled Green Bay as stone cutter; m. Josephine Fumal; ≥8 children. Used “Désiré Coppersmith” in America. One of the 2 surviving sons in obit.
  • Marcel Désiré Coppersmith (1838–1891) — died same year as Désirée. Order of deaths unresolved.
  • Victorine Coppersmith (1840–?) — possible “surviving daughter” candidate.
  • Isidore Joseph Coppesmette (1844–1911, b. Nov 22 in Mélin) — direct line. One of the 2 surviving sons in obit.
  • Appolonia Coppersmith (1845–1915) — likely surviving daughter.
  • Elvira Coppersmith (1847–1886) — predeceased her by 5 years.
  • Stephanie Coppersmith (1850–1922) — likely surviving daughter.
  • Ferdinand Joseph Coppersmith (1852–?) — second Ferdinand. Likely predeceased her (not one of the 2 surviving sons).
  • Flora Pélagie Coppersmith (1854–1919) — youngest known; emigrated to WI at age ~2; likely surviving daughter.
  • 2 unnamed children — likely Mélin infant deaths between named children, accounting for the 11 vs 9 gap.
  • Alexis Henri Joseph Copesmette — named only by MyHeritage; not in Geneanet; demoted to unconfirmed.
• Surviving-daughters identification: the obit’s 3 surviving daughters are 3-of-4 from {Victorine, Appolonia, Stephanie, Flora Pélagie} (the 4 with no death year before 1891). The 4th was likely deceased before 1891 by a date Geneanet didn’t catch.

Sources

• Mélin civil register, 21 November 1835 — birth declaration of Ferdinand Désiré Joseph Copesmette names her as Julienne Désirée Meuron, age 20, seamstress, residing in Mélin.
• 1880 US Federal Census, Town of Green Bay, Brown County, Wisconsin — Schedule 1, ED 7, SD 4, page 21, dwelling 142, family 152. Enumerated June 22, 1880 by Victor Bader. Listed as “Desirée,” W f 68, wife of Alex Copersmith, keeping house, born Belgium, both parents foreign-born. Confirms she and Alexis were co-residing in Brown County by 1880 (relationship to Red River pending — see Alexis’s record). Image at media/documents/1880-census-alexis-desiree-copersmith.jpg.
• 1891 obituary, “Death of Mrs. Desire Coppersmith” (local Wisconsin paper, likely Green Bay or Kewaunee, July 1891) — gives exact emigration date (arrived March 29, 1856), Red River burial, “one of the oldest settlers at Red River” reputation, and the 5-surviving-children count (3 daughters + 2 sons). Headline “Mrs. Desire” reflects her own first name (Désirée → Desire) Americanized, since Alexis had died two years prior.
• WikiTree/Geneanet person record (birth, parentage).
• FamilySearch (via Alexis and Isidore’s records — name variants).
• Ancestry.com person record (corroborates birth/death dates and parentage chain).
• MyHeritage person record — adds marriage year (1835), two more children (Flora Pélagie, Alexis Henri Joseph). Lists 13 children total vs. the obituary’s 11. Gives birth year as 1816 — rejected in favor of our 1815-12-02 from the Mélin civil register, which is a primary source.
• Geneanet (gw.geneanet.org) — sharpens marriage date to June 8, 1835 (Monday) in Mélin; confirms death age 75; gives 9 named children with dates (Ferdinand Désiré 1835–1923, Marcel Désiré 1838–1891, Victorine 1840–, Isadore 1842–1911 [the 1842 is the propagated error our May 6 session corrected to 1844], Appolonia 1845–1915, Elvira 1847–1886, Stephanie 1850–1922, Ferdinand Joseph 1852–, Flora Pélagie 1854–1919); names her only known sibling Hortence Meuron (1818–1880). Doesn’t claim the Wisconsin death for Anne Marie Barbe Logis.

Research Notes

• Both she and Alexis were from Mélin — families knew each other in Belgium.
• Earlier record named Philippe Jacques Meuron as father — Geneanet corrects this to Pierre Joseph Meuron. Philippe Jacques may be a grandfather or uncle.
• Pierre Joseph died at 29 when Désirée was 2 — Marie Barbe Logis raised her as a widow.
• Meuron/Meurens spelling variant — common with Walloon names in American records.
• Three unnamed surviving daughters (1891) — research target. They’d be alive in Brown/Kewaunee County around 1891 and traceable via local marriage records or 1880/1900 census living near Isidore’s farm in Red River.
• FamilySearch confusion: FamilySearch’s profile for Josephine Fumal (her daughter-in-law, wife of Désiré) wrongly inherits Désirée’s death info — same date (July 18, 1891), same place (Green Bay), same incorrect Wrightstown burial. This is the obit for Désirée, mis-merged onto Josephine’s profile because both women’s names look like “Mrs. Desire Coppersmith” in derivative records. Josephine’s actual death is unknown.
• Children count — 9 / 11 / 13: Geneanet (parish/civil) gives 9 named with dates; her 1891 obituary gives 11 total; MyHeritage gives 13. Most plausible synthesis: obit’s 11 = Geneanet’s 9 + 2 infant deaths the parish source missed. MyHeritage’s 13 likely double-counts or includes unconfirmed names (Alexis Henri Joseph). We keep 11 as authoritative total, 9 as named-with-dates, MyHeritage extras as unconfirmed.
• The 3 surviving daughters in the obituary = 3-of-4 from {Victorine, Appolonia, Stephanie, Flora Pélagie}. Worth checking 1900 / 1910 Wisconsin censuses for these four to identify which three were alive in July 1891 and which married names they used.
• Geneanet’s Isidore birth year (1842) is wrong — it’s the same propagated error our May 6 session corrected. The headstone, 1900 census, and FindAGrave all give 1844-11-22. Keep 1844.
• MyHeritage’s 1816 birth year — rejected: her birth is firmly 1815-12-02 per the Mélin civil register entry naming her at age 20 in November 1835. MyHeritage’s “1816” is a derivative user-tree variant, probably from rounding (born late Dec 1815 → most of her life she was the age she’d turn that year, i.e. 1816’s age).