Ancient history - my family

I'm probably the only one of my family who remembers our Dad's stories, and who has lots of Dad's family files and papers and photos.  This post is going to be about my great-grandparents - Sedonie Lucas and Emile Lefebure. 

They were born and raised in neighboring villages (Soignies and Neufvilles) in the French-speaking province of Hainaut, in southern  Belgium.  Sedonie's father had died; when her oldest brother, Charles, was mustered out of the Belgian army in the  Spring of 1858, the entire family - mother, brothers Charles, Henry, and Godfroi, Sedonie, and 2 or 3 sisters - had sold their farm and set off for America.  Their timetable as noted by Charles Lucas was fairly precise.  Such that I'm sure that a "travel agent" had pre-arranged for their travel by ship to New York, then by train to Iowa, and then to the land that they purchased, in Johnson County, Iowa.   The youngest son, Godfroi (sp??) died onboard the ship and was buried at sea (such an awful euphemism for being dumped overboard).  In 1860 Emile became of age, and set off to follow his sweetheart.  I have a framed copy of his passport, dated October 12, 1860, good for one year.  It's a large piece of paper, no photograph, just a long description on the left side of his features.  At the top are printed the words "Au Nom Du Roi Des Belges" - - in the name of the King of the Belgians. 

So in 1860 Emile followed the Lucas family to Iowa, and shortly he and Sedonie were married and settled  nearby.  They remained there for about five years.  Emile bought 160 acres in nearby Linn County with a loan from the University of Iowa, which he repaid fairly quickly.  The new home was near the little settlement first called Vanderbilt (after the man who owned the railroad that brought so many pioneer farmers from the East), now called Fairfax.   How odd it must have been to end up in a place that was virtually unsettled, and where one's neighbors did not speak the same language.  My father often said that his father and grandfather were referred to by neighbors & townspeople as The Frenchman - the neighbors were of Irish or Bohemian heritage.   And, most importantly,  in a country about to wrench itself apart on the cusp of the US Civil War.

Emile's brothers-in-law, Charles and Henry Lucas, were among those who enlisted in a local Iowa regiment, in August 1862.  Henry was not in good health, and he was rejected.  Charles, on the other hand, had military experience in Belgium.  He was made a sergeant within days and instructed his recruits in all matters military.  His term of service encompassed the entire Civil War, from the Red River Campaign, through Grant's efforts to cut off transport on the Mississippi River.  He was present at the siege of Vicksburg, travelled with the army by ship through the Gulf and up the Atlantic Coast to Washington, then by train to the Shenandoah theatre where he served with Gen. Sheridan, and ended military service in  August 1865 in Augusta, Georgia. 

But not Emile.  Family legend is that Emile spent the war years chopping firewood for those families whose men were off at war.  Perhaps it's true.  There are some letters from Belgium responding to Emile's requests for money.  Interesting that at the end of his life, after some 40 years in America, he had acquired so much land that each of his 8 or 9 children were each given substantial lands after Sedonie had died.