4 Generation Boche/Bionaz

                                                                                                          about 1935, California
Elizabeth Joan Bionaz is my mother. Her parents are John Bionaz and Elizabeth Hawk Bionaz. Grandpa Johnny's mother is Orpheline Boche Bionaz. Orpheline's parents are Peter J Boche and Charlotte Mary Ducley.
Orpheline and her parents were born in Northern Italy.

Surname Sunday

There is an interesting pattern to some of the men the women I my mother's family married. See if you notice it.
Starting with my great-grandmother.
Mary Orpheline Boche, married John Elere Bionaz.
Her son John C Bionaz, married Elizabeth Grace Hawke. (Here it kind of skips a generation, but it makes up for it in the next generation.)
My mother Elizabeth "Joan" Bionaz, married James Edward Baker Jr
Her sister my aunt Jacqueline Carol Bionaz, married Arthur Stuart Backer (Yes, my mother married a Baker and her sister married a Backer)
Me, Betty-Lu Baker, married a Burton.
Did you notice the pattern? All the last names that start with a "B". I just think it is interesting and wanted to share this with others.

Elizabeth Grace Hawk Bionaz Birth

We've been unsure about my grandmother Betty's birth day. Most people would say just ask her, but that is where the confusion comes in. She always thought she was born in Dec 1910, but when she went to apply for Social Security, she had to have a copy of her birth certificate. When she wrote for her birth certificate, it came back with the birth date of 8 Nov 1911, an eleven month difference in age. Okay, but to add a little more question the birth certificate had the name Margaret Hawk. It had the correct parents, but not the birth date she always thought was her birth date and it had another name also!

We were hoping the 1920 census would help clear up the birth date, but if we figure her age, she would have been possibly born in 1912. Well, Lisa had a chance to get to Harper County, Kansas and maybe helped clear this mess up (or possible added to the confusion). I heard somewhere that Grandma's brother was adopted and Margaret's birth certificate said that Mabel Martin Hawk (grandma Betty's mother) that Margaret was the 6th child. Now I know of Lucille, Ruth, and Crystal, because they were alive when I was born. I had found a Eleanor in the Ohio birth records that also belong to this family, but she apparently died before the 1910 Census and none of the girls remembered an Eleanor. That makes 4 children and now we have proof that there was a boy born in Harper County, Kansas in February 1910. Lisa found a newspaper announcement for a boy born to Mr & Mrs H.C Hawk on 21 February 1910. Now we know of 5 children and Margaret would make 6. Now all the children are accounted for and Margaret could be grandma Betty. Before, if William was adopted then there was 4 girls by 1910, William adopted and that would have made Margaret the 5th child, which would mean that maybe Elizabeth was born before Margaret. However, now with a boy being born in 1910 there is not another baby born before Margaret.

Now the question is "Is William adopted or is he the boy born 21 Feb 1910?" William's birth date is listed as 22 February 1910 in the Social Security Death Index as well as that's the date everyone else in the family had for him. So, is this just an error in when he was born or is he adopted and the boy born 21 February died shortly after birth. That's the next Question to figure out with this family.

My Name

I was named after both of my grandmothers. Betty for grandma Betty (Elizabeth Grace Hawke Bionaz) and Lu for grandma Baker (Lucy Mary Huyck Baker). My mother did not have a good relationship with her mother at the time, something about a hard preganacy on my mom's part and bad health on my grandmother's part. Apprently when my mom was pregant with one of my older brother, my grandma Betty had her breast removed because of breast cancer. Some one got their feelings hurt, because the other one could not visit because of their health. I found this out later from my grandmother Betty shortly before she died. Then to make matters worse, when my mother was pregant with me, her sister was pregant also and my mother had problems and her sister did not. it's interesting how people can get their feelings hurt, because they do not understand the other person situtation.

So my mother put a hyphen in my name, because she could not figure out any other way to put Lucy in my first name. Then to make my name harder, she did not give me a middle name. I spent a lot of my youth explaining how to spell my name and what a hyphen is (a hyphen is the line in my name, Betty-Lu), and no I did not have a middle name. At least I was not asked if my name was short for anything. That happened to my brother Tony. Every one insisted that Tony was short for something else. At least he had a middle name.