Talented Tuesday- The Boxing Artist

Samuel Joseph Rondeau was born in 1878 in Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada. He was at least the third generation named Samuel, but did not choose to carry on family naming traditions with his only son Alfred.

Samuel moved to Connecticut after 1891 and began his family. While in Connecticut, he either began, or continued boxing under the name Samuel Peters, or Peter Samuels. Family lore has it that something happened with a fight gone wrong, or problems with his fighters, so the family relocated to Massachusetts. While there, Samuel took up teaching the sport of boxing, once more.

Surname Saturday- Who's the Boss?

In the mid 1800's, Joseph Bourgeois came to the United States from Quebec, and settled in Swanton, Vermont. He married a woman name Elizabeth Coulumbe, and then went on to have a very large family. However, for some reason, Joseph decided to Americanize his name, and changed it to Boss, except when it came to the French Church. All family records in the church were recorded as Bourgeois, and all census records were recorded as Boss.

Joseph had a grandson named George Abraham Bourgeois (Boss). George used both names interchangeably. Massachusetts phone listings show him as Bourgeois, but census records show him as Boss. Which name did he feel was really his? I don't know.