The Third Emperor

 

To understand the life of our ancestors, sometimes we cannot do so without understanding the history of the times in which they lived. Reading the obituary of Theresa Blaising Stevens' mother, it is plain to see a compelling story motivated her choice to move with her children to a new world. What actually happened—and when—in that bigger historical picture will help us form a timeline that either juxtaposes with our ancestor's lifespan, or doesn't.

Take that mention of "the third emperor" in the tale of what became of Mary Blaising's husband back in France. Who might that "third emperor" actually be? Since we already read that Mary brought her children to New Haven, Indiana, about 1866, one could presume that the emperor the obituary referred to was Napoleon. But a little fact checking reveals that the Napoleon in power at that time in France, while called Napoleon III, was technically France's second emperor, reigning as such from 1852 to 1870.

A key turning point in Napoleon III's reign did turn out to be that same year the Blaising family was said to have emigrated: 1866. At that point, tensions between neighboring Prussia and Austria caused the French emperor, through his foreign minister, to expect a long war ahead, precipitating Napoleon III's proposal the next year for a form of universal military service. 

Perhaps that period of uncertainty, at least for those already involved in the French military as Mary Blaising's husband supposedly was, could have been the impetus to send loved ones far from harm's way. It would make sense for someone in the military to use inside knowledge as a springboard for such decisions. But looking ahead in the timeline of France's history, we can see the emperor's military proposal failing—in fact, his overall political success waning. Napoleon III's reign came to an end not much afterwards; he was deposed in 1870.

Checking this timeline of France's history seems to correspond handily with the story the Blaising family offered for their mother's obituary in 1907. But if the Laurent Blaising whose 1882 death record we found in Paris was Mary's long-lost husband, why didn't he join his family after the war came to a close? Or did Mary only presume her husband, so far away after her arrival in Indiana, had died in battle?

Finding military records, or death records for any other French men by that same name will help sort out some of these questions. Whether I can access them online is a question still needing an answer. The story in the obituary seems plausible enough—but the fact that details in Laurent Blaising's death record don't align with the other end of the story is troubling.