The Briand de Crevecoeur Family

When I was growing up, I was told that the name ‘Briand’ preceded my last name, ‘de Crevecoeur’. My generation was the first to drop it because our parents thought it was too much trouble. They believed it was a useless title.

When I first went on the internet, I discovered a very helpful person from Copenhagen who checked with the Danish Archives and Danish Registry and found the Briand de Crevecoeur family. He found a pedigree that was written in Denmark in 1816. The Briand name is of very old French nobility, which lineage goes back to Jean Briand, who acted as Secretary of State for Edward, prince of Wales, "the black prince". Edward (1330-1376) was called the Black Prince because of his black armor; was victor of Poitiers (1356) and sharer in victory of Crecy (1346).

A branch of the family returned to France, where knight and " solicitor of the parliament," Jacques Briand (dead 1682) came into possession of the estate and castle Crevecoeur near Poitiers. When the edict of Nante was abolished (this means he was a reformed Protestant) his son Isaac Briand de Crevecoeur (b. 1664, d. 1747) left France and ended his career as a professor in law and secretary of the cabinet of the Danish King Frederik V. His two grandsons Jean Philibert Briand de Crevecoeur (d. 1786) and Hans Frederich Briand de Crevecoeur were naturalized by the Danish King Christian VII in 1781 and 1784. The "pure" male line died out in 1894 and the eldest son of Antonia Prytz nee Briand de Crevecoeur received in 1905, a royal permission for him and his descendants to carry the name.

First Generation:

Issak Briand de Crevecoeur was born 1761 in Svendborg. He married Maren Anne Margrethe Borgen.

1. Peter Frederik was born February 8, 1796.

2. Hans Bredahl was born May 15, 1791 at Krumstrup, Bostrup, Denmark.

3. Anders was born July 17, 1800.

4. Gebhart was born December 22, 1804.

5. Frederik Jorgen was born October 31, 1808.

6. Preben was born June 18, 1812.

Second Generation:

Hans Bredahl Briand born May 15, 1797 at Krumstrup, Bostrup, Denmark, the Briand de Crevecoeur estate. He married Jensine Hylleborg Hansen, born ca. 1811 in Odense.

1. Hans Frederick was born January 27, 1842, Rudkjobin, Denmark. He married Margarethe Thomsen Stubbe in December 1868. Hans was murdered May 16, 1876 in Banning, California.

2. Anton Christian Crone was born July 28, 1845, Rudkjobin, Denmark. He fought in the Schleswig-Holstein War in 1864 and served at the 8^thRegiment from June 25, 1864. The obituaries of his nephews, Ben and Waldemar, indicated that he and his brother, Hans fought in the Civil War in the New York volunteers. However, I can find no documentation to support this. They did enlist in the U. S. army in May of 1865 and served 3 years. After the army, he traveled to San Francisco with his brother Hans. He married Mary Nelson in San Francisco in 1869. Later he moved to the Banning area and had a cattle ranch and a roadhouse. He and his wife, Mary had three children, Charles Osker, Emma and Anne. Anton became a naturalized citizen, May 12, 1874. In January of 1875, Anton bought a stage stop from Frank Vandeventer. It included a ranch and a home and was located approximately one mile north of the present-day town of Cabezon. Mary and Anton were divorced June 21, 1879 with Mary getting custody of the children. In papers written by Maude Russell, early Banning historian, she noted that Anton moved to Louisiana. I believe this information came from Hans’ son, Ben de Crevecoeur, late in his life. However, his son, Charles B. de Crevecoeur died in San Francisco, March 14, 1946. His death certificate indicated that he had lived in California his entire life. His sister, Anne Arada, signed his death certificate.

3. Waldemar Georg Issak Briand de Crevecoeur was born 1848.

4. Oscar Marius Otto Briand de Crevecoeur was born 1849.

Third Generation:

Hans Frederik Briand de Crevecoeur was born January 27, 1842 in Egelykke, (located two miles from Rudkjobing), Bodstrup Sogn (parish), Langeland, Norre Herred (district), Svenborg Amt (county), Denmark.

Hans served as a soldier in Denmark fought in the Schleswig-Holstein War of 1864. At the end of the war in 1851, Denmark signed a treaty with Prussia that stated that Holstein and Schleswig would always remain together. Denmark kept changing her mind about the status of the two areas. In 1858, the two duchies were unincorporated. In 1863, Denmark incorporated them again. Finally, in 1864, Prussia and Austria had had enough and went to war with the Danes to prevent the incorporation of Schleswig into Denmark’s territory and constitutional structure. Hans served in the 14^th Regiment of the Danish Voluntary Army from February 25, 1864. He helped at the defense of the town of Fredericias. The Schleswig-Holstein War ended in June. At that time, Hans was a Lieutenant at the KR, (could be the Kings Regiment). Anton volunteered and served at the 8^th Regiment from June 25, 1864.

Newspaper articles written about Hans’ sons, noted that he and his brother, Anton served in a New York regiment during the Civil War, but thus far, I have found no records of Hans or Anton serving in a volunteer New York regiment. Also, the Holstein-Slevig war ended in June of 1864 and our Civil War ended April 9, 1865. It doesn’t give them much time to have fought in both.

But they did come. Both Hans and Anton enlisted in the United States Army in May of 1865. Hans was sent to Fort Boise, Idaho where he served three years in Company H, Twenty-third Infantry. Some of that time was spent in the fort’s commissary. I believe that Anton served with him, but I have no documentation. Hans was discharged as a sergeant on May 26, 1868.

After Hans was discharged, he traveled from Portland to San Francisco where he met and married the widow Margarethe Stubbe, also from Denmark. She was already twice widowed with 3 children living. For more information regarding Margarethe, The Life of Margarethe Thomsen and The Record of the Jost Family. My cousin, Polli Turner has covered the Thomsen Family of Sonderborg on her site. The Thomsen Family of Sonderborg. These websites include the surnames: Christensen, Jost, Miang, and Muntmeir).

Together, Hans and Margarethe ran a boarding house. In the 1868 San Francisco city directory, Hans is listed at 419 East Street, where Hans and a Thomas Juites were partners in a restaurant. The family most likely lived upstairs. In 1870, he was the proprietor of Constitution House at 106 Jackson Street. The 1871 directory lists Hans de Crevecoeur as the proprietor of the Scandinavian Home at 22 under the residential listings, however, under the business listings the address is 222 Washington.

In 1872, the family moved to the Banning area and began raising cattle and sheep. They may have followed Hans' brother, Anton there. Jeff de Crevecoeur was born in 1874. Ben was born in 1875 in a house that Hans built. On May 16, 1876, Hans was murdered by a neighbor who claimed Hans had slandered him.

1. Waldemar Briand de Crevecoeur Waldemar "Wal" Briand de Crevecoeur was born January 20, 1871 in San Francisco. He died Oct. 23, 1938; in Riverside Co., CA; 67 years old, never married. Buried in Banning, with no marker. Except for a brief service as deputy sheriff, he was a rancher all his life. Wal operated a ranch near Beaumont. He assisted brother, Ben in the Willie Boy manhunt.

2. Jefferson "Jeff" Briand de Crevecoeur was born January 20, 1871 in Dunlap Canyon, Riverside. He died in 1889. One story is that he drowned; however, Elwood Jost told a story of Jeff shooting himself in the leg, accidentally. By the time a doctor could come, gangrene had set in and there was nothing to be done. He was 16 years old.

3. Benjamin "Ben" Barton was born May 14, 1875. He married Sarah Emma Johnson on December 20, 1895. He died March 21, 1949.

Fourth Generation:

Benjamin Briand de Crevecoeur Benjamin "Ben" Barton Briand de Crevecoeur was born May 14, 1875. He is reportedly the first white child to be born in the Morongo Valley. Most families have one "famous" relative in their family tree. In my family, growing up, it was always Ben de Crevecoeur. He was a lawman in Banning most of his life, but I have found that he was also a rancher, storekeeper, contractor, and I imagine that he fancied himself an inventor.

Ben married Sarah Emma Johnson on December 20, 1895. Sarah was born January 8, 1878 in Riverside, California. Her parents were Frank Johnson of Illinois and Ardinomia Castille. Sarah and Ben divorced February 9, 1931 and Ben married Florence "Flossie" Bennett in 1932. Sarah remarried and died, August 27, 1936, in Tracy, California.

In 1909, he was one of the central figures in the famous Willie Boy manhunt. The 1970’s movie, entitled, "Tell Them Willie Boy Was Here", starring Robert Redford, Robert Blake, Katherine Ross and Susan Clark was loosely based on the story. He died March 21, 1949 and is buried in Banning.

1. Barton "Bart" Ray Briand de Crevecoeur was born September 14, 1896 in San Bernardino, California. He married Lessie Floy Guild. Bart and Floy divorced and he married Emma. Bart died September 29, 1957 in San Bernardino, California.

2. Clarence Briand de Crevecoeur was born in 1897. He died young.

3. Walene Briand de Crevecoeur was born September 13, 1913 and died of tuberculosis, February 14, 1915.

Fourth Generation:

Barton Ray Briand de Crevecoeur Barton "Bart" Ray Briand de Crevecoeur was born September 14, 1896 in San Bernardino, California. He had a trucking company and hauled much of the timber up the mountain for the Arrowhead lodge. He married Lessie Floy Guild and they had three children. Floy was born June 30, 1896 to Nathan Harper Guild and Millie Francis Massey. Nathan was born June 1871 in Gilliam Indiana and Millie was born March 27, 1897 in Medaryville, Indiana. Bart and Floy divorced and he married Emma. Bart died September 29, 1957 in San Bernardino, California.

1. Ray Barton Briand de Crevecoeur was born August 7, 1914. He married Letha Marie Hutsell and had two daughters, Susan and Raylene. Ray worked as a machinist. He died in the late 1980's.

2. Harold "Buddy" or "Red" Guild de Crevecoeur was born April 23, 1916. He married Natalle Francis Broderick, July 31, 1949 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Red married Laverne Gabbert in March of 1980 and died June 30, 1980.

3. Dorcus Janette Briand de Crevecoeur was born October 18, 1917 in Colton, California. She married Walter Ford and they had three children, Jerry Lee, Calvin "Skip", and Barbara "Boots". She died June 25, 1992 in Springfield, Oregon.

Sixth Generation:

Harold "Buddy" or "Red" Guild Briand de Crevecoeur was born April 23, 1916. Red served in the Navy during World War II. He was stationed at Pearl Harbor and was on the radio on a mine sweeper 80 miles out of the harbor when they received word that Pearl Harbor had been bombed. While on leave in San Bernardino, he was hit head-on by a drunk, underage driver without a license. The doctors cleaned him up and did nothing more for three days, feeling that he would not live. He had a severe head injury and had a very noticeable scar the rest of his life.

When he got out of the hospital, several months later, he was honorably discharged. He became a roofer in Monrovia, California, where he met Natalle "Bubbles" Francis Broderick. Natalle was born December 25, 1909 in St. Thomas, Ontario, Canada to Elmore Harris Broderick and Grace Harriet Guinnop. Bubbles and Red married July 31, 1949 in Las Vegas, Nevada. They had two children, Zoe and Robert. At the end of 1949, the family moved to Oceanside, California where Red bought his brother-in-law’s chicken business. He purchased chickens from egg ranchers when the chickens would no longer produce and sell them to a poultry processing plant in San Diego. In the early 1960’s the business began to fail and he returned to roofing for a few years. He then went to work at Camp Pendleton for about 15 years, retiring as an asphalt plant operator. He and Bubbles moved to Anza in 1975. Bubbles died June 22, 1977. Red married Laverne Gabbert in March of 1980 and died June 30, 1980.

1. Zoe Ann de Crevecoeur was born in Monrovia, California. She married Robert "Bob" Eugene Erickson in Las Vegas.

2. Click here to enlarge.
Robert "Bobby" E de Crevecoeur was born in La Jolla, California. He graduated from Oceanside High School and graduated from California State at Northridge. He married Mary Cameron in 1979. They were divorced in 1985. He quit as title insurance salesman in 1995 to pursue a career in photography. In 1996, he suffered a heart attack and had double by-pass surgery. In February, 1997, he left for a nine month camping trip which started in Oceanside. He journeyed to the tip of Baja California then returned to Oceanside for a few weeks only to prepare for the trip to the arctic circle. He has been featured in several magazines. Bobby has photographs displayed in several galleries. To see some of his work, check out Photography DuCoeur.

Seventh Generation:

Zoe Ann de Crevecoeur graduated from Oceanside High School in 1968 and went to work as a clerk at Camp Pendleton in 1969. I worked there until 1972 when I transferred to the Naval Electronics Laboratory at Point Loma. I married Robert "Bob" Eugene Erickson, in Las Vegas. Bob was born in La Jolla, California, to Carl Eugene Erickson and Anne Francis O'Hara. Robert graduated from Oceanside High School in 1967 and attended the University of Alaska. In 1974, I quit Civil Service to work as a clerk for A.T. &T. I worked for A.T. &T and Pacific Bell for almost 19 years in engineering, repair and installation departments. We became the proud parents of Alec Bennett Erickson, after 18 years of marriage and being told that we could not have any children. Alec was 3 years old when I quit. Last year I started working for an old friend, Tom Kennedy in his garage. In my spare time, I am involved with the Oceanside High Foundation and Alumni Association and writing a book about my great-grandfather Ben and his parents. I also have a small web design business, WebDesign by Zoe.

WebDesign by Zoe

The Briand de Crevecoeur Family

Send mail to zoe@webdesignbyzoe.com with questions or comments about this web site. Copyright © 2002-2008 WebDesign by Zoe Last modified: July 01, 2008

Send mail to zoe@webdesignbyzoe.com with questions or comments about this web site.
Copyright © 2002-2008
WebDesign by Zoe
Last modified: July 01, 2008