Bits and Bytes

How CHOQUETTE became SHACKWAY

Our contributor Michael John SHACKWAY sent us the following story :

Dear Jean,

Thought you might be interested in another variation on the CHOQUETTE name. Our name is SHACKWAY. My grandfather, Raymond SHACKWAY, was born in Littleton, New Hampshire. All of his brothers and sisters bore the last CHOQUETTE. However, the English doctor who delivered my grandfather decided to change the last name on the birth certificate to a more English/American-sounding name. My grandfather had always thought his last name was CHOQUETTE until he needed a copy of his birth certificate. As you can imagine, it was quite a surprise. He always intended to change it from SHACKWAY to CHOQUETTE, but somehow never got around to it. Raymond had six children (five boys and one girl). All went on to have families of their own. Today, there are about 30 people bearing the last name SHACKWAY which is directly attributable to Raymond.

I have been trying to collect information (birth certificates for my grandfather, Raymond SHACKWAY and his brother, Curtis CHOQUETTE), as well as information regarding my great-grandparents from Sherbrooke. I would be happy to forward the information on to you should you be interested.

Sincerely,
Michael John SHACKWAY

Variations of the CHOQUETTE name.

Here are the different variations of CHOQUET and CHOQUETTE that we found in our reasearch: JAQUITH, JACQUETH, JAQUETTE, JACQUETTE, JACKET, SACKETT, CHACQUETTE, CHAQUETH, CHAGUET, CHEQUETTE, CHAQUETTE, CHECKETTE, CHAGUETTE, CHAQUETT, CHIQUET, CHAQUAY, SHACKWAY.

The Choquettes in Western Canada

Our contributor Ron Choquette, from British-Colombia, informs us that a certain Sid Choquette is cited in a report concerning the events surrounding a land slide in Frank, Alberta, on April 29, 1903: « A brakeman for the Canadian Pacific Railway, Sid Choquette, races across the rocks to flag down an approaching passenger train, the Spokane Flyer. He stops the train before it collides with the slide. » (Source: Frank Slide Interpretive Centre)

A CHOQUETTE among the Patriots

The Bulletin des recherches historiques of October 1928 (Vol. 34, no. 10, p. 616) gives the list of patriots emprisonend in Montreal during the rebellion of 1837-1838. Amongst those, we find the name of Ambroise CHOQUETTE. We will pursue our research to discover where he is connected to our Pedigree.

When genealogy and the computer world co-exist

The newspaper Le Devoir, of Montreal, had a kind word about our Web Site, in its column Pl@nete of May 27, 1996. So says Benoit Munger, the author of the article, the Choquet-CHOQUETTE's families genealogical site is an additional proof that the traditional science of genealogy can live quite at ease alongside the Age of Digital Technologies.

Don't get upset...

In the 1910's, a little bureaucrat from the Paris Customs Office, Victor Choquet, imposed on his family food restrictions to satisfy his passion : his desire to acquire impressionist paintings that artists would sell him for a few francs. When he would return to his modest appartment, rue de Rivoli, with one of his new acquisition under the arm, he would announce to his distressed wife and children : "We will not have chicken again this Sunday : I have just treated myself to a small Renoir."

Taken from L'esprit des mots, by Andre Guillois, Point de Vue - Images du Monde, September 27, 1990.

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