Arthur Andris

Who was Arthur Andris?

What we infer about Arthur Andris is built upon several sources of information, documented below. He was born out of wedlock to Nicholas Jh Andrisse and Hortense Dandois in Jumet, Belgium on 18 Nov 1845. His name was Arthur Dandoy, and he was first in a family of nine children. He may have lost his mother in 1857. The family may have made a short trip to Waudrez in 1866.

How he ended up in Binche is not clear, but this is where Arthur Andrisse married Louise Lebrun on 18th Jul 1870. Duplicating the actions of his parents, his and Louise's natural child, Hortense, b. 19 Apr 1869, is made legitimate at this time, although she died two years later.

Like his progenitors for several generations, Arthur was a glassmaker, although we do not have many details of his profession. My brother once had a picture of him but our father gave it to a relative in Belgium. He and Louise Lebrun had ten children. The descendant chart below was generated from the data in André Darquennes and Frédéric Gobbe, "On the traces of glass-makers: the Andris(se) family." In addition, I have personally verified from primary records the marriage of Arthur Andris and Louise Lebrun, the births of Hortense, Arthur (my grandfather), Félicie, Louis, and Aida, and the death of Hortense.

What we knew about the Andris(se) line from brother, Tom's trips to Belgium

I never knew very much about my great grandfather Arthur Andrisse. A family legend has it that he was a powerful man, and that when he sang in the town square of Brussels, Belgium, he could be heard from six blocks away. According to Tom Andris, based on information he received from Belgian relatives, the Andris ancestors came from Baden-Baden and were named "Andrissen."

Here is a transcription of a part of another interview I did of my brother, Tom around 1980 concerning his visit to Binche. You may also find this third diagram helpful, for it lays out another network of family relationships which he crossed.

Tom says:

Octave Andrisse, Diane's father, told me to contact Camille Lebrun regarding the family tree. Octave Andris is Artur Andrisse's brother Octave's son. Camille was 91 years old and lived in Chaussee, Charleroi near the Passage a Niveau. He gave me the list entitled "Les 3 Genération de la famille Lebrun Everbee."

I had pictures of our great-grandfather (named "Arthur Andrisse" as well, married to Louisa Lebrun, but dad [Fernand] gave them away to Cyrille Navez, who used to own the Cafe Folklore. He now lives across from that cafe in the Grande Place. Anyway, they had the following children:

• Arthur, our grandfather
• Margueritte
• Louis. His nickname was Bronze because he was so brown or strong. His specialty was short, wide cannons and glass. He made numerous objects for the home such as trumpets, canes, etc. He married Marie Garelmand, the had two children, Marie Louise (known as Yvonne) and Octave. I met Octave and Yvonne at the Carnival du Binche in 1971 on my birthday. They invited me to their home, 18 Avenue du Lisas, Waterloo, Belgium. My landlord, Charles, drove me from my hotel in Brussels to this place, where I met them as they had invited me to do. They were elderly then, and I made several visits down there. There was the monument to the Battle of Waterloo there. Yvonne wanted me to stay, but I never did. She had not talked to Ermeline (her first cousin) but invited her over, and Ermiline ended up taking care of Yvonne until she died in 1973.
• Aïda. [Alphonse's input: She married Louis Thirion and they had two children, Laurie and Agusta.] I [Tom] had pictures, but dad [Fernand] gave them away.
• Octave. Father of the boy, Octave, who sent me to Camille.
• Daniel. Married Eva Thies (Tesse) He was born in the hotel Pigeon Bleu in Batingy. I was told this by his daughter, Ermilienne, her maiden name was Andrisse. She lived with a man named Maurice Lantierre and did get married eventually. She still corresponds with Alphonse.
• Hermeliene. In 1971 she was in an old-ladies convalescent home in Con, France. Her daughter married Jules Forten, and they had a daughter Christianne, who married a man named Guillotine.

I think that great grandfather, Artur, may have been eccentric. Yvonne told me stories that I promised not to repeat. He may have been in Tournais, France. Dad [Fernand] went over in 1926, Alphonse went over in 1927 with Arthur [dad's brother and half brother].

What we know about the ANDRIS line from André Darquennes' first e-mail communications

However, all this changed on December 19, 2000, when I was very fortunate to receive the first of several communications from André Darquennes, who is a genealogical researcher in Europe. In this communcation André offered the following observation: " The ANDRIS family—glassworkers up to the years 1900—starts in Italy, then moves to Germany (region of Allgau) and from there (begin 1700) emigrated to east of France and finally fixed themselves in Belgium, in Charleroi, always as glassworkers. . . . The name originally was spelled ANDRIES, then ANDRES in Germany and also when they arrived in Belgium, but later the name was altered to ANDRIS(SE)." The picture of glassblowers to the right was provided by André and was taken before 1930 in Jumet.

André traces our Andris line back to Jean ANDRES, born around 1655, and married to Marie FALLER in 1674. He also states that Arthur ANDRIS (my great grandfather) was born before his parents' marriage on Nov. 18, 1845 in Jumet. He was recognized at the time of the marriage of his/her parents in 1846. Arthur ANDRIS married Louise LEBRUN on Jul. 18, 1870. Attendants at the ceremony were the bride's brothers, Florimont, 2, and Eugëne, 22 years, and her cousin, Adolphe Everbecq, 30.

André Darquennes has also provided a record of the ANDRIS line in the U.S.A.

What we know about the ANDRIS line from André Darquennes and Frédéric Gobbe's book, On the traces of glass-makers: the Andris(se) family

In 2004 I received a copy of the extensive genealogical treatise by André Darquennes and Frédéric Gobbe, "On the traces of glass-makers: the Andris(se) family." It has taken a LONG time to even begin to assimilate this information. First I had to learn how to translate the French text enough to understand it. There is so much to say, that I would like to begin by presenting an updated descendant chart for Arthur Andrisse and Louise Lebrun based on this work. I have documented all the information from primary sources except for that on Daniel Andris. Arthur Andris did sign his name as "Andris" on occasion, but it is clear from the majority of the primary documents that the name was regarded as "Andrisse" at that time.