Jean Joseph Dhuy in Belgium

 

Map of Belgium today. The village of Dhuy still exists five miles north of Namur.

The village of Dhuy is to the right of the red star.

The village of Ernage is to the right of the red star.

"The ninth day of the month of March [1818] in the Parish Church of Ernage there
was baptized by myself, the parish priest of the said church, Jean Joseph, born
the day before, natural and legitimate son of Pierre Joseph Dhuy, day laborer,
present, and of Anne Marie Romain, both born and dwelling in this parish."

--Ernage [Belgium] Parish Church

 

The Catholic parish church of
Ernage, Belgium, where several
generations of Dhuys were
baptized, married, and buried.
Jean Joseph Dhuy and Marie
Francois Bouffioux were married
here in 1848, eight years before
coming to America.

No one of the surname Dhuy
lives in the village today.

(Photographed by Harris
Dhuey in 1978.)

A Dhuy tombstone in the Ernage parish cemetery. (Photographed by Harris Dhuey in 1978.)

Jean Joseph Dhuy's former home in Ernage is the third of these three buildings,
seen in 1940 after wartime bombings. The right side of the house itself
was actually a barn, a typical arrangement in Belgian villages.

An aerial view of the village of Ernage, Belgium, located in the center of this photograph.
Running along the east, from the northwest to southeast, is the national highway connecting
the capital of Brussels to the provincial capital of Namur. Running along its west is the rail
line connecting the same cities. The highway at the bottom right, running from southwest
to northeast, was built during the time of the Roman Empire.

At the upper left is part of the commune of Chastre, where descendants of Jean Joseph
Dhuy's brother Isidore Joseph live today. Between the two, unmarked, lies the boundary
line between the provinces of Brabant and Namur.

On the road to the village of Dhuy in the commune of Eghezee, province of Namur, Belgium. (Photographed by Harris Dhuey in 1978.)

Jean Joseph Dhuy's voyage to America

Jean Joseph Dhuy in America