While researching my maternal great-great-grandparents in Paris, Émile Zacharie Berjot (1854-1915) and Rosalie Herrbach (1856-1908), I realized that they were living 7,5 km (4.6 miles) from where the Eiffel Tower was being built (1887-1889)! Their son, my great-grandfather, Eugène Berjot (1883-1963), was 3 years old. It made me wonder if they all went to watch the construction. 1
Photography of Henri Roger (1869-1946)
They also lived only 2 km (1.24 miles) from where the Basilique du Sacré-Cœur de Montmartre (Sacré-Cœur Basilica) was being built (1875-1891).
I also wonder if Émile Zacharie Berjot, Rosalie Herrbach and Eugène appear somewhere in this picture (ca 1900).
Unfortunately, we don’t know much about Rosalie Herrbach. What we do know about Émile Zachary is that at some point in his life, he was a painter. He didn’t produce paintings but restored frescos in castles, one of them being the Palace of Versailles (Château de Versailles).
Émile Zachary wanted to emigrate to the United States, so he prepared his trip. However, once he arrived to board a ship, he pronounced these historical words in the family: ” M… c’est quand même trop beau, la France ! ” (“Sh… France is just too beautiful!”) and never boarded the ship.
Genealogy
Here are Émile Zacharie Berjot and Rosalie Herrbach (she’s his second wife) on my Geneanet tree.
(FYI: on Geneanet, the little “green circle” indicates my direct lineage with the individuals).
- If you are not yet familiar with French archives: all vital records are available online for free on all French départements’ websites. You’ll find further help in my “Researching in France” section. ↩︎
My French Lineage 