What do we know about Zoe (Poublon) Dath? The information below was pulled from a variety of records. There are plenty of gaps to fill, but a picture is beginning to emerge. If you think you can add to the story (or correct it!), please post a comment and cite any sources or e-mail dathfamily2@verizon.net. Thank you!
ZOE SARAH (POUBLON) DATH
DOB: 5/25/1895
Place of Birth: Wevleghem, Belgium
DOD: 12/5/1980
Place of Death: Caldwell, NJ. She apparently lived in a house on Green Pond, NJ.
Place of Burial: TBD
Father: Isadore Polidor Poublon from Menen, Belgium (B: 1852 >> D: 1920)
Mother: Maria Louise Seys Dussasoix (Note: Also found as "Marie") (B: 1858 >> D: 1940)
Siblings: The following names have been found in an unsourced family history document and a separate family photograph dated from 1908. There are some discrepencies in names (reflected below). Note that this section is still in progress:
Brothers:
#1 Jules Poublon
#2 Florimond Poublon
#3 Emil (Emile) Poublon
(B: 1892, BE >> Married Valerie Holvoet Vermaut >> Lived in Paterson, NJ >> D: 8/15/1972)
#4 George Maurice Poublon
(B: 4/6/1894, BE>> Married Martha Marie Verbrugge, 5/18/1935 >>D: 9/1/1961)
#5 Maurice Poublon (Also known as Morris?)
(B: 12/8/1898, Menen, BE. >> Arrived in NJ in 1912, MN 1916. >> Married Louise DeBusshire 11/25/1919 >> D: 10/25/1963)
Sisters:
#1 Matilde (Poublon) Pille
#2 Martha (Poublon) Gryspeert
#3 Emma (married?)
#4 Pauline (Poublon) Von Gompel
#5 Leona (married?)
#6 Madeline (married?)
#7 Zelee (married?)
PHYSICAL DETAILS
(Note: Taken from ship manifest)
Gender: Female
Complexion: Fair
Hair: Black
Eyes: Brown
Height: 5' 3"
Weight: Unknown
IMMEDIATE FAMILY
Spouse: Emile Dath
Marriage: About 1915; Age @ Marriage: 21 (Spouse was 27)
Children:
#1 Louise (Dath) Gormley (B: 7/11/1915, NE)
#2 Robert Jake (B: 9/10/1917, MT > D: 9/11/2002, Grandview, Missouri)
#3 Edward Emile (B: 8/22/1920, MA > D: 10/9/1991, Unknown)
#4 Russell George (B: 5/7/22, PA > D: 2/1/1982, Drexel Hill, PA)
#5 Roy Alfred (B: 7/12/1923, PA > D: 5/1982, Barnstable, MA)
#6 Emile Jake Jr. (B: 10/18/1924, PA > D: 5/18/1988, Pompton Lakes, NJ)
#7 Muriel Zoe (Dath) Martin (B: About 1925, PA) (Note: Possibly Muriel Funk at one point?)
#8 Zoe Sarah (Dath) Wells (B: About 1926, PA)
#9 Irene Jane (Dath) Post (B: About 1927, PA)
IMMIGRATION DETAILS
Nationality: Belgium (Race: Flemish)
Last place of residence: Wevleghem, Belgium
Port of departure: Antwerp
Date of departure: 9/28/1912
Age at arrival: 20
Date of Arrival: 10/8/1912
Port of Arrival: Ellis Island
Ship: Finland
Manifest # : 29 (See ship documents pt1 and pt 2.)
Arrived with the following: She intended to visit her sister, last name Gryspeerdl and actually traveled with her sister's daughter (her niece), Alice.
Marital status upon arrival: S
Date of Citizenship/Admission: TBD
RESIDENCES
Known residences:
#1) 156 President, Street, Passaic, NJ
(Note: This where she went when she arrived. It was her sister's address).
#2) 6 Silver Lake Ave., Newton, MA
#3) Nebraska (1915);
#4) Laurel, Montana (1917)
#5) 3946 Dennison Ave., Drexel Hill, PA (Likely moved here between 1920-1922). (Note: The building, which is substantial in size, still stands and is known as ABC Land Pre School and Day Care).
OCCUPATIONS & EMPLOYERS
It is thought that she was a housekeeper in NYC before she married Emile.
US MILITARY SERVICE
Served: No
PICTURES
Pictures of the Poublon and Dath family in the early 1900s are available in a
slideshow that features two photos in different sizes and with/without captions. One recorded sibling for Zoe, Zelee, is not in the picture.
MISCELLANEOUS
Oral family history suggests that she was among the youngest of a large Catholic family of 11 or more children. At least one brother, Emile, is known to have moved to the US. She spoke Flemish and French, and English. She might have learned English in the US. She is thought to have been a housekeeper in NYC for a time. How she came to meet Emile is not known.
Like most immigrants Emile and Zoe did not encourage their children to learn the language from their homeland. The story is they spoke Flemish (and some say French) to each other and only in front of the kids, if they didn’t want them to understand. It is believed that Emile spoke several languages including Flemish, French, German, English and at least one other.
SELECT SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS
Finland manifest (See ship documents pt1 and pt 2.)
Petition for Naturalization for Emile Dath (Zoe referenced as Spouse)
1910 Census (Rows 37-44)
1920 Census (Rows 44-47)
1930 Census (Rows 54-64)
Zoe (Dath) Wells, daughter of Zoe (Poublon) Dath provided this detail in a 1996 letter: "I'll start with my mom. She was born in Flanders, Belgium. And she spoke Flemish. She went to school until she was 13 then she had to work as a house maid. My mom came to the states when she was 18, where she went to work in a woolen mill in Paterson, N.J. Mom met Dad while she was working there and they married two years later. There were 14 children in her family. Many came to the states. One of my Mom's sisters married a man (naturally) who owned a leather factory.
I'm not sure how old my Dad was when he came to the States. Dad was born in Brussels, Belgium. Dad had two brothers and two sisters. Dad spoke both Flemish and French. My Dad and his brothers served in World War I. His younger brother also served in World War II."
ZOE SARAH (POUBLON) DATH
DOB: 5/25/1895
Place of Birth: Wevleghem, Belgium
DOD: 12/5/1980
Place of Death: Caldwell, NJ. She apparently lived in a house on Green Pond, NJ.
Place of Burial: TBD
Father: Isadore Polidor Poublon from Menen, Belgium (B: 1852 >> D: 1920)
Mother: Maria Louise Seys Dussasoix (Note: Also found as "Marie") (B: 1858 >> D: 1940)
Siblings: The following names have been found in an unsourced family history document and a separate family photograph dated from 1908. There are some discrepencies in names (reflected below). Note that this section is still in progress:
Brothers:
#1 Jules Poublon
#2 Florimond Poublon
#3 Emil (Emile) Poublon
(B: 1892, BE >> Married Valerie Holvoet Vermaut >> Lived in Paterson, NJ >> D: 8/15/1972)
#4 George Maurice Poublon
(B: 4/6/1894, BE>> Married Martha Marie Verbrugge, 5/18/1935 >>D: 9/1/1961)
#5 Maurice Poublon (Also known as Morris?)
(B: 12/8/1898, Menen, BE. >> Arrived in NJ in 1912, MN 1916. >> Married Louise DeBusshire 11/25/1919 >> D: 10/25/1963)
Sisters:
#1 Matilde (Poublon) Pille
#2 Martha (Poublon) Gryspeert
#3 Emma (married?)
#4 Pauline (Poublon) Von Gompel
#5 Leona (married?)
#6 Madeline (married?)
#7 Zelee (married?)
PHYSICAL DETAILS
(Note: Taken from ship manifest)
Gender: Female
Complexion: Fair
Hair: Black
Eyes: Brown
Height: 5' 3"
Weight: Unknown
IMMEDIATE FAMILY
Spouse: Emile Dath
Marriage: About 1915; Age @ Marriage: 21 (Spouse was 27)
Children:
#1 Louise (Dath) Gormley (B: 7/11/1915, NE)
#2 Robert Jake (B: 9/10/1917, MT > D: 9/11/2002, Grandview, Missouri)
#3 Edward Emile (B: 8/22/1920, MA > D: 10/9/1991, Unknown)
#4 Russell George (B: 5/7/22, PA > D: 2/1/1982, Drexel Hill, PA)
#5 Roy Alfred (B: 7/12/1923, PA > D: 5/1982, Barnstable, MA)
#6 Emile Jake Jr. (B: 10/18/1924, PA > D: 5/18/1988, Pompton Lakes, NJ)
#7 Muriel Zoe (Dath) Martin (B: About 1925, PA) (Note: Possibly Muriel Funk at one point?)
#8 Zoe Sarah (Dath) Wells (B: About 1926, PA)
#9 Irene Jane (Dath) Post (B: About 1927, PA)
IMMIGRATION DETAILS
Nationality: Belgium (Race: Flemish)
Last place of residence: Wevleghem, Belgium
Port of departure: Antwerp
Date of departure: 9/28/1912
Age at arrival: 20
Date of Arrival: 10/8/1912
Port of Arrival: Ellis Island
Ship: Finland
Manifest # : 29 (See ship documents pt1 and pt 2.)
Arrived with the following: She intended to visit her sister, last name Gryspeerdl and actually traveled with her sister's daughter (her niece), Alice.
Marital status upon arrival: S
Date of Citizenship/Admission: TBD
RESIDENCES
Known residences:
#1) 156 President, Street, Passaic, NJ
(Note: This where she went when she arrived. It was her sister's address).
#2) 6 Silver Lake Ave., Newton, MA
#3) Nebraska (1915);
#4) Laurel, Montana (1917)
#5) 3946 Dennison Ave., Drexel Hill, PA (Likely moved here between 1920-1922). (Note: The building, which is substantial in size, still stands and is known as ABC Land Pre School and Day Care).
OCCUPATIONS & EMPLOYERS
It is thought that she was a housekeeper in NYC before she married Emile.
US MILITARY SERVICE
Served: No
PICTURES
Pictures of the Poublon and Dath family in the early 1900s are available in a
slideshow that features two photos in different sizes and with/without captions. One recorded sibling for Zoe, Zelee, is not in the picture.
MISCELLANEOUS
Oral family history suggests that she was among the youngest of a large Catholic family of 11 or more children. At least one brother, Emile, is known to have moved to the US. She spoke Flemish and French, and English. She might have learned English in the US. She is thought to have been a housekeeper in NYC for a time. How she came to meet Emile is not known.
Like most immigrants Emile and Zoe did not encourage their children to learn the language from their homeland. The story is they spoke Flemish (and some say French) to each other and only in front of the kids, if they didn’t want them to understand. It is believed that Emile spoke several languages including Flemish, French, German, English and at least one other.
SELECT SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS
Finland manifest (See ship documents pt1 and pt 2.)
Petition for Naturalization for Emile Dath (Zoe referenced as Spouse)
1910 Census (Rows 37-44)
1920 Census (Rows 44-47)
1930 Census (Rows 54-64)
Zoe (Dath) Wells, daughter of Zoe (Poublon) Dath provided this detail in a 1996 letter: "I'll start with my mom. She was born in Flanders, Belgium. And she spoke Flemish. She went to school until she was 13 then she had to work as a house maid. My mom came to the states when she was 18, where she went to work in a woolen mill in Paterson, N.J. Mom met Dad while she was working there and they married two years later. There were 14 children in her family. Many came to the states. One of my Mom's sisters married a man (naturally) who owned a leather factory.
I'm not sure how old my Dad was when he came to the States. Dad was born in Brussels, Belgium. Dad had two brothers and two sisters. Dad spoke both Flemish and French. My Dad and his brothers served in World War I. His younger brother also served in World War II."
