Marie Sophie Chenade was baptized at St. Mary's Church, Champlain, New York on March 30, 1876. She was born January 2, 1869 to Jean Bte Chenade and Sophie Lafontaine of Centreville (aka Mooers Forks. This is from an actual copy of the church record, and not a published transcription. (The NNYACGS has a publication of St. Mary's church records in which this record appears, but the transcription erroneously noted the year of birth as 1876.) Chenade has been used in other records for Snide for members of this Snide family, so this is clearly a version of Snide. Was her father, Jean Baptiste Chenade, also Esther Raymond's husband?
That appears to be the case. This Sophie Snide (Marie Sophie Chenade) married, in Mooers Forks, 1892, Francois Xavier Jodoin of St-Chrysostome, Quebec. They had three children, Felix, Edna and Armand. Edna was born May 1894 per the 1901 Canadian Census, and was born Canada per U.S. federal censuses. It is what appears to be Edna's baptismal record that points to Sophie Snide's father also being Esther Raymond's husband.
The baptismal record that I think is for Edna notes that Marie Emma Jodoin was born May 13, 1894 and was baptized on May 19, 1894 at St-Chrysostome, and that her parents were Sophia Shenaille and Francois Jodoin, and that her Godparents were Jean Baptiste Shenaille, the grandfather, and Esther Raymond, his wife.
Although there could have been more than one Esther Raymond, this record is most likely the record for the one married to John Snide who moved to and lived out their lived in Mooers, NY due to the connections to the people in the record and the name Shenaille being a likely variation of Snide, given other variation (Snyde, Schnyde, Schynde, Schneider, Snyder, Chenade, Chenard, Shenuydere, etc.)
It is probable that this baptismal record is for Edna because the names of Edna's mother, father and grandfather all match, the month and year of birth matches, and the place of birth is where Edna and her family were living - - another match. Emma is also similar to Edna, so the priest who wrote the record could have misheard and mistranscribed the name.
Additionally, John Snide and Esther Raymond did not have a daughter that married a Francois Jodoin. In fact, they didn't have a daughter Sophie at all. (In the 1860 census, one of their daughters is noted as Sophie, but subsequent census records name the girl as Celia or Cecelia, so, the name Sophie appears to be an error. Even if it wasn't an error, again, they did not have a daughter, together, that married a Francois Jodoin.)
Esther Raymond was not referred to as a grandparent, and although the absence of such a statement would not preclude her from having been the grandmother, the fact that such a statement is absent for her, but present for her husband suggests that between she and her husband, only her husband was the grandparent.
Regardless of that, she could not have been the grandmother, because, if this Emma is indeed Edna, then Sophie Lafontaine, and not Esther Raymond, was the mother of Sophie (Snide) Jodoin.
Because of the years these persons were born and married, it appears that John Snide had Sophie Snide from a union with Sophie Lafontaine while he was married to Esther.
John Snide married Esther Raymond in 1847. They were married until his death in 1903. Esther died 1909. His transcribed death record notes his spouse Esther Raymond, and Esther's death record notes she was the widow of John Snide. These records indicate that there was no divorce or second marriage for either of them.
John Snide and Esther Raymond are present as a couple on all federal census records for Mooers, NY starting with 1850 and ending with the 1900 census, except for a quirk in the 1870 census; in that census, "Joseph" Snide listed as head of household in Esther's home. In that same Mooers census, a John Snide is listed as the head for the household with a Sophie (presume Lafontaine) and his daughter Sophie (age fits), and her elder half-sisters. Both heads are noted as having been born 1825, Joseph in Canada, and John in New York. Is the entry for Joseph an error because Esther's husband was definitely John? Were the heads of household for Esther and Sophie the same man? If yes, did John and Esther temporarily separate?
Sophie Lafontaine could not have been a prior wife for John Snide because she was married to a Daignault and was widowed after she had two young daughters by Daignault, in the 1860s, which is well after John Snide and Esther Raymond were married.
If anyone has any input on this matter, please contact me via this site or via the following contact information:
Pamela Wright (Easthampton, MA)
413-203-1213
pwright@smith.edu4/20/12: P.S. John Snide was sentenced to 2 years hard labor at Clinton Prison in 1876 for bigamy. That was the year his daughter Sophie Snide from his relationship with Sophie Lafontaine Daignault was baptized, about 7 years after she was born.