Antoine Paquet ... my brickwall ancestor

Question

My great grandfather, Antoine/Anthony/Antonio Paquet, was born of French Canadian descent, but lived most of his adult life in Texas and New Mexico. His parentage is a mystery and I can see fourth cousins in Quebec in my DNA results, but have not been able to figure out the common ancestor.

We suspect he was born between 1848 and 1860, with 1848 being more likely. He died near El Paso in 1928.

On various applications for citizenship, he gave at least three different dates and locations of birth. I'm not even sure he knew the exact circumstances of his birth. He was a known alcoholic and prone to telling tall tales, but also gregarious and outgoing, as a chef and restaurateur.

His wife, Maria Guadalupe de Peña, was from Chihuahua (Juarez) and passed at a young age of typhoid. We have most of her family tree figured out.

Answer 1

• https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/158185842/anthony-a-paquet

Anthony A Paquet

BIRTH 6 Jan 1848 New York, USA

DEATH 14 Jul 1928 (aged 80) El Paso, El Paso County, Texas, USA

BURIAL Evergreen Cemetery El Paso, El Paso County, Texas, USA

Comments

• https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/GMSL-VF3

Artur Antoine Paquet 1848 – 1928

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Yes, thank you. I have that information.

However, the birth info in that record was not truthful.

The story he gave about being born on a ship from France in NY Harbor on January 6, 1848, is completely false. I've gone through ships logs for every ship in NY harbor that week and the birth records of people born at sea, and there is no record of him, the ship name ("Santa Maria"), the alleged port of origin, or anything else that might document his birth as told in that story.

The more likely scenario is that he was born in Quebec to an unmarried young lady and given up for adoption. There were many French Canadians in that era who settled in Louisiana, which would possibly explain how he ended up in El Paso, Texas.

I just need to make that connection from his unknown parents to the fourth cousins in Quebec who show up in my DNA results.

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Marriage 1897 - Antonio Paquet - Guadalupe de la Peña

• "México, Chihuahua, Registro Civil, 1861-1997," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-89GG-QNK?cc=1922462 : 12 March 2018), > image 1 of 1; Archivo General del Registro Civil (Chihuahua City Central Archives), Mexico.

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Antonio Paquette 1860 –

• https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/GFKT-XLB

• "United States Census, 1900", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M3LB-VCD : Wed Mar 06 02:07:10 UTC 2024), Entry for Antonio Paquette and Guadalupe P Paquette, 1900.

• "United States Census, 1910", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MGS6-V3B : Fri Apr 05 19:16:27 UTC 2024), Entry for Antonio Paquet and Guadalupe Pagnet, 1910.