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Life & Times Family Photos
 Mission Statement

This site exists to present accurate information about the families of the Guillards and the Primels.  The stories of who they were, where they lived and what they did can reveal much about them and our relationships among those of us who are living today as well as with those ancestors.

Family members are invited to contribute information, documents, and photos. Anything which would contribute to our understanding of our predecessors is valuable information to share with others.

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A Guillard-Primel Family Tree has been created using Family Tree Maker software. As of this writing the tree contains 469 individuals from seven generations.
It is planned to have a link to this genealogy tree in the future.

Family Tree Maker
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Genealogy.com
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First Guillard-Primel Reunion in 1949.
It has been held every year since 1949 in Wells Tannery, Pennsylvania.

Guillard-Primel Family History

 

Thought to be home front of Pierre Marie Guillard and Mary Anna Primel Guillard in France. Street level was a rented to a business and the Guillards lived in the apartment above.

The Guillard-Primel known family history begins sometime prior to 1858 with René Primel and Marie Anne LeBec. The eldest of their 10 children was Mary Anna Primel, born August 14, 1858 in the small village of Berrien in the department of Finisterre in the western-most province of Brittany, France. The family moved to Trelaze, a suburb of the medieval city of Angers, in the department of Maine et Loire where they had a small farm.

In the mid-1870's Mary Anna (sometimes called Marianne) married Pierre Marie Guillard, (born in 1850), a  Franco-Prussian war veteran, in the Angers area. Two children were born in France, Peter Guillard (December 4,1878) and Jean Louis Guillard (1881). Pierre (Peter) and Marianne came to the United States in 1882, first to MacDonald, Pennsylvania, moving to Irwin, PA and then to Robertsdale, PA. It was in Robertsdale where René Guillard (October 29, 1887) and Frank Guillard (January 24, 1890) were born.  The moved to Sandy Run, PA and then on to Wells Tannery, PA. Mary Guillard was born there November 16, 1901.

The family remained in Wells Tannery and farmed the land. Peter, Sr. died in 1910 and Marianne died April 1, 1934.

Peter Guillard, Jr. owned a coal mine at Wells Tannery. Louis Guillard worked in the coal mines. René Guillard became a college professor in Illinois and was a very skilled in penmanship. Frank Guillard became a family physician in Saxton, PA. Mary Guillard was a school teacher who married Mont Chamberlain and continued to live at the family farm where she was born. Mary died December 31, 1993.

Brothers René and Peter, Jr., 1962
 in Wells Tannery

Genealogy Study of A Family

Why Do Genealogy?

People who do genealogy do so for a variety of reasons. These are comments made in response to a "Why Do Genealogy?" query in 1997 on the web site rootsweb.ancestry.com

  • "Curiosity and feeling connected with one's roots (finding oneself)

  • Forensics - i.e. finding living descendants or closest living relatives for legal reasons (e.g. for property disposition of those who died intestate)

  • Genetics - inherited diseases or traits for psychological research/treatment

  • Memberships in organizations such as Mayflower Society, Daughters of the American Revolution, United Empire Loyalists, etc. (sense of belonging)" - Xenia, from speech about "Why Genealogy"

  • To locate long-separated family members

  • "To leave a mark that you have lived .... and it's fun and educational." - Bud Miner

  • "Makes me proud....Pleasure, puzzle solution with a personal flavor" -  Gill Murray

  • "Genealogy ... enrich[es] both the searcher and her/his heirs with the tales of hardship, perseverance, bravery of those who went before ... it's the "knowing who you are" feeling that is important and soooo satisfying." -  Joanne Hunt

  • "Personally, I do it to try to see where I came from ... We don't even have to like our relatives, but if we are blood, we will help them out and welcome them into our homes ... I also like to walk where my ancestors walked. I feel a great sense of connectedness and continuity when I go to areas where my family lived. To touch to boards of a church that my gg-grandfather donated, or see the old oak tree where my grandfather played, or the old outhouse where my father had to go in the winter, these are just very centering experiences for me." -  Lorna Ellis