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The body of a mysterious Frenchman lies buried under a tall obelisk in Bellville Cemetery. 

In his 40-odd years in this area, he was known as Celestial Light, Celestin Light, Francis C. Light, Celestian LeBlond and, finally, the name on his tombstone, Everah C. LeBlond.

He was also called a “little frisky Frenchman” in the first written account about him in the 1862 Knox County history, probably reflecting more the prejudices of the time than his demeanor or stature.

His occupation when he voted in the 1811 election in Fredericktown was “hatter,” and he signed his name “Celestial Light,” a strange and romantic name under which he also served several weeks in Capt. Abner Ayres’ company in May 1813 during the War of 1812.

This hat-maker and soldier on the Ohio frontier was incongruously also described in the history as “the son of a wealthy French gentleman, and had to flee from his native land in consequence of having killed an antagonist in a duel.

A son later changed the story that his father’s parents had sent him abroad to avoid service in the Napoleonic wars. Apparently fighting the English in this country was more appealing that fighting them in France.

There, however, was plenty of evidence of a wealthy family: “He frequently received from his father remittances of five hundred dollars or so, but made very foolish bargains.

According to the Knox County history, he used this money to buy a sawmill  but couldn’t make a go of it, eventually using another allowance payment to move to Bellville in the late 1820s.

By that time, he had a large and “respectable” family. At some point, he had married into a German family, the Haldermans, who had emigrated from Lancaster County. Pa., to Knox County, although one of his descendants, Ardella LeBlond Cottrill, has not been able to find a marriage record for Elizabeth Halderman and LeBlond or whatever he was calling himself at the time.

Perhaps they met back east, married there, and he traveled with his wife’s family west. No other reason has been discovered why he turned up here in 1811.

He was born May 22, 1789, according to his tombstone, in Paris, according to his son. It was a tumultuous time and place, the first year of the French Revolution, and records were lost along with lives, fortunes and titles.

The brief local-history biographies of LeBlond and his sons give no indication that the family was originally of the nobility, not an unpopular notion by the time they were written in the mid- to late 1800s. But there also were no specifics on the source of their wealth.

Without a detailed genealogical investigation in France, the only LeBlond of this period who stands out in the history books is Louis Vincent Joseph, count de Saint Hilaire, whose title came as a benefit of being a general in Napoleon’s army. He died in battle in 1809.

Back in Bellville, LeBlond was using his family money more wisely than he had in Fredericktown. According to A.J. Baughman’s county history of 1908, he “engaged in the mercantile trade on the northwest corner of Main and Ogle streets, where he conducted business for a number of years.”

The Knox County history says, “In 1838 he went to France, obtained a considerable sum of money and returned with a large stock of goods.” This may indicate he came into a large, final inheritance at this time.

Baughman continues, “He bought the ‘old yellow house’ on the west side of the square, remodeled it as it stands today.” Property transfer records show he bought Lot 87 in Bellville in 1835, and his house still faces Park Street on the corner of Church.

Sometime between 1837 and 1839, his name on county records changes from Francis C. LeBlond to Everah C. LeBlond.

By the time of his death on Jan. 16, 1851, he and his sons owned many lots in Bellville as well as acreage in Jefferson Township.

As for LeBlond’s large, respectable family, most of them, including his widow, moved to Mercer County, Ohio, shortly after his death,.

One daughter, Mary Ann, married Zephaniah Bell, the grandson of Bellville’s founder, and they moved to Indiana. The other daughter, Miranda, married a doctor, Joseph Hetzler.

Sons Christopher, Gideon, Alfred, John, Lafayette and Philo all served as officers in the Civil War and came home to establish successful careers in and around Celina, Ohio.

One son, however, was the most successful of all. Francis Celeste LaBlond, born in 1821, became a lawyer and a U.S. congressman during the Civil War and is much quoted in the records and reports of that period.

Under the name Everah C. LeBlond, the patriarch of this family lies in Bellville Cemetery with only a daughter-in-law and a grandson to keep him company.

The surface of his tombstone is worn, but above his name is some kind of emblem or crest with a flaring plume above crossed swords – a clue to his origins?

Crossed swords on a tombstone usually means a distinguished military career. LeBlond served only a few weeks as a private in the War of 1812. Versions of the St. Hilaire coat of arms, however, include crossed swords.

And why in the world did he call himself  “Celestial Light” when he came here from France? Was it a natural translation of LeBlond, which means “light-haired”? Was it a means to hide his real identity? Why did Celestial evolve into Celestin, Celestian, Francis and finally Everah, a very unusual if not unique name?

The mysteries of this immigrant’s life may never be solved, but he may have read William Wordsworth’s “Ode: Intimations of Immortality From Recollections of Early Childhood,” completed in 1804, before LeBlond left France:

“There was a time when meadow, grove and stream

The earth, and every common sight

To me did seem

Apparelled in celestial light,

The glory and the freshness of a dream.

It is not now as it hath been of yore; --

Turn wheresoe’er I may,

     By night or day.

The things which I have seen

I now can see no more."

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Friday, May 11, 2007