The Rengalle Family: From France to Sandusky (and Back - to a Convent)

On October 20, 1894, Gustave Camille Rengalle, his wife Clara, and their daughter Helena (sometimes shortened to Hena) arrived in New York City from their former home in France on the ship La Touraine.  A portion of the Rengalle family’s passenger record, available free from the Ellis Island website, is shown below. Their final destination was shown to be Sandusky, Ohio.

In the 1898 Sandusky City Directory, G. C. Rengalle and Hena’s occupation was listed as watchmaker, while Mrs. Clara L. Rengalle was a French teacher. Both the home and the business address of the Rengalle family was 511 Market Street (between Hancock and Wayne Streets).

One summer night in 1901, Hena told her parents that she was going for a walk, but she did not come back. She had left Sandusky to go back to France to join a convent. Her parents were heartbroken. A story about Hena Rengalle’s running away even appeared in the New York Times, which reported that Mme. Clara Rengalle planned to go across the ocean to try to find her daughter, and persuade her not to join the convent.

According to Clara Rengalle’s obituary, which appeared in the May 14, 1913 Sandusky Register, Madame Rengalle and her daughter did reconcile, though Clara was always sad that her daughter Hena had joined the convent.