Alexius Dontenville, the eldest son of Michel Dontenville and Marie Anne Duffner, was born in Alsace in 1851. Alexius served briefly in the army; probably during the Franco-Prussian War.

He came temporarily to the United States in the early 1870s to avoid the aftermath of the war. Records show that he lived with his cousin Louis, working as a farm hand during the 1880 Census. He was a witness at the wedding of his cousin Josephine to Joseph Ulrich in 1873, and was godfather for their fourth child Caroline in 1881.

Alexius returned to Alsace some time after 1881 and married Marie Durny. They established a restaurant in St. Maurice at the Southwest corner of the Intersection of Rue de la Gare and Rue Principale. There was one child, Mathilde, born in 1892. Upon Alexius' death in 1893, his wife gave up the restaurant business. Records document that Mathilde came to the United States in 1909. In 1920 she was working in the home of the John Jeffrey Family on Green Leaf Avenue in Glencoe, Illionis as a maid. She eventually returned to St. Maurice and married Eugene Schurra, a nephew of her Uncle Alphonse's wife.

21.1 MATHILDE DONTENVILLE - EUGENE SCHURRA