The William G. Maass family of Delavan, Illinois is related to the Ray and Duvoison family of Switzerland in this way: The maternal grandmother of William G. Maass, was Theresa Bertha Ray Maass. Her mother was Rose Duvoison Ray and her father was Oscar Ray. Her maternal grandmother was Ida Duvoison. Theresa had two sisters, Violet and Lily, and a brother George. Theresa, Violet and George immigrated to the United States and Lily stayed behind with her mother and grandmother in the small village of Villars-Burquin, outside of Geneva. Lily later married Jean Boujon. She had one daughter, Christiane. Christiane became Mrs. Axel Sommer and had three children, Aline, Sylvan, and Alban. Violet Ray Rouquier, George Ray, Theresa Ray Maass, and Lily Ray Boujon have all passed away, as has Christiane and one of Violet's daughters, Evette, and George's daughter Marie. All other children and grandchildren are living. Both Rose and Ida lived to be in their 90's. Ida is the picture at the top. The middle picture is Lily, Ida, and Rose. The last picture is of Lily.
Theresa married William B. Maass and they settled in Kankakee, Illinois. She had five children, all are still alive. They are, William R., Thomas W., James B., Rodney G., and Rosemary V. Maass Morrison. William R. lives with his wife Beatrice in Nokomis, Fl. Rodney and his wife, Betty, Tom and his wife Mary, and Jim and his wife, Helen, all live in Kankakee, IL. Rosemary lives in Honolulu, Hawaii. Her husband, Woody, was a pilot who was killed at the end of WWII while training student pilots. She never remarried. Theresa passed away in 1984.
Violet married Ferdinand Rouqier, a Paris trained chef. Besides Evette, they had a daughter, Jaquiline, who married Larry Murphy. They had three children and live near Cleveland, Ohio. Evette lived nearby, and had two children. Violet was the first of the children to pass away in the 1970's.
George married Brunette and they settled in a French founded village just north of Kankakee called Bradley, Illinois. They had two children, Marie (deceased) and George Jr. (Sonny). George was originally a blacksmith but became a plumber by trade and also repaired music boxes and cuckoo clocks and had a retail gift shop called The Swiss Chalet. He was very talented with repair orders coming in from all over the world. His daughter Marie married Edward Benoit and had one child, Lynette, who lives with her husband who is in the service and their children in California. Their plans are to move to Colorado as soon as his 'hitch' is up. George Jr. married Reny and they had four children. They live in George Sr.'s old chalet in Bradley, Illinois. George Sr. died in 1984 just a few days before his sister, Theresa.
Ida Duvoison had three sons, Morris, Armand, and Alfred, and one daughter, Rose. Morris and Armand came to the United States. They sponsored some of their nieces and nephews to come over. Morris was a black smith and Armand was a farmer. Moris was married with children but I do not know their names at this time. Armand was married to Evonne and they resided north of Kankakee in the French/American settlement of Bourbonais, IL. with their one son, Francis, who still lives in Kankakee, Il with his wife Anne. They had three children, Robert, Karen, and Michelle. Ida's other son, Alfred, stayed in Switzerland. His wife Clara is in some of these pictures. Two of Ida's children died at infancy. Ida's daughter was Rose Ray, mother of Theresa Ray Maass.