Setting the Record Straight Sorting Out the Various lines of the Rosell, Rossell, Rozell and De Roselle families of Colonial Pennsylvania, New York & New Jersey

Image by Denise Sallee. All rights reserved. 

In 1979,  my mother, my daughter and I went to Normandy to see for ourselves the chateau in the village of Le Rozel.  My mother had been raised on conflicting stories about the origins of her family name ~Roselle.  One legend connected her immigrant ancestor to this chateau and the romance of the story remained with her throughout her life.  We both knew there was no actual proof but the spirit of an adventure was with us and off we went.  The village is quite small and very lovely and we soon learned that the chateau was a working farm owned by a woman and her sons. We stayed near the village for about 4 days while we gathered our nerve to approach the chateau - and practiced our French.

Le Rozel, Chateau, Normandy, 1979
Image by Denise Sallee. All rights reserved. 

Finally, we drove through the gateway and into the courtyard. We introduced ourselves and explained about the family story. The woman was delighted and brought us into her office which was off the large kitchen where her sons were eating lunch.  Not surprising, the woman had never heard of the story behind my mother's family story.  But she was kind and gracious and my mother was thrilled. I was, too, because she allowed me to take my time photographing the exterior of the chateau from the courtyard.  As a working farm, the family lived in only a small section of the chateau.  It is now a hotel and I am grateful for my mother's romantic enthusiasm that allowed us to visit the chateau so long ago leaving us with wonderful memories.

I began to actively research my mother's Roselle line after graduate school at UCLA in 1991. The research continued through the years and I have decided to make it available in a hope my work will set straight all the confusion and misinformation that abounds on this line. I continue the research and, if and when, new records become available I will update this document and amend my "working theories."  My mother's tree is on Ancestry.com Dorothea E Roselle Family Tree

Below is the link to my research as a PDF document. 

Setting the Record Straight Sorting Out the Various lines of the Rosell, Rossell, Rozell and De Roselle families of Colonial Pennsylvania, New York & New Jersey