In the Beginning

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Evelyn Perry Lege and her husband John Lege, 

take a trip to France for Research.

Orgins - France

Orgins - Canada

Our Association

Coat of Arms Picture & Description

Family Name Origins and French 

Name Variations

News Paper Articles

Familar Faces

"Pride in our Ancestors' accomplishments"

Running a holiday sale or weekly special? Definitely promote it here to get customers excited about getting a sweet deal.

      Welcome to the official site  of The Richelieu Leger Family Association. The purpose of the association  is to collect, protect and disseminate the history of the Michel Leger and  Angelique Pinet family for future generations. This is done by building  and maintaining accurate genealogy, by keeping members informed through  periodic newsletters, and by coming together to meet, share and have  family fun at our biannual reunions.  This web site may change periodically as new or interestng information is found.  Please  return often to see whats been added. Any major additions will be announced on the Richelieu-Leger Facebook page. We hope you enjoy your visit through our site and encourage  all Leger descendants to join the association  and keep in touch with family members.        This website will list all information on the Leger  male lineage thru 1920. the female lineage will only be listed for 100% and 50%  Leger bloodline.  (Go to GENEALOGY page)    This web site will not list names or info of any  person in the genealogy database born after 1920.  People born after  1920 may be in our databae, but will not be put on the website for security  reasons.   If any members would like more information about our family, we  can be contacted at:  Contact        Our thanks to our members who have dedicated years of  research to our Acssociation knowledge base. Special Thanks to our Historian,  R. Lege for his production of the "Leger Addendum" Official name: "Le Guardien" which provides invaluable  information about our direct ancestors as well as to the general Acadian  story.    We express our appreciation to all who have  researched and published Acadian Genealogy information which allows us to be  educated about our history.   

985-892-6029      or     985-263-0350

      Acadiana group to join others in pilgrimage  to France  Acadian Home, circa 1765, on Belle-Ile-en-Mer, France, where land was allocated to 78 Acadian families deported from Grand Pre  region of Nova Scotia.  Written by  Claire Taylor Published by Lafayette Advertiser 9-1-2013  Karen Pitre Gautreau has traced her Cajun roots back to Nova Scotia, and even found the plot of  land there where her grandfather, Jean Pitre, settled before he and other Acadiens were expelled  from the country.  Now she wants to continue the journey further, back to France, to visit the places where her  forefathers landed before they made the move to Louisiana.  “We read the books about the expulsion. It was so sad,” said Gautreau, of Baton Rouge, who  began tracing her genealogy about 10 years ago. “I wanted to walk the ground where my  ancestors were deported.”  Gautreau is among 50 people of Acadian descent from Louisiana, Texas and Canada who will  leave their homes this week on a pligrimage that will retrace the steps of their ancestors in  France. Of those, 28 Louisiana residents will be on board for the trip, including residents from  Lafayette, Maurice, New Iberia, Morse, Crowley, Baton Rouge, Prairieville and Lake Charles.  Joining them for a Sept. 5 rendezvous in Paris are nine travelers from Texas, six from the  Massachusetts and one from South Carolina, said Richard Laurin, tour organizer from Novacadie  Tours in Nova Scotia.  Rounding out the group are about five Acadians from Canada.  Names and faces  It’s an odyssey that began in the 1600s, when the French began to settle Canada. Generations  were born and died there, never having set foot in France itself. Living in what is now Nova  Scotia, Cape Breton Island, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island, they eventually formed  their own identity as Acadians.  In 1713, the mainland of Acadia was surrendered to the British. The Acadians agreed to remain  neutral, but as the area became more important strategically, the British wanted an oath of  allegiance. After the Acadians refused, the British began mass expulsions in 1755. Some were  sent to England, some to the east coast and some to France.  Some of the expelled Acadians eventually returned to Canada. In 1785, about 1,600 Acadians  who had been deported to France boarded ships sponsored by the Spanish government and made  the three-month trip to Louisiana, where the Spanish government gave them land and supplies.  They came to be known as les Acadiens, which was eventually shortened to Cajuns.  Others expelled from Canada remained in France. Their surnames — Granger, Melancon,  LeBlanc, Daigle, Richard and Pitre — are still found in places like Belle-Ile-en-Mer, which the  travellers will visit in coming weeks.  'Walk in their footsteps'  The Cajun tour group, which leaves Wednesday, will be visiting a number of historic places that  had been home to the Cajuns who departed for Louisiana and to those who stayed behind in  France.  Among those historic places they’ll visit is St. Malo, which served as the port of entry for many  Acadians expelled from Canada and the departure point for some as they headed to Louisiana.  The group also will visit the old Acadian district of Nantes, which is home to a mural by  Louisiana native artist Robert Dafford. The mural depicts Acadians leaving the port of Nantes in  1785 bound for Louisiana. Its twin, also painted by Dafford, is at the Acadian Memorial in St.  Martinville and depicts the Acadians’ arrival in Louisiana.  Wilson Trahan, 80, of Maurice, is making the trip with his wife, daughter and sister.  “My reason for taking that trip is I hope and pray that I can go to a cemetery and find a Trahan,”  he said. “We are going to a little church, which is going to make me kneel where my forefathers  knelt. We’re going to walk in their footsteps. That will be a great thing for me at 80 years old"

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 Cajun travelers land in France to trace their ancestral roots 

      Acadian descendants from Louisiana, Canada and other parts of the United States gather for the first time Thursday evening at the  Roissy Companile hotel in Paris. / Claire Taylor, The Advertiser  Written by  Claire Taylor Published by Lafayette Advertiser 9-6-2013  PARIS, FRANCE — Newcomers in Acadiana sometimes are asked by natives, “Who’s your  Mama? Who’s your Daddy? What’s your maiden name?”  When more than 45 Acadians met up in Paris on Thursday, they didn’t need to be asked their  lineage. They introduced themselves with the surnames of their Acadian forefathers, whether  they were from Texas, Boston or Lafayette.  Ancestors of the original Acadians — those deported by the British from Canada in the 1750s —  flew from British Columbia, the East Coast, Texas and Louisiana to Paris on Thursday to begin a  pilgrimage to the ports and towns their forefathers knew.  Theses new-generation Cajuns will spend two weeks in France, visiting the places their  forefathers lived before settling in Nova Scotia and the places they lived in France before sailing  to Louisiana. Some on the trip may, for the first time, meet French residents that share their  ancestry and surname.  “We’re going to ports like La Rochelle where the Acadians arrived and left,” said Brenda  Comeaux Trahan, who helped organize the tour on behalf of Philippe Gustin of the Centre  International de Lafayette. “We’re going to a museum where, when you climb the steps of a  tower, there are all our names.”  Nova Scotia, Canada, was settled by the French in the 1600s. The scrappy people there survived  and thrived, eventually coming to identify themselves not as French, but as Acadians.  When the British took control, the nation wanted the Acadians to swear an oath to the British  crown. When they refused, the British put them aboard ships and deported them to various  places, including the East Coast of the United States, England and France. Some made their way  early on to Louisiana, where they thrived. Another large group struggling in France took  advantage of an offer by the Spanish, who owned part of Louisiana, and sailed for three months  in less-than-perfect conditions to begin a new life in Louisiana.  Trahan knows what it’s been like for members of the group. She grew up in the farming  community of Indian Bayou in Vermilion Parish, wondering why her family spoke French and  were Catholics among English-speaking Protestants.  At 10, a Cajun teacher presented a lesson on the history of the Acadians.  “I made the decision that when I was older I would go to Nova Scotia. I wanted to meet some  Comeauxs,” she said.  Her mother said in French they won’t know who she is or want to meet her. But it stayed with  Trahan, who visited Nova Scotia for the first time in 1993 and met a Comeaux.  She has returned many times and made lifelong friends there.  “Every Comeaux that I meet broadens who I am,” she said.  Like the group embarking on its pilgrimage Thursday, Trahan has made her own pilgrimage to  France, walking in the footsteps of her forefathers. She and husband Ray, from Lafayette Parish,  visited a Chateau de Comeaux that has existed since the 1600s. The Comeaux family crest was  proudly displayed above doors and mantles.  “We come from a place where there was no pride,” she said. “I actually believe if they’ve never  been here before … these people are going to cry.”  

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 Editorial:  Finding Acadian heritage a proud journey  Published by Lafayette Advertiser 9-9-13  A group of Louisiana Cajuns are searching for their roots — but not in Canada. These pilgrims  are following the genealogical thread back to France, searching for the French origins of their  ancestors who, in the early 1600s, settled Acadie, now known as Nova Scotia, Canada.  For these Cajuns, this two-week trip that began Sept. 4 has to be a monumental event. They are  among a group with a distinct cultural identity, but who until recently knew little of their history.  Among these pilgrims, who by now have joined the descendants of other Acadian exiles living in  Texas and Boston, is The Daily Advertiser’s reporter Claire Taylor. The Morgan City native is  there not only to cover the tour, but also to search out her own French forebears whose children  set sail centuries ago to carve a home out of the wilderness of Canada.  This has to be the adventure of a lifetime for this group.  A genealogist once asked why it is that Cajuns seem to be almost obsessed with their Acadian  heritage. The answer: Probably because they grew up knowing very little about it.  Before the latter part of the 20th century, the history of French Louisiana consisted of the story  of how settlers from France populated the state, but there was no mention of the Acadians.  Most Louisiana Cajuns had some vague inkling that their ancestors came from French Canada,  but little else.  It was not until the last couple of decades of the 20th century that the story of the Acadian exile  became common knowledge, sparking an explosion of interest and a hunger for more.  That is understandable, given the attempt to suppress the French language and culture of  Louisiana by some well-meaning educators in the early 20th century.  There was a general sentiment that Cajun culture was not legitimately French, a second-class  replica of the real deal.  But since then, many Cajuns have traced their genealogy to Canada. Some have attended the  Congrès Mondials, reunions of long-lost Louisiana and Canadian cousins who had been  separated by centuries of exile.  This trip to France is the ultimate next step.  As more of the history of the Acadians was revealed, we learned that Le Grand Derangement,  the deportation, which went on for at least a decade, was not a direct trip from Acadie to  Louisiana.  Some of the exiled Acadians — those who survived the depredations on board dangerously  overcrowded ships — were sold into indentured servitude along the East Coast of America.  Others landed on Caribbean islands. Still others went to France, where their own ancestors had  lived more than a century before.  Eventually, some of the Acadians made their way to Louisiana, settling mostly in the  undeveloped southwestern part of the state. Those Acadians exiled to France were sponsored by  the Spanish king to settle Spanish holdings in Louisiana.  The group from Acadiana is searching for the French families with whom they share common  ancestors.  Imagine how they would feel to meet French natives who have last names that sound like their  own.  In recent decades, the stigma of being Cajun has been replaced by a sense of pride in Acadian  culture and traditions.  For these voyageurs, this foray into their past is a further validation of their heritage. 

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 Acadiana people find their roots in France  

     Yellowed records hold important clues  Hector Beauchesne of British Columbia searches for his Landry forefather at an Acadian museum in Loudun, France. / Claire Taylor,  The Advertiser  Written by  Claire Taylor Published by Lafayette Advertiser 9-10-2013  LOUDUN, FRANCE — The yellowed document doesn’t seem that impressive and is difficult  to read. But to John D. Breaux and Macklyn Breaux Domingue, both of Lafayette, it’s priceless.  The document, a copy of a baptismal record from Notre Dame Church in Loudun, France, proves  their forefather, Vincent Breaux, lived in the region before leaving his homeland in 1642 to help  colonize Canada.  The brother and sister traveled to France last week with a group of Acadien descendants from  Canada and the United States tracing their forefathers’ footsteps in France before and after their  deportation by the British in the 1700s.  For some, like John D. Breaux and Domingue, it has been an emotional journey.  They sat in the Notre Dame Catholic Church, built in the 14th century, the same church that they  now know Vincent Breaux visited. The faded baptismal record of his godchild lists Vincent  Breaux as her sponsor.  “I have goose bumps,” John D. Breaux said Sunday outside the same church. “They prayed  here.”  The Acadian museum in Loudun had other surprises for the Acadien ancestors.  Hector Beauchesne of British Columbia, Canada, confirmed that an Acadien Landry is his  ancestor.  A baptismal record from the church indicates she was a godmother at a ceremony in La  Chaussee, France.  As Beauchesne made his discovery, standing nearby, Nanette Soileau Heggie and her mother,  Cecilia Landry Soileau, both of Lafayette, found a Landry ancestor in their family tree. Their  Landry and Beauchesne’s Landry were related.  “It’s amazing,” Soileau said. “I had no idea I would find people I’m kin to.”  Her daughter was equally excited.  “It’s pretty cool to learn you have cousins in British Columbia and that your ancestors were right  here,” she said.  

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 Cajun group follows generations-old Ligne 

      Acadienne to retrace heritage  French, Canadian and American 'cousins,' descendants of Acadiens deported from Acadie in the 1700s gathered in Archigny, France, on  Monday for food, wine and fellowship. / Claire Taylor, The Advertiser  French, Canadian and American descendants of Acadiens deported from Acadie in the 1700s visited the former home of Charles Naquin  and Ann Doiron in Archigny, France, on Tuesday. The home, built by the Naquins after deportation, is a museum today. / Claire Taylor,  The Advertiser  Written by  Claire Taylor Published by Lafayette Advertiser 9-12-2013  ARCHIGNY, FRANCE — The line of 38 farmhouses along the two-lane road are all that  remain of the Ligne Acadienne — the Acadian line — built in the 1770s.  For some, the rustic farmhouses became permanent homes. For others, they were waystations on  a decades-long journey that would eventually take them to Louisiana.  This week, a group of nearly 50 descendants of Acadiens from Louisiana, Canada and elsewhere  in the United States stepped onto land once worked by their forefathers while visiting a special  museum here that explains the Acadiens expulsion from Nova Scotia in 1755 and their efforts to  build new lives in France.  The visit to the museum is part of a 17-day trip throughout France by the travelers to trace their  Cajun roots, and many have already found documents and other signs of their ancestors' presence  in France before they set sail for Louisiana.  Both the French and Acadian flags flew this week over the former farmstead of Acadiens  Charles Naquin and Ann Doiron, which today serves as a museum. The walls of the house were  built from a mixture of mud and grass that hardened when it dried.  Across the road from the Naquin farmhouse still stands the former Guillot-Daigle home. The  husband and wife both were Acadiens.  Despite the chill and light rain, John and Kathy Hebert of Prairieville walked up a path to the  home their Guillot forefather built and occupied more than 200 years ago, to pose for a  photograph.  The house has been renovated and expanded, and is still being lived in.  Although the Acadiens in the 1700s were provided free land, animals, tools and some supplies to  build houses and live on, they were not happy in this new land, local officials told the modernday Cajun travelers.  They longed for their Acadien homeland and the families and friends torn apart during what is  called the Grand Derangement. Their neighbors also weren’t happy when they learned the French government provided these  newcomers with free land and exempted them from paying taxes for 30 years.  When Acadie in Canada fell into British hands in the 1750s, the Acadiens refused to swear  allegiance to the British. They were removed from their homes and deported on crowded ships,  sent to places they had never lived and where they often were unwanted.  Many ended up in France. Although their forefathers settled Acadie for the French, the Acadiens  no longer considered themselves French, either, and many of them lived for more than a decade  in poverty in France.  The Ligne Acadienne originally linked 58 farms, each comprised of about 32 acres, along a  straight path about four miles long, a Boudreaux descendant who still lives in France told the  group on Monday.  The Marquis Perusse des Cars initiated the effort on behalf of the king to provide farmsteads to  Acadiens whose forefathers colonized Nova Scotia for the French starting in the 1600s.  When the Spanish government sought people to colonize Louisiana, many of the Acadiens in  France took advantage of the offer, sailing to Louisiana for free and receiving land grants and  supplies to once again start a new life.  

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Various pronunciations for the name have been found. Leger, "lay-zhay" in the region of Normandy, France - according to Britannica Encyclopedia 1969, Vol 9, p. 531 Three variations were found in the book Beloved Acadia of My Ancestors, by Brother Yvon Leger. There are: Leger, "lay-jay" in Quebec, Canada In Acadia, the feminine form Legere, is pronounced "lay-jair" while the masculine form Leger is pronounced "lay-jay" "Lege" is also pronounced "lay-zhay" according to the Columbia Lippincott Gazetteer of the World, Columbia University Press, N.Y. Variations of the spelling are Legier, Laugier, Liget, Liguez, Legere, Liger, Liogier, Ledger and Lege.

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 It is asked why there are so many variation in French names...and there are many, which obviously makes our  “task” that much more difficult...but interesting!  The following article (one of the many hundreds on the “In Search of Our Acadian Roots” CD-ROM) has been  translated and is reproduced here with thanks to Claude Perrault and the Socièté Généalogique Canadienne Française. Translation of SELECTED PARTS of “Les Variances des Noms Propres et des Prénoms et leurs  Surnoms”, by Claude Perrault...published by Loisirs St-Edouard Inc., 1981-1982.  

Where did the variations of a name come from? 

 A1.  The spelling of names in Canada, from the discovery of Jacques Cartier, in 1534, and in the two centuries  following, was not fixed (or stable). We could add that this was so, for part of the 19th Century, as well. 

 What were the reasons for that? 

 A1. Because, at the time, few people were literate. In fact, you can discover in almost every parish register, this  phrase: “ils ont déclaré ne savoir signer et ils ont fait leur marque ordinaire, c’est a dire, une croix” (they have  declared not knowing how to sign and made an ordinary mark, that is to say, a cross (or “X”).). Is this last  phrase 100% true? Surely not, for we have found many acts where the witnesses were physicians, notaries,  engineers etc. whom, accord to the officiating minister, were people who did not know how to sign their name?  One can therefore ask why the officiating minister acted in such a way. Was it to save paper? It’s possible, but  one thing is certain; the officiating minister did not (always) collect all the signatures of those who could sign  their names, nor did he note all the witnesses present at the ceremonies. Besides, the officiating minister, or the  person who transcribed the double of the register for civil archives, often did this task at a later date, when the  witnesses were no longer there to sign!The same phrase can also be found in notarized acts, and there again, it is  not necessarily 100% true (that they were unable to sign their name). You will see this for yourself in your  research, when you compare both versions of the register...that of the parish and the double. Similarly, you’ll  find the same thing when you compare the originals of the notarized acts and the copies.

A2. Because people pronounced their names differently, depending on the region they originated from. From there,  to write the name according to the sound of it...there is only a short step for the ministers, notaries and all the  public officials...whatever their function...who nevertheless had to write down the name. Example: Payet, Peyet,  Paillet, Payette or (even closer to home)...Sire, Syre, Cyre, Cyr. 

 A3. Because in the registers, the officiating ministers indicated the name that they were “told”, or those that they  heard pronounced. In both cases, they wrote the name their own way and according to their knowledge of  French. Example: Miet, Millet, Myet, Millette, etc.  

A4. Because some ministers were careless and did not attach too much importance to the registration they were  making, be it for baptisms, marriages, or sepultures. Example: Claude Bussot dit Lacouture had 19 children  baptized at Lavaltrie. The name of his wife varies at nearly every one of these baptisms!  

Why does the variation of a name go all the way to its total transformation, for different reasons?  

A1. The location of the residence, with names such as: Des Rochers, Des Ruisseaux, Des Pères, Durivage, Du chesne, Du mont, Du pont, La vallé, La montagne, La rivière, etc.  Examples: 

• Houde; became Desrochers  
• Trottier; became Desruisseaux 
• Couillard; became Desprs  
• Estienne; became Durivage 
• Guret; became Dumont 
• Perrault; became Duchesnes 

 A2.  The place of origin, with names like Tourangeau, Poitevin, Champagne, Picard, d’Anjou, Saintonge, Provenal,  Bourguignon, Languedoc, etc.  Examples:  

• Barbeau; became Poitevin  
• Danis; became Tourangeau  
• Prillard; Bourguignon  
• Aubin; became St-Onge  
• Lacoste; became Languedoc 
• Foran/Faran/Pharand; became Vivarias 

 A3.  The occupation practiced; such as miller, blacksmith, well-man (in charge of a “well”), ferry-man (who would  transport people, goods and livestock in his ferry), baker, stone carrier, harvester, tanner (selling or working with animal hides), spoon-maker, trader in salt, tailor, etc.  Examples:

•   miller -> meunier; became Dumoulin  
• blacksmith -> forgeron; became Laforge  
• well-man -> puisatier; became Dupuis 
•  baker -> boulanger; became Ptrin  
• ferry-man -> traversier; became Latraverse  
• stone-transporter -> transporteur de pierre; became Chartier 
• nail-maker -> clou=nail; became Cloutier  
• bread-maker -> four=oven; became Fournier  
• harvester/reaper -> moissonneur; became Mtivier  
• worker in hides -> travailleur de peaux; became Pelletier 
•  spoon-maker -> fabriquant de cuillers; became Cuillerier  
• trader in salt -> trafiquant sur le sel; became Saulnier

  A4.  The profession; such as lawyer, teacher, constable etc. Examples:  

• lawyer -> procureur; became Bailly  
• teacher -> enseignant; became Lemaitre  
• constable/bailiff -> membre de la prvt; became Prevost 

 A5.

  By whim or fancy...and even grudge and mockery. 

 Examples:  Billeron; became LaFatigue 

 Rocan dit la ville; became Bastien  

Ledoux; became Latreille  

Seguin; became Ladroute 

 A6.

 Because of one’s financial situation, military, or other. 

Examples:

Nicholas Boyer; became Nicholas  Argent

 Court Perrault; became Chateauguay 

 A7. 

 The shame of a personal past...or of one’s relatives, after a crime had been committed...or, for any other reason  judged sufficiently serious by the person involved, such as exercising the occupation of executioner. 

 Note: See Andre Lachance’s volume on the executioners of New France, entitled “Le bourreau au Canada sous  le Regime francais” (the executioner in  Canada, under the French Regime), published by the Societe d’Histoire du Quebec, Cahiers d’Histoires vol.  euphonics or the difficulty of pronouncing a name.  

Examples:  

Cuvillon; became Quevillon  

Delquel; became Dziel  

How were some of the modifications of the names done by usage?

  A1. 

 By subtraction of certain letters. 

 Examples:

  Houde; became Houd 

 Pelletier; became Peltier  

Rivest; became Rivet 

 A2. 

 By modification of the ending.  

Examples:

 Aur; became Auray  

Leclerc; became Leclair  

Perrot; became Perrault/Perreault etc.  

A3.  

By the introduction of certain letters into the name:  

Examples:  Houde; became Houlde  

Hunault; became Henau  

Chalifou; became Chalifour  

Guillon; became Guyon 

A4. 

 By the ommission of the first syllable:  

Examples:  

Thiboutot; became Boutot and Bouthat 

A5. 

 By another name meaning about the same thing:  

Example #1:  Roquebrune; became Larocque (to express solidity, firmness, hardiness).  

Note: The following e-mail message was subsequently received from Robert Black... “Just a short note about  the variations of the names. One of the names used was Larocque & Rocquebrune. It says “Roquebrune;  became Larocque (to express solidity, firmness, hardiness).” This is totally wrong, the original name is  Larocque meaning a tour or keep as the rook in the game of chess. The name Rocquebrune came from a town  once owned or controled by the Larocque family of Larocque-Ordan in the department of Gers in France.  Rocquebrune is about 15 km away and still has a tower standing made of redish brown stone hence  Roquebrune, I have been to both places. The Chateau of Larocque has the remnants of a tower built in about  1050 as part of the foundation. My mother was born a Larocque-Rocquebrune. Robert Black  

Example #2: 

 To use a factual case, let’s take the one of Yolande CYR published in “Cahiers Gen-Histo” no. 1, on page 19.  One notes in her lineage, that there is a Pierre CYR married on 6-11-1828 at Ste-Scholastique, to Julienne  Larocque, daughter of Antoine and Genevieve Choret. If one looks for this last  marriage under the name Larocque, it is not found! Because Antoine married under the name of Antoine de  Rocbrune. Another source of difficulty in your research, will come from variations (or the total cnaging) of the  first name, as in the following examples:

  1.  At baptism, the person receives certain first names, where the last listed is usually the one by which he/she is  known throughout his/her life....whereas, in France the opposite is customary! 

 2.  At marriage (or death), if the person has been known throughout his/her life by a first name that does not appear  among the ones given at baptism...and he/she marries or is buried under the “usual” name, this will of course,  cause difficulties to his descendants and to the researchers.  Example: Wilfred Vzina married to Philomne Payette dite St-Amour.

Translating some excerpts of well-known and respected historians is all well and good, but these tend to give  the impression to the readers, that these changes only occurred in New France...or that these names were  mutilated only in the United States.

 Eventhough I (Claude Perrault) will translate several sources, all the reasons  for the name changes, are not necessarily found there.Here is a case from my own (Claude Perrault) tree which  happened not THAT long ago. It just may give insight as to how some name changes could have occurred.My  maternal granfather’s name was Joseph-Edouard Walsh (now you know where the red hair comes from). In any  case, he was the eldest of twelve children. The first six were baptized”Walsh”, as was their father and  grandfather. THEN, for whatever reason, theparish (in the county of Portneuf) received a new parish priest. The  latter baptized the last six...”Welsh”, When the six younger ones started school, they  had to bring their “birth certificates”. There, the school mistress, seeing the name on the birth certificates,  proceeded to admonish the youngsters whenever they claimed their name was “Walsh”. “Obviously”, scolded  the teacher, “it is Walsh”...that was what was entered on all their birth certificates! She decided that this was  how they should learn how to pronounce and sign their name! 

 In a nutshell, today I, (Claude Perrault) have cousins whose names are “Walsh” and I have other cousins, whose  name are “Welsh”. All are descendants of the same couple.  

Military Names (“Noms de guerre”)  In “Les Institutions Militaires de la Nouvelle-France et les Archives” by Louis Lemoyne (published by Loisiers  St-Edouard Inc., Montreal, 1981-1982), there are some lists of “noms de guerre”. What is surprising (and this is  something that I [Claude Perrault] had not noticed before), is that the officers as well as the enlisted men had  “noms de guerre”. Also, I can’t help but notice all the humorous names. In the great, great majority of cases,we  will never know the stories behind those names...which is really too bad!. Nevertheless, here are a few...with  their meanings...and I’ll let imagine how they came to be! The number in brackets, indicates how many  individuals bore that “nom de guerre” in the registers of the invalids found at the hospital called, l’Institut  National des Invalides” (France). I’ll just go through the “B’s” and “C’s”, and pick only a few examples, to give  you an idea. 

 Examples: 

 Bonnenouvelle (10) -> good news  

Bonne volont (17) -> good will  Bon Vivant (14) -> enjoys the good things in life  

Bristetout (10) -> breaks everything  

Brizefer (30) -> breaks everything (iron) 

 Brulevillage (11) -> burns village  

Boit sans Soif (5) -> drinks without thirst  

Bouteille (2) -> bottle 

 Brisemenage (2) -> home-breaker  

Brulemaison (2) -> burns house  

Cinq Franc (1) -> five francs  

Coeur ardent (1) -> flaming heart 

 Clefs des Coeurs (2) -> keys to the hearts  

Cupidon (3) -> cupid 

 Cur (1) -> priest  

And just so Dick Miale doesn’t feel left out...in the company of the 2nd Grenadiers of the Royal-Italian  Battalion in 1763, we find that Antonio Risso and Georges Vanetti, both had the “nom de guerre”...”Colosso”  (both measured 5’, 8”). In general, the names of this company, ressembles very much those of the French  soldiers, with “noms de guerre” like Bonvino, Il Terrible, La Vigna, Belamose, Senza Quartier and, of course,  Viva l’amore.  

Extract from the U.S. Census of 1820 for Madawaska  

NOTE: This Census was taken by English-Americans who spoke and understood little (if any) French.

 The  resultant Census shows that: 

 Alexis Thibodeau became Alevey Tebedore 

 Joseph became Joseph Markcue 

 Henri Tardif became Henri Turdey  

Louis Ouellette became Lewis Willet 

 Joseph Sanfacon became Joseph Sanpeshow  

Susan Thibodeau became Susan Tibedore 

Beloni Martin became Belon Martin  

Bartis Maurice became Bartis Morris 

 Charles Beaulieu became Charles Bolio  

Merclure-McClure became Peter PcCure  

Germain Morreau became Jerman Morio  

Basil Martin became Basil Martin 

 Larion Violette became Larison Violet  

Louis Sanfacon became Lewis Sanpishow 

 Francis Cormier became Francis Carney  

Frederick Theriault became Fredric Tario  

Fred Theriault became Sion Fred Tario  

Pierre Cormier became Peter Camio  

Olivier Thibodeau became Olivier Tibedore 

 Larion Bellefleur became Lario Bellfley  

Nicolas Pelletier became Nicholas Pelkey  

Jean Boutot became John Betuhe 

 Jean B. Thibodeau became John B. Tibedore  

Henrie Vasseur became Henry Versier  

Larion CYR became Loron Sear 

 Pierre Pelletier became Peter Pelt

hey  

Germain Soucis became Germain Sourire  

Jerome Morreau became Jarom Mario  

Barnum Boucher became Barnum Bushiere  

Germain Joshia became Jermain Joshia 

 Jean-Baptiste Joshia became Betis Joshia  

Clement Simon became Lems Simirron  

Joseph Michaud became Joseph Mashau  

Guillaume Chasse became Gruino Chasse  

Alorie Leclerc became Alare An L’Clare  

Alexis CYR became Elecis CYR  

Benjamin Nadeau became Benjamin Nador  

Louis Bellefleur became Lewis Belflour 

 Jean-Baptiste Lausier became Batis Lewsure  

Honore Levasseur became Harris Laushiere  

Charles Ayotte became Charles Adyet 

 Jean CYR became John Sier 

 Joseph Genest became Joseph Jenian  

Laurent Genest became Lorent Jenian  

Francis Doucette became Francis Dorsett  

Firmin Doucette became Pherman Dusett  

Paul Thibodeau became Paulet Tibedore 

 Antoine Gagne became Anthony Gange 

 Louis Mercure became Lewis Mecure 

Levite Leclerc became Levy Clare  Since the above noted (right-hand side) is the actual spelling as it appears in the old records, I think by now you  must all have a better appr

eciation as to why researching Acadian/French names, is NOT always an easy task!

 “Dit” Names 

The following information was obtained from Linda Jones and provides a good explanation (as well as many  examples) of “dit names” One thing that can make it difficult to find your ancestor is that he may have been  using a different surname from the one that you expect. You will need to make yourself aware of any “dit”  names that might be associated with the surname you’re tracing, and if you can’t find someone under the name  of his child, you may find him under the dit name. 

“Dit” in French means “say” and in this context, it means “called.” In other words, a person might be Pierre  Bourbeau dit Lacourse, which means that he had an ancestor named Bourbeau, but he chooses to use the name  Lacourse instead. So he is Pierre Bourbeau called Lacourse. People might take a dit name to distinguish their  family from another family of the same name living nearby. Often it was a sort of nickname, often picked up  during service as a soldier. Or it might refer to the place in France where the family originated. Sometimes it the  father’s first name was used, either instead of the surname (for example, Hebert dit Emmanuel) or in addition to  it (Jeanbard, Castonquay). In any case, very often the dit name was passed down to later generations, either in  place of the original surname, or in addition to it. Some of his children might then keep the original surname  (e.g. Barbeau), and some might use the dit name (e.g. Lacourse). After a few generations, it’s not uncommon to  completely lose the memory of the original name, or to forget which was the original and which was the dit  name. The best example of this is the Hudon dit Beaulieu family, where you will often find people listed as  Beaulieu dit Hudon. You sometimes might find a name and its dit name hyphenated, as in François HudonBeaulieu. In fact, you can generally assume that a hyphenated surname (before 1950, anyway) is the surname  plus dit name. Just remember that any Hudon might be the child of a Beaulieu and vice versa.  

Some surnames, such as Roy, have had several different dit names. You should be aware that usually a different  dit name indicates a different family. For example, Siméon Roy dit Audy and Antoine Roy dit Desjardins were  not related to each other. So it helps us to distinguish who’s who among their descendants if the descendants use  a dit name. Pierre Roy dit Audy will be a descendant of Siméon, and François Roy dit Desjardins will be a  descendant of Antoine. If you find a source which tells you, for example, that Pierre Audy is François  Desjardins’ father, you should be very suspicious. The sources you use may give the name as it appeared in the  original document, or may list all the Hudons and Beaulieus together, under either name. Jette has standardized  spellings, and leaves out “de” when alphabetizing, but he is faithful to the original surname of the family. So  whether you’re looking for a Hudon, a Beaulieu, or a Hudon-Beaulieu, they’re all listed together under “H.”  Other sources may list the same person many different places, and some sources consider Beaulieu to be more  common, and therefore they place the Hudons under “B.” Don’t assume a marriage or birth isn’t listed until  you’ve exhausted all possible names and spellings. And don’t forget to check under the many spelling  variations that were common. Any name that starts with a vowel, for example, might also be found with an H in  front of it (Emond, Hemond, Ayot, Hayot). And the “o” sound at the end of a name might be spelled ot, eau, au,  ault, eault, eau, aux, eaux, aud, or aut. 

 Following is a partial list of dit names and  their equivalents. You can also find  extensive lists of dit names in Jette and  Tanguay. 

Acelin - Asselin  

Elie - Breton, Hélie  

Agnier - Haguenier  

Alarie - Lart 

 Emery - Coderre

Émond - Edmund 

 Albert - Beaulieu 

Eschambault - Fleury 

 Allaire - Daillaire 

Estiambre - Sansfacon  

Amiel - Miel 

Etienne - Bourguet, Clérin  

Amiot - Lincourt, Villeneuve, Vincelot 

Fafard - Boisjoli  Amirault - 

Mirault Fauteux - Bonsecours