When I began the research into my birth ancestry, I had no idea just how intertwined the branches of the tree would become!
Nova Scotia saw the arrival of its first European immigrants in 1604. Pierre Dugua de Monts (Sieur de Monts) had received a monopoly for fur trading from the King Henri IV with the stipulation that he establish a permanent settlement in the New World. Accompanied by Samuel de Champlain and 77 men, he crossed the Atlantic Ocean, setting up a community on a small island in a river on the north shore of the Bay of Fundy. After losing almost half of the settlers during that first winter to the harsh weather conditions and malnutrition, he decided to relocate the settlement to the head of the Annapolis Basin on the northern tip of the Bay of Fundy which was more sheltered and promised to be a good port for future trade. He named this settlement, Port-Royal.
In the succeeding years, approximately 100 families came to Port-Royal from France. Among those settlers was Daniel LeBlanc his wife, Francoise Gaudet, and her daughter from a previous marriage. Daniel and Francoise would add 6 sons to their family. Five of the 6 would have large families - and so would their children. It is from this Acadian family that I am descended...more than once!
My great-grandfather was Charles B. LeBlanc (Belone, Belone, Belone, Claude, Rene, Jacques, Daniel). Census records list his wife as, Sophie, but I could not find her maiden name anywhere in any of the records available online. It was not until the province of Nova Scotia announced their Nova Scotia Genealogy website online (this month) that I was able to search the marriage records and discovered his wife's last name: LeBlanc!
I am still in the early stages of researching this new line, but at first glance, it seems that Sophie (Dominique, Lazare, Joseph, Joseph, Francois, Rene, Rene, Daniel) is descended from a different son of Daniel and Francoise than Charles. Appearing in the lineage with both of these LeBlanc lines are Chiasson, Hebert, Arsenault, Bourg, Cormier, Landry and many other Acadian family names.
Unraveling the twists and turns in the LeBlanc lineage has been a challenge for many genealogists. I am hoping to benefit from their hard work and find some living relatives in Margaree, Nova Scotia!
Saturday 24 March 2007
Entwined Branches
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6 comments:
Hi Cathy,
My great grandfather was the son of Rosamond Le Blanc b. 1817, Lafayette or St. Martin. I am trying to find the name of the mother of Marcellini Le Blanc (also called Marshall White). do not think Virginie Langlinais was his mother.
Unfortunately, I have not encountered any of the names you mention in my research. However, it does appear that you might be right about Marcellini/Marshall's mother not being Virginie. Should I run across any of these names in future research, I will post it here.
Cathy: Just stumbled on your blog while checking out my Leblanc roots. I have some information from the La Societe St Pierre from Cheticamp on the LeBlanc name. Email me Kenneth.leblanc@gmail.com
Hi Cathy,
"Entwined Branches" is a perfect name. I discovered my husband and I share great...grandparents Pierre(Simon) Aucoin and Luce Babin. Our ancestors Pierre and Barbe Aucoin were brother and sister.( from the Margaree Valley, Cheticamp area)
Pierre Aucoin and his wife Félècity LeBlanc { this would be the grandparents of Barbe and Pierre and parents of Pierre(Simon)} met in Europe.In England they were refuges from the Expulsions. Three of their children were born in St Milo France before they returned to Nova Scotia. The other side of my family is the same- the Gillis,Jennings, Downeys, etc. all tend to overlap. The same names reoccur all along the former French Shore. From Port aux Port Nfld. down through Cape Breton to Cheticamp, Ingonish, Margaree...
The gene pool is not exactly overly large. My kids were amazed(appalled?)with how many times they were related to themselves.:-)
They're stories are really quite interesting though.
Good luck with your search.
Peggy Bruce-Leblanc
(Ken's wife)
Hi Cathy,
Me again,
I see where one of your ancestors was Lazare LeBlanc. Was he the Lazare that was one of the originally fourteen settlers of Cheticamp?
"LAZARE LE BLANC (WHITE)
L
AZARE LE BLANC WAS BORN IN NOVA SCOTIA IN 1753 OF PARENTS BORN IN NOVA SCOTIA. IT SEEMS THAT HE WAS AT ST. JOHN'S ISLAND BEFORE COMING TO CHETECAMP. HE ARRIVED THERE IN 1786 AT AGE 33 WITH WIFE MODESTE CHAISSON. HE STAYED IN CHETECAMP. HIS CHILDREN WERE: GREGOIRE, JEAN, JOSEPH DIT QUAIREK, JOACHIM, SIMON, LAZARE.
JEAN, PAUL, AND BASILE CHIASSON"
Just curious.
Peggy
Ken and Peggy, Thanks to both of you for taking the time to read about my tangled LeBlanc roots!
As for our common ancestry, Pierre Simon Aucoin and Luce Babin are my 4th great-grandparents (in my paternal LeBlanc line.) So, that would mean that we're related!
Both of my great-grandparents were LeBlancs from the Margaree area, so I'm sure there's some connection to Lazare (b.1753.) However, I'm not sure about any relationship to him. I'll have to investigate that further!
My LeBlanc research up to April 2008 is presented in my Sutherland database on the Family Harvest Genealogy website (see links in sidebar.) There is only one Lazare listed, however, I've since come across several more to add to my database. Hopefully, I will be updating that soon to include the most recent discoveries!
Again, thanks for your interest!
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