Our Ancestors

Back to square one…? Take Two

Pierre Lagacé — Fri, 24 May 2013 10:11:33 +0000

This will be a follow-up about a post I wrote back in March 2011. This is the original post.

START

Remember this couple I was talking about last Monday?

I thought in 2009 that they were the newly-weds in a picture taken around 1910 in Marlborough, Massachusetts.

I still thought so until Wednesday night when someone sent me a picture.

Here’s the “big picture” of this big picture.

I thought in 2009 that this picture had been taken in 1910.

Think again because someone told me that her relatives had this picture also.

It was taken probably on April 14, 1909 when Bernadette Levasseur, sister of Ida Levasseur, married Joseph Phaneuf.

The woman I had identified as Bernadette Hogue is probably Bernadette Levasseur.

Is this what they will call a soap opera in the future?

Look at this picture someone sent me.

Joseph Brière’s family

It does not belong to her.

She found it on Ancestry.

I still don’t have permission to use it, but I think you will understand why I am posting it.

Compare with this…

1909, Marlborough, Massachusetts

And this montage…

I will try to get permission to post the picture I posted without permission.

Then, I will tell you more, a whole lot more next Monday.

END

I have identified more people on the wedding picture… I will tell you more next time.

Joseph Brière’s family

My Best 9th Cousin Three Times Removed

Pierre Lagacé — Tue, 21 May 2013 10:00:14 +0000

Who is my best 9th cousin three times removed?

Pam.

She is the reader who wrote this comment last week on this blog.

Hi Pierre,
I just came across this while working on my family tree. According to ancestry.com I’m a direct descendant of Jacques Archambault, too. He’s my 11th great grandfather. I’m finding some interesting information on him.

Pam Connors

I replied online and she was quick to react…

Hi distant cousin!

I look forward to seeing the relationship. In the meantime here is my connection to Jacques. By the way, I google names while doing my tree and found such interesting things about him and his family. A person never knows what they’ll find! I just wish I could find my Bourgeois side. My 2 x’s great grandfather was David Bourgeois according to familysearch.org and his wife was either Celia or Ledia, no maiden name.

Frustrating.

I love reading your comments.

Feel free to send them even though you leave only one then disappear.

Pam is glad to have found her best 9th cousin three times removed because after he found the link to our common ancestor…,

I found her Bourgeois lineage…

BOURGEOIS, JACQUES (Jacob), surgeon, colonizer, founder of Beaubassin; b. sometime between 1618 and 1621 in France, probably at Couperans-en-Brie (department of Seine-et-Marne); d. 1701 at Port-Royal (Annapolis Royal, N.S.); founder of the Bourgeois family in Acadia.

Before leaving France, Bourgeois had entered the medical profession. He came to Port-Royal in 1642 with 18 families that Governor Menou* d’Aulnay brought with him on one of his voyages. Bourgeois’ father, also named Jacques, was an army officer at Port-Royal and was the brother-in-law of Germain Doucet, Sieur de La Verdure, Aulnay’s assistant. In 1654 Sedgwick* seized Port-Royal, and as by the terms of the capitulation soldiers were to be repatriated, Jacques Bourgeois senior returned to France; his son remained in Acadia, where he became the ancestor of a large number of descendants. In 1643 Bourgeois had married Jeanne, Guillaume Trahan’s daughter, who was born in France in 1631; they had ten children, seven girls and three boys.

At Port-Royal, Jacques Bourgeois became a farmer and shipbuilder. He traded with the Bostonians, particularly with John Nelson and William Phips*; he learned their language, and was the interpreter for the French in their dealings with the English. In 1672 he sold a partof his holdings at Port-Royal in order to settle, with his sons Charles and Germain and two of his sons-in-law, in the Chignecto Basin, thus becoming the first promoter of settlement in this region; he built a flour-mill and a saw-mill there. A few years later, in 1676, the region was made into a seigneury, the holder of which was Michel Leneuf de La Vallière (the elder), a nobleman born at Trois-Rivières; the new fief, 100 square leagues in extent, was named Beaubassin. As La Vallière brought in settlers and indentured employees from Canada, two distinct establishments adjoined each other at Beaubassin; but a clause in the title to the land grant protected the interests of Jacques Bourgeois and the other Acadian settlers established on the domain; it was not long before the two elements of the population merged into one.

The Chignecto region provided Jacques Bourgeois and the whole settlement with fertile marshes, and high ground suitable for farming. The Shediac portage was an important relay station in the sea communications between Acadia and Canada and a strategic position commanding the isthmus and Baie Française (Bay of Fundy). By the time of the expulsion of the Acadians, Beaubassin had become one of the most prosperous places in Acadia.

The distinguished colonist had settled at Port-Royal again before 1699; he died there, an octogenarian, in 1701. The family name was perpetuated by two of his three sons: Charles, born in 1646, who married Anne Dugas in 1668; and Germain, born about 1650, who married his first wife, Marguerite Belliveau, in 1673 and his second wife, Madeleine Dugas, in 1682; the third son, Guillaume, left only a daughter.

Clément Cormier

AN, Col., C^11D 3, f.191. Coll. de manuscrits relatifs à la N.-F., I, 149. Recensement de l’Acadie, 1686 (BRH), 681. Placide Gaudet, “Acadian genealogy and notes,” PAC Report, 1905, II, pt.iii, 1; App. A, 1; see also his Notes généalogiques (preserved in PAC and the Archives de l’université de Moncton), and his studies in the Évangéline (Moncton), 5 Feb. and 10 Dec. 1942. Arsenault, Hist. et généal. des Acadiens, 61–63, 361. Rameau de Saint-Père, Une colonie féodale, I, 167–69, 171–72, 175; II, 335.

Well I think I did because we had little to go on.

When I am certain, I am sure the floodgates should open wide like my search for Edwina Newcity… the mother of Robert Lagasse.

Lawrence Lagasse Redux

Pierre Lagacé — Mon, 20 May 2013 10:00:18 +0000

This is about the same article I posted two years ago. I was writing about someone who wrote a comment on this blog. It was the first time someone tried to pull a fast one on me, but I am not dead sure about it.

Let’s go back in time…

START

I knew Harry Lagasse had a second son whose name was Laurent or Lawrence. His first son was Gerard H. Lagasse seen here with his father, his grandfather and his great-grandfather.

Dennis IV broke the news about Lawrence when he sent me these newspaper clippings.

The plane that crashed as a WACO 10.

I don’t know if Harry Lagasse had any other children beside Lawrence and Gerard. It must have been a terrible news for Anna Campbell, Lawrence’s mother.

Anna Campbell and Harry Lagasse

I don’t have any more information about this family.

Maybe someday someone will write me a comment like this person who said Gerard H. Lagasse was his father.

This is what he wrote…

Hi Pierre
I am the first son of Gerard H Lagasse and would be glad to share info. with you.

Thanks
Gerard

He never wrote back.

I probably scared him away with all this genealogy thing or his computer broke…

END

I probably scared him away with all this genealogy thing or his computer broke… or this person tried to be funny and tried to pull a prank, but I am not dead sure about it.

He could not have made up such a story.

Click here…

Much More Than a Burial Act

Pierre Lagacé — Sun, 19 May 2013 10:00:48 +0000

This is much more than a burial act.

19 February 1875

Just look who signed!

Pierre Lagassé

P A. Lagassé

Henry Lagassé

N. A. Doré

Isidor Lagassé

François Xavier Lagassé

Now look again… with someone’s picture.

This is P A. Lagassé.

Pierre-Adolphe Lagasse
1851-1922

Pierre-Adolphe Lagasse was Antoine’s grandson. Henry, Isidore were also Antoine’s grandsons. The first person who signed as a witness to Antoine’s burial was his son Pierre, Pierre-Adolphe’s father.

Pierre is a common given name with the Lagacés as you can tell by the guy who is writing this blog…

Pierre Lagacé

My journey to find my ancestors started in 2007 and the journey to find your ancestors started in 2009. There is a wonderful story that evolved from my search for your ancestors.

It started with this… which led to this… and this…

and this…

and this.

So in a sense this is much more than a common burial act...

It’s about my great-great-great-grandfather’s burial act.

Now what about this baptisimal act of Jean-Antoine Migné dit Lagassé?

Same ancestor.

22 September 1797, born this morning!

Such a Beautiful Picture

Pierre Lagacé — Sat, 18 May 2013 11:41:31 +0000

I know I should ease up a little on Our Ancestors…

I am still unable to ascertain this is Anthony Lagasse and his first wife Delia Bertrand.

He looks so much like his dad. He has to be Anthony.

Readers will understand how searching for Our Ancestors is a passion bordering on obsession.

Anthony Lagasse is in fact Antoine Lagacé born in 1863. He is the first child of Stanislas Lagacé (Dennis Lagasse II) and Henriette Alexandre.

Anthony was named after his great-grandfather Antoine Mignier dit Lagacé.

I don’t have a picture of Henriette Alexandre to show you nor of Antoine Mignier dit Lagacé. This is the only image of Antoine Mignier dit Lagacé I can show you.

It’s the burial act of Antoine who died on February 17, 1875 in Bedford, Quebec.

I wish I could show you a picture of old Antoine and Henriette Alexandre.

I have so many pictures with unidentified women readers shared. Here are just a few.

I am sure Henriette is not one of them.

But that’s okay. I just wanted to show them.

Now can you imagine finding my blog and starting to write about your ancestors and putting a name on one of these old cabinet cards.

The Calling

Pierre Lagacé — Sat, 18 May 2013 10:00:03 +0000

Reblogged from Real People Real Stories:

This is Lois Astleford, my grandmother, at her first violin recital in 1908. Her mother, Sallie Vale, wanted Lois to learn music and language as she had. But Lois had a different calling. She played horribly at the recital. Her mother never again insisted she learn the violin. Years later, Lois retold the story in vivid detail and with a faint smile.

Ligeose

Pierre Lagacé — Fri, 17 May 2013 10:00:38 +0000

I have seen everything while searching for my Lagacé lineage.

But this beats everything.

Ligeose!

Click here.

This woman is in fact Josephine Lagasse.

We are surely related but I can’t find how.

Someone asked me for my help when she stumbled on my Ancestry family tree. She wanted to know if Anthony Lagasse born in 1863 could be related to Josephine born around 1861 in Vermont.

It was quite plausible since Anthony was also born in Vermont. Josephine can’t be related though because Anthony’s parents were married in 1862. This is Anthony’s father.

Déjà vu…

Josephine Lagasse married David Breault. David Breault died in 1900 and Josephine Lagasse’s name is entered as Josephine Breanlt (sic), a widow in 1900, with four children: Edna, Amédée, Lewis and Cecilia.

In 1910, 1920, and 1930 she is living with her daughter Edna and her son-in-law Achilles Séguin.

In 1940 Josephine is living with her daughter Cecilia in California as we can see in the 1940 Census.

Josephine is probably the one who died in 1943. Her father’s name is Ligeose which is most probably Lagasse.

Josephine is said to have been born on December 25, 1860 in Vermont.

Name: Josephine Mary Breault
Event Type: Death
Event Date: 11 Sep 1943
Event Place: Los Angeles, California, United States
Birth Date: 25 Dec 1860
Birthplace: Vermont
Gender: Female
Father’s Name: Ligeose
Mother’s Name: Lafayette

I have search all day for her Lagacé lineage but I am stuck with only one clue…

Lafayette!

Sometimes you reach a dead end when looking for someone, but we have to keep the faith like this picture which I believe is a photograph of Anthony Lagasse born in Vermont in 1863 with his first wife Delia Bertrand.

He is still not 100% sure about us you know Delia…

Anthony Lagasse is resting in peace in St. Joseph Cemetery. Sometimes we have to let go with our search for our ancestors.

Easier said than done…

Click to view slideshow.

Denis Lagasser

Pierre Lagacé — Thu, 16 May 2013 11:00:09 +0000

Click here.

Hard to link Dennis Lagasse II aka Stanislas Lagacé II to this Denis Lagasser in the 1920 U.S. Census.

Denis or Dennis or Stanislas was a widower in 1920.

1842-1927

Lavina Duke was a widow in 1920. Dennis was living with his daughter and her children probably since 1907 after the death of his wife Henriette Alexandre.

Lavina Duke was not her real name. Her name was in fact Malvina Lagacé Dubé. Her husband was Joseph Dubé and not Duke. So you see how it’s hard for someone to link this ancestor to his or her family tree…

Here is Malvina in the 1910 U.S. Census… Melvina Dube.

Again wrong given name, but right surname. Malvina is a widow. Joseph Dubé probably died after 1906 because he fathered a child, Marie Louise who is four years-old in 1910.

This is where I come in if you are related to Joseph, Irene, Alice, Bernice or Louise Dube. I can help with your Dubé and Lagacé ancestors.

Then this is where you come in and to try help me identify these people on this picture.

This is how Dennis IV and I connected in 2011 and how he shared more than 100 pictures.

This is one of them.

This has to be a wedding picture taken around 1920. Dennis II is there in the middle of the last row. His son Dennis III is in the middle above the newly-weds. I am still searching who they are. I believe this is Bertha Lagasse, Dennis III’s daughter.

It would make sense.

I believe Malvina is next to Dennis II on the left side in the white blouse as well as Lillie Lagasse his other daughter with her husband Eugene Dube by her side.

It would make sense since the Dubés and the Lagacés were very close to each other…

Down the road, I hope, someone will be able to help with putting names on people still unidentified on the picture above just like I helped someone back in 2009 in identifying these four persons on this picture.

She wanted to throw this picture away.

Dennis II, Dennis III, his son Harry with his son Gerard H. Lagasse born June 9th, 1916 and who died on March 25, 1998.

I think Gerard H. Lagasse never got married so no one is looking for him.

No one except myself…

Dennis Lagasse III

Pierre Lagacé — Wed, 15 May 2013 11:00:54 +0000

I think I take genealogy and our ancestors too seriously. Sometimes my posts are long and confusing.

This is Dennis Lagasse IV’s great-grandfather. He’s the man under the hat stuck on branches. Dennis III is also my granduncle since he was the brother of my other granduncle Adelord and of my grandfather Philip Lagasse from Canada.

Dennis Lagasse III is seen with four of his sons: Napoleon Levi (Dennis IV’s grandfather), Harvey, Victor, and Joseph on the extreme right.

The young man between Joseph Lagasse and Victor Lagasse has yet to be identified.

Dennis Lagasse III is the son of Dennis Lagasse II who was the son of Dennis Lagasse I.

All these Dennises were in fact Stanislases. All except Dennis IV who knew very little about family tree back in 2011.

Pierre I can’t thank you enough for everything you’re doing, I really was lost when it came to family history. I saw photos when I was young and didn’t know much more than we came from Bristol CT. I heard once or twice about a Dennis before me that was killed at work in the 1920s but that was all I thought there was. To put names on the strangers smiling faces in the old photos gives me a sense of belonging that I’ve never felt before. I knew there had to be than just “here I am”, now I have “where I’m from” thanks to you.

Dennis Lagasse III left this world on October 21, 1922.

This obituary became a kind of Rosetta stone to look for all of Dennis III’s descendants.

I knew all about Dennis Lagasse III before Dennis Lagasse IV his great-grandson contacted me back in 2011. Dennis Lagasse III was just a name and a man in a family picture sent by someone in 2009 who never stayed in touch.

Together Dennis IV and I brought Dennis III to life again on this blog with dozen and dozen of photos. We are just waiting for someone to join in our search for unidentified ancestors.

Just waiting…

Dennis Lagasse IV in Connecticut, and Pierre in Quebec, Canada.

Click to view slideshow.

I think Dennis and I take genealogy and our ancestors too seriously.

Such a Touching Comment

Pierre Lagacé — Tue, 14 May 2013 17:32:05 +0000

Dennis Lagasse IV sent this comment about this post.

Dennis had this picture of my great-grandfather Dennis Lagasse II…

1842-1927

He brought him from the dead and so many people who are yet to be identified…