We are descendants of Daniel LeBlanc who arrived from
France in Port-Royal, Nova Scotia, Acadia around 1646-1650.
The LeBlanc family is the largest family both in Acadia and to have come out of Acadia. The Acadians were known as honorable, industrious and hard working people.
This was the LeBlanc Family Association crest for the Congrès Mondial Acadien 2004
This was the LeBlanc Association crest for the Congrès Mondial Acadien 1994
that was held in New Brunswick.
During the time of the Great Deportation of our Ancestors
from Acadia by the English, they were sent into exile as far away as could be - they were sent to the New England colonies then consisting of Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and Maryland. North Carolina and Virginia, not expecting the exiles, refused to allow them into these colonies. They stayed on the beaches from the fall of 1755 until the spring of 1756 when they were finally sent to England as prisoners of war. There they were detained for seven years in Bristol, Falmouth, Liverpool, and Southampton.
Those who were able to escape hid in the woods of New Brunswick. An error is often made by those who think that the Acadians were deported to Louisiana in 1755. Actually, some Acadians went to Louisiana in 1763 after the years of exile had finally ended when the Treaty of Paris was signed. They left from Maryland with Acadians who met them from other colonies where they had been in exile, principally those from New York and Pennsylvania. When the King of Spain invited the Acadians to come settle the lands in Louisiana, seven ships sailed from France in 1785. This would represent the greatest number of Acadians to migrate to Louisisana. This invitation came as a result of attempted negotiations by the Acadians to sail to Louisiana knowing they had relatives who were already there. Finally, Spain paid for seven ships that would transport them. In May 1785, the Acadians began the journey to their new homeland. More information on the ships' lists are available on this site at the sidebar. Meanwhile, other Acadians who were successfully deported by the English made their way back to New Brunswick to rejoin their families often only to be found and deportated once more. When the deportation years ended, it was realized that many Acadians had died while in exile. It is estimated that the Acadian population was approximately 10,000 to 12,000 at the beginning of this great diaspora.
For others who might be researching the LeBlanc family genealogy, it is of interest to note that many of our
ancestors were in Memramcook. Memramcook became known as the Birth Place or Cradle of the New Acadia. It was actually founded by some pretty determined Dugas wives who were sisters from what its history reveals to us. It was a very large LeBlanc settlement. From there, as they grew and expanded to other places, they could
be found in Shédiac, Grande-Digue, Barachois, Bouctouche,
Cocagne, Village-des-LeBlanc (now Dieppe) to name but a few. All of these are found in the Westmorland and Kent County Census records.
My grandfather Damien LeBlanc was born in St-Anselme, New Brunswick, Canada on July 20, 1846. I found the baptismal/birth
record in the microfilmed records at the American Canadian
Genealogical Society in Manchester, New Hampshire where I
have done a great deal of my research. I also wrote to well known
Genealogist Stephen A. White at Moncton University and he was kind enough to send me information telling me who Damien's parents were. He had not been able to find the baptismal record for my grandfather either. However, the information he did send me lead me to microfilm records I had scoured earlier and indeed there it was in St-Anselme founded by his great grandfather Firmin LeBlanc after the Deportation had ended.
Damien's parents were Sylvain LeBlanc and Domithilde Arseneau
who married February 3, 1845, at Bouctouche. Domithilde's
parents were Jean-Chrysostôme Areseneau and Marie Hébert.
Sylvain LeBlanc's parents were: Sylvain LeBlanc dit Sailor and Ursule
Bourque. This Sylvain's parents were: Firmin LeBlanc and
Ludivine Dupuis who married abt 1771. Ludivine was the
daughter of Michel Dupuis and Marie-Josèphe Savoie. Firmin
was born abt 1746 and died in St-Anselme, Petitcoudiac on
August 6, 1827. When Firmin died, he was the largest landowner in St-Anselme. His will states how he divided his property among his sons.
NOTE: I've wondered at times how it was that in researching our ancestors, most often the youngest son of the family inherited the paternal land. It seems that it was the custom for the father to bequeath the paternal land to the youngest son/sons of the family. I assume that was because by then, the older sons had established themselves on their own land, etc.
Joseph LeBlanc and Marguerite Hébert were Firmin's parents.
Joseph was born at Port-Toulouse abt 1722. He married
1. Marguerite Hébert, who is my ancestor, abt 1745. She was
the daughter of Jean-Emmanuel Hébert and Madeleine Dugas.
and he married 2. Marie Doiron dit Bidâque, daughter of
Pierre Doiron and Anne Forest. Prisoners at Fort Beauséjour
in 1763, Joseph André and his wife Marie Doiron, later settled in "Village des LeBlanc". This would become St-Anselme. Later they settled at Tédiche, where Joseph died on December 28, 1818.
Claude LeBlanc and Madeleine Boudrot were Joseph's parents.
Claude was born abt 1695, lived at Port-Toulouse with his
wife Madeleine who was the daughter of François Boudrot and
Madeleine Belliveau until about 1727 when he returned to
Grand-Pré. After Madeleine's death in April 1747, Claude
lived a bit at Beaubassin and then at St-Jean Island/PEI. He was
deported to Boulogne in 1758 where he died on October 5, 1765.
André was the fourth son of Daniel LeBlanc and Françoise
Gaudet. He was born abt 1659. He married Marie Dugas
abt 1683. Her parents were: Abraham Dugas and Marguerite
Doucet. André settled at Grand-Pré where he died on May 4,
1743 having been the last survivor of Daniel's family.
Daniel LeBlanc and Françoise Gaudet were the parents of André. Daniel was born in France abt 1626. He arrived in
Acadia abt 1650, which is about the time he married Françoise
daughter of Jean Gaudet and widower of someone whose family
name was Mercier. Daniel and Françoise began the largest
family to come out of Acadia. Five of their six sons married
and had many children. Among them they had
thirty-five sons. Thirty-one of them married. Consequently,
the LeBlanc family grew rapidly and this explains its
eventual predominance among the Acadians.
As Daniel LeBlanc and Françoise Gaudet were the first of the LeBlancs to settle in Acadia one great great grandson of theirs by the name of Firmin LeBlanc and his spouse Ludivine Dupuis (my family descends from this line), so was he of equal importance in settling new land in St-Anselme following the Diaspora. At that time, it was known as Village-des-LeBlancs, Fox Creek, St-Anselme. Equally important was Joseph LeBlanc who settled the land at Cap-Pelé, also called Cape Bauld.
Having received Stephen White's letter, I decided visit the New England Historical Genealogical Society on Newbury Street in Boston, MA. There in the 1861 census for Dundas Parish, Kent County, New Brunswick, I found my great grandparents Sylvain LeBlanc and Domithilde. Damien was 15 years old at the time of this census. He was the eldest of his family. Other siblings listed were his brothers: Phocas age 9, Gilbert 4, and Narcisse 2.
In the 1871 census for Dundas Parish, Damien is a man of 25
years of age. At this time, his wife Marie-Genevieve is 26. The children listed were: Celina 5, Elzear 4, Gilbert 3,Domithilde 7/12 but it showed too that she had died.
Listed above Damien and his family were his parents Sylvain
and Domithilde. This census also showed that another child
had been born to them by the name of Laurent who was now
age 7. (A note of interest: All LeBlancs listed in the
Kent County Census records were listed by the enumerators
as White not LeBlanc.)
Damien married Marie-Genèvieve Arsenau on 27 February 1865 in Grande Digue. Her parents were Thomas Arsenau and Olympiade Paquet. Together, they had nine children that I have found birth records for in the Moncton Microfilms that I accessed at the American Canadian Genealogical Society in Manchester, New Hampshire. They are:
Célina born 21 July 1866 in Cocagne, N.B.,CA
Elzéar born 26 July 1867 in Cocagne, N.B.,CA - Elzéar died
on 19 June 1875.
Gilbert born 11 January 1869 in Cocagne, N.B.,CA - Gilbert
died on 19 June 1875.
Dométilde born 10 October 1870 in Cocagne, N.B.,CA
Napoléon born 20 May 1872 in Cocagne, N.B.,CA - Napoléon
died on 15 June 1872
Wilfred born 12 December 1874 in Grande-Digue, N.B.,CA
Caroline born 28 April 1877 in Grande-Digue, N.B. CA
Thomas born 17 February 1879 in Grande-Digue, N.B. CA
Marie-Geneviève born 19 February 1887 in Shédiac, N.B.,CA
My grandfather Damien's first wife, Marie-Geneviève died
on 19 February 1887 the morning after giving birth. Present were
Pièrre LeBlanc and others.
On 15 August 1887, my grandfather Damien LeBlanc married
my grandmother Odille Doiron in Shédiac, New Brunswick, CA
Her parents were Eustache Doiron and Modeste Cormier of Barachois.
Together, they had the following children:
Joseph Edmond born 10 June 1888 in Shédiac, N.B.,CA
Léon Frédéric born 23 November 1889 in Shédiac, N.B.,CA
Henry birth record and birth place not yet found.
Joseph Albert born 8 March 1891 in Shédiac, N.B.,CA
Marie Domitilde born 15 july 1892 in Shédiac, N.B.,CA
Narcisse born 26 October, 1894 in New Bedford, Machusetts
George Charles born 30 September 1896 in New Bedford, MA
Napoléon born 17 July 1898 in New Bedford, MA - Napoléon
died on 12 July 1908
My father was George Charles LeBlanc.
In the 1891 Westmorland Census of Shédiac, Damien
was 45 years of age, Odylia(misspelling..) was 25 and the following children are listed as: Wilfrid 16, Thomas 11,Jane(incorrect..this is Geneviève) 4, Edmond 3, Frédérick 2 and Albert 1-1/2.
For several years now, I have been searching for my grandfather Damien LeBlanc's place of death. Odille died at 42 years of age on 18 May 1909 in Lawrence, Massachusetts. Her death was quite unexpected. She stepped on a rusty nail and died of blood poisoning. She is buried in Sacred Heart Cemetery Lot # 1994E. Her funeral was held at Ste-Anne Church, the family parish. I have found Odille's Obituary in the 1909 Lawrence Evening Tribune. My father was thirteen when his mother died.
Damien and Odille appear for the first time in the Lawrence
City Directory in 1905. The year 1912 is the last time that Damien
is listed in the City Directory. There is no death record
nor burial record for him in Lawrence City Archives
nor at the parish.
In 1917 my father enlisted in the Army and his enlistment
papers show that he enlisted in Hartford, Connecticut
though I've been told that no enlistment was held in
Hartford .
I did find in the microfilm archives for Shédiac, that
Albert a.k.a White (my father's brother) wrote to Shédiac for his baptismal record and that he married in
Attleboro, MA to Ann Yokel. I have found their marriage
record in Sacred Heart Church records in North Attleboro,
MA. They were married on 27 April 1914. Anna was born
on 5 February 1894 in Au Sable, MI, the daughter of
William and Angelina Gagné.
A continual search for information on Albert and Ann Yokel has lead me to a Henry Johnson. It turns out that Ann died sometme Bef. 29 April 1931 because Albert remarried on 29 April 1931 to Celia Mary Johnson. Albert and Ann had two children named Beatrice and Henry. There were no children from the second marriage.
At some point, both Albert and his brother Henry a.k.a. White moved to Hartford, raised their families and lived there all of their lives. Matilda, Albert, Henry and their spouses are all
deceased.
A few years ago, a great niece of Ann Yokel contacted me. Her granfather was Ann's brother.
On Friday December 2, 2005, I received an email from a Scott White. It turns out that Scott is the great grandson of Albert White/LeBlanc and Ann Yokel. I have been searching for this family forever. In 2002, I went to Hartford, Connecticut to meet Betty who was Albert and Ann's daughter. I met her for the first time and she passed away the following January. As it turns out, Albert and Ann's son went by the name of Nelson - not Henry. On Sunday December 4th I spoke with his daughter Patricia for the first time. How wonderful it is to connect with all of these long lost cousin. I had begun to wonder if I would ever find the rest of my family who have been unknown to me all of my life.
In 2004 I received an email from Betty who is turns out is married to the grandson of Edmond who was one of Damien and Odille's son also. In fact Edmond was the oldest of their children and I had never found a marriage for him so I did not believe he had ever married. Well marry he did.
I have finally found so many long lost cousins who descend from the marriages of my father's brothers and sister that I am now hoping we can have a family reunion in the summer of 2006.
Pat who is the granddaugther of Albert and Ann Yokel will be sending me information and photos of their family. She even has a photo of Albert and Ann. I saw my uncle Albert twice. The last time was at my father's funeral. It will just wonderful to see what the rest of this LeBlanc family looks like! Pat also has a photo of Albert with three men she assumes were his brothers. If she is correct, the photo will be of Albert, Edmond, Henry and my father George. I am very eager to see this photo.
Frederick (a.k.a. Fred White)married Flora Brown(Brun?)
8 February 1913. Henry married ?? . Matilda married Joseph Baggett in Lawrence, MA. She died
6 December 1943. Her husband died on 6 June 1958.
My father George Charles married Roseanna Levesque, on 27 November 1920. Where is everybody else?? I don't know... Yet!
Some of the godparents listed: For my grandfather: Jean
LeBlanc and Angèle Allain.
Godparents for his children were: Justine Lirette; Joseph Malenfant(married to a Doiron); Maximilien LeBlanc and Elisabeth LeBlanc; Céline LeBlanc, Thomas Leblanc, Alice Caissey. Phocas LeBlanc and Marie Bourgeois; Flavien Bourgeois and Domitille LeBlanc; Theophile Bourgeois and Sophie Theriault. These godparents are found in the Microfilmed Birth Records.
My Father and My Mother
George Charles LeBlanc and Roseanna Levesque had six children.
Emile, Rita and Alphée died as very young children. Claudia, Albert and Lucie(Lucienne-that's me!) married and have families.
As you see, the Internet is a wonderful took if used properly. Though I have been searching for many years to find my LeBlanc family, they have found me through my web site. Now if you think we might be related, I would be happy to share more family information to the present generation. For privacy reasons of the living, that information has not been posted here.
For people who are doing a family search and do not know
where to look, the American Canadian Geneological Societies/French American Genealogical Societies are a good place to start. The society recently purchased what is called the Drouin Database. This database contains all of the primary/original records for both Acadian & French-Canadian parishes in Canada. All of the images have been digitized so that they can be gathered together, burned on a CD and take home to use as one wants. I now have all of these digitized records and am able to post them to my web site, upload them to my genealogy software and/or print them out.
For more information send a message to Drouin@acgs.org
In Massachusetts and vicinity, the New England Historical & Genealogical Society on Newbury Street in Boston has many Canadian records. You might want to also search City Archives, City Directories, Census and marriage records of the local parishes as well as records of New Brunswick. I will continue until I have exhausted all avenues of search.My greatest hope is that somebody reading this will know some of these ancestors and we will be able to connect. I next plan to review the Archives of the Cities of Hartford, Connecticut as well as New Bedford, Massachusetts. Too, I have looked at census records at the National Archives in
Waltham, MA and I have been to the Massachusetts State Archives.