The Livingston Family History - Alive and Well

Let's take a quick, high-level look at the Archbishop Langevin's ancestors and compare them to Joseph Langevin's ancestors to see if there's an obvious link between the families. Archbishop Louis-Philippe Adelard Langevin                      Joseph Langevin  1855-1915                                                                                      1857-1933 Father: Francois Theophile Langevin                              Father: Francois Xavier Bergevin dit Langevin Mother: Marie Pamela Racicot                            ...

Father Gerald Langevin (son of **Edgar Langevin) recently posted on the Livingston family Facebook page: My dad 's, Ed’s, understanding was that Archbishop Langevin referred to my Grandpa Joe and his brothers and sisters as “his little cousins”, but that there was no actual relation. I have the utmost respect for these comments, but I’ve discovered a newspaper article that offers a different opinion. First, here’s a description of John Baptiste Langevin, brother of Joseph Langevin (1857-1933) and husband of Marie Claire Lafreniere*, published by the Winnipeg Tribune on April 16, 1936:   John Baptiste had an interesting life. He married Mary Anna Leonard after he returned from the Klondike in 1920 and she had three children from a previous marriage. John Baptiste became an employee at the Duplex Printing Press company in Urbandale, Battle Creek, Michigan where he worked until age 62. Here's an article, published on March 27, 1936, by the Battle Creek Moon Journal describin...

I've almost completed my work on the Livingston Family Tree, stored on Ancestry.ca, with more than 4300 family members. So I've decided to pursue the truth behind one of the family mysteries: At Helen Langevin's (wife of Ulric Livingston) First Communion on May 30, 1909 at St. Alphonse Parish in Manitoba, Archbishop Louis-Philippe Adelard Langevin referred to Helen as "cousin." I have begun a new family tree on Ancestry.ca to try to determine if they were true cousins or if the Archbishop was simply stating an endearment. I hope to discover the truth before the end of 2026. Attached below is the article published in St. Paul, Minnesota's Catholic Bulletin on June 20, 1915 following the death of the Archbishop. So far, I've mapped out the generations at a high level on both sides of the family. Archbishop Louis-Philippe Adelard Langevin Father: Francois Theophile Langevin Mother: Marie Pamela Racicot Francois Theophile Langevin Father: Etienne Langevin Mot...

Hi everyone,  I'm happy to report that the 2nd Livingston Family book, The Livingston Family: Living Well , has been published. It's 250 pages and documents the children and ancestors of Ulric and Helen Livingston.  I have a few copies if you're interested.  The book is $45 and $25 for postage. Update December 31, 2025: I still have three copies left. If you would like to receive a copy, please email me at dbon8118@outlook.com. Please note: For some reason, I'm having a hard time replying to comments posted on this blog. 

 Farming in the late 1800s Continued translation of Odile Marten's  Pionniers de la Montagne Pembina:  Saint-Leon 1877-2000  borrowed from the Manitoba Legislative Library. p. H-117 Ovide Lafreniere is one of the farmers among the pioneers of Saint-Leon. Arriving in 1878, the year after the first four settlers arrived, he took a homestead of 180 acres and a long preemption of the same and brought his family, already 11 children, including 2 boys aged 11 and 12. His fortune was not large since he had only his arms, but he also went to work despite the difficulties of the beginning. It was 75 miles away, without roads, that he had to fetch the instruments of work as well as the flour and other essential provisions. In addition, there was a lack of market for the products of his land. p. H-127-129 Despite all the progress made after 1900, the fact remains that the farmer did not have the easy work. His first concerns were his farm work. The quality of his harvest in the...

Translated from Odile Martel's book  Pionniers de la Montagne Pembina p. H-18 Manitoba becomes a province In 1870, Manitoba's entry into the Canadian confederation was the entry. From 1871 to 1876, a multitude of government surveyors marked Pembina Mountain in townships, in sections of one square mile and in quarter sections. At that time, Manitoba's population was made up of two linguistic groups in roughly equal numbers, English and French.   The Influence of Monsignor Taché  Following the Manitoba Act of 1870, a large wave of immigrants from Ontario threatened the Pembina Mountain area with being invaded by English and Protestant immigrants. To restore linguistic and religious balance in Manitoba, Bishop Taché of Saint-Boniface made numerous appeals to Quebec settlers through Quebec parish priests. In 1874 he organized a colonization society for French Canadians and sent Father Albert Lacombe, OMI, to Quebec and the United States in search of French-speaking settlers. ...