Shedding new light on former postings

     After much head-scratching and many hours pondering French parish penmanship, I have decided to rely on a new database of original documents.  Compiled by the University of Montreal, this vast source of Quebec ancestors is called the Research Program in Historical Demography, better known as Le Programme de Recherche en Demographie Historique (PRDH).  This research database consists of more than 700,000 entries based on original Quebec birth, marriage and death certificates, including those lovely French Drouin collection parish records that made me cross-eyed.  The Montreal researchers have combined all of the documents to share the geneaology of families in the St. Lawrence Valley from 1621-1799.

Based on this vast database, I would like to review some of my past postings as it confirms and sometimes denies the existence of some of our ancestors as stated by Doreen's, Bernie's, Bernadette's and yours truly.  I hope you find the next few posting as enlightening and interesting as I have.

Firstly, I would like to return to the posting dated February 11, 2012.  In this posting, I described the 9 children of Antoine (II) Desrosiers dit Lafreniere and Marie Renee Lepelle dit Desmarets (married on November 26, 1696) as follows:

*1. Antoine III born 21 March 1698; married Angelique PIETTE 9 February 1722 at Sorel, P.Q.   Died 1 May 1760 in Quebec City, QC.  (***Please note:  WE WILL REVISIT THIS FAMILY IN MY NEXT POSTING***)

2. Marie Josephe, born 31 January 1700, married Adrien NEPVEU 20 June 1719 at Sorel, I’lle Dupas, P.Q., died?

3. Marie Genevieve, born 20 May 1702, married Francois HOURE on 26 November 1731, died?

4. Marie Madeleine, born 27 May 1704; married Louis LEFEBVRE (1) in 1735; married Joseph Potier   9 October 1747 - both marriages took place at Trois Rivieres; died?
5. Marie Agnes, born 22 August 1706, married Joseph Jean-Denis 20 June 1725, died ? at I’lle Dupas.

6. Marie Anne, born 3 November 1708.

7. Hyacinthe, born 9 February 1711.

8. Jean Baptiste Charles, born 26 December 1721.

9. Joseph, born 27 May 1713.


Now, here is the NEW and UPDATED version of Antoine and Marie-Renee's family of 10 children as per the PRDH database:

Please notice how this new database provides much more information, such as dates of marriages and deaths and full names of spouses (I am especially ecstatic with the confirmation of Jean Baptiste's marriage to Marie Marguerite Vanasse Vertefeuille and their son Jean Baptiste marrying Marguerite Loiseau as I stated in a posting on February 27th. I'm so brilliant!! LOL Please no applause, but a standing ovation would be awesome. LOL).  By the way, "Lieu indetermine au Quebec" means "place undetermined in Quebec".

As indicated in the above diagram, this new database has revealed new data regarding male children:  Joseph, Alexis, Pierre and Jean Baptiste .  I have taken the liberty to investigate if they created families of their own.

Born in 1713, Joseph Desrosiers Lafreniere failed to have any children by his first wife, Marie Josephe Aure.  He remarried in 1740 to Marie Piette, but again there is no record of children. Unfortunately, I was not able to determine why his first marriage only lasted 3 years (although I know some men can be very difficult to live with....lol).

Here is Alexis' family with his wife Marie Agathe Bigot Dorval:

Here is Pierre's family with wife Marie Genevieve Casaubon Didier:

In 1759, Pierre married Marie Madeleine Boucher and here is a record of their family (it's becoming quite clear that these Lafreniere men really cannot survive without a good woman by their side---smart fellas :)

And finally, here is Jean Baptiste's family (please note the second entry of son Jean Baptiste who later married Marie Marguerite Loiseau Francouer):

And below are the family members of Jean Baptiste and Marie Marguerite Loiseau (this family was discussed in the February 27, 2012 posting. Please note the absence of Antoine Jean Baptiste Lafreniere born in 1800 in St. Croix and married Madeleine McTavish as noted by Doreen's research):

Next posting:   A review of the February 20, 2012 posting which discussed the family of Antoine III Desrosiers dit Lafreniere and Angelique Piette Trempe.