The Ulric Livingston Family PART TWO:

Francois LIBERSAN LAVIOLETTE and Marie Angelique Amable Demers Dumais 1757

to Ulric's Parents 1873



Map of the "Isle of Montreal and surrounding environment" 1744 from National Library and Archives Canada

Francois Libersan Laviolette and Marie Angelique Amable Demers Dumais married on 3 May 1757 in Ste. Genevieve (Pierrefonds), QC [see left-hand bottom corner on the map]. Based on the PRDH database, they had the following children:

1. Francois Savier born 29 September 1758 in Ste. Genevieve (Pierrefonds), and wed Marie Madeleine Gauthier on 17 April 1780  in Ste. Genevieve (Pierrefonds).
2. Marie Angelique born 27 July 1760  in Ste. Genevieve (Pierrefonds) and wed Joseph Amable Lauzon on 31 January 1780 at the same parish.
3. Marie Josephe born 6 July 1762  in Ste. Genevieve (Pierrefonds) and died one month later on 7 August 1762.
4. Michel born 16 June 1764  in Ste. Genevieve (Pierrefonds), wed Marie Anne Meilleur on 6 February 1787 in St. Eustache and died 28 February 1792 in St. Eustache.
5. Eustache born 24 September 1766  in Ste. Genevieve (Pierrefonds), wed Marie Charles Charlotte Choret on 22 April 1789, and died 3 December 1796 in St. Eustache.
6. Marie Marguerite born 30 November 1768  in Ste. Genevieve (Pierrefonds) and died six days later.

To put this generation in the proper historical context, these ancestors may have feared the repurcussions of the Seven Years War between the French and British soldiers over the sovereign lands of New France.

Remember the Battle on the Plains of Abraham described in the April 4, 2012 posting entitled "War in New France 1756-63"? It was briefly explained how 4,500 British troops invaded the Plains of Abraham outside the walls of Quebec City and overcame the 4,400 French defenders on September 13,1759 in a battle which only lasted 20 minutes.

Following the battle, the French army, under the direction of the Governor General of New France Pierre Francois de Rigaud, Marquis de Vaudreuil-Cavagnal, retreated to Montreal to regroup while the British Navy withdrew from the St. Lawrence River before the winter conditions froze their fleet in solid ice and the British army settled in for the winter.

Before the return of the British navy, a French army of 7,000 troops organized another attack near the city of Quebec led by Commander Francis de Gagnon, Chevalier de Levis on April 28, 1760. The British troops were weakened as they were ill-prepared for the cold winter during this battle, the Battle of Sainte Foy. Nevertheless, the British managed to retreat behind the fortified walls of Quebec City until their navy arrived in mid-May. The French were overwhelmed and without reinforcements from France, they were unable to retake Quebec City. Both sides sustained heavy casualties: 1100 British and 800 French and the French were forced to retreat to Montreal again.

The Battle of Sainte Foy - National Archives Canada

Less than five months later, the French formally capitulated on 8 September 1760, and the British took possession of Montreal. Through the Treaty of Paris, the French turned over all claims to its North American territory and the Proclamation of 1763 established New France as a British colony and British institutions were imposed.


I only retell this story as our ancestors from Ulric Livingston's side of the family had resided in the city of Old  Montreal for many decades. The majority of Ulric's ancestors lived in the north in Pointe-aux-Trembles, and in the west in Ste. Genevieve and St. Laurent (please refer to the map below).

Old Montreal - bold line indicates its fortified wall 

It would be safe to assume that Ulric's ancestors felt great fear due to the close proximity of the war, and tremendous relief and uncertainty when the battles ceased.

Returning to Ulric's direct ancestors, Michel Libersan Laviolette was born 16 June 1764  in Ste. Genevieve (Pierrefonds), and wed Marie Anne Meilleur in St. Eustache, east of Montreal.  Michel was a farmer according to Doreen (Livingston) Moore's notes. Here are the details regarding their children:

1. Marie Josephe born 19 March 1788 and baptized the following day in St. Eustache.


2. Joseph born 4 April 1789 and baptized the following day in St. Eustache. He wed Marie Angelique Cardinal on 24 October 1808 in Ste. Genevieve (Pierrefonds). Joseph died at age 54 on 16 August 1843 in Ste. Genevieve (Pierrefonds).


3. Antoine born 5 February 1790 in St. Eustache and baptized the following day. He wed Clemence Quevillon 10 August 1812 in Ste. Genevieve (Pierrefonds). Antoine died 26 April 1840 and he was buried two days later in Laval, QC.

Sadly, Michel and Marie Anne did not have more children as Michel died at the age of 28 (I am searching for the cause of his death) on 28 February 1792 in St. Eustache, QC. Marie later remarried.

Below is the marital record of Joseph Libercan/Libersan (his surname was blurred during the scanning process carried out by the document owner and not by yours truly, and thus, it is not clearly legible and I am only taking an educated guess at its suggested spelling in the original document) and Marie Angelique Cardinal of 24 October 1808 as kept by the Ste. Genevieve parish registry.

Please focus your attention to the top left hand corner of the document below. It is noted in their marital record that Joseph is the son of Michel Libersan, a "cultivateur" and Marie Angelique is the daughter of Jean Baptiste Cardinal.

 

Joseph and Marie Angelique Cardinal had 3 children as confirmed by the Quebec Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection):

1. Joseph Luversant born ____; wed Marie Rose Lefebvre on 14 November 1836 at Ste. Madeleine parish in Rigaud, QC. This is the first occurrence of "Luversant" in parish records and this record also stated that Joseph resided in Hawkesbury, ON.[Marie Rose Lefebvre was born 2 April 1805 to Pierre Lefebvre and Ursule Ranger, which was Pierre's second marriage; his first marriage was to Louis Audet as noted by Doreen (Livingston) Moore.] 


2. Arsene Libersan born ____; married Anastasia Chauret on 4 November 1830 at Ste. Genevieve, Montreal, QC.; and married again, Marguerite Bourgeois dit Gregoire, in 1833 at the same parish where his name is recorded as "Arcene Libertant" and his father in attendance was noted as "Joseph Libersant".


3. Marie Adelaide Libersan Laviolette born August 1820 at Ste. Genevieve (Pierrefonds), QC; wed 20 July 1836 and was interred at St. Philippe d'Argenteuil Cemetary, QC on 21 January 1899.

Joseph Luversant and Marie Rose Lefebvre had 2 children:

1. Joseph born 3 July 1837 at Hawkesbury, ON. Joseph married Albina Robillard 24 February 1873 at St. Louis-de-Gonzague County, Beauharnois, QC; and died 5 August 1892 in Bay City, Michigan.[The marital record states Joseph's name as "Joseph Jacques Liversans" and his father as "Jacques Liversans." I find it very odd that Marie Rose's name is not mentioned.]
2. Edesse born 28 March 1839 at Hawkesbury, ON. [I am attempting locate more data about this child]

Further investigation into Ulric Livingston's parents, Joseph Jacques Liversans and Albina Robillard, will be investigated in the next posting.

Next posting: The Ulric Livingston Family PART THREE - Ulric's Upbringing and Family

The Ulric Livingston Ancestors: Libercant dit Libersans dit Libercan dit Libersan dit Liberson dit Laviolette

This is my attempt to uncover the ancestors of Ulric Livingston, husband of Helen Langevin. Ulric was born in 1890, wed Helen in 1917 and died in 1977 (some of this information may be found in 2012 blog posts). I have uncovered Ulric's ancestors as far back as 1613. Hang on for the ride through the roller coaster ride of surname versions recorded by priests, notaries and fellow genealogists.

WARNING:  If you focus on the number of surname changes, it will drive you insane! It is disturbing that the three main sources of my research, Quebec, Genealogical Dictionary of Canadian Families (Tanguay Collection) 1608-1890; Quebec, Vital and Church Records Drouin Collection 1621-1799, and the University of Montreal's PRDH (La Programme de Recherche en Demographie Historique) database altered the surname several times.  Doreen was correct to attribute these alterations due to illiteracy amongst the colonists and parish priests as it was a common practice to spell names phonetically.

Ulric Livingston was born to Joseph 

Leonard Libercan, a soldier in the French army led by M.Duplessis under King Louis XIV, was born about 15 June 1671 to Guillaume Libercan and Marie Louise Madelaine _____  in the parish of Rasa in Perigueux, Periogord, France (strangely her last name was omitted from the parish records). Guillaume and Marie were married before 1672 probably in France (I cannot locate details of their lives and their ancestors prior to this data).

Based on a letter written to Doreen's brother Bernie dated 4 Nov.1985, Doreen briefly described her 6 week journey to Europe, including the Perigord region, that year. She planned on returning to Europe for 6 months, but I am uncertain if she had the opportunity to do so. Here's an excerpt from her letter which captures her excitement of the genealogical hunt for the truth:

We know what remains for us to see in the Perigort region, thanks to a French family who befriended us shortly after our arrival in Periguex. And, we have it in mind to spend six months in Europe our next time there, so we can have an in depth study of that beautiful and historical region. Mr. Le Cerf has promised to assist me in my genealogical studies. We didn't meet owing this to his leaving Paris the following day on which we rang him. I'm elated by his generous response and have written, at his request, giving him a clear picture of where he can research on our behalf. I had only one hour in the Periguex Archives where (Leonard's) the records of Razac of 300 years ago are now. Holding the original records and thrilling experience for me - (the dust made my nose run though). There's a record of every soldier who left the Perigord region for Canada.

Leonard was posted to New France to protect the new colonists from attacks by First Nations. He wed Marie Anne Louise Coron (born 14 May 1676 in Montreal to parents Jean and Michelle Lauzon) on the 19 March 1699 (the marital records show Leonard's last name as "Liberson" in the Quebec Geneaological Dictionary of Canadian Families, Tanguay Collection, 1608-1890 and thus, I have added it to the list of "dit"s in the title of this series of postings).

Here is the record of Leonard's marriage according to the PRDH (La Programme de Recherche en Demographie Historique) database:

Family

of

GUILLAUME LIBERSAN

and

MARIE LOUISE MADELEINE

Marriage: before 1671-12-31 Lieu inconnu

("Lieu inconnu" loosely translates to "unknown location")

Sex	Birth	Marriage	Death	First name of the child
	Place	Place	Place	Name of the spouse
m	1671-06-15	1699-03-19	1751-11-29	LEONARD
	France	Montréal	St-Laurent	MARIE ANNE LOUISE CORON

Tragically, Marie Anne Louise Coron died less than one year later on the 10th day of February 1700 in Pointe-aux-Trembles, QC, east of Montreal, and thus, they had no children.

Three years later, Leonard remarried. He wed Jeanne Beaudri on 23 July 1703 in Montreal. Jeanne was born on 8 September 1674 at Riviere des Prairies and she was one of 5 children born to Antoine Baudri of Chemiere-en-Charnie, France and Catherine Guillard of St.Laurent, Paris, France. 

Below is the marital registry of Leonard and Jeanne from the PRDH database, which contains the wedding attendees and a small notation about Leonard's mother Marie Louise Madeleine at the bottom. It loosely translates "the name of the mother's family of the spouse has been left blank". Also, please note that Leonard's last name has now been recorded as "Libercan", the same spelling as his father's name.



According to Doreen, Leonard became a church warden of the Ste. Genevieve parish built in 1741, the first parish in Montreal as pictured below. He died 29 November 1751 in St.Laurent, QC and he was buried the following day.

The family record of Leonard Libercan of 23 July 1703 in the PRDH database adjusts Leonard's and Jeanne's names as the following:

Family # 9206

of

LEONARD Libersan LAVIOLETTE Father: GUILLAUME Libersan Mother: MARIE LOUISE MADELEINE

and

MARIE JEANNE BEAUDRY LEPINETTE Father: ANTOINE BEAUDRY LEPINETTE Mother: CATHERINE GUYARD

Marriage: 1703-07-23 Montreal

Sex	Birth	Marriage	Death	First name of the child
	Place	Place	Place	Name of the spouse
m	1704-10-27	1731-07-09	1779-11-15	ANTOINE
	Montreal	St Lawrence	Ste-Genevieve (Pierrefonds)	ANNE MARIE JEANNE with DEVOYAUX LAFRAMBOISE
m	1706-06-28		1706-07-13	CHARLES
	Montreal		Montreal
m	1707-07-13	1730-10-30		FRANCOIS MARIE
	Montreal	St Lawrence		with MARY MAGDALENE RICHER LOUVETAU
m	1709-03-06		1733-02-05	CHARLES
	Montreal		St Lawrence
f	1711-02-05	1731-10-08	1795-03-11	ELIZABETH MARIE ISABELLE
	Montreal	St Lawrence	The Cedars	with JEAN BAPTISTE LEROUX ROUSSON
m	1713-03-07		1713-03-11	LEONARD
	Montreal		Montreal
x	1713-03-07		1713-03-08	ANONYMOUS
	Montreal		Montreal
f	1714-04-03		1788-06-01	Marie Josephe
	Montreal		Montreal General Hospital
f	1716-05-16		1716-07-03	ANNE MARIE
	Montreal		Montreal

PLEASE NOTE:  The above record contains data which is slightly different than Doreen's research, but I believe that this primary source, the PRDH, to be true and more accurate. Also, please note that Leonard and Jeanne had four children die before they reached the age of 2 years old.

Now, let's follow Leonard's and Jeanne's first children:  Antoine Libersan Laviolette.  It is possible that Antoine was born on September 28, 1704 as stated by Doreen and then baptized on October 27, 1704 as claimed by the PRDH.

Antoine Libersan Laviolette wed Marie Jeanne Anne Devoyaux Laframboise on 9 July 1731 in St. Laurent, QC.

According to the PRDH database, here is a list of their children:

1. Marie Genevieve born 2 January 1735 in St. Laurent, QC and wed Jacques Plouf on 1 March 1756 in Ste. Genevieve (Pierrefonds), QC.
2. Francois born 10 October 1736 in St. Laurent, wed Marie Angelique Amable Demers Dumais on 3 May 1757 in Ste. Genevieve (Pierrefonds), and buried at the same location on 24 February 1790.
3. Marie Madeleine born 9 February 1738 in Montreal, and wed Francois Richer Louvetau on 20 January 1755 in Ste. Genevieve (Pierrefonds).
4. Antoine born 18 August 1739 in St. Laurent and died the next day.
5. Marie Louise born 12 April 1741 in St. Laurent and died at the age of 12 on 15 December 1753.
6. Jean Baptiste born 11 April 1743 in St. Laurentand died exactly 4 months later.
7. Jacques born 8 September 1744 in St. Laurent and wed Marie Suzanne Amable Lahaie Hibernois on 8 April 1766 in Ste. Genevieve (Pierrefonds).
8. Marie Marguerite born 23 June 1746 and wed Jacques Philippe Fauvel Bigras on 21 February 1764 in Ste. Genevieve (Pierrefonds).
9. Marie Catherine born 27 June 1748 in Ste. Genevieve (Pierrefonds), and died two years later on 28 August 1748.
10. Marie Anne born 26 September 1749 in St. Laurent, wed Jean Frederic Harl on 17 January 1785 in Montreal and died 8 December 1794.
11. Marguerite born on 6 July 1751 in St. Laurent and died 11 days later.
12. Marie Louise born on 11 February 1754 in St. Laurent and died 24 March 1757 in Ste. Genevieve (Pierrefonds).
13. Marie Catherine born 11 August 1758 in Ste. Genevieve (Pierrefonds), wed Joseph Giboin Tranquille on 16 February 1778 and died 1 April 1785 in Montreal.

Next posting: The Ulric Livingston Family PART TWO: Francois and Marie Angelique Amable Demers Dumais 1757 to Ulric's Parents