Are we related to Archbishop Louis-Philippe Adelard Langevin?
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.
Who was Archbishop Langevin?
Of St. Boniface is a Relative of Sir Hector Langevin and
Was Trained in Montreal.
Very Rev. Father Louis Philip Adelard Langevin, O.M.I., D.D., and vicar of missions, was born at St. Isidore, county Laprairie, province of Quebec, on the 23rd day of August, 1855. His father is Francois Theophile Langevin, a near relative of Sir Hector Langevin, to whom the present Father Langevin is said to bear a striking resemblance in look and voice; and his mother was Pamela Racicot. Both parents are descendants of families noted in their respective circles, and are highly educated, being possessed, in addition, of unusual natural gifts. They are both in Montreal and will now receive the consolation of hearing of the elevation of their son to one of the highest positions in the Catholic church—a position rendered more honored by the greatness of the man who for well nigh half a century filled it.
Rev. Father Langevin has six brothers and one sister; one
of his uncles is a priest, being a canon and bursar of the Archdiocese of
Montreal.
Adelard Langevin received his education at Montreal,
entering at the age of 11 the Sulpician college in that city. Here he remained
until he had attained the age of 19, when he became professor of classics,
which position he filled for the three following years. He then spent two years
in the Grand Seminary at Montreal. While here he received tonsure, minor
orders, and finally became a subdeacon. He also acted in the capacity of
private secretary to Archbishop Fabre. Before leaving the Grand Seminary the young
ecclesiastic was ordained deacon. At the expiration of his term here he went to
St. Mary's College, Montreal, which is under the care and guidance of the
Jesuit order. Here he remained one year, filling the position of master of
studies.
In 1881 Rev. L. P. A. Langevin, as deacon, entered
the Order of Oblates of Mary Immaculate, commencing his novitiate at Lachine.
In 1882, having completed his novitiate, he took perpetual vows and was
ordained a priest in the chapel of the Good Shepherd, Montreal. The first three
years of his sacerdotal career were spent as a missionary father in connection
with the Oblate church of St. Peter's, Montreal. He then was moved to the
Catholic University of Ottawa, where he assumed the chair of professor of
theology. During the next eight years he continued in this pursuit, acting also
as director of the Grand Seminary and sub-dean of the faculty of theology. In
1892 the degree of Doctor of Divinity was conferred upon him.
Archbishop Taché first met Father Langevin in 1883 and
seemed at once to take a great liking for the then young priest. In fact, it is
told how when Father Langevin did at last come to Manitoba, Archbishop Taché
said: “It is two years that I have been wanting you.”
On the first of July, 1893, Father Langevin’s orders were
changed from those of a professor and sub-dean to those of an active
missionary. On that date he arrived in Manitoba, whither he was sent by the
superior-general, to fill the position of superintendent of all the Oblate
missions of the Northwest—this was at the special request of the late
Archbishop Tâche.
Early in 1894, Father Langevin was appointed to the
pastorate of St. Mary's, Winnipeg, which position was vacated by the
removal of Father Fox to Rat Portage. It is from that date that the priest who
very soon is to become Archbishop of St. Boniface can best be judged, for at
all times during his pastorate has he been in touch with his people. At once on
assuming charge, he endeared himself to both classes of his parishioners—the
French-speaking and the English-speaking. He is cherished by one as highly as
by the other, and Father Langevin is much the soggarth aroon (spelling error in
primary source) as if he hailed from the old land. The year of his labors in
St. Mary's has been marked with many changes. He instilled new life and vigor
into the parish, advanced the schools under the care of the Brothers,
established a paid choir, which ranks among the best of such institutions in
the city. In a word, the parish and people bear the impress of his zeal and
energy, and though the diocese at large will benefit by his elevation, St.
Mary's must miss him sorely.
As a speaker, Father Langevin has but one superior in the
Catholic church in Manitoba. He is by nature a pulpit orator, and at times when
discussing suitable subjects ascends into realms of highest eloquence. Laboring
as he does from the difficulties of a racial tongue, his power as a preacher is
a little impaired but so intense is his fervor that either he masters all such
obstacles in the climax of his oratory, or his hearers becoming lost to
themselves, forget for the time the accent. Those who heard him from the pulpit
on that Sabbath day when the remains of Archbishop Tâche were lying in state
will not soon forget him. Rarely if ever was heard such an outpouring of
sorrowful emotion, such a spontaneous burst of oratory as was that when turning
to the vacant throne he cried out, “Our father is dead.” It was one of those
occasions which people remember forever; it was one when the orator was at his
best, one in which Father Langevin surpassed himself.
As a worker, the coming Archbishop has no equal. He
never knows what rest is; he never seeks it. Always on the alert, preaching
oftentimes twice on a Sunday, taking a hurried trip to some distant mission,
driving in the cold of night eager in his missionary labors, Father Langevin is
a worthy follower of the indefatigable prelate whom he succeeds. Many a time
has he been heard to say, “Would that I had more time; I have so much to do
that I cannot really attend to everything.” Necessarily he does himself
injustice, for he cannot devote sufficient time to preparation of his sermons.
From the very commencement of his duties as pastor of St.
Mary’s Father Langevin has taken up the fight for separate schools, and in no
unflinching way either. More than once have his words been wired to the large
Eastern papers, where they were commented upon. Unhesitatingly he has declared
the invasion of Catholic rights to be an injustice, one which he would never
cease to fight against and which he would decry on every possible occasion. In
one of his best sermons on this subject he said that the Manitoba school law
was not a law, for the first principle of law should be justness.
Take him as he is today and Father Langevin is a model
priest; he is a scholar of high rank; a business man in every sense; an ardent
worker; a lover of his people; a gentleman of nature's own stamp. That he will
prove a worthy successor of the great prelate not long since dead, is the
universal belief of those who know him, and therefore is it that the Catholics
of Manitoba hail with joy the glad tidings which tell of the appointment of the
Very Rev. Father Langevin, D.D. O.M.I., to the Archbishopric of St. Boniface.
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