What is this funny Web Site
that's written in French all about?

• Genealogy of the Laurendeau / Lorando Families within North America
• History of the Laurendeaus during the French Regime and more
• Various other subjects

Genealogy of the Laurendeau / Lorando Families in North America.

Naming the Laurendeau's is The name of the game!!

I now have lists of Laurendeaus / Lorandos from day one (1650) in Marsilly, France up to the ones that were born in the 1960's. My folders hold more than 10 000 files, filled to the brim with Laurendeaus / Lorandos and members of our allied families.

My figures to date:

• For the Laurendeaus living in the Province of Québec: 99.888999% ☺ are listed, if born before the 1960's.
• For those living in the ROC (Rest of Canada): approximately 90% are listed, if born before the 1960's.
• And for our American cousins: I suppose a weak 40%. Remember this, dear Laurendeau/Lorando American fellows: if you have basic information about your Grandparents, there is a very good chance that I can establish your genealogy back to your first ancestor.

This Website is the Only and Largest
Listing of Laurendeau's in North America.

The story of our Laurendeaus during the French Regime
The 3 first generations

If you can read French

We have tons of information on those pages. This link will bring you to the table of content.

If you can not read French, I will summarize those pages in a few short lines.

Our first ancestor's name is Jean Rolandeau. He was born in 1650, in the village of Marsilly, France. This village is located 6 miles north of La Rochelle.

We have no idea when and how he came to Québec. I have searched very hard without obtaining any valid result. However, I might be on a track that should give us something new. For this, I have asked somebody to search, find and to reread some specific older documents before, as they say, "I give my tongue to the cat". Those documents are in France. I hope to have more on this very soon.

The first time we see Jean Rolandeau in Canada is in 1667. From a court document we learn he was given land in the Seigneurie de Dombourg (today named Neuville, east of Québec City), by Jean-François Bourdon, Seigneur de Dombourg. After that . . . once again, our quiet man Jean disappears. We have to wait until 1674 before we see him again, this time as a "chaîneur" working for Jean Guyon (the son). "Chaîneur" is an old word which translates today to "land surveyor". This Jean Guyon and his family are Céline Dion's ancestors!

In 1676, Rolandeau received a land grant from Noël Morin, Sieur de St-Luc. The land was in the village of Pointe-à-la-Caille, which today is Montmagny in the province of Québec. Jean had measured this Seigneury. This is probably how he met Noël Morin. In 1680, Jean married Marie Thibault. In the 1681 census, the following is written: "Jean Rolandeau, age 30; Marie Thibault, 18; 2 rifles, 1 cow, 6 'arpents' of good valor". 'Arpent' is an old French unit of measurement of length and agrarian surface. In Québec, 1 'arpent' was the equivalent of 180 X 180 feet. Jean and Marie had to wait 16 years before their first child was born. They eventually had 7 children, among whom 5 got married. They had only one son, Louis-Joseph. He was born in 1701. I believe we can consider us very fortunate, because Louis-Joseph was the last child of this first Rolandeau family.

Our story after the French Regime

For the 3 first generations, I chose to write the history of the Laurendeaus in a form closer to "tell a story".

Starting with the fourth generation and after, I come back to a normal genealogy listing, where you see on the same page all the ancestors of an individual. Also, on these pages I've added plenty of links that bring you, the reader, to plenty of stories. In Wilfrid Laurendeau's 1964 book "Généalogie des Familles Laurendeau, 1680-1960", he explained that one of his future project was to seperate the Laurendeau families into four clans. Unfortunately, he never had time to do it. After reviewing his plan for his project, I have decided to do it. I am sure Wilfrid L. is watching me from his cozy cloud in the heavens to make sure that his plans are fully realized. If you are more visual, click on the following link, go down to the 4th generation, have a look at "Ile Dupas" clan Come on here.

Famous figures in Laurendeau history

This project to name all Laurendeaus, has put me in contact with several brilliant Laurendeaus and other sharp members of our allied families. They are all precious gems. Some of them are poets, some are musicians, some are businessmen; others are politicians, journalists, Priests, and so on. I have completed a summary of some important people who have a link to our families and had a profound influence on the history of our people.

Allow me to apologize as I know you are very disappointed that I have not been able to fully develop this theme. As you can imagine, there are hundreds of treasures that sleep in my document and book boxes. When one is both the boss and the employee, it is a little difficult to delegate a research task to someone else! Do not lose hope, one day I shall get to all my treasures and finish the development of this theme..

Here are some of our famous:

• Louis Hébert (1575-1627):
  He began his life as an apothecary-grocer in Paris. Later, after emigrating to Québec City, he became the first European farmer of North America. French page
• Louis Jolliet (1645-1700):
  Born in Québec City, he is a very prominent figure in our history. We sometimes find him in Québec City, the object of the respect and the confidence of his fellow countrymen; sometimes in the region of the Great Lakes, getting acquainted with the Algonquian and Huron languages; other times discovering and exploring the Illinois country, the Mississippi River, the Labrador . . . French page
• Antoine Labelle (1806-1862:
  A Priest nicknamed The King of the North with his impressive stature and incredible charisma he developed, among others, the region of the Laurentians, located North of Montréal. French page
• The Chauvin Family:
  While getting acquainted with Mary Lynn Falgout Lorando's paternal lineage, we had the great pleasure to discover that one of her lineal families was the Chauvin family of Montréal. Her Chauvin ancestors were part of the invincible and irresistible French Canadian "coureurs des bois", or fur traders. Her brave Chauvin ancestors left Montréal, stopped for a time at Kaskaskia in the Country of the Illinois/Illiniwek Indians, and then continued their trip down the Mississippi River to what is now south Louisiana, arriving there well before the arrival of the Acadians who years later were sadly deported from Canada by the British. We warmly thank the Société Généalogique Canadienne-Française, who authorized us to translate into English and publish Mr. Ernest Monty's text on the Chauvins. This text first appeared in the magazine "Mémoire" of March 1983. English and French pages

From Rolandeau to Laurendeau

Why did our original ancestors change their name from Rolandeau to Laurendeau? Given that there is always a reason for everything, I researched an incredible number of documents to find the answer. However, it is the silence of the documents about the change that has made me profoundly obsessed with finding an asnwer to the question. Obviously, I have established some theories on the subject, and have even committed some of my theories to writing which, while they are beautiful literature, are probably not quite reality.

If we can find the documents that are in France, the ones I talked about in the History section of this page, the reason for the name change will flow to us like water. I believe I already have the answer to the question but will wait to tell it to you until when the papers I am looking for talks to us.

I've seen the nations rise and fall
I've heard their stories, heard them all
but love's the only engine of survival

Leonard Cohen in The Future