The Bergevin Beginnings
by Jerry Longeuay dit Bergevin (9/1/97)
This is truly an amazing story since the birth of all known Bergevins began with one man who lost his father when he was 2 years old, and left France to start a beginning in the new world (New France: Canada). This one man, Jean, left a legacy of over 300,000 descendants in less than 300 years! The family is still growing at an estimate of 10 descendants born every day!
A Bergevin family Coat of Arms was located in a Heraldry shop in Ottawa by Emile Bergevin. His wife made a digital reproduction of the coat which is enclosed. The coat is a burgundy red, with two clusters of grapes, a ribbon across the center that is curved, with a curved bow near the bottom. These items are gold colored and arranged to look like a happy face. The profession for the crest is Wine Merchant (I'll drink to that!). It translates to "second son of a wine merchant".
Father Jean Louis Bergevin wrote that the origin of the name Bergevin is from Bergheim, a small rural town in the province of Haut Rhin, district of Celmar, county of Alsace (the north east corner of France), not far from Strasbourg, France, near the French German border.
In France, possibly Bergheim, around 1590, Francois Bregevin (not Bergevin) was born. He married Jehanne Gybet and had 2 kids, Catherine (1600-?) and Mathurin (1609-11/15/1637).
Mathurin Bregevin married Marie Tesnier (1614-?) in 1634 at St. Jacques in the town of Angers, France. The transcript of their wedding act is on file at St. Jacques and was performed by Father Thomas Chastellain, with friends Pierre Granger, Thomas Granger, and Marie Angot signing the marriage act. The marriage occurred between April 7 and July 1634; the exact date is unknown. Mathurin and Marie had one daughter Marie and one son Jean. Mathurin and his daughter Marie tragically died together when Jean was only 2 years old. His widow Marie Tesnier Bregevin re-married six months later to Mathurin Charbonnier again by Father Thomas Chastellain at St. Jacques. Jean kept the last name of Bregevin, presumably to honor his deceased father. If this had not happened, our last name would be Charbonnier!
Jean (3/11/1635 - 2/2/1703) was born Bregevin in Angers, but somehow the name got changed to Bergevin when he came to Canada in 1665 (maybe a simple mis-spelling or mis-pronunciation in the military). Jean became the founding father of all known Bergevins, some Langevins (I'll explain later), some Longeways and all Longeuays in Canada. Due to the mis-spelling, the name Bergevin is unique. Our distant cousins in France are named Bregevin or Brechevin.
The Carnigan-Salieres Regiment was one of 51 regular French Regiments making up the King's Army in 1660. 1200 soldiers from this regiment arrived in Quebec from June to Sept. 1665. Here they set up forts on the Richelieu River to block the Iroquois Indians. During their campaigns, the Carnigan Regiment also included French-Canadian militiamen. After their service, the soldiers had a choice of staying in Quebec or returning to France. Over 400 members of the Carnigan Regiment settled in Quebec. Jean Bergevin was one of them.
Before 1663, most of the women arriving in New France were married to a settler. There were very few single women. In 1663 King Louis XIV recruited women to be sent to New France for the purpose of populating the new colony. Once chosen, a girl was given paid passage, clothing and personal necessities. She was also promised a dowry of 50 livres if she married a soldier or habitant, or 100 livres to marry an officer. Of the nearly 1000 women who undertook the journey, approximately 770 women arrived between 1663 and 1673. They made contracts of marriage with the men who had originally settled the New World and usually married within a few days or weeks of the contract signing. Their distinction of being a "Filles du Rois" (Daughters of the King) is noted in their marriage contract which also indicated the dowry from the King. Our founding mother Marie Pitau was one of the Daughters of the King.
Jean arrived in New France (Canada) 8/17/1665 and first settled at Bourg-Royal, Village St. Michel de Beauport (northeast of Quebec, now known as Beauport) as a soldier of the Grandfontaine company of the Carignan regiment. Three years later he married Marie Pitau/Piton (1651-1728) on 11/26/1668 in the Notre-Dame church of Quebec. Marie was the daughter of Remy Pitau and Marie Poilen of the St. Paul parish of Paris, France. Jean and Marie had 8 boys and 3 girls, of which, 5 boys and 1 girl had children. Those 6 kids had a total of 58 children; 25 boys and 33 girls. Our ancestors either had very few or very many children in each family, and there were alot of early deaths. There is currently a three way tie for the most children at 16. Jean and Marie are 1 of the 700 original founding families that started Canada.
Jean and Marie raised their family in Bourg Royal (Beauport) lot #720 (see land map at the end). This was only one of two "pie parcels". Pie parceling was a way of protection against the Indians. Houses were build on the perimeter of the square (called "trait-carre"). People would work on the land in the largest piece of the pie. If case of an Indian attack, they would ring the church bells. The men would come back to their houses and be all together to defend themselves, an option not possible on square or rectangular parceling. The "trait-carre" in Charlesbourg and Beauport still exist today.
Jean and Marie's first born Jean died as an infant. Their 2nd oldest was re-named Jean (II). This custom of re-naming sons (and daughters) after other deceased children occurred often in the Bergevin ancestry. Jean II ended up with three wives Marguerite Meunier, Marie Renee Bezeau and Marie Ursule Forsan. Between the three wives, Jean II had 1 boy and 12 girls. The 3rd born, Joseph either never married or died before having children, no data exists after his birth. The 4th born Jacques also died a young child. The 5th born Ambroise married Guillaume Falardeau and had 6 boys and 3 girls. The 6th born Marie married Simeon Morin and had 1 boy and 2 girls. The 7th born Louis married one of the Tessier sisters, Marguerite, and had 1 boy and 3 girls. The 8th born Marie Madeleine also died an infant. The 9th born Ignace married Genevieve Tessier and had 9 boys and 7 girls. The 10th born Jean Francois married the 3rd Tessier sister Madeleine, and had 7 boys and 6 girls. Je!
an and Mar
ie's last born has no
name and the sex is unknown (presumably still born). Out of the 58 grandchildren of Jean and Marie (found so far), only 18 boys carried on the family name.
THE NAME GAME
When Jean came over, he used the French speaking version of his last name, which is Bergevin dit Langevin. Langevin (actually L'Angevin) means a person that is someone that came from Angers, France, (a townsperson from Angers is known as an Angevin). This is how the name Langevin came to be known and written. Anyone that came from Angers, France in this time period, would have used the "... dit Langevin". Futhermore, when the "dit" was dropped in the 1800's, some French kept their original names, and some kept the dit names, in this case Langevin. Because Langevin was really the town, anyone retaining this name may or may not be related, so there are six different families named Langevin (Bergevin dit Langevin, Lacroix dit Langevin, Bronsard dit Langevin, Pageot dit Langevin, Abran dit Langevin, and just Langevin). Only one group of Langevins are Bergevin decendents (such as Sir Hector Langevin). PS: The name Bergevin is unique and all Bergevins are related.
My ancestor Louis's original name was Bergevin dit Langevin. When he migrated from French speaking Quebec to English speaking Ontario, the name Langevin became Longeway by mispronunciation of a French name into English writing. My grandfather misspelled it to Longeuay. (PS: There is only one other family named Longeway which is not related to ours).
By the early 1800's, when the "dit" was dropped permanently, everyone ended up with one last name, hence there are direct male descendants of Jean (such as myself) having any of five different last names (found so far); Bergevin, Bergevine, Langevin, Longeway and Longeuay.
The name game problem is across the board. The Tessier sisters name is Tessier or LaPlante in Canada and Texier or LaPlante in France. We've found Giroux spelled Junelt and Juno (the French to English translation problem). There are dozens of cases with name problems with our ancestors. The common rule of thumb is to use what the current descendant is named, and make the name change when it occurred to the entire family. For example in my lineage, Louis had 11 kids, the first 4 were baptized Bergevin dit Langevin, but married and died as Longeway's. Since all of Louis's descendants took the Longeway name, we have kept Louis and his kids as Longeways. In the database, we try to annotate these name differences.
THE FAMILY BRANCHES
Here is where we go through each of Jean's 6 kids and show where they and their children migrated to, and how the names changed with time and location. It is very common to find an ancestor born as a Bergevin, married as a Langevin, and be buried as a Bergevin (and every combination you can think of). As of this writing, we have been looking for male descendants since they are easier to trace. After this tracing we will concentrate of the female ancestors to follow their families. The majority of the following family stories are about the male ancestors.
Jean and Marie has 12 kids with 6 either dying young or not having kids, or a 50% prolific rate. The next generation of data for 6 kids produced 58 kids, with 6 dying young, or a 90% rate. This averages to 4 kids per family (either really big, 7 - 10, or really small, 1 - 2, kids per family). If we use a prolific rate of 75% for the 58 kids found so far, and an average of 4 kids per family, the estimate for the total number of Bergevin descendants that Jean and Marie started would be over 300,000 descendants in 300 years! That's about 10 descendants born every day by the 11th generation that has already started! There are 12th generation descendants already.
THE JEAN BRANCH
Jean II (1670 - ????) first married Marguerite Meunier 2/28/1702 in Beauport and settled on lot #546. Marguerite and her daughter both died at childbirth (12/23/1702). Their first daughter was named after Marguerite. Jean remarried Marie Renee Bezeau one year later in Charlesbourg. Remarrying shortly after loosing a spouse was not uncommon. With Marie Renee, they named their first daughter after Marguerite (8/26/1704). They named their second daughter after her mother Renee (8/11/1707). Jean's second wife Renee died 3/29/1711. Jean remarried for the third time to Marie Ursule Forsan (4/3/1712). Jean and Marie stayed in Charlesbourg and had 12 girls and 1 boy Charles Michel. Of the total of 12 girls, 3 died, and we know that at least 8 married. Their one son, Charles Michel, married Therese Lenoir and had only 1 son, Charles Michel II (who married Ursule Virmontois). All of these descendants stayed in the Charlesbourg area as of 1777. Very little is known about th!
is branch
of the family since th
is time period, since there is only one male named Bergevin to carry on the family name. The remaining 8 girls married into the Martel, Bedard, Renault, Ritrement, Chenier, Dautour, Andetaillon, and Gendreau families.
THE AMBROISE BRANCH
Marie Ambroise (1676 - ????) married Guillaume Falardeau 1/25/1694 in Beauport and lived on lot #540. They had 6 boys (Jean, Guillaume, Rene, Louis, Charles and Francois) and 3 girls (Marie, Marguerite and Marie Francoise). The married into the Renauld, Belanger, Savard, Gervais, Boy, and L'Heros families (and several times). Guillaume Falardeau II married Marie Jeanne Renauld who is the sister of Jean Bernard Renault who married Marie Josephe of the Jean Branch. Rene Falardeau married Marie Charlotte Renauld (cousin of Marie Jeanne Renauld). Charles Falardeau married Marguerite Savard while Francois Falardeau married her sister Marie Josette Savard. Now add in Marie Ambroise marrying their cousin Jacques Savard. Sounds confusing doesn't it. Marrying into families right around the tree stump was quite normal in those days. This entire branch also stayed in the Charlesbourg area for several generations.
THE MARIE BRANCH
Marie (1678 - ????) married Simeon Morin 7/9/1703 in Beauport and lived on lot #543 near sister Marie Ambroise and brother Francois. They had 1 boy (Thomas) and 2 girls (Angelique and Marie Louise). They married into the Barbeau, Gastonguay and Lacroix families. Some Lacroix's are also named Langevin, but are related through the Lacroix dit Langevin line. This means that some Lacroix Langevins could be descendants of Bergevin Langevins through this marriage - confusing isn't it! Thomas and Barbe Barbeau had 1 boy in Beauport, as did Angelique and Pierre Gastonguay. It is unknown where Marie Louise and the Lacroix's settled.
THE LOUIS BRANCH
Louis (I) (1681 - ????) married Marguerite Tessier 1/13/1705 (the first of the three Tessier sisters) in Beauport lot #720 (which he inherited after Jean died in 1703). They had 1 boy (Louis II) and 3 girls (Marie, Marguerite and Catherine) in Beauport. Just like our founding father Jean, the only son Louis II started a Bergevin and Langevin population explosion with 11 boys and 2 girls. The 3 girls married into the Bourret, Parent and Leroux families and stayed in the Beauport area. Louis II and his 11 sons carried on the names of Bergevin and Langevin so we will expand upon their lineage:
Louis (II) (1711 - 1799) married Marie Josephte Parent 11/23/1734 in Beauport. They had 11 boys (2 died young) and 2 girls, which started the beginning of the migration into the Montreal area, and the start of the name change to Langevin. These children established and settled three main areas of Canada, and are still living in those areas, which are (1) Quebec city/Beauport area, (2) Chateauguay/Ste Martine/Ste Timothee area (south of Montreal across the river), and (3) the Beauce area (south down the Chaudiere River from Quebec).
Quebec City/Beauport area for the next generation:
The 1st son Louis (III) (1735 - 1810) married Marguerite Trudel 2/11/1765 in I' Ange Gardien (northeast of Quebec) and had 5 boys and 7 girls. Most of them stayed in the Quebec area (Cap Sainte) and are still there today.
The 4th oldest Francois (1740 - 1829) married Marguerite Parent 11/7/1763 in Beauport. Their 4 boys and 3 girls kept the Langevin name and stayed in the Beauport area, and so did their descendants.
The 7th oldest Jacques (1744 - 1830) married Marguerite's sister Marie Josephte Parent 7/20/1767 in Beauport. They had 2 girls, which has not be researched yet.
The 8th oldest Jean Barthelemy Langevin (1746- ??) was baptized Langevin, married Francoise Viller 2/3/1778 as a Bergevin in Beauport, and then as a tradesman in Quebec definitely keeps the name Langevin. Jean and Francoise had eight kids; 3 boys and 5 girls. Jean became the grandfather of Bishop Jean Langevin of Rimouski and Sir Hector Louis Langevin (Father of the Confederation). There are lots of books on the life of Sir Hector Langevin, so no more will be discussed here. These descendants, along with Jean's sisters, stayed in the Quebec City/Beauport area.
Jean Barthelemy's son Jean II (1785 - 1870) married Marie Sophie Pepin LaForce 8/15/1820 in Quebec. Jean and Marie sprouted quite a group; Monsignor Jean Langevin (1st Bishop of Remouski), Monsignor Edmond Langevin (victor General of Remouski), and Sir Hector Louis Langevin. The DNA continued. Sir Hectors' descendants: daughter Hectorine married Sir Thomas Chapais (Senator and Legislative Advisor of Quebec), Stella married Judge Cimon and became the grandmother of Jacques Trempe, the Keeper of the Bergevin Family Database.
Chateauguay/Ste Martine/Ste Timothee area:
The 2nd oldest Charles (1736 - ????) was the first Bergevin to migrate to Chateauguay (south across the river from Montreal) by 1765 to start a rather large group of Bergevins. Charles married Marguerite Primeau 4/15/1765 in Chateauguay and became one of the first pioneers in this new area. Together they had 9 boys and 3 girls, with most of the boys having 8 - 10 kids each. This entire branch stayed in the Chateauguay area. There are still Bergevin descendants getting married in the same churches that their ancestors started. Even with these large families, there were still many infant deaths, slowing down the population explosion they started.
The two youngest brothers of Charles (Joseph and Pierre, 14 and 17 years younger than Charles) also married and settled into the Chateauguay area during the same time frame as their older brother Charles. It is estimated that as families came to this area (as the Quebec area grew - wagons ho!), they met each other and married their spouses in Chateauguay. Each of these families had 8 to 10 children each, so the Bergevin name grew extensively in the outer area south of Montreal (across the river) during the late 1700's.
Some of Charles offspring changed their names to Langevin when the "dit" was dropped. Through Charles son Charles II, came his son Louis, who was the first Langevin to migrate to Ontario where the name changed to Longeway. One grandson from Louis misspelled it to Longeuay, and their families settled into the Windsor and Stratford Ontario areas. The later Longeuay generations migrated to southern California (this is my immediate family) in 1950.
Charles brother Joseph (1750 - ????) married Marie Josephte Primeau 8/14/1775 in Chateauguay. They started another large clan of 14 kids; this time 10 boys and 4 girls. To say the least, the last name of Bergevin grew within the new territory. Joseph's farm was founded on the territory of the future parish of Ste Martine. Joseph's son Charles (1788 - 1864) is the infamous Charles Bergevin dit Langevin described in the book "The Patriots of 1837-38" by L.O. David.
Infamous Charles has at least one family story passed down by Father Jean Louis Bergevin (his great grandson): Charles wife Genevieve Huot did not believe in Charles' patriotism and hid him in his own house! Charles and his son Charles II (married Catherine Doutre) held several skirmishes against the English. Charles and his compatriots were originally condemned to death by hanging in 1839. He was 50 years old with 7 children. The sentence was commuted to exile in Australia. The English burned his house. Charles returned from exile 9 years later. His name is inscribed on the monument to the patriots at the cemetery of the Cote-des-Neiges at Montreal.
Some of Joseph's other descendants include great grandson Father Jean Louis Bergevin who has written dozens of volumes on not only the Bergevin family genealogy, but other families as well. Most of the stories in this brief account of the Bergevin family are taken from his works. His entire set of archives are at the Ottawa University.
Charles brother Pierre (1753-1836) married Agathe Hebert 10/26/1778 in Chateauguay and became the first pioneer at St. Timothee. Pierre and Agathe had a good sized group of 9; 5 boys and 4 girls. They all flourished in the Ste Timothee area. Pierre's son Pierre II had son Celestin (1832 - 1910), who was the major of Beauharnois from 1878 - 1882 (including being the major of the military division for the month of January 1869).
Some of the next generations from these 3 brothers (Charles, Joseph and Pierre) migrated slightly outward as the area began to grow. This included Lacine to the north on the island of Montreal, the Beauharnois area to the west, and the St. Martine area to the southwest. Over the next several generations, Ontario was migrated into (my 5th grandfather Louis) along with the United States.
Beauce area:
The 6th son Adrien (1742 - ) married Madeleine Bilodeau 2/4/1772 in Beauce (south down the Chaudiere River from Quebec). Adrien and Madeleine had 3 boys and 3 girls. All married and stayed in the Beauce area. Their descendants are still in this area today.
Summary:
The most interesting note about the Louis Branch is that for starting out as one of the smallest branches (the one son Louis II), there are more descendants with the last name Bergevin, Langevin, and Longeway/Longeuay from this branch than any other branch (lots of Y gene's passed down these prolific generations). As with the only son Jean (our founding father) starting quite a legacy, so did his grandson Louis II. Bergevins and Langevins are across Canada. There are several flourishing Bergevin, Longeway and Longeuay groups in the United States also.
The Walla Walla Bergevin group numbers over 200. Their ancestors were the four Bergevin brothers, Joseph, Louis, Clement and Damase - great great great grandsons of Jean and Marie. In 1858, Joseph and Louis sailed around Cape Horn from Ste Timothee. From California, they started a pack train supplying mines and forts from California to Montana. In 1864, Clement and Damase traveled across the plains with 9 other men and one small wagon. After moving around the northwest, they all settled in the Walla Walla area and became farmers.
The Louis Jr. Longeway leg in Chicago numbers over 200. Their ancestors were the first to migrate to Ontario, then cross the border to Michigan and settle in Chicago area in the late 1800's.
The Peter Longeuay leg stayed in the Ontario area with other Longeway legs. They are stretched from Windsor to Toronto, with heavy concentrations in Windsor and Stratford. Slowly in the early 1900's, they started migrating into the United States. My father was the first Longeuay to migrate to the States (he came over to fight for the United States in the Korean war).
These generations flourished as priests, nuns, lawyers, journalists, professors, scientists, pilots and every profession you can think of (even the infamous, such as bank robbers and strippers). With a lineage of tens of thousands, we're going to have a relative in every type of profession imaginable!
THE IGNACE BRANCH
Ignace (1685 - ????) married Genevieve Tessier 11/19/1708 (the second of the three Tessier sisters) in Beauport (no lot so we are guessing he lived with Louis on their double size pie). Ignace and Genevieve had 9 boys (Francois, Jean Baptiste, Pierre, Germain, Thomas (died an infant), Pierre, Louis, Joseph and Jean Simon) and 7 girls (Marie Genevieve, Marie Angelique, Barbe Louise, Marguerite, Marie Anne, Marie Madeleine and Marie Genevieve - named after the first Marie Genevieve, one of two infant deaths in this branch). For having the most kids, and most boys, we have found very few descendants (one so far) still carrying the name Bergevin. The name changed to Langevin for the vast majority of these descendants. Due to the problem of not all Langevins being Bergevins, this research will take considerable more time, and will be a challenge for future genealogists.
The Ignace kids married heavily into the Allard family (six marriages!). There were four Allards from one family and two from another, all cousins to each other (same grandparents). Please note that there are two sons named Pierre (we don't know their middle names to distinguish them), and each married Marie Charlotte Allard, but each Allard girl is different - cousins. The other Ignace kids married into the Gadouri, Tardiff, Jacques (a brother and sister), and Leroux families.
This is not an uncommon problem with genealogy. Within the Bergevin lineage, there are brothers and sisters that have named their kids the same, and whom are born close apart (one other example are cousins that were born 2 days apart and named the same). We take the greatest care to match up the correct lineage, but due to lack of precise records, mistakes may occur. Geneology is not an exact science, more of a never ending journey, with potholes along the path. Or to quote another family historian's whimsical rhyme; "I may never see, the end of my gen-e-ol-o-gy!".
The Ignace/Genevieve branch stayed in the Charlesbourg area just north of Quebec City. Their descendants slowly migrated throughout this region, spreading out as the territory grew. They went in every compass direction. They migrated southwest down the St. Lawrence river towards Three Rivers (half way to Montreal) and northeast up the St. Lawrence river. Then went due north to the Chicoutimi area (200 miles due north of Quebec city). And due south, from Beauceville to Sherbrooke.
The majority of Ignace leg descendants we have been finding settled into the northeastern part of the United States. This is also where the name variation of Bergevine changed. There are also Ignace cousins still in the Montreal area.
THE JEAN FRANCOIS BRANCH
Jean Francois (1690 - ????) married Madeleine Tessier 2/13/1713 (the third of the three Tessier sisters) in Beauport lot # 546. Jean Francois and Madeleine had 7 boys (Jean, Germain - the only infant death, Nicolas, Germain - first Germain died, Michel, Rene and Joseph) and 6 girls (Marie Josephte, Marie Jeanne, Angelique Louise, Francoise Marie, Marie Louise, and Marie Angelique). For having alot of boys to carry on the family name, very few descendants named Bergevin have been found - so far we have found only one son Jean having children (2 boys). As with the Ignace branch, the vast majority of these descendants kept the name Langevin. As the research continues, we'll be able to find more of these descendants.
It appears this branch scattered to the west. The Jean Francois kids married into the Vezina, Magnan, Chalifour, Blondeau, Nadeau, Potvin, De La Hay, Servant dit Hairet and Landry families. As well as infant deaths decreasing, so did marrying into the family next door, as none of these kids married sisters, brothers, or even cousins of anyone else.
Jean Francois and Madeleine's kids, grandkids and their descendants stayed in the area along with the Ignace descendants. It appears that they all took the name Langevin, as no descendent named Bergevin has been found from this branch. Further research will undoubtedly uncover tens of thousands of Langevin dit Bergevin from this leg.
FAMILIES BERGEVINS MARRIED INTO
With this many descendants, we've probably married into most of the beginning families that settled Canada. There are several families that we keep marrying into (including ourselves as Bergevins and Langevins), and their descendants probably don't know it!
The first generation's largest union with another family was of course with the Tessier family by three of Jean's kids. Into the second generation, the Allard, Parent, and Primeau families are heavily married into. The third generation continues with more Allard, Parent, and Primeau marriages, and the beginnings of the Prejean and Giroux marriages. And of course Bergevins married Langevins and vice versa.
The most marriages into another family award goes to the Parent clan with 16 marriages, followed by Grenier with 11, Allard with 10 and Giroux with 8. Belanger, Primeau, Tessier, and Vallee with 7. Cantin, Martel and Tremblay with 6. Beaupre, Bedard, Laberge, Renaud, and Savard with 5. Carrier, Cournoyer, Falardeau, Lefebvre, Marcotte, Marcoux, Mathieu, Mercier, Paquet and Trudel with 4. Beaudet, Bilodeau, Demers, Dubois, Forcier, Labrecque, Lavoie, Leclerc, Leduc, Maheu, Meunier, Montpetit, Moreau, Nadeau, Pageot, Potvin, Prejean, and Robert with 3. Armstrong, Beaulieu, Blouin, Couillard, Couture, Dion, Dorais, Fortin, Jacques, Landry, Leblanc, Leboeuf, Leonard, Moisan, Perras, Plante, Poirier, Tardif, Toutant and Villeneuve with 2. This still doesn't include the dozens of single marriages into other families. To say the least, the Bergevins married into almost every family that walked by!
The most marriages goes to Godefroy Langevin with 4 wives (there is a 7 way tie for being married 3 times!). The most common marriage award goes to Ernest Conrad for marrying the 3 Bergeron sisters (marriages being 5 years apart). The fastest re-marriage is one of our founding fathers Jean II marrying Marie Renee Bezeau less than 1 year after his first wife died. And of course, the descendants married themselves or were related somewhere back in time via marriage.
I haven't researched to see who married the youngest or oldest, but with as many descendants in this family as there are, I'm sure we have secured all positions in the Guinness Book of Records.
The most twisted family tree award goes to Marie Emma Parent who married Octave Langevin 4/16/1894. Marie is part of the Louis Branch (his fourth level great granddaughter) that married into the Parent family. Octave is also part of the Louis Branch but is his third level great grandson (they are off by one generation)! Not only does Marie Emma marry a Langevin, getting back the original name of Langevin, but their son Philias Langevin marries Blandine Parent 10/4/1927, whose parents are Lazare Parent and Marie Anne Langevin (m. 5/6/1902)! Now we have a Langevin descendent whose was a Parent and married back to a Parent (and both are actually Bergevin Langevins)! Philias and Blandine have the same great great grandparents Pierre Langevin and Marie Angelique Vallee, so they are at the same generation level - unlike their parents. I doubt if these distant kissing cousins have any idea who they married.
Also, not all Bergevin descendants remained Catholics. We have recently found descendants that are disciples of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS). This is a new frontier for our geneology research and should be interesting.
OTHER FAMILY NOTES
This section covers different subjects as they are discovered in this genealogical trail.
In the summer of 1997, we found out that cousin Michael Bergevine of Boston had a copy of Father Jean Louis's 5 volume, 2000 page manuscript on the family. This manuscript was previously hidden in the Ottowa archives. Father has devoted decades of his life to filling out the family tree. It contained lineage of all Bergevins and alot of Langevins from Jean and Marie to 1945. This was Canadian research only. His works are invaluable in reconstructing the time frame prior to the first Canadian census in 1851. It is estimated that no Bergevin descendent migrated outside of Canada prior to the census, hence Father provided all documented descendants from Catholic church records in Canada. His works also include many stories and bibliographies. It's all in French and will be translated over the years.
There is a Longeway Park in Titusville, Pennsylvania that was donated by an unknown Longeway descendent in the early 1900's.
There is a Longeuay street in Flint, Michigan, along with the Longeuay Auto Parts store. There is a bar in Chicago called Longeuay Taps.
Genetically speaking, there is an abundance of data suggesting that male Bergevins produce more female children than males, while female Bergevins produce more male children than females. This easily explains the relatively small number of Bergevins and Langevin last names today, considering the large number of families that started this legacy.
HOW ARE WE RELATED COUSIN?
Figuring out how cousins are related through a dozen generations is extremely confusing. Here's the methodology I've come up with that is as short as possible. I refer to it as our LINEAGE. I use the first name of each descendent (male or female) starting with Jean (the common father of us all), then one of Jeans kids (the first born Canadians), and work down to the cousin. I add the new last name when there is a name change or marriage. At the end I add up the number of generations including Jean for what level generation you are (with Jean being the first generation).
For example, this is how I would represent myself:
Lineage: Jean, Louis, Louis Langevin, Charles, Charles, Louis Longeway, Peter, Michael, Michael Longeuay, Donald, Jerry Longeuay (11th generation)
This is how I would show Jacques Trempe, whose lineage is via two marriages:
Lineage: Jean, Louis, Louis Langevin, Jean, Jean, Sir Hector, Stella Langevin
Cimon, Theresa Cimon Trempe, Jacques Trempe (9th generation)
When we see each others LINEAGE, we can see that we are two generations apart (even though we are less than 10 years apart in age), and both share the same ancestry from Louis Langevin and back.
We are trying to find all Bergevin descendants and fill up the family tree. Please pass this letter along to any Bergevin descendent.
FAMILY STORIES
This is a growing section. This contains stories passed down through family generations or newly discovered. Each section has a short title about the story with the authors lineage. We hope you enjoy the stories as much as we do.
1. Jean and Marie: the early years in Bourg-Royal
By Jean Marc Bergevin, 10/10/97
(Lineage: Jean, Louis, Louis, Joseph, Charles, Charles, Charles, Louis, Leonidas, Jean, Jean Marc Bergevin (11th generation).
The following about Jean came a book called "Les Ancetres Beauportois 1634-1760)" by Michel Langlois, pp 247-249. In short, here is what it says:
It covers some general background of his origin, nothing special
When released from the army, Jean went to Bourg-Royal. To increase his wealth, he made the contract with Anne Gasnier, widow of Jean Bourdon. He had to build something with some material that was possibly related to wine culture. It is in old French, the key words are not in the
dictionary. It says this proves Jean had some pretty good gardening knowledge. He was to get 30 pounds for the construction and 30 pounds a year for tending the garden.
Jean then gets married to Marie. They settled in Bourg-Royal for 7 years, farming. Dec. 21, 1675, they sell the land to Etienne Gilbert for 63 pounds. The author underlines the fact that Jean did sign this act, possibly a first for him, he by then knew how to write his name! This document shows that Jean signed as Bregevin, not Bergevin.
The couple moved to St-Michel village on Feb. 15, 1676. They received a concession measuring 2 by 9 arpents from Lord Joseph Giffard. On Jan. 22, 1678, Jean Bergevin and Etienne Perreteau were given a 5 year lease on Lake Beauport for trout fishing. The rent was 200 trouts payable at Christmas, and 200 trouts for Lent. Lord Giffard seemed to like him. On March 9, 1686, he gave Jean a bigger concession in St-Michel, 5 by 25 arpents.
In 1689 Jean worked for a Quebec City merchant for about 6 months at 30 pounds a month.
Jean had a child baptized in 1690 (that would be Jean Francois the youngest boy). No further news of Jean until his death in 1703, when smallpox outbreak killed about 60 Beauportois. Marie had an inventory done at his death. He did not have much; a gun with a four foot canon, a riffle, two bed blankets, one made out of dog hair, a walnut round table, a scale, two oxen trained for work, a horse and gear.
His house measured 30 feet by 21 feet. It had a basement and attic, two rooms and two floors. It had a straw roof and was valued at 400 pounds. Marie gave the house and other belongings to Louis on Sept. 28, 1706, in exchange for room and board for the rest of her life. Marie died 22
years later, she was 78. (Poor Louis did not make that great of a deal)
2. The Longeway Name Variation - how it was discovered
By David Costello, 6/1/96
Lineage: Jean, Louis, Louis Langevin, Charles, Charles, Louis Longeway, Louis, Margaret Longeway Costello, Francis, David Costello (10th generation)
Unknown to Jerry Longeuay, David Costello had been researching the Longeway name during the 1990's at the same time as Jerry Longeuay. Both genealogists had the same historical stories and same dead ends. Both dead-ended prior to the 1834 marriage of Louis Longeway and Euphrosine Giroux (few records actually showed her name, then, as either Junelt or Giro). The Longeway name could not be found anywhere prior to the 1850's, when Louis and Euphrosine appeared in the English speaking area of Kennicott (near Stratford, Ontario) with a grown family.
One record indicated Louis Jr., eldest son of Louis & Euphrosine, was born in Lachine, near Montreal. However, no trace could be found of a Longeway family ever having been in the Lachine area. Additionally, although stories supported a French Canadian heritage, French historians said neither Longeway nor Junelt were French names by origin; however, many did think Longeway might be an English derivative of the prevalent French identifier Langevin.
Both genealogists had the same family story of three brothers coming to Canada as the start of this family. This story had the three brothers coming from France - which we now know is wrong, but could easily had been mistaken for what is now known as the three youngest sons of Jean and Marie migrating to the Montreal area to start families. Another family story was that the Longewayswere related to Sir Hector Langevin. Neither story could be substantiated prior to now.
During Jerry Longeuay's research, he had made contact with Brian Longeway of the Rene Longeway clan (Bodineau dit Langevin). During David Costello's research, he too made contact with Brian Longeway. Thanks to Brian, David was able to contact Jerry. Both exchanged stories and started the genealogy expedition again.
This time David located a French researcher (Helene Lamarche ) in the Montreal/Lachine area to attempt to trace this lineage via Euphrosine's maiden name (thought then to be Junelt/Giro). Luckily the French researcher was aware of the phonetic name changes from French to English and vice versa. The researcher tried the name Giroux, and found Euphrosine marrying Louis with the exact same marriage date, in the St. Joachim church in Chateauguay (across the river from Montreal, near Lachine).
Further research found their first four children; two girls then two boys. While the girls were a new discovery, the boys were known. The researcher verified the boys had the correct first names and birthdays. All of these ancestors are documented in the St. Joachim church records as Bergevin dit Langevin. The connection had been found by this researcher who understood the phonetic name changes.
Later, after David made email connections to the Bergevin family historians, Jerry Longeuay called Emile Bergevin to see how Langevin was pronounced in native French to hear how this phonetic change occurred. Once Emile pronounced Langevin in his native French tongue, Jerry was sold that Bergevin is our original family name. Emile pronounced it exactly how we are taught to pronounce Longeway or Longeuay. Through Jacques Trempe database, it was also discovered that Sir Hector was Louis's first cousin (maybe they played hockey together).
Editors Note on French researcher Helene: She works full time at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts as a historical researcher, and does Genealogy as her hobby. She has been doing Genealogy a long time and is very good. She has a lot of research material available, and is somewhat of a specialist on the Lachine area - where she has her own roots.
3. The Longeuay Name Variation - how it was un-discovered
By Jerry Longeuay, 10/10/97
Lineage: Jean, Louis, Louis Langevin, Charles, Charles, Louis Longeway, Peter, Michael, Michael Longeuay, Donald, Jerry Longeuay (11th generation)
This story is actually how something happens in reverse.
After my grandfather died in 1977, my 14 uncles and aunts decided it was important for the entire family to get together every 3 years, instead of waiting for someone to die or get married. For the 1980 reunion, I decided to do up a family tree in honor of our rather large family (60 first cousins, let alone all of my second and third cousins).
On my first trip to the Stratford, Ontario area, I visited my granduncle Jerry at this Mobile gas station (coincidentally, I had also worked at a Mobile gas station in California and almost ended up buying one like granduncle Jerry). I was quite shocked to see his name spelled Longeway instead of Longeuay.
Granduncle Jerry explained that the Canadian Navy spelled his name that way when he went into the Navy at 18. He didn't think anything of the difference, kept the name as he grew up, married and had children (and grandchildren) using this name.
I was quite confident that his last name (and those of my second and third cousins) was in error, as Longeuay was always pronounced with a French flair. Not too mention I was also told there was no "w" in the French language, so how could their spelling be correct.
As I researched the churches and cemeteries around the Stratford and Kennicott area on this trip, there were several variations of the name, but the spelling Longeway did stand out as the predominant spelling. As I researched over the next year, it became well apparent that the spelling of Longeuay was not only the incorrect spelling, but the only spelling change of the 1200 descendants of Louis I found.
My grandfather had a total of four brothers. Only granduncle Jerry spells it Longeway, the others are all spelled Longeuay. The change must have occurred with either my great grandfather or grandfather (both named Michael John).
I never found conclusive evidence, but came up with the following theories on how Longeuay came to be; (1) another phonetic change when my great grandfather or grandfather married, or (2) a flared finger stoke when my great grandfather or grandfather wrote his name down, and someone typed it out, or put in on a headstone (even today the hand written "u" gets mistaken for a "w"). I'm sure the illiteracy rate during those years (early 1900's) also played a significant role in the name variation of Longeuay.