1. Our French-Canadian ancestor or Québécois were not foreigners to the New World having settled on the shore of the St Laurent river some 240 years prior to their migration to the New England area. However, by the later part of the Nineteen Century its inhabitant (habitant)(farmer) had outgrowth the most productive farming land in Quebec, and as its population grew, it was necessary for the youth to find financial support elsewhere. Thus, economics was the main reason why these québécois came to New England. As time passed, other problems emerged. The Industrial Revolution took hold in New England in the 1830's and expanded rapidly due to the pressures of the Civil War. By 1870, the New England economy was booming and more and more workers were needed for the large mills. After the U.S. Civil War, between 1870 and 1920, an estimated 700,000 French Canadians emigrated from Quebec to New England for jobs in the expanding cotton mills. Jobs, which had previously been filled by Irish immigrants..

2. A few French Canadians came to New England and quickly found work in the mills. In a few weeks, they returned to Quebec to show off their new found wealth. Ten dollars per week was a mighty sum to farmers who had no cash, only
increasing poverty. This started a process of family migration where those with jobs in New England lured their families and friends to join them. Many of these recruiters were paid a small sum for each worker they recruited. Soon the migration grew and, over the next 50 years, in excess of one half million French Canadians came to New England, their numbers were about one third of the Quebec population of the time.

3.. As the migration became serious, the French Catholic Church tried to stop it by urging people to remain in the land of their fathers and of their faith.  But, as usual, people responded to economic needs rather than to religious and regional preaching.

4.. The Church saw the departing stream of its faithful and was fearful for their future in English, Protestant New England. So, the clergy and aristocracy developed the idea of "La SURVIVANCE", our survival. The analogy they used to describe the idea was simple and vivid. They compared their survival strategy to a three legged stool. If any one of the three legs were lost, the stool would fall and no longer sustain the survival of the people and their French Catholic culture.

5. The three legs of the stool were: The Catholic faith, the French language and the family. The Church officials believed their people could only live good lives if they remained in the midst of French Catholic families.

6. In Quebec, where the French Catholic Church was dominant, it was easy to keep control of the faithful. But, the faithful were leaving by the thousands for New England where there were no French Catholic parishes nor priests.

7. How "La SURVIVANCE" was applied to that New England society can be studied by following the activities of one branch of the Drouin family in the old mill town of Dover, N.H.

8. In 1623, twelve years before Robert Drouin came to New France, a few English settlers founded Dover on the banks of the Cocheco river. The river and it's falls were important to Dover's development. The river allowed smaller ships to sail up the 12 miles from the Atlantic Ocean. Much later, in the mid 1800's, the falls powered the first cotton mills built along it's banks in the
center of Dover.

9. Pierre and Marguerite Drouin left Ste. Marie de Beauce in 1880 with their six children and came to Dover to work in those mills. Pierre and Marguerite were my great-grandparents and their 16 year old son, Leonce, was my grandfather.    Pierre and Marguerite were my great-grandparents and their 16 year old son, Leonce, was my grandfather. Marguerite packed a few special dishes, some utensils and as many clothes as the two valises could handle.  Pierre and the boys moved furniture and farm implements out to the edge of the road where the auction of their property would take place.  Once the auction finished, the family took their valises and walked to the new railway station where they boarded a train for the first time.  They left their farm, their home and their country as they travelled from St Marie  de Beauce to Dover, N.H. in the US to work in the mills.

10. In 1880, the Cocheco Mills along the upper falls of the river covered 30 acres of floor space, operated 130,000 spindles in 2,800 looms. There were over 2,000 workers and the average wage was 53 cents a day.

11. Leonce Drouin joined that work force for those wages. He worked 60-70 hours per week and, on Sunday, he attended mass at St. Mary's church on Third Street, the oldest Catholic church in New Hampshire. But, he didn't understand much of the English sermons in this Irish parish and he couldn't go to confession because the priests couldn't speak French.

12. During 1885, Leonce began visiting Georgette Morrisette on Sundays. She worked in the same mill and lived only a few tenements away. They married on July 3, 1886. He was 22. She was 24. By 1890, they had saved enough money to buy a house at 76 Third St. By then, Georgette was staying home with the young children.

13. The year 1890 also marked the beginning of a wider role for Leonce in the French Canadian community. As the number of French Canadians grew in Dover, they wanted their own church and their own school where French would be the language used. They were outsiders and backbenches at St. Mary's. This was very disturbing to people who had been so close to the Church in Quebec. They had Catholicism in common with their Irish neighbours but their different languages, customs, dress and lack of wealth kept them apart.

14. In February, 1890, Joseph Croteau and cousin Alfred Drouin did a head count of French Canadians in Dover. They identified 150 families with a total of 880 people. Dover's population was about 10,000 at the time. Joseph and Alfred also found that all their French Canadian neighbours wanted their own church and wanted it now!

15. In July, they formed a committee with Philias Pomerleau and Joseph Savoie,

Napoleon Pichette, Pierre Drapeau, Leonce Drouin and his brother Omer to begin the process of organizing a parish. They conducted a bazaar which raised $300.

16. In April, 1891, they sent a delegation to Manchester to discuss the possibility of a French parish with Bishop Denis-Mary Bradley. They wore their best clothes, some borrowed from friends. They spoke slowly in hesitant English when the Bishop asked their business. After they had presented their case for a French parish, Bishop Bradley replied that he thought all immigrants should learn English and then there would be no need for special, foreign parishes.

17. Several meetings took place over the next two years before Bishop Bradley finally yielded and gave his approval for a French parish. However, he put several conditions on his approval. First, the committee had to find their own French speaking priest to be the pastor. Second, they had to develop a plan for the new church and to raise all the money to support the parish.

18. At this point, romance enters the story. On one Sunday noon, at lunch, Leonce mentioned the problem of finding a French speaking priest. The committee didn't know where to turn. Leonce's younger sister, petite Ludivene, spoke up and said she might be able to help. Leonce looked at her with disdain. "You, what could you do?" She replied that she was to see her friend, Dr. Joseph Richard, that afternoon. He had been calling on her for several weeks. She told Leonce that she would mention the problem to him.

19. Ludivene discussed the problem with her beau who was anxious to please her, as she knew he would be. He told her that he had a brother in Quebec who was a priest and he would write to him to see if he might consider coming down to the states to start a new parish. We do not know if Dr. Joseph received an extra little hug for this effort. We do know that on November 5, 1893, the first cure, Father Julian Richard arrived to head St. Charles Borromee parish.

20 On November 11, 1893, Father Richard celebrated the first "Grande-Messe" for the parish in Lowell Hall on Third street which had been rented as a temporary chapel until a proper church could be built. Over 400 people attended the service and came to thank God for the gift of their own parish. The pleasure and pride of this day would remain with Leonce all his life.

21. In September 1895, the parish opened their French school. It was held in one large room in Lowell Hall. Anna Duclos was the only teacher. She had 70 students of all ages.

22. In 1896, the parish opened their new church at the corner of Third and Grove streets. In 1901, they built a new school next to the church. It had two stories, four classrooms and 212 students. In 1903, the parish built a convent and invited the Sisters of the Presentation of Mary to come down from Quebec to teach in the school.

23. By 1904, 14 years after they began, the parish had a church, a pastor, a convent, resident nuns, 250 families and 1,450 people. All this was accomplished by a group of mill workers who dedicated themselves to implementing the idea of "La SURVIVANCE".

24. By 1920, there were 225 French Canadian parishes in New England and most had their own schools.

25. Despite this grand beginning, several factors led to a decline in these institutions over the next 40 years. The major factor was marriage of French Canadians to English speaking people. That led to using English in the home and with the children. Our ancestors had already discovered they needed to learn English to work in this English society. Gradually, the modern, industrialized society helped lead to a lessening of the Church's impact on life.

26. Today, 1988, there are still about 200 French Canadian parishes in New England but few ever hold a mass in French. The 200 French parochial schools are down to 5 or 6 today. And, while there are approximately three million people of French Canadian descent in New England today, only a few thousand can still speak the language of their ancestors. A few years ago, I was opening a training program in Lewiston, Maine, formerly a heavily French mill town. I saw the student roster was entirely French names so I opened my remarks in French. There was total silence. Not a person of the twenty had understood a word I said. They all told me that they knew French, back when,  but it was all gone in their families now.

27. The grand idea of creating a French Canadian community in New England has passed and will never return. The language may have been lost but many of us still hold our faith and our family values. One final story may illustrate that some of our heritage is still remembered and cherished.

28. Two years ago, I attended the 50th reunion of our eighth grade graduation class of St. Charles School. We had been a class of 32 members. Seven had died prior to the reunion. Of the remaining 25, 23 attended. Ray Harton was too ill in Florida to attend and one local man ignored the invitation. "Skippy" Roberge skipped the reunion. Most of us had not seen one another in 45 or 50 years yet we gathered to this reunion call from all over the East Coast. We opened the reunion with a mass at St. Charles church for the repose of the souls of our departed members.

29. Most of our spouses were hesitant about attending. "We won't know anyone there", was the common complaint. Class members had similar feelings. We all wound up saying things like: "Aren't you Irene Lessard? It must be 50 years since we seen one another!" Old stories flowed, friendships were recaptured, a half century later.  We are still who we were. We simply don't say it in French any longer.
Ed Drouin email address with his kind permission is:
DrouinEA@aol.com

 Notes: (1):  Professor Yves Roby of the History Department of Laval University, in his "The Economic evolution of Quebec and the emigrants" wrote that 850,000 people left Quebec between 1850 and 1930.  Others have somewhat smaller figures, but all agree that at least half a million people went south.  He cites poverty, discouragement and unemployment as the factors which pushed people to the US.  He cites the population of Quebec as 890,261 in 1851 and 80% of these people were rural, on the farms. By 1931, the population had grown to 2,874,662 and only 36.9% were rural.  The population had become more mobile and many were moving to the mill town of New England.
INDEX
 

Anne Cloutier
                                                     1626 - 1648
 
 

Anne was born in Mortagne,  France on Jan 26, 1626. She was only 8 years old when she came to Canada with her parents Zacharie  and Xainte Dupont on 4 June 1634.  In 1634 and later in 1935 Seigneur Robert Giffard had recruited several family from Perche for an unknown life in Canada.  Among these  families in 1935 was Robert Drouin.  A year previously Seigneur Giffard and Zacharie Cloutier had established the conditions of employment for these families.    Robert Drouin lived at the home of Zacharie Cloutier on his arrival in Canada, where he was making bricks.

It was there that he met Anne Cloutier his first wife.  Anne was ten years old at the time.  A  marriage contract was first drawn up on July 27th. with the intention that the sacrament would not be consummated until a year later.  The religious ceremony took place when Anne was eleven but Robert had to content himself with non -conjugal visits for two more years.  Robert was thirty years old.

Roger Cloutier in his book "The Story of the Cloutiers" noted that young eligible women were so scarce in New France at this time that Robert Drouin did not wish to risk not having a wife so he accepted the conditions of the contract.  Cloutier goes on to say that the contract also stipulated that the first three years of the marriage had to be spent "under the roof of Zacharie and Xainte".

She had her first child when she was but 15 years.   She had six children over all.  Three of whom died at birth. Of the remaining children only two names are known, Genevieve and Jeanne. Genevieve was also married at the age of 13, and her descendants are numerous as her story below will show.

Anne Cloutier Drouin died the 4th of February 1648 at the age of 22 after eleven and a half years of marriage. Her body was transported  from Chateau-Richer to Hotel Dieu in Quebec City on 4 Feb 1648.   Her daughters Genevieve and Jeanne were brought up by Zacharie and Xainte, their grandfather and grandmother,  until their marriages; marriages, whose descendants have played and important part in the settlement of two great cities, Detroit and New Orleans.

Robert Drouin, husband of Anne found himself a widower a the age of 41, but not for long. he married the widow Marie  Chapelier on the 29th of November 1649 and fathered eight additional children.
Much of the information on Anne Cloutier was provided by Dave Clutchey who has a web page on the Cloutier.
INDEX

Genevieve Drouin
1643 - 1710

Genevieve, the daughter of Anne Cloutier and Robert Drouin, married Romain de Trepagny also a native of Canada. They had five sons, Charles, Francois, Jacques,  Claude and Jean.  Claude and Jean had been involved with Pierre LeMoyne d'Iberville and his adventure against the English in the Hudson Bay.  As well they went with him to Plaisance, Newfoundland and France, where Sieur LeMoyne d'Iberville got a commission from the King, to investigate and claim  the Louisiana territory for France.  Jean died on the way between Cuba and Biloxi.  But Claude served in the "garnison" at Fort Maurepas, in the bay of Biloxi.  He also helped build and served at Fort Louis in Mobile in 1702.  He met and married Genevieve Burel there, who had arrived on the "Pelican" with her parents.

(see note 2)  Claude and Genevieve Burel  had seven children, including a son named Francois. Francois was married twice, first to Francoise Antoinette Damaron with whom he had no children. The second marriage, to Marie Elisabethe Jean Barre Linois, produced eight children. the sixth child Perrine, married Antoine Boudousquie who had emigrated from France. These two produced eight children including the ggggg grandfather of Rene Alvarez named Francois Alexander Norbert Boudousquie known as Norbert. Norbert and two brothers, Godefroi and Zenon, fought in the battle of New Orleans in January 1815. It was the last battle of the War of 1812 between the British and the Americans. Andrew Jackson, later the 7th president of the U.S. came to New Orleans with his division and along with local citizens and Jean Lafitte's buccaneers, defeated the seasoned British troops at a plantation just east of the city.

Norbert married Marie Therese Chouriac in 1795 and had eight children. Norbert's oldest son, Antoine bought property west of New Orleans and started a sugar plantation. The plantation was called Reserve and there is a small town situated there
named after the plantation. Antoine married Sophy Andry, the daughter of Gilbert Andry and the granddaughter of Col. Manuel Andry another wealthy plantation owner nearby. Manuel's plantation was the site of a major slave uprising in 1811 during which Gilbert was murdered. Col. Andry crushed the rebellion a few days later with the help of other plantation owners.
The rebellious slaves were on their way to New Orleans but were stopped 20 miles from the city.  The Reserve plantation was sold after the civil war by Antoine's widow Sophie to pay off significant debts. It was purchased by Leon Godchaux who built one of the largest sugar refineries at the site. The old Reserve plantation house is still standing, although moved from its original location, and is currently being restored by the local historical society. The Woodlands plantation is no longer standing."  .The old Reserve plantation house is still standing and can be seen by cliking on Reserve Plantation (it is actually called the Godchaux-Reserve Plantation- click on documents and jpg for story and pictures)
Note 2:
The research for the information presented above should be credited to Rene D. Alvarez of Metairie, Louisiana.  He has meticulously documented his family tree.  This information was passed to David Clutchey (descendant of the Cloutier of which Anne Cloutier is a member), by Rene Alvarez in letter to David,  dated 16 September 1997.
INDEX
 
 
  Jeanne Drouin
1647 - 1732

Jeanne Drouin daughter of Robert Drouin and Anne Cloutier married Pierre Maheu on 10 Nov 1659.  (See note 3) .Through her son Pierre and his Daughter Marie-Anne Maheu who married Pierre Riopel, their son Ambroise Riopel settled in Detroit, Michigan, and married there on 24 Nov 1766 to Teresa Campau.  Ambroise farmed a tract of land bordering on the Detroit River.   Teresa lived on St Jacques St in Detroit prior to her marriage.  Their daughter Elizabeth Riopel married Rene Metay of Detroit on 19 Jan 1795 .  Rene kept a tailor shop in Detroit at the time.  Elizabeth and Rene's daughter Susanne Metay married Jacob Dix; their daughter Ann Dix married Thomas Boisclair on 16 Apr 1844.  Their daughter Eliza Ann Boisclair married Lewis C. Moore.

Lewis Moore and Eliza Ann Boisclair's son, Webster Wirt Moore married Annie Grace Pickard 14 Jun 1900 in Ann Arbor, Mich.

(Note 3: I am grateful for the source of this information on Jeanne side of the family to Joanne Steckling of Detroit, Mich.)  ( Joanne is the granddaughter of Webster Wirt Moore and Annie Pickard)

The Calais /Eastport, Maine.  Connection

A latest addition to the family is a Calais/Eastport, Maine connection to Jeanne.  Thanks to a correspondant Susan Marie Esposito of Eastport, Maine, the following line from Jeanne has been added:

Their daughter Marie married to Charles Latarte; Angelique married to Pierre Levesque; Brigitte married to Jean Chapais;  Dora Ann Chapais who married Michael Purcell; and other siblings Charles, Abraham, Theophile.   Dora  married John Philip (Phil) McGarrigle and John Philip McGarrigle whose daughter Susan is the author of this line. Thank you Susan. (May 2003)

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As can be seen from both these sources, the daughters of Ann Cloutier and Robert Drouin have made quite an impact on the opening of  major area in the US, such as   Detroit,  areas of Maine  and Louisiana.  Among the many descendants, are the two included above, Rene D. Alvarez and Joanne Steckling  and Susan Marie who today, are the principal sources of these stories.

Your Editor
Ray Drouin

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INDEX

The Drouin/Derouin/DeRouen of Louisiana

While I would love to have some correspondent from the fair state of Louisiana do a short history of the Drouin/DeRouen from that State, not having succeeded yet, I think that we owe them to insert at least some of the information gathered so far, with hope to have  more fully substantiated stories in the future.   As can be seen from the above information Genevieve Drouin with Roman DeTrepanier (Trepanier), were the ancestor of Claude Trepanier who founded a line in Louisiana.

From Robert's second marriage with Marie Chapelier we have Etienne/Catherine Loignon, then Pierre with Marie Anne Vanier, then Joseph with Anne Genevieve Hebert.  It is from this line that we have many of the DeRouen  of Louisiana (Iberville parish/Le Leu/St Martinville).  Joseph was born in Montreal and made it to Louisiana via Detroit. Thanks to the research of Luella Bodin Broussard we are able to trace Joseph's line to Jacques Santiago DeRouen/Charlotte LeLeu; Jacques DeRouen/Adelene Bonin; Joseph Desire DeRouen/Nathilde Bernard; Jean Treville DeRouen/Marie Zelmire Daniel; Aubert DeRouen/Marie Zulmee Broussard; Hazel Marie DeRouen/Clifford A Bodin, to Luella Bodin/Raymond D. Broussard.

The information below on 19th century French immigrants to Louisiana was taken from the Avoyelle web page, http://www.oocities.org/~avoyelles/    It is about the  19th century French immigrants called,  The Mansura French.
"This group of the last major wave of migration of direct French immigrants to Avoyelles have been termed as the mansura french by noted genealogist Nelson Gremillion, as many of these families settled in the Mansura area. Mansura was supposedly named after Mansura, Egypt, by some of Napolean's soldiers. We have not been able to prove this. However, more likely we find that the first post master of Mansura was Adolph Lafargue, whose father was a soldier under Napoleon. Apparently, Lafargue honoured his father's service with Napoleon and chose the name of the town through the first Post office. Many of these families were from the Pyrenees Mountain area of southern France."
The Avoyelle page list one Drouin as part of this group.  Leon Drouin born in 1822 in Bordeaux France.  Hopefully  we will get more information on this Branch of the North American Drouin.
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How many different Branches of the Drouin in North America
Since my earlier research on the Drouin seemed to indicate that there were only one Drouin who had settled in North America, I always assume that Robert was it.  Even one of the early family research firm in Quebec the Drouin Institute, did not seem to have made any special mention of other Drouin Branches.  One well respected Montreal Geneologist, Robert Provost, did not mention any other Branches, except for Robert of Pin La Garenne.   However, more information is now coming through that now confirm with certainty that there were other Branches.  Whether these were significant is still unknown.  So far, I have come accross two new male Branches  who came over to North America following the conquest and one female branch prior to the conquest.  At this  time it is safe to say, that more than likely most of the Drouin in North America prior to the conquest are descendant of Robert, but that at least two other  have come to North America following the British conquest of Quebec and one to Louisiana prior to the conquest.  Our first male branch  is a Jean Baptiste Drouin who arrived in Quebec City around 1818, from Sedan, in the Ardennes region of France.  Jean-Baptiste was listed a "macon"(a brick worker), and married Marie-Anne Bossu-Lyonnais in Quebec City (Nortre-Dame church) on 29 May 1821.  So far I have not been able to find any descendants of this family.  The second male branch  is Leon Drouin of the Avoyelle area in Louisiana as indicated above.  For  more information on this branch see the  inserted notes in the Louisiana page from  the index above.   Our female branch date back to 1704 and was  one of the Pelican girl.  The ship Pelican arrived at Fort Louis, Louisiana in 1704 and we have an Angelique Drouin who married Jean-Baptiste LaCroix dit Grimauld at Fort Louis.  You can see her name on the ship's List as well as her marriage and children.

Your Editor
Ray Drouin
17 Dec 2002
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INDEX

Pierre-Joseph Drouin/Marie Anne Vanier

The family line of Pierre-Joseph DROUIN  and Marie Anne VANIER, who moved from Chateau Richer to Montreal, was quite active in the opening of the various forts and trading posts west of Montreal, to Detroit, St Louis, Louisiana, Minnesota and Wisconsin.   Listed below from Pierre-Joseph are the principal Drouin involved in these voyages of discovery and settlement.
Much of this information was acquired from Roger Drouin of Ottawa, who at one time was President of a now defunct Drouin Association, and of course many other sources, one of which was Robert Seipp of St Louis. Many thanks to all our Drouin contributors.
 

 PIERRE-JOSEPH DROUIN
 1694-1758

 Pierre-Joseph Drouin the sixth child of Etienne Drouin (2nd son of Robert), was by the age of 34 on Island of Montreal, more specifically at "Cote St Michel".   He married Marie-Anne Vanier at the St Laurent parish church on 3 Feb 1728.  His wife gave him 10 children, five boys all baptized at the "La Visitation" parish of Sault-au-Recollet.

 Pierre-Joseph was a farmer and also was a Captain in the local Militia of Cote St Michel
from 1750 to 1755.  Pierre-Joseph was obviously a leader amongst his peers, Militia Captain being normally elected by the parish men.  The captain in turn represented the governor.  In 1750 the Cote St Michel Militia company had 41 men.  In 1755, it numbered 80 men.  His oldest son, Joseph-Pierre born 18 Feb 1736 was also a member of the same militia, but was listed as living in Detroit between 1750-1755.  Two other sons, as we soon shall see were also involved in the quest for opening the West,  Jean-Baptiste Drouin and Jean-Louis Drouin.

 JOSEPH-PIERRE DEROUIN
 (1736-1819)

 At the age of 18 on 10 Mar 1754, Joseph-Pierre  contracted in front of the notary, Adhemar, to Mrs Deschambault and Jacques Giasson to work at MICHILLIMAKINAC (today St Ignace in Michigan), between the Mackinac detroit (lake Huron and lake Michigan).  Two years later, on 13 Jun 1756, Joseph-Pierre hired to Louis Joseph Gauthier, Sieur de La Verendrye, to go again to MICHILLIMAKINAC.

 Joseph-Pierre was married to Charlotte Campeau on 21 Feb 1762 in the parish  of Ste-Anne de Detroit.   Three children, all born in Detroit came from this marriage: Marie-Charlotte (m) Jean-Baptiste Drouillard; Josephte (m) Jean-Marie Lecerf dit Ladouceur and Francoise (m) Andre Lepage. The church of SteAnne de Detroit was build on the arrival of Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac with his group of voyageurs arriving from Montreal in July 1701.  It is said to be the oldest parish church in the USA after St Augustine, Florida dating to 1594.  For more information on Ste Anne de Detroit see the Ste Anne de Detroit church site.

 Joseph first married in Detroit, however, on his move to Louisiana in 1775, aged 39, he declared himself a widower, with his name now DEROUEN, contracted a marriage with Genevieve Hebert.  He was married in the L'Ascension church, situated in what was to become "DONALDSONVILLE".  Joseph-Pierre married Genevieve Hebert on 29 Nov 1775 in Louisiana.  Genevieve was the daughter of Armand Hebert and Genevieve Babin, deported Acadians.  Two boys and five girls were born from this marriage, to carry the name DeRouen.

 Following the conquest in 1760, the forts in the west were handed over to the British.  The mission on the south-side (Windsor) remained French speaking, and in 1767 the mission became the parish of Pointe-de-Montreal-du-Detroit, today Windsor, Ont.

 JEAN-BAPTISTE DROUIN
 (1741-1790)
 
  A notary act with "notaire Simonnet" on 29 Jun 1761, confirmed a contact of work between Jean-Baptiste Drouen brother of Joseph-Pierre Drouin, to work for Sieur Jacques Giasson and company, for a canoe trip to the fort Michillimakinac.  This same Jean-Baptiste, four years later married Marguerite-Madelaine Meloche at St Genevieve de Pierrefonds, where he settled to farming.  Amongst his descendants were Joseph Derouin born on 12 Oct 1915 at Hokah, Minnesota.  Joseph lived in LaCrosse, Wisconsin.  The other was the Honorable Judge Henri Drouin of Amos, Quebec.

 JEAN-LOUIS DROUIN (DEROUEN)

 Jean-Louis Derouen (Drouin) married Marie-Louise Dufour-Latour at St Louis de Terrebonne, Quebec, on 7 Feb 1758.  At least two of their children reached Louisiana, and married there.  Many  of their descendants in Canada settled in county of Deux Montagnes, at St Benoit in particular.  According to my source Robert Seipp of St Louis, Jean-Louis had moved to St Louis between 1775 and 1778, and settled there.  Thus, an easy step for his two sons to move on to Louisiana.  The line to Robert Seipp can be found in my genealogy line.  I have now inserted a page on the St Louis area, and its importance to t he Drouin family, where you can get a feel for some of these early settlers living within the main major trade routes to the Mississippi.

   The two sons of Jean-Louis who went to Louisiana were Joseph-Marie and Michel.
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 Another nephew of Jean-Louis, Joseph Drouin (son of Louis-Gabriel Drouin and Josephte Verdon) settled with his cousins in Louisiana.  Joseph married Marie Zelonide Hardoin at St Landry's church in Opelousas, La. on 26 May 1812.  His son also named Joseph married Domitille Soileau (15 yrs old) on 2 May 1837, at St Landry's church.  From this union we have Joseph-Fabius who married Jeanne-Alma De Baillon in 1873 , at St Landry's church.

 From Joseph-Fabius and Jeanne-Alma we have Joseph-Louis Rene DeRouen born on 7 Jan 1874 near the city of Platte, Louisiana.  He graduated in 1892 from Holy Cross College in New Orleans, married Christina Currie.  He became a businessman, banker and gentleman farmer.  He was elected six time as district seven representative and as congressman from the 70th to 76th congress.  Many of his descendants are still in the area.

Your Editor
Ray Drouin
22 Sept 99
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INDEX

Francois (Frank) Drouin (1829-1924)

 Born at Ste Marie de Beauce, Francois married Marguerite Turmel in Ste Marie on 26 October 1852.  Francois was the eight generations in Canada.  A direct descendant of Robert Drouin through his first son, Nicolas.  His line is a follow:
Robert/Marie Chapelier; Nicolas/Marie Loignon(1674); Pierre/Louise Letourneau(1704); Pierre/Madelaine Dublois(1734); Amable/Marie Perreault(1771); Louis/Genevieve Grenier (1798); Pierre/Cecile Perreault (1826) and Francois (Frank)/Marguerite Turmel (1852).  The last three generation, Louis, Pierre and Francois married at Ste Marie de Beauce.  Louis and Genevieve Grenier who married in 1798 must have been some of the first settler in the Beauce area.
What we know about Francois in Michigan has been passed on to us by Ms. Cindy A. Hegenaurer  a great-great granddaughter of Francois.  Francois had at least six children born in Quebec prior to moving to Bay City, Michigan in 1873.  What a move that must have been in those years, trekking to such a distant places.  From all account Francois settled quite nicely in Bay City, and his children and descendants  prospered and became a pillar of the community with involvement in many of the local organizations, churches and volunteer groups.   A salute to an early Michigan settler.

INDEX

Merance Drouin/David Dulac
 

The following family history was passed to me by Sue Bixby who is a direct descendant of Merance Drouin and David Dulac.  I would like to thank her for a very well researched history of a small part taken by her relatives in the civil war.  A small part in which the father and two sons lost their lives.

Merance(Emerence) Drouin was born on 6 June 1808 in the parish of St Francois, Beauceville, Quebec.  She married David Dulac of the same parish on 15 September 1835.  It is obvious from the records that the family moved to Skowhegan, Maine and were well established with a family of as least four sons when the Civil War started in 1861.  Merance was the daughter of Jean Drouin and Francoise Cote.  From Jean and Francoise, her family tree, goes to Michel Drouin/Angelique Provost; Jean Drouin/Francoise Poulin; Etienne Drouin/Catherine Loignon and Robert and Marie Chapelier.  Her sons at the time of the civil war were: Abraham, Hiram, George and Peter.  It is indeed difficult to understand why five men from one family would volunteer to go to war.  This included David Dulac, the father, who must have been  in his 50s at the time.  According the the censuses of that time, he could not speak any english.  How he managed within the Union Army is hard to understand, and may have contributed to his death on the battlefield.  He died near Drewry's Bluff at Bermuda Hundred, VA, on 20 May1864. The family record in this war were, in the space of six weeks, 2 Dulac men died and two more wounded is as follow:
 
 
 
 
 

David Dulac	9th Regt, Coy G, Infantry	Died at Drewry's Bluff, Bermuda Hundred, VA. 20 May 1864
Abraham Dulac	no records
Peter Dulac	3rd Regt, Coy G, Infantry	Battle of Wilderness, VA, 5 May 1864
Hiram Dulac	1st Regt, Coy D, Heavy Artillery	wounded in action 18 Jun 1864, Petersburg, VA.
George Dulac	31st Regt, Coy D, Infantry	wounded in action 17 Jun 1864, Petersburg, VA. (Pension claim states he was wounded in right forearm).

 
 

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Jeannette Lanoue (Drouin) /From St Come de Beauce to Windsor, Ont.

The following information on Jeannette was passed on to me by her through her daugher Jeanne.  Some of this information has been published in a small publication written by Jeannette Lanoue (Drouin) and Published by "Le Centre FORA of Sudbury, Ont.   It certainly reflects the many aspect of the life of our French-Canadian ancestors, representing here the female side of our great family, which to often has been left out.  This is dedicated to them.
Jeannette was the daughter of Rose-Anna Dumas and Thomas Drouin, and came from a family of 22 children.
Jeannette indicates that having been born in St Come de Beauce, where her father worked as a saw mechanic, she did not attend school on a regular basis, but about two months a year.  At age ten she went to work for a farmer in the area, for $1.00 per month.  At age 12, the family moved to Magog, Quebec where her father got work in a textile factory.  At age 14, she also went to work for Dominion Textiles for $12.00 for two weeks work, where she stayed on for two years.
On 2 June 1934 she married David Ledoux.  She was 19 and he 24.  She lived in Magog with her husband for seven years.  During the second world war, they moved to Windsor, Ont.  Where eventually they build a home on Buckingham street.  Her husband due to ill health could not hold on to factory job, so ended up as a taxi driver.  To make end meets, Jeannette got work as a  cook at the HI HO restaurant on Tecumseh highway, making ten dollar a week.  During this time she slowly learn to speak English.  On 17 Jan 1951 her husband David died at age 42.  In 1952 at the age of 38 she married Polydore Lanoue, a local lawyer and  a widower with two daughters.  With him she had four daughters.  Today she is the proud grandmother of sixteen grandchildren.   Jeannette had difficulty with writing and reading.  She attended the Windsor area "Centre d'alphabetisation" and through many hundred of hours of work, in 1994 completed a short story of her life, published as indicated above.  Homage a une bonne mere and grandmere Canadienne-Francaise.
For those who would like a copy of Jeannette Lanoue's book, it can be purchased at the cost of C$3.00 (plus shipment and taxes where applicable)  by ordering directly through Centre FORA.

The Drouin/Darowin/Darwin of Minnesota/Alaska

    This Branch of Drouin are descendants of Etienne and Catherine Loignon.  From Etienne's son Jean-Bte married to Francoise Poulin.  The line moved to Ontario and then on to Minnesota with Joseph Francis Derouin/Drouin where he died at St Paul, Ramsey Co., in 1952.  The line has been put together by is gg-grandson Gary Darwin of Palmer, Alaska.  Gary's web page on his family can be seen at: http://www.mtaonline.net/~gpdarwin/
 

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