As I said in the Overview, I have structured the Tree so that I am Generation 1.  I did this because that is how Ancestry keeps track, and with over 3000 names on my Tree, I need all the help I can get tracking who is who.  Now here is the tricky part…..we can keep adding generations backwards and forwards;  as the Tree stands right now I can go back 10 generations.  That’s 10 generations to me. BUT to go forward, you just add each generation to the total.  Got It?  The “oldest” names on the Tree are JOSEPH MORIN 1545-1616 and his wife         ? COLLINEAU DE MONTAGUERRE 1545-1640.  To me, they are my 10th great grandparents.  To my siblings children ie Emily and Hilary for example, they are their 11th great grandparents.  To Emily and Hilary’s children, Noah, Matthew, Oliver and Isabelle,- Joseph Morin and wife are their 12th great grandparents.  Easy, right?

When I researched back that far the information was scanty other than birth, marriages, off spring and death.  So here is a list of the earliest generation that I have found…..

JOSEPH MORIN 1545 1616  married  ? COLLINEAU de MONTAGUERRE 1545 -1640  gen 10

JOSEPH MORIN 1569 – 1656  married  MARIE ALPHONSINE LACASSE  1564 – 1652  gen 9

CLAUDE MORIN 1591-1640  married  JEANNE MOREAU 1595-1640   gen 8

NOEL MORIN 1616 -1680  married  HELENE DESPORTES 1620-1675  gen7

It is at this point where the ancestors really start getting interesting.  Maybe one day, one of the younger generations will take up the research and find some wonderful tidbits about the earliest generations.

HELENE DESPORTES, my 7th great grandmother had two husbands, 15 children and 75 grandchildren!  I wonder if she could remember all of their names?  HELENE was the first child born to French settlers in New France (Quebec).  Think about that for a minute…. the very first child to be born in Quebec was our ancestor!!!

Her first husband GUILLAUME AUGUSTINE HEBERT 1575 – 1627  fathered 3 children with HELENE. Joseph  Hebert 1636-1662 died at the age of 25, Francoise Hebert 1637-1716, and Angelique Hebert 1639-1666 died at the age of 27.

Guillaume’s father,  Dr. Louis Gaston Hebert, 1575 – 1627 was born in Paris, and married his wife MARIE ROLLETT 1577-1649, in the year 1601. The Hebert family immigrated to New France with  Samuel de Champlain on his voyage in 1617.  Dr. Hebert would have been greatly appreciated on this voyage as he was a leading Apothecary of his time.

I’ll back up just a moment here to tell you about the first voyage of Champlain on April 13, 1608.  He and his crew departed from Honfleur, France with the intention of establishing a permanent settlement in New France.   After a voyage of 2 months, on June 3, he dropped anchor at the seasonal trading post of Tadoussac, established by French merchants at the mouth of the St. Lawrence River in 1600. From there he travelled west.  For the site of the settlement, Champlain chose a flat area at a a narrow point along the St. Lawrence River where it is joined by the St. Charles River.  At the water’s edge the land was covered in walnut trees.  The Algonquians had named this area “Kebec” which meant “the narrows”.

 Upon arrival, with the Hebert family in 1617, there was only one structure standing, the “Habitation”, that Champlain had built on an earlier visit. Champlain described this land as “fine fertile country”, and he envisioned Quebec as a permanent French settlement in the New World, rather than merely a seasonal trading post.  It was Champlain and Hebert who believed in this dream and set about to make it happen.

Dr. Hebert, a farmer decided he needed better farm land so cleared the land and built his farm on the top of the hill overlooking the Habitation.  So it was that the HEBERTS became the first permanent settlers in New France and earned the title First Family of Quebec!!!  As I mentioned earlier, DR HEBERT was also an Apothecary and is attributed with being the father of pharmacy as we know it today.  His name is on many monuments and plaques in Quebec naming him among the first settlers of Quebec, New France.  There was even a stamp issued in his honour.

To this day there are many tributes to Louis Hebert found in Quebec City.  This is  a restaurant Jessica and I dined at in 2015.

My first two posts featured my mother, Claire Zita Beaupre 1918-1980, then the family sayings.  I thought it was time to introduce more of Claire’s immediate family. This is only part of the Beaupre family.

                Beaupre Family Gathering circa 1933

Back Row Left to Right: Clifford Vincent Tisdale 1911-1998, George Norbert Beaupre 1887-1969, Wallace Joseph Beaupre 1914-2004,    Joseph Melville Beaupre 1919-?,   Edward Vincent Beaupre 1889-1969,    Alfred Moffat Beaupre 1908-1972,   Stanislas John Beaupre 1881-1949,   Lyons Hubert Charles Beaupre 1911-1999

Middle Row left to Right:  Peter Moffat Beaupre 1860-1956      Helen Magdalene Small 1882-1969

Front Row Left to Right: ,  Ethel Marguerite Beaupre Blakey 1894-1994,  Claire Zita Beaupre 1918-1980, Loretta Rose Beaupre Tisdale 1884-1971,   Johanna McDonnell Beaupre 1884-?

Note: Johanna McDonnell Beaupre was married to George Norbert Beaupre

I find the relationships of the people considering the dates they were born, fascinating.  I think it would be helpful to list in chronological order the two families of Peter Moffat Beaupre.

Peter Moffat Beaupre 1860-1956  married Anne Mackey 1857-1897  on Nov. 16 1880          their children:

Stanislas John Beaupre 1881-1949

Mary Esther Beaupre Burns 1883-1922

Loretta Rose Beaupre Tisdale 1884-1971

George Norbert Beaupre 1887-1969

Catharine Francis Beaupre Bowes 1888-1970

Edward Victor Beaupre 1889-1969

Carmel Irene Beaupre McCartney 1892-1957

Ethel Marguerite Beaupre Blakey 1894-1994

Peter Moffat Beaupre 1860  married  Helen Magdalene Small 1882-1969  on Nov. 15, 1901      their children:

Anna Delores Beaupre, Hinton, Greer, Culp 1903-?

Peter Wilfred Beaupre 1905-1985

James Lionel Beaupre 1906-1910

Alfred Moffat Beaupre 1908-1992

Lyons Hubert Charles Beaupre 1911-1999

Wallace Joseph Beaupre 1914-2004

Claire Zita Beaupre Keane 1918-1980

If you look at the picture above and find Clifford Tisdale and Joseph Melville Beaupre, you will notice they were born before Claire, and yet she is their Aunt, because they are the children of her siblings.  It gets better…… if you notice the birth year of Stanislas John Beaupre at 1881, you will see he is one year older than his new stepmother, Helen Magdalene Small Beaupre who was born in 1882.  In fact, when Helen married Peter Moffat, PM, she took on the role of “stepmother” when she was 19, and the “children” ranged in age from 20 to 7 years old!!!!

It can be very complex when trying to keep track of who is who and how are they related to each other.  If you have any questions, or if you notice any errors, please do not hesitate to contact me.  I love talking about our family.