Week 23 of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge is So Many Descendants. One of my most prolific ancestors was my 3rd great-grandfather, Lazare Laviolette, Sr. (1811-1884). Lazare was a farmer from Carleton, Quebec, and the father of a whopping twenty children. Even by French-Canadian standards in the 1800s, that was a lot of kids!
Lazare married twice. His first wife was Julie LeBlanc, and they married in 1838 when she was in her early 20s. She died in 1844, likely due to complications from childbirth. Together, they had six children. Their eldest, Marie-Gilette, was born in 1838. Nothing further is known about her. Their second child, Urbain, was born in 1839 and lived until 1920. He married, had at least five children, and was a farmer. Charles was born in 1841. He resettled at least for a time in New Brunswick where he married and had a few children. He may have worked as a saddle-maker. Emilie was born in 1842, and she appeared with the family on the 1861 Canada Census. Nothing further is known about her. Their final children, twins Nicolas and Jean were born in 1844. Jean died shortly after birth, and Nicolas lived for several months. Their mother, Julie, died shortly after their birth.
Lazare married my third great-grandmother, Emelie Simard, in 1848, and had fourteen children with her. I know a bit more about their children than I do about those with his first wife.
Their first child was an unnamed stillbirth in 1849.
Marie-Louise was born in 1851, and married Theophile Nadeau in 1895 when she was 44. Theophile was her uncle by marriage, as he was previously married to her aunt, Virginie Laviolette. To the best of my knowledge, they had no children together, though Theophile had at least one daughter with Virginie. Marie-Louise was still living in 1931 when she was listed on the Canada Census in her brother Joseph’s household.
Their third child was my 2nd great-grandfather, Lazare “Ben” Jr. He was born in 1852 and spent most of his life working in textile mills. He married Marie Louise St. Andre and together they had ten children, though only four lived to adulthood. He seemed to travel around quite a bit looking for work, but he settled for almost 20 years in Westbrook, Maine before moving back to Canada. He died in 1925.
The 4th child, Anne “Annabelle” Laviolette is one of our family’s most colorful characters. She married at least three times, and rumor has it that she followed the railroad as a can-can dancer. Annie lived in Gorham, Maine, Portland, Maine, and Salem, Massachusetts. She had at least one child by her first husband and two by her second. Annie went by a couple of aliases, and went to court several times for possession of alcohol. She died in 1946 in Portland, Maine at the home of her daughter, Margaret Webber.
Antoine was born in 1855. He died young, and wasn’t listed on the 1861 Canada Census with his family.
The 6th child, Honore, was born in 1856. He settled in New Brunswick and worked as a laborer, though he may have worked for the railroad at one point, according to family lore. He married Rose Anne Hache and had 2 daughters and a son. He was especially close to his younger brother, Joseph. Honore died in 1935.
Simon was born in 1857, and like Antoine, died young.
My other 2nd great-grandfather, Adam, was born in 1858. He worked for the railroad as a foreman, and settled in Westbrook, Maine where he married Georgianna Duchesene in 1893. They had five sons, three of whom survived to adulthood. He died from liver cancer on May 15, 1901, on the same day his youngest son was born.
Nicolas, a farmer, was born in 1859 and died in 1881. To my knowledge, he never married or had children.
Joseph was born in 1861. Like his favorite brother, Honore, he settled in New Brunswick where he married Elizabeth Hache, the sister of Honore’s wife. They had one son in 1895. Joseph worked at various times as a laborer and farmer. He was still living in 1931, as he’s found on the Canada Census, but may have died by 1934, because his son is listed as the informant on Elizabeth’s death certificate.
Zoel was born in 1863. He married Marie Blain and together they had eight children. He worked as a carpenter and lived most of his life in Montreal. He was married for more than sixty years and lived a long, happy life. My grandparents met at his funeral in 1947.
Albert was born in 1865. He married Zelda Gallant and they lived in Vancouver. I have no further information about him, and this bit of information is from family lore and unproven.
Theophile was born in 1866. I wrote about him here. He probably died as a young man in a factory accident, though I haven’t been able to prove it. The story is based on family lore.
The youngest Laviolette was Abraham, born in 1868. Like several of his brothers, he settled in New Brunswick. He married Catherine Landry in 1890 and had two sons and two daughters. Abraham worked as a carpenter like Zoel, and died from cancer in 1928.
Lazare Laviolette had at least forty-two grandchildren. There were probably more. There are likely hundreds of descendants of Lazare Laviolette living today.
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