Introduction

First, please allow me to set the record straight! My abilities...or lack thereof...with the French language leave a bit to be desired! Je ne parle pas francais trés bon.
...I have a cousin on the Desjardins side of the family in Lewiston. He is one I've always "bonded" with in my mind, althought he dosen't know that. One day sometime about 1990 or so, he gave me a tongue lashing. The gist of the "scolding" all had to do with "this younger generation" (that would be me) not learning and continuing the use of the French language ... and, how it was such a shame to lose this tradition!!  
... I agree AND, I took that short "sermon" to heart and although I certainly am NOT fluent, I can understand (with effort) most of what I read and a little bit of what I hear. I find that it is my verbal reply that is most difficult. I continue to learn, but without using the language daily or having someone to speak with, like almost anything else, one loses a lot.
... So for my "inability," I apologize to those that truly do care .... and especially to my cousin to whom tradition and family truly have meaning.
...As I continue my research into this Lachance family, I am confronted with many things French including web pages, information, and email. While I admit it is difficult...thanks to you "Pierre"...you should pardon me for not addressing you in a more familial form...but this is, after all, a web page...I AM ABLE to make some sense of it all!! So now, on with the Lachances!

The Lachance heritage is sprinkled with many stories from many people along the way. One thing we know IS certain is that a great number of the Lachances alive today most likely derive from the stock of Andre Pépin, a merchant (b about 1605) and his wife, Jeanne Chevalier of Le Havre, Normandy, France.   Their son Antoine Pépin dit Lachance,( born about 1636) arrived in Québec between 1651 and 1652 where he married Marie Testé (daughter of Jean Testu and Jeanne Talonneau) in 1659 is the original North American resident from which so many of us are descended.
Together they lived in L'Île d'Orléans, a small, picturesque island in the middle of the St. Lawrence River in Québec.

The Pépin dit Lachance, some of whom, over time, dropped the name Pépin in favor of Lachance, left their roots on the island in large numbers and ventured further into Québec and the surrounding areas where today they may be counted by the thousands. Others even went farther and for those of us in the US, may be counted among those who left.

While I haven't found a lot of information about Antoine, we do know that he became involved in one of the first lawsuits in Canada. For more on that story, see The Story Of Jacques Billaudeau from Fred Warren's Genealogy Site.

1) Jean Pépin dit Lachance, (A son of Antoine and Marie Testé) married first, Renee Guyon on October 25, 1688. He married a second time on October 30, 1703 to Marie-Madeleine Fontaine, at (St-Jean-Baptiste) St-Jean, Île d'Orleans, Québec, Canada.

2) They had a son Gervais born, October 30, 1714. Gervais married Marie-Angelique Blouin dit Laviolette October 21, 1743 at Saint-Jean, Île d'Orléans.

3) The son of Gervais and Marie-Angelique another Gervais Pépin dit Lachance married Marie-Anne Hebert-Lecomte.

4) Yet another Gervais is born and he marries Marie-Angele Thibierge on April 23, 1804.

5) Gervais and Marie-Angele have a son, Alexis, (ahhhhhhh, not a Gervais) who marries Marguerite Talbot August 07, 1832 at Saint-Gervais, Québec, Canada.

6) The next generation is Joseph Lachance who married Marie-Zoé Beaudoin at Saint-Evariste-de-Forsyth, Québec, Canada, January 28, 1856. Joseph and Marie-Zoé had 15 children.

7) It was their son, also a Joseph, who married Malvina D'Aoust on November 4th 1889 at Escanaba, Michigan. These two would be my great-granparents.

I continue to find information about my Great-Grandfather and as time goes on will add it to this site. For now, I will have to wait. What I do know is that Joseph married Malvina D'Aoust November 04, 1889 at Escanaba, Michigan. Joseph had left St. Evariste to go to Michigan to work on "the railroad" ... I must assume it to be the Grand Trunk however I am not certain of that fact..

Through the different moves made by Joseph and Malvina they managed to have 10 children, one of which was my Grandfather, Antoine Lachance who was born, according to his certificate of birth, June 14, 1905, at St-Adolphe-de-Dudswell, Québec.

St-Adolphe (Dudswell) is a small municipality about an hours drive from St-Evariste - (using an automobile that travels faster than 35 miles per hour). I also know is that his birth was assisted by a midwife. All appearances are the Joseph and Malvina left Escanaba to travel north (perhaps continuing to work on the railroad) and stopped for a couple o years at Dudswell (St-Adolphe), before moving on to St-Evariste.

Antoine ( He was always Tony ) ended up immigrating to the US, through Island Pond, Vermont (by rail) and then on to Lewiston. The Grand Trunk railroad came out of Canada, through Island Pond and before getting to Portland, ME, there was a spur to Lewiston. Perhaps this is the rout that Tony travelled.

8) On November 12, 1923, in Lewiston, ME, Antoine married Marie Oneida Desjardins, daughter of Wilfred R. Desjardins and Marie-Clara Simard. Marie Oneida (it was spelled Onida on her birth certificate) was born December 14, 1904 in a house owned by Dr. Martel in Lewiston, ME. I am notquite sure how it happened but she her name became Valdora and she kept that name all of her life..

Together, they had one son, Wilfred Joseph Bernard Lachance (father of Paul and Larry Lachance - my brother and me). Antoine (Tony) died July 27, 1970. His obituary follows:

Antoine Lachance BRUNSWICK - Antoine Lachance, 65, of 23 Jordan Ave., died Monday at a local hospital after a few months illness. He was born at St. Adolphe, Que., June 14, 1905, the son of Joseph and Malvina D'aoust Lachance. As a young man he moved to Lewiston, coming here to make his home in the early 1930's. Mr. Lachance had been employed as a bookkeeper at the Vaillancourt Body Shop and had also worked as a bookkeeper for the Caron Body Shop. Earlier work was in the textile industry, and during World War II he worked at the Bath Iron Works. He was a former member of the Brunswick Lodge of Elks. He wife, Clarisse Bernier Lachance, died in 1965. Surviving are a son, Wilfred B. of Hohokus, N.J.; two sisters, Mrs. Marie Paquette of Brunswick and Miss Clara Lachance, Lewiston; a brother, Herve, Brunswick; two grandsons and two great-grandchildren. Funeral services will be held at 9 a.m. Thursday from St. John's Church, Interment will be in St. John's Cemetery. Friends may call at Demers Funeral Home Wednesday afternoon and evening.

Valdora (Marie Odina) Desjardins Lachance, also remarried. She passed away on May 4, 1999. I was very close to her and her passing has taken its toll. By creating a page, in remberence, I have done what I can to immortalize her name, and her life. You may visit this page by clicking on her name above, or HERE.

9) Wilfred Joesph Bernard Lachance (our father) married Anna Elizabeth Bussell, daughter of May Eleanor Eshleman and Richard Harold Bussell. From there, as they say, the rest is history.

As far as I can tell...(of this particular line of Lachance's)...this is the first...

Lachance Family Home Page.
The Lachance family pictured on the left is of my Great Grandparents, Joseph and Malvina (nee D'Aoust) Lachance (seated in the middle) and nine of their ten children.

Back Row:
Anne-Marie, Exilia, Henri, Eva, Joseph-Hervey, Marie-Clara
Front Row:
Antoine my Grandfather, Maria, Joseph, Malvina, Josaphat

From the Lachances pictured above, I have managed to locate all of the descendents except Josaphat. Josephat, as far as I can determine, rode the rails from Maine to wherever the rails went in the 1930's and 40's, and hasn't been heard from since. Adolphe is missing from the picture above as he had already died. All of the others are accounted for yet a lot of information is either incomplete or just plain missing.

As an aside, that would be an accomplishment considering the number of divorces and remarriages that I've come across in the Lachance line.