MARRIAGES OF THE CHILDREN OF WATERVILLE's
FRENCH-CANADIAN FAMILIES OF 1840
 by Robert E. Chenard
PART 1
name of FATHER & mother
child's given name
date married
spouce(s)
town/place married
Joseph BOUCHER & Delphine Rancourt
Joseph, Jr.
1847
Domitille "Abbie"  Mathieu
Waterville
Urbain
1m. 17 May 1851
2m. 07 Feb 1895
Anatolie "Sarah" Poulin
M.-Zoé Quirion
Waterville(St.John)
Waterville(SFS)
George-H.
1m. 24 Dec 1853
rev. 01 May 1864
2m. 01 Jan 1891
M.-Allarie Boucher
"
Sylvie Dostie
Augusta(JOP)
Augusta(St.Mary)
Waterville(SFS)
Marie-F.
01 May 1864
Zéphirin-W. "Phero" Boucher
Augusta(St.Mary)
Olivier
1m. 16 Apr 1866
2m. 21 Feb 1898
Clothilde Lachance
Sophie Gousse
Waterville(St.John)
Waterville(SFS)
Olive-Lizzie
18 Dec 1866
Léger Lessard
Waterville(St.John)
David DOSTIE & Marguerite Bariault
Pauline "Polly"
20 Jan 1845
François Grenier "Frank  Greene"
Waterville(1st Univ.)
Euphémie "Fannie"
22 Jun 1846
Louis Marcia (Mercier)
Waterville(1st Univ.)
Peter
04 Jul 1862
M.-Henriette Lacombe
Winslow
Marie
12 Jun 1853
Michel Mercier
Waterville(St.John)
Angéline-M.
20 Aug 1860
Frédéric "Peter" Veilleux
Waterville(St.John)
Clotilde
10 Aug 1867
Romain "Raymond" Côté
Waterville(St.John)
Vital
04 Nov 1872
Angèle Roy
Waterville(St.John)
Michel
1m. 01 Feb 1875
2m. __ Sep 1883
Philomène Gousse
Véronique Claire (Auclair)
Waterville(SFS)
Waterville(SFS)
Michel DESROCHERS & Mathilde Saucier
Ovide
circa 1859
Susan Gagné
Orono
Charles-W.
18__
Jennie _______
Maine
Henriette
int. 27 Aug 1855
Olivier "Levi" Rodrigue
Skowhegan
Caroline
01 Jan 1862
Frank Beaudoin
Orono
James
18 Jun 1866
Sophie Lessard
Old Town(St.Jos.)
Louis
30 Nov 1872
Nellie Conley
Orono
Laura-Mathilda
187_
Frs.-Benjamin Michaud
?
Henry
06 Nov 1880
Jenny Perry
Orono
Pierre DESROCHERS & Adélaide Call/Cole
Nathalie "Tyla"
1850
Frank Cole
Waterville
Peter, Jr. 
03 Mar 1853
Rachel-A. Hubbard
Waterville
Charles
19 Aug 1861
Philomène L'Heureux "Lucie Laurence"
Waterville
Olivier-Joachim  LACHANCE & M.-Hélène Poulin
Olivier "Levi"
1854
Sophie Lessard
Waterville
Sylvain LACHANCE & Marcelline Poulin
Clothilde "Clara"
16 Apr 1866
Olivier Boucher
Waterville(St.John)
Vital
1m. 28 Nov 1867
2m. 18 Aug 1873
Célestine Roy "Sara King"
Apolline Poulin
Waterville(St.John)
Waterville(St.John)
Delvina "Lovina"
24 Apr 1868
Charles Boucher
Waterville
Jean-Pascal
1m. 10 Aug 1860
2m. 20 Jan 1873
Marie (-Emma) Poulin
Lucie Poulin
Waterville
Waterville(St.John)
Mary-E.
06 Jan 1874
Christopher-C. Coro (Caron)
Waterville(JOP)
André LACOMBE & M.-Josette Roy
Frédéric
15 Jan 1833
Sylvie/Flavie Gagné
Beauceville(St.Frs.)
Adélaïde
08 Oct 1833
François Latulippe
Beauceville(St.Frs.)
Georges-Frs.
18 Nov 1834
Adélaïde Thibodeau
(Georges & Adélaïde were one of the first 
French-Canadian families to settle in Winslow  - 1846)
Beauceville(St.Frs.)
Sophie
27 Oct 1838
rev. 12 Jan 1841
Henri-Jean Poulin "John Pooler"
Skowhegan(civil)
Beauceville(St.Frs.)
Charles
05 May 1855
Marie Gagné
Waterville(St.John)
Damase "Thomas"
1m. 25 Apr 1857
2m. 24 Nov 1860
Apolline Lessard
Adèle Bolduc
Waterville(St.John)
Waterville(St.John)
 François LESSARD & Catherine Giroux
 Léger
 1m. 12 Jan 1841
2m. 18 Dec 1865
Lucie Poulin
Sophie Poulin (widow of François Giroux)
 Beauceville(St.Frs.)
Waterville(St.John)
 Marie
 21 Aug 1836
rev. 12 Jan 1841
 François-Xavier "Ephraim" Poulin
Skowhegan(JOP) 
Beauceville(St.Frs.)
 Anastasie
 12 Jan 1841
 Anselme Veilleux
 Beauceville(St.Frs.)
 François
 1m. 04 Feb 1849
2m. circa 1859
3m. 22 Aug 1892
 Rosalie Boulette
Césarie Quirion
Sophie Veilleux
Waterville
Waterville
Waterville(SFS)
 Jean-Baptiste MATHIEU & M.-Sara Dostie
 Antoine-Moïse
 1m. 07 Aug 1832
2m. 21 Apr 1844
 Basilisse Rancourt
Sophie Lachance
 Beauceville(St.Frs.)
Waterville
 M.-Lucie-Divine
12 May 1835
rev. 24 Aug 1841
 Jacques "James" Paré
 Waterville(JOP)
St.Georges, Beauce
 Anathalie-M. "Sarah"
 07 Feb 1836
 Abraham Rancourt
 Waterville(RC)
 Jean-Baptiste, Jr.
22 Sep 1844
rev. 01 Apr 1845
 Théotiste "Sara" Rancourt
Waterville(JOP) 
Waterville(RC)
 Vital "Vede"
 11 Aug 1846
 M.-Esther Rancourt
 Waterville(1st Univ.)
 Clotilde
 08 Feb 1848
 George Reynolds (Reny)
 Waterville(1st Univ.)
 Marie
 21 May 1849
 Pierre-Elzéar Reny
 Waterville(RC)
 Damase "Thomas"
12 Jun 1853 
 Apolline "Lena" Veilleux
 Waterville(St.John)
 Jacques PARÉ & M.-Lucie Mathieu
 Lucie
 25 Apr 1860
 Alexandre Dostie
 Waterville(St.John)
 George-F.
 29 Mar 1864
 M.-Joséphine Poulin
 Skowhegan
 Charles
 1m. 27 Apr 1867
2m. 05 Jul 1893
Célia "Cécile" Blais
Abbie-E. White
Waterville(St.John) 
Waterville
 Clotilde
 before 1873
Damase Rousseau "Thomas Brooks" 
 Maine
 Joseph
 29 Jan 1877
 Célanire Gagné
Waterville(SFS)
 Louis
06 Sep 1891 
 Élise "Alice" Cressac [dit Toulouse]
Waterville(SFS) 
 Gaspard POULIN & M.-Hermine Poulin
 Sophie
 circa 1855
Vital Lachance 
 Waterville(St.John)
 Marie
int. 12 Jul 1856
Joseph Gagné
 Waterville
 Divine "Sarah"
 09 Dec 1860
 Frédéric Poulin
 Waterville(St.John)
 George
 26 Jan 1866
Céline Gagné
 Waterville(St.John)
 Jos.-Gaspard
 21 Feb 1870
Marie Lessard
 Waterville(St.John)
 Charles-G.
 circa 1880
 Emma !_____
 ?
 Jean-G.
1m. 21 Feb 1870
2m. 1885
Marie-Rose Poulin 
Marie Soucy
Waterville(St.John)
Old Town ! 
PART 2 (continued further down)

IDENTIFYING THE EARLY FRENCH-CANADIAN IMMIGRANTS
- A mosaic approach to genealogy -
(based on multiple indirect/circumstantial evidence)

 Around 1989 when I started this research of trying to identify who the first French-Canadian families of Waterville (and surrounding communities) were, I began with the earliest marriage records I could find in three published volumes: "The French-Canadian Community of Waterville, Maine" by Albert C. Fecteau (1951), "St. Francis de Sales 1865-1979" parish marriage records by Rev. Youville Labonte, and "Vital Records of Waterville, Maine to 1892" by Sara Drummond Lanz (1949). None of these records or volumes gave the names of the parents of the brides and the grooms. It wasn't until 1892 that the State Legislature required each town record such information (including birth and death records). I collected any and all information that might be helpful in identifying exactly who the early French-Canadian immigrants were and from where they originated. One useful source was the pre-1892 microfilm records of the town of Waterville despite the fact that nearly all of the French surnames were either badly misspelled or Anglicized. Another very useful and indispensable source was the US Census records (from 1840 and every ten years up to 1910). With the help of the baptismal records of St.Francis/St.John parishes it was possible to identify many of the families in the early censuses and trace them from decade to decade and even from town to town. A copy of Waterville's 1890 census had miraculously survived at the Waterville Public Library and it was retyped and published around 1993 by the local Taconnet Genealogy Club. I also discovered that I needed information from the US Census records (1840-1900) of nearly all the surrounding communities from Augusta to The Forks and Farmington to Dexter. This required hundreds of hours of painstaking work copying by hand selected census records from the microfilms at the Colby Library. Other records that proved useful were the gravestone records at the three local cemeteries: Pine Grove (1851), Halde (1872), and St.Francis (1898). The death records of 1892 and up from the State's Vital Records on microfilm were often helpful in identifying many of the early families. Another very useful source of information was the volume on St. François de Beauce (Beauceville) listing births, marriages, and deaths (1765-1850) all organized alphabetically by family. As I suspected early in this project, most of the first French-Canadian immigrants to the Kennebec Valley (Augusta to Skowhegan) were from the town of St. François (commonly known as Beauceville) and the nearby towns of St.Georges, St.Joseph, and Ste.Marie. The early 1850's records of baptisms and marriages in the little book of Father John Bapst of Bangor (presently in the rectory of St.John parish of Bangor) and the baptismal records of Father Moïse Fortier of St. Georges helped in positively identifying several of the early families. The marriage records of Beauce, Dorchester, and Frontenac counties were also indispensable. Other useful records were the names of Godparents for the baptisms at St. Francis de Sales parish (and the earlier parish of St.John). Godparents were typically aunts or uncles or grandparents of the infants. The Civil War records were also found to be useful in identifying a few of these early individuals. Finally, many of the early issues of the Waterville Mail (a weekly newspaper) at the Redington Museum were checked for information but did not prove helpful. Like a detective collecting evidence, a little piece here - another piece there - and sooner or later some of the pieces began to fit together much like a mosaic. After about six years of research, I was able to identify, with a high degree of confidence, the majority of the earliest French-Canadian families who settled in the Kennebec Valley region.
Before this research was completed, it had been written that the first French-Canadian who settled in Waterville was one Jean-Baptiste Mathieu. However, nowhere was it written just exactly who he was, where (town) he was from, when he was born, nor the name of his wife and of all his children. The same was true for all of these early families - Desrocher, Dostie, Drouin, Lachance, Lacombe, Lessard, Paré, Poulin, Rancourt, Veilleux, etc. With few exceptions, there existed no single record which stated the name of the father and the maiden name of the mother in any of the existing pre-1892  civil or religious marriage records. Only in Quebec was this being done at that time. The lack of such information makes genealogy extremely challenging, time-consuming, and very frustrating when "dead-ended" lines result. Fortunately, most of these early French-Canadian families were relatively large - in other words, they left a lot of tracks (records). That is why genealogists love large families.
There are still a few pre-1890 French-Canadians who came to this area that have not yet been identified. There is still work to be done, but the genealogies of most of the oldest and largest of these early families have now been identified for posterity. These two pages represent the culmination of several years (and many hundreds of hours) of research and are the most valuable records that identify Waterville's earliest Franco-American families.

ABBREVIATIONS
1m., 2m., etc.: 1st marriage, 2nd marriage
1st Univ.: First Universalist Society
int.:  date marriage intentions filed
JOP: Justice of the Peace
ND: Notre Dame
RC: Roman Catholic (unspecified church)
rev. : revalidated/religious ceremony
SFS: St.Francis de Sales
St.Jos.: St.Joseph
!: possible/likely but unproven
?: unknown

MARRIAGES OF THE CHILDREN OF WATERVILLE's
FRENCH-CANADIAN FAMILIES OF 1840
PART 2

name of FATHER & mother
child's given name
date married
spouce(s)
town/place married
 Joseph POULIN & Théotiste Bolduc
Charles-A.
1m. 17 Nov 1845
2m. 20 Apr 1861
Apolline Lachance dit Marcoux
Angéline Caron
Waterville(1st Univ.) 
Waterville
Emilie
28 Jan 1844
François Ferland
 Waterville
Basilice
ca. 1856
George Roy dit King
Newburg, Me.
Godfroid
29 Jun 1861
Zoé "Lavina" Huard
 Waterville
 Jean-Henri "John" POULIN & Sophie LACOMBE
 Angéline-M.
1m. 28 Apr 1864
2m. 30 Mar 1869
Jean-André Boulet
Jean Lessard
 Waterville(St.John)
Waterville(JOP)
 Lucie
 circa 1864
 François-A. Roy dit King
 Waterville or Skowhegan
 Domitille "Abbie" 
 25 Sep 1865
Joseph Lachance 
 Waterville(St.John)
 Louise
 16 Oct 1882
 Joseph Lacombe
Waterville
 Charles-M.
29 Sep 1884 
 Eugénie "Jennie" Voyer
 Lewiston(SPP)
Abraham-J. RANCOURT & Nathalie "Sara" Mathieu
 Caroline-M.
1m. 25 May 1856
2m. 19 Aug 1871
Olivier Veilleux
Alexis Lafontaine
Waterville(St.John)
Waterville(JOP)
 Anathalie "Sara" 
 02 Sep 1856
 François "Frank" Hébert
Waterville(St.John)
 Moïse "Moses"
 11 Mar 1865
 Rosalie Clair (Leclerc)
 Waterville(St.John)
 Georges
 24 Feb 1866
 Philomène "Lavina" Fortin
Greenville(JOP) 
 Sophie
 09 Jul 1870
 Narcisse "Maddison"  Lessard
 Waterville(St.John)
 Hélène
23 Jan 1874
rev. 23 Dec 1874
Charles Reny 
 Waterville(JOP)
St.Georges, Beauce
 Florence
 14 Jun 1875
Joseph St-Pierre 
 Waterville(SFS)
 Jean-A.
07 Nov 1882 
 Lucie Boucher
Waterville(SFS) 
Bernard RANCOURT & M.-Ursule Caron
 Marie
28 May 1853 
 Joseph Perreon (Quirion)
Waterville
 Basilisse-M.
 28 May 1854
 Augustin-J.  Jenness (Quirion)
 Waterville
 François-B. "Frank"
 1m. 30 Sep 1856
2m. 03 Mar 1865
3m.  08 Dec 1872
 Marie-Lucie Gagné
Sarah-Jane Savage
Rosalie Lessard
Waterville
Augusta(JOP) 
Waterville(JOP)
 Joseph-B.
 21 Oct 1861
rev. 08 Feb 1866
 Marie Burgess (Bolduc)
 Waterville(JOP)
Waterville(St.John)
 M.-Ursule
d. 17 Apr 1927 Allston, MA age 83
 int. 30 Mar 1864
 Pierre Brouillard "Peter Preo"
 Waterville
 Abraham-J.
 03 Jun 1865
 Josephine Brackett
Waterville(JOP)
 Antoine
 1m. 23 Oct 1870
2m. 29 Sep 1900
 M.-Emilie "Alice" Roy
Amanda  Grenier
Waterville(SFS)
Waterville(SFS)
 Sophie
24 Apr 1871 
 Charles Giroux
Waterville(St.John) 
 Joseph-Ignace RANCOURT & M.-Archange Gilbert
 Louis
 Fall 1860
Célina Dyer (Doyon) 
 Waterville area
 Pierre
 30 Jul 1866
 Amanda "Pheobe" Dulac
Waterville(St.John) 
 André !
 before 1889
 Éva  _________
Waterville area !
 Mary-E. !
circa 1857 
 Joseph Vachon
Waterville area ! 
 Anselme "Jean" TOULOUSE & Anathalie Veilleux
 Angèle !
 circa 1848
 Louis Morin
Waterville ! 
 Anastasie "Esther"
 02 Jul 1849
 Louis Dyer (Doyon)
Waterville
 Joseph
 08 Jun 1857
 Flavie L'Heureux
 Waterville(St.John)
 Isidore
 25 Oct 1857
 Philomène Roy
 Waterville(St.John)
 George
11 Jul 1858 
M.-Aurélie Latulippe 
 Waterville(St.John)
 Jean
04 Aug 1864 
 Marie Veilleux
 Waterville(St.John)
 Jean LALIBERTE & Modeste Veilleux
 Cécile
 02 Jul 1849
 Pierre Marcoux
 Waterville
 Jos.-Jean "Joseph Bow"
 int. 29 Jun 1851
rev. __ 1853
Anathalie Lachance 
 Waterville
Waterville(St.John)
 Elisabeth
 int. 10 Sep 1860
 Jean-Bte. Morissette
Bloomfield 
 Modeste
 10 Sep 1864
 François Moreau
 Waterville(St.John)
 Angèle
 10 Apr 1864
David Rancourt 
 Waterville(St.John)
 Joseph MORIN & Marie-Rose Veilleux
 Anatolie
31 Jul 1877 
 Joseph Lachance
Waterville(Prot.) 
 Georges-François LACOMBE & Adélaïde Thibodeau
 Adélaïde
 int. 05 Jan 1851
Joseph Donna (Denis) 
 Winslow
 Henriette
 int. 19 Jun 1856
 Henry  Simpson (Bureau)
 Winslow 
 Théotiste "Eliza"
 21 Sep 1859
 Stephen-H. Bragg
 Winslow
 Marie
 int. 04 Jul 1862
 Pierre Dostie
 Winslow
 Pélagie
 30 Oct 1870
 Charles-B. Chipman
Waterville(St.John)
 Caroline
 31 Jan 1871
 Joseph Veilleux
 Waterville(St.John) 
 Charles-H.
 __ Jun 1880
 Mary-H. Gilbreth
Waterville 
 Joseph-H.
16 Oct 1882 
Marie-Louise Poulin 
Waterville
 George-F./A.
1m. 25 Sep 1882
2m. 21 Nov 1897
3m. 22 Nov 1909
Henriette Marcoux
Mathilda Roberts
Domitille Rancourt 
Waterville(SFS)
Waterville(SFS)
Waterville(SFS)
 Gaspard THIBODEAU & Angèle Bariault
 Henriette
 int. 02 Sep 1856
2m. 26 Jul 1868
Joseph Simpson (Bureau)
Moïse "Moses" Rodrigue
 Winslow
Waterville(St.John)
 Joseph
 1m. 07 Sep 1864
2m.  1893
 Lucy Lachance (b.Wtvl.)
Marie _____ (b.1854 Can.)
 Augusta
Waterville !
 André
 19 Aug 1872
 Lucie Loubier
 Waterville(St.John)
 Olivier VEILLEUX & Modeste Cloutier
 Olivier "Levi"
 25 May 1856
 M.-Caroline Rancourt
 Waterville(St.John)
 Rosalie
 18__
 Peter "Ganue" (Gagné !)
 Winslow !
 Sévère "Savage" 
 30 Jul 1871
 Rebecca-L. Taylor
 Winslow
 Jean-Alfred
 1m. 13 Oct 1872
2m. 19 Oct 1897
 Emily Beatty
Nannie-E. Hall
 Winslow
Newcastle
 Marie
1m. circa 1885
2m. 07 Jul 1912
 Léger "Elzéar" Lessard
William Lachance
 Waterville !
Waterville(ND)
 Louis VEILLEUX & Marie Gagné
 Louis
 24 Oct 1826
Adélaide Quirion 
Beauceville(St.Frs.)
Natalie
06 Feb 1826
Anselme Toulouse
Beauceville(St.Frs.)
M.-Archange
20 Jan 1824
Jean Toulouse 
Beauceville(St.Frs.)
Modeste
12 Jul 1826
Jean Laliberté 
Beauceville(St.Frs.)
Marguerite
12 Jul 1826
Alexis Rodrigue 
Beauceville(St.Frs.)
Flavie (Basilisse)
11 Oct 1831
Stanislas Thibodeau 
Beauceville(St.Frs.)
Marcelline
22 Nov 1842
Louis Lachance "James Lewis"
St.Georges
Julie
01 Dec 1842
Jean Mathieu 
St.Georges
Angèle
08 Dec 1845
Charles-J. Barbeau
Waterville(1st Univ.)
 If anyone has further or more accurate information or finds and can prove errors,
please e-mail me with supporting facts.

       Back to1840 census

1840 WTVL Census
Acadians, The
Anglicized Surnames
Catholic Churches of Maine: (A-L)
Catholic Churches of Maine: (M-Z)
Céline Dion
Chenards of ME & NH
Chenards of No. Am.
Civil War Veterans
Celts, The
Corrections to Dict. Genea. de Madawaska
Corrections to Parish books
Family Associations
Family Reunions
Fr.-Amer. of Maine
Fr.-Can. of WTVL
French Surnames
Genealogy Info.
Genealogy Links
Giroux Genealogy
Given Names
Halde Cemetery
History of WTVL
HOME PAGE
How to Begin
Josée Vachon
King's Daughters
Madonna
Old Canada Road
Old Town Update
Pine Grove Cem.
St.Francis History
St.Francis Update
Towns of ORIGIN
Town Records
Pre-1892
Useful misc. links