Our genealogical dictionaries

These two new dictionaries retrace the descendants of Laurent, Jean and Pierre Levasseur, three ancestors who settled in New France in the XVII century. These dictionaries are the fruit of many years of research. Due to the availability of new directories and new computer science tools we were able to continue and complete the compilation of the Levasseur families that had been undertaken by Jean-Charles Henri Levasseur of Portland, Oregon USA and of Vincent Levasseur of Ottawa.

In these books, you will find the marriages and a large number of births, baptisms, death and burials of Levasseurs from the provinces of Québec, New-Brunswick, Ontario and the United States of America. The information sources are noted in many cases. Each volume has is own index.

Historical compilation of the dictionaries

These dictionaries are the fruits of many years of research. It can be said that three generations of genealogists worked on them.

First generation

Henri-Charles LevasseurThe first genealogist was Jean-Charles-Henri Levasseur (1892-1968), an American from Portland, Oregon. Jean-Charles spent at least twenty years of his life consulting the Canadian and US censuses, and writing to many priests to obtain indexes of birth, death and marriage notices for Levasseurs. He also regularly corresponded with Archange Godbout, a great genealogist from Québec. Godbout did some research in France from 1940-1950 to trace our ancestors. You will find the genealogist dictionary of Jean-Charles-Henri Levasseur, as well as his correspondence with Archange Godbout in the Godbout Trust, available at the Quebec National Archives. The Levasseur Association has a photocopy.

Second generation

Vincent LevasseurIn the 1980’s, Vincent Levasseur (1923-2005) started to do a compilation of all the Levasseurs in North America. He created a database containing more than 100,000 names, made available to all the members of the Association via the internet. Vincent communicated with hundreds of Levasseurs by mail, telephone or e-mail. While on vacation, he would go on camping trips with his family in different regions of Quebec, New-Brunswick, Ontario and Maine to find information for his database and talk about the Levasseur Association to Levasseurs in those regions. Vincent did not find the work of Jean-Charles-Henri Levasseur until 1987, after his research was well underway. He integrated Jean-Charles’ research with the database. In addition to Vincent’s research, many other people provided him with much assistance. Of particular help were his brother Jean-Marie Levasseur, and Adrien Levasseur* plus, all of the families who provided important information. In 1992, Vincent Levasseur published two genealogist’s dictionaries. While those volumes are no longer available in print, Vincent did pass on his database to the Levasseur Association of America.

Third generation

Recently, a few members of the Association decided to publish an updated dictionary of the Levasseur’s genealogy. Joceline Levasseur, Huguette Levasseur and Gilles Carmel have formed a team that is currently working on the publication of the new dictionary. For the last five years, this team has revised information concerning Levasseurs, and their spouses and children. They have also added previously missing information, as well as the references consulted. Their research has been facilitated with the use of new research tools, which are becoming more readily accessible.

In Quebec, the principle references consulted are:

  • PRDH for the period from 1630-1799
  • Church records 1800-1940
  • Indexes of Birth, death and marriage notices extracted from Church records
  • BMS 2000
  • ISQ marriages and ISQ deaths 1926-1996
  • Obituaries
  • The families

For New-Brunswick, the references consulted are:

  • Church records: 1792-1992
  • Indexes of Birth, death and marriage notices extracted from Church records
  • The families

Finally, for the United States and Ontario, the references consulted are:

  • Indexes of Birth, death and marriage notices extracted from Church records
  • A few Church records
  • Obituaries
  • The families

We would like to thank all the families that provided us with information concerning births, marriages and death notices of their loved ones.  Your collaboration is essential, as it is often very difficult for us to find such information.

The Dictionaries of the descendents of Laurent Levasseur and the Dictionary of the descendents of Jean and Pierre Levasseur will be published in 2008.

*Adrien Levasseur published the “Dictionnaire des familles Levasseur” in 1988