Our genealogy researchers and historians
Ancestors: Laurent Levasseur and Marie Marchand
Born on March 19, 1923, in Hull, Quebec, Vincent Levasseur was baptized in the parish of Notre-Dame de Hull. He was the eldest of a family of four children, consisting of one brother and two sisters.
At the age of 14, he left his family home to begin his studies at the Brothers of the Christian Schools seminary. However, in 1940, at the age of 17, he decided to leave the seminary and return home. The world was then engulfed in the Second World War and, because of conscription, he was required to register with the Canadian Armed Forces.
He received his basic military training in Saint-Jérôme and later served at Camp Valcartier with the Fusiliers Mont-Royal Regiment. Fate, however, decreed that he would spend the war years preparing equipment destined for soldiers being sent overseas, without ever being deployed to the front himself.
At the end of the war, in 1945, Vincent was deeply affected by the death of his father. Shortly after returning to Hull, he was informed that his military services were no longer required. That same year, he met Murielle, whom he married in 1947. The couple settled in Navan, about twenty kilometres from Ottawa, where they raised their family and had three children: Jean, Pierre, and Diane.
Thanks to the benefits granted to veterans, Vincent had the opportunity to learn a skilled trade. He enrolled at Ryerson College in Toronto, where he earned a certificate in machine mechanics. This training enabled him to practise his profession for more than forty years in the Ottawa region, notably at the Rideau Street Convent, the Department of National Defence, the Royal Bank, and Carleton University.
Photography, one of his greatest passions, also enabled him to supplement his income. On weekends, he was often hired to photograph ordinations and weddings. Not only did he take the photographs, but he also developed the film himself at home before returning to sell his prints to the families and guests who were still gathered for the celebration.
During the great Levasseur family reunion held in Quebec City in 1957, Vincent produced a remarkable series of historical photographs that today constitute a valuable record of the event and will soon be made available on the website of the Association of Levasseur Families.
The many members of the clergy whom he met through his work as a photographer also became a valuable source of material for another of his passions: philately. He developed an impressive stamp collection, particularly of Vatican stamps, which would have been the envy of many collectors.
From 1960 to 1990, camping became the Levasseur family’s preferred way of spending their vacations. An avid fisherman, Vincent regularly embarked on expeditions to remote regions of Quebec and Ontario, combining his love of nature, adventure, and the outdoors.
It was in 1980, following the deaths of several of his uncles, that he felt the need to learn more about his family origins. A visit to the cemetery in Hull, where he found the grave of his great-grandfather along with the dates of his birth and death, marked the beginning of his genealogical research.
From that point onward, genealogy became a true passion. He conducted extensive research at the National Library and Archives of Canada, where he consulted old censuses and various historical documents. He became a member of the Outaouais Genealogical Society and established connections with several Quebec lineage and family associations. He also attended numerous genealogy conferences.
It was during one of these gatherings that he learned of the work of Jean Charles Henri Levasseur of Seattle, who had undertaken the task of identifying Levasseur descendants who had emigrated to the United States. According to Vincent’s estimates, approximately 40 percent of Levasseur descendants lived in Quebec, 35 percent in the United States, and 25 percent in the other Canadian provinces.
Driven by remarkable determination, Vincent sent more than 2,000 letters to Levasseur families over a period of two years in order to gather information about their ancestors and reconstruct the connections among the various branches of the family. His research, perseverance, and passion for family history have left a precious legacy to the genealogical community and to all Levasseur descendants.
Ancestors: Laurent Levasseur and Marie Marchand
Henri-Charles-Jean Levasseur was born on July 11, 1892, in Chicago, Illinois, and was baptized in Saint Boniface Parish, one of the principal French-Canadian parishes of this great American metropolis. He belonged to the large community of French-Canadian descendants who had emigrated to the United States at the end of the nineteenth century while maintaining a deep attachment to their origins, language, and cultural heritage.
Single and without descendants, Henri-Charles-Jean Levasseur was the last representative of his direct lineage. A man of great culture and remarkable intellectual curiosity, he pursued studies that enabled him to work as both an accountant and a chemist, two professions requiring rigor, method, and analytical skills.
He later settled in Portland, Oregon, where he held a position with the Employment Claims Service. His sense of organization, integrity, and professional competence earned him the respect of both his colleagues and his community. His interest in public affairs also led him to become involved in the civic and political life of his adopted state. He was elected to serve in the Oregon State Legislature, contributing in his own way to the development of American society while remaining proud of his French-Canadian roots.
Deeply attached to his religious and community values, Henri-Charles-Jean Levasseur was also a member of the Knights of Columbus, a Catholic organization renowned for its commitment to faith, family, and community service. Those who knew him described him as a courteous, discreet, and generous man.
However, it was above all through his immense genealogical research that he left a lasting mark on the history of the Levasseur families of America. For nearly twenty years, he devoted a significant portion of his leisure time and energy to tracing the various branches of the Levasseur family established in Canada and the United States. At a time when genealogical research was conducted without computers, without the Internet, and with limited means of communication, his work stands as a testament to remarkable perseverance and determination.
Driven by a desire to preserve the memory of his ancestors and to promote a better understanding of the history of the Levasseur families of America, he patiently accumulated an impressive collection of documentation, including birth, marriage, and death records, census extracts, newspaper clippings, correspondence, research notes, and various historical documents. His goal was to produce as complete a reference work as possible on the descendants of the Levasseur families.
The fruit of his many years of research has been preserved through the deposit of his manuscript at the National Archives of Quebec and at the French-Canadian Genealogical Society, where it remains a valuable documentary source for researchers and family descendants.
In the early 1950s, Mr. Gérard Levasseur, C.S.C., along with several other Levasseurs from Quebec, maintained an active correspondence with him. Gérard Levasseur described him as a man of great courtesy, always willing to share the results of his research and to respond to requests for information with generosity and meticulous care. This extensive correspondence enabled him to establish relationships with numerous Levasseur descendants on both sides of the Canada–United States border and to gather information that otherwise would likely have been lost.
Through his methodical work, collaborative spirit, and passion for family history, Henri-Charles-Jean Levasseur made an exceptional contribution to preserving the collective memory of the Levasseur families of America. Although he was the last of his direct lineage, he left future generations an invaluable documentary legacy, making him one of the pioneers of genealogical research devoted to the Levasseurs of North America.
Henri-Charles-Jean Levasseur was born on July 11, 1892, in Chicago, Illinois, in Saint Boniface Parish. He was single and the last of his lineage. He was also an accountant and a chemist. He lived in Portland, Oregon, where he worked for the Employment Claims Service and served as a member of the Oregon State Legislature. He was also a member of the Knights of Columbus.
For twenty years, he conducted extensive research on the Levasseur families of America. His manuscript was deposited at the National Archives of Quebec and at the French-Canadian Genealogical Society.
Mr. Gérard Levasseur, C.S.C., like several other Levasseurs from Quebec, corresponded with him in the early 1950s and described him as a man of great courtesy. In preparation for his publication, Henri-Charles-Jean Levasseur gathered every possible source of documentation concerning the Levasseur families, including birth and marriage records, newspaper articles, and other historical materials.
Ancestors: Laurent Levasseur and Marie Marchand
Mr. Alfred Levasseur was one of the great pioneers of research devoted to the ancestor Laurent Levasseur and his descendants in America. Through his rigor, perseverance, and passion for family history, he made an exceptional contribution to the understanding of the origins of the Levasseur families and to the preservation of their collective memory.
Alfred Levasseur was born on January 3, 1930, in Rivière-Verte, New Brunswick. He was the son of Georges Levasseur and Rose-Anna Levasseur, both originally from the Kamouraska region, more specifically from the parish of Sainte-Hélène. From an early age, he displayed a deep interest in history, family traditions, and the origins of his ancestors, an interest that would gradually develop into a genuine passion for genealogy.
We had the privilege of meeting him at his residence in Sainte-Croix-de-Lotbinière, beautifully situated on the shores of the majestic St. Lawrence River. In this enchanting setting, Mr. Levasseur warmly welcomed us and enthusiastically shared many memories of his research and travels in France. He spoke with emotion about his stays in Bois-Guillaume, Normandy, the ancestral village of Laurent Levasseur, as well as his visits to Rouen and to the various archives throughout the region.
During this meeting, he also allowed us to consult an impressive collection of documents accumulated over several decades of research. As early as the beginning of the 1970s, his personal library contained more than five hundred works devoted to history, genealogy, New France, and French-Canadian families. This remarkable collection bears witness to the breadth of his knowledge and his commitment to historical research.
In 1978, driven by a desire to better understand the origins of the Levasseur family, Alfred Levasseur undertook a ten-day journey to Normandy. He stayed in Rouen, from where he conducted extensive research in the region’s archives and parish registers. This stay proved particularly fruitful. He returned to Quebec with a large number of photocopies of official documents, ancient records, research notes, and previously unknown information concerning the Levasseur family and its ancestor Laurent.
His research in France, however, represented only one part of a vast project that he had begun several years earlier. For more than six years, Alfred Levasseur devoted much of his free time to examining parish registers, consulting archives, maintaining extensive correspondence with researchers and French authorities, and assembling a considerable body of documentation. At the conclusion of these years of patient and methodical work, he had gathered several thousand documents, thereby creating one of the most important private documentary collections ever assembled on the descendants of Laurent Levasseur.
The result of this immense undertaking was published in 1980 under the title Genealogy and History of Laurent Levasseur. This work, comprising nearly 300 pages, represents a major contribution to the history of the Levasseur families. More than a simple genealogy, it is a true work of remembrance, bringing together an impressive quantity of historical and genealogical documentation.
The volume includes, among other things, extensive correspondence with French authorities and researchers, photographs of Bois-Guillaume and Rouen, reproductions of ancient records, maps and cadastral plans of the Kamouraska region where the first descendants of Laurent Levasseur settled, as well as the author’s direct genealogy. The work also illustrates the methodical approach of a researcher determined to document his family’s origins with precision and to make available to future generations information that might otherwise have been lost.
Through his dedication, his commitment to research, and his desire to share his knowledge, Alfred Levasseur left a documentary legacy of inestimable value. His work remains, to this day, an indispensable reference for all those interested in the history of the Levasseur families, the Norman origins of the ancestor Laurent Levasseur, and the genealogy of the descendants who settled in America. He unquestionably deserves to be recognized as one of the great builders of the collective memory of the Levasseur families.
Ancestors: Pierre Levasseur dit Lespérance and Jeanne de Chaverlange
Father Jean-Marie Levasseur became a member of the Association of Levasseur Families at its founding in 1988. Over the years, he established himself as one of its most valuable collaborators and one of the most dedicated researchers in the study of Levasseur family history. His contribution to the preservation and promotion of our family heritage is considerable.
Passionate about history and genealogy, Father Jean-Marie Levasseur published several works that have become important references today. Among them is Aimé Levasseur (1850–1906), devoted to the life of his grandfather. Rich in historical and family information, this work provides valuable insight into the life of one of the prominent figures of his lineage. This publication is also available online on the Association’s website.
He is also the author of The Levasseurs of Saint-Maurice, an important study published in two volumes. Since his grandfather had lived in that parish, he devoted himself to tracing the history of the Levasseur families established in that region of Mauricie. This work represents a remarkable contribution to our understanding of the roots of the Levasseur families in central Quebec and remains an essential reference for researchers and descendants of this family branch.
Father Jean-Marie Levasseur also dedicated a work to Denis-Joseph Levasseur (1712–1792), grandson of the ancestor Pierre Levasseur, who settled in Trois-Rivières during the eighteenth century. Entitled Denis-Joseph Levasseur (1712–1792) in Eighteenth-Century Trois-Rivières, this study highlights the life of this ancestor and reminds us that Mauricie and the Centre-du-Québec regions are still home to many descendants of this lineage today.
Beyond his publications, Father Jean-Marie Levasseur participated in numerous gatherings of the Association of Levasseur Families. On several occasions, he generously shared the results of his research by delivering lectures that were greatly appreciated by participants. His extensive historical knowledge, intellectual rigor, and ability to communicate his findings with simplicity and passion left a lasting impression on all those who had the privilege of hearing him speak.
With the passing of Father Jean-Marie Levasseur, the Association lost an exceptional collaborator, a passionate researcher of Levasseur history, and also a deeply human, welcoming man who was always attentive to others. His work and dedication remain a precious legacy for future generations and will continue to inspire all those interested in the history and memory of the Levasseur families.
Ancestors : Pierre Levasseur dit Lespérance and Jeanne de Chaverlange
Brother Gérard Levasseur, S.C., was born on February 8, 1917, in Saint-Rémi-de-Tingwick, in the County of Arthabaska, into a large family of eleven children. He was the son of Eugène Levasseur and Delina Toussaint and descended from the lineage of Pierre Levasseur dit Lespérance. His childhood unfolded in a rural environment deeply rooted in the values of hard work, faith, and family solidarity. His father was a cheesemaker and carpenter, while his mother, a pious and devoted woman, exerted a decisive influence on his human and spiritual formation.
From an early age, young Gérard distinguished himself by his love of study, reading, and history. In 1933, despite the economic hardships of the Great Depression, he entered the juniorate of the Brothers of the Sacred Heart in Arthabaska. The following year, he began his novitiate and took his first vows in 1936, thus embarking on a long career as a religious educator.
For nearly half a century, Brother Gérard devoted his life to teaching and school administration. He served as a teacher, principal, or superior in several institutions throughout Quebec and New Brunswick, notably in Sherbrooke, Magog, Asbestos, Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pérade, Causapscal, Matane, Bonaventure, Rimouski, Cabano, Price, Trois-Pistoles, and Atholville. His career reflects a remarkable capacity for adaptation, a profound sense of duty, and a constant commitment to young people.
A passionate educator, he did not limit himself to traditional teaching. In Matane, he contributed to the revival of the Bugle Corps, participated in the organization of numerous extracurricular activities, and promoted the cultural and athletic development of his students. His dynamism, initiative, and dedication earned him the esteem of colleagues, students, and the communities in which he served.
A man of faith, culture, and memory, Brother Gérard Levasseur also nurtured a keen interest in the history and genealogy of his family. His autobiography, One Must Walk a Long Road… (Il faut marcher une longue route…), constitutes a valuable testimony to religious life and education in twentieth-century Quebec, as well as to the everyday lives of French-Canadian rural families. Through his memories, he transmitted a legacy of perseverance, humanism, and fidelity to his origins.
Brother Gérard Levasseur thus remains a remarkable figure within both his religious community and his family. His life’s journey illustrates the dedication of an entire generation of religious educators who devoted their lives to education, the transmission of values, and service to Quebec society.
Ancestors : Pierre Levasseur dit Lespérance and Jeanne de Chaverlange
For several years, our genealogist, Joceline Levasseur, has played an essential role within the Association of Levasseur Families. Through her dedication, rigor, and exceptional availability, she diligently ensures the continuous updating of our genealogical records and responds to the many requests for information received from our members and from researchers interested in the history of the Levasseur families.
Genealogical research requires patience, method, and close attention to detail. Every new birth, marriage, death, or family update must be verified, documented, and incorporated into our databases. Joceline carries out this work with remarkable professionalism, thereby helping to preserve the accuracy and richness of our family heritage.
With the assistance of her collaborators, she has also contributed to the preparation and publication of new genealogical dictionaries. These reference works are invaluable tools for the descendants of our ancestors and for all those who wish to gain a better understanding of their origins and to re-establish the connections among the various branches of the family.
Furthermore, Joceline oversees the updating of the genealogical data published on the Association’s website. Her work enables members throughout Quebec, Canada, and the United States to access reliable information that is continually enriched and kept up to date.
Through her sustained commitment and passion for genealogy, Joceline Levasseur makes an exceptional contribution to preserving the collective memory of the Levasseur families and to passing on their history to future generations.
Thank you, Joceline!
Ancestors : Pierre Levasseur dit Lespérance and Jeanne de Chaverlange
Over the past several decades, Gilles Carmel has served as both President and Director of the Association of Levasseur Families, generously devoting his time, expertise, and dedication to our organization. Through his sound advice, vision, and organizational skills, he has been one of the leading figures who helped structure, modernize, and energize the Association’s activities. His sustained commitment has strengthened many of our projects and laid the foundation for numerous initiatives that continue to benefit our members.
Always attentive to new approaches in genealogy, Gilles Carmel has played a key role in research concerning the DNA of the Levasseur families and the possible family connections between the ancestors Laurent and Pierre Levasseur. Under his leadership and with the support of the Board of Directors, the Association joined the French Heritage DNA Project, an important initiative in genetic genealogy research aimed at gaining a better understanding of the origins and relationships among various French-Canadian lineages. This innovative undertaking enabled the Association to integrate DNA technologies into its historical and genealogical research.
Gilles Carmel has also contributed to the writing of several articles on genetic genealogy, including Genealogy Through DNA and Genetic Genealogy, both of which are available in the Publications section of the Association’s website. These texts have helped demystify a discipline that remains unfamiliar to many amateur researchers and have made our members more aware of the significant contribution of DNA analysis to understanding our family origins.
In close collaboration with Joceline Levasseur, he also participates in the updating of our genealogical databases. However, one of his greatest accomplishments is undoubtedly the immense work of collecting, digitizing, and integrating thousands of obituary texts and photographs relating to the Levasseur and Carmel families and their various spelling variants.
Beyond the simple entry of names and dates, Gilles has always believed that it is essential to enrich our databases through the addition of historical documents and visual records. Over the past several years, he has therefore undertaken the colossal task of integrating into our website previously unpublished documents provided by our members or discovered through his research on the Internet.
Thanks to his perseverance and meticulous attention to detail, thousands of photographs, obituaries, memorial cards, commemorative bookmarks, and other historical documents have already been added to the “Obituaries / Nécrologies” section of our website dedicated to the management of our databases. Hundreds, if not thousands, of additional documents will continue to enrich this remarkable collection in the years ahead.
Through his unwavering commitment, scholarly rigor, and determination to preserve the memory of our families, Gilles Carmel has made an exceptional contribution to the Association of Levasseur Families. His work now constitutes a documentary legacy of inestimable value for all Levasseur and Carmel descendants, as well as for future generations of researchers and family history enthusiasts.
Ancestors : Laurent Levasseur and Marie Marchand
Joseph-François Adrien Levasseur was born on September 21, 1923, in Rivière-du-Loup, Quebec. He was the son of Albert Levasseur and Alfréda Beaulieu, two families deeply rooted in the Bas-Saint-Laurent region. A native of Saint-Ludger Parish in Rivière-du-Loup, he grew up in an environment where a sense of duty, hard work, and devotion to family occupied a central place.
On August 17, 1948, he married Cécile Thibault in Rivière-du-Loup. She would become his faithful companion and share with him many of his passions, particularly his interest in regional history and genealogy. Adrien Levasseur passed away in Longueuil on December 14, 1995, leaving behind a remarkable legacy in both the railway industry and the fields of historical and genealogical research.
At an early age, he developed a passion for the railway world, which was then one of the principal engines of economic development in the Bas-Saint-Laurent and Témiscouata regions. He joined the Témiscouata Railway and officially began his career on March 13, 1946, as a freight clerk in Rivière-du-Loup. He held this position until May 1947, when he undertook telegraph operator training at the Saint-Honoré railway station.
This specialized training opened the door to new responsibilities. He was called upon to serve as a relief station agent in Edmundston, New Brunswick, and Notre-Dame-du-Lac before obtaining the position of telegraph operator in Sainte-Rose-du-Dégelis. These early years of his career enabled him to acquire an in-depth knowledge of the railway network and to develop administrative and technical skills that would prove invaluable throughout his professional life.
In 1949, he was appointed Station Master in Saint-Louis-du-Ha-Ha, a position that carried many responsibilities. In addition to managing the day-to-day operations of the station, he was regularly called upon to fill in during the summer months in several other communities, including Cabano, Saint-Honoré, Rivière-du-Loup, Notre-Dame-du-Lac, Sainte-Rose-du-Dégelis, Edmundston, and Clair. This mobility reflects both the confidence placed in him by his superiors and his remarkable adaptability.
On January 1, 1950, when the Témiscouata Railway was sold to the government, Adrien Levasseur was still serving as Station Master in Saint-Louis-du-Ha-Ha. This important transition marked the beginning of a new phase in his career. Over the years, he gradually rose through the ranks and held various positions in Fitzpatrick, La Tuque, Lévis, and finally Montréal.
His railway career, which spanned nearly four decades, came to an end in 1983 when he was serving as Director (Network) of the Sales Program for VIA Rail Canada. His professional journey was that of a rigorous, methodical man who was deeply committed to the development of railway transportation in Canada.
Alongside his career, Adrien Levasseur nurtured a lifelong passion for history, documentary research, and genealogy. Beginning in the early 1960s, he undertook extensive research into the origins and various branches of the Levasseur family, as well as those of his wife’s family, the Thibaults. At a time when documentary resources were far less accessible than they are today, he devoted countless hours to consulting parish registers, census records, notarial archives, and historical documents.
The result of these many years of patient and meticulous research enabled him, during his unfortunately all-too-brief retirement, to publish several reference works that remain major contributions to the history of the Levasseur families and the Témiscouata region:
- Laurent Levasseur – Origin, History and the First Generation in New France (1988);
- Pierre Levasseur dit Lespérance and the First Generation in New France (1989);
- The Témiscouata Railway (1994).
These publications bear witness not only to his rigor as a researcher but also to his deep desire to preserve the memory of the pioneers and to pass on the history of their ancestors to future generations.
Always eager to assist amateur researchers and genealogy enthusiasts, Adrien Levasseur also undertook the publication of several nominal censuses, invaluable tools for historians and genealogists:
- Nominal Census of the Parishes of Fraserville (Village), Chemin du lac Témiscouata, Saint-Patrice, the Townships of Whitworth and Viger, Kakouna, Saint-Arsène, Saint-Éloi, L’Isle-Verte and Trois-Pistoles, Year 1851;
- 1861 Census – County of Témiscouata.
Through his work as a researcher, author, and popularizer of history, Adrien Levasseur made an exceptional contribution to the preservation of regional history and the collective memory of the families of the Bas-Saint-Laurent. His writings, still widely consulted today, constitute a precious documentary legacy and establish him as one of the great architects of genealogy and the history of the Levasseur families in Quebec.
Ancestors Laurent Levasseur and Marie Marchand
A new addition to our team, Lynda Levasseur is a proud descendant of the ancestor Laurent Levasseur and his wife, Marie Marchand. Driven by a deep attachment to her family roots and the history of her ancestors, she quickly developed a genuine passion for genealogy and historical research.
An indefatigable, curious, and methodical researcher, Lynda generously places her skills at the service of the Association of Levasseur Families. Her attention to detail, rigor, and perseverance make her a valuable collaborator in the realization of many of our projects.
She actively participates in the preparation and production of our newsletters, notably by validating historical and genealogical data, verifying sources, and researching new information that may enrich our publications. She also contributes to the addition of documents, photographs, and information discovered on various specialized websites, in digital archives, and through a wide range of online genealogical resources.
Thanks to her research efforts, many of the Association’s articles and publications benefit from more comprehensive and rigorously documented information. Her contributions also help our members discover individuals, events, and documents that are sometimes little known in the history of the Levasseur families.
Through her enthusiasm, collaborative spirit, and desire to contribute to the preservation of our family heritage, Lynda Levasseur has quickly become an integral part of the Association’s team. Her commitment and passion for family history are invaluable assets in the pursuit of our mission to research, preserve, and promote the memory of the Levasseur families.
