Line of Descendants Arkansas Trip – 2025
Trip to Shoal Creek, Arkansas to interview
Stanislas LeVasseur’s Descendants

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Cheryl Vassaur and her husband Daniel Bertch traveled to Arkansas to start interviews with Le Vasseur descendants still living in the Arkansas River Valley. The first stop was the Special Collections at the University of Arkansas to view research done by genealogists on the Old St. Mary’s church in Plum Bayou, Arkansas. Cheryl wonders if there is proof of LeVasseurs helping to build the Old St. Mary’s church. While in the area, Cheryl travelled to see in person the Vassaur/Rainwater Farm House, which was built in the old French Colonial style. She had hoped to possibly restore it for others interested in Arkansas’s French history. She met a lot of new family members on this trip and was lucky to have locals to help with the research. Cheryl is headed to North Carolina in May to interview Lewis Vassaur, then in the fall she will go to see Kim Vassaur Freeman to visit Arkansas Post and the Old St. Mary’s church.

She finds traveling to help the LeVasseur Association a joy! (Can you tell she is a foodie?) Also, note that this line of the Le Vasseur name was Anglicized to “Vassaur”.

Cheryl Vassaur ([email protected])

Contribute to the genealogical database of the Vassaur families: https://vassaur.org

For more information on the Vassaur family: https://levasseur.org/en/vassaur/

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Scroll to the bottom of this web page to view a few photos. Click on them for an enlarged view.

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Vassaur Travels, Photos, documents – by Cheryl Lea Vassaur

Cheryl Lea Vassaur (granddaughter of William R Vassaur & Eunice Hoover) – Main ancestor: Pierre Levasseur dit l’Espérance (circa 1629-1694) and Jeanne de Chanverlange

Summary description: Text by Cheryl Vassaur: “Pierre Levasseur and Jeanne de Chanverlange are my eighth great grandparents on my paternal line. Joseph Abner Vassaur Sr and Sarah Lucinda Rainwater are my great grandparents, their son my grandfather William R Vassaur and his wife Eunice Hoover, are my grandparents. I am the daughter of their son George Vassaur. 

The information entered is to the best of our knowledge. Any correction that is reported to us will be appreciated. In any case, you can consult the association’s database for more details (www.levasseur.org/tng).

I have been employed by my husband’s law firm (Bertch Associates) as a Paralegal and will spend my free time for the Association. 

It was in June 2022 that I learned about the Association and found my Canadien cousins! I immediatlely visited Quebec City to see the magnificent work of my ancestors, especially the Ursulines Chapel.

Previously, our family history book only went back to Duval Vassaur, my third great grandfather. Nothing was known to us about his father, Etienne LeVasseur or his great grandfather Stanislas LeVasseur, who fought in the Colbert Raid at Arkansas Post during the Revolutionary War. Stanislas was a Justice of the Peace in Kaskaskia, Illinois in 1782. (His daughter Therese was baptized at Arkansas Post). His grandson, Duvll (“Duval”) spoke French his entire life. His last will was dictated in French, and transcribed in English. Duval’s children could understand French, but not read or speak it.

Last year, in November, I gathered some of my family to walk the Vassaur/Rainwater Property in New Blaine, Arkansas. The old family farmhouse is built in a French style and is falling down over time from neglect.  I hope to see if restoration is still possible.  The Graves Cemetery in New Blaine, Arkansas has many Vassaurs buried there as well as Elizabeth Hall.

My next trip I plan to visit Arkansas Post to see the National Memorial where the soldiers are presented.  (Stanislas LeVasseur’s last known location). Next newsletter I will report on what was learned at the various conferences and meetings surrounding Lafayette’s tour 200th anniversary, and the French Mississippi Creole corridor.

Click for a full-size view

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📅 March 26 — Wednesday

• Depart SLC at 9:50 am
• Arrive in Bentonville at 1:29 pm
• Drive to Fayetteville
  • Stay at a condo in the Arts Corridor & Fay Jones Woodlands
  • Stroll the trail leading to Dickson Street
  • Walk to see “Cheryl Lea Vassaur” on the sidewalk in front of Old Main
• Dinner at Geraldi’s

📅 March 27 — Thursday

Morning

• 8:00 am — Meet Brenda Vassaur Taylor, Coleman Taylor & Isabelle Tayolor Maerki at BVT Law
• 9:00 am — Kim Vassaur Freeman & Lewis Vassaur join via conference call

Dan and Cheryl enjoyed meeting them in person for the first time.

Family Notes:

• John Horace Vassaur, son of George Vassaur, married Daisy Farnam
• Lewis, Brenda & Kim’s mother “Pat” was Mamaw Vassaur’s best friend (Eunice Vassaur)
• Pat and Mamaw traveled together to see Rev. Charles Stanley
• Lewis Vassaur: historian, friend of Cheryl’s parents, and first cousin and a college friend of her father
• Mamaw Eunice & Papaw William “Spud” were loved by all
• Kim used to visit Cheryl’s grandmother Eunice with her mom Pat, who also sold her cosmetics

Afternoon

• 1:00 pm — Special Collections, University of Arkansas Library
  • Meet Casiday, Research Services Coordinator
  • Reviewed 5 boxes referencing Old St. Mary’s Church in Plum Bayou
  • Found letters from historian Dorothy Core and newspaper articles from 1936 & 1971. Dorothy Core documented Stanislaus at Arkansas Post.
• Stop at Onyx for Ground Coffee
• Drive 2 hours to Paris, Arkansas
• Visit Logan County Museum (Open 12–5)
  • Guided by Sister Hildegard (Judith A.) Varga
  • Reviewed North Logan Cemetery Records (1983), found many Vassaur names
  • Explored Wagon Wheels magazine and learned about Nathan & Fannie Vassaur Rainwater
  • Visited Logan County Library — found Remembering Shoal Creek…
  • Library closing — promised to return for a copy
• 4:00 pm — Check in at Lake House on Lake Dardanelle
• 9:00 pm — Watch Razorback Basketball Game

📅 March 28 — Friday

Family Notes:

• Fannie Vassaur (daughter of George) married Nathan Rainwater
• Ann Hatchet from Fort Smith is their granddaughter
• She decorates Elizabeth Hall; her grandparents are buried there
• Her sister Lisa Moyer lives in Fayetteville and will be in touch

Clarksville Visit

• Visit Johnson County Historical Society (10–4)
  • Met Debbie Overbey
  • Researched Duval LeVasseur land records
  • Found Elizabeth Hall Cemetery in New Blaine listing Vassaur names
• Stop by Little Blue House (Kuras Family) living in house adjoining William Vassaur 120 acres in New Blaine
• Frances A. Vassaur (daughter of Duval & William H. Moore)
  • Cheryl received genealogy materials from Linda Frederiksen in Fort Smith
• Prestonrose Brewing — beer flight
• Ridgewood Brothers BBQ in Russellville — best BBQ

📅 March 29 — Saturday

• Sarah A. Vassaur (daughter of Duval & Henry Clay Raulston)
  • Visit Paul & Karen Elaine Hardin Earwood’s home (Deeds Lane, near New Blaine). This is near the old Vassaur school and sawmill
  • Talk about family stories and Vassaurs on River Mountain
  • (See transcript, photos, River Mountain poem)
• Myrtle Vassaur (daughter of Rosemore) married Jesse Farnam
  • 3:00 pm — Meet Elon Kierre Tomlin and Vicki Kierre in Delaware
  • Myrtle & Jesse buried at Elizabeth Hall
  • Viewed family photos, letters, and “Vassaur” book
  • Shared strawberry cake and sweet tea
  • Elon and Cheryl plan to collaborate on family history
  • (See photo: Vicki, Witt, Elon, Scott & Edse Tomlin)
• Visit Old Vassaur/Rainwater House (1889)
  • Guided tour by Tim Gehring, current owner who relocated it from Rainwater Loop to beautiful hilltop overlooking Shoal Creek
  • (See photos)
• Dinner at Prestonrose Café in Clarksville

Great to see Cheryl’s brother, George Vassaur, during this trip.

📅 March 30 — Sunday

• 10:00 am — Check-out
• Drive to NW Regional Airport (2 hours)
• Flight: 2:13 pm departure → 4:14 pm arrival home

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