Ninth episode
The Bérubé Families

amien Bérubé, originally from Roquefort in Normandy, is the sole ancestor of the Bérubé descendents. Damien left Rocquefort in June 1671, making the crossing with other Normans, and then found work as a labourer/mason for Jean-Baptiste de Boishébert at the Bouteillerie seigniory at Rivière-Ouelle.

In 1674, Damien was granted a lot from that seigniory.

On August 22, 1679, at L’Islet, Damien, who was 32 at the time, married Jeanne Savonnet, widow of Jean Soucy dit Lavigne. Jeanne was originally from Paris and was 33 at the time.

When she married Damien, Jeanne already had four children. The couple had seven other children, who bore the name Bérubé: Jeanne-Marguerite, Pierre, Ignace, Marie, Marie-Josephte, Thérèse and Mathurin.

On March 7, 1688, Damien and two of his daughters died under unknown circumstances. On March 12, 1721, Jeanne died at the age of 75. Jeanne and Damien were both laid to rest in the cemetery at Rivière-Ouelle, a small village along the lower St. Lawrence River.

Since that time, the Bérubé family has multiplied and emigrated. Family members are now found throughout Quebec, in Western Canada, in the Maritime provinces and in many states in the U.S.

On August 22, 2004, all of the descendents of Jeanne,?Soucy and Bérubé?, will meet at L'Islet, to celebrate the 325^th anniversary of the marriage of Jeanne and Damien.


To contact the Bérubé family association or for more information:

Association des familles Bérubé inc.
P.O. Box 6700, Succ. Sillery
Sainte-Foy (Qc)
G1T 2W2

Web site: http://www.genealogie.org/famille/berube/accueil.htm
Email: berube@genealogie.org

André Bérubé, President
Telephone: 418-247-5829

To be continued on August 12, 2003, with the Association des familles Lemire.