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The Leclair Legacy
This website is the ongoing story of the Leclair family of Timmins, Ontario, Canada. An important part of that story is the history of the family, and this page contains the information we have about the ancestors that form our family tree, provided by Paulette Melancon. Suzette Leclair, who found our site while surfing the net, has also kindly contributed some info indicating that the two Leclair branches share ancestors. I'm adding her info verbatim below for now, and once we figure out how the branches connect, I'll publish a more organized representation.
A Snapshot of the Present
Our extended Leclair family is formed around the eight children of Edna and Valère Leclair, who are: Léo, Paulette, Hubert, Jacques, Denise, Carole, Johanne, and John. From small town Northern Ontario, the family has spread from British Columbia on theWest to Thailand on the East.
Paulette's Summary of The Leclair Ancestors
Mr. Jacques Leclerc and wife Cécile Legrand emigrated
to Canada from St. Eloy de Rouen, Normandy, France, in the 1600's. Their
son Robert Leclerc married Marie Jallais in Québec on July 9 1680.
From then on down the line, we have seven generations before
we arrive at (our grandfather) Alcide Leclerc who married Clothilde Brière
in Ste-Clothilde-de-Horton, Québec on June 20, 1904. It was grandfather
Alcide who changed the spelling of the name Leclerc to Leclair. The reason
for this is unknown.
At some point, Alcide and Clothilde moved down to
Massachusetts, I believe looking for work. And that is where Valerio
(Valère) was born on January 7'th, 1908. Valère later married
Edna Leduc on the 27'th of October in 1937, in the St-Laurent Parish of Ramore,
Ontario. As a point of interest, Edna died at the age of 43 on her 25'th
wedding anniversary, October 27'th, 1957. That proved to be an interesting
date as years later, Valère passed away and was buried on October
27'th of 1992.
Info from Suzette Leclair
Just surfing the net out of boredom on this hot Saturday afternoon (June 12, 1999), and landed on your site out of sheer luck. We happen to have the same ancestors, that is my family tree starts with Jacques Leclerc and Cécile Legrand, and was prepared for us by the Drouin Institute a few years back. Here’s what I have on my tree, but I don’t know where it links to yours.
Robert Leclerc, married Marie Jallais in Québec July 9th. 1680. His son Jean-Baptiste Leclerc married Marguerite Pépin in 3-Rivers November 10th. 1704. J-B’s son Louis Leclerc married Marie-Anne Baron dit Lafrenière around 1755; information there is sketchy. Louis’ son also called Louis but name changed at that point, it became Leclair, married Marie-Jeanne Ross in Maskinongé January 31st. 1785; their son Amable “Leclaire” married Marguerite Milet in St-Hughes, Bagot Co., January 14th. 1834. His son, also called Amable Leclaire, but also known as Aimé Leclair, married Marie-Emma Talbot In St-Guillaume, Upton Co., on May 28th 1860. Amable dit Aimé and Emma had several offsprings: Eugène Ismael (my gf), Charles, Émile, Roch, Arthur, Amable, Armand, Thérèse and Jeanne. Eugène married Rachel Héneault in Montréal June 18th. 1907. Arthur born in 1868 died 4/12/1920, was married to Azilda Goulet. Amable moved to Millbury, Massachusets and married Olga ........ from Finland. At least one or maybe two of Amable’s brother also moved State side, and yes, according to family history, they did so looking for work. By the way, many of them were dabbing in watercolour and oil painting as a hobby.
Eugène Ismael Leclair and Rachel Héneault had two sons: Armand Leclair married Thérèse Lussier in Bedford October 31st. 1950, and Lionel Leclerc married Simone Milot in Bedford January 1940. Armand and Thérèse had nine children (8 girls and 1 son) all living at this time, while Lionel and Simone (my parents) had five children (1 girl (me) and 4 sons) only two are still alive.
I was visiting with Amable’s grandaughter Gloria LeClair last week in Harrison, Maine, and I read up on their family tree and some other related Leclairs which has been prepared by a cousin, Stephen LeClaire. I will receive a copy in the near future of his extensive research, and naturally he would like as much information as possible on the Canadian Leclerc, Leclair, Leclaire, or whatever they now call themselves. From my family tree, you can see how many times the spelling was changed !!!
Which part of my family tree do you fit in, that is where along the way does it tie in to mine ?
Being French Canadian, borned and raised in the “langue de Molière”, I would be happy to contribute in whatever way possible to your web site, for which I must congratulate you. Very well done indead. I believe Steve LeClaire from Worcester, Mass. has one in the works. I should know more about my American cousins has I have another visit schedule for July, in Mass. Whatever info I can gather that your are interested in, I will be happy to share.
Bye for now, hope to hear from you.
Suzette Leclair