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Much of
the history of the Louviere / D'Amour families can be found in the book
"The D'Amours De Louvieres In France, Canada, and Louisiana", by
Sheila Marie Louviere Sachitano and Don Louviere. In their book, they trace the lineage of the Louvieres of Louisiana to the D'Amours of Canada and France to the first known D'Amour. Another excellent book, "Evangeline and the
Acadians", by Robert Tallant, tells the history of the Acadians and
their exile from Acadia and migration to Louisiana. Both books are a must
read for the serious reseacher of the Louviere family tree.
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Below
is a synopsis of my connection with the Louviere / D'Amour families and the
Acadians.
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Jean Baptiste
(D'Amour) Louviere was the progenitor of the Louviere family line of South
Louisiana. Jean Baptiste was born 1730 Quebec, Canada. Although not Acadian
by birth, he moved to Riviere St. Jean, New Brunswick where he met and
married Genevieve Bergeron. They lived in Acaida until the French Acadian
exile of 1755 by the English. He and his family were deported to Boston,
Massachusetts where they lived until 1764/1765. Sometime in 1764/1765, the
family migrated to Louisiana with other Acadians. There seems to be some
question as to the whereabouts of Jean Baptiste in 1766. The April 1766
census of Edgard, St. James, Louisiana lists Genevieve as a widow with her
children; but no Jean Baptiste. However, his last child, Suzanne, was born
1765 in Louisiana. Therefore, he must have died between 1764/1765. It is
possible that Genevieve was pregnant before leaving Boston for Louisiana.
Whether he died in Boston or Louisiana is unknown at this time. The
circumstances of his death are also a mystery. Genevieve died 1767 in St.
James Parish, Louisiana.
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One of
her children, Francois Louviere (my ancsetor), relocated to Fausse Point,
St. Martin, Louisiana along the Bayou Teche. There he met and married Marie
Louise Thibodeaux. She was also a French Acadian and a survivor of the
exile. They had ten children all born in St. Martin Parish probably in the
Fausse Point area. Records of their births can be found in the Catholic
Church at St. Martinville, Louisiana.
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Somewhere
between New Brunswick and Louisiana, the D'Amour part of the name was lost.
The D'Amours were very prominent families in the Quebec, Canada area and
were considered one of the noble founding families of French Canada. In
Canada, titles were used as a means of identifying sons of the same family.
For examle, the D'Amour de Louvieres were from a different branch of the
D'Amour family than the D'Amour de Chaufours. In many cases, the title
replaced the family name as in Louviere.
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Mathieu
D'Amour was the first known D'Amour to come to Quebec from France. He
arrived in Quebec 13 Oct. 1651 with his sister and her husband. On March
1652, he maried Marie Marsolet. Shortly after his arrival, he was chosen
town-major of Quebec. He was also a member of the Sovereign Council of
Quebec and was the first Seigneur of Mantane. Mathieu was the forefather of
Jean Baptiste Louviere. The D'Amour family name can be traced back to
Maturin D'Amour <1375> France.
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My line to Jean Baptiste
Louviere:
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Ray Viator
s/o Elton Viator s/o Marie Dorsine Louviere d/o Francois Louviere s/o
Joseph Dumartrait Louviere s/o Benjamin Louviere s/o Fancois Louviere s/o
Jean Baptiste Louviere.
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