Question of the Week: Do you have Canadian roots? [closed]

Question

Do you have Canadian roots in your tree? Tell us here!

P.S. Reshare the question image on Facebook and get your friends and family talking.

Comments

Canadians prefer to call them "Loyalists" rather than Tories.

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Ha! That made me laugh. Most Canadians are not overly gregarious so they may have found it nice but just part of life.

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I never ever heard anyone complain about being called Tories when I was growing up, although Loyalists was used more frequently. They used to have a Loyalist re-enactment every summer in Saint John and I got to participate one time. We all dressed up for the time period and the fellows had their 3 cornered hats. I don'y know if they still do that in the harbour anymore or not.

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There is a ceremony (in period costume) held each year in Saint John on May 18th at the landing site of the first group of "Refugees of the American Revolution" (Loyalists) to this country on May 18, 1783 ... The ceremony and other activities are carried out through-out the day with the annual Loyalist dinner in the evening, all festivities are planned and carried out by "The New Brunswick Branch of the United Empire Loyalist Association of Canada", with the cities assistance ... The Loyalist Association remains active with many branches across the country having similar ceremonies particular to the Loyalists arrival to each of their particular areas ....

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I believe that is what I was talking about. =)

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I was born and raised in BC. Parents were both born in Canada (Sask area).

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Our Canadian textbooks refer to them as "Loyalists". Calling people "Tories" in Canada does not mean what many Americans think it does. For Canadians, a "Tory" is a nickname for a person who belongs to the Conservative Party.

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Yes, my paternal grandparents both trace to Quebec and 1640 Acadians who came from France, predominately from Rouen.

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Luckily, I can trace my relatives back to Martin Benoit who lived in Port Royal in the late 1600's. Born in France and died in Port Royal, Acadia, New France in 1711.

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Grandmother was. Have pics taken from Toronto photo studio. Not if somebody was in old style American army uniform or Mountie one. But stationed Niagara Falls. Not sure which side.

interested in Canadian citizenship have looked up rules. Wish was younger could do Canadian military. Live across border near metro Detroit.

Answer 1

Both my mom and dad have ancestors that came from Canada. My grandfather on my mom's side of the family was from Brighton, Ontario and became a U.S. naturalized citizen in 1940. It's also fascinating when I find a family member that immigrated into Canada.

Answer 2

I have 8 generations of Levasseurs who lived in the Rimouski area of Quebec.  They are descended from Laurent Levasseur who was born at Ste-Trinité, Bois-Guillaume, Normandie, France and died in Quebec.  It was my great-great grandfather, Magloire Elzear "Mack" Levasseur, along with his son, Edouard Magloire Elzear "Ed" Levasseur who came to Wisconsin during the logging boom in the late 1890s.  They stayed here and that is why I'm living in Wisconsin (about 5 miles away from where they landed)!

Answer 3

I don't know about having Canadian roots, since Canada is such a young country, but I Am Canadian.

Most of my lines end up somewhere in the UK by my great-grandparents' generation, but my paternal grandmother's line is descended from New England Planters, who emigrated from New England to Nova Scotia between 1759 and 1768 in response to an invitation by the Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia to take up the land left vacant by the expulsion of the Acadians.

I would have preferred to find some United Empire Loyalists up my tree, but at least those ancestors were waiting for the Loyalists when they arrived.

Comments

I agree, Greg. I did a double take on the word roots too but decided to not quibble with semantics.  Maybe branches would be a better term, if we want to keep with the tree image. I believe all our roots are firmly planted in what is now known as Africa. What I enjoy about Genealogy (and WikiTree in particular) is discovering that we are all part of the human family and that people have roamed across the world for a very long time so we should not have our identities tied to one specific place.

That's my two cents!

Answer 4

I emigrated to Los Angeles, California from Chicoutimi, Quebec in1958 and have lived in Southern California ever since. My family name is Brassard. My ancestry has been traced back to Antoine Brassard, who emigrated from Normandy to New France sometime in the 1600s. He married in the colony where his first children were born. He and his wife returned to France where they lived for a while before returning to Quebec. Both Antoine and his wife died in Quebec. Unfortunately, it appears that church records were destroyed in a fire; so there is no paper trail that identifies Antoine's parents nor a definite birth date.

Comments

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Brassard-4

hi cousin, our common ancestor;  

Answer 5

Yes , the Sharrard family  has a lot of history In Canada

Answer 6

Yes.. circa 1632 ish Nouvelle France to Canada present day. (With migrations to United States)

Answer 7

Yes, was born in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba, Canada - the same as my Grandfather, Nelson Smith.  His father came from Shetland to work for the Hudson Bay Co.  Grandfather married my Grandmother who was born in Ontario to David Hird who came to Canada in 1872 from Arbroath, Scotland.  My mother side is from the Whittier of Maine or Connecticut but also some French blood in there was her grandmother was a Sibley who descended from a Robichaud.  Yes, a Canadian and quite proud of the fact.

Answer 8

Yes, though I prefer to call them Acadian roots. One line of my father’s side goes back to Catherine Vigneau and several other early settlers of Acadie. I have one ancestor with who was born in France and died in Port Royal, Acadie but the records I can find give her a death year of 1656 for a total age of 95, which is pretty old now and very ancient then so I am still looking for more documentation.

Answer 9

I am Canadian, born and raised. My Father's side came from France in the 1600's, they settled in Acadia and Quebec. My Mother's side settled in Quebec from England and in the Nova Scotia colony from eastern USA in the 1700's.

Answer 10

My father, Vervon Orval Watts born in Ontario, came to Massachusetts for post-graduate education, met an American student, married her and became an American citizen. The rest of his family stayed loyal Canadian citizens.

Answer 11

I am 6th generation Canadian on my McKay side, and 4th generation on my Crawford side.  While that doesnt seem like a lot of time,  it equates to almost 200 years.  The McKays were one of the first families to settle the northern townships in Lanark County in the mid 1820s.

Answer 12

My Lint, Branscombe and Kierstead families arrived as a Loyalists to New Brunswick. A few generations later went back and forth between NB and Maine, where ever the work was.

Answer 13

I was born in Vernon BC, 91 years ago today.  I have lived in the States about 72 years, but have retained my citizenship.  

Four generations were born in Canada and two generations were born in New York, but moved to Canada during the Revolution.  

I still feel Canadian!

Comments

Happy birthday from a fellow British Columbian!

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I left you a couple of sources as a birthday gift!

Answer 14

My mother was born in Nova Scotia.  Her ancestors left New England for Nova Scotia in 1760 when Gov. Lawrence offered land grants.  Others emigrated directly from Scotland.  She met and married my dad, moving to U.S. in 1944.

Answer 15

My ancestors on both my mother’s & father’s side descend from some of the earliest French settlers in Quebec, during the days of Samuel de Champlain. They are known to have been in Canada as early as 1636. On my mother’s side: the earliest family of Drouin was that of Robert Drouin. His first wife was Anne Cloutier. My mother, whose maiden name was Drouin, is a descendant of them. My father’s name was Cloutier. Robert Drouin was a brick maker. The name Cloutier means someone who nails. Or a carpenter. A very large proportion of French Canadians are descendants of Robert Drouin. Including Celine Dion.

Answer 16

Not are I should technically be answering this since I'm Canadian. A fair portion of my ancestry is Loyalist having fought with the British during the revolution. Cole and Akerley families who settled in Queens County, New Brunswick, Wood and Snider families who settled in Stormont and Glengarry Counties, Ontario. It also appears some the members fought on the American side.

Answer 17

With the help of two booklets one by Mother Mary Louise Meahan and the other by Louise Manny I have been able to trace my mother's side of the family back to John Meahan who emigrated from Ireland to Bathurst, NB, Canada (1806 - 1897) where he was a ship builder and a member of the House Assembly of NB representing Gloucester County. John Meahan's son Francis (1843 - 1927) born in Bathurst was a customs collector and later sheriff. Warren, Francis' son, was my grandfather who relocated to NYC, NY. I would be interested in seeing a photo of John Meahan or any of the ships he built in Bathurst.

Answer 18

I am an immigrant to Canada. My husband's maternal line were Loyalists who settled in Ontario and New Brunswick. So, I guess I am growing roots with my kids who have long Canadian roots.

Answer 19

I am widely and deeply Canadian. All my ancestral lines had come to what is now Canada by 1850. First were the arrivals in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1750. After that, not only more came to Nova Scotia, but New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, Ontario and Manitoba. Then they began to moved westward to Alberta, Saskatchewan and British Columbia, many with side trips to the Yukon. Yes, this land is my land.

Answer 20

My grandfather, Francis LaJoie was from Ontario. Born in 1900, and came to Michigan a little after he was born. His father is from the Quebec area. His father was married to a Cloutier, so I have been able to trace my tree back to the 1600's