I’ve often wondered about the roots of Beaupre, our surname.  Where did our descendants came from hundreds of years ago?   When were they born?  Where did they live? What did they do for work? How many kids were in each family? How many generations have passed? How did they get to North America and eventually to the U.S.?

Geneology & ancestry research is complicated and takes a LOT of time. I’ve tried doing it over the years, but got frustrated fast.

Imagine my surprise when a childhood friend of mine – Richard LeHoullier from Somersworth – recently handed me an ancestry tree going back to the year 1600!  What a kind and thoughtful gesture.  It must have taken him weeks, months to do all this research.  I’m so lucky to count him as a friend.

Here’s a photo of Richard & me taken in 1967 when we were in 8th grade. (I’m the manly man on the left)

Cool stuff from his research:

• Our family originated from a region in in northern France called Normandy. The earliest descendant he found was born in Fecamp, France within the Pays de Caux region.
• The most astounding thing he discovered is that our descendants weren’t always Beaupre’s!  Our original surname was Bonhomme, which means “good man” in French.
• The first documented ancestor was Nicolas Bonhomme, born about 1600 in Fecamp, Normandy.
• The “pioneer ancestor” was his son, also named Nicolas, who emigratred to “new France,” later named Quebec, Canada, where he married Catherine Gouget around 1640.   She was a “Fille du Roi” from Normandie, France, aka a “King’s Daughter,” shipped from France to New France.  They married the pioneers and soliders to develop a French society there.
• Our first descendant to use the Beaupre name was Louis-Claude Beaupre, born in 1722.  He had five children.
• Camden, you’re the 12th generation of documented Beaupre’s.   If you include the four generations of Bonhomme’s before Louis took the name Beaupre, then you’re the 16th generation of documented ancestors.

When I explained all this in my office the other day, I showed you the ancestry chart and explained how it worked.  I was sitting at my desk, you were a foot away. You were into the conversation from the start, excited and stopped me halfway saying:

“When I started taking French last year, we had to pick a name that wasn’t our own name.  Guess which name I picked?  Louis!” You repeated it, “LOUIS!”  laughing, eyes sparkling.  “Out of all the names I could have picked, I picked the name of our descendant who first took the Beaupre name! That’s unbelievable!”  

We were laughing, shaking our heads in disbelief.  I couldn’t believe it.

I said “Talk about karma!  That didn’t happen by accident.  I’ve always believed forces we never see are with us, observing, sometimes shaping our lives.  Camden, that force was Louis-Claude Beaupre, connecting with you across 12 generations in the moment you chose your new name. It had to be that!”

You agreed, still smiling.

“Louis” is alive and well, the original and the new.  How cool is that?

Thanks Richard, for making this special moment possible, I’ll never forget it!