mark’s genealogy

This web page contains genealogical information on the LEGASSIE/CHASSE family from Northern Maine and contains information on the following surnames (not inclusive): LEGASSIE, LAGACE, MIGNE, MIGNIER-DIT-LAGACE, CHASSE, DEPRES, BELANGER.

I started working on my family tree during the Summer of 1995 and have compiled information on 12 generations comprising over 1,000 of my ancestors. I hope you find this information interesting and useful.

The first LAGACE ancestor to leave France for America, Andre MIGNIER DIT LAGACE, arrived in Quebec in the 1660's. Andre was the son of Michel Mignier & Catherine Masson of Ile de Re, France. Andre was a French soldier sent by King Louis XIV to protect the early Quebec settlers from the marauding bands of Iroquois Indians.

On my mother's side, the first CHASSE ancestor to come to America, Jean CHASSEY, arrived in Quebec in 1773. Jean was exiled from France by the King along with 600 others for committing a major crime of the time--illegally selling salt!!

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The following is an article I wrote for the St. John Valley Times in 2007 for the Lagace Family Reunion held in Madawaska, Maine:

Digging up the Family Tree

By Mark Legassie

Have you ever wondered about your family roots – where your ancestors came from, who they were, or how they lived? Interest in these matters sparked during my first visit to Madawaska’s Acadian Festival over 12 years ago.

Each year in conjunction with the festival, a family reunion is held, celebrating one of the Valley's pioneer families. In 1995, the Chassé clan was honored (my mom’s maiden name), so I decided to attend. Driving from Boston to my hometown of Ashland, Maine, I picked up several family members and headed for the reunion.

Until that reunion I felt disconnected with family roots, not knowing much of genealogy. Maybe it was a result of losing my parents at an early age, but nonetheless, the reunion was my attempt to close the gap in ancestral knowledge. What I found there blew me away. The reunion committee had generated a complete descendant report of the first Chassé progenitor, and there I was, on the report, the 13th generation descendant with all of my direct Chassé ancestors listed. At that moment I was hooked on genealogy!

After the reunion I embarked on a quest to discover my father’s side of the family, researching church as well as government records. I quickly discovered my first “brickwall” with the Lagace family tree that stopped me dead in my tracks. The mystery to resolve was my great-grandfather, Guillaume Lagace (aka William). I could not find any birth, marriage or death records for him, so I asked family members for any information. An elderly uncle responded that Guillaume may have been adopted, since he remembered Guillaume’s son call himself John “Miller”, not “Lagace”.

What a shocker to learn – my great-grandfather was not a Legassie by blood, but adopted! Due to adoption secrecy rules, I thought I may never find my biological ancestors. At that point I was at an impass until I visited my grandmother’s house in Presque Isle a month later. Sitting there on the table was a genealogy report of one of my Soucier cousins, compiled by genealogist Allen Voisine of Caribou, Maine. Could this person help solve my adoption mystery?

I located Allen’s phone number and contacted him. As I told him my dilemma, he quickly calmed my concerns by telling me he had the answer – Guillaume was never adopted at all. Our ancestor’s real name was Migné (sounds like ‘meunier’ which means ‘miller’ in English). The Migné family was one of many French families given a ‘dit’ nickname, common in that period. Our original progenitor to Canada was given the name Andre Migné dit Lagace (possibly originated from ‘Lagachette’).

Alas, the mystery was resolved! Now I could trace my direct line back to the 1600s, back to the first Lagace ancestor coming from France to the New World. My ancestors: Mark Stewart12 Legassie (Donald Joseph11, Joseph Stewart10, Guillaume9 Lagace, Joseph8, Joseph-Germain7, Basile “Joseph”6, Basile5 Mignier dit Lagace, Michel4, Michel3, Andre2, Michel1 Mignier (Migné).

Years of research has since supplemented my family tree knowledge, and I look forward to attending this year’s Acadian Festival honoring the Lagace/Lagasse family, to be held Jun 28-30, 2007 (www.lagacereunion.org). I am honored to be a volunteer on the committee and encourage all interested to attend this spectacular weekend festival.

Mark Legassie

Los Angeles, CA

mark@legassie.com

www.legassie.com

Play the video on the right to see my visit to Quebec in 2005 with my friend Allen Voisine . We visited LaPocatiere, the town where the first Lagace progenitor owned land.

Quebec Genealogy Reseach Video