Monsieur et Madame Charles Theriault from Ste-Anne de Madawaska, New Brunswick. Charles and Méthaide are the great-grandparents of Adrien Theriault (Leo, Maxime, Charles) who is our delegate for that Great-Branch. Although Charles and Méthaide  settled in Ste-Anne de Madawaska, they were members of the parish St-Basile, the closest parish in that area.

Charles was the great-grandson of Joseph R. Theriault, Jr., one of the first Acadians to settle in St-Basile. On Wednesday, 7 January 1880, Charles married Méthaide in St-Basile and together raised a wonderful family in Ste-Anne which included  twelve children.

Ten years ago, the parish of St-Basile celebrated its 200th anniversary. It is the oldest Acadian parish in the Madawaska region of northwestern New Brunswick. 

This lovely couple at right, is Onezime Joseph Theriault and his fiancée, Marie Louise Lajoie. Onezime Joseph is son of Onezime and Artemise and grandfather of Roger Theriault (Gerard Philippe, Onezime Joseph, Onezime), Delegate of the Great Branch. 

Onesime (the elder) is shown below. He was born in St-Arsène, Qc on  10 July 1852. On  28 January 1890, he married  Arthémise Beaulieu, of St-Épiphane. Unfortunately, Arthémise passed away on 17 May 1892, in St-Arsène, at the age of  30 years; their son Onésime was only 14 mois.

  This photo of Onesime is courtesy of Murielle Thériault, who specializes in the genealogy of the descendants of Joseph-Anselme and Abraham Thériault. 

Onesime Joseph Theriault married Marie Louise Lavoie on July 10, 1914 in Drummond N.B.  They had a farm situated in the French Settlement, located south of Grand Falls N.B. and their farm ended at the USA international line dividing the state of Maine and the province of  New Brunswick.

They had four children Gerard Phelippe, Patrick Leon, Rose-Alma Rita and Lourette Aline.

Onesime was a farmer who grew wheat, potatoes and raised livestock. He also brought wild horses from western Canada; trained them and sold them to the military.

Onesime and Marie retired from the farm and moved into the town of Grand Falls where they lived for the remainder of their lives

Photo taken in 1912.
 

This is Mr and Mrs Stephen Durant. Philomene (Theriault) is  one of the sixth great-grand-daughters of Jehan Terriot. The couple raised their family in Amherst, Nova Scotia. The 'Philomene / Stephen Durant' Great-Branch is one of only three Great-Branches in the 'Jehan, Germain Trunk' so far documented.

This photo was submitted by grandson Vincent Durant (Gerald Archibald DURANT, Philomene THERIAULT), Delegate of the Great-Branch.

The lucky child receiving all of the attention of SARA THERIOT and her husband MARIE-MARCELLIN BONVILLIAN is grand-daughter Sandra Faye Bonvillian and it is clear that both Sara and Marie-Marcellin are very, very fond of this special child. Marie-Marcellin and Sara Theriot Bonvillian, heads of the Great-Branch, are the great-grandparents of our TERRIOT ACADIAN FAMILY colleague, Tracy Flickinger. Tracy is the daughter of Sandra Faye Bonvillian (in the photo) and Delegate of that Great-Branch. The photo was taken sometime before 1943, the year Marie-Marcellin was deceased. 

Tracy explained in her note which accompanied these wonderful photos that "...I only have these few (photos) that could be identified. I have others of Sara with possibly her daughters or sisters. Since both grandparents are deceased now, I don't have anyone as of yet who can identify all the people in the pictures."

No doubt, there are many who are very sympathetic with Tracy... her experience is a common one. 

So, let's take that cue from Tracy and seek out those old photos and sit down with your mother and father, or better still with your grandparents to learn about those photos.... AND, TAKE NOTES!

From the Great State of Maine, courtesy of Mr. Alfred L. Theriault, Jr., delegate of the Great-Branch, we have this wonderful series of photos which includes the last four generations of the branch. 

At top right is a photo of Docithe Theriault (Octave, Thomas, Jacques-Jean, Paul, Claude, Germain, Claude, Jehan) taken shortly before his death in 1942 in Howland, Maine. Docithe was the first of eight children born in 1866 to Octave Theriault and Angele Charette in Caribou, Maine. In our family Archive, he is located at www.terriau.org/archive/d9.htm#i3783. 

In the middle is Alfred Theriault, third son and eighth (and last) child born in 1903 to Docithe Theriault and Annie Humphrey in Caribou, Maine. The photo on the left was taken in 1929 when Alfred was 20 years old. This photo was probably taken on the occasion of his wedding. The photo on the right was taken in the early 1950's. Alfred was deceased in 1955 in Boston, Massachusetts. In our family Archive, he is located at www.terriau.org/archive/d10.htm#i3818. 

At right is the first son, the first of five children born in 1930 to Alfred Theriault and Lillian St-Thomas:  Alfred L. Theriault, Jr. This photo was taken on the spectacularly beautiful Cold Stream Pond in Enfield, Maine in September 2001.  In our family Archive, he is located at www.terriau.org/archive/d11.htm#i3820. 

At the bottom is the Alfred Theriault Sr. family in 1983. Left to right are: Doug, Euclid, Alfred Jr.,  Lillian St.Thomas Theriault Goulette,  Albert Goulette, Mary Lou, and Bernadette.
 
 

This fine-looking group is from New Iberia, Louisiana. The photo comes to us courtesy of the Great-Branch Delegate, Eldridge Theriot, Jr. In his note, Eldridge tells us that the photo came from his father's collection and was taken around Christmas, 1905 on the front steps of Romuald Theriot's house in Iberia Parish, LA.  Romuald was Fernest's father. 

Top row:(L to R): Romuald Theriot (Hubert, Hubert, Thomas, Joseph, Pierre, Germain, Jehan), Emile Orgeron,  Romuald's son-in-law, married to Eulalie, 1st child of Romuald & Corinne (R&C)

Middle row:(L to R): William Segura - Romuald's wife's nephew, Amar's brother; Octave Theriot, 5th child of R&C Joseph Theriot - 4th child of R&C; Joseph Romero, Jr - Romuald's nephew.

This family photo is courtesy of Dr Michel Thériault, the very generous and capable translator for our french-language webpages. This is the family of Guillaume and Yvonne Dupère Thériault (seated) with their children standing (from left to right): Nicole, Lauréat, Réal and Gisèle. The photo was taken around 1954. Lauréat is Michel's father.  By the way, Michel and Gilles who is Delegate for our Vital Great-Branch are second cousins. As with much of the Great-Branch, Guillaume and Yvonne's family are from northwest New Brunswick.

Courtesy of Aline "MizMo" Theriot Meaux, a very fine set of old family photos.

Clockwise from the top left in MizMo's own words: "This is 'Grandma August' , Telesphore A. Theriot's mother, and her four oldest grand daughters. The one in the back, with the frilly cap on is my Aunt Brigette, who lived to age 103."

Next, "Grandma August with her step brother, a Mr. Roussell, who was also her brother in law, because he married one of her sisters. 'Grandma August' was the wife of Augustin Celestin, and the mother of Telesphore...  Her name was Rosalie Madeleine Drouet.  'Grandma August' moved to Abbeville from Bayou du Large in Terrebonne Parish and lived with Telesphore and Marie Elvina. She was living with them when she died.  This picture... was taken in Abbeville not long before she died."

Next, "This is my dad, Alexandre Telesphore Theriot, taken in 1940 in Selma, Alabama, when he was in his early fifties." The inset is ..."my dad at age 19, when he had just become a married man."

Next, "My grandparents, Telesphore A. Theriot and Marie Elvina Fanguy... She was the daughter of Vincent Fanguy and Louisiana Watkins.  This picture was taken in Abbeville about 1900."

At left is MizMo's family... more formally... Aline Theriot Meaux (Alexandre, Telesphore). MizMo is our Great-Branch Delegate for the Telesphore/Maria branch and is grand-daughter of Telesphore Alexandre and Maria Elvina Fanguy. She is 8th great-grand-daughter of Jehan Terriot and Perrine Brault. Her deceased husband, Joseph Edias Meaux is shown in the insert at top right. 

In a recent note from New Hampshire, Robert La France wrote that he had "...a picture which includes four generations of Theriaults taken around 1932 in Berlin, N. H. In the picture, seated is Albert Theriault (my mother-inlaws' brother) with his son Robert, standing on the left is Alphonse (Albert's father) and to his right is Germain ( his father)." In visiting our Joseph T. website, Robert read about the special connection between my family and his hometown, Berlin, NH. As to the Germain Theriault family, this note from Robert has peaked my curiosity. I'd love to find out Germain's ancestry. There probably is another Great-Branch in the making. Thanks for the photo, Robert and regards to all in Berlin.

I was equally happy to hear from another Theriault family member, Gilles Theriault (J. Albert, Georges, Vital) who has been working on Theriault genealogy and history for well over 20 years. While there are many common points between Gilles' family and mine which focus on the St-John Valley, his branch, the Vital and Madeleine Thériault Great-Branch, migrated directly from the south to St-Basile in northern New Brusnwick and were among the first Theriault's to establish the ancient parish. Another interesting common points is that Gilles mother was born and raised in my father's hometown, Baker-Brook, New Brunswick and were close enough in age to have gone to school together. It is a small world indeed. Here is a photo of Gilles' beautiful family. Gilles, by the way, is a 12th Generation Grandson.

(I love success stories... and here is a great one.)In late January 2000, I received a note from Jean-Christian Theriault (See Letters) explaining that he had been talking with his grandmother about his ancestry and after visiting the Joseph T. Theriault website, he wondered if we might be related. He wasn't too sure about his ancestry but he said that his grandfather was Edgar Theriault and he was an American from the northeast. 

Well, we were in luck because his grandfather was listed in Linda Dube's 'Theriault Genealogy'(p. 544) and she even had a photo of Jean-Christian's 9th generation great-great-grandfather, Michel, shown here.

Jean-Christian is a 13th generation grandson of Jehan Terriault and is our representative of the Michel and Marie Theriault Great-Branch.