L'HEUREUX Genealogy

L'Heureux Ancestors

Until November 2000, I was sure that all the L'Heureux in North America (see the US distribution) descended from a single ancestor, Simon Lereau from Maine, France.

I have since been informed that there is another branch (although much newer and very small) that originated with Desiré Lheureux from Belgium.

From Maine, France

Simon Lereau dit L'Heureux, (son of  René Lereau and Marguerite Guillin) born on October 10, 1624 in the parish of Saint-Martin in Igé, Orne, France. His family later on moved to Saint-Cosme-de-Vair, Maine, France, a few miles South of Igé. He sailed to the Nouvelle France around 1652 and on 27 Nov 1655 on l'Ile d'Orléans, he married Suzanne Jaroussel (daughter of Pierre Jarousseau and of Jacquette Touraude). Their seven children included two sons, Pierre and Sixte. I am a descendant of Sixte and of Pierre (via my mother). 

Find out more by browsing the page Our Ancestor Simon Lereau dit L'Heureux. 

Simon's sister Marie Lereau, who with her husband Gervais Bisson, came to Canada at about the same time as Simon, are the ancestors of most of the Bisson in North America. With the help of 90 plus Internet cousins, we have accumulated a large database of descendants of René Lereau (Simon and Marie's father). This web accessible database is maintained by a cousin, Robert L'Heureux.

Simon Lereau is my eight great grandfather via his son Sixte. I have a second connection to Simon via my mother (her great grand mother was Louise Julie L'Heureux) and Simon's son Pierre.

From Belgium

Two brothers, Desire and Pierre Joseph Lheureux

Desire Lheureux was born in Belgium 12 Jun 1840 and in 1870 moved to Braidwood, IL.  He was married to Mary (Marie) Louise Bourges of Terre Haute, IN. on 4 Dec1877.  They moved to Rice, KS in 1844 where they settled on a homestead in Center township and remained there until his death 2 Nov 1913., age 73 years, 5 months and one day.  To them was born five children, three daughters and two sons.  He leaves to mourn his departure a wife, three sisters, three daughters, a son and five grandchildren and a host of relatives and friends.  He lived a consistent Christian life and was a member of the Presbyterian Church. They had five children. 

1. Mary Lheureux (b. 11 Sep 1879, d. 18 Apr 1973). She married Anthony Naillieux (b. 13 Jan 1864 d. 2-7-1926).
2. Lucy Lheureux-Barker
3. Sedonia Lheureux-Pick (who later on married again to someone named Taylor)
4. Anthony Lheureux (b. 19 Nov 1866 in Rice, KS, d. 22 Nov 1954 in Concordia KS). He married Mary Naillieux (b. 8 Jan 1891 in Concordia, KS, d. 6 Jan 1985 in Concordia KS).
5. Joseph Lheureux (b.1883, d. 5 Aug 1899 at the age of 16 years, 8 months and 2 days). He never married.

The obituary on Marie Louise Bourges, Desiré's wife read:

Marie Louise Lheureux,  a pioneer of Cloud County Kansas died on 2 Oct 1947. She was born in France 18 Nov 1858 dauhter of Mr. & Mrs. John Bourges. As a small child she came from France to Terre Haute, IN with her parents. In 1878 she was married to Desire Lheureux.

Pierre Joseph Lheureux was born in Belgium and also moved to the US. More info to come on his descendants.

Desire Lheureux was the great-grandfather of Shirley Sturgil (via Lucy Lheureux-Barker) who sent me this information. Most of the descendants still live in the Rice and Concordia area of Cloud County Kansas but according to Shirley, there may not be any living descendants of this branch that have the surname Lheureux. I no longer have any contact information on Shirley Sturgil. If you know how to reach her, please let me know.

Pierre Joseph Lheureux was the great-great grandfather of Thomas Owen who has more information on this branch. There is currently only one descendant of Pierre Joseph with the surname Lheureux. If you would like to contact Thomas Owne, contact me.

It is possible but very unlikely that the ancestors of Desiré and of Pierre Joseph Lheureux in Belgium had any connections with Simon Lereau whose parents in France used the surname L'Hérault.

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L'Heureux Reunions

There has been several reunions in the past to honor various L'Heureux. families. 

• A Reunion attended by over 100 cousins took place in September 1998 in Montreal. A summary of what went on can be found at the Reunion Home Page. You can also view the pictures that I took at the reunion.
• One apparently took place in St-Hyacinthe, QC a few years ago (no other details known)
• Another took place in 1987 in Saskatchewan, to honor the descendants of Moise L'Heureux and Sophie Pichette who settled in Jackfish Lake in the 1880s. Their descendants number in the thousands.

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Are we related?

• LHEUREUX Mailing List - On Rootsweb
• L'heureux Message Board - On Ancestry.com
• Lheureux Message Board - On Ancestry.com

You may also want to

• subscribe to the L'Heureux Genealogy blog for the latest news
• join the Facebook Group on L'Heureux Genealogy to chat with your cousins.

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