Normand/Gaspard Book
Chances are that if you are a GASPARD from Louisiana, then your ancestors are the NORMAND family of Canada. The first of two volumes featuring the Gaspard-Normand family of Avoyelles entitled, “The NORMAND Family of Louisiana,” is now available for sale. This 315-page volume is a limited hardbound edition, and is filled with everything you want to know about our colonial ancestors, from the birth of Francois-Simon Le Normand (1570-1630) in Igé, Normandy to the death of Jean-Pierre Normand (1742-1824) in Avoyelles, Louisiana. The Normands were some of first white settlers in the “New World.” Gervais Le Normand and his brother Jean arrived in Quebec, New France (Canada) in 1647, recruited as carpenters to help build Quebec. The Normands became a reputable and distinguished family in Quebec. Three generations later in 1765, Jean-Gaspard Normand and his family pulled up roots in Canada and relocated in Des Allemands, Louisiana, making the Normand family some of the earliest in the state.
Volume one, “The History from Normandy to Avoyelles,” is an encyclopedia of information about the Normand diaspora from France to Canada and thence to Louisiana. It re-creates the historical setting for each of the family forefathers. We learn what motivated Gervais Le Normand (1597-1665) to pull up roots in Igé, France and plant them in Quebec, New France; of the family trials of Jean Le Normand (1637-1706) whose life ends mysteriously when his body is found trampled and bloody in a field of peas; the adventures of Charles Le Normand (1663-1715), the successful coureur de bois, roofer, and litigator in Quebec; the zigzag itinerary of Jean-Gaspard Normand (1712-1788) from Quebec to Montreal down to the American colonies at Fort Duquesne, back the Montreal, and finally to Louisiana; and Jean-Pierre Normand (1742-1824) who built a successful plantation and portage on the Red River, and began the great Normand family of Avoyelles, Louisiana. The book ends in the descendancy to the fifth generation from Jean-Gaspard Normand. The book also features Louisiana families who married into the Normand and Gaspard families: Vicknair, Matherne, Dupuy, Dauzat, Bonnette, Bordelon, Mayeux, Brouillette, Bernard, Couvillion, and many more.
“The NORMAND Family of Louisiana” Volume One, is a limited edition, large sized and a basil hardbound cover with gold lettering.Anyone interested in acquiring a copy should contact Mark J. Normand by email at [email protected], or by phone at (225) 654-6289, for availability.