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Subject: Re: [QUEBEC] Asking for "historian" help with determining source of "dit Lespine (Lepine/L'pine)"
Date: Mon, 6 May 2002 11:14:25 -0700

Hi Capt Jerry,

Thanks for your feedback on this. I am hoping others on the list can add
some additional help with this.

Yes, as written by Michel Langlois in his biography of Gabriel Berard,
his father was "dit Varanne" which, I believe, means "tailor of women's
clothes". Maybe because his father had a dit name, Gabriel felt more
compelled to get one for himself... and "tailor of women's clothes"
surely wouldn't suit a voyageur / coureur-de-bois!

Does anyone know if the Outaouais trading area around Sault-Ste-Marie had
a lot of Pine trees or thorn trees? Or, were pine (or thorn) trees
prominent in d'Autray/Lanoraie (across from Sorel) where he bought a farm
in 1673 after marrying?... but by then, he had already acquired the dit
Lépine name.

Any further help will be most appreciated!
Joe.. in Calif.

----------------------------------------
Aloha Capt Joe,
Interesting questions. As you indicated, "epine" is French for "thorn".
Another word that comes close is "pin" in French=
"pine"(tree). I recall seeing the French word "pine" for the English
"pine".
Some of these dit names didn't make sense. The case of your ancestor
Gabriel
is interesting because I don't ever recall coming across a person who
stayed
in France having a different dit name than that of his son who went to
New
France. In fact, my experience has been that, except for soldiers, dit
names
were rare in France.
Capt Jerry, Hawaii
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: <>
> > I am asking for help in finding the likely source of the "dit
Lespine"
> > name (Lepine / L'pine), which, I understand may translate as "the
thorn".

This thread:

• Re: [QUEBEC] Asking for "historian" help with determining source of "dit Lespine (Lepine/L'pine)" by

  • Re: [QUEBEC] Asking for "historian" help with determining source of "dit Lespine (Lepine/L'pine)" by Dessaulles Beaudry <>