My line follows Guillaume Robidou son of Andre and Jeanne. He was born on November 28, 1675 in Laprairie and was only 3 years old when his father died. Guillaume was raised by his step father Jacques Surprenant in Laprairie. Guillaume married Marie Francoise Guerin on June 11, 1697 in Montreal, Quebec. She was the daughter of a Master Shoemaker, Sylvain Guerin and Marie Brazeau and was 16 years old at the time of her marriage. It has been suggested that Marie Brazeau, Guillaume's mother in law, had questionable morals in the wilderness of New France. Marie Francoise was her oldest daughter born in New France while her father was still in France until 1685. Marie Brazeau had three other children after her husband returned to France alone. Guillaume and Marie Francoise had 13 children between 1699 and 1722; Etienne, Joseph, Marguerite-Catherine, Antoinette-Josephe, Marie Francoise, Francois, Antoine, Marie Angelique, Laurent Francois, Paul, Marie Charlotte, Charles, and Marguerite Madeleine. Guillaume died on July 1, 1754 and is buried at Montreal. Marie Francoise died August 26, 1757 and is also buried at Montreal. Although it would be 6 generations before my line of Robidou's would reach Essex County, Ontario through Guillaume and Francoise son Etienne, their son Joseph would have a grandson who moved to Essex County. Just one of the Robidou men to have his name carried on in the Windsor/Detroit area today.

Guillaume and Francoise oldest child Etienne is the next in my line. He was born on June 9, 1699, in Laprairie, Quebec. On November 24, 1721 in Longueuil, Quebec Etienne married Marie Anne LaRoche. They had a daughter Marie Josephe born in 1722 and were expecting a second child in early 1724 when Etienne died on October 22, 1723 in Longueuil, Quebec. Marie Anne gave birth to a son whom she named Etienne after his deceased father on January 30, 1724 and one month later on February 26, 1724 married Jacques Philippe Vetu dit Belair in Montreal. Marie Anne had 13 more children with Jacques. As a result of being raised with his step father Etienne used the last name Belair dit Robidou. He combined the names of his father and stepfather and created his own "dit" name. This legacy continued for a couple of generation until in the early 1800's you start to see just the name Belair being written in the Parish Record books for the events of this family. Today the surviving last name is Belair in my family line.
The source of the information for the last name came from Cindy Gordon whose research can be found on RootsWeb World Connect.


Etienne Belair dit Robidou married Marie Catherine Chambly on February 4, 1743 in Montreal, Quebec. She is the daughter of Clement Chambly and Marie-Anne Messaguier. They lived in Montreal for a couple of years then moved to Pierrefonds and by 1751 were living in Oka, Deux Montagnes and at some later point to Vaudreuil where their children's marriages can be found. They had 15 children; Marie Josephe, Etienne Pascal, Marie Francoise, Marie Ursule, Pierre Amable, Etienne, Jean Baptiste, Marie Genevieve, Hyacinthe Amable, Elisabeth, Augustin, Philibert, Marie Ursule, Marie Josephe, and Marie Agatha. At least 8 of these children would reach adulthood but only 3 of the boys would marry. On September 7, 1787 Catherine died in Vaudreuil and Etienne died September 14, 1801 at the age of 77.


Augustin Belair dit Robidou was born on January 3, 1763, in Oka, Quebec.On January 6, 1786 he married Elisabeth Servant, the daughter of Pierre Servant and Madeline Vincent. This couple resided in Rigaud where 12 children were born. Six sons; Augustin, Etienne, Joseph, Jean Baptist, Hyacinthe and Pierre, also there were 6 daughters; Catherine, Marie Elisabeth, Genevieve, Marie Suzanne, Marie Victoire and Alexis. Augustin was a voyager and was away at the time of his sons birth Pierre in 1804. Elisabeth died in July 1805 and Augustin must have still been away as her son Augustin and her brother Alexis are the ones present at her burial. By 1809 Augustin was living in the Oka mission where his daughter Catherine married Joseph Louis dit Pompee, an Indian. In 1810 Augustin buried his son Hyacinth in Ste Madeleine de Rigaud after he drowned with another boy in Long Sault Rapids. Augustin also had a daughter by an Indian woman while living in the Oka Mission after Elisabeth's death. The entry for his daughters marriage reads "Marie Skonweairon, minor daughter of the late Augustin Robidoux.....and Thomas Watiorhary, an Iroquois of this mission, her guardian since childhood. The mother is unknown." There is no burial date for Augustin in either Oka or Ste Madeliene de Rigaud where he raised his family. We get a possible clue about his death with his son Augustin who died before the birth of his third child, Emilie, in Aug. 1814. If we look at the time of conception for Emilie that gives us a date of November 1813. It is interesting to note that the battle of Chrysler Farm in the War of 1812 took place on November 11, 1813. Chrysler Farm was down the river at the other end of Long Sault where the Robidous lived. Many French men along with their British neighbours and the Iroquois took part in that battle. It is my assumption that both Augustin Robidou dit Belair and his son Augustin fought and died in the battle of Chrysler Farm. The Battle of Chrysler Farm
On April 4, 1826 at Ste-Madeleine-de-Rigaud Jean Baptist Belair dit Robidou married Louise Quesnel on April 4, 1826 at Ste Madeleine de Rigaud. Louise was the daughter of Amable Quesnel and Rose Moreau and was the youngest of eleven children and was sometimes called Lisette. Jean Baptiste & Louise had 9 children between the years 1827 and 1849 in Rigaud. Only three of these children would reach adulthood and marry, Suzanne, Jean Baptiste and Joseph. They were a farming family in and around the Rigaud area. Louise died giving birth to her daughter Emilien in December 1849 and later at the age of 8 months Emilien was buried at St. Madeleine, Rigaud, Quebec. Jean Baptiste raised his four surviving children, Jean Baptiste, Joseph, Suzanne, Marcelline, on his own. In 1863 he remarried to Emilie Grondin in St Marthe, Quebec. She was 25 years younger than Jean Baptiste. By 1867 at the time of his son Joseph's wedding Jean Baptiste was deceased. I have not yet found his burial. Marcelline, Jean Baptiste & Louise youngest surviving child, died in 1870 at the age of 25 never having married or leaving any children.

Joseph Belair, the son of Jean Baptist and Louise Quesnel was born May 5, 1840 in Rigaud, Quebec and married Salomee Theoret of Glen Robertson on September 2, 1867 in Ste-Marthe, Vaudreuil, Quebec. Salomee was the daughter of Antoine Theoret & Eulalie Poudrette dit Lavigne. Joseph and Salomee had nine children. Joseph's brother Jean Baptiste raised his family in and around LaChute, Quebec. Joseph and Jean Baptiste would be the generation to drop Robidou from their last name. By 1876 Joseph and Salomee moved their family to Glen Robertson, Ontario near Ottawa. The 1881 Canadian Census has them living in Lochiel Towship, Glengarry County, Ontario. Here they would live out their lives and their children would also raise families in the Glengarry County area. Joseph's died in 1907. In the 1901 Census he was listed as living with his eldest son Joseph and his family along with Salomee. After Joseph's death in 1907 Salomee married George Sabourin, her brother-in-law through marriage to her sister Marie Louise Theoret who died in 1908. Salomee and George married in 1910. Salomee died April 6, 1943 in Glen Robertson.


Salomee Theoret
Joseph married Salomee Theoret on September 2, 1867 in Ste-Marthe-sur-la-Lac, Quebec. Their children are found in the R.C. Churches of Glen Robertson, Glen Nevis and Lochiel, Ontario.

Adolphus, their son, was married on May 2, 1899 to Virginie (Eugenie) Courville in Ste-Justine-de-Newton, Quebec. The daughter of Jean Baptiste Courville & Emilie Tessier dit Lavigne. Adolphus and Virginie had at least 5 children, 4 of whom survived to adulthood. In the 1901 Canadian Census they were living in the Villiage of Grenville, Argentuil County, Quebec and Adophus is listed as a tinsmith. By December of 1901 their first child Adolph was born followed by Fleur-Ange in 1902. Laurentia was born in 1905 but died in January 1907 and that summer in June Laurence was born. Yvette was born in 1908. Around the year 1914 Adolphus and Virginie moved their family to Windsor, Ontario. Adolphus was a "ferblantier" or "tinman" and worked in the sheet metal business. He owned his own shop in Windsor where my father remembers going to visit and his grandather, Adolphus, would make him a pail and shovel to play with.

Adolphus Belair c. 1940

Virginie Courville Belair c. 1930

Virginie died July 7, 1935 in Windsor, Ont. and is buried in Heavenly Rest Cememtery, Windsor. After her death Adolphus moved back to Glen Robertson and married his first cousin Rosina Sabourin on May 26, 1943 in Ste. Anne de Prescott Parish, Ontario. Adolphus's mother, Salomee, and Rosina's mother, Marie-Louise, were sisters. Salomee and Marie-Louise also shared a husband from the generation before. The marriage must have been for companionship as Adolphus was in his 60's and Rosina was widowed from Ovila Roy with whom she had a grown family. Adolphus died in 1951 in Glen Robertson.

The children of Adolphus and Virginie were; Adolph who never married and never had children, he died at the young age of 48 years old; Fleur-Ange whose name became Florence in the english translation married Ernest Cadotte of Detroit, they resided in Detroit but never had children; Laurentia who was born in Quebec in March 1905 and was buried January 27, 1907 in Ste Justine de Newton; Yvette who married Harry Usher of Detroit and had 4 children and Lawrence Sylvio born on June 5, 1907 and baptized Jean Baptist Laurent Sylvio in Grenville, Quebec on
June 6, 1907.


The Belair Family
Left to Right
Adolphus Belair, Fleur-Ange, Virginie, (back row) Adolph, Yvette, Laurent Sylvio
c. 1925
Laurent or Lawrence as he was called, married Florence Larsh of Windsor, Ontario on July 10, 1930 at Sacred Heart Parish Church. They had a family of 8 children who along with their offspring live in both the United States and Canada today. There are now 28 great grandchildren from this marriage some of whom are nearing the age of adulthood or have reached the summer season of life.



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