Madeleine BENOIT dite LAFOREST

(b. abt. 1742 , Québec Province, Canada d. , )

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Madeleine BENOIT dite LAFOREST was born abt. 1742 in Québec Province, Canada

Madeleine BENOIT dite LAFOREST was the child of Joseph BENOIT dit LAFOREST and Marie-Madeleine PROULX and the grandchild of: (paternal) Pierre BENOIT dit LAFOREST and Jeanne-Marie-Anne JACQUET ST-AMAND dite GERLAISE (maternal) Claude PROULX and Marie-Anne BIBEAU

Québec Généalogie - Over time, Québec has gone through a series of name changes
From its inception in the early 1600s until 1760, it was called Canada, New France.
1760 to 1763, it was simply Canada
1763 to 1791 - Province of Québec
1791 to 1867 - Lower Canada
1867 to present - Québec, Canada.

Thanks to Micheline Gadbois MacDonald for providing this information.

Québec Généalogie - What is a 'dit/dite' name? When the first settlers came to Québec from France it was a custom to add a 'dit' nickname to the surname. The English translation of 'dit' is 'said'. The Colonists of Nouvelle France added 'dit' names as distinguishers. A settler might have wanted to differentiate their family from their siblings by taking a 'dit' name that described the locale to which they had relocated. The acquiring of a 'dit' name might also be the result of a casual adoption, whereby the person wanted to honor the family who had raised them. Another reason was also to distinguish themselves by taking as a 'dit' name the town or village in France from which they originated. This custom ended around 1900 when people began using only one name, either the 'dit' nickname or their original surname.

Source: American-French Genealogical Society, Woonsocket, Rhode Island (www.afgs.org/ditnames/index1.html)

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