Book Description

"The NORMAND Family of Louisiana" is a two-volume encyclopedia of information about the lives of the Normand family from France to Canada and thence to Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana, written by family historian Mark J. Normand. Volume one, "The History from Normandy to Avoyelles," is 315 pages 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. 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. Debbie Melendy Norman, who helped edit the book, writes in her forward, "Mark's writing is lively and detailed, as he comes from a long line of raconteurs who have preserved hundreds of years of family memory. A gifted researcher, he has mined the archives of the United States, Canada and France for additional nuggets of information that he then works into the pure gold of story."