Welcome to the World of the Lachance & Bussell Families...and ME!

"He who careth not from whence he cometh, careth little wither he goeth," OR, as Yogi Berra once said, "If you don't know where you're going, you'll end up someplace else!"

Isn't it obvious that things that were known to our grandparents, are lost to us! And won't our descendants search in vain for many facts, which are to us, most familiar?"

Our past does not define our future, but it certainly helps to shape it, either consciously or sub-consciously! The search for ancestors and researching their lives certainly offers insight as to how I evolved to become who I am.

Maybe after all is said and done, this effort will serve its purpose and allow me to become...

...A Better Ancestor

Satirical image of a shoppers review of this website

The year, 1946 ... and so it begins!

THIS... is the merger of two families!
Lachance & Bussell

I am Larry Lachance, your host and, paternally, a direct descendant of Antoine Pépin dit Lachance and Marie Teste of New France (aka Québec) who married in 1659 at Québec. Maternally, I am descended from Benjamin Bussell and Susannah Hare who married in 1757 at Pitminster, England, descendants of whom arrived at the Port of New York on the Ship "Brig John" on Oct. 6, 1820.

I'm asking for you to help me continue "the search" by adding your stories and knowledge to continue to build our family. I hope the information you find here might cause you think about "from whence YOU came" and help you think about what your own future might hold.

If you visit these pages and find them helpful, useful or enlightening please consider helping me to keep this website alive by donating and helping to defray the costs.

Click "CONTACT" tab above, then click "DONATE".

Image of a bird asking a dog if they are related

Say something - Please! - Write, Call, Text, Knock at the door, JUST DO IT!

Image of Einsteing with quote about it being all relative

For over 175 years, the Lachance family has been plying the waters of the St. Lawrence around Isle-aux-Grues. Jos Lachance et Fils (Jos Lachance and Sons), became Croisières Lachance in 1990.

Arrow pointing to how the Lachance and Bussell started

I know this because my mom told me the story!

One evening in late winter of 1945, a transplanted young woman from Washington, DC, Anna Elizabeth BUSSELL, left the apartment she shared with her mother at 297 Lincoln Ave., in Orange, NJ, to go out with friends. The destination was a couple of blocks away, a place with adult flavored potable libations. (she didn't remeber the name of the place) There, she met one Wilfred Joseph Bernard LACHANCE (aka Bill), recently returned to his mother’s apartment in Newark from "the war" (WWII).

The details of that first encounter aren't important (nor are they really known) but needless to say, they hit it off! With this "la chance" (pun intended) meeting, came a short period of dating, a subsequent engagement (announced April 14, 1946 in the Sunday Call of Newark, NJ) and ultimately a marriage on August 18, 1946, at Grace Episcopal Church in East Orange, NJ.

The marriage lasted almost 16 years and the result, as they say, is history, not to mention...two sons; Paul, Larry (me) and, of course, this website.

DEDICATION

To my neice, Sandra LaChance, I thank you for the inspiration to begin this journey. A simple school assignment (for which I was ill prepared in 1994) prompted Sandra to ask about our family.
Her dad said "call your uncle!"

AND, to all of the ancestors of all of OUR families without whom, we wouldn't be here reading this today.

I want thank my family, (those I know and those I don't know) for their stories, pictures, memories and information all of which help to make this website more meaningful.

COBOURG, ON - SEP 11, 2017: Ontario Junior Hockey League game between the Cobourg Cougars and the Aurora Tigers. Brayden Lachance #1 of the Cobourg Cougars follows the play during the first period.
(Photo by Tim Bates / OJHL Images)

MY GOAL

Some people have goals and others, like Brayden Lachance of Ontario, Canada, pictured, strive to protect their goals.
Image used under license with permission.
(click to open larger image)

My ultimate goal (I suspect this will probably take the rest of my life) is to put together as much as I can find, including permanently digitized images, put it here on the web site or simply make it available to any member of our family that wants the information.

I am doing this in order to allow both present and future generations to know
"from whence they came".

HELP SUPPORT THIS SITE

There's nothing here "for profit", there are no ads, the site is NOT a non-profit organization...it's just me, Larry Lachance, your host, who enjoys genealogy and trying to help others find out their own family history.

Has this site helped you?
Have I helped you?

PLEASE consider supporting my efforts, both research and costs to maintain this site by making a donation.

AND, there are other ways to help!
Click the link below for more information.

DOCUMENTATION NOTICE

Much of the information found in my database IS documented but be careful because some information is NOT!

The facts about any given individual may have been changed or could very well be incorrect. If you find errors...please, tell me so I can correct them.

If you have personal knowledge of, or documentation about, any of the individuals in this family please help by allowing me to include your information.

Use the "Contact Me" link, or, one of the other means listed in the "About Me" page.

DEDICATION

ABOUT ME

MY GOAL

ABOUT THIS SITE

HELP SUPPORT THIS SITE

DONATE | HELP

DOCUMENTATION NOTICE

DATABASE INTRO

Navigation - Getting Around

Find your way around using the menu at the top.

Somtimes I have links at the bottom of a particular page BUT, everything on the main site is in the menu up top.

The database is launched separately and uses its own navigation menu. Questions?? Just let me know.

Use your browsers "back button" to return to previous pages. If you've gotten lost and want to return to this page, simply click on the TREE at the top left of this page.

Guide to Photos/Links

PHOTOS - MOST, not all, photos will open in a new browser window, pop-up lightbox or gallery. Photos of individuals may NOT be saved without permission from the rightful owner.

LINKS - All of the links to other web sites open in a "New Browser Window". The linked site will remain open in the window or tab until you close it. I don't necessarily endorse the products or views of sites that are linked from here...they are here for your convenience. There ARE, however, a few links that I do endorse or recommend. Where this is true, it is stated with the link.

The Tree - Names Database

On this site is a redacted "internet viewable" family names database. It is updated with my local data as often as practical. It should not contain dates or personal information about living persons or for any person born after 1930 with a few exceptions.

Get to the database by clicking on the "Database" link in the top menu. Or to go now, click "Database Introduction". Here you will find both the date of the last update AND the number of people currently in the database as well as specifics about how to access the database.