Lachance | Sutton Family

Lucien and Adrienne (Desjardins) Sutton, along with sons Roger, Bert, Bob, and Ray, are all cousins on the side of my grandmother, Val Desjardins. From the years of my teens through 2022, the first call I would always make when visiting Lewiston was to Roger Sutton and, until she passed in 2002, his mom Adrienne. Shortly before Lucien (Roger's dad) passed away, Roger made a promise that he would take care of his mom. And so, he did! For the next 29 years, Roger kept his promise and saw his mom through until the end.

Adrienne, not to mention the rest of the family, had known me forever, or at least before I was born. Roger and his mom both signed my baby book AND, perhaps even better for me, brought me a gift! Too bad I have no idea what it was! I was told that I attended Bob Sutton's wedding in 1957 although I have no memory of that either.

My grandmother, Valdora Desjardins, always kept me posted about family events and happenings. In my earlier years and being the epitome of the fine art of procrastination, I rarely went to Maine. In the early 1980's, my life began to change and I starated to realize that life is both short and perhaps even bittersweet. I started to make the effort to stay in touch with everybody. I am just thankful that Adrienne and Roger never gave up on me and today we remain forever family!

While this page is "The Suttons" and I am most assuredly related to all of them, it was Roger Sutton who was always there and with whom I maintained the closest relationship. Whenever I saw Bob or Ray or Bert, Roger was always there. The same is true for the Desjardins side. One of the photos I have, not on this site, is one that Bob Sutton snapped of a balloon, almost, touching the water of the Androscoggin River during a Great Falls Balloon Festival in Lewiston. It is framed and displayed on the wall in my home office and serves as a constant reminder of Lewiston, Bob and the rest of the Sutton family.

Once during a visit, while St. Peter & Paul Church (now a minor Basilica) was undergoing renovations, Roger had arranged a tour inside. A handful of photo's appear on the Basilica page of this site. During this visit we also went to St. Peter's Cemetery and had dinner at Marois!

Throughout my life, whatever time we spent together, be it with Roger or the whole family, it was always good. These are memories that will stay with me for the rest of my life.

CONNECTING THE DOTS

SUTTON - Dot # 1 - We pick up this story sometime around 1890 when 17-year-old Joseph Sutton, son of John Sutton of Newfoundland & Labrador and Thécle Marie Louise Dupuis, leaves Labrador, by way of dog sled, across some frozen tundra to a point where he finds other conveyance and makes his way to Canton, Maine in the US. Joseph settled here for a short time before travelling south, about 26 miles, to Lewiston, which would be his home for the remainder of his life.

At some point between 1891 and 1899, Joseph meets Angelina Laliberté, born in June of 1880 at St-Flavien, Quebéc, the daughter of Louis Laliberté and Philomène Hamel . Angelina came to Lewiston with her parents when she was 11 (sometime around 1891). She never returned to her birth home. Joseph Sutton and Angelina Laliberté would be married on February 19, 1900 at Sts. Peter & Paul Church in Lewiston.

Their first child, Louis Joseph Sutton was born on November 14, 1900. He died of Cholera on July 18, 1901. He is buried at St. Peter's Cemetery in Lewiston. Their second child, Lucien Adrian Sutton was born on December 22, 1902.

Old Photo of a dog sled in the late 1800's

photo of wilfred and evano desjardins lewiston maine

(L-R) Wilfrid & Evano Desjardins

DESJARDINS - Dot # 2 - Etienne R. Desjardins, the son of Jean-Baptiste Desjardins and Marie-Hélène Levasseur, was born at St-Pascal, Kamouraska, Québec in 1848, and Marie Celanire Pelletier, the daughter of Edouard Edmond Pelletier and Marie-Emérence Levasseur, was born at St-André, Kamouraska in 1849. Both arrived in Lewiston around 1874. Etienne and Celanire are my 2X Great Grandparents.

It is fairly certain Etienne and Celanire met in Lewiston however it is also possible that they knew each other before arriving in the United States. The couple was married on January 11, 1875 at Sts. Peter & Paul Church in Lewiston. They had seven children, all born in Lewiston; four boys and three girls. Two of the boys in particular and principals of this connection were Wilfrid Desjardins, born in 1881 and Evano Desjardins, born in 1879. Wilfrid was my great grandfather.

Of course, boys will be boys and these two grew up just 2 years apart in age but were, most apparently, of very different personalities. They did, however, both grow up to raise families of thier own.

Evano Desjardins, Dot # 3, the older of the two, would marry Anna Malo, daughter of Louis Ayet dit Malo and Celanire Darsigny. Anna was born in Lewiston in December 1882. They married at Sts. Peter & Paul Church on June 23, 1902. They would have 11 children, 7 of which would survive to adulthood. It is their daughter, Adrienne Desjardins, who represents Dot # 5 of this "connect the dots" excercise.

Wilfrid Desjardins, Dot # 4, would marry Marie Clara Simard, daughter of Octave Phileas Simard and Sylvie Lessard. She was born at St-Joseph de Beauce, Québec in October of 1885. Wilfrid would not be so fortunate with family. They had 3 children, two of which died at less than 2 years old. Only Valdora (aka Marie Oneida) Desjardins, later known as just Val, my grandmother, would survive. Clara Simard died of tuberculosis in Lewiston in 1908 at the very young age of 23. Valdora Desjardins, representing Dot # 6 of this "connect the dots" exercise, would be raised by her grandparents, Etienne and Celanire.

wedding photo valdora desjardins and tony lachance

Valdora Desjardins- (1904-1999)
wedding photo
Antoine Lachance- (1905-1970)
19 NOV 1923
Sts. Peter & Paul Cathedral
Lewiston, Maine

click on any of the 3 images to open full size

photo of valdora desjardins and adrienne desjardins about 1918

This photo is of Valdora Desjardins and Adrienne Sutton, together at the age of about 14 years (Circa 1918).

They were 1st cousins and remained very close, writing back and forth, calling each other and visiting whenever they were able to do so, throughout thier lives, until Val passed away in 1999.

Marie Oneida (Valdora) Desjardins Lachance Mckenna
14 DEC 1904 - 04 MAY 1999

Adrienne Eva Desjardins Sutton
01 OCT 1904 - 09 JUN 2002

wedding photo adrienne desjardins and lucien sutton

Adrienne Eva Desjardins - (1904-2002)
wedding photo
Lucien Adrien Sutton - (1902-1973)
10 NOV 1930
Sts. Peter & Paul Cathedral
Lewiston, Maine

WOW THAT WAS FUN!

So there you have it; the whys and wherefores of how the Lachance gets connected to the Sutton through the Desjardins. Of course I consider myself to be quite fortunate that I actually AM related to these two families. Both have been involved with the city of Lewiston for over one hundred years... yet another thing to be proud of.

NEVER PLAYED CONNECT THE DOTS?

Just in case all of the above is too confusing, I've created a standard "family chart" showing just how, your host Larry Lachance, Roger Sutton, his brothers and their mother Adrienne Sutton along with the Desjardins, are connected.

Click the image for full size

family chart image of connection between lachance and sutton of lewiston maine

Find more about the line by visiting the family database .

scanned obituary adrienne sutton 1904-2002

Obituary | Sun Journal Pg. A4 | June 10, 2002 | Lewiston, ME

Click the image for full size

photo of joseph sutton and angelina laliberte with lucien sutton

Click the image for full size

Joseph Sutton and Angelina Laliberté

Joseph and Angelina had twelve children. The first child born to the couple died July 18, 1901. The second born was Lucien, husband of Adrienne Desjardins. This photo is of the three probably taken around 1910.

OBITUARIES

Click the name/icon for full size obit scan

📰 Joseph Sutton
January 19, 1940

📰 Angelina Laliberte Sutton
January 19, 1940

📰 Lucien Sutton
February 14, 1973

📰 Robert Sutton
December 3, 2011

photo of the cloth room at the hill mill in lewiston maine with adrienne sutton

This photo was taken while Adrienne (lower left) worked in the Cloth Room at the Hill Division of the Bates Manufacturing Company as an inspector. Adrienne worked at the mill for 42 years. (by any standard, that's one hell of a long time to work!)

Click the image for full size

newspaper photo larry lachance and roger sutton la kermessee 2007

Larry Lachance on left, Roger in the back - 2007

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This brings me to here... The photo is of Larry Lachance and Roger Sutton, taken by a photographer at the Biddeford Courier for publication in the paper, a story about La Kermesse in Biddeford, ME in 2007.

Roger and I had great times whenever I was in Maine to visit. We didn't see each other often and we only spoke, maybe, 3-4 times a year on the phone, but we were always in touch, at least for the past 35 years. Our history goes back to the days of the Steer House Restaurant in Lewiston, fine dining at Marois (closed in 2003), Rolandeau's (closed in 2018) and more recently dinners at Fuel (closed in 2018) and Rolly's Diner (still going strong in 2023) in Auburn. We always went out to eat someplace wherever we were because both of us enjoyed eating, along with a Cosmo of course.

At the end of May, 2022 I had a chance to drive up to Lewiston, specifically to visit with Roger. Of course we visited for as long as possible and, again of course, we went out for dinner (and a Cosmo) at Davinci's. The next day we said our "so long's...see you soon" and went on our way. This year (2022) I did not get a call or a card on my birthday and I just assumed he had forgotten. When Roger's birthday came along, I tried to call and found the phone had been disconnected.

Following several attempts to find out why, I decided to look online. I was devastated to learn that he had passed the day before my birthday. I was heartbroken I didn't know and didn't have the opportunity to attend his memorial.

For all of the good times we had, along with the strength of the relationship we had built upon since the day of my birth, I miss him! I will always remember Roger and he will be in my heart for as long as I am alive.

Rogers memorial is online at the time of this writing at Fortin Funeral Home. The link will stay as long as the memorial is up. His obituary was published in the Sun Journal in Lewiston 📰 Roger Sutton onSeptember 11, 2022. Click to view.

I've added some photos of people who are amongst these connected families. They are, by not means, all of the photos I've amassed over the years.

You'll notice many are watermarked. There are reasons for this but primarily, I'm kinda frustrated with people just taking the photos from this site and using them in other places with no link back or even noting where they are from. If these people were nice enough, (you know who you are) they might help me to add to this ever-growing family.

IF you want a photo, just ask, I'm happy to donate to the cause and, I really don't bite.