Today I am reviewing some the the L'or or Lord lines in our families and found a void. A real void, that is, there is an empty space where there should be writing. A parish register from "The Registers of St.Jean-Baptiste, Port Royal, 1702-1755 has the name "Julien L'or" written in the left hand margin but there is absolutely no writing! For those researchers familiar with the style and format of the French Catholic parish registers of Quebec and Acadia, this is a glaring error. For those reading this story who are unfamiliar with this format, I can only tell you that the dear Cure Charlemagne Cuvier may have tied one on the night before. The empty section occurs between the 17th of February and the 3rd of May, 1724. It must have been a long winter!
Who was Julien L'or anyway? Julien was an early habitant in Acadia, not one of the earliest but he arrived before 1675, probably from France and may have been in Quebec before his arrival in Acadia. Besides being the progenitor of the Lord family, he was a 6th great grandfather of Al, Claire and Ray Rivet and through a marriage also an ancestor of Dorothy Wills. He was born about 1652 and married Anne-Charlotte Girouard about 1675. Julien and Anne-Charlotte had nine children and the Rivets descend from two of those children, Pierre L'or and Marguerite L'or. Al, Claire and Raymond Rivet's grandmother was Marie Lord, daughter of Solomon Lord, born in St. Jacques de l'Achigan in 1854.
Julien L'or and Anne-Charlotte lived and raised their family on the western side of the River Dauphin, slightly northwest and across the river from Port Royal. In the 1686 census of Port Royal Julien and Anne-Charlotte are listed as 33 and 26 years old with 4 children: Alexandre 10, Jacques 8, Pierre 5, and Marie 1 year old. Cattle and sheep are not enumerated on their entry. On this map, you can find their domain:
and the detail...
It is possible that Julien was buried in the cemetery of the church of St Jean Baptiste in Port Royal, present day Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia. With a blank entry, who knows exactly what occurred to Julien when he died. Could he have drown in the River Dauphin and his body never found?
In July, I had an opportunity to walk through the oldest section of the St. John Baptiste cemetery guided by Alan Melanson on the Acadian Ancestral Tour. Julien L'or's remains may have been close by and under our footsteps....even though he has a blank entry in the place where his burial should be recorded!
Here is the line from Claire, Al and Ray Rivet, siblings born in Cohoes NY between 1916 and 1922, who were the children of:
Paul Emile Rivet 1880-1961, born in St Jacques de l'Achigan, son of
Marie Lord , 1854-1914, born in St Jacques de l'Achigan, daughter of
Solomon Lord, 1827-1913, born in St Jacques de l'Achigan, son of
Louis Thaddee Lord, 1784-1858, born in St Jacques de l'Achigan, son of
Jean Baptiste Lord dit Talaron, born 1761 in exile in Connecticut Colony, son of
Louis L'or, 1722-1781, born in Port Royal, Acadia, son of
Pierre L'or, 1682- 1738, born in Port Royal, son of
Julien L'or dit Montagne and Anne-Charlotte Girouard
