born:  1638-----------1822---------1859-------1891------1924---------1957 

Name:  Philip Charles LaBerge

 My Father:  Walter Barber LaBerge

 My Mother:  Patricia Anne Sammon LaBerge

      Family Timeline
With Historical Events for Context

---------------------------------------

1543: Nicolaus Copernicus dies after publishing his book De revolutionibus orbium coelestium (On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres) showing that the earth
orbits the sun.

1562:  Begin of the French Wars of Religion in France between Catholics
and French Protestants (Huguenots.)

1590: Jean de la Berge, Robert's grandfather, was born.

1596: René Descartes was born March 31st.  He was a key figure in the Scientific Revolution which was a series of events that marked the emergence of modern
science during the early modern period, when developments in mathematics,
physics, astronomy, biology (including human anatomy) and chemistry
transformed the views of society about nature.

1598:  Henry IV of France issues the Edict of Nantes granting substantial
rights to French Protestants (Huguenots), ending the wars of religion, and
returning calm and peace.

1612: Jacques de la Berge, Robert's father, was born.

1616: Galileo was able to look at the night sky with the newly invented telescope.

1626:  Thomas Touchet is born in the neighboring village of Thaon to Jacques
Touchet & Marie Poitevin. Marie married Jacques de la Berge in 1636.

1633: Galileo was put on trail by the church, forced to recant Copernicanism,
and was put under house arrest for the rest of his life.  Galileo died in 1642.

1635-1636: The plague ravages Lower Normandy.
1636: Jacques de la Berge maried Marie Poitevin after the death of his
first wife, Marguerite Basly. Marie Poitevin was the widow of Jacques Touchet
who had also died in the plague.

1638: Robert de la Berge is born May 24th.  Louis XIV is born September 5th
of that same year.

The mark of Jean de la Berge and his son Jacques de la Berge
dated March 21, 1639.

1639: Jean de la Berge, Robert's grandfather, died. 
1647: Robert de la Berge and family move from Colomby-sur-Thaon to
St-Julien Parish near Caen.  Robert was 9 years old.  The move was caused
presumably over the payment of taxes and finding employment in the
building craft in the city than the countryside.  The Church of St. Julien
is located at: 3 Rue Malfilatre, 14000 Caen, France.  Note: rue des Carrières
Saint-Julien is the location of the old limestone quarry.  It is here that they
learned the trade of making lime from limestone.

1649: Thomas Touchet departs La Rochelle in the winter and arrives in
Québec in Febuary, 1650.  He practiced the trade of carpenter-jointer and building contractor.  He started as a journeyman and later was on his own.  Thomas

teamed up with Antoine Rouillard to create the firm Rouillard-Touchet &
Associates.

1650:  On December 4th, Rouillard-Touchet build a house for Nicolas Juchereau, Sieur de Saint-Denis.  It Juchereau's son Charles who led the expedition down
the Mississippi in 1702 to start a tannery which Robert's son Nicolas joined.
After having survived an epidemic at the tannery, he continued down the
Mississippi to present day Mobile, AL to Fort Louis de la Louisianne who's
commandant was Juchereau's son, Louis Juchereaud de Saint-Denis.

1652:  Thomas Touchet builds and extension on the house of Guillaume
Couillard & Marie Rollet, the first family of Québec.

    

Guillaume Couillard figure at the Louis-Hébert monument at Montmorency
Park in Québec City. 

1653: Thomas Touchet returns to France to find a wife.

1655: Thomas Touchet marries Suzanne Ferrier and a son named Simon is
born the next year.
1658: On April 5th, Robert signed a 3 year contract of indenture with Macé
Gravel.  Thomas Touchet returns to Québec, along with his wife and
daughter, and step-brother Robert. They depart from the port of La Rochelle.

1658: Nicolas Durand receives concession from Olivier Le Tardif for the land
on which Maison Laberge stands today.

1658: After leaving La Rochelle, Robert de la Berge arrives in Québec aboard
the Taureau on August 6th.

1660: Nicolas Durand improves his land and builds a wood timber house with
a stone chimney prior to the arrival of Fançoise Gosse the followingyear.  This
is when we believe the east part of Maison Laberge was built.

1660: Louis XIV marries Marie-Thérèse of Austria, daughter of King Philip IV
of Spain, in order to ratify peace between their two countries.

1660:  On February 2nd, Robert de la Berge is confirmed in Chateâu-Richer by Monseigneur François de Laval who had recently arrived in Québec on
17 June 1659.

Saint Francis-Xavier de Montmorency-Laval, commonly referred to as François de Laval (30 April 1623 – 6 May 1708), was the first Roman Catholic bishop of Quebec, appointed when he was 36 years old by Pope Alexander VII. Laval was a member of the Montmorency family and was one of the most influential men of his day.

1661:  Françoise Gosse arrives from Noyon, Pircardie in April.  She marries
Robert in September.  In June 1662, Marie-Ursule Durand is born.

1662:  After having completed his 3 year contract of indenture with Macé Gravel, Robert was granted a concession of land in Chateau Richer.  Robert resold that
land to Charles Pouliot on 22 Oct 1662.

1663: On February 4th, Robert obtains a land grant from Charles de Lauson, Seigneur of Charny, in the parish of St. Famillie on L'Ile de Orléans, directly
across from Chateau-Richer.  It  was 3 arpents in width and extended to the
middle of the island.  It was situated between the property of Joseph Ozany
Nadeau dit Lavigne and René Maheu.

1663: On February 5th, the great earthquake struck with a magnitude of
7.3 to 7.9 with the epicenter in Charlevoix.  It was felt as far away as Boston.

1663: Nicolas Durand dies on April 1st.  Françoise marries Robert on May 28th.  Robert
moves in with Françoise and her daughter.

1663: On November 11th, Robert sells his land on Ile d'Orléans to Philippe Pasquet

1664: The parish of L'Ange-Gardien is founded in October at house of Jean
Trudelle.

Artistic rendering of Robert de la Berge (meaning we really
don't know what he looked like.)  His face, however, bears a
surprising resemblance to many of us.)

1667:  Robert Laberge along with two other almost drown when their boat
capsizes on the way to Québec City.

1674:  On April 30th, 1674, Robert's son Guillaume was born.

1674:  In the 1970's, the former owner of Maison Laberge, Jacques Gagnon,
removed the white plaster (crépi) on the exterior of Maison Laberge to reveal
"IHS 1674" carved into the stone above the east door.  Whether it was truly
there or possibly Jacques taking some liberties to authenticate the date of the house, we may never know.  It is, however, curious that it is the same year
that Guillaume was born who would later inherit the house from Robert.  In the
inventory after his death in 1729, it describes the house as still having wood
timber walls.

1680: After having spelled his name a variety of different way, Robert
starts to consistently sign his name Laberge which is the way people in
the area spell it today.

1685: Revocation of the Edict of Nantes by Louis XIV.

1691-1695:  Robert helps build the Moulin-du-Petit-Pré in Château Richer for Charles Pouliot.  This is the same person that Robert sold his first concession
of land to in 1662.  The  mill is the oldest commercial flour mill in North America.

1697: In preparation for the retirement of Robert & Françoise, Maison
Laberge is expanded (now the center of the house & chimney)

       

1702: Robert's son Nicolas leaves his wife and children behind in L'Ange-Gardien
and travels to Montréal where he joins Charles Juchereau de Saint-Denis and a
group of men to travel down the Mississippi to current day Cairo, Illinois to start
a tannery.  After surviving an epidemic there in 1704, he continues down the Mississippi to present day Mobile, AL where Charles' brother, Louis, was the commandant of Fort Louis de La Louisianne.  His name is shown on the plan for
the fort.  Nicolas never returned to L'Ange-Gardien.

Timothée Laberge was the first Laberge to leave L'Ange-Gardien and
settle in the area just south of Montréal in the town of St-Joachim de
Châteauguay which would become the town of Châteauguay.  Today,
largest concentration of Laberges are located in that area.  If you visit
the cemetery, there are hundreds of Laberges burried there.

1712: Robert Laberge dies April 2nd.

1714: Louis XIV dies September 1st

1729:  On March 31st, Robert's son Guillaume died.  In his inventory, the house
is described as "an old house of timber on timber, sixteen feet in length by 16
feet wide covered with planks as well as a room 14 feet in length by 18 feet
in width of timber on timber covered with planks."  Sometime in the next
30 years, the wood timber walls were replaced with stone walls.

1737:  On February 23rd, François de la Berge died in Colomby-sur-Thaon.
and was the last of Rpbert's remaining relatives to live there.  By that time, everyone had moved either to parishes around Caen or to Québec.

1759: On July 31st, the English attacked at Québec at Beauport but
were repulsed.  Having brought five companies of Rogers Rangers along
with him, he dispatched them to burn the homes and farms along the banks
of the Saint Lawrence River.  On August 29th, Maison Laberge was set on fire.
On November 29th, Charles laberge  died.  On December 20th, Jacques Laberge
died who was the owner of Maison Laberge.  While many Laberges in the Québec City area suffered and perished that winter, the many Laberges in the Montréal
area who were descendants of Timothée Laberge fared much better.

When the house was burned, it must have had stone walls at that point.  The
central portion of the house was then the same depth as the east portion with
hand hewn timber beams (now painted black).  The beams on the east end are
saw milled beams suggesting that the original hand hewn beams were replaced
after the fire.

1762: France cedes Louisiana (everything west of the Mississippi north to
Canada) to Spain in the secret treaty of Fountainebleu.  A year later the
Treaty of Paris was signed officially ending the Seven Years War.

1765: Pierre de la Berge and family of Saint-Martin Parish near Caen begin
signing their name Laberge.

1776: The United States declare independence.

1808:  Joseph Marie Laberge (not on my direct line) leaves Asomption,
Québec for St. Louis.  He soon changed the spelling of his name from Laberge
to LaBarge.

1810:  Maison Laberge expanded for the 3rd time to the west.

1813: On January 22nd, Joseph Marie LaBarge, the father of the famed
steamboat captain, Joseph LaBarge (below), fought in the battle of River Raisin,
also known at the Battle of Frenchtown.  It was the largest battle fought
on Michigan soil.  The battle was a major defeat for the Americans and and
was one of the bloodiest engagements during the War of 1812.  He fought on
the side of the Americans.  On October 2th, Charles de Salaberry, repelled an American force of about 2,600 attempting to invade Lower Canada at
Châteauguay
and ultimately attack Montreal.

1815:  On June 18, 1815, the French forces under Napoleon Bonaparte lost
at the Battle of Waterloo.

1815:  On October 1, 1815, Captain Joseph LaBarge is born in
St. Louis, Missouri.

1822: My ancestor Pierre Laberge is born.  St Constant Birthplace of Armand Laberge.pdf

1825: At the age of 10 years old, the future Captain Joseph LaBarge met
the General Marquis de Lafayette when he visited St. Louis.

1830: On October 27th, Charles E. Coloney is born in St. Albans, Vermont.

1833: On May 13th, Antoine Laberge, Pierre's youngest brother was born.

1838: Jean Baptiste Laberge, The Patriot, is sentenced to death after the
rebellion.  His sentence is commuted and he is sent to prison in Australia.
1840:  Jean Baptiste Laberge, The Patriot, returns to Canada.

1846: On January 27th Pierre Laberge married Félicité Doumouchelle.  They had
seven children.

1855: On November 1st, Félicité Doumouchelle died.

1855-1857: Pierre Laberge is the first mayor of what was the new municipality
of St. Joachim de Châteauguay.

1858: On May 11, Minnesota is admitted as the 32nd state.  Charles E. Coloney
and Adelia Matthews had moved there from Akron, Ohio with their son,
Charles E. Coloney, Jr. 

   Charles E. Coloney & Adelia Matthews          Adelia Matthews

1858: On September 8th, Pierre Laberge married Marie Hedwige Lewis.

1859:  Captain Joseph Marie LaBarge teaches Abraham Lincoln how to navigate
a steamboat, The Emilie, on the Missouri River.

1859:  In September, Armand Pierre Samuel LaBerge is born.

1861: In March 4th, Abraham Lincoln is elected.  On April 1st, the American
Civil War begins.

1864: In early 1864, Charles E. Coloney elisted at the age of 33 in St. Louis in
the 40th Missouri Volunteers.

1864: In the Spring of 1864, Charles E. Coloney's regiment was readying to move
the battlefront around Birmingham, AL.  However, he was detailed to the Chief
Inspector's Office of the Military District of Missouri.  He traveled on inspection
teams to Fort Leavenworth, KS, Denver, CO and Fort Laramie, WY.

1864: On November 16th, Clara Minnesota Coloney is born in St. Louis, Missouri.
The family had recently moved from the newly admitted state of Minnesota.

1865:  In early 1865, Charles E. Coloney was commissioned a First Lieutenant
in the 5th US Volunteers, given a company and directed to take that company
from Fort Riley, KS where it was headquartered to Fort Sedgwick, CO.

       
Fort Sedgwick by Anton Schonborn
 

1865:  On April 9th, the American Civil War ends.

1866:  In July, Charles E. Coloney is mustered out, leaving his company at
Fort Riley, KS and discharged to St. Louis.

1866-1867:  Michel Laberge explores the Yukon and then returns to live the
rest of his life in Châteauguay.
1872: Pierre Laberge along with his wife, Marie-Hedwige Lewis, son
Armand-Pierre and three daughters, Marie-Hedwige, Marie-Marguerite(Rose) and
Marie-Ann (Virgie) leave for St. Joseph, Missouri.
French Canadian Emigration to the United States: 1840-1930

1878: Photo below of Clara Minnesota Coloney at the age of 14 in St. Louis,
Missouri.

      
Clara Minnesota Coloney - 1878

1882: Tintype photo taken of Pierre Laberge in about 1882..

(Below) Antoine Laberge, Pierre's youngest

brother, was born on 13 May 1833 in

Châteauguay, Québec.  He was buried there

on 04 Dec 1912

(L) Joseph Alphonse Trudel and Marie-Amelie (Mélina) Laberge, Armand's older step-sister. Mélina was the third child of Pierre Laberge

and Félicité Doumouchelle.  Félicité died on

01 Nov 1855 and Pierre married Marie Hedwige Lewis on 08 Sep 1858.  Armand Laberge was

the first of four children from that union.  It

should also be noted that Alphonse is a
direct descendant of Jean Trudelle.  It was
in Jean Trudelle's home on 18 Oct 1664
that the new parish of L'Ange-Gardien
was established and Robert Laberge was
in attendance. See the section below on
L'Ange-Gardien for the location of the Trudelle monument and it listing of the First Colonists. 
The photo was provided by Marie-Claire
Provost and her (late) mother, Mélina
(Marie-Amelie) Laberge, residents of
Valleyfield, QC.

1882: On 17 Jul 1882, Armand Laberge was commissioned as a Corporal 

1883: On 04 Sep 1883 he was commissioned as a Sergeant in that same
regiment.  It is unknown if the tintypes below were taken in 1882 or 1883
and the other men in the photos.  A reply from the State Historical Society of Missouri discusses the LaBerge family. StateHistoricalSocietyOfMissouri 
The following is a description by Walter LaBerge of recollections by his
Aunt Helene (Armand's sister).

Tintype photos of Armand LaBerge.

1887:  Armand LaBerge leaves St. Joseph, Missouri for Chicago.

(R-L): Marie Hedwige Lewis

Laberge (wife of Pierre Laberge),

Marie-Ann (Virgie) Laberge,

portrait of Armand Laberge,

Marie Marguerite Rosa (Rose)

Laberge and Marie Hedwige

Laberge (daughter).

The portrait of son Armand Pierre Samuel Laberge was taken prior

about 1887 after Armand had left

St. Joseph, Missouri to work

in Chicago.

Picture taken of Rose Laberge in St. Joseph, Missouri.

Rose would later marry Matthew Osborne Cannfield (below)

in about 1888.  In Oct 1898 their son Bertrand was born. 

Late in 1899 they moved to Kansas City, Missouri.

Rose's younger sister Virgie, who had married
William C. Harris, later lived with Rose &
Matthew Canfield and helped raise their son
Bertrand. In 1933 at the age of 63, Virgie

married John Philip Duke (age 77).  In 1940
she visited Maywood and in 1941 Walter Coloney LaBerge went to Kansas City to close up her
affairs. She moved to Belvidere that year and
passed away in 1942.

1890:  Armand Pierre Samuel LaBerge marries Clara Minnesota Coloney on
September 11, 1890 in Chicago, Ill.

1891:  In May, Walter Coloney LaBerge is born.
 

Helene Marie LaBerge (Walter C's younger sister) was born
on 05 Dec 1892 in Chicago, Illinois.  She died on 13 Jan
1978 in San Diego, CA.  She was a librarian and never
married. She was a member of the Daughters of the
American Revolution along with her mother, Clara Minnesota

Coloney due to the Coloney line tracing back to the Parkers

who fought in the revolution in Rhode Island. Photo taken in
1916.

1924: On March 29th, 1924, Walter Barber LaBerge is born. I

Family photo taken in

1935.  (L-R) Helene Marie,

Pierre Robert, Walter Barber,

Walter Coloney, Marie June
Barber, and Edward Coloney LaBerge.

Marie June Barber's father, Eddie Barber, was a conductor on the Chicago
& Northwestern Railroad.

At the age of 7 years old, Walter Barber LaBerge had the opportunity
to ride with him in the locomotive, shovel coal into the firebox and pull
the whistle while going 60 miles per hour.  It was one of the great thrills
of his life.  The other was flying in the SR-71 at over Mach 3.  Shown in
the photo is Walter in the cab of the locomotive.

1957:  On September 2nd, 1957, Philip Charles LaBerge is born.

1970:  On July 14th, Paul-Eugène Laberge sells Maison Laberge to Louis-
Jacques Gagnon.  Paul-Eugene was the 10th Laberge to own the house.

1974:  On May 27th, the application submitted by Louis-Jacques Gagnon
is approved by the Ministry of Culture and Maison Laberge is classified as a
heritage building and inspirational French habitation.

1974:  On July 1st, 1974, Walter LaBerge flew in the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird. 
The plane is the fastest plane in the world.  He flew at an altitude of over
80,000 feet at a speed of over Mach 3.  Here is a fun story worth reading. 
The "Walt" in the back seat was not Walt LaBerge, but it could have been. 
SR-71 Blackbird Communications to Tower

2011:  On June 13th, 2011, Philip LaBerge purchased Maison Laberge which was
built 11 generations earlier by his ancestor Robert de la Berge.  He is the 11th
Laberge to own the house.