www.innjustice.blogspot.com
MONTREAL - If Hillary Clinton wins Tuesday's election, Canada's relationship with the White House could soon be cast as a family affair, thanks to the presidential candidate's well-documented French-Canadian ancestry.
Moreau-Desharnais says most of Clinton's Quebec ancestors migrated to the United States through what is now Windsor, Ont., where many became "the stalwarts who were so prominent in Detroit and helped to make it what it is."
The tentative biographies compiled by Belleau provide a glimpse into their lives.
Ducorps, who arrived in 1667, married a blacksmith named Martin Masse and had eight children, including at least three who died before reaching adulthood.
Niel, a 16-year-old orphan when she arrived in 1667, married a soldier less than a month later. She and Etienne Charles went on to have 12 children. All but one survived and married.
Paulo, who was an illiterate 18-year old when she married Etienne Campeau, went on to have 15 children, one of whom is considered one of the founders of Fort Detroit.
Although Clinton's Quebecois ancestry may be interesting, it's not unique.
Belleau, herself a proud descendant of a King's Daughter, says some 95 per cent of so-called "old stock" Quebecers can find at least one of the women in her family tree, as can a significant percentage of Canadians and Americans.
An article published in 2008 by the New England Historic Genealogical Society noted that most French-Canadians are distantly related thanks to a small group of 17th century French immigrants.
Author Gary Boyd Roberts pointed out that Clinton is a distant cousin of not only Pierre Elliott Trudeau (and by extension, Justin) but also Dion, writer Jack Kerouac, singer Madonna and actress Angelina Jolie.
Moreau-Desharnais says most of Clinton's Quebec ancestors migrated to the United States through what is now Windsor, Ont., where many became "the stalwarts who were so prominent in Detroit and helped to make it what it is." In that way, she said, the legacy of the King's Daughters stretches to both sides of the border, all the way down to a U.S. presidential candidate.
"It's remarkable that based on all the others lines that feed in to her, (Clinton) can go back to four (King's Daughters)," she said.
Clinton's family has ties to Canada stretch back to the days of New France, making her a distant relative of many prominent Quebecers, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Celine Dion, genealogists have noted.
Gail Moreau-Desharnais of the French-Canadian Heritage Society of Michigan has traced a branch of Clinton's family tree all the way back to the Filles du Roi or "King's Daughters," a group of young women who were sent from France in the 17th century to help populate the colony.
