Violette Family Association coat of arms
Welcome to the Violette Registry web site, operated by the Violette Family Association! Here, you can research your Violette roots and add to the Violette Family Tree.
Our Association was formed in 1978 and comprises people who are descended from François Violet/Violette. François came to Louisbourg, Nova Scotia in 1749 as a child and later was a pioneer settler in what is now Van Buren ME and St Leonard NB around 1789. Membership in the Violette Family Association is open to anyone who is descendant of Francois Violet, even if your surname is not Violette. Spouses and children are also eligible for membership. Learn more about Francois from this link by Rod Violette (VFA #12): Life and Times of Francois Violet.
You can also learn more about the early Violette family history from the book A Violette History, available at Amazon in print and Kindle versions. The authors were David A. Violette (VFA #621), Guy Dubay (VFA #892), and Rod Violette (VFA #12).
The three coauthors, all Violette descendants and all Violette Family Association members, worked for almost five years in the research and production of the book. The book includes first hand accounts of author visits to places associated with François Violet/Violette and traces his story from before his birth to his pioneering in the Upper St John River Valley.
A Violette History, published by the Violette Family Association
The book has a listing of the first two generations of the family in North America, along with details of who they married and where they settled, as well as stories of François’ parents and grandparents in France and Fortress Louisbourg.
François Violet/Violette was the progenitor of a line of the Violette family in North America coming from what is now northern Maine and northwestern New Brunswick. Born in 1744 in Saintes, France, François Violet moved with his parents in 1749 to Île Royale (Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia) so his father could help the French rebuild Fortress Louisbourg. When his parents were sent back to France after the British took over Louisbourg again, François stayed behind. This is the history of François Violet (1744-1824) and how he and his family pioneered first on the Hammond River in lower New Brunswick then came to the Upper St John River Valley and pioneered again as the first settlers of what became Van Buren, Maine, and St Leonard, New Brunswick.
A research report has also been written by the association’s historian and illustrated with many photos, maps, and original documents. This report results from deep research into the years that the Violette Family Association has no records for its founder, François Violet. Those years were during the French and Indian War in America and right after it. When François’s family was deported to France after the fall of Fortress Louisbourg on today’s Cape Breton Island, there was no record of him or any of the other children of the family. Although the focus of this study only deals with the challenges this family’s founder faced, this book would be of interest to other families with similar histories. The book contains numerous appendices that round out the reader’s understanding; one includes a listing of those families that lived at the Acadian Settlement (French Village) on the Little Kennebecasis. Another describes what life may have been like in that village.
This report is published through and available on Amazon.