Back to record of: Francois-Xavier Demarse

Strictly speaking, Demarse is the Anglicization of the French surname, Demars, not of the surname, Demers, which has a different origin. However, did Francois-Xavier distinguish between the two? Probably. If so, the surname Demars was much rarer than the surname Demers, which may make it possible to distinguish who his parents were.
Over a period of decades, Francois-Xavier and his family gave inconsistent ages and names for him to the American census takers. Or was it that they had a hard time communicating in English? Finally, at his time of death, his age was listed as 56 years old. It appears that Francois-Xavier fled, perhaps with his family, during the time of the Patriot Rebellion of 1837-38. The 1850 census shows he was living three doors down from Joseph and Lydia "Dumas" and their children. The timing and location of their children's births indicate that they left around that time. Joseph may have been his father. (D. Bouchard)