Surname Origins & Immigrant Streams

Tracking the ethnic origins and Americanization patterns of family surnames. Useful for understanding the cultural landscape that produced the family, and for searching records under original spellings.

Walloon Belgian (Brabant → Wisconsin Belgian Corridor)

Settlement area: Dyckesville, Robinsonville (Champion), Red River, Union — Brown/Kewaunee/Door Counties, Wisconsin.

Americanized	Original	Notes
Coppersmith	Copersmith → Copesmette → Coppesmette	Four spelling variants across generations. From Mélin, Brabant Wallon.
Barette / Barrette	Barrette	French/Belgian. Dyckesville & Union, Door County. Possibly connected to Clement Joseph Barrette (1808, Beauvechain).
Lancelle	Lancelle	From Beauvechain, Brabant Wallon. Neighboring village to Mélin.
Potier	Potier	French/Belgian.
Liégeois	Liégeois	Suggests origins near Liège, Belgium.
Durdu	Durdu	Walloon surname, Beauvechain area.
Meuron / Meurens	Meuron / Meurens	From Mélin, Brabant Wallon.
Logis	Logis	Mélin, Brabant Wallon.
Vanham	Vanham	Flemish/Brabantian — may indicate mixed Walloon/Flemish heritage in the border area.
Doyen	Doyen	French/Belgian. Harold Coppersmith’s wife’s surname.
Laes	Laes	Belgian. Wilfred Coppersmith’s wife’s surname.

Key villages: Mélin and Beauvechain in the commune of Jodoigne, Walloon Brabant. Both the Coppesmette and Lancelle families came from these neighboring villages. They married in Robinsonville (now Champion), Wisconsin — the Belgian Catholic settlement.

French-Canadian (Quebec → Wisconsin)

Settlement area: Fond du Lac County, Outagamie County (Maple Creek, Deer Creek), Waupaca County (New London) — central/eastern Wisconsin.

Core Surnames (direct-line ancestors)

Americanized	Original	Notes
Bodoh	Beaudoin / Beaudin (confirmed)	Immigrant ancestor: Jacque Beaudoin (1645, La Rochelle, France) married Francoice Durand (1648, Rouen, Normandy) in Quebec 1670. Route: France → Quebec → upstate New York (Plattsburgh/Malone) → Wisconsin.
Young	Lajeunesse (confirmed)	Peter Young = Pierre Lajeunesse. Parents: Henry Lajeunesse & Marguerite Terrien, married 1833 in L’Acadie, Quebec.
Surprise	Surprenant (confirmed)	Isaac Surprenant (1816–1917, lived to 100). Emigrated from Quebec to Deer Creek, Outagamie County.
Guyette	Goguet → Goyet → Goyette → Guyette	Four-generation spelling evolution. Immigrant ancestor: Pierre Goguet (1635, Picardy, France).
Normandin	Normandin Dit Lamonday	Another “Dit” name. Louise Ludovie Normandin Dit Lamonday, mother of John Beaudin Dit Bodoh (1859).

Deep Ancestry (pre-Quebec, France → New France immigrants)

Surname	Origin	Notes
Desportes	Lisieux, Normandy	Pierre Desportes (1588). Oldest documented ancestor. Daughter Helene Desportes (b. 1620, Quebec City) — first European child born in New France.
Morin	Brittany / St Etienne, Loire	Noel Morin (1616, Brittany). Married Helene Desportes 1640. Parents: Claude Morin (1591, St Etienne).
Durand	Rouen, Normandy / Rennes, Brittany	Francoice Durand (1648, Rouen). Parents Pierre Durand (Rennes) & Noelle Asselin (Rouen) died same day 1671.
LeBlanc	France	Jacques LeBlanc (1644). Immigrant. Married Marie Suzanne Rousselin. Both died 2 days apart, April 1710. Five generations of Jacques LeBlanc.
Langlois	Dieppe, Normandy	Francoise Langlois (~1602). Mother of Helene Desportes. Returned to France, died Dieppe 1632.
Hebert	Paris (connected to Louis Hébert founding family)	Guillaume Hébert (1604, Paris) married Helene Desportes. Son of Louis Hébert, first European farmer in New France. Marie Sophie Hebert (1799–1892, lived to 93) descends from same family.

Other French-Canadian Surnames in the Tree

Surname	Notes
Balthazar	Jean Baptiste, Martin, Moises. Quebec origins. Connected via Julia Marie Balthazar → Bodoh marriage.
Lavallee	Madeleine Mary Lavallee (1816–1899, La Prairie). Father Alexis died in Rouses Point, NY — Quebec→NY pipeline.
Lebeau	Marthe Lebeau (b. 1799, Richelieu). Mother of Isaac Surprenant.
Lemonde	Louise Lemonde. Spouse in Surprenant line.
Terrien	Louis Terrien, Marguerite Terrien. In both Coppersmith and Lajeunesse branches.
Tetreau	Marguerite Tetreau. In Coppersmith branch (Lancelle connection).
Demers	Marie Genevieve Demers. In Beaudoin line.

Key origins: St Athanase sur Richelieu, Iberville, La Prairie, Chambly, and L’Acadie — all within a 20-mile corridor along the Richelieu River south of Montreal (now part of Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu and surrounding municipalities). The Young, Surprise, Bodoh, Balthazar, Lavallee, and Guyette families all came from this area and likely knew each other before emigrating.

The “Dit” naming convention is a hallmark of French-Canadian genealogy — families carried two surnames, the legal name and the “dit” (called) name, and different descendants might Americanize one or the other.

Two Streams Merging

Dorothy Elaine Coppersmith (1928–2002) represents the convergence:

Father Claude — Walloon Belgian (Coppesmette/Coppersmith from Mélin, Brabant)
Mother Marie — French-Canadian on both sides (Beaudin Dit Bodoh + Young/Surprise from Quebec)

Both streams arrived in Wisconsin in the mid-1800s, settled in adjacent counties, and merged when Claude married Marie in Green Bay in 1926.

Depth of the Two Streams

Belgian side: Traced to 1700s in Brabant Wallon (Mélin, Beauvechain). ~5 generations documented.
French-Canadian side: Traced to 1588 France (Pierre Desportes, Lisieux). Through Helene Desportes (b. 1620 Quebec), connected to Louis Hébert — the first European farmer in New France. ~10-12 generations documented. Six immigrant ancestors identified: Jacque Beaudoin (La Rochelle), Francoice Durand (Rouen), Jacques LeBlanc (France), Jacques Surprenant (France), Pierre Goguet (Picardy), Noel Morin (Brittany).

See also: [[indexes/cross-cutting-themes.md|Cross-Cutting Themes & Patterns]] for longevity, synchronized deaths, and geographic clustering across both streams.