Pure Laine

<p><em>Pure Laine</em>... or perhaps not so pure? </p><p><br></p><p>Over the course of the past 400 years people from France England Switzerland Belgium and Germany in addition to several Indigenous North American nations; among them Catholics Puritans Calvinists and pagans - all have contributed to the bloodline of two families that came together in Canada in the 20th Century. </p><p><br></p><p>In 1926 Theodore Seguin from Thurso Quebec married Alphonsine Seguin his 5th-cousin from Essex County Ontario. Their ancestry believed by generations to be entirely undiluted French and Roman Catholic - the myth of <em>Pure Laine</em> - can now be seen as a colourful tapestry inter-woven with many different ethnic cultural and religious threads.</p><p><br></p><p>In our culture our family name is usually passed down to us from our father. As a result most genealogies trace only the paternal branches of a family tree - our fathers grandfathers and great-grandfathers - while making only peripheral mention of the maternal line - our mothers grandmothers and great-grand-mothers - the women without whom none of us would be here. </p><p><br></p><p>In this comprehensive family genealogy Marc Seguin has included both paternal and maternal bloodlines of Theodore </p><p>Seguin and Alphonsine Seguin in a series of lineage charts stretching back 400 years to reveal a broader more complex </p><p>and more complete family tree.</p><p><br></p><p>The lineage charts are supplemented by a rich narrative with numerous illustrations highlighting the stories of many Seguin </p><p>ancestors and uncovering the reality behind the French-Canadian myth of <em>Pure Laine</em>.</p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p>Marc Philip Seguin is an independent historian who grew up in</p><p>the Detroit River region and now lives in Prince Edward County</p><p>Ontario Canada. </p>