The Beginning

        Lazare Bolley was born to Laurent and Marguerite Bertheau Bolley, one of eight children, on January 13, 1734 in Semur-en-Auxois in Bourgogne, France.  At the age of ten, he became an orphan.  In 1747, he joined the army and landed in Quebec four years later. He married Marie L'Enclus Lapierre, the daughter of Pierre L'Enclus Lapierre and Charlotte Chandonnet on November 14, 1757.  From their marriage was born their only son, Jacques Bolley (Bole), who was to begin the first generation of a long list of Beaule ancestors in Canada.  He was baptized on August 12, 1758 in the Notre Dame de Quebec Basilica.  He lived with his mother in St. Vallier de Bellechasse after the death of his father, Lazare, in 1781.  Jacques married Marie Rosalie Boule on October 2, 1781, and began a family which included nine living children and twenty-eight grandchildren, sporting the newly spelled "Beaule" name , one of whom is pictured above on this page.  Other spellings of his name have been recorded as Bole, Boulay, and Beaulais.  Most of the children and grandchildren of Jacques and Marie Rosalie remained in Canada; however, a few of them would later move to the United States, thus beginning the Beaule ancestry in the U.S.A.   

         Today there are many Beaule families spanning the states.  Their numbers are forever increasing, as are the searches for the family's history.  In 1991, a number of Canadian Beaules created a seasonal publication called Le Bolley, which is available to the public through a modestly priced subscription fee.  This publication includes not only historical excerpts, but news of present day Beaule families living in Canada and the U.S.  This historical information is very nicely put together, in mostly French and some English, and helps to answer questions of ancestral importance.  There is also a website for the Canadian Beaules called "Les descendants de Lazare Bolley, Inc.".  Links on this page will take you to that site.