Dear readers, I need your help. I am looking for the parents of Genevieve Jane Duffenais or Duffney. She married George Hynes. They lived in the Gravels on the Port au Port Peninsula. They had several children, among them Elvina Julia Hynes (1870-1907). Elvina married William Thomas Gillam in 1899.
Genevieve Jane Duffenais chart
Who were Genevieve’s parents? Were they Jean (or John) Frederick Dauphinee (1791-1851) and Mary Anne LeJeune/Young (1794-1871)?
Some genealogies I’ve seen show them as having a daughter Genevieve, with no husband or children listed.
Others list two daughters, Genevieve Jane (born 1833, married George Hynes), as well as Genevieve (born 1843, no husband).
Some show Genevieve Jane Duffenais/Duffney as wife of George Hynes, but do not give her parents’ names.
One online family tree has John Frederick and Mary Anne has having daughters Jane (born 1833 married George Hynes) and Genevieve (born 1843, no husband shown).
Another tree has John Frederick married twice. With first wife, Mary Anne Young, he had 4 children. He and second wife Rebecca Elizabeth Morash then had 8 children, including Jane Duffenais (1833-1909, married George Haynes) and Genevieve (b 1843). But I saw that second wife only in that tree and I haven’t been able to learn anything more about Rebecca Elizabeth Morash. (Sorry, both online trees are gone)
In Sandy Point Anglican Baptism records, the Hynes children’s parents are listed as George & Jane.
Jane was often used as a short form of Genevieve, but it’s also a name in its own right. So you might have a Jane and a Genevieve in the same family. But it’s not likely that you’d give the same name to two children who both were alive.

NB Connection
I found out that Elvina Hynes and Thomas Gillam had a daughter named Elizabeth Louisa Alexandria. She moved to New Brunswick and has descendants here. I thought it would be fun to trace the family back in Newfoundland. That was when I saw the problem with Genevieve. So if anyone can help, I thank you very much.
The question has been answered in the comments, thanks to knowledgeable readers!
Rhonda White
24 Oct 2021Hi Dorothy,
I am confirming today that I found, in my notes, a paper which appears to be written and signed by Rev Father Belanger about the birth and baptism of Genevieve Duffenais. Indeed, she was 16 at the time of her baptism on Aug 28 1851. The birth date recorded in the transcibed record is incorrect. Father Belanger himself wrote that she was 16 yrs 8 months and 20 days old and the legitimate daughter of John Duffeny and Marianne Lejeune. I have had this paper for years and I have been working on the Dauphinee line and the Nfld descendants but never bothered to read it. I forget who it came from. It is however signed by Father Belanger and I believe it is valid. So for those searching for Genevieve, this can give them a year to search for. It does not indicate if she was born St. Malo. I hope this helps…
Yours sincerely,
Rhonda White
desc of Jean Frederick Dauphinee and Mary Anne LeJeune
Dorothy
24 Oct 2021Hi Rhonda, thank you! So if I calculated it right, that gives a birthdate of Jan. 8 1835 for her.
Thom
3 Dec 2020I don’t know if this was settled as I just came across it but Marie Anne LeJeune Duffenais/Dauphinee/Duffney died ca 1871 so if Jean Frederick remarried he would have had to be in excess of 80 years old! I have his death estimated as ca 1851 with the last of his children being born in the late 1840s.
Rhon White
30 Oct 2021Hi Dorothy, I wish my scanner was working so I could upload the document I found online. I am working on it. Ok so the transcribed record at Sandy Point says Dec 8 1843. With mistake in the year, could also be mistake in the month and day so you could be right. Here is the transcribed record. http://sites.rootsweb.com/~cannf/wcbstg_bapt_sprc2.htm
Take care
Rhon
Dorothy
30 Oct 2021Hi Rhonda, yeah, I counted the months wrong. Eight back from August would be December. Thanks for the link.
Rhon White
20 Nov 2021Hi Thom, someone has the wrong Jean Frederick married to Rebecca Morash. I have the right line at wikitree. There is no second marriage for Jean Frederick married to Marie Anne LeJeune. I know this because it is my line. I will post more about the right Jean Frederick when I find it.
Rhon White
30 Jul 2017Hi Dorothy, I am a descendant of John(Jean Frederick and Mary Ann Young(Marie Anne LeJeune). Please bear with long post. I found a Genevieve, daughter of John Duffney and Mary Young, born Dec 8 1843 , baptized as Catholic Aug 28 1851. http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cannf/wcbstg_bapt_sprc2.html. She could not have married George Haynes Dec 9 1852. See http://www.genealogy.com/ftm/d/u/b/Cyril-G-Dubourdieu/GENE4-0004.html, which refers to marriage of Georges and Genevieve, Not saying there isn’t a Jane as daughter of John and Mary Ann. I am looking for the facts and sources as I build my tree. I am asking author and researcher Andre-Carl Vachon who has written extensively on the LeJeune dit Briard family and has a website on facebook to let me know if he can fill in the family list of John and Mary Ann(Marie Anne). He is busy so I am still waiting on response. Perhaps he will find a Jane born earlier, I have no idea. The Duffenais form of Dauphinee began in Newfoundland. The name is varied even among siblings in my paternal grandfather’s immediate family and some other branches use the form. It is particular to descendants of Jean Frederick and Marie Anne LeJeune, so Andre is likely to find out who Jane is. If he tells me that, I can let you know.
Additionally, re supposed second marriage of Jean Frederick… He married Marie Anne Dec 1820 in Sydney, NS by surname Dauphney. I have a copy of the marriage certificate. Marie Anne lived til 1871. Their children Isaac, Genevieve and Emily, all with mother Mary Ann, were baptized Catholic in 1851 on Sandy Point using surname Duffney. So I posted to the Famille LeJeune dit Briard facebook webpage. The response I got back from John McGillivray was that a Jean Frederic, born Mar 25, 1800, son of Jean Pierre Dauphinee and Mary Elizabeth Eisenhauer, married Rebecca Morash. Source Information- Facini Genealogy, Gail Edwards, Publisher Name: http://www.geocities.com/Heartland. He has approved me posting this. I don’t know what the primary sources are or if it is accurate. But it makes more sense. There are more Jean Frederick’s in different branches of the Dauphinee family in Nova Scotia. It is an old family name. The confusion is understandable.
Dorothy
30 Jul 2017Hi Rhon, thank you so much for the information and the websites. I’d appreciate it very much if you let me know what Andre-Carl Vachon tells you. The birth and baptism info for Genevieve that I have is the same as what you say. Lark Szick, in her book, not the website, has that and also an older sister Jane 1830-1909 married to George Hynes 1852 St. Stephen’s, Sandy Point. So, if that’s correct, she would be the Genevieve I was looking for. With Jane being a nickname for Genevieve, I wasn’t sure if there was one daughter or two. I didn’t know that Duffenais was a version of the Dauphinee surname used only by that branch of the family – very useful. Thanks for the info on where Rebecca Morash fits in. I’ll check out the other sources you give and see if I can sort out some other confusions that I have.
Debbie Companion
13 May 2017Jane Duffenais’s parents were John Frederick Dauphine and Rebecca Elizabeth Morash. She was his second wife. They were married on December.10, 1829. His first wife was Mary Ann(LeJeune) Young. John’s s father was James Christopher Dauphine and his father was Jean George Dauphine. Jean was born on 4 Feb. 1724 in Longevelle. Doubs. Alsace. France. Jane is my great great grandmother.
Dorothy
13 May 2017Hi Debbie, thanks, I didn’t have a father for James Dauphinee. However, I found my copy of Lark Szick’s LeJeune book. In it is Jane, born 1830, daughter of John Frederick Dauphinee and Marie Ann LeJeune (d/o Joseph Christophe LeJeune and Radegonde LeJeune). Jane is shown as married to George Hynes, with children, including Elvina Julia.
She also has a Genevieve b 1843 as John Frederick and Marie Ann’s daughter. Their other children are listed as: Susan (m. Henri LeJeune), John Jacques (m. Adele Gaudet), Marie (m. Francois Joseph Benoit), Emilia (m. Robert Joyce), Isaac (m. Mary Pluvert), and Louis (marked with ?) marr. Agnes Duffney. A total of 8.
How does that list of kids match up with yours for John Frederick and wives? Thanks so much for your help.
Rhon White
30 Oct 2021I am not sure if I posted this already so forgive me please if this is a repeat. Genevieve Duffney, born 1834/5 was daughter of Jean Frederick Dauphinee/Dauphney b 1791 and Marie Anne LeJeune. I have documented Jean Frederick and Marie Anne’s lines separately at wikitree.com. They married Dec 5 1820 Sydney NS. So Jean Frederick was son of James Christopher and Susan Catherine Jollimore. James Christopher b 1767 was son of Jean Georges Louis 1724 and Marguerite Elizabeth Banvard. Jean Georges Louis son of Jean Joseph 1676 and Marguerite Certier. This is the line for Genevieve and all her siblings including John James(Jacques) who is my ggg grandfather. There was never a second marriage for Jean Frederick. He and Marie Anne and most of their children came to NL in the early 1830s. He converted to RC around the same time Genevieve was baptized in 1851. I don’t know yet when he died. Jean Frederick who married Rebecca Morash is a different line and incorrectly drawn to Marie Anne LeJeune. I sent Michael Dauphinee an email to let him know this and got no response so please make the corrections in your tree if you have done this.