Durand Heritage Foundation Newsletter

Durand Heritage Foundation Newsletter
Dedicated to the Preservation of Our Family Heritage
Summer, 2003 $4.95
Durands We Ain’t

Durand Heritage Foundation Newsletter Summer, 2003
In this issue…
Durands We Ain’t tells of Durands who ain’t really kin but turned out pretty well
anyway by John C Durand
Durands in the Military
PFC William Carlsen Is Serving in Iraq by LtCol. James F. Durand
Lt. Edward Durand’s Young Widow Married Again...did Edward know the
man she married? by John C. Durand
Meet the “Alberta Durands” tells how descendants of Nazaire Durand made new
lives in Canada by Mavis A. (Durand) Johntson, as told to Ellen Durand Ol-
Durand, a genealogy shows that we Durands have an illustrious history of achievement
and notoriety by Anna Olson Webber and Jennifer Olson
My Farewell seems to make it official...President Mike Durand is stepping aside 12
2002 Foundation Award Winners by Mike Durand 13
2nd Edition of Jean Durand et sa Posterité, underway, will include an up-to-date
genealogy...get your family records in!
Foundation Ended 2002 in the RED! by Alice Durand Keppel 16
DHF Board Reviews Projects and makes plans at Spring board meeting; a search
is on for a president to replace Mike Durand by Roger Durand
Mary Herzig Sends Portions of Monsignor Arthur H. Durand’s Autobiography;
does anyone have a complete copy for the Foundation archives?
For What It’s Worth ponders a story about an island in the St. Lawrence River 19
The back page is where you find out who’s who and what’s what 20
The cover: Detail from “Early Morning at Cold Spring” by Asher B. Durand, acquired from Artchive.com.
Picture credits: All images in “Durands We Ain’t” acquired from the internet, with thanks and appreciation. Photos
of PFC William Carlsen provided by Lauree Carlsen of Portland, Oregon. Photos for “Meet the ‘Alberta’ Durands”
provided by Mavis A. Johnston of Hanna, Alberta. “Durand, a genealogy” is an original work created by Anna
Olson Webber and Jennifer Olson of St. Paul, Minnesota. Photos for Awards story from Foundation archives.
“Classical” photo on p. 20 provided by Mavis A. Johnston of Hanna, Alberta.
Whenever possible images acquired from the internet will be used with the permission of the source and with attribution,
unless it is reasonable to assume that the image may be used without permission and/or attribution.
This publication © 2003 by Durand Heritage Foundation, Inc. Published four times a year by the Durand Heritage
Foundation. All rights reserved. Duplicating or copying by electronic or other means is strictly prohibited without
written consent of the Foundation. Subscription rate is $20.00 per year. Send payment to: Durand Heritage Foundation,
1335 Mandan Ave. North, Golden Valley, MN 55427, USA. Major credit cards are accepted. To subscribe
on-line visit www.Durandfoundation.com.
2
3
6
7
8
10
15
17
18

Summer, 2003 Durand Heritage Foundation Newsletter
Wouldn’t It Be Nice if….
When I was a traveling man and stayed for the night in
a new town I always looked in the local phone book to
see if there were any Durands. Quite often there were.
Unlike some of my more gregarious cousins, however, I
never called up to say, "Hi, I saw your name in the
phone book and I wonder if we might be related." I am,
after all, a shy guy.
Nonetheless, there are Durands in this world I think
might be useful to claim as kin, and there are towns and
streets and buildings and such named Durand that I
think would useful to say
were named after one of our
great-greats. Really, who
knows when one of us
might find ourselves down
and out in Durand, Michigan?
Maybe we could use
the power of our Durand
name to garner a little local
charity. Something like,
"You know, this town is
named after my great-great
grandpappy. Yep, I knew
him well. By the way, I was
wondering if you might
have an extra ten for a little
gas money?"
After looking into this
matter at some length, and
at the risk of leaving out
some really good Durand
stuff for name-dropping,
here's a few of the more illustrious
Durands that we
could claim as kin but who
are really Durands we ain't.
At the top of the list has
got to be Asher Brown Durand
(1796-1886), a landscape
painter of the socalled
Hudson River School.
If you own one of Asher's
Hudson River originals you are well on your way to a
secure retirement. Unfortunately, Asher comes from that
line of Durands whose primogenitor in America was Dr.
Jean Durand (1664-1727), a Protestant from La Rochelle
who fled France to escape prosecution for not being
a Catholic. La Rochelle was the also port of embarkation
for our family's Jean Durand dit La Fortune. Too
bad La Rochelle appears to be the only link between our
Durands We Ain’t
By John C Durand
Asher Brown Durand, looking like an artist in this painting by
Daniel Huntington in 1857. Durand began his career as an engraver
and spent time as a portraitist before settling on his metier
as a remarkable landscape painter.
3
families. But if a good Catholic like Jean Durand dit La
Fortune was trying to kill a good Protestant like Dr. Jean
Durand, they probably didn't have much time for each
other. Dr. Durand came to America in 1688 and spent
most of his life in Connecticut. His kin fought in the
French & Indian war (when once again we were probably
on opposite sides). They also fought in the American
Revolutionary War.
If there is anything to the idea that a good education is
the best foundation for long-lived family success, then
the line of Dr. Jean Durand
is a good example. The doctor
and his wife saw to it
that their children went to
school. And it paid off. Besides
the talented Asher
Brown Durand, another descendant
is William Frederick
Durand, a pioneer aeronautical
engineer who has a
building named after him at
Stanford University. This
Durand is credited with
coming up with the idea of
the wind tunnel, without
which our own Clint Skywalker
would not be able to
practice his skydiving.
However, I think it should
be pointed out that the family
line of Jean Durand dit
La Fortune boasts not just
one but several people
known to generate a lot of
wind.
The genealogy and history
of the Dr. Jean Durand line
is being pursued by one of
his descendants, Alvy Ray
Smith, III, a success story in
his own right. Dr. Smith is
what some people might
call a "computer geek," but those are mostly the people
who don’t use computers. According to Dr. Smith’s
website he helped form and sell two dot.com companies
that specialized in computer graphics, has won a couple
of Hollywood Oscars for technical achievement, and is,
I presume, now set for life. And his website has an impressive
family genealogy. Smith has a book on the Dr.
Jean Durand family line that is due for publication soon

Durand Heritage Foundation Newsletter Summer, 2003
with a cover that incorporates a painting by—
you guessed it—Asher Brown Durand.
Then there are the English Durands we ain't.
You may recall that a couple of years ago a
Heather Smith of New Zealand wondered
whether her family was connected to ours. Her
grandmother had kept a newspaper clipping
announcing the marriage of an Alan Algernon
Durand. Predictably we found no connection
between Alan and our family. However, it was
interesting to learn of this line of English Durands.
I suppose these English Durands crossed
over from France either with or sometime after
William the Conqueror, whether as knights or
foot soldiers or wine merchants we don't
know. Chances are that if we have common
ancestors they were foot soldiers or wine merchants.
Nonetheless, these English Durands
have made their mark in the history of the
British Empire. Alan Algernon Durand, the
subject of the newspaper clipping, later became
Brigadier Sir Alan Algernon Durand, 3 rd
Baronet, but not before being wounded twice
in World War I and receiving the Military
Cross.
Alan's forebears had also distinguished
themselves with military service in the farflung
British Empire, including India and the
Middle East. In the recent war in Afghanistan,
reports sometimes referenced the Durand Line,
the political boundary between Pakistan and
Afghanistan established in 1893 by Alan's uncle,
Sir Henry Mortimer Durand. Too bad that in drawing
his line Henry split an area that had been inhabited
by the Pashtons for
centuries. The Pashtons
now find themselves
living in two
different counties --
Pakistan and Afghanistan—a
situation that
has caused all kinds of
problems since. According
to Burke's
Peerage (sniff-sniff)
these English Durands
pronounce their name
"du rand."
Of course the great
mother lode of Durands
we ain't is found
in France itself. Today
there are an estimated
90,000 people who
About 90,000 Durands live in France according to this population survey
taken from the internet. The numbers in the color-coded provinces indicate
how many Durands there are per 1,000 people. The concentration of Durands
is low in the province where Doeuil-sur-le-Mignon is located, birthplace
of our primogeniture Jean Durand dit La Fortune.
4
carry the name of Durand in the land of our ancestors.
Some of them go way back, like the two Guillaume Durands,
both high officials
in the Catholic Church.
The first Guillaume
(c.1230-1296) wrote a
book about a very obscure
subject (Rationale
divinorum officiorum)
that kept being reprinted
from 1459 to 1866,
which, if you stop to
think about it, is longer
than Shakespeare has
been in print. The other
Guillaume (d. 1334) was
also a learned man who
was called to Italy to be
the theological advisor
French on the left, English on the right, these Durands were probably
at opposite ends of the political spectrum. Left is French feminist Marguerite
Durand. Right is British imperialist Sir Henry Mortimer Durand.
and preacher to Pope
John XXII. Whether this
younger Guillaume was

Summer, 2003 Durand Heritage Foundation Newsletter
The Luigi Durand De La Penne is a first-of-class destroyer built in 1993
of 5,000 tons, a multi-role Italian warship able to perform anti-air defense,
anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare operations, assistance during landing
operations, and coastal bombardment.
the son of the older Guillaume we don't know. Neither
do we know whether these Guillaume Durands from the
south of France had anything to do with the heavy concentration
of Durands in the south of France, as the
population graphic of Durand names shows.
We would also be remiss in our inventory of Durands
we ain't if we failed to mention Madame Marguerite Durand
(1864-1936), an early French feminist who, in
1897 launched a daily feminist newspaper called the
Sling. Today the name of Marguerite Durand identifies a
library in Paris devoted to the collection and preservation
of documents concerning the history and struggle of
the feminist movement in France.
Of course there are many other things Durand that we
could boast are somehow connected to our family line
but, in truth, probably ain’t—at least within the last several
hundred years.
A mountain pass in the Alps that leads from Zermatt to
Zinal and is snow-covered year-round at 11,398 feet is
named Durand Pass.
The Italian navy has a modern "Animoso class" destroyer
named the Luigi Durand de la Penne. I have no
idea who Luigi Durand is or was, but chances are he is
also a Durand we ain't.
Back in the New World we find another Durand who
has been compared to Karen Silkwood (who raised concerns
about the safety of Kerr-McGee nuclear fuel rods-
-remember the movie Silkwood?) and also Jeffrey Wigand
(who exposed the tobacco industry's lies about tobacco
addiction). A couple of years ago a man named
Douglas Durand blew the whistle on the corruption rampant
in an outfit called TAP Pharmaceutical Products
Inc. and saw the firm fined $875 million, the largest
health-care fraud settlement in U.S. history. For his
5
trouble Durand was awarded $77 million as part
of the settlement. Too bad he is from the family
line of Durands we ain’t.
There’s a lot more Durand's we ain't.
Several years ago I clipped a newspaper article
about a French vintner by the name of (I believe)
August Durand whose family has been
making wine for generations. Now there’s a
Durand I’d like to meet! And today there is a
vintner named Guilhem Durand who is supposed
to have an excellent chardonnay.
Then there’s JG Durand Industries in France,
founded by Jacque Durand in 1825 and manufacturer
of, among other things, JG Durand
crystalware (including wine glasses that can run
$40 and up per glass—without the wine.
Then there's a race car driver on the east coast
named Mike Durand who seems to do pretty
well in the professional racing circuit. He may
or may not be related to a whole bunch of Durands
who are involved in the world of drag
racing, car racing, boat racing, and horse racing, not
only in the U.S. but in France too. There's even a Durand
who seems to specialize in photographing races.
It doesn't take long in surfing the web to find that there
are also Durands who are doctors and professors and
bureaucrats and just plain folks who may or may not be
Durands we ain't, including some of Hispanic origin,
although the most common form of the name for those
people is Duran, as in Roberto Duran the professional
boxer. Some of these many people have got to be Durands
we are.
The thing is, all these many Durands all over the world
indicate that the name has a certain—how shall we
say—cachet. It's a name that has been around for a long
time and a name that is associated with a lot of achievement.
It's a good, solid name. And I like to think that
even if much of that achievement has been by Durands
we ain't, the rest of us are hardly chopped liver, and we
can still take pride in being Durands too, because we're
a pretty good, solid people, and it looks like we’re going
to be around for a while longer.
The forthcoming book that delineates the family line
of Dr. Jean (John) Durand is described below. Persons
interested in a good genealogical website should take a
look at Dr. Smith’s website:
www.alvyray.com
Dr. John Durand (1664-1727) of Derby, Connecticut
His Family Through Four Generations
Featuring The Branch of His Youngest Son
Ebenezer Durand
Through Ten Generations to 2003
by Dr. Alvy Ray Smith

Durand Heritage Foundation Newsletter Summer, 2003
Durands in the Military
PFC Will Carlsen, U.S. Marine Corps, Has “Whatever it Takes”
By LtCol. James F. Durand, USMC
Private First Class Will Carlsen, U.S. Marine Corps, is
currently deployed to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi
Freedom. As a member of the First Battalion, Fourth
Marine Regiment, he fought as part of the First Marine
Division’s rapid advance to Baghdad and assisted in the
liberation of the Iraqi people. He is the son of Lauree
Carlsen of Portland, Oregon and the nephew of Durand
Heritage Foundation member Kathe Gogolewski of
Oceanside, California.
Will and his sister Bronwynne grew up in Portland,
Oregon. He enjoyed camping, rafting, and other outdoor
activities. Will studied the saxophone for five years and
was active in his church, participating in several mission
trips.
He developed an interest in class cars, rebuilding and
restoring a 1965 Mercury Comet Cyclone. Will entered
the car in several shows and has won several awards.
For the last four years he has exhibited his car at the
prestigious Hot August Nights Classic Car Show in
Reno.
He attended Benson Polytechnic High School and
studied aviation and automotive technology. Will likes
to spend any free time with his family and friends.
Will has wanted to be a Marine since he was 11 years
old. He enlisted in the Marine Corps while in high
school and reported to the Marine Corps Recruit Depot
in San Diego following graduation. He completed boot
camp in October 2002 and after a brief visit home reported
to the Marine Combat Training Battalion at
School of Infantry for additional training and qualification
as a Marine Infantryman. Will remained at Camp
Pendleton and was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 4th
Marine Regiment, whose motto is “Whatever it Takes.”
Will deployed to Kuwait in January when the First
Marine Division was ordered to the Persian Gulf region.
The next several weeks were spent in training and
adapting to the desert’s heat, wind, and sand.
When the ground offensive began Will’s battalion was
among the first Marine units that went into Iraq. The
Marines advanced quickly despite being under constant
enemy fire. Nowhere was the fighting more difficult
than at An Nasariyah, where Will and his fellow Marines
overcame difficult Iraqi resistance to capture key
bridges. Sleeping and eating little, the Marines captured
Al Kut, then advanced to Baghdad.
Will and his battalion faced an entirely new set of
challenges when they reached the capital. With the majority
of Iraqi military and security forces having been
destroyed or forced to abandon their positions, the Marines
were welcomed as they entered the outskirts of
6
Baghdad. Will told his mother that the Iraqis he met,
mostly poor Shiite Muslims, were grateful for the Marine
presence. Will confided that his greatest challenge
during this part of the operation was “keeping children
PFC William (Will) Carlsen in his full-dress blues. Will is
deployed to Iraq with the First Marine Division. His unit
helped to capture key bridges over the Euphrates River in
some of the sharpest fighting of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
off the Marines’ vehicles and equipment.”
Despite the warm reception by most Iraqis, Will’s unit
continued to be attacked by desperate elements of the
Hussein regime as they completed their mission in
Baghdad and redeployed to southern Iraq. Will survived
a grenade attack that badly wounded a fellow Marine.
Shortly thereafter Will became ill and was medevaced
to Kuwait; he has since returned to his unit.
Private First Class Will Carlsen remains deployed in
southern Iraq with the 1st Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment.
Although most Marine units are scheduled to re-
(Continued on page 16)

Summer, 2003 Durand Heritage Foundation Newsletter
"Tis strange--but true; for truth is always strange; stranger than fiction" Don Juan
Lt. Edward Durand’s Young Widow Married Again, Another Flier...Edward’s Friend?
By John C. Durand
In the spring issue of the Newsletter we described the
process we went through to determine whether Lt. Edward
D. Durand of Stevens Point, Wisconsin was related
to our branch of the Durands. An American flier in
World War II, Lt. Durand was shot down in New
Guinea on his first combat mission, captured, and presumably
was executed. After a lot of detective work we
discovered that he was not related. But there was a
bothersome loose end….
It would be hard to make up a story as good as that
which describes the brief love and loss and later life of
Lt. Edward D. Durand's young wife, a story as full of
coincidence as any novel.
She was born Dorothy Irene Mullarkey in 1917 in
Bear Creek, Wisconsin, a little town about 40 miles
from Stevens Point, where she presumably attended
teacher's college with Lt. Durand. After their graduation
in 1940 Dorothy began teaching elementary school in
Stevens Point; Lt. Durand enlisted in the Army Air
Corps. He received his wings a year later, in May 1941.
Seven months after that, following the Japanese attack
on Pearl Harbor and the entry of the United States into
the war, Lt. Durand and Dorothy Mullarkey were married
on December 27 in New York, where Lt. Durand
was stationed. Very likely he had called her and said
"Let's get married before I get shipped out," and she had
hurried out to New York to become his wife.
Perhaps she accompanied Lt. Durand as he traveled by
train with his outfit to the West Coast, where they immediately
boarded an old troopship bound for Australia.
That would have been the last time she saw him. They
had been married for less than a month.
Within six months Dorothy received word that Lt. Durand
was missing in action.
Four years later, the war ended, Lt. Durand was officially
declared dead.
According to one source, Dorothy supposedly made
the long trip to New Guinea to find Lt. Durand's place
of burial. She was unsuccessful. Today Lt. Durand’s
name is included in the Tablets of the Missing at the
American military cemetery in Manila, Philippines.
During the war years, it appears that Dorothy taught
radio at Truax Army Air Force Base in Madison, Wisconsin,
but for at least part of that time she returned
home to live with her parents in Bear Creek. In 1946,
when Lt. Durand’s survivors received official word that
Edward was presumed dead, Dorothy was living in St.
Louis, Missouri. Perhaps that is where she made (or renewed)
her acquaintance with her next husband.
Dorothy remarried about 1948. And here is where the
7
story gets strange.
Her new husband was graduated from the University
of Wisconsin in Madison with a degree in Engineering
in 1940, and that year also joined the Army Air Corps.
He was already stationed in the Philippines when the
Japanese attacked. Following the surrender of Bataan,
he became a prisoner of war but escaped during the
Death March, and hid out in the hills with Filipino guerillas
for a year before being captured again. For the rest
of the war he was held prisoner in Tokyo Sectional
Camp #3 in the Tokyo Bay area..
His name was Robert Leyrer, ands he was born in
1918 in Appleton, Wisconsin.
Robert remained in the military after the war. Assigned
to research and development work for fighter aircraft,
he retired as a Lt. Colonel in 1961. After a long
second career in the private sector working on missile
development, he died in 1999.
Dorothy and Robert Leyrer had three children. The
couple made their home in Sacramento, California,
where Dorothy died in 1981 after 33 years of marriage.
The coincidence of Dorothy marrying two Army Air
Corps fliers from Wisconsin, both the same age and
both of whom served in the Pacific theatre, is intriguing.
Was it coincidence that Dorothy met Robert Leyrer after
the war? Or did Lt. Durand and Robert Leyrer know
each other from their flight school training?
A little more digging might reveal that Lt. Durand and
Robert Leyrer were friends. Perhaps they returned to
Wisconsin on leave after some phase of their training,
and Dorothy met them at the train station in Madison or
Milwaukee.
There are many possibilities. The war gave rise to millions
of personal dramas, most of them now lost forever.
So far attempts to make contact with Dorothy and
Robert's three children have been unsuccessful. Chances
are there is a lot more we could learn about Lt. Durand.
At the very least Dorothy’s family should have photos
and perhaps memorabilia from Lt. Durand’s brief military
career.
Although Lt. Durand is not a blood relative, the memory
of his brief life and of his service to our country and
the ultimate sacrifice he made are worthy of our respect,
and continued attention.
Because he was an only child, Lt. Durand’s family line
has died out. But his story will not be forgotten. Several
of us in the Foundation are interested in developing his
story as completely as we can and submitting it for publication
in the Stevens Point area in time for Veterans
Day this year, or for Memorial Day in 2004.
It seems like the right thing to do.

Durand Heritage Foundation Newsletter Summer, 2003
Letters from Canada...
Meet the"Alberta Durands"
By Mavis Anne Durand Johnston, as told to Ellen Durand Olson
Last fall an unexpected letter arrived from Hanna, Alberta.
It came from Mavis Anne Durand Johnston, who
identified herself as "one of the branch of the Alberta
Durands.” Mavis wrote in response my article in last
summer's Newsletter, "Getting to Know You," about the
connection between the Minnesota and Wisconsin Durands.
Wrote Mavis, "If I understand correctly, it seems
we have the same ancestor, namely, Joseph Durand, b.
1770." Indeed we do, Mavis.
Joseph Durand is the ancestor common to both the
Minnesota and Wisconsin Durands. It was Joseph's
grandsons, Nazaire Durand, (Mavis' great-grandfather)
and Pierre Durand (my great-grandfather) who emigrated
from Canada to Faribault, MN to become the progenitors
of the Minnesota and Wisconsin Durands.
Nazaire and his wife, Leocadie, settled in Faribault and
henceforth begat the Minnesota Durands. Pierre's son,
Peter, my grandfather, and his wife, Louise, settled in
Wisconsin and henceforth begat the Wisconsin Durands.
Nazaire and Leocadie Durand lived in Minnesota for
most of their lives but their oldest son, Albert Joseph
("Albert"), left Faribault to farm in North Dakota before
emigrating to Alberta to homestead in 1908...and henceforth
came the "Alberta Durands." Mavis' father, Leonard
Nazaire ("Leonard"), is second son of thirteen children
born to Albert and Mary Durand
It was wonderful to learn about a "new" cousin. Mavis
lives with her husband of 48 years, Rayford Johnston,
on their farm located 10 miles north of Hanna in the
southernmost region of the vast Alberta prairie. Mavis
and Rayford have two children, Shelley Marie and
Leland James, and with the arrival of 9 3/4 lb. Christopher
Fredrick on
January 15 th , they
were blessed with
their fourth grandson.
I wrote Mavis
back and invited
her to write something
about her
family for the
newsletter, and
was delighted
when her second
letter arrived in
February. In this
letter Mavis wrote
of the migration of
her grandparents
8
from North Dakota to Alberta and of the family's early
settlement years. Her grandparents, Albert and Mary
Durand, were among Canada's early pioneers who arrived
with their families to homestead in new and harsh
territory.
The rest of the story is best told in Mavis' own words.
Part of the family's history was compiled by her aunts,
Alma Durand Dalton and Florence Durand Hart. Her
words from her letters are enclosed in quotation marks.
The Story
"My name is Mavis Anne (Durand) Johnston. Received
the Summer 2002 Durand Heritage Newsletter a
couple of weeks ago and was most interested in your
article, "Getting to Know You."
"My great-grandfather was Nazaire Durand (b. 1833).
He was married to Leocadie Berneche. My grandfather
was Joseph Albert Durand (b. February 15, 1864 at St.
Gabriel de Brandon). He was the eldest son of Nazaire
and Leocadie Durand. Joseph Albert (Albert) married
Mary Anne Vogt (b. February 26, 1868 at Dartville,
Wisconsin). They raised 10 living children. Albert died
November 24, 1924 at Lomond, Alberta, Canada. Mary
died July 20, 1960 at Hanna, Alberta. All three of them
are buried in the cemetery at Taber, Alberta. I have pictures
of their tombstones.
"My father was Leonard Nazaire, the second son of
Albert and Mary Durand. He was born March 22, 1903
at Talley, North Dakota. He married Agatha Marie
McAlister (b. 1902) of Minot, North Dakota. They had
five children: Mavis Anne (b. 1933), Adrian Leonard (b.
1935), Catherine June Lucille (b. 1937), Lauretta Mary
Alma (b. 1940, and Rose Elizabeth, (b. 1942).
Albert and Mary
Durand
“While living in
Faribault, eight of
thirteen children
were born to Albert
and Mary Durand:
Mary Magdelene
("Mame")
(b. 1888); triplet
girls, Lucy, Lizzie
and Lulu (June b.
1890); Tracy
(b.1892); Mary (b.
1893), Jerome Al-
The homestead house in Alberta that Joseph (Albert) Durand and his family lived
in from 1908 to 1916. Pictured are Albert (on horse), his wife Mary, their daughters
Alma, Cora, and Florence, and their son Leonard, Mavis Johnston’s father.
bert (b. 1895); and
Florence Elizabeth
(b.1898). The little

Summer, 2003 Durand Heritage Foundation Newsletter
Hi triplet John girls - died in infancy. Grandma told me that one
Here lived is for the three company days, profile one for I promised two weeks, you and for one the for 54
newsletter. days. Tracy, born next, also died in infancy, possibly
VoyageurWeb, from diphtheria. The The Internet next child, Outfitters Mary, was stillborn.
Our cousin, Yvonne Cariveau, lives and works in Man-
“By 1901 the family had moved to North Dakota
kato, MN. For the past 10 years, she has owned and run
where four more children were born: Cora Mabel (b.
a business called VoyageurWeb that employs 13 staff
designing, hosting and maintaining Internet web sites
like our own www.Durandfoundation.com web site.
Yvonne founded the company with her husband Dale
Karsten in 1993 under the name Internet Connections
as an Internet access and web site business. In 2001,
Yvonne changed the company name to VoyageurWeb
after restructuring the business to do web sites only.
VoyageurWeb staff enjoy a relaxed, learning atmosphere
where they create useful and attractive web sites
and get to interact with people from all over the state
and country in many different lines of work. Their clients
get hassle-free web site updating and effective web
sites that help them deliver services and make money.
Recently, VoyageurWeb won the Mankato Area Council
for Quality Corporate Award.
You can learn more about VoyageurWeb by visiting
www.voyageurweb.com
Yvonne's The Albert email Durands address and is the yvonne@voyageurweb.com
Jerome Arnolds pose in front of
a colorful quilt. In 1908 Albert and Jerome began the move
from North Dakota to Alberta. Not all identifications have been
made in this photo. Can anyone help with people, place, and
when this picture was taken?
1901 in Kinmar, North Dakota). The births of Leonard
Nazaire (b. 1903), Alma Alice (b. 1905), and Laurence
Edward (b. 1908) were recorded at Talley, North Dakota.
"In June 1908, Albert Durand and his son-in-law Charlie
Arnold came to Crowfoot, Alberta from Talley,
North Dakota with two boxcars of settler’s effects. From
here, with wagons, they traveled to their homesteads,
located seven miles east of where the town of Lomond
was founded after the railroad was built.
Homesteading Rules
“For those who don’t know about homesteading, these
were the rules. You paid $10 to file on a quarter section
(160 acres) often sight-unseen, and you then had the
right, called a "preemption," to another quarter. Your
duties were to plow a fireguard around your yard, plant
and seed 10 acres each year for three years, build a
dwelling and live on your land for six months for each
of the three years–and then it was yours.
Albert and son-in-law Charlie weren’t headed for
promising country. According to an account of the area,
"Captain John Palliser surveyed the territory of southern
Saskatchewan and the southeast corner of Alberta,
known as the Palliser Triangle, in the 1880s, and said
that the area was part of the Great North American Desert.
It was unfit for farming. The average moisture is
about 10 inches a year.”
"That first summer Albert built a house of lumber and
9
a barn of sod. In the house the table was used as a bed,
which meant that those sleeping on the table had to get
up so the table could be used for breakfast. Above the
table was a platform that was folded up against the wall
in the daytime and lowered at night for another bed.
"With a walking plow and three or four horses Albert
broke land for himself and other homesteaders coming
in. A well was dug on what would become Fred Hart’s
homestead." Fred Hart later became another son-inlaw
by his marriage to Florence Elizabeth Durand.
"In the fall Albert Durand went back to North Dakota
to harvest his crops. On his 40-mile walk to Brooks to
catch the train he was nearly trampled by wild range
cattle several times. After harvesting his crops in North
Dakota, Albert and Mary along with their seven children
and two grandchildren traveled cross-country to
Taber, Alberta in wagons loaded with settler’s effects
to start life on their homestead.
"Each fall Albert Durand made a trip to Lethbridge
from Taber with a load of wheat. This was a three or
four-day trip. Some wheat was ground into flour at Ellison’s
Mill and the rest was sold for supplies. One year
they had a bumper crop of oats. They had only harvested
a few rounds when cinders from the train
smokestack started a fire that traveled for miles burning
up the oat crop in its path."
(Continued on page 15)
In later years Albert and Mary pose with their two youngest
sons, Leonard (on the left) and Laurence. Leonard is the
father of Mavis Durand Johnston.

Durand Heritage Foundation Newsletter Summer, 2003
10

Summer, 2003 Durand Heritage Foundation Newsletter
11

Durand Heritage Foundation Newsletter Summer, 2003
Presidents Report
My Farewell
By Mike Durand
Just a little over a year ago I announced that I would
be stepping down as President when my term expires at
the Fall 2003 board of directors meeting. Some members
of the board thought this was just a hollow announcement.
But it’s true. My term will soon expire and
I feel that it’s best for me to indeed step down to allow
new leadership to come forth. I have chaired a total of
twelve meetings of the board of directors since our meager
beginnings in July 1998. We started with just a
grassroots organization of twelve people (the twelve
Apostles). Today our database of members totals over
two hundred. We have members from coast to coast and
a fair representation in Canada as well.
I like to think that I am departing at a good time—a
good time for myself and the Foundation. I also feel that
the efforts of the Durand Heritage Foundation have been
successful. Over the past few years we have assembled a
strong board of directors, and they consider the issues
that come before it with a deliberate and sound approach.
We have never had a major disagreement that
has caused any major problems. Rather, through a process
of steady but deliberate growth we have accomplished
a lot of projects.
The actions of the board have surprised me at times. I
have made numerous proposals to the board over the
past few years. Most all of them have sailed right
through with its approval. I have pretty much set the
agenda for all the meetings. Two proposals which I
made recently, however, show the soundness of the collective
deliberation and thoughtfulness of the board and
its concern about your best interests.
About six months ago I proposed that we pursue sponsors
or partners to help fund our efforts. These sponsors
would be able to support our efforts by buying advertising
space in the newsletter. At the last meeting it was
decided to scrap this idea, because after further discussion
the board wants to keep the newsletter as a
“collectors item” without an inundation of material that
would present a more commercial flavor. This approach
shifts the focus back on our operating with less cash
flow, but it also preserves the integrity of our efforts by
not “selling our souls.”
Another matter that I proposed was to launch an aggressive
marketing program to increase membership and
also revenues. While the board agreed that we should
have some sort of an initiative it didn’t like the idea of
an aggressive marketing program which was coupled to
the selling of advertising space in our newsletter. I
thought we could hire someone to work part-time to fulfill
these duties and responsibilities and expand our
12
members to at least 500 or so in short order. The board
reined me in on these proposals, instead suggesting that
we need to preserve what we have and not be so concerned
about growing our membership at a fast pace,
which simply leads to more effort to manage the increased
workload.
Additionally, with my decision to step down as President
the board formed a nominating committee to begin
the search for my replacement. Again, another good decision.
I cite these examples of the board’s decision-making
to give you an example of how effectively we can work
together to chart our direction for the future. I am not
sure if all its decisions regarding not wanting to market
advertising space and/or keeping the membership small
are the right decisions. I think only time will tell. But
they carefully make these decisions and are quite willing
to accept the responsibilities that go with them.
So—my term will expire on Oct. 5, 2003 and you will
have a new president to lead the Foundation’s efforts.
But I want to take this opportunity as I write my final
President’s Message to extend my thanks to each and
every one of you. I will enjoy my new-found freedom
from the tasks and responsibilities that have been a part
of my life since July, 1998. Stepping aside will allow
me to spend more time with my family and also launch
new projects.
I would first like to thank my wife, Marilyn for all her
support since Day One. I’d also like especially to thank
John Durand, my “right-hand man,” who has worked
tirelessly on any project that I threw his way. Special
thanks also to Roger and Carol Durand for all their support
and their donation of the “electronic” database of
the family tree. Special thanks also goes to Ronald and
Mary Ann Balding and Anita Oakey for their donation
of the recently revised translation of the Jean Durand
and His Posterity. A special thanks also to Derek Brusegaard
who worked so hard to launch the Durand Heritage
Foundation web site.
I want also to thank all of the directors of the board,
both past and present, who donated their time to making
the Foundation’s efforts a success.
Perhaps, most importantly, I want to thank all of the
individual members—you—who through your support
and generosity with membership dues, donations, article,
pictures, and time have been responsible for our
success. It gives me great pleasure to open an envelope
with a message and in many cases great classical photos.
Without a doubt I have a greater insight into my family
heritage. I am a very rich man in this regard, as is my
family. Indeed, we have all been enriched. The stories
and pictures we have collected over the past few years
all contribute to a growing collection of treasures.
While each of us has worked many hours on the Foun-
(Continued on page 15)

Summer, 2003 Durand Heritage Foundation Newsletter
For meritorious service…
2002 Foundation Award Winners
By Mike Durand
Along with writing my last president’s message, this
will be the last year for me to present awards. Hopefully,
the annual presentation of awards will carry forward
to the new president, as it is just small token of
appreciation for many hours of volunteer work.
The highest award is the President’s Award. To be
eligible for this award a member must complete a major
project and provide over two hundred hours of effort
towards achieving the Foundation’s goals. There are not
too many people that have reached this level of effort—
usually only a couple per year. This award is only given
only once to an individual.
The recipients this year are
Yvonne Cariveau, and Alice
Durand Keppel. Yvonne has
been on the Board of Directors
for only a short time, but she
hasn’t wasted any time in getting
her hands and mind busy.
When Yvonne was elected to
the board she asked me what I
Yvonne Cariveau
wanted her to do. I responded
that she should start with where
her passion is in regard to the Foundation’s efforts.
Web site! she responded. The new look of our website
and the ease of navigation are both thanks to Yvonne
and her staff at Voyageur Web. Yvonne brings a very
directed and focused energy to the Board. She is never
lacking in opinions or ideas about current matters or
future directions for the Foundation. Thank you
Yvonne.
Alice Durand Keppel is the second
recipient. Alice joined the
Foundation Board just a couple of
years ago. She assumed the responsibilities
of Treasurer, relieving
me of the detailed work of
bookkeeping and preparing financial
statements for the Board
meetings, of depositing checks,
and of keeping track of expenses.
This was a job I was glad to get
Alice Keppel
off my shoulders. Alice has not
only assumed this role, but she
produces reports so detailed and itemized that she leaves
a strong impression, to say the least. Alice also does an
excellent job of providing good insight and judgment at
the Board meetings. Thank you, Alice.
Best Family Story Award. This award is presented to
the person(s) who contribute a family story that is pub-
13
lished in the Newsletter. I confer with John Durand, the
Newsletter editor, for his recommendations. This year’s
award goes to Helen Durand for her story,
“Storekeepers: Rose and Fred Trombley’s Country
Stores.” Not only was this a good story, but we received
various notes from readers who appreciated the fact that
they are now better able to understand the link between
the Trombleys and the Durands. This
story illustrates the hardships and life
experiences during the time when
Helen first encountered the huge Pierre
and Louise Durand family in northern
Wisconsin. She would soon after be
introduced to one of the Minnesota Durands,
Wilfred, and married him. Thank
you, Helen, for a great story.
Writer of The Year Award. You have to wake up
awfully early in the morning and work very hard to outwork
John Durand. John logs many hours on each and
every edition of the Newsletter,
but, it was his tenacity and unrelenting
research efforts to produce
“In Search of Lt. Edward
Durand” that won him the Writer
of the Year Award. Lt. Durand
was a WW II fighter pilot who
was shot down, captured and executed
by the Japanese while he
flew a combat mission in a P39.
I could tell early on that John
took a special interest in this
story. I sensed he was locked
Helen Durand
John Durand
on, like radar, as he painstakingly put the pieces of this
mystery together one by one. At times the trail would
grow cold, but soon John would find a new clue and his
pursuit would continue and bring in more valuable information
to help keep the story unfolding. Thanks,
John!
Another award that I present is the Amerindian Princess
Award. I don’t have any strict criteria for this
award other than the fact that I look for someone over
the past year who has contributed in a supportive and
nurturing way to advance the Foundation’s efforts. This
award also goes to Yvonne Cariveau for her numerous
hours spent volunteering in various ways. Yvonne has
many ideas about the future direction for various Foundation
projects, and (as I mentioned before) she is a very
welcome addition to our organization. Thanks again,
Yvonne, for all your hard work.
Outstanding Family Award This award goes to a
family that has impressed me in some way over the past
year. I look for outstanding leadership abilities and
modeling behavior. This is the first year that I have ever
presented two of these awards, and ironically they are
going to brothers. It is refreshing to see young families

Durand Heritage Foundation Newsletter Summer, 2003
in the prime of their lives, especially young Durand
families.
These two awards go to Lt Col James Durand (USMC)
and his wife Leslie, and to his brother Commander
Robert T. Durand (USNR) and his wife Lea Ann. These
fine young men are the sons of Eugene Durand and his
wife Florence (deceased).
Both Robert and James are graduates of the United
LtCol James F Durand, his wife Leslie (Stephens), and their
two sons, Thomas (center) born 2000, and Andrew, born
1998.in Seoul, South Korea.
States Naval Academy. Let me tell you why I am so impressed
by these young men.
A year ago in May I attended the memorial in Madison,
Wisconsin for John Adelard Durand, who passed
away unexpectedly and suddenly leaving a huge void
for his family and friends. John was also a veteran who
served in the Wisconsin National Guard as a tank commander
for 17 years. The memorial was held at the Wisconsin
State Capital in an ornate, historic chamber. Part
of the ceremony was the presentation of colors and a salute
to John.
Lt Col James Durand and his brother Robert attended
the memorial in full dress uniforms to facilitate this
ceremony. I was so impressed with these young men
that when it came time to present this award this year I
thought, who better deserves this award than these fine
young men? James and Robert and their families make
us all proud, as they were willing to come at great distances
to provide their presence and comforting ways
during a time of great sorrow and sadness. They helped
us though the pain and suffering.
Additionally, James and Robert have volunteered to
organize the Foundation’s Durands in The Military pro-
14
ject and have both put many hours into this project. I
appreciate all their hard work and the difference they
make in everyone’s lives.
Thank you, James and Robert, and your families.
Robert T. Durand, his wife Lea Ann (Flanagan) and blondhaired
Logan (born 1991). In front Chase (born 1996) and
Claudia (born 2000).
And Speaking of Fine Young People….
We owe a special thanks for the centerpiece of this issue
to Anna (Annie) Olson Webber and her sister Jennifer
Olson, both of St. Paul, Minnesota,
Several weeks ago I asked Annie whether she would
be willing to produce an original piece to accompany
the theme “Durands We Ain’t.” Annie has always had a
talent for art. (She recently completed her degree in architecture)
Of course she said “yes,” a model of cooperation
that I hope will set the standard for the rest of
our talented younger generations.
Annie and her sister Jennifer (who is no less talented
than her older sister) created the center spread in about a
week of intensive effort. Annie wrote in an email, “...we
had fun and worked hard. My favorite combination!”
Thanks, Annie and Jennifer. You’re the greatest!
Of course, none of the color we’ve been seeing in the
Newsletter would have been possible without the investment
that President Mike Durand made in an expensive
color printer. Thank you, Mike, for helping us climb up
the next rung on the ladder.

Summer, 2003 Durand Heritage Foundation Newsletter
2nd Edition of Jean Durand et sa Posterité
Will Include Complete Family Tree
By Roger Durand
Shake your family tree before the new edition of Jean
Durand et sa Posterité is published to insure that all
known apples (even the rotten ones) are listed.
A new edition of Ron Balding’s remarkable translation
will contain a list of Jean Durand descendants, and an
index to the names. The descendant list used will be the
same database as that used for the www.
durandfoundation.com family tree. So, if you or your
grandchildren are not in the website’s family tree you
won’t be in this new edition either!
Blanche Durand Hammer is ready to enter your family
names and information if you send it to her at
mbmn@attbi.com She has a new computer and is anxious
to put it to work!
We request that you provide, for each person to be included
• Name (first, middle, last)
• Place and date of birth
• Marriages (to whom, and wedding date)
• Date of death.
Make sure that you indicate the relationships also.
I’m sure that Blanche is whistling a tune whenever
she can add a new branch to our tree, but when she
climbs out on the branch to enter information on the individual
a second time because it wasn’t provided initially,
the work can become tedious.
It is our policy to enter any person into our database
that is a descendant of Jean Durand and carries or carried
the Durand surname, and their children. Spouses
My Farewell (Continued from page 12)
dation efforts, none of us have been paid. That is, unless
you count the numerous letters we receive from members
that seem to make all our efforts worthwhile. Let
me just give you one example. In a letter from Peter and
Julie Durand from Minneapolis, Minnesota, I will extract
two paragraphs.
Dear Mike ...I feel remiss in not having communicated
to you the pleasure I have had in watching you
build the Durand Heritage Foundation over the last
four years. You have done a tremendous service to all of
the family, and it is greatly appreciated. My children
have no idea the gift you have given them.
Thank you again for planting the seeds of the eternal
memory of the history of our family… Peter E. Durand
For all of us who have worked so hard, getting this
kind of letter is what makes it all worthwhile. And so
my friends, I bid you farewell. May God bless each and
every one of you.
15
will be included. Additionally, we will enter a direct
lineage to any current Durand Heritage Foundation
member, regardless of the surnames, if a connection has
been made to Jean Durand.
Other notices will announce the timing, style, and
quality of the new edition of this important book.
Letters from Alberta (Continued from page 9)
"On May 14, 1910 their last child, Esther Louise, was
born. Albert always called her his ‘little Canuck.”
As the wide-open prairies around Albert and Mary's
farm drew more homesteaders, neighboring townships
began to sprout up. "The first post-office was located in
Sundial, twenty miles away. Later on there was Sweet
Valley, seven miles distant, then Badger Lake, and finally,
with the building of the railroad, the town of Lomond."
"One thing that stood out in the minds of Mary Durand
and the children was their first visit from the Northwest
Mounted Police. They were worried until the Mountie
told them it was his duty to visit the settlers, and then he
asked them to sign a paper saying he’d been there."
Youngsters growing up on homesteads had a rugged
life, and responsibility came early. "When Leonard
(Mavis’s father) was 14 years old his father gave him a
team and rack and sent him out with a threshing crew.
That fall was warm and long so they threshed for 48
days. The pay was $10 a day so Leonard came home
with $480. His father let him keep the $80 and used the
$400 to pay on the mortgage."
"Once Leonard needed a tooth pulled so he loaded a
wagonload of wheat, probably 90-100 bushels, and
hauled it seven miles to town and received $8. When he
left the dentist’s office he gave him the check for the
wheat. Another time Leonard and his sister Alma were
fighting until his father broke it up. For punishment Albert
made Leonard kiss his younger sister. For the rest
of his life, Leonard maintained that he’d rather have had
a licking than kiss his sister!"
Thank you, Mavis, for sharing your family history.
Your letters have expanded yet again our understanding
and respect for the courage, fortitude, and determination
embodied by so many of our ancestors. The information
and family photographs you sent have been entered into
the family archives of the Durand Heritage Foundation
and are available for future generations.
I hope that by your example others will take the time
to sit down and write about their own families. Stories
such as yours–simply stated in a letter or two–are priceless
contributions to our rich and shared heritage.
Mavis Anne Durand Johnston can be reached at:
Box 1770
Hanna, Alberta, Canada
T0J 1P0

Durand Heritage Foundation Newsletter Summer, 2003
Treasurer’s Report
Foundation Ended 2002 in the RED!
By Alice Durand Keppel
After last year's "modest growth," Foundation coffers
seem a little sparsely furnished at this reporting. Nevertheless,
the Board voted to accept the financial statement
for the 2002 fiscal year at its April 26, 2003 meeting.
The bank reported a balance of $1,465.12 as of December
31, 2002.
The table of income and expense reflects a net loss for
the year. You should note these interesting changes in
income and expense.
• Membership income is less than half that of 2001,
PFC Carlsen (Continued from page 6)
turn by the end of the summer, at this time neither Will
nor his fellow Marines know when they will depart Iraq.
Will does not currently have access to e-mail, but calls
his mother whenever possible. Durand Heritage Foundation
Members desiring to write to Will may send mail to
him at the following address:
PFC William Carlsen, USMC
Weapons Company 1/4 CAAT B
UIC 39727
FPO AP 96613-9727
Service members
deployed to Iraq
have stated that
beef jerky, baby
wipes, and sunscreen
are difficult
to obtain and are
much appreciated.
Editor’s note:
We will update
readers on PFC
Carlsen’s deployment
in the next
issue.
Additionally, we
will publish an ac-
count of Lieutenant
Commander
Patrick Ginn’s ex-
PFC William Carlsen’s unit fought
their way from Kuwait to Baghdad.
perience in Iraq as a Navy doctor who was among the
first physicians to work from a hospital in enemy territory.
Commander Ginn is the son-in-law of Matt and
Susanne Krasovich of Milwaukee, Wisconsin and is
married to their daughter Susanne.
Other readers aware of Durands in the military are invited
to get in touch with LtCol Durand (see “The back
page”) so that we can acknowledge this important contribution
to our nation and our Durand family heritage.
16
while the Sustaining Fund is slightly above contributions
from 2001.
• The Scholarship Fund represents over 18% of the
Foundation’s gross income.
• Printing expenses are up, in part because we paid
for printing five issues last year rather than four, and
also because the newsletter has grown and is now enjoyed
in color.
• Internet expense continues to be the second biggest
cost. This expense is expected to decrease due to a
change in provider.
Please remember that donations to both the
Scholarship Fund and the Sustaining Fund are tax
deductible for the year in which they are taken.
The Sustaining Fund is intended to carry us
through the lean times (like this); the Scholarship
Fund is untouchable for regular expenses but may
be awarded annually to qualified applicants. Continued
regular publication of the Newsletter may
depend on contributions to the Sustaining Fund.
In anticipation of a leadership change in the Foundation,
we ask that checks and other monies for membership
renewal and contributions be sent directly to the
Treasurer at the following address:
Alice Durand Keppel
1335 Mandan Avenue North
Golden Valley, MN 55427
Income & Expense for Fiscal Year 2002
Income
Membership 1,646.65
Other Publication Income 385.58
Sustaining Fund 1,275.00
Scholarship Fund 745.00
Total Income 4,052.23
Expense
Consultant 150.00
Gifts 100.00
Internet Expense 1,535.13
Miscellaneous 154.13
Office Supplies 372.36
Postage 662.90
Printing 2,544.95
Total Expense 5,519.47
Income Less Expense ($1,467.24)

Summer, 2003 Durand Heritage Foundation Newsletter
Foundation Business
DHF Board Reviews Projects and Makes
Plans at Spring Board Meeting
Board Members present at the meeting held April 26,
2003 at the home of Yvonne Cariveau in Mankato, Minnesota:
Mike Durand, President (03), John Durand,
Vice-president (03), Roger Durand, Secretary (03),
Yvonne Cariveau (04), Mary Kay (Durand Grant)
Brusegard (05)
Board Members Absent: Alice (Durand) Keppel,
Treasurer (04), Tom Bacig (04), Susanne (Durand
Foley) Krasovich (04), Richard Durand (04), Blanche
(Durand) Hammer (05)
Non-board Members Present: None
Mike Durand opened the meeting at 10:40 a.m.
Minutes
The minutes of the Fall meeting were approved.
Treasurer’s report
Alice Keppel forwarded the treasurer’s report for presentation
by Mike Durand. The bank balance on December
31, 2002 was $1,465. The board reviewed the
method of valuing inventory. A suggestion was made to
plot year-to-year expense, income, etc. for easier comparison.
The treasurer’s report was approved.
Election of Board of Directors members
No elections were held at this meeting. The secretary
noted that Mike Durand, John Durand, and Roger Durand
will be ending their terms as both officers and directors.
Mike Durand indicated that he will not seek reelection
as president. John Durand and Roger Durand
stated that they will continue to serve if re-elected.
Committee Reports
• Research Committee
Roger Durand reported that the research committee
has been inactive. However, Mike Durand and Roger
Durand met with Tom Bacig in Duluth in November
2002 and explored his varied interests and accomplishments.
The possibility of acquiring storage space at the
UM Duluth campus for the Foundation’s historical
documents was discussed with Bacig.
Yvonne Cariveau volunteered to co-chair the Research
Committee and suggested a meeting to establish areas of
research interest. It was agreed that if areas of focus
were identified, individuals could work independently to
gather information and present their work to the Foundation.
Roger Durand will host a meeting in early summer
to pursue this plan.
Mike Durand reported on his work with Ron Balding
to correct and revise Jean Durand et sa Posterite prior
to the next printing. Converting the document to digital
media will improve the quality and decrease printing
cost. The board agreed that the next edition should be of
“heirloom” quality that uses a standardized color
17
scheme for Foundation publications. Other considerations
included using hardcover bindings and adding a
list of descendant names.
• Records Committee
Blanche Hammer continues to update the family tree.
• Newsletter Committee
John Durand continues to edit the newsletter. His goal
of having “regional” editors is within reach. He expects
Ellen Durand Olson will accept the challenge of being
the regional editor for the “Wisconsin” Durands” and
that Diane Zimmer (Maurice Durand family) will represent
the western states. Roger Durand volunteered to be
regional editor for the “Minnesota Durands”—
descendants of Nazaire and Joseph Durand. After discussing
the editor’s workload it was agreed to continue
publishing the Newsletter four times per year.
• Membership Committee
Membership renewals continue at a favorable and expected
rate. The total member database includes 212
names. There were 17 new members in 2002 but only 3
to date in 2003. The memberships of some 48 members
are past due as of the end of 2002. These former members
are considered inactive and no longer receive the
Newsletter. However, they have all been sent a reminder
letter with a preaddressed return envelope. A considerable
number of memberships expire in 2003, which, if
renewed, should help to improve cash flow.
The board decided not to pursue a “referral” method of
soliciting potential members (see New Business below).
Old Business
Durand Foundation Website
Yvonne Cariveau reported the successful transition of
the Foundation’s host web site to her company’s servers.
The transfer will result in significant financial savings
and improvement in quality and content.
The board discussed the untapped capabilities available
to us through electronic media. Possibilities discussed
included email, advertising, storage and archiving
of photos, family narratives, and research newsgroups.
The board took no formal action as a result of
the discussion.
Acceptance of Advertising in Newsletter
At its Fall, 2002 meeting the board approved the solicitation
of advertising for the Newsletter and the website.
No ad agreements have been made to date.
New Business
Membership marketing campaign
Mike Durand volunteered to lead a marketing effort to
both attract new members and “spread the word” of our
existence. To date the Foundation has not targeted a
population of potential members for a mail campaign.
The board agreed to fund a mail campaign for up to
$150 to be implemented by Mike Durand. Yvonne
Caviveau offered to aid in designing a postcard or flyer.
(Continued on page 18)

Durand Heritage Foundation Newsletter Summer, 2003
Readers’ Connection
Florida Artist Provides Autobiography of
Monsignor Arthur H. Durand
Mary Herzig of Satellite Beach, Florida, whose last
contribution to the Newsletter described her work with
china painting, sent a long excerpt from an autobiography
written by Monsignor Arthur Hilary Durand, a great
uncle. He produced his autobiography in 1978 on the
occasion of his 50th anniversary as a priest. Msgr. Durand,
born in Faribault, Minnesota in 1898, was one of
two children from the family of Joseph Cyrille and Olivine
(Rousseau) who made the Catholic Church their
vocation. His sister Antoinette joined the Dominican
Minutes (Continued from page 17)
The focus of the marketing would be people with the
Durand surname in the Minnesota and Wisconsin areas.
Other marketing activities discussed were:
1. Member surveys to learn their needs and feedback
2. Closeout sales of books and newsletters in inventory
3. Updated catalog detailing products on hand
4. Advertising
5. Educational articles on value of gifts to the Foundation
6. Email messages to members on a periodic basis
Bulk Rate Mailing
Mike Durand reported that future mailings of the
Newsletter could be sent as bulk mail by using the permit
for his business, which would lower the cost of
mailing. Roger will pursue the paperwork for a Foundation
permit after Mike has his company permit.
Foundation Identity
The need for a uniform visual “scheme” was discussed.
Color, logos, font type and sizes, etc. could be
used to establish a family or organizational identity.
Nominating Committee for office of president
It was noted that there is no standing nominating committee.
Board members agreed that an ad hoc committee
should be formed to search for a successor for the current
president. Roger Durand offered to take the lead in
the search. John Durand offered the names of Peter Durand,
Robert Durand, Richard Durand, and Ellen Durand
Olson as possible collaborators.
Awards
President Mike Durand announced the awards to be
presented for 2002. [See Awards, p. 13]
The Spring meeting adjourned at 3:30 pm.
The Fall meeting will be on Sunday, October 6, 2003
at the home of Roger Durand, 76 Marcin Hill, Burnsville,
MN. (Phone 952-898-2896) All Foundation members
are invited to attend. Please call the host.
Minutes provided by Roger E. Durand, Secretary
18
Sisters of Sinsinawa, Wisconsin, as did Mary Herzig’s
Aunt Mathida (Sister Ernestine). Msgr. Durand died in
St. Paul in 1986 at age 88.
In discussing Msgr. Durand’s autobiography, Mary
pointed out that her cousin had sent it to her years ago.
“I think she must have gotten tired of making copies as I
know there is more.” The document that Mary sent consists
of 17 pages and appears to be from an 8½ X 11
typeset monograph. The portion she sent ends with
Msgr. Durand describing his first days at a seminary in
Nantes, France.
After growing up on the family farm near Faribault,
Msgr. Durand writes that he decided to enter the priesthood
only after giving long and serious consideration to
getting married and continuing to farm.
When he describes his efforts while still living at
home to learn Latin from the local priest, he writes:
“...I was not a bright student. I plugged hard but Latin
came harder. Many a night as I drove back home with
the horse and buggy, I, now 21 years old, cried unabashedly.
Father Domestici was a good teacher, but he did
not give me any encouragement or a bit a praise that I
can remember. He was never impatient with me it is
true, but I was not made to feel that I was making any
progress and though my heart was very heavy, I would
say, “Lord, I won’t quit. If they tell me that I am not
able to make it or refuse me, then I will know that it’s
not for me—but I won’t quit!”
Msgr. Durand’s autobiography is organized into short
chapters that describe various aspects of his early life—
”The Dawn of Memory,” “Country School Days,” “Our
Parents,” etc.
The title page reads:
AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MSGR. ARTHUR H. DURAND
PASTOR ANNUNCIATION CHURCH- HAZELWOOD, MINN.
ON THE OCCASION OF HIS FIFTIETH JUBILIEE YEAR
AS A PRIEST, SUNDAY, JUNE 11, 1978
If anyone has a complete copy of this important family
document please get in touch with a Foundation officer
or board member, whose names are listed on “The back
page.” One of the goals of the Foundation is to collect
and preserve documents like Msgr. Durand’s autobiography
and to make them more generally accessible to
members.
On a sad note, Mary also wrote that her son-in-law Michael
Craft died of cancer on May 18 at age 47. Michael was married
to Mary’s daughter Cindy, and they have one child, a 10year-old
son named Benjamin. A picture of Mary and her
three daughters appeared in the Summer, 2002 Newsletter.
jcdurand3391@charter.net
Send your letters to:
John C Durand
624 East Market Street #103
Elkhorn, WI 53121

Summer, 2003 Durand Heritage Foundation Newsletter
I’ve been intrigued lately by a flicker of memory about
something my father once said. In speaking of our
French-Canadian ancestors he said that one of them had
been given an island in the St. Lawrence River for fighting
in a war. Like any kid I wondered if the island was
still in the family and whether it might be named Durand
Island and whether we might secretly be rich. But
in the atlas at our high school library I could find no Durand
Island and soon put the matter out of my mind.
While looking at maps on the internet a year or so ago,
however, I noticed a little island situated near the mouth
of the Cap Rouge River, the area that I now know was
where Jean Durand dit La Fortune acquired his first
land. What got me looking, I think, was
a passage I had read in Jean Durand et
sa Posterité. Discussing the arrangement
that Jean Durand made with a
Charles Gautier (who was apparently
Jean's boss for the three years he spent
in military service) we read on page 20:
"…Jean Durand receives on a three-year lease, from
Charles Gautier called Boisverdun, a property situated at
Cap-Rouge in the domain of Gaudarville, one part of
which is farm land and the other is thickly wooded; a
fishing location running in front of the land; and a small
fort situated on an island."
We can only speculate about why there was a small
fort on what is a pretty small island, or how long the fort
had been there. Perhaps it was built as a place of refuge
design in case of Indian attack, or perhaps it mounted a
cannon or two to protect the mouth of the Cap Rouge.
Those speculations don't seem nearly as important to
me as the speculation of how my father came to know of
this island. Consider this:
1. Jean Durand et sa Posterité had not yet been published,
and chances are that my father would not have
known about such a work-in-progress anyway.
2. So far as I know, my father had never been to the
Cap Rouge area or had any connection with our relatives
there.
3. Having completed only a few grades of school, my
father was not a reader.
So the question has been nagging—how did he know
about that island?
The distance between Jean Durand dit La Fortune and
my father was eight generations, and our family line
has, so far as I am aware, no family history that someone
wrote between then and now. So I keep coming
back to the thought that the story of this island must
have been passed down from generation to generation
by word of mouth—by storytelling.
Along the way the story got a little garbled. The island
was not a gift but a lease. And it was awarded to Jean
Durand for his military service rather than his participation
in a particular war. But if I'm right and the story of
For What It’s Worth
By John Durand
19
this little island was indeed passed down in the family
for more than 300 years—well, my jaw kind of dropped
when I had that realization.
Although I couldn’t attend the first meeting of what
has become the Durand Heritage Foundation, I sent
Mike Durand some thoughts before the meeting on the
idea that, if we want to preserve our family history, we
really have to start writing things down—stories about
our uncles and aunts and grandparents, who’s who in
the pictures we have, how did such a thing come to pass,
and so on. What I said must have resonated with the 12
people in attendance at that meeting, because they nominated
me in absentia to be the vice-president of an asyet-undefined
organization.
Well, four years later we are a char-
tered not-for-profit corporation with a
certain amount of organization stability,
but we are still trying to solve those
same problems.
• How do we preserve our family
stories?
• How do we preserve our family pictures?
• How do we preserve our important family documents—birth
certificates, marriage licenses,
awards and achievements?
I’m not talking about just the old-timey stuff—black
and white studio portraits of stiff-looking, unsmiling
strangers. I’m talking too about us and our kids and our
grandkids. Let me give you an example of why I still
think this idea is still important.
Last summer I attended a family reunion in Saskatchewan,
Canada of my mother’s family, the first reunion of
that family in decades. A guy from Oklahoma shows up
with a suitcase full of pictures passed down to him by
his father. He had no idea who the people in the pictures
were. Once again my jaw dropped. What he lugged up
to Canada were beautifully preserved pictures of my
parents and brothers and sisters and uncles and aunts
and cousins. Some of these pictures I had never seen.
Once again the lesson to me was that we need a context
for the things we preserve. If we don’t have a context
an old-timey picture isn’t worth much. It’s the stories
about people and things that gives a picture value.
Here’s another example. When my mother was very
old and I began to realize that she was going to die with
a wealth of information about her family, I made an effort
to learn a lot more than I knew about her childhood
and growing up. One of the stories she told me was that
her family had so many chimney fires in their house that
her father nailed a ladder to the roof so that he could
quickly climb up the steep slope with a bucket of water
to pour down the chimney. And sure enough, on several
pictures of their house we see an incongruous metal ladder
on the steep roof pointed towards the chimney. If we
didn’t know why, we could only wonder it was there.

Durand Heritage Foundation Newsletter Summer, 2003
The back page… In a record that will stand for decades (if not centuries), David Durand in his youth
bagged a deer weighing 1,300 pounds. David’s story of this amazing feat will appear in the Fall issue. Also
in the Fall issue we will see how census information can help us look in new ways at those we always
thought of as old. Plus whatever else might happen to come in by mail or email or word of mouth….
To update the
Durand family tree, contact:
Blanche Durand Hammer
1547 Quail Ridge Road
Woodbury, MN 53125
Email: mbmn@attbi.com
President
Mike Durand
mikdurand@msn.com
Vice President
John Durand
Durand Foundation Officers
jcdurand3391@charter.net
Secretary
Roger Durand
rdurand@frontiernet.net
Treasurer
Alice Keppel
amkeppel@2z.net
1501 Rushmore Drive
Burnsville, MN 55306
Phone 952-431-5610
624 East Market St #103
Elkhorn, WI 53121
Phone 262-723-7750
76 Marcin Hill
Burnsville, MN 55337
Phone 612-898-2896
To contact the
Durands in the Military Project
LtCol James F. Durand, USMC
(Lieutenant Colonel Durand, on temporary
assignment, will have a new mailing address
soon)
Email: JFDURAND@aol.com
1335 Mandan Ave No.
Golden Valley, MN 55427
Phone 763-540-0024
The Durand Heritage Foundation is a public, not-for-profit, educational and research corporation chartered in the State of
Minnesota and operating under §501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Contributions are tax-deductible to the extent allowable.
The Foundation affords no pecuniary benefit to its officers and members.
20
In this “classical” photo supplied by Mavis Johnston
and now preserved in the DHF archives, these cut-ups,
her father and others, were gathered in 1924 at the farm of
Ray and Alma Dalton in Alberta, Canada.. L to R: Leonard
Durand (Mavis’s father), Frank Koch, Esther, Laurence,
and Alma (Durand) Dalton. Leonard, Laurence,
Esther, and Alma were the youngest children of Joseph
Albert (Albert) and Mary Durand. Esther, who would be
14 years of age in this photo, later married Frank Koch.
Leonard is flipping Frank’s tie. Laurence is getting
ready to swig a soda.. Alma is holding a bunch of carrots.
What Frank and Esther are holding is a mystery, but the
photo seems to have a theme. Note the kerosene lantern.
Thanks to Peter Keppel of Mayer, Minnesota for digitizing
this photo and the identification on the back.
Interested in the Durand Heritage Foundation? Visit our website: www.durandfoundation.com
Durand Foundation Board of Directors
Mike Durand, John Durand, Roger Durand, Alice Durand Keppel, Tom Bacig, Yvonne Cariveau, Richard Durand,
Susanne Krasovich, Mary Brusegard, Blanche Durand Hammer
Newsletter
John Durand, Chair
Roger Durand
Susanne Krasovich
Ellen Durand Olson
Research
Roger Durand, Co-Chair
Yvonne Cariveau, Co-Chair
Richard Durand
Mike Durand
Susanne Krasovich
To find out about
the Young Writers Project
Virginia Durand James
2087 County Road A
Spooner, WI 54801
Phone: 715-635-3068
Standing Committees
Records
Blanche Hammer, Chair
Roger Durand
John Durand
Membership/Social
Vacant- Chairperson
Marilyn Durand
Mary Brusegard
Joanne Berres
Susanne Krasovich