Updated December 5, 2021
Around 1900, members of the various LeValley families were just beginning to gather up information on their ancestors. Unfortunately, a few with vivid imaginations made wild speculations that still get in the way of serious research. Here are the worst offenders:
COUNTS DE LA VAL--Lora LaMance, a descendant of Peter, wrote a lot of balderdash about Bluebeard and other members of that historic family. No connection to any LeValley in the Western hemisphere has ever been established.
ADMIRAL COLIGNY--Same source. Same rubbish. Though his granddaughter married Louis XIV in old age, the line seems to have died out with her.
DAVID LEVALLEY--Another worthless piece of LaMance speculation. This name of a supposed
son of Peter has recently spread over the internet.
VALLEAU--The Pierre and Sarah Valleau who sponsored the French Church of the Holy Spirit in New York City 1685-1720 were not the same people as Peter and Sarah LeValley of Warwick RI.
SUSANNA LAVALLEE SABIN--Though she was in Maine, her descendants have for a century been trying to establish that she was a granddaughter of Peter LeValley of Warwick RI and an otherwise unknown first wife named Susanna. Her dates were a generation too early for that. Yet some of this speculation has escaped onto the internet as gospel.
THE FREEDOM QUEST TRILOGY--These three novels by James F. LaValley are works of historical fiction. The names are real, but the family relationships are based on an oral tradition that has not held up under rigorous historical investigation. Here is the family tree in the books: