Tom and others, >From my research, there are at least three branches of the La Force family. I do not know if they are related, perhaps, much further back in history. Some of the La Forces were in the Northeast part of France along the Border in the area that kept changing political hands. Many of them remained Catholic. Ann and Barbara, two La Force sister emigres to VA in 1700 were of this family. The House of Beaupoil was mainly in the Department of Anjou. Towns in France named La Force are is the present Department of Aude, one in Artois (mentioned in the Three Musketeers) and one on the Dordogne River. One of the infamous prisons of the French Revolution was La Force. This Chateau was built by Charles I, King of Naples and Sicily and was the residence of the Ducs de La Force in the 16th Century. During the Revolution, Armand Louis de Gontau, Duc de Lauzun de La Force led a unit of 300 Legionaires out from Lebanon CT to assist Washington, the Marquis de Lafayette, the Comte Dontien de Romchambeau and the other American forces to surround Cornwallis in the Battle of Yorktown. I don't know if this La Force remained in the Colonies or if he returned to France. Other La Forces were in the heart and South of France. Of these branches were the Lauzuns, the Castlenaus and the Beaupoils. Richelieu had a nephew who was a La Force but I am not sure how. Lauzuns were the major La Force settlers in Canada, parts of New England and the Gulf Coast of the US. These La Forces were associated with the House of Bourbon through the marriage of Antoine de Lauzun de La Force to Marie Louise de Monpensier daughter of Gaston de Bourbon who was at one time next in line to the throne of France. An Antoine de Lauzun de La Force, perhaps the same one, fought in Ireland in the time of William and Mary. The Main and most famous La Force line in the South of France is that of the House of Caumont de La Force among who were the Dukes de La Force. Castlenaus were intermarried into the House of Caumont. This is my line of La Forces. They came from the area in Guyenne around Albi and Cahors. The VA La Forces are mainly descended from Renald Rene de Castlenau de Caumont de La Force from Guyenne, France ca 1680-1690.