M. 12 Aug 1658 in Quebec City, New France
Wife: Anne Martin
D. 8 Dec 1699 in St-Pierre, Île d'Orleans, New France
While Jacques Ratté was working hard and raising a family in New France, his brother committed a terrible crime, and this caused him much distress. Jacques was born in about 1630 in Laleu, France to François Ratté and Jacquette Huguet. Laleu was in the vicinity of La Rochelle, an embarking point for ships going to North America, and in 1652, Jacques migrated to New France.
After Jacques arrived, he was in need of a contract for work. A Jesuit priest wrote to authorities in France securing for Jacques a position of indentured servant to a glove maker named Jean Pasquereau. He was to work for two years at a salary of 75 livres per year, but instead he seemed to have been signed over to the Nursing Sisters of Quebec in the spring of 1653. They provided him food and lodging, as well as paid his salary.
In 1657, Jacques sought to find a wife among the small population of women in New France So on August 19th, he contracted with Abraham Martin and Marguerite Langlois to marry their 12 year-old daughter Anne. The couple was married on November 12th of the following year. They were said to have lived with her parents for the first six months of marriage before setting out on their own. Jacques rented a half arpent of land near Hôtel-Dieu (the hospital in Quebec City). Between 1659 and 1686, Jacques and Anne had 12 children; the first three (all boys) died young.
Jacques made a living as a cabinet maker, but he also operated a farm, and a court record dated January 19, 1664 showed that his fields were trespassed by a neighbor’s cow. Jacques sued the neighbor for 3 bushels of wheat to replace what he claimed was trampled by the cow. The neighbor told the court that his cow did no such thing. This was a case of one man’s word against another, and the court formed a compromise by ruling that the neighbor had to pay half the amount of wheat that Jacques had asked for.
Court document about case between Jacques and his neighbor over a cow. (Source: BAnQ)
During the 1660s, Jacques had a brother Jean, who had also migrated to New France, and he got into some serious trouble. Jean likely came over from France on Jacques's recommendation, and in 1662, he appeared in records as an indentured servant at the Ursuline convent in Quebec. It was in Quebec City that on November 20, 1667, Jean was accused of raping a ten year-old girl named Anne Paulet. After he was arrested for the crime, Jacques intervened on his behalf, consulting with the girl's mother, who agreed to drop the charges if Jean married Anne. But the authorities wouldn't allow that, and ruled that Jean would be executed — on December 1st, he was hung from the gallows. Anne died just a couple years later in 1670, bringing an end to the sad story.
It has been said that this scandal brought shame to Jacques. As a result, he sold his place in the city (described as “a lower room, a cellar, an attic, a barn, a yard and a garden") and moved away. The family settled at St-Pierre on the Île d'Orleans. Jacques doubled the size of his land at St-Pierre by purchasing an adjoining lot from the Ursulines in April 1675. The 1681 census showed that Jacques had 14 head of cattle and 20 arpents under cultivation. He bought more land in 1684 and rented it out for more income. In 1697, Jacques was fined for not building a fence on his farm and allowing his animals to damage the neighbors' property, an odd reversal of the situation from 1664.
Jacques died at St-Pierre on April 8, 1699. His wife Anne survived him by over 16 years, dying on January 14, 1717.
Children:
1. Jacques Ratté – B. 30 Dec 1659, Quebec City, New France; D. 31 Dec 1659, Quebec City, New France
2. Bertrand Ratté – B. 10 Dec 1660, Quebec City, New France; D. 25 Dec 1660, Quebec City, New France
3. Michel-Joseph Ratté – B. 25 Dec 1662, Quebec City, New France; D. About 1666
4. Marie-Anne Ratté – B. 13 Feb 1665, Quebec City, New France; D. 25 May 1729, St-Laurent, Île d'Orleans, New France; M. Ignace Gosselin (1654-1727), St-Pierre, Île d'Orleans, New France
5. Jean-Baptiste Ratté – B. 28 Nov 1667, Ste-Famile, Île d'Orleans, Quebec; M. Madeleine Blouard (1682-?), 13 Oct 1698, St-Pierre, IÎle d'Orleans, Quebec
6. Anne Ratté – B. 16 Oct 1670, Ste-Famile, Île d'Orleans, New France; D. 25 Dec 1709, Chateau Richer, New France; M. (1) Jacques Trapanier (?-1706), 20 Feb 1691, St-Pierre, Île d'Orleans, New France; (2) Jean Langlais, 8 Mar 1707, Chateau Richer, New France
7. Jacques Ratté – B. 16 Jun 1673, Ste-Famile, Île d'Orleans, New France; D. young
8. Pierre Ratté – B. 11 Oct 1675, Ste-Famile, Île d'Orleans, New France; D. 21 Mar 1721, St-Pierre, Île d'Orleans, New France; M. Jeanne Nolin (1685-1733), 27 Nov 1702, St-Pierre, Île d'Orleans, New France
9. Genevieve Ratté – B. 27 Jan 1678, Ste-Famile, Île d'Orleans, Quebec; D. Nov 1754, St-Pierre, Île d'Orleans, New France; M. Jean Sicard, 27 Nov 1694, St-Pierre, Île d'Orleans, New France
10. Louise-Angelique Ratté – B. 17 Jun 1680, St-Pierre, Île d'Orleans, New France; D. May 1749, La Pocatiere, New France; M. Louis Martin (1671-1749), 12 Jan 1700, St-Pierre, Île d'Orleans, New France
11. Ignace Ratté – B. Aug 1683, St-Pierre, Île d'Orleans, New France; D. Jan 1744, St-Pierre, Île d'Orleans, New France; M. (1) Helene Bouchard, 10 Nov 1705, St-Pierre, Île d'Orleans, New France; (2) Genevieve Langlois (1703-?), 13 Jun 1729, St-Pierre, Île d'Orleans, New France
12. Guillaume Ratté – B. 14 Nov 1686, St-Pierre, Île d'Orleans, New France; D. Oct 1759, St-Pierre, Île d'Orleans, New France; M. Marie-Madeleine Nolin (1690-1748), 4 Nov 1710, St-Pierre, Île d'Orleans, New France
Sources:
Généalogie du Quebec et d’Amérique française (website)
Our French-Canadian Ancestors, Gerard Lebel (translated by Thomas J. Laforest), 1990
BAnQ
