M. 2 Jun 1692 in Quebec City, New France
Wife: Louise Jean
D. 20 Oct 1721 (possibly) at sea
The story of Jacques Chouinard typifies the successful life of a 17th-century immigrant to America. He started out with little, made key contacts with men who could help him, and worked hard to farm large amounts of land. As a result, he founded a family that has tens of thousands of members alive today.
Jacques was born to Charles Chouinard and Elisabeth Valin on January 6, 1663 in Beaumont-la-Ronce, France, a town that was 19 miles north of the city of Tours. Jacques was the youngest of four children, and his father worked as a clothier.
It’s uncertain exactly when Jacques migrated to New France; his name appeared as godfather in two 1684 baptisms in France, so it’s thought that he came over in 1685. During his first few years in the colony, he lived in Quebec City, working as a “drayman,” a man who moved goods on carts. It’s believed that he made the acquaintance of several important men, including his future father-in-law, Pierre Jean. On June 2, 1692, he married Jean’s 14-year-old daughter Louise at Notre-Dame church in Quebec.
Jacques’s father-in-law was extremely generous with him. At the time of the young couple’s wedding, Jean gave them two horses with harnesses, collars and saddles, a foal, a cow, a heifer and straw to feed the animals. Jacques and Louise spent their first year living with her parents at La Canardiere. Then in November of 1693, Jean gave nearly half of his farm to Jacques; at 3 arpents of river frontage, this was a significant amount of land. It was here that Louise gave birth to their first child in April of 1695.
In 1696, Jacques moved his family to Île-aux-Oies, a sparsely populated island in the St. Lawrence River. The island was owned by Paul Dupuy; it’s believed that Jacques had known him in Quebec City during his first few years in New France. Pierre Jean again helped his son-in-law by signing an 8-year lease for land on the island. This is where Jacques and his family came to farm; while they lived there, four more children were born.
Early map of Île-aux-Oies (right) and Île-aux-Grues (left). Today the islands are joined as one by landfill.
After a couple of years of farming on Île-aux-Oies, Jacques looked for a place he could make a more permanent home. So in 1698, he acquired 450 arpents of land on the south shore of the St. Lawrence at St-Jean-Port-Joli. It was said to be a grant from Charles Aubert de la Chesnaye, who had attended Jacques and Louise’s wedding 10 years earlier. Aubert de la Chesnaye was a man who accumulated great wealth in New France through acquiring large amounts of wilderness. Jacques got the grant in 1698, but didn’t move there until about 1704.
This land would become the ancestral home of the Chouinard Family in America. Jacques built a house “20 by 18 feet, covered with planks and with a stone fireplace, a green thatched barn, a shed and a sheepfold.” His family grew with the births of 11 more children, making a total of 16. At least five of the children died young, one of whom was said to have "burned in the fire and drowned in the cold water" at the age of 2 in April 1707. Around this time, Louise’s parents also moved to St-Jean-Port-Joli.
It's not certain as to the circumstances of Jacques’ death, but it's believed he may have died at sea on October 20, 1721. His wife Louise survived him by over 30 years. Because of his many descendants in Canada and the U.S., a plaque was installed at St-Jean-Port-Joli in 1981. Today, the Chouinard Association of North America holds family reunions there each year with thousands of Jacques' descendants in attendance. Another of his descendants is Dan Aykroyd.
Children:
1. Pierre Chouinard – B. 20 Apr 1695, (probably) La Canardiere, New France; D. 19 Jun 1767, L'Islet-sur-Mer, Quebec; M. Ursule Martin (1704-1792), 14 Feb 1724, Ste-Anne-de-la-Pocatiere, New France
2. Jacques Chouinard – B. 10 Aug 1697, Île-aux-Oies, New France; D. 14 Aug 1697, Île-aux-Oies, New France
3. Joseph Chouinard – B. 9 Aug 1698, Île-aux-Oies, New France; D. 2 Dec 1699, Île-aux-Oies, New France
4. Jacques-Eustache Chouinard – B. 17 Sep 1700, Île-aux-Oies, New France; D. 3 Nov 1760, Montmagny, New France; M. Marie-Madeleine Berube (1708-1763), 8 Jul 1725, Riviere-Ouelle, New France
5. Pierre Chouinard – B. 28 Feb 1702, Île-aux-Oies, New France D. 7 Jan 1790, St-Jean-Port-Joli, Quebec; M. (1) Genevieve Lizotte (1705-?), 18 Nov 1727, Ste-Anne-de-la-Pocatiere, New France; (2) Marie-Anne Pelletier (1725-1773), 4 Nov 1743, Saint-Roch-des-Aulnaies, New France
6. Louise Chouinard – B. 28 Jan 1704, L'Islet-sur-Mer, New France; D. 8 Jan 1783, Saint-Roch-des-Aulnaies, Quebec; M. Charles Pelletier (1700-1776), 25 Nov 1726, L'Islet-sur-Mer, New France
7. Jean-Baptiste Chouinard – B. 10 May 1705, L'Islet-sur-Mer, New France; D. Apr 1707, L'Islet-sur-Mer, New France
8. Marguerite Chouinard – B. 29 Mar 1707, Saint-Jean-Port-Joli, New France; D. 24 Jan 1751, St-Ours, New France; M. Pierre Fortin (1704-1788), 19 Nov 1730, L'Islet-sur-Mer, New France
9. Marie-Anne Chouinard – B. 25 Jul 1708, L'Islet-sur-Mer, New France; M. (1) Alexandre Saint-Pierre (1703-?), 15 Nov 1728, L'Islet-sur-Mer, New France; (2) Jean-Baptiste Migneault (1707-?), 10 Nov 1766, Ste-Anne-de-la-Pocatiere, Quebec
10. Marie-Ursule Chouinard – B. 14 Aug 1710, L'Islet-sur-Mer, New France; D. 24 Mar 1735, L'Islet-sur-Mer, New France; M. Henri Parent (1696-1780), 15 May 1729, L'Islet-sur-Mer, New France
11. François Chouinard – B. 14 Aug 1710, L'Islet-sur-Mer, New France; M. Marguerite Luret (~1716-1789), abt 1737, New France
12. Elisabeth Chouinard – B. 5 Feb 1714, L'Islet-sur-Mer, New France; D. 5 Aug 1714, L'Islet-sur-Mer, New France
13. Jacques Chouinard – B. 15 Feb 1715, L'Islet-sur-Mer, New France
14. Julien Chouinard – B. 22 Nov 1716, L'Islet-sur-Mer, New France; D. 14 Dec 1791, St-Jean-Port-Joli, Quebec; M. Reine Fortin (1708-1790), 16 Jan 1741, L'Islet-sur-Mer, New France
15. Baby Boy Chouinard – B. 18 Dec 1718, L'Islet-sur-Mer, New France; D. 18 Dec 1718, L'Islet-sur-Mer, New France
16. Charles Chouinard – B. 12 Aug 1720, L'Islet-sur-Mer, New France; M. Marie-Dorothee Fortin (1714-1793), L'Islet-sur-Mer, New France
Sources:
Our French-Canadian Ancestors, Gerard Lebel (translated by Thomas J. Laforest), 1990
WikiTree
The Chouinard Association of North America (website)
