Fille du Roi Married to a Fur Trader — Marie Blanchard

B. 15 Jan 1647 in Rouen, France
M. (1) 10 Nov 1667 in Quebec City, New France
Husband: Mathieu Brunet dit LeTang
M. (2) about 1713 in New France
Husband: Yves Lucas dit St-Renaud
D. 29 Jul 1722 in Lachine, New France

The story of Marie Blanchard tells of the adventure that some French women got when signing up to be a bride in New France. While many ended up raising families on farms near Quebec City, her fate played out rather differently.

Marie was born in Rouen, France on January 15, 1647. Her parents were Jean Blanchard and Martine Lebas, but everything else about her origins is unknown. At age 20, whatever her circumstances were, Marie agreed to marry a man in New France, becoming one of the Filles du Roi. On June 10, 1667, she boarded the ship Le St-Louis in Dieppe along with around 80 other women, and a number of men who were also emigrating. The women later reported that those running the ship didn't provide enough food, with only a small ration in the morning, and dinner being “a little biscuit.” The ship arrived over three months later in Quebec, and 16 of the women had become sick.

Once in Canada, Marie and the other Filles du Roi were courted by prospective husbands, and she soon found one who would marry her. His name was Mathieu Brunet dit LeTang, a young man who had arrived within the year, possibly on the same ship as Marie. Their marriage took place on November 10, 1667 in Quebec City. There was reportedly no marriage contract (for some reason, Mathieu and Marie had one drawn up 12 years later). Married couples in New France were encouraged to have large families, and Marie gave birth to ten children between about 1668 and 1688.

Instead of staying near the more-established settlement of Quebec City, Marie and her husband moved to Champlain, and later, Cap-de-la-Madeleine. These were places upriver, far from the heart of the colony. In 1673, Mathieu was sued in a dispute involving hitting a woman and injuring her, but it’s not clear if Marie was actually the one to blame; the matter was settled with the payment of a fine. Mathieu and Marie lived in a somewhat rugged place, and when she had a child on January 3, 1674, the baptism took place six days later “by a visiting priest from Trois-Rivières.” The lack of permanent clergyman was a hardship many settlers had to face. 

Cap-de-la-Madeleine.

Around this time, Mathieu became involved in fur trading, and by 1683, was organizing expeditions to the west. Not long after that, the family relocated further west to the Montreal area. For a time they lived in Lachine, but moved away before the terrible massacre of 1689.

Being married to a fur trader meant having your husband away on expeditions for long periods of time, sometimes for more than a year. This left Marie to manage the farm and see to it that her children were fed, without having a man around. For the first of Mathieu’s journeys in the spring of 1683, he put it in his contract that Marie be provided with 600 livres while he was away. He was gone for more than a year, but within a short time he planned another more extensive trip, one that took him all the way into what is now Minnesota. On May 17, 1685, a document signed in Montreal formally provided for Marie during Mathieu’s expected long absence; he didn’t come home until 1687, but it was his final journey out west.

On November 4, 1687, Mathieu and Marie signed a farm lease for five years on the Saint-Pierre River in the town of Hautmesnil. Five years later, they bought property in Montreal, on “Place d’Armes” which was “near the western edge of the walled community.” The lot was very small — only 12-1/2 feet wide along the back — and they paid just 450 livres for it. It had no house on it and he promised to build one. The property was then turned over to their oldest son Michel. In early 1700, a document gave Mathieu and Marie’s residence as Côte-St-Paul, which was part of Lachine, and this may have been where they lived out their last few years together.

Mathieu died at age 60 in December 1708, and in about 1713, Marie married Yves Lucas dit St-Renaud, a man who was about 18 years younger than she was. By now the fur trade frontier had moved far to the west; Yves made a living as a barrel maker. Marie and her young husband continued to live in Lachine, and that’s where she passed away on July 29, 1722. Yves survived her by just a few years, dying in 1726. By virtue of being a 17th-century settler of New France, Marie had several famous descendants, including Dan Aykroyd, Liza Minelli and Rudy Vallée.

Children:
1. Michel Brunet — B. about 1668

2. Jeanne Brunet — B. about 1670; D. 1704; M. François Huart, 12 Apr 1684, Champlain, New France

3. Marie-Anne Brunet — B. about 1672; D. 6 Nov 1747, Pointe Claire, New France; M. (1) Antoine Pilon (~1664-1715), 10 Jan 1689, Montreal, New France; (2) Laurent Godin, 26 Jun 1719, Pointe Claire, New France

4. Jean Brunet — B. 3 Jan 1674, Cap-de-Madeleine, New France; D. Mar 1723, Pointe Claire, New France, M. Marie Perrier, 19 Oct 1694, Lachine, New France

5. Pierre Brunet — B. 13 Feb 1676, Cap-de-Madeleine, New France

6. Marie Brunet — B. 25 Oct 1677, Cap-de-Madeleine, New France; D. Jan 1756, Ste-Genevieve, Pierrefonds, New France; M. François Bigras dit Fauvel (1665-1731), 31 Aug 1693, Montreal, New France

7. Jacques Brunet — 30 Jul 1680, Champlain, New France; D. about Nov 1708, Montreal, New France; M. Jeanne Verray, 14 Nov 1701, Lachine, New France

8. Catherine Brunet — B. 5 Nov 1681, Champlain, New France; M. Honoré Danis (1669-1722), 15 Nov 1694, Lachine, New France

9. Marguerite Brunet — B. 19 Aug 1683, Champlain, New France; D. 3 Aug 1699, Lachine, New France

10. Mathieu Brunet — B. Sep 1688, Montreal, New France; D. Nov 1706, Montreal, New France

Sources:
Généalogie du Quebec et d’Amérique française (website)
Navires venus en Nouvelle-France (website)
King’s Daughters and Founding Mothers—1663-1673, Peter Gagne, 2000
WikiTree

Phantoms of the French Fur Trade: Twenty Men Who Worked in the Trade Between 1618 and 1758, Vol. 2, Timothy J. Kent, 2015

Building First Church in Brooklyn — Auke Janse Van Nuys

B. about 1621 in (probably) Nuis, Groningen, Netherlands
M. (1) 23 Apr 1645 in Amsterdam, Netherlands
Wife: Magdalena Pieters
M. (2) about 16 Dec 1666
Wife: Lysabet Janse
M. (3) 17 Jul 1681 in New York
Wife: Geertje Gysbrechts
D. 1698 in (probably) New Utrecht, New York

When men came from Europe to populate America during the 17th century, it helped to have a valuable skill. For Auke Janse Van Nuys, that was being a carpenter, and he used his trade to help build early New Amsterdam and Brooklyn.

Auke was born in about 1621 in the village of Nuis, which was where he got the name “Van Nuys.” His parents’ identity is unproven, but it’s believed that his ancestors escaped from France in the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre of 1572. Auke had at least one brother, whose name was Goosen.

The village of Nuis.

By the time Auke was in his 20s, he had moved to Amsterdam, becoming an apprentice in the trade of building construction. On April 23, 1645, he married a woman named Magdalena Pieters, and they began a family, which included four children by 1651. Auke became a poorter on April 24, 1647, which meant he was a citizen of Amsterdam, enjoying rights and privileges above other residents of the city. This was a necessary step for someone seeking to join a professional guild, and likely meant that Auke started working as a carpenter around that time.

Marriage record of Auke Janse Van Nuys and Magdalena Pieters.

In about 1651, Auke made the decision to migrate to the Dutch colony in America, and he, his wife and four young children sailed to New Amsterdam. Auke soon hired out for construction projects, working on houses and other buildings that were beginning to crowd the tip of Manhattan — some of the earliest structures in what is now New York City.

According to New Amsterdam records from the 1650s, Auke’s work sometimes received complaints, and a few people refused to pay him. In one project from early 1653, a woman claimed that Auke damaged her house, and the repairs would cost more than the fee he wanted for his work. Later that year, Auke tried to collect payment from a man who said the work he had done was poor and “spoiled the timber” of his house. Auke’s skills as a carpenter were again called into question with a wall that he and another carpenter built along the town’s canal. In the summer of 1654, heavy rains caused the structure to cave in, and Auke had to help rebuild it at no cost.

In October 1655, all of the men in the colony were asked for money to pay for the expense of improving the fortification of New Amsterdam. A handful of men volunteered to work on it instead of paying money, and Aucke was one of them, offering one to two days of labor. It’s not known if this arrangement was carried out.

Auke and his family only remained in New Amsterdam for a couple of years, and on May 6, 1653, he sold his property and relocated to the site of what would become Flatbush. The settlers there formed a new church in 1654, and Auke was one of the carpenters hired to build it, the first house of worship in what is now Brooklyn. Governor Stuyvesant ordered that the church be at least 60 feet long, and 28 feet wide, with a ceiling height of 12 to 14 feet. The project took six years and the church stood until 1699, replaced with a more solid one that lasted another 100 years. The current church was built in the 1790s, but still occupies the site of where Auke helped build the original one.

Auke and his wife Magdalena had five children born in New Netherland, with the youngest in about 1662. Magdalena died that year, and Auke remarried in about December of 1666 to a widow named Lysbet Jans. The couple had no children and she passed away in April 1681. In July of that year, he married a third time to another widow, Geertje Gysbrechts. Auke lived in various towns during this part of his life, including Flatbush, Brooklyn Ferry and New Utrecht. He made out his will on May 15, 1694 and passed away in 1698. He was buried in the graveyard at the church that he had helped build.

The name Van Nuys, that Auke brought to America, was spread throughout the country among his many descendants. One of them, Isaac Newton Van Nuys (1836-1912), gave his name to the town of Van Nuys, California, part of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles.

Children (all by Magdalena Pieters):
1. Annetje Auckes Van Nuys — B. about Jan 1646, Amsterdam, Netherlands; M. (1) Wijnant Pieterse Van Eck (1640-1695), 4 Dec 1661, Brooklyn, New Netherland; (2) Dirck Janse Woertman (1630-1694), about 4 Dec 1691, Brooklyn, New York

2. Geertruyd Auckes Van Nuys — B. about Jun 1647, Amsterdam, Netherlands; D. about 1691, Flatbush, New York; M. Joost Franz (1640-~1696)

3. Jannetje Auckes Van Nuys — B. about Nov 1648, Amsterdam, Netherlands; D. 17 Sep 1721, New York; M. Reynier Arentsen (~1641-?), 28 Apr 1666

4. Jan Auckes Van Nuys — B. about Dec 1650, Amsterdam, Netherlands; D. 1710, Brooklyn, New York; M. (1) Barbara Provoost (1653-1679), 29 Jul 1673, New York, New York; (2) Eva Janse (1660-?), 4 Apr 1680, Midwout, New York

5. Abigail Auckes Van Nuys — B. about 1651, New Netherland; D. 19 Jul 1748, Flatbush, New York; M. Leffert Pietersen (1645-1704),1675, Flatbush, New York

6. Pieter Auckes Van Nuys — B. about Oct 1652, New Netherland; D. (probably) young

7. Jacobus Auckes Van Nuys — B. about 1654, Flatbush, New Netherland; D. about 6 Dec 1710, Flatbush, New York; M. Maria Cornell (~1664-?), 26 Apr 1685, Flatbush, New York

8. Ida Auckes Van Nuys — B. about 1656, Flatbush, New Netherland

9. Femmetje Auckes Van Nuys — B. about Jan 1662, New Netherland; D. 20 Nov 1735, Flatlands, New York; M. Jan Van Voorhees (1652-1735), 8 Oct 1680, Flatbush, New York

Sources:
The Father and Brother of Aucke Jans Van Nuys, Elizabeth A. Johnson, 2012 
Flatbush Reformed Church (website)
The records of New Amsterdam from 1653 to 1674, Berthold Fernow and Edmund Bailey, 1897
WikiTree

Shoemaker from Picardie — Philippe Destroismaisons

B. 15 Oct 1637 in Montreuil-sur-Mer, Picardie, France
M. 18 Nov 1669 in Château-Richer, New France
Wife: Martine Crosnier
D. after 20 Aug 1716 in St-Pierre-de-la-Rivière-du-Sud, New France

Philippe Destroismaisons was one of the many young men who was attracted to populate New France in the 1660s, making a life as a shoemaker and raising a large family. He had his beginnings in the village of Montreuil-sur-Mer, located in Picardie, France, born there on October 15, 1637. His parents were Adam Destroismaisons and Antoinette Leroux, and he was one of at least five children. Philippe’s curious surname “Destroismaisons” translates into “the three houses,” which was the name of a village in Picardie where Philippe’s grandfather had been born in the late 16th century. At one time, the village was known for its three houses, but the dwellings and the village are long gone.

Of Philippe’s early life, little is known. His father was a gunsmith who died before Philippe was 12-years-old. His mother had passed away as well, and it’s likely that Philippe was apprenticed at this time to learn the trade of cordonnier, or shoemaker. The job of shoemaker was that of a craftsman who made his product by hand, stitching pieces of leather over a form sized to the individual’s foot. Fashion in the 17th century meant that Philippe would have learned to make tall boots as well as shoes for his customers.

Cordonniers at work.

At some point as a young man, Phillipe saw the opportunity to migrate to New France. It isn’t known exactly when he arrived. By 1666, he was living in Beaupré, downriver from Quebec City, making shoes for the settlers. The following year, he had become a servant of Bertrand Chesnay de la Garenne in Château-Richer. Besides Chesnay and his family, his household had eight servants, and all were young men like Philippe. There were also 14 head of cattle, a substantial amount, and likely the hired men did farm labor for Chesnay.

In 1669, Philippe sought to start a family, and he arranged to marry one of the Filles du Roi who had arrived that year. His bride was Martine Crosnier, who brought a dowry of 200 livres plus an additional 50 livres as “the king’s gift.” The wedding took place in Château-Richer on November 18th. Their first child was born a year later, followed by 11 more, with the last born in 1691. Remarkably, only one of the children died young.

Philippe and his family lived in Château-Richer on a tract of land with 2 arpents of river frontage which he had purchased in 1670. He sold this land in 1679 and moved to Montmagny, on the south shore of the St. Lawrence. The 1681 census showed him living there with his family, still working as a shoemaker as well as farming his land.

It isn’t known exactly when Philippe died, but he likely lived past the age of 80. He last appeared alive on a document dated August 20, 1716. Philippe was the ancestor of Madonna, Alex Trebek and Chloë Sevigny.

Children:
1. Angelique Destroismaisons — B. 26 Oct 1670, Château-Richer, New France; D. 26 Feb 1744, Montmagny, New France; M. (1) Alphonse Morin (1650-1711), 24 Nov 1692, Montmagny, New France; (2) Jean-François Langlois (1667-1715), 30 Apr 1714, Montmagny, New France

2. Marie Destroismaisons — B. 2 Jun 1672, Château-Richer, New France; D. 11 Feb 1757, Montmagny, New France; M. Jean Rousseau (~1662-1713), 22 Jun 1699, Montmagny, New France

3. Françoise Destroismaisons — B. 1 Jan 1674, Château-Richer, New France; D. 22 Jan 1715, Montmagny, New France; M. Charles Langelier (1670-1717), 2 Jun 1692, Château-Richer, New France

4. Marguerite Destroismaisons — B. 14 May 1675, Château-Richer, New France; D. 2 Apr 1703, Château-Richer, New France; M. Jean-Baptiste Malboeuf (~1665-1733), 18 Feb 1692, Montmagny, New France

5. Philippe Destroismaisons — B. 9 May 1677, Château-Richer, New France; D. 6 Jan 1688, Montmagny, New France

6. François Destroismaisons — B. 22 Nov 1678, Château-Richer, New France; D. 29 May 1749, St-Pierre-de-la-Rivière-du-Sud, New France; M. Marie-Françoise Daniau dite Laprise (1676-1759), 3 Nov 1700, Montmagny, New France

7. Louise Destroismaisons — B. 3 Apr 1680, Montmagny, New France; D. 30 Jun 1755, St-François-du-Sud, New France; M. Jacques Daniau dit Laprise (1672-1751), 31 Aug 1702, Montmagny, New France

8. Genevieve Destroismaisons — B. 8 Jun 1682, Montmagny, New France; D. before Jan 1711, Montmagny, New France; M. Robert Vaillancourt (1678-1749), 28 Sep 1704, Montmagny, New France

9. Charles Destroismaisons — B. 22 May 1684, Montmagny, New France; D. 13 Apr 1750, Montmagny, New France; M. (1) Marie-Madeleine Blanchet (1676-?), 27 May 1709, Montmagny, New France; (2) Marie-Madeleine Boulay (1699-?), 30 Sep 1721, Montmagny, New France; (3) Marie-Anne Fontaine (1707-1783), before 1733, New France

10. Anne Destroismaisons — B. 20 Apr 1686, Montmagny, New France; D. 4 Apr 1721, Berthier-en-Bas, New France; M. Michel Chartier (1667-1750), 7 Jan 1704, Montmagny, New France

11. Jacques Destroismaisons — B. 2 Sep 1688, Montmagny, New France; D. 17 Apr 1756, St-Pierre-de-la-Rivière-du-Sud, New France; M. Marie-Madeleine Pelletier (1694-1776), 30 Oct 1710, St-Pierre de Île d’Orleans, New France

12. Agathe Destroismaisons — B. 16 Jan 1691, Montmagny, New France; D. 14 Sep 1730, New France; M. Pierre Proulx (1681-1757), 8 Jun 1711, Montmagny, New France

Sources:
Dictionnaire généalogique des familles canadiennes depuis la fondation de la colonie jusqu'à nos jours, Cyprien Tanguay, 1890
Quebec, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1997
WikiTree

Deaf Immigrant to New France — Simon Chapacou

B. about 1626 in Saintes, Charente-Maritime, France
M. about 1651 in Néré, Charente-Maritime, France
Wife: Marie-Vincente Pacaud
D. 3 Jun 1690 in Longueuil, New France

Simon Chapacou had a disability that was unusual for a 17th century immigrant to America: he was deaf. His date of birth and the identity of his parents are unknown, but he was said to be from the city of Saintes in western France. Later documents giving his age showed that he was likely born in about 1626. He may have been hearing impaired from birth, based on the reported fact that he couldn't speak.

The place Simon was said to be born.

In about 1651, Simon married a woman named Marie-Vincente Pacaud at the village of Néré. They had at least two children before making the decision to migrate to New France in about 1663. After settling in the colony, they had four more children by 1670, with one dying as an infant. The family lived in an area outside of Quebec City called Côte Saint-Michel de Sillery.

Besides being deaf and unable to talk, Simon was also illiterate, so his wife handled his legal transactions, such as acquiring property. In 1666 and 1667, they lived on what was described as 8 arpents of land. Later, on February 11, 1675, they sold a tract that was 2 arpents by 40 arpents for 350 livres; it’s not known whether this was the same land where they lived during the mid-1660s.

Shortly after Simon sold his land, he and his wife were involved in a scheme that got them in trouble with the law. A young man named Simon Raymond dit Deslauriers raided and robbed the Hôtel-Dieu in Quebec City, and some of the items he stole ended up in the possession of Simon and his wife. The three were arrested along with at least one other accomplice.

In a trial which was held in July and August of 1675, it was shown that both Simon and Marie-Vincente had participated to some extent in the Hôtel-Dieu robbery and others. Raymond dit Deslauriers was clearly the ringleader of the crimes, and after he escaped from jail and was recaptured, the man was condemned to death. The court ruled that Marie-Vincente was to be fined and publicly whipped, but regarding Simon, they said he was “a dumb man, incapable of stipulating and doing any act of justice,” and he was let off the hook.

Sometime after this, Simon and his family left the Quebec City area, moving to Berthier, a town between Trois-Riviéres and Montreal, where he was said to live with his oldest son, Louis. He died in Longueuil on June 3, 1690; Marie-Vincente survived him and was last known to be living in 1697. Both of them were ancestors of Pierre Trudeau, Justin Trudeau and Justin Bieber.

Burial record of Simon Chapacou.

Children:
1. Louis Chapacou — B. 23 Nov 1653, Néré, Saintonge, France; M. Marie-Madeleine Poudret (1670-1696), 24 Nov 1681, Sorel, New France

2. Marie Chapacou — B. 29 Dec 1658, Néré, Saintonge, France; D. 24 Dec 1733, Ste-Anne-de-la-Pérade, New France; M. René Maillot dit Laviolette, 28 Oct 1671, New France

3. Laurent Chapacou — B. 9 Feb 1665, New France; D. 13 Feb 1665, New France

4. Marie-Agathe Chapacou — B. 7 Feb 1666, Côte St-Michel, New France; D. 28 Sep 1687, Montreal, New France

5. Marie-Angelique Chapacou — B. 22 Mar 1668, (probably) Côte St-Michel, New France; D. 11 Nov 1746, Longueuil, New France; M. (1) André Bouteiller (1650-1699), 1 Sep 1686, Boucherville, New France; (2) André Lemarre (~1670-1756), 8 Jun 1700, Longueuil, New France

6. Jean-Joseph Chapacou — B. 16 Apr 1670, Côte St-Michel, New France; D. 23 Mar 1693, Longueuil, New France; M. Marie Poutre (1672-1759), 28 Apr 1688, Sorel, New France

Sources:
Dictionnaire généalogique des familles canadiennes depuis la fondation de la colonie jusqu'à nos jours, Cyprien Tanguay, 1890
Quebec, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1997
WikiTree
FamousKin.com

17th Century Coureur de Bois — Antoine Boyer

B. 10 Apr 1671 in La Prairie, New France
M. (1) 4 Feb 1690 in La Prairie, New France
Wife: Marie Perras dite LaFontaine
M. (2) 9 Sep 1737 in La Prairie, New France
Wife: Catherine Surprenant
D. 27 Mar 1747 in (probably) St-Lambert, New France

Like many young men where he lived in New France, Antoine Boyer made money trading in furs. He was born on April 10, 1671 on the south coast of the St. Lawrence River, across from Montreal. Antoine’s parents were Charles Boyer and Marguerite Tenard, and he was one of six children, two of whom died young. The family lived in a place called St-Lambert, but it had no church of its own, and the children were baptized in neighboring La Prairie. Antoine’s mother died when he was about 7-years-old and his father remarried soon after.

Antoine wasn’t yet age 19 when he got married. His bride was Marie Perras, the youngest daughter of a barrel maker and farmer who lived nearby. The wedding took place on February 4, 1690 at the church in La Prairie. Their first child was born that year in December; they would have 13 total, with the youngest born in 1716.

In 1690, Antoine used 600 livres he made from trading furs to purchase some land with his brother-in-law, Pierre Perras, so it's known that he was a coureur de bois by that date. The coureurs de bois were men who worked in the fur trade without a license, a common practice in the Montreal area. Laws had been passed by the authorities that put a limit on the number of licensed fur traders, but the appeal of making easy money was too great for many men on the frontier. Coureurs de bois were so numerous around Montreal that they were rarely prosecuted, so the risk was worth taking. 

Typical coureur de bois of the 17th-century.

The life of a fur trader like Antoine involved hiring himself out to companies for expeditions out west. During the 1690s, the bartering with Indians took place in camps or outposts in present-day Ontario and the Great Lakes area; traders were also pushing into the Illinois country as well. Antoine agreed to a contract on August 17, 1694 working for Sieur Charles Legardeur; his charge was to “make a voyage to the Ottawa Indians.” It isn’t known how many other trips Antoine made during this time.

Later in his life, Antoine took on another role as a military man, and he became the captain of the St-Lambert militia in 1729. Captains were chosen by the governor, and were tasked with training local men who could take up arms when needed. When there wasn’t a military need for their service, captains also took on a leadership role, conveying requests and complaints about civic matters to the central authorities. The captains also sometimes acted as police officers in their communities. The period when Antoine led his town’s militia was relatively peaceful, and it isn’t known if he participated in any military action.

Antoine’s wife Marie passed away on May 9, 1736, and Pierre married a second wife, Catherine Surprenant, on September 9th of the following year. Catherine had been widowed twice; she was the aunt of one of his sons-in-law, and her niece would marry Antoine’s son in 1742. Intermarriage between the small number of families in St-Lambert and La Prairie was common.

Antoine died on March 27, 1747 at the age of 76. His wife Catherine survived him, dying in 1762. The tradition of fur trading was carried on by his son and grandson, both named Charles Boyer. In 1788, grandson Charles built a trading outpost far in the north of present-day Alberta, Canada.

Children:
1. Marie Boyer — B. 19 Dec 1692, Montreal, New France; D. 5 Nov 1766, St-Philippe, Quebec; M. (1) Jean-François Baptiste Patenaude (1689-1720), 21 Nov 1712, La Prairie, New France; (2) Maurice Demers, 9 Feb 1722, La Prairie, New France

2. Marie-Jeanne Boyer — B. 16 Aug 1694, St-Lambert, New France; D. 23 Dec 1730, Longueuil, New France; M. Charles Diel (1688-1734), 17 Feb 1716

3. Marie-Anne Jeanne Boyer — B. 1 Feb 1696, St-Lambert, New France; D. 18 Jun 1731, Longueuil, New France; M. Pierre Betourne (1698-1750), 8 Nov 1723, La Prairie, New France

4.Jean-Antoine Boyer — B. 11 Jun 1697, St-Lambert, New France; D. 12 Aug 1768, La Prairie, Quebec; M. (1) Marguerite Demers (1694-1732), 14 Jul 1722, La Prairie, New France; (2) Marie-Anne Haguenier (1714-1746), 7 Jan 1736, La Prairie, New France

5. Marie-Josephe Boyer — B. 5 Oct 1701, St-Lambert, New France; D. 23 Dec 1708, St-Lambert, New France

6. Pierre Boyer — B. 30 Mar 1703, St-Lambert, New France; D. 1 Apr 1703, St-Lambert, New France

7. Pierre Boyer — B. 23 May 1704, St-Lambert, New France; D. 6 Apr 1747, La Prairie, New France; M. Marie-Anne Gervais (1710-1737), 10 Jan 1729, Longueuil, New France

8.Jacques Boyer — B. 21 Mar 1706, St-Lambert, New France; D. 4 May 1795, St-Constant, Quebec; M. Marie-Anne Surprenant (~1713-?), 3 Feb 1733, La Prairie, New France

9. Marie-Jospehe Boyer — B. 3 Sep 1709, St-Lambert, New France; D. 25 Jul 1777, La Prairie, New France; M. Pierre Surprenant (1705-1779), 20 Nov 1730, La Prairie, New France

10. Antoine Boyer — B. 2 Mar 1711, St-Lambert, New France; D. 18 Feb 1717, St-Lambert, New France

11. Charles Boyer — B. 21 Jan 1713, St-Lambert, New France; D. 14 Jan 1801, La Prairie, Quebec; M. Marie-Jeanne Surprenant (1718-1770), 8 Oct 1742, La Prairie, New France

12. Joseph-Marie Boyer — B. 21 Sep 1714, St-Lambert, New France; D. 13 Jun 1797, La Prairie, New France; M. (1) Marie-Angelique Roy (1717-1738), 4 Feb 1737, La Prairie, New France; (2) Michelle Lamarque (1712-1792), 21 Oct 1743, La Prairie, New France

13. Louis Boyer — B. 21 Jun 1716, St-Lambert, New France; D. 1 Jul 1716, La Prairie, New France

Sources:
Généalogie du Quebec et d’Amérique française (website)

A Drifting Cowboy (blog)Minnesota Eh? A Foley/Perras Family History, Gerald Foley
WikiTree

Delivering Goods to Forts — Louis Clermond Dubord

B. about 1715 in (probably) Île-Aux-Castors, New France
M. 5 Oct 1744 in Detroit, New France
Wife: Marie-Louise Bouron
D. about Jan 1793 in (probably) Northwest Territory

The life of Louis Clermond Dubord survives in fragments from 18th century fur trading outpost contracts and records. By piecing together the known facts, we can get somewhat of a picture of who he was: a man who supported his family by shuttling goods between remote places.

Louis was born in about 1715 to Charles Dubord dit Clermond and Marie Ripault; some sources give his birthplace as Île-Aux-Castors, New France. He was baptized at Sorel on March 17th, which was the closest town to Île-Aux-Castors. The family seems to have moved to Grondines within a couple of years, and Louis had several younger siblings born there.

Nothing is known of Louis’ early years until he was about 24-years-old, agreeing to a contract to go out west. The document was dated August 27, 1739, signed in Montreal, and was a fairly standard agreement for a one-year fur trading expedition. Louis’ was to become a voyageur, helping to paddle a canoe of merchandise all the way to Poste des Ouabache, an early name for the trading post known as Vincennes (Ouabache = Wabash). Upon his return to Montreal with a load of pelts, he would be paid 400 livres. It isn’t known if this was his first trip, but he made another similar journey in 1740, this time to the outpost at Green Bay.

With at least two fur trading expeditions under his belt, on May 30, 1741, Louis was hired by the company of Louis Damour de Clignancourt to go to Fort Miami, an outpost at the present-day site of Fort Wayne. De Clignancourt ran a prosperous fur trading business out of Montreal. It was said that during the 1740s, de Clignancourt hired about 180 men to transport supplies to outposts in the Great Lakes area and Illinois country, and Louis was one of the men. The outposts were easy targets for invasion, and they depended on food, gunpowder and other necessities for their survival, so it was an important job. This time his contract was for three years, and his payment would be 900 livres.

18th-century outposts of the French fur trade. 

Louis next turned up in records at his wedding: on October 5, 1744, he married Marie-Louise Bouron at Fort Detroit. He may have been living there at the time, but this isn’t clear from records. Louis and his wife produced a large family, and because most of the records for their children’s baptisms are missing, the list of them has to be pieced together from a variety of information found elsewhere. Some records of the children are confusing because their first names are inconsistent from record to record, in particular daughter Veronique who was also called Louise, and daughter Elisabeth who was also called Ursule. To further complicate things, there are other daughters also named Louise and Ursule. (The list presented below is a best attempt at identifying them.)

At some point after Louis was married, he had the job of “aide-major to the militia;” he was noted that way on his son’s Detroit baptism on April 21, 1760, and he likely served in this function for several years. The role of an aide-major was to do administrative work for the commander of the militia, and for Louis, this meant handling the supply deliveries. For a time in about 1749 and 1750, Louis was based at Fort Miami; whether or not his family was with him isn’t known. He was recorded on several invoices as having furnished supplies at the fort. Louis was also mentioned in a letter written by the Fort Miami commander on April 9, 1750: “I sent off the second of this month the man named Clermont, who is domiciled at this post, to go to Ouiatenon and to Terre Haute to buy the provisions which you ordered me to lay in by your letter of the fourth of August last. I have given him a detachment of ten men of this garrison to escort him.”

The 1750s were a time of war on the French-Canadian frontier, with British forces ultimately taking over New France. By 1762, Fort Detroit had fallen and a census was made to identify the French population. Louis was listed as living on the south shore, and having four sons and four daughters, with a description that his family was “poor.” With the departure of the French military, and with the colony of New France ceasing to exist, Louis no longer had an income as aide-major. It’s likely that he was still living at Detroit the following year during Pontiac’s Rebellion, an attempt by Indians to drive out the English that ultimately failed. After that, the British took firm control of Detroit.

1763 Siege of Fort Detroit.

Within a couple of years, Louis and his family relocated to Post Vincennes. His wife Louise was godmother to a child in Vincennes on November 23, 1765, placing them there by that date; several other church records mention family members, with Louis himself serving as a godfather on November 28, 1766. By then, he was 50-years-old, and likely became a part of the Creole community in Vincennes, but it’s not certain that he stayed there permanently since he doesn't seem to be among the French men who signed the 1778 Oath of Allegiance to the Americans.

Researchers have said that Louis died in January 1793 at an unnamed place that may have been Vincennes or another former outpost in the area. His wife Louise outlived him, and died in about 1808. That year, the heirs of three of his daughters formed a petition regarding their mother’s estate, which was described as 400 acres of land near Vincennes. This helps to identify some of Louis’ children and also suggests he was recipient of one of the land grants awarded to men who were heads of households in Vincennes at the end of the American Revolution.

Children:
1. Marie-Louise Clermond Dubord — B. about Sep 1745, Detroit, New France; D. about 1793; M. Joseph Bordeau (1730-1789), 14 Apr 1760, Detroit, New France

2. Joseph Clermond Dubord — B. about May 1747, Detroit, New France

3. Veronique [Louise] Clermond Dubord — B. about 8 Mar 1749, New France; M. Guillaume Dapron (~1750-~1787), 16 Jun 1768, Sandwich, Quebec

4. Ursule Clermond Dubord — B. 7 Apr 1751, Detroit, New France; D. 10 Dec 1790, Vincennes, Northwest Territory; M. Joseph Chabot (1744-1791, 18 Jan 1773, Post Vincennes, Illinois Territory

5. Charles-Amable Clermond Dubord — B. 11 Feb 1753, Detroit, New France

6. Elisabeth [Ursule] Clermond Dubord — B. 1 Dec 1754, Detroit, New France; D. before 1808, (probably) Vincennes, Indiana Territory; M. Charles Diel (1746-1813), about 1773

7. Bonaventure Clermond Dubord — B. 3 Dec 1756, Detroit, New France

8. Michel Clermond Dubord — B. 21 Apr 1760, Detroit, New France

9. Marguerite Clermond Dubord — B. 18 May 1762, Detroit, New France; D. 11 Dec 1810, Ste. Genevieve, Missouri Territory; M. Pierre Ranger (~1750-1828)

10. Pierre Clermond Dubbed — B. 5 Apr 1764, Detroit, Quebec

11. Jean-François Clermond Dubord — M. Ursule Cherou

Sources:
Quebec Catholic Parish Registers, 1621-1979, FamilySearch.org

Genealogy of the French Families of the Detroit River Region, 1701-1936, Christian Dennison, 1987
Online Database of Voyageur Contracts
Illinois on the eve of the Seven Years’ War, 1747-1755, Theodore Calvin Pease, 1940
“Fall 1762 Census of Detroit — Part 4 — Land of the Hurons to Riviére au Canard,” Diane Wolfe Sheppard and Gail Moreau-DesHarnais, Michigan’s Habitant Heritage Journal, 2015
“Records of the Parish of St. Francis Xavier,” Records of the American Catholic Historical Society of Philadelphia, Vol. 12, 1901
Wabash Valley Visions & Voices (website)
Siege of Fort Detroit (Wikipedia article)

Fille du Roi Killed in Massacre — Marie Chansy

B. 4 Mar 1657 in Auxerre, France
M. 2 Oct 1673 in Quebec City, New France
Husband: Michel Prezeau
D. (probably) 5 Aug 1689, Lachine, New France

Marie Chansy almost certainly died in the 1689 massacre that happened in Lachine, New France, along with her husband and daughter. She was born in Auxerre, France on March 4, 1657 to Gaspard Chansy and Étiennette Frappe Métier. By the time Marie was 16, her mother had died, and she made the decision to sign up as a Fille du Roi, a prospective bride for a husband in New France. The program to recruit young French women had begun in 1663, and Marie was in the final group that migrated. Her ship, L’Espérance, sailed from La Rochelle on July 11, 1673, carrying between 50 and 60 women, and arrived at Quebec City on September 3rd.

It didn’t take long for Marie to find a husband in Michel Prezeau, a young man who had arrived from France a few years earlier. The wedding took place on October 2nd at Notre-Dame de Quebéc on the same day when two of her shipmates also had their marriages. After their weddings, each of them went their separate ways. The other two women had tragic stories. One bride had three infants who died within days of birth, then she died herself in 1678. The other married a husband who was frequently absent, causing her to turn to prostitution; she was later imprisoned and returned to France by 1680. These stories show what a risk the Filles du Roi took in choosing this life.

Marie and her husband Michel first settled in Montreal, then moved to Varennes, and finally Lachine by 1679. She gave birth to six children; two died as infants and one died at age 5. Michel was a farmer, and the family led a quiet, uneventful life. All of that changed on the morning of August 5, 1689.

The Lachine Massacre was one of the most brutal Iroquois attacks in French Canadian history. One morning, settlers were awoken from their sleep by a raging force of over 1,000 Indian warriors, breaking doors and windows to enter their houses. The men were dragged from bed and killed on the spot, likely while their helpless wives and children watched. Then the same was done to others in the family. Some of the women and children were taken captive, and killed later on. It’s not certain exactly what happened to Marie, but she and her husband didn’t survive the assault. Of their three girls, one was killed, but the other two escaped.

Iroquois warrior.

There was no burial for Marie or her husband. The Indians burned their house to the ground, making it impossible to recover any bodies, or even to confirm that they died there. The daughters who survived the massacre went on to marry, and carry on the bloodlines of Marie and Michel. Marie was the ancestor of Dan Aykroyd and Liza Minelli.

Children:
1. Pierre Prezeau — B. 1 Jul 1676, New France; D. 1681, (probably) Lachine, New France

2. Marie-Catherine Prezeau — B. 1 Apr 1679, Lachine, New France; D. 1 Sep 1763, Montreal, New France; M. Pierre Clement (~1670-1725), 19 Apr 1702, Montreal, New France

3. Marie-Marguerite Prezeau — B. 5 Sep 1681, Lachine, New France; D. 6 Mar 1757, Ste-Genevieve, Pierrefonds, New France; M. Jean-Baptiste Gauthier (1674-1743)

4. Marie-Madeleine Prezeau — B. 12 Dec 1683, Lachine, New France; D. 28 Dec 1683, Lachine, New France

5. Madeleine Prezeau — B. 3 Mar 1685, Lachine, New France; D. (probably) 5 Aug 1689, Lachine, New France

6. Françoise Prezeau — B. 28 Jan 1688, Lachine, New France; D. 9 Feb 1688, Lachine, New France

Sources:
Généalogie du Quebec et d’Amérique française (website)

Le vieux Lachine et le massacre du 5 août 1689, Désiré Girouard, 1889

L’autre Marie Morin: une femme abandonnée en Nouvelle-France, 1667-1748, Marcel Myre, 2004

WikiTree

Honored in Death With an Elegy — Lydia Butler

B. 23 Feb 1629 in Ashford, England
M.  9 May 1647 in Dorchester, Massachusetts
Husband: John Minot
D. 25 Jan 1667 in Dorchester, Massachusetts

There wouldn’t be much of a story to tell of Lydia Butler, except for a piece of paper that has survived for centuries. It was a tribute printed by her loved ones after her death, and gives a little glimpse into the world where she lived.

Lydia was born on February 23, 1629 in Ashford, England, a village in Kent, to Nicholas Butler and Joyce Baker. She was only 8-years-old when her family migrated to the Massachusetts colony seeking a new life where they were free to practice their religion. The ship that brought them was the Hercules and sailed in June of 1637; on board were Lydia, her parents, three siblings, and five family servants.

The Butlers settled in Dorchester, where on May 19, 1647, Lydia married John Minot. The couple had five healthy children born between 1648 and 1665. Then with her sixth pregnancy, something went wrong, and on January 24, 1667, the baby died at birth. Lydia never recovered and she died the following day.

During the second half of the 17th century, Puritans began printing tributes to the deceased on sheets of paper called broadsides. This was a way to honor the dead and offer a lasting remembrance to mourners. Usually they were created for important men, but sometimes for beloved women, like Lydia. They became almost an art form, with poems written especially for the person who died, and wood-cut illustrations to decorate the page.

Source: Massachusetts Historical Society

Lydia’s elegy broadside was one of the finest examples from that time. The page had a bold headline, “Upon the DEATH of the Virtuous and Religious Mrs. Lydia Minot,” with an epitaph and three poems about her, each with a title that was an anagram of her name. The third poem also had the letters of her name beginning each line of the poem. Across the top was an illustration with various symbols of death: hourglass with wings, skull and crossbones, and pick and shovel. There was even a crudely drawn funeral procession. The illustration was a boilerplate image, not unique to Lydia’s elegy.

After Lydia’s death, her husband John remarried, but he died in August of 1669. In John’s will, their only daughter, Martha, was bequeathed Lydia’s clothes as a remembrance of her mother.

Children:
1. John Minot — B. 22 Jan 1648; D. 26 Jan 1690, Dorchester, Massachusetts; M. Elizabeth Breck (?-1691), 11 Mar 1670

2. James Minot — B. 14 Sep 1653, Dorchester, Massachusetts; D. 20 Sep 1735, Concord, Massachusetts; M. Rebecca Wheeler (~1666-1734), about 1684, Concord, Massachusetts

3. Martha Minot — B. 22 Sep 1657, Dorchester, Massachusetts; D. 23 Nov 1678

4. Stephen Minot — B. 10 Aug 1662, Dorchester, Massachusetts; D. Nov 1732, Boston, Massachusetts; M. Mercy Clark, 1 Dec 1686

5. Samuel Minot — B. 3 Jul 1665, Dorchester, Massachusetts; D. about 1707, Concord, Massachusetts; M. Hannah Jones

6. Baby Minot — B. 24 Jan 1667, Dorchester, Massachusetts; D. 24 Jan 1667, Dorchester, Massachusetts

Sources:
Genealogical and family history of the state of New Hampshire, Vol. 2, Lewis Publishing Company, 1908
Colonial Families of the United States of America, Nelson Osgood Roades, 1917
WikiTree

Husband Dies in Battle — Anne-Antoinette De Liercourt

B. about 1632 in Beauvais, Picardie, France
M. (1) 2 Feb 1651 in Trois-Rivières, New France
Husband: Blaise Juillet dit Avignon
M. (2) 30 Jun 1660 in Montreal, New France
Husband: Hugues Picard dit Lafortune
D. 30 Sep 1707 in Montreal, New France

A woman on the frontier in early colonial America lived a hard life, made more difficult when she became widowed. Anne-Antoinette De Liercourt lost her husband in Montreal to a conflict with the Iroquois. 

Antoinette was from Beuavais, France, born there in about 1632 to Phillipe De Liercourt and Jeanne Patin (or Palin). Nothing is known of Antoinette’s early years, or how she came to New France.

The first appearance of Antoinette in records was as a 17-year-old bride in a Trois-Rivières marriage contract dated February 2, 1651. Her new husband was Blaise Juillet dit Avignon, a 40-year-old “peat worker” who had arrived from France in 1644. The couple settled in Montreal soon after, which at the time was a small, remote settlement of about 50 people. They had a daughter born there in December, and by the end of 1658, they had three more children.

During the earliest years of Montreal, Iroquois aggression was a constant threat, and in 1660, there was word that the tribe planned to invade the colony. The Montreal garrison commander, Adam Dollard des Ormeaux, organized a force to try to surprise the Iroquois before they could attack. The group consisted of 44 Huron warriors and about 20 French men, one of whom was Antoinette’s husband Blaise. While the other men were single, only Blaise had a wife and children; one historian described his involvement as deserting his family to go on a “foolish escapade.” On April 19th, as the group set out in canoes, they came upon a small band of Iroquois and engaged them in a fight. The canoe Blaise shared with another man capsized and both drowned in the river.

Blaise’s body was brought back to Montreal and was buried along with two other casualties. After the funeral, Dollard continued on his mission against the Iroquois. A battle took place in May at a place called Long Sault; the French were outnumbered by more than ten to one, and all of the Montreal men were killed, including Dollard. But the Iroquois lost many men, too, and scrapped any plans to invade Montreal. Dollard would be honored for generations to come as a great hero of French Canada. 

Plaque honoring Adam Dollard at the Battle of Long Sault.

At age 28, Antoinette was in need of a husband who could support her and her four children, so just three months later, she got married again. Her wedding took place in Montreal on June 30, 1660 to Hugues Picard dit Lafortune, who was working as a carpenter for the Sulpician mission in Montreal. There may have been a family connection between the two; some researchers have shown that Antoinette’s older sister was married to a brother of Hugues back in France. Hugues adopted Antoinette’s children, and the couple went on to have five more, born between 1661 and 1672.

During the next few years, Antoinette testified at several trials in Montreal. In July 1673, she was questioned in a case between two men regarding some stolen beaver pelts. Later that year, she was on the witness stand in a sensational trial between two women where one accused the other of having been a criminal back in France; a doctor was ordered to examine the accused for signs that she had been whipped or branded for a previous offense. A third trial in 1681 was a case of two or more men involved in a brawl. It’s curious that a woman raising nine children was a witness in all of these trials, and gives an impression that her testimony had to do with the daily interaction between the wives of the community.

Antoinette made out her will on May 19, 1702, and she died on September 30, 1707 in Montreal. Her husband Hugues outlived her by only a couple of months, dying on December 22nd. She was a direct ancestor of Dan Aykroyd, Pierre Trudeau and Justin Trudeau.

Children (by Blaise Juillet):
1. Mathurine Juillet — B. 31 Dec 1651, Montreal, New France; D. 6 Mar 1723, Montreal New France; M. Urbain Baudreau (1633-1695), 20 Oct 1664, Montreal New France

2. Marie Juillet — B. 25 Nov 1653, Montreal New France; D. 29 Sep 1736, Montreal New France; M. Pierre Lecuyer (1634-1705), 23 Jul 1670, Montreal New France

3. Charles Juillet — B. 17 May 1656, Montreal New France; D. 5 Jul 1690, Montreal New France; M. Catherine Saintard (1653-?), 4 Dec 1679, Montreal New France

4. Louis Juillet — B. 11 Oct 1658, Montreal New France; D. 5 May 1736, Montreal New France; M. Catherine Celle (1666-1743), 25 Jan 1683, Montreal New France

Children (by Jacques-Hugues Picard):
1. Michelle-Anne Picard — B. 6 Jul 1661, Montreal, New France; D. 15 Apr 1710, Montreal, New France; M. Mathieu Gervais (1646-1728), 31 Aug 1676, Montreal, New France

2. Marie-Anne Picard — B. 3 Nov 1663, Montreal, New France; D. 4 Feb 1697, Laprairie, New France; M. Charles Diel (1652-1725), 31 Aug 1676, Montreal, New France

3. Marie-Marguerite Picard — B. Feb 1666, Montreal, New France; D. 18 Jan 1727, Lachine, New France; M. Jean Paré (1653-1734), 20 Oct 1681, Montreal, New France

4. Jean-Gabriel Picard — B. 17 Jun 1669, Montreal, New France; D. 26 Mar 1723, Lachine, New France; M. Marie-Madeleine Rapin, 9 Jan 1696, Lachine, New France

5. Jacques Picard — B. 27 Feb 1672, Montreal, New France; D. 22 Jan 1735, Longue-Pointe, New France; M. Marie-Anne Lefebvre, 28 Oct 1697, Montreal, New France

Sources:
Généalogie du Quebec et d’Amérique française (website)

Before the King’s Daughters: The Filles à Marier, 1634-1662, Peter Gagné, 2002WikiTree
Histoire Populaire du Québec, Jacques Lacoursière, 1995-1997
Famous Kin (website) 

A Settler of Old Kaskaskia — Joseph Turpin

B. 21 Jun 1696 in Montreal, New France
M. 7 Nov 1731 in New Orleans, New France
Wife: Hypolite Chauvin de La Frénière
D. about 1750 in Kaskaskia, New France

There are only a few records that detail the life of Joseph Turpin, but the time and place he lived give him a story worth telling. Joseph was born into a fur trading family in Montreal on June 21, 1696. His parents were Alexandre Turpin and Marie-Charlotte Beauvais, and he had 7 siblings and 6 half-siblings. Joseph’s mother died when he was 4-years-old, and afterwards, he was raised by a step-mother. His father, who was a Montreal merchant, died before Joseph was age 14.

Joseph's older brother Louis was living at the Illinois trading post of Kaskaskia by 1719, and younger brother Jacques died in Kaskaskia in 1723, so it’s highly likely that Joseph was also there around this time. Kaskaskia was a French settlement on the Mississippi River that began about 1700 when fur traders settled in an Indian village and married women of the tribe. The Jesuits established a mission, and both natives and French cultivated the land. The settlement grew as mixed-race children came of age, and a few French women migrated from Canada. A census taken in June 1723 showed that there were 64 French habitants, 42 French laborers, 28 married women, and 17 children. 

Map of Kaskaskia.

What was Joseph’s occupation in Kaskaskia? Early on, it’s hard to say, but the village had an important connection with New Orleans, supplying the gulf coast with farm products and pelts, and some men operated the trading route back and forth on the Mississippi. The fact Joseph appeared in New Orleans in 1731 suggests that he may have been involved in the transport of goods down the river. On November 7th of that year, he took a wife, Hypolite Chauvin de La Frénière, a half-Indigenous girl born to a slave and an important Louisiana plantation owner; she was only 13-years-old, so it was probably an arranged marriage.

Joseph returned to Kaskaskia with his young bride. The records of most of the baptisms of the village are unfortunately lost, but we do know that the couple had at least two children, a daughter born in about 1732 and a son in about 1750. In 1742, Joseph received a grant of land next to his brother Louis, who was by then one of the wealthiest men in town. The land was described as being on a hill on the opposite side of the Kaskaskia River, with 2 arpents of frontage and 40 arpents deep, suggesting that Joseph had become a farmer. The following year, on August 2nd, Joseph was granted another tract by Governor de Bienville of Louisiana that was “12 arpents square.”

It’s not known exactly when Joseph died, but his wife Hypolite remarried in Kaskaskia on March 19, 1750, so it must have been at least a month before that date. It was later said that his son was born posthumously, but this is uncertain.

The village of Kaskaskia went through many changes after Joseph's death. Within a couple generations, it evolved from a French trading post into a frontier town run by Americans. An 1844 flood caused the relocation of Kaskaskia to a site several miles inland. In 1881, the ruins of the original settlement were finished off when the Mississippi River changed its course in another flood, and the land Joseph had owned ended up under water. Old Kaskaskia doesn’t exist on today’s maps.

Children:
1. Marie-Madeleine Turpin — B. about 1732, Kaskaskia, New France; D. after 1810, Natchitoches, Louisiana Territory; M. (1) Pierre Texier dit LaVigne (1728-1770), 12 Jan 1751, Kaskaksia, New France; (2) Antoine Cusson, 1774, Kaskaskia, Illinois Territory; (3) Joseph Auger, about 1778

2. François Turpin — B. (probably) about 1750, Kaskaskia, New France; D. 1 Oct 1809, Vincennes, Indiana Territory; M. Marie-Josephe Levron dit Metayer, about 1777, (probably) Post Vincennes, Illinois Territory

Sources:
The Family of Nicolas Chauvin de La Freniere, Sadie Greening Sparks, 18 Oct 2000, sadiesparks.com
Race, Sex and Social Order in Early New Orleans, Jennifer M. Spear, 2010
Kaskaskia Under the French Regime, Natalia Maree Belting, 1948
The History of Kaskaskia, Illinois, in a Family History Context (website) 
Kaskaskia, Illinois (Wikipedia article)

Supplier to the Fur Trade — Pierre Perthuis dit Lalime

B. 18 Feb 1645 in Amboise, Touraine, France
M. (1) 10 Dec 1668 in Montreal, New France
Wife: Claude Damise
M. (2) 13 Feb 1707 in Montreal, New France
Wife: Françoise Moisan
D. 16 Apr 1708 in Montreal, New France

During the late 17th century, Montreal was a center of the fur trade business, and Pierre Perthuis dit Lalime seized upon the opportunity to make a living there as a merchant and supplier. He was born on February 18, 1645 to Sylvain Perthuis and Mathurine Racicot in Amboise, Touraine, France. It’s known that Pierre had at least one older brother and one younger sister, and that his father was a merchant, which perhaps rubbed off him a bit.

By age 20, Pierre joined the military, which was organizing an effort to send about 1,000 soldiers to New France. The force was divided into 12 companies and Pierre found himself in the one headed by the leader of the entire regiment, Henri de Chastelard de Salières. Soldiers often acquired nicknames, and Pierre was known as “Lalime,” although it’s not clear why. The men were stationed at Fort Barraux between Grenoble and Chambery before leaving for New France. The Saliéres company boarded the ship L'Aigle d'Or which departed La Rochelle on May 13, 1665; the ship was barely seaworthy, and made it to Quebec on August 19th after a journey of over three months.

Soon after their arrival, Pierre’s company was sent into Iroquois country where the soldiers constructed a wooden palisade called Fort Sainte-Therese, one of three such forts along the Richeleau River. Then they went to Montreal, and were based there until the soldiers’ terms of service were up in 1668. Many chose to return to France, but Pierre and others decided to stay. On December 10th, he married Claude Damise, one of the Filles du Roi who had arrived that year. The couple settled in Montreal, and Pierre became a fur trading merchant.

By the late 1660s, Montreal had a marketplace of men who supplied expeditions to the trading posts around the Great Lakes. Those venturing out west needed merchandise to trade with the Indians, as well as provisions for their trips. And on their return, they had to have someone who would buy their pelts for export back to France. It was said that Pierre was successful partly because he had a network of relatives and contacts in France who helped him. Over his life he built up a decent amount of wealth; he was described as a “bourgeois merchant,” and as being in "the second stratum of merchant-outfitters.”

17-century fur trade market in Montreal.

Pierre and his wife Claude started their family with the birth of a daughter in 1670, which was followed by two more children within a couple of years, one of whom died young. In about 1675, they moved to the new settlement of Pointe-aux-Trembles located to the north of Montreal. While Pierre was away on a trip, Claude became pregnant by another man, giving birth to a baby boy in March of 1676. How Pierre reacted to this isn’t known, but the child was adopted by another couple far away in Beauport. A year later, Pierre and Claude resumed having children together, eventually totaling 12, with the last one born in 1691.

Pierre’s name turned up in several court cases, some where he was owed money as a merchant. In one court record dated July 1694, he sued a man based in Quebec City named Jean Jung who was supplying goods from his father in France. The complaint stated that some of the barrels that were delivered by Jung were only half full and Pierre demanded a settlement. In 1686, Pierre testified in a scandalous murder trial. Jean Aubuchon was a Montreal merchant who was found dead in his bed. His wife accused her lover, Jacques Paillerault, of killing her husband. Pierre was one of many colleagues who testified at the trial; it took 3 years, but the man was acquitted.

On October 6, 1705, Pierre’s wife Claude died, and he remarried to a woman named François Moisan on February 13, 1707 in Montreal. Their time together was short because Pierre passed away April 16th of the following year. The value of his estate was about 50,000 livres, a substantial amount of money. Pierre was an ancestor of Alex Trebek, Ricky Gervais and Tyrone Power.

Children (all by Claude Damise):
1. Catherine Perthuis — B. Jan 1670, Montreal, New France; D. 17 Feb 1736, Riviére-des-Prairies, New France; M. Pierre Maguet (1663-1725), 7 Jan 1686, Pointe-aux-Trembles, New France

2. Jean Perthuis — B. Feb 1672, Montreal, New France; D. (probably) young

3. Jeanne Perthius — B. Dec 1673, Montreal, New France; M. Nicolas Deroche (1652-1737), 22 Nov 1688, Pointe-aux-Trembles, New France

4. Élisabeth Perthius — B. 7 Feb 1677, Pointe-aux-Trembles, New France; D. 23 Apr 1703, Montreal, New France; M. Claude Caron (1672-1759), 20 Jun 1695, Montreal, New France

5. Marie Perthuis — B. 8 Sep 1678, Pointe-aux-Trembles, New France; D. 23 Dec 1766, Chateauguay, Quebec; M. Vital Caron (1673-1745), 24 Jan 1698, Montreal, New France

6. Geneviéve Perthuis — B. 17 Oct 1680, Pointe-aux-Trembles, New France; D. 28 Aug 1774, Montreal, Quebec; M. (1) Urbain Gervaise (1673-1713), 19 Mar 1701, Montreal, New France; (2) Louis Renaud (1683-?), 5 Apr 1717, Lachine, New France

7. Marguerite Perthuis — B. 23 Jul 1682, Montreal, New France; D. 11 Mar 1703, Montreal, New France

8. Angélique Perthuis — B. 1 Jan 1684, Pointe-aux-Trembles, New France; D. 25 Apr 1755, Montreal, New France; M. Louis Lefebvre dit Duchouquet (~1672-1741), 28 Sep 1700, Montreal, New France

9. Anne-Françoise Perthuis — B. 26 Jan 1685, Pointe-aux-Trembles, New France; D. 31 Jan 1685, Pointe-aux-Trembles, New France

10. Pierre Perthuis — B. 16 Apr 1686, Pointe-aux-Trembles, New France; D. 1708, Deerfield, Massachusetts

11. François Perthuis — B. 1 Oct 1688, Pointe-aux-Trembles, New France

12. Pierre Perthuis — B. 19 May 1691, Pointe-aux-Trembles, New France; D. 6 Dec 1758, Pointe-Coupée, Louisiana, New France; M. (1) Angélique Caron (1690-1715), 24 Jan 1713, New France; (2) Catherine Mallet

Sources:
Généalogie du Quebec et d’Amérique française (website)

Habitants and Merchants in Seventeenth-Century Montreal, Louise Dechêne, 1993WikiTree
Bibliotheque et Archives nationales, Quebec (website)

A First Settler of Billerica, Massachusetts — Henry Jefts

B. about 1605 in England
M. (1) 13 Sep 1647 in Woburn, Massachusetts
Wife: Ann Stowers
M. (2) 21 May 1649 in Woburn, Massachusetts
Wife: Hannah Births
M. (3) 3 Oct 1666 in Billerica, Massachusetts
Wife: Mary _______
M. (4) 5 May 1681 in Billerica, Massachusetts
Wife: Mary _______
D. 24 May 1700 in Billerica, Massachusetts

Henry Jefts was one of the founders of a town in colonial New England by virtue of being among the first to live there. He was born in England in about 1605, but all information on his parents and background is unproven.

Henry first appeared in records with a September 13, 1647 marriage to Ann Stowers in Woburn, Massachusetts, so he arrived in America sometime before that date, likely during the 1630s. Henry’s wife Ann seems to have died within a couple of years, and he married a woman named Hannah Births on May 21, 1649, also in Woburn. The only other person known to have the name “Births” was a woman who married another settler in Woburn named George Farley, and it’s likely the two were sisters. It’s been said they were from Sweden, though there’s nothing to document that. By 1653, Henry and Hannah had two children, and that year, they moved to a new settlement.

The early 1650s were a time when the Massachusetts colony was establishing new towns. A large tract of land that had been granted to Governor Thomas Dudley in the 1630s was made available for purchase in smaller tracts, and Henry became one of the new property owners. His land included 113 ares of upland and 12 acres of meadow, and he soon moved his family there. Several other families set up homes nearby and the place became known as Billerica. Henry’s baby daughter died there in May of 1653, and it was the first event in Billerica’s vital records. Early in 1655, another daughter was born who was noted as the first female birth in the town.

Vital records of Henry’s family.

At a 1660 Billerica town meeting where some of the first civil appointments were made, Henry was chosen as surveyor along with Jonathan Danforth. He was later mentioned on November 5, 1663 as being assigned to lay out some common land that was owed to a few settlers; the other two men on the committee were Jonathan Danforth and his wife’s brother-in-law, George Farley. In another civic duty, Henry donated 300 bricks for the chimney on the new minister’s house in 1664.

Henry’s second wife Hannah died on September 15, 1662, and it wasn’t until October 3, 1666 that he remarried, this time to a widow, Mary Bird. By now he was nearing 60 years of age and the couple had no children. In May 1665, Henry was granted 4 acres of land at a place called Indian Hill, north of Indian Field. It was also said that during these years he and his wife moved to a place in Billerica “west of Long Street.”

On April 1, 1679, Henry’s third wife died and two years later, on May 5, 1681, he married again to another widow, Mary Baker. Henry wrote a will dated March 4, 1692. In it, he left property to his children, with specifications about his two daughters and their children, ordering that the property not be sold until the oldest grandchild was 14-years-old. Sadly both his daughter Joanna and her oldest daughter Mary were killed in an Indian attack later that year, along with Joanna’s baby son.

Henry lived a very long life and passed away at age 94 on May 24, 1700. His wife Mary survived him by three years; both were buried at the Old South Burying Ground in Billerica.

Children (all by Hannah Births):
1. John Jefts — B. 11 May 1651, Woburn, Massachusetts; D. 28 Sep 1712, Billerica, Massachusetts; M. Lydia Fish (?-1712), 6 Apr 1688, Billerica, Massachusetts

2. Hannah Jefts — B. about 1653, Massachusetts; D. May 1653, Billerica, Massachusetts

3. Hannah Jefts — B. 4 Feb 1655, Billerica, Massachusetts; D. 21 Jan 1730, Chelmsford, Massachusetts; M. Andrew Spaulding (1652-1718), 30 Apr 1674, Chelmsford, Massachusetts

4. Joanna Jefts — B. 24 May 1656, Billerica, Massachusetts; D. 1 Aug 1692, Billerica, Massachusetts; M. (1) John Dunkin (?-1690); (2) Benjamin Dutton, 1691

5. Henry Jefts — B. 21 Mar 1659, Billerica, Massachusetts; D. 20 May 1738, Billerica, Massachusetts; M. (1) Mary Baldwin (1663-1703), 13 Apr 1681; (2) Hannah Hill (1667-1713), 9 Nov 1704

Sources:
History of Billerica, Massachusetts With a Genealogical Register, Henry Allen Hazen, 1883
WikiTree

In the Wilds of New France — Louis Plichon dit St-Louis

B. 1719 in Amiens, Somme, Picardie, France
M. 6 Nov 1747 in Montreal, New France
Wife: Marie-Therese Pimpare
D. after 23 Feb 1768 in (probably) Windsor, Canada

During the 17th and 18th centuries, when men came from France to make a new life in Canada, they had to be courageous, resourceful, and tough. That was very true for a man like Louis Plichon dit St-Louis.

Louis was born in 1719 in Amiens, France to Charles Plichon and Marie Coquerel. His childhood circumstance are unknown, but he was only 15-years-old when he joined the French military. At some point, he was assigned to help defend New France, and was shipped there. Louis’ post was in Montreal, then a thriving town primarily doing business in the fur trade. It had a population of 4,200 in 1740, with another 18,000 people living in the surrounding area. By that time, the military was focused on defending against the British, who were threatening to take over, but during Louis’ first few years in New France, there wasn’t much action.

Sometime during 1743, Louis needed some medical treatment; the details of his condition weren’t recorded. He tried to get help from a Montreal doctor, Charles Feltz, who was well-known for his remedies, but for some reason, Louis was turned away. So he decided to venture into the woods looking for wild roots to make his own medicine. After finding what he needed, Louis made a fire and boiled the roots near where he found them. All this took some time, and as he made his way back to town, he encountered a black woman picking berries, who asked for his help to cross the St. Lawrence river so she could get home. After Louis did so, a storm came up with heavy rain and wind, and this prevented him from making the return trip across the river.

By now Louis didn’t know how to get back to his post. For the next three days, he wandered the shoreline across from Montreal. Eventually, he ended up in the settlement of Châteauguay, where at first, someone stole his gun, then a settler gave him food and fresh clothes. But Louis was also in trouble for leaving his post without permission, and the authorities soon arrested him. He was brought to trial for desertion, a serious offense that could have meant a stiff sentence. The only thing that saved him was that he had been underage at his enlistment, making his service invalid, and he was therefore not legally bound to military rules. He was released back into his military unit.

Record of 1743 case against Louis.

By 1747, Louis was serving in the company of Louis de La Corne, a Montreal man who was a fur trader as well as a military man. After taking charge of an attack in Acadia, La Corne led a force of men against raiding Iroquois in June of 1747 on Lake St. Louis. It’s likely that Louis was part of this effort, and possibly it’s where he got the nickname “St-Louis,” but this is speculation.

Sometime before the June 1747 mission, Louis had a relationship with a woman who lived in the Montreal area, Marie-Therese Pimpare. She became pregnant and gave birth to a son at the end of September, who was baptized on October 1st at Montreal. About a month later, on November 6th, Louis married Therese at the same church.

Louis was an active soldier until at least January 1749; that month, he and his wife had a daughter born in Montreal, who died soon after. Then his service ended and he made the decision to go west. There was an offer made in Detroit to encourage French settlers to set up farms there; anyone who agreed to it would be given land, supplies and rations in return for a commitment to grow crops. Louis arrived with his family on July 26th and received a tract on the south shore of the Detroit River.

A ledger book was kept for all of the new settlers and Louis was listed as the first entry. Specifically he received two “roebucks for meat,” 2 pounds of flour, a hoe, an axe, a scythe, a plow, 2 augers, a sow, a cow, an ox, 7 chickens, 80 roofing nails, 4 lbs. of gunpowder and 6 lbs. of lead. It was required that he return the cow and the ox, or pay for them, and he was given 20 bushels of wheat and 1 bushel of corn that had to be repaid. Louis’ ration allotment was increased by one in 1750 when wife Therese’s brother came to stay with them. It was also noted in the ledger that his cow was replaced on June 5, 1755 after it had been killed by Hurons.

View from the south shore of the Detroit River.

Louis and Therese’s family grew during the years on the Detroit River. A son was born to them on November 26, 1749 who is considered to be the first white child born in what is now Essex County, Ontario. There were at least six more children, with the youngest known born in 1764 or 1765. It isn’t known when Louis died. A census taken of the inhabitants of the south shore of Detroit on January 23, 1768 lists a family headed by “St Louis,” and there were eight children in the household, so that was likely him. There are no further mentions of Louis after that date.

Children:
1. Louis Plichon — B. 1 Oct 1747, Montreal, New France

2. Marie-Louise Plichon — B. 11 Jan 1749, Montreal, New France; D. 26 Jan 1749, Montreal, New France

3. François Plichon — B. 26 Nov 1749, Detroit, New France

4. Joseph-Marie Plichon — B. 6 Nov 1751, Detroit, New France

5. Marie-Joseph Plichon — B. 20 Dec 1753, Detroit, New France; D. 26 Dec 1753, Detroit, New France

6. Catherine Plichon — B. 6 Jan 1755, Detroit, New France

7. Pierre Plichon — B. 15 Apr 1757, Detroit, New France; D. 13 Sep 1758, Detroit, New France

8. Marie-Françoise Plichon — B. about Apr 1759, Detroit, New France; D. 26 Jan 1837, Vincennes, Indiana; M. Nicolas Baillargeon (1740-1803), 24 Jul 1778, Post Vincennes, Illinois Territory

9. Charles Plichon — B. before 23 Sep 1765, Sandwich, Quebec

Sources:
WikiTree
Genealogy of the French Families of the Detroit River Region, 1701-1936, Christian Dennison, 1987
People of the American Frontier: The Coming of the American Revolution, Walter Scott Dunn, 2005
“Edward Ciccotte Ledger, 1749-1752,” Michigan’s Habitant Heritage, Vol. 29, #3, 2008
“La Corne, Louis,” Dictionary of Canadian Biography 
Punir La Désertion en Nouvelle-France: Justice, Pouvoir et Institution Militaire de 1742 à 1761, Nicolas Fournier, 2013
The Windsor border region, Canada’s southernmost frontier, Ernest J. Lajeunesse, 1960

Early Montreal Barrel Maker — Pierre Perras

B. about Aug 1616 in La Rochelle, France
M. 26 Jan 1660 in Montreal, New France
Wife: Marie-Denise Lemaitre
D. 30 Apr 1684 in La Prairie, New France

During the prime of his life, Pierre Perras took his barrel-making skills from France to America. He was born in La Rochelle in 1616, and baptized there on August 21st. His parents were Pierre Perras and Jeanne L’Asnier, and he had at least two sisters. The details of Pierre’s childhood and early adult years are unknown, but as a man who lived in an active port city, he must have supplied his barrels to town merchants. 

Barrel-making in the 17th-century.

Pierre decided to move to New France in the 1650s, likely recruited by someone looking for new settlers with valuable trade skills. He arrived in Montreal, first appearing on his own marriage contract on January 10, 1660. The wedding took place two weeks later on the 26th; his bride was Marie-Denise Lemaitre, a woman trained as a midwife who worked in Montreal’s hospital. There was a 20-year difference in their ages, with Pierre being 43 and Denise about 23. They started a family with a son born in October of that year. The family would grow to a total of ten children, with the youngest born in 1674; only two children died as infants.

After living about 10 years in Montreal, Pierre acquired land in La Prairie, a new settlement on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River. He continued making barrels, but also cultivated the land, and by 1681 had a farm of 40 arpents. During the settlement’s earliest years, Pierre and his neighbors had to travel a long ways to get to church, so on September 22, 1675, he donated a building on his land to hold services. The make-shift church was said to be 25’ by 20’ and had a thatched roof. It was said that in 1691, the building was taken apart and reconstructed in a safer location within a palisade.

Pierre died on April 30, 1684 at the age of 67. His wife Denise remarried after his death, and she was brutally killed by Iroquois in 1691. Pierre was an ancestor of Pierre Trudeau, Justin Trudeau and Madonna.

Children:
1. Pierre Perras — B. 31 Oct 1660, Montreal, New France; D. 23 Aug 1687, Montreal, New France

2. Jacques Perras — B. 24 Apr 1663, Montreal, New France; D. 25 Mar 1688, La Prairie, New France

3. Marguerite Perras — B. 27 Dec 1665, Montreal, New France; D. 15 May 1708, Montreal, New France; M. (1) Pierre Poupart (~1650-1699), 11 Aug 1682, La Prairie, New France; (2) Jospeh-Marie Demers (1658-1728), 20 Sep 1699, La Prairie, New France

4. Marie Perras — B. 27 Dec 1665, Montreal, New France; D. 3 Jan 1666, Montreal, New France

5. Catherine Perras — B. 24 Feb 1667, Montreal, New France; D. 16 Mar 1667, Montreal, New France

6. Jean Perras — B. 28 Aug 1668, Montreal, New France; D. 13 Oct 1736, La Prairie, New France; M. (1) Marguerite Tetu (1679-1699), 7 Jun 1698, La Prairie, New France; (2) Marie-Madeleine Roy (1684-1726), 25 Oct 1701, La Prairie, New France

7. Catherine Perras — B. 9 Jun 1670, Montreal, New France; D. 7 Jan 1750, Longueuil, New France; M. Eustache Demers (1661-1707), 21 Apr 1688, La Prairie, New France

8. Marie-Jeanne Perras — B. 10 Jul 1671, La Prairie, New France; D. 30 Oct 1718, La Prairie, New France; M. (1) Claude Faye (~1662-1708), 25 Oct 1688, La Prairie, New France; (2) Pierre Voisin (~1678-1721), 23 Dec 1709, La Prairie, New France

9. Marie Perras — B. 2 Feb 1673, La Prairie, New France; D. 9 May 1736, La Prairie, New France; M. Antoine Boyer (1671-1747), 4 Feb 1690, La Prairie, New France

10. Pierre Perras — B. 24 Jun 1674, La Prairie, New France; D. 1 Aug 1699, La Prairie, New France; M. Marie-Marguerite Diel (1678-1715), 18 Nov 1696, La Prairie, New France

Sources:
Généalogie du Quebec et d’Amérique française (website)

WikiTreeMinnesota Eh? A Foley/Perras Family History, Gerald Foley