M. 26 Nov 1675 in Montreal, New France
Wife: Agnes Tessier dite Lavigne
D. 2 Jul 1690 in Pointe-aux-Trembles, New France
Towards the end of the 17th century, the Montreal area was often a dangerous place to live. Guillaume Richard dit LaFleur not only made his home there, he sought to defend it from the Iroquois, and in the process, he lost his life in a most brutal way.
Guillaume was born in about 1641 to Jean Richard and Anne Meunier in St-Leger, Charente-Maritime, France. Guillaume’s father was a grain merchant, and nothing else is proven about his family, but some descendants claim that his ancestor was a Welshman named John Richards, who helped King Charles IX to escape a 1572 massacre.
In 1664, Guillaume joined the Carignan-Saliéres Regiment, a company of soldiers recruited to help deal with Iroquois aggression in New France. He shipped out on May 13, 1665, and after a terrible voyage, arrived in Quebec on August 19th. His assignment was for two years, but like many Carignan-Saliéres soldiers, he opted for staying in New France. He was raised to sergeant and went to a place on the eastern end of Lake Ontario that became Fort Frontenac. He eventually was put in charge of the post and remained in that position until 1675.
On November 26, 1675, Guillaume married Agnes Tessier dite Lavigne in Montreal; she was the daughter of Urbain Tessier, an early settler of Montreal. They had eight children born between 1676 and 1690. In 1677, Guillaume served as “sergeant of the garrison” at Montreal, and in 1684, was a lieutenant. Then he was captain of the militia at Pointe-aux-Trembles, where he had moved with his family in 1679. In addition to his military role, he pursued the fur trade and was said to operate a thriving business.
The Iroquois tribes living south of Montreal continued to be a threat to French settlers. From the beginnings of Quebec, the French had allied with the Huron tribes to the north and west, who were enemies of the Iroquois. This and other factors led to Iroquois raids on towns near Montreal during the late 17th century, notably Lachine in August of 1689, where many French settlers were massacred. Militias in Montreal sought to fight back against the Iroquois.
It was in this effort that Guillaume was killed. On July 2, 1690, he was part of a group of 25 men who found themselves overwhelmed by party of about 100 Iroquois warriors at a ravine on the end of the island of Montreal. Some were killed in the fight, but Guillaume was one of the unlucky ones who were captured alive. In the Iroquois culture, prisoners of war were executed in slow, painful ways. It was said that Guillaume was burned alive, which likely was carried out in a ritual that kept victims alive for hours. When the Iroquois were done, they quickly buried the bodies of Guillaume and three other prisoners in a makeshift grave. Four years later, the bodies were recovered an reinterred in the cemetery at Pointe-aux-Trembles.
Example of Iroquois torture of Frenchmen in the 17th century.
Guillaume’s widow Agnes remarried and had five more children, and she died in 1733. Given that Guillaume died at the hands of Indigenous people, it’s interesting that his son Jean-Baptiste went on to become an interpreter of Native American languages, and he married the daughter of a woman from the Wea tribe (part of the Miamis). The children from this marriage continued Guillaume's bloodlines in Vincennes, Indiana.
Children:
1. Agnes Richard — B. 23 Aug 1676, Montreal, New France; D. 4 Apr 1757, Repentigny, New France; M. Jean Moreau Duplessis (~1664-1735), 1 Dec 1703, Pointe-aux-Trembles, New France
2. Pierre Richard — B. 8 Aug 1678, Montreal, New France; D. 12 Jan 1744, L’Assomption, New France; M. Catherine Larrivee (1686-1759), 11 Oct 1706, Boucherville, New France
3. Guillaume Richard — B. 26 Feb 1680, Pointe-aux-Trembles, New France
4. Jean-Baptiste Richard — B. 19 Mar 1682, Pointe-aux-Trembles, New France; M. Marie-Anne You, 15 Aug 1718, Montreal, New France
5. Claude Richard — B. 30 Jan 1684, Pointe-aux-Trembles, New France
6. Marie-Anne Richard — B. 10 Apr 1686, Pointe-aux-Trembles, New France; D. 17 Jul 1710, Contrecoeur, New France; M. Mathieu Coitou (1681-1752), 23 Nov 1705, Pointe-aux-Trembles, New France
7. Marie-Madeleine Richard — B. 14 Mar 1688, Pointe-aux-Trembles, New France; D. 7 Oct 1726, Varennes, New France; M. (1) Pierre Lambeye Larose (1681-1721), 22 Nov 1706, Pointe-aux-Trembles, Quebec; (2) Pierre Desjardins (~1700-1767), 24 May 1723, Pointe-aux-Trembles, New France
8. Urbain Richard — B. 25 Mar 1690, Pointe-aux-Trembles, New France; D. 10 Aug 1760, St-Sulpice, New France; M. (1) Marguerite Fleuricourt (1697-1740), 23 jan 1719, Riviére-des-Prairies, New France; (2) Marie-Catherine-Collet (1695-?), 19 May 1749, St-Sulpice, New France
Sources:
Généalogie du Quebec et d’Amérique française (website)
Quebec Catholic Parish Registers, 1621-1979, FamilySearch.org
“Richard dit Lafleur, Guillaume,” Dictionary of Canadian Biography
Coulée Grou (Wikipedia article)
