M. (1) 23 Sep 1658 in Montreal, New France
Wife: Marie Bédard
M. (2) 20 Mar 1666 in Montreal, New France
Wife: Perrine Lapierre
D. about April 1690 in Montreal, New France
In 1653, Honoré Danis dit Tourangeau signed up to help populate Montreal, and also to help build it. He was born on July 7, 1624 in Montlouis-sur-Loire, France to Martin Danis and Étienette Boudoville. There were at least eight children in the family, seven of them boys. It’s believed that Honoré didn’t attend school, but he he did learn the trade of carpentry, perhaps as an apprentice.
Record of Danis' baptism.
At the age of 29, Honoré made a decision to migrate to New France. The governor of Montreal was seeking strong, young men to help boost the population of his settlement, which was being threatened by attacks from the Iroquois. Honoré was a good candidate for recruitment because he was unmarried, and had the skill of being a carpenter. So on May 8, 1653, he agreed to a contract that paid him 127 livres up front. He boarded a ship that left France on June 20th, and after a difficult journey that took almost 5 months, he arrived in Montreal to begin his new life.
Five years passed before Honoré got married. His wife was Marie Bédard and the wedding took place on September 23, 1658. They had two sons born in 1660 and 1662, then on June 17, 1664, Marie died. Honoré found a new wife among the Filles du Roi who arrived in the fall of 1665. Her name was Perrine Lapierre and they were married at Notre-Dame de Montreal on March 20, 1666. By now Honoré was 41-years-old, but he went on to have eleven children with Perrine, born between 1668 and 1684.
While Honoré cultivated a farm, he also worked as a carpenter to build homes. A couple of his building contracts showed that he did some masonry work in addition to working with wood. Honoré was also said to build carriages, and for a time, he was a building construction inspector for the government of Montreal.
Carpenters at work on a building in the 17th century.
In 1688, Honoré had a misunderstanding with some neighbors that led to a court case. It was over some “melons and other produce” that he thought his neighbors, Joseph and Marguerite Serran, had stolen from his garden. One of Honoré’s sons went over and retrieved the items in question, but in court it was proven that the fruit actually came from the Serran’s own garden. In an odd twist, Honoré’s son was then found guilty of stealing from the Serrans, since the produce belonged to them.
The following year tragedy struck Honoré’s family when an Indian attacked his 16-year-old daughter Jeanne. The girl was with her sister Pétronille and brother Nicolas, bringing in the cows from their pasture, when a drunken Iroquois man came upon them. It was said that Jeanne was raped by the man, then brutally killed with a hatchet. Nicolas, who was only 12, failed in an attempt to stop it, but he got a good look at the murderer and was able to later identify him. Although the Iroquois man was found guilty of his crimes, he wasn’t executed because authorities were afraid to take such action against an Indian. This sort of injustice was later applied to another of Honoré’s children, his son Honoré, who was also murdered by a drunken Indian in 1722.
Sometime in early 1690, Honoré died at Montreal. The exact date isn’t known, but it was between March 20th, when he was known to be alive, and April 20th, when his wife requested an inventory of his estate. She remarried in 1705 and died in 1712. Honoré’s name is on the plaque in Montreal listing the people who arrived from France in 1653. He was an ancestor of Dan Aykroyd.
Children by Marie Bédard:
1. Jean Danis — B. 20 Jun 1660, Montreal, New France; D. 14 Jan 1741, Quebec City, New France
2. Jacques Danis — B. 8 Jan 1662, Montreal, New France
Children by Perrine Lapierre:
1. Charlotte Danis — B. 21 Dec 1666, Montreal, New France; D. 15 Jan 1667, Montreal, New France
2. Jean-Baptiste Danis — B. 17 Jan 1668, Montreal, New France; D. 5 Oct 1713, Montreal, New France; M. Anne Badel Lamarche (~1677-1742), 10 Sep 1691, Montreal, New France
3. Catherine Danis — B. 30 Oct 1669, Montreal, New France; D. 17 May 1755, Montreal, New France; M. Pierre Gougeon (~1659-?), 24 Sep 1686, Montreal, New France
4. Honoré Danis — B. 30 Oct 1669, Montreal, New France; D. 16 Aug 1722, Lachine, New France; M. Catherine Brunet (1681-~1756), 15 Nov 1694, Lachine, New France
5. Pétronille Danis — B. 25 Nov 1671, Montreal, New France; D. 13 Mar 1753, Yamaska, New France; M. (1) Charles Brouillard (1665-~1692), 18 Mar 1688, Montreal, New France; (2) Bernardin Cantara (1665-1753), 8 Oct 1696, Montreal, New France
6. Jeanne Danis — B. 23 Jun 1673, Montreal, New France; D. 12 Jul 1689,
7. Paul Danis — B. 6 Aug 1675, Montreal, New France
8. Nicolas Danis — B. 16 Aug 1677, Montreal, New France; D. 26 Jun 1758, Montreal, New France; M. (1) Marie-Anne Fortier (1685-1725), 3 Feb 1705, Lachine, New France; (2) Genevieve Gignard (1681-?), 23 Sep 1726, Pointe-Claire, New France
9. René Danis — B. 21 Dec 1679, Montreal, New France; D. Jun 1757, Yamaska, New France; M. Marguerite Forcier (1684-1761), 28 Jan 1705, Montreal, New France
10. Jacques Danis — B. 28 Jan 1682, Montreal, New France; D. 30 Jan 1682, Montreal, New France
11. Charles Danis — B. 20 Feb 1684, Montreal, New France; M. Dorothee Mechipoueoua (~1694-?), 1710, Kaskaskia, New France
Sources:
Généalogie du Quebec et d’Amérique française (website)
Quebec Catholic Parish Registers, 1621-1979, FamilySearch.org
King’s Daughters and Founding Mothers—1663-1673, Peter Gagne, 2000
Maison Saint-Gabriel (website)
WikiTree
