A Sailor and a Boat Operator — Elie Dussault dit Lafleur

B. 7 Sep 1635 in La Rochelle, France¹
M. 22 Feb 1663 in Quebec City, New France²
Wife: Madeleine-Euphrosine Nicolet
D. after 27 Jul 1681 in New France³

Elie Dussault dit Lafleur tends to be overshadowed by his more famous wife and father-in-law, but he did have his own story as a man who operated a boat in 17th-century New France.

Elie was born in about September 1635 in La Rochelle, France to François Dussault (also spelled Dusceau) and Marie Delaunay. Like many of the people in La Rochelle, Elie’s family were Calvinists, and he was baptized at Temple de la Villeneuve on September 7th.¹ The temple was built in the aftermath of the 1628 siege of La Rochelle at the “eastern end” of town. The Calvinists in La Rochelle were able to practice their religion for a time, but within a couple of generations, that ended, and the temple was shut down for good with the arrest of its ministers in 1684.⁴

Temple de la Villeneuve in La Rochelle, where Elie was baptized.

Elie was long gone from La Rochelle by then, and in any event, had converted to Catholicism.⁵ He became a sailor, probably a trade he picked up in the port city of La Rochelle. Elie acquired the nickname “Lafleur” likely while he worked aboard ships; why this name was applied to him is lost to history.

At some point Elie turned up in Quebec City where he met his future wife, Madeleine-Euphrosine Nicolet. She was the Métis daughter of Jean Nicolet, who was the first European to explore Lake Michigan. Madeleine-Euphrosine was roughly 7 years older than Elie and she had been recently widowed; she had a 15-year-old son and an 11-year-old daughter at the time. The wedding was at Notre-Dame-de Quebec on February 18, 1663,² and the record noted that the publication of three bans had been dispensed with. Just six months later, the couple was back in church celebrating the baptism of their first child,⁶ so the bride had likely been pregnant at the altar. Elie became a father three more times; all of his offspring were boys, with the oldest seeming to have died young.

A number of court and notarial records mentioned Elie, and established that he operated a boat or ship along the St. Lawrence River. In April 1664⁷ and October 1676,⁸ he was brought to court for debts that he owed. The second of these cases was to pay a butcher in Quebec 75 livres for some meat that he had purchased; the large amount of money suggests that the meat was for trade, not for his family’s consumption. Another matter Elie was involved with was regarding the property owned by Madeleine-Euphrosine’s first husband. This was described as “a square in the lower town of Quebec” that was 32 feet by 19 feet. When a man died, his wife didn’t necessarily inherit his property, and the courts often had to clear up titles, especially when a widow remarried.⁹

October 1676 court record ordering Elie to pay a butcher 75 livres.

Elie’s wife testified at a murder trial in late 1678,¹⁰ and the court record noted that Elie was an “archer of the Maréchaussée.” This meant he was a member of a sort of police force in Quebec City made up of six men who helped hunt down and detain men accused of crimes. There seems to be no other record of Elie with this description, and he must have only served in this role for a short time.

In December of that year, another case was prosecuted in Quebec City with Elie suing a man named Louis Maheu.¹¹ The record stated that Maheu had been working for Elie as a pilot on his ship, and had also lived in his home for a time. Elie was seeking rent payments from him, although the records don’t seem to indicate who won the case. Maheu was the first licensed doctor to be born in Canada, and after the lawsuit with Elie, he also became a captain of his own ship.

Another court record dated July 27, 1681 was the last time Elie’s name appeared as still living.¹² He was said to have died around this time, but there is no burial record for him in New France. Given his status as a man who worked on a boat, this seems to suggest he may have drowned. Madeleine-Euphrosine didn’t remarry, and she died in September 1689.¹³ They were ancestors of Leo Durocher.

Children:
1. Louis Dussault – B. 25 Aug 1663, Quebec City, New France⁶

2. Pierre Dussault – B. 31 Jul 1665, Quebec City, New France;¹⁴ M. Marie Rouleau (1667-1703), 2 Nov 1689, New France¹⁵

3. Jean-François Dussault – B. 4 Jan 1668, Quebec City, New France;¹⁶ D. before 24 Apr 1719, Lauzon, New France;¹⁷ M. Marie-Madeleine Bourassa (1673-1742), 8 Jan 1692, Pointe-deLévy, Lauzon, New France¹⁸

4. Charles Dussault – B. 21 May 1673, Quebec City, New France;¹⁹ D. before 12 Feb 1697;²⁰ M. Henrietta Balan (1677-1715), 16 Nov 1693, La Durantaye, New France²¹

Sources:
1    Généalogie du Québec et d’Amérique française listing for Elie Dussault dit Lafleur  
2    Marriage record of Elie Dussault dit Lafleur and Madeleine-Euphrosine Nicolet, Quebec Catholic Parish Registers, 1621-1979, FamilySearch.org
3    Burial record of Elie Dussault dit Lafleur, Q.C.P.R.
4    “The temple of Villeneuve in La Rochelle,” Guy Perron’s blog 
5    Based on the fact that Elie Dussault migrated to New France, which didn’t allow non-Catholics
6    Baptismal record of Louis Dussault, Q.C.P.R.
7    Court record of Elie Dussault vs. Denis Durome, 26 Apr 1664, BAnQ  
8    Court record of Elie Dussault vs. Michel Lecourt, 3 Dec 1667, BAnQ  
9    Court record about Madeleine-Euphorsine Nicolet’s property, 6 Oct 1676, BAnQ  
10  Criminal court case against Jean Brière, 22 Aug 1678 to 22 Oct 1678, BAnQ  
11  Court record of Elie Dussault vs. Louis Maheiu, 20 Dec 1678, BAnQ  
12  Court record of sale of property of Elie Dussault, 27 Jul 1681, BAnQ  
13  Burial record of Madeleine-Euphorsine Nicolet, Q.C.P.R.
14  Baptismal record of Pierre Dussault, Q.C.P.R.
15  Marriage record of Pierre Dussault and Marie Rouleau, Q.C.P.R.
16  Baptismal record of Jean-François Dussault, Q.C.P.R.
17  Marriage record of Jean-Baptiste Bergeron and Marie-Madeleine Bourassa, Q.C.P.R.
18  Marriage record of Jean-François Dussault and Marie-Madeleine Bourassa, Q.C.P.R.
19  Baptismal record of Charles Dussault, Q.C.P.R.
20  Marriage record of Yves Bechette and Henrietta Balan, Q.C.P.R.
21  Marriage record of Charles Dussault and Henrietta Balan, Q.C.P.R.