| Notes |
- Louise Gasnier, born on January 21, 1642 in S Martin d'Inge, Orne,
France, was not yet a teen-ager when, on October 30, 1653, at the home
of her parents, a Notary by the name of Aubert read a contract of
marriage between Claude Bouchard and Louise, a minor. Louise was born
in the region of Perche in France, the eldest daughter of Louis
Gasnier and Marie Michel. Perche was a region located in the general
area between Chartres and Alencon, some 50 to 75 miles west-southwest
of Paris. The church nuptial blessing of Claude and Louise was delayed
until May 25, 1654, taking place at the home of her parents who were
then living in Quebecville. The blessing was given by Father Paul
Ragueneau, a Jesuit priest who had come over from France in 1636 with
other missionaries (including Isaac Joques who died a martyr at the
hands of the Iroquois on October 18, 1646).
Claude and Louise first settled at Sainte-Anne de Beaupre, living near
her parents. On July 30, 1657, Claude signed a 6-year lease on some
land at Saint-Charles of Cap Tourmente, in the Seigneurie de Beaupre
just north-east of Sainte-Anne. Claude and Louise moved there, and it
was while they were living there that their first child, a daughter
named Marie, was born on October 27, 1659 when Louise was 17.
In October of 1661 Claude and Louise are forced to leave the area in
haste and abandon their farm because of Iroquois incursions on their
land. The Iroquois (mostly bands of Mohawks and Oneidas) had been
terrorizing the region since June of that year. The family takes
refuge at Chateau Richer, below Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupre, and does not
return to the farm for several years. Their next four children are
born at the Chateau. Louise's father disappears very mysteriously one
day, probably abducted by savages.
Claude and Louise eventually returned to the Cap Tourmente area after
the Iroquois problems had subsided following the arrival of a regiment
of regular soldiers from France. Claude is listed in the census of
1666 as having a wife and four children living at Cap Tourmente, with
the widow Gasnier (Louise's mother) and her children living nearby.
The following year the census taker noted that Claude Bouchard owned 7
head of livestock and had 8 arpents of land under cultivation (one
arpent being approximately equal to five-sixths of an acre).
We next find Claude, in 1675, anxious to again make a move. He sells
some land and obtains 12 arpents of frontage land at Petite Riviere.
He then obtains additional land in 1676 in the same area. Furthermore,
Claude is commissioned by the Lord Bishop to explore an area called
Saint-Aubin which was in the domain of Baie Saint-Paul. He then lived
in the Baie Saint-Paul area for a while. It appears that he finally
settled his family in the area of Petite Riviere at a place called Cap
a Maillard.
Claude and Louise had 12 children, six boys and six girls. The
baptisms of Rosalie, Claude Junior, and Louis are all recorded at
Saint-Anne-de-Beaupre, which attests to the fact that the family,
during the period of 1676-1680, lived somewhere in the area of the
Seigneurie de Beaupre. One thing for certain is that Antoine, my
ancestor, was baptized at Baie Saint-Paul by Father Louis Soumande on
October 25, 1682.
Of the six boys which Claude and Louise had, only three survived into
adulthood (Jacques died in a drowning accident at age 18, with Gilles
and Claude Junior having died in infancy). The three who survived,
Francois, Louis and Antoine, are the ones who gave us many
descendants, the three having had eighteen, five, and eleven children
respectively. Before his death, Claude, wanting to make a distribution
to his children, on October 19, 1698, passed to his surviving sons ten
arpents each of land fronting on the river. Louise, in March of 1700,
deeded some prairie land to each of her sons in law, Rene Lavoye,
Michel Tremblay, and Etienne Simard. Louise outlived her husband by
some 22 years. She was 79 at the time of her death in April of 1721.
|
1642 - 1721 (79 years)
: Address
: Location
: City/Town
: County/Shire
: State/Province
: Country
: Not Set