| Notes |
- Immigration: 1635, Quebec, New France
Occupation: Master Carpenter
Religion: Catholic
Gaspard Boucher may count among his descendants a great number of the
most remarkable families in Canada. Such is, in substance, the
finding of Msgr. Cyprien Tanguay contained in a short three-line
notation, which must be read with a magnifying glass because it
appears as a footnote to a page in his monumental work "Dictionnaire
genealogique des familles canadiennes." (1)
THE HEAD OF A CANADIAN DYNASTY
Indeed, this remarkable descendancy includes a Governor, a Prime
Minister, Ministers, Legislators, Bishops, illustrious warriors as
well as renowned male and female educators. We have here an entire
dynasty about which one could write a saga more captivating even than
the "Chronique des Pasquier, Jean-Christophe, or the Comedie
humaine." (2) There are also various intrigues from which an expert
writer could create a compellingly passionate tale.
In the meantime, while waiting for the legend of the Bouchers, to
flow from the pen of an historian who, with a little poetic flavor,
would reveal the exploits and feats-of-arms of these three centuries
and until all of the scattered documents have been assembled, let USA
portray the ancestor Gaspard as a humble settler who came from Perche
with his entire family in 1635. He had no intention of accomplishing
feats of arms and entering his name in the history books. He would
leave this task to his son Pierre and to the latter's offspring.
Moreover, if Gaspard Boucher and Pierre had not taken the initiative
of' settling in Trois-Rivieres, the destiny of this family would have
been different. Providence, in its unfathomable wisdom, often knows
how to place good people in the right place at the right time.
From 1629 to 1632, while New France suffered under the yoke of the
Kirke brothers, very few Frenchmen lived in that area of the world.
For his part, Robert Giffard, Seigneur of Beauport, had returned to
France. In 1634 he decided to come back to Canada, but this time with
his wife, his children and as many colonists as he could recruit.
Jean Guyon, Zacharie Cloutier, Noel Langlois and Jean Juchereau came
with this first group. Meanwhile, Gaspard Boucher was making his
final decision to leave the land of his fathers.
FATHER, MOTHER AND FIVE CHILDREN, CROSS THE SEA
Born at the end of the XVI century, Gaspard, probably the son of
Jacques Boucher and of Francoise Paigne, was married to Nicole
Lemaire when he was about twenty years old. At least eight children
were born of this union, five of whom crossed the seas with their
parents. However, on 25 May 1633, it is not at all certain that our
ancestor had any intention of leaving his homeland. On that date our
master carpenter acquired from his mother-in-law, Marie Gastrie, a
plot of land and an orchard at Perruchet, in the parish of Saint-
Hilaire. But he sold this property on 1 February 1634. Had he already
made the decision to go to New France? It is quite possible. However,
he was not on the first voyage, the one in 1634, as several
historians have stated.
Besides, on the following 20 April, (3) we learn that Marie Gastrie,
"abandoned wife of Pierre Delorme, her second husband," ensured her
son-in-law and daughter a legacy superior to that of her other heirs
because Gaspard and Nicole had provided for the forsaken lady without
recompense for eighteen months. Pierre Boucher himself stated in his
Memoires that he was one of the earliest inhabitants of New France,
"having been brought over to this country by my late father in 1635.
" (4) In addition, an act by notary Decourtemanche discovered by
Madame Pierre Montagne in the archives of Alencon confirms this. (5)
On 19 March 1635, the Boucher's were still in France; but on that day
they sold, left, ceded and transferred forever to Jeanne Desjouis,
two parcels of plowed but unsown land at Charbonniers, adjoining the
monastery of Val-Dieu. (6)
This was probably Gaspard's last transaction in his native Perche. A
few days later, the family bade adieu to their relatives and friends,
received the blessing of the Cure Alexandre Chevalier, traveled the
forty leagues (160 km) by wagon, (from Mortagne to Dieppe) and
embarked on one of the ships commanded by Duplessis-Bouchart.(7)
Coming out of the English Channel, the convoy evaded a fleet of
Turkish ships and made the transit, beset by the usual Atlantic
storms. This voyage was longer than the one the previous year, but
they finally reached the promised land on 4 July. A long-boat sent
from Tadoussac announced their imminent arrival at Quebec. The good
ship Saint-Jacques, commanded by Roche-Jacquelin, arrived there eight
days later.
CHAMPLAIN WELCOMES THE NEW ARRIVALS
"Samuel de Champlain, who was still living, (he died on Christmas
Day 1635), writes Montarville de la Bruere, welcomed the new arrivals
at Fort Saint-Louis. Without doubt he could not have suspected that
one among them, a young boy of thirteen, would later be one of the
principal instruments of the salvation of his dear colony. However,
it was a great consolation during his last days, to see added to his
nation such an industrious and honest family. " (8)
Gaspard himself asked Champlain for protection on his arrival at
Quebec. He then took advantage of this to inform the Governor of an
incident in which he was a victim. Thomas Giroust, a traveling
companion to whom he had entrusted some personal effects, refused to
return them. Champlain ordered Giroust to return the property that he
had kept illegally. Giroust pretended to obey, but later swore that
he would not. This affair dragged on for three years, and finally
justice was done. On 12 September 1638, Gaspard recounted that he had
asked Giroust to take him from Mortagne to Dieppe, with baggage which
contained, among other things, "two large salt cellars, two large
flower vases, two large plates, six porridge bowls, all in a tin
case, eight to ten plates, three small bowls, two of pewter and one
of tin, a ceramic bottle containing rosewater, two bushels of cooked
pears and one bushel of cooked prunes." (9) All of these items were
put aboard the ship and brought to Quebec. This theft of utensils did
not benefit Giroust, because it appears that he was obligated to sell
his property and return to France.
THE INFLUENCE OF THE BOUCHER FAMILY IN TROIS-RIVIERES
During the first ten years of his stay in New France, it seems that
Gaspard Boucher was a farmer for the Jesuits at Beauport. In 1644 he
received a section of land at Trois-Rivieres, probably granted by the
Governor, Charles Hualt de Montmagny. The Boucher family was well
established by 1646, because in that year two of the ancestor's
daughters, 12 year old Madeleine and 15 year old Marguerite, were
listed in the civil records of the town as godmothers, paired with
Michel Leneuf and Jean Godefroy.
"At the post of Trois-Rivieres, writes Sister Estelle Mitchell, (10)
the Boucher family had great influence, being made up of eighteen
people while the total population did not exceed one hundred. (11)
Gaspard, the father, as well as his sons-in-law Baudry and Lafond,
signed the official report of the election, as trustee, of Michel
Leneuf du Herisson in September 1648. (12) ... On Sunday, 17 January
1649, at the home of Gaspard Boucher, a marriage contract was signed
between his son Pierre and Marie Chrestien(sic), a Huron woman living
in Trois-Rivieres and who was related to the Pachirini family. (13)
Marie-Madeleine Chretienne, as historians call her, was a boarder for
a few years at the Ursuline convent." Mother Marie de l'Incarnation
said about her: "There are some among the Hurons who persevered in
their studies and whom we raised as French girls. We provide for them
and they do very well in reading, writing and speaking French. We
have introduced one of these girls to Monsieur Boucher who has been
for some time the Governor of Trois-Rivieres." (14)
The whole Boucher family fully approved of this marriage.
On 16 June 1649, Gaspard sold his property to Jean Sauvaget, (15)
but Governor d'Ailleboust granted him another on 1 June 1650, as "a
place to build a house at the bottom of the hillside where the fort
is situated." ( 16) This property had an area of 300 toises; 10 in
frontage by 30 in depth, located near the road which ran from the
town to the common. Gaspard's immediate neighbor was his son Pierre,
who also received a grant on the same day. He was located to the
north-west, on the land called the "Marquisat du Sable;" a boundary
which corresponds today with the rue Badeaux. (17)
From 1650 until his unexpected death, few documents detail Gaspard
Boucher's life in Trois-Rivieres. Undoubtedly he cultivated his land,
worked at his trade of carpenter, and above all, he influenced his
son Pierre, who often needed his wise counsel. On 22 November 1655,
the archives of the Provost of Trois-Rivieres mention a lawsuit
brought by, Gaspard against two competitors, the master carpenter
Elie Bourbaut and his associate Michel Lemay: Then we hear no more.
DID GASPARD DIE IN A FIRE IN HIS HOUSE?
On 27 June 1668, Madeleine Boucher, Gaspard's daughter and wife of
Urbain Baudry dit Lamarche, declared that the title to the 24 arpents
of land that her father had received from Governor Hualt de
Montmagny, on 21 March 1646, situated on the Saint-Maurice River "was
burned with the house of the said Gaspard Boucher, in which it was
kept." (18) Can we infer from this evidence that our ancestor himself
perished in his house? Most historians think so: It is certain that
Gaspard passed away between 1662 and 1668. As for his wife Nicole
Lemaire, was she also a victim of this fire? We just don't know. It
was said that she was still alive on 19 June 1652 when the records
mention her as a godmother. After that date there was nothing more.
The burial records of Gaspard and Nicole have fallen into one of the
numerous voids in the registry of Trois-Rivieres.
THE CHILDREN OF GASPARD BOUCHER AND NICOLE LEMAIRE
1. Charles (1620), was born at Mortagne and died an infant.
2. Antoinette (1621-?), was born at Mortagne and died, in France.
3. Pierre (1622-1717).
4. Nicolas (1625-1649), was born at Mortagne and died at Trois-
Rivieres.
5. Charles (1628-?), was born at Mortagne and died in France.
6. Marie (1629-1706), was born at Mortagne, married Etienne Pepin de
Lafond in 1645 and died at Batiscan.
7. Marguerite (1631-1669), was born at Mortagne, married Toussaint
Toupin, a master boatman, and died in the Quebec region.
8. Madeleine (1634-1691), was probably born during the Atlantic
crossing. In 1647 she married Urbain Baudry dit Lamarche, an edge-
tool maker and master blacksmith. They lived for a time in Quebec but
then lived in Trois-Rivieres for more than thirty years, where she
died.
THE CHILDREN OF PIERRE BOUCHER AND JEANNE CREVIER
1. Pierre (1653-1724?), Sieur de Boucherville, married Charlotte
Denis in 1683 at Quebec. They had 12 children.
2. Marie, also known as Marie-Ursule (1655-after 1688), married
Rene' Gauthier, Sieur de Varennes, in 1667. They had 11
children.
3. Lambert (1656-1699), Sieur de Grandpre, married Marie-Marguerite
rite Vauvril in 1693 at Quebec. They had 3 children.
4. Ignace (1659-1699), Sieur de Grosbois, married Marie-Anne Margane
in 1694 at Montreal. They had 5 children.
5. Madeleine (1661-after 160), married Pierre-NoeI LeGardeur, Sieur
de Tilly, in 1680 at Boucherville. They had 12 children.
6. Marguerite also known as Marie (1663-1698), married Nicolas
Danieu, Sieur de Muy, in 1687 at Boucherville. They had 7 children.
7. Philipp (1665-1721) was ordained a priest in 1689. He died at
Lauzon.
8. Jean (1667-after 1715) Sieur de Monbrun, married Francoise-Claire
Charet in 1692 at Lauzon. They had 12 children.
9. Rene (1668-after 1726) Sieur de LaPerriere, married Marie-
Francoise Maillot at Montreal in 1705. She died a few days after the
birth of their second child.
10. Jeanne (1670-1703) married Jacques-Charles Sabrevios, Sieur de
Bleury, in 1695 at Boucherville. They had 6 children.
11. Louise (1670-?) was the twin of Jeanne. Born at Boucherville but
no further information.
12. Nicolas (1672-?) was ordained a priest in 1696.
13. Jean-Baptiste (1673-after 1628), Sieur de Niverville , married
Marguerite-Therese Hertel in 1710 at Chambly. They had 12 children.
14. Jacques was the twin of Jean-Baptiste. He died at Boucherville
in 1688.
15. Genevieve was born in 1676 at Boucherville. She became an
Ursuline nun at Quebec in 1696. (21)
END NOTES
1) Volume 1, page 71.
2) Work of Georges Duhamel, Romain Rollard and Honore de Balzac.
3) Act of Roussel, notary of Mortagne.
4) BRH, 1926. Page 398.
5) Author of Tourouvre et les Juchereau. This great friend of Canada
has gathered all the notarial information about the origins of our
ancestors who came from Perche in the XVII century.
6) Quote from Messire Pierre Boucher, the splendid work of Sister
Estelle Mitchell, published on the occasion of the 250th anniversary
of the death of the founder of Boucherville.
7) Charles Duplessis-Bouchart, Admiral of the Fleet of the One
Hundred-Associates. The previous year he had participated in the
founding of Trois-Rivieres, by Laviolette on 4 July 1634. The town
took its name from the three channels through which the Saint-Maurice
River enters the Saint-Lawrence.
8) Cahiers des Dix, No 2, Montreal, 1937, pages 239-240.
9) Guillaume Tronquet, the Secretary to Governor Montmagny, drew up
the official report of testimony.
10) Op Cit (6), pages 63-64.
11) BRH, 1924, page 171.
12) Ibid,1923, page 252.
13) Benjamin Sulte, HCF, Volume 1, page 101. Charles Pachirini was
an Algonquin Chief.
14) Richardeau, Volume 2, page 364. This was an excerpt from a
letter to her son, Dom Claude Martin.
15) Record of the notary Laurent Berman.
16) Record of the notary Guillaume Audouart.
17) Marcel Trudel. Le terrier du Saint-Laurent, 1663. Page 392.
18) Pierre-Georges Roy. Papier terrier de la compagnie des Indes
occidentales. Page 319.
19) J. Richard Lebel. "Je Me Souviens" , Journal of the American
French Genealogical Society, Spring 1982, pages 3-7.
20) Taguay, Jette, et al.
21) Rene Jette. Dictionnaire genealogique des familles du Quebec.
Page 136.
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