"Le Petit" Claude Bouchard (1626-1699)

and

Nicole-Louise Gasnier or Gagné (1642-1721)

Claude (1st Generation)

Claude Bouchard, son of Jacques Bouchard and Noelle Touschard, was born in Saint-Cosme-de-Vair, France, in 1626. Saint-Cosme-de-Vair was a community in the Department of the Sarthe, in Perche, and comprised seven parishes. Claude considered himself to be from the parish of Notre-Dame. He died on 25 November 1699 at the age of 73.

Why "Le Petit"?

There were actually 6 or 7 different Bouchards who came to Canada (New France) in the seventeenth century. Two of them were named "Claude" Bouchard. One of these was a doctor (a surgeon) who came from Picardy. In order to differentiate the two the doctor was referred to as "Claude dit d'Orval" and the other as "Le Petit Claude". This latter listed his occupation as tailor (un Taileur d'habits). His surname, which means "The Small Claude", must have been because he was of smaller stature than the other Claude. This nickname, however, certainly was not merited when it came to his progeny, having 12 children of his own (6 boys and 6 girls) as a result of his union with Louise Gagne, whom he married in Beaupré in 1654.

His coming to New France

In order to understand the occasion of Claude's coming to New France (Canada) one needs to have at least a brief understanding of the colony and how the powers in France at the time (Louis XIII and Louis XIV, along with the latter's Minister for the colonies Jean Baptiste Colbert) went about the business of colonizing the new land.

From the beginning of the colony it was intended that the social order in New France should rest upon a seignorial basis. This was a system of land tenure, a method of apportioning land and bringing it into production while avoiding the evils of speculation. Title to all the land in the colony rested in the king, who would grant concessions to seigneurs on the condition that they get their land cleared and made productive. This required, as part of their grant agreement with the crown, that the seigneurs enlist and establish settlers on their lands, as well as build a mill for the settlers' use, and also maintain a court of law to settle minor disputes.

A seigneur was not a landlord as we understand that term today. He had obligations and responsibilities both to the crown and to his settlers, and the authorities saw to it that he fulfilled them. The same applied to the settlers. The seigneur was actually little more than a land settlement agent and his financial rewards were not great. Being a seigneur was still something to be eagerly sought after since it gave one greatly enhanced social status, and this was manifested in a variety of ways.

For their part these settlers, or "censitaires" as they were known (although "habitants" is what they preferred to call themselves), were required to clear the lands granted them by the seigneurs, and were also obligated to pay modest dues (rents) in return. There were other modest requirements imposed on the settlers in return for the land concessions, which could be revoked if one did not fulfill his obligations. A settler could eventually own his concession to the point where he could even sell it, although if he sold it to anyone other than a direct heir he had to pay 1/12 of the sale price to the seigneur, and the latter also then had the right to buy the land at the price offered by the would-be purchaser within forty days of the sale. When land was sold, what the seller received was, in essence, not the worth of the land but compensation for the improvements he had made on it. This acted as a curb on land speculation.

One of the first seigneurs who fulfilled his trust to the letter was a named Robert Giffard. Monsieur Giffard, a doctor who had come to New France in 1627, was able to recruit several settlers beginning in 1632 (30 to 40 persons in 1632, and approximately the same number in 1635). Between 1635 and 1663 he was able to recruit an additional 50 or so persons, and this is where our Claude comes into the picture.

Claude Bouchard, a tailor, born in 1626, was from the Province of the Maine, a native of Saint-Cosme-de-Vair. As I understand it this place was actually in Perche, an area administered by the Province of the Maine at the time. His father was Jacques Bouchard and his mother was named Noelle Touschard. We know nothing of his youth except that he was a member of Notre Dame Parish in his home town. We do know that he made a living as a tailor (un Taileur d'habits).

We find Claude in March 1650 present at the White Horse Inn (Hotel du Cheval Blanc), situated on the road leading to Rouperoux, attending a conference being given by Monsieur Giffard who was looking for volunteers to emigrate to New France. Claude, and a friend named Julien Fortin, volunteered to go. They put their affairs in order and sometime after embarked for New France. It is recorded in a certain Jesuit journal that Monsieur Giffard's vessel arrived on the 14th of July, but does not give the year. It may have been 1650, but then some believe it was 1652. In any event, a sizeable group of Bouchards were present at the White Horse Inn, in Saint-Cosme-de-Vair in 1952, to unveil a plaque commemorating the 300th anniversary of the departure of their ancestor Claude Bouchard for New France. I nonetheless accept as fact that Claude arrived in New France on 14 July 1650, because of other dates one comes across in the telling of his story.

Upon arriving, Claude and his friend Julien went to the seigneury de Beauport (situated between where Québec stands today and the Mount Morency Falls to the north) to secure food and lodging. It appears that Claude had come with some funds of his own (being his father's heir as well as an accomplished tailor) and had come to New France not as an indentured servant but rather under the protection of Monsieur Giffard with some freedom to travel, which he did. We next find him, on 26 October 1650, in the office of Oliver Letardif, agent for the seigneurie de Beaupré, for the purpose of buying a tract of land with one fifth of a mile fronting on the river and about five miles deep into the interior. This tract was located about three miles northeast of where the church of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré stands today. Three years later, on 01 October 1653, Claude wanted to sell this tract to a Louis Guimond, but the sale was not approved (as it had to be, by the royal charter company) until 01 October 1657, for which he received 600 livres, a fair sum in its day.

His Wife, Louise

Louise Gasnier (also known as Nicole-Louise Gagné), born on 21 January 1642 in S Martin d'Inge, Orne, France, was not yet a teen-ager when, on 30 October 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 Québecville. 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 18 October 1646).

Claude and Louise first settled at Sainte-Anne de Beaupré, living near her parents. On 30 July 1657, Claude signed a 6-year lease on some land at Saint-Charles of Cap Tourmente, in the Seigneurie de Beaupré 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 27 October 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-Beaupré, 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-Rivière. 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-Rivière 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-Beaupré, which attests to the fact that the family, during the period of 1676-1680, lived somewhere in the area of the Seigneurie de Beaupré. One thing for certain is that Antoine, my ancestor, was baptized at Baie Saint-Paul by Father Louis Soumande on 25 October 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, François, 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 19 October 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, René Lavoye, Michel Tremblay, and Étienne Simard. Louise outlived her husband by some 22 years. She was 79 at the time of her death in April of 1721.

Their Children

1.  Marie
Born: 27 October 1659 in Québec
Died: 29 April 1739
Marie became a nun, entering the Congregation of Notre Dame at Montreal where she took the name of Sister Saint Paul, taking her vows on 05 August 1698.

2.  Jacques
Born: September 1662 in Chateau Richer
Died: 12 December 1680 at Chateau Richer
Jacques died in a drowning accident at Chateau Richer at age 18

3.  Gilles
Born: 08 March 1664 in Chateau Richer
Died: 22 March 1664 at Petit Cap
Died in infancy

4.  Marguerite
Born: 15 October 1665 at Chateau Richer
Died: 06 April 1731 at Baie St-Paul
Marguerite married twice, first to René de Lavoye at Saint Anne de Beaupré on 04 November 1683, and then (date unknown) to Jean Gagnon. It is recorded that Marguerite and René had ten children. This is the source of three of our lines of descent (see below)

5.  Louise
Born: 1668 at Chateau Richer
Died: 08 December 1696 at Petite-Rivière

6.  Anne
Born: 20 February 1670 at Cap Tourmente
Died: 08 April 1731 at Chateau Richer
Anne married Louis Jobidon at L'Ange Gardien on 20 November 1690
They had five children

7.  Geneviève
Born: 25 April 1672 at Sainte-Anne de Beaupré
Died: 23 March 1754 at Petite-Rivière
Genevieve married Michel Tremblay at Baie St-Paul on 20 June 1686
They had fourteen children

8.  François
Born: 8 April 1674 at Cap Tourmente
Died: 12 October 1756 at Petite-Rivière
François married Marguerite Simard, sister of Madeleine Simard (married to Antoine) at Baie St-Paul on 15 June 1699. It is recorded that François and Marguerite had eighteen children of their own. This is the source of one of our lines of descent (see below)

9.  Rosalie
Born: 06 April 1676 at Sainte-Anne de Beaupré
Died: 23 June 1733 at Baie St-Paul
Rosalie married Étienne Simard at Baie St-Paul on 22 November 1695. Étienne was the brother of both Madeleine (married to Antoine) and Marguerite (married to François). Rosalie and Étienne had eleven children

10. Claude
Born: 14 October 1678 at Sainte-Anne de Beaupré
Died: 28 October 1678 at Sainte-Anne de Beaupré
Died in infancy

11. Louis
Born: 12 April 1680 at Sainte-Anne de Beaupré
Died: 17 November 1727 at Montreal
Louis married twice, first to Suzanne Lefebvre on 25 February 1715 at Laprairie, and next to Françoise Dania-Daigneau on 02 December 1724, also at Laprairie. Louis and Suzanne had five children

12. Antoine 
Born: 25 October 1682 at Petite-Rivière
Died: 24 June 1759 at Baie St-Paul
Fortunately the Bouchards had 12 children, for Antoine and his wife are the source of two of our lines of descent (see below). Antoine married Madeleine Simard (sister of Marguerite and also of Étienne) on 20 November 1704 at Baie Saint-Paul. Antoine and Madeleine had eleven children. Antoine died while hiding in the woods in the area of Baie Saint-Paul where he and other neighbours had taken refuge to avoid the passage of the troops of the English General Wolfe who was conducting a terror campaign up and down the river in the hope of drawing out the French General Montcalm's troops out of their fortifications in Québec. The tactic failed, but Wolfe was nonetheless successful the following September in defeating Montcalm on the Plains of Abraham above Québec City, which eventually resulted in the end of the Colony of New France in North America.

Sources:

http://www.mts.net/~pbouchar/

http://www.naught.org/glb.htm