ISAAC BEDARD (1616

ISAAC BÉDARD (1616 - 1689) and MARIE GIRARD (1623-1683)

Isaac Bédard -- Yet another Quebec ancestor who is a 7th Great Grandfather to Vernon Parent and his brothers/sisters.

On Sunday, 20 March 1644, there was great rejoicing in the Bédard household. The 28 year old Isaac, who would come to be the ancestor of all the Bédards in North America, was going to marry Marie Girard. A Huguenot pastor, one M.J. Flanc, would preside over the nuptial ceremony at La Rochelle.

LA ROCHELLE

This seaport city, capital of Aunis and of French Calvinism, had undergone a severe military siege in 1627-28, under the orders of the Catholic King Louis XIII. This only caused the Protestants to become more devout, even though conquered. Young Isaac, at the age of 9 years, had already lived through these miserable times. The name Bédard comes from the word "Beadle", a minor religious official having disciplinary duties.

Isaac Bédard, a master carpenter of considerable stature, earned his living in La Rochelle, a gateway to the Atlantic, between 15 December 1644 and the year 1658. Isaac and Marie had 7 children baptized at the Calvinist temple: Jacques, Francois, Pierre, Richard, Isaac, Louis and Anne. They all died very young, except for Jacques and Louis.

On 20 April 1660, the municipal records of La Rochelle tell us that our ancestor Isaac Bédard, his wife Marie Girard, and their son Jacques, all natives of that town, renounced Protestantism in order to embrace Catholicism. Did they do this through religious conviction or in order to obtain permission to emigrate to Canada? Who knows? At that time the family lived in the parish of Saint Sauveur.

NEW FRANCE

The die was cast. The Bédards would go to live in New France. But first the father and son would go over to prepare the family nest. This they did around 1660. By 1661 Isaac had found a spot in the Upper Town of the city of Quebec, located between the property of Louis Chapelain and that of the Jesuits in Cote-de-la-Fabrique. On the 1st of May, 1662, Jacques, the elder son, was confirmed by Mgr. de Laval at Quebec. Then the mother, with Louis, the younger son, crossed the sea in their turn. It must have been about 1663, because on 12 May 1664, Marie, the youngest child, was born at Quebec. Father Henri Bernieres baptized the baby on the 18th of the same month. Her godfather was Jean Normand and her godmother was Marie Letart, the wife of Jean Roussin.

DIFFICULT BEGINNINGS

To read the old documents still available, it would seem that our ancestor Bédard had some difficulty in being accepted. Was it simply his neighbors fault, or his former Protestant affiliation, or because of the zeal often displayed by new converts?

On 5 March he bought a piece of property with buildings on it from Mathiew Hubou. It was located in Notre-Dame-des-Anges and cost him 400 livres. The dimensions were an arpent and a half in frontage on the Saint Charles river by a depth of 60 arpents. It was there that his troubles began.

On October 1663, Vincent Regnault demanded compensation to pay a half-minot of wheat plus a day's labor. All this because his cow had feasted with gusto on the grass of a neighbor.

Two months later, on 15 December, Michel Desorcy demanded 100 sols in compensation for the damages that an unruly pig had done to his meadows. Bédard had clearly warned Desorcy that he could not always guard the rascal; but the warning evidently was not timely enough, because Isaac had to pay the damages to the last penny, including a fine of 14 livres.

And now, on the first of April, 1664, comes Mathieu Hubou to complain that Isaac had neither hauled away his wood nor worked on his building. Isaac replied that he had been unable to do so and furthermore Hubou had fought with him over it in the presence of Monseigneur de Laval. The Sovereign Council ordered Hubou to furnish the wood and Bédard set to work on the construction as soon as the spring sowing was done. Also they were forbidden to insult, fight, or quarrel over the matter.

CHARLESBOURG

After all these litigations the Bédard family decided to leave the area. They sold their farm to Claude Charron on Saturday, 26 December 1665, for 430 livres, of which 200 was payable in cash "minted in the coin of the country." Pierre Murault owned a plot of land, two arpents in frontage, at Petite-Auvergne. He sold it to Bédard, who already had a place in the neighborhood, for 60 livres. Thus the Bédards set up housekeeping on this farm in the village of Saint-Jerome, within the Charlesbourg area.

MASTER CARPENTER

While farming was his basic means of livelihood, Bédard earned additional income for 16 years by utilizing his talent as a master carpenter. For example, in May, 1666, the civil administrator, Jean Talon, ordered 100 oars. Isaac filled the order, with the help of Laurent Duboc, for the price of 15 sols each.

The family appear in the 1666 census with the following information:

Isaac Bedart, 50, carpenter, inhabitant

Marie Girard, 42, his wife

Jacques, 20, carpenter

Louis 10, son

Marie, 18 months, daughter

In 1668 Bédard built a fine barn, 40 by 24 feet, at a cost of 150 livres, for the account of Claude Charron. Then in 1670 Rene Branche had a small house built for himself. It was described as "of good wood, one piece on the other", 18 by 16 feet, with 5 feet "under beams". The price of this work, performed by Bédard, came to 60 livres. The next year Jean Juchereau ordered a 30-by-30 foot barn built at Beauport. Carpenter Bédard's wages for this came to 910 livres. On 26 October 1671, Timothee Roussel commissioned Bédard to raise the rafters of a house at la Canardiere and offered him 45 livres.

Our ancestor Isaac Bédard filled many other orders, not all of which were registered by the notaries. In 1682 we see him once more building a modern barn, this time for the sum of 100 livres, for Louis de Villeray, 'which would be 52 feet long . . . at each gable end was to be two Saint Andrews crosses and two openings above the tie beams, and a cupola at the peak." Finally, about the same time, our ancestor Francois Lavernge, " a mason living at the inn" in Quebec, obtained the assistance of Bédard for the construction of a house in the Upper Town, near the Ursulines. The value of this work came to 85 livres. Nobody ever complained about the quality of the work done by our ancestor Bédard, he must have worked well.

THE FARMER

In those times it was necessary to struggle hard in order to live honorably. There was no doubt that the Bédards had come to Canada with some capital, but by January, 1669, Isaac's stake had all but disappeared. They appealed to the Jesuits "to come to their aid in their urgent troubles." These latter lent them 50 livres.

On 17 October 1681, the Hospitalieres granted Bédard a concession, 3 by 20 arpents, fronting on the Saint Romain road, subject to "cens et rents," on condition that he build a homestead on the site. Notary Becquet wrote in the contract that Bédard was a resident of Notre-Dame-des-Anges. On 8 April 1685 the same order of nuns granted Bédard another arpent to be added to his grant. Isaac was then living on the Plaine Saint-Romain on the concession of 1681. Furthermore, Notary Genaple placed him on the same spot in 1683 , in a contract which set forth the fact that Bédard owed Villeray 82 livres.

In the census of 1681, Isaac Bédard, carpenter, inhabitant of Petite-Auvergne, owned a gun, 4 head of cattle and 12 arpents of land under cultivation. Such are the acts and the facts concerning our ancestor Isaac Bédard.

SMALL FAMILY BUT MANY DESCENDANTS

Isaac Bédard was buried at Charlesbourg on the 15th of January, 1689, at the age of about 73 years. Father Nicolas Dubos wrote in the register: "after having received the sacraments of penance, Eucharist and extreme unction." As for Marie Girard, his faithful wife, there remains no documentation of her death, which occurred after 1687. Isaac and Marie left behind three children in sorrow, all of whom settled in Charlesbourg.

Marie Bédard, aged barely 16, former pupil of the Ursulines, married Nicolas Huppe on 29 April 1680. She gave him a son, Charles. In 1681 Marie was married for a second time to Andre Auclair, a native of La Rochelle.

Jacques married Isabel Doucinet in 1666 at Quebec. Like himself, she was a convert from the region of La Rochelle. They brought 18 children into the world, among whom were 2 sets of twins. Like his father before him, Jacques was both a farmer and carpenter. On 5 April 1688, the Sovereign Council named him an expert to render judgment on a problem that arose between Pierre Delalande and Nicolas Marion. The Augustine Sisters gave him an order to build two wings onto their General Hospital around 1711.

As for Louis, husband of Marie Madeleine Huppe, he raised 12 children and had the privilege of seeing the first Bédard consecrated a nun in the service of the Hospital of Quebec. She was Marie-Ursule, Sister Sainte-Monique

The numerous descendants of Jacques and Louis are noted for their talents. In 1946 there were an estimated 30,000 Bédards in America. The family shown with particular brilliance in the ecclesiastic and religious world, in politics and the law, in commerce and even in the military. At Charlesbourg in 1760, for example, the Bédards could count 2 captains and 2 sergeants in the militia.

Carry the name Bédard with pride - it is an honor!

Source: Nos Ancestres Franco-Canadien, Volume 2, Gerard Lebel, C.S.J., St. Anne de Beaupre 1981 as translated by Thomas J. Laforest and published in Our French Canadian Ancestors, Volume 2, The Lisi Press 1984; http://ourworld.cs.com/raymdupuis/BEDARD.HTML.

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Name: Isaac Bédard
Sex: M
Birth: 1616 in St. Sulpice,Paris,France
Death: 14 JAN 1688/1689 in Village St. Antoine,Québec

MARRIAGE: La Rochelle, Aunis, Charente-Maritime, France

Isaac was a charpentier de grosses oeuvrer.

Marriage 1 Marie GIRARD b: 12 FEB 1622/1623 in La Rochelle,Charente Maritim,France
Married: 20 MAR 1643/1644 in La Rochelle,Charente Maritim,France
Children
Jacques BEDARD b: 18 DEC 1644 in La Rochelle,Charente Maritim,France
Francois BEDARD b: 12 AUG 1646 in La Rochelle,Charente Maritim,France; d. 25 AUG 1647 LaRochelle, Aunis, France
Pierre BEDARD b: 21 DEC 1647 in La Rochelle,Charente Maritim,France; d. 6 NOV 1648 LaRochelle, Aunis, France
Richard BEDARD b: 21 SEP 1649 in La Rochelle,Charente Maritim,France; d. 18 JULY 1650 LaRochelle, Aunis, France
Isaac BEDARD b: 5 AUG 1652 in La Rochelle,Charente Maritim,France; d. 18 OCT 1652 LaRochelle, Aunis, France
Louis BEDARD b: 25 JAN 1654/1655 in La Rochelle,Charente Maritim,France
Anne BEDARD b: 7 FEB 1657/1658 in La Rochelle,Charente Maritim,France; d. 24 OCT 1658 LaRochelle, Aunis, France
Marie BEDARD b: 18 MAY 1664 in Charlesbourg,Québec

1 Pierre Bédard d: ABT. 1530

  2 Jehan Bédard

    3 Isaac Bédard b: ABT. 1544 d: ABT. 1595

      + Jabel Rulleau

        4 Jacques Bédard b: ABT. 1585

          + Marie Guerineau b: ABT. 1600

            5 Isaac Bédard b: 1616 d: 14 JAN 1688/89

              + Marie Girard b: 12 FEB 1622/23 d: 17 JAN 1682/83

                  6 Jacques Bédard b: 18 DEC 1644 d: 1711

                   + Isabelle Doucinet b: 17 MAY 1647 d: 1710

                     7 Thomas-Charles Bédard b: 18 OCT 1682 d: 1760

                       + Jeanne-Françoise Huppé b: 23 NOV 1688 d: SEP 1760

                         8 Thomas Bédard b: 1713

                            + Marie-Angélique Fiset b: 16 MAR 1721/22

                               9 Charles-Joseph Bédard b: 4 NOV 1748

                                 + Brigette Jobin b: 1761

                                   10 Marie-Louise Bédard b: ABT. 1800

                                          + Pierre Parent b: ABT. 1795

                                          11 Charles Parent b: 1833 d: 23 DEC 1906

                                             + Emélie Audet b: 1835 d: 2 MAR 1910

                                               12 Alphonse Joseph Parent b: 8 APR 1860 d: 17 MAR 1932

                                                 + Joséphine Lavoie b: 22 FEB 1861 d: 17 OCT 1947

                                                    13 Joseph Anthony Parent b: 2 MAY 1893 d: 30 SEP 1978

+ Dorthea Rebecca Frost b: 11 FEB 1906 d: 3 AUG 1994

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