Késsinnimek - Roots - RacinesCARIGNAN- SALIÈRE
AND MARIE-URSULE BOUCHER (1655-1733)
by Jacques Dunant
AND MARIE-URSULE BOUCHER (1655-1733)
by Jacques Dunant
Version française
The West Indies Company and
THE CARIGNAN-SALIÈRE REGIMENT
The concession of Îles percées, carried out by Jean de Lauson should have been granted again given the abandon of the rights of the Hundred-Associates in March 1663. This did not prevent Pierre Boucher to think about parceling his fiefdom. Why did Jean de Lauson wait until 24 January 1664 to grant his fiefdom to Pierre Boucher? Maybe it was to follow a request of this latter himself, a request which could have accompanied his manuscript of "Histoire Véritable et Naturelle" - "True and Natural History". Pierre Boucher was thinking about developing his fiefdom, but he was also considering and especially of resigning his government of Trois-Rivières (Three Rivers).
Mrs. Crevier (Jeanne Esnard or Esvard) and her Crevier sons were very involved in the fur trade, a business that was profitable from the alcoholic spirits which they offered to the Amerindians in exchange for their pelts. This commerce was not always legal and embarassed Judge Boucher. Of course, because of his title of judge, he could have been forced to condemn his mother-in-law.
(11)Source: E. Salone: La colonisation..p.257 et 264
Between autumn 1664 and summer 1665, Pierre Boucher wrote the reasons. He displayed his intentions because of a delicate situation in Trois-Rivières with Bishop Laval who did not approve of the traffic of acoholic spirits, at times, against the opinion of the Governor General de Mésey.
In January 1664, at the home of Florentin Lambert, Saint-Jacques Street in Paris, Pierre Boucher's work entitled "Histoire véritable et naturelle des moeurs et productions du pays de la Nouvelle-France vulgairement dite le Canada" (True and natural History of the mores and productions of the country of New France commonly called Canada) was published. The work was dedicated to Monsignor Colbert, which was the answer to Pierre Boucher's request. Pierre Boucher considered developing his fiefdom and accordingly, he considered also to quitting his government of Trois-Rivières.
Pierre Boucher is convinced that New France must be populated and once we have mastered "this Iroquois scoundrel" the country will offer all sorts of advantages to all those who would make the effort. But since 1649, the Iroquois have attacked from all directions and in 1653 the word is "let's get out of the country". The little colony of Ville-Marie is naturally the most exposed to the Iroquois invasions. These decided to strike a great blow - they take advantage of the absence of the Montreal governor, Paul Chomedey de Maisonneuve who left to go find reinforcements in France - to attack Trois-Rivières and in this way to isolate Ville-Marie which without reinforcements would not be able to resist any longer.
Luckily, this year 1653, Jeanne Mance and the Montrealers resisted the assaults of the Amerindians and Boucher was able to successfully save the Trois-Rivières post and to bring the Iroquois to negotiate a treaty that was favorable for the colony at Québec. His first born son Pierre was born that year and would become the Sire of Boucherville.
At the end of the year, Mr. de Maisonneuve arrived, finally returning to Québec with those who were called the "Great Recruits of 1653".
All of these things finally gave a respite to New France but they were waiting still for the military and qualified tradesmen.
The King and Colbert kept their promise made to Pierre Boucher. In 1665, they sent to New France a regiment of troops of about 1200 men. They arrived in four groups, within a month apart, mid-June, mid-July, mid-August and mid-September. The commanders were the Marquis de Tracy and Mr. Chastelard de Salières. They quickly built three forts along the Richelieu river and returned to winter quartes on the banks of the Saint Lawrence. A surprise awaited Pierre Boucher; his daughter Marie-Ursule returned from the Ursulines of Quebec and noticed lieutenant René Gaultier de Varennes whose company was quartered at Trois-Rivières; the attraction is mutual and Pierre Boucher, as governor in place was in constant contact with the officer. He considered him worthy to be part of his family, but his daughter was only eleven years old!
The first Carignan campaign in January 1666 proved to be a failure. A second was needed in autumn 1666. This last expedition to the Five Nations left Québec on 6 September 1666; their villages and their harvest were destroyed and the regiment returned on 5 November 1666. The Iroquois fled before this invasion. Winter and spring went by without any Iroquois foray. The campaigns of the regiment in 1666 led to a peace treaty signed in the summer of 1667.
Pierre Boucher faced his problems and resolved them in this manner:
His daughter Marie would be nubile (of age to marry) in the summer of 1667. He parcelled his fiefdon in such a way to give the advantage to his daughter and his son-in-law by giving them one third of the land received in 1664. This parcel cost him nothing and he avoided a new request from the authorities.
The governor and the steward approved of the deal. Talon actually saw an excellent occasion, if he had not already seen it for quite some time to offer land to the Carignan officers and to their soldiers who wished to settle in the country and thereby populate New France. Talon would ask the king to send here girls who would marry and thereby started the saga of the king's daughters.
But in Talon's mind, there is more than that, the fact of being able to regroup in Montérégie well trained and disciplined troups would insure the security of the colonists of Ville-Marie who had been asking for reinforcements for a long time. The captains of Saurel, of Chambly, of Saint-Ours, Pécaudy de Contrecoeur and Jarret de Verchères would obtain concessions in the region and would insure the safety of the river zone against forays coming from the south, the Iroquois country.
The goal of Jean Talon was to develop lands close to each other in such a way as to avoid isolation and to allow aid and assistance among them!
The south bank of Montreal was developed slowly, the first posts were Sorel and Chambly, but these were only forts. Sorel was named after its captain Pierre de Saurel; he was charged to reconstruct a fort at the mouth of the Iroquois River (Richelieu) in the summer of 1665. He had to replace the old Richelieu fort, erected in 1642 and abandonned five years later. Mister de Tracy ordered Jacques de Chambly to build two others, one which would be called Saint-Louis, at the foot of the rapids and another named Fort Sainte-Thérèse. These three forts were ready in autumn of 1665, they permitted the surveillance of the river and the movements of the Iroquois. The chaplains accompanied the soldiers. In Chambly some colonists supported the local lord and began to clear the land.
The beginnings of life in Montérégie. La Prairie was the first post. The territory was conceeded to the Jesuits in 1647 (1). It was so exposed to the Iroquois forays that the Reverend Jesuit Fathers did not establish themselves there until 1667. Following were Sorel and Chambly, this two posts established in Montérégie were forts; they were occupied by soldiers. This was due to campaigns of the Carignan regiment (1665 and 1666) (2) Boucherville and Varennes followed closely behind these. At Boucherville a parish register (not very active) was considered since the visit of Father Marquette in May 1668 (3). Nevertheless, in their "Journal" the Jesuit Fathers mentionned that Father Pierre Raffeix would leave Québec at the beginning of October 1667 to winter in the Îles percées, before going to La Prairie. He would have joined the Bouchers at Trois-Rivières and the group would have spent winter at Îles percées. It was very unlikely. Pierre Boucher and his family spent the winter of 67-68 at Trois-Rivières; this has been confirmed by the marriage contract of Marie with René Gaultier and by an act of notary Séverin Ameau, on March 8, 1668, it is the marriage contract of Marie Toupin and Pierre Mouët of Moras where René Gaultier of Varennes and Pierre Boucher were present.
What happend in Îles percées from 1664? Probably nothing in 1664 nor in 1665, the territory was well exposed to Iroquois forays, but after the Carignan campaigns, and starting from the time when the Iroquois were defeated, Pierre Boucher and René Gaultier put themselves to task in developing Boucherville and Varennes. This attempt took place on two fronts, at Îles percées and at Trois-Rivières.
The lord of Grosbois, Pierre Boucher, seriously evaluated his territory and he organized his development on three green areas. In the center of his fiefdom, he reserved a site for his town (4) which could be fortified in part and on each side of this site also called a village or town he prepared to distribute to colonists housing or land portions to clear and to cultivate a 50 arpent area, two arpent fronting the Saint Lawrence river by twenty-five in depth. He supported thus a vow from Jean Talon in order to avoid the scattering and the danger of isolation, encouraged the gradual development in order to insure protection and assistance. (5) But a survey must be done to establish the orientation of lands, to build a fort and to be able to shelter the first colonists, their possessions and animals if necessary; all of these are to be done near the actual Church square, which has always been the village center. This central zone of the seignory included the seignorial domain and corresponds to the tendencies of the area in the development of the territory, refer to: Initiation à la Nouvelle-France de Marcel Trudel (Initiation to New France by Marcel Trudel), page 187. It also tells of the spatial organization of the town of Trois-Rivières. In this location, for sure, the Bouchers and René Gaultier are well known. Everyone knows each other. Let us look at the:
On November 19, 1657, Jacques Ménard married Catherine Fortier (P.R.D.H.-89041), then on January 30, 1663, Jean Bellet dit Lachaussée married Marie Boyer (P.R.D.H.-89053) in the presence of Pierre Boucher. On November 25, 1664, Rolin Langlois married Marie Chauvin (P.R.D.H.-89064) in the presence of Pierre Boucher, governor. Marie Boyer and Rolin Langlois died shortly thereafter. Marie Chauvin remarried on July 20, 1665 to Jean de Noyon, (P.R.D.H.-89065) again in the presence of Pierre Boucher. There were others. Names well known in Boucherville appear there : Daunais, Giraudière, Charles, Quintal, Vérignonneau, Reguindeau, Rémy, Picard and Pillet. Other names would follow.
Montérégie would also take its first breath. But, the Bouchers could not leave Trois-Rivières without first giving a chance to René Gaultier to adapt to his new post. With the title as new governor he must be present and assume his post. The promise made to the newlyweds to house and nourish them for six months delayed until the spring of 1668 at the earliest the departure of the Boucher family for the Îles percées and unless there were no mishaps. But alas, there were some.
René Gaultier and Jeanne Crevier participated in a baptism on October 1, 1667 in Trois-Rivières then Boucher-Crevier clan abandonned all official activities in this location.
For quite a time already, Pierre Boucher was frequently absent from Trois-Rivières (the registers of the Judicial Court of Trois-Rivières attested to this fact); one can assume that his interest was more on the Îles percées and on the preparations for his establishment.
However, a new seignory could not have been established in a few weeks and especially when his spouse was pregnant with a ninth child. As for the register, one needed to wait until mid-November 1669 to show a new act by a missionary who would be in charge of an immense region.
Prepared by Jacques Dunant, April 2005.
References :
Note: The references of the Programme de Recherche en Démographie Historique (P.R.D.H.) are presented in two ways:
1. See our text on La Citière
2. On Carignan, See also: Michel Langlois, Le régiment de Carignan-Salière.
3. Baptism of May 20, 1668 by the Rev. Father Jacques Marquette.
4. The seignorial home and the church in the town.
5. First concessions by the Notray Thomas Frérot on April 4, 1673.
a) the acronym P.R.D.H. followed by a number (the number of the act) is taken from the CDRom of RAB of PRDH, edited by Gaëtan Morin of Boucherville
without a date but available at the Bibliothèque Montarville Boucher de La Bruère à Boucherville.
b) acronum P.R.D.H. with any annotation refers to volume 4, Trois-Rivières and surrounding area, and volume 5, Montréal et surrounding area, second edition revised and expanded, Les Presses de l'Université de Montréal 1991.
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