Re: Bouchard, the name's origin
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In reply to:
Re: Bouchard, the name's origin
Luc Bouchard 2/18/07
At this web site, you will find the article that I got my information from:
http://www.rainyday.ca/~howland/html-fr/bouchart.txthttp://www.rainyday.ca/~howland/html-fr/bouchart.txt
Luc, I will let you argue with them.I personnally did not study the name.I assume the Societe Genealogique-Etudes genealogiques did.
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Here is the article in full:
Translated from: Memoires de la Societe Genealogique-Etudes genealogiques
After 300 years of existence, there are about 1200 families descended from
Claude Bouchart d'Orval, first of that name in Canada & ancestor of all the
Dorvals & all the Desgroseilliers.A good portion of the Dorval families,
approximately 20%, descended not from a son, but from a daughter of the first
ancestor.They were in reality, the Bigots, who had lost their name.Certain
of them even corrupted their new name of Dorval to that of Duval, (in the
region of Bastican).On the other hand- & that is no less surprising- the
majority of the descendants in the male line of Claude Bouchart d'Orval carry
today the name of Desgroseilliers, which came to them when their second
ancestor, Jean-Baptiste Bouchart d'Orval, married a daughter of the famous
explorer & "coureur des bois" (voyager-fur trader), Chouart des Groseilliers.
His descendants took the name of Dorval dit Desgroseilliers & then simply that
of Dorval or Desgroseilliers.
When it is necessary to determine the place of origin or birth of someone of
our ancestors, it is usually to the contract of marriage or registry office
that one turns.Claude Bouchart d'Orval contracted two marriages.The
registration of the first has not been able to be traced, not even the
contract of marriage if there was one.In addition the contract of marriage
with his second wife, passed before Audouart, the 5 Nov 1651, says nothing of
the origins of the spouses.Fortunately the record of marriage at Notre-Dame
de Quebec indicates that he was "native of Montigny Langrin in Picardy"There
it is clear.As a bonus the word "native" here is a precise indication. Some
say a simple "of" which only indicates where the ancestor came from, rather
than where he was born.Montigny-Lengrain -that is the actual spelling of the
name- is a community easy to find on the map of the department of Aisne.
Situated 20 kilometers to the south-west of Soissons & 5 kilometers from the
train station of Vic-sur-Aisne, Montigny has a population of 600 people of
which nearly 200 live in the said village proper.
The encyclopedia tells us that the church dates from the 17th century &
contains a very ancient baptismal font.What is left of it?Very little
without doubt since during the first World War, the entrenched french-germans
shelled the village for several months which earned Montigny-Lengrain the
"Croix de Guerre".The entire region was devastated by war & during the last
war, all the Archives storage for Aisne at Soissons, burned.
Tanguay, in his Dictionnaire genealogique, has the birth of Claude Bouchart
d'Orval in 1626.In the census of 1666, he does not appear.We know that the
census was judged incomplete & unsatifactory & was redone the following year.
That census of 1667, which Tanguay did not use, gives Bouchart d'Orval the age
of 55, which would have him born in 1612.That is more likely.Having
arrived in this country in or before 1643, Claude Bouchart d'Orval would only
have been 17 according to Tanguay.Since he had already done everything
necessary to learn his trade of surgeon in France, he was surely in his
twenties.
Most of the descendants of Claude Bouchart d'Orval use the name of Dorval,
some that of Desgroseilliers.In the documents of the 17th century where he
is mentioned, one finds sometimes the spelling Bouchart, sometimes that of
Bouchard or Bouchar, sometimes that of Dorval or dorval.His signature,
however, which appears frequently in the contracts of his friend, the notary
Audouart,is invariably the same; "Claude Bouchart".Never does he refer to
himself as Dorval, Bouchart d'Orval, or Bouchard-Dorval.Why did he have
another surname?He had a namesake, Claude Bouchard, the tailor, which must
have caused some confusion.They were called "big Claude", the surgeon, &
"little Claude", the tailor.In addition, the ancestor was designated under a
totally different name, "the sieur dorval".Since there is a hamlet near
Montigny-Lengrain which is called Orval, it is reasonable to assume that, as
many of his contemporaries, he took as his name that of the place where he was
born.Orval means "val d'or" or a rich, fertile valley.Bouchart is a common
name in the north of France, particularly in Champagne & Picardy.It belongs
to a group of names whose origins arose from the Francs & Saxons, two germanic
tribes.When the frankish nation overran the Gauls & settled there, it also
brought along some of its language & proper names of germanic origin.
Frankish elite gradually took the place of gallo-roman elite & frankish names
became fasionable.Burchart was one of them, but this name was very hard on
french ears.The French softened it to Bouchardt & finally Bouchart in the
north & Bouchard elsewhere.It meant literally "illustrious warrior".
Claude Bouchart came to New France about 1643 as he was a witness on a
contract that year.In 1648, he was back in France where he assisted at the
marriage of Madeleine Esmard & Zacharie Cloutier in La Rochelle.Thirty one
years later a daughter of this couple married Claude's son, Jean.Returning
to Canada the same year, he settled near Sillery on land ceded to him by the
governor of Montmagny and adjoining that of Thomas Hayot, his future
father-in-law.He changed properties several times, but remained in the
Sillery area from 1648-1655, when he relocated to Chateau-Richer.
Many documents tell us that Claude Bouchart was a surgeon.In one dated 17
Nov 1655, he is given payment by an act of the notary, Claude Audouart, for
the amount due him by the estate of Michel Morin, one of his patients.At the
begining of novenber 1654, Michel Morin, a settler at Cap-Rouge was wounded by
two shots from the marauding Iroquois.In order to better assure his
recovery, he was put into the care of three doctors or surgeons who bled him
in keen competition.It was not their fault that it took less than 21 days to
come to the end.Bleeding was the accepted treatment at that time.When
Michel Morin ran out of blood he died the 26 Nov 1654.In doing so, he left a
debt of 200 livres for "professional services".In order to pay the debt, the
people of Cap-Rouge handed over to Claude Bouchart, grain to the value of 98
livres which was his payment. Bouchart was also a farmer, sergeant,baillif,
clerk of court & even notary.
Claude Bouchart d'Orval's first marriage to Genevieve Hayot took place in
about 1650 when she was about 13-14 years old & he was close to 40.She died
in childbirth along with her baby in March 1651.He remarried in November
1651 to Marguerite Benard.Exactly when & where he died is unknown as no
inventory of his goods appears to have been taken.
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More Replies:
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Re: Bouchard, the name's origin
Luc Bouchard 2/19/07