My Vachon ancestors
Hi, I am posting the notes that I have for some of my pioneer ancestors, in hopes that they may be of interest to some of you that are doing research on your ancestors.Enjoy, Janet
Descendants of Vincent Vachon
Generation No. 1
1.Vincent1 Vachon was born about 1610 in Poitou, France.He married Sapience Rabot.She was born about 1610 in Poitou, France.
Child of Vincent Vachon and Sapience Rabot is:
+ 2 i. Paul2 Vachon, born about 1630 in LaCopechagniere, Lucon, Poitou, France; died 24 Jun 1703 in LaNativite de Notre Dame, Beauport, QC.
Generation No. 2
2.Paul2 Vachon (Vincent1) was born about 1630 in LaCopechagniere, Lucon, Poitou, France, and died 24 Jun 1703 in LaNativite de Notre Dame, Beauport, QC.He married Marguerite Langlois 22 Oct 1653 in Québec City, QC, daughter of Noel Langlois and Francoise Garnier/Grenier.She was born 03 Sep 1639 in Québec City, QC, and died 24 Sep 1697 in La Nativite de Notre Dame, Beauport, QC.
Notes for Paul Vachon:
PAUL VACHON NOTARY seigniorial AND ROYAL TAX PROSECUTOR:
Originating in Copechagnière, diocese of Luçon, Poitou, Paul Vachon was born about 1630, son ofVincent Vachon and Sapience Vateau.He came to New-France about 1653 and was married in Québec City that same year.He established himself in Beauport and spent the rest of his life there, where he carried out all his notarial activities.
The oldest contract signed by Paul Vachon is on March 24, 1658. It is entitled in this act "notary of the seigniory of Our-Lady of the Angels".It had been named two years earlier by the Jesuits. In 1659, he became also notary of the seigniory of Beauport, within the limits of which he remained till he died.
November 10, 1667, François of Montmorency-Laval, bishop of Pétrée and apostolic vicar of Nouvelle (New) France, gave letters of notary to Paul Vachon, for his Seigneuries of the coast of Beauport and the island of Orleans. In November 1667, the widow of Ailleboust named Paul Vachon, notary for her seigniory of Argentenay.That December, we can read in the files of Québec,"act of faith and homage of Paul Vachon, tax prosecutor, for Lord François of Laval, bishop of Pétrée, apostolic vicar of Nouvelle (New) France, to some extent of the seigniory of Beauport".
The study of the notary Paul Vachon includes approximately 1500 acts, with the last one being carried out on November 2, 1693. This study is deposited with the Legal Files of Québec. The inventory of the minutes that it contains was drawn up in 1732, by the Attorney General Verrier.
In addition to his legal occupations, Paul Vachon cultivated his land.He obtained initially a concession of ground in the island of Orleans de Mgr. of Montmorency-Laval.As he lived in Beauport, he had established a farm there also.The family was listed in the 1666 Beauport census.Paul was 36 years old.He was a "Notaier" (notary) and a mason.In 1667, he had seven cattle and twenty arpents being cultivated on his ground of Beauport, while the Island of Orleans farm was being cared for by Thomas Sweat.Here he had five cattle and eight arpents in cultivation.The 1681 Beauport census finds Paul Vachon 53; Margueritte Langlois, his wife was 43.He owned 2 fusils (rifles); 1 pistolet (gun); 13 bêtes a cornes (horned animals); 35 arpents en valeur (about 52 acres of land under cultivation).
Paul Vachon certainly had an extraordinary education, as we shall come to see later. However, his handwriting, even after three centuries, always gives his readers cause for suffering!
A MAN OF MANY TALENTS:
Paul Vachon had many different trades it would seem, one of which was masonry.In 1654, in company with Mathurin Roy, he built the chapel and some sick wards of theHôtel Dieu of Québec, whose first stone was laid by the Governor-General Jean-de-Lauzon.
On 14 June 1665, the Seigneur Giffard gave Vachon a concession in the town of Fargy in the Seigneury of Beauport.The area of this first concession was doubled 9 years later on 29 December 1664.Paul Vachon always gave special attention to his farm. In 1666, Michel Aubin, 22 years old, was his indentured servant.At the census of the following year, Paul owned 7 head of cattle and 20 arpents of cleared land. Fourteen years later, another census noted 35 arpents in use, 13 cattle, 1 pistol, 2 guns and a 61 year old domestic named Pierre in his service. Moreover, Vachon had obtained from Charles de Lauzon Charney, the 12th of August 1660, a bit of land with 4 arpents of frontage, in the parish of Saint-Pierre, I.O.
Thomas Le Seuer was his trusted farmer on the spot; Maurice Crepeau and Charles Courtois his good neighbors. Paul sold this farm on 14 September 1678 to Denis Roberge who gave it up on 21 November 1679.
If Paul Vachon needed the help of hired hands on his farms, it was because his other work required it. The principal profession of Vachon was that of seigniorial Notary.One of his descendants, Andre Vachon, historian, found an act of 23 October 1655 in the Archives of the Sovereign Council, making reference to the title of Notary of Notre-Dame-des-Anges. The second piece known to have been by Vachon, carried a date of 24 March 1658, entitled as follows: "Concession of Jesuits to Francois Truffe dit Rotot." About that time Paul was "Procurer-Fiscal" of the Seigneuries of Lirec and the Île of Orleans, Secretary to Charles de Lauzon and Record keeper for the Seigneuries of Beauport and Notre-Dame-des-Anges, nearby Québec. Then on 10 November 1667, Monseigneur de Laval named him "Procurer-Fiscal" and Notary in the Seigneuries of Beauport and Isle of Orleans; functions that he conscientiously carried out until he retired in 1693. His last contract, signed on 2 November was simply titled: "Transaction of Michel Giroux and of Jean-Paschal Prevost."
Paul once signed his name as royal notary rather than "seigniorial" notary. He was rebuffed for being pretentious. Don't forget our ancestors liked to carry titles. The name Paul Vachon was found at the bottom of nearly all public acts and contracts in the region from 1646 to 1693.
The eldest of the family, Paul junior, was one of the first priests born on Canadian soil. Native of Beauport, and conditionally baptized at the house by Jean Creste, then officially baptized at Québec on 9 November 1656 by Joseph Poncet, S.J., Paul pursued his studies at the Seminary of Québec. He was raised to the dignity of a priest by Mgr de Laval on 21 December 1680. Father Vachon served the South Coast as far as Cap-Saint-Ignace in 1683, and the North Coast from the Grondines to Batascan. He was named Canon of the Québec Chapter in 1684. In 1692 he served as Cure of Cap-de-la-Madeleine. The church of this three rivers parish, today a center for pilgrimages, was constructed under his direction in 1717. Canon Vachon died on 7 March 1729 and was buried in the sanctuary of the Church of the Cape. They exhumed his body in 1895, only to find him perfectly conserved.
As for eminent descendants, it is enough for us to mention the prestigious name of Alexander Vachon, born at Saint-Raymond-de-Portneuf on 16 August 1886, from the marriage of J. Alexander Vachon and of Marie Davidson. He was a Laureate of Harvard University, a renowned chemist, the Rector of Laval University, Archbishop of Ottawa, and organizer of the famous Marian Congress of 1948.
In the year 1981 the Diocese of Québec received a new Archbishop, His Excellency Monseigneur Louis-Albert Vachon, born at Saint-Frederic de Beauce on 4 February 1912. Son of Napoleon Vachon and of Alexandrine Gilbert, he is of the 9th generation. Professor of Philosophy and Theology at Laval University, Superior of the Grand Seminary, Rector of the University of Laval, Auxiliary to His Eminence Maurice Roy in 1977: such are the important qualifications that he brings to Québec, the oldest Episcopal See in North America, except for that of Mexico.
THE EPIDEMICS:
If the "Spanish grippe" left a sad souvenir among our ancestors, one could say that the medicine of 1700 was even more useless in the face of those epidemics, the worst of all sorts.
Between 1699 and 1703, the Vachon family was hit full force with the mortality of man. Noel Vachon, the husband of Monique Giroux, father of a fruitful son, died at the hospital of Québec in the midst of the beautiful summer of 1699. The 28th of February 1702, Guillaume Vachon, a 20 year old bachelor was buried at Beauport. Then, in 1703 there were four burials: Pierre on 17 January; M. Madeleine on 18 February; Marguerite, the eldest of the girls, on 24 June. We have to add with sadness that on the next day 25 June, Our Ancestor Paul Vachon, widower of Marguerite Langlois since 25 September 1697, died in his turn after having seen three of his children put in their graves. One might well ask, "What was this terrible sickness that in the single year of 1703. in the space of 6 months, decimated this family?"It is said that Paul died of small pox.
The chronicles of the Ursulines provide us with the opportunity to do the precise research necessary to understand the history of these plagues. "In the winter of 1700-1701, there was an illness among the people of Québec which had some strange symptoms. The sickness came on with a bad cold, soon augmented by a high fever followed by pains in the sides, after which it carried the people away in a few days . . ." M. de Bernieres, doyen of the Cathederal Choir died on 4 December 1700. "By the end of November (1702-03), the sickness began in the city. It had been brought here by a savage from the frontier. It was a kind of measles, accompanied by facial marks, and in less than two months, more than 1500 were ill and between 300 and 400 died."It seems that this epidemic struck down a fourth of the population of Québec.
Such is, in brief, the beautiful story of Ancestor Paul Vachon and his wife Marguerite Langlois who well might deserve a little monument, or at least a commemorative plaque, somewhere in Beauport.
Notes for Marguerite Langlois:
This young country girl was a native of Beauport, she was baptized at the Chapel of Québec City, the only one in the region at that time, by the Reverend Father Nicolas Adam, S.J., on 3 September 1639. Marguerite Aubert, the wife of Martin Grouvel, was her godmother.At 14-year-old, she became engaged to Paul Vachon.She was from a dignified family of New France, that of Noel Langlois and of Francoise Garnier/Grenier, who had lived in the region of Québec since the spring of 1634.
Children of Paul Vachon and Marguerite Langlois are:
3 i. Paul3 Vachon, Rev., born 04 Nov 1656 in Québec City, QC; died 07 Mar 1729 in Cap de la Madeleine, Champlain, QC.
+ 4 ii. Marguerite Vachon, born 01 Sep 1658 in Québec City, QC; died 24 Jun 1703 in Beauport, QC.
+ 5 iii. Vincent Vachon-dit-Laminee, born 15 Feb 1660 in Québec City, QC; died 03 Dec 1716 in Beauport, QC.
+ 6 iv. Marie-Louise Vachon, born 25 May 1662 in Québec City, QC; died 11 Jul 1715 in Hôtel Dieu of Montréal, QC.
+ 7 v. Marie-Madeleine Vachon, born 13 Aug 1664 in Québec City, QC; died 25 Sep 1715 in Beauport, QC.
8 vi. Marie-Charlotte Vachon, born 12 Sep 1666 in Québec City, QC; died Aft. 1681 in Unknown, QC.
9 vii. Noel Vachon-dit-Pamerlaux, born 12 Jan 1669 in Québec City, QC; died 12 Aug 1699 in Québec City, QC.He married Monique Giroux 24 Oct 1695 in Beauport, QC; born about 1679 in Unknown, QC; died 01 Mar 1727 in Hôtel Dieu de Québec City, QC.
+ 10 viii. Pierre Vachon-dit-DesFourchettes, born 26 May 1671 in Québec City, QC; died 17 Jan 1703 in Beauport, QC.
11 ix. Anne-Therese-Marie Vachon, born 23 Jul 1674 in Beauport, QC; died 19 Feb 1721 in Hôtel Dieu de Québec City, QC.She married Jean Turgeon, (Charles & Pasquiere Lefebvre) 08 Nov 1691 in Beauport, QC; born 17 May 1670 in Québec City, QC; died 03 Oct 1749 in Beauport, QC.
+ 12 x. Marie-Francoise Vachon, born about 1676 in Unknown, QC; died 12 May 1740 in Beauport, QC.
13 xi. Marie-Madeleine Vachon, born 08 Jan 1680 in Beauport, QC; died 18 Feb 1703 in Beauport, QC.She married Pierre Vallee 23 Nov 1699 in Beauport, QC; born 29 Sep 1674 in Beauport, QC; died 10 Nov 1751 in Québec City, QC.
14 xii. Guillaume Vachon, born 02 Dec 1682 in Beauport, QC; died 27 Dec 1702 in Beauport, QC.
Generation No. 3
4.Marguerite3 Vachon (Paul2, Vincent1) was born 01 Sep 1658 in Québec City, QC, and died 24 Jun 1703 in Beauport, QC.She married Jean-Robert Duprac, (Jacques & Franc. Lamoureux) 06 Jan 1675 in Unknown,QC.He was born about 1647 in Poitiers, Poitou, France, and died 29 Aug 1726 in Beauport, QC.
Child of Marguerite Vachon and Jean-Robert Duprac is:
15 i. Marie-Anne4 Duprac, born 26 Jul 1679 in St. Joseph, Beauport, QC; died 24 Jun 1744 in Beauport, QC.She married Charles Parent 07 Jan 1699 in Beauport, Montmorency, QC; born 13 Nov 1676 in Québec City, QC; died 15 Jun 1747 in Québec City, QC.
5.Vincent3 Vachon-dit-Laminee (Paul2 Vachon, Vincent1) was born 15 Feb 1660 in Québec City, QC, and died 03 Dec 1716 in Beauport, QC.He married Louise Courville-dit-Cadieux 25 Jun 1685 in Beauport, QC, daughter of Charles Courville-dit-Cadieux and Madeleine Macart.She was born 07 Sep 1667 in Québec City, QC, and died 20 Jan 1703 in Beauport, QC.
Child of Vincent Vachon-dit-Laminee and Louise Courville-dit-Cadieux is:
16 i. Marie-Charlotte4 Vachon-dit-Laminee, born 05 Mar 1687 in Beauport, Montmorency, QC; died 13 Aug 1775 in St. François de Sales, Île Jésus, QC.She married Antoine Parent 02 Sep 1720 in Beauport, Montmorency, QC; born 03 Sep 1683 in Beauport, Montmorency, QC.
6.Marie-Louise3 Vachon (Paul2, Vincent1) was born 25 May 1662 in Québec City, QC, and died 11 Jul 1715 in Hôtel Dieu of Montréal, QC.She married Leonard Paille/Paillard 26 Jun 1678 in Unknown (presumed Beauport), QC (Aubert), son of Andre Paillard and Catherine Geoffroy.He was born about 1647 in Bersac sur Rivalier, Limonges, Limousin, France, and died 06 Jan 1729 in General Hospital of Montréal, QC.
Notes for Leonard Paille/Paillard:
He was first noted on 26 Oct 1672 in Québec City at Gilles Rageot.Leonard was a master carpenter.He was 34 years old in the 1681 census at Charlesbourg.
Children of Marie-Louise Vachon and Leonard Paille/Paillard are:
17 i. Leonard4 Paille/Paillard, born about 1679 in Unknown, QC.
Notes for Leonard Paille/Paillard:
He was contracted to work out west on 6 Aug 1721.
18 ii. Marie-Madeleine Paille/Paillard, born 19 Oct 1681 in Beauport, QC; died 21 Dec 1702 in Québec City, QC.
Notes for Marie-Madeleine Paille/Paillard:
She was a nun, known as Sister St. Gertrude.
19 iii. Charles Paille/Paillard, born 24 Sep 1683 in Beauport, QC; died 06 Sep 1758 in St. Ours, Richelieu, QC.He married Marie-Francoise Lemaitre-dit-Auger 09 Feb 1711 in Trois Rivières, St. Maurice, QC; born 22 Sep 1691 in Montréal, QC.
20 iv. Genevieve Paille/Paillard, born 10 Dec 1685 in Québec City, QC; died 28 Jul 1734 in Montréal, QC.She married Louis Chevrefils-dit-Belisle 06 Jul 1705 in Montréal, QC (ct 22 Jun, LePaille/Paillardur); born about 1674 in St. Ours, Richelieu, QC; died Bef. 1752 in Unknown, QC.
Notes for Louis Chevrefils-dit-Belisle:
He was7 years old in the 1681 census at St. Ours with his mother and step father Jean Duval.Louis was a carpenter.
21 v. Claude Paille/Paillard, born 06 Nov 1688 in Montréal, QC; died 23 Nov 1688 in Montréal, QC.
22 vi. Marie-Louise Paille/Paillard, born 29 Jun 1690 in Montréal, QC; died 25 Oct 1762 in Montréal, QC.She married Joseph Grenille, (Joseph & Marie Anne Couc) 15 Jun 1711 in Montréal, QC; born about 1683 in Worcester, England.
23 vii. Gabriel Paille/Paillard, born 11 Mar 1693 in Montréal, QC; died 05 Apr 1777 in Hôpital Général de Montréal, QC.He married (1) Marie-Catherine Guillemot-dit-Lalande 15 Mar 1717 in Montréal, QC; born 08 Sep 1696 in Montréal, QC; died 05 Aug 1739 in Montréal, QC.He married (2) Catherine-Angelique Bonneau/Boineau-dit-Lachaume 22 Jan 1742 in Montréal, QC; born 23 May 1695 in Lachine, QC.
24 viii. Elisabeth-Isabelle-Marie Paille/Paillard, born 28 Aug 1695 in Montréal, QC; died 30 Sep 1748 in Boucherville, Chambly, QC.She married (1) Charles Lemay-dit-Delorme 30 Dec 1714 in Montréal, QC; born 09 Jul 1692 in Neuville, Portneuf, QC; died 14 Aug 1721 in Montréal, QC.She married (2) Pierre Gauthier-dit-St.Germain 19 Aug 1726 in Montréal, QC; born 09 Nov 1684 in Repentigny, QC.
25 ix. Marguerite Paille/Paillard, born 22 Aug 1697 in Montréal, QC; died 09 Dec 1705 in Montréal, QC.
26 x. Jean-Jacques Paille/Paillard, born 10 Apr 1700 in Montréal, QC; died 09 Apr 1703 in Montréal, QC.
27 xi. Joseph Paille/Paillard, born 17 Oct 1702 in Montréal, QC; died 03 Nov 1702 in Montréal, QC.
28 xii. Louis-Joseph Paille/Paillard, born 01 Feb 1704 in Montréal, QC; died 22 Mar 1709 in Montréal, QC.
29 xiii. Jean-Baptiste Paille/Paillard, born 27 Nov 1705 in Montréal, QC; died 10 Jul 1725 in Montréal, QC.
7.Marie-Madeleine3 Vachon (Paul2, Vincent1) was born 13 Aug 1664 in Québec City, QC, and died 25 Sep 1715 in Beauport, QC.She married Raphael Giroux 26 Nov 1681 in Beauport, QC, son of Toussaint Giroux/Girou and Marie Godard.He was born 21 Jul 1656 in Québec City, QC, and died 10 Feb 1715 in Beauport, QC.
Child of Marie-Madeleine Vachon and Raphael Giroux is:
30 i. Joseph-Noel4 Giroux, born 28 Jan 1689 in Beauport, QC; died 21 Apr 1758 in Beauport, QC.He married Marie-Genevieve Courville-dit-Cadieux 22 Jun 1711 in Beauport, QC; born 04 May 1685 in Beauport, QC; died 04 Nov 1757 in Beauport, QC.
10.Pierre3 Vachon-dit-DesFourchettes (Paul2 Vachon, Vincent1) was born 26 May 1671 in Québec City, QC, and died 17 Jan 1703 in Beauport, QC.He married Marie-Catherine Soulard 05 Mar 1696 in Québec City, QC, daughter of Jean Soulard and Catherine Boutet.She was born 12 Mar 1669 in Québec City, QC, and died 12 May 1723 in Hôtel Dieu de Québec City, QC.
Child of Pierre Vachon-dit-DesFourchettes and Marie-Catherine Soulard is:
31 i. Marie-Catherine4 Vachon-dit-Defourchete, born 02 Jun 1698 in Beauport, QC.She married Joseph Letarte 09 May 1718 in L'Ange Gardien, QC; born 24 Sep 1696 in L'Ange Gardien, Montmorency, QC.
12.Marie-Francoise3 Vachon (Paul2, Vincent1) was born about 1676 in Unknown, QC, and died 12 May 1740 in Beauport, QC.She married (1) Joseph-Francois Binet, (Rene & Cath. Bourgeois) 04 Feb 1698 in Beauport, QC.He was born 22 Sep 1673 in Beauport, QC, and died 25 Aug 1703 in Beauport, QC.She married (2) Jean-Baptiste Lepine, (Jean & Catherine Granger) 04 Feb 1709 in Beauport, QC.He was born 24 Oct 1684 in Beauport, QC, and died 12 Feb 1731 in Beauport, QC.
Child of Marie-Francoise Vachon and Joseph-Francois Binet is:
32 i. Marie-Anne4 Binet, born 07 Feb 1704 in Beauport, QC; died 16 Feb 1734 in Sorel, Richelieu, QC.She married Marc-Antoine Hus-dit-Paul-Lemoine 05 Aug 1726 in Québec City, QC; born 01 Jan 1701 in Sorel, Richelieu, QC.