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 Jean Boucher & Marie Madeleine Paré

Discover the story of a Canadienne and a Poitevin

among the first inhabitants of Saint-Joachim

Jean Boucher, son of Cathelin Boucher [sometimes called Quatrin] and Jeanne Denis, is born around 1650 in the parish of Saint-Etienne in Chaix in Poitou, France. His father is a plowman. His paternal grandparents are Jehan Boucher and Perrine Sagot.

Today, Chaix is part of the commune of Auchay-sur-Vendée in the Vendée department in the Pays de la Loire region. Less than 500 “chaisiens” live in Chaix. The agricultural village is located about 60 kilometers from the sea.

Marie Madeleine Paré, daughter of Robert Paré and Françoise Lehoux, was born on June 16, 1662, in Château-Richer, Canada, New France. She was baptized the next day.

The Paré family is recorded in the 1666 census living in Beaupré. Marie Madeleine is four years old.

1666 Census

Canada's very first census was undertaken in 1666, organized by the colony's intendant, Jean Talon. He had only arrived in New France the year prior and had no previous experience enumerating a population. His home country of France had never even carried out a census, but Talon was not deterred. He organized a group of census-takers, armed with quill pens, ink and paper, who travelled throughout the colony—from small villages to the countryside, household by household. The clerks recorded every resident: their name, age, profession, or relation to the head of household.

To complicate matters, the census was taken during the coldest and snowiest winter Canadians had seen in 30 years. Though it took them months to enumerate the 3,418 colonists in New France, the winter gave them an advantage: residents stayed put and most didn't venture too far from home, allowing them to be counted more accurately than they would in warmer months.

The following year, the Paré family is registered in the census again, still in Beaupré. Marie Madeleine is five years old. Her parents own seven heads of livestock and 20 acres of cleared land.

Arrival of Jean Boucher in New France

We do not know the exact date of Jean's arrival in the colony, but his name appears on a document for the first time in 1676. On October 19, while a resident of Cap Tourmente, Jean declares his intention to buy land belonging to the heirs of the late Louis Gagné in Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré. [Gagné mysteriously disappears in 1661, possibly injured or kidnapped by the Iroquois.] Jean buys Pierre Gagné's share on October 27. On April 12, 1677, Jean buys the shares of Anne Gagné and Ignace Gagné. Finally, on July 26, 1682, Jean buys Louis Gagné's share.

Marriage

Jean Boucher and Marie Madeleine Paré are married on November 12, 1678, in Ste-Anne-de-Beaupré. Jean is about 28 years old. Marie Madeleine is 16 years old and lives in the parish of Sainte-Anne du Petit Cap, on the "côte" and seigneury of Beaupré. His father is a master carpenter.

Living on a "côte"

Within the seignorial system of New France, a new type of community emerged: the "côte". A côte was normally comprised of families and/or friends who owned neighbouring land within a specific area. Thus, they created a new community on a côte with its own social and economic ties, the entirety of the seigneurie being too large to develop a solidarity with others. On average, a côte would include anywhere between 10 and 50 dwellings.  

Jean and Marie Madeleine have at least six children:

• Jean Boucher (1679-1758)

• Élisabeth Boucher (1682-1738)

• Noël Boucher (1684-?)

• Pierre Boucher (1686-bef. 1750)

• Madeleine Boucher (ca. 1688-1731)

• Jacques Boucher (ca. 1690-1761)

In November of 1681, Jean and Marie Madeleine are registered in the census of New France with their son Jean. Their 10-arpent plot of land is located between the Sainte-Anne river and the present-day village of Saint-Joachim. They own one firearm and six heads of livestock.

Despite the fact that Jean now owns land in Sainte-Anne, his family does not settle there. On June 24, 1685, Jean exchanges his part of the land with a plot owned by Charles Lemercier (or Mercier) in an area located beyond the “Grande Rivière”, today called Saint-Joachim. Charles must meet two conditions before the exchange can take place. He must clear an acre of land and give Pierre Laforest dit Labranche 20 bushels of wheat for the farming work done on the land. Charles and Jean also pledge to donate 100 sols or five livres to the Sainte-Anne church.           

Undated postcards from Saint-Joachim (Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec)

Robert Paré, Marie Madeleine's father, dies in 1684. Françoise Lehoux, her mother, dies a year later. Marie Madeleine and Jean become heirs of part of their house in the lower town of Québec. The house is sold in 1686 to Léonard Hazeur Desonneaux at a price of 1,585 livres, of which 317 livres goes to Marie Madeleine and Jean.

Deaths

Jean Boucher dies sometime before August 28, 1700, in Saint-Joachim, at the age of about 50.

In 1710, Madeleine signs an agreement with her son Jean in Saint-Joachim to buy back part of his inheritance. Jean gives his mother four perches and 4 feet (frontage) of land for the sum of 400 livres. He also agrees to pay Madeleine his debt of 170 pounds.

A decade later, on January 13, 1720, the Séminaire de Québec sold a piece of land located "in front of the Marsollet river" to Marie Madeleine, "widow of Jean Boucher, habitant, of the côte de Beaupré, parish of Saint-Joachim".

We do not know Marie Madeleine Paré's date or place of death.

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Sources :

• Fédération québécoise des sociétés de généalogie, Fichier Origine database (http://www.fichierorigine.com), entry for Jean Boucher (person 380014), updated 10 Oct. 2016.

• "Église Saint-Etienne", Observatoire du Patrimoine Religieux (https://www.patrimoine-religieux.fr/eglises_edifices/85-Vendee/85044-Chaix/142047-EgliseSaint-Etienne).

• "Registres paroissiaux et Actes d’état civil du Québec (Collection Drouin), 1621 à 1968", digital images, Ancestry.ca (https://www.ancestry.ca/), baptism record for Marie Magdeleine Paré, 17 Jun 1662, Château-Richer ; citing original data: Gabriel Drouin, comp. Drouin Collection. Montréal, Québec, Canada: Institut Généalogique Drouin.

• "Recensement du Canada, 1666", Library and Archives Canada (https://collectionscanada.gc.ca/), family of Robert Parréé, 1666, Québec, finding aid MSS0446, MIKAN 2318856 ; citing original data: Centre des archives d'outre-mer (France) vol. 460.

• Christopher Moore, "Making it Count", Canada's History (https://www.canadashistory.ca/explore/business-industry/making-it-count), posted online 12 Mar 2021; original published in the April-May 2021 issue of Canada's History.  

• "Recensement du Canada, 1667", Library and Archives Canada (https://collectionscanada.gc.ca/), family of Robert Paré, 1667, Québec, finding aid MSS0446, Item 2318857; citing original data: Centre des archives d'outre-mer (France) vol. 460.

• "Banque de données notariales du Québec ancien (1626-1801)", Parchemin, Société de recherche historique Archiv-Histo (https://www.archiv-histo.com/), various sales of portions of land located in the seigneury of Beaupré by the Gagné heirs to Jean Boucher.

• "Registres paroissiaux et Actes d’état civil du Québec (Collection Drouin), 1621 à 1968", digital images, Ancestry.ca (https://www.ancestry.ca/), marriage record of Jean Boucher and Marie Madeleine Paray, 12 Nov 1678, Ste-Anne-de-Beaupré ; citing original data:Gabriel Drouin, comp. Drouin Collection. Montréal, Québec, Canada: Institut Généalogique Drouin.

• René Jetté and the PRDH, Dictionnaire généalogique des familles du Québec des origines à 1730 (Montréal : Gaëtan Morin Éditeur, 1983), 137, Jean Boucher et Marie-Madeleine Paré.

• "Recensement du Canada fait par l'intendant Du Chesneau", Library and Archives Canada (https://collectionscanada.gc.ca/), Jean Boucher, 14 Nov 1681, Québec, finding aid MSS0446, MIKAN 2318858; citing original data: Centre des archives d'outre-mer (France) vol. 460.

• Gérard Lebel, Nos Ancêtres volume 10 (Ste-Anne-de-Beaupré, Éditions Ste-Anne-de-Beaupré, 1985), 25-29

• "Banque de données notariales du Québec ancien (1626-1801)", Parchemin, Société de recherche historique Archiv-Histo (https://www.archiv-histo.com/), sale of land by the Séminaire de Québec to Marie Paré, 13 Jan 1720, notary J. Barbel.