(NOTE: Three articles have been found on Jean's history. All are tanslations from the original French versions.)
Jean Gaultier dit Larouche
(by Thomas J. Laforest)
In November 1674, Alexander Petit, a merchant of LaRochelle, was dunning the blacksmith, Jean Gaultier, in Quebec. He even threatened to take him to court if he didn't pay his debts. Gaultier, wishing to avoid bankruptcy, resorted to the good offices of the Comte de Frontenac. The latter co-signed a promissory note, in which he asked Petit to recognize that Jean Gaultier had helped build a ship for the King, for which he had not yet been paid. Petit calmed down and accepted a promise to receive his 303 "livres" “in good furs or cash” upon arrival of the first ship from Canada, in the summer of 1675. This document, notarized by Pierre Duquet, fixes the date of arrival of our ancestor in Quebec as 1672.
After three years of experience in New France, Jean Gaultier dit Larouche established his home. On 21 January 1675, he married Angélique Lefebvre in the church of Notre-Dame de Quebec. She was the daughter of Louis Lefebvre dit Battanville, a brewer, and of Suzanne DeBure. This little Canadian girl of 13 or 14 years married the 30-year-old Jean, the son of Mathurin Gaultier and of Catherine Loumeaux.
Jean came from the Saintonge area, town of Echillais, Diocese of Saintes in Charente-Inférieure, District of Marennes, Canton of Saint-Agnant, which is 5 kilometers from Rochefort, the gateway to Aunis and La Rochelle.
Visitors may still find in Eschillais a Roman church, fortified in the 13th century, with a rather well preserved portico. The couple settled down somewhere in Quebec. On 12 March 1676, they rented the house of Pierre Bouvier and moved in. On 27 July 1678, we find Bouvier asking the Sovereign Council to evict Larouche for non-payment of rent. The Gaultier defense indicated a willingness to pay except for some windows and frames damaged by thunder. On Saint Michael’s Day the family was adjudged in arrears and evicted under obligation to pay the back rent.
Three years later, on 25 June
1678, Jean bought a site “with the building which is above” on the
Sault-au-Matelot, a street which serves as a link between the foot of the
"Cote-de-la-Montagne" and Rue Saint-Paul in the lower town. The site, only
16 feet in frontage, must have been fairly deep. We know that Antoine Cadde had a garden
there as well as the framework of a bakehouse, ready for assembly. Jean paid 1000
"livres" for this property. When Jean signed his deed we note that he was
a master tool maker. His wife also added her initial to the document.
THEIR INHERITANCE
On the occasion of her marriage contract, signed before Duquet on 2 January 1675,
Angélique was promised an advance on her inheritance from her father. On the 9th of
December 1680, Battanville, widower of his first wife, met the Gaultier couple before a
notary. He willed them a piece of land at Charlesbourg, village of
Saint-Joseph, “two arpents frontage by thirty deep with wilderness areas
without buildings”, situated between Martin Moreau and Guillaume Vallade.
Did this Christmas present explain the fact that in the census of 1681, Jean Gaultier,
residing in the lower town, declared that he had two cows and twelve arpents under
cultivation? In 1686, on 16 April, Élie Jean dit Godon indicated an interest in
acquiring this Charlesbourg property for the sum of 550 "livres".
However this contract did not mention any buildings or cattle. This property later
reverted back to the Gaultiers.
On 1 December 1681, another inheritance fell from the sky. A certain François
Jacquet dit Langevin, a slate roofer, had left a will, signed in 1677, putting 200
"livres" in escrow to Claude Charron, in favour of his godchild, François
Gaultier. The money was paid and a receipt was issued for it for that day. Was
this all due to the kindness of the parents toward Jacquet, or to the charm of baby
François?
PRIVATE SCHOOL
Jean forged fine tools, well tempered knives and solid agricultural instruments. His
skill and talent attracted apprentices. His workshop then became almost a school,
almost a boarding school! On 21 February 1680, Pierre Mailloux and his wife, indentured
their 16-year-old son as an apprentice. Jean agreed to “show and instruct
Joseph Maillous in his trade as tool maker”, and to furnish food, fire and light,
“all clothing and footwear”, and to treat him humanely during the three
years. No salary paid, no tuition received.
The master tool maker, Jean Choret, having to be away on a trip to “Guine”,
assigned his apprentice, Pierre Chabot, to Gaultier. This time, Jean was to
pay 8 "livres" a month to his temporary helper and to clothe him
“reasonably”. This was agreed to on 10 July 1684.
The next year, Charles Dutaut, a resident of Champlain, went to Quebec to place his ward
and nephew, Pierre Teway, age 15, as an apprentice toolmaker. Gaultier took the
youngster for 4 years under almost the same conditions as those of Pierre Mailloux.
In the census of 1681, we discover yet another apprentice, François Guay, in the Gaultier
household. He was the son of Gaston and of Jeanne Prevost.
Asingle complaint was recorded during this period by Jean Gaultier against one Guillaume
Page, toolmaker, for leaving his apprenticeship three months too early. Guillaume
was defended by his father Raymond, a resident of Beaupre, without success. The boy
was found guilty on 24 October 1678. How did Madame Gaultier cope with feeding and
clothing all these hungry boarders? We know that in 1681 she had one 15-year-old
servant. Anne Crepeau, daughter of Maurice and future wife of Nicolas Baillargeon.
A NEW HOUSE
As one might well imagine, the Gaultiers were very cramped for space. So, in January
1684, Jean hired Etienne Leroy to do “stone work on masonry” in his new house,
up to the gables, make a chimney, etc. Gaultier would give him 100
"livres" for this work. Leonard Paillard, a Beauport carpenter, did the
work on the house, which had two floors and a peaked roof. The building measured 16
feet wide by 30 feet long with a gable at the rear. At the same time they were
putting up the new house, they were tearing down the old one. Paillard was to
receive 150 "livres" for his work. Claude Bailliff, architect and friend,
signed as witness to the contract.
A STATUE AND A BALL
On Wednesday, 6 November 1686, there was a celebration. The Administrator
Bochart de Champigny had omitted nothing for the unveiling of the bust of Louis XIV in the
Place Royale of the Lower Town of Quebec. To celebrate meant to gather for discourse and
dancing, to drink and perhaps shed a tear in nostalgic memory of the far off motherland.
We are told that ancestor Jean Gaultier, full of exuberant joy, got hold of an old shotgun
and as a boast (the word “Gaultier” means “a creator of farces”)
started playfully badgering a small merchant, a Parisian named Henri Petit dit
Bruneau. Jean either did not know that the weapon was loaded or he didn't
care. The gun went off, Petit fell backward, mortally wounded. In the midst of
the confusion, he was taken to the hospital, where he died 13 days later.
On 18 December 1686, Jean Gaultier was accused of murder by the Provost of Quebec, tried
and found guilty. He was sentenced to be taken to the entry of the Cathedral,
“to make honourable amends, head bared, a rope around his neck, and a burning torch
in his hand”. He was then exiled from the town forever. Our unfortunate
ancestor appealed to the Sovereign Council ten days later, pleaded “not guilty”
and his sentence was commuted.
He had to pay 300 "livres" to the Petit widow, 100 "livres" to the
King, without mentioning court costs. All the same, this unfortunate event was
a moral and economic catastrophe for Gaultier.
In December 1688, Angélique and Jean made their “donation” to Marie-Charlotte
and Marie-Madeleine Lefebvre, sisters of Madame Gaultier. On 27 May 1690, Jean Gaultier
dit Larouche died and was buried at Quebec. He was 45 years of age, a charming man,
broken in spirit by the events related above.
LIKE A LARGE TREE
There were seven children in the Gaultier family:
François, baptized 12 October 1675 at Quebec, a toolmaker like his father, married Louise
Augran by whom he had four children.
Catherine-Angélique was born in the lower town of Quebec and baptized on 25 April
1677. A former student of the Ursulines, she married Pierre Sampson sometime in 1695
and later she married Edouard Clement.
Jean-Baptiste, also born in the lower town, was baptized on 18 June 1679 and died on 14
April 1699.
Geneviève, born in the lower town and baptized on 8 June 1681, married Michel Cadet in
1703. Later she married François Rageot.
Claude was baptized on 23 December 1684 at Quebec and married Marie-Françoise Gagné at
Baie-Saint-Paul in 1712, then settled at Petite-Rivière. His descendants are very
numerous today, especially in Charlevoix County and in the region of Saguenay and Lac
Saint-Jean. (A few have even strayed into the USA with the surname LaRouche).
Pierre was baptized on 27 April 1687 at Quebec and died in the Hotel-Dieu on 20 November
1708. He was the blacksmith for the Seminary.
Hilaire, was baptized on 22 October 1689 at Quebec and died on 15 February 1690.
The widow Angélique Lefebvre did not mourn for long, for in September of 1690 she married
a carpenter, Pierre Brunet from Saint-André de Niort in Poitou. They had three
boys: Jean, Pierre and Louis.
In 1694, this couple had an inventory taken of the assets of the late Jean Gaultier.
In this long document, everything of value was mentioned and a lot that was not. For
example, the “old rifle with about 4 feet of barrel, the iron skimmer, the nutmeg
grater”, etc. At the end of the inventory on 3 May 1695, the estate was divided
between the six living children. The house, valued by Jean LeRouge at 3580
"livres" would be rented. Françoise, because of the inheritance from his
godfather, obtained the tools and equipment needed in the trade of
blacksmithing and tool making. The property at Saint-Joseph, nearby Charlesbourg, remained
in the hands of Angélique Lefebvre: Pierre and Angélique would sell it to
Joseph Blondeau dit La Franchise on 12 May 1695.
The first person to take Holy orders appeared in the fourth generation:
Thomas-Augustin Gauthier-Larouche, born at Baie Saint-Paul on 22 February 1816, the son of
Gaspard and Marie Bettez. He served as priest and vicar at seven parishes in Quebec,
retiring on 14 March 1876 to Baie Saint-Paul where he died."
(This material is quoted from the soft cover book “Our French-Canadian Ancestors” by Thomas J. Laforest, Vol. II (rev.). This book was published by The LISI PRESS, copyright 1990. The story of Jean Gaultier (Gauthier) dit Larouche is found in Chapter 11 of Vol. II (rev). In the forward of the book, it states that the stories found in the book first appeared in the Sainte-Anne Revue in French.)
Jean Gautier dit Larouche
(by Michel Langlois)
"Son of Mathurin Gautier and Catherine Loumeaux, of Eschillais, diocese of Saintes in Saintonge, he contracts marriage in front of the notary Duquet (contract lost), on Wednesday January 2, 1675, with Angélique Lefebvre, born around 1661, daughter of Louis Lefebvre and Suzanne De Bure, and marries her in Quebec, on Monday January 21, 1675. From their union seven children are born .
This tool maker is in Quebec as early as 1671. He is there as a consequence of a contract of engagement for the king, as an act of November 10, 1674 confirms. He owes 300 pounds to the merchant Alexandre Petit who agreed to pay this sum to his many creditors, that is the Sieurs Nolan, Descarreaux, Battanville, de Villeray and Dubuc. In guarantee of settlement, he transfers to the Sieur Petit his two last years of wages which are due to him because he tooled the iron works for the vessel built by its majesty in this country. He gives, by proxy, to the Sieur Petit the right to perceive his pledges from monsieur de Terron, Intendant of his majesty for Aunis.
He establishes himself in Quebec in a house on the street "Sous-le-Fort" (under the fort) which the toolmaker Pierre Bouvier rents to him for three years, on March 12, 1676, at the price of 120 pounds. He must build a forge at his expense. A pettyfogger, he appears most of the time represented by his wife, more than seventy times between 1675 and 1690 in front of the Provost of Quebec, for all kinds of minor causes with the exception of one of which we will speak later. On June 25, 1678, Antoine Caddé sells him in site of sixteen feet frontage on the street of the Sault-au-Matelot, for 1000 pounds. After baffling in justice with Pierre Bouvier about the rent on his house, he comes to an agreement with him on following 10 August, and agrees to pay him 60 pounds. On August 26, he requires that his servant Guillaume Paget prove the ill treatments he claims to have received from him. Paget is obliged to finish his engagement, but they come to an agreement on the following 2nd of November and Paget leaves his service by paying him 165 pounds.
He continues to take apprentices. On February 21, 1680, Pierre Maillou engages to him, for three years, his son Joseph, sixteen years old, provided he supply "hearth, bed, boarding, light, food" and maintenance of his clothes and shoes. He also promises to treat him humanely. However, on the following 17th of December, he appears before the Provost of Quebec and requires that his apprentice return to his service. Two surgeons are asked to examine the young Maillou. On January 14, 1681, following the report of the surgeons, it is decided to definitively withdraw Joseph Maillou from his service. Meanwhile, on December 9, 1680, to avoid a lawsuit with his father-in-law Louis Lefebvre about the succession of his mother-in-law, deceased Suzanne De Bure, he accepts his offer. Lefebvre cedes to him a dwelling of two acres frontage by thirty in depth at the village Saint-Joseph de Charlesbourg. At the census of 1681, he has a rifle, two cows and twelve acres of land cleared. He gives a discharge, on December 1st 1681, to Jean Charron dit Laferrière, for the sum of 200 pounds, that deceased François Jacquet bequeathed by will to his son François Gautier.
On January 11, 1684, he makes a contract for masonry with Étienne Leroy. Leroy promises to make all the masonry works on his house, for 100 pounds, on condition he provide the workmen and the materials. Léonard Paillard contracts, for his part, on the following 30 May, to build for Jean a house of sixteen feet frontage by thirty-six feet in depth, for 150 pounds. On July 10 1684, Jean Choret, who leaves for war, yields him for the duration of his trip, young Pierre Chabot who is apprenticed to him. Charles Dutault, tutor of Pierre Lemay, fifteen years old, engages the boy to him as an apprentice for four years on February 25, 1685, for his food, his housing, new clothes at the end of his engagement and 40 pounds. On April 16, 1686, he sells land in Saint-Joseph village, at the price of 500 pounds, to Élie Jean dit Godon who promises to pay through an annuity of 27 pounds.
This year of 1686 ends badly for him. At the time of the inauguration of the monument of the king Louis XIV at the lower town of Quebec, he fires a shot from a rifle and wounds the merchant Henri Petit who dies thereafter. Prosecuted in front of the judge of Provost of Quebec, on December 18, 1686, he is condemned for murder, to make honourable amend on the public place, a rope to his neck and torch in hand, and is banished in perpetuity. he is obliged moreover to pay 2000 pounds in civil damages to the widow and the heirs. He appeals this sentence in front of the Sovereign Council pleading his innocence. He mistakenly took the rifle of another person, which was loaded and fired a shot without meaning to. The Sovereign Council accepts his excuse and commutes the sentence to a fine of 300 pounds.
On December 29, 1688, along with his wife, he gives all their goods and real estate to Marie-Charlotte and Marie-Madeleine Lefebvre, his sisters-in-law, for all the care which they gave them. He comes to a compromise, on February 26, 1690, with Léonard Paillard who sold his rights on a party wall separating their house from that of the Sieur De Niort. He dies in Quebec where he is buried on May 27 1690. His widow marries Pierre Brunet in Quebec, on the following 4 September. She proceeds with the inventory of his goods by the notary Chambalon, on May 10, 1694. His toolmaking equipment is worth 133 pounds. He has also more than fifty tools of carpentry valued at 48 pounds. His house is evaluated by Robert Choret at 3580 pounds. He still has his land in the village Saint-Joseph, the contract of sale may not have been sealed. Pierre Motrel and Guillaume Valade estimate this dwelling at 300 pounds. Signature number 465."
(Extract of "Biographies des Ancêtres Québécois" Michel Langlois.)
Jean Gauthier dit Larouche
(by Julien Déziel)
"Saturday, 28th of December 1686. Extracts from the criminal trial by the lieutenant-general of the Québec Provost. At the request of Joseph Petit-Bruno and of Simon Jarent, merchants of Trois-Rivières petitioners and accusers. in the case of the murder of Henri Petit, merchant of Paris, brother of Bruno and brother-in-law of the said Jarent, the King`s Counsel accuses Jean Gauthier dit Larouche, tool-maker of Québec, of having discharged a firearm aimed at Henri Petit (…) which caused his death. The Provost Court orders expert advice from arms-maker Nicolas Gauvreau to determine whether Gauthier could have used a firearm other than his own; the time Gauthier took; and why he used a gun other than his own. The accused must pay 25 "livres" in court costs.On the same day, Larouche, Gauvreau, the said Marquis, bailiff, Labrèche, Jos Vandandaigue dit Gatebois, etc. were summoned to the jail keeper's rooms.On Wednesday, 27 February 1687, Larouche is condemned to make honorable amends, head denuded, a rope around his neck, holding a burning torch and then, on his knees, to ask forgiveness to God and the King and to Justice and then to have his head shaved, to perpetual banishment from the city and area, to pay 50 "livres" to His Majesty, 2000 "livres" in civil interest, thus 1,500 "livres" to the widow and heirs and 500 "livres" to Bruno and Jarent, plus the court costs.
Registre de la Prévosté de Québec. 1687. Archives du Québec.
"Source: Les Mémoires de la SGCF vol XVI (1965), par Julien Déziel.
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Recommended reading (In French): "La Carcasse de Navire" Larouche, by Gérard J. GAUTHIER (Les Éditions du Savoir, 1995,477).
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