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Jean Valiquet dit Laverdure & Renée Loppé

Warning:  this story includes content that some readers might find disturbing, including a crime against children, Discretion is advised.

Our French-Canadian family trees contain all kinds of ancestors: simple farmers, pioneer families, courageous voyageurs and brave Filles du roi and Filles à marier. But they also include adulterers, drunks, slave owners and people charged with unspeakable crimes. Like it or not, they’re all part of our history. This is the story of one such Fille à marier, whose husband may have committed the worst of crimes.

Marie Renée Loppé, the daughter of Jean Loppé and Marie Després, was born around 1643 in Saint-Jean de Lamothe in Le Mans, Maine, France (present-day Saint-Jean-de-La Motte in the department of Sarthe). Renée’s surname is sometimes spelled “Lops.”

Renée lost both her parents at a young age. Faced with limited prospects in France, she made the fateful decision to leave her home in 1658 and sail to New France. She was a 15-year-old "fille à marier," or marriageable girl, recruited to marry one of the many single men in Canada and have a large family (or so the colonial authorities hoped).

 Jean Valiquet dit Laverdure, the son of notary and lawyer Jean Valiquet and Nicole Langevin, was baptized on July 14, 1632, in the parish of St-Vincent in Le Lude, La Flèche, Anjou, France (in the present-day department of Sarthe). Le Lude is located in the Loire Valley, only 20 kilometers away from Saint-Jean-de-La-Motte, the birthplace of Jean’s future wife. The commune is famous for its 10th-century castle, the Château du Lude, currently inhabited by the same family for over 260 years.

La Grande Recrue

In 1653, Jean Valiquet was among the hundred or so young Frenchmen recruited by Paul de Chomedey, Sieur de Maisonneuve, to come to New France. In an initiative dubbed "la Grande Recrue" (the great recruitment), de Maisonneuve travelled through Maine and Anjou to find single young men willing to clear land and become soldiers. Jean and his fellow recruits signed contracts with the Companie de Montréal, which promised them a salary, lodging and food, as well as passage if they chose to return to France. Jean, an armorer and locksmith by trade, signed a five-year contract as a militiaman, at a salary of 80 livres per year. Before leaving, he received 114 livres in advance wages. The objectives of the Grande Recrue were to increase the population of Ville-Marie (present-day Montréal) and protect it from Iroquois attacks. 

Jean left France aboard the Saint-Nicolas from the port of Saint-Nazaire on June 20, 1653. Maisonneuve was also on the ship, as was Marguerite Bourgeoys. After some severe ship trouble and a short stay on l’île Saint-Nicolas-des-Défunts, the Saint-Nicolas arrived in Montréal on November 16. Jean completed his five-year engagement and decided to stay in the colony.

Raising a Family in Montréal

On September 20, 1658, Jean Valiquet and Renée Loppé appeared before notary Bénigne Basset in Montréal to sign a marriage contract. Jean was 26 years old; he was able to sign the contract. Renée was about 15 and wasn't able to sign her name. In order to marry in the time of New France, a groom had to be at least 14 years old, while a bride had to be at least 12. Three days after signing their contract, Jean and Renée married in the parish church of Notre-Dame. One of the signatures on the marriage record is that of Paul de Chomedey, sieur de Maisonneuve, the co-founder of Ville-Marie and governor of the island of Montréal, and the man who recruited Jean to come to Canada.  

Jean and Renée had three children over the next five years: Mathurin, Marie Nicole and Marie Elisabeth Isabelle.

In 1659, Jean acquired a plot of land in Montréal measuring one and a half arpents of frontage (facing the Saint-Lawrence River) by 15 arpents deep. In addition to clearing and farming land, Jean had a military role. In 1663, he was the corporal of the 19th squadron of Montréal's Sainte-Famille militia. The Canadian militia served alongside the army to defend towns and villages. The militiamen were not professional soldiers but were taught how to handle weapons. The Sainte-Famille militia was composed of 139 militiamen headed by a major, divided into squads of seven militiamen, each led by a corporal. Corporals were elected by the militiamen, indicating that Jean had a good reputation among his peers.

In 1666, the Valiquet family was recorded in the New France census living in Montréal. The following year, another census was conducted, showing that Jean owned 11 arpents of cleared land but no animals.

Over the following decade, Jean and Renée had five more children: Hélène, Françoise, Catherine, Jean and Pierre. The youngest child was the only son to marry and pass on the Valiquet name.  

Marie Renée Loppé died in Montréal sometime between November 14, 1676, and March 20, 1679, the day her daughter Marie Nicole was married. She would be spared the scandal that would soon follow.

The Trial of Jean Valiquet 

On October 27, 1679, Jean was accused of having had “carnal copulation” with one of his daughters and of having attempted to molest the other two. Though the evidence seemed circumstantial, Jean was sentenced to undergo the question extraordinaire in order to extract a confession (in other words, torture), then he was to be hanged and strangled until death, on gallows erected in the public square, where the market was located. All his property was to be confiscated.

A translated extract of the trial document reads:

“As seen by the Court, the lawsuit extraordinarily made at the request of the deputy tax attorney of the bailiwick and jurisdiction of Montreal, appellant of the death sentence rendered in the said bailiwick against Jean Valliquet dit LaVerdure on the one hand, and the said Jean Valliquet, at present transferred from the prisons of Montreal to that of Quebec, respondent on the other hand, sentence under appeal dated last seventh September signed Maugue, clerk, by which the said Valliquet is declared accused and convicted of having had carnal copulation with one of his daughters, and of having attempted to rob the honour of the other two, and sentenced to be hanged and strangled to death at a gallows which for this purpose would be erected in the public place where the market is held, and before being hanged, that he would be put and applied to the “extraordinary question” to have by his mouth, if possible, the confession of the said crimes, and his property confiscated, then after the said sentence is the act of the pronunciation which would have been made to the said Jean Valliquet, who said he had been badly judged, and asked by his judges if he wanted to appeal to this Court, he said he needed time to think about it […]”.

The following month, on November 21, 1679, Jean filed and lost the appeal of his conviction. However, due to the presentation of mitigating circumstances and testimony from fellow Grande Recrue Frenchman Jacques Milot dit Laval, Jean’s sentence was commuted to banishment. He was now forbidden from approaching the island of Montreal within thirty leagues for life, under penalty of corporal punishment.

A translated extract of the trial document reads:

“And the declaration of the appeal of the said deputy, interrogation of the said Jean Valliquet by the commissioner advisor on the 18th of October last. Conclusions of the Attorney General of the 24th of October, judgment of the 27th, information provided by the said commissioner on the 19th of November containing the deposition of Jacques Millot dit Laval. Other conclusions of the said Attorney General on the same day, the said Jean Valliquet [was] heard in the Chamber yesterday, the report of Mr. Depeiras, adviser in this Court. All considered. Declared to the said Jean Valliquet at the end of the council meeting on the aforementioned day and year. The Court has put and puts the appeal and what was appealed to nil, orders that it will be more fully informed. And while the said Valliquet will be released from prison, he is forbidden to approach the island of Montreal within thirty leagues, under threat of corporal punishment, and that the deputy will be summoned on a certain day. And at the request of the said Jacques Millot for his trip, the said Court granted him the sum of ninety pounds to be taken from the tax authorities of the seigneurs of the said island of Montreal”.

We don’t know who took care of the younger Valiquet children after Jean was banished. Marie Nicole, the eldest daughter, was already married. The eldest son, Mathurin, died a year after the trial, “in the home of Mr. de Varennes.” Isabelle, Hélène and Pierre married in 1681, 1684 and 1701 respectively. We don’t know the fates of Françoise, Catherine and Jean, but they weren’t recorded in the 1681 census.  

After his banishment from Montréal, Jean made his way to Québec, where he worked for Nicolas Marion for several months. He then settled in Lauzon. In 1684, he obtained a land concession on the côte de Lauzon from François Ruette, Sieur d’Auteuil, measuring 6 arpents frontage by 30 arpents deep. He soon abandoned the land, however, becoming a volunteer to fight the Iroquois during the Labarre campaign.

Jean Valiquet dit Laverdure died at the age of 64, destitute, on August 20, 1696, at the Hôtel-Dieu in Québec.  

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Article first published May 18, 2022.

Sources:

• "Registres paroissiaux et d'état civil," digital images, Archives Départementales de la Sarthe (http://archives.sarthe.fr/), baptism of Jean Valiquet, 14 Jul 1632, Lude (Le), reference 1MI955R2, B 1614-1639 (Suite) > image 119 of 197.

• Université de Montréal, Programme de recherche en démographie historique online database, (https://www.prdh-igd.com), entry for Jean Valiquet Laverdure and Marie Renee Lops, couple #1163.

• Université de Montréal, Programme de recherche en démographie historique online database (https://www.prdh-igd.com), entry for Marie Renee Lops, person #48035.

• Fédération québécoise des sociétés de généalogie, Fichier Origine online database (http://www.fichierorigine.com), entry for Jean Valiquet / Laverdure (person #244025), updated on 14 Sep 2016.

• Peter Gagné, Before the King’s Daughters: Les Filles a Marier, 1634-1662 (Orange Park, Florida : Quintin Publications, 2002), 207-209.

• Thomas J. Laforest, Our French-Canadian Ancestors vol. 26 (Palm Harbor, Florida, The LISI Press, 1997), 240-248.

• Sylvie Tremblay, "Jean Valiquette, un engagé de la Grande Recrue de 1653," Cap-aux-Diamants, (75), 2003, 56. Digitized by Érudit (https://www.erudit.org/fr/revues/cd/2003-n75-cd1046317/7324ac.pdf).

• "Canada, Québec, registres paroissiaux catholiques, 1621-1979," digital images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G9MB-DQH5?i=116&cc=1321742&cat=46693), marriage of Jean Valiquet and Renée Loppé, 23 Sep 1658, Montréal > Notre-Dame > Baptêmes, mariages, sépultures 1642-1699 > image 117 of 1937; citing original data : Archives Nationales du Québec, Montréal.

• "Registres journaliers des malades, 1689-1876," digital images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:9398-9R9Y-GG?i=552&cat=66831), entry for Jean Valiquet, 20 Aug 1696, Index chronologique des malades et des sépultures, 1689-1698 Index alphabetique, 1689-1698 Registres des malades, 1689-1698 Listes des soldats venus de France 1693-1698 > image 553 of 604.

• "Quebec, Canada, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1968", digital images, Ancestry.ca (https://www.ancestry.ca/), marriage of Jean Valiquet Laverdure and Marie Renée Lops, 23 Sep 1658, Montréal (Notre-Dame); citing original data: Gabriel Drouin, comp. Drouin Collection. Montreal, Quebec, Canada: Institut Généalogique Drouin.

• "Recensement du Canada, 1666", Library and Archives Canada (https://collectionscanada.gc.ca/), entry for Jean Valliquet, 1666, Québec, Finding aid no. MSS0446, MIKAN no. 2318856, page 136; citing original data: Centre des archives d'outre-mer (France) vol. 460.

• "Recensement du Canada, 1667", Library and Archives Canada (https://collectionscanada.gc.ca/), entry for Jean Valiquet, 1667, Québec, Finding aid no. MSS0446, Item ID number: 2318857, page 167; citing original data: Centre des archives d'outre-mer (France) vol. 460.

• "Fonds Conseil souverain - BAnQ Québec", digital images, Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec (https://advitam.banq.qc.ca/notice/402534), "Ordre d'assigner Jacques Millot dit Laval dans le procès criminel contre Jean Valiquet dit Laverdure accusé d'avoir eu copulation charnelle avec l'une de ses filles (viol) et d'avoir tenter de ravir l'honneur des deux autres (tentative de viol) et qui est condamné à être pendu et étranglé jusqu'à ce que mort s'en suive à une potence qui sera dressée sur la place publique où se tient le marché après avoir été soumis à la question extraordinaire pour confesser ses dits crimes", 27 Oct 1679, reference TP1,S28,P2445, ID 402534.

• "Fonds Conseil souverain - BAnQ Québec", digital images, Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec (https://advitam.banq.qc.ca/notice/402535), "Renvoi de l'appel de Jean Valiquet dit Laverdure accusé d'avoir eu copulation charnelle avec l'une de ses filles (viol) et d'avoir tenter de ravir l'honneur des deux autres (tentative de viol) et qui est condamné à être pendu et étranglé jusqu'à ce que mort s'en suive à une potence qui sera dressée sur la place publique où se tient le marché après avoir été soumis à la question extraordinaire pour confesser ses dits crimes; défense au dit Valiquet d'approcher de l'île de Montréal à moins de trente lieues sous peine de punitions corporelles", 21 Nov 1679, reference TP1,S28,P2446, ID 402535.