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 Louis Gagné & Marie Michel

The story of a young couple, married in France, who crossed the ocean in 1644 to settle in Canada. Unfortunately, the story has a rather tragic end for Louis.

Louis Gagné (or Gasnier), the son of Louis Gasnier and Marie Launay, was baptized on 13 Sep 1612 in the parish of St-Martin in Igé, Perche, France. Igé is a rural commune, located in the present-day department of Orne. It has about 600 inhabitants. Like his father, Louis was a miller by trade. In France, he worked at the Courtoulin mill and then at the Guémancais mill. Pierre Gagné, Louis' brother, would also become a pioneer in New France.

Marie Michel, the daughter of Pierre Michel and Louise Gurry, was born around 1622 in St-Martin-du-Vieux-Bellême, Perche, France. St-Martin-du-Vieux-Bellême is located 7 kilometers north of Igé.

Marriage & Children

Louis and Marie appeared before notary Regnard on 11 Jun 1638 to draw up a marriage contract in the bride’s hometown of St-Martin-du-Vieux-Bellême. Louis was 25 years old; Marie was about 16. The exact date of the wedding is unknown.

The couple had two children in France before leaving for New France. Marie was probably pregnant when she arrived in Canada in 1644.

Louis and Marie had at least nine children:

• Louis Gagné (1639-d. in France)

• Louise Gagné (1642-1721) married Claude Bouchard

• Marie Gagné (1644-1717) married André Berthelot dit Leloutre

• Pierre Gagné (1647-bef. 1714)

• Olivier Gagné (1649-?) married Élisabeth Isabelle Pépin dite Lachance

• Louis Gagné (1651-?) married Marie Gagnon

• Anne Gagné (1653-?) married François Lacroix

• Ignace Gagné (1656-1702) married Barbe Dodier

• Joachim Gagné (ca. 1660-1688) married Louise Marcoux

From Miller to Ploughman

The Gagnés lived in Quebec (City) for a few years before moving to the côte de Beaupré. On 3 Oct 1647, Louis accepted a six-year farm lease in Beaupré from Olivier Letardif, clerk of the Compagnie des Cent-Associés. Louis now worked as a ploughman. On the "Saint-Charles farm", there were oxen, cows and pigs, meadows, arable land, a stable, a barn, a yard, a garden and a house. When the lease expired on 31 Mar 1653, Letardif confirmed that Louis had fulfilled his obligations.

On 20 Oct 1650, Letardif ceded Louis five arpents of waterfront land west of the Grande Rivière, which would become Sainte-Anne du Petit-Cap, and then Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré. Louis had to clear the land and build a house. In 1653, the Gagné family finally moved to the new property.

During this period, Louis started to accumulate some debts. In 1661, he owed 134 livres to the Jesuits, 19 livres to the Sieur de la Chesnaie [Chesnaye], 15 livres to Denis Brière and 50 livres to the mariner Jacques Asselin of Île-d'Orléans.

On 2 Feb 1660, the Gagné family went to the church of Château-Richer to receive their confirmation from the Bishop of Laval with 175 other people.

Death at the Hands of the Iroquois?

Louis Gagné (or Gasnier) died between 2 Feb 1660 (his confirmation) and 14 Jul 1661 (his inventory after death). Some accounts claim that he was taken away by the Iroquois, but unfortunately this story is impossible to confirm. It would, however, explain the absence of a burial record.

 After the death of her husband, Marie married Paul Rainville. The couple appeared before notary Michel Fillion to draw up a marriage contract on 1 Sep 1666. The exact date of the marriage is unknown. No children were born from this union.

Over the years, Marie's name appeared several times in notarial documents:

• 18 Jan 1672: sale of a land concession located near the village of Fargy; by Paul de Rainville and Marie Michel, his wife, from Beauport, to Jean de Rainville, his son.

• 2 Apr 1675: sale of land located in the seigneury of Beaupré; by Marie Michel and Paul de Rainville, her husband, to Louis Gasnier, one of her sons.

• 31 Jan 1677: mutual donation between Paul de Rainville and Marie Michel, his wife.

• 6 Jul 1679: transfer of land located in the parish of Ste Anne; by Louis Gasnier, inhabitant of the Beaupré coast, parish of Saincte Anne du Petit Cap, to Paul de Rainville and Marie Michel, his wife, mother of said Gasnier.

• 6 Jul 1679: sale of land located on the côte de Beaupré, parish of Saincte Anne at a place commonly called Bellechasse; by Paul de Rainville, inhabitant and Marie Michel, his wife, to Joseph Parée, from the parish of Saincte Anne.

• 30 Jul 1683: annuity assignment; by Paul de Rainville and Marie Michel, his wife, of the seigneury of Berthier, to Jean Lepicart, bourgeois merchant, of the city of Quebec.

• 17 Apr 1684: donation of land located in the seigneury of Bellechasse; by Paul de Rainville, inhabitant and Marie Michel, his wife, of the seigneury of Bellechasse, to Pierre Bazin, inhabitant, of the seigneury of Bellechasse.

• 30 Nov 1685: exchange of a land concession located in Bellechasse in return for a concession located in the village of Saint Joseph in the parish of Beauport between Paul de Rainville and Marie Michel, his wife, from Bellechasse, now living in the village of Fargy, and Jean Prévost , from the village of Fargy, by proxy of Pierre Bazin and Marguerite Leblanc, his wife, de Bellechasse, his brother-in-law and sister-in-law.

Death of Marie Michel

Marie Michel died at the age of about 65 on 12 Nov 1687. She was buried the same day in the parish cemetery of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré.

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Sources:

• Fédération québécoise des sociétés de généalogie, Fichier Origine database (https://www.fichierorigine.com/recherche?numero=241616), entry for Louis Gagné/Gasnier (person 241616), updated 21 may 2018.

• Université de Montréal, Programme de recherche en démographie historique, entry for Louis Gagné, person 31704.

• Ibid., entry for Marie Michel, person 23601.

• Ibid., entry for Louis Gagné and Marie Michel, union 300.

• Marcel Trudel, Catalogue des Immigrants, 1632-1662 (Montréal: Éditions Hurtubise HMH, 1983), 142.

• Thomas J. Laforest, Our French-Canadian Ancestors vol. XII (Palm Harbor, FL, The LISI Press, 1991), 130.

• "Registre des confirmations 1649-1662", digital images, Généalogie Québec (https://www.genealogiequebec.com/membership/fr/fonds-drouin/REGISTRES), confirmation of the Gagné family, 2 Feb 1660, Château-Richer; citant original data : Registre des confirmations, Diocèse de Québec, Registres du Fonds Drouin.

• "Quebec, Canada, Notarial Records, 1637-1935", Ancestry.ca (https://www.ancestry.ca/), marraige contract of Paul Derainville and Marie Michel, 1 Sep 1666, Québec, notary Michel Fillion, Répertoires de notaires (Notarial catalogs) > Québec > Fillion, Michel (1660-1688) > digital page 14 of 30.

• Parchemin, banque de données notariales du Québec ancien (1626-1801), under the direction of Hélène Lafortune and Normand Robert, Société de recherche historique Archiv-Histo, (www.Archiv-Histo.com), "Bail à ferme de terre; par Olivier Letardif, à Louis Gagnier, laboureur, de St Charles à Beaupré", 3 Oct 1647, notary C. Lecoustre.

• Ibid., "Vente d'une concession située proche le bourg du Fargy; par Paul de Rainville et Marie Michel, son épouse, de Beauport, époux antérieur de Roline Pouets, à Jean de Rainville, son fils", 18 Jan 1672, notary P. Vachon.

• Ibid., "Vente de terre située en la seigneurie de Beaupré; par Marie Michel et Paul D'errainville, son époux, épouse antérieure de Louis Gasnier, à Louis Gasnier, l'un de ses fils", 2 Apr 1675, notary M. Fillion.

• Ibid., "Don mutuel entre Paul D'errainville et Marie Michel, son épouse", 31 Jan 1677, notary M. Fillion.

• Ibid., "Remise d'une terre située en la paroisse de Ste Anne; par Louis Gasnier, habitant, de la côte de Beaupré, paroisse de Saincte Anne du Petit Cap, à Paul de Rainville et Marie Michel, son épouse, mère dudit Gasnier", 6 Jul 1679, notary C. Auber.

• Ibid., "Vente d'une terre située en la côte de Beaupré, paroisse de Saincte Anne; par Paul de Rainville, habitant et Marie Michel, son épouse, de la terre du sud au lieu vulgairement appelé Bellechasse, épouse antérieure de Louis Gasnier, à Joseph Parée, de la paroisse de Saincte Anne", 6 Jul 1679, notary C. Auber.

• Ibid., "Cession de rente; par Paul de Rainville et Marie Michel, son épouse, de la seigneurie de Berthier, à Jean Lepicart, marchand bourgeois, de la ville de Québec", 30 Jul 1683, notary P. Duquet de Lachesnaye.

• Ibid., "Donation d'une terre située en la seigneurie de Bellechasse; par Paul de Rainville, habitant et Marie Michel, son épouse, de la seigneurie de Bellechasse, à Pierre Bazin, habitant, de la seigneurie de Bellechasse", 17 avril 1684, notary G. Rageot.

• Ibid., "Echange d'une concession située à Bellechasse en retour d'une concession située au village de Scainct Joseph en la paroisse de Beauport entre Paul de Rainville et Marie Michel, son épouse, de Bellechasse, demeurant de présent au bourg du Fargy, et Jean Prevost, du bourg du Fargy, fondé de procuration de Pierre Bazin et Marguerite Leblanc, son épouse, de Bellechasse, ses beau-frère et belle-sœur", 30 Nov 1685, notary P. Vachon.

• "Registres paroissiaux et Actes d’état civil du Québec (Collection Drouin), 1621 à 1968", Ancestry.ca, burial of Marie Michel, 12 Nov 1687, Ste-Anne-de-Beaupré > 1668-1808 > digital image 73 of 877.