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 Nicolas Peltier & Jeanne Devoisy

The First Pelletier in New France and Ancestor of Many Métis Families

Nicolas Peltier (or Pelletier), the son of François Pelletier and Simonne Pichereau, was baptized on June 4, 1596, in the parish of Saint-Pierre-et-Saint-Paul in Gallardon, Beauce, France. He was the fourth of twelve children, all baptized in Gallardon. [His name was spelled in a variety of phonetic ways in New France. Although Pelletier is the standard spelling in Québec today, Nicolas signed his name Peltier.]

Gallardon is a medieval commune located in the Voise valley in the Eure-et-Loir department. Today, it is home to approximately 3,700 residents. The town is best known for its 12th-century tower, L’Épaule de Gallardon, which served as a residence for the guards in the service of the baron and was also used as a lookout due to frequent threats of invasion.

Gallardon is also known for the church of Saint-Pierre-et-Saint-Paul, where the Pelletier children were baptized. The church features three distinct architectural styles: Romanesque, Gothic and Renaissance. The lower parts of the nave and choir date from the 12th century, while the wooden vault was constructed in the 15th century.

A Carpenter’s Apprentice

At the age of 15, Nicolas became a carpenter's apprentice. A contract was drawn up before notary Jean Fullone on February 29, 1612, in Gallardon, between Nicolas's widowed mother and maître-charpentier (master carpenter) Michel Delaval. Starting the next day, Nicolas was to become Delaval’s student and apprentice for a period of four years. He would be provided with food, drink, clothing, linens and shoes while he learned the skills of carpentry. Nicolas's father was recorded as deceased in the contract. Agreeing to place one of her sons in an apprenticeship may have helped relieve a financial burden from his mother.

Marriage and Children

Nicolas likely completed his apprenticeship in 1616 and continued working as a carpenter in Gallardon until his marriage. Around 1632, he married Jeanne Devoisy in Gallardon. [Jeanne's surname appears in many forms in historical documents: Devoisy, de Vouzy, de Vousy, Roussy, Voisy, among others.] Born around 1614, Jeanne was about 18 years old at the time of her marriage; Nicolas was approximately 36. The couple had at least two sons in France: Jean and François.

Around 1636, Nicolas, Jeanne and their young family left their home to settle in New France. Of all the Pelletiers to arrive in the colony, they were the first. Nicolas was likely recruited for his carpentry skills, which were in high demand in the developing settlement. Their family was among the earliest French families to establish themselves in Québec.

Nicolas and Jeanne had a total of eight children:

1. Jean (c. 1632-1692) married Marie Geneviève Demanovely and had one child. He died at the hands of the Iroquois in Sorel.

2. François (c. 1635-before August 1688) married Dorothée (an Indigenous woman whose surname is unknown) and later Marguerite Madeleine Morisseau. He had at least ten children with his second wife. Morisseau was an engageuse ouest (a recruiter of fur traders or voyageurs), and at least one of his sons became a voyageur. François became known as Peltier (or Pelletier) dit Antaya.

3. Marie (1638-after 1705) married Nicolas Goupil and later Denis Jean. She had two daughters with her first husband and twelve children with her second. One of her daughters, Marie Françoise Jean, became a nun at the Hôtel-Dieu de Québec.

4. Louise (1640-1713) married Jean Ayotte (or Hayot). The couple had at least ten children. One of their daughters, Angélique, became Mother Superior at the Hôpital Général de Québec.

5. Marie Françoise (1642-1707) married Jean Beriault (who died within a year of their marriage) and later Sébastien Liénard. She had thirteen children with her second husband, one of whom became a voyageur.

6. Jeanne (1644-1715) married Noël Jérémie Lamontagne, an interpreter and fur trade clerk at the Domaine du Roi trading post. They had at least fourteen children.

7. Geneviève (1646-1717) married Vincent Verdon and later Thomas Lefebvre, a cooper, Abenaki interpreter and voyageur. She had two daughters with her first husband and twelve children with her second.

8. Nicolas (1649-1729) married Madeleine Tegochix (an Indigenous woman), Françoise Ouechipichinokioué (an Indigenous Algonquin woman) and Marie Outchiouanich (the daughter of an Indigenous chief at Tadoussac). He had one daughter with his first wife and ten children with his second. Nicolas became known as Peltier (or Pelletier) dit Marolles.

Life in Québec

From 1637 to 1640, Nicolas was a master carpenter at the Habitation de Québec.

Habitation de Québec

The Habitation de Québec was a group of interconnected buildings constructed on the orders of Samuel de Champlain in 1608. It served as a fort, trading post and residence for the small colony, housing about 200 colonists. The first winter inside the Habitation was disastrous: 20 of the 28 men died, mainly from scurvy. Construction of the wooden buildings was completed in 1609. 

In 1624, Champlain ordered the reconstruction of the Habitation, this time using stone instead of wood. It did not stand for long—the buildings were burned down in 1629 during the English invasion led by the Kirke brothers. The Habitation was rebuilt in 1633 and used primarily as a store from 1633 to 1682 before being destroyed by fire. The Notre-Dame-des-Victoires church was later built around 1688 on part of its remains. 

Archaeological digs conducted in the 1970s uncovered some remains of the Habitation, located in present-day Place-Royale in Québec City. An outline appears on the ground in front of the Notre-Dame-des-Victoires church, tracing one of the Habitation’s towers. A commemorative plaque was also installed on an exterior wall of the church.

Nicolas continued working as a carpenter in Québec. On November 12, 1639, along with mason Jean Éger and fellow carpenter Pierre Pelletier, he prepared a report after inspecting the carpentry of the house of the late Guillaume Hébert. [Pierre is thought to be Nicolas's brother, but this has not been proven. This is the only mention of him in the Canadian archives.] In 1644, Nicolas was tasked with re-inspecting Hébert’s house, this time alongside carpenter Étienne Racine.

Land Concession in Sillery

On September 12, 1645, the Compagnie de la Nouvelle-France confirmed a land concession granted by Governor Charles Huault de Montmagny to Nicolas Peltier. He received fifty arpents in the seigneurie of Sillery on "route Saint-Xavier," where the Peltier family settled.

Thomas Hayot and Nicolas Peltier were among the first settlers to receive land in the Sillery seigneurie. The plots they received were bounded "at one end to the south-east by a line running south-west and north-east at a distance of about twenty toises from the edge of the great St. Laurens river; at the other end, also to the north-east by a line running south-east and north-east, or thereabouts, which line is at a distance of twelve toises from the great road from Kebec to Cap Rouge […], the said lines serving as roads.” [The toise was an old measure of length equal to six feet.]

Nicolas promised to continuously clear the land, allow Indigenous people to remove wood from the property, and bring his grain to the seigneurial mill to be ground. He also received fishing rights on his land along the St. Lawrence River.

Although he now lived in Sillery, 10 kilometres southwest of Québec’s Basse-Ville (Lower Town), Nicolas continued working as a carpenter in Québec. In 1647, he built the roof frame for the church of Notre-Dame-de-la-Paix. For this work, he was paid 1,500 livres, plus 30 livres for vin du marché (market wine).

Around 1648, Nicolas built the roof structure of the Château Saint-Louis, the official residence of the Governor of New France. [Though the building no longer stands, archaeological digs in the early 2000s uncovered thousands of artifacts and some 500 architectural remains. These remnants can be visited today at the Saint-Louis Forts and Chȃteaux Historic Site, located beneath Dufferin Terrace in Québec.]

Conflicts with the Indigenous

In 1647, Jeanne became involved in legal trouble related to the illegal trade of brandy with Indigenous people. On September 13, Nicolas Marsolet, interpreter for the French with the Indigenous nations, was sent to Sillery by the governor along with a soldier, La Chesnaye Gaultier, to investigate a reported disturbance. There, they found two Indigenous men seriously wounded by knife attacks. When questioned, the victims explained that the altercation had been caused by drunkenness after consuming two bottles of brandy purchased from “the wife of master Nicolas Peltier and a young man in his household,” in exchange for 400 porcelain beads.

The following day, at Fort Saint-Louis in Québec, Governor Charles Huault de Montmagny sentenced Jeanne to a fine of 100 livres and to repay the 400 porcelain beads, with imprisonment until full payment. The fine was to be distributed among the religious houses: one-third to the Jesuits in Sillery and two-thirds to the two houses of nuns in Québec. 

On May 11, 1651, the Journal des Jésuites reported a conflict between the Peltier family and the Iroquois, the feared enemies of the Huron people who had fled to Sillery after the destruction of Sainte-Marie-au-pays-des-Hurons in 1649:

The attack was seemingly repelled, and the Peltier family survived unscathed.

 Master Carpenter

In the following decade, Nicolas’s name appears in several notarial documents related to his carpentry work:

• April 5, 1650: Nicolas promised to pay Mathurin Trut wages totalling 320 livres for two years of work.

• October 28, 1650: Nicolas and his son-in-law Nicolas Goupil, also a master carpenter, agreed to build a house frame for Jean-Paul Godefroy measuring 55 feet by 24 feet, for the price of 1,500 livres.

•  May 1, 1653: Nicolas and André Renault agreed to complete the framing for a barn for Jacques Sévestre.

•  December 27, 1657: Nicolas agreed to frame a dwelling measuring 20 feet by 32 feet for Pierre Niel, for the price of 250 livres.

Life in Sillery

On June 6, 1661, François de Montmorency-Laval, “Monsignor the Illustrious and Most Reverend Bishop of Petrée, Vicar Apostolic in the whole of New France,” travelled to Sillery to confirm 26 people, including Nicolas, Jeanne and their son Jean.

The Peltier family appears in the 1667 census of New France, living in the sector of “Cap-Rouge and Côte de Saint-Ignace.” Nicolas was recorded as being 77 years old (in reality, he was 71), and Jeanne was 53. Their son Nicolas was living in the household, along with an 18-year-old domestic servant named Pierre Quartier [Cartier]. The family did not own any animals or cleared land.

In 1667, a map was drawn of the seigneurie of Sillery. It illustrates Saint-Michel Street, Saint-Ignace Street, Saint-François-Xavier Fort, the division of lots, roads, the location of the Indigenous Huron people (“sauvages”), and the names of the landowners, including Nicolas Peltier.

Over the next decade, Nicolas’s name appears in several notarial documents, now relating to real estate rather than carpentry:

• August 20, 1669: Nicolas leased the house and barn of his son François Peltier (or Pelletier) for two years at twenty livres per year. [Denis-Joseph Ruette d'Auteuil de Monceaux represented the rights of François in this contract.]

• October 13, 1669: Nicolas and Jeanne leased their farm on côte Saint-François-Xavier to their son Jean Peltier (or Pelletier) and his wife for 35 minots of wheat, 10 minots of peas and a barrel of salted eels per year. The contract stated that the property included about 25 arpents of cleared land, a house, a barn and stables, and came with fishing rights and two oxen for farming. [A minot was a measure once used for dry matter (seeds and flour), and which contained half of a mine. A mine corresponded to approximately 78.73 litres.]

• October 11, 1671: With their son Jean having left the property on côte Saint-François-Xavier for the seigneurie d’Autray, Nicolas and Jeanne leased it to Denis-Joseph Ruette d'Auteuil de Monceaux for 30 minots of wheat and 16 minots of peas per year.

• October 27, 1673: Nicolas and Jeanne sold the family land on côte Saint-François-Xavier, “near Monsseaux,” in the parish of Sillery, to Denis-Joseph Ruette d'Auteuil de Monceaux for 1,000 livres.

Death of Nicolas Pelletier

Nicolas Peltier died sometime between March 23, 1678, when he is last mentioned in a notarial record, and the census of New France taken on November 14, 1681. No burial record has been located for him. 

Jeanne Devoisy’s Last Years

In 1681, Jeanne was recorded in the census of New France, living with her son Jean in the seigneurie d'Autray (present-day Lanoraie). Jeanne was 70 years old, and Jean was 50. Also living in the household were Jean’s 18-year-old son, also named Jean, and a 28-year-old man named François, possibly a servant or boarder. Jean owned two guns, two head of cattle and nine arpents of cleared land.

Death of Jeanne Devoisy

Jeanne died at about 75 years of age. She was buried on December 12, 1689, in the old parish cemetery of Saint-Pierre in Sorel. This cemetery, the oldest in Sorel, was in use from about 1670 to 1702. It was located at the present-day corner of Rue du Fort and Rue de la Reine, though no remnants of the cemetery exist today.

Commemorative Monument

On September 12, 2005, the Association des familles Pelletier (Pelletier Families Association) unveiled a monument in Sillery on part of the land granted to Nicolas Peltier in 1645. It can be visited at 2608, chemin St-Louis in Sillery (now part of Québec City).

Photos by Pascal Pelletier (Association des Familles Pelletier), used with permission.

Sources :

• "Gallardon 1591-1596," digital images, Archives départementales d'Eure-et-Loir (http://www.archives28.fr/ark:/66007/s005303206bbb3b3/53033c2e7b971 : accessed 17 Aug 2021), baptism of Nicolas Pelletier, 4 Jun 1596, Gallardon.

• "Registre des confirmations 1649-1662," digital images, Généalogie Québec (https://www.genealogiequebec.com/membership/fr/fonds-drouin/REGISTRES : accessed 21 Sep 2021), confirmation of Jean Peltier, 6 Jun 1661, Sillery; citing original data: Registre des confirmations, Diocèse de Québec, Registres du Fonds Drouin.

• "Recensement du Canada, 1667," Library and Archives Canada (https://collectionscanada.gc.ca/ : accessed 18 Aug 2021), household of Nicolas Pelletier, 1667, Cap-Rouge and Côte de Saint-Ignace, Finding aid no. MSS0446, Item ID number: 2318857; citing original data: Centre des archives d'outre-mer (France) vol. 460.

• "Recensement du Canada fait par l'intendant Du Chesneau," Library and Archives Canada (https://collectionscanada.gc.ca/ : accessed 18 Aug 1681), household of Jean Pelletier, 14 Nov 1681, Québec, Finding aid no. MSS0446, MIKAN no. 2318858; citing original data: Centre des archives d'outre-mer (France) vol. 460.

• "Quebec, Canada, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1968," digital images, Ancestry.ca (https://www.ancestry.ca/ : accessed 18 Aug 2021), burial of Jeanne Devouzy, 12 Dec 1689, Sorel, Québec ; citing original data: Drouin Collection, Institut Généalogique Drouin.

• "Actes de notaire, 1626-1645 // Martial Piraube," digital images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSVN-Q8J1?cat=1176010&i=1045&lang=en : accessed 24 Mar 2025), "Rapport de charpenterie pour la maison de Guillaume Hebert," 12 Nov 1639, images 1045-1048 of 2056 ; citing original data: Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec.

• Parchemin, notarial database of ancient Québec (1626-1801), Société de recherche historique Archiv-Histo, (https://archiv-histo.com : accessed 17 Aug 2021), "Marché de payement de gages entre Nicolas Pelletier, habitant, demeurant proche Sillery, et Mathurin Tru, travaillant," 5 Apr 1650, notary Audouart dit Saint-Germain.

• Ibid., "Marché de charpenterie d'une maison entre Nicolas Pelletier et Nicolas Goupil, maître charpentier, demeurant proche Monseault, et Jean-Paul Godefroy, écuyer," 28 Oct 1650, notary Audouart dit Saint-Germain.

• Ibid., "Marché de charpenterie d'une grange entre Nicolas Pelletier, maître charpentier en la Nouvelle-France, demeurant proche Sillery, et André Renault, habitant," 1 May 1653, notary Audouart dit Saint-Germain.

• Ibid., "Marché de charpenterie d'un logis de Nicolas Pelletier, maître charpentier, à Quebeq demeurant entre le cap Rouge et Sillery, avec Pierre Niel," 27 Dec 1657, notary Audouart dit Saint-Germain.

• Ibid., "Bail d'une maison; par Denis-Joseph Ruette-Dauteuil de Monceaux, écuyer, au nom et comme représentant le droit de François Peltier, à Nicolas Peltier, habitant, de la côte de Sillery," 20 Aug 1669, notary R. Becquet.

• Ibid., "Bail à ferme d'une ferme située à la côte de St Xavier; par Nicolas Peltier, maître charpentier et habitant et Jeanne de Wouzy, son épouse, de la côte de St Xavier, paroisse de Sillery, à Jean Peltier, habitant et Marie-Geneviève de Manovelly, son épouse, de la côte de St Xavier, leurs fils et belle-fille," 13 Oct 1669, notary R. Becquet.

• Ibid., "Bail à loyer d'une habitation située à cap Rouge; par Nicolas Peltier, habitant et Jeanne Vaousy, son épouse, du cap Rouge, à Denis-Joseph Ruette-Dauteuil de Monceaux, écuyer, de Monceaux," 11 Oct 1671, notary R. Becquet.

• Ibid., "Vente d'une habitation située en la côte de Sainct Xavier proche du lieu de Monsseaux, paroisse de Sillery; par Jeanne de Voisy, épouse actuelle de Nicolas Peltier, habitant, de D'autray, à Denis-Joseph Ruette-D'auteuil de Monsseaux, écuyer, de Mousseaux," 27 Oct 1673, notary R. Becquet.

• "Fonds Ministère des Terres et Forêts - BAnQ Québec," digital images, Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec (https://advitam.banq.qc.ca/notice/258415 : accessed 17 Aug 2021), "Confirmation par la Compagnie de la Nouvelle-France de la concession accordée par Montmagny à Nicolas Pelletier," 12 Sep 1645, reference E21,S64,SS5,SSS7,D9, Id 258415.

• Ibid. (https://advitam.banq.qc.ca/notice/258812 : accessed 17 Aug 2021), "Plan de la seigneurie de Sillery," 1667, reference E21,S555,SS1,SSS7,PS.3/1A. Id 258812.

• Fédération québécoise des sociétés de généalogie, Fichier Origine database (https://www.fichierorigine.com/recherche?numero=243216 : accessed 17 Aug 2021), entry for Nicolas Pelleter, person 243216.

• Université de Montréal, Programme de recherche en démographie historique (PRDH) database, (https://www.prdh-igd.com : accessed 17 Aug 2021), dictionary entry for Nicolas Pelletier and Jeanne Devoisy Roussy, union 180.

• Benoît Pelletier, "Nicolas Peltier, 1596-1678 : Une chronique familiale," Mémoires de la Société généalogique canadienne-française, volume 62, number 3, book 269, autumn 2011, 213-223.

• René Jetté and the PRDH, Dictionnaire généalogique des familles du Québec des origines à 1730 (Montréal, Gaëtan Morin Éditeur, 1944), 887.

• Marcel Trudel, Catalogue des Immigrants, 1632-1662 (Montréal: Éditions Hurtubise HMH, 1983), 62.

• "Basilique-Cathédrale Notre-Dame-de-Québec," Ville de Québec (https://www.ville.quebec.qc.ca/citoyens/patrimoine/quartiers/vieux_quebec/interet/basilique_cathedrale_notre_dame_de_quebec.aspx : accessed 16 Aug 2021).

• Louis Painchaud, "DOCUMENT 3. Procès verbal du Sieur Marsolet contre la femme de Nicolas Peltier du treizième septembre 1647," Éphémérides familiales (https://louispainchaud.wordpress.com/2021/05/20/document-3-proces-verbal-du-sieur-marsolet-contre-la-femme-de-nicolas-peltier-du-treizieme-septembre-1647/ : accessed 24 Mar 2025).

• Journal des Jésuites (Québec, Léger Brousseau Imprimeur-Éditeur, 1871), 152.

• "Ancien cimetière (1er) de Sorel," Les Labelle (http://www.leslabelle.com/Cimetieres/AfficherCim.asp?MP=F3&CID=3149 : accessed 18 Aug 2021).

• "Nicolas Pelletier," Association des Familles Pelletier (https://associationpelletier.ca/notre-association/pelletier-de-souches-canadi/nicolas-pelletier.html : accessed 17 Aug 2021).