| Notes |
- There were three Poulain's who emigrated from France to Quebec in the 17th century, and had male offspring: Claude, Maurice, and Jean. They were not brothers. Claude came from Rouen, and was the son of Pascal and Marie Levert, and most North American Poulin's are descendents of Claude. Maurice Poulain was from Villebadin and his parents were Pierre and Anne Plomelle. Jean Poulain was from Meun (or Meru), Beauvais in Picardie, and was the son of Jacques and Marie Violette. He married Louise Pare at Ste. Anne in 1667
Jean Poulin
Jean Poulin, from Picardy, who wrote his name as Poillain, was one of two worthy inhabitants by this name, along the Beaupre Coast. The other pioneer was Claude, already known to this reader.
Jean was the son of Jacques and Marie Violette. He was said to be originally from Meru, today, the head town of the Canton of the Department of Oise, Arrondissement of Beauvais, in the former province of Picardy, north of Paris.
Several times through the centuries, Romans and Franc antiquities have been found in the soil of Meru. In 626, this territory was given as a seigneurie to the abbay of Saint-Denis. It was placed under the patronage of Saint-Lucien, Bishop of Beauvais. The church of Meru has a gable from the thirteen century and a belltower, rebuilt in 1511. More than eight thousand inhabitants were living in the town of Meru, in 1982.
SAINTE-ANNE-DU-PETIT-CAP
Did Jean Poulin come to New France as an indentured servant or by his own means? In what year? There is no answer. However, the Canadian archives do give us a few details. On November 23, 1661, Jean Poulin signed as a witness to the marriage contract of Jean Barrette. He was living on the Beaupre Coast among folks from Sainte-Anne-du-Petit-Cap. At the marriage contract between Jacques Dodier and Catherine Caron, on May 29, 1662, Jean Poulin placed his signature before that of the Notary Claude Auber. On the occasion of a farm lease from Richard Dumesil to Isaac Lamy, on May 15, 1663, Jean was there as a witness.
There is no doubt about Jean Poulin's presence among us. Like me, you would like to know how he spent his time. Based on a deed, executed by Notary Auber, Raymond Gariepy wrote that, on February 12, 1663, Jean Poulin received from the Fabrique of Notre-Dame de Quebec two arpents of frontal property at Sainte-Anne-du-Petit-Cap. It concerned the major part of the land given by Etienne Lessard to the Fabrique of the parish, in 1658. The Poulin property began above the coast, across from the present Basilica. But, on December 17, 1666, Jean sold his concession to Urbain Jamineau dit La Rose.
This period, in the life of Jean Poulin, has a surprise for us, revealed by the historian Raymond Douville.
Pierre Arrive and Jean Poulin joined together in a hunting expedition for wild game. The action took place in the region of Trois-Rivieres.
"Both went hunting, they each could not bring back home all the game that they had killed and by consequence had to return to the woods to get it. Each had to bring back the most that they could. Such was the verbal agreement. Well, Pierre Arrive could not make the trip the same day as his companion. He went there the next day and only found spoiled meat. Jean Poulain refused to share with him the load which he himself had brought back".
On May 23, 1665, Pierre Arrive, a man from Saintonge, living in the vicinity of Trois-Rivieres, since 1662, sued his companion before Michel Leneuf. On the following June 6, the royal judge settled the litigation.
"Jean Poulain must share what he had been able to bring back with Pierre Arrive, since it is not the fault of the latter if he only found spoiled meat and that he had shown his good will by undertaking the journey when he could do it".
Many documents of this type are still resting under the secular dust of our archives! Thanks to the researchers, who have resurrected them! They help us to throw a more human and detailed light, on the life of Our Ancestors.
FROM SAINTE-ANNE TO SAINT JOACHIM
After five or six years in a new country, in the midst of expansion, Jean decided to stabilize his future.
On february 20, 1667, to the west of the parish of Sainte-Anne, Jean Poulin summoned the Notary Auber and his friends Julien Mercier and Pierre Gibouin to the house of Robert Pare and Francoise Lehoux. At this marriage contract, in support of his future wife, Louise Pare, were Mathurin Gagnon, Pierre Simard and Etienne Bellinier. The terms of the contract were nothing special except that, the gifts offered by the Pare parents to their daughter were 1 milk cow, 2 suits of clothes, 6 napkins, 2 tablecloths, 6 blouses, 6 handkerchiefs and 6 blankets. In addition, Robert Pare promised to help his son-in-law build a wood house 24 by 18 feet. Jean and Louise would be lodged at the Pare house while awaiting the construction of their own home. Mathurin Gagnon, Robert Foubert and Jacques Gamache signed the document with the groom.
The next day, February 21, Etienne Bellinier dit Le Prince, sold his property of three arpents in width to Jean Poulin. Jean soon moved his household to this homestead situated in the territory of Saint-Joachim, about fifteen arpents to the west of the Blondel River. At the end of April, he paid 100 livres to the seller. The censustakers for the year 1667 gave Jean Poulin two arpents under cultivation and said he was 27 years old, which allows us to place his birth about 1640.
Was the Poulin house finished in September of 1667? Not yet. Just the same, the son-in-law and the father-in-law anticipated finishing this project before autumn. They committed themselves through the intermediary, Francois Boivin to "make and deliver" to the Nursing Sisters of Quebec 1000 pine boards, at the rate of 50 livres a hundred. The delivery must be completed by June 24, 1668. Robert and Jean worked hard that winter.
Finally, on Monday, November 14, 1667, Jean Poulin and Louise Pare had their union blessed by Father Thomas Morel, at the church of Sainte-Anne-du-Petit-Cap. This was the first marriage recorded in the parish registry. Louise Pare was born, on August 19, 1654, conditionally baptized by Marie Giffard, on the 21st and baptized, at Quebec by the R.P. Jerome Lalemant, on the 23rd. She had just reached her 13th birthday when, she started her married life with Jean Poulin, at Saint-Joachim.
Jean Poulin had been a faithful member of his church dedicated to Sainte-Anne. As tithe, he had given a bushel of wheat in 1663.
THE LIFE OF HUMBLE PEOPLE
At Saint-Joachim, Louise and Jean led a peaceful but hard life, that of humble habitants, who together built the country.
The account book of the Fabrique of Sainte-Anne-du-Petit-Cap indicates that, in 1673, Jean gave 1 pound of butter. It was not much but, it was from the heart. The same registry adds that, in 1678, he gave 4 pounds. Things were getting better.
In the census of 1681, Jean and Louise, 40 and 27 years old, respectively, were living at Saint-Joachim with their four children, Jean, Julien, Cecile and Pascal. Their livestock consisted of a modest 4 head of cattle. They said that, they had 4 square arpents under cultivation. In this region, abundant with wild game, the hunting rifle was a necessity. Jean had one, obviously well used.
There were some very fine trees on Jean's land. So, in 1696, the Fabrique of Sainte-Anne, which was having important renovations made to the church, asked Poulin for permission to cut the necessary trees in order to saw 400 fine planks. The promised recompense was 20 livres.
INHERITANCE
On January 4, 1655, Robert Pare had acquired on Rue Notre-Dame, at Quebec, a site on which, he built a house with a heated room, cellar and attic. After the death of the Ancestor, six heirs divided the profits from the sale of this property. Francoise Pare, influenced by her husband, sold her share valued at 217 livres, on April 9, 1687. Leonard Hazeur, Sieur Dezonneaux, a neighbor, merchant and bourgeois, immediately paid 50 livres to Jean Poulin and 50 more livres to the baliff, Guillaume Roger, creditor of the Poulin family. As for the 117 remaining livres, the buyer of the sixth part of the site and the house, promised to pay off his debt in one year, on the same date.
Through this property transferred by way of succession, the Poulins more easily balanced their family budget.
TWELVE CHILDREN
Twelve Poulin children were born, at Saint-Joachim and here is a little information on them.
1) Jean was born, on August 24, 1671 and baptized August 30, at Beaupre. He married Marie Gagne, the daughter of Louis and Marie Gagnon, on June 17, 1702, at Saint-Joachim. They had seven children, four girls and three boys.
2) Julien was born, on July 10 and baptized the 15th, 1673, at Beaupre. Jeanne Racine, the daughter of Noel and Marguerite Gravel, married Julien, on April 27, 1700, at Beaupre.They had a daughter, Therese. Julien died, at the Hotel-Dieu at Quebec, on April 25, 1707. Jeanne then married Charles Cauchon, the son of Jean and Madeleine Miville, on September 16, 1708, at Saint-Joachim. They had a daughter, Dorothee.
3) Cecile was born, on January 16, 1676 and baptized the 20th, at Cap-Tourmente. She married Jean-Baptiste Otis dit Langlais, the son of Richard Otis and Anne Shaw, on November 4, 1703, at Saint-Joachim. They had a daughter, Marie-Josephe. Her husband was from Dover, New Hampshire. How to explain this prisoner of war living on the Beaupre Coast? A partial answer is found in the registry of Sainte-Anne, dated April 10, 1700, a Holy Saturday. Jean-Baptiste, then living at the home of his master and godfather, Jean Barrette, was baptized conditionally that day. This young man had been captured by the Indians of Acadia, in the vicinity of Boston and sold to Jean Barrette about 1697. When Otis married Cecile Poulin, he was working on the Petit Ferme of the priests of the Seminary at Saint-Joachim. The new couple had a single daughter, Marie-Josephe, who married Francois Quevillon, on April 25, 1724. Cecile died, at Sainte-Joachim, on April 27, 1731. On February 9, 1733, Jean-Baptiste Otis was remarried to Marie-Francoise Gagne, who provided him with numerous descendants.
4) Pascal was born August 29, 1670 and baptized the next day, at Beaupre. He gave his heart to Marguerite Gagne, the daughter of Louis and Marie Gagnon and sister to Marie, who married Jean. on November 5, 1708, at Saint-Joachim. They had eight children, four girls and four boys.
5) Louise(1) was born, on January 30, 1682 and baptized the next day, at Beaupre. She passed away, on June 24, 1685 and was buried the next day.
6) Joseph was born and baptized March 29, 1684, at Beaupre. That is all we know of him.
7) Guillaume was born, on May 15, 1686 and baptized the next day, at Beaupre. Genevieve Caron, the daughter of Pierre and Genevieve Maheu, became his wife, on October 11, 1711, at Saint-Joachim. They had one daughter, Marie-Genevieve.
8) Marie-Madeleine was born and baptized, on September 10, 1688, at Beaupre. She took for her husband, Noel Guay, the son of Mathieu and Therese Poirier, on June 4, 1716, at Baie-Saint-Paul. They had one boy, Augustin, before Marie-Madeleine died after the birth, on October 29, 1713 and buried the next day, at Baie-Saint-Paul. Noel married for a second time to Catherine Simard, the daughter of Noel and Marie-Madeleine Racine, on June 4, 1716, at Baie-Saint-Paul. They had nine children, five boys and four girls.
9) Ignace was born and baptized, on Decmber 4, 1690, at Beaupre. That is all we know of him.
10) Louise(2) was born and baptized ?? Where?? She married Francis Rancourt, the son of Joseph and Marie Parent, on May 4, 1718, Saint-Joachim. They had eight offspring, four girls and four boys.
11) Dominique was born and baptized ?? Where?? He took for his beloved Genevieve Gravel, the daughter of Jean and Marie Cloutier and the widow of Jean Simard, on March 14, 1721, at Saint-Joachim. They had one son, Dominique. What happened to Genevieve? And then Dominique married Marie-Josephe Berthelot, the daughter of Joseph and Marie Gagnon, on October 29, 1727, at Beaupre. they had two children, a girl and a boy.
12) Marguerite was born about 1699. She married Louis Bolduc, the son of Louis and Louise Caron, on May 4, 1725, at Saint-Joachim. They had seven children, four girls and three boys.
Such was the fine sheaf of life that Louise Pare and Jean Poulin harvested together.
INVENTORY
Jean Poulin died before the first of April, 1699. This is as precise as I can ascertain. An inventory drawn up by Notary Jacob served as a death announcement testifying to the life led by Our Ancestor. The objects left were numerous and in a jumble but of little value: a few pots, boilers, 1 basin, 2 tin platters, 3 heaters, 2 terrines, 1 pair of new snowshoes and a gun given before his death to Julien, 5 old sickles, several blankets, 1 spinning wheel, 1 iron flask, 1 chest, 1 large tablecloth, etc..
In another building, there were 2 chains, 2 harrows, 74 minots of wheat, 2 minots of peas, 1 barrel of lard, 1 tub, 1 churn. In the stable made "of piece on piece twenty feet long by sixteen wide", at least 11 head of cattle were waiting for the beginning of spring in order to go graze on the grass of the 24 arpents of land being worked. They toured the barn, 40 by 20 feet and another small stable "covered also in straw". The Poulin house, 20 feet wide, 25 feet long, "all in half timber", had 2 rooms on the first floor, cellar and attic. The atmosphere was calm. The Poulin children did not quarrel over the inheritance of their deceased father.
Alas! The death of Our generous and retiring Ancestress was not mentioned in the registry of Saint-Joachim. At the marriage contract of Jean Poulin and Marie Gagne, dated June 17, 1702, Louise Pare was still alive. But, when her daughter, Cecile promised to marry Jean-Baptiste Otis, on November 4, 1703, Louise Pare was no longer living.
Jean Poulin came more than 300 years ago and he remained. He was tenacious, honest and loyal. His sons and daughters passed on what they had received, to a whole line of respectable descendants, living especially in the Beauce and in the region of Richelieu.
As said by writer Gabriel Roy, on August 18, 1975, it can not be a question for us to diminish the heritage of liberty which our pioneering and conquering ancestors have bequeathed to us.
FAMILY NAME VARIATIONS
Variations of this name, which could stem from either Claude or Jean are: Courval, Cresse, Fafard, Francheville, Lafontaine, Nicolet, Paulent, Paulin, Paulint, Poland, Polin, Poling, Pollin, Pooler, Poolr, Poulan, Poulain, Poullain, Pouline, Saint-Maurice and Terrier.
This biography was taken from " Our French-Canadian Ancestors " by Thomas J. Laforest; Volume 15- Chapter 16-Page 181 5-7-98
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