| 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
Claude Poulin and his wife are buried in the cemetery in Ste. Anne de Beaupre, next to the reconstructed stone church and directly across the street (north) from the current Basilica. The grave is in the first row closest to the street and to the old church. A new marker was erected in 1989 on the 350th anniversary of their marriage.
From 1632 to 1662, the colony of Canada is managed by the "Company of the Hundred Associates" (Compagnie des Cent Associés). Each year the Company sends a fleet to Canada, to bring settlers, supplies and for commerce. Also a few independent ships, mostly after 1641 for the colony of Montréal, and a few vessels from the Royal Navy of France (Marine Royale) come to Canada. There are very few sources of information for the period prior to 1641. (http://www.geocities.com/~carignan/01_navires_pre_1666/E1navires.html)
Three ships left france around January 15, 1636 and arrived on June 11, 1636 led by Duplessis Bochart, captain Savinien Courpon de la Tour and the ship Saint Joseph.
Charles Huault de Montmagny was the first Governor of the colony of New France. He was on captain Savinien Courpon de la Tour's ships that cast anchor before Quebec on the night of June 11, 1636
In 1636, the fleet arrives from France on June 11th. It comprises of three or four ships among them
the Saint-Joseph. She has 100 people on board of which 91 are immigrants. Among them Marcel
Trudel names Sainte Dupont and her children Jean, Anne, Charles and Louise. See TRUDEL, Marcel,
Catalogue des immigrants 1632-1662, Éditions Hurtubise HMH, Montréal, 1983, page 53.
Claude arrived at Quebec on the 11th of June 1636 aboard a vessel carrying 45 people. The captain of that vessel was Savinien Courpon de la Tour...who would become the Admiral of the Fleet the following year. Some names of the other passengers were: Charles Huot de Montmagny, Champlain's successor, Achille Brehant dit Deslisle, 7 Jesuits and numerous other Frenchmen and their families.
CLAUDE POULIN from "Our French-Canadian Ancestors" by Thomas J. Laforest
The first Frenchman with the name of Poulin to come to New France was a young Recollect priest names Guillaume. After his arrival in Canada in June of 1619, he took charge of the mission at Trois-Rivieres. He was captured by the Iroquois near the falls of Saint-Louis in 1622. He was tied to a stake for torture. When his fellow priests were informed of his capture, they had him exchanged for some Iroquois prisoners. Freed, the father pursued his priestly course, as if nothing had happened.
Four others with the same last name walked the paths, of our country, but they left no descendants. Jean Poulin, the husband of Anne Robin, settled, at Rimouski about 1690. Jacques Poulin married Marie-Therese Marchand on November 23, 1739. He was a citizen of Pointe-Levy. Joseph Poulin was a bird of passage. Philippe Poulin married Marguerite Bluteau, from Cap-Saint-Ignace, on July 17, 1742.
Those who had offspring were Maurice Poulin, Sieur de Lafontaine. He married Jeanne Jaleau, at Trois-Rivieres and they had five children. Maurice was of noble lineage. Jean Poulin, the son of Jacques and Marie Violette, married Louise Pare on November 14, 1667 at Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupre. And finally, Claude Poulin, the subject of this story.
Poulin, Poullin, Poulain and Poullain are surnames meaning "a lively man, quick like a young poulain-colt" according to Dauzat (?).
SAINT-MACLOU IN ROUEN
Claude Poulin, the son of Pascal and Marie Levert, was presented for baptism at the church of Saint-Maclou in the city of Rouen, in Normandy, on January 26, 1616. Serving as his godparents were Claude Levert, undoubtedly an uncle and Marie Leclect. A known older brother, Jean, had been baptized in the same place on July 23, 1612. Was Claude Poulin a relative of Daniel Poullain, a captain in the King's navy? The same, who received a sum of money, on December 22, 1601, from nobleman Perrin Bezau to help pay for a voyage to Peru, on the ship PETITE MARIE, under the command of Poullain? The archives gave no more information about this Normand mariner.
Claude attended school and wrote his name as "Poullain". Some forty Canadian Ancestors were natives of Rouen. Coming, from Saint-Maclou, in particular, were Rene Lavoie, Etienne Leveille, Louis Lefebvre dit Batanville and Pierre Boivin. Was Claude Poulin one of the first from this town, to emigrate to Canada? A pertinent question which requires an answer.
FIRST DAY
In 1960, Monsieur J. Philippe Poulin, based on the Relations des Jesuits and the opinion of historian J. B. Antoine Ferland, stated that his Ancestor arrived at Quebec on the afternoon of June 11, 1636, the feast of Saint-Barnabe, on the ship belonging to Sieur Courpon. History does not explicitly mention the name of Claude Poulin. This hypothesis deserves respect and here is the reason.
Claude Poulin was married at Quebec on August 8, 1639. He must have been in the country for a certain time, possibly three years, according to the method of indenture which would become the custom. At that time, the large seaports from which French ships left for the great crossing of the Atlantic were Dieppe or Honfleur. Where did Claude work? Was it Quebec or Trois-Rivieres? You be the judge. The witnesses at his marriage on August 8, 1639 were surgeon, Seigneur Robert Giffard, and Guillaume Boivin, a "donne" of the Jesuits also known as a "gray brother", originally from Rouen, Normandy. The conclusion is obvious that Claude Poulin was the protege of Giffard at Beauport. The Jesuit priest, Nicolas Adam, blessed his union, with Jeanne Mercier.
Jeanne Mercier was the sister of Denise Mercier who had married Francois Baugis about 1637 at Les Sables d'Olonne, in the Vendee of Poitou. This couple went to Canada before 1641 and lived at Beauport. We are unaware of the names of the parents of Ancestress Jeanne Mercier. However, Father Archange Godbout has found in the registry of Saint-Jean de Mortagne a Jeanne Mercier, the daughter of Loup and Jeanne Gaillard, baptized on November 25, 1621, which corresponds with the age of Claude Poulin's eighteen year old wife. Was Jeanne Mercier a Percheron (Perche is a province in France) by birth? Perhaps.
As for Claude Poulin, the most surprising thing is that he went to live with his beloved at Trois-Rivieres. Did the Percheron Robert Giffard only appear at Claude's wedding out of respect to Jeanne Mercier who was from his native province? Had Claude been working at Trois-Rivieres, for a few years? We know that he had talent as a carpenter. Was he in the service of the Compagnis des Habitants or other people? Here are some facts. Claude and Jeanne had a child, named Marie. She was baptized at Trois-Rivieres on the first of January, 1641. The godfather, Jacques Hertel de la Fresniere, was the owner of two hundred arpents of land at that place since December 16, 1633. Godmother, Marie Leneuf, the wife of Jean Godefroy de Linctot, who was a seigneur since the first of December, 1637. Claude Poulin, also respected by the Jesuit Joseph Poncet, was asked to be the godfather of the little Amerindian, Rose Quenebechimouxour, on January 14, 1641.
The homesickness took hold of Jeanne and Claude. They gathered up their few belongings and their child and went to see their native Normandy, it's sky and it's people, once again. A Poulin son and daughter, Pascal and Madeleine, were born at Saint-Maclou in 1645 and 1646. Would we ever see these kindly people again?
THE RETURN
Claude Poulin and Jeanne Mercier were homesick, for the new country, free and immense. A country to be built. In 1647, the Poulin family, now composed of five members, reserved a small space on a ship and crossed the ocean once more. Was this a short-lived sentimental attack?
No, it was not! On April 17, 1646, at Paris, Olivier Tardif had signed a deed in the presence of Notary Le Vasseur by which he ceded six arpents of frontal land to Claude Poulin in the Seigneurie of Beaupre. Claude Poulin now saw himself as the owner of a certain piece of property in New France.
Where did the Poulins stay on their arrival? At Quebec or on the Beaupre Coast? We know that Marie Couillard, the daughter of Guillaume, was the godmother of Martin Poulin at Quebec on October 17, 1648. As for Martin Grouvel, the godfather, a carpenter and barge master, he was everywhere at once in the region. One fact is certain, the Poulin family was on the Beaupre Coast on November 8, 1650 when Claude Poulin and Abel Benoit accepted from Olivier Tardif, procurer general of the Compagnie de Beaupre, a small farm called "Toussaincts" adjoining the
Saint-Charles Farm at Saint-Joachim. The two contracting parties committed themselves, beginning on November 11, 1650, to work this portion of land together for six years.
In 1651, Tardif granted deeds to twenty inhabitants, including Claude Poulin, on the first of September. This land, with six arpents of frontage by a league and a half (about 4.5 miles) deep, was situated to the west of that of Etienne Lessard. Jean Bourdon had acquired it, from the Breton Julien Pacault on October 20, 1648 and ceded it, in a private agreement, to the Fabrique Notre-Dame de Quebec. The property had "buildings, cleared lands and cleared wood". Claude delivered fifty French livres into the hands of Pierre Gagnon for the church. The contract was signed, at Fort Saint-Louis, at Quebec. The Poulin family then settled at this place which would become Sainte-Anne-du-Petit-Cap, then much later on it became Sainte-Anne-de Beaupre.
SECOND STAY
The first pioneer of the territory of Sainte-Anne was Julien Pecault. His property passed to the Fabrique de Quebec. The church of Sainte-Anne would be built on this land, which became the Poulin property. Etienne Lessard also contributed a large portion of his concession to the church. Claude Poulin and his family still lived at Sainte-Anne and were witnesses to its inception from the very beginning.
Claude was godfather to the first child baptized and recorded in Sainte-Anne's registry. He was Claude Pelletier, the future Brother Didace, the first Canadian Recollet. In 1661, the head of the family gave sixteen livres for the church, worth sixteen days of work by an ordinary man, a royal gift at that time. Between 1662 and 1666, Our Ancestor gave the fabrique (church trustee) the sum of eight livres, seven minots of wheat, a minot of peas and one of corn (1 minot = 3 bushels). On the other hand, in 1633, he received twenty-two livres and nine sols for "the scroll on the door of the church and for a piece of wood and a pint of eau-de-vie".
On June 7, 1665, Poulin ceded to Abel Benoit seven perches (1 perch= 5.5 yards) of frontage in low land and two arpents (1 arpent = 85% of an acre) in high land. The census of 1666, reported that Claude Poulin was a carpenter. The census of 1667 tells us that he had eight head of cattle and twenty arpents of land under cultivation. Robert Foubert and Urbain Jamineau, close to Elie Godin, were his neighbors.
Claude obtained additional income by putting his talents as a woodworker to profit. In 1678, he worked to strengthen the bell in the church tower. In 1679, Madame Poulin provided food to the roofers of the church. The pastor paid her three minots of wheat and twelve pounds of butter.
The census takers in 1681 forgot to record the livestock on the Poulin farm and the size of the land under cultivation. Was it an error or was the property in decline?
HOPE FOR THE FUTURE
Hope is for those who live and for those who will live. The Poulin family property was lit nine times with rays of new life.
1) Marie (1) was baptized, on January 1, 1641 at Trois-Rivieres. She married Julien Mercier, the son of Francois and Roberte Cornilleau, on January 18, 1654 at Quebec. Marie was thirteen years old. They had ten children, six boys and four girls. Julien passed away on October 18, 1678 and buried the next day, at Beaupre. Marie remarried for a second time to Charles Montminy on November 10, 1682 at Beaupre. Charles was the widower of Marguerite Auolle, parents unknown. Marie and Charles had one child, Louis.
2) Pascal was baptized, on February 15, 1645 at Saint-Maclou, Rouen, Normandy. He was captured by the Iroquois, some time before 1661. Nothing else is known of him.
3) Madeleine was baptized, on June 27, 1646 at Saint-Maclou, Rouen, Normandy. She married Pierre Maufils. He was from Honfleur, Normandy. They were married, on November 19, 1659 at Quebec. They had five children, two boys and three girls.
4) Martin was born, on September 26 and baptized October 17th, 1648, at Quebec. He took, for his wife, Jeanne Baret, the daughter of Jean and Jeanne Bitouset, on January 21, 1688, at Beaupre. They had nine children, three boys and six girls. Martin died on January 15th and buried the next day, 1710, at Beaupre. Jeanne married again to Etienne Drouin, the son of Robert and Marie Chapelier on April 13, 1711, at Beaupre. They had no children.
5) Rene was born, on January 27, 1651 and baptized February 2nd at Quebec. Rene and his brother Pascal (#2) have a very tragic story. In the spring of 1661, the Beaupre Coast was shuddering under the impact of raids carried out by the hostile Iroquois who were creating havoc in the countryside. Louis Guimond and Louis Gagne' disappeared mysteriously and also these two Poulin sons. Pascal was sixteen and Rene was ten years old. The Journal des Jesuits, in June, of 1661, read: "The news of it was brought on the 18th, during the night, by the return of the aforementioned crew & at the time that from Trois-Rivieres where the enemy had killed 3 men from Cap. And that, of the two children of Cl. Poulin lost in the woods or taken by the Iroquois". What cruel anguish!! So many bitter tears at the Poulins!!
6) Ignace was born on December 19, 1655 and baptized February 2nd at Quebec. He married Marguerite Pare, the daughter of Robert and Francoise Lehoux on August 23, 1683 at Beaupre. They had seven children, four girls and three boys.
7) Marguerite was born on October 4th and baptized the 18th 1658 at Quebec. She made, as her lifetime partner, Jean Amiot, the son of Masse and Perrine Volant, on August 7, 1673 at Beaupre. They had ten children, seven girls and three boys.
8) Marie (2) was born and baptized May 25, 1661 at Beaupre. She married Etienne Lessard, the son of Etienne and Marguerite Sevestre, on April 17, 1679 at Beaupre. They also had ten children, four boys and six girls.
9) Pierre was born, on August 7, 1664 and baptized the next day at Chateau-Richer. He walked down the aisle with Anne Giguere, the daughter of Robert and Aimee Miville on November 13, 1689, at Beaupre. They too had ten children, six boys and four girls.
The Poulin family was a happy and prolific one, with its sixty-one grandchildren. The great and terrible ordeal was the silent and brutal disappearance of Pascal and Rene.
AT THE END OF THE HORIZON
The founding Poulin family were hardworking, social, lively and intelligent people. Jeanne Mercier, the courageous Ancestress, died on December 14, 1687. She was buried at Sainte-Anne, near the church which witnessed the wonders of the miracle-working saint for two hundred years. Three days after her burial, on Wednesday, December 17, Claude went to rejoin her and his children, Pascal and Rene, on the fields of Paradise, at the end of the horizon. The children gave seventy-two livres to the church "for burial and services of Claude Poulin and Jeanne Mercier".
The descendants of Claude and Jeanne quickly spread everywhere in Quebec, especially in Beauce where, they are an active multitude. As Louis Frechette (?) wrote: "these children of the furrows founded an empire".
FAMILY NAME VARIATIONS
Considering how many ancestors went by the name of Poulin, it is not surprising that there are many variations today. Among them, we may find: Alair, Courval, Cresse, De Courval, De Cresse, De Francheville, De Fontaine, Fafard, Francheville, Lafontaine, Nicolet, Paulin, Paulent, Paulint, Poland, Polin, Poling, Poller, Poolin, Pooler, Poolr, Poulain, Poulan, Pouline, Poullain, Poullin and Terrier.
This biography was taken from "Our French-Canadian Ancestors" by Thomas J. Laforest; Volume 12- Chapter 18- Page 179 [4-22-98, James Gagne http://www.jamesgagne.net/contents.html]
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1616 - 1687 (71 years)
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