Lefebvre

A direct quote from "Our French Canadian Ancestors", Volume 5:
"Those descendants of the Lefebvres who would research their family roots have their work cut out for them. Jetté lists no less than 91 Lefebvres spread out over nine pages.....There were at least 21 separate, distinct and unrelated original Lefebvres among the first settlers of New France who did have descendants".

In my database, I have three different Lefebvre families. I am going to begin with the family that has the most descendants and work toward the least.


Lefebvre dit Boulanger

Louis LEFEBVRE & Marie DE VERNEUIL

Louis and Marie were married 19 November 1634 in Jambville, Meulan, Île de France, France. His father was Jacques LEFEBVRE; his mother is unknown.5,6
Marie's parentage has conflicting information. Peter Gagne claims that her parents were Abel DE VERNEUIL & Charlotte SIROT. In "Our French Canadian Ancestors", it is stated that Marie may possibly be related to Abel De Verneuil, but does not identify him as her father--and makes no mention of her mother at all.5,6
This couple had the following known children:
CLAUDE
Marie- Buried 25 May 1652.6
Pierre- Married Marguerite Tournault and never left France.6

Louis Lefebvre had died by 1651, so Claude never really knew his father. Marie De Verneuil was buried at Vigny on 6 December 1681 at the age of 68.6 She lived long enough to know of her son's success in the new world.

Claude LEFEBVRE dit Boulanger - Marie ARCULAR

Claude was born about 1649 in Vigny, Pontoise, Rouen, Île de France, France, the son of Louis & Marie DE VERNEUIL. He arrived in Canada in September 1663 at the tender age of 14. He was confirmed 11 November 1665 at Quebec City, so he was either not Catholic to begin with, or simply had not made confirmation yet due to his young age. The census of 1666 finds him on the Île d'Orleans as the indentured servant of Jacques Bilodeau.5,6
Marie was a fille du roi from St.-Nicolas-des-Champs, Paris, France; born there in 1651 to master carpenter Jean ARCULAR & Catherine COIN. She came to Canada in 1669 following her father's death that year. Her dowry of good was worth 250 livres.5,6
Claude and Marie were married on the Île d'Orleans at Ste. Famille's brand-new parish church, on 28 October 1669; at which time they were given the King's Gift of 50 livres. Claude was a baker by trade.5,6 They had 10 children:
JEAN
Pierre- Born about 1674. Married Ambroise Fournier and lived at St. Michel. Pierre Lefebvre died in 1715.6
Jacques- Born in 1676 and only lived one day.6
Marie- Born in 1676 and married Jean Corneau from Poitou, France.6
Marie Madeleine- Born in 1678 and died at age 5 in 1683.6
Suzanne- Born in 1680, she was married to Jean Plante and Daniel Thomas and lived on the Île d'Orléans at St. Jean; she died in 1743.6
Claude- Born in 1682, he married Marie Gautron and settled in St. Michel. He died in 1725.6
Marguerite- Born in 1684, she married Pierre Juin. The couple did a whirlwind tour of Québec; living in Batiscan, Beaumont, Montréal, St. Jean, and finally landed for good at St. Michel.6
Joseph- Born in 1686, he clung to life for only 4 days.6
Charles- Born 6 February 1689 at St. François on the Île d'Orléans and baptized there the next day. He married Marie Plante on 23 November 1711 at St. Jean on the Île d'Orléans, where they made their home. After Marie's death, he married Marie Madeleine Fontaine. Charles died 26 October 1760 at St. Jean.1,2,6,8

Claude Lefebvre dit Boulanger died on 12 February 1690; he had been a patient of the Hôtel-Dieu du Quebec since the beginning of that month. Historian Gerard Boulanger noted that most of the deaths that occurred in the Hôtel at that time were a pulmonary type of illness.6
Two years later, Marie married Pierre Lejamble, whom she also buried sometime between June 1707 and February 1712. They had one son, Jacques. Marie Arcular died 24 April 1718 and was buried the next day at St. Jean on the Île d'Orleans.6

Jean LEFEBVRE dit Boulanger - Reine MESNY

Jean was baptized in Ste. Famille on the Île d'Orlèans, Quebec on 12 December 1671; his parents were Claude & Marie ARCULAR.2,6
Reine was baptized 20 June 1675, also in Ste. Famille, the daughter of Étienne & Catherine LAÎNÉ.1,2,5
The details of this couple's marriage are unable to be verified. Although Genealogy of Canada displays a date of 31 December 1696 and claims that the source is the PRDH, a search of the PRDH by this researcher came up empty. Tanguay does not show a marriage date. The only concrete evidence of a marriage between these two people is the death record of Reine Mesny, who shows her as the "veuve Lefebvre Boulanger".1,2,9
Their known daughter was Dorothee.1
Jean inherited the property of his father after the latter passed away; but in 1696 he ended up selling it to Simon Bilodeau to settle an obligation. He then settled his family at St. Michel.6
Jean Lefebvre was buried in St. Michel, Quebec on 19 November 1747. Reine Mesny was buried at St. Thomas on 16 March 1750. That document is also labled as Reine Lefebvre in the margin, but calls her Reine Mesny in the body of the record.1,2,6


Lefebvre dit Belle-Isle, Descoteaux, & Desiles

Pierre LEFEBVRE-Jeanne AUNEAU dit Aunois

Pierre was the son of Pierre & Jeanne CUTILOUP of Secaux, Anthony, Paris, Île d'France, France, where he was born about 1616; nothing else is known about his parents. He immigrated to Canada about 1642.4,7
Jeanne's parents and origins in France are not known; she was born about 1626. She was a fille à marier who arrived in Trois-Rivières around 1645. This couple wed about 1646 in Trois-Rivières. A year after the marriage, Pierre obtained "part I" of the seigneurie of Gentilly.4,7
The couple's children are as follows:
Michel- Born in 1645, he was a surveyor and carpenter. Married Catherine Trottier in 1683 and had 11 children at Trois-Rivières.7
Jacques dit Desiles- Born in 1647, he married Marie Baudry in 1670. They had 10 children before Jacques' death in 1720.7
Catherine- Born in 1648. Married Antoine Trottier in 1663 and moved to Batiscan.7
ELISABETH
Ange dit Descoteaux- Baptized 29 September 1658 in Trois-Rivières, Ange was a very well-educated man who, in his lifetime, was a seigneurial judge, a couer de bois, royal notary and lieutenant of the militia. He married Madeleine Cusson in 1680 and had 11 children before she was buried on 19 December 1720 at Baie-du-Febvre. On 22 May 1724, he married Genevieve GUILLET; they had no children together. Ange Lefebvre dit Descoteaux was buried on Christmas Eve 1735 at Bécancour, Québec.2,4,7
Pierre- Born in 1661, he was a butcher at Trois-Rivières. He married Marie Louise Danieu in 1731; he was seventy years old. They had no children Pierre died in 1745.7
Ignace dit Belle-Isle- Born in 1665, he married Marie Trottier in 1682 and had 15 children. Ignace was the child who cared for his parents until their deaths.7

In July 1648, Pierre was captured by Iroquois Indians. After being a prisoner for three months, he was returned in October of that year.7
He was considered a "representative of the people" and mayor of Trois-Rivières in 1658. He contributed to building the first parish church and served as a church warden in 1663. He assisted Pierre Boucher in arbitrating disputes. The censuses of 1666 and 1667 find the family at Trois-Rivières working 80 arpents of land.7
But by 1668, civic-minded Pierre seemed to be slowing down. In 1666, he had been given a two arpent homestead by the Jesuits, and he had settled there by 1668. Also in that year, he turned over his part of the seigneurie of Gentilly to "Felix Thunay", his son-in-law. Pierre had his will drawn up on 16 July. He died sometime between that date and 12 October 1670--the latter date being the date of the marriage contract of their son Jacques; Jeanne Auneau is listed as a widow.7
On 20 January 1671, Jeanne donated all of her belongings to her children; an act that was not formalized until 13 years later on 9 October 1684. And while all the property was divided equally among the children, it was Ignace who took care of his parents in their old age. Jeanne died at Trois-Rivires on 11 February 1697 and was buried there the next day. The area in which they primarily lived became known as the "Baie-du-Febvre".4,7


Lefebvre

This last Lefebvre family is not related to the other Lefebvre families. They are in the database and I hate to leave them out in case the information could help someone researching them. Plus, you never know when one well-placed ancestor can bring a couple of lines together.

Pierre Lefebvre & Marie Marguerite Gagné

Pierre was the son of Robert and Jeanne Autin of Bois-Guillaume, Rouen, France. No immigration information for Pierre is available.1,9
Marie Marguerite Gagné was the daughter of Pierre & Marguerite Rosee; no birth information available for her as yet.1,8,9
Pierre and Marie Marguerite were married in 4 September 1673 in Laprairie. The couple had one known daughter, Suzanne.1,8,9
No death details for this couple are available at this time.


The In-Laws

Not too many in-laws for now! Note that if there has been a link provided to a set of in-laws in the body of the webpage, they won't be listed here again. All in the interest of saving space!

Abel DE VERNEUIL - Charlotte SIROT

As stated above, it is not certain that these folks are actually the parents of Marie DE VERNEUIL. Abel was deposed by King Henry IV on 3 May 1590 at Meulan, Île d'France, France for being a "rebel seigneur" (whatever that means). He fled to the region of Vexin, near Vigny and Jambville. This is all that is known about this couple.

Étienne MESNY - Catherine LAÎNÉ

Étienne was born to Jean & Marie CANÉ about 1646 in Mesnières-en-Bray, Dieppe, Rouen, Normandy, France. He was in Canada by 1666; enumerated in that year's census as the indentured servant of Jean Gagnon at Beaupré; the next year found him in the same town as the servant of Jean Vauclin.2,5
Catherine LAÎNÉ was baptized in Ste.-Croix-des-Pelletiers, Rouen, Normandy, France on 2 February 1654; her parents were Jean & Marie RENAULT. She came to Canada in 1671, complete with a dowry of goods worth 300 livres.5
Both Étienne and Catherine made marriage contracts with others before marrying each other; he with Charlotte Godin and she with Jacques Bluteau. The wedding of Étienne and Catherine took place on 23 November 1671 in Ste. Famille on the Île d'Orléans. They had 10 children; REINE was second in birth order.1,2,5
Étienne died at the Hôtel-Dieu du Quebec on 28 September 1693. Catherine remained widowed for 16 years before marrying Jean Paré. Catherine died sometime after 9 January 1715.5

Sources:
1. The Drouin Collection at Ancestry
2. Tanguay's Dictionary
3. Genealogy of Canada
4. "Before the King's Daughters: The Filles à Marier" by Peter Gagné
5. "King's Daughters and Founding Mothers: The Filles du Roi" by Peter Gagné
6. "Our French Canadian Ancestors" by Thomas Laforest, Volume 4
7. "Our French Canadian Ancestors" by Thomas Laforest, Volume 6
8. "Our French Canadian Ancestors" by Thomas Laforest, Volume 12
9. PRDH

This page was updated March 2012.

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Noel Family of Brockton, MA by Jolynn Noel Winland is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License
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