Pierre de La Voye was born around 1630 (more or less) depending on the ages that were attributed to him at different census (censi?)taken in New France as well as in his burial certificate. He was the son of Pierre de La Voye and élisabeth Vadois, and was probably born in the village of Aytré, near La Rochelle in the province of Aunis or Charente-Maritime. I say probably because that is where his marriage took place, but not necessarily his birth. For the moment that is all I know of his life in France. He was married circa 1650, in St-Étienne of Aytré, with Jacquette Grinon or Grignon or Gaignon (all of these different spellings can be seen at the PRDH [Programme de Recherche Démographique Historique] ); she was the daughter of Pierre Grinon and Simone Grisot. They had 5 children with them when they left Aytré to settle in New France. Why? when? where? and on what ship? A lot of questions, too few answers! I am not certain of anything since I have no concrete proof, but I will try to answer as best I can.

When? Most likely between 1663 and 1666. Why the gap of 3 years? For one thing, the Dictionnaire Jetté mentions the birth of the youngest child, Olive, about 1663, in Aytré, France. Secondly, their oldest daughter, Suzanne is part of the nuptual agreement between herself and Jean Tesson before the notary Romain Becquet, in Québec, on the 24th of August 1666. So those two known dates help establish the approximate date of their arrival in the new world. Even though they are not mentionned in the census of 1666, perhaps because of their recent arrival, or maybe because they were left out by error, we can however say with certainty that Pierre de La Voye and his family are in New France as early as 1666. Maybe one day we will discover a document that will pinpoint their exact date of arrival.

First point I wish to clarify: in the revue of the Association (September 1997), I saw for the first time the surname of "dit la bombarde" added to the name of Pierre de La Voye. I don't know where the surname came from, because none of the documents (religious or notarized) that I have consulted have ever mentionned it. That remains to be proven. Concerning the coat of arms mentionned in that same article, again, we must establish the link between our ancestor and that coat of arms before we can attribute it to him...

Second point I wish to clarify: Did Jacquette Grinon come to New France? The Dictionnaire Jetté, and numerous other sources, say that she never made the voyage. But according to the PRDH, she is alive and present at the marriage of her daughter Suzanne to Jean Tesson on the 13th of September 1666 at Notre-Dame church in Quebec city. We also find her at the notary Romain Becquet, in Québec city , on the 12th of October 1666 with her husband Pierred Delavoye, for the "sale of half a quarter of land situated in Aytré, near La Rochelle, in the fief of Des Buttes, to Pierre Jasmin, captain of the ship "Le Moulin d’Or" Again, in the census of 1667 it is mentionned that Pierre DelaVoye is a widower. Therefore, we can surmise that Jacquette Grinon came to New France with her family, but died shortly after her arrival. To this day, I haven't found any official proof of her death or burial. This then is the situation in which we find Pierre de La Voye and his family before the 1667 census.

In the 1667 census for Cap Rouge, we see a population of 162 settlers comprising 30 families. Among them we find: "Pierre de la Croix, farmer at François Pelletier, 35 years of age, 20 arpents of land planted, 2 children: Marie, 10 ans, Olive, 2 ans." Maybe someone misread this to cause the différence in the name: de La Voye and de La Croix... We think that this is really our man because the name "Olive" is not used much in the colony.We know that Pierre de La Voye has another daughter named Marie. So far so good! But what happened to his 2 sons, Michel and Jean??? After consulting the 1667 census, line by line, in l’Histoire des Canadiens Français by Benjamin Sulte and the Recensements annotés de la Nouvelle-France by André Lafontaine, I haven't been able to find an answer to that question...

Earlier I mentionned the "Filles du Roi", or "King's Daughters", let's see how they they became part of the life of Pierre de La Voye. Before notary Becquet, on the 21st of October 1667 (according to L’inventaire des greffes de notaires sous le régime français)"Inventory of notarized documents under the French regime", a marriage contract is voided between Pierre de La Voye and a "Fille du Roi", Jeanne Burel, daughter of Daniel and Anne LeSuisse, because Jeanne marries André Poutré, on the 3rd of November 1667 in Québec city, after having a nuptual agreement drawn up by notary Rageot on the 1st of November of the same year. Life with 4 children must be difficult for Pierre. He enters into a second marriage contract with Anne-Françoise Richard dit Martin, daughter of Nicolas and Madeleine Fournier, a contract which again will be voided on the 24th of December 1669, because on the 5th of January 1670, again before notary Becquet, Anne-Françoise, this other "Fille du Roi" marries Pierre Campagna. According to Silvio Dumas, in his book Les Filles du Roi en Nouvelle-France, "The King's Daughters in New France", Pierre also entered into a marriage agreement with another "Fille du Roi", Françoise Gérémie, on the 29th of September 1667, a contract that was also voided; before notary Becquet. Finally, on the 25th of August 1670 a new marriage agreement is reached with Isabel Loppé daughter of Charles and Catherine Hubert. Born about 1647, she is said to be originally from St-Sever, in the région of Rouen, in Normandie; she brings with her goods valued at 200 £, in addition to the royal dowry of 50 £. This time, it's a good one! Before this deluge of voided marriage contracts I started to ask myself questions ...was Pierre de La Voye's appearance monstrous? or was he not very religious or maybe immoral? another lazy settler? Maybe none of these.... After having read Raymond Douville (La vie quotidienne en Nouvelle-France), "Daily life in New France" I better understood the situation and, after all kinds of research, I came to the conclusion that the case of Pierre de La Voye and his "Filles du Roi" is not an isolated case... Following the arrival of the annual contingent of "Filles du Roi" , formal presentations were made and organized in the presence of the intendant and other dignitaries of New France society. In the following weeks, they would go to the notary, then they would get to know each other while waiting for the religious ceremony to be performed... Which caused a lot of cancelled agreements simply because they were carried out too rapidly. In the case of Pierre de La Voye, we have to understand that with 4 children, no land prior to 1669, it must have been difficult to find a wife. But Isabel Loppé would become his wife and give him 8 children. Isabel Loppé is the name found on the marriage agreement notarized by Becquet, but we find her sometimes under the name of élisabeth Aupé or Aubert.

Pierre has always remained in the seigniory of de Maure, also called Cap-Rouge, or St-Augustin, or de St-Ange. According to Le Terrier de 1674, of Marcel Trudel, a parcel of land of 3 arpents frontage by 30 arpents in depth is given to him on the 5th of August 1669. In 1674 we find it situated between land owned by Antoine Augeron and Jacques Fournier. When Geneviève Faux, wife of François Hubert, sells her parcel of land to François Tinon, it is said to be in the Seigneurie de Maure joining the land of Pierre de Lavoye and that of Jacques Rousseau, deed made before notary Chamballon, in 1702. The children of Pierre and Isabel are born sometimes at Côte St-Ange, sometimes at Rivière-aux-Roches, always in the Seigneurie de Maure. Are these different parcels of land or different names to designate the same area? That is a subject that I haven't really delved into yet because of lack of proof to corroborate it.

In 1670, Pierre de La Voye is found at the house of notary Becquet, on the 2nd of December, in the company of Laurent Herment (Armand), of Jacques LeMeilleur and of Vincent Crosteau. All four are contracting a business deal with Jean Talon. The deal is as follows: to deliver "... four thousand feet of cedar wood framing proper to the construction of gates and stockade, which will be 20 feet long by 8 or 9 inches square, and other pieces to be used in decorating the stockade posts...they have to deliver this wood .... at the dock of the said city of Quebec or at the inn ... for the sum of twenty two "deniers" for each foot of wood to be paid by seignior Juchereau to the said enterprisers or their nominee...". Therefore, at the end of 1670, Pierre de La Voye still owns a piece of land in the seigniory de Maure, works at this last contract, and lives with his second wife, Isabel Loppé.

In the Quebec archives, we find the presence of Pierre de La Voye at notary Rageot, for an obligation to Pierre Mercier, baker in Quebec. This deed dated the 10th of May 1677 informs us that Pierre de La Voye owes the sum of 28 £ for bread, wheat and some peas. Pierre and Isabel surely do not have an easy life with 4 kids to feed, not counting the children from the first marriage, whether or not they are part of the family at this time is unknown.

The 1681 census give us interesting but incomplete information on Pierre de La Voye situation. In the seigniory de Maure, we find the presence of 175 inhabitants, spread out in 34 families, with the following inscription: Pierre Lavoye, 50 years of age, élisabeth Aubert, his wife, 34 years. Children: Marie, 9 years; Madeleine, 8 years; Pierre, 6 years; Vincent, 3 years; François, 2 years. 12 arpents in cultivation(this number of arpents is pretty well the norm overall in the seigniory). TheRecensement annoté by André Lafontaine mentions that Jean, 17 years, their son, is a servant for François Bélanger; Olive, 17 years, their daughter is certainly the one we find working as a servant for Jacques Samson. In the same book, when we look up François Bélanger, we find the following: Jean de Lavoye, 17 years, sond of René de Lavoye. Jean, servant at François Bélanger, is probably the son of Rene. However, in the same census for the seigniory of Lauzon, at Jacques Samson, there are 2 servants: Olive, 17 years old, and Jean, 24 years old... Wouldn't they be brother and sister, children of Pierre and Jacquette Grinon.... Because of the lack of precision in the information, we can only surmise that they are!

Isabel Loppé, "Fille du Roi", second wife of Pierre de Lavoye, dies on 24th of July 1687, and is buried in Beaupré; no other information is mentionned at the PRDH. When we consult the revueL’Ancêtre from the Genealogical Society of Québec, in the column dealing with the baptisms and burials of Ste-Anne de Beaupré, none of this is mentionned.

Pierre de La Voye, widower, will witness the marriage of his son Jean, in 1690, and will also experience the joy of knowing his first grandson, by the name of Jean-Baptiste, one of only two sons that will keep the family line going for future generations.

The burial entry for Pierre de La Voye reads as follows: In the year seventeen hundred and eight, the eigth day of July, at night, died in this parish of St-Augustin the good man pierre La Voye aged eighty years after having confessed his sins, received communion and the last rites. His body was interred in the cemetery of this parish with the normal cermonies on the ninth of the said month of July 1708 in the presence of Jean Chapeau and Antoine Lemarié ... Thereby ends a life that wasn't always easy, but thanks to whom we are all here today.

Micheline Lavoie Dussault (343)