Claude  BOUCHARD dit LEPETIT

Claude Bouchard
'Claude Bouchard, a tailor from Saint-Cosme-de-Vair in Maine, France, first settled on the coast of Beaupré to the east of Québec. He was nicknammed 'little Claude' to distinguish him from a namesake and because of his stature.

Claude Bouchard, no doubt influenced by his father in law, Louis Gasnier, decided to take his family and settle on the new lands of Petite-Rivière. On July 26 1682, he contracted to sell his farm at Château- Richerto Jean Boucher, also of Sainte-Anne. He did not go immediately and passed 1682 and 1683 at Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré. In fact, his daughter, Marguerite was married in November 1683 at Sainte-Anne. It is only in the summer of 1684 that Claude Bouchard and his family settled on their new farm at Petite-Rivière.

Claude Bouchard lived the rest of his life at Petite- Rivière. His death certificate dated November 25 1696 shows him aged 70. His wife, Louise Garnier survided him by more than 24 years. She was buried in the Petite-Rivière cemetary on April ...Read full story

1650
'In March of 1650, at the White Horse Inn, situated near the county seat of Saint-Come, on the road leading to Rouperoux, Sir Robert Giffard, surgeon and Canadian colonizer, was giving lectures to attract settlers to America. Claude and his friend Julien Fortin answered the inviation and voluteered: They put their affairs in order and embarked for New France.'
Laforest, Thomas J., Our French Canadian Ancestors, Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupre, 1984

1651
'After landing on Canadian soil, Claude and Julien went to the Seigneurie of Beauport to secure food and lodging…Claude was his father's heir and an accomplished tailor as well. He didn't come to Canada as an indentured servant, but under the protection of Giffard. He had the freedom to travel, which he did.'
Laforest, Thomas J., Our French Canadian Ancestors, Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupre, 1984

1661
'Claude enjoyed life but had no stomach for a fight, espcially with the Indians. On 18 June 1661, the Mohawk Iroquois began to terrorize the region. They descended on Claude's farm too. At the same time, father-in-law Louis Gagne mysteriously disappeared from the land of the living. Shocked beyond belief, Claude and his family departed the area in haste.'
Laforest, Thomas J., Our French Canadian Ancestors, Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupre, 1984

1666 Habittans de Beaupré
Claude Bouchard - 40 tailleur d'habits

Louise Gasnier - 24 Sa femme

Marie Bouchard - 6 fille

Jacques Bouchard - 4 fils

Et Margueritte Bouchard - 4 mois fille
The first census of New France (1666)
The French In North America: 1500-1783

1666
'In the census of 1666, the family Bouchard was listed as having four children, living at Cap Tourmente, with the widow Gagne and her children nearby.'
Laforest, Thomas J., Our French Canadian Ancestors, Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupre, 1984

(Petite-Rivière-Saint-François) - In 1675, the Seminary of Quebec, owner of the Beaupré Seignory that stretched from Beauport to Baie-Saint-Paul, granted land to Claude Bouchard, followed by another 15 concessions until the end of the 17th century.
The settlement, the oldest in the Charlevoix region, grew at the mouth of the Little River in a deep valley east of Cape Maillard where natural open grassland accommodated the early colonizers.
Visit Petite-Rivière-Saint-François, Québec, Canada (Saint-François-Xavier-de-la-Petite-Rivière)

wikipedia.org

1681 Canadian Census Seigneurie de Beaupre
Claude Bouchard, 55
Louise Gagnier, sa femme, 40
enfants:
Marie, 20
Jacques, 18
Marguerite, 14
Francois, 12
Louise, 11
Angelique, 9
Jean, 8
Rosalie, 7

Source: Histoire des Canadiens-Francais 1608-1880 by Benjamin Sulte, Montreal, 1882

1681
'…Claude seems to have lived at the Cap a Maillard. In 1681, the census shows him as being 55 years old, together with his wife Louise who was 40, his children...'
Laforest, Thomas J., Our French Canadian Ancestors, Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupre, 1984

Biography
Claude Bouchard — (ca 1626 - 1699)

Pioneer Claude Bouchard passed away November 25th, 1699, at Baie-St-Paul, Québec.

Claude was a tailor (tailleur d'habits). His young wife Louise Gagné had arrived in New France as a young child with her parents. The couple had twelve children.

Claude and Louise lived during dangerous times: Louise's father Louis was taken captive by the Iroquois in 1660 and presumed killed. (Louis and wife Marie Michel have been identified as the source of a genetically-linked disorder (tyrosinemia) in later generations.)

The Bouchard surname is common in Québec today. Their notable Bouchard descendants include tennis player Eugénie Bouchard and former Québec Premier Lucien Bouchard. They are also ancestors of Ryan Gosling and Céline Dion.

[Sources: PRDH; 'Claude Bouchard' , Our French-Canadian Ancestors (vol.3, pp.34-43), Gérard Lebel (Thomas J. Laforest (tr.)), Palm Harbor, Florida, 1992]
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