Pierre  BISSONNET (BISSONNETTE)

'If the walls of the old mills have retained a few secrets, those in which the voice of Pierre Bissonnet was heard must have had ears. The historian Robert-Lionel Seguin, who must have studied well this ancestor to have analyzed the darkest period of his life, says to those who want to hear it that Bissonnet did not shine by his discretion. He was 'always too chatty'. About 1661, at the home of the boiler maker Lauzon he said that he was married in France eleven years earlier, that he lived only one month with his wife and 'that he had left her because she had the reputation of being a witch'.

Gossip had it that Pierre came to this side of the Atlantic with the evident aim of rebuilding his life. However, it seems that he had neglected to mention a small detail in swearing fidelity to a new wife - he already had taken one the year before in France!

The pioneer of the Bissonnet families of the Quebec region crossed the ocean at the latest in 1658.'

Thomas J. Laforest
Our

'If the bigamy of Pierre Bissonnet was known in 1661, at least according to the testimony of Lauzon, the affair simmered for three long years before being brought to the attention of the Sovereign Council of New France. On Wednesday, 3 September 1664, the King's prosecutor declared that he had received from Montreal information according to which the miller Pierre Bissonnet was accused of being married in France and at Montreal at one and the same time... If Pierre Bissonnet must face the rigors of the law, how did this bigamy affair end? The official reports of the Council are silent on this subject. What is certain is that the slippery path where the ancestor had ventured did not lead to an impasse. In any case, if he remained in jail, it was not for a very long time. It would not be surprising either if he had been quite simply fined.'

Thomas J. Laforest
Our French-Canadian Ancestors : Volume XIII, Page 63

Pierre Bissonet, 55
Marie Dalone, sa femme, 35
enfants:
Jean, 12
Marie, 10
Pierre, 7
Marie, 5
Anne, 2
Andre, 4 mois

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

'About the middle of 1687, he moved for the last time... La Durantaye was his swan song... One month later, the pioneer was quite unexpectedly brought to La Durantaye and buried the next day in the local cemetery. The act says that he died at the age of sixty-six.'

Thomas J. Laforest
Our French-Canadian Ancestors : Volume XIII, Page 68-69