Biography

MOREAU – Contraction of Morineau, nickname given to an individual with a more or less dark complexion, in reference to the Moorish people, encountered during the crusades. Also, from the Latin "Maurellus", from Maurus which means the Mauritanian, again the nickname of a dark-skinned individual. Finally, can come from the name of several localities in France.

Jean Moreau-Laporte was born around 1643 in Javrezac, Charente, France. Son of Pierre Moreau and Françoise Ménarde, he married Anne Guillet, daughter of Pierre Guillet and Jeanne Saint-Père, on June 26, 1667 in an undetermined place in Quebec. From this union were born 10 children. Confirmed in Quebec in 1662, he worked as a servant and was also said to be a carpenter. He lived in Batiscan in 1666, then Cap-de-la-Madeleine. Back in Batiscan in 1681, he owns 8 arpents of land, 1 rifle and 3 cattle. He enlisted the following year for a trading trip to the Outaouais. He died on February 4, 1711 in Batiscan and was buried there the next day.