The story of our 9th great-grandfather, Nicolas Godé, is one of the foundational tragedies of Montreal. He was not just a settler; he was one of the original pioneers who arrived with Paul de Chomedey, Sieur de Maisonneuve, to found Ville-Marie (Montreal) in 1642.
I. The Ambush at Point-Saint-Charles (October 25, 1657)
Records show, the peace of 1657 was fragile. Nicolas Godé, his son-in-law Jean de Saint-Père, and their servant Jacques Noël were working on Godé's land at Point-Saint-Charles.
In an excerpt from the biography of Jean de Saint-Pére in the "Dictionary of Canadian Biography," 1966–2015 University of Toronto, we find the following account of the murder of our 9th great grandfather Nicolas Godé:
"This Man who had as solid a piety, as alert a mind, and in general… as excellent a judgment as have ever been known here [at Montreal] met with a tragic end on 25 Oct. 1657.
For a short time there had been peace between the French and the Iroquois. A group of Oneidas [one of the five founding nations of the Iroquois Confederacy] appeared on the land of Nicolas Godé, who, together with his son-in-law Jean de Saint-Père and their servant Jacques Noël, was busy building a house.
The Frenchmen received the visitors most courteously, and even gave them a meal.
The Iroquois, who had come under the guise of peace and friendship, but with treacherous intent, waited until their hosts had climbed back again onto the roof and were within range of their arquebuses (1); they then “brought them down like sparrows.”
To complete their work, the Oneidas scalped Godé and Noël, but cut off Saint-Père’s head and carried it off “in order to have his fine growth of hair.”
A detail about the arquebuses is significant. While the French often had superior firearms, the Iroquois (specifically the Oneida in this instance) had become highly proficient with trade guns. By pretending to seek a meal and a parley, they bypassed the Frenchmen's defenses. The image of the Frenchmen being "brought down like sparrows" while on the roof highlights the vulnerability of the pioneers who were trying to build a civilization while constantly under watch.
II. The Legend of the "Talking Head"
There is a famous historical "miracle" associated with our 9th great-uncle, Jean de Saint-Père, that appears in the Jesuit Relations and the writings of Dollier de Casson.
According to the accounts of the time, after the Oneidas took Saint-Père’s head:
- As the warriors retreated, the head allegedly began to speak to them in perfect Iroquois, despite Saint-Père never having known the language in life.
- The head reportedly rebuked them for their treachery and warned them of God’s anger.
- The legend states that no matter how they tried to dispose of the head or silence it, it continued to "speak" until they eventually abandoned it or buried it.
This story served as a powerful piece of Catholic hagiography in early New France, effectively canonizing Godé and Saint-Père as secular martyrs in the eyes of the early colonists.
III. The Toll on the Perras and Poupart Families
Subsequent deaths of in our family—Denise Lemaitre (1691) and the young Marguerite Poupart (1696)—contextualize the "Beaver Wars" (or Iroquois Wars) as a multigenerational struggle.
- The Lachine Massacre Era: The death of Denise Lemaitre in 1691 occurred during the peak of the conflict, just two years after the infamous Lachine Massacre. The involvement of Major Peter Schuyler highlights that this was not just a "native vs. settler" conflict, but a proxy war between the British (New England/New York) and the French.
- The Loss of a Child: The death of 11-year-old Marguerite Poupart in 1696 at La Prairie is a stark reminder that the "front line" of the war was literally the family doorstep. La Prairie was one of the most exposed settlements in New France.
IV. Lineage Legacy
Our descent through Françoise Godé is particularly interesting. As the daughter of a founder/martyr, she was part of the "nobility of merit" in early Montreal. Her marriage into the Desroches family linked two of the most influential "voyageur" and "artisan" lines in the colony.
Ancestor | Role/Event | Significance |
Nicolas Godé | 1642 Pioneer / 1657 Martyr | Original founder of Montreal. |
Jean de Saint-Père | First Notary of Montreal | The intellectual heart of the early colony. |
Denise Lemaitre | 1691 Casualty | Victim of the Schuyler reprisal raids. |
Joseph Vielle | Bowman (Avant) | Later generation utilizing the paths forged by these martyrs. |
Summary
Our family didn't just witness the birth of Canada; they paid for its soil with a staggering amount of blood. From the founding of Montreal in 1642 to the final Great Peace of Montreal in 1701, our ancestors were at the absolute center of the conflict that defined the borders of North America.
(1) The arquebus is an early muzzle-loaded firearm used in the 15th to 17th centuries.
Thank you to Gemini AI for updated information about The Legend of the "Talking Head."
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