In the burgeoning settlement of La Prairie, on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River opposite Montreal, Antoine Jacques Boyer drew his first breath on April 10, 1671. Baptized the same day at Nativité-de-la-Prairie-de-la-Magdeleine, he was the son of Charles Boyer, a French immigrant from Saint-Côme-de-Vair in Normandy who had arrived in New France around 1668 as a farmer and mason, and Marguerite Ténard, originally from Saint-Sulpice in Paris. The family eked out a living in the nearby hamlet of Saint-Lambert, amid the constant perils of Iroquois raids and the harsh colonial frontier. Antoine was one of six children, though two siblings died young; tragedy struck again when his mother passed away around 1678, when he was about seven, prompting his father to remarry Louise Deneau soon after.
As a young man in his late teens, Antoine embraced the rugged life of a coureur de bois—an unlicensed fur trader who ventured deep into Indigenous territories to exchange goods for pelts, often evading French colonial restrictions that limited official trading licenses to control the market and collect taxes. By the 1690s, he had amassed enough wealth from beaver pelts—600 livres, a substantial sum equivalent to several years' wages for a laborer—to purchase land in partnership with his brother-in-law, Pierre Perras. This illicit trade thrived around Montreal, where authorities turned a blind eye to many such activities during the Beaver Wars, a period of intense conflict between the French and their Algonquin allies against the Iroquois Confederacy for dominance in the fur-rich Great Lakes region.
On February 4, 1692, in La Prairie, Antoine married Marie Perras dite LaFontaine, the 19-year-old daughter of barrel-maker and farmer Pierre Perras and Denise Lemaître, whose family had roots in Saint-Jean-d'Angély, France. Marie brought resilience to their union, having grown up in the same tight-knit community where intermarriages among a handful of families were commonplace. Together, they raised 13 children in Saint-Lambert: Marie (1692–1766), Marie-Jeanne (1694–1730), Marie-Anne Jeanne (1696–1731), Jean-Antoine (1697–1768), Marie-Josephe (1701–1708), Pierre (1703–1703), Pierre (1704–1747), Jacques (1706–1795), Marie-Josephe (1709–1777), Antoine (1711–1717), Charles (1713–1801), Joseph-Marie (1714–1797), and Louis (1716–1716). Several children died young, a common heartbreak in the era, but the survivors forged strong ties through marriages—Marie-Jeanne wed Charles Diel in 1716, linking the family to other voyageur lineages. After Marie's death on May 9, 1736, Antoine remarried on September 9, 1737, to Catherine Surprenant dite Sansoucy, a twice-widowed woman whose family connections further intertwined with his own; her niece married Antoine's son Charles in 1742.
Antoine's life as a voyageur spanned decades, blending independent fur trading with formal engagements that took him far into the pays d'en haut (upper country). On September 17, 1694, he signed a contract with Sieur Charles Le Gardeur de L'Isle for a voyage to the Ottawa (8ta8ois) Indians, navigating birchbark canoes laden with trade goods like kettles, knives, and blankets to exchange for furs at Indigenous encampments or outposts in present-day Ontario and the Great Lakes. This was amid ongoing tensions with the Iroquois, requiring alliances with nations like the Ottawa for safe passage and profitable hauls. Later in life, even into his 60s and 70s—a remarkable feat for the time—he continued hiring out: On May 1, 1737, to Nicolas Rose and Jean Garreau for Baye des Puants (Green Bay, Wisconsin); April 20, 1742, to César Dagneau de Quindre for the rivière St-Joseph post (near present-day Niles, Michigan); May 3, 1744, to Philippe Leduc's company for Fort Bourbon on Lac Bourbon (Cedar Lake, Manitoba), established by explorer Pierre Gaultier de Varennes, sieur de La Vérendrye, during his push westward beyond Lake Superior; and June 17, 1746, to Monsieur de La Pérade for Détroit (the Straits of Mackinac, a key fur trade hub). These journeys, often lasting months through rapids, portages, and wilderness, underscored his endurance and expertise. Ten Boyer family members, including Antoine, appear in records for 31 voyageur contracts, excluding undocumented coureur de bois exploits; his son Charles and grandson Charles perpetuated the tradition, with the latter building a trading post in northern Alberta in 1788.
Beyond the paddle, Antoine served his community as captain of the Saint-Lambert militia from 1729, appointed by the governor to train local men, relay civic matters, and maintain order during a relatively peaceful interlude in colonial conflicts. He died on March 27, 1747, at age 75 (though records note him as 76), in La Prairie, and was buried the next day at Nativité-de-la-Prairie-de-la-Magdeleine. His second wife, Catherine, outlived him until 1762. Antoine's legacy as a voyageur grandfather endures through his descendants, who navigated the fur trade's ripples across generations. His lineage traces through daughter Marie-Jeanne Boyer (1694–1730), who married Charles Diel in 1716; their daughter Marie Anne Diel (1727–1760); her daughter Marie Anne Dupuis (1753–1807); her daughter Marie Angelique Barette dit Courville (1779–1815); her daughter Marie Emélie Meunier Lagacé (1808–1883); to her daughter, your 2nd great-grandmother, Lucy Pinsonneau (aka Passino) (1836–1917).
2017 Notes:
Antoine Jacques Boyer (1671-1747) (8th great-grandfather)
• 1690, Antoine was a coureur de bois who bought land with 600 livres from the sale of beaver pelts.
• 1694, Sep 17—Engagement of Antoine Boyer to Sr. Le Gardeur de L'Isle for the voyage to the 8ta8ois (Ottawa Indians).
• 1737, May 1st.—Antoine Boyer's engagement to Sr. Nicolas Rose and Jean Garreau to make the trip to Baye des Puants (Green Bay).
• 1742, Apr 20, Antoine Boyer's engagement to César Dagneau, Sr. of Quindre, to go to the post of the St. Joseph River.
• 1744, May 3.—Engagement of Antoine Boyer with Sr. Philippe Leduc and Company to go to the post of Lake Bourbon.
NOTE: Fort Bourbon was one of the forts built by La Vérendrye during his expansion of trade and exploration west from Lake Superior.
• 1746, Jun 17, Antoine Boyer's engagement to M 'La Pérade to go to Straits of Mackinac.
• Ten members of the Boyer family, including Antoine Boyer (husband of Marie Perras) are listed on 31 voyageur trips. These lists do not include the trips these same men made on their own as coureurs des bois — Jerry Foley.
https://laprairie-voyageur-canoes.blogspot.com/2019/03/antoine-jacques-boyer-voyageur.html
Earlier file: Antoine Jacques Boyer — Voyageur Grandfather
https://laprairie-voyageur-canoes.blogspot.com/2019/03/antoine-jacques-boyer-voyageur.html
Thanks to Grok xAI for updated information.
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