Twenty-two year old Andre Robidoux dit L’Espagnol arrived at New France in 1665.
Andre was known as dit L’Espagnol because he was born and christened in Ste. Marie, Galice, Burgos, Spain about 1640.
The 1666 census for the town of Québec lists Andre as a sailor… it’s there that he began working as a voyageur for Eustace Lambert, a prominent interpreter, settler and fur trader. Working for Lambert, Andre ferried goods and supplies up and down the St. Lawrence for a cents a day plus lodging and board.
On May 16, 1667 he married Jeanne Denot(e), a ‘fille du roi’, in Québec City. From France, a fille du roi would agree to travel to the new settlements in North America and marry a settler there in exchange for a dowry from the King. They usually married within a few days or weeks of the contract signing, something that was often brokered by the priests or Ursuline nuns.
Jeanne was the fifth daughter of Antoine Denote and Catherine Leduc of St. Germain of Auxerre, Paris, France. For Jeanne, there was little hope of a decent life in France where poverty was rampant and the rich and powerful ceded little or nothing to the lower classes.
By June 1670 Andre and Jeanne had settled in a farmstead in the concession of St. Lambert in the parish of La Prairie de Magdeleine, along the south shore of the St. Lawrence River across from Ville Marie (current day Montréal).
They were among the first 35 settlers in La Prairie, and possibly one of the first four families there. The area was still mostly unsettled forest; all settlements before were restricted to the northern shores, in part for protection from invading Iroquois tribes.
Most likely this relocation was based upon ties of employment, consociation and allegiance within a vast and competitive fur-trade network.
Andre and Jeanne had five children: Romaine, Marguerite, +Jeanne, Guillaume and Joseph. Guillaume, the eldest son, would carry the family name west and south heading to Detroit and eventually St. Louis in order to evade the restrictions of governmental law of New France. All of Andre’s descendants can be traced from three of his children: Jeanne, Guillaume and Joseph.
Andre died at the age of 35 years, April 1, 1678 and was buried in Montréal. His death is recorded in the parish register as the fifth entry for the year 1678, and states simply, "A este entterre Andre, dit L’espagnol, notlhabitant de laprairie de la Magdelgne, age de trente cinq ans ou environ prei chez Monsieur Fromlanch, Chirugine."
With no recourse but to re-marry to provide for her family, Jeanne married Jacques Suprenant dit Sanssoucy on August 16, 1678, and became the founding mother of not one, but two of Canada’s largest families.
NOTES FOR JEANNE DENOTE
Jeanne Denot(e) is born, the daughter of Antoine Denot and Catherine Leduc. She is baptized at Saint-Germain-L'Auxerrois, Paris, France.
13 May 1666, Jeanne Denote leaves from La Rochelle as a Fille Du Roi aboard Le Saint-Jean-Baptiste, a ship originally hailing from Dieppe.
between circa 11 August 1666 & 17 June 1667, Jeanne Denot resides at a house on the grounds of the Ursuline monastery, Quebec.
16 May 1667, Andre Robidou dit L'Espagnol and Jeanne Denot contract for marriage in Quebec.
17 June 1667, Andre Robidoou dit L'Espagnol and Jeanne Denot marry at Notre-Dame-de-Quebec, Quebec.
11 July 1669, Romaine Robidou, daughter of Andre Robidou dit L'Espagnol & Jeanne Denot, is born, and is baptized the same day at Notre-Dame-de-Quebec. She is named after her godmother Romaine Boudet.
circa 1671, Andre Robidou dit L'Espagnol, Jeanne Denot, and Marie Romaine Robidou move to the seigneury of LaPrairie, Nouvelle-France, acquiring property within the village of LaPrairie.
10 November 1671, Marguerite Robidou, daughter of Andre Robidou dit L'Espagnol and Jeanne Denot, is born, and is baptized the same day at Saint-Francois-Xavier-des-Pres, LaPrairie. She is named after her godmother Marguerite Tenard.
15 January 1672, Sepulture (burial) for Marguerite Robidou (age 2 months) at Saint-Francois-Xavier-des-Pres, LaPrairie.
prior to 02 June 1672, Andre Robidou dit L'Espagnol acquires property on Cote de la Riviere Saint-Jacques, LaPrairie.
04 December 1672, Andre Robidou dit L'Espagnol exchanges with Jean Caillault the property on Cote de la Riviere, Saint-Jacques, LaPrairie, for property on Cote de la Tortue, LaPrairie. He also sells the property in the village of LaPrairie to Pierre Lefebvre.
22 January 1673, The prior concession to Andre Robidou dit L'Espagnol by the Compagnie de Jesus of the property on Cote de la Riviere Saint-Jacques, LaPrairie, is confirmed.
20 September 1673, +Jeanne Robidou, daughter of Andre Robidou dit L'Espagnol and Jeanne Denot, is baptized at Saint-Francois-Xavier-des-Pres, LaPrairie. She is named after her godmother Jeanne Roinay. She married Gabriel Lemieux (1663–1739) 5 Décembre 1690 at La Prairie, Québec. From Michigan’s Habitant Heritage (MHH), Vol. 35, #1, 17th Century Engagé Contracts to the Great Lakes and Beyond - 20 May 1682 to 15 May 1690 - Part 1, we find "8 May 1690, Jean Baptiste Migeon, sieur de Bransat, hired Gabriel Lemieux for a voyage to the Ottawa Indians [Antoine Adhémar]."
circa 1674, Andre Robidou dit L'Espagnol receives a concession of land on Cote Saint-Lambert, LaPrairie, from the Compagnie de Jesus, and gives up his concession of land on Cote de la Tortue, LaPrairie.
08 December 1674, Andre Robidou dit L'Espagnol's concession of land on Cote Saint-Lambert, LaPrairie, is confirmed by the Compagnie de Jesus.
28 November 1675, Guillaume Robidou, son of Andre Robidou and Jeanne Denot, is baptized at Saint-Francois-Xavier-des-Pres, LaPrairie. He is named after his godfather Guillaume Brunet.
08 November 1677, The Compagnie de Jesus, as seigneur of LaPrairie, inventories all of the concessions, which inventory lists the 08 December 1674 concession to Andre Robidou dit L'Espagnol.
15 January 1678, Joseph Robidou, son of Andre Robidou and Jeanne Denot, is baptized at Saint-Francois-Xavier, LaPrairie. He is named after his godfather Joseph Boyer.
01 April 1678, Sepulture (burial) for Andre Robidou dit L'espagnol (age between approximately 38 and 42 years) at Notre-Dame, Montreal, wherein he is noted as residing at LaPrairie. He had fathered five children. (Note - the priests records his death, but no cause is given)
16 August 1678, Jacques Suprenant dit Sanssoucy and Jeanne Denot marry at Saint-Francois-Xavier, LaPrairie.
NOTES FOR JACQUES SUPRENANT DIT SANSOUCY
Jacques Suprenant dit Sansoucy was a soldier of the Carignan Salieres Regiment of 1665.
He was born circa 1644, at St. Martin-du-Vieux-Belleme, Orne, France; he died July 16, 1710 in La Prairie, QC, Canada
He was the son of Jacques Surprenant and Louise Boquet/Roquet
The children of Jacques Suprenant dit Sansoucy and Jeanne Denot(e) are:
i. Jean Suprenant dit Sansoucy b. December 4, 1679, died 1680
ii. Marguerite Suprenant dit Sansoucy, b.5 June 1681, La Prairie, Québec, Canada, d. 26 July 1684 , La Prairie, Québec, Canada
iii. Pierre Suprenant b.21 January 1683, La Prairie, Québec, Canada, d. 2 June 1739 , Montréal, Québec, Canada
iv. Laurent Suprenant b.abt. 1685, Québec (Quebec) Province, Canada (New France), d. 2 December 1752, Montréal, Québec, Canada
v. Catherine Suprenant b.29 July 1686, La Prairie, Québec, Canada, d. 26 February 1762 , La Prairie, Québec, Canada
vi. Claude Suprenant b.21 September 1688, La Prairie, Québec, Canada, d. 9 September 1689, La Prairie, Québec, Canada
vii. Marie Suprenant (b.abt. 1690, Québec (Quebec) Province, Canada (New France), d. 20 February 1717, La Prairie, Québec, Canada
ix. Anne Suprenant b.21 January 1692, La Prairie, Québec, Canada, d. 1 February 1693, La Prairie, Québec, Canada
- MY LINEAGE FROM ANDRE ROBIDOU DIT L’ESPAGNOL
- Andre Robidou dit L’Espagnol 1643-1678 -- 9th great-grandfather
Jeanne Robidoux 1673-1736 -- Daughter of Andre Robidou dit L’Espagnol
Marie Anne Lemieux 1706-1777 -- Daughter of Jeanne Robidoux
Marie Josephe Poupart 1725-1799 -- Daughter of Marie Anne Lemieux
Pierre Barette dit Courville 1748-1794 -- Son of Marie Josephe Poupart
Marie Angelique Baret (Barette) dit Courville 1779-1815 -- Daughter of Pierre Barette dit Courville
Marie Emélie (Mary) Meunier Lagassé (Lagace) 1808-1883 -- Daughter of Marie Angelique Baret (Barette) dit Courville
Lucy Passino (Pinsonneau) 1836-1917 -- Daughter of Marie Emélie (Mary) Meunier Lagassé (Lagace) -- my 2nd great-grandmother
Sources: Ancestry.com and Robidoux Chronicles : French-Indian Ethnoculture of the Trans-Mississippi West", written by Hugh M. Lewis.
BIOGRAPHY OF EUSTACHE LAMBERT
Source: Dictionary of Canadian Biography
EUSTACHE LAMBERT, donné, interpreter, settler, fur-trader; b. c. 1618, probably near Boulogne in France; d. 6 July 1673 at Quebec.
The donné Eustache Lambert, who came to New France probably in the early 1640s, appears for the first time in Canadian history in August 1646, on the occasion of a return journey to Sainte-Marie-des-Hurons. This was his second or third trip to the mission, and he seems to have remained in the service of the Jesuits at least until 1651, when we find him accompanying Father Chaumonot to the Île d’Orléans and to Tadoussac.
In 1653 Eustache Lambert acquired a tract of land at Pointe-Lévy, in the seigneury of the Lauson family. It was there that he built the house which he named Sainte-Marie in honour of his youth spent in the Huron country, and which became a favourite meeting-place for the Huron and Algonkin fur-traders passing through Quebec.
Lambert hunted and fished there fairly successfully, it seems, for in 1671 he managed to free himself from his seigneurial dues by paying a sum of 300 livres, half in money, half in beaver. He was also said to be the owner of a merchants’ bank, a house in the Lower Town of Quebec, in Sault-au-Matelot street, and a dwelling at Saint-Joseph de Beauport. In 1653, at Quebec, he was the commander of a flying column of 50 men, and on 8 Aug. 1669 he became a churchwarden of the parish of Notre-Dame. Eustache Lambert married Marie Laurence in 1656. They had a large number of descendants.
Lambert was buried on 7 July 1673 at Quebec.
J. Monet
ASQ, Paroisse de Québec, 124; Polygraphie, XVI, 26. JR (Thwaites), passim. JJ (Laverdière et Casgrain), passim. Claude de Bonnault, “Le Canada militaire, état provisoire des officiers de milice, de 1641 à 1760,” APQ Rapport, 1949–51, 294. A. De Léry Macdonald, “La famille Lambert Du Mont,” RC, XIX (1883), 633. J.-E. Roy, “Eustache Lambert, frère donné et interprète,” La Kermesse, X (25 nov. 1892), 136–40; Histoire de la seigneurie de Lauzon, I, 254.
Revisions based on:
Bibliothèque et Arch. Nationales du Québec, Centre d’arch. de Québec, CE301-S1, 7 juill. 1673.
Bibliothèque et Arch. Nationales du Québec, Centre d’arch. de Québec, CE301-S1, 7 juill. 1673.
General Bibliography
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