In 2019 I made an extraordinary discovery — a copy of a voyageur contract between two of our ancestral relatives JACQUES NEPVEU (NEVEU) (1ST COUSIN 9X REMOVED), and ANTHOINE DUQUET MADRI [aka Antoine Duquet dit Madry] (8TH GREAT-UNCLE) and the famous explorer RENÉ-ROBERT CAVELIER, SIEUR DE LA SALLE
The voyageur contract, dated Sept. 27, 1684 in Quebec, between Henri de Tonty, governor of Fort St. Louis de la Louisianne under the authority of * De La Salle, and two voyageurs, JACQUES NEPVEU (NEVEU) (1ST COUSIN 9X REMOVED), AND ANTHOINE DUQUET MADRI (8TH GREAT-UNCLE).
According to the terms of the agreement, Neveu and Madri will travel by canoe to the fort, where they will trade merchandise for beaver skins. Tonty, as outfitter, will provide all merchandise, canoes, provisions, ammunition, and any other necessary items.
The two voyageurs can trade at the fort for as long as they desire, and will then transport all beaver skins back to Quebec. After the expenses of the trip are deducted, the remaining profits will be divided into halves, with Tonty receiving one half, and the remaining half to be shared between the two voyageurs.
In addition, the voyageurs will receive payment in pelts equal to the sum of 150 livres, as well as the right to carry a rifle, two "capots" three shirts, and a blanket to trade for their own profit.
They also receive a bonus of 10 beavers. The contract, which had originally included two other voyageurs, brothers Guillaume and Gilles Boissel, whose names are crossed out, is signed by Tonty, Madri, Neveu, and notary Pierre Duquet, in the presence of two witnesses Jacques Turet and Hippolyte Theberge.
NOTES:
ANTHOINE DUQUET MADRI (aka Antoine Duquet dit Madry) (8th great-uncle) (1660-1733)
son of Denis Duquet (1605-1675) and Catherine Gautier (1625-1702)
BIRTH 18 NOV 1660 • Québec, Quebec, Canada
DEATH 20 MAY 1733 • Lachenaie, Québec, Canada
Marriage (1) 1690 to Madeleine Ducharme (2) 1694 to Marie Tetard (1667–1754)
JACQUES NEPVEU (NEVEU) (1st cousin 9x removed) (1663–1722)
Son of Philipe Neveu (Nepveu) (1634-1720) and Denise Sevestre (1632–1700)
BIRTH ABT. 1663 • Montréal, Quebec, Canada
DEATH 1722 • kaskaskia, Illinois, USA
Marriage 1695 to Michelle Chauvin (1670–1722)
* RENÉ-ROBERT CAVELIER, SIEUR DE LA SALLE was a 17th century French explorer and fur trader in North America. He explored the Great Lakes region of the United States and Canada, the Mississippi River, and the Gulf of Mexico. SEE his biography http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/cavelier_de_la_salle_rene_robert_1E.html?fbclid=IwAR3Vid5Bt2dC-VbcBvQeYdJLT_VZDhJFNoU2pj7LamBfCBcthrgLKIzbeHg
