References:
(1) Information supplied by Joseph Arthur David D'Amboise, 1461-B Pawtucket
Boulevard, Lowell, Massachusetts, 01854.(2) Archive Records, The International Society of the Descendants of
Charlemagne.(3) Information supplied by Elmer William Coyer, 698 South Peakview Drive,
Castle Rock, Colorado 80104.(4) Information supplied by Elenore B. Chamberland, 946 Jasper Avenue,
Kamloops, British Columbia, V2B 2S7, Canada.
References:
(1) Information supplied by Joseph Arthur David D'Amboise, 1461-B Pawtucket
Boulevard, Lowell, Massachusetts, 01854.(2) Archive Records, The International Society of the Descendants of
Charlemagne.(3) Information supplied by Elmer William Coyer, 698 South Peakview Drive,
Castle Rock, Colorado 80104.(4) Information supplied by Elenore B. Chamberland, 946 Jasper Avenue,
Kamloops, British Columbia, V2B 2S7, Canada.
References:
(1) Information supplied by Elmer William Coyer, 698 South Peakview Drive,
Castle Rock, Colorado 80104.(2) Archive Records, The International Society of the Descendants of
Charlemagne.Historical Notes:
(1) Pierrre Miville was a Master Woodworker, and Captain of the Seacoast
Lauzon, of La Rochelle.
References:
(1) Information supplied by Elmer William Coyer, 698 South Peakview Drive,
Castle Rock, Colorado 80104.(2) Archive Records, The International Society of the Descendants of
Charlemagne.
Pierre Miville Le Suiss, a Title he apparently gave himself.
Pierre Miville and his sons
By Gaston DeschenesIt is assumed that Pierre Miville arrived in Nouvelle France (New France or Canada) in August 1640. Maybe before, but not afterwards, because he obtained a concession in October of 1640.
He probably arrived with his family, but it is not certain that they all arrived at the same time. In 1649, He had 6 children from the ages of 9-17 years of age. 2 boys and 4 girls: Marie, Francois, Aimee, Madeleine, Jacques and Suzanne. They were, without doubt, one of the largest families to arrive in Nouvelle France, according to the "Catalog des Immigrants de Trudel".
In the month of October, 1649, Pierre Miville is given land measuring some 25 acres, in Quebec City (near today's Bois de Coulonge). A land of 570 feet wide by 7600 feet long on the sieninory of Lauzon, and for his son, Francois who was 15 years old, another piece of land on the same domain. They kept it in common, because of the threat of Iroquois Indians.
Pierre Miville kept the Quebec City land for one year only, and gave it to his son-in-law in 1650. Let us mention, that Pierre Miville's four daughters got rapidly married, before they reached 18 years of age. Marie gets married to Mathieu Amiot in 1650 (our ancestor), Aimee married Robert Giguere and Madeleine to Jean Cauchon in 1652. Suzanne married Antoine Paulet in 1655. As for the sons, they were less pressed into marriage. Francois married in 1660 at the age of 26 and Jacques stayed with his parents at this time. He married in 1669 at 30 years of age. He probably helped his father, Pierre, with farming.
Farmers or merchants?
Were the Miville's essentually farmers? Pierre Miville was identified as a "finishing carpenter", but one doesn't find any proof of his activities in this field. Jacques is also identified as a "carpenter". In 1667, 18 years after the concession of the land of Lauzon, Pierre Miville only had 30 pounds sterling, not an enormous amount of money, for having worked for so long, but maybe he was occupied with other things. Between 1654 and 1661, he acquired a site at Quebec City, on St. Louis Street. He sold it in 1654, but he was still living at Lauzon. In 1656, he obtained from Jean Lauzon, a site on St. Pierre Street. Between 1656 and 1667, he built a house there, which he kept until his death.
It becomes more difficult to determine the occupation of Pierre Miville, his two sons and four other Swiss. They obtained a concession of land in what is called La Pocatiere. There were several unusual aspects underlying this concession. It was called "The Canton des Suisses Friboureois", which about eliminated the wonder if he was Swiss or not.
This curious attempt at communal colonization seemed to have no reason for it's existance. One is not able to find anything about the four Swiss people of this Society of Miville. They were possibly from the Regiment of Carignan. What were they doing in this region of Cap Saint Ignace, where there weren't any others there?
During the 17th century, beaver trading is relatively free. Each one was able to make his profit without having to go very far from home, because the Indians came to Quebec carrying their skins. There were no limits or ordinances to contend with.
Pierre and his sons applied themselves to this trade at some time or other. We have seen where Pierre had acquired a site on La Place Royale, in 1656, (there is such a street in the Lower Quebec City). He bought two barrels of wine in the summer of 1657. Were they for trading? In the autumn of 1657, his son, Francois, created a society for the building and operation of a rowing boat of 30 feet in length and he certainly wasn't using it for farming. In 1664, he is guilty of "wishing to remove several persons sent by the King, to stop the distribution (of wine to the Indians) according to the King's law, instead he enlisted these agents into selling with him.
The succession of Pierre Miville
Pierre Miville died at Lauzon on 14 Oct 1669. He was buried on the 15th, in Quebec. A little afterwards, his widow and his two sons, created a company (society) in order to establish the trading of furs. It was probably in order to continue his previous endeavors. The next summer, however, one sees the company disolved and a list of creditors was created. They were Charles Aubert de la Chesnaye and Daniel Biaaille. The Miville's had borrowed the money (4691 pounds sterling) from these two men, in order to buy trading merchandise.
Because of death and sicknesses within the Indian villages and a very hard winter, they had a disaster in their business because of no skins. This sad adventure marked the beginning of numerous worries for this family. Contracts set up with Alexandre Petit, a merchant of La Rochelle, and obligations with Eustache Lambert, Bertrand Chesnaye and Louis Rouer all came due in 1670. In 1672, finally, a court order seized the properties at Lauzon and Quebec. Francois Miville interceded on behalf of the children and asked that only one-half of the property be taken and the other half left for the children. He obtained justice in May 1673.In order to add to the misfortunes of the family, the creditors demanded in 1674, that the widow Miville be considered insane and placed in an institution. It was Francois Miville who became her guardian, instead. She died 10 Oct 1676 and straight away the four girls liquidated what they had received as a heritage from their father to pay off Alexandre Petit, merchant of La Rochelle. As for Francois and Jacques, they settled their affairs later on.
Francois and Jacques Miville
Let us look a little at the activities of Francois and Jacques. Francois was also called "Le Suisse" and he seemed a person highly respected in his time, as Trudel sited him among the Bourgeois of 1663. He married in 1660, to Marie Langlois, daughter of Noel Langlois. The signing of the marriage contract was attested to by many of the elite of Quebec. In 1659, Jean de Lauzon, took Francois as a financial secretary and elevated his position in Lauzon, to Fifedom, and conferred to Miville the Title of Lord. He held this title during1650, because one sees him using it as he bought his pew in church with beaver pelts. In 1672, Talon, concedes to Francois Miville, a grant of 16 pound sterling on 50, on the river Chauiere. L'abbe Provost has placed this grant on what is today called Saint Marie de Beauce, a region completely uninhabited at that time. As for Mr. Talon, this concession was part of a plan to have a relay post between Quebec and Fort Pentagouet, in Acadia. He wished to create a series of stops or inns where travelers could find "warehouses and indoor places of refreshments". This idea, which was abandoned when Mr. Talon left, probably permitted Francois Miville the means to follow his activities of trading without the infringement of the ordinances which were beginning to fall on the heel of the "Coureurs de Bois" (runners of wood, maybe boat haulers?), without any harassment, 1672. Otherwise, Miville went to and from his home, which he called "Bonne Recontre" (good encounter), to meet the Indians, to barter their furs and take them to Quebec, without any harassment. In 1683, he conceded to Francois Lienard Durbois, a piece of land of four arpents de font sur 50, next to his which he had reserved for himself. Durbois took part in the business and products of fur trading with Miville, which confirms the nature of the activities of Miville in the valley of La Chaudiere River.
As for Jacques Miville, Pierre Miville's other son, he was living with his parents in 1667. He was 27 years old and believed to be a coureue de bois and was living off the fur trade as well. For example, in Jan. of 1668, he buys goods from Jean Maheux, a merchant in Quebec City, and promises to pay him in the springtime, "when he gets back from his trip". In October of 1669, he marries Catherine de Baillon, daughter of the late Alphonse de Baillon and of Lady Louise de Marle, who had been provided with a large dowry. The wedding attended by numerous personalites among whom Courcelles and Rouer de Villeray. To our knowledge, the marriage contract is the first document in which Jacques Miville, the groom, is identified as "Sieur Deschenes". We cannot explain the reason Jacques gives himself this "title", which becomes the Deschenes surname, after which many of his descendants were named. A short while after signing the wedding contract, he hires two men to cut down trees, during the upcoming wintertime on his concession land located in Grand Anse au Cap Martin. This was likely in the "Cantons des Suisses Friboureosis" (township of the Swiss from Fribourg) awarded to his father in 1665. In the spring of 1670, he performed "navigation and everyday work". During the 1670's, he carried out fur trade. In 1677, he is known to have promised payments in the form of beaver skins. However, the way he buys property, gives the impression that he wanted it for farming. In June of 1674, he buys from the Sieur de La Bouteillerie, Lord of Riviere Ouelle, a spot measuring 12 acres in width to the St. Jean River, at a short distance west of Riviere Ouelle, which is today in Pocatiere. This concession was situated in an area fought over by the Lord of Pocatiere and the Lord of Riviere Ouelle. Finally he was guaranteed the ownership of the land by Lady Pocatiere.
He settles on this land before 1675, since his daughter, Marie, is born in Riviere Saint Jean, not in St. Jean Port, as mentioned in Jette's dictionary and that of the Department of Demographics, in the University of Montreal.
His Desscendants
Jacques Miville died in the Riviere Ouelle Saint Jean, 27 Jan 1688. He was only 49 years old. His wife dies the very same day. (We don't know why their deaths are simultaneous). He is buried the next day and she was buried the day after that. He was the father of six children, from 6 to 17 years old. This is when Francois comes and settles in Riviere Saint Jean, and becomes guardian of his brother's children. Francois has 10 children of his own, ages 2 to 20. All of them were born in Lauzon between 1663 and 1693, at which time he marries again to Jeanne Sauvenier, his 2nd wife and moves to Riviere Ouelle, where he died in 1711 at the age of 77.
Jacques children and grandchildren were known as Miville, Mainville, Deschenes, Dechene, and even Duchaine. They mainly settled in Cote de Sud, Saint Roche, Sainte Anne, Riviere Ouelle and Kamouraska from where their offspring scattered to neighboring parishes and other regions.
One of his descendants is the grand neuf pieds" (the grand nine feet), named by Leon Roy. This legend started on a simple mistake in reading. According to road construction minutes of the time, an eighteen foot wide road would be built, using the line of Little Pierre Duchaine and Pierre Duchaine said the great nine feet on each piece of land, up to 42 acres in depth. A comma places right after the word "great", allows us to understand that nine feet were used on each piece of land and brings the great Pierre to more human dimensions. Another grandson, of Jacques Miville, Joseph Marie, born in 1739, went to St. Louis, Missouri, where he had many children. "Le Fribourgeois, Vol. 1, No. 2. I don't know if it was among his descendants that one finds the Honorable Louis Geroud (probably Gerard). Rodolphe Miville Deschenes, died in Louisiana in May 1825 at 139 (?) years of age, according to La Gazette of 28 July 1925. He was the son of the General Miville, chevalier of Chene (Oak trees), came to Canada with the Regiment of Carignan Sallieres. This general died sometime after his arrival at La Riviere Ouelle, without having had the joy of receiving the lands that the King promised to him and which would have been transmitted to his three sons, who lived, unfortunately in that country.
AND, here it is, probably one of the sources used impudently by the Major de Militia, de St, Henri, in order to draft the letter of 1854. Maybe one day we can decide between the truth and the untruth of this legend.[Brd̜erbund Family Archive #118, Ed. 1, Canadian Genealogy Index, 1600s - 1900s, Date of Import: Apr 24, 1999, Internal Ref. #1.118.1.60630.7]
Individual: Miville Dit Le Suisse, Pierre
Pierre Miville dit Le Suisse.Event: Died
Year: 1669
Place: LausonProvince of record source: Qub̌ec
Comments: Master-joiner.
Source: Dictionary of Canadian Biography, Vol. 1 1000 to 1700.
Publisher: Les Presses de l'UniversitˇLaval and University of Toronto Press
Publication place: Toronto
Publication year: 1966Volume/Page(s): 511
Please note: The province and county are associated with the location of the record source and in some cases may not be the same as the place where the event occurred.
Marriage Notes for Pierre Miville and Charlotte MAUGIS-338383
Line in Record @F0576@ (MRIN 124919) from GEDCOM file not recognized:
_FREL NaturalLine in Record @F0576@ (MRIN 124919) from GEDCOM file not recognized:
_MREL NaturalLine in Record @F0576@ (MRIN 124919) from GEDCOM file not recognized:
_FREL NaturalLine in Record @F0576@ (MRIN 124919) from GEDCOM file not recognized:
_MREL NaturalLine in Record @F0576@ (MRIN 124919) from GEDCOM file not recognized:
_FREL NaturalLine in Record @F0576@ (MRIN 124919) from GEDCOM file not recognized:
_MREL NaturalLine in Record @F0576@ (MRIN 124919) from GEDCOM file not recognized:
_FREL NaturalLine in Record @F0576@ (MRIN 124919) from GEDCOM file not recognized:
_MREL NaturalLine in Record @F0576@ (MRIN 124919) from GEDCOM file not recognized:
_FREL NaturalLine in Record @F0576@ (MRIN 124919) from GEDCOM file not recognized:
_MREL NaturalLine in Record @F0576@ (MRIN 124919) from GEDCOM file not recognized:
_FREL NaturalLine in Record @F0576@ (MRIN 124919) from GEDCOM file not recognized:
_MREL Natural
Alphonse DE BAILLON S.de Mascolterie
References:
(1) Information supplied by Elmer William Coyer, 698 South Peakview Drive,
Castle Rock, Colorado 80104.(2) Archive Records, The International Society of the Descendants of
Charlemagne.
References:
(1) Information supplied by Elmer William Coyer, 698 South Peakview Drive,
Castle Rock, Colorado 80104.(2) Archive Records, The International Society of the Descendants of
Charlemagne.
References:
(1) Information supplied by Elmer William Coyer, 698 South Peakview Drive,
Castle Rock, Colorado 80104.(2) Archive Records, The International Society of the Descendants of
Charlemagne.
References:
(1) Information supplied by Elmer William Coyer, 698 South Peakview Drive,
Castle Rock, Colorado 80104.(2) Archive Records, The International Society of the Descendants of
Charlemagne.
References:
(1) Information supplied by Elmer William Coyer, 698 South Peakview Drive,
Castle Rock, Colorado 80104.(2) Archive Records, The International Society of the Descendants of
Charlemagne.
References:
(1) Information supplied by Elmer William Coyer, 698 South Peakview Drive,
Castle Rock, Colorado 80104.(2) Archive Records, The International Society of the Descendants of
Charlemagne.
References:
(1) Information supplied by Elmer William Coyer, 698 South Peakview Drive,
Castle Rock, Colorado 80104.(2) Archive Records, The International Society of the Descendants of
Charlemagne.
References:
(1) Information supplied by Elmer William Coyer, 698 South Peakview Drive,
Castle Rock, Colorado 80104.(2) Archive Records, The International Society of the Descendants of
Charlemagne.
References:
(1) Information supplied by Elmer William Coyer, 698 South Peakview Drive,
Castle Rock, Colorado 80104.(2) Archive Records, The International Society of the Descendants of
Charlemagne.
References:
(1) Information supplied by Elmer William Coyer, 698 South Peakview Drive,
Castle Rock, Colorado 80104.(2) Archive Records, The International Society of the Descendants of
Charlemagne.
References:
(1) Information supplied by Elmer William Coyer, 698 South Peakview Drive,
Castle Rock, Colorado 80104.(2) Archive Records, The International Society of the Descendants of
Charlemagne.
References:
(1) Information supplied by Elmer William Coyer, 698 South Peakview Drive,
Castle Rock, Colorado 80104.(2) Archive Records, The International Society of the Descendants of
Charlemagne.
References:
(1) Information supplied by Elmer William Coyer, 698 South Peakview Drive,
Castle Rock, Colorado 80104.(2) Archive Records, The International Society of the Descendants of
Charlemagne.
References:
(1) Information supplied by Elmer William Coyer, 698 South Peakview Drive,
Castle Rock, Colorado 80104.(2) Archive Records, The International Society of the Descendants of
Charlemagne.