With the death of Guillaume Renaud and Marie De La Mare just weeks apart, their eldest son, the 39-year-old Louis, assumed the role as elder of the Renaud family. With six surviving siblings, 2 of them unmarried, and seven of his own children to look after, he had certain responsibilities to carry out. On Monday January 7, 1709, just two days after his father’s death, Louis successfully petitioned to have the judge provost, Pierre Haimard, appointed as “tuteur” (guardian) for his younger brother Joseph (17 years old) due to the death of their father. It is a peculiar that Louis would not have assumed this role himself, but having such an important person as Pierre Haimard to look after your affairs was certainly no disservice to Joseph. Neither is it random as Haimard and Guillaume had many interactions in Guillaume’s role as Procureur Fiscal. It is also possible this arrangement was worked out prior to Guillaume’s death.
As the first-born, Louis Renaud was the original Canadian of La Ligne. He was born on Tuesday August 27, 1669 and baptized the following day by Henri de Bernieres, curé of the parish of Notre Dame de Quebec. His godparents were the notary Romain Becquet and Elisabeth D'Amours, the wife of his father's employer (Louis Théandre Chartier de Lotbiniere), both important members of the elite class in Quebec.
Little is known specifically about Louis’ childhood. There is some suggestion that he was apprenticed to Louis Gilbert dit Laviolette but I could not find any corroborating evidence to verify it nor any useful literature to help understand the issue of child apprenticeships in 17th Century New France.
To glean any understanding of Louis’ early years we must extrapolate from the documents focusing on his parents. At some point between 1673 and 1676 the family moved to St. Bernard’s Parish which was when Louis was anywhere from 4 to 7 years old. At that time, Louis would have had one brother (Jean-Bernard b. 1671) and one or two sisters (Marie Anne b. 1673; Marie Louise b. 1676). With very little to go on, we can assume that Louis spent his days helping around the family farm.
Louis’ initial appearance in the notarial records appears on Tuesday, 2 November 1694 when he appeared before the notary J. R. Duprac and signed his marriage contract with his soon to be wife Marie Magdeleine Bedard, daughter of Jacques Bedard and Elizabeth Doucinet. Unfortunately, the records of the notary Duprac are not readily available online at BAnQ and more than a few of the known records documenting Louis’ activities were produced by Duprac.
The marriage between Louis and Marie Magdeleine occurred three weeks later on Monday 22 November 1694. Louie was 25 years of age while his bride was only 17 years old. The marriage at St. Charles in Charlesbourg was officiated by Alexandre Doucet, priest of the Seminaire de Quebec and the named attendees were Jacques Bedard (Father of the bride), François Bedard (Brother of the bride), Pierre La Febvre who is curiously described as a friend of Marie, Guillaume Renaud and Louis’ brother Bernard as well as “plusieurs autres.” Marie was gifted by her father an advance on her inheritance of 300 livres as well as a plot of land in St. Antoine’s granted “to them by the Renaud family in their wedding contract.”
It did not take them long before the children began to arrive. Their first born, a daughter named for her mother Marie Magdeleine, was baptized on Saturday 19 November 1695 by Alexandre Doucet at St. Charles parish. Her godparents were her grandfather Guillaume Renaud and her grandmother Elizabeth Doucinet. Louis was identified as living in the village of St. Antoine, likely on the land provided in the wedding contract.
The following year finds Louis embroiled in a dispute with Julien Jamin (a tailor) regarding some tools used to make shoes (sabots). The archives have four instances documenting this dispute which are badly damaged and faded. The poor condition in conjunction with the legal language make this case a bit confusing. My best understanding of the case suggests that Jamin took action against Louis for the tools which he claims were his. Louis appears to have either received them from or provided them to the Master Shoemaker, André Spénard. The judge, Guillaume Roger, ruled that the tools belonged to Jamin and that Spénard should reimburse Louis who would then return the tools to Jamin.
The first document dated 12 April 1696 names Louis as the defendant against Jamin. This document records a postponement of the ruling until André Spénard (Spennert) can provide testimony. This appears to be an example of “un defaut”, where one of the parties was not present, the judge would require the individuals to appear again at the court’s next session usually within two or three weeks.
However, the final judgement on this case does not occur until seven months later and when the judgement is finally issued the case is no longer a dispute between Louis and Julien Jamin but a multifaceted case involving all three. On November 8, 1696 the judge ruled in favor of Louis Renaud and Jamin in opposition to Spénard “master shoemaker.” Spénard was ordered to return the tools to Jamin and repay the money that Louis Renaud spent for the tools. Two weeks later, the royal bailiff, Étienne Maranda (Marandeau), appeared at Louis’ home, and ordered him to hand over the tools which were to be returned to Jamin.
While the particulars of this case appear mundane, it demonstrates the extent to which seigneurial courts were used to mediate relationships. This had a growing importance as the colony transitioned from the precariousness of the early years of the settlement to relative stability and a growing population during Louis Renaud’s lifetime. The seigneurial courts provided a means to facilitate community relations that turned strangers into neighbors and neighbors into strangers. That is to say, the courts allowed neighbors to treat each other as “strangers” while allowing strangers a means to communicate as legal neighbors. This is even more evident in a case to be discussed later where Louis found himself opposing his brother Pierre in court.
The month following the resolution of this case saw Louis and Marie-Magdeleine welcome their second child, Charles-Jacques Renaud, into their lives on 1 December 1696. He was baptized the following day. His godfather was Pierre Bedard. I could not decipher his godmother’s name surname but her first name was Marie Anne. Unfortunately, Charles-Jacques would only survive for about eight weeks. He was buried in the cemetery of Saint Charles in Charlesbourg on January 27, 1697.
The couple did not mourn for long and within a few months Marie-Magdeleine was pregnant. Nearly a year after the death of Charles-Jacques, the couple welcomed Marie Margueritte who was born on 13 January 1698 and baptized the following day by Alexandre Doucet. Her godfather was her maternal grandfather Jacques Bedard and her godmother was her aunt Marie Villeneuve the wife of Estienne Bedard. The entry in the Drouin collection indicates that Louis could not sign his name. “Le pere at la maraine ont declare ne sçavoir signer de ce interpeller selon l’ordonnance.” Given his father’s literacy, it is indeed curious that Louis may not have been able to write and raises questions about the relative importance literacy may have had. Despite his own literacy, Guillaume may not have viewed it as essential for the well-being of his family though some of Louis’ siblings could sign their names.
January was a month of celebration as just a week later Louis attended his brother Jean-Bernard’s marriage to Jeanne Dery along with his father Guillaume. Again, though named in the document, he was not one of those that signed and the document faithfully records “les autres ont declare ne sçavoir signer de ce interpeller selon l’ordonnance.”
In 1699, another child was born into the family while another departed. Their one-year-old daughter Marie Marguerite is alleged to have died at some point in 1699. I have found no evidence to verify this and no evidence to contradict the claim. On 11 June, another son was born and once again named Charles. His godfather was Charles Villeneuve who was the son of Mathurin Villeneuve. The godmother was Catherine Bedard, Marie Magdeleine’s sister. At the time of Charles’ birth, the family continued to reside in St. Antoine’s.
While the year 1700 seems to have been a quiet one for the family, two more sons were born in quick succession in the following years. On 6 March 1701, Louis and Marie Magdeleine’s third son Pierre was born at four in the morning and baptized that same day at St. Charles in Charlebourg. His godfather was Marie Magdeleine’s brother Pierre Bedard and his godmother was Louis’ sister Jeanne Renaud.
On August 3, 1702, François was baptized having been born two days prior on August 1. The circumstances surrounding François’ birth must have been difficult as the baptismal record refers to ondoye which means that there was a fear of imminent death. The urgency of the baptism reflects the belief that without baptism, the child would not be a member of the Christian family and would have no rights to a Christian burial or even a right to be buried in the parish cemetery. The baptism was performed by one of the Jesuit fathers whose surname is unfortunately hard to decipher. Whatever the condition was it did not lead to the child’s death as Francois lived until 1721. His godfather was François Bedard and his godmother was Magueritte Fasche wife of Vincent Beaumont, “habitant de Charlebourg.” Magueritte and Vincent were apparently family friends of the Bedards as Jacques Bedard was a signatory at their wedding.
A few months later, a ‘quittance” between Louis and his father was recorded by the notary Duprac on 13 November 1702. A quittance is a receipt or notice of discharge so the transaction likely denoted a transfer of some property between Louis and his father or a recognition of a payment of some kind. It was a busy day for the Renaud family as Louis’ brothers were also involved in transactions with their father. Guillaume completed a sale to Pierre and executed another quittance with Jean-Bernard. Unfortunately, the notary for these transactions was the elusive Duprac.
Heading into 1703, the future seemed to be one of a growing family consisting of one 7-year-old daughter and three sons under the age of four. However, in February tragedy struck again as their oldest son Charles died and was buried on the 23 February 1703, at just four years of age. Both Louis and Marie Magdeleine are noted as present at the inhumation. His death was likely the result of influenza or small pox both of which were reported to have claimed many lives that winter.
The following year was a happier time for Louis and Marie-Magdeleine as they welcomed another daughter into the family, Marie-Charlotte, who was born and baptized on 5 May 1704. Her godparents were Charles Bedard who was a minor as he as described as “garçon”. Her godmother was Anne-Elizabet Paget.
The next milestone for Louis and Marie-Magdeleine was the birth of another daughter, Marianne on 26 November 1705. Louis is described as an “habitant de sainct antoine”. Her godfather was Charles Auclair “garçon fils de Pierre Auclair” and her godmother was her aunt, Marieanne Bedard “fille de Jacques Bedard.”
While 1706 seems to have been an unremarkable year, 1707 was a busy year by comparison. At some point in 1707, Louis assumed the role of Church Warden for the parish of St. Charles Borromée, a post his father had also held. It is not certain when Louis assumed this role because as of 30 January 1707, his predecessor, Germain Magnan was still identified as the head church warden when he brought a case before the Provost Judge against Louis’ brother Pierre for failure to make his rental payments for his church pew. The document is unclear in parts but it appears that Pierre contested this charge indicating he paid someone for the bench. The judge ruled that Pierre had to pay but that he was also to be reimbursed money he was owed by Pierre Glinel. So, we can see from this case that the daily affairs of the community could get quite complicated and the seigneurial courts were utilized as a means to settle these disputes. Of note, the document indicates that Pierre is a resident of Gros Pin and also renders the last name as “Reno”.
A month later, Marie-Magdeleine and Louis welcomed another daughter, Marie-Joseph on 2 February 1707. Her baptismal record of 3 February identified the godfather as her uncle Joseph who is denoted as “garçon” because he was only 15 at the time. The godmother was Jeanne Bedard who was denoted as “fille” so she may also have been a minor.
By April Louis had assumed the role as Church Warden as he is named as one of the three “marguilliers en charge” in the 14 April 1707 document where the Provost Judge Pierre Haimard postponed the decision “in the matter opposing Louis Renaud, Barthélemi Coton and Thomas Blondeau, officials in charge of the work and parish council of the parish church of Saint Charles of Charlesbourg, and André Bernier, inhabitant of Gros-Pin, concerning the ownership of a terrain and a lodging, and decision to the effect that the documents presented will remain in the hands of the judge in order to be examined.”
The case concerns the dwelling of Bernier which he acquired from the deceased Pierre Canard. Louis and his fellow church wardens were arguing that Bernier should give up possession though it is not clear why they took that position. The case continued into August when on the first of the month another hearing occurred. It refers to a Counsel meeting of 18 July 1707 which I have not been able to locate. The August 1 document did not resolve anything but did indicate that the descendants of the deceased Pierre Canard would be subpoenaed at the request of the three Church Wardens, Louis Renaud, Bartholomy Cotton dit la Roche and Thomas Blondeau.
A subsequent document dated August 16 provides details on how complicated this dispute became with multiple contracts from multiple notaries describing different arrangements and also mentions the appearance of two of Louis’ brothers, Pierre and Joseph “both for themselves and for their other brothers and sisters co-heirs of the late Marie Peltier widow of the late Pierre Canard….” How Louis’ siblings became heirs to this property is unknown but it does show that families became intertwined in ways other than marriage. The final resolution of this case resulted in the plaintiffs’ case being dismissed.
Just a few weeks after this case, Marie-Magdeleine was pregnant again and on 18 April 1708, she gave birth to another son named Charles. The godparents were Charles Boisme “habitant de Charlesbourg” and Françoise Huppe “femme de Thomas Bedard.” The notary records that Boisme could not sign his name while Huppe did.
The winter of 1708-1709 was a devastating one for the family. Across the sea in Europe, the continent was ravaged by an influenza pandemic that apparently reached Canada. That winter would bring death to Louis’ mother, father, his sister Marie-Therese and her husband Joseph Verret all passed within weeks on one another. On December 31, 1708 Louis petitioned Pierre Haimard the Provost Judge for the seigneurie of Notre Dame des Anges on behalf of his father Guillaume who was still in his role of Procureur Fiscal for the seigneurie but likely too ill to appear as he would die only five days later. The petition proposed to appoint guardians for the two minor children of Joseph Verret and Marie-Therese Renaud, Joseph aged three and Marie aged five. The court officially appointed Jean Verret as primary guardian and Jean-Bernard Renaud as the deputy guardian. The notarial record indicates that while Louis Renaud could not sign his name, Jean Bernard and Pierre Renaud could and did. So, some of Guillaume’s children did learn to at least write their names. Jean Bernard’s signature drops the letter “d” from Bernard and he rendered the surname as “Renaut” whereas Pierre wrote “Renaud”.
Fortunately, the new born Charles did not succumb to the deadly winter and die young as his similarly named predecessors Charles-Jean (1696-1697) and Charles (1699-1703) did. Apparently the third time is the charm. Charles would go on to become the next generation of La Ligne.
For Louis, he was now the head of the family and the leader of the second generation of the family. He would be left to continue to build the legacy that Guillaume had started. It remained to be seen if he would succeed. As the deadly winter of 1708-1709 shows, nothing was a given. He had 7 living children at this time to provide for and the next decades of his life would be filled with many more celebrations and sorrows.
Please refer to the Resources section for more information and links to images of many of the documents referred to in this post.