DAY 187 - Quest to Find Rich's Roots (Part 1)

Sept. 22 - A VERY BUSY DAY!

I had already found some information from my heritage both in Sweden and England, so it was time for Rich to find his French roots.  We had some clues from research that Emily's family had done, so we knew that Guillame Couillard's parents had come to Quebec from Paris.  We also knew that Louis Hebert lived close to the Louvre Museum.  We thought it was on Rue Saint Honore.  We wandered around for a bit, then we found this sign.  So exciting!

This plaque was on a building to indicate we had found his birthplace.

"HÉBERT, LOUIS, apothecary, first officer of justice in New France and the first Canadian settler to support himself from the soil, married to Marie Rollet.  Louis was born in Paris 1575 and died in Quebec on January 1627."  (internet link)  He was the first white settler in Canada.
 Then we found lots more on the internet and even on Wikipedia.  WOW!  Louis was VERY famous!

This is the Mortier d’Or - house where Louis Hebert was born... 129 Rue Saint Honore

He was born to Nicolas Hébert and Jacqueline Pajot.  In the tradition of the day, Louis followed in his father's profession. Louis was trained in medical arts and science, becoming a specialist in pharmacology. It was from this that he developed what was to become a lifelong interest in plants and gardening.  By 1600, Louis was established in Paris as an apothecary and spice merchant.  He married Marie Rollet on 13 June 1602 at the Abbaye de Saint-Germain-des-Pres.

The Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés

Hébert became interested in the early settlements in Port Royal, Acadia (now Annapolis in northern Nova Scotia).  He spent some time in Acadia in 1606 then he went again in 1610 and stayed till 1613.  In 1617, the famous, Samuel de Champlain induced Louis Hébert to settle in Quebec.  In the Spring of 1617, Louis, his wife, and his three children,  Guillaume, 3, Guillaumette, 9, and Anne, 14, set sail at Honfleur, bound for Québec. The Compagnie de Canada made Hébert an offer: If he would take his family to Quebec for three years and practice medicine in the settlement and establish farming, the company would pay him an annual salary of 600 livres (pounds) and grant him ten acres of land at the settlement on which to build his house and farm. Louis agreed to the terms and signed the contract.  But when Hébert, having sold his home and belongings arrived at Honfleur to take ship for Canada, he was informed that he would be paid only 200 livres and would have to serve the company as directed; only in his spare time would he be allowed to work his own land, and he had to sell any crops he raised to the company at current French prices. Hébert had no choice but to accept.  The Héberts and Champlain would arrive in Canada in July of 1617 after a difficult four-month journey across the Atlantic.

Shortly after his arrival in Québec, Louis built himself a house on ten acres that is today located in the city of Quebec between Ste. Famille and Couillard Streets, on the grounds of the Seminary of Quebec and Basilica of Notre Dame.   On this land, Louis, his son Guillaume, and an unnamed servant with the help of only an axe, a pick and a spade, broke the soil and raised corn, winter wheat, beans, peas, and livestock including cattle, swine, and fowl. He also established an apple orchard and a vineyard.  

Only five other French families were to follow them on similar voyages to New France in the next 10 years.  The Couillards were one of them.

On 26 August 1621 at Notre-Dame de Quebec in the presence of Samuel de Champlain, his daughter Guillemette, age 13, married Guillaume Couillard, age 30, who joined the family business.  They had 10 children.

Is this building really 500 years old?

You can see that it is now a clothes shoppe.

 By 1620, Louis' hard work was finally recognized as having been of great service to the colony: for being the physician and surgeon; for being its principal provider of food; and for having fostered good relationships with the natives. He was appointed Procurator to the King, which allowed him to personally intervene in matters in the name of the King.

In 1623, Louis became the first "Seigneur" of New France when he was granted the noble fief of "Sault-au-Matelot". In 1626 he was further granted "le fief de la riviere, St Charles" in recognition of his meritorious service.

 

 

Louis died on January 25, 1627 from injuries suffered after slipping on ice. The colony held a funeral for its first colonist. Louis was as respected by the Indians as he was by the other Frenchmen. He was first buried in the cemetery of the Recollets, but in 1678 his remains inside his cedar coffin were transported to the newly built vault of the Recollets with the remains of Peaceful brother Duplessis. Hébert was the first to be laid to rest in this new structure.

 We wanted to go into the building to see what it was like inside, but unfortunately it was Sunday and the shoppe was closed.  I stopped an African man who was working in the bakery below and asked him if anyone could show us the inside.

   He was French, so I used my French sign language to communicate.  Finally he understood and tried a couple of doors, but they were both locked.  He found a key and opened one, so we wandered through the halls.
 


This corridor is the same one that Rich's great great....
grandparents would have used hundreds of years ago to get to their flat/house.  How exciting to be walking on the same ground that they walked!

We're pretty sure that this is the door to their place, although it was locked and we couldn't find anyone to ask.  It was still a fun adventure!





 Hébert had many firsts. He was the first colonist of Quebec, first colonist to live off the land, his daughter Anne's marriage to Etienne Jonquet in 1617 was the first in New France, and he was the first lord of New France.




  At the beginning of 1800, Louis Hébert and Marie Rollet had 4,592 descendents married in Quebec, according to the PRDH (Historical Demography Research Program) of the University of Montreal, making the couple the tenth most important one in French-Canadian ancestry at that time.

Rich's father is one of 12 children, so the Couillards believed in large families.

We just sat outside and imagined how much of the house Louis Hebert's parents owned and how Louis grew up in the streets of Paris in the late 16th century.

  There is a monument to Louis Hébert in Montmorency Park, Canada, that symbolizes the importance of Louis Hébert and his family in the beginnings of Quebec. On top is Louis Hébert holding a sheaf of corn in one hand and a sickle in the other. On one side of the base, Marie Rollet clasps her three children in her arms. On the other, son-in-law Guillaume Couillard has a plow in hand.

The Hébert monument was inaugurated in 1918 on the 300th anniversary of the arrival of Louis Hébert and his family in Québec.

Marie Rollet remained in New France after the untimely death of her husband Louis Hébert in 1627, at the young age of 52. The settlement fell in the hands of the Kirke brothers. She remained in Quebec making New France her homeland to continue teaching the young Amerindian children in order to prepare them for baptism within the Catholic religion. 

He was the 1st settler of New France knighted by King Louis XIV.

 Guillaume Couillard was born on Oct, 11, 1591 in Saint-Servan, Brittay, France. He is the son of Guillaume Couillard and Élisabeth de Vesins.  His monument is on one side of his father-in-law, Louis Hebert's monument.  He was a carpenter, sailor, and caulker.  He is buried in the chapel of the Hotel-Dieu de Quebec, passing away on March 4, 1663 at the age of 72.

 



 We walked around and took in the sights around the area imagining what it must have been like in the 1500's & early 1600's.  We came across the Church of Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois.  It was probably the church where the Hebert's went every week.  Founded in the 7th century, the church was rebuilt many times over several centuries. It now has construction in Roman, Gothic, and Renaissance styles.

 During the Wars of Religion, its bell called "Marie" sounded on the night of 23 August 1572 (three years before Louis Hebert was born) marking the beginning of the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre.  Thousands of Huguenots, who visited the city for a royal wedding, were killed by the mob of Paris.  Some historians say that up to 30,000 were slaughtered.  Most bodies were thrown into the Seine River. Encouraged by Catholic preachers, they were horrified at the marriage of a princess of France with a Protestant (the future Henry IV of France). Throughout Europe, it "printed on Protestant minds the indelible conviction that Catholicism was a bloody and treacherous religion."

 The beautiful stained glass windows are preserved despite the plunderings during the French Revolution in the late 1700's.

Panorama of the church of Saint-Germain l'Auxerrois and the Place du Louvre.

"Do you think my relatives from the 1600's are as distinguished-looking as me?"

YET TO COME:  The Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, Arch de Triomphe, Elysse Palace, Jardin du Luxembourg, The Invalides, and more.