COUTU

1. PIERRE-

b.c.1515
m.c.1549 MADELEINE de SARREBRUCK
d. 1590

Issue-

2I. FRANCOIS- bpt. 4 Aug. 1551 Soissons, Aisne, Picardie, m. 25 Jan. 1583 JEANNE de ROUCY
(b.c.1553 Vermand, Aisne, Picardie)
 II. Jean-
2I. FRANCOIS (PIERRE 1)

bpt. 4 Aug. 1551 Soissons, Aisne, Picardie

m. 25 Jan. 1583 JEANNE de ROUCY (b.c.1553 Vermand, Aisne, Picardie), d. of Nicolas II, Comte de
Roucy and Louise D'Espense

Issue-

 3I. JEAN- bpt. 21 July 1584 Soissons, Aisne, Picardie, m.c. 1615 CATHERINE FAYOLLE
3I. JEAN (PIERRE 1, FRANCOIS 2)- Seigneur de Rheims.

bpt. 21 July 1584 Soissons, Aisne, Picardie

m.c. 1615 CATHERINE FAYOLLE

Issue-

 I. Jean-
 ?4II. ANTOINE- m. MARGUERITE PATOU
4II. ANTOINE (PIERRE 1, FRANCOIS 2, JEAN 3)

m. MARGUERITE PATOU

Antoine was a master butcher in Corbie, near Amiens. It seems unlikely that Antoine was the son of the
Seigneur de Rheims and to date I have not seen any conclusive evidence to prove this link.

Issue-

 5I. FRANCOIS- bpt. 1651 St. Cloud, Amiens, m.1. 4 Nov. 1682 Notre Dame de Quebec, Jeanne
Verdon (bpt. 14 Feb. 1665 Chateau Richer), 2. 1691 MARIE LOUISE LESIEGE, bur. 13 May 1729 St.
Sulpice
5I. FRANCOIS (PIERRE 1, FRANCOIS 2, JEAN 3, ANTOINE 4)

bpt. 1 July 1651 St. Cloud, Amiens, Picardie

m.1. 4 Nov. 1682 Notre Dame de Quebec, Jeanne Verdon (bpt. 14 Feb. 1665 Chateau Richer)
2. 1691 MARIE LOUISE LESIEGE (b.c.1673)
bur. 13 May 1729 St. Sulpice

Francois Coutu was one of the early settlers in the lordship of Lavaltrie. Upon the dismissal of the Carignan
Regiment, Le Talon granted lordships to several officers to boost the population of New France. One of
those who benefited was Seraphin Margane Lavaltrie, who had been a lieutenant in the company of Poitou
and Allier. On 29 October 1672, he was granted an area a league and a half along the St. Lawrence and of

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similar depth, bounded on the west side by land belonging to the Seminary of Montreal. This grant would
become the current municipality of Saint-Sulpice and the nearby manor of Lavaltrie. It should not be
assumed that the lords were rolling in wealth. When Margane Lavaltrie died, he left a poor widow who
retired to Montreal and the manor remained abandoned for several years. Such a situation was reflected in
the lives of his tenants. Francois Coutu, who came from his native Picardy, lived some years in the manor,
then returned there after a stay in Montreal.

Francois came from Corbie, which is today the chief town of the Canton of Amiens. A town of 6,000 only a
dozen miles east of Amiens, including the famous Gothic cathedral which has one of highest halls of
France. We do not know when Francois Coutu went to New France, but in 1681 he is found in the manor of
Lavaltrie, installed on a grant of four arpents which was under cultivation. Francois then joined his fate to
that of Joan Verdon, daughter of Vincent and Genevieve Pelletier. The notary Pierre Duquet, in front of
whom the couple signed their marriage contract, forgot to date the document, but it is placed between a
concession and sale dated respectively October 29th and November 3rd . Francis said he lived in "La
Valtrie" and his surname is spelled Cottu. Their daughter, Louise, baptised in 1704, was the first act written
in the registers of Dupas Island (Archipelago of Lake Saint-Pierre) and it bears the signature of the
celebrant, Father Léonard Chaigneau, a Sulpician who worked as a missionary in Rivière-des-Prairies
Sorel, Repentigny and St. Sulpice before becoming pastor of L'Assumption. Louise Coutu and her husband
Jean-Baptiste Riel are the ancestors of Louis, the "Father of Manitoba", the indomitable leader of the Metis
who mounted the scaffold in 1885 in Regina. We do not know what happened to the second child, a son,
Charles-Francois.

Widower, François Coutu contracted a second marriage with Louise Lesiège, daughter of Pierre Lesiège
and Marguerite Laplace. Sixteen children were born of this second marriage, most of whom would not
survive. Three daughters and three sons passed away in the cradle, another son at the age of four and two
were killed in their beds by bears at the age of seven years, as evidenced by the first two acts of burials
contained the records of Saint-Sulpice. The children were buried in the presence of their father, Jean-
Baptiste Riel and Father Chaigneau.

If the first lord of Lavaltrie knew no glory, he did found a military family. His son, Pierre, had a career in
the Navy and reached the rank of captain and was made a Knight of St. Louis. His grand-son, Pierre-Paul,
participated in the Battle of the Plains of Abraham as a lieutenant in the regiment of Languedoc. Heir of the
manor, he devoted himself to its development and built himself a mansion there.

Issue-

 I. Louise- bpt. 23 May 1684 Contrecoeur, m. 21 Apr. 1704 L'Ile Dupas, Jean Baptiste Riel dit L'Irlande
(b.c.1670 Limerick, Ireland), bur. 26 Oct. 1735 Lanoraie
 II. Marie Genevieve- bpt. 20 Apr. 1692 Notre Dame de Montreal, m. 4 Feb. 1715 St. Sulpice, Denis
Charpentier (bpt. 21 May 1689 Varennes)
 III. Catherine- bpt. 21 Mar. 1694 Notre Dame de Montreal, m. 5 Nov. 1715 St. Sulpice, Pierre Robillard
 IV. Daniel Louis- bpt. 21 Jan. 1696 Notre Dame de Montreal, m.1. 1717 St. Sulpice, Catherine
Charpentier, 2. Marie Francoise Dulignon dite Lamirande
 V. Marie Joseph- bpt 17 Jan., bur. 29 Jan. 1698 Notre Dame de Montreal
 VI. Ignace- bpt. 6 Apr. 1699 Notre Dame de Montreal
 VII. Etienne- bpt. 19 Sept., bur. 14 Dec. 1700 Notre Dame de Montreal
 VIII. Jean Baptiste- bpt. 5 May 1702 Contrecoeur
 IX. Francois- bpt. 15 Feb. 1704 L'Ile Dupas, bur. 10 Aug. 1708 Contrecoeur
 6X. MARIE JOSEPHTE- bpt. 31 Dec. 1706 St. Sulpice, m. 29 Apr. 1726 St. Sulpice, ANTOINE
BEAUGRAND dit CHAMPAGNE (bpt. 6 June 1700 Sorel, m.2. 31 Jan. 1746 Contrecoeur, Marie
Marguerite Plouf, bur. 3 Feb. 1781 Lanoraie), bur. 23 May 1744 Lanoraie
 XI. Francoise- bpt. 1 May 1710 Repentigny, m.1. 8 Mar. 1734 Lanoraie, Pierre Lambert dit Aubin, 2.
12 jan. 1761 Jean Boulanger, bur. 13 Sept. 1792 Berthier
 XII. Etienne- bpt. 6 Jan. 1712 , m. 7 Jan. 1733 Lanoraie, Marie Marguerite Coulon dite Mabrian
 XIII. Marie Therese- bpt. 14 Jan., bur. 17 Jan. 1714 Repentigny

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 XIV. Jacques- bpt. 22 May 1722 St. Sulpice, m. 15 Mar. 1748 Marie Louise St. Germain, bur. 22 June
1799 Ste. Genevieve

Ref:

Parish Registers for the above parishes

NOTES:

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