After the recall of the Carignan-Salières Regiment, the defense of the colony was left to the local militias, which were organized in
1669. Each parish had to provide a company. Every able-bodied man between the ages of 15 and 60 was eligible to serve. Few records have survived.
Jean most likely took leave from the Regiment in the summer of 1669 in Trois-Rivières and given a sum of 50 or 100 livres (franc) and a years supply of rations. On
September 29, 1669, he purchased a concession of land somewhere in the vicinity of Bay St. Antoine now better known as
Baie-du-Febvre or Baieville and began the painstaking chore of clearing land and sowing crops.
Arrival of the King's Daughters
| Jean Laspron-dit-Lacharité and his friend, Marin Richard-dit-Lavallée set out for ville-de-Québec when they heard news that a ship with women, "the Filles du Roi"
(King's Daughters), had recently arrived on the shores of Canada. These
women, known in French as the "fille du roi", agreed to travel to the new settlements in North America and marry a settler there in exchange for a 50 pound dowry from the French King.
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Of the nearly 1000 women who undertook the journey, about 800 made it to Canada. They made contracts of marriage with the men who had originally settled the New World and usually married
within a few days or weeks of the contract signing. Often the women broke the contracts, only to remake them or make new contracts with other men. See the Listing:
List of the King's Daughters.
Jean attended the house of the Notary Romain Becquet on the 4th of October to seal the contract of marriage as was the practice of the times. Three days later on the
7 Oct 1669 at Notre Dame de Québec, ville-de-Québec, he married Anne Micjelle Renaud.
Immediately following their marriage, it is likely that Jean and Marin Richard and their new brides set-out from ville-de-Québec by canoe and paddled upriver to their
new cabins in Baieville. For Anne, the ocean voyage and this latest adventure by canoe into the virgin and pristine wilderness must have been frightening, awe-inspiring, and a final voyage filled with
apprehension.
The success, and indeed the survival of a family in the 1600's depended on having a ready pool of labor to help work the land and to do the many chores required to eke
out a living in the harsh wilderness. In 1670, the summer following their marriage, they had their first child. Altogether, they had seven children, 4
girls and 3 boys.
Early French Fur Trapper |
Historical records indicate that, like so many of the colonists of that time, Jean was engaged in fur trading as a means of supplementing his
income. On the 3rd of July 1675 both he and Nicolas Dupuy-dit-Lapoquette, were in Montreal to sign, in front of the Notary Bénigne Basset, papers which outlined their association. Between 1677 and
1688, Jean effected several transactions and loans, as recorded in the clerks office of Antoine Adhémar, Claude Maugue and Séverin Ameau. There is some indication that he had difficulty paying his
debts. For example, on the 9th of June 1677, he acknowledged owing Pierre Artault de la Tour the sum of 45 livres for merchandise he had received. Two years later, he had not yet settled this
obligation and was sued by Louis Manitouaki Kouck and Michel Desrosiers on behalf of Artault's widow. In 1681, there were only a few inhabitants on
the River Nicolet. The first census taken there only reveals the names of two seigneurs, Pierre Mouet de Moras and Michel Cressé, and those of seven electors (and their families): Jean Joubert,
André Martel, Elie Provost, Dominique Joutras, Jacques Pépin, François Huquerre and Jean Laspron-dit-Lacharité. |
The 1681census records reveal that Jean was 36 years old (although there are other records that dispute his age) and his wife Anne was 30 years of age. It's also
recorded that they had four children, a musket and a cow and were farming five arpents (an arpent is about 3420 square meters) of their land.
On the 31st of May 1683, Jean Laspron acquired from Jean-Baptiste Chouart, son of Médard Chouart, a piece of land three arpents by 40 arpents on the River Cressé. The
following year on the18th of June 1684 he sold two thirds of this land to René Sallé, an inhabitant of Trois-Rivières.
Jean Laspron dit Lacharité, died on 15 July 1692 at Hotel Dieu Hospital, Québec at the age of 53.
According to records, he died of complications from old wounds received during the Iroquois Indian war.
From their humble beginnings, Jean and his wife Anne began a legacy that would expand from Canada, and throughout the United States. If your name is Lampron, then
most likely you are descendents of these two Canadian pioneers who braved the wilderness of a new world to begin a new life for themselves and their children.
Further Genealogy Research
From this point forward, our website follows the Lampron ancestry leading to the Lamprons of Maine.
To further research your family tree, I highly recommend you start by using the "Lacharite,
Lampron, Desfosses Genealogy Project" There are many useful links on the Internet, such as: http://geneasearch.com/
I WISH YOU GOOD LUCK IN YOUR SEARCH!
Listed below are the names and birthdates of Jean and Anne's seven children. Perhaps you could start your research using these names:
1. Marie Anne Laspron, dit Lacharité....b. Abt 1670, Nicolet, Québec, Canada
2. Jean-Baptiste Laspron, dit Lacharité....b. Abt 31 Jul 1673, Rivière-Nicolet, Nicolet, Québec, Canada
3. Marguerite Lapron....b. Abt 30 May 1676, Trois-Rivières, Saint-Maurice, Québec, Canada
4. Claude Laspron....b. Abt 21 Jun 1679, Nicolet, Québec, Canada
5. Marie Magdeleine Lapron....b. 25 Jul 1683, Nicolet, Québec, Canada
6. Marie Lapron....b. 25 Jul 1683, Nicolet, Québec, Canada
7. Maurice Lampron, dit Lacharité....b. 26 Aug 1685, Nicolet River, Nicolet, Québec, Canada
Jehan Laspron - b. 1570
Jean Laspron - b. 1611
Jean Baptiste Laspron, dit Lacharité - b. 1645
