Our ancestor, Pierre Papin, arrived in New France with what is called La Grande Recrue—The Great Recruitment—of 1653. It is thought that without this dramatic expeditionary force, the new French settlement of Ville Marie—what would become Montréal—would have failed.

The fledgling colony was in dire straits by 1653. The group of 94 young recruits were strong and able-bodied, but illiterate, and most of them likely had poor prospects in France at the time. Louis XIV—later the famous Sun King who built Versailles and other gilded royal palaces—was still in his minority, and there were many civil and foreign wars and heavy tax burdens on the population. (Indeed, many years later the unrest would eventually erupt into the French Revolution in 1789, not too long after the American Revolution in 1776.)

Essentially, our ancestors were indentured economic migrants looking for a better future outside of France.

However, in the New World, too, life as a combination soldier—constantly fighting the Iroquois and later the British—and land-clearer/farmer was very hard, and quite a few of those original 94 either returned to France after their 3- or 5-year term of service was over, or they did not survive their years of service. Ultimately, only about 64 would be left in Canada to become the founding families from whom the great majority of French Canadians are descended.

Soon, France realized that they would need to recruit women to also be settlers or their recruits would not stay to protect and farm the colony. Anne Pelletier dite Passavant, came on a ship carrying 102 women—the first contingent of an estimated total of 700 Filles du Roi—provided with dowries from the French King and under the guardianship of religious nuns. The women, mostly poor orphans or “spare” children from large, destitute families, stayed for varying lengths  of time at Maison Saint-Gabriel under the tutelage of the teaching and nursing nuns who had earlier come to Quebec.

Pierre wasted no time: Anne arrived in Ville Marie in October of 1665 and he married her in December. They had 8 children in 16 years.

It would appear that our father, Paul Emile Pepin, was a veritable and true son of his family line. Like his ancestor, Pierre, he also turned out to be a land clearer and he constantly traded property and debts on land and labor—if not crops and livestock—both with others and with his own family members to pay the bills.

Also like Paul Emile, Pierre was peripatetic—he liked to move on to the next challenge—so he dragged his 8 children with him to Ville Marie (today’s Old City in Montréal), then to the east near the fort of Pointe-aux Trembles, then across to the Isle St Thérèse, and then across to the southern shore of the St Lawrence River in Boucherville where his son Gilles served as the Royal Surveyor. After his wife died, and he had secured guardianship and tutoring for his minor children, there is evidence in old records that he tried again to return to France to live out his last days, perhaps doing so in 1696. We cannot tell whether he ever did that for sure, but if he did, he came back again across the Atlantic and was later buried in Boucherville at the age of 86 in 1715. A tough old guy for sure!

The following is an excerpt, translated from the French by Lise Pepin Shostak, from a chapter on “Biographies of Recruits of 1653” from the published history Montréal 1653: La Grande Recrue by Michel Langlois, Septentrion, 2003.

Papin, Pierre (1629 – 1715)

Papin sometimes written as Pappin or Pepin

Baptized Sunday January 14, 1629 in the church of Notre-Dame of Sablé-sur-Sarthe, diocese of Mans in Maine, France, son of François Papin and Michelle Laigneau, from the borough of St-Nicolas of Sablé-sur-Sarthe, this land clearer commits himself for 5 years in La Flèche in front of notary De La Fousse, April 25, 1653, for recompense of 60 French pounds a year.  He declares in front of notary Belliotte on June 20th that he has received from the Company of Montréal 107 French pounds and 9 cents and 8 deniers in advance on his earnings.

He departs St-Nazaire on April 30 and arrives in Montréal on November 16, 1653. On September 1st, 1655 he receives from Monsieur de Maisonneuve 500 French pounds by promising to settle in Montréal. At the end of his commitment he makes a deal with Lambert Closse. He promises that he will clear two acres of his land for 81 French pounds payable in his name to Monsieur de Maisonneuve and 39 French pounds extra for his labor. He tries to escape Montréal in 1659 but is caught and returned to serve out his promise. On October 4, 1660, Lambert Closse leases all of his lands to him for six years for 60 bushels of wheat, 20 bushels of peas and corn and 10 bushels of barley per year.

On Monday, December 14, 1665, Papin marries Anne Pelletier dit Passavant, daughter of Mathurin Pelletier and Catherine Lagneau from the parish of St-Pierre of Dreux. Eight children are born from this union. On December 29, 1666, Father Gilles Perrot sells to him a land of 30 acres near the [Mont Royal?] mountain for 40 French pounds. The 1667 census shows that he owns two acres of land. On September 25, 1667, he sells the land bought from one Pierre Richer to Urbain Tessier for 20 French pounds.

Afterwards he settles on land in Pointe-aux-Trembles. On June 30, 1675, he sells a three to four year old ox to Pierre Mallet in return for 14 days of work with 4 oxen for a period of three consecutive years. The 1681 census shows that he owns one rifle, four horned animals and ten  acres of land. On October 10, 1684, he negotiates with Pierre Perthuis an annual payment of 8 French pounds, 1 cent and 6 deniers to cover the amount of 161 French pounds and 10 cents that he owes him.

He buys a 60-acre concession on Ile Sainte-Thérèse from André Trajot for 300 French pounds (that he promises to pay to Pierre Perthuis in the name of the seller) on May 30, 1685.

On December 12, 1686, his wife is buried in Pointe-aux-Trembles. On February 12, 1688, he sells his land on Ile Sainte-Thérèse to his son for 460 French pounds.

On April 19, 1689, Papin is called to testify in a case involving Françoise Nadrot, wife of Michel André dit Saint-Michel, and the wife of Simon Davaux dit Boutentrain. On September 12, 1689, he owes Pierre Perthuis 289 French pounds, 7 cents and 4 deniers for some goods. On the same day he makes a request to appoint a guardian for his minor children.

On September 13, 1689, he declares that when his wife died he had done an inventory of his possessions. He had among other things, 9 horned animals, 2 dozen poultry, 150 bushels of wheat, 40 bushels of peas and 60 bushels of oats. On the following September 30, André Demers, the guardian of Pierre Papin’s two minor children, evaluated the goods at 1,142 French pounds and 4 cents and proceeded to the division of the estate.

His eldest, unmarried son, Pierre, is killed by the English in October 1690. On November 15, 1690, he sells the land on Ile Sainte-Thérèse, previously owned by Pierre, to his son Gilles for 600 French pounds. On January 9, 1691, he gives his house and land in Pointe-aux-Trembles to his son Gilles on condition that he takes care of his sisters Susanne and Isabelle and his brother François until they reach 14 years of age and to also take care of him until his death. A further condition is that Gilles bequeath his brother and each of his minor sisters and brothers 166 French pounds, 13 cents and 4 deniers.

The following June 18, Papin reaches an agreement with his son Gilles regarding the yearly pension that he must pay him. His son agrees to give him an annual amount of 105 French pounds. However, they cancel this agreement on January 8, 1696 and revert back to the original agreement of January 9, 1691. Following this agreement, they settle their accounts, and his son only owes him 10 French pounds.

On January 18, 1706, Raymond Martel, Lord of Lachenaie orders the seizure of Gilles’ assets which Papin contests. The next day, Papin gives power of attorney to the “bearer”(?)  to administer his affairs. On September 29, 1709, Papin and his son Gilles rent their land in Boucherville to Jean-Paul Lalouette for 3 years for half of his grains and a lien on his animals and vegetables.

Papin dies in Boucherville on April 8, 1715 where he is buried the next day at the age of 86 according to the Register.

It is difficult to picture the distances between locations where Pierre and Anne worked and lived because the old maps from that time are difficult to read. However, below is a map from a later time that shows in a relatively clear way the most important sites in their lives:

To the right center is Ville Marie, today’s downtown Montréal, where Pierre and Anne married in the Notre Dame Church. Further up into the right hand corner is Pointe-aux-Trembles (“trembles” in English are aspen trees—as in “quaking aspens”); its parish church L’Enfant Jesus where Anne and her eldest son Pierre are buried; the stone mill tower pictured earlier (Moulin), the Isle of Sainte Thérèse; Boucherville on the opposite shore of the St Lawrence river across from the Pointe-aux-Trembles (where Pierre Papin is buried and Jean-Michel lives today); and the Maison Saint Gabriel just south of Ville Marie where Anne would have first stayed after her journey and before her marriage. The shaded, oval shapes near Ville Marie are prominent landmarks on the island, the Mont Royal mountains; and St. Laurent is to the north-west.

Keep in mind that when Pierre and Anne arrived there were less than 150 people in Ville Marie. By the time Anne died in 1686 there were nearly 1,000 and by the time Pierre died in 1715 there were over 2,000.

While life was difficult, the sharp growth of the population meant there were many opportunities. By 1820 there were over 25,000 people and by 1885 approximately 150,000. During the 20th century growth continued at an even faster pace until Montréal counted 1,500,000 inhabitants in 2001. The city celebrates its 375th anniversary in 2017.

Looking back with a few more photos, this is a recent photo of a typical house from the 17th century in the historic sector of Boucherville, perhaps something like Pierre and Gilles may have built for their families:

Humble, yes, but solid and long-lasting as the rocks they were built with. At the same time, they would have also been able to remember some very grand structures from their childhoods in Europe, which possibly helps explain the impulse towards building the many great churches in Montréal.

The nave of Anne’s parish church in Dreux, France, not far from the Chartres Cathedral, is below. Built during the 13th-17th centuries, many of the stained glass windows, as well as the baptismal font, and organ breastwork—and many gargoyles!—were there when Anne attended Mass.

The neighborhood Pierre was born in is very close to the church and the River Sarthe. It remains marked with the name of faubourg St. Nicholas as it was in his time.

Pierre’s parish church in Sablé-sur-Sarthe is gone because of structural deterioration but many of the stained glass dating from his time there are in the church that stands on the same site.

Still there, too, is the great abbey of Solesmes—but that is another story for another time.

 Anne, and her eldest son Pierre, were buried in Pointe-aux-Trembles, in the cemetery of the Church of L’Enfant Jesus—she in 1686 and he in 1690 . There is unlikely to be any marker of the burial site but that might be worthwhile to confirm. The church that was built in 1705 to replace an earlier wooden structure—the building where Anne and her children would have attended Mass and other services—burned in 1937. (More wood was used in construction in outlying settlements like Pointe-aux-Trembles than in Montréal where stone became the material of choice due to concerns of fire in the dense urban districts.) In the accompanying photo below you can see the stone ruins after the fire and, in the near distance, the St. Lawrence River.

Pierre Papin was buried in the crypt or cemetery of the Church of Sainte-Famille of Boucherville. Again, it is unlikely that there is any marker remaining of his burial site but that might be worthwhile to confirm. The present church, built in 1801, is the third on the same site. In a survey dated 1724, the lands Pierre and Gilles owned in Boucherville are close by.