Prepared by Michael Rashotte, Tallahassee, Florida (Summer, 2010) (Revision of 2004 Version)

COVER SHEET LEGEND

The diagram on the cover sheet shows the location of

the two properties owned by the Rageot family for about 110

years on rue St.-Pierre in Québec City.

The diagram is from a 1978 plan for reconstructing

Lower Town Québec near Place Royale.

I have added labels (Lot 1, Lot 2) that I use throughout

the text to identify these two properties.

Diagram from:

B. Chassé (1978) Les Maisons Rageot, Rivet, Nolan et Jérémie à la Place Royale.

(Boite 108; 4650-00-87) Musée de la Civilisation, Québec City.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PREFACE

1. WHY DID GILLES RAGEOT LEAVE FRANCE?

2. QUÉBEC WHEN GILLES ARRIVED

3. THE FIRST RAGEOT HOMES ON RUE St.-PIERRE

4. REBUILDING ON RUE St.-PIERRE AFTER THE GREAT FIRE

OF 1682

5. AMBIENCE OF LOWER-TOWN QUÉBEC WHEN THE RAGEOTS

LIVED THERE

6. SOME SOCIAL CUSTOMS AND SOCIETAL REGULATIONS

IN QUÉBEC AT THE TIME OF THE RAGEOTS A. Buying Bread and Meat

B. Eating

C. Entertainments

D. Customs Related to Death

7. SOME ARTIFACTS OF THE GILLES AND MARIE-MADELEINE

MORIN RAGEOT FAMILY A. Children and their School Records

B. Samples of Handwriting (Signatures)

C. Sketched Likeness of Charles Jean-Baptiste Rageot-Morin

D. Inventory of Rageot Household Belongings (1714)

8. CHANGES IN THE FAMILY’S TWO PROPERTIES ON RUE St.-

PIERRE: 1714-1782 (and beyond)

9. PHOTO GALLERY OF LOTS 1 & 2: 1969-2003

APPENDIX A: Chapter 1 of Jack Rajotte’s (2003) Family Genealogy

APPENDIX B: Louis XIV’s 1675 Commission Of Gilles Rageot To Serve As Royal Notary in

Québec: Original French Text, with new English translation

APPENDIX C: Marie-Madeleine Rivet As A Nun

NOTE: Footnotes distributed throughout Parts 1-9 are numbered consecutively, 1 to 46.

PREFACE (2010)

I completed a version of The Rageots of rue St.-Pierre: Québec City, 1663-1782 in

Summer 2004. It was stimulated by reading Jack Rajotte’s (2003) genealogy and compilation of

many historical facts about the Rageot-Rajotte-Rashotte-Beaurivage families in Canada and the

USA (part of which is reproduced in Appendix A, with Jack’s permission). I distributed a

printed copy of the 2004 version of this document to many family members, other interested

people, and the Tweed Heritage Centre and Museum (Tweed, Ontario).

This 2010 version of The Rageots of rue St.-Pierre: Québec City, 1663-1782 is very

similar to the 2004 version. I made the current version to correct some errors that were kindly

drawn to my attention, and to make a few additions. This updated 2010 version of the document

is available as a digital file which can be accessed on the www at Scribd’s website

(www.scribd.com) or at Google Docs. I invite interested parties to access, view, download, print,

make reference to, etc., this document, which is not to be used for commercial purposes of any

kind. At each of these www sites, viewers may eventually find other historical documents I have

prepared, particularly an updated version of The First Rashotte Family in Tweed’s French

Settlement: Tweed, Ontario, 1855-1931, the first version of which I prepared and printed in

Summer 2008.

The main reason I undertook preparing The Rageots of rue St.-Pierre: Québec City,

1663-1782 was to get more perspective on the origin of my family, a project that was suggested

as I read Jack Rajotte’s genealogy and history of the family to which he and I belong. I

wondered why our common ancestor, the young Gilles Rageot, set out from France in 1663 to

come to what was then a very embryonic Canada. I wondered what the town of Québec was like

when he arrived, and about the day-to-day circumstances in which he lived, became married,

raised a family, and died. I wondered about how his family coped in the years after his death. I

tried to imagine life in the homes located on the two adjacent properties on rue St.-Pierre in the

Lower-Town area of the town of Québec where these first Rageots in North America lived for

over 100 years. During that time, their homes were destroyed and rebuilt twice: after the

disastrous fire of 1682, and after the invasion by the British in 1759.

Jack Rajotte’s document (Appendix A) provides some answers to these questions. In

what follows, I add some more detail, and some images relating to these questions. I hope this

will interest some contemporary and future Rageots, Rajottes, Rashottes and Beaurivages of the

North American branches, all of which began in 1674 when Gilles and Marie-Madeleine Morin

Rageot had the first of their 9 children on rue St.-Pierre.

It is important to tell the reader that the text of the document makes frequent reference to

the location of the Rageots’ two properties on rue St.-Pierre, near Place Royale in Lower Town

Québec City. For convenience in writing the text, I have designated these properties Lot 1 and

Lot 2, as shown in a diagram on the cover-page of this document. That diagram is a 1978 plan

for reconstructing the Place Royale area of Québec City, and it might be useful for readers to

keep access to the cover page handy for reference as the text is read. Parts 8 and 9 of this

document contain images of the actual houses on these properties as they appeared between 1887

and 2003.

The Rageots of rue St.-Pierre

My effort is heavily indebted to Jack Rajotte (Danvers, Massachusetts) who, since the

1970s, has greatly extended the compilation of family history begun around 1930 by the late

Father Alphonse Rajotte, O.M.I. (1899-1989), formerly of the University of Ottawa. I also used

various books and web sites as footnoted in the text. I obtained particularly useful information

during two visits to Québec City in Fall, 2003, when I spent time with historical documents

located in the archives of the Musée de la Civilisation. I especially thank Madeleine Faucher,

technicienne at the Archives, for her correspondence and excellent help.

By way of explaining the branch of the family in which I reside, I am the first (of 5)

children of Raphael & Marjorie Quinn Rashotte. I was born in Tweed, Ontario, Canada, in

1939 and grew up in Belleville, Ontario. Since 1968, I have lived in Tallahassee, Florida, USA,

where I am now retired from Florida State University after a 35 year teaching-research career.

As I tally it, Gilles & Marie-Madeleine Morin Rageot, the original Rageots of rue St.-

Pierre in Québec City, were my great, great, great, great, great, great grandparents.

1. My father (Raphael) was the first child of Paul & Elizabeth Casey Rashotte of Tweed.

2. My grandfather (Paul) was a son of Peter Jr. & Catherine Cournoyer Rashotte of the

French Settlement area of Tweed.

3. My great grandfather (Peter Jr.) was a son of Peter Sr. & Basilice Cournoyer Rashotte

[originally: Rageot]. They came to Tweed about 1855 with their family from Sorel,

Québec, and are reputed to be the first Rageots to settle in English Canada.

4. My great, great grandfather (Peter Rashotte Sr.) was a great, great grandson of Gilles

& Marie-Madeleine Morin Rageot of rue St.-Pierre, Québec.

I wish to acknowledge very helpful recent communications from Axel Kunzmann

(Chicago) who identified several errors in my 2004 version, and who provided excellent English

translations of some French-language passages found in the earlier version. Axel also became

interested in documenting as accurately as possible the wording of the Commission to Gilles

Rageot issued in 1675 by Louis XIV which confirmed Gilles’s appointment as Royal Notary in

Québec. I have added a new Appendix (B) in this 2010 version which includes the Commision

in the original French, and a new English translation provided by Axel. An earlier English

translation of that Commission can also be found as part of Jack Rajotte’s (2003) family history

which is reproduced in Appendix A.

The Rageots of rue St.-Pierre

As you look through this document, perhaps you will ponder the thoughts about history

and houses expressed in the following segment of a poem by T.S. Eliot.

In my beginning is my end. In succession

Houses rise and fall, crumble, are extended,

Are removed, destroyed, restored, or in their place

Is an open field, or a factory, or a by-pass.

Old stone to new building, old timber to new fires,

Old fires to ashes, and ashes to earth

Which is already flesh, fur and faeces,

Bones of man and beast, cornstalk and leaf.

Houses may live and die: there is a time for building

And a time for living and for generation

And a time for the wind to break the loosened pane

And to shake the wainscot where the field-mouse trots

And to shake the tattered arras woven with a silent motto.

T.S. Eliot From “East Coker” in Four Quartets.

Contact Information:

Michael E. Rashotte

2926 Woodside Drive

Tallahassee, Florida 32312 USA

e-mail: rashotte@gmail.com

Reference: Jack H. Rajotte (2003) The Genealogy and History of Some of the Descendants of

Guillaume Rageot: The Rashotte Branch. From 1600 [document sent to me by e-mail, 02-

09-03]. See Appendix A for Chapter 1 which deals with the Gilles and Marie-Madeleine

Rageot family, and its ancestors. Jack Rajotte lives in Danvers, Massachusetts, USA.

The Rageots of rue St.-Pierre Part 1/Page 1

1. WHY DID GILLES RAGEOT LEAVE FRANCE?

The first of our ancestors who came to Canada was Gilles Rageot (1642-

1692). He arrived at the town of Québec in 1663, probably in the spring or

summer, when he would have been completing his 21st year. Except for a

short business trip back to France in 1675, he spent the rest of his life in

Québec.

Gilles’ parents lived in the Perche region of Normandy in France. He

was born in the town of L’Aigle in 1642, probably in November (baptized on

Nov. 14). Gilles was the fourth of ten children born to Isaac Rageot (1603 -

≈1673) and Louise Duret (1614 - ≈1673) who were married in January, 1636,

in the nearby town of Tourouvre. Some important regional landmarks for

the Rageot family in France are identified on the modern map below.

The towns of Tourourve, L’Aigle and Mortagne in the Perche region of Normandy are located

in the oval. Rouen and Paris are circled.

The Rageots of rue St.-Pierre Part 1/Page 2

I do not know how the Rageot family in L’Aigle made a living. Gilles

was obviously well-educated because he promptly secured a commission as

clerk of the Sovereign Council when he migrated to Québec.

He left France from the port of Rouen for the arduous trans-Atlantic

crossing by ship which would have lasted for several weeks.1 A modern map

(below) shows main landmarks during the final portion of Gilles’ Atlantic

crossing, which concluded with entry to the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the St.

Lawrence River, with arrival at the port area of the small town of Québec

(marked by an added oval).

1 One hazard experienced on ships during trans-Atlantic crossings was disease. “Often the immigrants who survived

a crossing, when ship fever had taken its toll, were more dead than alive upon arrival. Nursing them back to health

was, on occasion, a large item in the colony’s administrative budget… Fortunately, the colony had hospitals, the

Hotel-Dieu at Quebec…”. Quote from Eccles, W.J. (1969). The Canadian Frontier 1534-1760. New York: Holt,

Rinehart & Winston, (p. 69). There is no information about the specific circumstances of Gilles’ crossing.

The Rageots of rue St.-Pierre Part 1/Page 3

There are several reasons that Gilles Rageot may have decided to leave

L’Aigle in 1663 to live in a colony on the St. Lawrence River.

By the time Gilles was about 18 years old (1660) and still living in

France, Canada had been established as a colony in the St. Lawrence valley

with a population of over 2000 French immigrants, with three towns: Québec,

Trois-Rivières and Montreal. A good deal of land had been cleared and was

under cultivation, basic institutions – schools, hospitals, law courts and a

governing council of sorts -- had been established, and a generation of

colonists had grown up whose roots were in Canada.2 For decades, the Perche

region where Gilles grew up had been a primary supplier of immigrants to

New France, and he would likely have heard tales about life in Canada.

The traffic of colonists between Perche and Canada began in Spring,

1634, when a surgeon and adventurer, Robert Giffard, sailed to New France

with 43 people from Mortagne and other nearby towns in Perche. Giffard

was already an experienced visitor to the French colonies in the maritimes,

and he had visited the St. Lawrence valley also. However, before his 1634

voyage, he obtained the first seigneurial grant made in Québec3 from

Cardinal Richelieu’s Company of New France.4 That grant provided Giffard

the rights to a large tract of land (the “seigneury of Beauport”) and required

him to colonize it with settlers. Between 1634 and 1663, Giffard is said to have

brought over about 50 families from France, mostly from the Perche region:

Every year other families, attracted by the example of relations or

friends, emigrated in their turn, leaving, regretfully or otherwise, their

little towns of Mortagne or Tourouvre and the adjoining villages. 5

Intrigued by the experiences reported by immigrants to New France, the

young Gilles Rageot may have been motivated to sign on with one of the last

groups Giffard brought over in 1663.

2 Eccles, W.J. (1969) Ibid. (p. 57)

3 Eccles, W.J. (1969) Ibid. (p. 85)

4 The Company of New France was established by Cardinal Richelieu in 1627. It had over 100 men and women

shareholders who were heavily moved by religious and patriotic motives to establish a viable New France. The

company was given the title to all lands claimed by France, from Newfoundland to Lake Huron. To end religious

frictions, Richelieu ordered that only Roman Catholics could settle the lands of New France. (Eccles [1969] Ibid. p.

32-33). 5 Douville, R. & Casanova, J. (1967). Daily Life in Early Canada. New York:The Macmillan Co. (Translated by

Carola Congreve from “La Vie Quotidienne en Nouvelle France”. Paris:Hatchette, 1964). (p. 18)

The Rageots of rue St.-Pierre Part 1/Page 4

If Gilles already had an interest in going to Canada, it may have been

enhanced by Louis XIV’s Edict of April 1663 that designated New France as a

Royal colony. The Edict promised the colony a new form of government and

significant new military and domestic resources from France. The colony had

struggled since its beginning in 1608 when a first settlement was established

by Samuel de Champlain. Some early attempts to colonize the outpost with

whole families had floundered because of difficulties both in achieving

sustained growth and in protecting the colonists from the Iroquois. In

particular, Louis Hébert headed the first French founder-family to come to

New France in 1617, and a monument to his family can be found in Quebec

City today.6 Louis XIV’s Edict established a Sovereign Council to oversee the

colony which was comprised of the governor-general, the bishop, and five

others named by the governor and bishop jointly. There was also an attorney-

general and a recording clerk who sat with the Council.7 Gilles seems to have

assumed the position of clerk for the Council more or less immediately after

he arrived. He may have been tapped for that position before he left France,

which might have been a factor in favor of his emigrating to the colony. As

Jack Rajotte’s genealogy recounts (Appendix A), Gilles Rageot also assumed

the duties of Notary for Québec soon after his arrival, and he was later

appointed the first Royal Notary in Canada on May 16, 1675, by decree of

Louis XIV.

Other influences may have contributed to Gilles’ decision to leave

France. Some writers have commented that the inhabitants of Normandy

may have been predisposed to emigrate because they were descended from the

Norse Vikings, the great adventurers. A more likely influence may have been

monetary incentives offered by the government of France to emigrants.8

Whatever the reasons, in 1663 Gilles Rageot decided to leave his family

in France. As far as we know, he returned to his homeland only once, in the

Summer of 1675 when he obtained official documentation from Louis XIV

and the Superior Council designating his role in Québec as Royal Notary and

Court Clerk. It is intriguing to imagine the discussions with his parents and

6 Gilles’ wife, Marie-Madeleine Morin, was distantly connected with the first family to settle in Québec. Here is her

background. She was the 12th

child of Noël Morin and Hélène Desportes. Her mother, Hélène, was born in Québec

and had been married for six years to one of Louis Hébert’s sons, Guillaume, with whom she had 3 children. When

widowed, Hélène remarried to Noël Morin, an immigrant from Brie, France, with whom she began a new family

that was to include Gilles Rageot’s wife. See: http://www.grandesfamilles.org/Rageot/01.html 7 Wrong, G.M. (1928) The Rise and Fall of New France. New York: The Macmillan Co. (p. 364)

8 Wrong, G.M. (1928) Ibid. (p. 392); also, excerpt from Boucher, P. (1664) True and Genuine Description of New

France Commonly Called Canada. In Zoltvany, Y.F. [Editor] (1969) The French Tradition in America. Columbia:

University of South Carolina Press. (p. 61-65).

The Rageots of rue St.-Pierre Part 1/Page 5

siblings in L’Aigle that might have surrounded that important decision. In

any case, Gilles spent the next 29 years as a resident of the town of Québec,

where he became established as a public official, married Marie-Madeleine

Morin, a young girl who was born in Québec of a French family, and fathered

8 boys and one girl who was born just after his death in 1692.

In our family genealogy, Jack Rajotte (2003) writes:

Gilles and Marie-Madeleine Morin Rageot are likely the

progenitors of all the Rageots, Rajottes, Rashottes, and

Beaurivages in Canada and the United States today.9

9 Text from J. H. Rajotte (2003) The Genealogy and History of Some Descendants of Guillaume Rageot - From

1600: The Rashotte Branch (wording modified to include Marie-Madeleine Morin Rageot as a co-progenitor).

The Rageots of rue St.-Pierre Part 2/Page 1

2. QUÉBEC WHEN GILLES ARRIVED

Gilles’ first glimpse of his new hometown was likely similar to that shown

in the drawing below which is dated just a few years after he arrived.10

From

his ship in the St. Lawrence River, he would have seen a village on two levels.

At shore-level, there was a bustling port area of commerce and housing

(Lower Town). Situated on the hill above, the official buildings of Upper

Town were mainly for government, religious and colony-defense functions.

The entire village’s population was about 550 persons, including

missionaries.11

In 1664 the village of Québec had only 70 houses.12

Gilles likely came ashore in the Lower Town area where he was to live

until his death about 30 years later (in a location approximately just above the

“X” I have added to the drawing).

Québec village as seen from the St. Lawrence River circa 1670

10

Detail from a plate in Eccles, W.J. (1964) Canada Under Louis XIV 1663-1701. London: McClelland and

Stewart. 11

Douville, R. & Casanova, J. (1967) Ibid. (p.19) 12

Wrong, G.M. (1928) Ibid. (p. 374)

X

The Rageots of rue St.-Pierre Part 3/Page 1

3. THE FIRST RAGEOT HOMES ON RUE St.-PIERRE

Gilles bought his first house in 1671, before he was married. It was a

small timber-framed structure located on what I have termed Lot 2 on rue

St.-Pierre (see diagram on cover), just one house away from a market area

that was later designated “Place Royale”. The house had been built sometime

around 1656 by Christophe Crevier on the lot which measured 24 x 24 feet

(“measures françaises”).13

Gilles married Marie-Madeleine Morin on May 29, 1673, a couple of

years after buying the house on Lot 2. Anticipating the need for more room

as they began to have children, Gilles purchased the adjacent house on Lot 1

in 1674, the year that their first child (Charles) was born. The house on Lot 1

was built by Pierre Miville in 1656 (as noted by an historical marker on the

structure currently located on Lot 1 in Lower Town, Québec City). It was

half-timbered rubblework construction and may have been similar to the

example shown below.14

Lot 1 was also 24 x 24 feet in size, and the Miville

house included a room with fireplace, a cellar and an attic.15

Now owning two adjacent houses,

Gilles and Marie-Madeleine got down to

the serious business of having their family

of nine children. Beginning in 1674, their

children generally came at the rate of one

every two years, often being born in the

spring or summer months. By late summer

of 1682 there were four older boys

(Charles, Nicolas, Phillipe, and Charles

Jean-Baptiste, ages 8, 6, 4, and 2 years) and

a new baby (François, who was 5 months old). Gilles was about twice as old

as Marie-Madeleine: they married when she was about 16 years old and he

was about 31. Although their age difference may seem odd to us today, at the

time it was not at all unusual.16

13

Chassé, B. (1978) Les Maisons Rageot, Rivet, Nolan et Jérémie à la Place Royale. (Boite 108; 4650-00-87)

Musée de la Civilisation, Québec City. (p.6) 14

Moogk, P. (2002) Building a House in New France. Markham, Ontario: Fitzhenry and Whiteside Ltd. ( p.14) 15

Chassé, B. (1978) Ibid. (p.7) 16

The average age of first-time brides before 1660 was 15 years: Greer, A. (1997) The People of New France.

Toronto: University of Toronto Press ( p. 22). Also, a father whose son at twenty and daughter at sixteen remained

unmarried was fined and was required to appear at the end of each 6-month period to explain his position: Wrong,

G.M. (1928) Ibid. (p. 395)

The Rageots of rue St.-Pierre Part 3/Page 2

Between 1673 and 1682, it must have been a busy time for everyone

living in the Rageot houses on rue St.-Pierre, what with Gilles’ official position

as a Royal Notary, and with Marie-Madeleine’s duties as wife and mother of

an increasingly large family.17

Unexpectedly in the summer of 1682, the family’s living situation was

shattered when their two houses were destroyed by a great fire that raged

through Lower Town on August 4. Most of the Lower Town area was

burned, including residences and businesses. Gilles lost many official

documents stored at home, perhaps accounting for why the number of

documents I could find with his signature was smaller than other notaries

working at the time (e.g., Chambalon).

17

It is interesting that the value of marriage dowries in the 1669-1729 period suggests that Gilles’ profession

(notary) would have had a mid-rank (Respectable Trades) in a 5-category social-class hierarchy. The highest rank

(Elite) included senior commissioned military officers and silversmiths. The lowest (Base Occupation) included

journeymen craftsmen and day laborers. Moogk, P. (2000) La Nouvelle France: The Making of French Canada – A

Cultural History. East Lansing: Michigan State University Press (p.167).

The Rageots of rue St.-Pierre Part 4/Page 1

4. REBUILDING ON RUE St.-PIERRE AFTER THE GREAT FIRE OF

1682

When the smoke from the Great Fire cleared, Gilles was designated as

the town official with whom the property owners in Lower Town finalized

arrangements for construction of their new homes by tradesmen such as

masons, carpenters, etc.18

The rebuilding of Lower Town was mostly done in

the Fall of 1682 and the Spring of 1683. Rebuilt houses were typically larger

than the originals, included a second story, and were made to be relatively

fireproof (e.g., stone; timber and rubblework). Because the lots remained the

same size, houses were more densely packed than before along the narrow

winding streets, but often had provisions for a cellar, an attic in the mansard-

roof, and a yard area protected by a fence where annexes were located, such

as a latrine (a distinct improvement over in-house chamber pots that were

dumped into the streets), out-buildings for baking bread and for slaughtering

animals, etc. 19

Gilles, himself, promptly arranged to rebuild a house for his family on

Lot 2, leaving Lot 1 vacant as a courtyard.20

The rebuilt house was two-

stories high with a gable roof, constructed of stone on the first story and of

half-timbered rubblework on the second (the latter style was illustrated

above). Two dormer windows were located on the east slope of the roof. The

house was entered by a door on rue St.-Pierre which was more or less

centered on the building, between two windows each with shutters. The

rebuilt house filled the entire property, which measured 24 feet by 24 feet.

The floorplan of the Rageot family’s first-floor living quarters is shown

below as found in an historical document located in the archives of the Musée

de la Civilization in Québec City.21

18

Côté, R. (2000) Place-Royale: Quatre siècles d’histoire. Québec: Fides (Musee de la Civilisation). (p. 70) 19

Côté, R. (2000) Ibid. (p. 70-71) 20

Many of these details are from Chassé, B. (1978) Ibid. 21

Chassé, B. (1978) Ibid. (Appendix XI) includes the floorplan shown here, which is actually the floorplan for the

Rivet house constructed in 1714 on Lot 1 (see later). The accompanying text states that this layout was similar to

that of the Rageot house on Lot 2 between 1682 and 1759, which is under discussion here. An important practical

difference for the Rageot family was that until about 1704 they did not have the oven (four) which is shown here in

the kitchen floorplan. However, Gilles’s widow seems to have installed a baking oven in the adjacent vacant Lot 1

around 1704. Later, when the Rivet house was built on Lot 1 in 1714, that same oven was apparently incorporated

in the Rivet’s kitchen beside the hearth (âtre), as shown in the floorplan. From that point onwards, the Rageots

living on Lot 2 seem to have used the oven in the Rivet house for cooking.

The Rageots of rue St.-Pierre Part 4/Page 2

Floorplan of the rebuilt

Rageot house’s first floor.

The only item not actually in

the house was the oven shown

beside the hearth (see

footnote 21).

Translated terms:

armoire dans le mur de la

cuisine? =

cupboard on the

kitchen wall?

âtre = hearth

chambre = room

chambre basse de

derrière = lower

back room

cuisine = kitchen

escalier volant = flying

staircase

fenêtre = window

four = oven

pierre de taille? = finished stonework?; porte vitrie = glazed door;

un anneau de fer sur les trappes = a metal ring on the trapdoor; volets = shutters;

2 trappes; une dans le plancher et une dans le plafond = two trapdoors; one in the ceiling [of the

first story], and one in the floor [of the second story].22

The âtre (hearth) shown in the kitchen area of the floorplan provided

the means for cooking and also for heat in the Rageots’ rebuilt house. The

kitchen was undoubtedly a cozy place for family to gather and Marie-

Madeleine Morin Rageot likely spent many hours there preparing food for

her family. The sketch below provides a good idea of how that hearth may

have appeared. Note that there were metal holders for logs in the hearth

(termed “fire dogs”; see inventory in later section); various utensils stand to

the left; a wooden “cooking crane” can swing from its support on the right to

move attached pots or pans over the fire; the circular items hanging above the

lintel may be cooking pans.

22 Used to seal off the two stories when the second-story was rented to tenants, possibly only in the identical layout

of the Rivet house on Lot 1.

The Rageots of rue St.-Pierre Part 4/Page 3

From Moogk, P. (2002) Building a House in New

France. Markham, Ontario: Fitzhenry &

Whiteside (“A country hearth on Ile d’Orléans with

a heavy stone lintel and a wooden cooking crane.”

p. 47).

In this context, a description

of the interior of typical French

Canadian houses of the time

provides a sense of what the

Rageot family members

experienced when they walked in

the door of the rebuilt Rageot

house on Lot 2 rue St.-Pierre

(even though the house described

below includes some features

found in the rural homes of the

habitant Canadians):

On entering the house there is a room which serves both as kitchen and

bedroom. The first thing that strikes one is the huge chimneypiece, with its open

fire and flagstone hearth: there are hooks for pots and pans, firedogs, a shovel,

the great cauldron and stockpots, stewpans and dripping pans, the pie dishes, a

gridiron, a demi-john, a whole army of utensils, for the Canadian housewife has

always made sure of a sufficient stock in her kitchen. On a ledge hangs a set of

flatirons, a tin lamp and some candlesticks. At the further end of the room stands

the bed belonging to the master and mistress… It is a great edifice hung with a

canopy of almost 6 feet high, and fitted with a palliasse covered in ticking, a

featherbed, woolen blankets and sheets, pillow cases and a bolster covered in red

calico, the whole covered with counterpane… The children’s beds –beaudets or

cradles, lie in the shadow of this enormous piece of furniture. The rest of the

furniture is of the most fundamental kind: five or six wooden chairs with rush

seats, a spinning-wheel with its spindle, a loom for weaving canvas, a trough, a

table, two or three coffers, a wardrobe and, next to the door, the water carrier. It

is a proper home where men, women and children foregather together with house

and farm implements. It is here that food for both family and beasts is prepared,

where clothes are warmed, and where working tools are placed to thaw out.23

23

Douville, R. & Casanova, J. (1967) Ibid. (p.49)

The Rageots of rue St.-Pierre Part 4/Page 4

I have found a sketch (below) showing the Lower Town area in 1688, six

years after the fire.24

The rooftop of the Rageots’ rebuilt house on Lot 2 seems

to be the one located at the head of the added arrow. The open market area

(to the left of the house, and with a street leading to the water) is shown in the

sketch with a drawn-in suggested placement for a bust of Louis XIV that

appears vaguely like a letter T on a pedestal. The market was later designated

as Place Royale, which it is called today.

24

Morisset, L.K. & Noppen, L. (2003) De la ville idéelle à la ville idéale: l’invention de la place royale à Québec.

Revue D’Histoire De L’Amérique Française. 56: no4 (Printemps), 453-479. (Illustration 4, p.462)

The Rageots of rue St.-Pierre Part 4/Page 5

The location of the Rageots’ rebuilt house on rue St.-Pierre can be seen

more clearly in a detailed street layout around the market that was drawn in

1685 (below).25

In this diagram the market is labeled Place de Quebec. The

sketch shows clearly where the Rageots’ house on Lot 2 was located (marked

“P” at the head of the added arrow), and their courtyard area on the vacant

adjacent Lot 1 (to the immediate left of the rebuilt house, marked “O”) which

is at the southeast corner of the open market area.

Gilles and Marie-Madeleine continued raising their family in the rebuilt

house on rue St.-Pierre Lot 2. They added 4 more children, the last of which

(the only girl) was born soon after Gilles died on January 3, 1692.26

Gilles’

widow, Marie-Madeleine, continued to live in the house on Lot 2 until her

death almost 30 years later, in 1720. However, before and after her death

there were many other changes in the two properties held by the Rageot

family on rue St.-Pierre which will be described in Part 8.

25

Morisset, L.K. & Noppen, L. (2003) Ibid. (Illustration 7, p. 465). The added arrow points to the Rageot house on

Lot 2. 26

Gilles was probably buried in the cemetery whose location can be seen in the previous figure which was made in

1688, just four years before Gilles died. That figure shows a large cemetery marked by crosses on the hillside to the

right of the street leading from Lower to Upper Town Québec. The cemetery no longer exists. When I visited

Québec City in Fall 2003, I was told that the location of graves of people from the 1600s is not able to be identified

now. The cause of Gilles’ death is not known. A contributing factor may have been the condition of gout which

Jack Rajotte’s genealogy reports was a medical condition from which he suffered (see p. A-9 of Appendix A).

The Rageots of rue St.-Pierre Part 5/Page 1

5. AMBIENCE OF LOWER-TOWN QUÉBEC WHEN THE RAGEOTS

LIVED THERE

In the several decades that the Rageot family lived on rue St.-Pierre, the

people they encountered on the streets were very diverse and changed with

the seasons. Lower Town served primarily as a working-class area of shops

and taverns. It had a market place, and because it was a main port for ship

traffic there was a heady mix of commercial sellers, newly arriving

immigrants, sailors spending time between voyages, and Native Indians.

Upper Town, in contrast, had a genteel character related to its official

government and religious functions, and it was said by some visitors that balls

and government events there had as much pageantry as in the Court of

France. The following excerpts from various sources provide a sense of

everyday life that our ancestors would have experienced.

Most of the merchants live in the lower city, where the houses are built

very close together. The streets in it are narrow, very rough, and almost

always wet. There is likewise a church and a small marketplace. The

upper city is inhabited by people of quality, by several persons belonging

to the different offices, by tradesmen and others. In this part are the chief

buildings of the town.27

A description of how life in Lower Town changed during the seasons

provides a glimpse of the circumstances that the Rageot family would have

experienced as they came and went from their house on rue St.-Pierre:

The navigational months from June to October were a time of much

sudden and picturesque activity. Quebec was the point of arrival for all the

French sailing ships which arrived bringing new faces etched with lines of

hope, nostalgia, wonder, ambition, bewilderment or resignation. As soon

as they had disembarked the newcomers would wander the twisting

streets… Convoys of native canoes laden with furs manœuvred around the

vessels which, awaiting their passage home, lay in the cove of the Cul-de-

Sac. In the market-place farmers offered numerous agricultural products

that the arid soil of the town would not provide. The exchange of goods

was conducted largely by barter, since money on both sides was scarce.

This was also a time when sailors mingled with the population, hung

around the inns and provoked street fights and brawls. The Indians would

27

Greer, A. (1997) Ibid. (p. 43; excerpt from account by Peter Kalm who visited New France about 1748).

The Rageots of rue St.-Pierre Part 5/Page 2

look on silently, squatting, at the alien hurly-burly. Then all the bustle

would subside into the calm of the long winter, broken only by the

Christmas festivities, which sometimes lasted until the end of January.28

The Rageots would have undoubtedly encountered “marginal” elements

of urban life which have been characterized in more detail as follows:

… servants, both free and slave; sailors in port awaiting their next voyage

and passing their time with the prostitutes who gathered in the seedy

taverns of Lower Town Quebec; market vendors hawking their wares with

penetrating voices that disturbed the celebration of Mass in nearby

churches; beggars retailing their sad stories from door to door. In a pre-

industrial town, all these specimens of humanity lived in close quarters,

with very little of the spatial segregation by class which is so characteristic

of a modern city. In crowded streets of Montreal and Quebec, merchants

and noble ladies could not avoid contact with stonemasons, soldiers, and

prostitutes.

There was no pretense that individuals met as equals in the ancient

régime society. Artisans doffed their hats when a priest or government

official passed by, and any shopkeeper bold enough to annoy an

aristocratic officer over an unpaid bill was liable to be thrashed with a

silver-tipped cane as punishment for such “insolence”.29

Finally, the following description of the sensory environment in the

towns of New France helps put a face of reality on the conditions under which

the Rageots of rue St.-Pierre must have lived their daily lives. It also provides

a basis for arguing that our lives in the 21st century have some clear

advantages:

… a time-traveller from another century would comment on the absence of

street lighting and the fact that night plunged the city into inky darkness,

softened only by moonlight, and broken here and there by the illumination

spilling through a window from lamps and candles or by a pedestrian’s

lantern bobbing along the sidewalk. The smell of human waste would [be

remarkable]. Outhouses were by no means universal, and so the streets of

Montreal and Quebec, like those of Stockholm, Helsinki, and Paris,

functioned as open sewers, particularly disgusting when spring thaw

flushed out a whole winter’s accretion. Non-human animals --certainly

28

Douville, R. & Casanova, J. (1967) Ibid. (p.87) 29

Greer, A. (1997) Ibid. (p.58)

The Rageots of rue St.-Pierre Part 5/Page 3

more numerous in the cities of New France than homo sapiens -- made

their contributions to the mess. Strolling the streets, you would certainly

see plenty of horses, as well as dogs pulling small carts..; you might also

sense the presence of chickens, horses, cows, and hogs in nearby

backyards. Traffic normally moved at a walking pace through the narrow

streets, but there were complaints about young officers galloping through

town, sending pedestrians diving into snowbanks. 30

30

Greer, A. (1997) Ibid. (p.54)

The Rageots of rue St.-Pierre Part 6/Page 1

6. SOME SOCIAL CUSTOMS AND SOCIETAL REGULATIONS IN

QUÉBEC AT THE TIME OF THE RAGEOTS

It is interesting to contemplate some of the societal conditions that

would have affected the Rageots and their children as they lived on rue St.-

Pierre beginning in the early 1670s and ending in 1782 when the two Rageot

properties on rue St.-Pierre were sold to people outside the family. In this

section I have excerpted some passages from books that comment on some

specific conditions related to everyday life in the community.

A. Buying Bread and Meat

Regulations promulgated by the town authorities in 1706 controlled the

conditions under which bakers and butchers could sell bread and meat in the

town markets of Québec. Here is a sample of the regulations that would have

affected the opportunity of the Rageot family to buy these items.

BREAD: The bakers of this city [Québec] will always be obliged to have all

types of bread on sale in their shops under pain of a fine ….

The bread will be of good quality, under pain of confiscation for the

benefit of the Hôtel Dieu [hospital] and of an arbitrary fine for the

first offense….

Under pain of fine … all persons are forbidden by the Council to bake

biscuits except the bakers, on condition that they will always have a

supply of both white and brown for sale, at a price which will be fixed

according to that of wheat. All persons are authorized to mill flour

for both the colony’s internal and external trade.

MEAT: …. Four butchers’ stalls will be erected in this city in the places judged

the most convenient. The sale and distribution of meat will take place there

on the Tuesdays and Saturdays of every week. The stalls will be equipped

with hooks on which to hang the meat and the butchers are ordered to sell it

to all cash customers and not to turn them away on the pretext that the meat

has been set aside for others….

Henceforth the butchers will be forbidden to sell poultry, eggs, butter, and

other foodstuffs…

To prevent infections and stench in the area of the slaughter-house, the

butchers will be obliged to remove at low tide the entrails and manure of the

animals they have slaughtered and to wash away the blood and refuse…31

31

Zoltvany, Y.F. (1969) Ibid. (p. 71-73)

The Rageots of rue St.-Pierre Part 6/Page 2

B. Eating

Two perspectives on the eating habits of Canadians are reproduced

here. Both were written with respect to food available in the 1700s.

In the eighteenth century the intendant Gilles Hocquart remarked that no

one starved in Canada. Of few lands in Europe could this be said. The normal

consumption of meat was half a pound per person a day, and of white wheat bread,

two French pounds a day. Moreover, the climate allowed the Canadians to keep

plentiful supplies of meat, fish, and game frozen hard for use throughout the

winter; but a mid-winter thaw that lasted too long could be calamitous. At the

town markets fish were sold frozen and cut with a saw. Eels, taken at Quebec by

the thousand, were a staple food; smoked or salted, they were described by

Frontenac as the “habitants’ manna”. They were also a major export item to

France, being considered far better than the European variety. Ice houses were

common making possible iced drinks and desserts all summer, not just for the

wealthy as in France, but for the majority of the population… the fine physical

stature of the Canadians occasioned frequent comment from persons recently come

from France. In fact, the Canadians were better fed then than a sizable percentage

of North Americans are today.32

Peter Kalm, a Swedish traveler to Canada about 1749, wrote detailed

observations of life as he observed it in the towns and the country. Some of

his comments are excerpted below to characterize the meals he experienced

when townspeople entertained him in their homes. Although it is often noted

that his descriptions are biased towards the upper classes, the following

excerpts describe how at least some people in the towns of New France ate.

Perhaps the Rageot family had similar dining habits when they entertained:

Breakfast: (normally at eight o’clock and a fairly light meal): some are content

with no more than a piece of bread soaked in brandy, others begin with a

glass of brandy and this is followed by a slice of toast or a cup of chocolate.

Many of the ladies drink coffee.

32

Eccles, W.J. (1969) Ibid. (p. 95-96). However, a period of serious food shortages occurred when the British Navy

blockaded the St. Lawrence River in 1758 prior to invading French Canada. It is said that the urban populations,

such as in Québec, were particularly hard hit because the build up of the colony’s defenses in preparation for war led

to near-starvation conditions in the towns: Greer, A. (1997) Ibid. (p.110)

The Rageots of rue St.-Pierre Part 6/Page 3

Dinner (around mid-day) and Supper (between 7 and 8 in the evening): consist

of more or less the same kind of food. A great variety of dishes are served

both in upper-class as well as middle-class houses when they entertain.

Bread, baked in oval shape is made from wheatflour. Each person’s plate is

laid with a napkin, a spoon and a fork. Sometimes knives are laid but more

often they are omitted, for each lady and gentleman brings his or her own

knife. The meal begins with soup, together with a large helping of bread,

and this is followed by every kind of fresh meat, boiled and roasted, by

game, fowls, fricasséed or stewed in casseroles, all served with various sorts

of salad. At dinner the drink is usually claret, diluted with water. Spruce

beer is also fashionable. The ladies drink water, or occasionally wine. After

dinner there is dessert, which comprises a variety of fruit, walnuts from

France or Canada, either fresh or preserved, almonds, grapes, hazelnuts,

various species of berry which ripen in the summer such as currants and

cranberries crystallized in molasses, sweet jams made of strawberries,

raspberries, blackberries, and other briar fruits. Cheese also appears with

the dessert, as well as milk which is taken at the end of the meal with sugar33

C. Entertainments

A proper moral atmosphere for entertainments enjoyed by the citizens

of Québec was the subject of great concern by religious authorities. Bishop

Laval often issued proclamations to guide his flock in these matters. The

following excerpts from one of his directives illustrate the high moral tone the

Church strove to maintain for some “fun” occasions. (There are many

indications, however, that the citizenry of Québec did not always follow the

ecclesiastical dictates in these or other “fun” activities.) The Bishop’s

thinking about feasting, dancing and plays is given below, as well as his strong

feelings about the proper clothing for women. The excerpts are from a

document he sent to the Governor of Québec around 1686, with the wonderful

title: Advice to the Governor and His Wife on their Obligation to Set a Good

Example for the People.

Feasts: When the governor and his wife honor someone by accepting [an

invitation] to dine at his house, it is fitting that it be for dinner and not for

supper so as to avoid late entertainments, dangerous pastimes, and other

33

Douville, R. & Casanova, J. (1967) Ibid. (p.59-60)

The Rageots of rue St.-Pierre Part 6/Page 4

unseemly happenings that usually occur at nocturnal banquets and

gatherings…

They should declare themselves unhappy, offended, and forever dismissed, if

the meals they are served are too sumptuous…

They should never suffer these feasts to be accompanied by balls and dances

and many other licentious recreations...

Balls and Dances: Although balls and dances are harmless by nature, they are

nonetheless so dangerous because of the environment they provide and

the harmful consequences they almost invariably entail…

… the governor and his wife.. [should] not only firmly refuse to enter houses

where people are gathered for balls and dances, but also close their own to

this sort of entertainment…

However, since their daughter stands in need of recreation on account of her

age and vivacity, she may be permitted a few decent and moderate dances,

but only with persons of her own sex and in the presence of her mother as a

safeguard against indecent words and songs; but not [in the presence of]

men and boys since, to speak frankly, this mixing of the sexes is the cause of

the disorders occasioned by balls and dances…

Plays: ..theatre and plays … are equally, and perhaps more, dangerous than

balls and dances and which have been inveighed against with vehemence

because of disorders they have caused in the past.

Clothes and Nudity: Luxury and vanity in the dress of women and girls [is] one

of the principal disorders which has long been noticed here…

But what render luxury in the clothes of women and girls infinitely

pernicious are scandalously indecent and immodest dresses, baring the neck

and shoulders, which are thus left exposed or covered with a transparent

veil. This is absolutely forbidden and must never be tolerated since it is a

cause of perdition for an infinite number of souls. The Holy Ghost and Holy

Scripture warn us to turn our eyes away from an indecently clad woman

because many have perished under the seducement of her vain and pompous

appearance.

This profligacy begins at an early age when little girls, even those of lowly

birth, are dressed and adorned like dolls and appear with bare shoulders

and necks. They continue in this practice when they grow older and even

after they are married. As an inevitable consequence, lewdness and a great

The Rageots of rue St.-Pierre Part 6/Page 5

number of other sins are perpetuated in this country, to the great prejudice

of this new Christianity.34

D. Customs Related to Death

Death, when it came, was treated with religious respect. The local priest

was immediately advised, as were close relatives in the parish and kinsmen

of the deceased. A neighbour was usually asked to attend to the laying out

of the corpse and, if the old man had died peacefully, to dress him in his

best clothes. If he were poor he was wrapped in a sheet, for his clothes

would come in useful for his eldest son. Every parishioner was in duty

bound to view the corpse and to say a prayer for the repose of the dead

man’s soul. A jar of holy water and a little branch of pine needles were

placed by the death bed, and each visitor sprinkled the body after prayer.

All through the evening and night rosaries were said aloud and the funeral

took place in the morning of the next day. Often the old man would himself

have taken the trouble to prepare his coffin, otherwise a neighbour would

quickly put one together during the course of the evening. Before the

deceased was taken from the home, his body lay there so that all those

present could sprinkle it for the last time. The lid of the coffin was only put

on and nailed down just before it was taken away to the church. If it were

only a short distance, then the coffin would be carried by friends or

neighbours. Otherwise it was placed upon a cart or sledge, according to

the time of year. When the funeral procession passed, everyone knelt with

head bowed, made the sign of the Cross or murmured some last prayer.

Burial in summer took place immediately after the religious ceremony. In

winter the corpse was placed in a hut known as a charnel-house, situated

next to the church. Burial of all those laid in this hut took place on the

same day, when the ground had thawed in the spring, the date being

announced by the priest during the sermon on the Sunday before.35

34

Zoltvany, Y.F. (1969) Ibid. (p.81-83) 35

Douville, R. & Casanova, J. (1967) Ibid. (p.105-106)

The Rageots of rue St.-Pierre Part 7/Page 1

7. SOME ARTIFACTS OF THE GILLES AND MARIE-MADELEINE

MORIN RAGEOT FAMILY

A. Children and their School Records

Gilles Rageot and Marie-Madeleine Morin married in 1673 and had 9

children, all but one of whom survived to adulthood. The offspring of Gilles

and Marie-Madeleine are listed below, along with their dates of birth and

death, and the kind of professional role they had as adults. The ninth child

was their first girl and she married Pierre Rivet, as documented in Jack

Rajotte’s genealogy of the family (Appendix A). Below, I have listed the

children in order of birth. In addition to their given names, I have included in

parentheses additional identifiers some of them used to indicate linkage to

seigneuries (e.g., Charles de St. Luc Rageot)36

or, in Marie-Madeleine’s case

her married name (Rivet). I note that some historical documents indicate that

the fourth child, Charles-Jean-Baptiste, when ordained as a priest, sometimes

used a hyphenated surname (Rageot-Morin) to honor his mother’s family.37

Gilles Rageot

1642-1692

&

Marie-

Madeleine

Morin

1656-1720

BIRTH DEATH WORK

Charles (de St.-Luc) 1674 Aug 12 1702 Dec 18 Notary

*Nicolas (de St.-Luc) 1676 Aug 20 1703 Mar 31 Notary

*Phillippe 1678 July 11 1711 Sept 11 Priest

*Charles-Jean-Baptiste 1680 June 11 1729 Feb 26 Priest

*François 1682 Mar 3 1754 Apr 16 Notary

*Denis 1684 Jan 19 ? ? ?

Gilles 1686 Mar 15 1687 Oct 8 NA

*Gilles (de Beaurivage) 1689 Nov 25 1754 May 19 Business

Marie-Madeleine (Rivet) 1692 Feb 15 1723 ? Wife * School records available

36

“To be a seigneur, the first rung up the social ladder, was a distinct mark of social superiority… So eager were the

Canadians to attach the coveted particle de to their names that by 1760 there were nearly 250 seigneuries in the

colony. Even more significant, it is estimated that there were some 200 arrière fiefs, or sub-seigneuries, that is small

seigneuries granted by a seigneur within his own seigneury to a friend or relative whom he wished to see get on in

the world.” From: Eccles, W.J. (1969) Ibid. (p.100) 37

Anonymous (1916) Les Rageot de Saint-Luc et de Beaurivage. Bulletin des Recherches Historiques, XXII, No.

XI, Beauceville-Novembre (p.324-332); l’abbé Félix Gatien (1955) M. Rageot-Morin, Premier Curé (1714-1728),

In: Histoire du Cap-Santé. Québec: Cap-Santé. (Chapitre Deuxième; p.37-48)

The Rageots of rue St.-Pierre Part 7/Page 2

Records of school performance by six of the boys (marked by * in the

table) who attended Québec’s Petite Séminaire38

are available in the archives

of the Musée de la Civilisation in Québec City (“fiches d'élèves de la famille Rageot

qui ont étudie au Séminaire de Québec”). These brief records document the earliest

schoolwork done by Rageots in North America. I present them below for

each child in order of birth (in parentheses) with my attempted translation.

Nicolas (#2)

“Quebec, 11 years, entered the

25 of February 1688, left

in 1691, in philosophy

after six months, not having

aptitude”

Phillipe (#3)

“Age of 13 years, entered

the 15th

of May 1691

- priest

took the cassock the 29th

of September 1697

Priest”

38

Bishop Laval founded the Petite Séminaire in 1688 for pupils who were intending to enter the priesthood. They

took their classes at the Jesuit College and boarded at the seminary. Later, the Bishop founded another institution,

which was for teaching arts and crafts. Nicolas Rageot must have been among the first students in the Seminary,

having entered in the founding year.

The Rageots of rue St.-Pierre Part 7/Page 3

Charles Jean-Baptiste (#4)

“11 years, entered the 4th

of June

1692 .. took the cassock

about mid-September 1701

Priest

born in Québec”

François (#5)

“Quebec; 11 years, entered the

16th

of March 1693 – left the

4 May 1694

-entered having already be-

-gun his Rudiments; he

didn’t have aptitude

for studies, nor an in-

-clination for the state [i.e., a

government job?] .

He left as a consequence

the following year – 4th

of May

(Transcript)”

The Rageots of rue St.-Pierre Part 7/Page 4

Denis (#6)

“14 years, entered the 10th

of Oct.

1697, left the 11th

of Feb.

1703 in Philo(sophy).

- entered having begun

Latin

- left having no

desire to stay”

Gilles (de Beaurivage) #8

“entered the 14th

of Oct. 1703

left the 1st of Oct. 1705

- making already the theme

?? to his entry

Not

= notary”

Note: In Jack Rajotte’s genealogy of the Rageot family, Gilles de Beaurivage Rageot is

described as a person who did not follow his father as a notary but was quite successful in

business. This school record indicates that, in some way, he may have had training or early

interests in the notary profession. In the list of children (earlier) I followed Jack’s text and

characterized Gilles’ work as “Business.”

The Rageots of rue St.-Pierre Part 7/Page 5

Rivet (Pierre)

Gilles Rageot

Rageot (François)

B. Samples of Handwriting (Signatures)

I found documents with signatures of some of the family members in the

archives of the Musée de la Civilisation in Québec City. The following image

shows signatures on a document dated 1689. On one line, the signatures of

Gilles (with characteristic flourish at the end) and Marie-Madeleine (using

her maiden name “Morin”) can be seen. On the next line is the signature of

their first son, Charles.39

Signatures on document dated 1689 of Gilles Rageot (age about 47 years), Marie Madeleine Morin Rageot

(age about 33 years), and Charles Rageot (age about 15 years)

Signatures made in January, 1714:

a) Marie Madeleine

Morin veuve (“widow”)

Rageot (age about 64

years) [highlighted by

lines];

b) two of her children,

François and Gilles

(ages about 35 and 31

years, respectively);

c) her son-in-law Pierre

Rivet (age 30 years)

who was married to

Marie-Madeleine Rageot;

d) other signatures by legal officials who participated in the inventory of the widow Rageot’s

possessions (which was the occasion on which these signatures were made).

39

This document was signed on the occasion of their official membership in the Confraternity of Sainte Anne which

was formed in 1678 after reports of miracles at the nearby church of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré. According to

Douville, R. & Casanova, J. (1967) Ibid. (p.128): the confraternity was “for working-class men. An entrance fee

was settled and an annual subscription; income from which was to be used to say Mass for the souls of the dead of

the confraternity”

The Rageots of rue St.-Pierre Part 7/Page 6

C. Sketched Likeness of Charles Jean-Baptiste Rageot-Morin

I have reproduced below a sketch of Charles-Jean-Baptiste Rageot-

Morin, the fourth child of Gilles and Marie-Madeleine Morin Rageot. This is

the only likeness I have found of any of the original Rageots of rue St.-Pierre.

Charles-Jean-Baptiste was the first parish priest at Cap Santé, and his

likeness is published in a book summarizing that parish’s history.40

This sketch provides us with a glimpse of how our earliest Canadian

ancestors appeared. It is likely that he was about 5 foot in height, since it is

noted elsewhere that people of that era were around that height.41

40

l’abbé Félix Gatien (1955) Ibid. (p.37).

Note: Jack Rajotte’s genealogy of the Rageots indicates that portraits of the family’s two priests, Phillippe and

Charles-Jean-Baptiste, might be hanging in the seminary in Québec City. In my visit to Québec in Fall, 2003, I was

told that these portraits cannot be located. The sketch reproduced here was kindly located for me by the archivist

Madeleine Faucher. 41

Moogk, P. (2002) Ibid. (p.26-27)

The Rageots of rue St.-Pierre Part 7/Page 7

D. Inventory of Rageot Household Belongings (1714)

An inventory of the belongings of Gilles Rageot’s widow, Marie-

Madeleine Morin, was officially recorded on January 13, 1714. She had

continued to live in the rebuilt house on Lot 2 rue St.-Pierre during the 22

years since Gilles’ death in 1692.42

This inventory may have been related to

the impending sale of the adjacent vacant Lot 1 to Pierre Rivet (also a notary

and clerk in the town of Québec), the husband of the Rageots’ only daughter,

Marie-Madeleine, who was now 22 years old. The Rivets had been married

for about 6 years and they were interested in buying the vacant Lot 1 on rue-

St.-Pierre where they planned to build a home. On Gilles’ death, his widow

had became the owner of both Lots 1 & 2, and apparently there were unpaid

succession duties associated with Gilles’ death that had not been taken care of.

Pierre Rivet agreed to pay those duties in exchange for ownership of the

vacant Lot 1.43

This would likely have been a welcome arrangement for

Gilles’ 64 year old widow since it cleared the debts and also resulted in having

her daughter and son-in-law living next door.

The list of inventoried items I summarize below44

is a partial listing of

family possessions that were in daily use in the house on Lot 2 in 1714. Quite

likely, these items would have been used in the daily life of the Rageots after

the house on Lot 2 rue St.-Pierre was rebuilt following the great fire of 1682.

The list focuses on items used in cooking and also those used by the family in

the adjacent living area.

Here is the translated preamble to the inventory which describes the

purpose of this legal document, and notes the assembled family members and

officials who oversaw the inventory:

42

She was likely living there alone. Her first two children (Charles de St. Luc and Nicolas) had both died in the

smallpox epidemic of 1702-03; her third child, Phillippe, had died in 1711. In 1714 she had four known surviving

children: Charles-Jean-Baptiste, 34 years old, a priest; François, 32 years old, a notary; Gilles de Beaurivage, 25

years old, a businessman; Marie-Madeleine, 22 years old, married for 6 years. 43

Chassé, B. (1978) Ibid. (p.26) 44

A copy of the full inventory is available in the archives of the Musée de la Civilisation in Québec City. The

document is difficult to read because it is written in small and sometimes indecipherable script and because its “Old

French” terminology is not always amenable to translation with modern French dictionaries. The problem of

reading the handwritten script was greatly reduced by the museum’s transcription of part of the document into larger

and readable handwriting. The problem of translating the Old French terms was addressed by a graduate student in

the French Department at Florida State University who I hired as a translator.

The Rageots of rue St.-Pierre Part 7/Page 8

Inventory of Madame the Widow Rageot, the 13th

of January 1714.

Today, the 13th

day of January 1714, at the request of Madame Marie Madeleine Morin,

widow of the deceased Monsieur Gille Rageot, when living the Royal Notary and Clerk-

in-Chief at the head office of the provost of this city,

holding in his name that of Sieur Gille Rageot [de Beaurivage] his younger son of

twenty three and one half years or thereabouts, in the presence of Monsieur Pierre

Rivet, also notary and Clerk-in-Chief at the office of the provost of this city, holding in

his name having married Miss Marie Madeleine Rageot …. [indecipherable]…,

by the same act of the Lieutenant General at Headquarters on the date of the 26th

of

September 1713, and by virtue of the power of Monsieur Charles Jean Baptiste Rageot,

priest of Saint Anne, and of Grondinnes, on the date of the first day of this month,

to which the following content I give my consent to make an inventory of the furnishings

of the community property of her and the deceased husband, and to sell what will be

considered proper in order to pay the debts of the married couple made to Grondinnes

this first day of January 1714.

signed

Rageot-Morin, parish priest of Saint Anne, standing present after having been signed

by the aforementioned Madame Rageot, and by her having been certified true in the

presence of Monsieur François Rageot, also notary for this provost, and by Sieur Gille

Rageot, minor under the authority of Madame, his mother his tutor, and by Monsieur

Rivet his guardian,

…has been certified by the Royal Notary of the provost of this city, in the presence of

witnesses,

to make a good and true inventory and description of the wealth and furnishings, silver

and coin, as well as non-coin, paper titles and bank notes of the said marriage without

the present inventory being able to impair by prejudice to the parties to the qualities

that they wish to take for the future, but for the conservation of the wealth and rights

which will belong, which wealth and furnishings have been represented by the said

Madame Widow Rageot after swearing to show them without hiding anything or

diverting, in such a case to which she has submitted herself in the event that someone

find to the contrary, which wealth has been taken and estimated by Monsieur Jean

Mechin Huissier in this provost who took them and estimated in his soul and his

confidence their correct value in the present time done in the presence of the

aforementioned Monsieur Jean Bonneau, Madame Boullanger, and Joseph

Montmekllian, witnesses who along with the said parties have signed herewith.

The Rageots of rue St.-Pierre Part 7/Page 9

Translated Portion of the Inventory:

Items in the Kitchen: Quantity Item

1 Pan rack with small iron spatula and a small pair of tongs for adjusting the fire

2 Small “fire dogs” (racks that hold logs in fireplace)

2 Medium stock pots (with one foot and cover)

2 Small pots

2 Ladles (one with broken handle)

1 Roasting spit

1 Old frying pan with holes and pieced back together

1 Small iron broiling pan, very used

1 Badly worn grill with 7 arms, all broken

1 Pepper mill

1 Cleaver for cutting meat

2 Knives

1 Red copper brew kettle holding two pails (liquid)

3 Old, clean brew kettles each holding one pail

1 Pot of yellow copper, put back together, holding about 4 pints

3 Irons decorated with glass

4 Frying pans, two medium and two small, all pieced back together

1 Small mortar (of metal) with its small iron pestle

1 Small pie dish with lid

1 Copper pot

1 Candle snuff, and a candle snuff holder

1 Small old copper pot holding about 1 pint, pieced together

1 Copper scale with its iron beam (arm), of average size

14 Platters, medium and small

2 Water pails decorated with iron

2 Copper bed warmers decorated with glass

One measuring cup, a prod, a half pint measuring cup, and eighth pint measure (for

wine), two water jars

Forty-three pounds of resin: one of 25 pounds, one of 12 pounds, and one of 6

pounds

It is interesting to view this list with an image in mind of the floorplan

and the diagram of the hearth cooking area of the rebuilt Rageot house shown

above in Section 4.

The Rageots of rue St.-Pierre Part 7/Page 10

Items in the adjacent room (the living area):

Quantity Item 6 Old wooden chairs

2 Straw chairs

1 Old armchair (all broken)

1 Iron stove of medium size which has a broken burner

1 Small mirror with wooden frame

1 Small buffet which has only one small square (carré) and a small mallet

1 Square table without drawers, very old

1 Little table, oval and wooden

1 Wine rack with 12 flasks of which 4 are broken, without decoration except on its

lock and key

1 Wooden chest for bread (bread box)

1 Very small chest without key

1 Badly worn little chest (for valuables)

3 Small ceramic platters

5 Small plates of thick ceramic

1 Small cup

1 Very small copper scale

4 Bottles each holding one pint

5 Bottles each holding ½ pint

The inventory also stated that:

“Madame the widow had declared having in coin the sum of one

hundred pounds (i.e., “livres).”

Note: In the monetary units of that time, 1 livre = 20 sols; 1 sol = 12 deniers.

The Rageots of rue St.-Pierre Part 8/Page 1

8. CHANGES IN THE FAMILY’S TWO PROPERTIES ON RUE St.-

PIERRE: 1714-1782 (and beyond).

Beginning with the sale of the vacant Lot 1 to the Rivets in 1714, the

properties held on rue St.-Pierre by Rageot family members changed

ownership frequently in the next 70 years as family members died. After 1782

both properties were sold into other hands. Here is a record of the property

owners of Lots 1 and 2 between 1714 and 1967 as recorded in a 1978

document in the archives of the Musée de la Civilisation in Québec City.45

I have added information about the houses and the family circumstances as

found in Jack Rajotte’s Rageot-family genealogy and in other sources.

1714: Marie-Madeleine Morin veuve Rageot's son-in-law, Pierre Rivet

(married to her last child, Marie-Madeleine Rageot) became the owner

of the vacant courtyard property on Lot 1 (see Part 4, page 5). He built

a two-story mansard-roofed stone house whose full two stories faced rue

St.-Pierre and whose second story fronted on the square behind [Place

Royale]. The house was 24 by 24 feet, the same size as the lot. This

arrangement resulted in Gilles' widow and her youngest child and son-

in-law living side-by-side on Lots 2 and 1, respectively.

1720: Gilles’ widow, Marie Madeleine Morin veuve Rageot died and left the

Rageot house on Lot 2 to her four surviving children (see Footnote 41).

1721: Pierre Rivet died at the age of 37 years and left the house on Lot 1 to

his widow, Marie-Madeleine Rageot veuve Rivet.

1723: Marie-Madeleine Rageot veuve Rivet died at the age of 31 years (see

Appendix C). She and Pierre had no children. She left the house on Lot

1 to her brother, Gilles Rageot de Beaurivage, who already owned part

of the family home on Lot 2 (see footnote 41).

1724: Through a wedding gift from his brother, the priest Charles Jean-

Baptiste Rageot-Morin, and a complex series of real estate transactions

Gilles Rageot de Beaurivage came into full possession of the Rageot

45

Chassé, B. (1978) Ibid.

The Rageots of rue St.-Pierre Part 8/Page 2

family home on Lot 2. This meant that he was now the sole owner of

Lots 1 & 2 on rue St.-Pierre.46

1754: Gilles Rageot de Beaurivage died and both houses on Lots 1 & 2

were inherited by his widow Elizabeth Douaire veuve Rageot.

1759: Both houses on LOTS 1 & 2 (owned by Elizabeth Douaire veuve

Rageot), and many other structures in the Lower Town, were destroyed

during the British siege of Québec. Incendiary bombs fired from ships

in the St. Lawrence were particularly damaging.

1762: In October, Elizabeth Douaire veuve Rageot began the job of

rebuilding a home on rue St.-Pierre after the British siege. She decided

to hire a stonemason to rebuild only the old Rivet house that had been

located on Lot 1 and which had suffered less damage than the old

Rageot house on Lot 2. Her new stone house on Lot 1 had three stories

fronting on rue St.-Pierre and, at the back, two stories facing the market

(i.e., Place Royale). It had an attic and a cellar 10 feet deep. The rebuilt

Elizabeth Douaire veuve Rageot house (as it is called on an historical

marker on the house in present-day Québec City) on Lot 1 was

completed in April, 1763.

Elizabeth Douaire veuve Rageot occupied only the top two floors of the

rebuilt house. She divided the ground floor into a rentable apartment

that included a large kitchen area running the full depth of the building,

a chamber, and a small room behind the chamber. (The details of this

ground-floor layout were presented earlier in Section 4 as the floorplan

for the house that Gilles and Marie-Madeleine Morin Rageot rebuilt

46

According to B. Chassé (1978) Ibid. (p.27), who documented the following sequence with various official notarial

records, the events were as follows. At her death in 1720, Marie-Madeleine Morin veuve Rageot left the property

and house I have designated LOT 2 rue St.-Pierre to be divided equally among her four surviving children: Marie-

Madeleine Rageot-Rivet; Gilles Rageot de Beaurivage; the notary François Rageot; and the parish priest Charles

Jean-Baptiste Rageot-Morin (who was the priest at Sainte-Famille du Cap-Santé at that time). Father Rageot then

purchased his brother François’ share and, thus, he owned half the original Rageot home; Marie Madeleine Rageot-

Rivet and Gilles Rageot de Beaurivage each owned a quarter share of the property. When Marie-Madeleine Rageot-

Rivet died in 1723, her will, dated April 6 of that year, left all her goods to her brother Gilles Rageot de Beaurivage,

including her quarter-share of the family property, and 1500 livres to the Ursuline Religious Order of Québec (see

Appendix C). Finally, on the occasion of Gilles’ marriage to Elizabeth Douaire on February 22, 1724, Father

Rageot made a gift of his half-share of LOT 2 to Gilles who, consequently, then owned all of LOT 2 as well as

LOT 1 which he had inherited from his sister in 1723 (see entry for 1723, above).

The Rageots of rue St.-Pierre Part 8/Page 3

after the Great Fire of 1682.) The ground-floor apartment was rented

at various times, undoubtedly providing a welcome source of income.

The floor plan of her own quarters on the second floor is shown in the

following sketch which indicates two doors leading directly to the

market place, Place du Marché (at the bottom of the plan). One door

leads into the kitchen (cuisine), the other into an adjacent storeroom

lined with shelves (magasin ‘garni de tablettes’). These doors had glass

panes, and were separated by a kitchen window with shutters (fenêtre

with contravents). There were also two rooms overlooking rue St.-

Pierre, one (chambre) was directly off the kitchen; the other (cabinet)

was off the storeroom. These rooms seem to have been well-lighted in

daytime by three large windows looking out on the street. The stairs

coming up from the separate apartment on the ground-floor below were

sealed off by a trappe. I think the stairs shown on this second-floor plan

lead up to the third floor (which may have been the attic).

Floor plan from: B. Chassé

(1978) Ibid. Appendix XII.

The Rageots of rue St.-Pierre Part 8/Page 4

Records on file in Québec City provide the following detail of life in the

rebuilt house on Lot 1. Immediately after the house was completed in

April, 1763, Elizabeth Douaire veuve Rageot rented the ground floor of

the house, with the cellar. Because there was no oven in her kitchen on

the second floor, however, she reserved the right to cook her bread in

the oven of the rented kitchen on the floor below.

In the rebuilt configuration of the two lots, Lot 2 was left vacant as a

courtyard that had a wooden stable 8 feet by 6 feet which

accommodated two horses.

About the year 1770, when Elizabeth Douaire veuve Rageot was

advanced in age (77 years), she moved from the house on Lot 1 to live

with one of her sons (Louis-Etienne). From then onwards, she rented

the whole house on Lot 1.

1779: Elizabeth Douaire veuve Rageot died at the age of 86 years, and left

Lots 1 & 2 to her only two children (of 7) who survived to adulthood,

Louis-Etienne and Gilles-Joseph Rageot de Beaurivage. It is not clear

that these boys lived on the property.

1782: Beginning at this point in time, the Rageot family gave up ownership

of both Lots 1 & 2, ending about a 110 year period of ownership. The

initial non-family purchaser was Joseph Drapeau, a rich Québec City

merchant, who bought both the house on Lot 1 and the vacant

courtyard (Lot 2) from Louis-Etienne and Gilles-Joseph Rageot de

Beaurivage.

………………………………………………………………………. 1785: Joseph Drapeau built a 3-story stone house on Lot 2 and had openings pierced into the

house on Lot 1 where he lived. He used the house on Lot 2 for commercial purposes.

1810 -1818: Joseph Drapeau died (1810) and the ownership of the houses on Lots 1 & 2 is

uncertain until 1818 when both lots were purchased by Jacques Cartier, the father of

Georges-Etienne Cartier.

1843-1932: The houses on Lots 1 & 2 were purchased from Jacques Cartier and heirs by

Jacques Blanchard and his wife, Rosalie Dugal, who operated the grand Hotel

Blanchard. (The hotel can be seen in the reproduction of an 1887 oil painting shown

below). They and their heirs owned these properties through 1920 when they were

purchased by Joseph Cloutier. Between 1926 and 1932 the properties were owned by

the Hotel Blanchard Ltée.

The Rageots of rue St.-Pierre Part 8/Page 5

1932-1943: LOTS 1 & 2 were owned by the Société de Prêts et Placements de Québec.

1943-1967: LOTS 1 & 2 were first owned by Eugene Marceau (until 1951) and then by Xavier

Thibault (until 1967). In 1967, LOTS 1 & 2 were purchased by the Québec Ministère

des Affaires Culturelles as part of the restoration of Place Royale and the Lower Town

area

Oil painting dated 1887 showing the eastern end of Place Royale with the main building

of the Hotel Blanchard and its adjoining buildings, including the house rebuilt on Lot 1

by Elizabeth Douaire veuve Rageot in 1762 (the structure projecting at the right with an

attached light fixture). This painting shows the second and third stories of the rebuilt

Lot 1 house as it appeared at the back. The front of the house with all three stories

faced on rue St.-Pierre. From Coté, R. (2000) Ibid. (p.157).

A modern view of the same corner of Place Royale is shown in the next

figure.

The Rageots of rue St.-Pierre Part 8/Page 6

Modern view of the eastern end of Place Royale as seen on a 2003 Christmas card.

The house on Lot 1 is the structure projecting at the right. The ground floor of the

house (facing on rue St.-Pierre, not shown) is now a restaurant; a pharmacy now

operates on the second floor entered from street level on the Place Royale side (shown

here with a wooden-railed deck). The house on Lot 1 was reconstructed in the 1970s as

part of the restoration of the Place Royale area. The restored area includes a bust of

Louis XIV on a pedestal (at left). The former location of the Hotel Blanchard and its

adjoining buildings can be identified by comparing the immediately preceding figure

showing the same area in 1887.

From Christmas Card photo by Claudel Huot titled: “Maisons Pierre Bruneau (1791)

et Elizabeth Douaire veuve Rageot (1762), Place Royale”. © Louis Lacerte éditeur.

The Rageots of rue St.-Pierre Part 9/Page 1

9. PHOTO GALLERY OF LOTS 1 & 2: 1969-2003

In the following pages are photos of the buildings on Lots 1 & 2 of

rue St.-Pierre as they appeared in 1969 and until the early 1980s as the

Place-Royale area in Lower Town Québec City was reconstructed.

These photos are from: B. Chassé (1978) Les Maisons Rageot, Rivet, Nolan et

Jérémie à la Place Royale. (Boite 108; 4650-00-87) Musée de la Civilisation, Québec

City.

I have also included some photos I took of the buildings as they

appeared in Fall, 2003. The dining area of a restaurant, Le Delice du

Roy, occupies the ground floor of the reconstructed house on Lot 1 (the

last home of Gilles Rageot de Beaurivage’s widow, Elizabeth Douaire

veuve Rageot). The kitchen area of the restaurant seems to occupy most

of the ground floor of Lot 2 (sold to Joseph Drapeau by the Rageot

family).

Included are photos of historical markers on these buildings

indicating the last ownerships by Elizabeth Douaire veuve Rageot and

Joseph Drapeau.

The Rageots of rue St.-Pierre Part 9/Page 2

View: rue St.-Pierre Side

Lots 1 & 2

View: Place-Royale Side

Lot 1 (rear)

Lot 1

Lot 2

Before Reconstruction

1969

The Rageots of rue St.-Pierre Part 9/Page 3

1981 1983

1979

During Reconstruction 1971-1983

Lots 1 & 2

rue St.-Pierre Side

1971

The Rageots of rue St.-Pierre Part 9/Page 4

View: (eastward along rue St.-Pierre) Lot 1 (corner) & Lot 2 (next)

View: (westward along rue St.-Pierre)

Lot 2 (foreground) & Lot 1 (with outdoor seating for

restaurant)

RECONSTRUCTED 2003

Lots 1 & 2

rue St.-Pierre Side

The Rageots of rue St.-Pierre Part 9/Page 5

View: Lot 1 (rear)

Place-Royale Side

RECONSTRUCTED 2003

Lot 1

Place Royale Side

View: Place Royale from rear of Lot 1 (Notre-Dame-des-Victoires

at back, left)

The Rageots of rue St.-Pierre Part 9/Page 6

Historical Plaques on Lot 1 (rue St.-Pierre side)

Historical Plaque on Lot 2 (rue St.-Pierre side)

The Rageots of rue St.-Pierre Part 9/Page 7

2003

Le Delice du Roy Restaurant

33 rue St.-Pierre

Ground Floor Lots 1 & 2

Views: Dining area

inside Lot 1

APPENDIX A: Segment of Jack Rajotte’s Family Genealogy Page A-1

APPENDIX A

Note from Mike Rashotte: This Appendix reproduces Chapter 1 of Jack Rajotte’s The Genealogy and

History of Some Descendants of Guillaume Rageot. This Chapter describes the ancestors and the family

of Gilles and Marie-Madeleine Morin Rageot who make up the main players in what I have called The

Rageots of rue St.-Pierre.

THE

G E N E A L O G Y AND

H I S T O R Y OF SOME OF THE DESCENDANTS OF

GUILLAUME RAGEOT

_____________________________________________________________________ FROM 1600 WRITTEN BY JACK H. RAJOTTE A DESCENDANT Version Dated: January, 2003 (from Jack Rajotte) Reformatted and slightly revised in 2004 by Mike Rashotte

APPENDIX A: Segment of Jack Rajotte’s Family Genealogy Page A-2

C h a p t e r O n e

From France to New France.

<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Table of Contents

The Family of Guillaume and Anne (Coreul) Rageot of France ….. A3

The Family of Isaac and Louise (Duret) Rageot of France ………... A5

The Family of Gilles and Madeleine (Morin) Rageot of Quebec ….. A6

APPENDIX A: Segment of Jack Rajotte’s Family Genealogy Page A-3

The family of Guillaume and Anne (Coureul) Rageot of France. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

France in the early sixteenth century was slowly feeling the increasing effects of the

Protestant reformation that was taking place in many other countries in Europe as well. The

French Roman Catholics under Kings Francis I (1515-1547), Henry II (1547-1559), and

Francis II (1559-1560) were able to persecute these Protestant followers of John Calvin, or

Calvinists, with ease for some time. After a while, as they banded together in small armies, the

name of Huguenots was applied to them and all French Protestants.

The religious conflicts erupted into open war with the massacre of Huguenots at Vassy

in 1562 by the Duke of Guise and his soldiers. France was at this time governed by Catherine

de Medici, wife of Henry II and mother of Francis II, as her other son, Charles IX (1560-1574)

was just a boy of ten at his coronation. Catherine was planning to conciliate both religions

during these early years of his rein. However, the duke sought to restore Catholic power in

France and formed the "League" which was responsible for the incident at Vassey and brought

France into the wars of religion. These wars lasted until the Edict de Nantes was signed in

1598.

The effects of this war were disastrous for both sides. Whole towns and villages were

laid to waste by the opposing side and all the inhabitants either fled or were put to the sword.

Thus to obtain records in this period will be quite difficult for where our first known ancestor

makes his appearance in the area of the old region of Perche, it is within an area that changed

sides dozens of times during these tragic wars of religion.

Our earliest ancestor, Guillaume Rageot, was by my estimate, born about the 1570's

and was of the Roman Catholic faith. He married Anne Coureul late in the sixteenth century,

and made his first appearance at L'Aigle in the old province of Normandy in the year of 1600,

at the church of St-Jean. The town today is now called Laigle and is in the Department de Orne

and is some 80 miles or so west of Paris.

It is doubtful that Guillaume ever knew that one of his grandsons would leave France in

1663 for Nouvelle France and found a family that has propagated into the thousands in more

than 300 years since his foot first set upon its soil. Guillaume and Anne had a family of six

known children baptized at St-Jean de L'Aigle.

APPENDIX A: Segment of Jack Rajotte’s Family Genealogy Page A-4

1. Guillaume Rageot was baptized on September 10, 1600. His godparents were Jean

Chamboys and Marie Faye, wife of Jean Sangon.

2. Isaac Rageot was baptized on August 31, 1603. His genealogy is continued on the next

page.

3. Etiennette Rageot was baptized on July 10, 1606. Her godparents were Jacques Boucher

and Jeanne Deschenes.

4. Crypien Rageot was baptized on December 10, 1608. The godparents were Robert Dubois

and Isabel, wife of Jean Leconte, Sieur de Roumey and treasurer of Ceans.

5. Matherin Rageot was baptized on February 2 or 12, 1612. His godparents were Matherin

Boudier and Catherine Loyer.

6. Francois was a twin of Matherin and was baptized on the same day. His godparents were

Francois Denise and Anne Lesage.

APPENDIX A: Segment of Jack Rajotte’s Family Genealogy Page A-5

The family of Isaac and Louise (Duret) Rageot of France. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Isaac Rageot was the son of Guillaume and Anne (Coureul) Rageot. He was baptized at

the church of St-Jean de L'Aigle on August 31, 1603, and his godparents were Robert Duroyer,

Isaac Lohier and Andree Leheu. He married Louise Duret at Tourouvre-au-Perche on January

14, 1636, and had a family of ten children born in L'Aigle. Louise was born in Tourouvre on

October 29, 1614, where she was baptized at the church of St-Aubin de Tourouvre. She was the

daughter of Pierre Duret and Michelle Allard. Pierre Duret was a tailleur d'habits and married

to Michelle on July 12, 1592, in Tourouvre. Both of them died before 1636. A record I picked

up in the Internet indicated both Isaac and Louise died after May 29, 1673, in St-Jean D'Laigle.

1. Anne Rageot was baptized on June 4, 1637. Her godparents were Vallery, son of Adrien

Lohier and Thomine Allard of Tourouvre. Anne may have died in infancy.

2. Anne Rageot was baptized on December 14, 1638. Her godparents were Pierre Thierry of

Tourouvre and Anne Coureul, perhaps her grand-mother. Anne may have died as a

young girl.

3. Francoise Rageot was baptized on February 16, 1640. Her godparents were Jean Massier and

Francoise Leconte, wife of Etienne Michel.

4. Gilles Rageot was baptized on November 14, 1642. His godparents were Gilles Duret,

surgeon of Tourouvre and Anne Rageot and they were, in my opinion, related to

both parents of Gilles. Gilles left France in 1663 and settled in Nouvelle France

where he married Madeleine Morin in Quebec city in 1673. He died in Quebec

City in 1692 leaving nine children. The genealogy of his family is continued at the

beginning of the next family.

5. Jacques Rageot was baptized on August 13, 1645. His godparents were Jacques Euldes and

Francoise Fauvel.

6. Anne Rageot was baptized on April 6, 1648. Her godparents were Francois Maurice, priest

and curate of Lahaye, and Etienne Rageot. Anne was confirmed by Gilles Bombault,

Bishop of Evereux on September 14, 1659.

7. Isaac Rageot was baptized on May 19, 1649. His godparents were Toussaint Morel and

Marguerite Hedouin.

8. Michelle Rageot was baptized on November 20, 1650. Her godparents were Michelle Hurel

and Rene Bouchard.

9. Pierre Rageot was baptized on November 18, 1653. His godparents were Pierre Belin and

Antoinette Godry.

10. Thomas Rageot was baptized on November 25, 1655. His godparents were Simon and

Jeanne Choiseau.

APPENDIX A: Segment of Jack Rajotte’s Family Genealogy Page A-6

The family of Gilles and Madeleine (Morin) Rageot of Quebec --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gilles Rageot was baptized at the church of St-Jean de L'Aigle in France on November

14, 1642, and was the son of Isaac and Louise (Duret) Rageot. Gilles is perhaps without a

doubt the progenitor of all the Rageots, Rajottes, Rashottes, and Beaurivages in Canada

and the United States today.

History will probably never reveal to us why our ancestor, while at the age of twenty-

one, left France through the port of Rouen and sailed to Nouvelle France to settle in Quebec

City. He came to that city in 1663 or shortly before and began his career as a recorder by virtue

of his being clerk of the registry of the conseil souverain. In 1666, however, he acquired more

important functions. The Companie des Indes Occidentales granted him two commissions in

rapid succession; that of clerk of the seigneural jurisdiction of the town of Quebec on

May 5, 1666, and that of notary in the jurisdiction of Quebec. Having been appointed by the

company, Gilles had not the right to take the title of royal notary. Intendant Jean Talon,

however, who desputed the company's right to appoint notaries, issued a warrant dated

November 7, 1666, whereby Gilles could henceforth practice as a royal notary.

Jean Talon (1625-1694) was the first intendant of New France. He was advised and

supported by Colbert and came to New France in 1665. In three years he achieved a remarkable

expansion of the colony. He took the first census of the colony, organized a selective and

growing immigration, imported craftsmen of all trades, established small industries and built

ships. By granting seigneuries he promoted land settlement and encouraged farming and cattle

raising. He literally recreated the colony on a sound economic basis before returning to France

in 1668. He was asked to resume his Canadian post and spent the years of 1670-1672 working

energetically in the colony.

In 1667, Gilles worked with the Lieutenant-General of Trois-Rivieres for the foundation

of the jurisdiction papers of that town, and was later joined by Talon. In 1669, Gilles worked on

territorial jurisdiction papers with Chartier de Lotbiniere, who gave him great praise. When the

company finally withdrew from Canadian affairs in 1674, Gilles decided to make sure of the

validity of his notarie's commission, and asked the King of France himself for permission to

continue in his office. This was granted by a commission signed by King Louis XIV on May

17, 1675. The same day the King also renewed his commission as clerk of court. Gilles Rageot

thus became the first notary of new France to receive a royal commission. This letter is

preserved in Quebec city to this day and is presented here as best I can in its' English translation

from old French:

---------------------------------------------------------------------

"Louis, by the grace of God, King of France, and of Navarre, and all who are

presented these letters, greetings.

It was necessary to forsee a person capable to exercise in the office of notary note-

keeping, within the jurisdiction of Quebec in New France, and upon the good and

reliable support, who we are informed of in this person and of our dear and well

APPENDIX A: Segment of Jack Rajotte’s Family Genealogy Page A-7

liked monsieur Gilles Rageot and his judgment, sufficient capacity, prominence and

experience at this practice.

At this cause and other considerations at this our (Mouvant), we have given him

granted, presented and bestowed, by his presence, signed in his own hand of this

said office of notary note-keeper in the jurisdiction of Quebec and of New France,

for this said office has taken an exercise to conform to the custom, promoted by the

Viscount of Paris, and on this day and used in his honor, authority, perogatives

freedom, wages, rights, benefits, dreams, and (Revenus et emoluments) of this

office, may entice, that he can use as he pleases.

We have given this mandate to our friend and (Feaux) the offices of the council

souverain established in the said city of Quebec, after their entrance, show good

living and morals, Catholic religion, apostolic and roman, of said Gilles Rageot

and that he has taken an oath in such case as required, (Ils le mittent), to appoint

either (Mettre) to appoint, by us, to the position of said office and (Fassent)

recognize, to obey and understand, the one and all these and all those who

participated in these matters concerning the said office for such is my pleasure.

In testimony of what we have enacted, we place our seal on this said presentment.

Presented at camp of Casteau de Chambresis on the seventeenth day of May in the

year of our lord sixteen-hundred-seventy-five, and of the thirty-third year of our

reign."

(Signed) Louis (Et sur le repli), by the King,

(Signed) Colbert

Sealed with the great seal in yellow wax.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

In 1685, the intendant, on the pretext that Gilles was sick, relieved him of his office as

clerk and conferred it to Francois Genaple. Gilles made an appeal to the King who reinstated

him on May 24, 1686. Francois was also the warden of the prison where he also had his

apartment and his wife was Marie-Anne Delaporte, sister of Helene Desportes, wife of Noel

Morin. Francois had a son that one day got himself into trouble and his father was compelled

to place him in prison. However, the governor imprisoned the father as well until he made

restitution and apologized to the court on his knees. Francois complied with the court's

demands.

In 1671, Gilles bought a small timber-framed house on rue Sainte-Pierre that was built

by Christophe Crevier after 1656. Later, in 1674, Gilles bought the adjacent house built by

Pierre Miville dit le Suisse, also built after 1656. This second house was of a half-timbered

rubblework construction. On August 4, 1682, at 9:30 in the evening, a fire broke out in the

lower part of the city. Several residents in the area made an effort to knock down some of the

houses in an attempt to halt the spread of the fire. The house of Gilles was partially taken down

in this process, but the fire at this time began to spread uncontrolled so those that were fighting

APPENDIX A: Segment of Jack Rajotte’s Family Genealogy Page A-8

the fire began to rush to their own dwellings to save what belongings of their own they could.

The fire burned out by 5 o'clock in the morning and had then consumed some 55 houses in the

process. About two thirds of the lower city lay in ashes. Among those homes burned was that

of Gilles that contained many important notarical papers and documents, among them was the

title of the Signeurie de Beaumont. An account of this fire was signed by the mayor of Quebec

and Gilles. Gilles rebuilt his first house, that he bought of Crevier. He erected a two-story

half-timbered building with rubblework and a gable roof. His second property, that of Miville,

was never rebuilt and served as a courtyard until 1714.

After Gilles's death in 1692, the property passed to his wife Madeleine Morin. In 1714,

Pierre Rivet and his wife, Marie-Madeleine Rageot, purchased the vacant lot property and built

a mansard-roofed stone house with one story facing the square and two stories on rue Sainte-

Pierre. Since the couple did not have any children, they left the property to Marie-Madeleine's

brother, Gilles Rageot-de-Beaurivage, on their death. When Beaurivage died in 1754, the

house went to his widow, Elisabeth Douaire and it remained in her possession until 1782. After

the seige of Quebec by the British in 1759, the house was practically in ruins. Elisabeth had it

rebuilt on the foundations of the old building in 1762, adding one story and a gable roof. It has

retained this appearance to the present day.

Going back to the first property of Gilles, it too was destroyed during the seige of 1759.

It was in the possession of Elisabeth Douaire-Rageot, who lived in the neighboring building

and she decided not to have the house rebuilt and left the lot vacant to use as a courtyard. In

1782, Joseph Drapeau, a rich Quebec City merchant, bought both the the vacant lot and the

adjacent house from Rageot's widow. In 1785, he had a three story stone house built on the

vacant lot and had openings pierced in the stone wall of the neighboring house, which he

occupied, thus joining the two buildings together. He used one of the buildings almost

exclusivly for commercial purposes and lived in the other. This now singular property still

belonged to Drapeau when he died in 1810. It was then purchased by Jacques Cartier, the

father of Georges-Etienne Cartier, and remained in his possession until 1843. In 1843, this

property and that of a neighboring property owned by Pierre Bruneau, became the Hotel

Blanchard until 1932. In 1983, the Bruneau and Rageot-Drapeau houses were restored to their

late 18th

century appearance by the Ministere des Affaires Culturelles. They were designated

by the names of the owner who built them or undertook major renovations at that time and are

open to the public in a major historical area of lower Quebec City called Place Royale at

Quebec.

Gilles also had a perpetual right to a pew in the cathedral of Notre Dame de Quebec that

was built in 1647 to replace the one built by Champlain which had burned to the ground in

1640. The new cathedral was destroyed by fire during the siege of Quebec by the British in

1759. Through his wife, Madeleine Morin, Gilles became the owner of the Arriere-Fief of St-

Luc, in the seigneury of Rivere du Sud. Madeleine was the daughter of Noel Morin and was

born in Quebec December 29, 1656. She married Gilles in Quebec on May 29, 1673, and

from this union were born nine children, three of which followed their father's footsteps and

became clerks of courts and notaries. The Rageot family, therefore occupies an important place

in the history of the profession of notary in Canada. Two other sons of Gilles entered the

priesthood and the last son born in the family, christened Gilles like his father, made his fortune

in business.

APPENDIX A: Segment of Jack Rajotte’s Family Genealogy Page A-9

Gilles died and was buried at Quebec on January 3, 1692, and Madeleine

died on July 22, 1720, in Quebec.

1. Charles Rageot de St-Luc was born on August 12, 1674, in Quebec. He was probably

educated in the Jesuit College and before his studies were completed he began to help

his father in the registry of the provost court. Gilles, although still young, suffered a

great deal from gout. When he died it was, therefore, natural to think of his son as his

successor. On the recommendation of Frontenac and Champigny, the King granted

Charles a commission as clerk of court, dated March 1, 1693. After the customary

investigation as to "character", he was admitted to office by the Conseil Souverian on

December 7 following. Whereas he was not yet 25, the age at which one attained one's

majority, he had to get his mother to stand surely for him before he could practice his

profession.

In 1695 Charles obtained a commission as royal notary, which has not been found. As

clerk of court and royal notary, on occasion appearing for a ligigant before the council,

Charles treading blithely in his father's footsteps, with his future assured, he married

Marie-Genevieve Gauvreau on May 23, 1696. She was the daughter of Nicholas

Gauvreau and was born on September 7, 1678. She bore him four children, two of

whom, both boys, died shortly after their birth.

In the autumn of 1702, Charles, like all his fellow citizens, was getting ready for a

peaceful winter. For example on October 28 he signed a contract with a settler of

Lanson for the purchase of 12 cords of wood at 50 sols a cord. However, an epidemic

of smallpox broke out suddenly, spreading consternation and mourning throughout the

colony. The strongest and most active were not spared and Charles succumbed on

December 18 and his wife followed him on the 26th. On January 5, their youngest

daughter also died. The only survivor was their daughter, Madeline-Genevieve, who

was only 5 years old at the time.

This short existence had certainly not allowed Charles to amass a fortune. True he had

invested 300 livres in the Compagnie de la Colonie, but in 1708 his nephew, Jacques

Rageot, stated that he had "left no assets" His brother Nicholas de la St-Luc succeeded

him as royal notary and clerk of courts. Charles' most notable contribution to his

commission was that he is one of two notaries who signed the last will of Comte de

Frontenac in 1698.

A. Madeleine Genevieve Rageot was born on June 12, 1697, and was only five years old when her

parents died. She became a religious sister at the hospital and took the name of Sister St-

Augustin. She died on May 10, 1723, in Quebec.

B. Catherine Rageot was born on April 24, 1699, and died on January 5, 1703, from the smallpox

epidemic.

C. Augustin Rageot was born on November 2, 1700, and died on the next day.

D. Francois Joseph Rageot was born on November 16, 1701, and died on March 14, 1702.

APPENDIX A: Segment of Jack Rajotte’s Family Genealogy Page A-10

2. Nicolas Rageot de St-Luc was born on August 20, 1676, in lower town Quebec on rue St-

Pierre, where his father owned a house that was destroyed in the terrible fire of August

4, 1682. It is also fairly certain that he attended with brothers the Jesuit College Quebec

where he received a classical education before entering government service as they had

done. In the autumn of 1695 he was one of the guardians in the office responsible for

the "safe guarding of the King's dues" in Canada. He had the task of supervising the

loading and unloading of merchandise at the port and making certain that the levies due

the crown were paid before the ship set sail.

In 1693 his elder brother Charles had replaced his father as clerk of court and in 1695 as

notary. However, he fell victim to the smallpox epidemic which scourged the colony in

1702-3 and died in December of 1702. Nicolas was called upon to succeed him and to

carry on a family tradition that went back to 1666. On March 15, 1703, he was

appointed royal notary and clerk of the provost court of Quebec at the King's discretion

and was admitted to his office two days later. However, he was stricken almost

immediately by the same illness. He died a bachelor on March 31, 1703, apparently

without having had to draw up a single notarical act.

Bishop Laval strongly recommended that Francois, another son of Gilles should

succeed Nicolas to which the King gave his consent the following year. Nicolas also

addressed his last name as Rageot de St-Luc. This was because perhaps he had

inherited the Arriere-Fief of St-Luc after the death of his brother Charles but only had it

a short time as he died a few months later.

3. Philippe Rageot was born on July 11, 1678. He attended the Seminary of Monseigneur

Laval and was later ordained a priest on July 24, 1701. A portrait was made of him and

is supposed to be hanging at the seminary. Father Philippe first became a missonary at

Pentagouet (Old Town, Maine) and then a parish priest at Cap Saint Ignace, I'Islet, Cap

Sante and lastly, the rogent of Kamouraska. He died in Kamouraska on September 11,

1711. Kamouraska is a small town on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River near

the top of Maine. Father Philippe helped build a church made out of stone there,

because earlier churches were frequently burned by the Indians that were still living in

the area. The remains of father Philippe were later buried under the altar of this church

on July 11, 1735. In 1949, a monument was erected about a mile from the center of the

village on the supposed location of this church, in memory of the first settlers and the

parish priest. A holiday was declared at the dedication and among the guests was father

Alphonse Rajotte, O.M.I.(1899-1989), perhaps one of the first genealogists of the

Rajotte family.

4. Charles Jean-Baptiste Rageot-Morin was born on June 11, 1680. He was educated at the

seminary de Monseigneur Laval and ordained a priest in Quebec on July 21, 1700. His

portrait is also supposed to be still hanging at the seminary. Father Charles became a

professor at the Quebec University in 1700 and then a missionary at Portneuf in 1708.

Then he became the parish priest at Cap Sante in 1719. In 1728, while in Cap Sante, he

became very sick and was transferred to Montreal, where on February 26, 1729, he died

at the age of forty-eight.

APPENDIX A: Segment of Jack Rajotte’s Family Genealogy Page A-11

5. Francois Rageot was born on March 3, 1682, in Quebec and was proposed to succeed his

brother Nicholas in 1703. He was installed as recorder of the provostship on June 1,

1704 and then resigned this function in 1707. In 1711 he was appointed a royal notary

and sheriff's officer of the provostship of Quebec. This was also about the same time

Francois took his first wife. She was Genevieve Gautier who he married in Quebec on

November 24, 1711. She was born on August 1, 1681, and was the widow of Michel

Cadde. From this marriage came the only children he ever had. There is an eight year

span between his second and third child. It suggests there may have been other children

born but there is no record of them. Genevieve died on March 30, 1727, at the age of

45.

During his first marriage, Francois was appointed sheriff’s officer of the superior

council in 1724. Four years later he was destituted from the latter office by the

intendant deputy and imprisioned for refusing to publish a decree of the intendant.

Francois was later honorably reinstated in this function from which he resigned in 1731.

This resignation ended a 65 year "tradition" that was never followed by any other

descendant of this family.

Francois then retired to "Pointe a la Caille" which is now known as St-Thomas,

Montangny. Francois married his second wife, Angelique Manseau on August 1, 1727.

She was born on April 4, 1685, and was the widow of Michel Fortier. However,

Francois outlived her as she died on April 8, 1741. On October 16, 1741, Francois

married his third wife. She was Catherine Chevalier, who was born on April 13, 1692,

in Beauport and was the widow of Pierre Latour. She may have outlived Francois when

he died in St-Thomas on April 16, 1754, at the age of 72.

Francois sought to have his two sons established in the Seigneurie de Beaurivage that

his brother Gilles owned, but Gilles would not go along with the idea for some reason.

His sons lived for a while in St-Nicolas but eventually the younger one established

himself in Sorel and later his brother joined him there where they both later died.

A. Francois Rageot was born on September 4, 1712, and married first to Marie Joseph Janson on

November 17, 1739, at Notre-Dame-de-Quebec. They had three children and two of them died

in infancy. Marie was born on June 11, 1716, in Quebec and died on August 29, 1744, at the age

of 28 years.

1. Marie Joseph Rageot was born on August 21, 1740, and died on August 18, 1741.

2. Francois Regis Rageot was born on March 31, 1742. He and his father were the only survivors of

this family when they were listed on the census of 1744 (after August). It is supposed that he

died shortly afterward since there is no further record of him.

3. Joseph Rageot was born on February 20, 1744, and died on August 23, 1744, in the town of

Lorette. This was five days after the death of his mother.

On February 5, 1748, Francois remarried to Genevieve Baudoin in St-Thomas. She was born on May 12,

1708, and was the widow of Claude Cote. Francois and Genevieve had only one child. Her death record

has not been found. Eventually, Francois moved to Sorel where he died on February 14, 1788, at the

home of his sister-in-law, Mrs. Jacques Rageot.

APPENDIX A: Segment of Jack Rajotte’s Family Genealogy Page A-12

1. Joseph Rageot was born in St-Thomas in 1748-49 and died an infant on December 18, 1749.

B. Pierre Michel Rageot was born on September 29, 1715, and died on May 12, 1716.

C. Jacques Rageot was born on March 6, 1723, in Quebec. He moved to Sorel, Quebec in 1749 and

soon married to Genevieve Hus-Paul there on October 9, 1752, and had a large family on his

farm of some sixty arpents. Of fifteen children, four were sons who are solely responsible for all

those named Rajotte or Rashotte in Canada and the United States today. Jacques died in Sorel

on February 7, 1777. The genealogy of his family is continued at the beginning of the second

chapter.

D. Francois Etienne Rageot was born on January 31, 1725, and died on June 25, 1733.

6. Denis Rageot was born on January 19, 1684, and attended the Seminaire de Quebec in 1697

when he was 14. Nothing further is known of him. Some accounts have him dying as

an infant before the year had finished.

7. Gilles Rageot was born on March 15, 1686, and died on October 8, 1687.

8. Gilles Rageot, sieur de Beaurivage, was born on November 25, 1689, in Quebec city. He

deviated from the path followed by his brothers in the royal notary profession and

priesthood, and ventured out into the business field where he accumulated a

considerable fortune. Part of this fortune went for the purchase of an immense land

concession from the Seigneurie de Beauharnois and Hocquart on April 1, 1738. From

this concession, he thought nothing of developing three estates in order to provide for

his three surviving sons. This huge tract of land was approximately some 250 square

miles in size and was situated along the shore and in the vicinity of the Chaudiere Falls

River and the Beaurivage River ran through it. This is where the name Beaurivage

came from and was included in his name. These three sons of Gilles, later failed to

carry out their fathers plans for them. Later, they sold this seigneurie to Alexander

Fraser in 1782 who in turn bequeathed it to his grandson, Walter Davidson. This

seigneurie now contains four parishes established all within its former boundaries; St-

Agapit, St-Narcisse, St-Patrice and St-Gilles de Beaurivage.

Gilles married Elisabeth Douaire de Bondy on February 23, 1724, at Notre-Dame

church in Quebec city. They had seven children and all but three died in infancy and

only one of the others ever married. Gilles died on May 19, 1754, a month after his

brother Francois, and was the last of this generation of the Rageot family. He probably

never set foot in the signeurie he had purchased and gave to his sons.

His wife, who was born in 1693, afterward went to live in St-Nicolas with their son,

Louis. However, she later came to disagree with some of the actions and ways of

Louis's running of the seigneurie and returned to Quebec and died on March 3, 1779.

Gilles lived in the lower city of Quebec and inherited his parents home after the death of

his mother in 1720. When Gilles died in 1754, the home passed on to his wife,

Elizabeth. The home was destroyed in the seige of Quebec city by the British in 1759.

Elizabeth had it reconstructed in 1762 and after her death in 1779, it was inherited by

her two remaining sons. In 1782, they sold it to Joseph Drapeau.

APPENDIX A: Segment of Jack Rajotte’s Family Genealogy Page A-13

Today the subsequent generations of their only married son, as well as the swift running

river which flows through these parishes, have retained to this day, the name of

Beaurivage. In some remote villages of this former seigeurie, there are still to be found,

some obscure individuals who still sign their name as Rageot de Beaurivage, while

others descended from this family live by the name of Rageot or Beaurivage, having

tired of writing the full version and some not knowing any longer from where it came.

A. Joseph Rageot was born on November 19, 1724, and died on December 14, 1724.

B. Charlotte Rageot was born on May 25, 1726, and died on August 1, 1727.

C. Louis Etienne Rageot was born on July 20, 1727, in Quebec and married first it seems, to Cecile

Rondeau and had only one daughter that married in St-Nicolas. Louis and Cecile married in the

1760's, perhaps in St-Antoine. However, in 1773, Cecile died at the age of twenty-six years.

For his second wife, Louis married Marguerite Elmire Marion in St-Nicolas on July 16, 1776, -

or Marguerite Lafontaine as it is in the marriage register. She was about 16 years old at the time

and bore Louis just two sons with only one of them having a family.

The town of St-Nicolas is on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River not far from Quebec.

Louis was the "Sieur de Beaurivage" and owned the seigneurie until 1782 when he sold all but a

few acres to rid himself of debt. His debt was due to the decline of the economy of the French

speaking people after the British takeover in 1759. Louis died in St-Nicolas on July 4, 1797.

Today, all those who still sign their name Rageot or Beaurivage or in the full version, can trace

their ancestry to this one person. The genealogy of this family is continued.

D. Gilles Joseph Rageot was born on November 27, 1728, in Quebec. He was the second son of Gilles

to receive a portion of the estate. However, it is not certain that he ever lived on it as he went to

sea in 1744 at the age of 16. He eventually became the captain of the ship 'Hardy' in the 'Fleet of

Cannon' in 1759. After the conquest of New France by the British, Gilles J. never returned to

Canada and instead established himself in La Rochelle on the coast of France where he probably

later died. Gilles in September of 1782, gave permission to his brother Louis, to sell his portion

of the seigneury to Alexander Fraser, an old Captain of the 84th

Infantry Regiment, for 250

pounds.

E. Louise Rageot was born on December 1, 1730, and died on November 24, 1732.

F. Charles Rageot was born on January 10, 1732. He was the third son to receive a portion of his

fathers estate. Charles never married and died at the General Hospital in Quebec on May 8,

1763, at thirty-one years of age.

G. Anne Elizabeth Rageot was born on August 1, 1734, and died on August 24, 1735.

9. Marie-Madeleine Rageot was born on February 15, 1692, just after the death of her father.

She married Pierre Rivet on November 28, 1708. Pierre was born in Lachine on

February 17, 1684 and was the son of Pierre Cavelier, bourgeois, and Louise-Anne de

Souchet. History does not tell us why Pierre took the name of Rivet, only that he did.

He began to work in the jurisdiction of Montreal in the court where he was a clerk in the

registry from 1699 to 1701 and became the King's acting attorney in the last year. He

then settled in Quebec where in 1704 he was clerk in the provost court registry. In 1707

the head clerk of this court, Francois Rageot, grew tired of his duties and resigned.

Rivet was soon appointed court clerk on November 10, 1707. The King confirmed him

in this office on July 7, 1711, but Rivet resigned on September 17, 1714. Previous to

this on October 12, 1709, he was made royal notary in the jurisdiction of Quebec and

APPENDIX A: Segment of Jack Rajotte’s Family Genealogy Page A-14

took over the place left vacant on the death of Francois Genaple. Rivet had also long

worked under Charles de Monseignat, from 1706 as chief clerk of the tax-farm of the

domaine d'occident, and from June 1, 1713, as clerk in the court registry of the conseil

superieur. When Monseignat died, he succeeded his two functions as director of the

tax-farm on October 21, 1718, and as chief clerk of court of the conseil on November

28, 1718. His appointment as clerk of court was ratified by the King on May 3, 1719.

Rivet was admitted to his office and officially installed that October 9th.

Pierre died on February 8, 1721, at the age of thirty seven years. At the time, he was

head church warden in the parish of Quebec. Marie-Madeleine died two years later in

1723 at the age of thirty one years. There seems to have been no children born to them.

NOTE ADDED BY MIKE RASHOTTE, SUMMER 2010:

See Appendix C for newly uncovered information about the life of Marie-Madeleine as a

widow after Pierre Rivet died.

APPENDIX B: Louis XIV’s Commission to Gilles Rageot (French & A New English Translation) Page B-1

APPENDIX B

Note from Mike Rashotte: This Appendix reproduces the original French text of Louis

XIV’s 1675 Commission to Gilles Rageot.1 Gilles returned to France briefly in

Summer, 1675, to obtain the Commision. A new English translation made by Axel

Kunzmann of Chicago who took an interest in translating this document in 2009 is

provided also. There is another translation in Appendix A as part of Jack Rajotte’s

genealogy.

Louis, par la grâce de Dieu, roi de France et de Navarre, à tous ceux qui ces présentes lettres verront, salut.

Louis, by the grace of God, King of France and of Navarre, to all those who shall see these present letters, greetings.

Étant nécessaire de pourvoir une personne capable pour exercer un des offices de notaire garde-notes dans notre juridiction de Québec, en la Nouvelle-France, et sur le bon et louable rapport qui nous a été fait de la personne de notre cher et bien-aimé monsieur Gilles Rageot et de ses sens, suffisance, capacité, prud’homie et expérience au fait de pratique:

It being necessary to provide a person capable of exercising one of the offices of notary *‘notaire garde-notes’+ in our jurisdiction of Québec, in New France, and because of the good and praise-worthy report that has been made to us of the person of our dear and well-loved mister Gilles Rageot, and of his good sense, ability, capacity, prudence, and practical experience:

À ces causes et autres considérations à ces nous mouvant, nous lui avons donné et octroyé, donnons et octroyons, par ces présentes signées de notre main, un des dits offices de notaire garde-notes en la juridiction de la dite ville de Québec, en la Nouvelle-France, pour le dit office avoir, tenir et exercer conformément à la coutume, prévôté et vicomté de Paris, et en jouir et user aux honneurs, autorités, prérogatives, franchises, gages, droits, profits, revenus et émoluments au dit office appartenans, et ce tant qu’il nous plaira.

1 As found in J.-Edmond Roy (1899) Histoire du Notariat au Canada: Depuis La Fondation De La Colonie

Jusqu’À Nos Jours. Premier Volume. Levis: Imprimé a La Revue du Notariat ( p.63-64)

APPENDIX B: Louis XIV’s Commission to Gilles Rageot (French & A New English Translation) Page B-2

For these reasons and other considerations that move us, we have given and bestowed on him, we do give and bestow, by these presents signed by our hand, one of the said offices of notary in the jurisdiction of the said city of Québec, in New France, to have, hold and exercise the said office conforming to the custom, provostship and viscountcy of Paris, and to enjoy and use the honors, authority, prerogatives, franchises, wages, rights, profits, revenues and emoluments belonging to the said office, and so long as it shall please us.

Si donnons en mandement à nos amés [sic] et féaux les officiers de notre Conseil souverain établi en la dite ville de Québec, qu’après leur être apparu des bonnes vie et mœurs, religion catholique, apostolique et romaine du dit Gilles Rageot, et de lui pris le serment en tel cas requis, ils le mettent, instituent ou fassent mettre, instituer, de par nous, en possession du dit office, et le fassent reconnaître, obéir et entendre de tous ceux et ainsi qu’il appartiendra ès choses concernant le dit office; car tel est notre plaisir. En témoin de quoi nous avons fait mettre notre scel à ces dites présentes.

Thus we give a mandate to our loved [?] and loyal officers of our sovereign Council established in the said city of Québec, that after having appeared to them as being of good life and morals, of catholic, apostolic and Roman religion of the said Gilles Rageot, and having taken from him the oath required in such a case, they place or appoint him, or have him placed or appointed, as by us, in possession of the said office, and that they have him recognized, obeyed and heard in all these things as well as whatever matters may pertain concerning the said office; for such is our pleasure. In witness of which we have had our seal placed on these said presents.

Donné au camp de Casteau de Cambrésis, le dix-septième jour de mai, l’an de grâce mil six cents soixante et quinze, et de notre règne le trente-troisième.

Given at the camp of Casteau de Cambrésis, the seventeenth day of May, the year of grace one thousand six hundred seventy-five, and of our reign the thirty-third.

(Signé) LOUIS

APPENDIX B: Louis XIV’s Commission to Gilles Rageot (French & A New English Translation) Page B-3

Et sur le repli, par le roi:

And on the fold, by the king: (Signé) COLBERT

Et scellé du grand sceau de cire jaune.

And sealed by the great seal of yellow wax.

Registrées suivant l’arrêt de ce jour, pour jouir par le dit monsieur Gilles Rageot du contenu en icelles, à Québec, le vingt-quatrième septembre mil six cents soixante quinze

Registered following the decision of this day, for the said mister Gilles Rageot to benefit by the content of these [presents], at Québec, the twenty-fourth September one thousand six hundred seventy-five

(Signé) PEUVRET

Le roi avait accordé en même temps à Rageot l’assurance de son office de greffier de la prévôté à Québec. Le Conseil supérieur fit prêter de nouveau serment à Rageot, mais le dispensa de l’information de ses vie, mœurs et religion, en considération du temps qu’il exerçait les dits offices (1). Rageot dut faire le voyage de France, pour obtenir cette nomination. Une note signée par lui nous apprend ce fait. Cette note se lit comme suit:

The king had at the same time granted Rageot the assurance of his office of court clerk *‘greffier’+ of the provostship of Québec. The Superior Council had the oath administered again to Rageot, but exempted him from the information of his life, morals and religion, ‘in consideration of the time that he exercised the said offices.’(1) Rageot had to make the voyage to France in order to obtain this appointment. A note signed by him tells us this fact. This note reads as follows:

APPENDIX B: Louis XIV’s Commission to Gilles Rageot (French & A New English Translation) Page B-4

“Le présent registre des insinuations a été paraphé et signé comme dernier feuillet, ce jeudi 19 septembre 1675, jour de mon arrivée et retour en ce pays, par moi greffier soussigné,

RAGEOT”

“The present ‘registre des insinuations’ *register in which official documents were recorded] was initialed and signed as the last page, this Thursday 19 September 1675, the day of my arrival and return to this country, by me the undersigned court clerk,

RAGEOT”

APPENDIX C: Marie-Madeleine Rivet As a Nun Page C-1

APPENDIX C

DOCUMENTATION THAT THE WIDOW MARIE-MADELEINE

RAGEOT RIVET ENTERED THE URSULINE CONVENT AND DIED

THERE AT AGE 31.

Gilles & Marie-Madeleine Morin Rageot’s’s only daughter, Marie-Madeleine, married

Pierre Rivet in 1708, when she was 16 years old and Pierre was 24. He died in 1721, just before

turning 37, leaving his widow to live only two more years when she died at the age of 31 in 1723.

Soon after Pierre’s death, the widow Marie-Madeleine Rageot Rivet entered the Ursuline

Convent in Québec to become a nun. She was buried in the habit of the Ursuline Order in the

choir of the convent. She appears to have been the first nun in the North American Rageots.

This information is not found in Jack Rajotte’s (2003) version of the Rageot Family

History (see Appendix A), but will likely appear in later versions of that work. Evidence about

Marie-Madeleine Rageot Rivet’s end-of-life circumstances is found in Chapter 16 of J.-Edmond

Roy (1899) Histoire du Notariat au Canada: Depuis La Fondation de La Colonie Jusqu’À Nos

Jours. Premier Volume. Levis: Imprimé A La Revue Du Notariat.

Here is the relevant French text on page 138 of Roy’s publication, followed by my

English translation.

En 1722, la veuve de Rivet fut admise aux Ursulines de Québec com postutante. Au

bout de quatre mois, elle demanda le voile, mais tomba malade et mourut. Elle fut enterrée

dans le choeur des religieuses avec l’habit de l’ordre.

In 1722, the widow Rivet entered the Ursulines of Québec as a postulant. After four

months, she requested the veil, but fell sick and died. She was buried in the choir of the convent

with the habit of the [Ursuline] order.

The document also provides information about her will, which was hotly contested by her

brother François Rageot, a notary. The will originally left 1500 livres to the Ursuline

Community. François made such a fuss that the Ursulines gave him 1000 livres of that amount

in order to “buy their peace”.