Notes |
- Having left LaRochelle at age 26, Guyon arrived at Port Royal in 1664 where he lived and he married Jeanne Bernard there in 1666.
Guyon, Jeanne and possibly their first two children moved to Chebouctou (later to become Halifax) where he worked in the fur-trading business. His name appears in records of Le Borgne trading company of France and confirms his presence there.
In 1675 he moved to Beaubassin where he sometime shortly thereafter received a land grant near Fort Beausejour, in the seigniory of Michel LeNeuf de Lavalliere, a friend of the family. Thus Guyon took up farming and by 1686 he owned 40 acres of farmland, 20 head of cattle, 12 sheep and 15 pigs... considered quite prosperous for the time.
Jeanne Bernard died about 1682 at Beaubassin. She had given birth to eight children but one had died. There were living, four sons and three daughters.
Guyon married his second wife, Marie-Madeleine Martin in 1683 at Quebec. The marriage took place at his sister Louise's house, who was the wife of Jacques Chaplain. I now have a picture of the marriage document with the signatures of friends and family who were present clearly shown on it. Why the marriage took place at the house, and apparently before a notary as opposed to in a church before a priest, I do not know.
Soon after this marriage, Guyon returned to Beaubassin where he resumed farming. Marie-Madeleine gave him four more children, all daughters. Guyon died relatively young at only 54 years old. Two sons, Gabriel and Sebastien, continued working the farm and remained there until they died.
Jean emigrated to Boucherville and Michel to l'ile d'Orleans. Jean's children were baptized Giasson and thus we will see at that point the branching off of the new name. Michel's first seven children were baptized Chiasson, the last three baptized Giasson. But later, we see the first seven children marrying as Giasson. Clearly this indicates the name change was the result of errant record keeping by the Church. We see a similar name change in Isle St. Jean (now Prince Edward Island) later down the line, when it became Chaisson. In Newfoundland, there are a larger number of variations.
For the record, for those searching other related lines... After the death of Guyon in 1693, in the same year, Marie-Madeleine married her only other spouse, Michel (Dauphine) Deveau. Place of marriage is uncertain although it has been speculated for some time that it was likely at Acadie.
Angelique/Marguerite/Marie ??? - There has been some confusion over the first daughter of Guyon and Marie-Madeleine Martin. Some collections list Angelique, some list Marguerite, some list both. Stephen White's notes, as interpreted for me by Gary Gallant, offer a reasonable explanation. Angelique was baptized at Beaubassin on October 27, 1684, according to the Church registers. In translating White's notes, Gary says, "The next thing is interesting and may be the key to the confusion. According to the Royal Census of Beaubassin in 1686 (Rc. Bbn.) her name now apears to be Marguerite, and she is 3 years old (3a). Then the the Royal Census of 1693 at the age of 8 (8a) she is entered as Marie."
Gary Gallant suggests, and I believe it is the only logical explanation, that she was named Marie-Marguerite at birth. Many girls were named "Marie-?" and in some families, every girl's name started with "Marie-". Her baptismal name was Angelique. In French tradition it is quite common to have taken a "baptismal name". And so, her name after baptism would have officially been Marie-Marguerite Angelique, but was likely called Marie or Marguerite at home. I have chosen to list her as Angelique, only because later when she married, she was married under the name of Angelique, in accordance with Church records. But we now know for certain that the census records do not allow for the possibility of twins or even two separate children, as was once commonly thought. [2]
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