To Lareau Web Parlour

To Lareau Web Parlour Genealogy Page

Clément Lerigé, Sieur de La Plante, the Canadian ancestor of the families Leriger, Dériger, de La Plante, La Plante and Laplante-Courville arrived in the country in 1685 (1) with Monsieur de Denonville, in his capacity as ensign with shoulder lanyard in the Troupes de la Marine. These troops were called this because, in the colonies, they came under the Minister of the Navy. (2)

On the day following the massacre at Lachine, the morning of the 6th of August 1689, La Plante found himself at Fort Rémy, near the old church.

Monsieur de Vaudreuil, entrenched at Fort Roland near the dock of Lachine, gave the order to the garrison at Fort Rémy to join him. As these troops marched down the main road the Iroquois surprised them. Nearly all of the savages who took part were killed. Lieutenant La Rabeyre, La Plante and Villedonné were taken prisoner. Only the future baron of Longueuil, having a broken limb escaped on his own thanks to some friendly savages who carried him on their shoulders (3).

The unfortunate captives, transported beyond Lake St- Louis, suffered all the rage of the cruel victors. Many of them suffered torture and were burned. The others were carried to Onnontagué (4) "where they were made to walk for a long time on a bed of live coals" (5).

However, La Plante and Villedonné were spared. The enemy judged them more useful alive than sacrificed; enslaved - servants and porters in the combat expeditions of the Indians- this is what became of the two young officers (6).

For the ancestor this servitude lasted more than two years. Of necessity he adapted himself to this new life and familiarized himself with the Indian languages (7).

A French party commanded by Monsieur de Beaucourt freed him in an attack on the Iroquois near the island of Tonihata (8) in February 1692.

Charlevoix who reported the incident (9) wrote that "not having been recognized at first sight in his Indian clothes, (La Plante) we thought to have him killed as an Iroquois".

The same year, Frontenac made him an infantry ensign. This nomination was confirmed by Louis XIV in an order dated the 1st of March 1693 (10).

On 25 July 1700 Clément Lerigé, in garrison at the fort at St-Lambert, acquired 150 acres of land from Pierre Bourdeau in an area situated "in the locality of La Tortue" (The Turtle) in the seigneury of la Prairie de la Magdeleine (11).

From then on he dreamed of settling down, because a few weeks later, on 8 September (1700) La Plante married Marie Roy, daughter of Pierre Roy and Catherine Ducharme, inhabitants of St-Lambert. The simple and discreet ceremony - remember that the king's orders forbade officers from marrying a young lady without a dowry - took place in the chapel of Ste-Vierge at St-Lambert.

Here is the record in its entirety:

"The year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred, the eighth of September. I, the undersigned, Louis de LaFaye, curate of the parish of St. Francois-Xavier at La Prairie de la Magdeleine, certify having given the benediction of marriage after having received from Monsieur Dolier, grand-vicar of the diocese, a written dispensation of all banns to Clément Lerigé, officer of a detachments of marines, known also as Laplante, and to Marie Roy, in the Chapel of Ste-Vierge at St. Lambert, in the presence of Pierre Roy, inhabitant of St, Lambert, Andre Babeu and Claude Chartier who stated that they did not know how to sign. The said Clément Lerigé signed a draft copy, the Register being unavailable, which I affirm to be true, and in faith of which I have signed this day, the ninth of September in the present year, one thousand seven hundred.

Louis de LaFaye, Year of our Lord, one thousand seven hundred." (12)

Marie Roy was only 19 at the time of the marriage: the husband was well into his thirties. When the military authorities got wind of the affair, they informed Versailles. The king stripped La Plante but restored him in rank a short time later (13). (1702-1703)

During the years that followed, the ancestor, established at Laprairie, raised his large family.

It was not until 1720 that he was promoted to lieutenant (14).

Clément Lerigé received three concessions of land from the Jesuits, seigneurs of La Prairie de la Magdeleine. The first, on 4 February 1714, of an area of 60 acres (15); the second, on 9 June 1721, an area of 90 acres (16); the last and the more important, on 29 March 1727, of an area of about 250 acres (17).

One notes the presence of the officer in several civil documents in Canada, whether he appears as a godfather or as a witness. Thus, on 20 April 1705 at Laprairie, we see him at the marriage of his brother-in -law, Pierre Roy, with Angélique Faye. And at the marriage of René Bourassa with Agnès Gagné on 23 October 1710 at Laprairie (18). Etc.

He would know the joy of holding at the baptismal font his grandson, René-Clément, child of Catherine, and his granddaughter, Elizabeth, child of Pierre. The ancestor will also be the godfather of numerous children of the area colonists, to whom he will sometimes give his name: Clément Lafontaine, son of Jean and Madeleine Roy, baptised on 30 August 1711; Clément Hardy, son of Michel and Judith Laverdure on 15 May 1723. Etc.

The top one from the records of the notary Adhémar on 25 July 1700. The bottom one from the records of the notary Barette on 28 September 1721.

After more than fifty years in the service of his king and for the glory of France in this distant colony, the first Leriger in Canada gently passed away in the peace of the Lord in December 1742. Surrounded by children of his children, in this immense and rich country of America, he could only foresee a future filled with promises. This venerable patriarch bequeathed to his descendants a heritage of Faith, of honour and of culture.

"The year one thousand seven hundred and forty two, the seventh day of December, I the undersigned priest have buried in the cemetery of this parish the body of Clement Lerigé, Squire, Sieur de la Plante, former Lieutenant of troops, deceased the evening before, at the age of eighty or thereabouts in Communion with our Holy Mother Church and furnished with the sacraments; in the presence of Etienne Bariteau and André Banlier who declared that they could not sign their names to this inquiry." Jacques Desligneris Priest". (19)

The companion of his life, Marie Roy, lived on for numerous years. She was buried on 2 January 1758 at Laprairie, also at the age of 80 years.

A scholarly work published some years ago on an ancient noble family of France, certain documents that we were quite happy to discover, and the invaluable support of Rev. Father Archange Godbout, O.F.M., allows us today to establish the origin of the first Leriger who came to New France.

In 1927 the priest J.-Fl. Chevalier, first secretary, archivist of the diocese of Angoulême (20) and historian of great importance, produced a remarkable work, published by F. Dubois at Ruffec (Charente), France, entitled "GOURVILLE ET SA FAMILLE". (21)

In this volume, an entire chapter is devoted to the Lériget family, root of the Canadian families, linked in France with the Hérauld de Gourville families. We have extracted the following passages:

"FAMILLE LERIGET"
"The Lériget family is originally from the town of La Rochefaucauld where one finds it established from the XVth century. It has provided to the Church several priests and canons, to the army, valiant officers, and also two distinguished members of the Académie Française (French Academy). Its alliances with the Mesturas and Hérauld de Gourville families, and the untanglings in a long court case on the subject of the inheritance of Pierre Lériget de la Ménardie, Receiver General of Finances for Dauphiné province, had made clear the necessity of establishing the genealogy of this family. "To see this work through to a successful conclusion, we used an important document entitled: "Extracts of the baptisms, marriages, and deaths of Messrs Lériget, written originally on the books of the ancient Bible" (A reference explains: This document comes from the archives of the Château de Ribérolle; it is part of the dossier concerning the La Ménardie inheritance related in the preceding chapter, and is much easier to read than the original text written in the old bible in-quarto (in-quarto = pages folded in four). It was obligingly passed on to us by Madame the Baroness de Ribérolle, to whom we offer our thanks, praying that she will find here the expression of our respectful gratitude.) "In this sort of "book of reason" taking up the pen in succession were, first Pierre Lériget, then his children: Jean, canon - Roch, sieur de La Faye - Antoine, sieur de La Taillandière -Jean, sieur de L'archier. The writers speak in the first person and mention their parental relationships with the godfathers and godmothers of their children and with their deceased. The other sources on which we have drawn are indicated as footnotes. When, in 1742, the great- grandson of Roch Lériget de La Faye, Jean-François, the King's governmental secretary and lieutenant colonel in the Royal-Comtois Regiment, now the "high and powerful lord, Marquis de La Faye", wanted the genealogy of his family drawn up by d'Hozier, he had the utmost difficulty in providing titles dating back to his great-grandfather; he was even mistaken about the identity of his great-grandfather, and in this he misled d'Hozier himself ." (Pages 161ff) We shall summarize certain pages of the book so as to better present the ascendance of the Canadian ancestor. (Pages. 164ff) "A certain Lériget, living at the beginning of the XVIth century, and living in the town of La Rochefoucauld, Parish of Notre Dame, had at least two children: a daughter, Françoise, married to Léonard Albert; and a son who followed and continued the descendance."
II
"N.... Lériget, burgher of La Rochefaucauld, married about 1560 to Jeanne Albert, (of the Alberts of La Marvalière), sister of Léonard." Of this marriage were born: 1. Jean L., Sieur des Ménardières, de Rocheberthier et de Larchier; 2. Jeanne. 3. Louise. 4. Françoise. 5. Jean. 6. Marie. 7. Anne. 8. Pierre, who follows.
III
"Pierre Lériget, merchant, burgher of La Rochefoucauld, married in 1582 Louise Thuet, daughter of Pierre and Julienne Moulin (An aside: Julienne Moulin is called 'mother-in-law' of Pierre Lériget at his baptism in 1683. She belonged to the family Moulin des Mérigots), (Pierre Lériget) died on 12 August 1610 and was buried the same day in the church of Notre-Dame de La Rochefoucauld; Louise Thuet died the 30th of January 1616 'after having received the sacraments of the church prescribed for all good Christians...(etc.) and was buried close to her spouse." They had nine children: six boys and three girls: 1. Jean, a priest. 2. Roch, sieur de La Faye, born and baptized in 1585 (de La Faye branch). 3. Jeanne, born in 1588. 4. Pierre, 1591, a priest. 5. Antoine, sieur de La Taillandière, born the 1st of September 1593, baptized the next day, and who follows below. 6. Simon, 1595, died at the age of two. 7. Jeanne, born 1598. 8. Marie, 1600. 9. Jean, sieur de Larchier, 1605.
IV La Taillandiére Branch
Antoine Lériget, Sieur de La Taillandière, in Taponnat, the fifth child of Pierre (Lériget) and Louise Thuet, first married, about 1618, Suzanne Chazeaud, and in the second marriage, before 1631, Andrée Mesturas, widow of Pol Le Sueur, and daughter of N...Mesturas, sieur de La Plante, in Saint-Claud, and died in July 1645. He had from the first marriage: 1. Louise, 1619. 2. Jeanne, 1622. 3. Jean, 1624. And from the second marriage: 4. Paul, sieur de La Plante, who follows below. 5. Antoine, 1632. 6. Jean, who also continued the line. 7. Jeanne, 1636. 8. Louise.
V
Paul Lériget, sieur de La Plante, lived in the village of Chez-Chadiat, parish of Saint-Claud, married two times: on 20 July 1653 by contract accepted by Dufouilloux, notary, to Jacquette Bosdin, daughter of Jacques Bosdin and Marie Moreau, and the second union on 2 September 1660 by contract accepted by Grassin, notary, to Mauricette du Souchet, daughter of Jean, sieur du Bourg, and Marguerite Delavalade, from Montbron. On page 44, while giving the origins of the name La Plante, Father Chevalier explains how this name was passed on to the Lériget family. "La Plante was a small estate situated in the below- named parish (Saint-Claud) belonging to the Mesturas, and which, by the marriage of Andrée Mesturas with Pol Le Sueur, in the first instance, and then with Antoine Lériget afterwards, it was passed into these two families; with the result that in the period in which we are engaged, two sons of Andrée Mesturas, Jacques Le Sueur and Paul Lériget, were both entitled as sieurs de La Plante; the latter lived at the village of Chez-Chadiat, and it was in this hamlet..."

It is to the prodigious memory of Monsieur Raoul Raymond, distinguished researcher, that we owe the good fortune of having been able to locate in a particular library a copy of "GOURVILLE ET SA FAMILLE". The book abounds with notes on the Lérigets; we have only extracted that which is essential for this study (22).

It was the custom in this period that a son adopt the territorial name of the father. As Paul V is the first Lériget to take the name of La Plante--brought into the family by his mother, Andrée Mesturas--Clément Lerigé, Sieur de La Plante, [who] came to Canada, must be no other than a son of this Paul Lériget.

We know that the latter contracted two marriages. Who therefore was the mother of Clément, the first or the second wife of his father? Now, the burial record of the first Canadian ancestor, 7 December 1742, at Laprairie mentions that he died at the age of eighty or thereabouts. Persons of a certain age, are inclined to add to their age, rather than make themselves younger, so we can fix the birth of Clément to a date subsequent to 1662. Mauricette du Souchet, who Paul married in 1660 (Contract Grassin, notary) would therefore be the mother of the officer of the Troupes de la Marine.

In the notes already produced, and which we owe to Father Chevalier, the Rev. Archange Godbout, author of the "ORIGINES DES FAMILLES CANADIENNES- FRANCAISES" (23), has willingly supported the opinion that we expressed concerning the origins of Clément Lerigé. The Canadian ancestor, therefore, must have come from the Angoumois area, a former French province, which today is partially included in the Département of la Charente.

Let's now see what else is revealed in the Canadian Archives.

Antoine Rougier (or Rougieu) dit Lafrance, soldier in the company of Monsieur de Noyan, and Catherine Roy, laid their contract of marriage before the notary Antoine Adhémar on 24 May 1699. Clément Lerigé, who is "witness" for the intended, signed it. In this record, Rougier is said to be originally from Marthon, bishopric of Angoulême. And Marthon is found about twenty kilometers from St-Claud. By the marriage of La Plante with Marie Roy in 1700, the two men become brothers-in-law. When Rougier, widower of Catherine Roy, remarried with Jeanne Lafaye-Lafayette on 3 July 1702 at Laprairie, the officer again served him as witness.

At the baptism of one of the children of this couple, 19 August 1706, Lerigé, godfather of the newly-born, gave him his name, Clément (24).

Later, in 1740, Jean-Baptiste, son of Clément Lerigé, would marry Catherine, daughter of Antoine Rougier and Jeanne LaFaye.

Do not the ties which are created by a common origin explain this long friendship which existed between the two men?

We have seen that the family Lériget in France was linked to the Hérauld de Gourville families. Once more, we are able to establish a parental relationship between the Lériget families of France and the Canadian ancestor in the fact that a son, Gilbert (25), and a grandson, Jean-Louis (26), of Clément Lerigé carried this name of Gourville.

On this point let us consult another document. In his contract of marriage with Perrine Lefebvre Duplessis- Fabert, on 8 July 1713 at Montréal, François Hérauld, sieur de St-Michel (27), is called the son of François Hérauld, squire, seigneur de Gourville and other places (28). Some outstanding figures of the time were present at the signing of this contract: the Vaudreuil, Longueuil, Begon, de Ramezay, etc., etc. However, La Plante is also present at the signing. And what is better; when the sieur de St-Michel and Perrine Duplessis-Fabert, his wife, brought a son to be baptized on 8 October 1716, at Montréal, it is Marie, daughter of sieur La Plante, who will be the godmother.

Moreover, in the above-mentioned marriage contract, appearing for the groom is another interesting character for this study. Lieutenant Michel Dupont, sieur De Renom, is said to be the first cousin of the intended. Since the Duponts of France are relatives by marriage (29) with the Hérauld de Gourville family, and by this fact linked with the Lérigets, must one then be surprised to see another son of Clément, Joseph-Marie, add De Renom (Dernon) to the end of his patronymic name (30).

Lerigé is only a variation of Lériget, as Duguet has become Duguay, etc.

In order to better identify the two branches of the family Lériget which were formed by the marriage of Pierre Lériget and Louise Thuet, great-grandparents of Clément, the following table has been drawn up.

1. A letter from the governor de Callières to the Minister (4 November 1702) reveals that La Plante has been in the country 17 years.

2. Le Jeune: DICTIONNAIRE GENERAL DU CANADA. vol. II, p. 242.

3. "Collection of what has happened in Canada on the subject of the war , as it pertains to the English and the Iroquois, since the year 1682". Published by la Société Historique et Littéraire de Québec, 1871, pages 24 and 25. The author would be Gédéon de Catalogne, according to Mgr. Tanguay.

4. Country of the Iroquois situated in the state of New-York, south of Lake Ontario.

5. Father de Belmont (HISTOIRE DU CANADA). Manuscript conserved at the Bibliothèque du Roi in Paris. Published by la Société Historique et Littéraire de Québec, 1st series 1838-40-43-61. See also La HONTAN, vol. I, page. 193.

6. La Plante was "enseigne réformé (out of service)" since 1688. The notes of M. J.-B. René Laplante, present Clerk of the House of Commons in Ottawa, as seen in an article of Monsieur E.-Z. Massicotte, in B.R.H*., 1927, pp. 729ff, served as a point of departure for our work on the family Leriger.

7. "...where they (La Plante and de la Chauvignerie) learned the language of which one could not have too many interpretors...". Letter of the governor de Callières to the minister, 4 November 1702.

8. Between Brockville and Kingston, according to Monsieur E.-Z. Massicotte. B.R.H., 1927, p. 730.

9. CHARLEVOIX, vol. II, p. 112.

10. Archives of Ottawa. Colonies B, vol. 16, p. 16 v.

11. Office records of Antoine Adhémar.

12. REGISTRE DE LAPRAIRIE, 1700. According to an identical copy preserved in the Judicial Archives of Montréal.

13. Archives of Ottawa. Colonies F-3, vol 8, tome 3, p. 299 (COPY). Collection Moreau de St-Méry. Archives of the Colonies. Vol 222, Alphabet Laffilard, p. 271. OTTAWA.

14. Archives of Ottawa. Colonies B, vol. 42, p. 432.

15. Office records of Barette.

16. Office records of Le Pallieur.

17. Office records of Barette. Our thanks to Monsieur Jean-Jacques Lefebvre for having informed us about this important document. We are also grateful to him for the instructions given, and the assistance provided in our research at the office of the Archives judiciaires de Montréal.

18. René Bourassa will marry a second time, some twelve years later, Catherine, daughter of Clément Lerigé.

19. REGISTRE DE LAPRAIRIE, 1742.

20. Annuaire Général du Clergé de France (Annual Journal of the French Clergy), 1938.

21. Imprimerie (Printing Office) F. Dubois at Ruffec (Charente).

22. This copy is now in the Bibliothèque Municipale in the city of Montréal.

23. The Rev. Father Archange Godbout was not able to locate the baptismal document of Clément Lerigé in the course of his research in France. However, numerous gaps exist in the registers of this region.

24. REGISTRE DE LAPRAIRIE, 1706.

25. Godfather of Marie-Louise, daughter of his brother Pierre and of Marie-Louise Lacroix, on 4 September 1729, he is named "Gilbert Courville (deformation of Gourville) Sr. de la Plante".

26. "Louis Gourville de Laplante, écuyer" at the burial on 9 March 1802 at Laprairie.

27. "St-Michel--Gourville". Tanguay, Vol. IV, p. 491.

28. B.R.H., 1940, pp. 227-228.

29. Ibid.

30. "Dernon" in the marriage contract on 12 February 1752 before Jean-Baptiste Adhémar. His son was also named Dernon and "de Renom"; his record of burial on 3 October 1833 at Laprairie, called him "Joseph Leriger de La Plante dit De renom". For more on Michel Du Pont, sieur de Renom and St-Pierre, see B.R.H., 1940, p. 236.

* B.R.H.: BULLETIN DES RECHERCHES HISTORIQUE DE LA PROVINCE DE QUEBEC.