Antoine Marie Leduc and Jeanne Faucheaux

In the 17th century, my great grandparents sailed to New France after leaving loved ones behind in their homeland in France. Although the two did not sail together, they eventually met, married, began raising a family, and settled in Sainte-Anne-de-la-Perade.

In the 17th century, my great grandparents sailed to New France after leaving loved ones behind in their homeland in France. Although the two did not sail together, they eventually met, married, began raising a family, and settled in Sainte-Anne-de-la-Perade.

In 1643, my 9x great grandfather, Antoine Marie Leduc, was born in Louvetot, Rouen, Normandy, France. He was the son of Jean Leduc and Jeanne Franscoise Desobrie.  

As a teen in 1656, Antoine traveled from Dieppe to Quebec on the ship the Saint-Sebastion.  That same year he signed an agreement to serve Pierre Denys Sieur de la Ronde for one year. In 1666, the census showed that seventeen-year-old Antoine worked as domestic help for Claude Herline in Trois-Rivieres

Sometime in 1649, Jeanne was born; she was the daughter of Noel Faucheux and Jacquette Trion. In 1671, at the age of twenty-two, Jeanne Faucheaux arrived in Quebec after sailing from Saint-Pierre-es-Liens in Huisseau-sur-Mauves in Orleans, Orleanais, France. She came to the New World as a King’s Daughter; this venture sent about 800 women to New France. The women married the soldiers and frontiersman. Although no records were found, it was believed that Jeanne and Antoine married that same year. The couple had three children, Marie Francoise (1675), Jean Baptiste (1678), and Pierre Charles (1680).

Antoine worked as a fur trapper and a farmer. On May 15, 1682, he and four men, Louis Dandonneau, Paul Desmarais, Jean Morneau, and Michel Desrosiers banded together for a fur trading expedition to the Outaouais. 

They proclaimed if one died during the trip, the survivors would bring back his share of furs. At Teiagon, (Baby Point, Montreal), they were attacked by the Iroquois as they headed to Michillimakinac. From that point on Antoine was not heard from again. His widow, Jeanne, remarried Pierre Vaillant on February 29, 1888. In 1689, Pierre and Jeanne had one son, Pierre Rene Vaillant.

The King’s Daughters

Works Cited

“Antoine Leduc.” Association Des Familles Leduc D’Amérique, 2014,

http://www.leducamerique.org/ancetres.html.

Edmund West, comp. Family Data Collection – Births, Ancestry.com Operations Inc. Provo, UT, 

2001, search.ancestry.com/search/ db.aspx?dbid=5769.

Edmund West, comp. Family Data Collection – Deaths, Online Publication – Provo, UT, USA: 

Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2009., 2001, search.ancestry.com/search/ 

db.aspx?dbid=5771.

Edmund West, comp. Family Data Collection – Marriages, Ancestry.com Operations Inc, Provo, 

UT, USA, 2001, search.ancestry.com /search/db.aspx?dbid=5774.

Gagné Peter J. King’s Daughters and Founding Mothers: the Filles Du Roi, 1663-1673. Quintin

Publications, 2003.

Gale Research. U.S. and Canada, Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s

Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. Provo, UT, USA, 2010, search.ancestry.com/search 

/db.aspx?dbid=7486.

Hider, Arthur H. “La Vérendrye at the Lake of the Woods.” Wikipedia Commons, Wikimedia Foundation,

30 Sept. 2010, commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:La_V%C3%A9rendrye.jpg.

Langlois, Michel. Dictionnaire Biographique Des ancêtres québécois (1608-1700). Maison Des ancêtres

québécois, 1998.

Quebec, Canada, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1968.” Birth, Marriage and 

Death Records – Ancestry.ca, Online Publication – Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com

Operations Inc, 2008., search.ancestry.ca/search/db.aspx?dbid=1091.

“Quebec, Genealogical Dictionary of Canadian Families (Tanguay Collection), 1608-1890.” 1920 

Census | 1920 US Federal Census Records | Ancestry.com, Ancestry.com Operations Inc,

2011, search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=2177.

Le What?

À vaillant coeur rien d’impossible. -Jacques Cœur

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One family name that I have often found spelled in different ways is the La Duke surname. To date, I have discovered Le Duc, La Duc, and, of course, La Duke. Even the capitalization was sometimes different too, for I have also uncovered Le duc, La duc, and La duke. And sometimes the names did not contain any spaces at all; the names were spelled Leduc, Laduc,  Laduke, and La Decue. Continue reading “Le What?”

Marie Anne Lagou: A New Life in New France

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Sainte-Augustine-de-Desmaures, Quebec

About 1652, my ninth grandmother, Marie Anne Lagou was born to Pierre Lagou and Marie Boiscochin in the parish of Saint-Etienne in Le Mans, Maine. At the age of 18, after her father’s death, she left her home and sailed to New France under the sponsorship of King Louis XIV of France. Later, she would become known as a filles du roi, or a King’s Daughter. She left France to marry and settle in the wilderness in the New World that France longed to develop. My grandmother arrived in Quebec in 1670 with a dowry of 200 livres. Continue reading “Marie Anne Lagou: A New Life in New France”

The King’s Daughters

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The arrival of the Brides by Eleanor Fortescue-Brickdale

As she stood on the ship’s deck, the wind tugged at her hair, pulling it free from the combs and pins that tried to keep rebellious strands in place. She viewed the harbor and the lands before her. The beating of her heart quickened as she thought about the strange new life that waited for her. She could hardly imagine what secrets this new land presented; where would she live? What would her new life offer? Mostly, she wondered about her future husband, and her bewilderment consumed her. Continue reading “The King’s Daughters”