René Lepage de Ste-Claire
Encyclopedia
Ouanne
Ouanne is a commune in the Yonne department in Burgundy in north-central France.Ouanne is also the name of a long river of approximately , taking its source in the vicinity, tributary of the right shore of Loing.-History:...
, Burgundy - August 4, 1718, Rimouski, Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
) is the lord-founder of the town of Rimouski, province of Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
.
Origin
Born close to AuxerreAuxerre
Auxerre is a commune in the Bourgogne region in north-central France, between Paris and Dijon. It is the capital of the Yonne department.Auxerre's population today is about 45,000...
in Burgundy, René Lepage immigrated to New France
New France
New France was the area colonized by France in North America during a period beginning with the exploration of the Saint Lawrence River by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Spain and Great Britain in 1763...
, with his mother Reine Loury and his aunt Constance Lepage, between 1670 and 1674. There, he joined his father Germain and his uncle Louis, who were installed on grounds of the current parish of St-François, at the north-eastern point of the Île d'Orleans
Île d'Orléans
Île d'Orléans is located in the Saint Lawrence River about east of downtown Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. The island was one of the first parts of the province to be colonized by the French, and a large percentage of French Canadians can trace ancestry to early residents of the island...
, close to Quebec City
Quebec City
Quebec , also Québec, Quebec City or Québec City is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in Quebec after Montreal, which is about to the southwest...
. On June 10, 1686, René Lepage married Marie-Madeleine Gagnon, 15 years old, with whom he had 17 children.
The acquisition of Rimouski
Like several of his fellow-citizens, René dreamt to build a great stronghold for his family. With this intention, he left the Île d'OrléansÎle d'Orléans
Île d'Orléans is located in the Saint Lawrence River about east of downtown Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. The island was one of the first parts of the province to be colonized by the French, and a large percentage of French Canadians can trace ancestry to early residents of the island...
to go live on the coast. On March 17, 1693, the Governor of New France
Governor of New France
The Governor of New France was the viceroy of the King of France in North America. A French noble, he was appointed to govern the colonies of New France, which included Canada, Acadia and Louisiana. The residence of the Governor was at the Château St-Louis in the capital of Quebec City...
, Louis de Buade, Count of Frontenac
Louis de Buade de Frontenac
Louis de Buade, Comte de Frontenac et de Palluau was a French soldier, courtier, and Governor General of New France from 1672 to 1682 and from 1689 to his death in 1698...
, conceded to him a ground in commoner's condition located behind stronghold of Espinay at the South river, which they called Sainte-Claire. From this moment he added this part to his name, as was the fashion of the time, even without ennoblement.
Too far away from the Saint Lawrence River
Saint Lawrence River
The Saint Lawrence is a large river flowing approximately from southwest to northeast in the middle latitudes of North America, connecting the Great Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean. It is the primary drainage conveyor of the Great Lakes Basin...
, he gave up his project of colonization the following year. Indeed, July 10, 1694, René Lepage de Ste-Claire exchanged his ground in the Île d'Orléans
Île d'Orléans
Île d'Orléans is located in the Saint Lawrence River about east of downtown Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. The island was one of the first parts of the province to be colonized by the French, and a large percentage of French Canadians can trace ancestry to early residents of the island...
(bequeathed by his father Germain) with Augustin Rouer de la Cardonnière, son of a merchant of Quebec City
Quebec City
Quebec , also Québec, Quebec City or Québec City is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in Quebec after Montreal, which is about to the southwest...
, for the Seigneurie of Rimouski. Rouer de la Cardonnière, owner of the concession since 1688 did not intend obviously to leave the area of Quebec City
Quebec City
Quebec , also Québec, Quebec City or Québec City is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in Quebec after Montreal, which is about to the southwest...
to go to settle so far.
The expansion of the Seigneurie
It's two years later than René comes to install his family in Rimouski. His wife, Marie-Madeleine Gagnon, 15 years his junior, follows him with their first 4 children: Pierre de St-Barnabé, born in 1687 and who will succeed to him; Marie, born in 1689; Louis de Ste-Claire, born in 1690, who will be ordered priest and will become the future Lord of TerrebonneTerrebonne
Terrebonne, meaning good earth in French, is a name of several places in North America:Canada*Terrebonne, Quebec, a suburb of Montreal*Terrebonne , a Quebec provincial electoral districtUnited States...
; and finally Guillaume, the youngest, who will die in low age in 1701, towards the 10 years age.
In 1696, they are the first inhabitants of this seigniory, with some other parents. In order to leave in heritage advantageous grounds with his children, René thus acquires, with other nearest relatives, Pierre Lessard and Gabriel Thibierge inter alia, other pieces of seigniories, extending from Grand-Métis, l'Anse-aux-Coques, Father's Point, St-Barnabé to the Hâtée river. All these transactions are supplemented about 1701. One thus realizes that Lepage de Ste-Claire did not want to waste time to establish his family durably. He is, at this date, the Lord of a territory of more than 50 km of sea front on the littoral of St-Lawrence river.
The heritage
Of René Lepage's progeny, four girls will become nuns, his eldest son, Pierre de St-Barnabé, will take the seigniory and will clear it with the profit of his family, and his second boy, Louis Lepage de Ste-Claire , priest and canon, was born in St-François from the Ile d'OrleansÎle d'Orléans
Île d'Orléans is located in the Saint Lawrence River about east of downtown Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. The island was one of the first parts of the province to be colonized by the French, and a large percentage of French Canadians can trace ancestry to early residents of the island...
. He will acquire the seigniory of Terrebonne
Terrebonne, Quebec
Terrebonne is an off-island suburb of Montreal, in western Quebec, Canada. It is located on the north shores of the Rivière des Mille-Îles and of the Rivière des Prairies, North of Montreal and Laval....
on September 2, 1720. He quickly developed the land surrounding Mille-île river; he would construct a church with a presbytery, four flour mills and a lumber mill, which will be the departure of an important industrial center in New France
New France
New France was the area colonized by France in North America during a period beginning with the exploration of the Saint Lawrence River by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Spain and Great Britain in 1763...
, after Quebec City
Quebec City
Quebec , also Québec, Quebec City or Québec City is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in Quebec after Montreal, which is about to the southwest...
and Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
.
The descendants of René Lepage have settled across North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
, from Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
to the south-west of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
over these past 320 years.