Their Sons.

Moïse, Our Ancestor.

Our ancestor Moïse Dupuis appears in the 1681 census twice. The eight year old is listed with his parents as expected in Saint-Augustin, but is seen again in the home of Louis Rouer de Villeray, first councillor in the Conseil Souverain, part of the governing body of the colony. He was serving as a domestique or servant. In a world where it was not uncommon for parents to seek a position for their child it was a fine placement for their son. Villeray had land outside ville de Québec's porte Saint-Louis between the Grand Allée and the Saint-Lawrence river. It was a distance of about 14 miles or a ½ day walk from the Dupuis family home. When he grew older, like his brother, he would become a coureur de bois. But unlike René, Moïse headed south.

René, the Oldest Son.

On 6 June 1695, eight months after his marriage to Angélique Marie dit Saint-Marie, René signed on as an engagé ouest, that is, he agreed to transport supplies by way of canoe to the traders far to the west in exchange for their bounty of animal furs. It was a demanding task that would take the 24 year old away for several weeks as he paddled a canoe to complete the round trip from Montréal to Michilimackinac and back. Other researchers have referred to him as coureur de bois, which is the term for an unlicensed trader striking out on his own. Depending on one's perspective this represented a breakdown in the social order or the mark of an intrepid nature.

Unfortunately for René riches were not to be as only his debts grew. His wife was left to tend house for his father as it soon became apparent that René would not realize huge profits from his trades. To his father's chagrin he lost a good deal of money.

He and Angélique were married 20 years and had a dozen children before her death in 1714. He remarried Madeleine Clément two years later. René did purchase a farm along the river, and later, after the death of his father, took the position of captain of the militia from 1725 to 1735. All men were required to serve and they chose their captains. The duties, in addition to training men to defend the colony, included some duties of local sheriff. René died 1 January 1739.

François' Will.

Georgette passed away in LaPrairie on 24 January 1700 at the age of 55.

As François approached his 70's he met with the notary Michel Lepailleur in Montréal to set his affairs in order. With his wife gone, he chose to divide his land equally among his three surviving children, René, Moïse and Marie-Anne, as was the custom. He bequeathed his furnishings and livestock to the children of René "to assure their support and subsistence" and in an unusual move stated "it is understood that Rene Dupuis by his enterprises as a voyageur in which he has had misfortune and finds himself burdened with debt… and to prevent the dissipation of the bequest he is to receive, and to preserve the said bequest for the family and for the advantage of the aforesaid children… it is ordered that the said Rene Dupuis cannot dispose, sell, alienate nor contract away any of these bequests…".

Though François set aside money for his Mass and asked to be buried in the church at LaPrairie his date of death is not recorded but obviously occurred after he signed his will on 2 June 1707.