A Family Raised.

Clément and Marie-Marguerite.

Clément and Marie-Marguerite would bear 13 children over the course of their 42 year marriage. We are descended from two of their sons: Pierre and Paul. Nine of their offspring lived to adulthood and several of them distinguished themselves in the community.

A Noteworthy Family.

Clément remained in the military, and continued to acquire land. From the Jesuits, he received a concession of 60 arpents on 14 February 1714 and 250 arpents on the Côte Saint-Joseph 29 March 1727. He no doubt wished to secure a legacy for his many children.

His standing in the community was such that many called upon him to serve as parrain, or godfather to their children, or as a witness at their weddings.

On 7 May 1720 he was again promoted, this time to Lieutenant. In France, his second cousin Jean-Francois Leriget was a member of King Louis XIV's court. His sons adopted old family names from France including Gourville and De Renom implying links to those noble families. In the 1728 marriage of his son Pierre he is named "monsieur Clement Leriger de Laplante Lieutenant du compagnie du détachement la marine." Likewise, at the 1733 marriage of Paul his parents are called "Clement Lerige Écuyer Sieur de La plant Lieutenant des troupes de la Marine et demoiselle Marie Roy." The family appears on Yves Drolet's "Genealogical Tables of the Quebec Noblesse from the 17th to the 19th Century."

Our French Canadian Ancestors notes that a notarial document dated 12 June 1736 refers to an investment by Sieur de La Plante in an expedition of the explorer Pierre Gaultier de Varennes, sieur de La Vérendrye. La Vérendrye is credited with being the first European to reach North Dakota and the upper Missouri River. The record did not specify whether it was Clément or one of his sons who made the investment, but other documents indicate the family had an avid interest in the lucrative fur trade. La Vérendrye no doubt had an eye toward expanding the territory under the French regime.

A Long Life.

Clément died 05 December and was buried 7 December 1742 at the age of 80.

Son Louis lost his wife Suzanne Hubert in March of 1748. He paid his mother Marie Roy a pension to care for his two sons, Louis and Nicolas.

Marie died a decade later and was buried 2 January 1758. She was 76 years old.