Anne Leper.

Marriage to Anne Leper.

Their marriage record has not been found, but it is believed François Pinsonneau and Anne Leper were married in 1673. Without the marriage record Anne's origin and the names of both their parents are unknown. She was among the filles du roi who boarded l'Espérance for the voyage across the ocean and arrived in Québec on 3 September 1673. Our ancestor Marguerite Girard was also a passenger.

Their first child, Pierre, was born in April 1674 and baptized in Sorel. A list of Personnes confirmées à St. Ours Contrecœr in 1676 includes: 1. Louis de St Ours 2. Pierre Pinçonneau 3. Anne Le pair (Lepère ou Leber). Note: Alternate spellings abound, the name is also commonly found as Pinsonnault and Pinsono.

During the six years they owned the land he worked hard building a home for his family. The first years were spent clearing woodlands for fields for farming. In the 1681 census he reports that nine arpens were under cultivation. François was 36 (born about 1646), Anne 34 (born about 1647) and their three children included Pierre 7; Anne 3; Marguerite 1. They owned three cows or goats.

Our ancestor Jacques was born in Saint-Ours the following year on 13 March 1682 and baptized six days later as "Jean". The couple had a total of seven children including François in 1684 and Agnès in 1687. She does not however appear in later records.

Under Attack.

In the summer of 1691 the Iroquois assaulted the villagers of Saint-Ours and Contrecœr over a period of eight days. Priests indicated that on 11 August 1691 they buried 14 soldiers and habitants who were not recognized. Many of the residents, our ancestors among them, fled their homes abandoning the land they had nurtured. The Pinsonneaus appear in Montréal in January 1693 at the baptism of their daughter Marie-Anne (she lived only until the following October).

Thriving Family.

Their daughter Anne married Nicolas Brazeau in 1694. Nicolas' brother Charles sold the Pinsonneaus a piece of land 2 arpens wide by 20 arpens deep for a nominal sum of 60 livres in Longueuil in 1696. At 14, our ancestor Jacques worked in the fields to insure a bountiful harvest for the family.

Marguerite married Pierre Senecal in Montréal in 1698 and would receive a bequest of a house from her godfather in later years. She was the great-great grandmother of Pierre Goyette would move to Wisconsin with our ancestors Narcisse Petelle and Edesse Mondou in the late 1800's.

Son Pierre married Marie-Charlotte Lecours, granddaughter of our ancestor Leonard LeBlanc, on 19 October 1700 in Montréal. He would become an ensign in the militia.