Vivien Rochereau and Marie Angelier.

Following Family Across the Atlantic.

Vivien Rochereau's brother Michel was about 24 when he signed a contract in May 1657 in La Rochelle to work as a blacksmith for a period of three years in Canada. He completed his obligation and married Marie Bigot in 1662. The couple settled in Cap-de-la-Madeleine (just east of Trois-Rivières) where he was later joined by his brother, our ancestor.

Vivien is about eight years younger, born about 1644. His first mention is in the rolls of those being confirmed in the Roman Catholic faith at Cap-de-la-Madeleine on 25 June 1666. (For the most part, only Catholics were permitted in the colony). He lived on the côté de Radisson-De Groseilliers for about three years before moving downriver to Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pérade.

Marriage to Marie Angelier.

Our ancestor Marie Angelier joined other filles du roi in our family, Marie Richard and Barbe Menard, in boarding le St-Jean-Baptiste. They arrived in Québec on 30 June 1669. Vivien made his way to the city to meet the young woman, for they signed a marriage contract there on 17 Mar 1670. He was about 26 and she was about 19.

It was not the only transaction of the day. Vivien appeared before the notaire Michel Roy dit Châtellerault to purchase land from Claude Savageau in la Seigneurie Sainte-Marie. His parcel was at the confluence of the Sainte-Anne and Saint-Laurent rivers, on l'Ile Saint-Ignace. Lots were arranged in long rows, each bordering the banks of a river. It would be another 60 years or so before the Chemin du Roi was constructed and the water served as transit routes for the settlers.

He, along with Savageau and Antoine Brucelle were hired to build a barn on le seigneur Jean LeMoyne's land the following year, 1671.

The seigneur was awarded large tracts of land, which they in turn let out to habitants to clear of trees and develop for farming. LeMoyne was required to build a mill, where the locals were required to grind their grain. The rent was collected in the form of a number of days of labor and some grain. Le seigneur claimed fishing and timber rights as well. Often the habitants, who were free individuals, had the right to sell the land or to pass it on to his heirs.

In New France legal matters were conducted through a notary, and Vivien appears several times in the records of Châtellerault of the Gouvernement des Trois-Rivières. The colony was divided into three administrative divisions (the others being Québec and Montréal) and each had its own governor. On 21 April 1677 a judgement was made requiring Vivien Rocheleau, of St-Charles des Roches, pay Jean Lemoyne the "544 livres and 10 sol tournois and the 40 minots of wheat" that he owes him. Again in the notary records he and others were contracted to build a home for LeMoyne "35 feet in length" in la Seigneurie Sainte-Marie in 1678.

The family was by this time living in Saint-Charles-des-Roches (later Grondines). The entry in the 1681 census lists Vivien as 40, Marie Angelier, 30. Their children included Anthonie 8, Jean 7, Jeanne 3, and Marie 8 months old. Four arpens of his land were cultivated and he did own a gun.

Their two youngest children were baptized in the new church at Batiscan, just northeast of Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pérade. This includes our ancestor Marie-Madeleine born 22 September 1690. Vivien's name is associated with several land transactions along the river, including that of some wooded land he sold in 1707. That record again places him living in Sainte-Anne. Marie Angelier died there 30 November 1709 at the age of 58. Their son Jacques bought their house in August 1710, which was later passed on to his son. Viven Rochereau was about 72 when he died there on 12 January 1716. His daughter, our ancestor Madeleine, married the following year.