Aubin Maudoux.

Contract to a New Land.

Aubin is found in the 1667 recensement in Québec's côte de St-Ignace at Sillery on the north shore of the Saint-Lawrence River. He was engaged as a domestique for René Mezeray dit Nopces. Typically the terms of service extended for a period of three years. The contract holder paid for his passage and would require him to perform any number of tasks including farming or construction. Mezeray had 100 terres en valeur, that is the area of land under cultivation. At the time of the census he had two workers, Aubin and François, 24.

Marriage - First Try.

Once he had finished his commitment he was free to marry and build a life. His first marital foray was with the fille du roi Marie Vauquet, though the marriage contract signed on 28 September 1670 was annulled on 6 October. She had apparently also contracted to marry Guy Dorillard on the 1st of October. A perk of being a fille du roi was that one had the ability to pick and choose and pick again.

Marriage to Marie-Madeleine Provencher.

The romantic snafu did not preclude Aubin from acquiring land to farm. He received a parcel in the seigneury of Charles Legardeur de Villiers.

In 1676 Sébastien Provencher moved nearby with his family, including his oldest daughter Marie-Madeleine. At 13 she was just a child, but girls married young in the frontier. Aubin Maudou, 30, and Marie-Madeleine Provencher were married 15 November 1676 in Cap-de-la-Madeleine near Trois-Rivières.

They lived with her parents on a small farm at Le Cap. In the 1681 census Aubin is listed as a domestique for his father-in-law, but there is no mention of his marriage to Madeleine or their daughter.

Six children were born to this marriage. Our ancestor François was born in the leap year on 26 February 1696 but was not baptized until 18 March at Cap-de-la-Madeleine.

He traveled further down the Saint-Lawrence with his family, past Lac Saint-Pierre crossing over to the south side of the great river to land in St-François-du-Lac. Originally called Saint-François-de-Sales, the village was established by the Jesuits to house Abenaki who had converted to Christianity. Aubin died at age 69, and was buried there on 03 September 1715.

Their son François moved to Yamaska and it was there that his mother Madeleine Provencher died on 19 June 1731.