Joseph Saint-Yves.


Indentured at 9.

The seventh child of Jacques and Jacqueline was born on Friday, 9 May 1692. Like his older brothers, our ancestor Joseph was indentured for a period of three years. At nine years old he was taken to the sisters at Hôtel-Dieu de Montréal to begin his term of service to them in September 1701.

Mother Superior Françoise Maumousseau agreed to feed and care for the child in return for doing "whatever chores they requested." It was common practice to be vague in the contract as to actual duties. Children usually fed the livestock and chickens and helped with household and kitchen garden chores.

At the end of his service he was to receive some towels and items of clothing including four shirts and two ties along with some cash. In the contract signed before the notary Antoine Adhémar it was agreed that if Joseph was disobedient or left before the end of his term, our ancestor would receive nothing.

Voyageur.

The June fur trade fair Montréal had hosted since 1667 was beginning to attract fewer participants. Much of the actual trapping was done by the native population. The bulk of the trading was being handled in the Great Lakes by 1680.

Joseph undertook several voyages west beginning in 1712 when he was about 20. He made his living in the fur trade, making the arduous journey to the faraway trading posts that were reached by canoe. They paddled the bounty back to merchants in Montréal.

The industry cooled for a time as an abundance of furs caused an oversupply in France, but the traders were saved in 1715 by the poor storage technique employed in Europe - rats had eaten their stocks rendering the product useless. The colonial fur traders were back in business.

Records of his engagé Ouest are dated in April and August of 1712, May of 1725, and June 1727. Interestingly, another in 1736 was in the same time frame as the explorer La Vérendryes' travels. Several of Joseph's brothers were also traders, no doubt contributing to his success in the industry.