Moise Bissonnette

     Moise  (Moyse) Bissonnette was the son of Jean Baptiste Bissonnette and Marie Anne Lareau. He was born on Sept.1st and baptized Sept. 2nd , 1822 at St Luc, St Jean, Quebec, Canada. His godparents were Joseph Gagne and Marguerite Tremblay.

     Moise and Julie (Julienne) Kaigle were married on October 4, 1842 at Saint Jean-l'Evangeliste de Dorchester, St Jean, Quebec, Canada. Those present were: Jean Baptiste Bissonnette, father of the groom, Francois Bissonnette, brother of the groom, George Kaigle, father of the bride, Louis William, a friend and several other friends.

     Julie was the daughter of George Kaigle (Goekel) and Julie Sylvestre and she was born May 29th, 1825 at St Luc, St Luc, St Jean, Quebec, Canada.
     Moise and Julie had 11 children: Julia, Moyse, Marie Celina, Joseph (spouse-Celina Beauvais)-my next ancestor,  Marie (spouse-#1Frederic Narbonne, #2 Louis Champagne), Esther, Napoleon, Harriet (Hattie), Charles, Elizabeth (Libbie) (spouse- Hyacinthe Souliere) and Francois. Julia, Moyse, & Marie Celina were all baptized at St Jean l'evangeliste de Dorchester, St Jean, Quebec. Joseph was probably baptized at St. Bernard's in Cohoes, NY because that was the only Catholic Church in Cohoes at that time. On the 1850 Federal Census, Joseph was listed as 1 year old who had been born in New York State. Marie Bissonnette was baptized at St. Bernard's  in 1852. The rest of the children were also probably baptized there but I have no authentic record of them
     Moise was the first of the Bissonnettes to come to the United States. He came to Cohoes, New York (Albany County) sometime between January 1848 and May 1949. On the 1880 census, Moise and his family were listed living at 8 Columbia St., Cohoes. After moving to Cohoes, the name Bissonnette was often changed to Bisnett.
     Moise died Oct. 6, 1883 at 8 Columbia St., Cohoes and was buried in Calvary Cemetery, Cohoes, NY. Julie died October 23, 1891 at 38 Factory St. (rear), Cohoes, NY and was buried in  Calvary Cemetery, Cohoes, NY.

    


Jean Baptiste Bissonet

Jean Baptiste Bissonet, the son of Jean Baptiste Bissonet and Charlotte Longtin dit Jerome was born and baptized on Sept 5, 1781 at St. Joseph-de-Chambly, Chambly, Quebec, Canada. His godparents were: Jean Baptiste Bissonet (his grandfather) and Marie Mainard.
     Jean Baptiste Bissonnet was married on February 6, 1804 at St. Joseph -de-Chambly, Chambly, Quebec, Canada to Marie Anne Larreau (Leroux) daughter of Joseph Lareau and Marie Paquet dit Lariviere. Those present at the wedding were: Jean Baptiste Bissonet (his Father), Michel Bissonet (his uncle), Antoine Paquet dit Lariviere (her uncle) and several friends.
      His wife, Marie Anne Lareau (Leroux) was born August 19th and baptized August 20 , 1786 At St. Joseph-de-Chambly, Chambly, Quebec, Canada
     Jean Baptiste and Marie Anne had 7 children: Julienne (spouse-Isaie Desrochers), Esther, Favie, Louis, Moise (spouse-Julie Kaigle, my next ancestor, Francois Jean Baptiste (spouse#1-Josephte Duquet, #2 Scolastique Rousseau), and Joseph (spouse-#1 Rose Menard, #2 Julie Sasseville)).
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   Jean Baptiste Bissonnette

  Jean Baptiste Bissonnette was the son of Jean Baptiste Bissonnette and Marie Anne Meunier La Fleur.. He was born on November 24, 1752 and baptized on November 25th at Chambly, Quebec. His last name on his baptismal record was spelled Bisonette.
Those present were Pierre Lamoureux and Charlotte Munier.
     Jean Baptiste was married to Marie Charlotte Longtin (Longuetin) on November 6, 1780 at Nativite-de-la Prairie-de-la-Magdeline in LaPrairie.  Those present at the marriage were: Laurent Perrault, Pierre Papineault, Pierre Gagnon, and Pierre Bronard. The only one that could sign was Pierre Gagnon.
     Marie Longtin was the daughter of Laurent Longtin-Jerome and Charlotte Robert Lapomerai.
     Jean Baptiste and Marie Charlotte had 13 children: Charlotte, Marie Josephe, Elizabeth, Marguerite, Marie Anne, Charles, Joseph, Archange, Elizabeth (died young), Antoine, Catherine, Pierre and Jean Baptiste, my next ancestor.

     Jean Baptiste died July 14, 1834 and was buried on July  16th  at Saint-Jean-l'Evangeliste-de-Dorchester, St. Jean,  Quebec. Those present at the burial were Jean Baptiste Bissonnet (his son) and Louis Demers.  Marie Charlotte died October the 18th, 1821 and was buried on the 19th at St. Luc, St .Luc, Quebec. Those present at Marie Charlotte's burial were Michel Bissonnette and Antoine Perrault

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JEAN BAPTISTE BISSONET

was the son of Alexis Bissonet and Genevieve Senecal. He was born and baptized on March 11, 1721 at St Anne de Varrennes, Vercheres, Quebec. His godparents were Jean Baptiste Petit and Catherine Lussier.

      Jean Baptiste and Marie Anne Meunier married on October 12, 1744 at Laprairie, Quebec. Marie Anne Meunier was the daughter of Gervais Meunier La Fleur and Catherine David. Those present at wedding were: Ange Lafontaine & Gabriel Provant. Also attending were some of Jean Baptiste's family: Jean Baptiste Senecal, an uncle and 2 of his brothers-Michel and Augustin. Marie Anne's relatives that attended were: Jean Baptiste Meunier, her brother and Pierre Joly Stonge, her uncle.

     Jean Baptiste and Marie Anne had 14 children: Marie Desanges, Marie Josephte, Helene, Charles, Jean Baptiste , Marie Louise, Thomas, Michel, Marie Josephe,  Louis Pascal, Joseph, Genevieve, Marie Louise, and Marie. Jean Baptiste  was my ancestor from this generation.

     Jean Baptiste died on May 4, 1793 and was buried on May 6, 1793 at St. Joseph, Chambly. He was 70 years old. Those present were; Nicolas Demers and others not named.

     Marie Anne died March 4 1793 and was buried March 6, 1793 at St. Joseph, Chambly. She was 75 years old. Those present were: Jean Baptiste Renaudet, Nicolas Demers and others not named. Jean Baptiste and Marie Anne died within 3 months of each other. Possibly an epidemic of some kind.

 

ALEXIS BISSONNET

Alexis, son of Jacques Bissonnet and Marguerite Collet was born on October 28, 1683 in Varennes, Quebec, Canada. On his baptismal record,  Jean Baptiste Fleuricour and Noelle Tyremont were designated as his Godparents.

     Alexis was married on January 1, 1713 to Genevieve Senecal at Ste. Anne de Varennes, Varennes, Quebec, Canada. Genevieve's parents were Nicolas Senecal and Marie Petit. Those witnessing the wedding were: Michel Messier, lord of St. Michel, Paul Petit, Jacques Bissonnet and Jacques Lussier.

     Alexis and Genevieve had 10 children: Alexis (died 1715 at 2 yrs of age), Joseph 1715-1761, Jean Baptiste 1717-1718, Alexis II 1719-1722, Jean Baptiste II 1721-1793, Augustin 1723-?, Michel 1725-1751, Alexis III 1728-?, Marie Josephine 1730-?, Marie Louise1732-1799, Francoise born before 1736-1752 and Marie Amable 1739-?,  My second generation ancestor was Jean Baptiste II.
      Alexis died on May 5, 1739 at Varennes just before his last child was born. Genevieve gave birth to her last child Marie Amable on May 17, 1739 and then  died 2 weeks later on June 3, 1739 leaving the 11 children without parents. At that time Jean Baptiste was 18 years old. However, he did have older siblings but mostly all men. 

FILLES du ROI

 

 

Between 1663 and 1673, 768 Filles du Roi or "King's Daughters" emigrated to New France under the sponsorship of the French government as part of the overall strategy of strengthening the colony until it could stand on its own without economic and military dependence on France.

In 1663, about 2,500 colonists lived in New France, for the most part on the north shore of the Saint Lawrence between Québec and Montréal. With a constant threat from the Iroquois and the more populous English colonies on the Atlantic coast, the need to populate New France became a growing concern for Louis XIV and his colonial advisors. Through the early 1670s however, men of marriageable age far outnumbered the women of marriageable age. Unable to find a wife in Québec, a great number of male immigrants returned to France after their three-year term of service expired.

Between 1634 and August 1663, while the colony was governed by the Compagnie des Cent Associés, about 262 filles à marier (marriageable girls) were recruited by individuals or by private religious groups who paid their travel expenses and provided for their lodging until they were married. But individual recruiters and private organizations had little success in enticing single women to emigrate to New France, and fewer than ten filles arrived in the colony in most years. In 1663, the King took over direct control of the government of New France and initiated an organized system of recruiting and transporting marriageable women to the colony. On September 22, 1663, thirty-six girls --the first group of Filles du Roi-- arrived in Québec.



FRANCE in the 1600's

 

Jacques Bissonett and Marguerite Collet

 



 

Jacques Bissonnet  was the first generation Bissonett in North America to migrate to Canada from France. He was born approximately in 1645 at LaChapelle, Pallau France. Marguerite was born approximately in 1653 at St. Benoit, Paris, Ile de France, France.

Jacques married Marguerite Collet at St. Famille de Boucherville, Rive sud, Montreal, Quebec, Canada on November 19, 1670. Marguerite Collet was a King's Daughter. On their marriage record, it is stated that Jacques' parents were Jean Bissonnet  from France, west, rural and Marie Goupillots from France, west, rural. Marguerute's parents were Eustace Collet and Marie Fournier and they were both from France, Paris, urban. Other people present at the marriage were Pierre Boucher, Rene Gaultier Devarennes Jean Gareau, Jean Lafond , Pierre Decaumont and Devarenne ( no first name given).

On the census at St. Anne de Varennes, Vercheres, Quebec, Canada in 1681, Jacques (36yrs) and Marguerite (28yrs) are listed as having 6 children-Pierre (9yrs), Nicolas (8yrs), Louise (6yrs), Jean (5yrs), Jacques (4yrs), and Francoise (2yrs). The spelling of their last name on this record was: Bessonet.

Jacques and Marguerite eventually had 16 children. After Francoise, there was Catherine, Alexis, Jacques, Marie Marguerite, Michel, Paul, Elizabeth, Joseph, Jacques and Rene.  Alexis, the 8th child, was the second generation ancestor in my family tree.

Jacques died Dec 28, 1723 at St. Anne de Varennes at the age of 84.
Marguerite died June 11, 1730 at Varennes at the age of 77.