Catherine Lorion

Aunisian childhood and youth

Sainte-Soulle was a small village a few leagues away and under the stewardship and election of La Rochelle in Aunis, bounded to the north by the Marais Poitevin and to the south by the Charente. The town which owes its name to Saint Soline, a paleo-Christian martyr from the 3rd century, dates back to the Gallo-Roman era. Catherine Lorion was born in this town of 335 fires around 1636, from the marriage of Mathurin Lorion and Françoise Morin/Morinet known as Barbier 6. Catherine had three sisters: Marie, born around 1640; Françoise, around 1643; Renée, around 1646. Times are hard; misfortune strikes. The Grim Reaper does not spare this humble family. On November 30, 1647, Renée died. The following year, it was Françoise, the mother, who died on November 6, leaving three motherless daughters. A month later, on December 6, at the age of five, little Françoise left her family. Torn by these losses, Catherine and Marie, aged 12 and 8, share their pain and their loneliness with Mathurin, their father. With courage, life must regain its rights. Mathurin 7 married Jeanne Bizet on May 2, 1649 in La Rochelle. A first daughter, named Marthe, will be born on December 14 of the same year. Six other children were born from this union, only three of whom survived childhood: Jeanne, Renée and Jean, the ancestor of the Lorions of America.

Builders of Ville-Marie

Founded in 1642 with the aim of treating and converting “savages”, Ville-Marie was continually the victim of attacks by the Iroquois. Their attacks reached a peak in 1651. Not four days passed without the Iroquois reappearing, killing and scalping the inhabitants, setting fire to their houses. Faced with the stubbornness of the Iroquois and seeing the very future of Ville-Marie compromised, Mr. de Maisonneuve decided to return to France and recruit at least 200 men there, if possible, without this help, he would not return, because the The establishment could not be defended. 8 The design of Mr. de Maisonneuve being to repel the Iroquois and to firmly establish the colony of Ville-Marie, he only wanted to bring young, robust and courageous men, all suited to the profession of arms, exercising a useful and necessary for the survival of the colony. Originally from Picardy, Champagne, Normandy, Île-de-France, Touraine, Burgundy, Maine and Anjou, surgeons, millers, carpenters, carpenters, masons, gunsmiths, beer brewers, pastry chefs , shoemakers, etc. signed up for a period of three to five years with the Montreal Company for amounts varying from 60 to 200 pounds depending on the profession.

Fourteen courageous young women, aged 10 to 32, accompany Marguerite Bourgeoys on this journey: Catherine Lorion is one of them.

Aged 17, Catherine sets off on an adventure. She embarked from St-Nazaire, on the St-Nicolas-de-Nantes on June 20, 1653 9 with 102 men and 15 women 10 11, including Marguerite Bourgeoys. The young woman leaves behind family, friends and country.

The crossing proves difficult. Marguerite Bourgeoys will relate forty years later in her Memoirs: “At three hundred and fifty leagues at sea, the ship, which was producing more water than could be drawn day and night, was forced to release at Saint-Nazaire where, as we approached, we perished without the help which, by the grace of God, we received from that place. […] Monsieur de Maisonneuve was, with all his soldiers, on an island from which no one could escape, because otherwise not a single one would remain. There were even some who threw themselves into swimming to save themselves, because they were like madmen and believed that they were being led into perdition.” 12

Finally refitted, the Saint-Nicolas de Nantes set sail again on July 20. During the crossing, six participants died; four others died in Quebec, in the days following their arrival 13.

The joy that erupted among the fifty Montrealers at the arrival of this recruit testifies to the weakness of the town. Ville-Marie, in fact, saw itself completely powerless to increase the number of settlers, having to offer those who wanted to settle in New France only the privations inseparable from extreme poverty. that we endured there and the alarms to which we were constantly exposed. We disembarked on November 16, 1653; winter has already started.

This Great Recruit of 1653 will ensure the very future of Montreal and at the same time the colony. No less than 22 of these soldiers were killed by the Iroquois, including 8 in the company of Dollard des Ormeaux at the Battle of Long Sault in 1660. 14

What was the situation in Ville-Marie in 1653?

Barely ten years after its founding, Montreal was dying. The victims of the Iroquois are constantly increasing and, according to Father Ragueneau's own testimony, the colony barely counts, both at the Hôtel-Dieu and at the Fort, around fifty French people: “The Iroquois threaten our country. They make their barbarity (sic) felt everywhere and continue their rage more and more, not only against the remnants (sic) of the Algonquins and Hurons, but now they are turning their fury against our French habitations. » 15 It was in fact on Ville-Marie that the Iroquois threw themselves after their massacre of the Huron villages. This is also where this handful of Montrealers heroically awaits them. In 1651, Father Ragueneau specified: “It is a marvel that the French of Ville-Marie were not exterminated by the frequent surprises of the Iroquois troops who were strongly supported and repulsed various times. » 16 The state of Ville-Marie, in 1653, was desolate and agonizing. Jeanne Mance, herself, deplores that no help from France has come for almost two years and that fear and dread are everywhere in the emerging colony. In July, just three weeks after a peace concluded between the Onneiouts and two Iroquois nations, 600 Agni warriors marched on Ville-Marie, determined to attack and destroy it. They indeed attack the town, but they are vigorously repulsed and have no other advantage than taking a few savages (sic) and a few French who are on the sidelines. 17 Dollier de Casson, a former soldier and Sulpician who arrived in Montreal in 1666, summarizes the situation as follows:

“Every day, we only saw enemies; at night, you would not have dared to open your door and during the day, you would not have dared to go within four steps of your house without having your rifle, your sword and your pistol. Finally, as we were diminishing every day and our enemies were encouraged by their great numbers, everyone saw very clearly that, if powerful help did not soon come from France, all was lost.” 18 So, in these very precarious conditions, Catherine Lorion arrived from St-Nicolas-de-Nantes with the pioneers of La Grande Recrue on November 16, 1653. 19 These committed poor people will have to fight courageously to build a better life for themselves in this New World themselves and for their families.

In Ville-Marie, the young woman stays at the Fort among the hundred inhabitants, under the guidance of Mother Bourgeoys who prepares her and her companions for the harshness of her new life.

With the arrival of the Recruit, the town buzzes with hope. Young people eagerly court the beauties of the day. The chapel bell announces weddings. Marriages follow one another. Almost all of Catherine's traveling companions will have entered into marriage before the end of 1654. On October 13, 1654, in the presence of Lambert Closse 20, Catherine married Pierre Vilain. Ville-Marie is jubilant: we are forming a new society: young and enthusiastic, despite the daily challenges.

Misfortune strikes! A few months after his marriage, Pierre Vilain was crushed by a tree. Young, widowed, alone, destitute, Catherine must start from scratch.

On June 29, 1655, Sieur de Maisonneuve led Catherine to the altar to marry her to Jean Simon. In Ville-Marie, time is combined with the immediate future. On September 3, 1656, Catherine gave birth to Leonard, first son, a spark of hope in this New World, a joy shared by the entire Marian community: Paul de Chomedey, Sieur de Maisonneuve and Jeanne Mance held the child on the baptismal font ; the godfather is Lambert Closse.

Alas! Happiness will not last long. On November 24, barely two months after the baby's birth, Jean Simon drowned in the torrential St. Lawrence River. Nineteen years old, widowed for the second time, mother of a baby, Catherine must survive without the support of her family, in this wild and inhospitable country.

When life is constantly threatened, we cannot afford self-pity: the need for survival takes precedence over all other considerations. On April 9, 1657, Catherine married Nicolas Milet dit Le Beauceron, carpenter and sawyer, hired by La Grande Recrue of 1653. The family was reorganized. On December 31, 1657, Nicolas signed an agreement with Lambert Closse, godfather of little Leonard, in order to take possession of the property and land abandoned by the late Jean Simon, Catherine's second husband, to assert it. He also promises to take care of the little one until he turns 12, when he will give him the sum of 150 tournament pounds. In addition, he undertakes to consider him as a son and to name him heir to his property acquired with Catherine in the same way as the half-brothers who could be born from this marriage. 21 Happiness still proves possible.

Family reunion

In 1658, after being away from his family which lasted 5 years, Mathurin, Catherine's father, arrived in New France with his wife Jeanne Bizet and his daughters Marie, 19 years old, Jeanne, 8 years old, and Renée, aged a few years. month. We can easily imagine the joy of our pioneer to see her sister Marie, her father, accompanied by her stepmother and her half-sister Jeanne, while getting to know little Renée. Mathurin settled quickly, he signed a first lease for a period of three years on October 23, 1658, for the operation of a farm in Ville-Marie 22. After a few years, the family settled on Côte Ste -Anne at Pointe-aux-Trembles, a few leagues downstream from the Fort.

The whole family takes root in the young colony. On December 9, 1658, Marie, sister of Catherine, married Étienne Lair, a member of the Grande Recrue. From this union ten children were born.

New France proved to be a fertile land. On January 25, 1660, Jean was baptized, son of Mathurin and Jeanne Bizet, the only one of Mathurin's two sons to survive childhood and to perpetuate the Lorion surname in Quebec, today spread across the four corners of South America. North and, just back of things, even in Europe, including in Switzerland.

The years go by. The family of Nicolas Milet and Catherine Lorion then lived on the land neighboring Ferme-St-Gabriel, a farm of the Congregation Notre-Dame 23. Eight children were born from this union: Catherine, Nicolas, Charlotte, Pierre, Jacques, Anonyme, François and Jean. New trials: Pierre and an infant die at a young age.

In the societies of the Ancien Régime, the defense of Honor proves to be the most precious asset that we jealously try to preserve. This value justifies many outbursts and excesses of violence. A woman of character, Catherine Lorion is not to be outdone. On August 11, 1663, Catherine Lorion was found guilty of having literally thrown herself at Louis-Artus de Sailly, merchant and royal judge, of having thrown stones at him and of having humiliated him with atrocious insults. She will finally be sentenced to ask for forgiveness from Mr. Sailly before an assembly of people chosen by the plaintiff, in addition to costs and a twenty-pound fine to the Church. 24

Earning a living remains a constant occupation. Montrealers obviously devote a lot of their time to work and to the development of important sociability networks with their business partners and with their customers. The fact remains that certain conflicts, having their share of consequences, arise; some end up in court. 25

Thus, in April 1667, the soldier François de Cuque, having been hired to uproot the stumps on the land of Nicolas Milet and Catherine Lorion, complained to the court that his employer owed him fourteen days of work. However, the plaintiff having been unable to provide proof and the defendant claiming to owe him only four days, the bailiff condemns Milet to pay four days' work to the soldier. 26

In the census of the same year, the family owned two horned animals and twelve acres of land in value.

In January 1671, Catherine and Nicolas married their eldest daughter Catherine, aged 13, to Jean Reynau dit Planchard. The Milet, Lorion, Delpué (Renée Lorion), Simon, Reynau dit Planchard will all be neighbors, which illustrates the close ties woven between the members of the family, which already spans four generations: Mathurin Lorion, the father; Catherine Lorion-Simon-Milet, our heroine, Catherine Milet-Reynau known as Planchard, the daughter; and grandchildren.

But fate strikes again. On March 8, 1674, Nicolas Milet known as Le Beauceron perished in the fire that destroyed their house, 27 two months after the birth of their eighth child, Jean. Widowed for the third time, without a home or fortune, Catherine will have to ensure the survival of her large family.

The courage of this grandmother is undeniable. At forty, courageous and determined, a survivor, Catherine married Pierre Desautels dit Lapointe, tailor, widower of Marie Rémy and father of two boys: Joseph, 8 years old and Gabriel, 5 years old. Unbelievably, Catherine met two of her four husbands during the crossing on the St-Nicolas-de-Nantes. Two sons will be born from this last union: Pierre and Gilbert, who will ensure numerous posterity.

Lorions are “tightly knit”. They live close to each other, help each other and trust each other. Thus, on June 24, 1680, Mathurin Lorion and his wife Jeanne Bizet donated their property to their son Jean in exchange for which the latter agreed to take care of them until their death. With the consent of their wife, Pierre Desautels (Catherine) and Étienne Lair (Marie) transfer all their inheritance rights to their brother-in-law Jean Lorion for the sum of 50 pounds.

New France still offers more opportunities to accumulate a little nest egg than on the Old Continent. In 1681, Catherine Lorion and Pierre Desautels owned 1 rifle, 5 horned animals and 18 acres in value. They sold to their son-in-law Jean Renaud, at the price of 600 pounds, the land located at Coulée St-Jean, which belonged to the late Nicolas Milet, Catherine's third husband. In addition, they also own a house on St-Paul Street. 28

On October 29, 1681, Leonard, from the marriage of Catherine and Jean Simon, took Mathurine Beaujean as his wife. They will settle down as grandfather Mathurin Lorion's first neighbor, so we never move away from the family. The couple gave birth to twelve children. Adventurous, Leonardo enlisted in 1685 as a courier des bois in Western Canada, which authorized him to trade pelts in indigenous territory. He committed four times, leaving his wife, mother and children in constant worry of an accident, because the journeys were made in bark canoes by rivers and large lakes, and because, at any moment, the wood runner exposed himself to attack from an enemy indigenous tribe. It is easy to imagine the fears of Catherine who had already suffered the loss of three husbands by violent death.

Although in good health, the patriarch is still getting older. On April 19, 1683, Mathurin Lorion, plowman, died at the age of 80 at the Hôtel-Dieu in Montreal. Father of Catherine, he is the ancestor of thousands of Quebec, Canadian and American Lorions, Laurions, Larions, Dorions and Dorans. He was married twice and father of 9 girls and 2 boys. Quebec, in particular, and all of North America owe him recognition and gratitude.

Together, Catherine and her father will have courageously lived through the chances of destiny: death of Françoise Morin and little Françoise and Renée, separation for five years, reunion in New France, establishment of the father near his daughter in Pointe-aux-Trembles …

Mathurin leaves to mourn his wife, Jeanne Bizet, his children Catherine, Marie, Renée and Jean; 22 grandchildren; 8 great-grandchildren.

Four years later, Marie Lorion, sister of Catherine, was buried in the Pointe-aux-Trembles cemetery. Born in a small village in Aunis, emigrated to a wild country, together they will have experienced a considerable number of trials and joys. It is easy to imagine the brotherly affection that united them.

War tragedies

Life in New France offers no respite. In 1689, Isaac Lair, son of Étienne and Marie Lorion, was killed by the Iroquois.

On January 24, 1690, Nicolas Lair, brother of the previous one, left on an expedition against the Iroquois; Fearing the worst, he bequeathed all his property to his father if he died. In the spring, Nicolas was killed by the Iroquois while returning from war. 29

On July 2, 1690, Jean Raynau, Catherine's son-in-law, and Jean Delpué dit Pariseau, husband of her half-sister Renée, took part in a squad to fight a party of Iroquois at Coulée Grou, behind Pointe-aux-Trembles. They have the misfortune of being surprised. Delpué is killed on the field of honor, while Reynau is captured and taken to the Onneouits: he will be burned alive! His burial took place on November 2, 1694, four years after his capture. He leaves his wife Catherine Milet, Catherine's eldest daughter, without financial resources with 6 orphans.

On August 27, 1691, Nicolas Milet, (second son of Catherine) and his wife Catherine Chaperon were taken prisoner. We can imagine the horror of the anguish experienced by our pioneer. Fortunately, the latter were released eight days later 30.

The last years

Catherine gave birth to 9 boys and 2 girls. By adding Joseph and Gabriel, Pierre's two sons whom she took in as children, the burden of the household turned out to be heavy. After the departure of her daughters Catherine and Charlotte, the need for help arises. On October 22, 1694, the couple hired Élisabeth Drouet, aged ten, for four years, promising to give her a cow at the end of her commitment. 31 Other times, other customs!

Solitude still stalks Catherine; her husband, Pierre Desautels dit Lapointe, died on November 19, 1708 at the age of 75. The couple will have shared 32 years of life.

Four times widowed, mother of 11 children, Catherine died on April 20, 1720, at the venerable age, for the time, of eighty-three years. More than a hundred descendants survive him: the Simon dit Léonard, Thibault dit Léveillée, Poutré, Milet, Raynaud dit Planchar, Gariépy, Janot, Lacombe, Archambault, Allard, Lécuyer and Desautels dit Lapointe. Obviously, no Lorion.

Would Quebec exist without the value of these courageous women?

Some statistics 32

While the women who arrived with the Great Recruit of 1653 had an average of 7.2 children, Catherine Lorion gave birth to 11 children from her last three unions. For these pioneers, there are on average around forty grandchildren and 250 great-grandchildren; For Catherine, there will be 71 grandchildren, 492 great-grandchildren and 1,535 great-great-grandchildren born before 1766. 1,061 among her descendants will be married before 1800. Unlike her sisters of the Great Recruit, before 1800, the Catherine Lorion's descendants will live almost entirely in the Montreal region. For all the 29 settlers of the Great Recruit of 1653, we can set the number of their descendants in Quebec at some 650,000, including 130,000 in Montreal.

The average age at death of the pioneers of the Great Recruit is 65 years. Catherine Lorion will die at 83.

When she died in 1720, Catherine had 102 living descendants: 8 children, 49 grandchildren, 45 great-grandchildren.33​​​​​​​

Epilogue

More than fifteen generations of Lorion descendants have lived in Greater Montreal since Catherine's arrival, including my grandchildren, 12th generation through my mother Cécile Laurion, 15th generation through my wife Marie-Thérèse Besner. Therefore, it is with joy that I pay tribute to one of the mothers of our people.

Interestingly, Catherine Lorion inspired a main character in André Charbonneau's novel Mystère à Ville-Marie, published by Fides in 2002. However, I would like to emphasize the fictional nature of this work.

Antonio Di Lalla, descendant of Mathurin Lorion, 9th generation nephew of Catherine Lorion. Otterburn Park, Quebec, August 2004

SOURCES :

SIMPSON, Patricia, Marguerite Bourgeoys and Montreal, 1640-1665, translated by Simone Poissant, McGill-Queen's University Press, Montreal & Kingston, 1999, pp. 4 and 5. SIMPSON, Patricia. Op. cit., p. 74. Recognized co-founder of Ville-Marie, Jeanne Mance founded the Hôtel-Dieu, Montreal's first hospital, today a university center. Marguerite Bourgeoys (1620-1700) established the first school in Ville-Marie, at to which she invites the Native Americans. She founded the Congrégation Notre-Dame, a religious community working in the field of education. In addition, she treats the wounded, participates in the defense of the colony, helps with the construction of buildings, and provides wise advice to both governors and peasants. Saint Marguerite Bourgeoys was canonized in 1982. First recluse of Ville-Marie. She will advise governors, nobles, bourgeois and inhabitants of Montreal.DESJARDINS, Bertrand. Genealogical dictionary of ancient Quebec, from the origins to 1765, Gaëtan Morin editor, Qc.Mathurin Lorion married Françoise Morin/Morinet around 1635 in Ste-Soulle. Some authors suggest a second marriage with a woman named Marie Barbier. Given the date of Françoise Morin's death and that of the marriage between Mathurin and Jeanne Bizet, a marriage with Marie Barbier is more than improbable. We believe Bertrand Desjardins' hypothesis credible, that is, that Mathurin Lorion's first wife was called Françoise Morin/Morinet dit Barbier. LANGLOIS, Michel, Montreal 1653, La Grande Recrue, Québec, ed. Du Septentrion, 2003, pp. 13 and 14. French-speaking Institute of Genealogy and History of La Rochelle. Research report. AUGER, Roland-J. The Great Recruit of 1653. Publications of the French Canadian Genealogical Society, Montreal, 1955. According to Michel Langlois, The Great Recruit, only 10 of the 15 women were certainly part of the Great Recruit. The uncertainty of the presence of Catherine Lorion and four sisters can be explained by the fact that due to the laws of the time, women could not sign employment contracts. See, op. cit., pp. 57 to 59. Bourgeoys, Marguerite. The Writings of Marguerite Bourgeoys, Montreal, 1964, p.46-47, in Michel Langlois, op. cit., p.61. Presumed results, according to the state of current research. LANGLOIS, Michel. Op. cit., p. 65.Relations of 1650. p 28ff, in AUGER, Roland. Op. cit.Relation of 1651. p 2., in AUGER, Roland. op. cit. AUGER, Roland. op. cit.De CASSON, Dollier. History of Montreal, new critical edition by Marcel Trudel and Marie Baboyant, p. 132, in SIMPSON, Patricia. Op. cit., p. 106.Some authors suggest that she was accompanied by her sister Marie. However, we find no trace of Marie in New France before 1658.Hero of Ville-Marie. Lambert Closse was major of the Montreal garrison, second to Paul de Chomedey de Maisonneuve. He was killed by the Iroquois during a fight in 1662.LANGLOIS, Michel. Montreal 1653, The Great Recruit, p. 242.TRUDEL, Marcel. The St. Lawrence Burrow in 1663, Ottawa, University of Ottawa Press, 1973, p. 442.CHICOINE, Émilia. The Farmhouse of Marguerite Bourgeoys at Pointe-Saint-Charles, Montreal, Fides, 1986, p.92. Louis-Artus de Sailly, plaintiff, against Catherine Lorion, wife of Nicolas Milet dit le Beauceron, for insults, August 11, 1663, ANQM, TL2-01-0035, in Valérie D'Amour, The conflicting relationships of the first Montrealers, in Memoirs of the French-Canadian Genealogical Society, vol. 54, no. 3, notebook 237, fall 2003, p. 210.From Love, Valérie. Op. cit., p.206.François de Cuque, soldier and plaintiff, against Nicolas Milet dit Beauceron, defendant, for 14 days to uproot stumps, April 5, 1667, ANQM, TL2, court register, f.30, in D'Amour, Valérie. Op. cit., p.206.CHICOINE, Émilia. Op. cit., p.92. LANGLOIS, Michel. Op. cit., p. 107. LANGLOIS, Michel. Op. cit., p. 135.SOUCY, Romeo. Overview of the history of Pointe-aux-Trembles, Tercentenary souvenir album, Tercentenary Commission, 1974, p.27LANGLOIS, Michel. Op. cit., p. 107.CHARBONNEAU, Hubert, The descendants of the Great Recruit of 1653, in MSGCF, vol. 54, no 3, notebook 237, fall 2003: 187-200.Calculation carried out by the author from the Genealogical Dictionary of Ancient Quebec, from the origin to 1765, by Bertrand Desjardins