Much of the source for the information about LeFebvre is from an article that appeared in Le Nouvelliste, a daily newspaper in Trois Rivières, on October 18, 1980, written by Jacques St.Onge and translated into English by Gérald Lefebvre in December 1999.
The Jesuit`s Journal dated the 4th of July, 1648 reports the capture of Pierre Lefebvre by the Iroquois. "Many things have happened in Trois-Rivières during the month of July that involved the Iroquois. The following will be found in the letters going to the archives or in other correspondence, namely the capture of two of our Frenchmen, Pierre Le Febvre and a nephew of M. de la Poterie."
In 1648, Father Jérôme Lalemant writes the following description of the events to Father Etiènne Charlet, Provincial of the Jesuits in France: "The next day, on July 14th, an Algonquin discovered the footprints of the enemy and alerted Monsieur de la Poterie, who in turn alerted the inhabitants by the sound of a bell and not a volley of canon, the normal signal to be on guard. Five Hurons who were close to the area where two of our Frenchmen, who were guarding the livestock, were already fighting off the enemy, joined the battle. At least 80 Iroquois attacking. Two armed challoupes (boats) were dispatched; but before they got there the Iroquois had already killed one Frenchman and a Huron and had taken two Frenchmen and two Hurons as prisoners. Even if they were ten to one the Iroquois were surely scared off when they saw how many of their own were killed and injured by so few Frenchmen. One of the two Frenchmen was the nephew of Monsieur de la Poterie, who had ventured a little too far to hunt and ended up in a trap without knowing how he got in: the Huron who was killed was a good Christian, like the Frenchmen he had been to confession on the Sunday before. The captured Hurons were not baptized; as for the French prisoners, they had lived an exceptionally good life, but they were to say the least a little bit responsible for their fate, they had gone too far when they knew the enemy well." Pierre Lefebvre will be a prisoner of the Iroquois for three long months, he will come back in October accompanied by one of them called le Berger (the Shepard), who had previously escaped from his guards at Trois-Rivières.
And thus was the early experience of Pierre LeFebvre in Canada where he had arrived about 1641 from an area called Sceaux near Paris on the Ile-de-France. He had been born there around 1616.
The first mention of LeFebvre in Trois Rivières is noted when in April 1643 he is witness in a court case involving the Leneuf brothers, Michel and Jacques, and Guillaume Isabel. The Leneuf brothers were accused of kicking and punching Isabel. The Leneufs did not seem to resent that Pierre was called as a witness to the incident because in January 1647 Jacques Leneuf and Marie Marguerie will become godparents to Jacques, the eldest son of Pierre Lefebvre.
In August 1644, LeFebvre purchased land from Governor de Montmagny. According to historian Marcel Trudel, this lot had 30 acres and was bordered by land owned by the heirs of Etienne Vien, another owned by ancestor Jacques Aubuchon dit le Loyal and a third owned by the natives.
Sometime in 1645 or early 1646, Pierre LeFebvre married Jeanne Aunois.
There are those who believe that Jeanne Aunois (or Aunos) was an Amérindienne or Native American (sauvage) according to Baptisms of Immaculée Conception of Trois-Rivières. In the list of baptisms in the parish register, Jeanne Onaus is clearly indicated Amérindien when she is cited in the register as the god-mother of a girl, Perrine, and Amérindien.
The record is as follows:
B (baptized): 1651-08-27, N (born -- née): 1651-08-24
PERRINE o (origin): AMERINDIEN (791) C (unmarried) F (female)
MARIE / KITARANGOUKOUE o: AMERINDIEN (791) MERE F
o: AMERINDIEN (701) PERE M (male)
PIERRE /KOUC / LAFLEURDECOGNAC M (Godfather)
JEANNE / ONAUS o: AMERINDIEN (791) M (married) F (Godmother)
PIERRE / LEFEBVRE M (married) M (male)
JOSEPH I / DUPERON p:02 C M (Jesuit priest)
Source: www.autochtones.ca/forum/viewtopic.php
In April, 1647, la Compagnie de la Nouvelle-France, otherwise known as the Company of 100 Associates accepted Pierre Lefebvre as a member of the select class, if not as a Seigneur, then as one of the large land owners. It will be granting to him, as well as to Nicolas Marsolet, a piece of land at the mouth of the Gentilly River. The Domaine de Marsolat situated next to the Lefebvre property will be granted to him as a fief and Seigniory. For Pierre, this is simply an administrative arrangement, as is confirmed by a land deed dated 1667-1668. The Seigniory de Gentilly will be acquired by Michel Peltier de Laprade in two phases: the Lefebvre section by his heirs in 1669 and the Marsolet section in another transaction in 1671. The two pieces of land will become one fief 1676.
In June 1647, Governor de Montigny conceded an island, known as l'île du mélieu (middle island) and later named Ile St. Christophe, of 48 arpents square to four colonists: Guillaume Pepin, Guillaume Isabel, Pierre LeFebvre and Sebastien Dodier with the understanding that the land was to be made suitable for cultivation within a year. When Montmagny was replaced as governor in 1648, the concession became invalid. In 1654, the island was turned over to the Jesuits. On March 9, 1655, the Jesuits concede the island to seven other colonists: Christophe Crevier, Jacques Bertaut, Jacques Brisset, Jean Pacault, Pierre Dandonneau and ancestor, Michel LeMay.
On November 24, 1647, Pierre LeFebvre witnessed and signed the marriage contract of Antoine Desrosiers and Anne du Hérisson. Ten years later, LeFebvre was a neighbor of Antoine Desrosiers at Pointe du Lac.
In June of 1650, Pierre Lefebvre purchases a lot within the walls of the fort at Trois Rivières from Jean Lauzon, lieutenant general, acting for la Compagnie de la Nouvelle-France. A house owned by Pierre and Bertrand Fafard occupied this lot. Thirteen years later, in a law suit by Pierre against Jacques Aubuchon and René Besnard, it is revealed that this house is roofless and in poor condition. Pierre will later become the owner of a small island called l'Islet, it is 1 acre in size and is situated at the mouth of the Saint-Maurice River between the mainland and l'île de la Trinité (Saint-Quentin).
The Lefebvre family moved to Cap-de-la-Madeleine in 1656. In May of that year, Martin Boutet , a Quebec priest, sold two acres of land located in the Seigneurie du Cap-de-la-Madeleine to Pierre Lefebvre.
The family is listed on the 1666 census as living in the area of Trois-Rivières where Pierre LeFebvre was considered an habitant (settler). The listing is as such:
Pierre lefebvre - 50 habitant
Jeanne Aunois - 45 sa femme
Jacques lefebvre - 19 fils
Michel lefebvre - 12 fils
Ignace lefebvre - 10 fils
Ange lefebvre - 7 fils
pierre lefebvre - 5 fils
Noel Charpentier - 19
Jean ledue - 19
Et Jean Vinconneau - 36 domestique
Source for the above information is the website: Alberta Family Histories Society.
The Lefebvres are on the census list in Trois-Rivières in 1666 and 1667. That year, he hires three servants: Noël Carpentier, Jean Leduc et Jean Vintonneau; they take care of seven animals and work the 80 acres of land, a considerable estate for the time. On January 30,1666, Father Fremin, bursar for the Jesuits, gives a property of 2 acres to Pierre Lefebvre. This property faces on the river and is located in the Seigneurie du Cap-de-la-Madeleine. This is where the Lefebvres will live from then on and where two years later, Lefebvre will pass away. The exact date of death is not known.
What is known is that during the summer of 1668, Pierre Lefebvre put his affairs in order. On July 11, he will give the fief de Gentilly to his son-in-law, Félix Thunaye dit Dufresne, a surgeon (medical doctor of the era). On the previous January 20th , he had distributed all his assets to his seven children: Jacques, Michel, Ignace, Ange, Pierre, Catherine and Elizabeth.
In July, 1668 was confined to his home in Cap-de-la-Madeleine. In October of 1670, Jeanne Auneau (Aunois) is a widow. This is confirmed by a marriage contract between their oldest son and future seigneur of Baie-du-Febvre, Jacques Lefebvre, to Marie Beaudry, daughter of Urbain Beaudry, the blacksmith.
During Pierre LeFebvre's lifetime in the area, he was a défricheur (land clearer), syndic (municipal councilor), builder, surveyor, marguiller (church warden) and arbitrator.
As to Jeanne Aunois, she was still living in 1681, as confirmed in a census of Cap-de-la-Madeleine. She was 54 years old and three sons were still at home, Michel, Ignace and Pierre. Youngest son, Ange Lefebvre dit Senneville, born in 1658, and married to Marie-Madeleine Cusson in 1679, is an ancestor in the Cameron line. On February 2, 1707, Ange LeFebvre was appointed as notary for the king for the community of Baie-du-Febvre, PQ.
The genealogy of it...
Each indentation indicates another generation, ie: Ange LeFebvre is the son of Pierre LeFebvre and Jeanne Aunois; Marie-Jeanne LeFebvre is the daughter of Ange LeFebvre and Marie-Madeleine Cusson, and so on.
A carat (>) indicates there is at least another sibling who is an ancestor, ie: Marie-Jeanne LeFebvre has a brother, Jean-Baptiste LeFebvre who is also an ancestor.
Pierre LEFEBVRE dit Descoteaux and Jeanne AUNOIS, m. c. 1646 in Trois-Rivières, PQ
Ange LeFEBVRE dit Senneville and Marie-Madeleine CUSSON, m. 1679 in PQ
>Marie-Jeanne LeFEBVRE and Pierre LaFOND, m. 8-13-1715 in Bastican, PQ
Pierre LAFOND and Marie-Gabrielle HOULE, m. 4-22-1743 in Baie-de-Febvre, PQ
*Gabriel LAFOND and Marie PROULX, m. 1-5-1785 in Baie-de-Febvre, PQ
Gabriel LAFOND and Genevieve ALLARD, m. 10-21-1816 in Baie-de-Febvre, PQ
Hélène LAFOND and Antoine DARGIE, m. 9-1-1844 at Granby, PQ
Napoléon DARGIE and Léonise TURCOTTE, m. 10-15-1883 in Lewiston, ME
Delia DARGIE and Wilfred CAMERON, m. 10-11-1910 in Attleboro, MA
Rhea CAMERON and Edward LIZOTTE, m. 6-20-1636 in Attleboro, MA
~~~
Pierre LEFEBVRE dit Descoteaux and Jeanne AUNOIS, m. c. 1646 in Trois-Rivières, PQ
Ange LeFEBVRE dit Senneville and Marie-Madeleine CUSSON, m. 1679 in PQ
>Jean-Baptiste LEFEBVRE dit Senneville and Madeleine CHASTENAY, m. 1-26-1722 at Bastican, PQ
Catherine SENNEVILLE and Jean PROULX, m. 4-18-1747 at Baie-de-Febvre, PQ
*Marie PROULX and Gabriel LAFOND, m. 1-5-1785 at Baie-de-Febvre, PQ
Gabriel LAFOND and Genevieve ALLARD, m. 10-21-1816 in Baie-de-Febvre, PQ
Hélène LAFOND and Antoine DARGIE, m. 9-1-1844 at Granby, PQ
Napoléon DARGIE and Léonise TURCOTTE, m. 10-15-1883 in Lewiston, ME
Delia DARGIE and Wilfred CAMERON, m. 10-11-1910 in Attleboro, MA
Rhea CAMERON and Edward LIZOTTE, m. 6-20-1636 in Attleboro, MA
~~~
* This is a marriage between second cousins.
