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Notes for Seigneur Jean Valiquet:
Jean was titled as the Seigneur de La Verdure, and he lived in Sarthe, Lude, France. When he came to Quebec, the area was mostly controlled by the Iroquois Indians, and only a few hundred French settlers lived there. He carried on the trade of fur trapping, and was a known Indian trader. He was one of the first French settlers to live in the village of Boucherville, just across the river from Montreal. He may have been one of the French settlers who was captured by the Iroquois in Quebec in 1653, and if this is so then Mathurin Langevin may have been one of the French soldiers who rescued him. Much information is known about Jean's life, especially in the work "Quebec Cousins". We find that on 16 April, 1653 Jean, in the study of the notary LaFousse at La Fleche, France, committed himself to work for 5 years at Ville-Marie for a salary of 80 Livres a year. His cousin Mathurin Langevin dit Lacroix, a resident of Lude, signed his contract on the following 17 May, 1653. This means that Jean was still in France at that time. On 15 Nov., 1651 Jean decided to join this party of men to come to Quebec. These records indicate that Jean's father Jean Valiquet was a notary and a Lawyer from Lude, and that he was a well respected man of professional persuasion. These same records found in the Archives de La Fleche, France indicate that Jean followed the trade of gunsmith, and Locksmith, and he followed this trade in New France, Quebec. The departure was set for Tuesday 20 June, 1653, at the port of Saint-Nazaire. He received at the port on that date the sum of 114 livres. The ship was named Saint-Nicholas de Nantes, and this old ship soon started leaking water; water sprang up from its rotten seams. Jean, and other passengers were busy bailing out the water, but they soon were forced to come back to an Island off the coast of France. On 20 July, 1653, after Holy Mass, the recruits again took to the sea on another boat. During the passage to the New World 8 passengers died of an illness. The ship arrived in Quebec on 22 Sept., 1653, but the ship upon arrival pierced upon a rock, and they had to burn the ship. Jean Valiquet was safe however, and with his cousin Mathurin Langevin they arrived at the Ville-Marie in Quebec on 16 Nov., 1653. At this time Ville-Marie was surrounded by virgin forest, and the Iroquois lived all around the area, and was at that time at war with the French. Upon his arrival at Ville-Marie he set upon the trade of Gunsmith, and Locksmith with diligence. He stayed here for his 5 year indenture, being given the ok to return to France in 1659 if he wanted to. However, in the summer of 1658 a young girl of 14 years, Renee' Loppe', an orphan whose parents Jean Loppe', and Marie Despres who were from Saint Jean de Lamotte, in the canton of Pontvallain, the Arrondissement of La Fleche, province of Maine, France, appeared in Montreal, and Jean soon took notice. She soon moved to Ville-Marie to live with her two cousins Pierre Raguideau, and Sebastian Hodiau, who were also from La Fleche. Jean, met Renee' in Ville-Marie, and they fell in love. The marriage banns were published in the church of Notre Dame on 20 September, 1658 in Montreal. On 23 September, 1658 the Priest blessed the union in the presence of Paul de Chaomedey, the Seigneur de Maisonneuve, and also Governor Benigne Basset was present. On 15 May, 1659 Jean made it known that he decided to make Quebec his new home. On this date he obtained a parcel of land by the river, and in the winter of 1663 he was made a corporal of the Militia in Sainte-Famille. The men respected Jean, and no doubt he was of a forceful manner. Until his arrival in the Carignan regiment, the Militia of Sainte-Famille was comprised of 140 men, Jean being one of the 20 corporals, and he was valiant in fighting the Iroquois Indians. In the 1666 census of Quebec he was listed as being 33, Renee' 23, and they had 3 children. They owned title to land, but had no cattle. In 1667 Jean also held title to three other pieces of land, one in Boucherville, another in Boisbrule, and the third at Sainte-Marie. He soon became an enterprising farmer, and a feared Indian fighter. No matter how eventful the life of Jean was in Quebec, However, popular he was, and influential in the French colony, a dark cloud held sway over his image. On 07 Sept., 1679 he was accused by Jacques Milot of Laval, a man he knew since 1653 in La Fleche, of indecent assault on one of his daughters, and that he had tried to molest two others. The daughters were Marie Nicole, who had already married, Elizabeth, and Helene. He was accused of molesting his own daughters. However, the proof was only circumstantial, and he claimed that he was poorly judged, and that he did not commit these crimes. He was transferred to jail in Quebec, his case was heard on 27 October, 1679, and on 21 November, 1679 he was released from prison, found not guilty but was forbidden to be less that 30 leagues of the Island of Montreal. He left his family, his wife Renee' had died years before, and he never saw his daughters again. On 05 March, 1680 he leased his services to the merchant Nicolas Marion. However, it was annulled on 22 October of that year. Jean then, in the company of his old friend Pierre Hardau of Lataille, went to the Lauzon coast, and obtained from Francois Ruette, Sieur de'Auteuil, a concession of land on the Jacques Cartier river. The document was signed on 11 April, 1684. On this land Jean soon grew fruits, vegetables, and wheat. On 15 Nov., 1688 he made a deal with Guillaume Lambert of Quebec. He signed another contract on 25 Jan., 1691 with Mathurin Arnaud. On 09 Feb., 1692 he finally returned to Montreal, even though he was forbidden to do so. He signed a two year lease here with Jean Baptiste Celeron, Sieur de Blainville, and he worked his land in Sainte-Marie. Jean died at the Hotel Dieu in Quebec on 20 August, 1696 being 64 years old.
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