The following combines Nicolas Peltier's biography with the dedication of a monument to his memory
On 12 September 2005, the Pelletier Family Association, Inc. (l'Association des familles Pelletier, Inc) dedicated a monument
in Sillery, QC, Canada, on a part of the land granted to Nicolas Peltier in 1645.
As part of the dedication ceremony, Benoît Pelletier Shoja, one of Nicolas Peltier's descendants and avid Peltier family researcher, gave a talk on
the research he recently made in France. The text of his presentation follows the pictures taken at the dedication.
Mr. Denis Pelletier, president of the Pelletier Family Association, and the monument dedicated to Nicolas Peltier and Jeanne de Vousy
The inscription on the plaque reads as follows:
In Memory Of
Nicolas Peltier
and
Jeanne de Vousy
The First Pelletier Family
To Settle In New France
Originally from the Parish of Saint-Pierre Saint Paul
of Gallardon in Beauce (France), they arrived in this country on
Jume 11, 1636, accompanied by their sons Jean and François. Living
first at the Habitation of Québec City, they settled
on the côte Saint-François-Xavier in Sillery about 1645.
Governor Charles Huault de Montmagny granted to
master-carpenter Nicolas Peltier 50 acres of land on
September 12, 1645. Father Jean de Quen, Superior of the
Company of Jesus in New France, granted him another
50 acres in May 1659. This monument rests on a
part of the lands bestowed upon the Peltier family.
The Pelletier Family Association, Inc.
September 12, 2005.
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Benoît Pelletier Shoja reading his presentation
Presentation by Benoit Pelletier-Shoja at the dedication of a monument honoring Nicolas Peltier and Jeanne de Vousy, unveiled by the Pelletier Family Association
on Monday, Sep-tember 12, 2005, at the Hamel-Bruneau House in Sainte-Foy/Sillery (Québec).
Mr. President and members of the Sainte-Foy/Sillery Administrative Council;
Mr. Dumas, Ms. Blais-Gosselin; members of the Pelletier Family Association; cousins; friends; guests:
A great emotion fills my heart as I look upon this monument honoring these hardy Québé-cois pioneers, our ancestors Nicolas Peltier and
Jeanne de Vousy. In the name of their descendants throughout the world, I salute you. I thank you with all my heart for this celebration
of the lives of our forbears. This monument, which sits on a portion of the land con-ceded to this family 360 years ago today, will serve
as a reminder to all those who see it that they are standing in the very cradle of the Peltier family in North America.
Despite the gap between their lives and my own - four centuries and eleven generations - I am forever aware of the extraordinary life of
this couple. One spring day in the year 1636, Nicolas and Jeanne undertook a voyage of great uncertainty across a vast ocean,
to realize their ambitions in the hostile and unforgiving territory of New France, where they eventually succeeded in establishing their
family. Between 1633 and 1649 they had eight children, each of whom reached adulthood. In 1681, their progeny included three sons,
five daughters, over seventy grandchildren and even several great-grandchildren; fifty years later it was nearly a thousand descendants.
The Peltier family was at that time the tenth largest Québécois "root family," which is no small claim. As for Nicolas, he lived to about
the age of eighty-one, which is, without exaggeration, extraordinary for the time. His line has perpetuated and his descendants continue
to prosper, as much in Canada as in the United States, as well as throughout the world.
To conclude this first part of my presentation, many thanks once again to the Administrative Council of Sainte-Foy/Sillery for having
authorized the installation of this monument here at this glorious site, the Hamel-Bruneau House, on the land that once belonged to
Nicolas Peltier. Thanks also to all those who helped make this extraordinary day possible, in particular Denis Pelletier,
Guy R. Pelletier and Marcel Pelletier, of the Pelletier Family Association, and Éric Dumas, director of historical facilities for
Sainte-Foy/Sillery.
I would now like to speak to you about the week in July 2005 that I spent at the Eure-et-Loir Departmental Archives, situated in Chartres,
France, in pursuit of Nicolas Peltier. I would also like to present the results of my research there.
First, in order to undertake this task, I based myself uniquely upon what was already known about the origins of this ancestor, according to
the archives of New France. The parish register of Notre-Dame de Québec reveals that master-carpenter Nicolas Peltier was originally from
the parish of Saint-Pierre Saint-Paul de Gallardon in Beauce. The census of 1667 indicates that he was born about 1590. And, very important,
different notarial contracts prove that he could sign his name.
Conversely, neither his parents' names nor his date of birth appear in documents available at the National Archives of Québec;
no genealogist has ever known these two pieces of important information.
In addition, once at the Eure-et-Loir Archives, I limited my research to the registers of notaries active in Gallardon in the early
seventeenth century. Given the enormous amount of documents that this research entailed, I could not read each contract line by line.
Instead, I paid close attention to the signatures at the end of each instrument, careful not to miss my ancestor's scrawled endorsement.
On my first day at the Archives, Monday, July 18, I consulted six volumes of bound notarial contracts; each register contained about 400
or 500 pages. To my great disappointment, although different Pelletier signatures abounded in these registers, I found no trace of Nicolas
Peltier. The next day, during eight consecutive hours of research, I consulted thirteen such registers, page by page. Again, I encountered
many Pelletier signatures, but not the one I had come to find.
The morning of Wednesday, July 20, the director of the Eure-et-Loir Archives, Michel Thibault, whom I had contacted before visiting France,
gave me a personal guided tour of the archives facility. The building is a former seminary, constructed in 1722, and has served as an
archival repository for the last century. Mr. Thibault admitted that this was perhaps the worst possible environment in which to effectively
conserve the documents in his care. Consequently, the archives are now in the process of being moved to a new state-of-the-art facility.
Now, because I am employed at the New Hampshire State Archives, Mr. Thibault received me as a colleague, hence the guided tour.
In addition, he also gave me access to several one-of-a-kind documents from the seventh, eighth and ninth centuries, which no long
circulate publicly, as well as different medieval maps of Gallardon and its environs.
After this warm welcome and splendid visit, during which I was able to meet and talk with different French colleagues, that afternoon I
returned to leafing through the registers of seventeenth-century Gallardonian notaries. At the end of my third day I had already consulted
thirty separate notarial registers; at a conservative estimate this is over 10,000 individual notarial contracts, ranging in dates from
1606 to 1630. With only two days remaining at the Archives, I still had not found any trace of Nicolas Peltier.
All the same, I had very good reason to be happy. At the beginning of the year, in preparation for my visit to France, I had written Mr.
Thibault to ask him about the Eure-et-Loir Archives. In one response he indicated that it was possible to consult digitized microfilmed
copies of the état civil (vital records) of every commune in the department, including Gallardon, up to 1853. Because I was planning to
spend only one week at the Archives and wanted to restrict my research to original notarial registers, I ventured asking Mr. Thibault if
it would be possible to purchase a CD-ROM of Gallardon's earliest parish records. To my great joy he said yes; because I had traveled some
5,000 kilometers to reach Chartres, there was no problem. Imagine my great surprise when he added, "But I have no right to make you pay"!
So, that day Mr. Thibault offered me not one, but three CD-ROMs containing over 1,720 images of Gallardon's parish registers, from 1578 to
1670! What a magnificent finish to my third day at the Archives.
Now, after three days of disappointing research in the notarial registers, when I opened my first volume of contracts early Thursday morning,
July 21, little did I know what I was going to find in my first registry of the day - a registry that I had not planned to consult, because
the archives index indicated "mauvais état" (bad condition).
There, in the minutes of a notary name Jean Fullone, for the year 1612, at the end of a contract dated February 29, I encountered, finally, the signature of Nicolas Peltier!
Reading for a first time the text of this contract which my ancestor had signed, I realized that this document was very important - indeed invaluable - for several reasons.
First, it bears our ancestor's signature, which permits us to prove irrefutably and therefore definitively that this is indeed Québécois
pioneer Nicolas Peltier.
Moreover, it reinforces what we already knew about Nicolas, namely that he came from the parish of Gallardon.
But what sort of contract was this?
Among other words, I thought I could distinguish "baille" (third-person singular present-tense form of "to lease") which immediately made me
think that Nicolas was agreeing to rent property. But I did not see any other words typically used in leases or land sale agreements.
Only later, with help from Mr. Thibault, did I learn that I had in actual fact found an appren-ticeship contract. That is to say, young
Nicolas was being leased as an apprentice and student to a master carpenter, who in turn agreed to instruct him in the art of carpentry,
which trade Nicolas would later continue in New France.
This master carpenter was named Michel Delaval, and the contract bears not only his sig-nature, but also his mark. Beneath his signature he
traced the outline of a broadaxe, the indispensable tool of a carpenter for hewing posts and beams. This identifying mark would have also
likely appeared on any framework or other timber structure he had constructed.
In addition, the contract shows that Delaval lived in Épernon, a town situated ten kilometers from Gallardon, where he would have quite
probably brought Nicolas during his apprenticeship. This constitutes the first indication of the early migrations of our ancestor before
his arrival in Québec.
All the same, the ultimate reason that this document is so precious to us is that it bears the names of Nicolas Peltier's parents!
This would later serve as the key to opening my re-search in the parish registers of Gallardon.
Now, having uncovered this contract that morning, it was not until five o'clock that afternoon that I was able to meet with Mr. Thibault
to continue reading the text, and to confirm my limited interpretation thereof. He eventually invited colleague Brigitte Féret, and we
three together were able to decipher a large part of the document. However, given the advanced hour, we decided to put the contract aside
until the next afternoon, as Mr. Thibault would be absent that morning.
The next day I spent my time carefully studying, deciphering and transcribing the text. Although about twenty words remained illegible,
mostly in the conventional notarial closing, with what we had been able to decipher the previous day, I was able to grasp the principle
elements: Nicolas' father having died sometime earlier, our young ancestor was unable to continue the paternal trade. His mother, likely
unable to provide for her son, had to lease him to Michel Delaval, and this, during four years. Delaval accepted to "teach, show and instruct"
Nicolas "his said condition of carpenter"… to "provide and ready his drink [and] food" … to "provide heat"… and to "maintain clothing,
linens and shoes," all at his own expense. In return, Nicolas would be "required to serve the said Delaval his master in his said condition
and in all other licit and honest affaires that he will be commanded without distrusting or elsewhere serving […] during the said time"…
This is the interpretation ultimately arrived at by Mr. Thibault, Mrs. Féret and myself, with additional help from Émilie Lebailly, on Friday afternoon, July 22.
Now, this story - and my research - obviously does not end in France. Remember the three CD-ROMs that Mr. Thibault had graciously given me!
Once I returned home, armed with Nicolas' parents' names, I set myself to "thumbing through" the oldest Gallardon registers.
In the second register, which begins in 1591, I found not one, but three of Nicolas' sisters - and older sisters at that. Nicolas was the
fourth child and the first son of his family. His parents ultimately had thirteen children, which is to say nine daughters and four sons,
between 1592 and 1610. I cannot however at this time confirm how many of these children survived to adulthood.
The family's first child was baptized on November 16, 1582. Her name was Simone, which happens to also be her mother's name.
Next was Philippe, on October 18, 1593; and then Jeanne, on April 3, 1595.
Then, on June 4, 1596, it was Nicolas, sponsored by Nicolas Brebier, Éloi Pelletier and Mathurine Moinaut, wife of Pasquier Pichereau, who
was himself a relative of the child's mother.
After Nicolas there was Marie, baptized March 11, 1598; and on February 10, 1599, a second daughter named Marie.
On July 11, 1600, another daughter named Jeanne was baptized, and on January 23, 1602, it was second son Éloi.
On November 18, 1603, it was the family's ninth child and its third son, Pierre, sponsored by Pierre Beauchesne, Nicolas Pelletier , son of
Éloi Pelletier, and Jeanne, wife of Claude Duboys. Now, it is possible, although in no way certain, that this Pierre is the unidentified
Pierre Pelletier named in the contract drafted in Québec City on November 12, 1639, by notary Martial Piraube, in which Nicolas Peltier and
Pierre Pelletier, both carpenters, and mason Jean Éger report on the condition of the house of the late Guillaume Hébert.
Later came Nathalie, on April 10, 1605; Marguerite, on November 10, 1606; the family's last son, Philippe, on February 22, 1609; and finally,
its last child, Simone, on June 13, 1610.
In summation, much heretofore unknown information about the origins and family of Québécois pioneer Nicolas Peltier has been brought to
light. We know that he had nine sisters and three brothers, as well as the name and baptism date of each sibling. We know at long last when
Nicolas himself was baptized. We also know his mother's name and even the name of the master carpenter who instructed him in the art of
carpentry. So now, finally, I can unveil the last piece of information that I have to reveal, the name of Nicolas' father: François Pelletier.
I thank you all for your presence here this magnificent afternoon, and I thank you for your attention. Thank you very much.
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The following 2 pictures were sent to Benoît Pelletier Shoja by Ms. Florine Perry of Gallardon. Ms. Perry, who works in the Mayor's office in Gallardon, has volunteered
much of her time helping descendants of Nicolas Peltier in their search for information and documents relating to Gallardon and their ancestor.
The drawings are of Gallardon in it's early days.
Thanks to both Ms. Perry and Benoît for allowing us to post the pictures here.
This drawing dates to 1780. At center is the Church of Saint-Pierre Saint-Paul. At left, the ruins of the château-fort
of Gallardon destroyed during the Hundred Years War by the Dauphin (later Charles VII) who fought alongside Jeanne d'Arc.
After his victory over the English forces in June 1421, Charles had the château destroyed (sapped), in the hope that
war never again come to Gallardon. After the sapping, one portion of one of the towers remained standing. The donjon,
called the "Épaule de Gallardon" (Shoulder of Gallardon) since the eighteenth century, still today stands as it is
depicted in this painting. (Benoît Pelletier Shoja)
This drawing shows Gallardon in the early nineteenth century, with its thatched roofs and the "porte Mouton"
(Mouton gate), which was destroyed by the inhabitants of Gallardon in 1848. People used the stones from this gate,
as well as those from the ramparts and the old churches in the city, to construct their houses. According to
Maurice Vié: "The porte Mouton (or porte Archer) lead towards the commune of Maintenon, and to the hamlets of
Le Ménil and Baglainval." The hamlets of Germonval (direction Rambouillet) and of Le Ménil were not enclosed
within the walls of Gallardon itself, as the city was small, but adjoined the city, and this is where,
at the time of Nicolas Peltier, a great number of Pelletiers lived. (Benoît Pelletier Shoja)
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The next 3 pictures on this page were submitted by Bill Peltier, Watkinsville, GA.
(Click here to go to Bill Peltier's visit to ancestral Gallardon in March, 1999
- use your browser's Back button to return here)
Overall view of Gallardon with the church in the
center and the Tower on the left
Closer view of the Tower with the church on the right
The church is dedicated to St-Peter and St-Paul. The tower is claimed to be
the last vestige of a formidable 12th century castle, which was sacked and destroyed in 1443.
The half-timbered house dating from the 14th century.
It is claimed to be one of the most beautiful sculptured half-timbered houses
found in France.
.jpg)
