General Notes

The Story of Louis Tetreault(1635-1699)
This biography describes the life of LouisTetreault, a brav
e 24-year-old emigrant from Poitou,France, who first settle
d in Trois Rivieres on the St Lawrence River. He started hi
s new life as an indentured servant to the Jesuits but brok
e his contract before its completion. He rented a farm fro
m the Jesuits then married a local widow, Noelle Landeau, w
ith one young child. While still renting, Louis acquired hi
s own land, partially cleared its forest and farmed the cle
ar land. He then sold this land for a profit and started ov
er in the same fief or in another fief. In this manner ou
r ancestor acquired a large tract of land, 609 acres by 167
8. Louis and Noelle brought nine children into this world
, seven of whom survived to marry. In 1690 Louis rented hi
s farm and moved his family to Montreal where he stayed fo
r nine years. In 1699, he returned to his farm to die at 6
4 years of age. We can be proud of our ancestor who was bra
ve, industrious, outspoken, an entrepreneur, and a fighte
r for his rights.
LOUIS TETREAU/TETRAULT, b. Bet. 1634 - 1635, St. Martin-de-
Louin, Parthenay, Lucon, Poitiers, Poitou, France; d. Jun
e 22, 1699, Champlain, Quebec, Canada; m. MARIE-NOELLE/NATH
ALIE LANDEAU, June 09, 1663, Trois Rivieres, St. Maurice, Q
uebec, Canada; b. November 02, 1636, Parish of Tosse (Jauze
), Diocese of Mans, the ancient Province of Anjou, France
; d. September 24, 1706, Montreal, lle de Montreal, Quebec
, Canada.
Notes for LOUIS TETREAU/TETRAULT:
Louis was from St. Martin de Louin, Archdiocese of Parthena
y, Diocese, Poitiers, Poitou (Deux-Sevres).
Louis Tetreault arrived in Trois Rivieres in 1662 as a dome
stic in the service of the Jesuits. (source filed L-26-12)
At the Trois Rivieres 1666 Census Louis was supposedly 30 y
ears old.
LOUIS TETREAU
The first Tetreau who came to New France was named Louis, a
nd was the son of Mathurin Tetreau and Marie Bernard, bor
n in 1634 in the parish of St-Martin-de-Louin (St-Martin-de
-Liguge), diocese of Lucon, in the ancient province of Poit
ou, France. (Today, Louin is part of the township of Saint-
Loup-Lemaire, Parthenay, in the department of Deux-Sevres
. Louin is still in the diocese of Poitiers, ancient capita
l of Poitou.)
One day, Louis decided to try an adventure to the New World
. Who gave him the idea? What were his motives? We will nev
er know. He appears in our history at about the age of 24
. The arrival of Louis Tetreau at Trois-Rivieres did not g
o unnoticed, as he had <<red>> hair and his tongue hung out.
Jean Buissoneau, a miller who lived at Cap-de-la-Madeleine
, presented himself, the 23-01-1662, before Pierre Boucher
, to declare under oath that in the middle of 1660, one o
f his friends, named Jacques, a relative of Louis Tetreau
, had declared that the latter had been married in France
, and that he was the father of a daughter and that he ha
d even worked with him at La Rochelle, etc. Was this just g
ossip, jealousy, or a joke? This silly text had no follow-u
ps, but it does help to show us the date of arrival of Loui
s Tetreau in Canada, ca. 1660.
He arrived at Trois-Rivieres, Quebec, in 1662 working a
s a domestic servent to the Jesuits. In the summer of 1662
, the 12th of September, Jean Lemoyne, inhabitant of Trois-
Rivieres since six years, and Louis Tetreau, his farmer, fo
und themselves before the notary Louis Laurent. The accuse
r declared that his employer made him a bunch of nice promi
sses and laughed at him and made him work for no pay. Two a
rbitrators evaluated the work accomplished by Louis Tetrea
u on the land of Lemoyne at the sum of 30 livres.
Natrually, the tenacity of the reclamation by Louis Tetrea
u did not help to preserve his job! He then turned toward t
he Jesuits. The brother Francois Malherbe, missionary procu
rator, permitted this experienced farmer to exploit 100 acr
es of land which was contingent to the pr