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The Catholic church kept good records and much of what
is told in this story has been taken from these records and sent to
this author by fellow Miron's. Please see the details page to read
the actual messages which were sent. Throughout this story, in the
future, there should be highlighted links. These links will allow
you to continue with the story following that particular ancestors
descendants.
This story of the Miron Family begins with
Pierre Magneron. His exact date of birth is yet unknown to this
author, but what is known is that he lived in the Poitou province of
France and married a Marie-Plisson in 1630 in the small village of
Sainte Hilaire de Chize. This village is just a few kilometers from
Niort, one of the more important places in the old province of
Poitou. Pierre had previously been married to a Marie Guilminet and
had at least one son from that marriage who migrated to the new
world. His name was Jean and he was born in 1626. Marie-Plisson bore
Pierre a son in 1639 whom they named Laurent. He was baptized in the
small Catholic church of Chize. Strangely the registers of this
century note no difference between the names Magneron and Migneron.
Laurent was a carpenter by profession.
It was on January 6,
1666, a Wednesday, that Laurent went before lawman, Claude Auber, to
make a donation of all he had to Marie Monnier. This was meant as a
deposit or guarantee for King Louis XIV. It was at this time that
Laurent departed for New France (Novelle France).The exact intent of
this donation is not quite clear. It may indicate that Laurent was a
soldier by trade.
Laurent settled in the area of Quebec. In
his new home Laurent went by the name of Migneron. On March 4, 1666,
a mandate of King Louis XIV exercised by a Monseigneur Francois
Montmorency de Laval granted Laurent a piece of land north of Quebec
City in the parish of Sainte Joachim near Sainte Anne de Beaupre.
The registers in the Quebec Seminary, dated 1680, record this land
concession as being located just west of the Saint Anne river
alongside of the St. Lawrence.
On September 6, 1666, a
Thursday, Laurent married Anne St-Denis. Pierre Saint-Denis, the
father-in-law, witnessed the ceremony. Both Laurent and Anne signed
their names with an X, an indication of their illiteracy. Again,
Claude Auber is the lawman. When Laurent married Anne, her parents
worked to keep a promise of providing the newlyweds with a milk cow
one year later, plus all the garments for the day of
marriage.
They began life in a small wooden shack without
much in the way of worldly goods. His new wife bore him 4 children,
all but their first child survived childhood. The first, Jean, was
born in 1669. He was followed by Pierre in 1672. Anne St-Denis
passed away while giving birth to their fourth child, Anne St.
Denis, in 1674.
Some information about the life of Anne
St-Denis has been passed on to this very day. It is recorded that on
July 7, 1667 Anne Saint-Denis is taken, along with 3 other women, to
the Judge because they have insulted a Nicolas Huot and even have
hitten him with wooden sticks. Their sentence required that they
stand in front of the Judge of Beaupre, in the presence of 6
witnesses, and beg for their pardon from Huot. There is also a fine
of 25 pounds each for moral attack. This information was taken from
Hearings and Judgments of the Sovereign Council.
Laurent
chose to marry again in 1675, but before he is allowed to marry, he
must settle his estate with his children. This happens on May 11,
1675 before a lawyer named Vachon. All of Laurent's property was
recorded in this document. It was noted that "on their land,
painfully cleared, is a wooden shack in which stands a working
fireplace with all the utensils; steel pots, old dishes, plates, a
chest with the key in which all the Anne's garments lay." There is
no mention of a bed, decorations or religious devices. With respect
to livestock there are listed: "2 black cows, 2 bulls, 2 veals and a
sow." Again Pierre Sainte-Denis served as a witness for the
children. Laurent was granted half of the land while his 3 children
received the remainder.
Only when this division of property
was complete was Laurent allowed to marry on May 20th. His second
wife, Marie Guilluame a Fille du Roy was from La Rochelle and a
widow of a Nicolas Maheut. Laurent had 4 more children with his
second wife. There was Jean in 1676, Francoise in 1677, Ambroise in
1682, and finally Agnes in 1684. In the census of 1681 Laurent is
listed as 42 years old while Marie is 29.
Towards the end of
the seventeenth century there is a slow movement of family
descendants towards Montreal, which at the time was a crossroads
between the fur-rich areas and the east.
Laurent's daughter,
Anne Migneron married a a Robert Dufour in 1694. On January 15,
1700, Laurent and Marie Guillaume donated all they had to their
daughter Anne and her new husband Dufour. In exchange the
Dufour's agreed to feed, house and care for them, along with their 3
daughters, for the next 3 years. Laurent and Marie also agreed to
pay them 1500 pounds per year. After the 3 years, the moment either
Laurent or Marie dies, the obligation was to be reduced by half.
Laurent died in early 1703 and that is where the fun began, because
Anne died soon afterward in 1704. When Dufour remarried to a Louise
Gagnon, he wanted to kick Marie, his first wife's mother, out of his
home. Marie subsequently took him to Court. In a judgment made on
March 3, 1711 the court determined that Dufour would have to respect
the terms of the donation. Marie was required to move to the south
shore of the Saint Lawrence river or at least out of Saint Joachim.
This was the last bit of information we have in regards to this
fine, gutsy woman.Laurent lived to see his first son, Pierre, marry
Anne Charon in Quebec City on July 7, 1698. Pierre, being quite ill,
went to Montreal and passed away on December 20, 1720 and is buried
in the cemetery outside the walls of the city. A priest wrote
at the time of his death "came up here with all his family since
last spring from Sainte-Foy (near Quebec city). Deceased last
morning with the sacred rites of the church. B. Chize." Pierre
and Anne Charon had eight children, one of which Jacques Charles was
born in 1699. Charles established himself in Sainte Francoise de
Salas, west of Ile Jesus, which was owned by the Jesuits. He married
a Agnes Gareau on September 4, 1719. They ended up having twelve
children. Their third child, Anthanese, born in 1739 married
Josephite Renaud on January 8th of the year 1759; a year remembered
by the French of Quebec as "l'année terrible," because of the
invasion of the British into their homelands. Their marriage is
registered in Terrebonne (Good Earth).
One of this Miron's
(Migneron's) sons was also named Jean-Baptiste. It is during this
ancestors' lifetime that the name Miron first was adapted by our
family. On his marriage certificate the name of the father of the
groom is listed as Migneron, while that of the groom is listed as
Miron. This may have been an error in understanding made by an
official or priest. It was around this time, throughout Quebec, that
the name Migneron had it's spelling changed to Miron. Although there
are some for whom the spelling was not changed, in the majority of
cases the spelling was changed on official records. The reason for
the change is unclear, but may have been due to the new British
Civil Administration. Our family name Miron, to this day, is often
mispronounced by non-French English speakers as Myron.
Whatever the reason, Jean-Baptiste Migneron became Jean Baptiste
Miron when he married Marie Saucier in Sainte-Anne-de-Plaines on the
12th of October in the year 1818. (Source: Michael
Miron)
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