The Ancestor Pierre Blais

Our ancestor, Pierre Blais, was the son of Mathurin Blais and Francoise Penigault, both from the village of Hanc, Bishopric of Angouleme, in France. Pierre arrived in Quebec City on May 25, 1664, aboard the ship Le Noir de Holland. When boarding, he stated he was from "Cheboutonne." He spent his first years in Quebec as an "engagé"[enlisted] on the Île d'Orléans, near Quebec City.

On Monday, September 23, 1669, in the presence of notary officer Pierre Duquet, Pierre entered into a marriage contract with Anne Perrot. Anne was a “Fille du Roy” [a daughter of the King] who came from the parish of Sainte Sulpice in Paris, France. Her parents were Jean Perrot and Jeanne Valta. The religious marriage ceremony took place on October 12, 1669 at the Sainte Famille church in Île d'Orléans. As of the 1681 census, Pierre owned four horned animals and 15 "arpents" of cultivated land. He lived in the Saint Jean parish on the Île d'Orléans.

Pierre and Anne already had nine children when Anne died in giving birth to her tenth child. Pierre was named the guardian of his minor children and decided to remarry. His second marriage was to Elisabeth Royer from Sainte Famille. Elisabeth was the daughter of Jean Royer and Marie Targer. The marriage of Pierre and Elisabeth took place on Wednesday, June 1, 1689. That marriage gave Pierre five more children.

Pierre died suddenly at Saint Jean on February 16, 1700; he was buried the next day. On November 16, 1700, his widow, Elisabeth, married Robert Pépin in Saint Jean. Elisabeth was buried in Montreal on June 22, 1715.

Source: Le Centre de généalogie francophone d'Amérique 

www.genealogie.org