| Notes |
- The following is adapted mostly from Our French-Canadian Ancestors by Thomas J. Laforest (1987) ISBN: 0-914163-05-1 (volume 5, chapter 3, pages 25-32). It has been supplemented with information from the PRDH. Much of the text has remained as written, however it has been reformatted to arrange events chronologically.
Francois Baribeau is one of many ancestors of whom little or nothing is known concerning parental or regional origins. (see note 1) Francois with his wife Perrine and son Louis probably crossed the ocean a short time prior to his appearance before notary Romain Becquet on 18 January 1670 to arrange a contract of service between himself and the Jesuits. (see note 2) By this time, the family had settled in the area of Quebec, probably at Charlesbourg, where their first daughter, Gabrielle was born.
On 24 February of 1673 Francois turned in his resignation to Brother Joseph Bousier, of the Society of Jesus. Once free from his service with the Jesuits, Francois could go wherever he chose. In 1674 and 1675, he turned over his holdings in the Quebec region. It would appear that by this time Francois had already relocated his family to the Batiscan River, a short distance from its confluence with the Saint Lawrence. The cadastral map drawn by the engineer Catalogne in 1709 showed that Francois Baribeau and his sons were all living on the left bank of the Batiscan River. There were five parcels in the name of Baribeau. These were among the first recorded on that side of the river after those of Francois Rivard dit Lacoursiere, Louis Guillet dit Saint-Marc and Luc Proteau. A second daughter, Catherine, must have been born in 1675 while the family was living on the river. Her baptismal record should attest to it but unfortunately it was lost, as was that of her brother Francois, born in 1678.
On 15 January 1677, our ancestor acquired a property from Jean Larieu dit Lafantaisie/Lafontaine. It was mentioned in the census of 1681 as the land belonging "to Francois Baribeau, a 45 year old cobbler and his wife Perrine Moreau, 46 years old," situated between that of Francois Frigon and Jean Larieu. The children mentioned in this census were: Jean, 11 years; Gabrielle, 8 years; Catherine, 6 years; Francois, 3 years; and Pierre 5 months old. The family owned a gun, four head of cattle and had 12 arpents of land under cultivation. Only Louis was not recorded by the census taker; since this was November, he had most likely already left for the west to try his luck as a coureur-de-bois in the fur trade, which constituted the principal industry at that time. On 14 December 1681, Francois Baribeau sold four arpents of land to Michel Feuillon, but this sale was annulled on 3 March 1687.
On 29 April 1697, at the home of the notary Francois Trotain, our patriarch acquired a homestead from Jean Baril. This windfall was located on the banks of the Batiscan, between the concessions of Francois Fortage and Jacques Tiffault. It measured 3 arpents wide by 21 deep, with buildings already in place. Francois obtained all this for the sum of 215 livres, paid in cash. On the following 5 May, at the office of the same notary, Baribeau sold to his son Jean, the property which he had bought twenty years earlier from Jean Larieu; for which son Jean had already paid his father 500 livres. Finally, on 7 August 1698, in their home and in the presence of witnesses Louis Guillet and Gabrielle Lefebvre, Francois and Perrine gave their 23 year old daughter Catherine, the land which they had bought from Jean Baril the preceding year. This donation was made to reward Catherine for "the good and useful service and care which they had received and do receive daily, and in the hope that she will continue these services to them, without prejudice to the property division with their other children, which would take place after the death of the aforesaid donors."
The burial of Perrine Moreau was recorded in the registers of Batiscan on 15 September 1709. On 22 January 1716, when he was almost eighty years old, our ancestor Francois Baribeau, who was living with his son Jean at the time, asked to see the notary Francois Trotain. "Maistre Francois," as the notary wrote, "being sick abed but nevertheless of sound mind, memory and will," feared that death would soon pay him a visit. He did not want to die before he could show his appreciation to Marguerite Cosset "for the good and comforting services which he has received from her and from her husband, his son Jean." The grateful old man made her a gift of all his property on the island situated in front of his house and in front of the house of his neighbor, Sieur Jean Desranlot dit Chateauneuf. Two other neighbors, Louis Guillot dit Saint-Marc and Luc Proteau witnessed this gift.
On 19 August 1720, Francois Trotain was summoned once again to the home of Jean Baribeau. By this time our ancestor had recovered his health, thanks be to God, and decided that the donation he had made to his daughter-in-law four years earlier was not as much as she deserved. He enlarged his gift to her by adding half of the two arpents in width from his property on the Batiscan River.
What happened later to provoke the wrath of Father Gervais Lefebvre concerning this donation? Was he upset because the gift was made to Marguerite rather than to her husband Jean? Did the other children of old Francois protest to the Cure about this gift? Did Marguerite influence her father-in-law to make her the beneficiary rather than her husband, his son? Who knows? Therefore, for whatever the reason "to satisfy the pressure and the determination of said Sieur Lefebvre, " Francois and Jean agreed that the gift should be annulled. A record of this involuntary consent was made by the priest himself, who took advantage of the absence of a notary to draw up a private paper revoking the benevolence.
However, the fact remains that on 3 November 1720, the notary Daniel Normandin appeared at the home of Sieur Damien Quatresous in order to record the objection of both father and son to the meddling of the priest in their personal affairs. They affirmed that Father Lefebvre persecuted and threatened them; even to refusing them the sacraments if they did not revoke the transaction made ten weeks earlier in favor of Marguerite.
Therefore, on this November third, before notary Normandin, our patriarch and his son reiterated their willingness to maintain the grant of land to Marguerite "for the good services which she gives daily to the aforesaid Baribeau elder, just as he had declared it to be in his first gratuity. The Baribeaus, father and son, swore to the complete invalidity of the written document that Lefebvre made them sign, having consented to it under duress and by force." Less than a year later, when father Lefebvre laid our progenitor to rest, did he want the family to forgive him for his gratuitous interference? It would seem so from the near act of canonization evidenced by the farewell eulogy. Or, on the other hand, did Francois shed tears of contrition on his deathbed, bitterly regretting having dared to show his disapproval of his confessor's action? We will probably never know?
Early in the morning of 22 October 1721, the parishioners of Batiscan converged on the small stone church in order to pay their last respects to one of their senior citizens, the old master shoemaker, Francois Baribeau, the ancestor of all the families, which bear this name in America. This humble pioneer who had come from France more than fifty years earlier, had been dead but a few hours. The service for him was barely finished, and while the bells were still tolling, the Cure Gervais Lefebvre wrote in his register that the deceased, age 97 years, "lived as a true Christian and showed all the attributes of sainthood." (see note 3)
Like many parish priests of his time, Gervais Lefebvre believed himself to be, not only the incontestable guardian of his flock, but the master of their well being as well. He was authoritative, irascible and tolerated no opposition. The proud seigneurs of LaPerade would come to learn at their own peril that one could not impugn the reputation of a pastor of his caliber.
What had been the relationship between the Baribeau family and Cure Lefebvre? Surely it had to have been very close. During the fifteen years in which he exercised his ministry at Batiscan, the priest had ample time to insinuate himself into the homes and to probe the mind and soul of each of his parishioners. He squandered his counsel in abundance in domains which were beyond his jurisdiction, especially where such sagacious advice was by no means solicited.
Francois and Perrine had at least four sons and two daughters. It is possible and probable that other children might have been born in France.
notes:
1 - For those of you who are interested, there is a group of people both in Quebec and France who are working on making these connections. I suggest that you check this web site a couple of times a year to see if anything has been found on Francois Baribeau. URL http://www.francogene.com/fichier.origine/
2 - Many of the early settlers in Quebec had agreed to give of their services in return for their passage from France to Quebec. The term of this service was most often three years.
3 - The exact age of Francois Baribeau was not noted on his death certificate. He was more likely about 85 years old. The best information we have to support his age at this time is the census of 1681 in which he is listed at 45 years old.
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1670 - 1725 (~ 54 years)
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