| Notes |
- He was from Manou, ar. Nogentle-Rotrou, ev. Chartres, Preche (now
Eure-et-Loir), in France. He answered that he was 49 at the 1666
recording, and 51 in 1667 and 57 years in 1681, living at l'Isle d
Orleans. He was cited as being in Sillery 27 Aug 1653, as a mason. He
was married at the Notre-Dame-de Quebec, in Quebec City, PQ.
Louis Houde, son of Noël Houde and Anne Lefebvre was born in 1617 in
Manou, diocese of Chartres in the county of Perche, now the
department of Eure et Loir. He arrived in New France in 1647 and
worked for at least three years in the household of the Seigneur Noël
Juchereau de Chastellées. He quickly acquired land in Saint-Augustin,
in Quebec City (where the Grand-Allée is now) and in the seignory of
Sillery.
He married Madeleine Boucher on January 12, 1655 in her father's home
at Château-Richer. Madeleine--daughter of Marin Boucher and Perrine
Mallet--was fourteen years old. Within the next two years Louis
acquired new farms in Beaupré and on the Ile d'Orléans. In 1658, the
family was established on land with a frontage of four arpents (about
767 feet) along the river and extending into the island. They
remained there over the twenty four years that saw the birth of
thirteen of their fourteen children. (For most of the history of
French Canada, land was held by "Seigneurs" or land-lords who
received rents from those who held leases which were bought, sold and
passed to heirs much like deeds.)
As the children began to establish their own homesteads, the farm was
obviously too small. Consequently, the family moved to Sainte-Croix
de Lotbinière (above Quebec on the south bank of the Saint Lawrence)
on a huge holding acquired from the Ursulines of Québec. The sons
each had their own holding and some of them took surnames reflecting
the characteristics of their land: Desrochers (stony), Desruisseaux
(with brooks), Bellefeuille (with trees).
Louis Houde was obviously successful in his business dealings and by
way of philanthropy donated the land for the first church of Sainte-
Croix.
Although all records are lost, it is thought that Louis Houde died in
1712 at the age of 95. (His wife lived on to an equally venerable
age.) The descendants of Louis Houde and Madeleine Boucher are now
found throughout Canada and in many areas of the United States.
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Abt 1616 - Aft 1709 (~ 93 years)