On 25 July 1700 Clément
Lerigé, in garrison at the fort at St-Lambert, acquired 150 acres of
land from Pierre Bourdeau in an area situated "in the locality of La
Tortue" (The Turtle) in the seigneury of la Prairie de la Magdeleine
(11). From then on he dreamed of settling down, because a few weeks
later, on 8 September (1700) La Plante married Marie
Roy, daughter of Pierre Roy and Catherine Ducharme, inhabitants
of St-Lambert. The simple and discreet ceremony - remember that the
king's orders forbade officers from marrying a young lady without a
dowry - took place in the chapel of Ste-Vierge at St-Lambert.
Here is the record in its
entirety:
"The year of our Lord one
thousand seven hundred, the eighth of September. I, the undersigned,
Louis de LaFaye, curate of the parish of St. Francois-Xavier at La Prairie
de la Magdeleine, certify having given the benediction of marriage after
having received from Monsieur Dolier, grand-vicar of the diocese, a
written dispensation of all banns to Clément Lerigé, officer of a detachments
of marines, known also as Laplante, and to Marie Roy, in the Chapel
of Ste-Vierge at St. Lambert, in the presence of Pierre
Roy, inhabitant of St, Lambert, Andre Babeu
and Claude Chartier who stated that they did not know how to sign. The
said Clément Lerigé signed a draft copy, the Register being unavailable,
which I affirm to be true, and in faith of which I have signed this
day, the ninth of September in the present year, one thousand seven
hundred. Louis de LaFaye, Year of our Lord, one thousand seven hundred."
(12)
[Note:
Pierre Roy is Andre Babeu's father-in-law]
Marie Roy was only 19 at
the time of the marriage: the husband was well into his thirties. When
the military authorities got wind of the affair, they informed Versailles.
The king stripped La Plante but restored him in rank a short time later
(13). (1702-1703)
During the years that followed,
the ancestor, established at Laprairie, raised his large family. It
was not until 1720 that he was promoted to lieutenant (14). Clément
Lerigé received three concessions of land from the Jesuits, seigneurs
of La Prairie de la Magdeleine. The first, on 4 February 1714, of an
area of 60 acres (15); the second, on 9 June 1721, an area of 90 acres
(16); the last and the more important, on 29 March 1727, of an area
of about 250 acres (17). One notes the presence of the officer in several
civil documents in Canada, whether he appears as a godfather or as a
witness. Thus, on 20 April 1705 at Laprairie, we see him at the marriage
of his brother-in -law, Pierre Roy, with Angélique Faye. And at the
marriage of René Bourassa with Agnès Gagné on 23 October 1710 at Laprairie
(18). Etc.
From a book called "Les
Origines de La Prairie (1667 - 1697).
Supplied by John Fisher, jfisher@attglobal.net
List
of Babeu Family Members