Aunis
Aunis () is a historical Provinces of France, province of France, situated in the north-west of the department of Charente-Maritime. Its historic capital is La Rochelle, which took over from Châtelaillon-Plage, Castrum Allionis (Châtelaillon) t ...
frontiersman
A frontier is a political and geographical term referring to areas near or beyond a boundary.
Australia
The term "frontier" was frequently used in colonial Australia in the meaning of country that borders the unknown or uncivilised, the ...
who lived in
Old Montreal
Old Montreal (, ) is a historic List of neighbourhoods in Montreal, neighbourhood within the List of municipalities in Quebec, municipality of Montreal in the province of Quebec, Canada. Home to the Old Port of Montreal, the neighbourhood is b ...
in
New France
New France (, ) was the territory colonized by Kingdom of France, France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Kingdom of Great Br ...
.
Charbonneau started his working life as a sewer cleaner in
Marans, Charente-Maritime
Marans () is a Communes of France, commune in the Charente-Maritime Departments of France, department, Regions of France, administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine (before 2015: Poitou-Charentes), southwestern France.
It is connected to La ...
. Widowed twice, by Ozanne Lussaud, then by Marguerite Roy in Marans (m. 13 April 1646), he then married Marie-Marguerite Garnier 1656. It is recorded that at that time his wife Marie-Marguerite was niece to
(today, Laval). He is the ancestor of 35,000 living North Americans, and ancestor of the entire population of families with the surname Labelle, through his daughter Anne.
There are only two surviving records for the family name of Charbonneau: one for Olivier and his wife, landing in 1659, and another for an unrelated man, Jean and his wife, around 1675. Nothing in the record suggests that the two were closely related. It has been estimated that 97% of the Charbonneau families in North America are descended from Olivier Charbonneau and his wife. Descendants of Jean are fewer in number and in New France have tended to cluster in the Vaudreuil and Soulanges area of Quebec near the Ottawa river. (quoted by
on 2 July 1659. In La Rochelle, less than a month earlier (as notarised by Demontreau on 5 June 1659), he was hired as "manual labourer", that is to say, to do spade work on farms, not having his own plough, for
Ville-Marie, Montreal
Ville-Marie () is the name of a borough (''arrondissement'') in the centre of Montreal, Quebec. The borough is named after Fort Ville-Marie, the French settlement that would later become Montreal (now Old Montreal), which was located within the ...
by the Society of Our Lady of Montreal; he was recruited by Jeanne Mance. This two-year contract earned Charbonneau enough money for his passage to
Quebec
Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...
(175
livres
Livre may refer to:
Currency
* French livre, one of a number of obsolete units of currency of France
* Livre tournois, one particular obsolete unit of currency of France
* Livre parisis, another particular obsolete unit of currency of France
* F ...
Jeanne Mance
Jeanne Mance (; November 12, 1606 – June 18, 1673) was a French nurse and settler of New France. She arrived in New France two years after the Ursuline nuns came to Quebec. Among the founders of Montreal in 1642, she established its first hos ...
and her generous donors.
Charbonneau's family thus is one of the eight founding families of Aunis, and under that amnesty they were bound by contract to migrate to New France.
Island of Montreal
Charbonneau and his wife raised a family at Ville-Marie: Anne (born 1657), Joseph (1660), Jean (1662), Élisabeth (1664), and Michel (1666).
After some years they moved from Ville-Marie to
Pointe-aux-Trembles
Pointe-aux-Trembles () was a municipality, founded in 1674, that was annexed by Montreal, Quebec, Canada, in 1982. This was the last city to be merged into Montreal until the 2002 municipal reorganization.
On January 1, 2002 this neighbourhood ...
windmill
A windmill is a machine operated by the force of wind acting on vanes or sails to mill grain (gristmills), pump water, generate electricity, or drive other machinery.
Windmills were used throughout the high medieval and early modern period ...
, with his son and, their partner Pierre Dagenets (Dagenais).
His daughter Anne married Guillaume Labelle in 1671. Olivier Charbonneau settled in the region which today constitutes the parish of St. Francis de Sales in Laval, where he became the first permanent resident with his son-in-law. He is considered as the first citizen of the city of Laval, on the island north of Montreal.
On 29 October 1675 Olivier Charbonneau received the first land grant in this area.
Pierre Boucher
Pierre Boucher de Boucherville (born Pierre Boucher ; 1 August 162219 April 1717) was a French settler, soldier, officer, naturalist, official, governor, and ennobled aristocrat in Nouvelle-France or New France (in what is now Canada). He is a d ...
, formerly governor of
Trois-Rivières
Trois-Rivières (, ; ) is a city in the Mauricie administrative region of Quebec, Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Saint-Maurice River, Saint-Maurice and Saint Lawrence River, Saint Lawrence rivers, on the north shore of the Sain ...
became Procurator of the Prelate of Quebec
François de Laval
Francis-Xavier de Montmorency-Laval, commonly referred to as François de Laval (; 30 April 1623 – 6 May 1708), was a French Catholic prelate who served as Apostolic Vicar of New France from 1658 to 1674 and as Bishop of Quebec from its creat ...
illiterate
Literacy is the ability to read and write, while illiteracy refers to an inability to read and write. Some researchers suggest that the study of "literacy" as a concept can be divided into two periods: the period before 1950, when literacy was ...
.
Death
Charbonneau died in
Pointe-aux-Trembles
Pointe-aux-Trembles () was a municipality, founded in 1674, that was annexed by Montreal, Quebec, Canada, in 1982. This was the last city to be merged into Montreal until the 2002 municipal reorganization.
On January 1, 2002 this neighbourhood ...
,
Quebec
Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...
on 20 November 1687, aged 74 years. and his burial took place the same day at Rivière-des-Prairies, close by.
Laurentides
The Laurentides (, ) is a region of Quebec. While it is often called the Laurentians in English, the region includes only part of the Laurentian Mountains. It has a total land area of and its population was 589,400 inhabitants as of the 2016 C ...
* ,
genealogist
Genealogy () is the study of families, family history, and the tracing of their Lineage (anthropology), lineages. Genealogists use oral interviews, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family ...
, and co-founder of the Quebec Programme de recherche en demographie historique-PRDH (Research program in historical demography)
*
Toussaint Charbonneau
Toussaint Charbonneau (; March 20, 1767 – August 12, 1843) was a French Canadian explorer, fur trapper and merchant who is best known for his role in the Lewis and Clark Expedition as the husband of Sacagawea.
Early years
Charbonneau was ...
, who went on the
Lewis and Clark Expedition
The Lewis and Clark Expedition, also known as the Corps of Discovery Expedition, was the United States expedition to cross the newly acquired western portion of the country after the Louisiana Purchase. The Corps of Discovery was a select gro ...
Ottawa, Ontario
Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...
son of Mary Melina Charbonneau.
Legend
* The ''Avenue Olivier-Charbonneau'' in
Montreal
Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...
Quebec
Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...
Olivier-Charbonneau Bridge
The Olivier Charbonneau Bridge is a toll bridge over the Rivière des Prairies, between Laval's St. François district and Montreal's Rivière-des-Prairies–Pointe-aux-Trembles borough. Along with the Serge-Marcil Bridge, it is one of two ...
into
Montreal
Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...
, and
Quebec Autoroute 25
Autoroute 25 (or A-25, also called Autoroute Louis-H.-La Fontaine in Montreal) is an Autoroute (Quebec), Autoroute in the Lanaudière region of Quebec. It is currently long and services the direct north of Montreal's Metropolitan Area. A-25 has o ...
.
See also
*
Olivier-Charbonneau Bridge
The Olivier Charbonneau Bridge is a toll bridge over the Rivière des Prairies, between Laval's St. François district and Montreal's Rivière-des-Prairies–Pointe-aux-Trembles borough. Along with the Serge-Marcil Bridge, it is one of two ...