Jean Cauchon (Cochon)

Normandy is the French province that contributed the most to the establishment of New France. In the very beginning of the seventeenth century, it sent missionaries, such as Jean de Brebeuf, Barthelemy Vimont and Antoine and Charles Daniel. Normandy also sent some of gallant founders and pioneers: Jean Bourdon, Guillaume and Emery de Caen, Jean and Thomas Godefroy, Jacques Hertel, Charles and Pierre Legardeur, Jacques and Michel Le Neuf, Nicolas Marsolet, Jean Nicolet, Noel Langlois and others. The surgeon and interpreter, Adrien Duchesne, came from Dieppe. A whole family, that of Jean Cauchon, also arrived from the same seaport.

In spite of its very ancient origin, since it existed during the times of the Gauls and the Romans, Dieppe remained a small city, whose size and population compare to those closest to us, Rimouski, Valleyfield or Cap-de-la-Madeleine. Dieppe, the capital of the Arrondissement of la Seine-Maritime, overlooking the English Channel, on the mouth of the Arques River, is situated in a wide notch of tall, chalky cliffs in the region of Caux. The old town is confined between the basins and an ancient chateau built on the steep slope. Dieppe is a city particularly dear to the families of more than two thousand Canadian soldiers, whose bodies were buried in French soil following the unfortunate raid of August 19, 1942 against the Germans.

PARISHIONER FROM SAINT-JACQUES

The church of Saint-Jacques, which the Cauchon family attended during the 1630's, was built very slowly between the twelfth and sixteenth centuries, then, it was repaired and restored many times afterward. The monument is in the Renaissance style, in which, the entranceway is comprised of three chapels on each side of the main aisle and five radiating chapels and one apsidal chapel, of remarkable ornamentation, is on the town square where, occupying a place of honor, is the statue of Admiral Abraham Duquesne (1610-1688), victor over the Spainish on the Iles de Lerins (1635), during the time when Jean Cauchon and his family had probably embarked for America.

We know from the genealogist, Archange Godbout that, Our Ancestor could also have lived in the neighboring parish of Saint-Remy since his son, Guillaume, from his first to Marguerite Cointerel, was baptized there, in January 1624. On the other hand, Pierre and Nicolas, two other sons from his first marriage, were baptized, at Saint-Jacques, in 1631 and 1633, respectively. We also know that, Marguerite did not survive the birth of Nicolas, having been laid to rest, on the next day, January 10, 1633.

On the following April 2, Jean became engaged to Jeanne Abraham and married her two days later, at the church of Saint-Jacques. Francoise was baptized there, at the end of the same year and Jacques, at the beginning of 1635. Then, there was the odyssey to Canada. Did Jean accompany Governor Huault de Montmagny aboard the ship commanded by Captain Courpon, which left Dieppe, on April 8, 1636 and arrived, at Quebec, on June 11? Whenever it happened, according to Benjamin Sulte, Jean Cauchon arrived at the latest in 1638. That year, he was mentioned in Canadian records for the first time.

CAUCHON-COCHON ORIGIN

A sinister person, the torturer, Pierre Cauchon, the Bishop of Beauvais, made his last name known to the whole world. It was he, who presided at the ecclesiastical tribunal, which sentenced Joan of Arc, who was burned alive at Rouen, on May 30, 1431.

Albert Dauzat wrote that, the family name was widely spread in earlier days in France. In 1389, Andre Coichon raised pigs, at Dijon. But as the term also meant slovenliness and coarseness, numerous families changed the name to Aubry, Cardeur, Creton, Cochois, etc.. Pierre Blanche adds that, this name was originally from La Rochelle but, it was also found at Niort, Saunur and Paris.

Our compatriot, Andre Beauchesne, notes that, some distinguished people have borne this name. They were illustrious in medicine, the courts, administration, politics and the church. Abel Cauchon owned the Seigneurie of Auverdiere, near Tours. His son, Rene, is the ancestor of the Canadian Cauchons dit Laverdure.

The Cauchons de Lapparent are of the nobility and display their coat of arms as described as follows: "Azur with a silver chevron, accompanied by three boar's heads". The first words of this description indicate that, an ancestor fought against the Moors. The author also mentioned that, the branches of Puy, Vivier, La Tour, Epannes and Chambonneau lived in Poitou.

THE LAND AT BEAUPRE

It is possible that, Ancestor Jean Cauchon first came to New France without being accompanied by his family. No birth was recorded between 1635 and 1640, the year that, the eldest daughter, Marguerite, married Jean, one of the three Gagnon brothers, who was counted among the first Percherons to arrive after the departure of the Kirke brothers, in 1632. The marriage of Jean Gagnon and Marguerite Cauchon was recorded in the registries of Quebec, on July 29, 1640 but, the act states that, the missionary Nicolas Adam traveled for this purpose to Beaupre and that he "married them in the presence of Pierre Gardeur, Sieur de Repentigny, Noel Juchereau Mr des Chastelets and Mr Jean Bourdon".

This detail leads to the conclusion that, although a deed of concession had not been officially granted, the Beaupre Coast was then inhabited by a few families, including that of Jean Cauchon. The Ancestor perhaps already occupied the land that Noel Juchereau had first awarded to Jacques Boissel and which Cauchon resold to Jacques Delaunay, on September 22, 1643.

This act specified that, "honorable man Jehan Cochon living presently in the said New France and Jehanne Abraham his wife ... voluntarily sold ... to Jacques de Launay also living in the said country presently and accepting ... the land of a concession made to Jacques Boissel living in the said New France at Beauport by Noel Juchereau Sr des Chastelets in the name of the Messieurs of the Company of the said Beaupre to the said Jehan Cochon ceding for the said Jacques Boissel the said lands comprised of five arpents of frontage on the great river St Laurent between la Riviere au Chien and the Ruisseau that he has in common with Robert Drouin also a resident and an arpent beyond the said Riviere au Chien also with frontage on the said Great River St Laurent and bordered by lands not yet ceded stretching inland in depth, etc.."

The transaction was concluded for the sum of 200 livres for the land, plus an identical amount for the grain, the house and the furnishings. The buyer promised to have the 400 livres paid at La Rochelle by Father Quentin, of the Company of Jesus, "at their first request and willingly". The contract was signed at Fort Saint-Louis in Quebec, in the presence of witnesses Louis Dornais and Michel Cote. Cauchon signed the document with the witnesses and Piraube, Governor Montmagny's secretary, but, the buyer and Jeanne Abraham declared that, they were unable to do so.

For reasons unknown to us, Delaunay was not able to keep this land and returned it to the Company of Beaupre. Olivier Tardif/Letardif, the latter's administrator, included it in the land with twelve arpents of frontage that he ceded to Etienne Racine, on March 27, 1650. The Riviere aux Chiens, which marked the boundaries of the future parishes of Sainte-Anne and Chateau-Richer was found at the same time to divide the vast land of Racine. CHATEAU-RICHER

The earliest document mentioning Chateau-Richer seems to Bourdon's map dated 1641. According to Raymond Gariepy. In the beginning, this name referred to a simple promontory included in the three arpents of the domain on which would later be built the church, the rectory and the seigneur's manor house. From high on the slope, one could see the whole Beaupre Coast as far as Cap Tourmente. On July 3, 1640, Pierre Gagnon obtained a piece of land there with six and a half arpents of frontage. This act mentioned that, Jean Cauchon junior was his immediate neighbor then. The latter only obtained his deed of concession, on July 6, 1652. His land measured six arpents of frontage by 126 in depth. On May 13, 1657, Jean Cauchon dit "le jeune" , resident of the coast and Seigneurie of Beaupre, ceded two arpents of it to Nicolas Lebel for the annual payment of 42 sols and one capon in rent, this being the equivalent for that portion, of Cauchon's rent, to the Company of Beaupre.

On this same July 6, 1652, Jean Cauchon senior also obtained from Jean de Lauson, a deed of concession for a piece of land with the same area as that of his son, in the immediate heighborhood of the seigneurial domain, the future Fort Saint-Michel and the site of the church, whose construction began in 1658, in the middle of the present village of Chateau-Richer.

It seems to us that, Our Ancestor received a rather advanced education, in France, in an era in which illiterates were legion. He signed with a very fine signature, with flourishes, with or without his first name. His fellow parishioners often had recourse to his services. In 1652, he became fiscal administrator at Chateau-Richer and appears to have fulfilled this task during Olivier Tardif's entire commision as magistrate of Beaupre, until 1662. The judge, at that time, had the power to appoint notaries and to preside over both civil and criminal cases. As for the fiscal prosecutor, his role was to defend the rights of the habitants but also to see that, the latter paid their rents to the local seigneur. The consultations between Tardif and Cauchon undoubtedly were made easier by the fact that, they were almost neighbors.

In the meantime, Jean Cauchon also fulfilled the position of church warden for the parish of "Notre- Dame-de-Bonne-Nouvelle-du-Chasteau-Richer". On February 20, 1662, he performed this duty in the company of Mathurin Gagnon and Joseph Masse Gravel. This council of the fabrique agreed to cede to Claude Petiot des Corbieres a piece of land situated near the church. This concession was ratified by Msgr. de Laval, on the following first of March. The bishop added a note to this effect at the bottom of the act and signed it.

On the following July 30, the church wardens Cauchon, Gravel and Guillaume Thibault leased to Jacques Vauquelin a portion of the farm belonging to the church, the stretch of land situated between Montmorency Falls and the homestead of the Sieur de Lachenye, for the amount of 40 livres, payable on the following Easter, in silver, beaver skins, valid bills or grain of any sort.

MARRIAGE OF SON JEAN

The year 1652 seems to have been a feverish one for the Cauchon family. After having known the emotions of the official deeds for real estate and done the apprenticeship of his new role as fiscal prosecutor, the Ancestor was also getting ready to celebrate the marriage of his son, who had worked his land at Chateau-Richer for more than twelve years. On November 10, the family met at Quebec at the home of Pierre Miville, the future father-in-law, who agreed that, his daughter, Madeleine, marry young Jean. The latter then was thirty years old. His fiancee superbly displayed the charm of her sixteen years.

"Honorable man Jean Cochon, bourgeois and resident living usually on the coast of Beaupre was assisted by best man Christophe Crevier, bourgeois and resident of the said Quebec".

Louis Carreau, master tailor, Martin Boutet, cantor at the church of Quebec, Thomas Touchet, master carpenter and Sebastien Lienard dit Durbois. Cauchon agreed to endow his bride with 300 livres. At the bottom of the act drawn up by the Notary Audouart, father and son signed with flourish next to Pierre Miville, Guillaume Thibault and the Sieur de Saint-Simon. The wedding of Jean and of Madeleine was celebrated, at Quebec, ten days later.

GUARDIAN OF THE TARDIF CHILDREN

A good reputation does not necessarily guarantee wealth but, it sometimes facilitates things when an honest resident desires to take out a loan. And so, it was that, on September 9, 1657, Jean acknowledged owing Robert Pare, another inhabitant of Beaupre, 126 livres and 4 sols, the price demanded by the Sieurs Le Gagneur and Mace for the fare for a man of service from France. This debt could be paid off in silver or beaver skins.

But it was the beginning in 1661, especially that, the good citizenship of Jean Cauchon manifested itself. His friend and neighbor, Olivier Tardif, whose health had deteriorated, summoned the surgeon, Claude de Corbieres to care for him. In spite of his blood lettings and his medicines, the doctor did not succeed in healing him. About mid-June, Jean agreed to provide housing for the patient, as well as his young sons, Charles and Guillaume, from his marriage to Barbe Emard and Olivier Michel, the offspring from Barbe's first marriage to Gilles Michel.

The following spring, Cauchon found this new responsibility a little heavy. On April 19, he asked Tousaint Toupin, from Quebec, to represent him in this affair. On the 30th, the relatives of the patient decided to take things in hand. Francois Belanger was then named guardian of Tardif and Zacharie Cloutier was made guardian for his minor children. Where were the necessary funds found to pay off these debts? Olivier had just sold his part of the Seigneurie of Beaupre to Charles Aubert de Lachenaye for one thousand livres. This was how they found the solution to the problem.

"The bills and the receipts are there to prove that, with a little coaxing, Lachenaye was not slow to pay off all that he owed to Letardif" , wrote Father Amedee Gosselin on this subject. "Belanger received six hundred to seven hundred livres for boarding the father and the children; Zacharie got more than two hundred of them for Olivier Michel; Corbieres (who signed de Corbieres) contented himself with half of his claim; in summary, at the end of 1664, nothing more remained of the thousand livres owed by Lachenaye. Fortunately, Letardif's trials would soon be finished. He died, in fact, at the end of January 1665".

In the census of 1666, Charles and Guillaume Tardif, 15 and 11 years old respectively, boarded at the home of their sister, Barbe-Delphine, the wife of Jacques Cauchon, the son of Jean. The following year, the censustaker was more explicit. Ancestor Jean, 76 years old, his wife, Jeanne Abraham, 60 years old, their son, Pierre, 34 years old and Jacques, 33 years old, the latter's wife, Barbe-Delphine and their children, Jacques and Marie, lived under the same roof as well as Olivier Morel, 23 years old, another son of Barbe from her earlier marriage to Gilles Michel. Charles, Guillaume and Olivier were classified as servants. Twenty arpents of land were cultivated and a herd of six cattle grazed in the meadow.

DEATH AND DIVISION OF THE PROPERTY

The burial act of Jeanne Abraham has not come down to us but, she definitely died before her husband*. The hypothesis, according to which she went to France and died, at La Rochelle, at the end of 1674 does not hold up since, two earlier acts prove the contrary.

First, the death certificate of Jean Cauchon recorded in the registry of Chateau-Richer, on July 11, 1673, mentions that, he was a widower:

"The year of Our Lord one thousand six hundred seventy three on the eleventh of July died Jean Cauchon widower, after having received the Holy Sacraments of Penitence and the eucharist in viaticum and was buried in the cemetery of Notre-Dame de la Visitation on the twelfth of the same month".

Signed: F. Fillon, missionary priest

Second, the act by the Notary Paul Vachon, who, on July 2, 1674, described the distribution of the property of Jean Cauchon among his heirs, indicated that, Jacques Cauchon de la Motte was the son of the late Jeanne Abraham. There is no doubt that, she indeed died between 1667 and 1673.

On the afternoon of July 2, the heirs gathered in the house of Jacques, who had succeeded his father on the ancestral property. Present were Jean and Marguerite Cauchon, the widow of Jean Gagnon, who died at Dieppe**, on one side and Jacques, Sieur de la Motte, their half-brother, the son of the late Jeanne Abraham, on the other.

Having taken advice from their friends, the heirs shared and divided into lots, the concessions at Chateau- Richer, which had belonged to their father and consisted of six arpents of frontage, on the river, bordering on one side, the property of Masse Gravel and on the other side that of Thomas Brandry (Granderie), by a league and a half deep. Located on the property were a house, with two rooms, an attic and a cellar. Also, a barn-stable, a yard and a garden, workable lands, meadows, woods and prairies. It was all charged to the Seigneurie of Beaupre for 6 sols for the cens and two live capons payable each year, on Saint-Martin's Day (November 11).

The act reveals that, the deed was free of all debts and mortgages and that the cens and rents were paid to that day. Jacques declared that, his brother and his sister had ceded him their portion, on the Sieur Granderie's side, while he ceded them his half on the other side. The distribution of the furnishings and the cattle were made the same way. As Jacques took possession of the buildings, the garden, the yard and the workable lands, he agreed to pay two-thirds of the deed of the concession and to bring the grain from the three arpents, in order to develop the portion falling to Jean and Marguerite. All three said that, they were satisfied with the arrangements made in the presence of the witnesses Nicolas Huot dit Saint- Laurent and Pierre Brabant de la Motte, master surgeon.

Note*: Jette records that Jeanne Abraham died, at Saint-Jacques de Dieppe November 11, 1674 and was buried the next day. Note**: Jette records Jean Gagnon died and was buried April 2, 1670, at Chateau-Richer.

ALL BORN AT DIEPPE

At least eight children were born from Jean Cauchon's two marriages and all must have been baptized at Dieppe, except a stillborn son, whose birth was mentioned, at Quebec, in the spring of 1642.

Our Ancestor was born about 1591 and his first marriage was celebrated about 1619, at Saint-Jacques de Dieppe, Normandy. However, the parish registries from the beginning of the seventeenth century have not been saved.

CHILDREN OF MARGUERITE COINTEREL AND JEAN CAUCHON

1) Marguerite was born about 1620. She married Jean Gagnon, the son of Pierre and Renee Roger, on July 29, 1640, at Quebec. They had eight children, two girls and six boys.

2) Jean was born about 1642. November 20, 1652, at Quebec, marked the day that, Jean married Madeleine Miville, the daughter of Pierre and Charlotte Maugis. Sixteen children blessed this happy home, eight daughters and eight sons.

3) Guillaume was born, in January of 1624, at Saint-Remi de Dieppe. The last time anything was recorded on him was May 5, 1647, at Quebec.

4) Pierre dit Lafontaine was baptized July 17, 1631, at Saint-Jacques de Dieppe. He bacame a servant of the Jesuits. He went to the land of the Hurons (Sainte-Marie) in 1640 or 1641. He returned, on August 26, 1646, as mentioned in the Journal des Jesuits :

"Arrived Pierrot Cochon from the Hurons where he had served 5 years; he was clothed and had 50 livres. He brought the news of several huron canoes & of the entire fleet which followed."

Three days later, the same journal added:

"Those who returned this year from the Hurons were Pierrot Cochon, Gilles Bacon, Daniel Carteron, Jean le Mercier, des Groseillers, Racine & Eustach Lambert, who were donnes & must have gone back up & in fact went back with the aforesaid abovenamed & in addition he was entrusted with two calves.

He obtained a piece of land on the Beaupre Coast. Pierre was listed in the census, with his parents, in 1666 and 1667. There is no further information concerning him.

5) Nicolas was baptized, on January 9, 1633, at Saint-Jacques de Dieppe. He died and was buried three days later in the church of Saint-Jacques.

CHILDREN OF JEANNE ABRAHAM AND JEAN CAUCHON

1) Francoise was baptized December 7, 1633, at Saint-Jacques de Dieppe and probably died in the cradle.

2) Jacques was baptized February 6, 1635, at Saint-Jacques de Dieppe. He married Barbe-Delphine Tardif, the daughter of Olivier and Barbe Emard, on November 23, 1661, at Chateau-Richer. They had eleven offspring, four boys and seven girls.

3) A male child was born, baptized and buried, on March 27, 1642, at Quebec.

The descendants of Jean Cauchon, the majority of whom still live in the region of Quebec, changed their last name to that of Cauchon beginning in the second generation. A goodly number of the Lamothe families are descendants of Jacques, the youngest child of Ancestor Jean.

FAMILY NAME VARIATIONS

Cauchon has the following known variations: Blery, Cochon, Cushing, Hoag, Lamotte, Lamothe, Lapparent, Laval and Laverdure.

Cochon has these variations: Cauchon, Cochois, Coichon, Lamotte, Lamothe and Lavverdiere.

This biography was taken from " Our French-Canadian Ancestors " by Thomas J. Laforest; Volume 17- Chapter 4- Page 45 5-23-98

Note*: Jette records that Jeanne Abraham died, at Saint-Jacques de Dieppe November 11, 1674 and was buried the next day. Note**: Jette records Jean Gagnon died and was buried April 2, 1670, at Chateau-Richer