Leclerc dit Francoeur
This illustrious Leclerc ancestor arrived in this country as a soldier in the desCloches Company, a marine troop. Like the majority of soldiers in that period he also carried a surname, as the military was not considered a profession. Because of this, the extended surname was significant; the extension identifying a characteristic or the origin of the person. In the case of Jean, he was given the Francoeur surname. Coeur franc (hard heart) was a surname much admired as the majority of his descendants adopted the name Francoeur and dropped the Leclerc, after being baptised Leclerc dit Francoeur.
In times of peace, the soldiers were assigned to the colonials and assisted in working the land to assure their subsistence. In all likelihood, Jean was assigned to Jean Langlois dit Boisverdun, the owner of several properties in the sub-fiefdom of Le Chevalerie, located in the Parish of Saint-Pierre on the Île d'Orléans. What was destined to happen, happened. He fell in love with Marie-Madeleine, the daughter of Jean Langlois. He asked for and obtained permission to marry her from Gouvernor Frontenac, then resigned from the military, as all soldiers were required to do.
On November 22, 1691, in the church in Saint-Pierre, our Breton, Jean Leclerc, 32 years of age and the son of Jean and Perrine Merceron from the parish of Sainte-Nicolas in Nantes, Brittany, and Marie-Madeleine Langlois, 17 years of age, daughter of Jean Langlois dit Boisverdun and Charlotte-François Bélanger combined their futures.
Jean and Marie-Madeleine established themselves on a property in the seigneury of Port-Joli, at that time owned by Noel Langlois dit Traversy, an uncle of Marie-Madeleine. Marie-Madeleine became the mid-wife for the area. In July of 1723, this land was located on lot 0505, with six arpents frontage and forty arpents in depth. Twenty-eight arpents were arable with four arpents as prairie, with a house, barn and stables. In addition, he obtained a large property from which he operated his fur trading business, both as a contractor as well as taking contracts himself. All this required the qualities of a leader and thus the name "Francoeur".
This short resume is only to tweak your curiosity. Is Jean-Baptiste dit Francoeur your Leclerc ancestor? For more information, you may contact either the author of this article or Florian Francoeur (#194) at 418-667-1540.
Beaudoin Francoeur (#246) specializes in Francoeurs from the Gaspé Region, and can be reached at 418-364-3196, or at Beaudouin Francoeur.
We wish to acknowledge the many members of this line, who recognize themselves, and whose numbers increase daily:#51 Roland, #118 Louise, #176 Gabriel-Thomas, #216 Guy, #237 Louise, #244 Robert, #255 Ross Ryland, #320 Honoré, #354 Bernard, #355 Yves, #356 Jean, #357 MichŪle, #358 éric, #361 Maurice, #383 Antoinette, #412 Diane, #414 Sylvain, #418 Lucette, #447 René, #460 Francis, #482 Marlaine, #514 Gaétan, #558 Damien, #559 André, #569 Marie-Pierre, #578 Jean-Pierre, #579 Thérèse, #585 Stéphane, #587 Bernard, #592 Laurent, #608 Suzie, #611 Madeleine, #612 Ferdinand, #618 Maurice, #623 Ulric, #636 Rita, #667 Cyrille, #673 Jacques, #685 Jean-Claude, #707 Michèle, #709 Laetitia, #712 Jeannine, #714 Jasmin, #725 André, #741 Richard, #762 Jeanne-d'Arc, #767 Jean-Marie, #806 Jean-Luc, #808 Jacques, #833 Johanne, #841 Pierre, #876 Michel, #882 Julie, #883 Richard, #906 Gilles, #912 Madeleine, #914 Yvon. These are the members of the superb ancestry of Jean-Baptiste Leclerc dit Francoeur as of May 21, 2008.
Writer Gilles P. Leclaire