Our ancestor Jacques Lhuissier
Parisian Jacques Lhuissier, from the parish of Saint-Eustache, was born around 1646. He is the son of Jacques Lhuissier and Marguerite Dominé (or Darmine). At the time of his birth, nothing foretold the singular career of the man who would become the ancestor of the Lussier/Lucier/Lucia/L’huissier of America family.
Seventeenth-century engraving
paris1900.lartnouveau.com
Current photo of the church
www.paris.fr
Apart from the names of his parents, mentioned by the notary and parish priest at the time of his first marriage, we know nothing of our ancestor’s family background. We also don’t know from which port he left France, nor the precise date of his departure and arrival in New France. But why did Jacques Lhuissier leave his family to settle in the colony?
Let’s take a look at what the archives have to say on the subject.
Jacques Lhuissier was present in Québec City in the fall of 1669, when he drew up his first marriage contract with Charlotte Lamarche. To date, this is the oldest archival document in which our ancestor’s name is mentioned in America.
How did Jacques Lhuissier come to New France? He probably came to the colony as a soldier in the Carignan-Salières regiment. Although we are not yet in a position to prove it, the many Laubia company soldiers in his entourage lead us to believe that he would have served in this company. This is all the more likely as a man called “Le Parisien” from this company has not yet been formally identified.
Flag of the Carignan-Salières Regiment
In any case, on September 22, 1669, Jacques Lhuissier was present in Quebec City at the home of Anne Gasnier, widow of Jean Bourdon, King’s Counselor and Attorney General to the Sovereign Council. The young man set his sights on Charlotte Lamarche, a fille du Roy who had arrived on June 30 on the ship Saint-Jean-Baptiste. The latter, daughter of François Lamarche and Suzanne Bourgeois, came from the parish of Saint-Jacques-du-Haut-Pas in Paris, where she was probably born around 1647. Notary Romain Becquet draws up their marriage contract. This document reveals the origins of the spouses and the names of their parents. We also learn that Jacques Lhuissier is a “habitant” living in Boucherville. The following week, on September 30, Father De Bernières blessed their union at Notre-Dame church in Quebec City.
It was probably in the Du Tremblay seigneury, on land measuring 2 arpents in front by 30 arpents deep, that Jacques and Charlotte established their home. In the summer of 1670, a contract was signed for the construction of their house.
On February 3, 1671, Charlotte gave birth to a baby girl, Marie. Sadly, she would never see her daughter grow up, dying shortly after giving birth in her own home.
Then, in the autumn of the same year, Jacques headed back to Quebec with the intention of finding a second wife. On October 4, he returned for a second time to the widow Bourdon’s house, where notary Becquet drew up his marriage contract with Catherine Clérice, another fille du Roy. The latter, daughter of Pierre Clérice and Marie Lefebvre of the parish of Saint-Sulpice in Paris, is just 18 years old. On October 12, their wedding is celebrated at Notre-Dame Church in Quebec City. Jacques Lhuissier and Catherine Clérice led a busy life in the Cap de Varennes and Îles de Verchères seigneuries, as evidenced by the many notarized contracts between them. Nine of their children will reach adulthood and marry. They all settled in the Varennes area.
Jacques Lhuissier drowned in the St. Lawrence River between November 14, 1712 and January 22, 1713. His body was found in the seigneury of Sorel the following summer. It was here that he was buried on June 12, 1713, in the presence of his son Christophe and his son-in-law Antoine Foisy.
In the winter of 1715, after receiving the last rites, it was Catherine’s turn to leave her family at the age of 68. On March1, 1715, his body was buried in the Varennes parish cemetery.
Today, the descendants of Jacques Lhuissier and his two wives number in the tens of thousands in America. They are scattered throughout Quebec, Ontario, Western Canada, New England and many other American states (e.g. Oregon, Minnesota, etc.).
Our ancestor Jacques Lhuissier couldn’t write and so couldn’t sign. The spelling of his surname therefore varies according to the goodwill of parish priests, notaries or any other person who wrote up the documents in which he is mentioned: L’Huissier, Lhuissier, Lhuisier, Lussyé, Luissier, Lucier, Lhussier, Lhuislier, Lhuissié, Lhuissiee, Lhuïssier, Lhuisuis, Lusie, Lusier, Lussie, Lussié, Lussier Lussiers, Luyssier, Lucie, Lucié, Luçier, Huissier, Huisier, Hussié, Lhuyssier, and so on.
Until 1692, the censitaires of seigneur René Gaultier de Varennes were under the jurisdiction of the parish of Boucherville for sacraments; no parish had yet been erected on the territories of Cap de Varennes and the fief of Tremblay.
Extract from a document bearing the mark of Jacques Lhuissier
