The following is from "Dictionnaire Généalogique Familles Riou-x, Descendance de Jean Riou & Catherine Leblond, 1678-2001, Tome 1 A-I and Tome 2 J-Z", © AFRA-SHGTP, C. P. 208, Trois-Pistoles, Québec, Canada, G0L 4K0, June 2001, ISBN 2-922756-07-6, pages ix-xxii.

On the trail of ancestor Jean Riou

        The descendants of Jean Riou and Catherine Leblond put a lot of effort into finding the baptism certificate of the first seigneur who settled in Trois-Pistoles.

        Conclusive results were obtained thanks to J.-François Beaulieu, Élisée Rioux, Norbert Rioux, Emmanuel Rioux, the SHGTP and AFRA's extended contact with Hervé Riou (a Breton descendant, then living in the Paris suburb of Limay).  It was November 1986, in fact, that Hervé Riou sent us a copy of the ancestor's long-awaited baptism certificate, which until then was nowhere to be found.  It was in researching the maternal lineage of the Gueguens, as suggested by Jean-François Beaulieu, that the search was brought to a favorable conclusion.

        Here, then, is the baptism certificate of Jean Riou, dated March 20, 1652, which our correspondant photocopied and sent to AFRA November 23, 1986, and as it can be read in the civil register in Ploujean (a community of 20,000 now annexed to Morlaix, a city in the Finistère region of France).  It arrived just in time for the historic reunion of 2,000 Riouxs, the 14th through the 16th of August, 1987, in Trois­ Pistoles.

Aupril 1652 ...ochiou
Jan fils légitime de Jan Roc’hiou et de Marguerite Guéguen a esté baptisé par Mre Claude Guéguen prêtre ce jour vingtième de mars 1652, Jan Prigent était le parrain et Janne Bernont la marraine
Aupril 1652    S con Recteur
(Mre est l'abréviation de Messire qui est un titre donné aux prêtres et traduit à Mon Seigneur)April 1652 ...ochiou

Jan the legitimate son of Jan Roc’hiou and Marguerite Guéguen was baptized by My Lord Claude Guéguen priest this day the twentieth of March 1652, Jean Prigent was the godfather and Janne Bernont the godmother
April 1652    S con Rector
(Mre is the abbreviation for Messire which is a title given to priests and translates to My Lord)

Notre Dame Catholic Church in Ploujean record of the Baptism of Marguaretta (Marguerite) Guéguen
Jean Roc’hiou/Riou Baptism

        The fist question to arise was the identity of this "Messire Claude Guéguen" who presided over the baptism ceremony.  He was probably a brother or cousin of the mother.

        A second and more important question arose on the patronymic of our ancestor.  What follows is Hervé Riou's explanation:

        "This change of Roc’hiou to Riou (... ) is not due to an error of the parish priest in Ploujean (...), this error must have happened in Québec.  Jean Roc’hiou could neither read nor write and when in 1678, he married in Sainte­Famille, the notary who wrote the marriage contract and the priest who performed the marriage could only record the patronymic Roc’hiou phonetically, as they heard it ( ... ).  The word roc’hiou in Breton signifies the Trégor Rocks and is written roc'hiou.  The consonants c'h are in Breton, pronounced as a hard h.  For example, the rock which is, in Breton, spelled ar roc'h is pronounced like the German word rohr which is the same as rohr in French pronunciation.  Also, the rock that in Breton is spelled as roc'hiou is pronounced rorriou.  It could be that the priest and notary only heard the last part 'Riou or that they connected it to the patronymic Riou which was more familiar in Brittany"¹

The ancestor of the vast majority of North American Riouxs

        In his volume of Nos Ancêtres, Father Gérard Lebel reported the presence, in Québec, of a Jean Rioult, from Normandy.  In 1669, at around the age of 17, Jean, the son of Pierre Rioult from the town of Rouen, entered the service of Jean Routhier of the Sillery parish.  There is no trace of him after his eight years of service².  That leaves our Jean Riou, the ancestor of basically all the North American Riouxs.  He married Catherine Leblond on January 10, 1678 in Sainte-Famille Catholic Church on île d'Orléans, Québec.

        Read their marriage certificate, as it was recorded by the parish priest Charles­Amador Martin (1648-1711: son of Abraham, who was the King' s river pilot and owner of the Plains of Abraham):

L'an de grace mil six cent soixante et dix huict le dixieme jour de janvier après les fiancailles et la publication des trois bans de mariage faicte les vingt unieme vint sixieme et vingthuitieme jours de decembre aux messes paroissiales de l'Eglise de la Ste Famille en l'Isle St. Laurent, d'entre Jean Riou fils de Jean Riou et de Marguerite Guinguen ses pere et mere de la paroisse de Ploujas Evesché de Treguier en Bretagne d'une part, et Catherine le Blond fille de feu Nicolas le Blond, et de Marguerite le Cler, ses pere et mere de la paroisse de la Ste Famille, Evesché de Québec d'autre part.  Et ne s'estant trouve aucun empeschement légitime, je soussigné prestre missionnaire les ay dans la ditte Eglise solennellement interroges, et apres avoir receu leur mutuel consentement leur ay donne la bénédiction nuptiale en presence des tesmoins connus Vincent Chrestien, Maturin Gerber, David Asselin et Bernard Laine.

Ch. A. Martin ptre³

The year of grace one thousand six hundred and seventy eight on the tenth day of January after the wedding and the publication of the three marriage banns made the twenty-first come sixth and twentieth day of December at the parish masses of the Church of the Holy Family in Isle St. Laurent, between Jean Riou son of Jean Riou and Marguerite Guinguen her father and mother of the parish of Ploujas Evesché de Treguier in Brittany on the one hand, and Catherine the Blond daughter of the late Nicolas le Blond, and Marguerite le Cler, his father and mother of the parish of the Sainte Famille, Evesché of Québec on the other hand.  And having found no legitimate impediment, I, the undersigned priest missionary, have solemnly questioned them, and after having received their mutual consent, gave them the nuptial blessing in the presence of the known witnesses Vincent Chrestien, Maturin Gerber, David Asselin, and Bernard Laine.

Ch. A. Martin ptre³

Jean Riou settled on his mother-in­law's farm as a hired hand, a fact established by Jacques Morissette in the beginning of his published Histoire de Trois-Pistoles 1697-1997⁴, a very well-documented and researched study.  Refer, below, to the December 26, 1677 marriage contract, which was signed under private seal and filed with registry clerk Aubert on March 7, 1678.  It specified the conditions for the hiring of Jean Riou by his mother-in­law, who had become the widow of Nicolas Leblond in September, 1677.

L'an mil six cent soixante et dix-sept ce 26 décembre, Jean Riout âgé de vingt et un ans ou environ, natif de Bretagne, Ploujean, évêché de Lantriguet, fils de Jean Riout, laboureur, et de Marguerite Guéguen, sa mére, présent habitant de l'Isle St Laurent, promet et s'oblige (par) promesse de mariage à Catherine Leblond, fille de défunt Nicolas Leblond et de Marguerite Leclerc, sa mère, que le dit Riout s'oblige de servir sur sa terre et habitation en toute chose raisonnable comme père de famille, pour entretenir le ménage et la dite terre, comme ils sont convenus, en toute chose, et ses enfants s'il y en a, leur fournir des hardes et autres choses nécessaires pendant les dits quatre ans, de lui donner une habitation, d'une valeur de trois cents livres par l'estimation qui en sera faite d'une part et d'autre, de lui donner deux boeufs âgés de trois ans chacun, deux vaches portant, et s'oblige de donner à sa fille un habit de mariage, outre son entretien et la vêtir de pied en cap.  Plus pour le ménage une marmite, une grande chaudière et une moyenne; plus des couvertures; plus une charrue et ustensiles pour le travail de la terre.  La dite veuve s'oblige de leur donner la dite habitation, semée et garnie de grain tout fait, et conclu en présence des parents et amis du côté de la fille qui est Vincent Chrétien, son oncle du côté de la mère; Anne Leclaire, sa tante et David Hasselin, ami.  Le dit Riout a deux amis Mathurin Gerbay et Jacques Beaudoin.  Charles-François Moreau, commis de Mr Berthelot, ami d'une part et d'autre, le dit Vincent ne savoir signer et la dite Anne Laclaire aussi, X et le dit Gerbay, X Jean Riout et son épouse, X.

Moreau

In the year one thousand six hundred and seventy-seven on December 26, Jean Riout, a native of Brittany, Ploujean, bishop of Lantriguet, son of Jean Riout, a farmer, and Marguerite Guéguen, his mother, present inhabitant of Isle St Laurent, promises and promises (by) promise of marriage to Catherine Leblond, daughter of deceased Nicolas Leblond and Marguerite Leclerc, his mother, whom the Riout says obliges to serve on his earth and dwelling in all reasonable things as the father of a family, to maintain the household and the said land, as they have agreed in all things, and his children, if any, to furnish them with herds and other necessaries during the said four years, to give him a dwelling, worth three hundred pounds by the estimate made on either side, to give him two oxen aged three years each, two cows carrying, and is obliged to give his daughter a wedding garment, apart from his maintenance and clothe him foot to head. More for the household a pot, a large boiler and an average; more blankets; plus a plow and utensils for working the land.  The said widow is obliged to give them the said dwelling, sown and furnished with ready-made grain, and concluded in the presence of relatives and friends on the side of the daughter, who is Vincent Chretien, her uncle on the side of the mother; Anne Leclaire, her aunt and David Hasselin, friend.  The said Riout has two friends Mathurin Gerbay and Jacques Beaudoin. Charles-François Moreau, a clerk of Mr. Berthelot, a friend on both sides, said Vincent did not know how to sign and the said Anne Laclaire also, X and said Gerbay, X Jean Riout and his wife, X.

Moreau

        "In the contract, writes Canon Léo Bérubé, which seems to be written by an inexperienced or at the least an uneducated notary named Moreau.  Jean Riou agrees to live, with his wife, at his mother-in-law's for a period of four years in order to cultivate her land and maintain her home, as if he were head of the family.  In return, the widow Leblond promises to feed her son-in-law, as well as his wife and any children they may have.  She also agrees to furnish the young couple, at the end of four years, a homestead worth 300 livres (about $400 USA), seeded and stocked with grain, two three-year­old steers, two dairy cows, a cooking pot, one large and one average-sized tub, two good blankets, a plow and other farming equipment and tools.  The widow, in addition, promises to provide her daughter's wedding trousseau, to clothe her and to supply her with a wardrobe on her departure at the end of four years."⁵  Let us add that Jean Riou was already over twenty-five years old, and not "around 21", and that Catherine, since she was born the 4th and baptized October 12, 1664 in Chateau-Richer, was only 13.  She was the daughter of Madeleine Leclerc, who was born February 12, 1640 in Dieppe and of Nicolas Leblond, who was born around 1637 in the town of Honfleur, Normandy, within the Lisieux diocese, and was himself the son of Jacques Leblond and Françoise de Nollen.  Their marriage took place October 13, 1661 in Château-Richer (ct Aubert September 11, 1661)⁶.  Nicolas Leblond died at the Hôtel-Dieu hospital in Québec City in September, 1677, leaving his wife a young widow with seven children.

A brief look at the young Riou couple's twenty years on Île d'Orléans

        Following are the highlights of Jean Riou's twenty years (1677-1697) on Île d'Orléans.  What started out, in that era, as a simple farmer's life, unworthy of note, was to be slightly disturbed by unforeseen events that would lead to the seigneury (like a feudal lordship or governor; a person contracted with the government for 10 years for a tract of land and upon fulfilling the terms of the contract was given ownership of the land and was the official representative to the government for the area responsible for making reports and paying taxes) of Trois-Pistoles.
-- To begin with, his mother-in-law, on September 8, 1678 remarried a young widower and father of eight, Jean Rabouin.  Together they had three additional children.  It goes without saying that the daughter and son-in-law were forced to leave the family home, which meant the interested parties had to revise the prior December 26 contract.  On February 23, 1679, Jean Riou acquired Pierre Buteau and Perrette Loriot's land, lot no. 5, the north part of Saint-François-de-Sales on Île d'Orléans.  He had already been renting it from the same owner by signing a lease February 28, 1678.  His neighbors were his uncle, Vincent Chrétien (married to Anne Leclerc, sister to his mother­in-law), Nicolas Veilleux and Louis Martineau.
-- On August 2, 1679, he mortgaged his land to Jean Baillé for the sum of 59 livres 10 sols, which he promised to repay within three years.
-- On October 21, Jean Riou acknowledged receiving the sum of 60 livres which the seigneur François Berthelot gave to those who married and settled on Île d'Orléans.
-- According to the 1681 census, Jean Riou declared having 15 acres of land under cultivation.
-- October 3, 1684, Jean Riou and Sébastien Cotleau became co-owners of La Sainte-Anne, a longboat with "anchors, sails, and other rigging"⁷.  The transaction cost them 125 livres.  This type of longboat was used as much for fishing and coastal trade as it was for passenger transport.
-- On October 7, 1686, Jean Riou rented one of René Baucher's farms for a five year period starting the following first of April.  It was located on the island's north shore and had an eight acre facade "with good meadows, but no buildings"⁸.
-- July 25, 1688, notary Vachon witnessed a grant of land by seigneur Berthelot to Jean Riou.  This new land was located a little west of the one in Saint-François.
-- In January, 1692, Jean Riou was hospitalized for 22 days at the Hôtel-Dieu in Québec.

The seigneurial Riou couple in Trois-Pistoles (1696-1709)

        In notary Chambalon' s office, March 15, 1696, Jean Riou ceded a valuable farm in exchange for the seigneury of Trois-Pistoles, which had been granted to Charles Denys de Vitré on January 6, 1687.  The farm comprised a building whose 36 foot long main structure was of tongue-in-groove boards, a 54-foot barn and stable, two steers and two cows, all four-year-olds, two young pigs, six chickens and one rooster.  However, Jean Riou reserved the right to continue living on his farm until April, 1697, and to pay in exchange 40 bushels of wheat grain.  Denys de Vitré agreed to furnish Jean Riou with a longboat having the tackle, cables, sails and grapnels "ready to make sail for the said place of the river of Trois-Pistoles".  At the Château Saint-Louis, on April 10, 1697, in an act of faith and tribute to the stronghold and seigneury of the river of Trois­ Pistoles, Jean Riou was recognized as the "resident living on the island Saint-Laurent in the parish Saint-François"9.

        Here, then, follows the "founding deed" of Trois-Pistoles.  Since the document is in old French, the translation is in keeping with the same old style of writing:

Deed exchange between Denys de Vitré and Jean Riou March 15, 1696

        In the presence of the royal notary, at the seat of the Québec magistrate, the under­signed, resident and below-named witnesses, were present: Charles Denys de Vitré, member of this country's Sovereign Council, residing in his hotel in the upper part of town, and Jean for himself, with his offspring and entitled beneficiaries, to use in perpetuity, with the responsibility of trust and respect attached to the holder of this concession, starting April next in the stead of the Sr de Vitré.  In exchange for the above, the said Riou has also ceded, given up, relinquished and transferred to the said Sr de Vitré, who accepts for himself, his offspring and any future entitled beneficiaries, the land and dwelling located on the said island Saint-Laurent in the Saint-François parish of the Dargentenay seigneury.  It has a three acre facade on the Saint Lawrence River, the depth of which is the middle of the island, bordering on the one side, the residence of Vincent Chrétien, and on the other side a residence belonging to the said Riou, facade on the said river and at the back, the line or road that determines the depth, continuing this way and including the thirty-six foot long main structure of tongue and groove planks, an attached stable and barn about fifty­four feet long and all their appurtenances, nothing to be held back or retained.  And in addition, two four-year-old steers, two four­year-old cows, two piglets, six chickens and a rooster, those steers, cows, pigs, rooster and chickens the said Riou promises to give and deliver to the said Sr de Vitré, in a year from April next, the said land and habitation belonging, at the present, to the said Riou.  And the said farm belongs to him by having acquired it from Pierre Buteau and his wife, Perrette Loriot, through notarized contract (Paul Vachon, the notary) dated February twentieth, sixteen hundred and seventy-nine.  This contract, with the other titles and papers concerning ownership of the said land, the said Riou has also put into Sr de Vitré's possession, except for the original title which the said Riou has declared to never have been in his possession, the said homestead being a part of the taxable land within the Dargentenay seigneury.  Along with this, is added the charge of three livres and two live capons, as a seigneurial rent plus one sol for yearly seigneurial fees, making it free and clear of arrears in said yearly seigneurial fees and rent or any other past debts and mortgages.  The said yearly seigneurial fees and rent are paid up until the next term of this year.  The said Sr de Vitré, his offspring and entitled beneficiaries, can take possession and use the said land and its appurtenances, with the steers, cows, pigs, rooster and chickens, in the month of next April, as owners in perpetuity by these presents.  These reciprocal exchanges, cessions, deed transfers are made with the following expenses, clauses and conditions: it is understood the said Riou, as a farmer, will remain and live on the said land and dwelling, which was given in exchange, by him to the said Sr de Vitré, from the said month of April next until the same time next year.  He is charged to farm and keep the said land, buildings and outbuildings in good repair, in return for which this Riou will be required to pay, for the said year's farming rights, forty bushels of wheat grain and the sum of twenty livres for the said year's rent for the said two cows.  At the end of the said year, it is agreed that the Sr de Vitré, if he considers it advisable, will approve and authorize the five year lease that was made under private seal to Nicolas Verieu (Veilleux) of the said land, to start the said month of April in one year.  If the Sr de Vitré prefers to break the said lease or agreement, the said Sr de Vitré and the said Riou will be obliged to pay, half and half, the sum of twenty livres that the said Riou is obliged to pay Verieu as compensation in the case of revocation of the said lease or agreement.  The said Riou would also be required to leave the said Sr de Vitré sufficient fodder to feed the said animals, from the said month of April next year until the grass has grown and as for the steers, until the harvesting has been completed.

        The said Riou will maintain the lease that Sr de Vitré has: and with the Sr Riverin the fees of which are charged to the Sr Riverin and Sr Charles Aubert de la Chesnaye, that this Riou will hold and collect, in the name of the Sr de Vitré, the rent of one hundred livres that the said Sr de la Chesnaye pays for each to Sr de Vitré.  This rent will start to be paid to him the said month of April next.

        In return, the said Sr de Vitré promises to furnish, to the said Riou, a longboat, outfitted with cables, sails and grapnels, ready to sail for the said location of the river of Trois-Pistoles.  This longboat will remain in the name of the said Riou; the Sr de Vitré promises to deliver it to him at the latest in the month of next June.  He also promises that when he returns to his fishing next summer, to give the said Riou three of his nets, as they are, with three full fishing lines.

        In good faith, the said parties agree, cede and transfer respectively with their promise of guarantee that all is settled according to the law.  They agree, etc., and consent, etc.  And to this end, the parties were here present.  Leporteur, etc.  They promise, etc., for thus, etc., were obliged, etc.  They relinquish, etc.

        Done and entered into in the said Québec City, in the office of the said notary, the morning of the fifteenth of March in the year sixteen hundred and ninety-six, in the presence of the Sr René Lepage, seigneur of Sainte-Claire, living on the said Saint-Laurent island, in the Saint-François parish, and of Jacques Barbel, witness , living in the said Québec City, and who have, along with Seigneur de Vitré and the notary duly signed:

C. DENYS DE VITRÉ
LEPAGE BARBEL CHAMBALON

        The presence of René Lepage as a witness to this deed transfer shows that, from 1678, the Lepage family was already in Saint­François and the neighborhood of the Riou couple.  The seigneury of Sainte-Claire was conceded to René Lepage in 1694; he would move to Rimouski two years later.  November 15, 1734, in Trois-Pistoles, his son, Paul would marry Jean Riou's granddaughter, Catherine, the daughter of Nicolas, who would be the first to be listed in the Trois-Pistoles registry¹⁰.  Another Lepage, Pierre, son of Pierre, would marry Véronique, another of Nicolas' daughters, in Trois-Pistoles, July 14, 1749.

        Moreover, someone would need to be very clever to be able to inform us about Jean Riou's life in Trois-Pistoles.  As Canon Bérubé has pertinently observed, the Trois-Pistoles registry only started in 1713, so no written documents from the Riou couple's first decade of life on the seigneury were preserved.  "Tradition says that he lived, for several years, by fishing more than agriculture and that, for sometime, he fed his animals the wild grass along the shore.  He, no doubt, must have harvested some grain for his animals, as well as wheat which he then had milled elsewhere, and barley he could peel for soup, along with potatoes and other vegetables.  Over time, he improved his property by renovating the buildings; he even, around 1701, built a little chapel near his home"¹¹.

        In the Ordonnances des Intendants of Nouvelle France, dated August 30, 1709, administrator Raudet allowed Nicolas, the eldest, "to continue the home he had started"¹².  This leads to the assumption that Jean Riou must have passed away not long before.  During the marriage ceremony, August 13, 1710 in Sainte-Famille on Orléans island, of Nicolas to Louise Asselin, he was mentioned as the son of the late Jean Riou and Catherine Leblond.

        As for Jean Riou's wife, she survived him by some forty years.  Her death certificate was recorded in the parish registry in the following words:

L'an mil sept (cent) cinquante-trois, le premier du mois de décembre est décédée Catherine Leblond, femme de feu Jean Riou, propriétaire et seigneuresse des Trois-Pistoles, paroisse de Notre-Dame-des-Anges, âgée de 87 ans, après avoir été confessée, reçu le St-Viatique et l'extrême­onction.  Son corps a été inhume dans l'église de Trois-Pistoles le lendemain du jour de son décès en la même année mil sept cent cinquante­trois.  En Joy de quoi j'ay signé le jour et an que dessus, frère Ambroise, récollet, prêtre, faisant les fonctions curialles dans la paroisse de trois­pistolles.¹³

Catherine Leblond, wife of the late Jean Riou, owner and lord of Trois-Pistoles, parish of Notre-Dame-des-Anges, aged 87, was born in the year one thousand seven hundred and fifty-three, years, after being confessed, received the St-Viatique and the extreme.  His body was buried in the church of Trois-Pistoles the day after his death in the same year one thousand seven hundred and fifty.  In Joy of which I have signed the day and year above, brother Ambrose, Recollet, priest, performing the functions curialles in the parish of trois­pistolles.¹³

A monumental task: writing the history of the Rioux seigneuries

        A monumental task awaits our SHGTP and AFRA researchers, which will consist of writing the history of the Rioux seigneuries.  It is to be a major publication just as important as our 1977 book on the history of Trois-Pistoles and our present Rioux Directory.

        We will just point out that as far back as March 31, 1712, for the sum of 50 livres, Nicolas would buy from the Seigneur de la Minotière, a seigneury one league (2.79617037 miles) wide (between the present church and the limits of Saint-Simon) and two leagues (5.59234073 miles) deep, which include a part of Sainte-Françoise.¹⁴  Afterward, this seigneury would be given to his brother Vincent, whose marriage to M.­Catherine Côté took place in Rimouski on August 20, 1731.  On April 6, 1751, Nicolas would become the owner of an immense seigneury known as Nicolas-Rioux, having a six league (16.7770222 miles) width by a four league (11.1846815 miles) depth which encompassed the parishes of Saint-Simon, Saint-Mathieu, Saint­Fabien and Saint-Eugène-de-Ladrière.¹⁵

        So this is, it goes without saying, in very broad terms the information regarding the first years of our ancestor Jean Riou, who became the first resident seigneur of Trois­Pistoles.  He was the father of many descendants that are firmly established in our milieu Québécois, Canadian and indeed North American.  As far back as the middle of the 18th century and all during the 19th century, all Riouxs descending from Jean Riou generally spelled it with an X¹⁶.  Either way it is spelled, all are descendants of the same ancestor and are part of that large family, Jean Roc'hiou.

Emmanuel Rioux

Notes

1. Riou-xs of America Family Reunion, Trois­Pistoles, 14-15-16 August, 1987, AFRA brochure, Trois-Pistoles, 1987, p. 14-15.

2. Gérard Lebel, C.Ss.R., Nos Ancêtres, volume 2, Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré, 1981, p. 151.

3. Ibid. , p. 151-152.

4. Jacques Morissette, "Jean Riou et Catherine Leblond on Iîle d'Orléans (1677-1697)" taken from Histoire de Trois-Pistoles 1697-1997, Trois-Pistoles, Centre d'édition des Basques, 1997, p. 53.

5. Léo Bérubé, "Riou ou Rioux" taken from L'Écho des Basques, vol. 21, 1999, p. 22.

6. Archange Godbout, Origine des families canadiennes-françaises, Montréal, éd. Élysée, 1979, p. 97.

7. Gérard Lebel, op. cit., p. 153.

8. Ibid., p. 154.

9. Léo Bérubé, loc. cit., p. 24; Gérard Lebel, op. cit., p. 155.

10. J.-F. Beaulieu, "The Trois-Pistoles Registry", from Histoire de Trois-Pistoles 1697-1997, p. 104.  Note that the marriage of Paul Lepage and Catherine Riou was in fact in 1734 and not 1735, as Rino Belanger confirmed in his article entitled "Problèmes généalogiques provenant du registre de Trois-Pistoles" which appeared in L'Écho des Basques, no. 22, 2000, p. 31-32.

11. Léo Bérubé, loc. cit., p. 24-25.

12. Ibid. , p. 26.

13. Since her birth date was October 4, 1664, she was 89 years old and not 87.  See J.-F. Beaulieu, op. cit., p. 110.

14. René Jetté, Dictionnaire généalogique des families du Québec, Montréal, Presses de l'Université de Montréal, 1983, p. 986.

15. Léo Bérubé, loc. cit., p. 26.

16. This was Canon Bérubé's conclusion which we were able to verify the authenticity of while looking over a large number of manuscripts from the past 150 years for any material relative to our history, parish, education, etc.  See the article which appeared in L'Écho des Basques, no. 21, 1999, p.22.  Also refer to our article published in L'Écho des Basques, no. 22, 2000, note 2, p. 42.