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Ozanne (Anne) Achon and Pierre Tremblay

Founders of a Canadian Dynasty

Origins and Early Life

Ozanne (Anne) Achon

  • Baptized: July 18, 1633, in Notre-Dame, Chambon, Saintonge (Rochefort district, Charente-Maritime), France [1].
  • Parents: Jean Achon and Hélène Regnaud (also recorded as Regnault or Regourde) [1].
  • Godparents: André Martin and Ozanne Achon [1].
  • Migration: Arrived in New France in 1657 at the age of 24 as a Fille à Marier (marriageable girl) [4].

Pierre Tremblay

  • Born: Around 1626 in La Filonnière, parish of Saint-Malo in Randonnai, Perche region, France [2].
  • Parents: Philibert Tremblay (a plowman) and Jeanne Coignet (or Cognet) known as “Le Breuil” [2].
  • Migration:
    • Signed an engagement contract on April 9, 1647, before notary François Choiseau in Tourouvre, committing to work for Noël Juchereau for three years [3].
    • Departed from La Rochelle on the ship La Marguerite in 1647 as part of a group of 20 pioneers from Perche [4].

Marriage and Family Life

  • Contract: Signed September 19, 1657, before notary Claude Auber in Quebec [5].
    • Neither could sign; both marked the document with an "X" [5].
  • Ceremony: October 2, 1657, at Notre-Dame de Québec [5].
  • Officiant: Gabriel de Queylus.
  • Witnesses: Massé Gravel, Pierre Mauge, and Mathurin Giraud [5].

Children (12)

  1. Marie Madeleine (1658– ) – Married Nicolas Roussin on November 25, 1675, in L’Ange-Gardien.
  2. Anonymous child (1659) – Lived only 8 days.
  3. Pierre (1660– ) – Married Marie Madeleine Simard on November 3, 1683, in Ste-Anne-de-Beaupré; became seigneur of Les Éboulements.
  4. Michel (1662– ) – Married Geneviève Bouchard on June 20, 1686, in Baie-St-Paul.
  5. Jacques (1664– ) – Married Agathe Lacrois on November 5, 1696, in Ste-Anne-de-Beaupré.
  6. Marguerite (1665–1694) – Married Jean Savar on April 14, 1687, in L’Ange-Gardien.
  7. Louis (1667– ) – Married Marie Peron on November 27, 1691, in L’Ange-Gardien.
  8. Louise (1669– ) – Married (1) Ignace Gagnier on November 6, 1689, in L’Ange-Gardien; (2) Antoine Buteau on May 3, 1716, in Baie-St-Paul.
  9. Jeanne (c. 1672–1711) – Married Antoine Peron on January 15, 1691, in L’Ange-Gardien.
  10. Marie Anne (1673– ) – Married Jean Payement dit Laforest on February 10, 1698, in L’Ange-Gardien.
  11. Jean (1675–1684) – Drowned July 30, 1684, and was buried in Baie-St-Paul at age 9.
  12. Marie Dorothée (1677– ) – Married François Pelletier on April 30, 1703, in L’Ange-Gardien [6].

Settlement and Land Acquisition

  • 1659: Pierre Tremblay received a land concession (Land 35) in L’Ange-Gardien [7]. The family initially settled in the seigneury of Beaupré.
  • 1678: Pierre took a five-year lease to manage the Quebec Seminary’s farm at Baie-Saint-Paul [8].
  • 1684: The family was recorded as living in Baie-St-Paul. Later that year, Pierre moved to live with his son Michel on Michel's newly granted land [7].

Census Records

Year Location Household Members Notes
1666 [9] Beaupré Pierre Tremblé (40), Ozanne Achon (33); Children: Marie (7), Pierre (5), Michel (3), Jacques (20 months), Marguerite (4 months).
1667 [9:1] Côte de Beaupré Pierre Tremblé (40), Anne (Ozanne) Achon (35); Children: Marie (9), Pierre (7), Michel (5), Jacques (3), Marguerite (2); 2 livestock, 9 arpents of arable land.
1681 [10] Seigneurie de Beaupré Pierre Tramblay (60), Anne Achon (40); Children: Pierre (20), Michel (18), Jacques (16), Denis (17), Marguerite (15), Louise (10), Jeanne (9), Jean (7), Marie (5), Dorothée (3); Martin (domestic servant, 63); 1 gun, 16 livestock, 10 arpents of arable land. Denis is likely Louis [6].

Later Years and Death

  • Pierre Tremblay
    • Died between April 14, 1687, and November 6, 1689 (the date of his daughter Louise's marriage, where he was listed as deceased) [11].
    • Historians suggest he may have been a victim of the severe epidemic that struck the colony in the fall of 1688 [11].
  • Ozanne Achon
    • Buried on December 24, 1707, under the name Anne Tremblay in the cemetery of Notre-Dame de Québec [13].
    • The burial record states she was almost 80 years old [13].

Legacy: The Tremblay Dynasty

  • Pierre and Ozanne are known as the single ancestral couple for virtually all people with the Tremblay surname in North America [14].
  • By 1729, they had 333 descendants [14].
  • The surname Tremblay (or Du Tremblay) refers to a place covered with aspen trees (trembles in French) [16, 17].

Sources

Additional Reading

  • Laforest, Thomas J. & LaRochelle, Jeffrey. Our French-Canadian Ancestors. vol. 3. Chapter 26, pp. 233-242.
  • Gendreau-Hétu, Pierre (December 9, 2016). La lignée Tremblay, ou l’aventure nord-américaine d’une signature ADN, Le Devoir, Montreal.
  • Jetté, René (1983). Dictionnaire généalogique des familles du Québec. Des origines à 1730. Montreal, Les Presses de l’Université de Montréal.
  • Lemieux, Louis-Guy (2006). Grandes Familles du Québec. Sillery, Quebec: Septentrion.
  • PRDH: Le Programme de recherche en démographie historique (Pionnier: 71097 Pierre Tremblay).
  • Association des Tremblay d’Amérique

Footnotes

  1. Baptismal record, Fichier Origine database
  2. Fichier Origine 243978 Pierre Tremblay 2023, Fédération québécoise des sociétés de généalogie/Québec Federation of Genealogical Societies
  3. Montagne, F. (1965). Tourouvre et les Juchereau – Un chapitre de l’émigration percheronne au Canada, pp. 57-64
  4. Lecointre-Montagne, D. Les Passagers de “La Marguerite” en 1647, Cercle de Recherches Généalogiques du Perche-Gouët
  5. Marriage record, Drouin Collection, Quebec Vital and Church Records, 1621-1997
  6. Quebec Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1997
  7. Gariépy, R. (1974). Les seigneuries de Beaupré et de l’Ile d’Orléans dans leurs débuts, p. 120, map between pp. 120 & 121, p. 259
  8. BAnQ Notarial acts index, Inventory of notaries’ records from the French regime, by Pierre Georges Roy and Antoine Roy
  9. Wikisource: 1666-1667 Census according to Benjamin Sulte, Histoire des Canadiens-français, Volume 4, chapter 4
  10. Wikisource: 1681 Census according to Benjamin Sulte, Histoire des Canadiens-français, Volume 5, chapter 4
  11. Quebec Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1997
  12. BAnQ Notarial acts index, Inventory of notaries’ records from the French regime, by Pierre Georges Roy and Antoine Roy, Vol VII p. 242
  13. Burial record, Drouin Collection, Quebec Vital and Church Records, 1621-1997
  14. La Mémoire du Québec, Pierre Tremblay
  15. Les noms de famille au Québec aspects statistiques et distribution spatiale, Quebec: Institut de la statistique du Québec
  16. Dionne, N-E. (1914). Les Canadiens-français: origine des familles émigrées de France, d’Espagne, de Suisse, etc., p. 252
  17. Dionne, N-E. (1914). Les Canadiens-français: origine des familles émigrées de France, d’Espagne, de Suisse, etc., p. 577

Credits

Compiled by: Mark Rabideau, Opa & Professional Genealogist.