Born ‎21 Aug 1639 at La Rochelle, Département de la Charente-Maritime, Poitou-Charentes, France, died ‎30 Nov 1675 at Lotbinière, Chaudière-Appalaches, Quebec, Canada‎, age 36 years

Baptism: 25 Aug 1639 Temple de la Villeneuve (Protestant), La Rochelle, France
Emigration: 17 Apr 1658 Signe son contrat d'engagement de trois ans devant le notaire Pierre Teuleron
Emigration: 1658 De La Rochelle sur le "Prince Guillaume" - maître Jacques Jamain (150 tx - armateur Pierre Gaigneur)
Immigration: 13 Aug 1658 Québec, Canada, Nouvelle France

Born ‎1630 at Chênehutte-les-Tuffeaux, Maine-et-Loire, Pays de la Loire, France, died ‎Dec 1684 at Lotbinière, Chaudière-Appalaches, Quebec, Canada‎, age 53 or 54 years

Michel Lemay married a second time to Michelle Quinville on April 12,
1677.

first showed up in New France records as a emigrant in 1654 (per "Fichier Origine")

recorded in Quebec City on 9 Mar 1655 by notary Ameau -- occupation: carpenter and fisherman (per "Les Grandes Familles," Jette)

Michel embarked for New-France about 1653 or 1654...Michel obtained on March 9, 1655, from the Jesuits, land located on Ile d'St-Christophe, at the mouth of St-Maurice. After his marriage [1659], he went to be established on the Cape where he bought land. A few years later, one finds him in Batiscan, then in Lotbiniere in 1675. (per "Fench-Speaking Center of Genealogy of America," translated from French)

The family ofour ancestor was Catholic, in the province of Anjou, on the banks of the Loire. Here is were Michel Lemay was born...Michel was 24 when he headed for the New World...When he arrived to New-France it was Trois-Rivieres where he decided to settle. It was during this period that Michel Lemay became a militiaman devoted to the defense of the station and whee he acquired the nickname 'Poudrier.' After having devoted himself during several years to protect his close relations and neighbors, Michel had earned the right to some free land. 9 March 1655 Father Garreau of the Jesuits devided St-Christophe, an island located at the mouth of the St-Maurice river, into lots...20 April 1659 Crevier purchased the land that MIchel had not had time to clear. From 1655 through 1659 MIchel also received land in Cap-de-l'Madeleine, in partnership with carpenter Elie Bourbeau with whom he had been long associated with in various companies. Elie was the one who taught Michel the rudiments of the building trade...22 March 1666 the Jesuits offered Michel some land in Batiscan on the coast of St-Eloi, that included two houses. Michel accepted the land and brought his family in the spring of 1669. It was in Batiscan where Michel started again to fish eel. This became is principal activity after 1673. In the autumn of 1672 Rene Louis Chartier accepted the title Seigniory of Lotbiniere, and in 1673 he gave Michel 9 arpents along the river. The Lemay family seems to have been the first family to have the honor to be established in St-Louis de Lotbiniere. At 48 years of age, MIchel had finally found a place that he liked, since from this moment he did not seek other places to live...Now, he remained at the house to be able to practice his fvorite pastime, fishing for eels. (per "La Genealogie des Lemay," translated from French)

"Michel, among other occupations, was a fisherman. Sometime in December 1684 or January 1685, he failed to come home. He probably drowned in the St. Lawrence River while fishing. On 10 Feb 1685, Michelle Quinville [Ouinville]signed a document at Quebec delcaring herself a widow." (per Christian Hardy, 1 Dec 2001, hotmail.com>)

Poudrier means one who makes gunpowder. Our ancester Lemay carried in his veins a mixture of strength and of gentleness. He earned such diverse titles as: militiaman, colonists, carpenter, builder of churches, commercial eel fisherman, father of a large family and progenitor of a marvelous line of descendants.

Chene-Hutte, later Chenehutte-les-Tuffeaux, was well known for its chalk quarries which provided the grey soft stone so sought after for construction.

Michels boyhood was spent in a France divided by religous wars, a France of poverty, cruelty and intolerance. According to Bersyl (Jean-Marie Houle) Michel Lemay left his country for Canada in 1653. If so, he must have yearned, like so many others, for bread on the table, free air to breathe, and peace amoung men.

In New France in those days it is said, the imigrants who desired to live in a protected invironment, chose the Quebec area; the bold went west to Ville-Marie (Montreal); the reckless settled at Trois Rivieres. On August 1653, Pierre Boucher spoke of "the uncertainty of the times caused by the enemy (Iroquois), placing doubts whether one should live in the area at all." Nevertheless, it was during this period that our ancestor became a militiaman in the defense of the post, and where he acquired his sobriquet "Le Poudrier."
MAfter several years protecting the security of his friends and neighbors, Michel acquired his first grant of land. It was in 1655 that Father Leonard Garreau S.J. parceled the Ile Saint-Christophe, located at the mouth of the St-Maurice River. This land owed its name to Christopher Crevier, Sieur de la Meslee. In fact, he himself was the recipient of two of the seven sections: the others were Michel Lemay, Jacques Bertrand, Jacques Brisset, Jean Pacault and Pierre Dandonneau. Four years later, Crevier bought back the land which Lemay had not had the time to clear. He would also come to repossess the lands of the others named above.

However, between the time of acquiring and giving up the land at Trois-Rivieres, Michel received some land at the Cape in partnership with the carpenter, Elie Bourbeau. They were associated together for a long time in many construction ventures.

1659 saw the marriage of Michel and Marie Dutant (Duteau) at La Magdeleine, near Trois-Rivieres. Father Rene Menard S.J. blessed the union. Michel and Marie lived at the Cape for about twelve years. Census of 1666 states they had one servant; the following year they had four head of cattle and 18 arpents of land under cultivation.

The Jesuits must have considered him an effecient colonist because on 22 March 1666 they offered a concession consisting of two houses and two arpents of land located at Batiscan and at Cote St-Eloy. Lemay accepted and took his family to Batiscan in the spring of 1669. Again he started to build and clear land. The next year he obtained an additional 9 arpents of land in Lotbiniere, 3 of which were for his 13 year old son. He sold his first grant to Charles Dutant, his brother-in-law. It was at Batiscan that Michel began to fish for eels. It would become his principle business after 1673.

In 1673, Rene-Louis Chartier received the Seigneurie of Lotbiniere from Jean Talon. The next year Michel Lemay with 9 arpents of prime river frontage from Chartier becme the first to establish a family home at St Louis de Lotbiniere. In three years he had cleared 20 arpents, built a house and barn. On May 1, 1680, Chartier enlarged Michels concession to 15 arpents frontage by 30 arpents depth. It was not by chance that Chartier offered Michel this concession, including the fishing rights in exchange for "the sixteenth part of his catch, salted and conditioned." In 1722, Bacqueville de la Potherie wrote that on a single tide one could land as many as 3000 eels. Lemay would put the fish in holding tanks, then salt them down in barrels of 500. The barrels were sold for 25 to 30 livres each. A good season`s catch could amount to 70,000 eels !

In 1679, Jean Lemoyne delivered to the Lemay family, "a windmill with all the parts, ready to grind wheat into flour". Price: 80 livres or about 3 livres per 100 eels.

Michel and Marie had nine children. After Marie died around 1675, Michel, seeking to reorganize his home married on April 12, 1677 at Cote-Champlain, Michelle Ouinville, a Kings daughter and widow of Nicolas Barabe. They had two children: Antoinette born at Lotbiniere 1680 and Louis-Francois baptised 1684 at La Perade.

At the end of 1684, without the registries giving us a clue as to the date or the circumstances, Michel Lemay dissapeared into the glory of the hereafter. Was it a fishing accident ? Indians ? Who can say ?

On Nov 5, 1685 Michelle, the widow Lemay, married Louis Montenu at Lotbiniere. She died Nov 20, 1700 at the age of 60 there were no children of this marriage."

Source: Our French-Canadien Ancestors, LaForest