(1596-1680)
Understandably, both Xaintes and Guyon's wife, Mathurine Robin, were not thrilled with these arrangements, so the contract had to be renegotiated. The ladies won out and when the two families arrived in New France, all of their young children were with them.
They were promised livestock, so that they could begin farming right away; and one thousand arpents of land to build a home. In addition they were given the right to hunt, fish and trade with the local people. Since it could be several years before their farms would be self-sufficient, they depended on the produce from the Hurons.
In exchange, the men promised their labour, and the first order of business for the carpenter Cloutier and mason, Guyon; was the construction of a manorhouse for the seignuer of Beauport, a parish church and Fort Saint-Louis in Quebec.
But they quickly saw an opportunity to double their holdings, due to a clerical error by the notary Roussel. Seems that instead of writing down 2000 arpents of land in total, he recorded the contract as 2000 arpents each, and both Zacharie and Jean hoped to cash in on the blunder. The dispute would go on for years, and eventually the two men refused to do anymore work for Giffard until he honoured the contract as written.
On December 18, 1636, Giffard obtained a judgment against them concerning the work still owed to him, and all concerned were at an impasse. On December 10, 1637; after boundary disputes occurred with other tenants, Governor Montmagny looked into the situation, but it would not be until May 4, 1642, that he rendered his decision in favour of the seigneur; and Cloutier and Guyon received only 1000 arpents each.
But it was still not over. On July 2, 1646; Giffard once again sued Guyon and Cloutier for refusing to render him "faith and homage" as required between a vassal and seigneur, and once again the Governor stepped in and ordered the men to comply. Two weeks later they retaliated by refusing to present their inventory (aveu et denombrement) as required from all landowners in a seigneury, and on August 20; the Governor once again reprimanded them; but their relationship with Giffard, would be strained for some time.
In 1641, a map drawn up by engineer-surveyor Jean Bourdon, shows the layout of their lands "from Kebec to Cap Tourmente", which included the territory from the river at Fetit Pre to the river at Chiens, later known as Chateau-Richer. On May 29, 1644, notary Guillaume Tronquet recorded that "Giffard, Sieur de Beauport visited the Buisson River in company with Jean Guyon, Zacharie Cloutier, Adrien Du Chesne, Jean Bourdon and Abraham Martin", and that he gave them the land "from this river up to the first point, running along the length of the Saint Lawrence river." It had been a long time coming but it would appear that their peace had finally been made.
On December 20, 1670; he sold his fief to his brother-in-law, Nicholas Du Pont, and moved to his land at Chateau-Richer. On January 19, 1668; Xaintes and Zacharie held a family meeting, before the notary Michel Filion, to settle matters regarding their estate and the following year placed all their affairs in the hands of their eldest son Zacharie. Perhaps the difficulties that arose with Denis Clouthier's estate, made them wish to avoid a similar situation with their own children.
Zacharie died on November 17; 1677, at the age of 87 and Xaintes July 14, 1680; at the age of 85. They are both buried at Chateau-Richer.
Jean - born May 13, 1620, became a carpenter like his father. He married Marie Martin on January 21, 1648 at Quebec. She was the daughter of Abraham Martin and Marguerite Langlois. Jean and Marie had 14 children, 10 of whom were girls. Jean died on October 16, 1690 and Marie on April 26, 1699. His descendants kept the ancestral home for nearly three centuries.
Anne - born on January 19, 1626, she married brick maker Robert Drouin in 1637. They had six children, two of which died in infancy. Anne died on February 4, 1648. Robert remarried in 1649 to widow Marie Chapelier who was not accepted by the Cloutiers and as a result, Zacharie and Xainte raised their grand daughters, Genevieve and Jeanne Drouin, as their own.
Charles - born May 3, 1629, was not interested in farming, so he too became a carpenter. On April 20, 1659 he married Louise Morin, the daughter of Noel Morin and Helene Desportes. Charles and Louise had 13 children, 6 boys and 7 girls. Charles died on June 5, 1709 and Louise on April 29, 1713.
Louise - born on March 18, 1632; married Francois Marguerie, Sieur de La Haye, at age fourteen. He was one of the most colorful men of early New France. A guide and interpreter of Native languages, he lived and worked among the tribes and even survived capture and imprisonment by the Iroquois. They were married on October 26, 1645 and went to live at Trois-Rivieres. Shortly after he was drowned in a canoe accident. Childless and widowed at seventeen, Louise returned to Quebec where, five months later, on November 10, 1648, she married the tailor Jean Mignault dit Chatillon: They had 14 children. Mignaut died about 1680 and in 1689 Louise married for a third time to the saddlemaker Jean-Pierre Mataux . They were childless. Louise died on January 22, 1699 at age 68.
