Home Surname List Name Index Sources Email Us | Tenth Generation760. Jean Gaspard NORMAND was born on 24 June 1712 in (Québec Province), Canada.1,1876 He was baptized on 25 June 1712 in Québec (Nôtre Dame) (Québec Province), Canada.1,1876 His widowed mother moved the family to Montréal in about 1731. The earliest reference to Jean-Gaspard in Montréal is in 1733. On October 22 of that year, the family home on Rue Fabrique was sold to relatives. Since the house was part of the inheritance left by his late father, he is mentioned in the sale as a minor resident "en la Seigneurie de Soulanges près des Montréal".1877 Jean Gaspard earned a living in numerous ways during his lifetime. On 19 August 1738, he obtained a voyaguer permit. The notarized contractural papers he signed with Philippe Dagneau read that "Joseph Normand of Soulanges agrees to carry a shipment of merchandise by canoe to the trading post of the Chaawannons and return a load of fur to Sieur Daneau". The contract laid out an itinerary indicating that he was to leave by the following month and return by March of the following year. The contract included information that he was to stop at "la portage de Niagara". In almost every notorial act in which he was involved prior to 1752, he was referred to as an 'aubergiste' (innkeeper) or 'cabaretier' (tavern-owner). In November 1751, he was referred to as a 'commerçant' (commercial shopkeeper). In the late 1750s, he made his living as a 'marchand voyageur' (traveling merchant).1878 Jean Gaspard also frequently moved his family. On 21 April 1740, he and his wife agreed to rent a farm in Côte-de-Liesse in central Montréal Island. On 30 October 1742, they purchased the concession of Julien St. Aubin in the hills of Liesse and it appears that they already owned additional land on Rue Capitale which the couple had purchased from brother-in-law, Philippe Arrivé.1879 In 1744, the family lived in the area of Boucherville. In February of that year, Jean Gaspard found himself in trouble with the Intendant of New France for selling alcohol at his tavern on "Sundays and feast days and at undue hours". He was reprimanded by the Court later the same month. In a document dated 13 October 1745, Jean Gaspard appeared to have moved his family to an area near Fort Trembley but, by August of 1747, the family resided in Longueuil (five miles from Boucherville). Finally, the family move back to Montréal Island between July 1748 and March 1749.1880 Jean Gaspard and his wife, Marie Josèphe, signed a lease agreement on 7 Nov 1751 to Rue de Nôtre-Dame in Montréal. While living at this residence, he applied for a voyageur permit and formed a trading company. In 1753, he was living at Fort Duquesne (what is now Pittsburgh) without his family and managing a trading post. By 12 September of that year, it appears that Jean Gaspard had been robbed by his dishonest assistant. By 1754, however, having recovered from his tribulations, he had moved his family to Fort Duquesne. It appears that the family moved back to Montréal during the summer of 1756. Finally, on 29 July 1761, Jean Gaspard and Marie Josèphe sold all of their personal possessions including their homestead to Philipe Despeleaux (a commercial merchant from Lachine) for $7000. The two-part transaction refers to Jean Gaspard as a traveling merchant and states that they were living "at the base of the slopes of Sainte-Pierre du Montréal". The family disappeared from site for three years and finally reappeared in 1765 near Destrehan in (what is now) Saint Charles Parish, Louisiana.1881 On 3 March 1765, Jean Gaspard Normand and his wife signed a conveyance document in (St. Charles Parish), Louisiana, USA. This was the first indication that the family was in Louisiana.1882 Two months later, on 11 May 1765, the second conveyance record was signed in (St. Charles Parish), Louisiana, USA. "The Normand concessions were two contiguous farms, located on the east bank of the Mississippi, about 25 miles upriver from New Orleans. Each farm included 120 arpents of property along with houses, furnishings, barns and livestock." Nine years later, on 26 November 1774, the couple sold their entire St. Charles concession to their son, Daniel, for a bargain price. Three months later, Jean Gaspard Normand placed a bid on another farm on the left bank of the Mississippi River but he was outbid. In August 1775, however, he purchased two homesteads on opposite sides of the river - one of which was re-sold weeks later. The family then settled across from Edgard, in present-day Garyville near Reserve in the remaining homestead and lived there for five years.1882,1883 Surprisingly, Jean Gaspard had one more move in mind. Sometime between after the 1785 Census of Avoyelles Post and 8 June 1787, he and his wife moved to Avoyelles Post. The move was likely due to the rumor of impending Spanish Land Grants. By 1787, they had claimed nearly 3000 acres between the Red River and (what is now) Marksville. Jean Gaspard's property was part of the older settlement between Marksville and Mansura. Today you can drive through the property "traveling south toward Hessmer on LA Hwy 115 from Marksville, starting just past Dewey Bernard Road and continuing approximately 1/3 of a mile to Roberts Lane". 1884 Although the exact date of his death is not known, Jean Gaspard died some time after 1788. Marie Josèphe CHÉNIER and Jean Gaspard NORMAND251 signed a marriage contract in January 1734.1885 They1885 were married on 15 February 1734 at Sainte-Anne-du-Bout-de-I'lle (Sainte Anne de Bellevue) in Montréal (Québec Province), Canada. After their marriage, they settled in the Seigneurie de Soulanges (western end of Montréal Island).1,1886 In November 1778, Marie Josèphe Chenier officially brought a complaint before the court against her 66-year-old husband, Jean Gaspard Normand because she felt threatened by her husband's unreasonable behavior. It appears that Jean Gaspard was known to throw fits of rage, drank heavily, beat his wife and stole things from the couple's community. He was often gone for weeks at a time and no one knew his whereabouts. On 29 November 1778, the court granted Marie Josèphe's request and order a separation of goods between the couple. In a strange twist, however, the couple appeared before the Commandant four years later and were reunited in marriage! Jean Gaspard had, obviously, mellowed. In addition, severe losses suffered during two hurricanes (1779 & 1780) had likely broken his spirit and these losses began to affect his health. On that same day, 26 November 1782, the re-married couple donated their remaining possessions to their son, Jean-Pierre Normand, and his wife, Marie-Marguerite Winchner/Vickner/Vicnar, on the condition that the younger couple support their elderly parents for the remainder of their lives.1887 761. Marie Josèphe CHÉNIER251 was born on 6 August 1717 in (Québec Province), Canada.1,1888 She was baptized on 6 August 1717 in Montréal (Nôtre Dame)(Québec Province), Canada.1,1888 She died after 1788 although the date of death is not known. Children were:
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