Biography of Jean Rodrigue

João Rodrigues) was Portuguese. He was probably born in Lisbon, in the São João parish, circa 1641. Later on, he identified his parents as being Jean Rodrigue and Suzanne Lacroix; but we can easily deduce that he has a French touch to his parents' names in order to be better accepted in the French milieu of New France (he has also changed his own name to Jean Rodrigue). In portuguese, his parent' names were probably João Rodrigues and Susana da Cruz.

Jean Rodrigue was a sailor. So he probably was employed as such in New France, even if he very early settled as a landowner. He arrived in the colony towards 1668; his first property was acquired either that same year or the year after, when Jean Juchereau grants him a land property in Cap-Rouge. In the following years, he bought and sold many such small properties.

He married in 1671 with a "fille du Roy" named Anne Le Roy, who came from Paris; they settled in village St-Michel in Beauport, where they lived the rest of their lives. They were never rich; Jean was hired year after year for the sailing season; he even had to get hired in the 1675 winter to serve a rich Québec merchant, Vivien Jean, in order for him to get a more decent revenue.

When he became older, Jean Rodrigue started to sell his properties, in order to increase his revenues, of course, but maybe also to give his sons a property of their own. Finally, in the last years of his life, he put himself and his wife under the care of his children.

He died in Beauport on 14 November 1720, at the age of about 80; his wife, Anne Le Roy, had died in Hôtel-Dieu in Québec on 26 May 1715 at the age of 74.

 

Chronology of the life of Jean Rodrigue
ca 1641	Jean Rodrigue is born, probably in the parish of São João in Lisbon, Portugal (son of João Rodrigues and Susana da Cruz)
ca 1668	He lands in Québec
ca 1668-1669	He is granted a piece of land by Jean Juchereau, sieur de Maure, in Rivière-aux-Roches in Cap-Rouge
14 July 1670	He sells this piece of land to Pierre Renaud dit Locat (contract Becquet)
20 July 1670	He buys from Isaac Harnois another piece of land located in St-Ange du Cap-Rouge (contract Audouart); on the same day, and with the same notary, he signs an IOU for a sum of 150 livres towards the same Isaac Harnois
in 1670?	He buys his neighbour's piece of land
21 July 1671	He trades this last piece of land to François Savary in exchange for another one that this Savary owns in the seigneurie of the sieur de La Durantaye (contract Rageot)
13 October 1671	He enters into a marriage contract in Beauport with Anne Le Roy, a "fille du Roy" (daughter of François Le Roy and Anne Bourdais, from the parish of St-Germain-l'Auxerrois in Paris) (contract Becquet)
28 October 1671	The wedding is celebrated in Notre-Dame de Québec
in 1673	The buying of Isaac Harnois's piece of land, made in 1671, is nullified
11 May 1673	He is hired by Pierre Niel (Québec merchant) from the St-Jean-Baptiste (24 June) until the end of the sailing season (contract Duquet)
7 August 1673	Birth in Beauport of Marie-Anne Rodrigue, first child of Jean and Anne
16 August 1673	Marie-Anne is baptized in Beauport
3 June 1674	Jean Rodrigue renews his job contract with Pierre Niel (contract Duquet)
ca 1675	Birth of the second Rodrigue child, Suzanne, probably in Beauport
10 May 1675	Jean is hired by Bertrand Chenay, sieur de La Garenne (a Québec merchant), for the period from 20 April until the end of the sailing season (contract Duquet)
Fall 1675	At the end of the sailing season, he is hired by Vivien Jean until the following Spring
10 April 1677	He is again hired by Bertrand Chenay (contract Duquet) (we can suppose that he was also hired by him in 1676, but we do not have any record of that)
28 July 1678	Birth of René Rodrigue in village St-Michel at Beauport
29 July 1678	Baptism of René Rodrigue in Beauport
9 August 1681	Birth of Vincent Rodrigue in village St-Michel at Beauport
10 August 1681	Baptism of Vincent Rodrigue in Beauport
in 1681	Following the census of 1681, Jean Rodrigue and his family are still in Beauport; it is indicated that he had four children, and that he owned a piece of land measuring about ten acres
May 1685	Birth of Jacques Rodrigue in village St-Michel at Beauport
27 May 1685	Baptism of Jacques Rodrigue in Beauport
15 March 1686	Jean Rodrigue buys a piece of land from René Dubois dit Brisebois (contract Vachon)
18 February 1692	Wedding of Marie-Anne Rodrigue, daughter of Jean, with Jean Moreau (son of Jean Moreau and Catherine Leroux), in Québec (contract Genaple, 15 February 1692)
26 October 1699	Wedding of Suzanne Rodrigue, daughter of Jean, with Vincent Guillot (son of Vincent Guillot and Jeanne Sicard), in Québec (contract Roger, 25 October 1699)
19 April 1701	Jean sells a piece of land to René Toupin (contract Duprac)
10 August 1701	He sells another piece of land to his son-in-law Vincent Guillot (contract Duprac)
25 October 1701	He sells yet another piece of land to his son René (contract Duprac)
22 November 1703	Wedding of René Rodrigue, son of Jean, with Élisabeth Dauphin (daughter of René Dauphin and Suzanne Gignard), in Beauport (contract Duprac, 18 November 1703)
7 January 1707	Wedding of Vincent Rodrigue, second son of Jean, with Marie-Angélique Giroux (daughter of Toussaint Giroux and Thérèse Leblanc), in Beauport (contract Duprac, 12 September 1706)
30 January 1711	Jean donates his remaining possessions to his son Jacques, under the condition that he provides housing and food to his parents until their death
9 June 1711	Death of Suzanne Rodrigue in Beauport (burial in Beauport on 10 June), at the age of about 36; her widower Vincent Guillot will marry Marie Prévost in Québec on 25 November 1711
25 April 1712	Jacques Rodrigue nullifies his father's donation of January 1711, probably feeling that it was too great of a burden for him to care for his parents (contract LaCetière)
7 February 1713	Probably under great financial stress, Jean Rodrigue donates his remaining possessions to his sons René and Vincent, under the condition that they house, feed and take care of, their parents until their deaths
22 March 1715	Death of René Rodrigue in Beauport (burial in Beauport on 23 March), at the age of 37; his widow Élisabeth Dauphin mill marry Ignace Lépinay in Beauport on 11 November 1715
26 May 1715	Death of Anne Le Roy, wife of Jean Rodrigue, in Hôtel-Dieu de Québec, at the age of about 74
20 August 1715	Jean Rodrigue donates his remaining possessions to his son Vincent and his daughter-in-law Élisabeth Dauphin
1718	Wedding of Jacques Rodrigue, Jean's third son, with Geneviève Caron (daughter of Jean Caron and Marguerite Gagnon, and widow of Jean Bernier), in Cap-St-Ignace (contract Bernard de Larivière, 7 July 1718)
14 November 1720	Death of Jean Rodrigue in Beauport (burial in Beauport on 15 November), at the age of about 80

 

Réal Rodrigue

 

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© Réal Rodrigue & Association des Familles Rodrigue, inc.