Grandpre Roots Part 1: Huguenot Diaspora

The Siege of La Rochelle, 1628

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Pierre Duteau was born into the eye of a storm; the brief lull in the midst of a religious war. His hometown of La Rochelle, France, an important seaside trading port for regional wine, cheese, and salt, became a stronghold for Huguenots, like himself, during the early 16th century. The conversion of French citizens to the “Huguenot” protestant beliefs of John Calvin, spurred conflicts with the Jesuit Catholic majority from 1562-1598.

Pierre was born in 1607 to Mathieu and Jeanne (Pouvreu) Duteau during the brief calm that resulted from the Edict of Nantes, signed in 1598. The edict was King Henry IV’s attempt to promote unity between the warring religious factions. After Henry IV’s assassination in 1610 by a Catholic fanatic who resented the king’s policy of protestant tolerance, the brief peace dissipated.

The Siege of La Rochelle

After King Henry’s death, his nine-year-old son Louis XIII became king under the regency of his mother Marie de’ Medici. Years of kingdom mismanagement prompted Louis to eventually exile his mother Marie in 1617 and turn his trust to chief ministers for council, most notably Cardinal Richelieu.

Above: Cardinal Richelieu at the Siege of La Rochelle by Henri Motte

The marriage of Pierre Duteau and Jeanne Perrin

Jeanne Perrin, daughter of David and Jeanne (Daniau) Perrin, was born in La Rochelle May 26, 1615 and baptized in the Saint Yon Temple two weeks later. In 1638 Jeanne married Pierre Duteau, who had been recently widowed by his first wife Marthe Renaudin. Over the next decade, the couple gave birth to five children, three of which survived to adulthood, including our patriarch Charles Duteau.

The struggles of a young family amidst political turmoil

In 1651 La Rochelle’s rebellious governor, The Count of Daugnon, reached out to the English for military assistance, claiming that it was their duty to make up for the failure in 1628. In response to this military escalation, French troops occupied the city and on November 21, 1651 they blew up the Chaine Tower, named because it housed a giant chain which stretched across the harbor providing city defense during times of war.

Because Pierre worked as a porter (longshoreman) managing cargo in the harbor, his family lived near the Chaine Tower when it blew up. Their son Charles, only 10 years old at the time of the explosion, must have been terrified. After this episode the safety of La Rochelle’s protestant population reached a critical level.

Escape to safety

As a reaction to either political problems or illness, in 1658 Pierre utilized his contacts at the shipyard to arrange safe passage to Quebec for his family. On April 16 he accompanied his wife and children to notarize indenture contracts which would ensure their livelihood. His wife, Jeanne and daughter Madeleine committed to Sieur Jacques de La Poterie as servants for a period of five years in exchange for ship passage, lodging, food, and a stipend of 50 pounds per year. Charles, age 16, was also contracted to work for La Poterie in his shipping business for a period of three years. On behalf of La Poterie, the contracts were signed by Pierre Denys, a Quebec resident, and La Poterie’s son-in-law. Pierre and Jeanne’s daughter Marie signed a three-year indenture with Pierre Denys.

In Spring 1658, Jeanne and the three children said farewell to their husband/father and set sail on the 200-ton caravel “Prince Guillaume” captained by Jacques Jamain. Huguenots were not permitted to immigrate to New France during this time, so it is likely the family was forced to convert to Catholicism before their departure and family records in Quebec bear witness to the conversion. The arduous journey lasted three months during which cold, sickness and hunger plagued the travelers. It is believed that mother, Jeanne, died aboard the ship because no records exist for her in Quebec. Pierre Duteau died December of that same year in La Rochelle.

A new life

After completion of his indenture, Charles Duteau became a farmer and land trader in Champlain, southwest of Quebec City, and married Jeanne Rivard. The couple had twelve children. Their youngest child was our forebear, Alexis Duteau, who the family fondly referred to as “Petit Alexis”. In Autumn of 1698, soon after Alexis’ birth, Jeanne died at the tender age of 42 and Charles passed in 1717, at the age of 76. As an adult, Alexis was honored with the dit name de Grandpre by the family of Pierre Boucher. A name which would be passed through the generations until Nazaire Duteau de Grandpre immigrated to the US in 1846 and shortened the surname to Grandpre. Click here for an explanation of dit names.  

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sources

For more information and sources please click on the Grandpre genealogy below: