Welcome To Jacques Goulet's Family Tree

Biography of Jacques Goulet

People of Caraquet, New Brunswick, call a bay, or the narrow entrance to a small port, by the name of "goulet." However, the progenitors of ancestor Jacques Goulet lived far from maritime horizons; they were from Perche.

Le Perche, a former province of France, is a naturally homogenous region, wedged between Normandy, Maine and the Beauce. Its capital cities are Mortagne and Nogent-le-Rotrou with its chateau. Partitioned several times during its history, Perche finally lost its entity as a province. Joined with Maine, it forms one of the thirty-three political divisions of France, which is sometimes called Maine-et-Perche, with Mortagne as its capital. Even from an ecclesiastical point of view, it was divided between the dioeses of Chartres, Mans, and Seez.

Jacques Goulet was baptized on 17 April 1615 at Normandel, today in the department of the Orne, in the arrondissment of Mortagne-au-Perce, community of Tourouvre. Father Laurent du Fay acted as both baptizer and godfather. Jacques aunt Marguerite Feillard was the godmother who brought him to the church.

Thomas, the father of ancestor Jacques Goulet, was bethroted to Antoinette Feillard on 28 April 1613 in the church of Normandel and married his beloved on 3 August of the same year. Antoinette, daughter of David Feillard and of Mathurine Navarre, followed her husband to la Gaufferrerie, another section of Normandel. Thomas was a miller. In order to please his wife, who was a good seamstress, he bought her ten livres and ten sols of white cloth as well as some rough homespun. On 6 April 1615, he obtained a gray horse for 25 livres, from Robert Giguere, a relative of the Canadian ancestor by the same name.

Their eldest child Jacques Goulet, knew the joy of welcoming two little sisters: Louise, on 17 January 1619, and Yvonne, on 25 May 1622. While rather young, Jacques was orphaned. Antoinette Feillard died sometime between 1622 and 1627; this is all that we can accurately state. Thomas Goulet was remarried to Marie Chalumel. At Sainte-Anne in 1628, the new couple presented to the children of the first marriage, a half-sister Louise; then in 1632, Marie; and in 1638, Marguerite.

Jacques Goulet married a citizen of his village, Marguerite Mulier, daughter of Jean and of Catherine Chauvin, on 21 November 1645 at Saint-Pierre de Lapoterie. The following spring, the 31 year old Jacques and his young wife, left their friends, relatives and country, to answer the invitation of Noel Juchereau, promoted by the King in the name of New France, to "general clerk for all purchases." Jacques Goulet had already served Juchereau as a miller for his farm, Les Chatelets, at Lhome, since 1645.

Jacques continued to work for Juchereau. Noel returned to France to explain the problems of the colony, where he died in 1648. On 7 October 1649, notary Audouart drew up an inventory of the property he left at Quebec. It is here that Jacques Goulet appears: "Owed six and twenty livres to Jacques Goulet." Since his master was now permanently absent, Jacques had to look for employment elsewhere.

On 4 December 1651, Jacques obtained a site with a half-arpent of frontage, in the cove of Saint-Michel, quite near Sillery, across from the land which he had been ceded on the cliff. This location and the Goulet land of one-and-a-half arpents of frontage with a depth extending to la Grande-Allee.

Jacques Goulet owned a beautiful piece of land at Chateau-Richer, situated between those of Jean Gagnon and Robert Drouin. On 30 November 1656, he sold this six arpents of frontage to partners Jacques Dodier and Pierre Pointel. The Goulet family remained in this place perhaps until 2 April 1658, the day when Nicolas Quentin acquired this domain.

Jacques Goulet picked up another piece of land at Chateau-Richer, that of Aubin Lambert dit Champagne, on the first of September 1669.

The census of 1667 recorded Goulet with 5 head of cattle and fifteen arpents under cultivation. By 1681, Jacques had doubled his area of cultivated land. His children had grown up and he had grown old.

Like a fallen oak tree, ancestor Goulet was struck down by the windstorms of life on 26 November 1688. He was laid to rest in the cemetery of L'Ange-Gardien two days later.