Our first Audet ancestor in New France was Nicolas Audet, the son of Innocent Audet and Vincente Roy. He was born in 1637 and baptized on July 12th of that year in St. Pierre parish in the village of Maulais, Deux Sevres, in Poitou. This is now part of Taize in the district of Thouars.

Nicolas Audet confirmation record March1663 Nothing is known about Nicolas’ early life. The first record of him is his confirmation which occurred in Quebec on March 23, 1663. Bishop Laval performed the ceremony. Presumably, he arrived in New France sometime in 1662 or 1663. In the list at left, Nicolas’s entry is the 19th. The entry says Nicolas Audet and the balance seems to be identifying his parish in France as St. Mathurin in Poitou. There were several parishes of that name in the general area of Poitou at the time. Note that the entry does not mention the Lapointe dit name.

No further record of Nicolas has been found in Quebec between 1663 and 1666.

However, it has been substantiated by some researchers that Nicolas was in the French Army in 1665 and 1666. The King sent the about 1000 troops to Quebec in 1665 to quell the Iroquois uprisings. These troops were supplemented by members of the local militia and settlers. It is believed that Nicolas was still in Quebec at the time. The records show that Nicolas was a member of the Monteil Company which was composed of soldiers from Poitou. All of the soldiers who were assigned a dit name in this company had such a name beginning with “L”. This was an easy way of identifying the company to which the soldiers belonged. Nicolas’s dit name was Lapointe. This is the first known record of the Audet dit Lapointe name in New France.

The only other possible explanation for Nicolas’ army service is that sometime after his confirmation in 1663, he returned to France and then joined the army prior to its assignment to New France. I believe this unlikely since Captain Tracy, the leader of the Monteil Company, sailed with his troops in early 1663 for the West Indies prior to being rerouted to New France to join the larger Salieres Carignan force which sailed for Quebec in 1665.

When the Indian wars ended in 1666, Nicolas was among the 400 soldiers who remained in Quebec as settlers.

In the census of 1666, Nicolas (listed as Lapointe) was a labourer, one of 12 employees of Bishop Laval working on his lands at Saint Joachim near Cape Tourmente, Beaupre. On 22 June 1667, the Bishop, who owned extensive seigneurial lands, granted Nicolas three arpents of frontage (about 2½ acres) on the south side of Ile d'Orléans along the Saint Lawrence River in Sainte-Famille parish. Twelve years later, this land would become part of the newly-created Saint Jean parish. Each year on November 11th, he was required to pay to the Bishop in payment for his land, 20 sols in seigneurial rent for each arpent, 12 deniers for "cens" and 3 capons chosen by the Seigneur. He also probably had to have his grain milled at the Bishop’s mill. The land grant contract was witnessed by notary Paul Vachon, Jean Crete, master cartwright, Paul de Rainville, sheriff of Beauport, and Bishop Laval himself. It seems Nicolas had become well known and connected.

His neighbours on the Island were Guy Boivin and Robert Boulay. He hired them "to help him build a house to be finished within one year from this day." But it seems that he did not immediately settle on his lands. There is a reference in Roy showing that on October 13, 1668, he was the porter at Bishop Laval's residence in Québec. On that date, Sieur Jean Madry, made a visit to Bishop laval's residence, which is described in Roy's book as follows:

"Today, at the entrance gate of the estate, Sieur Jean Madry rang a little bell, in response to which he was met by Nicolas Audet, porter of the Château. After admitting him, Audet went to inform his master, the Bishop."

As Nicolas was gainfully employed, presumably he had his house constructed on his lands and perhaps had left Quebec to be a farmer. The only thing remaining was to get a wife to help with the farming chores and to build a family. Here, the filles du roi program came to the rescue in the form of Madeleine Despres.

Madeleine was born about 1653 in St. Sauveur parish in Paris. She was the daughter of Francois Despres and Madeleine Legrand. She was sponsored as a fille du roi by Anne Gasnier and brought with her a dowry of ____livres in addition to the usual other provisions gifted by the King. Madeleine arrived in New France on ______ aboard the ship _______. How the two met was most likely in the usual way – a form of parade of eligible women and men and an interrogation of sorts. Likely, Nicolas’ connection with the Bishop assisted in supporting a good impression. On August 30, 1670, Nicolas and Madeleine met at Quebec with notary Romain Bequet, who drew up a marriage contract. Anne Gasnier and Elisabeth Etienne were witnesses. They were married on September 15th in Ste. Famille Parish, the only church on Ile d"Orleans at that time. The witnesses were Pierre Rondeau and Mathurin Dube, the latter another of our ancestors.

The couple had twelve children, nine boys and three girls but the elder two died young. All were baptized in the Parish of Sainte-Famille except the youngest three who were baptized at Saint-Jean, after that parish was created.

By 1681, Nicolas had acquired more land. In the census for that year, he indicated 15 arpents cleared for cultivation and he owned six horned animals (probably oxen and cattle) and a gun. In 1689, Nicolas became gravely ill. He was hospitalized for 19 days in August and in September, he spent 26 days under the care of the nursing sisters at Hôtel-Dieu in Québe

On July 9, 1696, he was awarded another land grant of three arpents of river frontage in St. Laurent, some distance to the west of his farm. Two years later, he gave this land to his son Jean-Baptiste.

Nicolas died on December 9, 1700 and was buried the next day at the St. Jean cemetery. The family farm and the obligation to care for Madeleine were passed on to his son Joseph. An inventory of family assets was made by notary Etienne Jacob on September 27, 1706. It listed 75 arpents of usable land, a two-room, 18x24’ house with two chimneys, a cellar and loft, and finished in rough beams, plus a barn and stable. The farm was located at lot numbers 192 and 193 of the cadastral plan of St. Jean parish.

• Married: 15 SEP 1670 in Ste. Famille, Ile d'Orleans, Quebec

1. Nicolas Audet dit LAPOINTE b: 21 SEP 1671
2. Nicolas AUDET-DIT-LAPOINTE b: 13 SEP 1672
3. Pierre AUDET-DIT-LAPOINTE b: JUN 1674 in St. Jean, Ile d'Orleans, Quebec
4. Jean-Baptiste AUDET-DIT-LAPOINTE b: 11 NOV 1675 in Ste. Famille, Ile d'Orleans, Quebec
5. Madeleine AUDET-DIT-LAPOINTE b: 18 SEP 1677 in Ste. Famille, Ile d'Orleans, Quebec
6. Joseph AUDET-DIT-LAPOINTE b: 16 APR 1679 in St. Famille, Ile D'Orleans, Quebec
7. Nicolas AUDET-DIT-LAPOINTE b: 11 JUL 1680 in St. Jean, Ile d'Orleans, Quebec
8. Marie AUDET-DIT-LAPOINTE b: 28 AUG 1682 in St. Jean, Ile D'Orleans, Quebec
9. Francois AUDET-DIT-LAPOINTE b: 10 APR 1684
10. Marguerite AUDET-DIT-LAPOINTE b: 10 DEC 1686 in St. Jean, Ile d'Orleans, Quebec
11. Innocent AUDET-DIT-LAPOINTE b: 16 APR 1689 in St. Jean, Ile d'Orleans, Quebec
12. Joachim AUDET-DIT-LAPOINTE b: 27 OCT 1690 in St. Jean, Ile d'Orleans, Quebec

1. Title: LDS
2. Title: Dictionnaire genealogique des familles Audet dit Lapointe
   Page: Page 19