Association des Familles Dufour d'Amérique Inc.

   
 

 

  

Pierre Dufour known as Bonvivant: his history and descendants:

From St-Malo in Bretagne, the son of Pierre-Mathieu and of Anne La Rue took the nickname Bonvivant.

The year of his marriage to Charlotte Gloria said Desrochers at Notre-Dame Montreal in 1737, he immigrated to Fort Detroit, Michigan, which was a French possession at the time.

Three of his sons, Pierre, Louis and Joachim lived in Montreal and got married there. Their descendants are still in the Montreal region especially in the Châteauguay area. The other son, Jean-Baptiste-Mathieu, has descendants in the Detroit (MI), Windsor and Amherstburg (On) area.

Note: A lineage from Detroit and Windsor have changed the name Du Four to "Oven" (the French word for "Four"  is "Oven" in English) . Their ancestor is Jean-Baptiste Dufour (son of Joseph D. and Catherine ? ) married to Elmira St-Jacques in St-Mary Church, Oswego, NY, June 15, 1850. All their sixteen children' surname is "Oven". They live in Michigan state .


According to Guy Charpentier, a descendant of Pierre Dufour by his mother Jacqueline, he was a soldier and would have arrived in Canada about 1728:
 


"In April 1729, a battery of the company of Blainville, Vidal Delair said Lajeunesse, also known as «The Cat», sells pieces of window-panes to Antoine Poudret, baker, then to Mrs. Repentigny. The husband of Mrs Repentigny, Pierre Le Gardeur, thinks that they are stolen from the castle of Callière. He goes to the Guard-House, finds the drummer and tirn him in to the authority. Mr Repentigny sends the window-panes to the guard of the stores of the king, Rocbert. The guard requested an investigation from the general lieutenant Raimbault. The window-panes were effectively from the castle of Callière….
On April 13, Delair appeared on trial in front of assigned witnesses. Among them, Marie Catherine Cavelier who received  four(4) window-panes as a gift from «Dufour, a soldier of the Company of Dubuisson». When she heard about the robbery of panes, she immediately returned them to Rocbert. On April 15, Delair is found guilty and condemned. On April 28, Pierre Dufour known as Bonvivant, 17 year old soldier of the Company of Dubuisson, appears. Pierre Dufour acknowledges to have taken 4 window-panes at the castle of Callière, which he gave to Marie Catherine Cavelier, wife of Joseph Roy, a baker's assistant. He does not know Delair . Pierre Dufour is sent to prison. The Lietenant General Raimbault assigns his accomplices Beausoleil and Saint-Pierre, also soldiers, and other witnesses. ... On June 13, the prosecutor concludes that the addition of information did not give any reason to change the judgement against Delair and the sentence of April 15 is maintained. Saint-Pierre is untraceable and he will receive the same sentence."  

 

Sergeant, drummer and soldier of the Compagnies franches de la Marine in New France, 1685-1700
On the left, a sergeant wears a grey-white uniform with a red lining and red stockings (particular to sergeants of the Compagnies franches de la Marine at this time). He carries a halbard, the distinctive weapon of sergeants in European armies. The drummer in the centre wears a uniform in the colours of the royal livery. At right, a common solder wears a grey-white uniform lined and faced with blue, the distinctive colour of the Troupes de la Marine. His hat is trimmed with imitation gold braid: a blend of brass wire and yellow cord. He is armed with a musket, bayonet and sword. Reconstructions by Michel Pétard.

 

 

In June 1737, he married Charlotte Gloria-Desrochers-Roc at Notre-Dame, Montréal; They had 12 children


Pierre-Antoine:  b. 1737 m. Charlotte Biort-Biard, N.D. Montréal Qc , 23.10.1764
Charlotte:  b.1739 m. Amable Bigras dit Fauvel, Détroit MI, 28.04.1755
Catherine  b. 1740 m. Joseph Mettay, Détroit MI, 11.01.1757
Louise-Brigitte:  b. 1742 m. Antoine Boyer-Lafontaine, Détroit MI, 24.10.1757
Jean-Bte-Mathieu:  b. 1743 m. Catherine Durand-Monmirel, British Fort, Détroit MI, 08.01.1770
Charles-Amand:  b. 1745 single.
Joachim:  b. 1747 m. Louise-Angèle Lemoine-Venne-Maurice, N.D. Montréal, 20.11.1775
Louis:  b. 1749 Angélique Dautour, N.D. Montréal, 19.04.1773
Jeanne:  b. 1751  (died young)
Jean-Baptiste II: b. 1752 (died young)
Pierre-Parfait-(Antoine): b. 1754 m. m. (1) Catherine-Basilie Maurice-Chatillon (Kaskaskia, IL), Ste-Geneviève MO, 21.01.1783; m. (2) Marie-Louise Caron (widow of Antoine Thumur) Ste-Geneviève MO, 25.11.1789
Angélique: b. 1756 (died young) 

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