From:
Dictionnaire Biographique des Ancêtres Québécois (1608 – 1700), Tome 3
La Maison des Ancêtres Québécois, Sillery, 2000
ISBN 2-9800305-4-6
ISBN 2-922681-09-2

Lefebvre, Pierre (c. 1627 - 1687)

Son of Nicolas Lefebvre and Marie Vauverin, from Villers-sur-Mer, in the diocese of Lisieux in Normandy. On the 17th of August 1656 he married Marie Châtaigné, daughter of Nicolas Châtaigné and Catherine Sionnel of Bournevaux, in the diocese of La Rochelle en Aunis. Three children resulted from their marriage.

One should be careful not to confuse this Pierre with others of the same name, one who lived in Dombourg and another who lived in Charlesbourg. This Pierre Lefebvre arrived in Canada in 1652. At the time of his marriage in 1656 he had been living in the village of Fargy in Beauport. According to the enumeration from October 15, 1655, he possessed 105 perches of land [editor’s note: a perche was about ¼ of an acre, or 1/5 of an arpent] and an enclave at the site of Leonard Leblanc. The latter was legalized in a contract brought before a notary named Vachon on the 18th of June, 1658. According to the contract, the land was given to Pierre on the condition that he provide twenty days of labour. This piece of land was adjacent to Buisson’s fiefdom. A consent from Jean Guyon, dated 18th of April 1663, tells us that the land encroached on the fiefdom of Buisson

Pierre also fished for eels. A ruling by the Sovereign Counsel in 1664 tells us that Paul Chalifour received from Pierre, as well as from Nicolas Belanger and Leonard Leblanc, compensation for fishing in Lauzon. In the census of 1667 Pierre possessed four heads of cattle and five arpents of land.

On October 31 1668 Louis Tassel sold to Pierre a plot of land 42 arpents in area in the village of St-Joseph. Also on the 31 of October, 1668, the seigneur, Joseph Giffard, made official the title to one arpent of land near the fiefdom of Buisson. On the 3rd of September, 1670, the same seigneur, Joseph Giffard, conceded to Pierre one arpent of land at the back of his property in the village of Fargy. In the census of 1681, Pierre is living in Beauport and he possesses a rifle, a pistol, eight heads of cattle and 35 arpents of land.

Pierre was found dead in his barn on the 30th of August, 1687. The cause of death was deemed to be suicide. According to the custom of the time, the senechal of Beauport pronounced a sentence against his corpse on the 26th of September. The sentence read as follows:

"the corpse named Lefebvre, according to the ruling of the high court, will be exhumed from its resting place and will be dragged two times through the village from one end to the other, then hung by its feet in front of the barn where he died for four winters"

All of his property was to be turned over to the seigneur, Joseph Giffard.

Pierre's son-in-law, Jean Clouet, appealed this sentence to the Sovereign Counsel and it was overturned on the 20th of October, 1687. His widow, Marie Chataigne, was allowed to recover his property and to bury the body in holy ground. Pierre was buried in Beauport on the 27th of October, 1687. The act reads as follows:

“Pierre Lefebvre, approximately 60 years old, having lived a Christian and catholic life, was found dead in this parish and the Sovereign Counsel has declared him to be deceased, following the sentence that was handed down and upon my representation, may be buried in this cemetery. He was found dead the 30th day of August.”

Translation (including mistakes) by descendant de Pierre Lefebvre