Person:Louis Delisle (1)

Louis was the next to last of a family of ten children and the youngest of three boys. Like his brothers & sisters he was baptised at Dampiere the 11 April 1645. The noble man Louis Godart, priest, parish priest of Dampierre was his godfather and Renee Sanglier, his godmother. One can assume from the acceptance of cure Godard of the role of godfather at the baptism, that the family of Charles Delisle was an honorable part of the parish of Dampierre. The tenth child of Charles family was born posthumously. That daughter was baptised, 10 february 1647, under the name of Catherine. Louis lost his father at two years of age. He was the only one of his family to settle in Canada. Louis Delisle left for Canada in 1665 at age 20 as a soldier with the Carignan-Salieres Regiment. Since the king had told the intendant, Jean Talon, to invite the soldiers who were leaving for New France to settle in that country, was Louis leaving with the hope of returning to Normandie once the mission against the Iroquois with which his regiment was charged was finished or was he saying goodbye to his country? To this day, we have no formal proof that this ancestor left with the Carignan Regiment. Our claim is based on the conscientious analysis of factors listed here.

Fact 1: Following chronological order, the presence of Louis Delisle in Canada is revealed to us by the concession of a property of two arpents of frontage that Jean-Francois Bourdon (attorney-general & member of Council) gave him the 20 March 1667, in the seigneurie of Dombourg. Nicolas Dupont of Neuville acquired that seigneurie in 1680 and changed the name to Neuville. That concession granted to Louis & to 43 others in Dombourg the same day by Bourdon are inscribed in the repertoire of the notary Romain Becquet. In order for Louis Delisle to be in Canada in the winter of 1667, he would have had to have arrived before the end of the navigation season of 1666. Since he was not listed in the census of '67, one of two things is possible. Either he was in the population enumerated, but was missed by the census takers or he was among the royal troupes who were not covered in the census of 1666, nor that of 1667.

Fact 2: The property granted to this ancestor, the 20 March 1667, is nearby to the north-east, to that granted the same day to Antoine Bordeleau, originally from Dampierre-sur-Bretonne, diocese of LaRochelle. That person was identified by Roy & Malchelosse as being from Dampierre of the Maximy Company (Drouin puts him in the Laubia Company), in the "ROSTER OF SOLDIERS OF THE CARIGNAN-SALIERES REGIMENT WHO BECAME SETTLERS OF CANADA IN 1668". That proximity could have been fortuitous. On the other hand it could have been sought by two brothers in arms desirous of living close by after their discharge. That would enable them to work together & render their labor in clearing land & other chores less dangerous & less difficult.

Fact 3: At the time of his first voyage the 20 May 1668, Monseigneur Francois de Laval administered the sacrament of confirmation to 66 adults at the only fort, St-Louis on the Richelieu. Among those confirmed are Jacques de Chambly, commander of the fort & Valentin Frappier de Beauregard. Among the other 64, military for the most part, is the ancestor Louis. In the register where these confirmations are reported, it reads:"De L'Isle, Louis, of the diocese of Rouen"

Fact 4: By private action on 11 April 1669, Antoine Tapin, censitaire of the seigneur of Dombourg since 1663 (Becquet), & Louis Delisle exchanged their concessions of land. The latter, however, would have to pay in cash to Tapin 225 livres plus 100 sols. On the 20 May 1669, he fulfilled his obligation. That Louis was able to pay so soon is surprising at first: but not so astonishing if one assumes that censitaire was military with the royal troops, who chose to settle in this country. The soldiers who settled received their choice of 100 livres or 50 livres & supplies for a year. Officers received more.

Fact 5: The summer of 1669 is finished & since 11 April, Louis is in his 28th year. He sees himself ready, mentally & materially to set up his own household. The time is right: that year an impressive number of King's daughters set sail for Quebec. The majority of them were directed to the settlement of Quebec, where the largest population was located. Louis went to Quebec to make contact with the daughters still free & to make a choice.

The 29 September, he made a first contract of marriage with Marie Petit (Duquet), a contract which was annulled by mutual consent the next day. A second contract, with the same notary, was made the 30 of the same month with Louise des Granges, who had also annulled a contract which she had made with Pierre Senat (Duquet). The first extract from the contract between Louis Delisle & Louise des Granges "are present in the persons of Louis Delisle son of Charles Delisle and Marguerite Petit his father and mother of the parish of dompierre Archevesche of Rouen on the one part and Louise des Granges daughter of Denys des Granges and Margueritte Jouanne her father and mother of the parish of St Brisse of Paris on the other part..." Is it Louis who said Dompierre instead of Dampierre? Or was it the notary who heard wrong?

A second extract: "And the future spouses admitted & confessed that the future wife was bringing with her to the union, the sum of four hundred livres, comprised of the sum of fifty livres given her by his majesty, then the sum of two hundred livres to take part in the union and the sum of two hundred livres will go out naturally & properly to her & her progeny(?). Excluding the gift of the king, Louise brought an estimated 350 livres. The historian Dumas only indicates 50. No doubt a mistake. Then the third: "...done & accepted at Quebec in the home of lady Bourdon the 30 Sept. 1669 in the presence of Charles Terrien and Martin Gueudon Tesmoingts and the future partners promised not to write or sign any other ordinance(?).

The 15 Oct 1669, at the church of Notre-Dame of Quebec, six censitaires of Dombourg married King's daughters. Leonard Faucher with Marie Damoys, Robert Senat to Marie Attanville, Jean Lepicq to Francoise Millot, Jean De L'Astre to Marie Lefebvre, Antoine Bordeleau to Pierrette Halier and Louis Delisle to Louise DesGranges. Jean-Francois Bourdon, their seigneur, was one of their witnesses. Louis Delisle was witness for Jean De L'Astre and Antoine Bordeleau. The marriage of Louis & Louise revealed that they were orphaned of father & mother. We provide Fact 5:

"The 15th day of the month of October of the year 1669; after the engagement and the publication of two bans of marriage between Louys de L'Isle of Dombourg, son of the dead Charles de L'Isle & the deceased Marguerite Petit, his father & mother of the parish of Dampierre, Arch. of Rouenon the one part; & Louyse des Granges, daughter of the deceased Denys des Granges & Marguerite Jouanne her father & mother of the parish of Saint-Brice, Arch. of Paris on the other part; Monsieur L'Evesque having given them dispensation of the 3rd ban & not having found any impediment, I undersigned cure of that Eglise parish have solemnly married them & have given them the Nuptial benediction according to the form prescribed by the Ste-Eglise in the presence of Valentin Frapier Sieur of Beauregard Lieutenant of the Sr de Chambly; of Jean Francois Bourdon sieur of Dombourg & of Antoine Bordeleau, Witnesses. H. de Bernieres"

Of the six cited marriages, the sieur of Beauregard was only witness at that of Louis Delisle. If Louis had not been a military man of the Carignan Regiment, the presence of that lieutenant as witness at his marriage, would have been very unusual.

Since Louis Delisle settled in Canada, his surname & given name should be listed on the roll mentioned in Fact 2, if he was part of the Carignan Regiment as we claim. First disappointment! The famous roll gives only the surnames by which the soldiers were called in the regiment. Here is what is written, for example, under "Petit" (Petie company): "Boncourage; La Montaigne; La Gorce; LaFleur; Poitevin; du Verger; de L'Isle; Rene le Normand; Le PIcart; La Violette; Champagne."

After much effort, the historians Roy & Malchelosse have put surnames & given names to 290 of 403 entries that the roll contains. Second disappointment! Louis Delisle is not among those identified. As to the "de L'Isle" of the Petit company, the only mention of that surname on the roll, it is identified as Jacques Doublet dit Delisle according to the researchers. We can not accept that identification & here are the reasons:

1. Jacques Doublet was counted in the census of 1666, while the royal troops were not; 2. In the census he is one of three "servants of M. Le Barroye general agent of gentlemen of the Company" of the West Indies: "Jacques Doublet dit de Lysle 28 years old -engage"; 3. He is at Quebec for the census. However it was taken in february & march & Petit company spent the winter of 1665-66 at the fort of Chambly. Doublet was in two places at the same time. How is that possible? 4. The 22 Jan 1667 is the date of his marriage in Quebec. That is too early a date for a soldier of the Carignan Regiment who settled in Canada. Here it is necessary to emphasize that the researchers mentioned did not have in general a confirmed list of those at fort Saint-Louis, when they attempted to identify the surnames written on the roll.

The fact that the "de L'Isle" of the Petit company cannot be Jacques Doublet is not meant to infer that it has to be Louis Delisle. But it is probably this ancestor. First, to see Delisle in the "de L'Isle" does not create a problem. In a quarter of the 290 inscriptions deciphered, the surname is identical to the name of the soldier, except sometimes the spelling differs. Then there is the probability that he was in the Petit company. His captain, Louis Petit, was originally from Bezane, diocese of Rouen, Normandie. Born in 1629, he was a contemporary of Marguerite Petit, Louis Delisle's mother & perhaps a relative or an acquaintance. If Louis was actually in the Petit company, he would then have spent the fall of 1667 or in 1668 under the command of the Sieur of Beauregard, lieutenant of the sieur of Chambly. If that was the case, the lieutenant would have double reason to be witness at this wedding: Louis Delisle was a veteran of the Carignan Regiment and in addition he had spent time under his command.

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} FrancoGene.
2. ↑
   vue n° 179, à droite.

   Registre mis en ligne par les Archives Départementales (cote 3E 162 - période 1599-1656)
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