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HomeJerome Pelletier was the first of our Pelletier ancestors to settle in Wisconsin. His lineage has been traced back to Nicolas Pelletier, one of the first Pelletiers to immigrate to Canada from France.
Jerome was born on 15 Oct 1786 at St. Pierre, Sorel, Quebec to Jean Baptiste Pelletier and Francoise Mandeville. Records have been found for six brothers and sisters of Jerome (there may be more that have not yet been found), he being the fifth child. He married Esther Giguere, daughter of Louis Giguere and Marie Esther Lambert on 4 Oct 1859 at St. Robert, Richelieu, Quebec, Canada.
Lineage
of Jerome Pelletier:
Jean Baptist Pelletier was born 15 Oct 1786 at
Sorel, the son of Jean Baptist and Marie Josephte Lavalle. He was the fourth
child of eight born to Jean and Josephte. He married Francois Mandeville, daughter
of Louis Mandeville and Marie Cartier, on 8 Jan 1815 at St. Pierre, Sorel, Quebec.
Jean Baptiste was born on 3 Sep 1756 , the third of five known children, at Sorel, Quebec to Jean Baptist and Marie Catherine Hus dit Millet. He married Josephte Lavalle, the daughter of Michel Lavalle and Marie Genevieve Duteau/Dutaut, on 9 Nov 1778 at St. Pierre, Sorel, Quebec.
Jean Baptiste was born on 20 Apr 1730 at Sorel, Quebec. He was the third child of the eleven children born to Michel and Louise Letendre. He married Marie Catherine Hus dit Millet, daughter of Claude Hus dit Millet and Marie Francoise Mandeville, on 5 Mar 1753 at St. Pierre, Sorel, Quebec.
Michel was born on 30 Oct 1700, the third child of eleven born to Michel and Francoise Meneux dit Chateauneuf. He married Louise Letendre, daughter of Pierre Letendre and Marie Catherine Lamay, on 6 Feb 1726 at St. Pierre, Sorel, Quebec.
Michel was born about 1674 at Sillery, Quebec to Francois Pelletier dit Antaya and Marguerite Madeleine Morisseau. He was the third child of fourteen born to this couple. Michel married Francoise Meneux dit Chateauneuf on 9 Jul 1697 at Ste. Famille, Sillery, Quebec. Francoise was the daughter of Jacques Meneux/Meneu dit Chateauneuf and Marguerite Peuvrier/Peuvret.
Francois was born to Nicolas Pelletier and Jeanne De Vouzy/De Voisy/Roussi about 1635 at St. Pierre, Gallardon, Chartres, France. He married first to Dorothee, a Native Indian, in April of 1660. Dorothee died within a year and there were no children born of this marriage. He next married Marguerite Madeleine Morisseau on 26 Sep 1661 at Ste. Famille, Sillery, Quebec, Marguerite being the daughter of Julien Morisseau and Ann Brelancour. He was the second child of eight born to Francois and Maguerite.
Bio of Francois: Francois traveled with his brother-in-law, Noel Jeremie, Sieur of la Montagne, interpreter and clerk at the trading posts of the Domaine du Roi (King's Domain). Francois married a native woman at the post of Tadoussac, in the presence of the Jesuit priest Albanel, in April, 1660 without any publication (of marriage bans) or advance notice of any kind. This caused a considerable reaction; this marriage was hardly accepted in the religious community - a white married to a pagan was not looked upon favorably. The young lovers were not happy for very long since on April 13, 1661, Francois' wife died at the Hospital in Quebec. No child was born from this marriage of Francoise Pelletier and Dorothee the Native (le Sauvagesse). Francois Pelletier, now a widower, becomes engaged to Marguerite Morisseau. After the publication of the three banns at the church of Sillery, they married on Sept 6, 1661 before Jesuit priest Pierre Bailloquet. their first six children are born and baptized in the parish of Sillery, the others would be baptized in Sorel. Francois Pelletier is in the service of the King to take care of the soldiers of the garrison in May, 1663. The couple established themselves on the land of Nicolas Pelletier, father, master carpenter, in the concession of the natives on the hill of St. Francois Xavier, Parish of Sillery. On October 13, 1669, Nicolas gives his farm to his son Jean Pelletier, but reserves rights to the farm, and one notes in the contract that Francois Pelletier dit Antaya, brother of Jean, is his neighbor on their father's farm. Francois gives his house and farm to Denis Ruette d'Auteuil of Monceaux on Aug 20, 1669. He leaves Sillery with his wife and his children for a parcel of land that is unknown to him and where the Iroquois prowl and watch for victims to decapitate during the night. Francois Pelletier settles in Sorel with his wife about 1670. Their first six children baptized at Sillery are: Marie-Angelique, 14 Oct 1662; Francois-Xavier, 02 Dec 1663; Joseph, 22 Mar 1665; Marguerite-Agnes, 30 Aug 1666; and Genevieve, 16 Mar 1668. The other five are baptized at Sorel: Catherine, 1670; Michel, 1674; Jean-Baptiste-Pierre, 20 Jul 1676; Elisabeth, 18 Sep 1677; and Louise 22 Sep 1678. Only eight of them married. On October 22, 1675, Francois Pelletier dit Antaya purchases the fief d'Orvilliers from Sieur de Gauthier de Comporte. This fief is located on the north coast of the St. Lawrence, in the Iles of Upper Berthier, on one side Dautray and on the other the lands not conceded belonging to Sieur Randin, along with the Ile au Foin. He finally left Sorel, after the sale of his concession to Pierre Coutois dit Bonnehumeur, on September 17, 1677. In the contract, Francois is referred to as farmer of Dorvilliers. The father and brother of Francois, Nicolas and Jean, settled in the said fief Antaya on March 23, 1678 as the first farmers of that area. Francois died before June, 1688. Marguerite Morisseau, wife of Sieur Antaya, died at the Hotel-Dieu (hospital) of Quebec on December 15, 1707 at the age of 70. Seigneur (landowner) Pierre Pelletier, son of Francois and Marguerite Morisseau, paid homage in the name of his brother and sisters on February 17, 1723. (Probably a religious ceremony of remembrance.) The cradle of the Pelletier and Antaya family thus lies right in the heart of Monteregie. Sorel, located at the confluence of the St. Lawrence and the Richelieu River, is the fourth oldest city of Canada.
Nicolas was born about 1590 at St. Pierre, Galardon, Chartres, France. He married Jeanne De Vouzy/De Voisy/Roussi about 1632 at St. Pierre, Galardon, Chartres, France.
Bio of Nicolas: Nicolas Pelletier, the first Pelletier known to emigrate from France to New France, is born about 1590. In 1632, Nicolas marries Jeanne de Voissy/de Vouzy/de Roussy, age 18, at Saint Pierre Church in Gallardon (Galardon). Gallardon is located in the Beauce region of France, southwest of Paris between Chartres and the forest of Orleans. Two of Nicolas' children, Jean (1633) and Francois (1635) are born in Gallardon. Nicolas and his family leave France in the Spring of 1636 and arrive in New France, at Quebec City, on June 11 of the same year. Arriving on the same ship is Charles Huault-de-Montmagny, the new governor general of New France, succeeding Champlain. Nicolas is a carpenter-woodworker, and among the Quebec City buildings he is known to have worked on are Louis Hebert's house, the first private home to be built outside the Quebec fortification, the frame of Notre Dame Church's steeple, and the roof of the Chateau Saint Louis. Six other children are born in New France, five girls, Marie (1637), Louise (1640), Francoise (1642), Jeanne (1644), Genevieve (1646), and another son, Nicolas (1649). In 1649, Nicolas is granted land outside Quebec city, to the southwest, adjacent to St. Francois Xavier Fort, near Cap Rouge, along the St. Lawrence River. In 1650, his family is attacked by two Iroquois Indians, but Nicolas successfully defends his family and the homestead against the intruders. In 1669, Nicolas rents out a large portion of his property to his son Jean for five years, and in 1670, he joins his son Francois, who now is known as Pelletier dit Ontaya (or Anthaia, later Antaya), and his family in Saurel (Sorel). In 1677, at the latest, Nicolas and his son acquire property across the St. Lawrence River at Dautray (Seignneurie d'Autray), near what is now Berthierville. It is here that Nicolas apparently dies in 1679, the exact date is unknown. His wife, Jeanne, dies at Sorel on December 12, 1669.
Dit Names: "Dit" in French means "say" and in this context it means "called" or "also known as." Many French Candians took dit names for a variety of reasons. It may have been a place of origin, a name used in the Military, a mother's surname, a father's given name, the name of another ancestor, a heroic deed or accomplishment, seigniorial identification, and many other reasons.
Our ancestor Francois took the dit name of Antaya making him Francois Pelletier called Antaya. Not all of the children of a family adopted the dit name of the parent. Some of Francois' children used the name of Antaya and this name was carried down through the generations to the present day. The descendants down through our Jerome kept the name of Pelletier.
Jerome Pelletier:
Jerome's occupation was listed as a Voyager at the time of his marriage; a woodsman, boatman, or guide employed by a fur company to transport goods and supplies between remote stations in Canada or the U.S. Northwest. Voyagers have been described thus: The voyageurs and coureurs de bois of seventeenth century Canada were described as "men of iron," and such they had to be since every aspect of their enterprise was a test of endurance. Numerous falls and rapids dotted their watery obstacle course, and only one means of passage over them existed. The voyageurs unloaded their baggage, covered their heads with spongy birch leaves for protection, packed their goods on their backs and their canoes on their heads, and crossed the rocks or falls on foot to calmer waters. No less an observer than governor-general Frontenac was awed by the strength of the voyageurs. "One cannot believe," he wrote, "the exhaustion of these men, dragging the boats (in water) up to their armpits and balancing on rocks so sharp that some of them had legs and feet running with blood, yet their gaiety was undiminished."
"American-Canadian Genealogist," issue #80, page 51, entitled: "The Perraults of Labrador" by Barry Perraultthere is a further explanation of the difference between the "Coureurs des Bois" and the "Voyageurs" on page 52. - a brief excerpt: "The Coureurs des Bois were generally considered the opposite of the Voyageurs. The Voyageurs were those men licensed to trade with the American Indians on behalf of the companies and the Coureurs were not licensed. In fact, the Coureurs des Bois traded under a threat of severe punishment........"
For more information on the Coureur de bois or Voyageurs, go here
Jerome and Esther settled in the County of Ontonagon, Michigan. (The 1900 Wisconsin Census states that Jerome immigrated to the US in 1851.) The first four of their children were born in Michigan; John Baptiste, 1861, Marie Louise, 1863; Agnes, 1865; and Joseph, 1867. The next child, Josephine, was born in 1869 in Matuns County Illinois, perhaps on the trek to Wisconsin. (Some Pelletiers settled in Illinois and it is possible Jerome and his family were visiting with them. However this is only speculation with no fact to support it.) Sometime in the early months of 1870, the family had established themselves in the township of Gardner, Door County, Wisconsin where two more children, were born; Louis, 1870 and Emma, 1873. Unfortunately, Esther died only five years later leaving the family of seven children motherless. Jerome did not remarry. It is said that the oldest son, John, assisted greatly in helping to raise the other children.
Apparently Jerome took up farming in Door County as he is listed on the 1880 Wisconsin Census as a farmer. He is also remembered as having carried the mail on foot from Sturgeon Bay to Green Bay.
Jerome died in 1907 at the age of 78. He was living with his son, John, at the time. Although every cemetery has been searched in the area, his resting place has not been found.
More information on this line of Pelletiers can be found on my Genealogy Pages here
To find out more about Door County go here
For more Pelletier lineages go here