The presumed mark or signature of Jean Ouimet

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    In the fall of 2001, Jean-Claude Launois, a resident of La Varenne St-Hilaire (suburb of Paris) found five excerpts from notarial documents. Between 1541 and 1553, Denis Willemet and Jehan Willemet of the Monthois region entered into agreements relating to farm leases and the sale of land (12). The other extract, dated 1556, involving Pierre Willemet, deals with the sale of part of a house (13). These notarial documents precede the birth of Jean Ouimet, our ancestor, from 78 to 93 years respectively. Is there a relationship between these individuals and the ancestor Jean Ouimet? That remains to be proved. Certainly, the Willemet surname is present in this region of Champagne around Reims.

    At the end of autumn 2007, Fr. Paul Boussemart of Besançon, France, began research on the exact origin of Jean Ouimet (14). He evaluates the possibility that the ancestor Jean Ouimet is native of Vrizy, where today live families Willemet, Wuillemet and Nicaise (15). He eventually found Vigny, a small commune that existed until 1640 but which was embraced or annexed by Rethel. It is plausible to believe that the parish registers of this period were destroyed by the Spanish invasions in the middle of the seventeenth century. On the other hand, the documentation of six notarial studies for the region of this commune appears to be available. His research, in March 2008, enabled him to trace six extremely difficult to read acts where the surnames Wilmet and Vuilmet are clearly legible. Again, is there a kinship or family relation?

    A few years ago, Céline Ouimet-Larivière, Francine Ouimet-Goetz and Annette Ouimet-Assad, members of the Association "Les Descendants de Jean Ouimet Inc." tried in vain to trace tracks of Wimet families on French soil.

    On October 3, 1660, when notary Claude Aubert wrote the marriage contract of Jean Ouimet and Renée Gagnon, he wrote the place of origin according to what he heard from the mouth of Jean who was surely expressing himself in patois (dialect) of the Ardennes region; «je suis originaire d’Évigny». The notary believed that Jean indicated «je suis originaire de Vigny». According to Denis Ouimet (16), the elision of the vowel of the preposition «de» would be the basis of this ambiguity. Let us not forget that notary Aubert noted the surname « Houymet » which later evolved to Ouimet, Ouimette (as well as thirty-two other spellings!). See his mark above. In addition, the surname «Houymet» cannot be found in France! On the other hand, surnames like Wilmet, Wilmette, Wimet, Wuilmet and Wuillemet are most common at various locations in Belgium and France (17). Other genealogical works and articles stipulate that these numerous variations would be derived from the surname Guillaume (18).

    Évigny, commune of the department of the Ardennes, is located 5 km southwest of Charleville-Mézières and is part of the archdiocese of Reims which formerly was part of the former French province of Champagne. So everything seems to be in agreement.

    In light of the above information, it appears that conventional genealogical sources (Drouin and Jetté) falsely indicate that the ancestor of all Ouimet/te would be originally from Vrigny. It is for this reason that the hypothesis about the commune of Évigny seems to indicate the region of origin of our ancestor.

    Research is long and arduous. The documentation, which is often difficult to read, is not always available because of the numerous armed conflicts that took place in this region during the Spanish invasion, the Thirty Years War, the First World War and the Second World War. There is always hope that one day the exact origin of Jean Ouimet will be found. The next step in this research would be to find passenger roles at the maritime archives of Dieppe and/or La Rochelle in addition to searching for notarized contemporary contracts.

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3. The reasons for his departure from France

              Travelling to a distant colony, leaving everything behind, not knowing if he would survive the long, painful and dangerous crossing of the Atlantic, is the decision that Jean Ouimet must have taken.

              He also had to consider other factors such as the severity of the climate, the constant threats of the natives and the prospect of rebuilding his life elsewhere by hard labor. Aged 25 years old, perhaps without a family since he was an heir as indicated in his marriage contract, possibly afflicted by the numerous armed conflicts that ravaged his part of the country (19) or suffering from a heartbreak, our ancestor decided to leave.

Had he been recruited and was his place reserved for a colony established in New France? In the studies of Hervé Faupin (20) and René Gobillot (21), there is the question of important historical figures, originating in Champagne, who returned to France for various reasons before returning to New France. They surely had to try to recruit future settlers. The most famous are Paul Chomedey de Maisonneuve, born not far from Troyes, on February 15, 1612, Jeanne Mance, born in Nogent-le-Roi, in 1606, Jean Talon, born in Châlons-sur-Marne, around 1625 and Marguerite Bourgeois also born at Troyes, April 17, 1620. There were surely others.

Did the ancestor Jean Ouimet flee from lugubrious living conditions, changing climatic conditions, recurrent famines or the possibility of a new epidemic? Again, for us there are no answers to these questions. Certainly the attraction of obtaining a land concession, for free or almost free, to live in relative peace and to be able to benefit from better life conditions had certainly influenced his decision. He was surely a determined individual and knowing that his success would be based on his determination and energy, he embarked on this adventure.

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4. The journey of his life

    Did he leave from Dieppe or La Rochelle? Since the passengers lists cannot be found to this day, it is difficult to determine the exact location of his departure, despite the masterful study of Gaucher, Delafosse and Debien (22). Between December 1952 and March 1960, nine articles published in La Revue d’histoire de l’Amérique française report the enlisted persons travelling to Canada during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Note that a little more than 225 kilometers separate Reims from Dieppe while a little more than 540 kilometers separate Reims from La Rochelle. If Jean Ouimet committed himself for a period of thirty-six months in New France, from where did the recruiters embarked the recruits? It is estimated that the coaches of that time period traveled from thirty to forty kilometers per day. How long did it take him to complete the trip? 5 to 8 days to reach Dieppe and 14 to 18 days to reach La Rochelle. Did he make the journey on foot?

    At that time, ship crews waited for the winds to be favorable in order to drop the moorings and set sail. Travelers, as well as the crew, always expected the worst not knowing how many days they would be at sea. Would they have enough food and drinking water, would disease wreak havoc? They were at the mercy of the winds, atmospheric conditions and relied on Providence by praying the Holy Father, the Holy Mother, but also St-Elmo, the patron saint of the sailors and St. Christopher, the patron saint of travelers.

    Some 3,500 nautical miles later (approximately 6482 km, if the following conversion factor is used: 1 nautical mile = 1,852 km), according to the Journal des Jésuites, the ship «Le Sacrifice d’Abraham» anchored in front of Québec City, June 16, 1659. It was with a certain excitement and some apprehension that the travelers waited to complete the journey by shuttling between the ship and the rudimentary dock of Québec City. The inhabitants of Québec also awaited the arrival of travelers, the goods and supplies of the mother country, and the mail.

    From Sunday, April 13 to Monday, June 16, 1659, interspersed with a small stop over at Gaspé, described in the preamble, the great journey had lasted, forty-four days.

    Once landed, what does he do? Until Friday, November 7, 1659, the day Jean Ouimet signed a farmer's lease with Guillaume Thibault, it is impossible to know where he lived and how he occupied his time since there is no document to prove it. Besides, Mr. Roland-J. Auger, genealogist emeritus of the National Archives in Quebec indicates this in his letter dated February 3, 1965 addressed to Father Germain Ouimet.

5. His first homestead

    At that time, the ancestor Jean Ouimet had to follow the instructions and do like everyone else; he could not buy land until he had been in the country for three years ... unless he had paid his way (23). It seems that Jean Ouimet paid his way for the following two reasons. On the one hand he was not bound by a contract of type "thirty-six months" because he would have started his apprenticeship as a farmer shortly after his arrival and he would not have been able to acquire land. On the other hand, in his marriage contract drafted on October 3, 1660 (24), it is well indicated that he’s "son and heir of the late Nicollas Houymet et Perrette Nicayse his father and mother". If he was an heir, he certainly had money which enabled him to pay for his passage; otherwise, what does the word "heir" mean?

    Jean Ouimet leaves his first trace in the notarial archives on Friday, November 7, 1659 when he concludes a farmer's lease with Guillaume Thibault (25). The next day, Saturday, November 8, 1659 in Château-Richer, he signed a land purchase contract in front of notary Claude Aubert, with Guillaume Thibault and Marie-Madeleine Lefrançois.

    Guillaume Thibault, son of Nicolas and Elisabeth Anséaume or Anthiome, baker and tailor of clothes, born in 1618 in Rouen in Normandy, settled on the Côte de Beaupré, more precisely at Château-Richer in 1648 (26). He was a volunteer of La Rochelle (27). He had previously settled in Trois-Rivières around 1638 before returning to France. On Monday, January 11, 1655 (28), in Notre-Dame church, Québec City, he married Marie-Madeleine François ou Lefrançois, born around 1635, the adoptive daughter of Isaac and Esther Paigne, native of Metz of the Lorraine area. The ancestral home of Thibault is located at the corner of Avenue Royale and rue Couillard in Château-Richer (see picture below). It is not the house that dates from the time of Jean Ouimet since it was burned like all the others of the Côte de Beaupré and the south shore during the English invasion in 1759. It was rebuilt in 1760 as indicates the plaque appearing on the left part of the house.

    In Château-Richer, Saturday November 8, 1659 (29), Jean Ouimet, 25 years old, initialed a contract to purchase a tract of land before notary Claude Aubert, from Guillaume Thibault, 41 years old, and his wife Marie-Madeleine Lefrançois, 24 years old. It’s a tract of land about 2 acres wide "2 arpents de front" on the Saint Lawrence River, situated in Beaupré near the brook named "Rivière du Sault de la puce".