André Robidoux
André Emmanuel Robidoux (1643–1678), son of Manuel Robidoux and Catharine Allue. According to Canadian vital and church records, he was born in Galicia, Burgos, Castilla-Leon, Spain. He was married to Le Duc Jeanne Denote (1645–1701), the fifth daughter of Antoine and Catherine Denote, of St. Germain of Auxerre, Paris.
André came to Canada after Louis XIV, King of France, made Quebec a royal province and began colonizing what was then known as New France. The exact date of his immigration is unknown, though he did appear in the 1666 Quebec census, so an arrival date of around 1665 is reasonable.
It is believed that André’s wife was one of the filles du roi, the King’s Daughters, sent to Quebec to promote marriage, family formation and the birth of children. The date of their marriage is believed to be 1667 and they moved to St. Lambert, La Prairie, Quebec in 1670.
André and Jeanne had five children:
- Marie Romaine (1669–1697), married Jean Roux
- Maugureite (b. 1671), died an infant
- Jeanne (1673–1736), married Gabriel Lemieux
- William or Guillaume (1675–1754), married Marie Françoise Guerin
- Joseph (1675–1728), married Jean Seguin.
André, known as the Spaniard, was employed by Eustache Lambert, a prominent land owner. He died at the age of 35 and his widow Jeanne married Jacques Suprenant, and thus became the founding mother of not one, but two of Canada’s largest families.
Between their two sons, André and Jeanne had at least 22 grandchildren. William was the father of 13 children, including Joseph I who was the ancestor of the more famous members of the Robidoux family. Because of the large number of Josephs in the family, the ancestors of the more famous Robidoux brothers of the 19th century are depicted with Roman numerals.
Sources
Lewis, Hugh M., Robidoux Chronicicles, French-Indian Etnoculture of the Trans-Mississippi West, Trafford, Canada, 2004
Eustache Lambert, Dictionary of Canadian Biography