Pierre BOUCHER dit Pitoche

  Notes générales :

This is from a letter to Richard Boucher from M. Paul-Henri Hudon of 20 Jan 1995.
(Professor Hudon is the author of the definitive work of the Boucher family village, "Rivière-Ouelle de la Bouteillerie, 3 siècles de vie 1672-1972").

Pierre Boucher II (1639-1707) left the coast of Beaupré after the death of his mother Perinne Malet (25-Feb-1687). We find him again at Rivière-Ouelle in 1692. He had married Marie Saint-Denis on 04-Apr-1663 at Château Richer. It's the descendants of this Pierre Boucher who were particularily influential in Rivière-Ouelle.

In this line can be found merchants, navigators, captains of the militia, school teachers and notries, a (national assembly) deputy. Above all the others it is Pierre Boucher III (1673-1714) who inaugurated the dynasty of leaders (chefs de file); he had married Madeleine Dancosse (1680-1765) in 1697 in Rivière-Ouelle. He was both an important shareholder (sociétaire) in the celebrated beluga whale fishery (pêche aux marsouins) at the "Pointe de Rivière-Ouelle", while concurrently owning large blocks of land in the same area. It is even believed that he possessed a private flour mill, created due to the negligence of the seigneur in providing the communal flour grinding mill.

This couple had 5 children who were raised by their step-father, Jean-Baptiste Maisonneuve (1694-1746) who married Madeleine Dancosse, the widow of Pierre Boucher, on 21-Mar-1716 at Rivière-Ouelle. This M. Maisonneuve must surely have transmitted to his adopted children his fondness for navigation, for commerce and for adventure. He was the owner of a tramp schooner (charroy) used for coastal navigation( cabotage) along the (Saint-Laurence) river banks.

The three sons were Pierre, Francois and Joseph. Pierre Boucher IV (1697-1774) son of Pierre and Madeleine Dancosse, wed Catherine Lizotte (1705-1779), daughter of Noël Lizotte and Catherine Meneux, on 16-Aug-1726 at La Pocatière. With his brother Joseph he inherited an immense domain of 13 arpents of Rivière-Ouelle frontage.

Pierre/Catherine had numerous children. Pierre Boucher IV was a large landowner in Rivière-Ouelle, actively involved in money lending as well as buying and selling property. He became the chief (bailiff ?) of Rivière-Ouelle in 1764. He received the signal honor of being interred in the crypt of the church on 04-May-1774.

Three of his children (Pierre, Ignace and Joseph) occupied various positions in the local militia during the troubles of 1775-76. Pierre V had been the major of the militia. The other two brothers, Joseph and Ignace, were appointed captain and lieutenant respectively of the Rivière-Ouelle militia as a reward for their loyalty to the British cause during the American invasion.

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• Profession: charron (cartwright, wheelwright).

Pierre épousa Anne SAINT-DENIS, fille de Pierre SAINT-DENIS et Vivienne BRUNEL, le 04 Avr 1663 à Château-Richer, Québec, Ca. (Anne SAINT-DENIS naquit en 1650 à Dieppe, Haute-Normandie, Fr, décédé le 23 Jan 1705 à Rivière-Ouelle, Québec, Ca et fut inhumé le 24 Jan 1705 à Rivière-Ouelle, Québec, Ca.)