In this page, we want to offer a more in-depth view of the different Rodrigue lineages that what we have described briefly on the page tracing the origin of the Rodrigue Surname. This presentation will tell, when possible, of some of the events of the life of the ancestors of the different lineages, and will show a synopsis of the evolution of the lineages.

NB: Most of the data on João Rodrigues come from an article written by Constance Rodrigue-Johnson, "Nos quelques rares ancêtres portugais", Mémoires de la Société Généalogique Canadienne-Française, vol. 40, no 3, automne 1989, pp. 216-222.

Ancestor of the most important of the Rodrigue lineages, João Rodrigues was probably born in Lisbon, Portugal, towards the year 1641; his parents were João Rodrigues and Susana da Cruz (in the notarial contracts to which he was a party, he called his parents Jean Rodrigue and Suzanne Lacroix; it is a francization of the original names; to revert back to these original names is somewhat evident in the case of the father <Jean Rodrigue = João Rodrigues>, but less so in the case of the mother <Suzanne can be a translation of Susana, but Lacroix [The Cross] can be a francisation of Cruz or da Cruz>; it is probably to better be identified to his new countrymen that he decided to give his parents' names and his own a french touch.

João Rodrigues was a sailor. He probably came to New France shortly after 1665. Towards 1670, he was in Cap-Rouge, for in July of that year he sold a land property that he owned there. He bought and resold four others before his marriage in 1671. He married on 28 October 1671 in Québec with Anne Roy or LeRoy, daughter of François Roy or LeRoy and Anne Bourdais, from the parish of St-Germain-l'Auxerrois in Paris, France. They had five children: Marie-Anne, Suzanne, René, Vincent, and Jacques (my own ancestor) (for a more detailed biography of João Rodrigues, click on the oval button besides João's name).

1. Pierre-Jean Rodrigue was born in Beauport on 15 August 1672, and he was baptized in the Beauport chapel on 21 August 1672 (the act being recorded in Notre-Dame-de-Québec). He probably died young, as there is no trace of him afterwards. Some sources have mistaken him with Jean Rodrigue de Fonds (see further on).
   
   
2. Marie-Anne Rodrigue was born in Beauport on 7 August 1673, and was baptized there on the 16. She married in Québec on 18 February 1692 with Jean Moreau, son of Jean Moreau and Catherine Leroux. They had 10 children: Nicolas, Gabrielle-Louise, Jean-François, Marie-Jeanne, Ignace-François, Marie, Louis, Pierre-Joseph, Catherine, and Pierre.
   
   
3. Suzanne Rodrigue was born towards 1675. She married in Québec on 26 October 1699 with Vincent Guillot, son of Vincent Guillot and Jeanne Sicard. They had 5 children: Vincent, Jean-Baptiste, Augustin, Jacques-Philippe, and René-Marie. Suzanne died in Beauport on 9 June 1711 (she was buried the next day), and Vincent later remarried in Québec, on 25 November 1711, with Marie Prévost; then, Marie having died on 22 July 1717, he remarried in L'Ange-Gardien on 3 November 1717 with Charlotte Godin.
   
   
4. René Rodrigue was born on 28 July 1678 in village St-Michel in Beauport, and was baptized in Beauport the next day. Ancestor of the most numerous branch of the Rodrigue lineage descended from João Rodrigues, he married in Beauport on 22 November 1703 with Élisabeth Dauphin, daughter of René Dauphin and Suzanne Gignard. They had 6 children: René-Joseph, Marie, Geneviève, Jean (who died at the age of nine months), Jean (the second bearer of the name), and Louis.
   
   Among the descendants of René and Élisabeth bearing the Rodrigue surname, the majority, descended from Jean (married to Dorothée Fougère in 1731 in Beauport, and then to Marie Boulet in 1759 in St-Joseph-de-Beauce), settled in Beauce (a region south of Québec); from there, they migrated to the Eastern Townships, Montréal, and New England (above all, Maine and New Hampshire). I must mention that one of Jean's sons, Jean-Baptiste, born in Beauport in 1736, migrated to Louisiana where he enrolled in the militia towards 1760. He married there twice, and had more than 20 children; his descendants are still many in Louisiana and in other states of the U.S. (I personnally was in contact by e-mail with Rodrigue from Florida and California who are among his descendants).
   
   The youngest son of René, Louis, settled in the Lanoraie region (northeast of Montréal); he married there in 1740 with Ursule Trottet dit St-Jean, and in 1769 with Agathe Chapdelaine dit Larivière, widow of Joseph Charpentier dit Sansfaçon.
   
   I have not yet identified any descendant of the eldest son of René, René-Joseph, who married in Beauport in 1731 with Marguerite Pepin.
   
   It is worth mentioning here that the three Rodrigue focused on in the personalities page, namely Norbert Rodrigue, former president of the Confederation of National Trade Unions of Quebec, the Quebec singer and songwriter Jacques Michel (Rodrigue), and the cajun artist George Rodrigue (of Blue Dog fame), are all descended from René Rodrigue.
   
   René died on 22 March 1715 in Beauport (where he was buried the next day); his widow remarried in 1715 with Ignace Lépinay.
   
   
5. Vincent Rodrigue was born on 9 August 1681 in village St-Michel in Beauport, and baptized the next day in Beauport. He married Marie-Angélique Giroux in Beauport on 7 January 1707. They had eleven children: Madeleine-Angélique, Vincent, Marie-Thérèse, Marguerite, Louis, Barthélémi, Geneviève-Louise, Marie-Madeleine, Marie-Françoise, Ignace and Pierre.
   
   Most of Vincent's and Marie-Angélique's descendants remained in the Beauport region; some of them later migrated from there to the Beaupré Coast, and then to the Saguenay/Lac-St-Jean region; they thus followed an important land occupation trend in Québec. But it has to be noted that the next to last child of Vincent and Marie-Angélique, Ignace, had a different destiny. He was married in Beauport in 1748 to Madeleine Lépinay (who was the daughter of Ignace Lépinay and of Élisabeth Dauphin, his oncle René's widow), and the couple has had two children born in this town; then, they settled in Lanoraie (northeast of Montréal), where two more children were born in 1757 and 1759; later on, they were in Lavaltrie (not far from Lanoraie), where a son was born in 1760; finally, they seem to have definitely settled in Ste-Geneviève-de-Berthier, where their last five children were born between 1762 and 1768. Moreover, one of Ignace's sons settled in the town of Les Cèdres (southwest of Montréal) where he got married in 1786.
   
   As for the youngest of Vincent's children, some of his descendants can be found in the St-Eustache region (west of Montréal).
   
   Vincent died in July 1726 (buried on the 31st), and his widow remarried in 1729 with Jacques Paradis.
   
   
6. Jacques Rodrigue was born in village St-Michel in Beauport, and he was baptized in Beauport on 27 May 1685. He married Geneviève Caron (widow of Jean Bernier dit de Paris) in Cap-St-Ignace (contract by Bernard de Larivière on 7 July 1718; Cap-St-Ignace is located east of Québec, on the south shore of the St-Lawrence River). Up to now, we have identified only one child to Jacques and Geneviève: he is Jacques, born in 1718 in Cap-St-Ignace.
   
   Jacques's descendants settled in the L'Islet / Cap-St-Ignace region; but a branch of the family settled in the Charlevoix region (Baie-St-Paul, Les Éboulements), and some other members settled in the Montréal region. Another branch settled in the Trois-Pistoles region (further east from Cap-St-Ignace), where it changed its surname to Ladrie.
   
   Jacques died in August 1752 in Cap-St-Ignace (buried on the 18th), 6 years after his wife.

João Rodrigues da Fonte
(ca 1686, Viana do Castelo, Portugal - 27 September 1733, Québec)

Jean Rodrigue dit de Fonds (some sources give his name as being Pierre-Jean Rodrigue, but they mistake him with Pierre-Jean Rodrigue, first son of Jean Rodrigue and Anne LeRoy — see above) originated from the town of Viana do Castelo, in Northern Portugal. His parents were João Rodrigues (Jean Rodrigue) and Ana Mança (Anne Mance). He first settled in Port-Royal (Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia), where he married on 16 March 1707 Anne LeBorgne de Belle-Isle, daughter of Alexandre LeBorgne de Belle-Isle and Marie de Saint-Étienne de Latour. After his marriage, he moved to Louisbourg, on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. Jean-Baptiste Rodrigue dit de Fonds was a riche merchant and shipowner in Louisbourg. He has also most certainly travelled a lot for his business: for example, he was in the Québec City region in 1713-1714, where one of his sons was born; he also died there in 1733. The couple had at least five children: Joseph, Michel, Jean-François, Antoine and Pierre.

1. Joseph Rodrigue was born in 1708.
   
   

2. Michel Rodrigue was born in 1710. He married in Louisbourg, on 14 July 1738, Marguerite Lartigue, daughter of Joseph Lartigue and Jeanne Dihars. The couple had at least 6 children: Marguerite (born in 1739), Marie-Jeanne (born in 1740), Antoine (born in 1741), Léon (born in 1743), Marguerite (born in 1744), and André-Jacques (born in La Rochelle, France, on 30 November 1759).
   
   André-Jacques later became a planter in Saint-Domingue (Haiti); he had to flee the country when the slaves revolted, and he settled in Pennsylvania. His descendents can be found in the states of Pennsylvania, New York and Connecticut.
   
   Michel Rodrigue was, as his father before him, a rich merchant and shipowner; and his house can still be found in Louisbourg.
   
   

3. Jean-François Rodrigue was born in Québec City on 24 August 1713 (baptised on the same day in Notre-Dame de Québec); he died less than a year later, in July1714 (he was buried on 27 July 1714 in L'Ancienne-Lorette).
   
   

4. Jean-Baptiste Rodrigue was born about September 1714; he died between 1738 and 1742.

5. Antoine Rodrigue was born in 1722. He married in Louisbourg, on 19 May 1750, Françoise Jacau, daughter of Thomas Jacau and Anne Melanson. They had at least eleven children: Françoise (born in 1750), François (born in 1751), Anne (born in 1752), Antoine (born in 1753), Jeanne (born in 1754), Pierre (born in 1755), Marie-Hyppolite (born in 1757), Charles-Joseph (born in 1759), Michel (born in 1765), Domitille (born in 1767), and François-Edmond (born in 1772). The last five children were probably born in St-Pierre, in the St-Pierre & Miquelon islands, where the family settled after Acadia was taken by the English in 1755.
   
   In St-Pierre, Antoine Sr. was a merchant. According to Bona Arsenault, in his Histoire et Généalogie des Acadiens, "he owned a house, three stores, five shacks to house the fishermen". His son Antoine was a shipowner; also according to Bona Arsenault, "he owned two ocean-going schooners, four fishing schooners, three small boats and other vessels".
   
   A son of this second Antoine and of Marcelline Martin, François, settled in Louisiana (in the same region where Jean-Baptiste Rodrigue, great-grandson of Jean Rodrigue and Anne LeRoy, had settled around 1760) . He married Marie-Basilisse Leboeuf in Thibodaux on 20 September 1824.
   
   

6. Pierre Rodrigue was born in 1723. On 17 June 1752, he married, probably in Louisbourg Rose Castaing, daughter of Antoine Castaing, merchant in Bordeaux, France, and Élisabeth Sarcellié. This family was nicknamed Lafond. The couple had at least four children: Pierre-Antoine (born in 1753), Olive-Antoinette (born in 1755; she married in Bordeaux on 5 October 1782 Jean Dupuch; then, she remarried also in Bordeaux with Jean Dumas), Gabrielle (born in 1758), and Anne (born in 1760). Gabrielle and Anne were in Bordeaux in 1791.
   
   

7. Marie-Anne Rodrigue was born in October 1725 in Louisbourg and was baptized on the 25th. She died in December 1732 at the age of 7.
   
   
8. Louis Rodrigue was born on 7 March 1727 (baptized on the 19th). He died before 1734.
   
   
9. Catherine-Josèphe Rodrigue was born in Louisbourg in February 1728 (baptized on the 9th). She married Joseph de Trion in Sinnamary, near Cayenne in French Guiana on 16 August 1773.
   
   
10. François-Luc Rodrigue was born in Louisbourg on 11 July 1730 (baptized on the 12th). He married Jeanne Ducros around 1764, and then Marie-Colombe Dohier around 1786.
    
    
11. Anne-Charlotte Rodrigue was born in Louisbourg on 22 July 1731 (baptized on the 27th), and she died before 1734.

Pedro Rodriguez
(ca 1714, San José, Toledo, Spain - 1759, Deschambault)

Pedro Rodriguez was from San José parish, in the diocese of Toledo, Spain (source: Dictionnaire généalogique des familles canadiennes, by Cyprien Tanguay); he was the son of Manuel Rodriguez (Emmanuel Rodrigue) and María Fresso (?) (Marie Fressaud). He married Marie-Louise Perron (daughter of Jean-Gaspard Perron and of Marie-Dorothée Delugré) in Deschambault (between Trois-Rivières and Québec) on 28 April 1749. They had six children: Marie-Louise, Marie-Josèphe, Pierre, Marie-Marguerite, Marie-Ursule, and Michel. Pedro Rodriguez died in Deschambault in April 1759 (buried on the 13th); his widow remarried in Deschambault in 1760 with Jean-François Guste. Here are more informations on Pedro's and Marie-Louise's children:

1. Marie-Louise Rodriguez was born in Deschambault in February 1750, and was baptized on the 14th. She married Joseph Sauvageau in Deschambault on 10 January 1774. She died in Grondines on 5 December 1802 (burial on the 7th).
   
   
2. Marie-Josèphe Rodriguez was born in Deschambault, probably in February 1752 (she was baptized on February 5). On 14 April 1777, in Deschambault, she married Louis-Joseph Robert dit St-Amant (son of Louis-Joseph Robert dit St-Amant and of Marie-Josèphe Marcotte). Marie-Josèphe died in Deschambault in April 1789 (buried on the 14th); her husband had died there in 1785.
   
   
3. Pierre Rodriguez was born in March 1753 in Deschambault (he was baptized on 22 March). On 3 March 1783, in Deschambault, he married Angélique Robert dit St-Amant, his sister-in-law (she was the sister of Marie-Josèphe Rodriguez's husband). The couple had at leats three children: Michel (married to Judith Groleau, Deschambault, 1814), Joseph (married to Euphrosine Frenette, Deschambault, 1817), and Pierre (married to Josèphe Perreault, Deschambault, 1809; and then to Anastasie Rondeau, Trois-Rivières, 1824; and finally to Marie Ouellet, Ste-Anne-des-Plaines, 1842).
   
   
4. Marie-Marguerite Rodriguez, born in April 1754 and baptized on 27 April 1754 in Deschambault. She died in Deschambault on 15 April 1828 (burial on the 17th).
   
   
5. Marie-Ursule Rodriguez, born in May 1756 and baptized on 28 May 1756 in Deschambault. She may be the same person as Marie Rodriguez who married Joseph Perrault in Deschambault on 10 February 1777, and who died in Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pérade on 1 July 1832.
   
   
6. Michel Rodriguez was born in September 1758 and baptized on 24 September 1758 in Deschambault. He died there nine months later in June 1759 (buried on the 21st).

Pierre Rodriguez's descendants dropped the final z in their name to become Rodrigue.

Sebastião Rodrigues
(Evora, Portugal)

Sébastien Rodrigue's origin was uncertain for a long time. In his Dictionnaire généalogique, Cyprien Tanguay mentions that he was the son of Jean Rodrigue and of Marie Rodrigue, and that he came from the parish of Ste-Marie, in the diocese of Eure. But there is no diocese of Eure in France: Eure is a department, of which the prefecture is the town of Évreux, which is also the see of a diocese. But there is in Portugal an important town called Evora, in the province of the same name, and where lived an important merchant family called Rodrigues; Evora can somewhat easily be transcribed in French as Eure. But that was only conjecture...until we had a look at the marriage contract intervened between Sébastien and Marie-Anne Parent, signed in Montréal on 21 February 1757 in the office of T. Vuatier, notary. In this contract, it is written (the translation is mine) "Marriage contract between Sébastien Rodrigue, habitant, from the parish of Ste Marie in the diocese of Evre in Portugal...". Evre is, of course, Evora, and one can understand that Cyprien Tanguay could have misread "Eure" for "Evre" in a manuscript document.

Sebastião Rodrigues married Amable-Charlotte Prieur dit St-Léger (daughter of Joseph Prieur dit St-Léger and of Marie-Louise St-Onge) on 3 February 1755 in St-Joseph-de-Soulanges (now the town of Les Cèdres, southwest of Montréal). They had at least one child, a son, Édouard. After his wife had died soon afterwards, Sebastião married at the same place on 21 February 1757, with Marie-Anne Parent (daughter of Joseph Parent and of Marguerite Vinet). They had at least five children: Jean-Sébastien, Marie-Anne, Angélique-Amable, Jean-Baptiste, and Jean-Benjamin. Here are more informations on Sébastien's children:

1. Child of Sebastião Rodrigues and Amable-Charlotte Prieur dit St-Léger
   
   
   1. Édouard Rodrigue, born in November 1755; he died one month later in December 1755.
      
      
2. Children of Sebastião Rodrigues and Marie-Anne Parent
   
   
   1. Jean-Sébastien Rodrigue, born in December 1757 in Les Cèdres (baptized on the 28th). He married (Les Cèdres, 1786) Marie-Josèphe Valade. They had at least three children: Sébastien-Antoine (married to Josèphe Daoust, Pointe-Claire, 1812), Joseph (married to Scholastique Lauzon, Les Cèdres, 1823), and Suzanne (married to Étienne Levac, Les Cèdres, 1822).
      
      
   2. Marie-Anne Rodrigue, born probably in August 1759 (baptized on 2 September). She married Jean-Gabriel-François Miville (Les Cèdres, 1777).
      
      
   3. Angélique-Amable Rodrigue, born in February 1762 in Les Cèdres (baptized on the 20th). She married François Martin (Les Cèdres, 1788).
      
      
   4. Jean-Baptiste Rodrigue married Félicité Poirier (St-Michel-de-Vaudreuil, 1791), and the couple had at least ten children: Antoine (married to Angélique Bénard, Île Perrot, 1823), Joseph (married to Hyppolite Dupéron, St-Polycarpe, 1839; and then to Julie Branchaud, Notre-Dame church in Montréal, 1858; and finally to Philomène Girard dit Jolicoeur, Notre-Dame church in Montréal, 1871), Étienne (married to Rose Clément, Côteau-du-Lac, 1836), Jean-Baptiste (married to Catherine Legros, St-Polycarpe, 1820), Geneviève (married to Joseph Quenneville, St-Polycarpe, 1827), Marguerite (married to Joseph Lepage, Les Cèdres, 1825), Rose (married to François Rousseau, St-Polycarpe, 1830; and then to Jean-Baptiste Denis or St-Denis, St-Zotique, 1857), Catherine (married to Joseph André dit St-Amand, St-Polycarpe, 1820), Josephte (married to Joseph St-Germain, St-Polycarpe, 1822), and Marie (married to Louis Proteau, St-Polycarpe, 1834).
      
      Jean-Baptiste Rodrigue remarried with Catherine Lalonde (Côteau-du-Lac, 1834), but no descendants are known to me. He finally remarried with Marie-Louise Martin dit St-Jean (Côteau-du-Lac, 1844), widow of Alexis Groulx.
      
      
   5. Jean-Benjamin Rodrigue married Catherine Martin dit St-Jean (Les Cèdres, 1786). They had at least six children: Benjamin (married to Josèphe Sédilot, Les Cèdres, 1816), François (married to Marguerite Leduc, Les Cèdres, 1823), Jean-Baptiste (married to Marie Durocher dit Frappe, widow of Isaac Sauvage, St-Timothée, 1834), Joseph (married to Josephte Girard, Les Cèdres, 1821), Michel (married to Marguerite Galarneau, St-Timothée, 1835), and Angélique (married to Jean-Baptiste Girard, Les Cèdres, 1817).
      
      Jean-Benjamin remarried with Judith Terrier dit de Repentigny or Darpentigny (Les Cèdres, 1819); they has at least three children: Toussaint-Ferdinand (married to Marie-Rose Sauvé dit Laplante, Les Cèdres, 1845), Pierre (married to Elmire Lalonde, Côteau-du-Lac, 1845; and then to Olive Paquet, Les Cèdres, 1862), and Josaphat.

João Rodrigues
(Lisbon, Portugal)

João Rodrigues, son of João Rodrigues and of Vicencia Catanes, was from São Salvador parish in Lisbon, Portugal. He married (St-Joseph de Chambly, 10 June 1816) Dorothée Salois (daughter of Antoine Salois and of Geneviève Hébert). They had at least eight children, but most of them died young: Sophie, Charles and Marie-Hermine (twins), Théodore, Cyprien, Moyse, Joseph and Jean.

João remarried (Notre-Dame church, Montréal, 31 August 1830) with Julie Arcand (daughter of Eustache Arcand and of Madeleine Lévesque). They had at least one daughter, Marguerite.

João remarried again (St-Cyprien de Napierville, 3 February 1835) with Salomée Bourdeau (daughter of André Bourdeau and of Angélique Roy); they had at least four children: Marie-Victoire, Philomène, Denyse and Édouard.

Here ar more informations on João Rodrigues's children:

1. Children of João Rodrigues and Dorothée Salois
   
   
   1. Jean-Paul Rodrigue, born and baptized in Chambly on 16 March 1817. He died in Chambly on 7 September 1817 (burial on the 8th).
      
      
   2. Jean Rodrigue, born and baptized in Chambly on 5 November 1818. He died in Napierville on 21 October 1831 (burial on the 22nd).
      
      
   3. Clément-Théophile Rodrigue, born in Chambly on 30 October 1821 (baptized on the 31st). He died in Napierville on 10 October 1834 (burial on the 12th).
      
      
   4. Sophie Rodrigue, born in May 1823 (baptized on the 15th) in Napierville; she died there in August 1823 (buried on September 1).
      
      
   5. Charles Rodrigue, born on 4 October 1824 (baptized on the 5th) in Napierville; he died there on 9 November 1824 (buried on the 11th).
      
      
   6. Marie-Hermine Rodrigue, twin of Charles. Date of death unknown.
      
      
   7. Théodore Rodrigue, born on 3 January 1826 (baptized on the 8th) in Napierville. Date of death unknown.
      
      
   8. Cyprien Rodrigue, born on 22 October 1827 (baptized on the 23rd) in Napierville; he died there on 2 December 1827 (buried on the 4th).
      
      
   9. Moyse Rodrigue, born on 30 January 1829 (baptized on the 31st) in Napierville; he died there on 10 April 1829 (buried on the 11th).
      
      
   10. Joseph Rodrigue, born on 28 March 1830 (baptized on the 28th) in Napierville; he died there on 15 July 1830 (buried on the 17th).
       
       
       
2. Child of João Rodrigues and Julie Arcand
   
   
   1. Marguerite Rodrigue, born on 12 January 1833, baptized on the 15th; she died on the 17th and was buried on the 18th.
      
      
3. Children of João Rodrigues and Salomée Bourdeau
   
   
   1. Marie-Victoire Rodrigue, born on 19 November 1835 (baptized on the 20th) in Napierville
      
      
   2. Philomène Rodrigue, born on 5 May 1837 (baptized on the 8th) in Napierville.
      
      
   3. Denyse Rodrigue, born on 26 February 1839 (baptized on the 27th) in Napierville.
      
      
   4. Édouard Rodrigue, born on 18 October 1840 (baptized on the 19th) in Napierville; he died there on 12 June 1841 (buried on the 14th).
      

Bartolomé Rodriguez
(from Majorca, Spain)

Bartolomé Rodriguez was the son of Antonio Rodriguez and of María Lacuberta (?) (Marie Lacouverte), and came from the Island of Majorca, one of the Balearic Islands, off the shore of Spain in the Mediterranean, and today being part of Spain. He married Marie Gourgon dit St-Maurice (daughter of Jean-Baptiste Gourgon dit St-Maurice and of Angélique Drapeau) in Notre-Dame church in Montréal, on 30 April 1798. No descendants are known to us to this day. Bartolomé died in Montréal on 11 October 1834 (burial on the 13th, Notre-Dame de Montréal), under the name Barthélémy Gaudry. Marie Gourgon died in Montréal on 9 February 1838 (burial on the 12th, Notre-Dame de Montréal).