From 1608, the date of the foundation of Quebec, colonists were actively settling and developing New France. Anyone with French roots, can trace back ancestors up to the early stages of the colony. Surprisingly, pionneers from the Cazeau or the Casault families are not likely to be found at that time. We must wait until the following century before the family names of Cazeau and Caseault manifest in documented records with the arrival of Jean Casaux (Bascout), a trained surgeon, in the Quebec City area about 1719.

In 1710 and thereafter, authorities in New France had decreed that the practice of surgery would be regulated and restricted to a set number of surgeons. The reason for this was that ship surgeons arriving in New France and deciding to stay, became competition for those surgeons already established there. For newly arrived surgeons, the only recourse was to seek a practice in the surrounding countryside. It was to Chateau-Richer that Jean Casaux came, marrying Madeleine Voyer, and producing 15 children.

In 1723, the surgeon Jean Navers was ensconced there but died that very year. Jean Casaux carried on the surgical practice over the next 40 years in the Beaupre' Coast region. In 1759, as a result of the war, his house was burned down by the British. For two centuries, this family adopted the Cazeau spelling, and later, after 1920, started to use variants such as Cazeault, Caseault and Casault.

Meanwhile, outside the St. Lawrence valley, were two other individuals worth mentioning. Jean Casault (Laforge) married Marie Lauxeau on July 21, 1722 at Port Lajoie. We lost track of this couple. A compatriot, Jean Caseau, carpenter, was living at the fortress of Louisbourg (Cape Breton). In 1752, he married Louise Guilton who bore a daughter named Marguerite. Unfortunately, John died prematurely in 1754. What will be the destiny of Marguerite and her mother? Who can tell? In 1758, the British besieged the fortress for the second time and were successful in seizing and evacuating its occupants to France, including Marguerite and her mother. History does not record their fate.

Another pioneer, François Cazeau, arrived in New France in 1754 as a soldier. He married into the Vallee' family, who were in the fur trade, in 1759, and he became both active and successful in this business which was to stretch across the Great Lakes region and make him a fortune. During the turmoil of the Conquest, many of the political and merchant elite fled the colony, including Francois Cazeau. But without doubt, attracted by economic perspectives of the trade of furs, he chose to return despite the presence of the British. Cazeau was no lover of the British and he soon became involved in stirring up the Indians, among whom he had many friends, against them. He also naturally sided with the Americans as their revolution gained ground. When an American expedition invaded Canada, Cazeau provided the army with boats and varied supplies.

The expedition failed before Montreal and Cazeau and his son were arrested and imprisoned. He later escaped and made his way to Paris, but he had lost his all in the pursuit of his cause. He petitioned the U.S. Congress for financial relief through the offices of his friend, the Marquis de LaFayette, and wrote a book of his experiences and political beliefs, no copies of which survive.

Cazeau is practically the lone individual of our patronym who is recorded in the history books of Canada and indeed is listed in past editions of Who's Who in Canada. His direct descendants have lost the name of Cazeau and are known today with the family name Reeves, who are proud to have such an illustrious ancestor.

The case of John-Joseph Casot also illustrates in its manner the fortunes of the war between the French and English. Originally from Lièges in Belgium, he arrived in Quebec in 1757 as a Jesuit priest. He was in Quebec when cannonballs from artillery rained upon the city during the Summer of 1759. In September, after the defeat of the French on the plains of Abraham, the English occupied the college of the community. The following day the Jesuits were rounded up. The treaty of Paris stipulated that they would be able to reside in the country, but at the same time, they were prohibited from recruiting new members to their order. In 1774, the order did not count more than twelve members ; nine of these died between 1775 and 1785. Ultimately, their colleagues also disappeared and thus the last Jesuit in Canada, Jean-Joseph Casot, who died in 1800.

The year 1759 was a pivotal year in the destiny of New France, and Cazeau family members. Nevertheless. there was a glow of hope marking the arrival during the month of December of Jean-Baptiste Casault, the pioneer that accounted for the most numerous of the Cazeau family descendants of this name in America. He was married into the Michon family in 1767 in Montmagny. Jean-Baptiste became a prosperous farmer in Montmagny during his career. Descendants of this pioneer use largely the appellation Casault and the variant Cazeault in Montreal and the United States.