Our Fourniers'Ancestors
All reproduction is forbidden without the agreement of Association of Fourniers in America
According
to our research, 40 persons named Fournier crossed the Atlantic
between 1650 and 1850. Most of these Fourniers married after they arrived in New
France. Seventeen of these Fourniers were soldiers of which 9 married and the others
died as bachelors. Of the ancestors who
were married, three had no children; eight had descendants for two to four
generations named Fournier; twelve left a line that can be traced up to the
present day.
1-Guillaume Fournier
appears
to be the first of our ancestors who came to New France. He was the son of Gilles Fournier and Noëlle Gagnon from Coulmer in Normandy. His arrival date is approximate since we have
found no documents proving his arrival before his marriage to Françoise Hébert on November 20, 1651 in Quebec.
Guillaume Fournier and Françoise Hébert
produced the most numerous line of descendants in America named Fournier.
2- Jacques Fournier de la Ville was the second
Fournier to arrive in this country. A
native of Saint-Jean-en-Grève parish in Paris, he was the son of Michel Fournier, a
king’s adviser, and of Michelle Croyer. On May 14, 1657 he married Marguerite Crevier in Trois-Rivières. This marriage was annulled a few years
later. No child was born of this
marriage. On October 24, 1663 Jacques
Fournier married Hélène du Figuier in Quebec and they had many
children. However, we have found no
descendants named Fournier after the third generation.
3-Nicolas Fournier
arrived in New
France on May 25, 1664 aboard the ship “Noir de Hollande”. A native
of Saint-Étienne des Marans, he was the son of Hugues Fournier and Jeanne Huguette. Before he was married, he worked as a
servant. On September 30, 1670 he
married Marie Hubert in Quebec.
Nicolas Fournier and Marie Hubert left the second most important line of
descendants throughout Canada
and the United States.
4-Pierre Fournier dit
des Forges arrived in 1664 on the same ship, the “Noir de Hollande”. A native
of Poitou, Pierre
was a miller working for Jean Bourdon.
He seems to have remained a bachelor.
We have found no trace of a marriage.
5-Robert Fournier, a native of Saint-Ouen
de Lampar parish in Normandy, signed a contract as a
hired hand (“contrat d’engagement”)
on June 15, 1661 in
Dieppe. In the 1681 census of Lachine, he is 62 years old. He seems to have remained a bachelor. Brother of the following Jean Fournier.
6-Jean Fournier, also a native of Saint-Ouen
de Lampar, was Robert’s brother. He was married to Marie Crispin in
1667, place unknown. Therefore, we do
not know if he was married in France
or after he arrived in Canada. We have found no children for this
couple. In the 1681 census of Lachine, Jean was 54
years old and his wife was 42. He owned
2 guns, 14 horned animals and 50 “arpents” of land.
7-François Fournier dit “LaRoche” arrived in the country around 1663. He was living in Quebec during the census of 1666. Later on, he lived in Montreal.
He worked as a stonemason.
8-Gabriel Fournier dit “Laverdure”
was a soldier in the “Compagnie Carignan-Sallière”. In 1667, he signed a contract for an
obligation at the notary Bénigne Basset in Montreal.
9-François Fournier dit “Le Poignon” was problably
born around 1685. His place of origin is
unkown. He was
nicknamed François dit “Le Poignon”
because his left hand was fingerless. He
worked at the Hôtel-Dieu in Quebec.
In 1712, he drowned in Baie Saint-Paul along
with Jean Bois.
10-Claude Fournier is the fourth Fournier to have descendants in New France. He was the son of Étienne Fournier and Michelle Gendray
of Pouilly-en-Auxois in Bourgogne.
He worked as a cooper. He married Jeanne
Renault, daughter of Jacques Renault and Marie Charrier
on November 11, 1681 in
Château-Richer. His descendants span
five generations.
11-Antoine Fournier dit Préfontaine married Marie Roncelay
on February 11, 1688 and they lived in the Longueuil
region. A native of Beaumont-les-Nonains, diocese of Beauvais, Ile-de-France,
he was the son of Denis Fournier-Préfontaine and
Catherine Desallières. On July 16, 1696, he married Marie-Madeleine
Ozannes in Notre-Dame church of Montreal. The descendants of Antoine Fournier
and Marie Ronceley took the name Fournier and
sometimes Préfontaine starting in 1800. From 1925 most of their descendants, with a few
exceptions, are known as Préfontaine.
12-Jean Fournier signed a marriage contract before the notary, Gilles Rageot,
on April 30, 1690 with Anne Massard, daughter of
Nicolas Massard and Anne Bellesoeur.
He was a native of Saint-Sauveur de La Rochelle in Aunis. We have found no descendants for this couple.
13-Jules Le Fournier Du Vivier, son of Jacques Le
Fournier and Marguerite Carpentier, was lieutenant of an infantry company. On August 16, 1692, he married Madeleine Thérèse Gadbois in Montreal.
His descendants, mostly named DuVivier, span
two or three generations.
14- Pierre
Fournier de Belleval
was
the son Jacques Fournier de Belval and Ursule Gaucher, of
Sainte-Catherine d’Orléans, in Orléanais. On July 30, 1693 Pierre Fournier married Marie Ancellin in Quebec. Their
descendants lived in the regions of Richelieu and Sorel. Pierre Fournier’s and Marie Ancellin’s descendants can still be found today but,
with a few exceptions, they adopted the name Belval
around 1850.
15-Guillaume Fournier dit “Dufresne” was a native of Saint-Jean, diocese of Limoges in France. He was a soldier in the “Compagnie
de Saint-Martin”. He died on July 20,
1706 at the Hôtel-Dieu of Quebec.
16-René Fournier, born around 1685, was a native of Mans. The names of this parents
are unknown. He probably arrived at Quebec around 1700 at
the age of 15. He was a gardener at Quebec, a verger in Ancienne-Lorette and a servant for Antoine Langlois. He died at
l’Hôtel-Dieu of Quebec on April 16 1748.
17-A few years later, another Fournier came to New
France.
Lyvrain Fournier dit Liévain married Marie-Suzanne Fauteux
in Pointe-aux-Trembles of Neuville on April 6, 1728. He was the son of Antoine
Fournier and Anne Gourdon of Maurage,
near Mons en Hainault in Belgium. His
descendants lived around Sorel and Portneuf. At the beginning, they adopted the family
name Fournier, then Liévain-Fournier,
then Clément and finally Guévin or Guérin. This family line still has descendants living
today.
18-Antoine Fournier, a salt-smuggler, was sent to Canada by a
king’s order on February 24, 1733. His
place of origin is unknown.
19-Pierre Fournier, another salt-smuggler, left the prison in Châlans and, on March 12, 1742, he was sent to Canada for the
rest of his life.
20-Between 1740 and 1750, another Fournier established himself in Canada. Pierre
Fournier was the son
of Guillaume Fournier and Madeleine Poirier from Fontaine-Raoul,
in Loir and Cher in France.
On February 5, 1743 in
Beaumont, he
married Françoise Couture, daughter of Guillaume Couture and Marie-Anne
Adam. Pierre was a miller. He lived a few years in Quebec before moving to Saint-Thomas-de-Montmagny in 1747.
Pierre Fournier and Françoise Couture produced many descendants to this
day.
21-During that decade, another soldier, Corporal de Lanaudière,
Pierre Fournier dit Brisefer,
son of Pierre Fournier and Marguerite Métayer arrived
in Canada.
He was a native of Notre-Dame-de-Niort parish, diocese of Poitier in Poitou. In Quebec, on September 29, 1749 Pierre
married Marie-Louise Liénard/Durbois,
daughter of Sébatien Liénard
and Catherine Bonhomme. Their descesdants
span two generations.
22-Jean Fournier dit “Léveillé”
was a native of Tours
and a soldier in the “Compagnie de Lusignan”. He died
on April 14, 1751 at the Hôtel-Dieu of Quebec. He was 23 years old.
23-Pierre Fournier dit “Polard”
was a young soldier in the Camp de Chasaille. He died
in 1756 in Montreal at the age of 27.
24-François Fournier dit “Latulipe” was a native of Nasseau. He was a soldier in the Béarn
battalion. On October 26, 1756 he died
at Notre-Dame of Montreal.
25-Pierre Fournier, a cobbler, was a native of Cahors in Quercy. On March 6, 1775 at the age of 25, he was hired
for a period of 3 years to work in Quebec. He arrived on the ship “Deux-Frères”.
(List of migrants leaving from Bordeaux)
26-Louis-Antoine Fournier dit “Champagne”, a native on Bordeaux, was probably born around 1676. His arrival date in Quebec is unknown. On July 17, 1760 he was buried at l’Hôpital Général of Montreal.
27-The next one to arrive in Quebec was Éméry Amiens. He
then adopted his mother’s maiden name, Fournier. The fourth generation took the name Fournier
dit Larose. On February 14, 1757 Éméry married Marguerite Guénet. Since the 1800's, their descendants
adopted the name Fournier as much as the name Larose
28-Pierre Fournier dit Lapierre arrived
from Brittany.
A soldier, he was the son of Julien
Fournier and Périne Aubin
from Saint-Pierre de Rétiers, diocese of Rennes in Brittany. His first marriage, in Lachine on May 18, 1757 was to Catherine Audon-Rochefort, daughter of Bernard Audon-Rochefort and Marie-Josephte
Desforges. His
second marriage was in Montreal
on April 25, 1763 to Suzanne Campagnac,
daughter of Louis Campagnac and Marie-Catherine
Bernier. We have found only two
daughters from this two marriages.
29-Jean Fournier dit “Labonté”
was a native
of Bressenègre in Rouargue,
sodier in the Béarn
regiment, “Compagne Mazerac”. He died at l’Hôpital
Général of Quebec
on september 30, 1759.
30-Several Fourniers, soldiers and civilians,
established themselves in New France after the
Seven Year War.
Maurice Fournier, gunner-bomber, was the son of Joseph-Benoît Fournier and Marie Molar of
Saint-Laurent-de-la-Roche in Franche-Comté. He married Marie-Josephte Forget/LeNormand,
daughter of Jean-Baptiste Forget/LeNormand
and Marie-Thérèse Minville
on February 18 1760 in
Varennes. He
then lived in Lévis. We found his descendants for two
generations.
31-Joseph
Fournier,
a native of Lieffrans in Franche-Comté, married Françoise
Carlos, daughter of Claude Carlos and Françoise Dauphin on January 26, 1761 in Cap-Saint-Ignace and lived in that parish. Joseph Fournier and Françoise Carlos did
not leave many descendants but their line still exists today.
32-Augustin Fournier dit
La Grenade, soldier
in the Queen’s Regiment, was the son of Nicolas Fournier and Claudette Urbain of Rouvre-la-Châtine in Lorraine. After the war, he married Thérèse
Demers, daughter of Henri Demers and Thérèse Poirier
on November 24, 1760 in
Chambly. Even though their line is small, it still
exists.
33-Pierre Fournier dit Saint-Pierre,
former soldier, died in 1770 at Notre-Dame-de Montreal at the age of 46.
34-Claude Fournier dit L’Esprit was the last soldier of this war. A native of Languedoc, he was the son of Claude Fournier
and Marie Vitrine of Pont Saint-Esprit. He married Marie-Anne Besset
on June 30, 1772 in
Chambly. Claude Fournier and Marie-Anne Besset left a large line of descendants in the Outaouais region and elsewhere.
35-Étienne
Fournier and his wife, Denise Debron
are natives of Lyon in France where Étienne
was a merchant. They arrived in Quebec around 1785 with
at least two young children : Jean-Baptiste
and Michel. We have found baptism
certificates dated 1786 in
Notre-Dame of Montreal
and 1789 in
L’Assomption where he established himself as a
merchant. The line of Étienne Fournier and Denise Debron,
continued by three sons, is small but still alive.
36-Pierre Fournier was the son of Louis Fournier and Marie-Anne Monin of Saint-Benoît du Retour d’Orléans parish in Orléanais. He
married Angélique Carpentier
on June 24, 1816 in
Christ Church
of Sorel. We have found no descendants.
37-Vincent-Charles Fournier, born around 1771, came from Orléans’ parish in France. He came to Quebec as a missionary priest. For many years, he was the parish priest of
Saint-Antoine de Baie du Fèbvre
where he died in 1839.
38-Charles Fournier dit “Lajeunesse” was already in Montreal in 1830 with his wife, Émérence Baillargeon. His place of origin is yet unknown. Two children were born in Montreal and we then lose trace of this couple.
39-Jean-Baptiste Fournier dit “Lajeunesse”, Charles’ brother, also lived in Montreal in 1830 with his
wife, Marguerite Delorme and at least two children. We have also lost trace of this couple after
1835.
THE
FOURNIERS IN UNITED STATES
ABOUT A
HUNDRED FOURNIERS WAS ESTABLISHED THEMSELVES IN UNITED STATES BETWEEN 1700 AND
1850. ABOUT FIFTY OF THEM ARRIVED IN LOUISIANE. HOWEVER, IT IS VERY DIFFICULT TO
RETRACE THEIR DESCENDANTS. THE MAJORITY OF THESE ANCESTORS HAD LET DESCENDANTS
ON TWO TO FOUR GENERATIONS.
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This page designed by Armelle Fournier #3 from Quebec
Translated by Catherine Fournier # 330 from Toronto