Family Founders
How did the name Mercier take root in North America?
Between 1647 and 1793, there were 6 ancestors named Mercier who came from France and settled in New France and founded families, thus spreading the name Mercier in North America. Each ancestral couple is responsible for the population of Merciers in North America in varying proportions.
Jullien Mercier
Born on February 27, 1621, in Tourouvre, Perche,
This ancestral family is responsible for nearly 85% of the population of Merciers in North America today. Their descendants migrated from the Beaupre coastal area to Ile d'Orleans and the South shore (Berthier, Montmagny, and la Côte-du-Sud), to then spread throughout the province of Quebec, other parts of Canada and to the United States.
Pierre Mercier alias Caudebec
Pierre
MercierPierre-Simon
MercierCharles Mercier alias Lajoie
Jean-Baptiste
MercierThese are the 6 lines of Merciers recognized by AMAN, and which are documented in the book published in 1987 by Ernest Mercier: 'Mercier depuis des Siècles'.
Other setters bearing the name of Mercier came from France before 1800, but they have no known descendants. For instance, Martin Mercier came from Saint-Pierre d'Olonne, Poitou and married Mathurine Leroux on February 5, 1674, in Saint-Laurent de l'Ile d'Orléans. They gave birth to 3 daughters and 1 son, but they all died within a few days after their births.
There was also an Antoine Mercier dit Lepine or L’Espine who came from Guyenne, diocese of Bezenac and he married a Francoise Aubry at Quebec on 25 September 1673. Francoise came from St. Roch de Paris (Ile de France). Four children were born of this union ,Joseph, Antoine, Francoise and another not named, however no other descendants have been recorded.
Another Mercier dit Lafontaine married a Francoise Gaudet at Port Royal in Acadia in 1643. A girl named Marie was born of this union and records show this Marie married a Antoine Babin in 1661 at Port-Royal. Records also indicate that Francoise Gaudet married a second time in 1650 to a Daniel Leblanc also in Port Royal. The francophone parish archives were destroyed during the period when the Acadians were deported it is therefore very difficult to reconstruct them.
Also other Merciers came from France and elsewhere to establish themselves in America. Gilbert Mercier arrived in Louisiana between 1752 and 1758 according to a document entitled " Louisiana Recruits 1752-1758: ships list of troups from the independent companies of the Navy destined for service in the French colony". At this time Louisiana belonged to France. Another, Robert Mercier established himself at Boston, Massachusetts, in the U.S. according to the records book "Port arrivals to the city of Boston 1715-1716".
Another line of Mercier descendants to take root in the U.S. was that of Francis Mercier who came from Belgium to help his uncle the Cardinal Mercier, 1851-1926. Francis was also an evangelist and he established himself in the state of Oregon on the Grand Ronde Indian Reservation. He married an Indian from the reservation. This couple have left many descendants in this part of the United States through their eight children. They had four boys and four girls.
Several books, both in English and in French were written on the life of Cardinal Mercier who was then known as a living legend.
Finally, a few others named Mercier came from abroad to establish themselves in America during the Twentieth Century. As of this day AMAN has not sufficiently reconstructed the genealogical and historical information on these individuals in order to document their contribution.
