The enate side of your mother's ancestry began half a millenium ago in the province of Percheron, France. Your first ancestor of record, Jean Mercier, lived before the Council of Trent (1545-1563) which was the nineteenth ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. It was at that council that all Catholic Churches were mandated to keep records of Baptisms, Confirmations, Marriages, and Deaths.
Civil records of births, marriages and deaths did not exist in most countries until the middle of late nineteenth century, as follows: Germany, 1875, France, 1792, Spain, 1870, Portugal, 1878, Italy, 1860, England, 1836, and Scotland, 1855.
The Church of England has registers of baptisms, marriages and deaths dating to as early as 1538 in England. Most other protestant denominations did not maintain records until the late 18th or early 19th century 1.
The area of France where Jean Mercier and his descendants lived is much like Quebec, but has no river of note. Mortagne is a quaint town, built on a hill and has maintained the medieval appeal of a former fortress with its ramparts and gates.
It was there that Jean Mercier's daughter, Perrine, married Thomas Lousche on 14 Jun 1528. Thomas Lousche died after 21 Jan 1564.
Thomas Lousche and Perrine Mercier had a son named François, born c 1535, who became a butcher. On 26 Nov 1604, he married Martine Portier. They had a daughter, Françoise, who married Robert Mullard c 1588. Robert Mullard died 8 Aug 1600. Françoise died about 6 Mar 1614.
Robert Mullard and Françoise Lousche lived in the town of Tourouvre, which is about fifteen kilometers to the west of Mortagne. The town is dominated by the bell tower of Saint-Aubin Church. It was in that town that Jeanne Mullard, the daughter of Robert Mullard and Françoise Lousche, was born on 9 Jul 1597. On 11 Nov 1613, she married Pierre Rivard, the son of Thomas Rivard and Jeanne Chevreau.
Jeanne Chevreau had been born in La Poterie au Perche, but moved to Tourouvre after her marriage to Pierre Rivard. Both Pierre Rivard and Jeanne Chevreau died at Tourouvre c 13 Sep 1620.
Jeanne Mullard died after 21 Apr 149; Pierre Rivard died 5 mar 1652. They had at least two sons, Nicholas, born 16 Jun 1617, and Robert, born 10 Jul 1638.
These two sons were the migrants to New France. Their story is best told by the following extract from Our French Canadian Ancestors. 2
It was on a Friday, 6 March 1648, when Nicolas knocked on the door of notary Chouaiseau in Tourouvre. He was there to sign a contract to work in Canada. He had been recruited by Pierre Juchereau, Sieur des Moulineaux, on behalf of his brother Noel Juchereau, Sieur des Chastellées, living in Quebec, for "a time of three years to begin the day of embarkation which will be this year from la Rochelle." Rivard was promised free passage to and from Canada, including meals and 66 livres "tournois" as an annual wage. He was also advanced 15 livres, deductible from his first years pay. A normal livre was worth 25% less than a livre tournois at the time.
As early as 27 February 1649, Nicolas appeared as a Godfather in the parish registry of Trois-Rivières. In 1651, he was named the Captain of Militia in Cap-de-la-Madeleine and later in Batiscan. "This was an honorary position and held without monetary compensation. The captain of the militia was, in fact, the administrator of the seigneury. He trained the troops, led them into battle, carried out the orders of the Intendant, and was also the governor's agent. When the seigneur lived outside the seigneury, the captain had the first pew in church, on the left side of the main aisle. He was usually referred to as "Sieur" and most often, at his demise, he was buried in the crypt of the church." He worked at this duty until old age overtook him. On 6 June of 1649, he received a piece of land from the Jesuits, measuring two arpents in frontage on the river by twenty arpents in depth.
Nicholas Rivard had married Catherine de Saint-Père c 1653 at Trois-Rivieres, Quebec. Some genealogists place the date of the marriage at 25 Nov 1652 while others opt for 21 June 1653. Catherine de Saint-Père had been baptised on 26 Aug 1634, the daughter of Etienne de Saint-Père and Naomi Coutand. She had probably come to Quèbec with her brother, Jean in 1643.
In 1849, Catherine had married Mathurin Guillet. She was fifteen years of age. Three years later, Mathurin was killed in an abortive raid on an Iroquois village. A few months later, her marriage to Nicholas Rivard occurred. He was thirty-five and Catherine eighteen years of age.
The account of Nicholas Rivard in Our French Canadian Ancestors continues:
On 7 March 1661, notary Claude Herlin drew up a most unusual contract. It concerned the purchase of a chapel by the literate and well respected Nicolas Rivard from Governor Pierre Boucher. The deed read in part "A chapel which he (Bouchar) had built in his yard, 20 feet long by 20 feet wide," would be disassembled piece by piece, transported to the Cap and reassembled. It was erected on the precise spot where the second church, which still exists, is located.
On 23 March 1666, Nicolas acquired two properties from the Jesuits, one at Batiscan and the other on the Ile Saint-Eloi. Each measured 2 by 40 arpents and both were recorded by notary Jacques de la Tousche. The Rivards lived awhile longer at the Cap, where they were listed in the census of 1666. Then they moved to Batiscan in 1668: There is reason to believe that Msgr de Laval conferred the sacrament of Confirmation in the house of Nicolas at Batiscan on 25 May 1669. In addition, the Bishop found the place to his liking, so he asked Father Germain Morin, the first priest to be born in Canada, to establish a parish there. On 26 June 1670,
Nicolas was elected the first churchwarden of this parish.
Because of his influential position in the community, he was often called upon to defend the rights of his people. On 13 August 1663, we see him bring a complaint against Michel Pelteir de Laprade, the future seigneur of Gentilly, when our valiant militia captain found a man named Pierre Retoucq at Peltier's home "stretched out unconscious" after a violent quarrel. As a result, a tribunal composed of Pierre Boucher, Quentin Moral and Louis Laurent found the defendant guilty and fined him twenty livres.
Another example comes to us through the pen of Madame Jeanne Petenaude, who writes:
"Nicolas Rivard had traits of character and aptitude which involved him in protecting the public welfare. On a few occasions, the Archives tell us in detail how he took the initiative to defend the common interest of the citizens of Batiscan. Often the reports were expressed in these terms: Nicolas Rivard, Sieur de la Vigne, knowing how to read and write, acting for and in the name of all the colonists being their procurer and defender ask, etc... and the petitions were addressed to the Intendant, to the civil or religious authorities, etc... In 1676, he appeared before the tribunal to plead the case of the colonists because they were dissatisfied with the "alignment and boundary markers placed by surveyor Jean Guyon du Buisson." After a rather sharp exchange between Nicolas Rivard, "procurer and plaintiff", and the representative of the King, an order, signed on 13 October 1676 in Trois-Rivieres by Boyvinet, was published, to the effect that the boundaries would be re-examined by the surveyor Jean Le Rouge, to the satisfaction of all interested parties. Nicolas was to examine the deeds of the habitants to see that justice was done. As their complaints were settled, Rivard was recognized as a truly good lawyer."
In spite of all of the good will and conviction that he put into his lawsuits, ancestor Nicolas did not win all the cases he brought to the attention of the Sovereign Council. In 1682, in another class action suit, he apposed the parish priest of Batiscan, Messire François Dupré, on the subject of a supplemental tithe. This business grew out of a royal ruling issued in May of 1679 concerning the manner in which tithes were to be collected. On 5 September 1682, the inhabitants learned, at their own expense, that it was useless to oppose His Majesty, on pain of fine, or worse...corporal punishment! In November an ordinance reinforcing the manner of tithing was signed by the Intendant and given to Rivard to post on the door of the parish church for everyone to see.
In the census of 1681, Nicolas was 60 years old, and he lived with his wife and ten children at Batiscan. There he worked at the duties of Captain of Militia until 1697, that is to say until the age of 81 years. He had achieved his work in this world and, on 1 July 1701, he was carried to his final resting place in the small parish cemetery. On his death certificate the Curate wrote that Nicolas had shown all the signs of a singular piety. His wife Catherine survived him for almost eight years, then she too, died and was buried at Batiscan, on 28 June 1709.
Nicholas and Catherine Rivard reared a family of ten children. 3
Most of these children had second marriages, but, except for Antoine, these have been omitted. Life was hard in frontier days and between Indian raids, accidents and illnesses life was generally short.
Nicholas Rivard took the surname de la Vigne. Most French-Canadians took surnames or aliases. Among the surnames taken by various members of the Rivard family were Laglanderie, Dufresne, Lacoursiere,, Lanouette, Preville, Loraner, Feuilleverte, Bellefeuille, Monendre, Maisonville, Mongrain, Rivac, Rival, Rivvault, Vertefeuille, and Lamy. These aliases often surplanted the Rivard name, making the tracing of relationships impossible.
Their youngest son, Antoine, left Batiscan on 14 Sep 1699. The entry says "cité", which could mean to go to a larger city (Quebec or Montreal) or to attend a university, which was also referred to as "cité".
Antoine married Marie Birard in 1704. The name of the girl is variously written as Marie Briard, Marie Briar, Marie Driard and Marie Druyard. One record indicates that she was a native of Ile Dauphin, Canada, while another cites Ile Dauphin in Mobile Bay and a third states that she was a native of Natchez, Mississippi.
Edna Freiberg states 4that Marie Driard was one of twenty-three Canadian girls sent to old Mobile in 1704 by the Bishop of Quebec. Jay Higginbotham in his well researched book Old Mobile , states that the girls were recruited from orphanages in Paris and arrived in the ship, The Pelican .
The most probably scenario is that Antoine left Canada with Le Moyne d'Iberville in 1699 when he established the colony on Ile Dauphin. He probably married Marie Briard within a year of her arrival at that colony - about 1705. He is recorded in the census of 1 Aug 1706 in that area with a wife and one child.
Antoine was granted a small concession on the east bank of Bayou St. john in 1708. By 1718 he owned the Village of Acolapissas and by 1721 had enlarged his holdings to seventeen arpents front.
The census of 1721 shows Antoine with a wife and six children. Only five can be identified:
In Memoirs on Louisiana, Bienville writes:
Bayou St. John which is behind this city is of such great convenience because of the communication which it affords with Lake Pontchartrain and consequently with the seat that it cannot be esteemed too highly. In order to facilitate the navigation of it it would be necessary to clear it out, that is to say to remove from it all the tree trunks with which it is filled and even blocked in many places and to fell all the trees that hang over the banks and threaten to fall into it. A good settler on this bayou named Rivart offers to undertake this work and promises to complete it in three years because no work can be done on it except when the water is low. For that purpose he asks that we lend him the pulleys, iron tools and ropes necessary and that the Company grant him as a concession one side of the low land along this bayou as far as the lake which is about three quarters of a league. This is land subject to overflow which he would drain by ditches in order to make pastures. This proposal appears to me to be advantageous and so inexpensive for the Company and of such great assistance for New Orleans that I do not think that it ought to be rejected. We have no reason to fear that the enemies will come to disturb the peace of the inhabitants of New Orleans where at any time whatsoever it is sufficient to have three companies both for its safety and for that of the posts that might perhaps need assistance.
It was not known when Marie Briard died, but shortly thereafter he married Antoinette Fouriere the widow of Henri Martin de Mirbaize Sieur de Villemont (Vuillemont, Vilmont).
Antoine died and was buried on 11 Feb 1729 at New Orleans, Antoinette Fourier died 4 Oct 1736.
Jean Baptiste Rivard, the youngest child is listed as a member of the militia, but little is known about him, except that he married Anne Bernard, the daughter of Antoine Bernard and Catherine Betherine. They had a son also named Jean Baptiste Rivard, born 18 Dec 1761 in New Orleans.
Jean Baptiste Rivard, fils, married Maria Theresa Durand (5 Nov 1755 - 25 Apr 1838). Maria Theresa Durand was the daughter of Jean Baptiste Durand (1732-25 Mar 1785) and Gabriella Du Pre (born 26 Jan 1731) the daughter of Jacques Dupre and Madeleine Mercier who were married on 6 June 1725. Madeleine Mercier's parents were Jean Baptiste Mercier and Louise Bourgeois.
Jean Baptiste Rivard, fils, and Maria Theresa Durand had six children:
The church records for Achilles lists him as Archie Ribalda. He was baptised 20 Apr 1787.
Achilles Rivard lived with a free woman of color named Seraphin Christophe and fathered four natural children named Eugenie, Marie, Achilles, and Aristide. Exact birth dates cannot be found, but Marie was born c. 1820.
About 1842 she married Theodule Cerre. Marie died 8 Feb 1892.