Sir please pull your canoe over……this is my 7th Great Grand father on the BEACH side – This artist rendition of Noèl legault dit Deslauriers was published for the first time by Labatt Breweries of Canada (in black and white).
Noël Legault dit Desiauriers was the son of Roch Le Goff and Mary Galion. He was a native of France. It is believed that he was born in 1674. Noel was a soldier, a Marine actually, in the Army of the King of France sent to New France from approx. 1695-1701. Noel’s commander was François Le Verrier Roussonet who had been a Musketeer in the Kings employ. One of the jobs that Noel’s company were detailed to preform was to keep settlers from going into the Montreal country without approval. They were to take up positions on both sides of the river from Villa Marie (Montreal) and stop all of the canoes and check for their papers and permissions. Noel’s commander didn’t do this job very well and the King made a comment that he wasn’t very enthusiastically carrying out his duties.
On November 18, 1698 at Notre-Dame de Montreal (The old Notre Dame church before the basilica was built) , Noel married Marie Besnard, daughter of Mathurin and Marguerite Viard who was a filles du roi. (*** A King’s Daughter). The day before the wedding, on November 17, the couple signed their contract wedding in front of the notary Pierre Raimbault. Some of the witnesses at the marriage were other soldiers in his company.
**Noel’s mother in law was a KINGS DAUGHTER (filles du roi). These were women who were paid to come to Quebec by the King of France. They had to meet certain standards to qualify. One of the standards was they had to be fit and hardy. They were not prostitutes. They were paid to go to New France by King Louie XIV to promote immigration….Hey Louie…. Quebec’s got girls! They were wards of the King and were paid money and land when they were married.
In the summer of 1701, more than 1,300 Indians, from forty different nations, gathered near Montreal. The peace treaty, Great Peace of Montreal, was signed in 1701 in Montreal by 39 Indian chiefs and the French. They came from the Mississippi Valley, the Great Lakes, and Acadia. Many were lifelong enemies but all had responded to an invitation from the French governor. Their future and the fate of the colony were at stake. Among them was the great Huron chief Kondiaronk of Michilimackinac, the most influential of France’s allies. It appears Noel left the Marines after the treaty was signed and had bought 120 acres of land bordering the Saint-Pierre river. The family soon settled on land in the parish of Lachine with their nine sons and five daughters. Legault died in Pointe-Claire on the 10th of April, 1747.
It is speculated that Noël Legault received the name “des lauriers” (to be crowned with laurel) during his army service for his courage or bravery. The word “gault” meant woods or forest in old French; “Legault” probably described a dweller by the woods.