Francois Daragon dit Lafrance-----------------------------
The first member of the Lafrance family to arrive in North America was n ot named Lafrance at all -- he was Francois Daragon, a member of Louis XIV ’s Troupes de la Marine. He appears in a list of soldiers in a 1694 docume nt from the Ile d’Orleans, near Quebec city. His later marriage record sho ws him to have been 37 years old in 1697, so he must have been born arou nd 1660 somewhere in France.
At that time, newly-arrived soldiers in New France (what is now Quebec) we re sometimes given the nickname "dit Lafrance" by their companions -- th is happened to settlers named Dubois and Pinel, for example, and it also h appened to Francois Daragon. The "dit" name persisted for several generati ons, until the 1800’s. At that time, Francois’ descendants became wea ry of this lengthy name. Some began to call themselves Lafrance, and othe rs used the name Daragon (or some corruption of the name, such as Darrag on or Deragon).
There is considerable speculation among Lafrance family historians regardi ng the origin of Francois Daragon. At this time, no date or place of bir th have been found. This lack of specific information has given ri se to a variety of theories.
One theory is that the name Daragon (originally D’Aragon) indicates th at he was from the ancient kingdom of Aragon, which is now part of northe rn Spain. This theory is an empty one, however. Genealogists have found me mbers of large 17th-century Daragon families in areas of northern France s uch as Normandy, Picardy and L’Orne. Since these areas are on or clo se to the coast of France, it seems more likely that an emigrant such as F rancois Daragon was born there, rather than in Aragon. His name does indic ate that some of his ancestors must have come from Aragon, however.
Francois Daragon dit Lafrance died on August 25, 1734 in Montreal.
Marie Guillemette and Her Family
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Marie Guillemette (this name is variously spelled Guillemet, Guilmet) w as born on May 31, 1678 on the Ile d’Orleans and was baptised at the chur ch of Ste.-Famille. In 1697, at the age of 19 years, she married Franco is Daragon dit Lafrance in St.-Jean, Ile d’Orleans. Her husband was 37 yea rs old at the time.
Marie's father, Nicolas Guillemette, a habitant, was born in 1641 in Soiss ons, France. Her mother, Marie Selle, was born about 1647 in Rouen, Franc e. Marie Selle was a "fille du roi", a young woman sent to New Fran ce as a prospective wife for a soldier of the Carignan-Salieres Regime nt of the 1660’s. One of the regiment’s soldiers is recorded as "Nicolas G uillaume", and this is probably Nicolas Guillemette, the father of Marie G uillemette.
Nicolas Guillemette and Marie Selle were married in Notre-Dame, Quebec Cit y, on October 17, 1667, and had nine children between 1668 and 1691, inclu ding Marie Guillemette. The children were:
- Barbe, born September 12, 1668, baptised at Chateau-Richer, Quebec
- Jeanne, born April 20, 1670, baptised at Chateau-Richer, Quebec
- Prisque, born in 1672 and baptised at Ste.-Famille, Ile d’Orleans
- Jean, born February 20, 1674 and baptised at Ste.-Famille, Ile d’Orleans
- Nicolas, born February 25, 1676, baptised at Ste.-Famille, Ile d’Orleans
- Marie, born May 31, 1678, and baptised at Ste.- Famille, Ile d’Orleans
- Agnes, born in 1680, and baptised at Ste.-Famille, Ile d’Orleans
- Catherine, born March 27, 1683, and baptised at St.-Laurent, Ile d’Orlea ns
- Jeanne, born May 15, 1691, and baptised in St.-Famille, Ile d’Orleans
Using these years and places of baptism, we can trace the Guillemette fami ly’s movements between 1667 and 1691. For the first three years of their m arriage, Nicolas and Marie lived in Chateau-Richer, on the north sho re of the St. Lawrence River about 25 miles east of Quebec City. They th en moved to the Ile d’Orleans and settled in Ste.-Famille, on the north-ce ntre part of the island.
Why did they move from Chateau-Richer on the mainland to Ste.-Famille on t he Ile d’Orleans? The answer to this question may be found in the book His torical Reminder: Quebec and the Isle of Orleans, by J. C. Pouliot:
"The first settlers [of Ste.Famille] came from Beauport, L’Ange Gardien, a nd Chateau-Richer, anxious to protect themselves against the incursio ns of the Iroquois. Besides, the natural meadows on the north side of t he island afforded them excellent pasture for their cattle".
Nicolas Guillemette died on December 10, 1700 at the Hotel-Dieu hospit al in Quebec City (the first hospital established in New France). He is al so recorded as having been a patient there in April-May of 1692, and may h ave had an extended illness in the last years of his life.
After Nicolas’ death, his wife Marie Selle remarried. She died in St.-Jea n, Ile d’Orleans on June 13, 1719.
Children of Francois Daragon dit Lafrance and Marie Guillemette
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As has been mentioned above, our ancestor Francois Daragon dit Lafrance ma rried Marie Guillemette in St.-Jean, Ile d’Orleans in 1697.
The first of Francois and Marie’s children, a girl named Marie-Marthe, w as born there on December 13, 1698.
By the time their second child, Marie-Marguerite, was born in 1701, the yo ung family had moved down the St. Lawrence River to Montreal Island. Th ey do not appear to have been in the main settlement, but on the north pa rt of the island, in St.-Laurent. It is here that their fourteen remaini ng children were born.
The second-youngest of these children is Philippe, from whom our bran ch of the family is descended.
But why did Francois Daragon dit Lafrance move his family from Ile d’Orlea ns down the St. Lawrence River to Montreal Island?
At this time, Montreal was becoming the centre of the fur trade in New Fra nce. In 1666, a census of Montreal showed about 900 inhabitants. By the ye ar 1700, there were around 15,000 Europeans spread throughout the colo ny of New France, and 1,800 of these settlers lived in Montreal. This sett lement needed to be defended to protect the profitability of the fur trad e, and Francois Daragon must have been among the soldiers charged with th at task.