3. Our Pioneers

Before getting into the details of the various families, I would like to present the individuals who made that grand leap of faith to leave the comfort and confines of their home country to seek a “better” life in a new country.  Our ancestors who left France in the 1600s embarked on a long trip across the north Atlantic ocean at a time when these voyages were fraught with danger.    The earliest arrival that we have been able to chronicle was in 1653.  To add some perspective to this period in our history, the pilgrims had only arrived in America in 1620.

I am listing two individuals from each family group.  The initial person listed traveled from France and arrived in Canada.  The second individual left Canada and immigrated to the United States.  This is summary data only with more detail to follow in the family section of this report.

 

LORION:

1)     Mathurin Lorion was born in St. Soule France around 1601 and boarded a ship from La Rochelle France bound for Canada in 1658 accompanied by his wife Jeanne Bizet and three of his daughters.  It should be noted here that two of his daughters from a previous marriage had been in New France since 1653.  Catherine was actually the very first “Lorion” to arrive on the continent.  She was one of the original “Filles a Marier” and arrived in 1653.  More detail about Catherine will follow.  

2)     Francois Xavier Lorion left Québec and immigrated to the United States in 1862.  According to the census records Francois was the earliest of all of our families to arrive in the United States.  The 1880 U.S. Census listed him as living in Spencer, Massachusetts and working in a boot factory.  By 1900 the family had relocated to Douglas Street in Worcester.  According to that census, Francois was working as a baker.

 

McCARTHY:

1)     Jean Baptiste Macardi was born in Saint-Malo, Ille et Vilaine, Bretagne, France  in 1711.  By 1736 we find him in Québec where he married Ursele Vermet.      

2)     William McCarthy was born in Arthabaska, Québec in August of 1869.  According to U.S. Census documents he came to the United States in 1889.  In 1891 he married Cora Yando in Nashua, New Hampshire.  By 1900 the family was living on Cambridge Street in Worcester, Massachusetts.

 

BRODEUR:

1)     Jean Baptiste Brodeur dit de La Vigne was born in Luçon, Eure-et-Loir, Centre, France around 1653.  He arrived in Montreal about 1675.  He married Marie Anne Messier on 31 Jan 1679 in Boucherville, Québec, Canada.  

2)     Alfred Brodeur was born 19 November 1854 and baptized at St. Denis Sur Richelieu in Canada.  He married Agnes Maher on 6 Feb 1883 in Canada.  Both of them emigrated to the U.S. in 1889 – showing up in the 1900 U.S Census in Northampton, Massachusetts.  According to that census he listed his occupation as a carpenter.

 

DAVID:

1)     Guillaume David was born in Bracquemont, Rouen, Normandie, France around 1631.  He and his wife Marie Armand are listed on the manifest of a ship that arrived in Québec in 1657.  Guillaume is a special kind of pioneer for us because he actually could be considered to be a pioneer in both Canada and the U.S.,  in 1678 (some 21 years after arriving in Canada) Guillaume and some of his family moved to New York to engage in fur trapping and trading.  He and his wife eventually returned to France.  Several of his children stayed in the New York area and raised their families there while the others returned to Canada.

2)      Emery David was born in Montreal on 27 Jul 1852.  He married Marie DeMontmorency on 21 Apr 1873.  They emigrated to the U.S. in 1882, showing up on the 1900 Census.  At that time they were living on Norfolk Street in Worcester, Massachusetts.  Emory was employed as a stone mason.