TWELFTH GENERATION

3460. Philippe AMIOT @ died between 1636 and 1639 in N.-D.-de-Quebec, Quebec, P.Quebec. <From Our French Canadian-Ancestors" by Thomas J. Laforest. vol.26 pg.40-48>

The last name of Amiot or Amyot appears as a dimini-tive of the word ami or amy. In the sixteenth cen-tury, it was pronunced amio. More than one Amiot founded a family in Canada. The one who is of interest to us here bore the first name of Philippe. The first to arrive in New France, he was also the first to die here and has the largest number of de-scendants among us.

It seems rather certain that Anne Convent, born about 1603, daughter of Guillaume and of Antoinette de Longval, came from Estrées, today Coeuvres-et- Valsery, canton of Vic-sur--Aines, arrondissement of Soissons, in the department of the Aisne, in the former territory of Ia Picardie. Anne and Philippe were married in France about 1626. They had two known children in the old country: Jean and Mathieu.

The Amiot family arrived in Québec in 1636. On 26 August, their last child, Charles, was baptized. His godfather, was the Chevalier Charles Huault de Montmagny, also the first governor of New France. He had been in country since 11 June 1636. The godmother was Guillemette Hébert, daughter of Louis and of Marie Rollet, the wife of Guillaume Couillard. The of-ficiating priest was Jean Dequen, a Jesuit originally from Picardy.

We know that the day after the arrival of the governor, another ship "commanded by Monsieur Courpon" brought 45 recruits to Québec, according to the Relation des Jesuites. Did the Amiots arrive as passengers on this ship? A good hypothesis!

Here begins a mystery which has never been cleared up! Nothing in our history indicates the name of Philippe's native vil-lage, his trade, the location of his house at Québec, or the date of his death. One fact remains certain: the inventory of his property, drawn up on Wednesday, 7 September 1639, at Québec, and authenticated on the first of April 1658 by the notary Audouart. Fortunately, we have learned many things from it.

Philippe enjoyed a certain comfort. His wife and children slept well and were well-dressed: 5 pairs of sheets, a bed canopy, suits for Mathieu and Charles, "a doublet in gray berry cloth belonging to his son Mathieu", a beaver skin robe worth 17 livres. They mentioned a frying pan, eight pounds of pewter-ware, a small boiler, and so forth. Monsieur Pierre Priseaux owed the estate "eight francs", and "the Great Sevestre eight francs". The surprise was to learn that at his death Philippe owned 96 perches of cleared land. It was not possible for me to locate this property.

Philippe only lived about three years in the Colony, but, thanks to his two sons Mathieu and Charles, that short time was sufficient for him to firmly implant on Canadian soil a name borne today by thousands of descendants.


SECOND WEDDING

On 26 September 1639, Anne Convent was remarried at Québec, to Jacques Maheu, born to Nicolas and to Louise Clichon, from Buberte, in the arrondissement of Mortagne in Perche. The new couple seems to have lived uneventfully but happily.

Jacques, classified as a pioneer in 1640, on 11 October 1647, became the owner of six arpents of frontage on the Grande-Allêe, to a depth of ten arpents. He was in France in 1647 and 1648. He was elected church warden of the parish of Notre-Dame de Québec in 1656, 1657 and 1659, the year in which he was a member of the trading association of Tadoussac. On 10 August of the same year, he was confirmed by Msgr de Laval.

Anne and Jacques had the joy of bringing into the world a daughter, Marie-Madeleine, baptized on 28 September 1641; however, she died on the following 19 October. Their son Jean Maheu was baptized on 31 May 1643. He married Marguerite Corriveau, widow of René Maheu, on 16 July 1663. A merchant and resident of the capital, he died without descendants. As for Jacques Maheu, senior, he died on 22 July 1663, at Québec.

Anne Convent accepted a third husband, Etienne Blanchon dit LaRose, on 10 September 1666. This Auvergnat, Blanchon, who arrived here as a soldier with the Carignan Regiment, had no children by Anne Convent. This most deserving ancestress died at Québec on 25 December 1675, at the age of 65. The pastor Henri de Berniëres presided at her funeral the following day.

THE AMIOT SONS

Anne Convent and Philippe Amiot had three Sons: Jean and Mathieu, both born in France, and Charles, the Canadian.

JEAN

At an early age Jean Amiot was a donne of the Jesuits, his protectors. The orphan was sent out to the land of the Hurons, where he learned their language. The Amerindians called him Antaiok, a distortion of Amiot, because they held him in esteem.

In 1645, Jean settled at Trois-Rivières, where he lived un-til his death. He often served as an interpreter. Pierre-Georges Roy recounts that Amiot, passing through Québec in 1647, chal-lenged all the young Indian boys to a race, "either with or without snowshoes. Several entered the race against him, but he beat them all".

On 28 May 1648, Jean Amiot and François Margerie crossed the Saint-Lawrence in a bark canoe, across from Trois-Riviêres. A storm rose suddenly and capsized their frail craft. The two interpreters perished in full view of the Frenchmen on the shore who were powerless to help them. Jean's body was found on 10 June, near Sillery, where they buried him.

Jean, greatly devoted to Saint Joseph, had said:
"If I should happen to die, I desire that the lumber and materials with which I plan to build a house for myself, be used to build a small chapel in honor of Saint Joseph".

After his death, on 18 October 1649, Jean's property: 50 arpents of land and his building materials were bought by Jacques LeNeuf, for 183 livres.

MATHIEU

Mathieu Amiot, Sieur de Villeneuve, born in France about 1628, owned a small lot in 1655, measuring 54 feet in frontage on the chemin Saint-Louis, to a depth of 18 feet, which ran as far as the south-western part of the land of Sieur Chartier de Lotbiniére, near Cap-aux-Diamants.

On the occasion of his marriage to Marie Miville, on 21 November 1650, at Quebec, Mathieu received from his father-in-law Pierre Miville, a plot of land on the Grande-Allee, border-ing that of Jean Bourdon. Mathieu owned several other pieces: at Sillery, at the Chatellenie de Coulonges, at Saint-Augustin and at Cap-Rouge. The census of 1681 recorded the colonist Amiot as living in the seigneurie of Maure, between Tugal Catin and Jacques Lemarie, where he owned three head of cattle and had thirty arpents of land under cultivation.

To summarize, let's recall that Mathieu was a valiant pioneer. In 1668, he was awarded letters of nobility. Unfor-tunately, they were invalid, wrote Father Archange Godbout, be-cause they had not been registered. The Intendant Jean Talon wanted to amend this oversight by conceding at Villeneuve, on 3 November 1672, the seigneurie of Pointe-aux-Bouleaux, near Sainte-Croix de Lotbiniére.

Mathieu and Marie raised a family of 16 children who have numerous descendants. Mathieu died on 18 December 1688 and was buried the next day at Québec. As for Marie Miville, she died at the Hôtel-Dieu on 5 September 1702, during harvest time.

CHARLES

The Canadian Charles Amiot, son of Philippe and of Anne Convent, studied at the College des Jesuites. At the age of 14, he accompanied Father François-Joseph Bressani as a servant on a journey out to the land of the Hurons. Departing from Trois-Rivières on 7 June 1650, he was unable to return there be-cause the English fleet had stopped below Montréal. On 18 July, Charles entered Québec.

On 2 May 1660, he married Genevieve de Chavigny, daughter of François and of Eleonore de Grandmaison. However, he still had the blood of a voyageur in his veins. He accompanied Father Nouvel to the Ile aux Basques and to Lake Matapedia. In 1664, he and Father Nouvel went with some Papinachois as far as the Rivière aux Outardes, then to the Manicouagan.

On the first of November 1652, Charles had received from Lauzon a concession, which was enlarged by another one with 5 arpents by 40, on 18 August 1659. However, what really interested Charles was the fur and eel business. Thus, he became a merchant at Québec.

His family was not large; composed of three children. Pierre, died after two months; Marie-Madeleine, joined the Ur-sulines. She became superior of her community at Trois-Riviêres in 1709. It was also there that she died on 13 October 1747, after 68 years as a nun.

Charles-Joseph Amiot, the third and last child (1665-1735), husband of Marie-Gabrielle Philippe du Hautmesny, was a ship's captain and also a fur merchant. He became lord of the seigneurie of Vincelot.

Charles died, too young, at the age of 33, on 11 Decem-ber 1669, at Québec. His widow was remarried, to Jean-Baptiste Couillard, Sieur de L'Espinay, on 23 October 1680. This strong woman, and seigneuresse in more than title, was buried at Québec on 21 April 1724.

BY WAY OF CONCLUSION

Without the Amiot, Villeneuve and Vincelot families, many important sons would be missing from the tableau of our glorious national history.

According to Gabriel Drouin, the Honorable Georges-Elie Amyot (1856-1930), a member of the Legislative Council, showed proof of his noble line to the Commissaires du College des Armes du Canada, in October 1912. He was admitted to the Corporation of Nobility, with the coat of arms which he had of his ancestors:

It may be described thusly:
"Azur, with a silver band charged with five ermine flecks"

It has been said that "Each person, who meets an Amiot, meets a friend".

FAMILY NAME VARIATIONS

There are no less than sixteen known variations of this il-lustrious name: Amio, Amiotte, Amiaut, Amroi, Amyault, Amyot, Hautmesny, Larpinière, Lerpiniére, Lincour, Lincourt, Lusignan, Neuville, Villeneuve, Vineelot and Vincelotte.
He was married to Anne CONVENT @ about 1625 in Soissons, Picardie, France.

3461. Anne CONVENT @ was born in 1601. Children were:

1730 i. Mathieu AMIOT Sieur de Villeneuve @.