Jean Guyon du Buisson – One of Beauport’s First Settlers

Jean Guyon du Buisson was one of the original settlers in Beauport, New France, and played a significant role in the colony’s history. I am also one of his descendants — courtesy of both of my mother’s parents. Learn more about this French Canadian pioneer with these key things you need to know about him: 

Early Life

Jean Guyon was born on September 18, 1592, in Tourouvre, Perche, France, to Jacques Guyon and Marie Huet. He had three brothers, Joseph Guyon, Charles Guyon and Philip Guyon. 

Guyon became a renowned mason while living in France. During this time, he and Jehan Froger, another mason, received a commission to build a 31-step stairway up the Tourouvre Saint-Aubin church bell tower. In 1625, Guyon helped restore the Mortagne’s fortification walls. 

Jean Guyon’s Family

On June 2, 1615, Guyon married Mathurine Robin dite Boulé. Subsequently, they had 14 children in total, but only 10 survived childhood: Barbe Guyon, Jean Guyon Jr., Simon Guyon, Marie Guyon, Marie Guyon, Claude (Guion) Guyon, Denis Guyon, Michel Guyon, Noël Guyon and François (Guyon) Guyon dit Després. 

Their eldest son, Jean Guyon Jr., became a royal surveyor in New France. He married, Élisabeth Couillard, the daughter of prominent New France settlers Guillaume Couillard and Marie-Guillemette Hébert, who was the daughter of Louis Hébert and Marie Rollet. 

Move to New France

In 1634, Jean Guyon signed a three-year contract with Robert Giffard de Moncel. He was given a one-thousand-arpent arrière-fief in Beauport, New France, located near Rivière du Buisson.

Guyon arrived in New France in 1634 with other French pioneers including Zacharie Cloutier, Marin Boucher and his family, Robert Giffard and his family, Noël Juchereau, Robert Drouin, Noël Langlois, Thomas Giroux and Sébastin Dodier, François Bélanger, Claire Morin and Jeanne Mercier.

Projects in New France

Guyon was involved in numerous projects in New France including building a small mill and Giffard’s seigniorial manor. He also helped build the governor’s residence, Fort Saint-Louis and the new parish church of Notre Dame de Québec.

Jean Guyon’s Friendship with Zacharie Cloutier

Jean Guyon was good friends with fellow colonist Zacharie Cloutier. They served their three-year contract and then joined their property together to create a feudal system with 2,000 arpents. Guyon’s arrière-fief was known as du Buisson while Cloutier’s was La Cloutièrie.

In 1670, Nicolas Dupont de Neuville purchased Cloutier’s land from him. This created disagreements between Guyon, Cloutier and Giffard and resulted in the Cloutier family moving to Château-Richer, Quebec. 

Issues with Robert Giffard

After arriving in New France, Guyon and Cloutier found themselves in a dispute with Robert Giffard due to an error in their contracts. The documents mistakenly stipulated each would receive 2,000 arpents of land instead of the agreed-upon 1,000. This disagreement persisted for years, leading Guyon and Cloutier to cease any further work for Giffard until he honoured the original contract. However, in 1642, Governor Montmagny sided with Giffard, leaving both settlers with only 1,000 arpents each.

Guyon and Cloutier faced another conflict with Giffard. According to their contracts, they had to pay Giffard fealty and homage under the seigneurial system of New France. This meant that they had to dress up and kneel before him and say, “I pledge to you faith and homage.” Both refused. In 1646, the governor had to step in again and sided with Giffard and forced them to comply. 

Jean Guyon’s Descendants

Jean Guyon is the ancestor of many French Canadians. He had 10 children, eight of whom married and reproduced. In 2006, it was reported that at least three out of four Québécois descend from him. The most common last name for his descendants is Dion, like Celine Dion, who is his direct descendant. Other name variants are Despres, Dumontier and Lemoine, in Louisiana as Derbanne and in Texas as Berban. 

Guyon’s famous descendants also include Shania Twain, Ryan Gosling, Stéphane Dion, Ricky Gervais, Alanis Morissette, Justin Theroux, Jean Chrétien, Hillary Clinton, Chelsea Clinton, Jack Kerouac, Camilla Parker-Bowles, Alex Trebek, Madonna, Justin Bieber, Beyoncé and Solange. 

Genetic Disease

A study traced 40 cases of classical Friedreich’s ataxia from 14 previously unrelated French Canadians to one common ancestral couple — Jean Guyon and Mathurine Robin. It is suspected that one of them introduced a gene for the disease into the French Canadian population. This gene was traced over 12 generations to both parents of the present cases. The disease causes progressive damage to the nervous system with symptoms ranging from gait disturbance and speech problems to heart disease. 

My Relation to Jean Guyon

I am related to Jean Guyon and Mathurine Robin in three different ways.

First Ancestral Path

1. Jean Guyon du Buisson (1592 – 1663) and Mathurine Robin dite Boulé (1593 – 1662)
2. Jean Guyon Jr. (1619 – 1694) and Élisabeth Couillard (1631 – 1704)
3. Catherine Gertrude Guyon (1660 – 1715) and Denis Belleperche (1651 – 1710)
4. Pierre Belleperche (1699 – 1767) and Marie Anne Campau (1712 – 1796)
5. Francoise Belleperche (1740 – 1796) and Joseph Gabriel Pouget (1728 – 1801) 
6. Charles Pouget (1764 – 1776) and Marie Anne Pageot (1776 – 1864)
7. Florence Pouget (1804 – 1857) and Etienne Meloche (1799 – 1839) 
8. Olive Meloche (1828 – 1916) and Patrice Barron (1822 – 1898)
9. Catherine Barron (1854 – 1939) and Antoine Solomon Renaud (1853 – 1926)
10. Mary Zoé Renaud (1878 – 1935) and Abraham Joseph Higgins (1875 – 1950) 
11. Mary Catherine Higgins (1908 – 1983) and Walter Grondin (1910 – 1998)
12. Martha Grondin (Born 1950) and Gary Willis (Born 1946) – my parents

Second Ancestral Path

1. Jean Guyon du Buisson (1592 – 1663) and Mathurine Robin dite Boulé (1593 – 1662)
2. Jean Guyon Jr. (1619 – 1694) and Élisabeth Couillard (1631 – 1704)
3. Catherine Gertrude Guyon (1660 – 1715) and Denis Belleperche (1651 – 1710)
4. Pierre Belleperche (1699 – 1767) and Marie Anne Campau (1712 – 1796)
5. Francoise Belleperche (1740 – 1796) and Joseph Gabriel Pouget (1728 – 1801) 
6. Susanne Pouget (1776 – 1821) and Pierre Baron dit Lupien (1767 – 1835) 
7. Hyacinthe Lupien (1809 – 1881) and Marie Josephe DeBaucamp (1812 – 1881)
8. Margarite Lupien dit Barron (1832 – 1898) and Eli Bondy (1827 – 1894) 
9. Joseph Eli Bondy (1858 – 1909) and Amelia Isabella Brush (1864 – 1935)
10. Pearl Leafy Bondy (1885-1966) and Edward Walter Grondin (1886 – 1973)
11. Walter Grondin (1910 – 1998) and Mary Catherine Higgins (1908 – 1983)
12. Martha Grondin (Born 1950) and Gary Willis (Born 1946) – my parents

Third Ancestral Path

1. Jean Guyon du Buisson (1592 – 1663) and Mathurine Robin dite Boulé (abt. 1593 – 1662)
2. Barbe Guyon (1617 – 1700) and Pierre Paradis (1604 – 1675)
3. Jean Paradis (1650 – 1717) and Jeanne Pasquet (1666 – 1711)
4. Marie Paradis (1684 – 1715) and Jean Baptiste Pageot (1682 – 1708)
5. Thomas (Pajot) Pageot (1707 – 1777) and Marie Madeleine Gervais (1710 – 1760)
6. Joseph Thomas Pageot (1736 – 1814) and Marie Louisa Villers (1754 – 1814)
7. Marie-Josephte Pageot (1768 – 1854) and Joseph J B Langlois (1763 – 1826)
8. Archange Langlois (1798 – 1848) and Antoine Barron (1790 – aft. 1834)
9. Patrice Barron (1822 – 1898) and Olive Meloche (1828 – 1916) 
10. Catherine Barron (1854 – 1939) and Antoine Solomon Renaud (1853 – 1926)
11. Mary Zoé Renaud (1878 – 1935) and Abraham Joseph Higgins (1875 – 1950) 
12. Mary Catherine Higgins (1908 – 1983) and Walter Grondin (1910 – 1998)
13. Martha Grondin (Born 1950) and Gary Willis (Born 1946) – my parents

Do you want to know more about the earliest settlers in New France? Check out New France’s Founding Families and Their Fascinating Stories.