Zacharie Cloutier – The Ancestor of all Cloutiers in Canada

Zacharie Cloutier is considered one of New France’s earliest settlers. He’s also my 10th great-grandfather on my mother’s side. Back in the 1630s, the Cloutier family settled along the St. Lawrence River in Beauport. Plenty of people with French roots descend from him and his wife, Xainte DuPont, including all of the Cloutiers in Canada and the United States. Here are some things to know about Zacharie, his family, some of the colourful inhabitants of New France, and some of his most famous descendants:

Who Was Zacharie Cloutier?

Zacharie Cloutier was a French carpenter who was born in the parish of Saint-Jean, Mortagne-au-Perche, France, in either 1589 or 1590. He married Xainte DuPont on July 18, 1616. He was 26 years old. She was 20 and a widow. She had previously been married to Michel Lermusie. Zacharie and Xainte had six children together — Zacharie, Jean, Xainte, Anne, Charles and Marie Louise; however, Xainte did not survive childhood. 

First Trip to New France

Zacharie first came to New France in 1619 after Henri II de Montmorency purchased the colony from his brother-in-law, Henry II of Bourbon. Henri had organized a group to help Samuel de Champlain with “inhabiting, clearing, cultivating and planting” New France. He recruited around eighty Frenchmen, including Zacharie and his father, Denis.  While some of these people stayed in New France, many others returned to France that same year. 

Settling in New France

In 1634,  Robert Giffard recruited  Zacharie Cloutier and Jean Guyon for his new seigneury at Beauport, an area near Quebec City. Giffard was looking to expand the colony of New France, which only had about 100 people at the time. On March 14, 1634, Zacharie and Jean signed a three-year contract with Giffard. The contract promised them livestock and one thousand arpents of land, as well as the right to hunt, fish and trade with the tribes. Zacharie, the carpenter, and Jean, the mason, were to construct Giffard’s manor house, a parish church and Fort Saint-Louis. They arrived in New France on June 4, 1634, and Samuel de Champlain himself welcomed them to the colony. 

Paying Fealty and Homage 

Part of Zacharie and Jean’s contract stipulated that they must pay Giffard fealty and homage under the Seigneurial system of New France. This meant that they had to dress up and go to Giffard’s house, kneel before him and say, “I pledge to you faith and homage,” three times. Zacharie found this to be humiliating and refused, so Giffard asked the governor to intervene. The governor sided with Giffard and the two pledged fealty and paid their dues. Zacharie, however, still refused to kneel. 

Tensions with Giffard, Zacharie Cloutier and Jean Guyon

Even after Zacharie and Jean paid fealty and homage owed to Giffard, there was still tension. Giffard began taking them to court over trivial issues. One complaint from 1659 stated that their farm animals were trespassing on Giffard’s property. However, other colonists’ animals were allowed to graze on his property without issue. 

Oldest Marriage Contract in Canada

Zacharie’s daughter Anne’s marriage contract in 1636 is considered the oldest marriage contract in Canada. She was only ten years old at the time while Robert Drouin was 30. Girls in New France typically married at a very young age; however, Anne was especially young. The marriage contract reportedly stipulated that the two would have non-conjugal visits for two years. 

Marie Louise Cloutier

Zacharie Cloutier’s youngest daughter Marie Louise Cloutier, who is my relative, was married three times. She married Francois Marguerie on October 26, 1645, when she was only 14. He was one of the most colourful inhabitants of New France. As a guide and an interpreter, he lived and worked amongst the tribes and understood their customs and spoke their languages. He was known as “the double man.” He could fit in seamlessly with both the tribes and colonial French society. At one point, the Iroquois kidnapped and imprisoned him. After their marriage, they moved to Trois-Rivières. However, shortly after, he drowned in a canoe accident on the St. Lawrence River.  

Her second husband was Jean Mignot. He initially courted an Indigenous woman named Barbe who was living at the Ursuline convent in 1647. He even begged the mother superior to keep her on until he returned from his military duties; however, Barbe did not want to be with Jean. She preferred an indigenous man. In 1648, he married Marie Louise . She was either 16 or 17 at the time, childless and a widow. Jean was a farmer and helped clear 16 arpents of land on Zacharie Cloutier’s property in Beauport. Together they had 12 children. Jean died between 1679 and 1681 and then Marie Louise married her third husband, Jean Matthieu. They were together until her death in 1684. 

New France’s Womanizer

Jean Mignot and Marie Louise Cloutier’s daughter Sainte (who is my direct relative) was a teen mom. In the spring of 1669, she gave birth to Jean Fortin dit Monbre’s daughter. Jean Fortin had a reputation for seducing women in the colony. Sainte didn’t have any trouble landing a husband, though. My seventh great-grandfather, Jean Grondin, didn’t care. He agreed to a marriage contract with her in July of 1669. They were married in August of that same year and had 11 children together. 

Famous Descendants of Zacharie Cloutier

Zacharie Cloutier has more descendants than any Quebec colonist. Some of his most famous descendants include Justin Trudeau, Angelina Jolie, Jim Carrey, Madonna, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Celine Dion, Ricky Gervais, Ryan Gosling, Jack Kerouac, Beyonce, Avril Lavigne, Alanis Morissette, Chris Pratt, Alex Trebek, Justin Bieber, Shania Twain, and Derek and Julianne Hough. Zacharie’s lifelong friend Jean Guyon is also an ancestor of many French Canadians. At least three out of four Quebecois descend from him. 

Genetic Diseases Associated with Zacharie Cloutier

Oculopharyngeal muscular dystrophy (OPMD) is a rare genetic disorder that mostly affects French Canadians. It affects about one in 1,000 people. Its onset is usually during adulthood, typically between 40 to 60 years of age, and causes weakness of certain muscles around the eyes and in the throat. Symptoms can include the drooping of the upper eyelid and difficulty swallowing. Other symptoms can include arm and leg weakness, which can make walking difficult. Patients with OPMD usually have one common couple in their ancestry — Zacharie Cloutier and Xainte DuPont. Researchers have been able to further narrow it down to his son Zacharie Cloutier Jr. and his wife Madeleine Emard. Madelaine’s mother’s family, the Bineau’s, appear to be the earliest known carriers of OPMD among the French Canadian population. 

My Relation to Zacharie Cloutier

I am related to Zacharie Cloutier in at least two ways through my mother.

Connection 1

1. Zacharie Cloutier (1580-1677)  and Xainte Dupont (1596 – 1680)
2. Louise Cloutier (1632 – 1699) and Jean Migneault (1622 – bef. 1681)
3. Sainte Mignot (1653 – 1736) and Jean Grondin (1640 – 1714)
4. Sébastien Grondin (1687 – 1749) and Marie Anne Pinel (1694 – 1761)
5. Jean Baptiste Grondin (1713 – 1775) and Geneviève Ouellet (1714 – 1761)
6. Joseph Grondin (1742 – 1815) and Marie-Anne Jacques (1754 – 1822)
7. Charles Grondin (1780 – bef. 1818) and Francoise Beneteau (1775 – 1812) 
8. Charles Grondin (1807 – 1881) and Susanne Renaud) (1811 – 1893)
9. Charles Alexander Grondin (1853 – 1922) and Elizabeth Metivier (1860 – 1931)
10. Edward Walter Grondin (1886 – 1973) and Pearl Leafy Bondy (1885 – 1966)
11. Walter Grondin (1910 – 1998) and Mary Catherine Higgins (1908 – 1983)
12. Martha Grondin (Born 1950) and Gary Willis (Born 1946) – my parents

Connection 2

1. Zacharie Cloutier (1580-1677)  and Xainte Dupont (1596 – 1680)
2. Charles Cloutier (1629 – 1709) and Louyse Morin (1643 – 1713)
3. Marie Cloutier (1679 – 1744) and Joseph Gagnon (abt. 1677 – 1745)
4. François Gagnon (1711 – 1757) and Marie Thecle Deblois (1716 – 1748)
5. Marie Francoise Gagnon (1742 – 1745) and Pierre François Labaleine Bénéteau (1745 – 1803)
6. Francoise Beneteau (1775) and Charles Grondin (1780 – bef. 1818)
7. Charles Grondin (1807 – 1881) and Susanne Renaud (1811 – 1893)
8. Alexander Grondin (1853 – 1922) and Elizabeth Metivier(1860 – 1931)
9. Edward Walter Grondin (1886 – 1973) and Pearl Leafy Bondy (1885 – 1966) and) 
10. Walter Grondin (1910 – 1998) and Mary Catherine Higgins (1908 – 1983)
11. Martha Grondin (Born 1950) and Gary Willis (Born 1946) – my parents

Are you related to Zacharie Cloutier? Let me know!

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