CHAPTER VIII
CHAMPLAIN, THE JESUITS AND THE SAVAGES
The first inhabitants of the settlement of New France were the interpreters, clerks, and workmen, employed by the merchants. They were termed the winterers, in opposition to the captains and sailors who visited the colony for the purpose of trading only. The interpreters present an interesting feature in the life of the new colony. Their functions rendered it necessary for them to reside for an indefinite period with an Indian tribe, in order to qualify themselves to act as interpreters for their countrymen during trade, or for the missionaries while catechising or providing other religious exercises. A daily intercourse with the Indians was absolutely essential in order to induce them to keep their appointments with the traders at the established rendezvous. The interpreters had seldom any other occupation, although some of them acted as clerks, and thereby received a larger salary, in addition to a certain number of beaver skins which they could exchange for goods.
Étienne Brûlé and Nicholas Marsolet, who arrived at Quebec with Champlain in the year 1608, acted as interpreters, but at first they did not meet with much success. They were, however, both young and intelligent, and Brûlé soon acquired a knowledge of the Huron language, while Marsolet mastered the idiom of the Algonquin tongue. Brûlé spent nearly all his life among the Hurons, who adopted him as a member of their family, while Marsolet accompanied the Algonquins to Allumette Island, and became one of their best friends. Historians of Canada mention the names of many other interpreters of this period, some of whom founded families, while others afterwards returned to France. In the year 1613 three interpreters arrived, Nicholas du Vignau, Jacques Hertel, and Thomas Godefroy. In the year 1618 there was only one arrival, Jean Manet, who took up his residence among the people residing on the shores of Lake Nipissing.
In the year 1619 Jean Nicolet came to Canada, and won great esteem in the country of his choice. He was the father of a large family, the descendants of whom are very numerous. Three more interpreters came in 1621, Du Vernet, Le Baillif, and Olivier Le Tardif, and two in 1623, namely, Jean-Paul Godefroy and Jacques Couillard, and finally in 1624 Jean Richer and Lamontagne, thus making twelve interpreters between the years 1608 and 1625. Of this number the two Godefroys, Marsolet, Nicolet, Hertel, and Le Tardif were distinguished on account of the part which they took in Canadian affairs; and the knowledge which they had obtained of the native languages rendered them competent to discuss delicate questions relating to the welfare of the colony. Their services to the authorities, both civil and religious, were therefore at certain periods exceedingly valuable. It is among these men that we may fittingly seek for the founders of the Canadian race.
The second class of settlers, or winterers, as they were termed, will be spoken of later. From the year 1608 to 1613 not a single settler or head of a family came to Canada, but at this latter date we find the names of Abraham Martin, Nicholas Pivert and Pierre Desportes. They were married and brought their wives and families with them. Abraham Martin and Pierre Desportes had each a daughter, and Pivert had a niece. Guillaume Couillard arrived during the same year, but he was a bachelor. We have already spoken in a previous chapter of the return of Champlain from France in the year 1617, on which occasion he was accompanied by Louis Hébert and his family. There also arrived in 1617, Étienne Jonquest, to whom we have likewise referred. In 1618 another family took up its residence in New France, namely Adrien Duchesne, surgeon, and his wife. Eustache Boullé, brother-in-law to Champlain, came over in 1618, and two families arrived in 1619, but they were immediately sent back, as the occupation of the head of one of the families was that of a butcher, and the other was a needle manufacturer, and there was no opening for either in a new settlement. In the year 1620, the settlers gave a cordial welcome to Hélène Boullé, who was attended by three female servants. From the year 1620 to 1625, history is silent as to new arrivals. Champlain had made every effort to induce settlers to take up their residence in Quebec, but the population was still very scanty.
There were really only seven settled families at this time, composed of twenty persons, seven men and seven women, and six children. Their names were as follows:—Abraham Martin and his wife Marguerite Langlois, and his two daughters, Anne and Marguerite; Pierre Desportes and his wife Françoise Langlois, and a girl named Hélène; Nicholas Pivert and his wife Marguerite Lesage, and their niece; Louis Hébert and his wife Marie Rollet, and a son named Guillaume; Adrien Duchesne and his wife; Guillaume Couillard, his wife, Guillemette Hébert, and a girl named Louise; Champlain and his wife Hélène Boullé.
When Abraham Martin came to Quebec, he was twenty-four years of age. The official documents refer to him as king's pilot, and the Jesuits named him Maître Abraham, while to the people he was Martin l'Ecossais. His family gave to the Catholic Church of Canada her second priest in chronological order. This priest, who was born at Quebec, was named Charles Amador. After having served as a mariner for the Company of Rouen, Abraham Martin became a farmer, and was the proprietor of two portions of land, consisting of thirty-two acres.[21] He received twenty acres of land from Adrien Duchesne, and twelve acres from the Company of New France, on December 4th, 1635.[22] This property was named the Plains of Abraham, and all the ground in the immediate vicinity gradually assumed the same title. A part of the famous conflict fought on September 13th, 1759, and known as the Battle of the Plains of Abraham, actually occurred on the ground owned by Abraham Martin, and thus it is that the name of this first settler has been perpetuated in prose and verse.
Louis Hébert, the son of a Parisian apothecary, followed the profession of his father in Canada. He first tried to establish himself at Port Royal, where we find him in the year 1606. He left Port Royal in 1607, but he appears to have returned there, as in the year 1613 he is mentioned as acting as lieutenant in the place of Biencourt, son of Poutrincourt. When Port Royal was abandoned, Hébert returned to France, where he met Champlain, who induced him to turn his steps towards Canada once more. Soon after his second visit to New France, he commenced to build a residence in the Upper Town of Quebec, upon the summit of Mountain Hill. This building, which was of stone, measured thirty-eight feet in length, and was nineteen feet broad. It was in this house that Father Le Jeune said mass when he came to Quebec in 1632. Hébert received some concessions of land from the companies, and at once commenced to cultivate it, so that he was able to live from its produce. Champlain praises him for this course. Hébert died in the year 1627, from mortal injuries caused by a fall. He was buried in the cemetery of the Récollets, at the foot of the great cross, according to his desire.
The Récollet fathers lived until the year 1620 in their humble residence near the chapel and habitation of Quebec, in the Lower Town. In the year 1619 they employed some workmen to fell trees on the shores of the River St. Charles, near an agreeable tract of land which Hébert had cleared. It was situated at half a league from the habitation, and the people of Quebec hoped at that time to build the town there. During the winter each piece of timber was prepared for the building, and the savages assisted in the work. On June 3rd, 1620, the first stone of the convent was solemnly laid by Father d'Olbeau. The arms of the king were engraved upon the stone near those of the Prince de Condé. The convent was finished and blessed on May 25th, 1621, and dedicated to Notre Dame des Anges. It was on this date that the name of St. Charles was given to the river Ste. Croix, or the Cabir-Coubat of the Indians, in honour of the Reverend Charles de Ransay des Boues, syndic of the Canadian missions.