Desmarais
   The "Desmarais" surname is French. French surnames were first used in the 11th century to distinguish people who had the same given name; however, surnames didn't become common for all until centuries later. The Desmarais surname was first found in Cambray, Normandy where ancestors of the family belonged to the house of Bousis. It's a habitational name, derived the old French words mareis or maresc, meaning "marsh." The French prefix "De" was attached, meaning 'son of'. The Family Coat of Arms is red with a silver cross moline behind a black bend charged with three silver escallops.
   Some of the first settlers of this family name or some of its variants were: Charles Desmarais, 38; who arrived in Canada in 1643; Pierre Desmarais, who was on record in Montreal in 1660. Our line can be traced back to RENÉ ABRAHAM DESMARAIS, born in 1645 in Poitiers, a city located on the Clain river in west-central France. In the 16th century, Poitiers was known for its royal courts, university, printing shops, wealthy religious institutions, markets, Romanesque architecture, and extensive fortifications, and castle. It is closely associated with the life of François Rabelais and with the community of Bitards.


Poitiers in the 16th century (Georg Braun; Frans Hogenberg: Civitates Orbis Terrarum, Band 1, 1572 (Ausgabe Beschreibung vnd Contrafactur der vornembster Stät der Welt, Köln 1582; [VD16-B7188) Universitätsbibliothek Heidelberg).

Church Registers
File Image
Name: René Abraham Desmarais
Spouse: Marguèrite Gérard
Regiment: Marriage
Date: 1690
Location: Saint-François-du-Lac, Québec
View file
SOURCE INFORMATION: Gabriel Drouin, comp. Drouin Collection. Montreal, Québec, Canada: Institut Généalogique Drouin.¹
   During the 17th century, many people emigrated from Poitiers and the Poitou-Charentes area to the French settlements in the new world, and thus many Acadians or Cajuns living in North America today can trace ancestry back to this region. Our ancestor ended up in an oupost called Saint-François-du-Lac, Québec, a community currently in the Nicolet-Yamaska Regional County Municipality of Quebec, Canada. Saint-François-du-Lac was located at the confluence of the Saint Lawrence and Saint-François rivers, at the edge of Lake Saint-Pierre (Hence its name, "Saint-François of the lake"). Historically, the village of Saint-Francois-du-Lac has been referred to as St-Francois, St-Francois-des-Pres, and St-Francois-Xavier. It was founded as a Jesuit mission village during the colonial years. The community was called St.-Francois-de-Sales or Odanak. In 1687, construction of Fort Saint-Francois (or Fort Crevier), a wooden fortified fort, was started as protection against the Iroquois. Between 1689 and 1693, Fort Crevier was raided by the Iroquois and suffered significant damage, having to be rebuilt.


Partie du Fleuve St. Laurent depuis Québec jusqu'au Lac St. François / Carte du Lac Champlain. Map maker: Jacques Nicolas Bellin (1703-1772); Size : 8.3 x 12.4 inches. / 21.0 x 31.4 cm. (click to enlarge). From Bellin's Petit atlas maritime. Tome I N.10; Paris 1764.

Girard
   René married MARGUÈRITE GÉRARD (GIRARD), who was born in 1643 to Francoise Huon, age 23, and Nicolas Girard (1610-1671) in Boulogne Sur Mer, Picardie, France. The surname Girard was first found in Bourgogne (Burgundy), where they were seated from ancient times. The name Girard is derived from the Germanic personal name Gerhard, which means "brave spear." (Many of the most common French surnames are derived from personal names of Germanic origin.) The Family Coat of Arms features a blue shield with three gold trefoils.
   Marguèrite Girard was the widow of Pierre Forcier, who was killed by the Iroquois on 18 May 1690 during their raids of the settlements in the Montréal-Québec area. They had eight children before his death: Marie Marthe (1675-1703), Joseph Antoine (1677-1741), Rene (1678-1703), Pierre (1680-1689), Jacques (1682-1750), Marguerite (1684-1761), Jean Baptiste (1687-1689), and Charlotte (b. 1689). She then married René Abraham Desmarais and they had a son:

CHILDREN OF RENÉ ABRAHAM DESMARAIS AND MARGUÈRITE

  • PIERRE ABRAHAM DESMARAIS was born on 10 May 1691 in Saint-François-du-Lac, Québec, when his father, René, was 46 and his mother, Marguèrite, was 48. He was married on 28 Nov 1711 to MARIE JOSEPHE JOUIEL (JOYAL) in his hometown. They had at least two children during their marriage. He died on 7 Apr 1765 in Saint-François-du-Lac, Québec, at the age of 73, and was buried there (click on the image at right. SOURCE: Gabriel Drouin, comp. Drouin Collection. Montréal, Québec, Canada: Institut Généalogique Drouin¹).
  • Joyal
       PIERRE ABRAHAM DESMARAIS was born on 10 May 1691 in Saint-François-du-Lac, Québec. He was married on 28 Nov 1711 to MARIE JOSEPHE JOUIEL (JOYAL) in his hometown.
       The Joyal surname was first found in Languedoc, where the family was seated since ancient times. The Family Coat of Arms features a gold shield with three blue bars and a red chief. Our immigrant ancestor in this line was Marie Josephe's father, JACQUES LOUIS JOUIEL, who was born in 1640 in Périgueux, Dordogne, Aquitaine, France then sailed to New France (Canada); He arrived in Québec in 1658, and married the Royal Lieutenant's daughter, MARIE GERTRUDE MORAL, who was born on 22 Mar 1658 in Trois-Rivières (Three Rivers), St Maurice, Québec, where they had Marie Josephe. Jacques died on 26 Mar 1716 in Saint-François-du-Lac, Québec.
       Together Pierre and Marie Josephe raised a family:

    CHILDREN OF PIERRE ABRAHAM AND MARIE JOSEPHE DESMARAIS

  • JOSEPH ABRAHAM DESMARAIS was born on 7 Oct 1717 in Saint-François-du-Lac, Québec; He married Geneviève Anticosti Jolliet. Joseph died on 25 Jan 1785 in Saint-François-du-Lac, Québec.
  • JEAN-BAPTISTE DESMARAIS was born on 15 Nov 1728 in Yamaska, Quebec, Canada (SOURCE: Gabriel Drouin, comp. Drouin Collection. Montréal, Québec, Canada: Institut Généalogique Drouin¹). He married MARIE ANGELIQUE ROY (16 Mar 1734 - 1 Jan 1756). He died on 12 Oct 1807 in Louiseville (St-Antoine-de-Rivière-du-Loup), Québec.
  •    JEAN-BAPTISTE DESMARAIS was born on 15 Nov 1728 in Saint-François-du-Lac, Québec (Baptism listed at Yamaska, Quebec, Canada). He married MARIE ANGELIQUE ROY (16 Mar 1734 - 1 Jan 1756) on 15 May 1752. He died on 12 Oct 1807 in Louiseville (St-Antoine-de-Rivière-du-Loup), Québec.

    CHILDREN OF JEAN-BAPTISTE AND MARIE ANGELIQUE DESMARAIS

  • MARIE JOSEPHE DEMARAIS was christened on 29 Dec 1762 St-Laurent, Montréal, Québec, Canada. She married ROBERT STOTT, JR. (b. 20 Feb 1761 in Montréal) on 3 Sep 1781 in Chambly, La Vallée-du-Richelieu, Québec, Canada.
  •    MARIE JOSEPHE DEMARAIS was christened on 29 Dec 1762 St-Laurent, Montréal, Québec, Canada. She married ROBERT STOTT, JR. (b. 20 Feb 1761 in Montréal) on 3 Sep 1781 in Chambly, La Vallée-du-Richelieu, Québec, Canada. The "Stott" surname is generally thought to derive from the Middle English word "stott," meaning a steer or bull. As such it was probably an occupational name for a cattleman, or a nickname. Some instances of the name in Scotland may have come from the Viking name Stoti, which likely arrived with the 9th Century Norse colonization of Strathclyde and Aberdeenshire. The Family Coat of Arms features a black shield with three gold palets, each charged with a torteaux, and a red heart on a silver chief. The Crest is a blue martlet.
       Our ancestor, Marie was the daughter of JEAN-BAPTIST DESMARAIS and MARIE ANGELIQUE ROY. She was baptized in Saint-François-du-Lac, which had been founded as a Jesuit mission village during the colonial years. The community was called St.-Francois-de-Sales or Odanak. Indians from the community, which included refugees from wars with English colonists, participated in many raids, some of them organized and led by French military men, against English colonial settlements in New England in the aftermath of King Philip's War.
       Together Robert and Marie raised a family:

    CHILDREN OF ROBERT STOTT AND MARIE JOSEPHE DESMARAIS

  • JOSEPHIE STOTT was born in Chambly, La Vallée-du-Richelieu, Québec, Canada; She married Amable Paulint.
  • JEAN-BAPTISTE STOTT was born in 1782 (baptism 8 Jul 1783) in Chambly, La Vallée-du-Richelieu, Québec, Canada.
  • MARIE JOSSETE STOTT was born on 02 Sep 1781 in Chambly, La Vallée-du-Richelieu, Québec, Canada; Baptism 3 September 1781 Chambly, La Vallée-du-Richelieu, Québec, Canada. In 1805 she married JOSHUA S. MANNING in Le Haut-Richelieu, Québec, Canada. She died in 1856 in Westminster Tp., Middlesex, Ontario, Canada.
  • ROBERT STOTT III was born in 1785 in Chambly, La Vallée-du-Richelieu, Québec, Canada; He married Fanny.
  • DANIEL STOTT was born on 10 May 1788 La Prairie, Roussillon, Québec, Canada; He was baptized in September 1788 at La Prairie, Roussillon, Québec, Canada. He married Mercy Chatterton. Their son, Robert Stott (b. 22 Feb 1811 in Lacolle, Le Haut-Richelieu, Québec) married Phebe C. Manning, daughter of John Manning and Caroline Lester (John is son to Jacob B. Manning and Sarah Lawrence and brother to Joshua Manning whom married Mary Stott. He died on 24 July 1873 in Lacolle, Le Haut-Richelieu, Québec, Canada.
  • JAMES STOTT was born on 12 Mar 1789 in Lacolle, Le Haut-Richelieu, Québec, Canada. He married (1) Phebe Knight (1800-1843) on 1 Dec 1817 in Iberville (Episcopal Church, Caldwell and Christie), Québec; (2) Margaret Love (1806-1853) on 17 Apr 1844 in Andover, Essex, Massachusetts; and (3) Sophia Vennard (b. 1799) in 1856 in New Hampshire. His family bible lists this, as well as speculates that they came from Aberdeen, Scotland.³ James died on 17 Dec 1881 in Newmarket, Rockingham, New Hampshire.
  • GENEALOGY

    RENÉ ABRAHAM DESMARAIS (b. 1645) married MARGUÈRITE GÉRARD (b. 1643) and begat...

    PIERRE ABRAHAM DESMARAIS (b. 1691), who married MARIE JOSEPHE JOUIEL (JOYAL) and begat...

    JEAN-BAPTISTE DESMARAIS (15 Nov 1728 - 12 Oct 1807) married MARIE ANGELIQUE ROY (b. 16 Mar 1734) and begat...

    MARIE JOSEPHE DEMARAIS (b. 1762), who married ROBERT STOTT (20 Feb 1761 - 2 Apr 1836) and begat...

    MARY STOTT (b. 1783), who married JOSHUA S. MANNING (8 Dec 1782 - 26 Aug 1848) and begat...

    SARAH AGATHE MANNING (05 Aug 1810 - 19 Jul 1855), who married JULIUS ALBERT RAYMOND (24 Jun 1818 - 21 Feb 1879) and begat...

    ALBERT JULIUS RAYMOND (1848 - 1924), who married LOIS MATILDA KILBOURNE (1851 - 1937) and begat...

    FLADELLA RAYMOND (1869 - 1961) who married FRANK HAUSE (1867 - 1951) and begat...

    CARLISLE HAUSE (1891 - 1972) who married MARJORIE MARCHANT (1892 - 1939) who begat...

    CARLETON MARCHANT HAUSE, SR. (1917 - 1983) who married JEANNE BRUNNER (1918 - 2000) and begat...

    CARLETON MARCHANT HAUSE, JR. (b. 1939) who married MARTHA WENK (b. 1940) and begat...

    JEFF (who married LORI ANN DOTSON), KATHY (who married HAL LARSEN), ERIC (who married MARY MOONSAMMY), and MICHELE HAUSE (who married JOHN SCOTT HOUSTON).

    NOTES

    ¹—Until the late 1900s, church registers in Quebec served as civil and vital records in that province. Throughout the years a second copy of church records, from all denominations, was sent annually to the appropriate courthouse. During the 1940s the vital record collections in courthouses throughout Quebec were filmed by the Institut Généalogique Drouin. The filming of vital records continued for some areas up through the 1960s. Consequently, this filmed set of records became known as the Drouin Collection. The majority of the records in this database cover the time period 1621-1947, as most of the filming was done in the 1940s. The records that were filmed up through the 1960s are also included in this database, although they are very few in number. These records that were filmed later cover the years 1948-1967.

    TOP IMAGE: Historic centre of Poitiers with Church of Saint-Radegund, Cathedral of Saint-Pierre and Palace of Justice in the background.

    COUSINS, COLLABORATORS & CO-CONSPIRATORS...

  • CHERRI LYNN STOCKING is the wife of WILLIAM ALAN TIMMER, who is my 5th cousin 1x removed, by way of Sarah Agathe Manning's sister, Belmira Manning. "Bell" married Henry Yager and had a son, Lyman Nelson Yager who married Alice Amelia Vandeventer. Their daughter, Violet G Yager, married David John Finnerty and they had Olivette Marie Finnerty. Both of Olivette's parents died only one day apart, so she and her siblings (except for the eldest son) were all adopted by different families. Olivette then married John Wendel Timmer and had David John Timmer, who married Carol Ann Ross, they had William Alan Timmer. Cherri, who compiled much of this research, grew up in Lansing, Michigan and has been working on genealogy for 20 years. She discovered two seemingly forgotten daughters of Joshua Manning: Mary and Martha, who both married Leonard T. Tibbits! (Mary was first, then Martha.) I guess the similarity of the names (and obviously, the husband) just made people assume it was the same person. Cherri also recently disproved a beloved "Indian princess" myth in her own family genealogy, confirmed by overseas research and DNA testing, and of course angering her entire bloodline. I've been there Cherri—I feel your pain!