Massé Besnier (1626 - 1683)

Born Feb 1626 in Rouperroux-le-Coquet, Perche, Maine, France

Husband of Michelle (Charier) Charlier — married 9 Oct 1668 in Cap-de-la-Madeleine, Canada, Nouvelle-France

Descendants

Died 26 Jul 1683 at age 57 in Champlain, Canada, Nouvelle-France

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Biography

Massé Besnier migrated from France to New France.

Massé Besnier a vécu
au Canada, Nouvelle-France.

Massé BESNIER^[1][2]

Son of René Besnier and Sainte Botras, Massé Besnier was baptized on February 18, 1626 in Notre-Dame parish of Rouperroux-le-Coquet located in Le Mans diocese, Perche Sarthois area and ancient Maine province.^[3][4][5]

The first time Massé Besnier appears in records of the colony was his presence at the marriage of Pierre Larue with Jeanne Godin on 30 November 1661 in Trois-Rivières.^[4][6][7]

The 1667 census for PETIT CAP DE LA MADELEINE shows Massé Besnier' in the following terms: Messe Begni (Masse Begnier), 30 ; 4 arpents en valeur.^[8]

In June of 1667 Massé had traded homes with Pierre Juineaux, he was resident of Champlain at the time.
Échange d ’habitations entre Pierre Juineaux et Massé Besnier, de Champlain (4 juin 1667). Notaire Guillaume de Larue Vol XXVI pg 136 #13^[9]

Marriage
Massé Bainier signed a marriage contract with Fille du Roy Michelle Charlier before notary Gilles Rageot on October 9th 1668.^[9][10] The actual marriage record is lost.

Known children All children are born in Champlain, where Massé was established before his marriage and where he died.

1. +Louis, b c 1669 (14 in 1683); married Jacqueline Charon dite Laferrière 3 Sept 1698 Champlain
2. +Marie Jeanne, b c 1672 (11 in 1683); married Léon Degame 9 Feb 1687 Champlain; buried 29 July 1747 St-Sulpice @ around 78
3. +Angélique, b c 1674 (9 in 1683); married Thomas Duhamel dit Sansfaçon 22 October 1698 Champlain
4. +Marie Anne, b c 1677 (6 in 1683) (twin), 35 in 1710; married René Bodouin 28 Jan 1697 Champlain
5. +Étienne, b c 1677 (6 in 1683) (twin); married Élisabeth Blet 24 May 1716 Sorel (he died a few months later)^[6][7]

Note: There are 2 documents in 1683 done by notary Antoine Adhémar, one being a re-recording of the marriage contract done before Gilles Rageot, the other being an inventory of property after decease. One of these documents appears to be the source for the listing of the children and their ages, which Jetté gives us in his work.

In 1669 there was a settlement to sort out differences between Estienne Pezard de la Tousche, lord of Champlain, and various inhabitants of his seigneurie. Massé was among those named in the settlement.
Règlement pour terminer un différend entre divers habitants de Champlain, Estienne Pezard de LaTousche, seigneur, Jean Guyon-Dubuisson, arpentur, Guillaume Pepin, Anthoine Derosier, Claude Joutra-Lavallée, Massé Benier, Nicollas Lemoigne, Lucas Loiseau (2 juin 1669). Notaire Guillaume de Larue Vol XXVI pg 138 #35^[9]

Massé entered into a lease from Isabelle Pepin, the document is lost so uncertain what it may have consisted of, only the notary's log of acts cites it.
Bail de Isabelle Pepin à Massé Begnier (9 mars 1681). (Manque). Notaire Antoine Adhémar Vol V pg 46^[9]

The family got missed on 1681 census. Possibly the above lease took them to another location temporarily.

Death
Massé Bégnié died on 26 July 1683 and was buried on the 27th in Champlain inside the church, the record giving him around 60 years of age. Cited present and signing the record were Nicolas Toutant, Louys and René Lemoyne and Jacque Dandonneau ^[11][4]

In September 1683 notary Antoine Adhémar received the original marriage contract done before Gilles Rageot in 1668 and recorded it, and also proceeded to do the inventory of Massé's property.
Contrat de mariage de Massé Benié (Macé Bainier) et Michelle Charlier [Chartier?] en date du 9 octobre 1668, devant Rageot (remis le 1er septembre 1683). Notaire Antoine Adhémar Vol V pg 63^[9]

Inventaire des biens meubles de Massé Bégnié (9 septembre 1683). Notaire Antoine Adhémar Vol V pg 63^[9]

Notes

His name is shown as Marcel and not Massé on his son Louis's marriage record. Other marriage records of his children mark him as Massé. His actual baptism can be seen as a link on Fichier Origine, the handwriting is difficult to make out but it appears the correct name is in fact Massé, or perhaps Mars. Not Marcel, which was likely an arbitrary transcription of the cleric for that record. There are 49 different variations for records up to 1799 of the last name Besnier, the top five variants statistically of these being Beignet, Begnet, Baignet, Beigné and Benier. (see pie chart on profile).

A number of documents can be seen in BAnQ link, mostly pertaining to his sucession (in French)
Un nombre d'actes se trouvent au BAnQ, recherche Massé Besnier qui ont surtout trait à sa succession.

Sources

1. ↑ Carpin 1999, Annexe D, pp. 571-577
2. ↑ Les numéros supérieurs à #267, qui sont chaque avec astérique, s'ajoutent à la liste de Carpin tel qu'indiqué dans la liste chronologique qu'on peut voir à la page Percheron Immigration Category.
3. ↑ Fichier Origine Bapt. image
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2} perche-quebec.com Massé Besnier
5. ↑ Historical and present-day geography of baptism:
   • Rouperroux-le-Coquet (INSEE 72259) is now a commune located in Northwest France's Perche Sarthois, Sarthe département and Pays de la Loire région.
   • PRDH: Research Programme in Historical Demography (free): Pionnier: 7120 Date and place of baptism Pionniers PRDH : Date - 1626-02-18. Place - rouperroux-le-coquet, ev. le mans, maine (ar. mamers, sarthe).
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1} Dictionnaire généalogique des familles du Québec des origines à 1730, René Jetté, avec la collaboration du PRDH, 1983, Presses de l'Université de Montréal, pg 97 (Besnier) (membership IGD)
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1} Quebec, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1997 - Drouin IGD
8. ↑ Recensements de 1666-1667 en Nouvelle-France, référant au chapitre IV du livre Histoire des Canadiens Français de Benjamin Sulte, compilés par Jean-Guy Sénécal (senecal@gel.ulaval.ca) le 17 mars 1998
9. ↑ ^{9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5} BAnQ Notarial acts index Inventaire des greffes des notaires du régime français, par Pierre Georges Roy et Antoine Roy; 27 Vol + index 1-8 Contrat de mariage de Massé Begnié et Michelle Charlier (9 octobre 1668). (N° 341.) Notaire Gilles Rageot Vol III pg 223
10. ↑ BAnQ: Gilles Rageot, Actes (7 287 pages), 11 novembre 1666 - 8 octobre 1671; contrat de mariage Massé Bainier & Michelle Charlier, 9 octobre 1668, original, pg 545-6/1224
11. ↑ Sépulture / Funeral image IGD

• BAnQ: Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec/Québec National Library and Archives http://www.banq.qc.ca/accueil/
• « 1667 en Nouvelle-France, Recensement de  », compilé par Senécal, Jean-Guy (senecal@fmed.ulaval.ca); Sep 27, 1998, compilation OCR de trois documents Word disponible en ligne, ses documents se référant principalement au Tome IV & V, Chapitre IV du livre Histoire des Canadiens-Française de Benjamin Sulte, édition 1977.
• Carpin, Gervais (1999). Le Reseau du Canada: Étude du mode migratoire de la France vers Ie Nouvelle-France (1628-1662)
• Actes d'état civil et registres d'église du Québec (Collection Drouin), 1621 à 1997 - Gabriel Drouin, comp. Drouin Collection: Institut Généalogique Drouin IGD (membership) https://www.genealogiequebec.com
• Fichier Massé Besnier 2013 Fédération québécoise des sociétés de généalogie//Québec Federation of Genealogical Societies
• Lefebvre, R. (BAnQ, Éditeur officiel du Québec), Inventaire des greffes des notaires du Régime français
• PRDH: Research Programme in Historical Demography (free): Pionnier: 7120 PRDH Pionnier 7120