Quebec

The Boucher line goes back to France in 1479, with the birth of Jehan Boucher at Paris, France. His son, Jean, born in 1500 at Paris, married Jehanne Bournier, who was also born in Paris. They both died in Geneva, Switzerland. Jean was 69 at the time of his death? A puzzle to solve - why were they in Geneva when they died? Their son, Jean Boucher, born 1521 at Paris, was married to Francoise Roussin. They were married at Tourouvre, Mortagne, where Francoise had been born. This information was accessed on various websites and at Ancestry.com. The sources are listed on the individual family group sheets.

The Boucher line lived in Mortagne, France, for two more generations, and after the birth of Marin Boucher, the family story moves to Quebec. Marin was born in about 1587 at the St. Jean de Mortagne Parish, France. He married twice. His first wife was Julienne Baril, daughter of Jean Baril, de la Barre, parish of St-Langis, Mortagne. Julienne died on December 15, 1627, after giving Marin seven children, one of whom is our ancestor. Marin marries Perrine Malet in about 1629. They make the momentous decision to emigrate to New France, where Marin assisted Champlain in building the colony. Marin Boucher played a large part in the building of Beauport. He was a mason, and because he lived in the colony a great deal of the construction was entrusted to him. In 1666, the census indicates that Marin is 77 years old. He died on March 29, 1671, at 84 years of age. He and his second wife, Perrine Malet, had about 11 children. As a result, quite a few of the Bouchers in Quebec today are descended from Marin's 18 children.

Francois, the son of Marin and Julienne, was 18 when he moved with his family to New France, and he married Florence Gareman on September 3, 1641 in Quebec. Florence had also immigrated to New France with her parents, Pierre Gareman dit Le Picard and Madeleine Charlot. Francois and Florence had 11 children.

Societe de Genealogie de Lanaudiere inc.

Jean-Baptiste Boucher and Ursule Coulombe were married on January 26, 1795, at Berthier. They were the parents of Jean-Baptiste Boucher who was our ancestor.

Based on information received from the Societe de Genealogie de Lanaudiere inc., Jean-Baptiste Boucher and Marie Felecite Aubin were married on January 26, 1795, at Berthier (see FGS_JBBoucher-FAubinLambert.pdf). Jean-Baptiste and Marie Felecite has the following children: Jean-Baptiste (birthdate unknown), Jean-Marie, born March 25, 1797, at Berthier, Angele, born November 30, 1798, at Berthier, Joseph, our ancestor, born May 8, 1800, at Berthier, Marie Felecite, born March 16, 1804, at Ste-Elisabeth, Pelagie, born August 23, 1809, at Ste-Elisabeth, Elisabeth, born July 6, 1812, at Berthier, Marguerite, born March 15, 1815, at Ste-Elisabeth, and Edouard, born May 26, 1818, at Berthier.

Joseph Boucher was first married to Julie Faucher, who was born in 1807 and died on February 3, 1843 (daughter of Jean-Baptiste Faucher and Claire Gautron). Joseph and Julie had four children, Leon, born March 24, 1834, Athalie, born November 11, 1835, Cyrille, born August 16, 1837, and Narcisse, born May 4, 1839. All the children were born at St. Ambroise de Kildare.

After Julie died, Joseph married Charlotte Roy on October 24, 1843, at St-Jacques l'Achigan, Quebec (see FGS-JoBoucher-CRoy.pdf). Charlotte was born on November 12, 1812, at St. Jacques, and died on January 4, 1870, at St. Ambroise de Kildare. She was the daughter of Joseph Roy and Elisabeth/Isabelle Richard). Joseph and Charlotte were the parents of our ancestor, Julius Boucher.

Julius Boucher, born September 14, 1844 at St-Ambroise-de-Kildare, Joliette County, married Marie Denise Farly on August 2, 1864, at St-Ambroise-de-Kildare, Joliette County, Quebec. Denise was the daughter of Amable Farly and Marie Forcier. She was the niece of Francois Xavier Farly (click here to download a PDF copy of the Farly Family Tree). Denise Farly and Julius Boucher had 12 children in all. Eight of their children were born while they were living in St. Gabriel de Brandon, Quebec. In 1882, the family made the move to Minnesota, where Denise gave birth to a further 4 children. As you can see in the photo, Denise was quite small. My mother can remember her - she remembers that she only spoke French.

My greatgrandfather, Joseph Ambroise Boucher, was born on August 10, 1865, at St. Ambroise de Kildare, Joliette County, Quebec. He was the oldest child of Denise and Julius. His godparents were Amable Farly, his maternal grandfather, and Charlotte Roy, his paternal grandmother. Joseph moved to Minnesota at the age of 17, and entered through Port Huron in January 1882. His father followed him in November 1882. Joseph homesteaded land near Crookston and was a bachelor for many years. He wished to marry, and at the age of 32 he took notice of his second cousin, Julia Farly, who lived with her brothers on the Farly family farm. She was 19, so considerably younger than Joseph. When Joseph came courting, Julia wasn't very interested. In fact, when her brothers suggested she marry Joseph, she was adamantly against it. However, she gave the marriage some thought, and when Joseph proposed to her, she said yes. She realized that Joseph would be a good companion and provider, and he was quite handsome to boot.

Joseph and Julia had a successful marriage, with Julia giving birth to 12 children. Two of the children died as infants. Joseph delivered the oldest of the babies himself; the family was living on the farm at Eldred, Minnesota, and it was too far to go for the doctor. They eventually moved into Crookston and lived at 323 East Roberts Street for many years. The house was in the Boucher family until fairly recently. The second youngest of Joseph and Julia's children is still living in Crookston.

My grandmother, Valerie Boucher, was the second oldest and she was born in January 1900 on the farm. She married my grandfather, Bill Boerjan, when she was only 18. She had met him while staying with her sister, Vitaline, and immediately fell in love. They made a striking couple, as Valerie was quite petit and very pretty, and Bill was a strapping, handsome man. Their story continues in the Boerjan section of this website.

Joseph died in 1934 at St. Vincents Hospital in Crookston. He suffered from arteriosclerosis. He left Julia very well off, and she continued to live at the house on E. Roberts Street. Julia was fortunate to have four of her daughters living very close, and when she became infirm, members of her family moved into the house with her and cared for her until her death.

An index of the Family Group Sheets can be found at Family Group Sheets. An explanation of these people and links to their family group sheets can be found at Bouchers.

A detailed account of this family can be found at the French Connection.

Many of our French Canadian ancestors are descendents of the famous "filles du roi". The story about these brave young women who emigrated to New France from their homes in France can be found at Filles du Roi.