Olivier Charbonneau
| Olivier Charbonneau | |
|---|---|
| Born | c. 1613 Aunis |
| Died | 20 November 1687 Montreal |
| Nationality | French, Quebecois |
Olivier Charbonneau (France, Aunis c. 1613Île de Montréal 20 November 1687) was a frontiersman who lived in Old Montreal in New France.
Charbonneau started his working life as a sewer cleaner. in Marans, Charente-Maritime. Widowed twice, by Ozanne Lussaud, and Roy in Marans (m. 13 April 1646), he then married Marie-Marguerite Garnier c. 1656. It is recorded that at that time his wife Marie-Marguerite was niece to Marguerite Bourgeoys.
He was one of the first settlers of the Île Jésus (today, Laval). He is the ancestor of 35,000 living North Americans, and ancestor of the entire population of .
There are only two surviving records for the family name of Charbonneau: one for Olivier and his wife, landing in 1659, and another for an unrelated man, Jean and his wife, around 1675. Nothing in the record suggests that the two were closely related. It has been estimated that 97% of the Charbonneau families in North America are descended from Olivier Charbonneau and his wife. Descendants of Jean are fewer in number and in New France have tended to cluster in the Vaudreuil and Soulanges area of Quebec near the Ottawa river.
In search of a better future, with his wife and their two-year-old daughter Anne, he sailed for New France on the ship "Saint-André" from La Rochelle on 2 July 1659. In La Rochelle, less than a month earlier (as notarised by Demontreau on 5 June 1659), he was hired as "manual labourer", that is to say, to do spade work on farms, not having his own plough, for Ville-Marie, Montreal by the Society of Our Lady of Montreal; he was recruited by Jeanne Mance. This two-year contract earned Charbonneau enough money for his passage to Quebec (175 livres and 31 livres 12 sols 6 deniers) plus accommodation costs at La Rochelle and buying a travel trunk "at home in this city of the Grace of God for their expenses and for acquiring a chest to put their clothes".
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