Dillon / Renaud Family Tree » Isaac Bédard (1614-1689)

Personal data Isaac Bédard 

• He was born on June 16, 1614 in La Rochelle, Charente-Maritime, Poitou-Charentes, France.

  auj. ar. La Rochelle, Charente-Maritime, France

• Occupations:
• Casket carpenter, Farmer, Charpentier de grosses oeuvres et Fermier, master carpenter.
• Casket carpenter, Farmer, Charpentier de grosses oeuvres et Fermier, master carpenter, charpentier de grosses oeuvres dt Fermier.
• (Reference Number) : 6951523.
• (Reference Number) .
• (Reference Number) : 60.
• He died on January 14, 1689 in Charlesbourg, Ville de Québec, Québec, Canada, he was 74 years old.
• He is buried on January 15, 1689 in Charlesbourg, Quebec, Pq, Can.
• A child of Jacques Istorique Bédard and Marie Guérineau

Household of Isaac Bédard

He is married to Marie Madeleine Girard.

They got married on March 20, 1644 at La Rochelle, Charente-Maritime, Poitou-Charentes, France, he was 29 years old.

Conjoint: Isaac Bédard

Child(ren):

1. Joseph Jacques Bédard  1644-1711 
2. Francois Bédard  1646-1647
3. Pierre Bédard  1647-1648
4. Richard Bédard  1649-1650
5. Isaac Bédard  1652-1652
6. Anne Bédard  1658-1658
7. Marie Bédard  1664-1703

Notes about Isaac Bédard

== Biography ==For a brief biographical sketch see OUR FRENCH-CANADIAN ANCESTORS, by Thomas J. Laforest, vol.2, (1984), chapter 3, pp.13-18.

{{Huguenot}} [[Category: Huguenot_Migration]]

Isaac was born about 1616. He passed away in 1689. He was one of the original farmers, or ''habitants'' of New France, and the first of the Bedard line living in Quebec. See [[Wikipedia:Habitants

Habitants]] for a good overview of what life as a ''habitant'' was all about. Some interesting details there include the fact that these ''habitants'' were subsistence farmers who grew enough to feed their families and little for an open market that did not really exist (because everyone else in the area was a farmer doing the same thing). By 1851, an estimated 70% of the Quebec population were farmers. (That, compared to Massachusetts at 13% and New York at 25%.)

'''Isaac, the Master Carpenter'''

Records show that Isaac augmented his income by various carpentry projects, and one source says he was a master carpenter "of considerable stature." He earned his living this way while in New Rochelle, France. This source cites projects such as making 100 oars for the civil administrator, Jean Talon, and many houses and large barns in his area.

It's interesting that Isaac (according to his marriage record and place of birth, at least) was a Huguenot, yet immigrated to New France, which was virtually all Roman Catholic. Wikipedia says, "By the end of the 17th century and into the 18th century, roughly 500,000 Huguenots had fled France during a series of religious persecutions. They relocated to Protestant nations. . .." See [[Wikipedia: Huguenot]]. But the article says nothing about Huguenots relocating to Catholic areas of North America. So, what are we to make of this? Were Isaac and his family "secret Catholics"? Did they disguise their Protestant affiliation to flee religious persecution?

'''Background on the Huguenots'''

Here is an excerpt from Wikipedia's article on that which has some relevant information:

[[wikipedia:Huguenot

Huguenot]]

"The Edict of Nantez (1598) by Henry IV established Catholicism as the state religion of France, but granted the Protestants equality with Catholics under the throne and a degree of religious and political freedom within their domains. With the proclamation of the Edict of Nantes, and the subsequent protection of Huguenot rights, pressures to leave France abated. However, enforcement of the Edict grew increasingly irregular over time, and it was increasingly ignored altogether under Louis XIV. The Huguenot population of France dropped to 856,000 by the mid-1660s [This was around the time Isaac and his family left France] Louis later imposed ''dragonnades'', [punative quartering of troops in Huguenot homes] and other forms of persecution for Protestants, which made life so intolerable that many fled the country. [Although, this was after the Bedard’s immigration.]

"Most French Huguenots were forced to convert to Catholicism, because they did not want to emigrate or they could not. [The Bedards converted less than a year before their immigration to New France.] More than three-quarters of the Protestant population finally converted to Catholicism; the others (more than 200,000) moved to different countries. [This seems like the most likey explanation for the Bedards' conversion, even though they immigrated to New France, Quebec, rather than some of the other places mentioned as favorable to Protestants, like the English Colonies.]

"Barred by the government from settling in New France [another fact that suggests that Isaac converted to circumvent the laws], Huguenots led by Jessé de Forest, sailed to North America and settled instead in the Dutch colony of New Netherland (later incorporated into New York and New Jersey); as well as Great Britain's colonies, including Nova Scotia.

"The exodus of Huguenots from France created a brain drain, as many Huguenots had occupied important places in society. The kingdom did not fully recover for years. The French crown's refusal to allow non-Catholics to settle in New France may help to explain that colony's slow rate of population growth compared to that of the neighboring British colonies, which opened settlement to religious dissenters. Later, the government encouraged descendants of exiles to return, offering them French citizenship in a 15 December 1790 law."

'''the Great Temple of La Rochelle'''

The following article on the "Great Temple" where Isaac was married gives you some idea of how volatile the times were. [http://www.histoirepassion.eu/spip.php?article1567:]

'''1568 - 1629 - History of the Great Temple of La Rochelle'''

"The true construction of the Grand Temple began in 1577 when peace returned. Under Henry IV signed the Edict of Nantes, opened a new period of tolerance. In 1600, so we went foundations while appealing to the generosity of Protestants who gave ECU 6,000 and walls finally rose to the top ledges. The construction plans were attributed to Philibert Delorme, the architect of the Tuileries. In September 1603, the Temple was completed. Sunday, September 7th the first sermon was delivered by Pastor Dumont in the middle of 3500 people.

"If the Edict of Nantes brought peace in the kingdom, it had the effect of consolidating the power of the Huguenots and create the eyes of royal power a state within a state. Louis XIII and devout Catholic fearing La Rochelle became a sort of bastion financially supported by England and a threat to royal authority in 1627 ordered the capture of La Rochelle, now seen as a heretic citadel. ''The siege led by Richelieu was appalling. When the city went there were only 5,500 survivors of the 28,000 inhabitants.'' The walls of La Rochelle razed after the surrender of La Rochelle, Louis XIII granted pardon. However, even if the Protestants kept religious freedom became their increasingly difficult to practice.

"In 1629, the Great Temple was assigned to the parish of St. Bartholomew and thus returned to the Catholic faith. At the foundation of the Diocese of La Rochelle in 1648, the Grand Cathedral Temple will burn but the building in 1648 and the ruins used to build fortifications in 1689."

[The marriage occurred in 1644, so that is after the church was “returned to the Catholic faith,” but before 1648, the date mentioned in the last sentence (this is from the Google Chrome translator, so I’m not sure about what the words “will burn” mean.]

It is clear from the history of La Rochelle that Isaac and his wife were born during a period of great religious strife. I can only wonder what these Huguenots would say, if they were alive today, about the Muslim religious wars in the Middle East. What is going on today (2013) in Syria would seem tame by comparison to what happened in La Rochelle!

--Bob S.

'''Details about Isaac Bedard'''

The answers to the religious questions and some additional biographical details of interest appear on Angelfire.com's website [http://www.angelfire.com/pa/archild/isaaca.htmlv]. Here is a brief summary of those:

Isaac came to Quebec with his son first in 1662. His wife Marie followed the next year. He received confirmation by a Catholic bishop in Quebec City in 1664.

In La Rochelle, Isaac baptized all his children in the Calvinist Temple at La Rochelle. There is a document cited that says, "Those who have abjured in the church of Nostre Dame de cogne sainte-marguerite and saint...since 1633" included the Bedards' names on it. That was in 1660. That sounds like they renounced their Huguenot faith for Catholicism.

Isaac came to Quebec first with his son in 1662. His wife Marie followed the next year. He received confirmation by a Catholic bishop in Quebec City in 1664. In the beginning, Isaac had "difficulty integrating himself," as evidenced by records excerpted from telling of disputes with his neighbors. Finally, the Bedards sold their original farm and bought another one in Charlesbourg, village of St. Jerome. While living there, he took on a number of large-scale carpentry jobs that forged his reputation as a master carpenter. Still, even with this added income, they had to appeal to his neighbor Jesuits for a loan "to meet their most urgent needs." He was given additional land to farm in a later agreement.

The webpage ends with details of his death, how Marie outlived him and remarried, and an estimated 30,000 descended from the Bedard line (although it is left unclear if Isaac was the only ancestral Bedard who contributed to this line).

'''''Our Huguenot Ancestors'' by Barbeau'''

The best article to understand the context of Isaac's "conversion" to Catholicism is "Our Huguenot Ancestors Their History and settlement in French Canada." By Michel Barbeau, 1998 [http://pages.infinit.net/barbeaum/huga/ Barbeau's "Our Huguenot Ancestors"] This slideshow formatted discussion explains how Barbeau researched and found out that there were Huguenots in New France, even though historians have downplayed it. By 1616, Jesuits had started a campaign to "dinigrate" Huguenots and that it coincided with the fall of La Rochelle, where Isaac and Marie were from. Huguenots were actually forbidden to emigrate to New France. Luckily for Isaac and his family, he used the "protective coloration" of Catholicism to get out when he could, because things got much worse after he left with the revocation of the Edict of Nantes (October 18, 1685).

'''Huguenots in Malcolm Gladwell's David and Goliath'''

In his 2013 book, Gladwell makes the case that, time and again in history, adversity and disadvantages can turn into advantages and opportunities, demonstrating "how much of what is beautiful and important in the world arises from what looks like suffering and adversity." So it was with Andre and Magda Trocme, Huguenots living in the south of France during the Nazi occupation in World War II. They and their town were called upon to harbor Jewish children who were desperate for a safe haven from the concentration camps. His wife Magda said, "The people in our village already knew what persecutions were. . .. They talked often about their ancestors. Many years went by and they forgot, but when the Germans came, they remembered and were able to understand the persecution of the Jews better perhaps than people in other villages, for they had already had a kind of preparation." She continues, "Sometimes people ask me, 'How did you make a decision? [to hide the Jewish children] There was no decision to make. The issue was, do you think we are all brothers or not? Do you think it is unjust to turn in the Jews or not?" Gladwell summarizes: "In attempting to wipe out the Huguenots, the French created instead a pocket in their own country that was all but impossible to wipe out."

Thousands of Ancestors

According to one source, "The numerous descendants of Jacques and Louis are noted for their talents. In 1946 there were an estimated 30,000 Bedards in America. The family shown with particular brilliance in the ecclesiastic and religious world, in politics and the law, in commerce and even in the military. At Charlesbourg in 1760, for example, the Bedards could count 2 captains and 2 sergeants in the militia." (from Nos Ancestres Franco-Canadien, Volume 2, Gerard Lebel, C.S.J., St. Anne de Beaupre 1981 as translated by Thomas J. Laforest and published in Our French Canadian Ancestors, Volume 2, The Lisi Press 1984) [http://larryvoyer.com/genealogy/getperson.php?personID=I16653&tree=v7_28]

== Bob Scrivens' Sources ==

http://www.nosorigines.qc.ca/GenealogieQuebec.aspx?genealogy=Isaac_Bedard&pid=24910&lng=en&partID=24911

birth: MyHeritage Smartmatch: Robillard Web Site

''David and Goliath'' by Malcolm Gladwell

=== Acknowledgments ===

Thank-you to [[Scrivens-11

Bob Scrivens]] for [http://www.wikitree.com/index.php?title=Special:NetworkFeed&who=Bedard-202 creating] Bedard-202 on 8 Jul 13. Click the Changes tab for the details on contributions by Bob and others.

Thanks to [[Gauvin-38

Linda Kincade]] for starting this profile. Click the Changes tab for the details of contributions by Linda and others:

* WikiTree profile Bedard-38 created through the import of Kingsbury-Avery Family Tree.ged on Nov 3, 2011 by [[Simpson-1546

Andrew Simpson]]. See the [http://www.wikitree.com/index.php?title=Special:NetworkFeed&who=Bedard-38 Changes page] for the details of edits by Andrew and others.

== Linda Kincade's Sources ==

http://www.nosorigines.qc.ca/GenealogieQuebec.aspx?genealogy=Isaac_Bedard&pid=24910&lng=en&partID=24911

http://www.angelfire.com/pa/archild/isaaca.html

"Our Huguenot Ancestors Their History and settlement in French Canada."

By Michel Barbeau, 1998

http://pages.infinit.net/barbeaum/huga/sld001.htm

Records not imported into INDI (individual) Gramps ID I0322:

Tag recognized but not supported Line 24549: 2 DATE 1645-00-00

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Timeline Isaac Bédard

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