Eighth episode
Daniel Perron dit Suire (1637-1678)
Living in the shadow of his father

orn out of wedlock on November 25, 1638, Daniel Suire was baptized into the Calvinist religion on December 26 that same year, at the Château de Dompierre (Dompierre-sur-Mer), near La Rochelle. He was the illegitimate son of François Perron, merchant/recruiter and chandler from La Rochelle, and Jeanne Suire, originally from Surgères (Aunis). François Perron is one of the few rare Protestant merchants from La Rochelle to do business with New France. He sent merchandise, passengers and recruits there on three ships: the Le Petit-François, Le Taureau and L’Aigle Blanc.

Daniel Suire came to New France for the first time in 1657 to learn the trade of clerk. He spent two years in New France before returning to La Rochelle in 1659 to work as a domestic for his father. When his clerk in Quebec died, François Peron had to replace him. He gave his son Daniel a general and specific power of attorney to represent him. For Daniel, who wished to follow in his father’s footsteps and dreamed of freedom and adventure, this was the chance he had been waiting for to shake off his father’s yoke. It appears that the father-son relationship was a difficult one. He boarded the frigate L’Aigle Blanc at the end of April 1662 and arrived at Quebec on June 5.

Free from his father, Daniel Suire had to face the Sovereign Council of New France on several occasions during the winter of 1663-1664. During that time, a group of young girls seeking husbands arrived in Quebec. He met Louise Gargotin, originally from the small Protestant village of Thairé in Aunis. They planned to spend their lives in New France, but there was no future for Huguenots in a society which the State wanted to be Roman Catholic. They either had to fit into that society or return to France. However, Daniel’s future was in Canada and if he wanted to marry Louise, he had to renounce Calvinism. He did just that on December 6, 1663 in Notre-Dame church in Quebec. Disappointed with Daniel’s attitude, François Perron withdrew his power of attorney.

In Quebec, on February 23, 1664, Daniel and Louise had their marriage contract drawn up by Notary Pierre Duquet. Three days later, the couple married in the Château-Richer church since there was no church at Ange-Gardien yet. Even more surprising, Daniel signed the marriage contract but not the marriage certificate. A recent convert, he did not want his signature to appear in the Catholic registers of civil status for New France. The couple settled on land at Ange-Gardien (lots 150 and 151), given to Daniel by the Sovereign Council in 1664, and later by means of a decision rendered by the Quebec Provost. This land was left to the couple’s five children.

Daniel Perron dit Suire devoted his live to searching for an ideal: recovering his identity. He appeared before the courts on numerous occasions in an effort to obtain the vacant succession left by François Perron. He obtained it following the death of his father, signing D. Pairon on the documents. Disillusioned, Daniel Perron dit Suire lived in his father’s shadow. He died on February 22, 1678 at Ange-Gardien at the age of 39 years and 3 months. Louise Gargotin married Charles-Louis Alain the following year.

The Perron dit Suire family has numerous descendents (many of whom settled in the provinces, territories and states in North America) through unions with the Tremblay, Godin, Touchet, Graton and Éthier families.


Guy Perron
Archivist for the Perron dit Suire family
Genealogist/Historian
Paleographer
perronguy@videotron.ca

Friends of François Peron: http://www.genealogie.org/famille/afp
Welcome to the world of the Perron dit Suire family: http://pages.infinit.net/perguy

To be continued on July 29, 2003, with the Association des familles Bérubé.