The Genealogy of the Sicotte - Cicotte Family (continued)

On the 3rd of May 1665, three years after Jean's marriage, Monsieur de Maisonnueve granted him a piece of land near the Saint Pierre River. This piece of property was the width of two measures of land called "arpents." Arpents are an ancient agrarian measure used in France. It will be noted that Jean's width ot two measures of land probably gave him access to the river and also that there is nothing said about the length of the piece of land. It was customary in those days to have properties that ran one mile or more back to the river. The census officers of 1666 and 1667 found Jean living on this land. In the 1667th year, they made this short but interesting report about his family: "Jean Sicotte, 35-years-old, Marguerite Maclin, his wife 19-years-old, Catherine, 3-years-old, Jean II, 1-year-old." The officers also reported that they had six acres of land cleared, and four head of cattle in their barn. Only a few days later, on the 8th of June 1667, Jean Sicotte passed away after a short illness. His certificate of burial can be found in the records of the parish of Notre Dame, bearing the date of the 8th of June 1667. He was only 36 years of age, and leaving a 19-year-old widow and two young children mentioned in the census. In the following month of August, the young widow married Nicholas Boyer, farmer of Ville-Marie, with whom she raised a fairly large family. Catherine and Jean II grew up with their mother in Boyer's house. They were mentioned some years later in the census, as living with their mother and Boyer. Catherine was then 18 and Jean II was 15. It may interest the reader to note that while Jean II was growing up, French regime houses were popular. They had been found by Charles LeMoyne. These houses were 1 and 1 1/2 stories, generally made of stone, and their steeply-pitched gable or hip roofs were finished with straight or flared eaves. Some of these houses are still in existence today in the Boucherville area. In 1693, when Jean II was 7-years-old, the Reverend Jacques Marguette, a Jesuit missionary who had served in Boucherville, was the interpreter to Louis Joilliet on his voyage down the Mississippi River. (These notes were added in the hope that they will help the reader to visualize the times in which our ancestor lived.) We next find Jean Sicotte II's name in the records of Boucherville at the time of his marriage with Madeliene Lamoureux, which took place on the 20th of March 1697. He was 31-years-old. He remained in Boucherville, where he raised a family of seven sons and three daughters: Marie Magdeliene, born 15 March 1698 Francoise, born 5 April 1700 Jean Baptiste, born 31 March 1701 Joseph, born 29 August 1704 Francois, born 15 March 1707 Zacharie, born 12 March 1709 Francois, born 28 June 1711 Louis, born 24 May 1715 Pierre, born 22 December 1717 Marie Louise, born 22 February 1720 Six of these sons also became heads of families. Four of them, as far as we know, settled in Boucherville, where some of their descendants multiplied up to the present day. The remainder are found throughout North America. Zacharie moved to Detroit, Michigan, where he became a very prominent citizen. He died in 1775 and his descendants remained in Detroit. Louis, remained at Boucherville and is next in line of my ancestors. He married in 1751 and his descendants continued to live at Boucherville, but may also be found throughout North America. Jean I, is the only head of the family, of that name, who came from France to Canada. Therefore, he is the ancestor of all the Sicottes and Cicottes. courtesy of Grace Sicotte Canada If any of you out there are still reading this, thanks for showing interest in my ancestors. If you think you may be a distant relation to a Sicotte or Cicotte, send me an email and I'll forward the info to Grace Sicotte. She's always looking for more information to make her family tree as complete as possible.

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