LOUIS AUGER
(bet.1684- Unknown) 

          We invariably have several elusive forefathers. Louis Auger is one. According to Nos Origines, he is not a proven to be the son of Jean and Louise Grisard but according to the Tanguay Collection these were his parents. For my research, I am assuming he is. Therefore, his roots are based on that.

          Born in France in or around 1651, Louis came to “Nouvelle France” with his parents as a young child. If indeed he is the son of Jean dit le Baron Augé, there are several facts that are not clear. Was he born in 1654 in France or ten years later, in 1664 in Montréal? Researches with the “Généalogie du Québec et d’Amérique Française” believe my ancestor Louis was born in Saint-Onge, France, in 1664, of unknown parentage. They also believe he was not the son of Jean dit le Baron. 

          We know he married Marie-Antoinette Barabe. The marriage most probably took place in or near the bride’s hometown of Trois Rivières, Quebec. That marriage was in 1691, however, and mentions it took place in Lotbinière, Québec. One wonders how a man from Montréal and a girl from Trois-Rivières met in Lotbinière in that era. We know Louis’s parents and family remained in Montréal. However, M-Antoinette’s father died before the marriage and her mother remarried Michel Lemay in 1677. Her two half-sisters and one half-brother were born in Lotbiniere, suggesting the family probably left Trois-Rivières and re-settled in Lotbinière? Why did Louis leave Montréal? His father was a tanner. Did Louis become involved in the fur trade? He was ten years older than his young wife. Much remains unanswered.

Once in Lotbinière, the couple began a family that would be part of one of the most significant to produce a line of Augers in the New World. Louis had eight boys and two girls. All but one of his boys appears to have produced male offspring.

          One wonders if the Auger boys helped in the eel fishing and mill when Michel Lemay passed away or even worked with him while he was still alive. It is a known fact that Lemay’s eldest sons were away with their fur-trading enterprises and he would have needed able bodies to help with his fishing operations. His mill, as well, would have provided work for many in the area.