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ProvencherAssociation of America

A sourced historical file

Sébastien Provencher and Marguerite Manchon

PRDH’s pioneer record places Sébastien’s birth at about 1634 in France, without naming a locality. His presence in New France is documented in 1661; his exact origin, parents and the precise place of his first marriage remain unresolved.

Important correction: Pithiviers and Artenay are promising research hypotheses, not proven places of origin. This page separates facts, corroboration and open questions.

c. 1634—1711

The verifiable milestones

  1. Hypothesis

    Born in France

    PRDH gives an approximate birth year of 1634, with no identified town or parents. Pithiviers remains a hypothesis.

    PRDH-IGD
  2. Documented

    Earliest known notarial trace

    The index of notarial acts records an obligation from Sébastien Provencher to Pierre Boucher. An official source describes him at this time as Boucher’s farmer on Île Saint-Joseph, now Île Saint-Christophe.

    SGQ · Commission de toponymie
  3. Documented

    Land at Cap-de-la-Madeleine

    Sébastien receives a concession measuring two arpents along the St. Lawrence by forty arpents deep.

    Commission de toponymie du Québec
  4. Supported

    First marriage contract

    PRDH retains this date for the union with Marguerite Manchon but does not assign a precise place to the marriage. The contract is cited in a 1691 notarial inventory.

    PRDH-IGD
  5. Documented

    The household in the census

    At Petit Cap-de-la-Madeleine, the household includes Sébastien, Marguerite, their daughters Marie and Marguerite, and a servant; twelve arpents are reported under cultivation.

    Library and Archives Canada
  6. Documented

    Second union

    Widowed, Sébastien marries Marie-Catherine Guillet at Cap-de-la-Madeleine. Three Provencher daughters are born of this union.

    PRDH-IGD
  7. Documented

    Post-mortem inventory

    The inventory prepared by Jean-Baptiste Pottier confirms that Sébastien had died before this date. His exact date of death remains unknown.

    Les Provencher · March 2019

Details recovered from public holdings

What the archives add to the story

An established household

The nominal census counts four family members, a 17-year-old servant and twelve arpents under cultivation. Library and Archives Canada has digitized the original record.

Census of Canada, MG1-G1, item 2318857

A memory written into the city

Rue Sébastien-Provencher in Trois-Rivières was officially named on September 28, 2004. Its place-name record recalls the documents of 1661 and 1662.

Commission de toponymie du Québec

Open question

Why Pithiviers remains a lead, not a conclusion

A 2002 investigation by genealogist Michel Langlois found the 1631 Pithiviers marriage of a Sébastien Provenchère and Marie-Catherine Bretonnet. The registers are missing precisely from June 1632 to March 1635, a period compatible with the pioneer’s birth. The names Provanchère and Marchon also occur in nearby Artenay registers. No engagement contract or other record, however, connects this family to the Sébastien who appeared in New France.

Read Michel Langlois’s analysis in L’Ancêtre, vol. 28, no. 4
  1. 01

    Matching name, period and region: a credible lead.

  2. 02

    A decisive gap in the registers: no baptismal proof.

  3. 03

    No transatlantic record linking Pithiviers to the pioneer: the lineage is unproven.

Two unions · nine children

Sébastien’s documented family

Reference databases distinguish six children from the union with Marguerite Manchon and three daughters from the union with Marie-Catherine Guillet.

With Marguerite Manchon

Contract dated January 22, 1663 · six known children

01

Marie-Madeleine

c. July 1663–1731

Wife of Aubin Mondou.

02

Marguerite

c. 1665–1739

Wife of Antoine Cottenoire.

03

Louis

c. 1668–1725

Husband of Simone Massé.

04

Sébastien

c. 1670–1739

Husband of Marie-Anne Massé.

05

Jean-François

1674–1734

Husband of Marguerite Moreau.

06

Catherine

born 1678

Wife of Louis Massé.

With Marie-Catherine Guillet

Marriage on May 14, 1691 · three known daughters

01

Jeanne

1692–1750

Wife of Médard Carpentier.

02

Marie

c. 1695–1745

Wife of Pierre Bourbeau.

03

Marie-Madeleine

1698–1743

Wife of François-Marie Didier.

Source register

Public records and references consulted

Primary sources and university databases take priority. Family publications help locate and contextualize records; hypotheses remain explicitly labelled.

Last verified: July 19, 2026

University database

PRDH-IGD · Pioneer record

Birth about 1634 in France, place unspecified; two unions and reference dates.

Primary archive

Library and Archives Canada · 1667 Census

Nominal record, 179 digitized pages; reference MG1-G1, item 2318857.

Notarial index

Société de généalogie de Québec · Transcribed acts

Indexes the June 6, 1661 obligation between Sébastien Provencher and Pierre Boucher.

Official source

Commission de toponymie · Rue Sébastien-Provencher

Biographical summary, 1662 concession and official street naming in 2004.

Genealogical analysis

Michel Langlois · L’Ancêtre, 2002

Explains the Pithiviers lead, the register gap and the lack of lineage proof.

Family archive

Les Provencher · March 2019

Places the 1691 and 1711 notarial inventories in the context of family life.

The Provenchers

A history still being written

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