Genealogy Report: Descendants of Jean-François Janelle
Descendants of Jean-François Janelle
1.JEAN-FRANÇOIS2 JANELLE(FRANÇOIS1)1 was born Abt. 1706 in St-Germain l'Auxerrois de Paris, France2, and died May 11, 1780 in St-François du Lac, Qué.2.He married MARIE-FRANÇOISE BENOIST3 May 18, 1730 in La Baie du Febvre, Qué.4, daughter of PIERRE BENOIST and JEANNE DESJARLAIS (DESJARLES).She was born October 24, 1706 in La Baie du Febvre, Qué.4, and died May 02, 1787 in Nicolet, Qué. (home of Marie-Josephte Janelle)4.
Notes for JEAN-FRANÇOIS JANELLE:
[Joseph-Emile Janelle, La Famille Janelle: Histoire et Généalogie (Drummondville, Qué: La Parole, 1928)]
Jean-François Janelle was the first Canadian ancestor of all the Janelles of Canada and of the United States. We have not been able to find the exact date of his arrival in [Canada], but he evidently arrived in New-France in the year 1729, at the age of 22. We find his signature for the first time at La Baie du Febvre, Qué., where he was a witness at a burial, on the 21st of September 1729. The record of his marriage to Marie-Françoise Benoist, which took place at La Baie du Febvre on the 18th of May 1730, mentioned him as the son of François Janelle and of Madeleine Labbé, native of the parish of St-Germain l'Auxerrois, City of Paris (France), and of 23 years of age.
By his wedding to Marie-Françoise Benoist, he had allied himself to one of the eldest families of the New World. Her grandparents, Gabriel Benoist and Marie-Anne Guesdon, both from Normandy (France), had been married at Québec on the 26th of October 1665. She died with her oldest daughter, at Nicolet, on the 2nd of May 1787. Jean-François Janelle's marriage to this Canadian girl was to make Canadians of his sons, he, a Frenchman. In fact, their three sons followed the calling of their mother's relatives and became settlers and farmers, the popular occupation of those pioneer days. The eldest son, Pierre-François, settled in La Baie du Febvre, François-Xavier in Chambly and Joseph in St-François du Lac, Qué., where the Ancestor lived. They also married farmers' girls and after several years of hard labor, they all attained a certain amount of prosperity and comfort, having succeeded to found their homes on a solid basis, and in which ten, thirteen and twelve children respectively were born to the joy of their parents. It was the assurance of the survivance of the Janelle Family in this new land that is the crowning of a life devotion. In his old age, the Ancestor must have been rightfully proud of his three sons; he had not sacrificed the easy life of Paris to come to unknown and new country and to share the life of the pioneer in vain.
We could write a whole chapter about the life of Jean-François Janelle, but to attempt to do so, it would require a better pen than ours. He was a school teacher during his lifetime. No wonder he was a well educated man since we know he was born and brought up in St-Germain l'Auxerrois, the parish of the Kings of France, the rendes-vous of the aristocracy of the world. There exists a tradition in the family that he was a young officer of the French army when he came to Canada, but we could find nothing to confirm this. The loss of the Records of Paris, and lack of family documents concerning the Ancestor, have been a great handicap to us in our researches. However, we know that his living amongst the pioneers of his time has been instrumental to the development and prosperity of the County of Yamaska. He had lived seven years in La Baie du Febvre, then he moved with his family to St-François du Lac where he lived the last 43 years of his life and where he died and was buried on the 11th of May 1780, at the age of 73. On the 1st of January 1928, the Janelle Family comprised 247 homes, on the male side only, all claiming Jean-François Janelle for their common Ancestor; an edifying accomplishment in less than two centuries. Moreover, this family has given seven priests and twenty-eight nuns to the Church.
Of the three sons, the oldest, that is Pierre-François, was the ancestor of Branches Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 4 of the Janelle Family Tree, while François-Xavier was the ancestor of the families comprising Branch No. 5, and Joseph of Branch 6. To-day, this family is scattered in eight Provinces of Canada and 28 of the States of the Union, all good law-abiding citizens of their country by adoption.
More About MARIE-FRANÇOISE BENOIST:
Christening: October 24, 1706, La Baie du Febvre, Qué.4
Children of JEAN-FRANÇOIS JANELLE and MARIE-FRANÇOISE BENOIST are:
| 2. | i. | PIERRE-FRANÇOIS3 JANELLE, b. April 29, 1731, La Baie du Febvre, Qué.; d. September 01, 1784, La Baie du Febvre, Qué.. | |
| ii. | MARIE-FRANÇOISE JANELLE5, b. August 25, 1732, La Baie du Febvre, Qué.6; d. November 15, 1733, La Baie du Febvre, Qué.6. | ||
| iii. | MARIE-JOSEPHTE JANELLE7, b. June 13, 1734, La Baie du Febvre, Qué.8; d. April 12, 1814, Nicolet, Qué.8; m. ETIENNE DUMAS9, September 02, 1755, La Baie du Febvre, Qué.10. | ||
| iv. | JOSEPH JANELLE11, b. February 27, 1735/36, La Baie du Febvre, Qué.12; d. September 02, 1736, La Baie du Febvre, Qué.12. | ||
| v. | JEANNE-ELISABETH JANELLE13, b. June 17, 1738, St-François du Lac, Qué.14; d. Bef. 177014; m. ANTOINE GAGNIÈRE15, May 01, 1764, St-François du Lac, Qué.16. | ||
| vi. | MARGUERITE-AMABLE JANELLE17, b. August 12, 1741, St-François du Lac, Qué.18; d. September 03, 1824, St-François du Lac, Qué.18; m. JEAN-BAPTISTE GAGNON19, April 14, 1761, St-François du Lac, Qué.20. | ||
| vii. | THÉRÈSE JANELLE21, b. November 21, 1742, St-François du Lac, Qué.22; d. Unknown22. | ||
| viii. | FRANÇOIS-XAVIER JANELLE23, b. June 03, 1745, St-François du Lac, Qué.24; d. November 10, 1820, Laprarie, Qué.24; m. MARIE-REINE PATENAUDE25, February 11, 1771, Chambly, Qué.26. | ||
| ix. | JOSEPH JANELLE27, b. September 25, 1747, St-François du Lac, Qué.28; d. May 02, 1800, St-François du Lac, Qué.28; m. MARIE-LOUISE CHOREST29, October 02, 1775, St-François du Lac, Qué.30. | ||
| x. | LOUIS JANELLE31, b. February 17, 1748/49, St-François du Lac, Qué.32; d. June 05, 1749, St-François du Lac, Qué.32. |