GODEFROY DE SAINT-PAUL, JEAN-AMADOR, esquire, interpreter, captain of the Trois-Rivières militia, fur-trader, seigneur; baptized at Trois-Rivières on 18 July 1649, son of Jean Godefroy* de Lintot and Marie Leneuf; d. 10 Sept. 1730, at Trois-Rivières.
In August 1682, Saint-Paul acted as interpreter for the Miamis and Kiskakons during a conference held in Montreal, which would seem to indicate that he had previously spent some time in the west. In 1684 and 1687 he accompanied, as captain of the Trois-Rivières militia, the expeditions of Governors Le Febvre* de La Barre and Brisay de Denonville against the Iroquois. In the late 1680s and early 1690s he and Antoine Lepellé, his partner and future son-in-law, traded with the Ottawas.
By 1706, Saint-Paul’s interests had grown to include the eastern cod fisheries. In that year, Rigaud de Vaudreuil and Jacques Raudot granted him a seigneury in Labrador consisting of five leagues frontage by ten leagues depth on both sides of the Grande Rivière (Quitzezaqui). He continued to make his home in Trois-Rivières, however, and to trade with the tribes nearby. He had no doubt mastered the language of the Algonkins; he was accorded the privilege of selling them beer and cider on their visits to Trois-Rivières.
Saint-Paul was married twice, and outlived both his wives. Marguerite Jutrat, whom he married in Trois-Rivières on 12 Nov. 1675, bore him two daughters. After her death, he married Françoise Lepellé in Trois-Rivières on 22 July 1682. She gave birth to six children, and predeceased him by three years.
AJM, Greffe d’Antoine Adhémar, 22 juillet 1682, 13, 16, 17 sept. 1694; Greffe de Bénigne Basset, 2, 3 août 1688. AJTR, Greffe de Severin Ameau, 17 nov. 1675, 7 juillet 1698. AN, Col., C11A, 6, ff.4–25, 476–79. NYCD (O’Callaghan and Fernow), IX, 334. P.-G. Roy, Inv. concessions, IV, 188–89; Inv. ord. int., I, 127; La famille Godefroy de Tonnancour (Lévis, 1904).
C. J. Russ, “GODEFROY DE SAINT-PAUL, JEAN-AMADOR,” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 2, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–, accessed October 2, 2024, https://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/godefroy_de_saint_paul_jean_amador_2E.html.
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Author of Article: | C. J. Russ |
Title of Article: | GODEFROY DE SAINT-PAUL, JEAN-AMADOR |
Publication Name: | Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 2 |
Publisher: | University of Toronto/Université Laval |
Year of publication: | 1969 |
Year of revision: | 1982 |
Access Date: | October 2, 2024 |