Dear sir,
I visited your website this evening, and I wish to bring up a few
corrections about Nicolas Geoffroy. Having done years of research in
Quebec and in France, I came up last year with evidence that Nicolas
Geoffroy was born around 1714 in the small village of Arbot in
Haute-Marne, France. His baptism record (1714.03.27) can be found at
"Les Archives Departementales de la Haute-Marne (52), France".
His parents, as stated by the fame French Canadian genealogist Father
Cyprien Tanguay were indeed Remi Geoffroy and Nicole Mercier (spelled
"Nicolle" on their marriage record also in Arbot, France).
I also found out that Remi had a brother, Didier, who married Nicole's
sister Jeanne in 1710. Remi's father was Toussaint Geoffroy, son of
Joseph Geoffroy and Remyre Taillandier. Remi's mother was Claude
(Jeanne) Villeminot, daughter of Didier Villeminot and Didiere Belime.
As Father J. Hector Geoffroy said, he never found a proof Nicolas was
from Dampierre. In fact, the mistake comes from Cyprien Tanguay who
mentioned Vitry as the village, and St. Pierre from the Langres diocese.
There is Vitry-Le-Francois in the area, which is an important city...
and there are no places named St. Pierre in the diocese of Langres. But
as I searched the country, I came upon a very small village called
Vitry-en-Montagne (less that 100 of population). I stopped to check the
church there and noticed that the next village (3 miles apart) had a church
served by the same priest, and that church was St-Pierre in the village
of Arbot. I visited the place, then searched the state records and came
up with all that information. I have copies of those records.
For the small history, Arbot, Auberive, Vitry-en Montagne and all this
area was renown in the 17th and 18th centuries for the quality of its
forges, and the skill of its blacksmiths... And this is most probably
why Nicolas was invited to leave France and sail to Quebec where he was
hired at the forges near Trois Rivieres.
Jean Desautels
Laval (Quebec) Canada
