Pierre Morin dit Champagne
The Subject
Pierre Morin was born around 1650 in Saint-Étienne-de-Brillouet, in the diocese of Luçon, Poitou — the modern department of Vendée, in the arrondissement of Fontenay-le-Comte. He was the son of Jacques Morin and Hilaire Guéry. He married Catherine Lemesle, a Fille du Roi, at Notre-Dame-de-Québec on June 13, 1672. He died at the Hôtel-Dieu de Québec on December 12, 1706, aged approximately 56.
Multiple genealogical databases identify him as a former soldier of the Carignan-Salières Regiment. None of his personal documents — marriage contract, parish records, census entries — use the word soldat. The identification was constructed through five converging lines of circumstantial evidence, independently validated by three genealogical authorities. In 2026, the original 1668 muster roll — the Rolle des Soldats du Regiment de Carignan Salière qui se sont faits habitans de Canada en 1668 — was located in the Library and Archives Canada digital collection, listing Pierre Morin by name under the Naurois company. The military administrative record confirmed what the evidence already proved. This methodology documents how the case was built — and why it held up before the muster roll was found.
| Full Name | Pierre Morin dit Champagne |
| Born | ~1650, Saint-Étienne-de-Brillouet, évêché de Luçon, Poitou (Vendée) |
| Parents | Jacques Morin (deceased by 1672) & Hilaire Guéry (deceased by 1672) |
| Marriage | June 13, 1672, Notre-Dame-de-Québec |
| Spouse | Catherine Lemesle, Fille du Roi (Landry 339, Dumas 281) |
| Spouse's Parents | Jean Lemesle (deceased), marchand bourgeois, & Marguerite Renard |
| Children | 8 (Marie Anne, Jean, Pierre, Louise, Joseph, Marie Jeanne, Marie Madeleine, Pierre) |
| Death | December 12, 1706, Hôtel-Dieu de Québec |
| Burial | December 12, 1706, Québec (Hôtel-Dieu) |
| PRDH Individual # | 53641 |
| Military Attribution | Soldier, Compagnie de Naurois (La Noraye) |
| Descendants | Between 560,000 and 980,000 Québécois |
Why Direct Proof Was Not Initially Available
No complete muster roll of the Carignan-Salières Regiment was known to survive from the regiment's 1665 arrival. However, a later administrative record does exist: the Rolle des Soldats du Regiment de Carignan Salière qui se sont faits habitans de Canada en 1668, preserved at Library and Archives Canada (Colonies D²ᶜ 47), lists approximately 400 soldiers — organized by company — who chose to remain in the colony after demobilization. Pierre Morin appears by name under the Naurois company. This document, compiled in 1668, is the primary military source for the identification. The regiment had arrived in New France between June and September 1665 — approximately 1,200 soldiers in 24 companies under Lieutenant General Alexandre de Prouville, Sieur de Tracy. After the Mohawk campaigns of 1666 and the peace of 1667, the regiment was demobilized. Over 450 soldiers chose to remain. Many married Filles du Roi.
Even with the muster roll in hand, the preponderance-of-evidence methodology documented here remains important for two reasons. First, none of Pierre Morin's personal records — marriage contract, banns, parish register, census — call him a soldier. The word soldat never appears. The muster roll identifies him as a soldier who became an inhabitant, but connecting that entry to this specific Pierre Morin (husband of Catherine Lemesle, father of eight, resident of Québec) still requires the documentary chain assembled below. Second, the methodology demonstrates how genealogists build identification cases for the hundreds of Carignan soldiers whose names appear on the roll but whose personal records are far less complete. The key evidence categories include marriage contracts and parish registers (for mentions of military service, officer witnesses, or the phrase "soldat de la compagnie de…"); birth and origin records (connecting individuals to known recruitment areas); presence in New France between 1665 and 1668, particularly at key forts; early land concessions granted at demobilization; and specialized sources such as Michel Langlois's Carignan-Salières, 1665–1668.
The additional challenge in Pierre Morin's case is his name. "Pierre Morin" was among the most common names in 17th-century France. Multiple men bearing this name lived in New France and Acadia simultaneously. The most dangerous confusion involves Pierre Morin dit Boucher (1634–1690), an Acadian ancestor married to Marie Martin who lived in Beaubassin and Port-Royal — and who was never a member of the Carignan-Salières Regiment. Jack Verney's definitive study explicitly distinguishes Pierre Morin dit Champagne (the soldier) from Pierre Morin dit Boucher (the Acadian).
Timeline Analysis
The Carignan-Salières Regiment arrived in New France in 1665. The typical recruit age was 15–20. Pierre Morin, born around 1650, would have been approximately 15–18 at arrival — an ideal recruit age for the period.
The regiment was demobilized between 1667 and 1668. Soldiers who chose to stay were encouraged to settle and marry. The typical ex-Carignan marriage timeline was 2–5 years after demobilization. Pierre Morin married Catherine Lemesle in June 1672 — exactly four years after demobilization. This fits the statistical pattern precisely.
Critically, Pierre does not appear in the 1667 census as a head of household. This is consistent with active military service — soldiers were not counted as individual settlers until they married or established their own land. His first documentary appearance as a civilian is the marriage contract of June 4, 1672.
His marriage to a Fille du Roi completes the demographic profile. The Filles du Roi program (1663–1673) was explicitly designed to provide wives for demobilized soldiers and other male settlers. Catherine Lemesle arrived from Rouen with a royal dowry of 50 livres and her own contribution of 200 livres — the standard profile of a Fille du Roi matched with a former soldier.
The compressed bann schedule reinforces the Fille du Roi connection. Three banns were published on June 6, 7, and 12, 1672, with the marriage on June 13 — all within a single week. Banns on consecutive days (June 6 and 7) would normally require a dispensation. This rapid timeline is consistent with Fille du Roi marriages, where colonial authorities facilitated quick unions between newly arrived brides and eligible settlers.
Pierre Morin's timeline — birth year, arrival window, absence from 1667 census, compressed marriage schedule, and 1672 marriage to a Fille du Roi — matches the classic ex-Carignan soldier profile with no anomalies.
Geographic Origin
Pierre Morin came from Saint-Étienne-de-Brillouet, in the diocese of Luçon, Poitou — the heart of western France. Historical research on Carignan-Salières recruitment patterns has established that western France — particularly Poitou, Aunis, and Saintonge — supplied a disproportionate number of soldiers. Recruitment networks in these regions actively targeted rural young men for royal military service.
Soldiers from Poitou are documented in multiple Carignan companies, with a notable concentration in the Compagnie de Naurois (La Noraye). Pierre Morin's origin from this specific recruitment zone is consistent with the known patterns of the company to which he is attributed.
Four Independent Origin Confirmations
Pierre's origin is confirmed by four independent primary documents — an exceptional level of corroboration for a 17th-century colonial soldier:
- 1672 Marriage contract (Rageot, Act 871): "de la paroisse de St Estienne de Brilloet Evesché de Luçon"
- 1672 Marriage banns (two register copies): "de la paroisse de Sᵗ Etienne de Briloy diocèse de Luçon"
- 1706 Hôtel-Dieu admissions registry: "paroisse Saint-Étienne, Poitou"
- 1706 Burial register: "de Poiton de la Paroisse de Sᵗ Estienne de l'euesché de Luson"
The spelling varies across all four documents — Brilloet, Briloy, and the burial register omitting the parish surname entirely — but all unmistakably refer to the same parish and diocese. The Laforest biography of Noël Morin (a different Morin ancestor in the same lineage) uses yet another spelling, "Breloy." These phonetic variations are standard for 17th-century French colonial records, where scribes wrote what they heard.
Pierre Morin's origin in Poitou places him squarely within the documented recruitment geography of the Carignan-Salières Regiment, and specifically within the regional patterns associated with the Naurois Company. Four independent documents — spanning 34 years from his marriage to his death — confirm the same parish and diocese, eliminating any possibility of confusion with another Pierre Morin.
The Marriage Contract and Witnesses
The marriage contract of Pierre Morin and Catherine Lemesle was executed on June 4, 1672, before notary Gilles Rageot — one of the most prominent civil officials in early Québec. It is Act Number 871, preserved in the Fonds Cour supérieure, District judiciaire de Québec, Greffes de notaires (BAnQ, CN301, S238, ID 78360).
What the Contract Says
The groom is identified as Pierre Morin, son of the late Jacques Morin and Hilaire Guéry, from the parish of Saint-Étienne-de-Brillouet, in the diocese of Luçon. The bride is Catherine Lemesle, daughter of the late Jean Lemesle, marchand bourgeois, and Marguerite Renard, from the parish of Saint-Pierre-du-Châtel, in the archdiocese of Rouen.
The contract establishes a communauté de biens (community of property) under the Custom of Paris. Catherine brings 200 livres of her own plus 50 livres from the King — the standard royal dowry for Filles du Roi. The douaire préfix is set at 300 livres. A préciput of 150 livres is established, and a don mutuel (mutual gift) ensures the survivor inherits if there are no living children.
What the Contract Does Not Say
The word soldat does not appear. Pierre is not identified as a soldier of any company. This is the central evidentiary gap. However, the absence of a military title in a marriage contract is not unusual for this period — many confirmed Carignan soldiers were recorded simply as residents or habitants by the time they married, several years after demobilization.
The Hidden Evidence: The Witnesses
The second page of the contract contains the signatures — and this is where the circumstantial evidence becomes powerful. The witnesses who signed "on the part of the groom" include individuals whose status would be extraordinary for an ordinary laborer:
The presence of Denis-Joseph Ruette d'Auteuil — a Seigneur and member of the Sovereign Council of New France — as witness for the groom is a striking detail. This was the highest judicial body in the colony. A member of the Sovereign Council does not witness the marriage contract of an anonymous laborer. His presence strongly suggests Pierre Morin held a recognized position in colonial society — the kind of standing that typically derived from military service.
The marriage contract does not name Pierre Morin as a soldier. But the caliber of witnesses — particularly a member of the Sovereign Council signing on behalf of the groom — indicates a social standing consistent with recognized military service. The contract confirms his Poitou origin, his marriage to a Fille du Roi, and his literacy.
The Marriage Register
Nine days after the contract, on June 13, 1672, Pierre Morin and Catherine Lemesle were married at Notre-Dame-de-Québec by Henri de Bernières, curé. The parish register entry confirms the same details: Pierre as the son of the late Jacques Morin and Hilaire Guéry, from the parish of Saint-Étienne-de-Brillouet, diocese of Luçon; Catherine as the daughter of the late Jean Le Mesle and Marguerite Renard, of Saint-Pierre-du-Châtel, archdiocese of Rouen.
Witnesses at the church ceremony included Jean Jolin and Pierre Baudin — names that reappear in later records. Pierre Baudin (also written as Bodin) is particularly significant: he served as godfather to the couple's daughter Marie Jeanne in 1685, thirteen years after the wedding, demonstrating a sustained relationship that extended well beyond the marriage ceremony. The officiating priest, Henri de Bernières, was a prominent figure in colonial religious life.
The Marriage Banns: Two Register Copies
French colonial law required parish records to be kept in duplicate — one copy for the parish, one for the civil authorities (the greffe). Both copies of the marriage banns for Pierre Morin and Catherine Lemesle survive, written in different hands but containing identical text. These banns contain evidence that neither the marriage contract nor the marriage register provides.
First Copy: Nᵒ 729
Second Copy: 117 / 1672 / 413
Transcription
Analysis: What the Banns Reveal
"Habitant de la Petite Rivière." This phrase — confirmed in both register copies — places Pierre at Petite-Rivière on the Côte-de-Beaupré at the time of his marriage. This is almost certainly Petite-Rivière-Saint-François, northeast of Québec City. The contract does not mention his residence; the banns do. This is the earliest confirmed post-demobilization address for Pierre Morin, placing him in the four-year gap between the regiment's disbandment (~1668) and his marriage (1672). It also independently corroborates the 1667 census identification discussed in Evidence Line 4 below.
Bann dates: June 6, 7, and 12. The first copy's middle date was initially ambiguous — possibly "neufvième" (9th). The second copy resolves this as "septième" (7th). Three banns published on June 6, 7, and 12, with the marriage on June 13, represents an extremely compressed schedule — banns on consecutive days would normally require a dispensation. This rapid timeline is characteristic of Fille du Roi marriages, where colonial authorities facilitated quick unions.
Both parents deceased. Both copies confirm: "deffunt Jacques Morin" and "deffunte Hilaire Guéry." Both parents were dead by 1672 — Pierre had no family in France to return to, which may have influenced his decision to remain in the colony.
"Sᵗ Etienne de Briloy." Both copies use the phonetic spelling "Briloy" rather than the modern standardized "Brillouet." This matches the 17th-century rendering — the Laforest biography of Noël Morin uses yet another variant, "Breloy." All refer to the same parish: Saint-Étienne-de-Brillouet, Vendée.
Two register numbering systems. First copy: Nᵒ 729 (parish sequential numbering). Second copy: 117 / 1672 / 413 (civil/greffe indexing system). The different numbering confirms these are genuinely independent archival copies, not duplicates of a single transcription.
The marriage banns — preserved in two independent register copies written in different hands — provide evidence the contract and register lack: Pierre's residence at Petite-Rivière, the compressed Fille du Roi bann schedule, and confirmation that both parents were deceased. The second copy resolved the ambiguous middle bann date (7th, not 9th). Together with the contract, register, and banns, the 1672 marriage is now documented in four separate archival records.
The Notarial Index
An independent confirmation of the marriage contract appears in the notarial index of Gilles Rageot. Under the year 1672, the index records Act No. 871, dated June 4, as a "Marriage" between "Pierre Morin & Catherine Le Mesle." This entry confirms the contract's existence, its date, and the notary's sequential numbering system.
Census & Residence Corroboration
The 1667 Census: A Probable Identification
Pierre Morin does not appear as a head of household in the 1667 census of New France. This is consistent with him being a soldier who had not yet settled on his own land or married. However, at Petite-Rivière on the Côte-de-Beaupré, in the household of Simon Guyon (age 42) and his wife Louise Racine (25), the census records a servant: "Pierre Martin, age 22, domestique."
The identification of "Pierre Martin" as Pierre Morin is probable but not confirmed. The evidence is circumstantial: Martin and Morin are among the most commonly confused surnames in colonial French records; the age of 22 matches Pierre Morin's estimated birth around 1645–1650; the location is Petite-Rivière; the status of unmarried male servant is typical for a recently demobilized soldier; and no other Pierre Morin appears as head of household in the 1667 census.
The 1672 Marriage Banns: Independent Location Confirmation
This is where the census evidence gains significant strength. The 1672 marriage banns — discovered after the initial census analysis — independently describe Pierre as "habitant de la Petite Rivière." Five years after the census, Pierre Morin was still associated with the same location where "Pierre Martin" appears as a servant. What was a single-source circumstantial identification becomes a two-source corroboration: the 1667 census and the 1672 banns both place a Pierre at Petite-Rivière in the exact years when a recently demobilized Carignan soldier would have been settling into civilian life.
The 1681 Census: The Settled Family
By 1681, Pierre Morin appears in the census of the Basse-Ville (Lower Town) of Québec. He is listed with his wife Catherine Lemesle and their children. The census records him at age 34 (consistent with a birth around 1647–1650), Catherine at age 35, and notes their household assets: one gun, five head of cattle, and ten arpents of cleared land.
His settlement in the Québec City region — rather than along the Richelieu River frontier where many Carignan companies clustered — is consistent with soldiers from companies that maintained ties to Québec, including the Naurois Company. Captain Pierre de Naurois received his seigneurial grant further west at Lanoraie, but individual soldiers from the company dispersed across the colony.
The census and residence evidence has been upgraded from moderate to strong based on the marriage banns discovery. The 1667 census places "Pierre Martin" at Petite-Rivière; the 1672 banns independently confirm Pierre Morin as "habitant de la Petite Rivière" — a two-source corroboration of the same location across a five-year span. Combined with the 1681 census showing an established family in Québec Lower Town, the residence pattern matches the known trajectory of Carignan-Salières soldiers who remained in the colony: serving in the late 1660s, settling near established communities, then establishing independent households after marriage.
Death and End-of-Life Pattern
Pierre Morin died at the Hôtel-Dieu de Québec on December 12, 1706, aged approximately 56. His death is documented in two independent hospital records:
The Registre journalier des malades de l'Hôtel-Dieu de Québec (1689–1760) records his admission on November 18, 1706:
"Morin, Pierre (56 ans), paroisse Saint-Étienne, Poitou, décédé le 12-126."
The Hôtel-Dieu burial register records his death in a separate entry:
A remarkable detail follows: on December 1, 1706 — just thirteen days after Pierre's admission — Catherine Lemesle was also admitted:
"Lemesle, Catherine (50 ans), femme de Pierre Morin."
Pierre died eleven days later. Catherine survived. Her admission alongside her dying husband — identified specifically as "femme de Pierre Morin" — suggests a shared illness in their final weeks together, or Catherine's need for medical care after attending to Pierre during his decline.
What Hospital Death Tells Us
Dying at the Hôtel-Dieu was not an indicator of poverty. The hospital, run by Augustinian nursing sisters, served as the main medical facility of early Québec — admitting settlers with serious illness, elderly individuals requiring nursing care, accident victims, former soldiers, and respected citizens. Many well-established families used the Hôtel-Dieu for serious illness requiring skilled nursing unavailable at home.
Among Carignan veterans specifically, hospital deaths are not uncommon. Former soldiers who had endured harsh physical service — building fortifications, campaigning in winter, clearing land — often entered later life with chronic conditions from decades of cumulative physical stress. Pierre Morin's Hôtel-Dieu death at age 56 fits the pattern of the first-generation settler passing away as New France matured from a military frontier into a stable agricultural colony.
The end-of-life evidence is corroborating rather than primary. The Hôtel-Dieu death, the ex-soldier aging pattern, and the Poitou origin recorded in both the admissions registry and the burial register reinforce the identification. The burial register provides the most complete single-document origin statement in the entire evidence base: province, parish, and diocese in one line.
The Chambly Confirmation of 1668
A confirmation ceremony at Fort Chambly on May 20, 1668 (PRDH record #403507) lists a "Pierre Morin" as entry #07 with origin recorded as "XAINCTES" — Saintes, in the province of Saintonge.
The date and location are compelling. Chambly was a Carignan-Salières fort on the Richelieu River, and May 1668 falls squarely within the demobilization period. A mass confirmation of soldiers at a military fort is exactly the kind of event where Pierre Morin might appear. The record was examined carefully as a potential match.
Why It Was Excluded
The origin "Xainctes" (Saintes, Saintonge) conflicts with four independent records placing our Pierre Morin in the diocese of Luçon, province of Poitou. While Saintonge borders Poitou, these are distinct provinces with distinct dioceses. The discrepancy is not a spelling variation — it is a different city in a different province under a different bishop.
A second, independent ground for exclusion emerged with the 1668 muster roll. The Rolle des Soldats lists a "Morin" (no given name) in the Chambly company, while our Pierre Morin appears under the Naurois company. The Chambly confirmation ceremony took place at Fort Chambly — the garrison of the Chambly company. The "Pierre Morin from Xainctes" in the confirmation record almost certainly identifies the Chambly company's Morin, not ours.
Supporting both exclusion grounds: the same Chambly confirmation list includes other entries with phonetically spelled origins, including "LUSSON" for Luçon (entry #17, Etienne Abilliard). This demonstrates that the record-keeper was capable of transcribing a Luçon origin phonetically. If our Pierre Morin were present at Chambly and stated his origin, the record would more likely read "LUSSON" or "LUÇON" — not "XAINCTES."
The most probable explanation is that this is the Chambly company's Morin — a Pierre Morin from Saintes rather than from Poitou, assigned to a different company, garrisoned at a different fort, from a different province.
This record was examined and excluded per BCG evidence standards on two independent grounds. First, the origin "Xainctes" conflicts with four independent documents (marriage contract, marriage banns, Hôtel-Dieu admissions, burial register) placing Pierre Morin in the diocese of Luçon, Poitou. Second, the 1668 muster roll lists a separate Morin in the Chambly company — the company garrisoned at the fort where the confirmation took place — while our Pierre Morin appears under the Naurois company. The geographic discrepancy and the company assignment each independently disqualify this record. Both are documented here for methodological transparency.
Four Independent Confirmations
The circumstantial evidence — timeline, geographic origin, marriage patterns, witnesses, census data, residence corroboration, and end-of-life — has been independently confirmed by a primary military source and validated by three authoritative genealogical databases. All four confirm Pierre Morin as a Carignan-Salières soldier. None place him on an unconfirmed or doubtful list.
The 1668 Muster Roll (Library and Archives Canada)
The most significant source is the Rolle des Soldats du Regiment de Carignan Salière qui se sont faits habitans de Canada en 1668 — the official administrative list of soldiers who became inhabitants of the colony. This nine-page handwritten document, preserved at Library and Archives Canada (Colonies D²ᶜ 47), lists approximately 400 men organized by company.
Under the heading "Naurois," Pierre Morin appears as the first named entry in the company roster. He is followed by Champagne, Sᵗ Surin, Alexandre, Lafontaine, Rencontre, La Prairie, Le Boesme, Chastelleraud, and Le Picart — names that match the PRDH List of Migrants roster almost exactly. The document's title explicitly identifies these men as soldiers of the regiment.
A notable detail: "Champagne" appears as a separate entry after Pierre Morin, suggesting these were two different men in the same company rather than a single individual with his dit name. The "dit Champagne" attribution to Pierre Morin may have occurred later, perhaps to distinguish him from the other Pierre Morin listed in the Chambly company on the same roll.
2. PRDH-IGD (Université de Montréal)
The Programme de recherche en démographie historique maintains the most comprehensive database of early Québec population records. Within their List of Migrants database (record #402529), Pierre Morin is listed as soldier #01 in the Compagnie de La Noraye, circa 1668, with occupation: SOLDAT.
3. La Société des Filles du roi et soldats du Carignan (SFRSC)
The SFRSC maintains the most authoritative registry of confirmed Carignan-Salières soldier-settlers. Their January 2025 alphabetical listing — a downloadable PDF titled Alphabetical Listing of the Carignan-Salières Regiment Officers and Soldiers Who Settled in Canada — includes "Morin, Pierre" in the La Noraye company.
Critically, Pierre Morin does not appear on the SFRSC's separate document, Unconfirmed Soldier-Settlers of the Carignan Regiment (also January 2025). This means the SFRSC considers his identification as a confirmed fact, not a probability.
4. Jack Verney, The Good Regiment
The most thorough academic study of the Carignan-Salières Regiment is Jack Verney's The Good Regiment: The Carignan-Salières Regiment in Canada, 1665–1668. Verney identifies Pierre Morin dit Champagne as a verified soldier and explicitly distinguishes him from Pierre Morin dit Boucher (the Acadian). The dit name "Champagne" is itself significant — such military nicknames were characteristic of Carignan soldiers and served as informal identifiers within the regimental system. His arrival record in Appendix B (pp. 145–185) confirms: Pierre Morin, arrival year 1665, Quebec, Canada.
5. Denis Beauregard, Genealogy of the French in North America
Denis Beauregard's comprehensive online database records Pierre Morin [1636] with all eight children, confirming the family structure. The database lists Catherine Lemesle as a King's Daughter (Landry 339, Dumas 281) and notes that between 560,000 and 980,000 Québécois descend from this couple across 13 generations and 2,209 marriages documented in the database as of 2019.
Resolving the Company Name: Naurois vs. La Noraye
Researchers encounter two names for Pierre Morin's military unit: Naurois (or Navrois) and La Noraye (or Lanoraie). These refer to the same company under the same captain.
Naurois is the correct name of the captain — Pierre de Naurois — and the primary designation of the company as it arrived in 1665. This is the name used in military records and by Jack Verney's research.
La Noraye is a geographic name. In 1672, Captain de Naurois was granted a seigneury along the St. Lawrence, which became the Seigneury of Lanoraie. Over time, archival records, the PRDH, and the SFRSC began referring to the unit by this geographic name — the place where the captain settled and granted land to former soldiers.
For official genealogical verification, both names are accepted. The PRDH and SFRSC use "La Noraye." The Soldat de Carignan record and Verney use "Naurois." No ambiguity exists about which unit is meant — there is only one company, referenced by two naming conventions.
Assessment of Proof
The identification of Pierre Morin (husband of Catherine Lemesle) as a soldier of the Carignan-Salières Regiment, Compagnie de Naurois/La Noraye, rests on two pillars: a primary military administrative record — the 1668 muster roll listing him by name under the Naurois company — and the convergence of five independent circumstantial evidence lines that connect the roll's "Pierre Morin" to the man documented in marriage, census, and death records across 34 years.
- The muster roll: The Rolle des Soldats du Regiment de Carignan Salière qui se sont faits habitans de Canada en 1668 lists "Pierre Morin" as the first entry under the Naurois company — an explicit military administrative record from Library and Archives Canada (Colonies D²ᶜ 47). A separate "Morin" appears in the Chambly company on the same roll.
- Timeline: Birth year, arrival window, absence from 1667 census, compressed Fille du Roi bann schedule, and 1672 marriage to a Fille du Roi match the classic ex-Carignan profile with no anomalies.
- Geographic origin: His Poitou origin — confirmed by four independent documents spanning 34 years — places him within the documented recruitment geography of the regiment and specifically the Naurois Company. The Chambly confirmation record listing a "Pierre Morin" from Xainctes was examined and excluded on two independent grounds: geographic conflict with the four Luçon sources, and the muster roll placing a separate Morin in the Chambly company.
- Marriage contract witnesses: A member of the Sovereign Council signed on behalf of the groom — a level of social connection consistent with recognized military service.
- Census & residence: The 1667 census places "Pierre Martin" at Petite-Rivière; the 1672 marriage banns independently confirm Pierre Morin as "habitant de la Petite Rivière" — a two-source corroboration that strengthens this evidence line from moderate to strong. By 1681, an established family in Québec Lower Town consistent with Naurois Company dispersal.
- End-of-life: Hôtel-Dieu death at age 56 fits the ex-soldier aging pattern. The burial register provides the most complete single-document origin statement: province, parish, and diocese in one line.
Four independent sources — the 1668 muster roll, the PRDH-IGD, the SFRSC, and Jack Verney — confirm the identification. Pierre Morin appears on the confirmed soldiers list. He does not appear on the unconfirmed list. No competing Pierre Morin with a conflicting timeline has been identified in the same locality and period. The Chambly confirmation was examined, evaluated, and excluded on the basis of both conflicting origin evidence and conflicting company assignment.
The identification of Pierre Morin dit Champagne as a soldier of the Compagnie de Naurois (La Noraye), Carignan-Salières Regiment, is confirmed by the 1668 muster roll and corroborated by a preponderance of circumstantial evidence. The military administrative record — listing him by name under the Naurois company heading — provides direct documentary proof. The five evidence lines provide the chain of identification connecting the roll's "Pierre Morin" to the man documented across 34 years of colonial records. Four independent sources using different methodologies and evidence bases all reach the same conclusion.
Pierre Morin represents the first generation of royal soldiers sent by Louis XIV to secure New France. He arrived as a teenage recruit, built fortifications, campaigned against the Mohawk, chose to stay, married a Fille du Roi, and raised eight children in the colony he helped establish. Between 560,000 and 980,000 Québécois carry his legacy forward — the demographic inheritance of a soldier who became a settler, and a settler who became an ancestor.
This methodology accompanies the Pierre Morin dit Champagne case study and documentary biography. For the complete evidence inventory with all 69 primary source images, see the research file.
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