Tranchemontagne
Tranchemontagne—"cuts through the mountain." It was a dit name, a nickname that became a family name, carried by generations of Soulieres across Quebec. This series traces one branch of that family from the earliest documented ancestor to the twentieth century, following the women and men who built lives, buried children, crossed borders, and left behind the paper trail that allows us to find them now.
The Episodes
The Verified Lineage
Founding Mothers
Filles du roi and Filles à marier — the women who crossed the Atlantic and shaped the Souliere line
Marie Lorgueil
A Fille à marier who arrived in 1650 and became the ancestor of the Gravel line. Elisabeth Gravel, Janvier's second wife, descends from Marie.
6-Episode Series • 9th ggmMarie Chapelier
Marie Elisabeth Poulin's ancestral line connects to this Fille du roi, whose 1715 donation document reveals colonial family dynamics and strategic property transfers.
Case Study • 9th ggmMarie Guillaume
A Fille du roi who married Laurent Migneron and connected to the Souliere line through the Migneron family.
Coming Soon • 8th ggmMarie Teste (Testu)
A Fille à marier who arrived early in the colony's history. She married Antoine Anthony Pepin dit LaChance and connected to the Souliere line through the Migneron family.
Coming Soon • 8th ggmJeanne Barbier
Connected to the Souliere line through the Blain dit Habelin, L'Ecuyer, Decaries, and Gravel families. Part of the Elisabeth Gravel maternal ancestry.
Coming Soon • 8th ggmDenise Marie (Marier)
Connected through Jean B Quenneville and Marie A Quenneville to the Souliere line. Part of the Elisabeth Gravel branch.
Coming Soon • 8th ggmMarie Marguerite Provost
Connected through Jacques Venne to the M Veine/Voyne line, eventually reaching the Souliere family through Elisabeth Gravel's ancestry.
Coming Soon • 8th ggmJeanne Chevalier
One of the earliest Filles du roi, she connected to the Souliere line through the Pepin dit LaChance family.
Coming Soon • 9th ggmMarie Targer
Connected through the Isabelle Royer and Jean Royer lines to the Souliere family tree.
Coming Soon • 9th ggmJeanne Mercier
Connected to the Souliere line through Martin Poulin and Claude Poulin. Part of the Marie Elisabeth Poulin ancestry.
Coming Soon • 9th ggmJeanne Bitouset
Connected through the Jeanne Barrette line to the Souliere family. One of the earlier arrivals to New France.
Coming Soon • 9th ggmFrançoise Baiselat Bizelan
A Fille du Roi who married three Carignan-Salières soldiers and bore twelve children. When she died in childbirth in 1694, seven legal documents spanning twelve years untangled three estates — engaging every level of colonial authority from notary to Intendant.
Case Study • 9th ggmElisabeth Roy
A Fille du Roi from Senlis, Picardy who married three times on Île d'Orléans — one of only thirty-five to do so. She buried two husbands, lost two sons on the same day, raised seven children across three marriages, and lived to nearly seventy. Connected to the Souliere line through the Leblanc dit Jolicoeur family.
Founding Mother • 9th ggmAnne Ledet
A Fille à marier whose first husband was discovered to be a bigamist. After the annulment, she married Gilles Pinel in 1657, raised eleven children across two families, and watched three sons marry three Constantineau sisters—forging a dynasty at Neuville.
Founding Mother • 10th ggmMarie Riton
A Fille à marier who professed Protestant faith in La Rochelle in 1645, then crossed the Atlantic to reinvent herself. She married mason Léonard Leblanc at Beauport in 1650 and raised seven children—all of whom survived infancy. Today, 4–5 million Quebecers descend from her.
Founding Mother • 10th ggmFounding Fathers
Soldiers, engagés, and habitants — the men who built New France alongside the Founding Mothers
Nicolas Sylvestre dit Champagne
Orphaned at ten in Pont-sur-Seine, Champagne—he sailed aboard L'Aigle d'Or with the Carignan-Salières Regiment in 1665, built Fort Sainte-Thérèse on the Richelieu, married Barbe Neveu, and raised sixteen children at Neuville. Between 1.82 and 2.24 million Québécois descend from this one soldier. Father of Marie Barbe Sylvestre, our direct ancestor.
Documentary Biography • 8th ggf • Carignan-Salières RegimentJean Bernardin Lesage dit Lepiedmontois
One of the rarest immigrants in New France—an Italian soldier from Racconigi, Piedmont, who served in the Troupes de la Marine and married Marie Barbe Sylvestre at Neuville in 1686. Raised 12 children and lived to age 91. His dit name, "the Piedmontese," preserved his Italian origins across centuries. 53 primary source documents.
Documentary Biography • 7th ggf • Troupes de la MarinePierre Marsan dit Lapierre
As a member of the Carignan-Salières Regiment in the Company of Captain Jacques de Chambly, Pierre arrived not as a settler seeking fortune, but as part of a royal strategy. His rank set him apart—older, experienced, and entrusted with the daily weight of command. Married fille du roi, Françoise Baiselat Bizelan, and fathered Jeanne Marsan Mercan. Connected through Cadieux, Blais, and Poulin families to the Souliere line.
Documentary Biography • 9th ggf • Compagnie de ChamblyEvery Ancestor Deserves to Be Remembered
Documentary biographies like these transform traditional genealogical research into compelling family narratives—designed to be read, shared, and treasured.
Part of the Storyline Genealogy series: Documentary Biographies
From Research to Story