FRANCOIS MELOCHE
Francois Meloche is my 6th great grandfather. His grandson Joseph Marie Meloche added “dit Jolicoeur” to his surname to honor his stepfather who was a soldier. (His mother married a second time when he was only 4.) Successive generations used the surname Meloche dit Jolicoeur until my great grandfather Edmond Jolicoeur dropped the “dit Meloche” and used only Jolicoeur.
For the whole story about the surname change from Meloche to Jolicoeur see the bottom of the Surnames Page on this website.
There is no record for the exact date or the name of the ship that Francois Meloche sailed on when he departed La Rochelle, France and made his way to the young colony of New France. We do know that his cousin Yves Pinet arrived in Montreal in 1698 as a contracted gunsmith for Pierre Le Sueur. It is plausible that Francois made the journey together with his cousin, but there is no proof. Yves Pinet was a witness at the wedding of Francois Meloche and Marie Mouflet (October 25, 1700).
THE MELOCHE HOMESTEAD 18th and 19th CENTURIES
Francois Meloche and Marie Mouflet are considered to be pioneers of the Lachine (Dorval) communities on the western end of Montreal island. In 1708, Francois was formally granted a land concession by the Sulpicians who had been seigneurs of Montreal Island since 1663. The land was located on the “Cote de Lachine”.
Lachine was a popular departure point for voyageurs headed to the western outposts such as Fort Michilimackinac, Green Bay and Fort Joseph. The canoes started their journey upstream from the Lachine rapids (see blue star), thereby eliminating the need to start their long journey with a struggle against rapids.
Francois Meloche is noted as being a merchant and wagoneer or delivery man in the entry found for him within “These towns and villages of France, … cradle of French America” (2).
The Meloche Legacy notes that Francois managed a fur trading business that supplemented his income as a habitant farmer (3). Five of his eight sons became voyageurs: Pierre, Francois, Dominique, Joseph, and Simon. It seems a natural family progression for a father who spent years supporting the fur trade, that his sons would become voyageurs.
In the St. Lawrence communities, large numbers of French residents worked in a variety of occupations related to fur trade commerce. These men and women supplied merchandise, equipment, transport vehicles and provisions. Farmers raised pigs, peas, corn, wheat, and tobacco for provisions. While the details for the fur trade merchant/role that Francois played are scant, it is likely that he transported goods to and from Montreal and maybe provided farm grown provisions to the voyageurs that paddled right in front of his homestead.
The 1708 land concession granted to Francois was 3 arpents of frontage along the St Lawrence river and 20 arpents in depth. Close to 60 acres. Over the years the homestead grew in size as other members of the “family” namely Anne Mouflet and Jean Mouflet (sister and brother of Marie Mouflet who was Francois’s wife) were granted concessions on adjacent lands. Here is an extract of the land registry for the “Cote de Lachine” that provides additional details:
Here is a map of the Island of Montreal (5) dated 1892 that shows most of the original homestead is still owned by the Meloche Family at that time. The lands with cadastre numbers 878, 880 and 882 are all adjacent to each other.
Francois and Marie had 10 children together. All of the children except for the eldest (Pierre) were baptized at “Eglise des Sainte-Anges Gardiens” (6) at Lachine between the years 1704 and 1726. Pierre was baptized at Notre Dame, in Montreal.
THE MELOCHE HOUSE BUILT IN 1815 STILL STANDS TODAY
Successive generation of the Meloche family lived on the homestead site in Lachine. Actually the site was occupied by Meloche for more than 220 years! Today the site is located within the city of Dorval, just west of the border of the borough of Lachine, part of the city of Montreal.
In 1824 Jean Baptiste Meloche, a great grandson of Francois owned the stone house that had been built on the Meloche homestead. The historical society of Dorval has published the details for the local history attached to the house and location (7). And Desirée Girouard has published a picture of the house in his book – see below:
When the house was new, there was a ferry boat landing just to the east of the house.
Horse ferries were used for several decades mainly in the cooler northern waters before being abandoned in favor of steam power. Over the years the propelling mechanisms evolved from the horse whim, to the treadwheel and then to the portable treadmill. (9)
A Horse Boat Ferry transported passengers, animals and cargo from the Dixie landing on the south shore of Montreal Island, across the St. Lawrence River, to the north shore of the mainland at Chateauguay. I believe the name Dixie for the Ferry Boat landing has to do with the fact that the site looks right across the water to Dixie Island. By 1860 there was a railway bridge across the water and the ferry was no longer used.
Here is an image of a horse powered ferry boat. There are two horses walking upon a large turntable mounted below the deck. The turntable controlled the paddlewheels, thus moving the craft. (10)
In 1896, Jean Baptiste Meloche (great grandson X 3) sold the remaining farmland (130 acres) in the Meloche homestead to the Royal Montreal Golf Club for $18,200. Jean Baptiste became the mayor of the newly formed village of Dorval in 1900.
Jean Baptiste kept his ancestral home and lived there for his remaining years. The Meloche ancestral home was occupied by Meloche family members until it was sold in 1929 to Stanley Elliot. Stanley Elliott was the mayor of the City of Dorval during 1947 and 1948.
Extensive renovations have been made to this 200+ year old house over the years, the most visible being the addition of a garage which dominates the front view of the house now.
SOURCES:
- Wikipedia.org: Map of Ile de Montreal divided into Coasts (Cotes) Accessed 4 January 2022.
- The Franco-Quebec Commission on Common Places of Memory, These towns and villages of France…cradle of French America, (Maxi prim, 2011), volume 11, page 219.
- James Lawrence Meloche, Meloche Family Legacy, Extracts from the book, updated 2015, page 5, available at website named FamileMeloche.com (not secure) Accessed 4 January 2022.
- Image Lachine Land Registry: Désiré Girouard, Lake Saint Louis Old and New and Cavelier de La Salle (Montreal: Poirier, Bessette and Co, 1893), page 248.
- Joseph Rielle Map of Island of Montreal Accessed 4 January 2022.
- Image Eglise des Sainte-Anges Gardiens : Désiré Girouard, Lake Saint Louis Old and New and Cavelier de La Salle (Montreal: Poirier, Bessette and Co, 1893), page 49.
- Dorval Historical Society, Heritage Publication 1997 Edition, pages 11 -14. The Meloche House story is available online at the website named societehistoriquedorval.ca (not secure) Accessed 5 January 2022.
- Image Meloche Stone House: Désiré Girouard, Lake Saint Louis Old and New and Cavelier de La Salle (Montreal: Poirier, Bessette and Co, 1893), 8th illustration after page 128. Also available for download Horse Boat Ferry Landing, Dixie Accessed 5 January 2022.
- The Free Library, When Horses Walked on Water: Horse-Powered Ferries in Nineteenth Century America, (Phi Alpha Theta, History Honor Society, Inc, 1999), Accessed 5 January 2022.
- Image Horse Powered Ferry Boat Accessed 5 January 2022.
