Louis Pinard

Louis Pinard was my 7 times Great Grandfather - he was born in France in 1634.  The following is an account of his life - found on Ancestry.com

Louis Pinard made his first trip to Canada around 1648 as a "donne" of the Jesuits. At that time it was customary for the Jesuits to be accompanied by young men on their trips to the interior to meet with the native people. In return for the service of these boys, the Fathers saw to their education.

Louis Pinard returned to France in 1650 to complete his studies. Through this first experience in Canadian territory Louis should be numbered among the founders of the mission Ste-Marie on the banks of Georgian Bay, whatis now, Midland Ontario.

He must have known Fathers Jean de Breboeuf and Gabriel Lalemant, who were martyred there in the spring of 1649.The constant Iroguois raids forced the French to abandon this Huron mission, whose ruins lay forgotten for three centuries. Recently this historic site has been restored and is today a National Park.

Louis Pinard's patrons, having most likely discovered in him a natural talent for medicine and surgery, had him return to France at the age of 16 or 17 in order to learn the art of Hippocrates.
Returning to Canada about 1656, young Dr. Pinard exhibited all the competence of a master surgeon. His future bride, Marie-Madeleine Hertel was not quite 12 years old when the marriage contract was written up. It is probably why Louis had to wait 2 years later to be married.

By virtue of his being the surgeon of the garrison, Pinard was already in a position to provide a comfortable living for his wife and children. In addition, he always looked out for himself even if he had to bleed some clients white to do so. Pinard was a grasping man who did not hesitate to appeal to justice when his interests were at stake. The civil and criminal court records from 1660 to 1665 eloquently demonstrate this.

His name is mentioned 32 times in the Court Records of Trois-Rivieres,
1655-1662. On two occasions in 1663, Pinard sued his colleague, Dr. Michel Gemelain whose rivalry he dreaded. In spite of the cease and desist injunction from the Sovereign Council in 1663, he did not end his accusations. "Realizing that the struggle with Louis Pinard would be endless, Gamelain, perhaps on the advice of his mother-in-law, Madame Crevier, put his knowledge of medicine to the service of an industry much morepractical and flourishing -- the distillation of brandy."

Pinard excelled in collecting debts. Several records show his relentlessness involving collecting money from the church, militaryand even nobility. Even though he may have been tough in his business dealings, the people of Trois-Rivieres had confidence in him.
They elected him to the posts of town mayor and church warden. After 1670, Pinard became interested in the fur trade. In 1685 he took part in an expedition to Hudson Bay, returning home the following year.

While it is true that Louis Pinard was 24 years and Marie-Madeleine Hertel was 13 years at the time of their marriage, their first childwasn't born until Marie-Madeleine was 19. It was customary in New France that a marriage with such a young bride would not beconsummated until the wife was about 16 years old.

Pinard's firstr wife, Marie-Madeleine Hertel, died in 1667, and he would later marry Marie-Ursule Pepin in 1680. He would have six children with Marie-Ursule Pepin, including our ancestor, Antoine Pinard, who was born at Champlain in 1683.