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Nicholas Matte was born 4 DEC 1636 in Ste. Genvieve En Bray, Ar. Dieppe, Archev Rouen, Seine Maritime, France. He died 20 JUL 1704 in Pointe Aux Trembles, Ile De Montreal, Quebec. He was the son of Charles Matte (1610-?) and Barbe Harache (1612-<1671).
Nicholas Matte's wife was Marie Madeleine Auvray (1652-1734). They were married 12 OCT 1671 in Cathedral Notre Dame De Quebec, Canada. They had three known children named Alexis Matte (1692-?), Laurent Matte, and Leonard Matte (?-1698).
He was baptized 4 DEC 1636.
He was christened 26 MAY 1681.
He immigrated 1663. From Normandy to Canada
He was buried 20 JUL 1704 in Neuville Cemetery.
Nicolas Matte was the son of Charles Matte and Barbe Harache, of
Sainte-Genevieve-en-Bray, a small village not far from Rouen in
Normandy. He was baptised on December 4, 1636 and crossed the oceanaround 1663, presumably as a "trent-six mois" (a volunteer labourer hired for3 years). He is registered in the census of 1666 as a bachelor living in theseignoiry of Notre-Dame-des-Anges, modern day Charlebourg. He was listedsimply as a "habitant" - no particular trade was mentioned.
On September 5, 1670, Nicolas signed a three-year usufruct lease beforenotary Romain Becquet with Pierre Lafine, a miller living at Neuville.
Auger summed up their contract: Lafine rented Matte a piece of property
including one and a half hand-cleared hectares of land and a cabin. Nicolaswas to sow, hoe, weed, harvest, thresh and winnow the crop. He must alsobuild a grainary or barn for the grain and vegetables, and clear a third of ahectare per year. Lafine was to pay him 40 pounds for every newly
cleared third of a hectare and Nicolas was to give him half the grain.
Nicolas was still unmarried at the time the lease was ratified. In June
the following year, the ship Saint-Jean-Baptiste weighed anchor, carrying a
hundred men, a hundred and twenty young women, fifty sheep, ten
donkeys, cloth, blankets, and all sorts of useful things to New France. Amongthe 120 "filles du roi" (women given a 50-pound dowery by the King, andrecruited specifically to marry settlers in the colony), was MadeleineAuvray,daughter of Antoine Auvray, deceased, and of Marie LeNormand, of the
city of Rouen. On October 10, 1671, she and Nicolas ratified a marriage
contract drawn up by the notary Romain Becquet, in the house of Anne Gasnier,widow of Jean Bourdon, owner of the fief of Dombourg (now Neuville).Madeleine brought 300 pounds worth of goods as well as the royal dowry to themarriage. The wedding took place two days later in the church of Notre-Damein Quebec City. The couple settled down at Neuville and their thirteen childrenwere all born there.
More than anything else, Nicolas Matte was a farmer. Presumably because
he wanted to work land of his own, he rescinded the agreement with Piere
Lafine in May 1672. On May 31, the seigneur of Dombourg granted him a
concession of his own, next to the seignorial domain. It was two thirds of ahectare wide along the Saint-Lawrence River by thirteen hectares deep. Thefollowing March, Nicolas rented a neighbour's land for one year's harvest of
grain. According to Roland-J. Auger's article, Nicolas also agreed to chop
down, clear and burn a third of a hectare of wood and prepare it for sowing,
for the sum of forty pounds.
From the Census of 1681 - Nicolas had a farm with three heads of cattle.
Fifteen arpents of land were under cultivation.
Nicolas was buried in the Neuville cemetery on July 20, 1704. His widow,Madeleine, died in early May 1734.
The descendants of Nicolas Matte and Madeleine Auvray eventually spread
out throughout North America. There are also Cajun Mattes in Louisiana who
are descendants, Native Americans in the Bitter Root Valley of Montana,
some of the first pioneers of the Northwest such as Oregon, Saskachewan,
Ontario, British Columbia are also among his descendants. Mattes have foughtin every major war ever fought in North America as Canadians, Americans,Union Soldiers and also Confederates. They fought in the Revolutionary War aswell. A Jean Baptiste Matte was at Fort Duquesne (now known as Pittsburg,Pennsylvania)in 1756, and it is rumored that he fought against Daniel Boone.
One of their descendants, Pierre Matte, born at Les Ecureuils on
February 7, 1774, distinguished himself as a captain in the war of 1812.
Matte descendants are closely related through the Matte females to
families with the last names Pelletier, Grenon, Letourneau, Petit, Mongrain,
Mercure, Gariepy, Sylvestre, Charpentier.
In Neuville, Quebec there is a river called Riviere a Matte. This river
was named after Nicolas as it ran through his land as it headed to the St
Lawrence River. There is a Matt Creek in Montana - named for Alexander
Matt/Matte.