Julien Fortin dit Bellefontaine
(1621 Notre-Dame-de-Vair - ~ 1690 Canada)

by Jean-François Loiseau
published on October 28, 2017, updated on April 12, 2023

Julien Fortin was christened on February 9, 1621 in the parish of Notre-Dame-de-Vair (now attached to the municipality of Saint-Cosme-en-Vairais, Sarthe, France), on the edge of Perche. His father, also named Julien who worked as a butcher, married Marie Lavie in the same parish on November 26, 1619.

Julien Fortin's baptism record of February 9, 1621 - Parish registers of Notre-Dame-de-Vair
source : Sarthe archives

Julien Junior, who had a sister and three brothers, lost his mother when he was seven. His maternal grandfather, Gervais Lavie, was the owner of the « Auberge du Cheval Blanc », where the surgeon and apothecary Robert Giffard from Mortagne-au-Perche recruited candidates to settle in New France. When he was thirteen, Julien developed a passion for this adventure.

Giffard described Quebec as the Garden of Eden, a land where milk and honey flow but he omitted to mention the bloody battles against the Iroquois and the English. When Robert Giffard came back sixteen years later, he convinced several Percherons to migrate to New France.

Julien Fortin, 29 years old, was one of them. In 1650, he sailed from the port of Dieppe with several companions and arrived three months later in Quebec after a perilous crossing. The group included Simon Rocheron and his sister Marie, aged 15, Antoine Rouillard (carpenter), Claude Bouchard (tailor), Martin Boullard, Pierre Mauffay, Simon Lereau and others.

On December 26, 1650, he received a concession at Petit Cap from Olivier Le Tardif, like Claude Bouchard, Louis and Pierre Gagne. This is where he spent the rest of his life with his wife Genevieve Gamache.

Two years later, Julien Fortin decided to found a family with a pretty peasant girl of fourteen years his junior. Genevieve Gamache dit Lamarre, baptized on October 3, 1636 in Saint-Illiers-la-Ville, a small village in the diocese of Chartres (France), is the daughter of Nicolas Gamache dit Lamarre and Jacqueline Cadot and the sister of the pioneer Nicolas Gamache, Lord of the Islet.

On November 11, 1652, the marriage is celebrated in the chapel Cap-Tourmente in Saint-Joachim de Montmorency by the Father Paul Ragneau, Jesuit superior and grand vicar of the archbishopric of Rouen. However, the marriage record is mentioned in the parish registers of Notre-Dame de Quebec.

On August 23, 1657, Julien Fortin, Sieur de Bellefontaine, bought his share of « La Compagnie de Beaupre » for 700 pounds from Jean Lauzon. He even acquired a little place on the Island of Orleans in exchange for beavers, a spot that he resold in 1662 to the Bishop of Laval, making a profit. In 1659, he received a grant of 6 acres in Cape Tourmente (St. Joachim), on the riverside. This area was formerly known as « La Cote Fortin » (The Fortin Coast). Julien also owned land in « La Petite Riviere Saint-François » , in Charlevoix. The 1667 census reveals that Julien Fortin lived in Saint-Joachim, employing 2 domestics and had 8 acres of cleared land, a barn and 7 animals.

But the Iroquois terror hung over the region of Cap-Tourmente. An interesting fact: On October 6, 1661, Julien Fortin testified in court the looting of the farms of Jean Picard, the widow Caron and Claude Bouchard by the Iroquois. He also described the massacre of six people including Louis Guimond. Julien Fortin's family took refuge away from Chateau-Richer. However, Julien Fortin business continued to grow and he made many transactions with Claude Bouchard.

The prosperous colon is also famous for his gifts, especially after the miraculous healing of his daughter Barbara when afflicted with pleurisy. On August 18, 1680, he donated to the churches of Notre-Dame-de-la-Visitation of Chateau-Richer and Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupre a land and a house with a bakery in Chateau-Richer.

He founded a large family with twelve children. Despite the loss of many children in the prime of life because of epidemics of the time (fever, scarlet fever, measles, smallpox, etc.), four sons continued Fortin and Bellefontaine names: Eustache, Jacques, Joseph and Pierre.

Julien Fortin died between June 18, 1689 - he is the godfather of his granddaughter Marie Gagnon christened this day - and April 16, 1690, day of the wedding of his daughter Barbara with Pierre Lessard - Julien is said deceased. Contrary to what is stated in some books and on websites, Julien did not die on August 10, 1692. It is another Bellefontaine who died on this date at the Hotel-Dieu de Quebec.

Genevieve Gamache finished her life with their son, Charles Fortin, at l'Islet. She was buried on November 5, 1709 in Notre-Dame de Bonsecours at L'Islet.

On December 31, 1729, Julien Fortin had 364 descendants, which ranks him at the 56th position among the pioneers in Canada.

The singer Madonna, born on August 16, 1958, is a descendant of Julien Fortin through her mother who was named Madonna Fortin.