By 1640 the three Gagnons had each acquired adjacent farmland along the north side of the St. Lawrence River at Chateau-Richer, downstream from the city. In that year Jean Gagnon married newly-arrived Marguerite Cochon (Cauchon), who had come with her parents. Of the couple’s nine children two (Jean and Germain) were ancestors to the Gagnon-Remillard family.1
Robert Drouin, meanwhile, also acquired land at Chateau-Richer. After his first wife died, Robert married Marie Chapelier, a strong-willed and resourceful woman. One of their daughters, Marguerite Drouin, would marry Jean Gagnon’s son Jean.
Gagnon and Drouin land holdings
An indication that the Gagnons did well financially was the fact that Mathurin Gagnon returned to France and brought his mother and daughter back to Quebec. That would not have happened if life in New France had been a struggle for them. One could say the Gagnons indirectly benefited from the lucrative fur trade economy.
Jean Gagnon home
Jean’s brothers, Pierre and Mathurin would also marry and have many children as well, spreading the Gagnon name.2 These marriages are more remarkable than they might appear. In the early years of Quebec, those who came were mostly men, recruited to help clear land and build. Only ten percent were women, and many of those came with husbands.
That Robert Drouin and the Gagnon men married at all speaks both to their early arrival and being well established in the colony. The daughters of the immigrants had their choice of many young bachelors, and these gentlemen were good catches.
1See Charts G2, G10, and R8.
2After Tremblay, Gagnon is the second most common French name in Canada.
Gagnon Family History 