Etienne
Fontaine was born 24-Feb-1659 to Jacques Fontaine and Jeanne Colinet in
Saint-Sauveur on Ile d'Yeau or Isle-Dieu in the district of Les Sables-D'Olonne
in France. It is not known exactly when he arrived in Nouvelle-France (New
France). However, on 4-Feb-1683, he filed a marriage contract in front of
the notary public Vachon. He married Marie Conille on 8-Feb-1683 at
Saint-Laurent church on the Ile d'Orleans in the Saint Lawrence River of New
France. At the birth of their second child, Jeanne, the couple was living
in Saint-Jean of the Ile d'Orleans. In 1689, we could find the couple still in
Saint-Jean of the Ile d'Orleans in an established residence. They occupied
ground number 48 with a land surface of 3 arpents. Today, this ground
carries the civic numbers 1229 and 1233 Chemin Royal in Saint-Jean, Ile
d'Orleans. In 1708, it is mentioned he was working as a boat master.
He was the master of a brigantin called "The Saint-Louis". Upon
a consent and enumeration on 25-Aug-1725, the boat occupied the same ground with
a house, barn, cattle shed and now 50 arpents of arable land. In 1730, in
front of the notary public Pichet, he bequeathed his land to his two sons.
Etienne lived a long life of approximately 80 years and died in the presence of
two of his sons and of Charles Francois Mazunier, missionary of the parish of
Saint-Jean in May of 1739. His wife Marie had passed away two years
earlier. They are buried on ground No. 44 in the parish burial grounds of
Saint-Jean on the Ile d'Orleans.His wife, Marie Conille was the daughter of Pierre Conille and Marie Giton. She was baptized on 27-Sep-1665 in Saint-Nicolas of Rochelle in Aunis, France. She arrived in Nouvelle-France when she was a young girl with her mother where we find on 14-Aug-1669 her mother cancelled a marriage contract in front of the notary public Becquet. Marie's father, Pierre Conille, never came to Nouvelle-France. Marie was married when she was 17 years old. The marriage produced twelve children. She died in July of 1737 in Saint-Jean, Ile d'Orleans, Nouvelle-France.
All family members could not read or write.