Louis was part of the group of men who would be paid 225 livres money of France (100 livres money of New France). This _may_ indicate he was scheduled to return that fall of 1701. I can document the return to the mother colony of some of the men but not him. Others were paid 300 livres money of France (200 of New France), and still others on different contracts were to be paid salaries, varying in amount, to serve as commis (clerk), interpreter, gardener, etc. (Notary A. Adhémar, photocopies from ANQ)
Louis's cousin François Fafard dit Delorme was also hired, on 28 May 1701, on a separate contract as interpreter of the Ottawa language for 500 livres de France a year and eventually became a long-time resident of Fort Pontchartrain, joined there later by his wife, Madeleine Jobin. Their brother, Jean Fafard dit Maconce, is not documented there, having probably died before 1701, but his wife, Marguerite Couc dite Lafleur de Cognac, her second husband, Michel Massé, and the Fafard dits Maconce children are documented in the registers of Ste-Anne du Détroit beginning about 1707.
I've written about the early years of Detroit to 1706 in _Michigan's Habitant Heritage_, the journal of the French Canadian Heritage Society of Michigan, since 1999. My sources are original documents, not the partial and sometimes inaccurate accounts you will find in the standard published sources. I was proud to be there in Hart Plaza when the plaque was dedicated in May of 2002. I descend from Etiennette Fafard, Madame Pierre Boivin, Louis's sister, and also directly from other members of the original convoys to Detroit.
You can order a copy of the 1701 hiring contract, Marché pour le détroit pour le roy, 28 May 1701, Antoine Adhémar, from the Montréal branch of the Archives Nationales du Québec.
Suzanne Boivin Sommerville
As a follow-up to my previous post, I want to thank you for asking about Louis Fafard Longval of the 1701 convoy. Writing the details of the 27 May 1701 contract reminded me of why I have a question mark in my copy of Jetté next to his assigning this contract to Louis Fafard sieur de Longval, bourgeois merchant, husband of Marie Lucos.
You should know that the assembly of the names for the plaque, at the initiative of Gail Moreau-DesHarnais, editor, was a long and involved process, beginning about 1998, and including some visits to the archives for copies of documents. Jetté is the one who identifies the hired man of this contract with Louis, the father. I do not know whether Jetté ever saw the signature on the contract. The plaque itself simply gives the name.
This morning I spent some time at the Family History Center trying to find an example of Louis Fafard dit Longval, the father, signing anything in the registers of Trois-Rivières with the name Longval or Lonval. Every signature I found, including his remarriage at Batiscan, has him signing Louis fafard in a very distinctive signature.
I also found the burial of "Louis Lonval" in March of 1703, age about 27, after receiving all the sacraments. Only the priest signed the record. This appears to be the son of Louis Fafard and Marie Lucas, bapt. 19 May 1675, according to Jetté.
It makes more sense to me that a 26 year-old would accept the terms indicated on the 1701 contract than would an established bourgeois merchant, often called on the surviving records "sieur de Longval".
Unless I can find a signature by Louis, the father, with the name "Longval" or "Lonval". I'll have to believe that it was the son, not the father, who came to Detroit.
A similar mis-identification has been made for François Frigon. Some writers say he was part of the 1701 convoy to Detroit, but it is his son Jean-François Frigon who signed the record: j. f. frigon. I have examples of both father's and son's signatures, including one document both signed.
Sorry to mislead you in my earlier message. Then again, it may turn out it was Louis Fafard dit Longval, the father. I'm just not satisfied it is at this point. You would still have an x-generation uncle present in the convoy.
It is still possible to speak of "Louis's cousin François Fafard dit Delorme", as I did in the earlier post, but Jean Fafard dit Maconce is a brother only François Fafard dit Delorme.
Suzanne