Our ancestor Joseph-Jacques Tifault, son of Antoine and Marguerite Moreau, came from Gironde, diocese of Bazas in Guyenne, southeast of Bordeaux, France.

Born around 1658, he arrived in New France around 1684 and married Marie-Anne Haulier L'Écuyer, daughter of Antoine and Anne Rabady, of Batiscan, on January 18, 1687. He died in Batiscan on June 23, 1751, aged 93.

Marie-Anne appears to have been born in Batiscan in 1673. Her father, Antoine L'Écuyer, settled in 1669 in this parish, halfway between the Champlain and Batiscan rivers. Marie-Anne is the first child of Antoine L'Écuyer and Anne Rabady. She died on December 20, 1760, at the age of 87.

We don’t know how Jacques Tifault came to Canada: on which ship and from which seaport. In all likelihood, it was between the Tour de la Chaîne and the Tour de Saint-Nicolas, in La Rochelle, that our ancestor left his native France to settle in New France, around 1684.

It’s also possible that he signed an enlistment contract or joined a militia, since most new arrivals had to serve 36 months of enlistment before settling in New France.

Jacques and Marie-Anne cleared land on the present-day boundaries of Batiscan and Sainte-Geneviève, granted by Pierre Lafond, known as Mongrain, on behalf of Father Pierre Raffeix, procurator of the Jesuit Fathers, who was entrusted with the seigneury of Batiscan. To read the transcription of the notarial deed drawn up by Étienne Véron de Grandmesnil, visit Christine Thiffault's blog, Transcrire son histoire familiale, by clicking here : http://transcriresonhistoirefamiliale.blogspot.ca/2013/04/concession-jacques-tifaux-26-octobre.html.

The founding couple of all the Tifault families in America, Jacques and Marie-Anne had 12 children:

1. Madeleine
2. Antoine
3. Damien, known as Lasavanne
4. Marie-Anne
5. Jacques, known as Despres
6. Élisabeth
7. Joseph-Claude
8. Françoise-Marguerite
9. Charles-François
10. Alexis
11. Marie-Renée
12. Marie-Anne

Some of them had children of their own, and we can help you find out which one is your ancestor. Don't hesitate to contact us!

Sources: original articles by Paul-Émile Thiffault, founder of the association, in the souvenir album Nos vingts ans : 1983-2003 published by Les Tifault d'Amérique Inc. and edited by Denyse Thiffault for the website. Genealogical research by Yvon Thiffault.