The ‘raison principale‘ for our trip to Quebec City was to visit the site where Jeff’s family ancestors first came over from France. The ‘Furnia’ name is the anglicized version of the original French ‘Fournier’.
It turns out that one Guillaume (French for William) Fournier (1623-1699) came to the then ‘New France’ and settled near what is now Quebec City in 1634. He married Francoise Hébert, the granddaughter of Louis Hébert, considered to be the first permanent European settler and agricultural pioneer in Canada. Their families are recognized as part of the first settlers of Quebec, and Guillaume is the first known Fournier ancestor in North America.
We found a statue of Louis Hébert in Montmorency Park downtown and on it is a plaque of the first settlers, including Guillaume! Pretty cool.
I can’t wait to do more exploring regarding my family history. Fun stuff.
