http://genforum.genealogy.com/gobeil/messages/16.html

Hi Sylvia,
I know my name does not reflect anything to do with Gobeils, however my wife is Jeanne Francis Gobeil.

I have been working on the Gobeil Family Tree and found your
comments and thought I could provide some insight.

Laurent Gobeil published a book in 1985 -
"Les Gobeil de l'Anse -a- Benjamin" The Gobeils of the Bay of Benjamin. I do not speak or read French, but a relative of Jeanne received a copy and translated some of it into English, which has been the basis of my information...

If you would like more information than what I am pasting here, please e-mail me at PMCOONA@AOL.COM. I have a 40 page PDF file that I can send you if you would like.

Regards,
Pat

France in the time of 1500-1600 saw many ongoing insurrections and battles. One such battle
took place in the city/port of La Rochelle which was a stronghold of the Huegenots in 1628. The
city of Niort, a few miles inland of La Rochelle was hevealy damaged as well. Niort in the
Province of Poitou, is the birthplace of Jean Gobeil, grandson of Michael Gobeil, about the year
1624.
The wars came with a great financial burden to the country of France and the costs were of
course passed on to the public in the form of higher taxes. The wars had devasted a great part of
the western French provinces and they never recovered their prosperity. The newly found
colony in Quebec in New France had many advantages to offer to depressed people. In the
Spring of 1665, Jean Gobeil, his wife Jeanne Guiet, and their four daughters overcame their fears
of the hardships of the voyage, the life in New France, and the Indian horror stories and set sail
for a new life in Quebec.
Thus began the journey of Gobeil's to Canada and eventually to Minnesota. When the Gobeil
family arrived in Quebec City, Quebec in the summer or early fall of 1665 they looked for a home
and livelihood. Jean found a farm and rented it for 5 years. The farm was located were the small
river Saulte-a-la-Puce enters the St. Lawrence River, on the Beaupre Coast, in the locality of
Chateau-Richer, Quebec.
Life was good here and three more children were born to the Gobeil's. One son Barthelemy was
the first of four Barthelemys to carry on the Gobeil name. There were several different spellings
of Gobeil over the years and at times appeared as Gobaille, Gobille, Gobeille, and even Gobiel.
All pronounced in French as Gaa-bay. Gobeil is the accepted form in Canada, France, and USA
today. Seems that all Gobeils in US and Canada may be direct descendants of Jean and Jeanne
Gobeil as no other records of Gobeils coming from France have been found...
In the fall of 1669 Jean and his son-in-law Robert Villancourt purchased land on the Isle of
Orleans in the midst of the St. Lawrence River across from the Beaupre Coast. The land was
along a small river called Pot-au-Beurre, on the North side of the island in the Parish of St.
Famille. It was on this farm that Jean and Jeanne gave birth to their last child.
After 10 years on this farm, Jean decided to purchase a new farm on the South side of the Isle of
Orleans. The new farm was in the Parish of St. Jean where another small river flows into the St.
Lawrence, the River La Fleur. Jean's son Barthelemy I purchased this farm in 1695 and built a
home in 1697 that still stands. Barthelemy I married Anne Dionne in 1697 and they were the
parents of 8 children.
In order to simplify I will only mention here the direct ancestors of the Gobeils that came to
Minnesota, however more details and much of the information I am presenting here is from a
booklet written by James Ryan entitled Gobeil - The Earliest Ancestors.
Gobeils to America
2
Barthelemy II was one of the eight children of Barthelemy I and Anne Dionne, born in 1700. He
married Marguerite Thivierge, at St. Jean's Parish in 1727. They were the parents of 6.
Barthelemy III born about 1734 married Marie Rose Dorval. They had 5 children, one of which
was Barthelemy IV born about 1766 On the Isle of Orleans.
Barthelemy IV left the family homestead in 1783 and traveled about 75 miles down the St.
Lawrence to an area of La Malbaie, Quebec. He met and married Marie Anne Victoire Tremblay
June 25th, 1792 and they had 12 children. Eucher Gobeil was born April 4th, 1804. He married
Genevieve Bouchard January 9th, 1827 and they had 11 children.
In 1845 Eucher headed out for the newly opened Saguenay region of Quebec settling in the small
Bay of Benjamin, in the larger Bay of Ha! Ha! off the River Saguenay near the city of La Baie
close to the township of Laterriere. This is the farmstead where Joseph Nil Gobeil was born July
4th, 1839 and raised.
Joseph Nil married Josepine Pepin dit Lachance January 7th, 1862. In the summer of 1874 Joseph
Nil, his wife Josephine and 6 children left the area around Laterriere where two of their children
had been buried to start a new life. Some new land opened to settlement in the southern region of
the Province of Quebec in the village of La Patrie, this was their destination.
Joseph's Uncle, Etienne Gobeil, had previously setteled in the La Patrie area in 1870 and greeted
Joseph and his family when they arrived. Joseph-Nil and Josephine had three more children born
to them in Canton Ditton near La Patrie, Quebec. After the death of their youngest daughter in
1878, the Joseph-Nil Gobeil family with 8 surviving children left their home country and home of
their ancestors for over 200 years. They headed for the frontier of St. Paul, MN.
Joseph Nil Gobeil was the 7th generation of French Canadians, his 11 children, all born in the
Province of Quebec are of the 8th generation of Gobeils.
Written by:
Pat Coonan
Husband of Jeanne Frances Gobeil, 10th generation of Gobeils.
Credit for the research and documentation surrounding the Gobeils is to be given to
James Ryan (10th generation of Gobeils) and his wife Joan Gleason in co-operation with work
done by John A. Gobeil (9th generation), and Laurent Gobeil (9th generation) as documented in
Jim's booklet entitled Gobeil - The Earliest Ancestors .
Descendants of Michael Gobeil
1 Michael Gobeil b: Abt. 1565
.... +Vincente Benoit
..... 2 Pierre Gobeil b: Abt. 1595
........... +Catherine Chaigneau
............ 3 Jean Gobeil aka: Jean Gobeille b: Abt. 1624 in Niort, France (Province of Poitou) d: February 26,
1697/98 in Quebec, Canada - Isle of Orleans, Parish of St. Jean
.................. +Jeanne Guyet aka: Jeanne Guiet b: Abt. 1634 in Niort, France (Province of Poitou) m: April 14,
1654 in Niort, France (Province of Poitou) d: Aft. 1697 in Quebec, Canada - Isle of Orleans, Parish
of St. Jean
................... 4 Marie Francoise Gobeil b: Abt. 1655 in Niort, France (Province of Poitou) d: November 26,
1736 in Isle of Orleans, Quebec
......................... +Robert Vaillancourt b: October 03, 1644 in Normandy, France m: September 30, 1668 in
Chateau-Richer
................... 4 Francoise Gobeil b: Abt. 1656 in Niort, France (Province of Poitou) d: February 24, 1715/16 in
Isle of Orleans, Quebec
......................... +Philippe Paquet dit Pasquier b: 1641 m: June 12, 1669 in Chateau-Richer, Quebec
................... 4 Marie Genevieve Gobeil b: April 02, 1659 in Niort, France (Province of Poitou) d: February 24,
1715/16 in Isle of Orleans, Quebec
......................... +Pierre Hudon m: July 13, 1676 in Quebec City, Quebec - Notre Dame
................... 4 Jeanne Angelique Gobeil b: 1663 in Niort, France (Province of Poitou)
......................... +Pierre Phillippe m: 1679
................... *2nd Husband of Jeanne Angelique Gobeil:
......................... +Louis Prat m: July 30, 1691
................... 4 Catherine Gobeil b: March 26, 1666 in Chateau-Richer, Quebec d: February 11, 1702/03
................... 4 Barthelemy Gobeil I b: Abt. April 21, 1668 in Chateau-Richer, Quebec d: February 07, 1723/24
in Quebec, Canada - Isle of Orleans, Parish of St. Jean Burial: Quebec, Canada - Isle of Orleans,
Parish of St. Jean
......................... +Anne Dionne b: September 13, 1676 in Isle of Orleans, Quebec m: August 19, 1697 in Quebec,
Canada - Isle of Orleans, Parish - Ste. Famille
.......................... 5 Marie Catherine Gobeil b: 1698
.......................... 5 Barthelemy Gobeil II b: 1700 in Isle of Orleans, Quebec - Parish of St. Famille
................................ +Marguerite Thiverge m: November 17, 1727 in Ile d'Orleans, Quebec - St. Jeans
.................................. 6 Marie Madeleine Gobeil b: in Ile d'Orleans, Quebec
.................................. 6 Marguerite Gobeil b: in Ile d'Orleans, Quebec
.................................. 6 Barthelemy Gobeil III b: Abt. 1734 in Ile d'Orleans, Quebec d: 1820 in Isle d'Orleans,
Quebec
........................................ +Marie Rose Dorval b: Abt. 1736 m: November 26, 1764 in Isle d'Orleans, Quebec -
St. Pierre d: 1811
......................................... 7 Barthelemy Gobeil IV b: Abt. 1766 in Isle d'Orleans, Quebec d: March 16, 1819 in
La Malbaie, Quebec
............................................... +Marie Anne Victoire Tremblay b: Abt. July 09, 1771 in d'Ile-aux-Coudres,
Quebec m: June 25, 1792 in Isle of Coudres, Quebec - Curch of St. Louis d: 1848
................................................ 8 Victoire Gobeil b: 1793 in La Malbaie, Quebec
................................................ 8 Marie Gobeil b: 1796 in La Malbaie, Quebec
...................................................... +Nicolas Pilote m: March 13, 1818 in La Malbaie, Quebec
................................................ 8 Felicite Gobeil b: 1798 in La Malbaie, Quebec