Transitions: From France to the St. Lawrence Valley
Chapter 4 of 11
My own belief then is that Gabriel Picard’s branch of the family was originally either from Normandy or Picardy (Picardie) or perhaps Wallonia in what is now Belgium. We are part of a French “tribe” which spoke one of the Oil languages, regional dialects related to French. Many people in Northern France and Southern Belgium still speak a dialect or patois self-styled as chti, chtimi or rouche or labeled informally as “Picard” after the ancient French province of Picardie.
Gabriel
I label Gabriel Picard “The Wanderer Who Stayed Behind.” We really know little of Gabriel Picard at this point other than that he lived and worked in Nantes, France. He was probably a skilled artisan and most likely worked with wood as did his son Hugues. Gabriel married Michelle Clavier c. 1631. He likely died before 1660. His wife, Michelle died in June of 1660.
Gabriel Picard was likely born about 1597 and lived and died in the small village of St. Colombin (en-Marche) du Pont James, near Nantes, which was then the capital of Brittany (Bretagne) and is now in the Loire-Atlantique region of France. He was a member of a Northern French “tribe” named picard.
