PEPINS in the History of TROIS-RIVIERES

Without the Pepins, the first few decades of life in Trois-Rivieres would have been quite different. Three noted historians and genealogists, Tanguay, Sulte and Bellemare, all claim that Guillaume PEPIN dit Tranchemontagne was present at the founding of the town in 1634. Though this assertion is not based on known documents, it is based in studied knowledge of the times and the society existent in that year.

"What is certain however, is that a man named Jean PEPIN, about whom we know almost nothing, lived in the early Trois-Rivieres in 1643. On 15 June of that year, his name was entered in the civil records as a Godfather. On 7 May 1658, we find his signature in a contract by notary Severin Ameau, and on 11 July 1660, his name was again mentioned in the official report of the local Provost.


PEPIN: ANCIENT FRENCH ROYALTY

Pepin is a name from the oldest of French nobility. Pepin de Landen (the Old), lived in the XII century; he was the father of Grimoald, ancestor of the Carolingians, whose dynasty produced twelve Kings for the French.

Pepin d'Heristal, grandson of Pepin de Landen, was Duke of the Austrasiens, a people living in the eastern part of France.

Pepin the Short was famous for his warlike actions, and even now is the best known of all. A powerful man, a born equestrian, he led his men to vistory over the Aquitans, the Alamans, the Bavarois and the Saxons. After uniting the Kingdom by military might, he was crowned by Saint Boniface, apostle of the Germains.

Are the Canadian PEPIN family members descendants of the old PEPIN Kings of France? We will never really know. There are too many years between us and the truth of it, too few family records beyond those kept by the nobility.