Documents
28 acts, 1681 to 1850, in the hand of the clerks who wrote them, and 1 record of a search that found nothing.
The acts themselves. Every one of these was read before anything on this site was written from it, and each is reproduced here with the reference that will take you to the original.
A search that found nothing: the Mayet baptisms, 1681 and 1682
1681 and 1682 · Mayet, Sarthe
Rene the elder was about twenty-five in 1706 and about seventy-two in 1754, so he was born in 1681 or 1682. This is the Mayet index for exactly those two years, both columns, boys and girls. Every name has been read here and not one of them is Courteau, Courtien or Hunot. A Perrine Trouillet is there, and a Pierre Martineau, so the page is legible and those families were about; this one was not. It is published because a search that finds nothing is still a result, and the next person should not have to repeat it.
The person Rene Courteau (living 1706)
Archives departementales de la Sarthe, Mayet, Tables BMS, 1MI 1028 R1, image 85
Baptism of Marie Metaireau
1687 · Coulonge, Sarthe
The page holding the baptism of Marie Metaireau, a daughter of Jean Meterreau and Marie Renard. She married Rene Courteau in 1706 and is the mother named in act after act for the next half century, down to her son Jean's marriage at Sarce in 1741. The entry has been read in the archive viewer rather than here; the page is published so it can be checked.
Archives departementales de la Sarthe, Coulonge BMS 1598-1695 (suite), 1MI 1026 R1, image 165
Twin daughters of Marguerite Courteau
1688 · Coulonge, Sarthe
The first entry names Magdelaine and Louise, twin daughters of Vincent Trouillet and Marguerite Courteau, with a Noel Courteau as godfather. Marguerite is very likely a sister of Rene the elder: her son Etienne is called Rene's cousin in the marriage act of 1706. The Noel here shares a name with the Noel Courtien whose daughter married at Aubigne in 1746, though nothing read so far connects them.
Archives departementales de la Sarthe, Coulonge BMS 1598-1695 (suite), 1MI 1026 R1, image 167
Burial of Marguerite Courteau
22 February 1695 · Coulonge, Sarthe
Third entry on the right page. "Marguerite Courteau femme de Vincent Trouillet aagee de quarante ans." Forty in 1695 means born about 1655. She is the mother of the twins baptised in 1688, and her son Etienne is called cousin to the groom at the 1706 marriage, which is what makes her very likely a sister of Rene the elder. No act says so, and she is not placed in the family tree.
The person Rene Courteau (living 1706)
Archives departementales de la Sarthe, Coulonge BMS 1598-1695 (suite), 1MI 1026 R1, image 197
Marriage of Rene Courteau and Marie Metaireau
4 May 1706 · Coulonge, Sarthe
He twenty-five, a son of Rene Courteau and the late Marthe Hanot; she nineteen, a daughter of the late Jean Metaireau and Marie Regnard. He signed his own name. His father and his brother Jacques stood with him, and Etienne Trouillet, called his cousin. Their children are named in act after act for the next thirty-five years.
The person Rene Courteau (living 1706), Rene Courteau (about 1682 to 1754), Jacques Courteau
Archives departementales de la Sarthe, Coulonge BMS 1696-1752, 1MI 1026 R2, image 87
Baptism and burial of Francois Courteau
4 and 10 October 1708 · Coulonge, Sarthe
A son of Rene Courteau and Marie Metaireau who lived six days. He is not the Francois Courtien of Aubigne who married Perrine Robin: that man's daughter was thirty in 1746, so he was born before about 1695.
The person Rene Courteau (about 1682 to 1754)
Archives departementales de la Sarthe, Coulonge BMS 1696-1752, 1MI 1026 R2, image 108
Baptism of Jean Courteau
8 February 1710 · Coulonge, Sarthe
"Jean fils de Rene Courteau et de Marie Metaireau sa femme." The oldest act for the man who carried the line to Sarce. Neither parent could sign.
The person Jean Courtien (1710 to before 1800)
Archives departementales de la Sarthe, Coulonge BMS 1696-1752, 1MI 1026 R2, image 126
A Coulonge Courteau signing Courtien
1711 · Coulonge, Sarthe
Joseph Courteau, aged over sixty and not known to be related to this family, marries Jeanne Martineau. The priest wrote Courteau; he signed "joseph courtien". Thirty years before Jean reached Sarce, the two spellings were already one name in this parish.
Archives departementales de la Sarthe, Coulonge BMS 1696-1752, 1MI 1026 R2, image 137
Baptism of Pierre Courteau
17 December 1712 · Coulonge, Sarthe
Jean's younger brother. The act gives their father's trade: "rene courteau vigneron".
The person Pierre Courteau (1712 to 1739)
Archives departementales de la Sarthe, Coulonge BMS 1696-1752, 1MI 1026 R2, image 155
Baptism of Charles Courteau
November 1715 · Coulonge, Sarthe
"Charles fils de Rene Courteau et de Marie Metaireau sa femme." The Charle present at the Aubigne marriage of 1738.
The person Charles Courteau (born 1715)
Archives departementales de la Sarthe, Coulonge BMS 1696-1752, 1MI 1026 R2, image 192
Marriage of Rene Courteau at Aubigne
3 June 1738 · Aubigne, Sarthe
The act that joins the two parishes. "Rene Courteau fils de Rene Courteau et de deffunte Marie Metaireau" marries Anne Hurteloup. His father was present and signed the register "R courtien" while the priest wrote Courteau. His brothers Pierre and Charles were there; something written after "ses freres" has been struck through and cannot be read. The parents named here are the same pair named at Jean's baptism in 1710 and at Jean's marriage in 1741.
The person Rene Courteau (1707 to after 1750)
Archives departementales de la Sarthe, Aubigne BMS 1717-1739, 1MI 1025 R3, image 313
Baptism of Rene Charles Magdelon Courteau
8 March 1739 · Aubigne, Sarthe
A son of Rene Courteau, "bordager des Chaussees", and Anne Hurteloup. He is very likely the young Rene Courteau who came over from Aubigne in 1758 to stand godfather at Sarce, where the priest called him cousin paternel.
The person Rene Charles Magdelon Courteau (born 1739)
Archives departementales de la Sarthe, Aubigne BMS 1717-1739, 1MI 1025 R3, image 329
Burial of Pierre Courteau
25 July 1739 · Aubigne, Sarthe
Jean's younger brother, dead at about twenty-five. "Rene Courteau pere, Rene Courteau fils" were present. He had stood at his brother's marriage thirteen months earlier.
The person Pierre Courteau (1712 to 1739)
Archives departementales de la Sarthe, Aubigne BMS 1717-1739, 1MI 1025 R3, image 334
Marriage of Jean Courtien and Madeleine Martineau
February 1741 · Sarce, Sarthe
The margin reads "jean courtien" plainly. The body does not: the surname there is hard to resolve. He is given as thirty or thereabouts, of the parish of Aubigne, with a certificate from that cure, and she as about twenty, a daughter of Jacques Martineau and Magdelaine Royer.
The person Jean Courtien (1710 to before 1800)
Archives departementales de la Sarthe, Sarce BMS 1700-1750, 1MI 1029 R2, image 319
Two Courtien marriages at Aubigne
19 July and 1 August 1746 · Aubigne, Sarthe
Both entered under Courtien, in the priest's own hand. On the left, Magdelaine Courtien, forty-five, daughter of the late Noel Courtien. On the right, Catherine Courtien, thirty, daughter of the late Francois Courtien and Perrine Robin, attended by her mother, her brother Jacque, her sister Anne and "Rene Courtien son oncle". Three Courtien households in one parish, and the 1746 act makes them kin. How Noel and Francois join this line has not been shown, so they are not in the family tree.
Archives departementales de la Sarthe, Aubigne BMS 1740-1756, 1MI 1025 R3, image 118
A marriage at Aubigne where the priest writes Courtien
2 June 1750 · Aubigne, Sarthe
Michel Fouquere marries Magdelaine Hurteloup. The priest writes "Rene Courtien son beau-frere et Rene Courtien son neveu", and a witness, "Jean Courtien", signs it himself. By 1750 the parish was writing Courtien outright, with no Courteau in the act at all.
The person Rene Courteau (1707 to after 1750), Jean Courtien (1710 to before 1800)
Archives departementales de la Sarthe, Aubigne BMS 1740-1756, 1MI 1025 R3, image 211
Marriage of Anne Courtien
30 January 1753 · Aubigne, Sarthe
The last act on the page. "Anne Courtien fille majeure de deffunct Francois Courtien et de Perrine Robin", with her brother Jacque present and, among her brothers-in-law, Etienne Le Houx, who had married her sister Catherine seven years before. That is what ties the two marriages to one household.
Archives departementales de la Sarthe, Aubigne BMS 1740-1756, 1MI 1025 R3, image 269
Burial of Rene Courtien, the act that settles the descent
27 September 1754 · Aubigne, Sarthe
Fourth entry on the left page. "Le corps de Rene Courtien decede d'hyer age d'environ soixante douze ans... en presence de Rene, Charles, et Jean les Courtiens ses fils, et de Marie, et Francoise Courtien ses filles." The only person at the graveside who could write signed it, and the signature reads "jean courtien". This names Jean as a son of Rene and a brother of Rene and Charles, which is what every other act had left to inference.
The person Rene Courteau (about 1682 to 1754), Jean Courtien (1710 to before 1800)
Archives departementales de la Sarthe, Aubigne BMS 1740-1756, 1MI 1025 R3, image 303
Baptism of Marie Magdelaine Courtien
7 January 1758 · Sarce, Sarthe
Her godfather is "Rene Courteau garcon cousin paternel de la paroisse d'Aubigne". One of the two acts that make the Aubigne family first cousins of Jean's children.
The person Marie Magdelaine Courtien (born 1758)
Archives departementales de la Sarthe, Sarce BMS 1751-1792, 1MI 1029 R2, image 59
Baptism of Francoise Courtien
27 August 1761 · Sarce, Sarthe
Her godmother is "Anne Courtien cousine germaine", and the priest writes the family name Courtien this time. The second of the two cousin acts.
The person Francoise Courtien (born 1761)
Archives departementales de la Sarthe, Sarce BMS 1751-1792, 1MI 1029 R2, image 86
Baptism of Michel Courtien
9 September 1763 · Sarce, Sarthe
"A ete batise michel courtien fils legitime de jean et de madelaine martineau". His godfather was a Michel Tertrain, two generations before his grandson married a Marie Tertrain. This act is what disproved the widely copied tree giving his father as Jean the brother.
The person Michel Courtien (1763 to 1841)
Archives departementales de la Sarthe, parish register 1751-1792, 1MI 1029 R2, view 110 · archive
Birth of Michel Courtien
4 September 1807 · Sarce, Sarthe
Born at nine in the evening and registered the next day by his father, a farmer of the village. The first witness is Jean Courtien, fifty, a farmer of Sarce: the uncle whose name has misled every compiled tree since.
The person Michel Courtien (1807 to after 1871)
Archives departementales de la Sarthe, 5Mi 362_4-5, view 122, act 15 · archive
Birth of Auguste Ferdinand Courtien
18 January 1836 · Sarce, Sarthe
A son of Michel's first marriage, to Adelaide Legeay, and so Paul's half-brother. Michel gives his trade here as marchand. His own father, Michel, stood as a witness at seventy-five.
The person Auguste Ferdinand Courtien (born 1836)
Archives departementales de la Sarthe, 5Mi 362_7, act 4 · archive
Marriage of Michel Courtien and Marie Tertrain
10 May 1839 · Sarce, Sarthe
He thirty-one, born at Sarce 5 September 1807, a tisserand, a widower of Adelaide Louise Legeay who died in April 1838. His parents Michel Courtien and Anne Fontenay consented before a notary at Mayet.
The person Michel Courtien (1807 to after 1871)
Archives departementales de la Sarthe, 5Mi 362_8-9, view 52, act 4 · archive
The same marriage, and its signatures
10 May 1839 · Sarce, Sarthe
Marie Tertrain, twenty-five, born at Sarce 10 April 1814, daughter of Michel Tertrain and Marie Desnos. Among the witnesses her grandfather Michel Tertrain, seventy-two. Both bride and groom signed.
The person Michel Courtien (1807 to after 1871)
Archives departementales de la Sarthe, 5Mi 362_8-9, view 53, act 4 · archive
Death of Michel Courtien
30 April 1841 · Sarce, Sarthe
Reported by his son Michel, thirty-three, and by Julien Richard, forty-four, of Coulonge, a nephew. The father's name is written Charle here, which the baptism and the marriage show to be a slip for Jean.
The person Michel Courtien (1763 to 1841)
Archives departementales de la Sarthe, 5Mi 362_8-9, views 241-242, act 8 · archive
Birth of Ariste Jean Baptiste Courtien
24 June 1842 · Sarce, Sarthe
Born at two in the afternoon. This act settles his year: his Paris death certificate of 1908 gave his age as sixty, which would have put his birth in 1848. He was sixty-six. Paul later named a son Hippolyte Ariste after him.
The person Ariste Jean Baptiste Courtien (1842 to 1908)
Archives departementales de la Sarthe, 5Mi 362_7, act 9 · archive
Birth of Paul Ambroise Courtien
4 April 1847 · Sarce, Sarthe
The man who crossed to Montreal. Born at seven in the evening and registered the next morning by his father, forty, a farmer of the village. His mother Marie Tertrain was thirty-three.
The person Paul Ambroise Courtien (1847 to 1901)
Archives departementales de la Sarthe, 5Mi 362_7, view 95, act 4 · archive
Birth of Justine Courtien
1 September 1850 · Sarce, Sarthe
Born at ten in the morning, her father then forty-three. Witnessed by her uncles Louis Tertrain, twenty-seven, a stonecutter, and Alexis Tertrain, twenty-nine, a farrier of Aubigne. With Paul's act, this proves the two were full brother and sister.
The person Justine Courtien (1850 to 1905)
Archives departementales de la Sarthe, 5Mi 362_7, view 115, act 5 · archive
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A note on these images
The documents are public records, and the oldest of them are more than two hundred and fifty years old. The photographs of them belong to the archives that digitised them, and are shown here for family and study, which those archives permit. Anyone wanting them for anything else should go to the archive named under each one.
Images: Archives departementales de la Sarthe, with Archives d'Indre-et-Loire, Archives de Paris and the United States National Archives, reproduced here for non-commercial family history. Commercial reuse of the Sarthe images requires the archive's permission and a fee.
