Michel LeMay was born about 1630 in a village called Chene-Hutte along the Loire River. He arrived in Canada in the early 1650's as a bachelor, possibly with his parents, François LeMay and Marie Gaschet. Their stay in Nouvelle France was brief... for François died in December of 1653 at Cap-de-la-Madeleine, and his wife about two years later at the same place. The LeMays were closely akin to Huguenots, although this family appears to have been Catholic.
First mention of Michel LeMay in Canada was in March of 1655 at a concession of the Ile St. Christophe, a seignory belonging to the Jesuits.
The Jesuits conceded the island to seven colonists: Christophe Crevier, Jacques Butaut, Jacques Brisset, Jean Pacault, Pierre Dandonneau and Michel LeMay.
In June of 1659, Michel LeMay married Marie-Michelle Dutost (Duteau) from LaRochelle, France, who had arrived in Canada in the summer of 1658 with her mother and siblings. This was a Huguenot family escaping the rigors of LaRochelle, at the time. The mother was contracted to work as a servant for Jacques LeNeuf. Marie-Michelle Dutost had contracted to work for a period of three years as a servant for Pierre Denys. The contract was understandedly overlooked as she married Michel LeMay within the year.
The 1666 census indicates Michel LeMay and his family as living in the Trois-Rivières area. Marie Dutost's brother, Jacques was living with them, and they had a domestic (possibly a contract worker) name Pierre living in the household, as well.
Michel lemey - 36 habitant
Marie dutost - 26 sa femme
Charles lemey - 6 fils
Joseph lemey - 5 fils
Marie lemey - 4 fille
Ignace lemey - 1 fils
Jacques dutost - 23 frere de lad. dutost
Et pierre - .20 domestique
Source for the above information is the website: Alberta Family Histories Society. There are two inconsistencies in this census roll: 1) eldest child was named Michel, although he could have the nickname of Charles, 2) the brother listed near the bottom was called Charles dit Jacques according to historian Marcel Trudel.
The census of 1667 showed the Lemays had 4 head of cattle and about 15 acres of land under cultivation. 
Oxen Drinking ...painting by Horatio Walker
In the spring of 1669, Michel LeMay moved his family to Bastican.
In 1672, a new seigneury at Lotbinière was created. The next year Michel LeMay obtained 9 arpents of river frontage. In three years, the LeMays about 17 acres of cleared land. They now had nine horned animals and owned three rifles.
Michel LeMay and Marie-Michelle Dutost eventually had 9 children, 5 sons, three of which were involved in the fur trade: ancestor Michel, Ignace and Pierre. This is a well-known fur-trading family who often received the coveted permits to travel to the Great Lakes on trading expeditions.
Marie-Michelle Dutost died in late in the year of 1675 at the age of 36, leaving behind several young children. As was the custom of the time, Michel LeMay remarried early in 1677 and on the census of 1681, this new family was living in the Lotbinière area. His second marriage was to Michelle Ouinville, herself a widow with children. She had arrived in Canada from Paris, France in 1668 as a fille-du-roi.
At the time of the 1681 census, the oldest son, Michel (child of Marie-Michelle Dutost) was 21. The 14 children included in the census were Barabés and Lemays. The Barabés were the children Michelle Ouinville and Nicolas Barabé.
Michel LeMay had two children with his second wife. The eldest, Antoinette is an ancestor.
For many years, Michel LeMay was an eel fisherman, first as a means of feeding his family, then as an enterprise. He built weirs to take advantage of the tides.
Fishing Nets... painting by Horatio Walker
When Seigneur Chartier offered Michel a concession in Lotbiniere, he included fishing rights in the river in exchange for "sixteenth part of his catch, salted and conditioned." In 1722, Bacqueville de la Potherie wrote that on a single tide one could land as many as 3000 eels. Lemay would put the fish in holding tanks, then salt them down in barrels of 500 eels each. In a good season, the catch would amount to 60-70,000 eels. This "fruit of the sea" was sold for 25 to 30 livres a barrel. In 1679, Jean Lemoyne delivered to the Lemay family, "a windmill with all the parts, ready to grind wheat into flour." Price: 80 livres, or 3 livres per hundred eels. (Source: Thomas J. Laforest from the book Michel Lemay dit Poudrier)
Months after the birth in 1684 of his last son who was called Louis-François LeMay, Michel LeMay died in Lotbinière, PQ.
On the 5th of November, 1685, Michelle Ouinville, the widow of Lemay, married Louis Montenu at Lotbiniere. She died on 20 November 1700 at the age of 60 years. They had no children.
The genealogy of it...
Each indentation indicates another generation, ie: Michel LeMay is the son of Michel LeMay and Marie-Michelle Dutost; Catherine LeMay is the daughter of Michel LeMay and Catherine Jobin, and so on.
A carat (>) indicates there is at least another sibling who is an ancestor, ie: Ignace Gauthier has a brother, Louis Gauthier, who is also an ancestor.
Michel LEMAY and Marie-Michelle DUTOST, m. 6-15-1659 at Cap-de-la-Madeleine, PQ
Michel LEMAY and Catherine JOBIN, m. 4-22-1686 in PQ
Catherine LEMAY and Jean-Baptiste GAUTHIER, m. 11-18-1714 at Ste. Croix, PQ
>Ignace GAUTHIER and Marie-Catherine FAUCHER, m. 6-6-1748 in PQ
Abraham GAUTHIER and Marie-Rosalie MARCOT, m. 4-29-1782 at Cap Santé, PQ
Pierre GAUTHIER and Marie-Josette PICHÉ, m. 2-7-1815 at Cap Santé, PQ
Eleanore GAUTHIER and François PAGÉ, m. 2-10-1835 at Cap Santé, PQ
Adelaïde PAGÉ and Louis LIZOTTE, m. 2-17-1857 at Trois-Rivières, PQ
Sévère (Henri) LIZOTTE and Célina SÉNÉCHAL, m. 2-25-1900 in Fall River, MA
Edward LIZOTTE and Rhea CAMERON m. 6-20-1936 in Attleboro, MA
*
Michel LEMAY and Marie-Michelle DUTOST, m. 6-15-1659 at Cap-de-la-Madeleine, PQ
Michel LEMAY and Catherine JOBIN, m. 4-22-1686 in PQ
Catherine LEMAY and Jean-Baptiste GAUTHIER, m. 11-18-1714 at Ste. Croix, PQ
>Louis GAUTHIER and Marie-Françoise TESSIER, m. 5-19-1765 in PQ
Rose GAUTHIER and Gabriel TURCOTTE, m. 11-15-1790 in Trois-Rivières, PQ
Alexis TURCOTTE and Charlotte PRINCE, m. 7-29-1823 in Nicolet, PQ
Zoël TURCOTTE and Caroline CAMPAGNAS, m. 6-22-1852 in St. Norbert, PQ
Léonise TURCOTTE and Napoléon DARGIE, m. 10-15-1883 in Lewiston, ME
Delia DARGIE and Wilfred CAMERON, m. 10-11-1910 in Attleboro, MA
Rhea CAMERON and Edward LIZOTTE, m. 6-20-1936 in Attleboro, MA
Michel LEMAY and Michelle OUINVILLE, m. 4-12-1677 at Lotbinière, PQ
Antoinette LEMAY and François GIRARD, m. c. 1709 in PQ
Joseph GIRARD and Marie-Anne VANASSE, m. 2-15-1732 at Trois-Rivières, PQ
Marie-Josette GIRARD and Antoine GAUTHIER, m. 2-25-1755 at Trois-Rivières, PQ
Marguerite GAUTHIER and Joseph-Antoine POTHIER, m. 1-7-1794 in PQ
Marie-Zélie POTHIER and Charles CAMIRAND, m. 2-9-1847 at Trois-Rivières, PQ
Ernest CAMIRAND and Mathilde FOURNIER, m. 11-24-1885 in Attleboro, MA
Wilfred CAMERON and Delia DARGIE m. 10-11-1910 in Attleboro, MA
Rhea CAMERON and Edward LIZOTTE m. 6-20-1936 in Attleboro, MA
