Louis Gory and Saint-Christophe

Another surprise while perusing digitized records from 1730s Jacmel available on Family Search is a marriage contract from 1737. In that year, Jacques Begin married Marie Catherine Renard, both of Bainet. Marie Catherine, the daughter of Jacques Renard and Gregoire Godard, was also a niece of Louis Gory. Since we have never found evidence of Louis Gory marrying anyone (although early parish records from Grand-Goave have been lost, so perhaps he was married earlier before moving to Bainet), we assume Gory was perhaps a half-sibling of Jacques Renard or Gregoire Godard. The Godard and Renard connection is no surprise since Gory was the godfather to several children of Renard or Godard parentage in Bainet during the 1720s and 1730s. For instance, in 1738, he was the godfather to the child of Jacques Begin and Marie Catherine Renard. In 1723, he was the godfather to a child of Mathieu Renard. And in 1729, he was the godfather to a child of Jacques Renard and Gregoire Godard, Francoise.

Moreover, an examination of censuses from 17th century Saint-Christophe, where Jacques Renard hailed from, reveals Renard, Godard and Gorry families. In the case of the Gorry, we know Anne, a daughter of Pierre Gorry and Marguerite Moreau, married another Saint-Christophe native in Croix-des-Bouquet in 1704. When she died in 1732, she was said to have been 50 year sold, suggesting she was born around 1681. However, The 1671 census establishes that Pierre Gorry was married to a "mulatto" named Marie, not Marguerite. However, in 1671, this Pierre Gorry had 1 son and 2 daughters (and no slaves or servants), meaning that there may have been another Gorry who married Marguerite Moreau and had Anne before leaving Saint-Christophe for Saint-Domingue. Alternatively, the name may have been miswritten in the 1671 census.

Besides Pierre Gorry appearing in the 1671 census for Saint-Christophe and in the 1690 Roll (his name appears there twice, perhaps one being a son), the Godard and Renard were also on the island. A Pierre Godard appears in the 1671 census, unmarried but with a white servant. Francois Renard likewise appears. While the exact nature of the connection Louis Gory had with the Godard and Renard in Bainet is still unclear, it does appear very likely that their families were connected in Saint-Christophe. Sadly, we are still unsure about any specific African ancestry Louis Gory had, nor can we establish the origins of Marie, the black mother of his sons in Bainet. But the Saint-Christophe connection certainly seems likely based on other colonists in Bainet hailing from there. Similarly, for him to be named as an uncle to the child of Renard and Godard and as godparent to several related children means something. Perhaps Louis was the son of one of the 2 daughters listed in the 1671 census, and due to being illegitimate, he used his mother's surname? But his father may have been a Godard or Renard? Just wild speculating here, but it does all point back to Saint-Christophe.