Our family's ancestors emigrated from France in 1659, and a few months later, acquired a spot of land 3 arpents wide by 126 arpents deep on the coast of Beaupré, Quebec, in the vicinity of L-Ange-Gardien. The patriarch of the family, a cooper and merchant by trade, paid 120 livres in return for having the land entrusted to him by contract, which later passed down to his eldest son when he died in 1687.
Since information on our family basically stops after said patriarch, I'm looking for any information I can regarding the circumstances of their arrival. It's clear they emigrated as part of a big recruitment campaign in France during 1659 (possibly on the same ship that carried a contagious fever that killed 10 passengers during the voyage and spread to the colony upon docking), but aside from recording their names and dates of baptism, it doesn't look like there's much more to go on.
I'd at least like to know how much money 120 livres represented in that time. Were these guys wealthy, or just on the upper-middle-class side of things?
Also, would knowing the ins-and-outs of buckets, barrels, and washtubs be a valuable skillset to have in that time and location?
What are their names, pray tell?
Odds are you should be able to track them down through Cyprien Tanguay's genealogical dictionary, which is pretty much the go to reference for that time and place. I happen to have roots on the Beaupré coast in that period as well, and once you get the hang of the Tanguay it delivers.
Also, for reference, the standard lot which was given to colonists at that period was 3 x 30 arpents. The property your ancestor acquired sounds like about 4 times the standard property, which would have been quite a lot of land by that measure..