Etienne was born in France in 1627. He married Huguette Robert in 1645 at St. Eutrope, Saintes France. Huguette died in 1654.

In the year 1658, his wife dead and his future uncertain, Etienne decided to emigrate from France to New France (Canada) with his son Jean. Etienne promised, for himself and for his son, to live at Trois -Rivieres in the house of Pierre Boucher, the Sieur de Grosbois, and to serve him for three years, in exchange for one hundred eight silver livres for each of the three years. The committment anticipated the return to France of Etienne and Jean at the expense of the employer. At the time this contract was written up, Jean stated that he did not know how to write his name.

At the end of their period of indenture, Etienne and Jean decided to remain in the colony, where they found themselves, without a doubt, more useful than they would in their native country. By 13 September 1662 they were settled at the Cap-de-la-Madeleine, where Father Claude Allouez, in the name of the Jesuit Seigneurs, ceded to Etienne a piece of land. In 1664 Father Jacques Fremin ceded another piece of land to Etienne, and again in 1666 both father and son were ceded property on the edge of the river at Trois-Rivieres, across from the Ile Saint Christophe.

Jean got married at Cap-de-la-Madeleine in 1667. As for Etienne, he continued as a widower for fifteen years. For a while Etienne and Jean were farmers for Nicolas Gastineau-Duplessis, one of the most well known pioneers of the Trois-Rivieres region. In 1670 in recognition of their services, Nicolas gave them his concession at the Cap. Six years later, Etienne and Jean resold to their patron, for the sum of 225 livres, the land that had been ceded to them by the Jesuits in 1664. Shortly after ending their contract of employment with Nicolas Gastineau-Duplessis in 1677, father and son went their seperate ways. Jean settled near Lake Saint Paul, on the south bank of the St Lawrence River across from Cap-de-la-Madeleine, to raise his family.

As for Etienne, undoubtedly a little lost after the marriage of his son who decided to go it alone, he saw nothing better than to ensure food and lodging for himself in his senior years. Therefore, on 3 August 1677, when he found a place at l'Arbre-de-la-Croix, he gave to the seigneur Charles Le Gardeur de Villiers and his wife, the gift of himself to serve them in every way. Five years later, however, he met the young and attractive Marie de Beauregard, and love caused him to change his mind. His good master, understanding an old man's change of heart, set him free. Marie was the widow of Sebastien Langelier. It must have been a difficult first marriage, as there is a record of a lawsuit brought before the Sovereign Council of New France, charging that she led a most scandalous life and "that it would be appropriate to render justice" in the matter. At any rate, Etienne married the 37 year old widow who was already the mother of two sons and two daughters. The couple settled at Pointe-aux-Trembles in Quebec (Neuville), where two other children of Etienne were baptized in 1684 (Jean Baptiste) and 1687 (Louis, who died at two years old). We don't know how much longer Etienne lived. It is probable that he and his second wife were buried in the Quebec region.