In 1647 the
Company of New France, or Company of One Hundred Associates (Compagnie des Cent-Associés) as it was more commonly known, sold two
fiefs to Nicolas Marsolet and Pierre Lefebvre on the shores of the
Saint-Lawrence River and the
Gentilly River. In 1668 Pierre Lefebvre gave his
fief title to his son-in-law Félix Thunès (Sieur Dufresne) who held it until 1669 when it was to Michel Pelletier (Sieur de Laprade). The same year Pelletier got Intendant Bouterouse to grant him a parcel of land bordering Nicolas Marsolet's fief. In 1671 Marsolet also sold his fief to Michel Pelletier, who now owned a parcel of land along about of coastline on the Saint Lawrence and reached inland. This was the land on which Gentilly would be established. In 1683, these three land concessions gained the status "seigneurie des Poissons". The Seigneurie de Gentilly was surveyed in March 1735, and the territory then became a
parish in 1784. The town was named
Saint-Édouard-de-Gentilly after
Gentilly, Val-de-Marne, in France. On 10 April 1900, the parish of Saint-Édouard-de-Gentilly was broken up, and the town became an independent village, taking on the shorter name of Gentilly. On 17 October 1965 Gentilly was merged into the municipality of Bécancour and has been part of it since. ==Notable people==