M. 4 Nov 1670 in Quebec City, New France
Husband: Jean Carrier
D. June 1696 in New France
When someone in 17th-century America suffered from emotional or mental illness, often superstition took the place of medicine. Such was the case for a young woman named Barbe Hallé who lived in the colony of New France.
Barbe was born in Chartes, France to Jean-Baptiste Hallé and Mathurine Valet in about 1646. She had at least two sisters and possibly other siblings who were born in France. When Barbe was about nine years-old, her father left for New France, returning three years later to bring his wife and three daughters over to the colony. The family settled in Lauzon, which was across the St. Lawrence River from Quebec City, and added one more child to the family, a boy, born in 1659.
When Barbe came of age, she became a servant in the home of merchant John Maheu and Marguerite Corriveau, listed in their household in the 1666 census. By the following year, though, something happened that caused her to be placed in the care of the Nursing Sisters at Hôtel-Dieu, the hospital in Quebec City. The report on her condition said she was “afflicted at that time by some evil spell or infected by some demon sprite.”
Barbe was “under the guardianship of Mother Catherine de Saint-Augustin,” who was in charge of the hospital. Mother Catherine would one day be canonized as a Catholic saint, but a priest who knew her later claimed that she wasn’t the devout person that she seemed to be, that she was “tormented in visible and external fashion by the devil.” She died not long after Barbe was put in her care. While it isn’t known if this priest was truthful about Mother Catherine, it does show that ideas like this were being offered up to account for a person’s behavior. It's likely that Barbe was diagnosed using the same sort of zealot thinking.
Idealized illustration of Mother Catherine.
What was really wrong with Barbe? We can only speculate, but it was likely emotional stress brought on from adapting to life in the rugged settlement of Lauzon. She also may have found it difficult to work as a servant, and had some conflict with the couple who employed her. There were probably other factors in her life that we can't possibly know. After a time, it was said that Barbé returned to normal, and she was able to take a job at Hôtel-Dieu for a period of perhaps several years. A ledger from January 1671 stated that she was paid 200 livres "for the remainder of her wages" at the hospital.
While at Hôtel-Dieu, Barbe met Jean Carrier, who was also a worker there. Maybe he was an influence in her recovery, because she took up a relationship with him, and they were married at Notre-Dame de Quebec on November 4, 1670. Barbe brought a dowry of “500 livres in silver and furniture,” a good sum of money at the time. The couple settled in Lauzon and between 1671 and 1682, they had four children.
Barbe and Jean seemed to lead a quiet life on their farm. She passed away in June 1696 at the age of 50. It isn't known when Jean died.
Children:
1. Ignace-Phillipe Carrier – B. 5 Sep 1671, Quebec City, New France; d. 3 May 1765, Pointe-de-Lévy, Lauzon, Quebec; M. (1) Perinne Grenet (1672-1709), 16 Jun 1693, Pointe-de-Lévy, Lauzon, New France; (2) Catherine-Rosalie Duquet (1688-1753), 2 Jun 1710, Pointe-de-Lévy, Lauzon, New France
2. Marie-Anne Carrier – B. 16 Jan 1674, Quebec City, New France; M. (1) Pierre Turgeon (~1669-1699), 16 Nov 1695, Pointe-de-Lévy, Lauzon, New France; (2) Louis-Théantre Lemieux, 4 May 1700, Pointe-de-Lévy, Lauzon, New France
3. Charles Carrier – B. 23 Dec 1678, Pointe-de-Lévy, Lauzon, New France; D. 26 Sep 1740, Pointe-de-Lévy, Lauzon, New France; M. Marie Gesseron (1682-1756), Pointe-de-Lévy, Lauzon, New France
4. Jean Carrier – B. 10 Dec 1682, Pointe-de-Lévy, Lauzon, New France; D. 14 Dec 1749, Pointe-de-Lévy, Lauzon, Quebec; M. Jeanne Samson (1681-1758), 15 Apr 1705, New France
Sources:
Généalogie du Quebec et d’Amérique française (website)
Our French-Canadian Ancestors, Gerard Lebel (translated by Thomas J. Laforest), 1990
