M. (1) 21 Nov 1643 in Quebec City, New France
Husband: Jean LeBlanc
M. (2) 22 Feb 1663 in Quebec City, New France
Husband: Elie Dussault dit Lafleur
D. 30 Sep 1689 in Quebec City, New France
Madeleine-Euphrosine Nicolet was one of the first people in what is now Canada who was of a mixed European and Native American heritage. She was born in about 1628 at the village of her mother, located near Lake Nipissing, in present-day Ontario. Her father was a French adventurer named Jean Nicolet, who was later the first European in Wisconsin.
Jean Nicolet had been sent to the interior of the fledgling colony in order to form good relations with the Huron tribes. This was part of an effort by Samuel de Champlain to secure his settlement at Quebec by paying respect to the indigenous people who might otherwise use violence against the French. Of the handful of young men who went on the mission, Nicolet had great success; it was said that he lived in the Nipissing tribe’s camp for about 8 years. He learned their language, traded with them, and lived with a Nipissing woman as his wife, fathering a child, Madeleine-Euphrosine.
The Nipissing tribe, which represented half of Madeleine-Euphrosine’s hertiage, were said to be a semi-nomadic people; each fall they traveled south to fish and hunt for their food for the winter. They weren’t “warlike,” and many were receptive to the teachings of French missionaries during the 1600s. Nipissings were known as traders, which ties in with why Nicolet was embedded with them. The goods they dealt were fur and fish in return for corn grown by the Hurons, then they traded all of these items with the French for European goods. Their trade network stretched from Hudson’s Bay in the north to the Winnebago tribe to the south. The Nipissings were also known for their spiritual ceremonies, and they were said to practice “black magic.”
A man of the Nipissing tribe.
During the late 1630s, Madeleine-Euphrosine was brought to a Jesuit mission at a place called Sillery, about 5 miles west of Quebec City. St-Joseph Mission was founded in 1637 for the purpose of converting indigenous people to Christianity; people from several tribes lived there in small buildings and huts made of bark. The earliest record of Madeleine-Euphrosine was on January 18, 1642, when she was godmother to a Native American named Elisabeth. Some have speculated that the baptism was of her own mother, but it’s not known if she was ever at the mission, or if she was still living.
While Madeleine-Euphrosine seemed to be at the mission, Nicolet married a French woman in Quebec and had two children with her. Unfortunately, he drowned in a boating accident at Sillery in October of 1642. After she lost her father, Madeleine-Euphrosine remained at Quebec, and on November 21, 1643, she married a Frenchman named Jean LeBlanc. The couple made their home in Quebec City; Madeleine-Euphrosine gave birth to five children between 1648 and 1660, but three of them died young. Then Jean was apparently killed by the Iroquois in 1662.
While Madeleine-Euphrosine seemed to be at the mission, Nicolet married a French woman in Quebec and had two children with her. Unfortunately, he drowned in a boating accident at Sillery in October of 1642. After she lost her father, Madeleine-Euphrosine remained at Quebec, and on November 21, 1643, she married a Frenchman named Jean LeBlanc. The couple made their home in Quebec City; Madeleine-Euphrosine gave birth to five children between 1648 and 1660, but three of them died young. Then Jean was apparently killed by the Iroquois in 1662.
Madeleine-Euphrosine's signature on her 1643 marriage contract.
Madeleine-Euphrosine was widowed again with the death of her second husband by 1680, who seems to have drowned in the river. She sold her house in July of the following year, and died at Hôtel-Dieu in Quebec on September 30, 1689. Even though only three of her children produced children of their own, Madeleine-Euphrosine left a large number of descendants, with an estimated 1.5 to 1.9 million living today. She was the ancestor of Leo Durocher.
Children by Jean LeBlanc:
1. Jacques LeBlanc — B. 13 Jul 1648, Quebec City, New France; D. Nov 1669, New France
2. Marie-Madeleine LeBlanc — B. 15 Jul 1652, Quebec City, New France; D. 28 Dec 1708, St-Pierre, Île d’Orleans, New France; M. Jean Pichet (1634-1699), 1666, Montmorency, New France
3. Baby LeBlanc — B. 26 Mar 1654, Quebec City, New France; D. about 10 Apr 1654, Quebec City, New France
4. Marguerite LeBlanc — B. about 25 Jun 1655, Quebec City, New France; D. about 2 Nov 1661, New France
5. Noel LeBlanc — B. 10 Jan 1660, Quebec City, New France; D. about 5 Apr 1660, New France
Children by Elie Dussault dit Lafleur:
1. Louis Dussault — B. 25 Aug 1663, Quebec City, New France
2. Pierre Dussault — B. 31 Jul 1665, Quebec City, New France; M. Marie Rouleau (1667-1703), 2 Nov 1689, New France
3. Jean-François Dussault — B. 4 Jan 1668, Quebec City, New France; D. before 24 Apr 1719, Lauzon, New France; M. Marie-Madeleine Bourassa (1673-1742), 8 Jan 1692, Pointe-deLévy, Lauzon, New France
4. Charles Dussault — B. 21 May 1673, Quebec City, New France; D. before 12 Feb 1697; M. Henrietta Balan (1677-1715), 16 Nov 1693, La Durantaye, New France
Sources:
Jean Nicolet (Wikipedia article)
Généalogie du Quebec et d’Amérique française (website)
Quebec Catholic Parish Registers, 1621-1979, FamilySearch.org
Our Tangled French Canadian Roots, Jan Gregoire Coombs, 2009
Champlain's Dream, David Hackett Fischer, 2009
Genealogy of the French in North America (website)
Nippissing Tribe (Access Genealogy article)
WikiTree
