Under Contract to Marry at Age 7 — Marie Brunet

B. 23 Oct 1677, Cap-de-la-Madeleine, New France
M. 31 Aug 1693 in Montreal, New France
Husband: François Bigras dit Fauvel
D. 12 Jan 1756 in Ste-Genevieve, New France

While it was typical for a girl in New France to have her adult life determined by her parents in an arranged marriage, few had their husbands chosen when they were still young children. That’s what makes Marie Brunet’s marriage contract so unusual.

Marie was born in Cap-de-la-Madeleine, New France on October 23 1677 to Mathieu Brunet dit LeTang and Marie Blanchard, the sixth of their ten children. Cap-de-la-Madeleine was located in the vicinity of Trois-Rivières, where Marie’s father became involved with fur trading. It was sometimes a rugged lifestyle outside of society’s norms, and Mathieu Brunet spent much time away from the family on expeditions out west. In his business dealings, he formed acquaintances and friendships with other men, and one of them was a 20-year-old named François Bigras dit Fauvel.

François was originally from La Rochelle and had signed a contract to become a servant in New France at age 17 in 1682. After the man he was assigned to work for passed away, François moved to Trois-Rivières, and this is where he came into contact with the Brunet family. His labor contract would have ended in 1685, and he probably then looked to settle down in the area. We can speculate that at this time, he asked Mathieu Brunet if he could take one of his daughters as a bride. Apparently he wasn’t in a rush to start a family; the document that was written up and recorded on August 25th was a promise to marry Marie, who at the time was two months shy of her eighth birthday.

Because she was obviously too young to perform the duties of a wife, Marie continued to live in her parents’ household for 8 more years. The actual wedding happened on August 31, 1693 at the Notre-Dame Church in Montreal, and afterwards, the couple settled in Lachine, a town just west of Montreal. Marie gave birth to her first child, Marie-Louise, the following year. She had another 12 children, with the youngest born in 1719, the only child who died young. 

Marie's 1693 marriage record.

François worked as a voyageur, which meant Marie spent many months alone raising the family as he traveled to places all along the Great Lakes. Wives of fur traders often took on the running of their husbands’ business dealings, and it can be assumed this was true for Marie. Several of her sons also became voyageurs as they came of age. In about 1713, the family relocated to Pointe-Claire, a place on the western part of the island of Montreal.

On July 25, 1731, François died in Montreal. Marie eventually moved to another newly-settled community, Ste-Genevieve, located on the north side of the island. She passed away there on January 12, 1756.

Incorrect Fact About Marie
In his book Phantoms of the French Fur Trade, Timothy Kent wrote that Marie had a child born out-of-wedlock in September 1691 (she would have been 13-years-old at the time). There is a Montreal baptismal record for an infant named Jean Piron dated September 18, 1691. The father of the child was Jean Piron and the mother was “Marie de Letang.” Since Marie had a sister Marie-Ann who married in 1689 to a man named Antoine Pilon, and the record doesn’t seem to indicate illegitimacy, this child seems to be of that marriage. It seems likely that the scribe mangled the father’s first name by repeating the baby’s name. Also, there was no family in New France named Piron, only the descendants of Antoine Pilon. With all of these facts, it would seem that the claim Marie gave birth to a son in 1691 is incorrect. 

Children:
1. Marie-Louise Bigras — B. 28 Oct 1694, Lachine, New France; D. 19 Jun 1772, Pointe-Claire, Quebec; M. André Franche-Laframboise, 16 Oct 1713, Pointe-claire, New France

2. Jacques Bigras — B. 14 Sep 1696, Lachine, New France; D. 4 Feb 1751, Detroit, New France; M. Angélique Clement, 13 Apr 1722, Pointe-Claire, New France

3. Marie-Françoise Bigras — B. 4 May 1698, Lachine, New France; M. René Aubin, 15 Jun 1716, Pointe-Claire, New France

4. François Bigras — B. 19 Feb 1700, Lachine, New France; D. 16 Jun 1781, St-Martin, Quebec; M. (1) Marie-Thérese Devoyau-Laframboise, 31 Jul 1724, St-Laurent, New France; (2) Marie-Thérese Bautron-Major, 31 May 1734, St-Laurent, New France

5. Marguerite Bigras — B. 26 Nov 1701; M. René Venet, 11 Aug 1722, Pointe-Claire, New France

6. Marie-Angelique Bigras — B. 20 Aug 1703, Lachine, New France; M. François Calvé, 30 Aug 1733, Pointe-Claire, New France

7. Alexis Bigras — B. 27 Jun 1705, Lachine, New France; D. 12 Feb 1791, Pointe-Claire, Quebec; M, (1) Marie-Catherine Prézeau, 3 Feb 1728, Pointe-Claire, New France; (2) Marie-Anne Meloche, 13 Feb 1764, Ste-Genevieve, Quebec; (3) Marie Benoit, 26 Feb 1781, Ste-Genevieve, Quebec

8. Joseph Bigras — B. 27 Mar 1707, Lachine, New France; M. Marie-Charlotte Goujon, 10 Jan 1729, Montreal, New France

9. Judith Bigras — B. 11 Feb 1709, Lachine, New France; D. 15 Jul 1755, Ste-Genevieve, New France; M. (1) Michel Desmoulins dit Lagiroflée, 15 Feb 1729, Pointe-Claire, New France; (2) Jean-Baptiste Gauthier, 3 Nov 1751, Pointe-Claire, New France

10. Marie-Anne Bigras — B. 12 Jul 1711, Lachine, New France; M. (1) Nicolas Briquet-Beque, 4 Nov 1731, Pointe-Claire, New France; (2) Etienne Groulx dit St-Marcel, 1 May 1764

11. Antoine Bigras — B. about 1713; M. Jeanne Cantureau, 14 Oct 1734, Quebec City, New France

12. Genevieve Bigras — B. 29 Apr 1714, Pointe-Claire, New France; M. (1) Jean Bernet-Larose, 1 Mar 1734, Pointe-Claire, New France; (2) Jean Spaure, 7 Jan 1761, Montreal, New France

13. Marie-Madeleine Bigras — B. 1 Dec 1719, Pointe-Claire, New France; D. 26 May 1722, Pointe-Claire, New France

Sources:
Généalogie du Quebec et d’Amérique française (website)
François Bigras (Wikipedia article)