Turning Wheels in Early Charlestown — Edward Larkin

B. before 1615 in England
M. about 1635 in (probably) Massachusetts
Wife: Joanna _______ 
D. before May 1652 in Charlestown, Massachusetts

Edward Larkin was a wheel-maker and “turner” in the earliest years of Charlestown, Massachusetts. His origins are uncertain; it’s been speculated that he was born in Kent, England, but this isn’t proven. He arrived in America during the 1630s perhaps in his 20s, and settled in Charlestown, becoming an inhabitant on May 30, 1638.

Edward’s land in Charlestown was wedge-shaped, located on Crooked Road, southwest of Mill Hill; the lot was somewhat larger than the ones around it. This is likely where he set up shop making wheels for carts, a profession that required working with wood on a lathe. Besides his lot in town, he owned one acre of meadow, five acres of woodland and 10 acres of “water field.” He also had a milk cow that was kept in a common area of the town.

A 17th-century wheelwright.

Edward was married to a woman named Joanna; some have said her surname was Hale, and others have identified her as Butler, but neither is proven. Their first child was baptized on October 1, 1640, and they eventually had a total of seven children. The third child, a daughter named Hannah, was sent to live with Edward’s sister and her husband, who were childless; it’s not known if this arrangement happened when the girl was an infant, but she was in her aunt’s household by age 8.

In 1644, Edward became a member of The Military Company of Massachusetts. Founded in 1638, it was the first organized militia in New England. It's not likely that Edward saw any military action during the time he served.

On September 29, 1647, Edward sold his Charlestown property, which included a house and a garden, to a man named John Gove. Two years later, Edward bought a plot of land that had frontage on the Charles River. The advantage of having access to the river meant he could more easily transport goods and supplies to and from his property.

Edward’s life seemed to have been cut short. On September 15, 1651, he wrote a will that described his physical condition as being weak, meaning that he was sick enough to expect that he would die soon. The will was proved in January of the following year and it’s likely that he died just before that. His wife was pregnant when he died, and gave birth to a daughter a few weeks later, but the baby unfortunately died at birth.

Children:
1. John Larkin — B. 1 Oct 1640, Charlestown, Massachusetts; D. 17 Feb 1678, Charlestown, Massachusetts; M. Joanna Hale (~1646-1693), 9 Nov 1664, Charlestown, Massachusetts

2. Elizabeth Larkin — B. 17 May 1641, Charlestown, Massachusetts; D. 15 Oct 1719, Marlborough, Massachusetts; M. John Newton (1641-1723), 5 Jun 1666, Marlborough, Massachusetts

3. Hannah Larkin — B. 16 Jan 1643, Charlestown, Massachusetts; D. 10 Dec 1704, Charlestown, Massachusetts; M. John Newell (1624-1684)

4. Thomas Larkin — B. B. 18 Aug 1644, Charlestown, Massachusetts; D. 10 Dec 1677, Charlestown, Massachusetts; M. Hannah Remington (1643-1736), 13 Sep 1666, Charlestown, Massachusetts

5. Joanna Larkin — B. 12 Jan 1647, Middlesex County, Massachusetts; D. 25 Dec 1713, Marlborough, Massachusetts; M. Moses Newton (1645-1736), 27 Oct 1668

6. Sarah Larkin — B. 12 Mar 1647, Charlestown, Massachusetts; D. 12 Aug 1725, Concord, Massachusetts; M. John Wheeler, 25 Mar 1663, Charlestown, Massachusetts

7. Inesse Larkin — B. 15 Feb 1652, Charlestown, Massachusetts; D. 15 Feb 1652, Charlestown, Massachusetts

Sources:
Colonial Families in America, Vol. 8, Ruth Lawrence, 1930
Charlestown Land Records, 1638-1802, 1883
The Will of Edward Larkin, September 1651
WikiTree

Busybody in a Colonial Town — Elizabeth Redding

B. about 1634 in (probably) Cambridge, Massachusetts
M. 3 Jan 1657 in Ipswich, Massachusetts
Husband: Samuel Hunt
D. 16 Feb 1707 in Ipswich, Massachusetts

Elizabeth Redding was one of the most colorful personalities in Ipswich, Massachusetts during its early years. Along with her husband, she found her way into many court records during the prime of her life. 

Elizabeth was probably born in Cambridge, Massachusetts in about 1634, the daughter of Joseph and Agnes Redding. She appears to have been their only child, which was unusual in colonial New England. By the time Elizabeth came of age, she had moved to the town of Ipswich, and on January 3, 1657, she got married there to a man named Samuel Hunt. 

Elizabeth was soon pregnant and gave birth to a son by the end of the year; she had four more children by 1670. The family was said to have a farm with an orchard, cornfields, and many outbuildings, as well as access to the water with a wharf on what became known as “Hunt’s Cove.” Samuel was sometimes at odds with authorities in Ipswich. During the 1660s, he refused to perform work ordered by the town militia, and was put in prison for several months. A couple of years later, he got into a fight with a neighbor, that led to him being jailed again.

Elizabeth had her own incidents that brought her into court, and one of the most noteworthy was when she accused another woman of stealing from her. The trouble started at the Ipswich meetinghouse on May 2, 1669. That day Elizabeth had one of her young boys on her lap during Sunday service as he played with her bodkin, a small metal tool that was used for threading drawstrings and cords. Elizabeth’s bodkin was engraved with her name, and was likely an object she treasured.

Example of a 17th-century bodkin.

The boy dropped the bodkin, and Elizabeth couldn’t see where it went. She asked Sarah Roper, the woman sitting next to her, if she could see it on the floor, and she said no. But after Roper got home that day, she found the bodkin in the cuff of her own sleeve. This led to Elizabeth accusing Roper of stealing her bodkin, and she took her to court. In her defense, Roper claimed to have attempted to return it, but because of misunderstandings with others, it didn’t get handed over promptly. The ruling in court was that Roper was being honest, and they found her not guilty.

Elizabeth showed up a few more times in court cases, which suggested that she frequently got involved in other people's business. On April 24, 1673, she testified at Salem as witness in a case of one man suing another man for “too much familiarity” with his wife. Elizabeth told the court that she had a conversation with the woman in question, Sarah Roe, about her relationship with her husband. Then she described a visit with another woman as the two gossiped about the affair Roe was said to be having with the accused. Also that month in a different case in Ipswich, Elizabeth was mentioned as having spread a false rumor about a neighbor woman's infidelity, and she was later sued for slander by the woman’s father.

Elizabeth's appearances in such trials gives the impression of her being a busybody, but the following year, a case came up regarding the sexual misconduct of someone in her own home. A man was accused of impregnating a servant who worked for the Hunt family. Elizabeth took the side of the woman, implying the man was to blame, probably because she and her husband would collect the damages awarded to the woman since she was indentured to them.

Then there was a case on an entirely different matter involving Elizabeth and her 12-year-old daughter, also named Elizabeth. On May 5, 1674, the two were in court for disturbances they had caused at Sunday services. The accusation was that Elizabeth’s daughter had shoved another girl, Abigail Burnham, “so that she almost fell down,” and Elizabeth was charged with putting the girl up to it. A witness said that he had seen Elizabeth herself knocking into Burnham’s chair, and someone else testified she elbowed the girl in the neck. Elizabeth and her husband Samuel claimed that Burnham had bullied their daughter many times in the past. The ruling in court was that the parents of both girls needed to take better charge of their daughters, and no one was formally punished.

Elizabeth's feistiness translated into speaking up for herself, and one thing that distressed her was the place where she had to sit in the meetinghouse. By 1681, wealthier wives were allowed to sit in pews with their husbands near the front, but the other women had to stay in a section way in the back. So Samuel and seven other men petitioned to have a platform constructed that would raise the seats of their wives two feet higher. Presumably the men didn't act on their own, and their wives were the ones behind the request. It worked because the town approved it, and the women got higher seats.

Elizabeth’s husband died sometime before she did; she passed away on February 16, 1707. Her gravestone survives at the Old North Burying Ground in Ipswich, and the inscription reads: “A tender mother, a prudent wife, at God’s command resigned her life.” Not-too-accurate for a woman who reads differently in court records. Among Elizabeth's descendants are Mormon religion founder Joseph Smith and John Lithgow.

Children:
1. Samuel Hunt — B. 17 Nov 1657, Ipswich, Massachusetts, D. 11 Jan 1743, Tewksbury, Massachusetts; M. Mary Ruth Todd (1657-1717), 1 May 1678, Ipswich, Massachusetts

2. Elizabeth Hunt — B. 29 May 1661, Ipswich, Massachusetts; D. 9 Jul 1689, Rowley, Massachusetts; M. Francis Palmer (1657-1733), 3 Dec 1682, Essex County, Massachusetts

3. William Hunt – B. about 1663, Ipswich, Massachusetts; D. 12 Dec 1747, Ipswich, Massachusetts; M. (1) Sarah Newman (1665-1723), 9 Jun 1684, Ipswich Massachusetts; (2) Rose Spark (1673-1743), 6 Mar 1724, Ipswich Massachusetts

4. Joseph Hunt — B. 28 Oct 1665, Ipswich, Massachusetts; D. 12 Jan 1747, Mansfield, Connecticut; M. (1) Elizabeth Huntington; (2) Ann Pengry, 1703, Massachusetts

5. Peter Hunt — B. 14 May 1670, (probably) Ipswich, Massachusetts; D. before 1693

Sources:
Historic Ipswich (website) 
Records and Files of the Quarterly Courts of Essex County, Volumes III, IV and V, edited by George Francis Drew, 1912, 1913 and 1914
The Probate Records of Essex County, Massachusetts, 1917
Good Wives: Image and Reality in the Lives of Women in Northern New England, 1650-1750, Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, 1991
WikiTree

Famous Kin listing of Elizabeth Redding

Orphan Becomes Fur Trader — François Bigras dit Fauvel

B. 26 Jul 1665 in La Rochelle, France
M. 31 Aug 1693 in Montreal, New France
Wife: Marie Brunet
D. 25 Jul 1731 in Montreal, New France

Often a person’s circumstances when they're a child leads to their path in life. For François Bigras dit Fauvel, his situation likely caused him to migrate to New France, and he found opportunity there on the frontier. 

François Bigras was born on July 26, 1665 in La Rochelle, France to Mathurin Bigras and Catherine Parenteau. He had 8 siblings, one of whom was a twin sister named Françoise. François was educated enough to be able to read and write. He might have gone on to a career that would use those skills, but by the time he was 12-years-old, his mother and father had both died.

La Rochelle.

Without the support of parents, François likely fell into the care of relatives in La Rochelle. The bustling port city was where ships left for America, and this may have been a factor for him to move there. He also had an aunt, Marie Parenteau, who had migrated in 1671 as a Fille du Roi, so the decision was made that he would join her there. Marie had married a merchant and barrel-maker named Pierre-Antoine Fauvel, and the couple lived with their children in Quebec City. It’s believed that when François stayed with them, “dit Fauvel” was added to his name.

When François was 17-years-old, the time had come to make his own living, and on July 14, 1682, he signed a contract to be an indentured servant of a doctor living in Côte-de-Lauzon named Louis Moreau, who was the husband of his mother’s cousin. Along with room and board, François would receive 40 livres for one year, and 50 livres for each of the next two years, but just 6 months later, Dr. Moreau died from an “accident at home.” This left François looking for work elsewhere.

On November 6, 1684 François signed on to work for a notary in Trois-Riviére named Ameau dit Saint-Séverin. The pay was decent, at 60 livres the first year, 80 livres the second and 110 livres the third. It’s likely that his writing skills came into play while he worked for the notary. He also might have had an opportunity to meet merchants and other such people doing business in New France. Meanwhile, François acquired a grant of land on Île d’Orleans; the plot he purchased on October 2nd was 40 arpents deep with 6 arpents of river frontage.

Around this same time, François was looking further west, perhaps lured by the money that could be made in the fur trade. Up until this time, the explorer La Salle had a monopoly in dealing furs in areas beyond the Great Lakes, but after this arrangement changed, merchants in Montreal began organizing expeditions, and François made his way to that town. In his dealings, he met a man named Michel-Mathieu Brunet dit LeTang, and expressed an interest in marrying his daughter, Marie, so a contract was drawn up. The only thing that prevented the wedding from happening immediately was the age of the bride: she was 7-years-old. The marriage was agreed to on August 25, 1685, but François would have to wait a few years for the wedding.

The next few years had François working for a merchant in Trois-Riviéres, then he returned to Quebec City in February 1686. It’s not known if he stayed long. It’s likely that he spent some time on fur trading expeditions during these years, and finally on August 31, 1693, he married Marie Brunet in Montreal. They had 13 children together born between 1694 and 1719, settling in Lachine in 1697.

A few records of François' fur trading expeditions have been preserved. In 1713, he was involved in a trip to the "Lake of Erie Strait." The following year, he hired men to travel to Michilimackinac, a trading post where Lake Huron meets Lake Michigan. These trips happened late in his life when he was almost 50-years-old, so it may be that he stayed in Lachine while others traveled to the locations. By this time, his oldest son was beginning to work in the fur trade, and several more of his sons would follow.

François died in Montreal on July 25, 1731. His wife Marie, whom he contracted to marry so young, survived him, and passed away in 1756.

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. Angelique 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 Francec; 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)
Dictionnaire biographique des Ancêtres québécois, Michel Langlois, 1998
Bigras, François, l’ancêtre (website)

No Priest in Vincennes — Françoise-Agnes Godere

B. about 4 Nov 1766 in Post Vincennes, Illinois Territory
M. 2 Aug 1784 in Vincennes, Virginia Territory
Husband: Louis Favel Ravellette
D. about 1835 in Vincennes, Indiana

Two of the most important life events for a Catholic are their baptism and their marriage, but what happens when there’s no priest around to administer them? For Françoise-Agnes Godere, both ceremonies were improvised by her family, friends and a notary until a priest could be present.

Françoise-Agnes was born just after the English took control of New France following the French and Indian War. Her parents, Louis Godere and Barbe-Elizabeth Levron, lived in Post Vincennes, one of the most remote places in the colony. The British takeover caused the parish priest to leave and the people carried on as best they could. Young couples didn’t have much choice but to live together without a formal marriage, and that’s what Françoise-Agnes’ parents did, making their vows before their friends.

Sometime after that, about the beginning of November 1766, Françoise-Agnes was born, and a baptism was arranged that was documented by notary, Étienne Phillibert. (A baptism that wasn’t officiated by an ordained priest was forgivable since it was often necessary in cases when a newborn infant was about to die.) The notary kept a ledger for all of the events he was overseeing during this time, and he carefully noted Françoise-Agnes’ baptism. The event took place November 4th and her godparents were her maternal grandfather, Joseph Levron, and her great-grandmother, Marie-Anne You.

Françoise-Agnes’s parents had two more children before a priest came to Post Vincennes in 1770. Father Pierre Gibault had previously served there, and was heading the parish in Kaskaksia. When he returned to Vincennes that year, the people were glad to see him. He later wrote, “When I arrived, everybody came in a crowd to meet me at the banks of the River Wabash. Some threw themselves on their knees and were quite unable to speak; others spoke only by their sobs; some cried out, ‘Father, save us, we are nearly in hell.’” He stayed in Vincennes for two months, repairing the little log church, St. Francis Xavier, and sanctifying the sacraments that had been administered by the notary. On February 8, 1770, Father Gibault legitimized the birth of Françoise-Agnes and her siblings by recognizing her parents’ marriage.

The next decade of Françoise-Agnes’s childhood was eventful, as the American Revolution unfolded to the east. Father Gibault went back to his parish at Kaskaskia, but visited Post Vincennes in 1778 encouraging the people to join the American cause. By now, the English took a serious interest in manning Fort Vincennes, and the French people hated them. The men of the town, including Françoise-Agnes’ father and grandfather, signed an oath of allegiance to the Americans. The following year, George Rogers Clark, helped by the people of Vincennes, won control away from the British. But the war went on several more years, and when Françoise-Agnes came of age, there was still no permanent priest in Vincennes.

At age 16, Françoise-Agnes got involved with a young man, Louis Favel Ravellette, and she became pregnant. The couple couldn’t wait for a priest to marry them, so once again, the family turned to the notary Philibert. On September 1, 1783, a contract was drawn up, not just as a promise to marry, but also as a document defining their joint property as being 300 livres, and if one should die, the other would receive half. The contract signing was witnessed by Françoise-Agnes’ parents, step-grandfather and several others. The following January, she gave birth to a baby girl they named Marguerite.

Françoise-Agnes and Louis had to wait nearly a year to have their wedding performed by Father Gibault, who now returned for good to St. Francis Xavier church in Vincennes. On August 2, 1784, the young couple celebrated their marriage before family, friends, and likely, all of the French people of Vincennes. A Creole-style wedding typically took place at the bride’s house with a huge feast, and dancing to music that lasted all night. It’s not known if Françoise-Agnes’ wedding was any different, given that she had already been with her husband.

Over the next 20 years, Françoise-Agnes had another eleven children. She enjoyed a long marriage with her husband Louis; both are believed to have died around 1835, having spent their entire lives in Vincennes.

Children:
1. Marguerite Ravellette — B. 25 Jan 1784, Vincennes, Virginia Territory; M. Jean Mominy, 16 Aug 1802, Vincennes, Indiana Territory

2. Louis Ravellette — B. 20 Feb 1786, Vincennes, Virginia Territory; M. Helene Campeau, 1 Oct 1810, Vincennes, Indiana

3. Pierre Ravellette — B. 24 Jan 1788, Vincennes, Northwest Territory

4. Antoine Ravellette — B. about Oct 1790, Vincennes, Northwest Territory; M. Adelaide Cabassier, 6 Jul 1818, Vincennes, Indiana

5. François Ravellette — B. 9 Nov 1791, Vincennes, Northwest Territory; D. 7 Dec 1857, Vincennes, Indiana; M. Elizabeth Turpin (1798-1835)

6. Andre Ravellette — B. 4 Feb 1794, Vincennes, Northwest Territory; D. 17 Oct 1794, Vincennes, Northwest Territory

7. Françoise Ravellette — B. 19 Aug 1795, Vincennes, Northwest Territory; M. François Bono, 16 May 1816, Vincennes, Indiana

8. Marie-Theotiste Ravellette — B. 19 Aug 1795, Vincennes, Northwest Territory; M. Pierre Renaud dit Deslauriers, 12 Nov 1813, Vincennes, Indiana

9. Agnes Ravellette — B. 30 Sep 1797, Vincennes, Northwest Territory

10. Helene Ravellette — B. 25 Feb 1799, Vincennes, Northwest Territory

11. Marie-Amable Ravellette — B. 13 Jun 1802, Vincennes, Indiana Territory; M. Pierre Meteyer, 2 Oct 1820, Vincennes, Indiana

12. Elizabeth Ravellette — B. 26 Mar 1804, Vincennes, Indiana Territory; M. Pierre Cabassier, 24 Jul 1820, Vincennes, Indiana

Sources:
History of Knox and Daviess Counties, Indiana, 1886
“Records of the Parish of St. Francis Xavier,” Records of the American Catholic Historical Society of Philadelphia, Vol. 12, 1901
St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church Records: Baptisms 1749-1838, Barbara Schull Wolfe, 1999
St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church Records: Marriages and Deaths 1749-1838, Barbara Schull Wolfe, 1999
Creole Pioneers at Old Post Vincennes, Joyce Doyle, Loy Followell, Elizabeth Kargacos, Bernice Mutchmore, and Paul R. King, 1930s

Escaping Ireland to Civil War America — Simon C. Carey

B. about 1844 in (probably) Doonbeg, County Clare, Ireland
M. 24 Dec 1863 in Ray County, Missouri
Wife: Elizabeth C. Sutherlin
D. about 1865 in (probably) Kansas

Simon C. Carey’s entire life seems to have been a struggle for survival. He was born in County Clare, Ireland in about 1844, a couple of years before the tragic potato famine. There are no records of who his parents were, and only a family story that he may have had a twin brother, but it’s likely there were many more siblings in his family.

There is one record which may reveal how the time of starvation affected Simon’s childhood. A book recording the minutes of a Kilrush Union meeting dated March 5, 1853 stated that Simon Carey, age 8, was among the boys who lived there. The listing said that he was from the town of Doonbeg, and that among the other 24 boys was one named Thomas Carey, also age 8 from Doonbeg. It’s possible that this was the twin mentioned by Simon’s descendants.

My Ancestry DNA “Ancestral Journey” shows a region called Doonbeg Bay.

The Kilrush Union was a workhouse which sprung out of the Poor Law of Ireland during the 1830s. This system of charity started in England with the order that a recipient of government handouts had to live in a workhouse. The idea was well-meaning, but unfortunately in practice, the treatment was more like being a prison. Inmates would be provided food and shelter in return for doing work assigned to them, usually farm labor or simple manufacturing. The workhouses separated families, so that men, women and children lived in different buildings, and parents had little contact with their own children.

The Kilrush Union was designed to house hundreds, but during the famine, was forced to take in thousands. For many, it was a death sentence, and probably Simon had siblings who didn’t make it out alive. A family story suggested that Simon and other relatives somehow got out, and they may have been back on a tenant farm within a few years. It was told that that Simon’s father died, and the local church demanded the family cow as payment for his burial. Simon and his brother went to retrieve the animal because they couldn’t survive without it, and in the process, may have been physically violent with a priest. This is what caused Simon (and possibly his brother) to flee to America. 

Conditions in Clare County during the famine.

Simon arrived in probably New York in about 1859 or 1860, and within a couple of years, he turned up in Missouri. This was a tense time in U.S. history just before the start of the Civil War. When fighting began, young men like Simon were lured into service with an opportunity to make quick money. On April 25, 1862, he joined the 71st Regiment Enlisted Missouri Militia in Marshall, Missouri, serving as a replacement for a man named Thomas Owens. A man named Lilburn Carey signed up at the same time and place as Simon, and this may have been a relative, but there are no other records of him. It’s worth noting that no DNA matches have turned up among Simon’s descendants that would suggest anyone else in his family made it to America. 

Simon re-enlisted again on January 17, 1863 in the same regiment under a different captain. This record has his age being born in 1839 or 1840. The company disbanded on May 6th and he returned to civilian life. A few months later, Simon married a non-Irish woman, Elizabeth Sutherlin, in Ray County, Missouri; the wedding took place on Christmas Eve. She became pregnant, then he joined the army again, signing on with the 7th Missouri Cavalry in Hannibal on August 15, 1864. His military record said that he was 5' 7-1/2" tall with blue eyes and dark hair. His signature showed that he had enough education to at least write his name. Simon’s age on the enlistment gave him a birth year of about 1844, which matches the 1853 record from Kilrush Union. 

Simon's enlistment dated August 15, 1864.

The 7th Missouri Cavalry was said to have so many Irish immigrants that it was known as the “Irish Seventh.” During Simon’s time in the regiment, his company marched into Arkansas, and the only action they seem to have been involved with was with “a party of bushwhackers” on January 9, 1865. It was near Pine Bluff, Arkansas, and the skirmish resulted in one man wounded on the Union side and four killed among the Confederates. Since the action didn’t involve the entire company, there’s no way of saying if Simon participated in this.

Simon served through the end of the Civil War and beyond. He was assigned to companies L, K, and C before being put in company M in January 1865. In February, he was an orderly at the regimental headquarters in Arkansas, and in April and May, he worked as a cook. This was after the war ended, but because he had committed to a 3-year enlistment the summer before, he wasn’t discharged yet. On June 28th, Simon was given the job of “escort duty,” taking him away from camp. He was finally mustered out on September 1, 1865 in Little Rock.

While Simon was in the army, his only child was born on October 7, 1864, a son named Thomas. He didn’t live to see the boy grow up, because only a short time after his discharge, Simon was said to have died of “an abscess in his side.” The date of his death is unknown. Elizabeth remarried in 1868 to another man who served in the Civil War, but she died within a couple years.

Child:
1. Thomas Michael Carey — B. 7 Oct 1864, Gardner, Kansas; D. 5 Feb 1937, Coffeyville, Kansas; M. Bertha Gertrude Kightlinger (1875-1946), 21 Oct 1895, Burlington, Kansas

Sources:
Civil War military records of Simon C. Carey
“Tom Carey is Dead After Brief Illness”, Coffeyville Daily Journal, February 6, 1937
Rootsweb message boards

Husband Killed in a Massacre — Grietje Hendricks

B. about 1638 in Wijhe, Overijssel, Netherlands
M. (1) about 1658, unknown location
Husband: Jan Arentsen Van Putten
M. (2) 13 Jan 1664 in Wiltwyck, New Netherland
Husband: Wallerand Dumont
D. 1728 in (probably) Kingston, New York

The story of Grietje Hendricks points to the resiliency of people who suffer terrible tragedies — after her husband was violently killed in an unprovoked attack on their home, she was able to find a new husband and carry on.

Grietje was born in the village of Wijhe, Netherlands in about 1638. Nothing is known of her family, or exactly when she migrated to America. When she was around 20-years-old, Grietje married a blacksmith named Jan Arentsen Van Putten, and then went to live in Esopus, a settlement located in the lower Hudson River Valley. They had a daughter born in about 1659.

The town of Esopus was named after the tribe that lived in the region surrounding it, and with the Dutch trying to settle there, tensions arose with the native population. Trouble escalated into what was called the First Esopus War in 1659. Gretje’s husband joined others in defending the town, and peace was restored in 1660.

In 1663, Gretje was said to have traveled to the Netherlands with her daughter, and she returned to her husband in Esopus about the beginning of June. Unbeknownst to the settlers, the Esopus tribe was planning to attack them. The Dutch settlement was inside a stockade that was built a few years earlier. On the morning of June 7th, the natives breached the fort by pretending to make a friendly visit, and they were let inside. Then on a signal, they surprised the settlers in a burst of violence. The Indians entered private homes, and brutally murdered people with axes, tomahawks and guns. Gretje survived the attack, but her husband did not. Twenty Dutch settlers were killed that day, and another 45 were taken prisoner. The massacre and the events that followed were known as the Second Esposus War.

The site of the 1663 massacre. 

After losing her husband, Grietje chose to stay in Esopus, now called Wiltwyck, and on January 13, 1664, she got married again. Her husband was a Dutch soldier named Wallerand Dumont, who decided put down roots, and he became a leading member of the community.  Between 1664 and 1679, Grietje had six children. She joined the First Dutch Reformed Church of Wiltwyck in 1666. The town was renamed Kingston in 1669 and Grietje lived the rest of her life there, surviving husband Wallerand, who died in 1713. She passed away sometime in 1728 at the age of about 90.

Child by Jan Arentsen Van Putten:
1. Annetje Jans Van Putten — B. about 1659, New Netherland; M. Hendrick Kip

Children by Wallerand Dumont:
1. Margaret Dumont — B. before 28 Dec 1664, Wiltwyck, New York; M. William Loveridge (~1657-1703), 18 Oct 1682, Kingston, New Netherland

2. Walran Dumont — B. about Mar 1667, Wiltwyck, New York; D. 1733, Ulster, New York; M. Catarina Terbosch, 24 Mar 1688, Hurley, New York

3. Jannetje Dumont — B. 6 Jun 1669, Kingston, New York; D. 2 Feb 1752, Albany, New York; M. Michael Van Veghten (1663-1762), 2 Apr 1691, Kingston, New York

4. Jan Baptist Dumont — B. about Sep 1670, Kingston, New York; D. 2 Aug 1749, Kingston, New York; M. Neeltje Cornelis Van Veghten (~1670-1738), about 1693, Kingston, New York

5. Francyntie Dumont — B. before 21 Jul 1674, Kingston, New York; M. Frederick Clute (1670-1761), 23 Apr 1693, Albany, New York

6. Peter Dumont — B. 18 Apr 1679, Kingston, New York; D. 1744, Somerset County, New Jersey; M. (1) Femmetje Teunise Van Middlswart (~1680-1706), 25 Dec 1700; (2) Catalyntje Rapalje (1685-1709), 1 Feb 1707; (3) Jannetje Vechten, 16 Nov 1711

Sources:
"Wallerand Dumont and His Somerset County Descendants," John B. Dumont, Somerset County (New Jersey) Historical Quarterly, Vol I, 1912
Harlem: Its Origins and Early Annals, James Riker
“New Netherland: The Esopus Wars,” The New York History Blog 

Finding Opportunity as a Fur Trader — Charles Diel

B. about 1653 in Normandy, France
M. (1) 31 Aug 1676 in Montreal, New France
Wife: Marie-Anne Picard
M. (2) 17 Apr 1702 in Montreal, New France
Wife: Marie-Françoise Simon dite Lapointe
D. after 18 Nov 1725 in New France

As a boy, Charles Diel traveled to New France with the French army, then he made a career in the wilderness. He was born in about 1652 somewhere in Normandy, France to Phillipe Diel and Marie Anguetin. There are different towns named on each of his marriage records: Ste-Colombe near Rouen, and St-Rémy near Dieppe, and it's not known which was his birthplace. His father was said to be a laborer, and Charles likely received no education.

When Charles was 13-years-old, he boarded the ship Saint-Sebastien traveling with the Carignan-Sallières Regiment to America. Charles may have been a soldier (boys were sometimes enlisted as drummers or helpers), but he also may have been an indentured servant. The trip was difficult as the ship broke down along the way, and it took 112 days to arrive at their destination. Charles acquired the nickname “Lepetit Breton,” which likely referred to his youth among the older men around him.

Soldiers of the Carignan-Sallières Regiment in Canada. (drawing by Francis Back)

The activities of Charles’ first few years in New France are sketchy. He was said to be attached to the La Foulle Company of the Carignan-Sallières Regiment, which was sent to build forts in the Trois-Rivieres area, and Charles might have participated in that work. His name appeared among the 400 men who decided to remain in New France when the army was shipped back to Europe in 1668. In 1672, Charles was mentioned in a record which showed he was a resident of La Prairie, a settlement near Montreal. He had land there in a seigneury run by the Jesuits; his plot was 20 arpents deep with 4 arpents of river frontage. The settlers in La Prairie farmed their land during the day, but had their homes inside the fort, where they were protected from possible Iroquois attack.

On August 31, 1676, Charles married Marie-Anne Picard, daughter of Montreal pioneer, Jacques-Hugues Picard. At the time of the wedding, Charles was 24-years-old and his bride was not yet 13. She gave birth to their first child, a girl, in 1678, and they had eight more children, with the youngest born in 1695.

There is evidence that Charles was making trips out west as early as 1677. The first record of him at a French outpost was on a census taken that year at Fort Frontenac; he was listed as a man who “brought supplies” there. It’s likely he made several trips to Fort Frontenac and/or other places in the Great Lakes region during those years. The French had been pushing into the interior of North America to do business with various tribes; the Indians brought furs to gathering sites where the French would offer up beads, mirrors, metal tools, and other goods in exchange.

Charles had enough fur trading experience under his belt to organize an expedition with two partners in 1684. On September 23rd, a contract was drawn up spelling out the arrangement of a trip to Michilimackinac with Antoine Cailler and Pierre Lefebvre. The three men were authorized for over 2,616 livres of credit to pay for the goods they brought with them. Michilimackinac was at the point where Lake Huron meets Lake Michigan; Charles and his partners had never been there and hired a guide for the journey.

In 1688, Charles was known to go on another fur trading expedition, this time to “the Outaouais country,” which was up the Ottawa River. He seems to have partnered again with same two men, plus one other partner, Andre Denny. Their credit agreement was for 1,063 livres, less than half of what they paid for goods four years earlier.

Between his long trips, he continued to spend time with his wife and children in La Prairie. His oldest son Pierre was kidnapped by Iroquois sometime during the late 1680s or early 1690s, and the boy never returned to the family, growing up among the Indians. Sadly, on February 4, 1697, Marie-Anne died at the age of 33. Five years went by before Charles married again, to Marie-Françoise Simon dite Lapointe. The wedding took place in Montreal on April 17, 1702, and they had four children born between 1705 and 1710.

Charles seems to have been involved in a custody arrangement for one of his granddaughters, Marie-Anne Bory. The child was born in Lachine on June 13, 1706 to Charles’ daughter, Marie-Anne, but sadly the young mother passed away just two years later, and in 1711, the child’s father died as well, leaving her an orphan. In a meeting held on November 24, 1712, Charles was given the girl to raise. But the following year on May 15th, he was summoned by the court to hand over his granddaughter to François Lesaulnier, who claimed he had a verbal agreement to be guardian for Marie-Anne. There is no further mention of this in any records, nor of the girl herself. 

Court summons for Charles Diel in case involving custody of his granddaughter.

It’s not known exactly when Charles died. In his later years, his name appeared on several transactions of property and other records, with a final mention that he was alive at the time of his daughter Françoise’s marriage contract on November 18, 1725. He was certainly dead by the late 1730s. His widow Marie-Françoise died in 1757.

Children by Marie-Anne Picard:
1. Marie-Marguerite Diel — B. 18 Apr 1678, Montreal, New France; D. 26 Jul 1715, Montreal, New France; M. (1) Pierre Perras (1674-1699), 18 Nov 1696, Laprairie, New France; (2) Julien Bariteau Lamarche (1672-1736), 13 May 1700, La Prairie, New France

2. Pierre Diel — B. 24 Nov 1680, Montreal, New France

3. Jacques Diel — B. 2 Mar 1683, La Prairie, New France; D. young

4. Marie-Anne Diel — B. 7 May 1684, La Prairie, New France; D. 9 Dec 1684, La Prairie, New France

5. Marie-Anne Diel — B. about 1685, La Prairie, New France; D. 15 May 1708; M. François Bory (1676-?), 27 Oct 1704, La Prairie, New France

6. Charles Diel — B. 5 Aug 1688, La Prairie, New France; D. 20 Jun 1734, Longueuil, New France; M. (1) Marie-Jeanne Boyer (1694-1730), 17 Feb 1716, La Prairie, New France; (2) Marguerite Robert (1683-1766), 9 Sep 1732, Boucherville, New France

7. Marguerite Diel — B. 14 Jun 1691, La Prairie, New France; D. 25 May 1763; M. Jean Lacombe, 3 Feb 1711

8. Jacques Diel — B. 2 Feb 1693, La Prairie, New France; M. Marie-Anne Crepin, 13 Jul 1715

9. Catherine Diel — B. 9 Aug 1695, La Prairie, New France; D. 10 Aug 1695, La Prairie, New France

Children by Marie-Françoise Simon dite Lapointe:
1. Marie-Josephte Diel — B. 1705, St-Vincent-de-Paul, Laval, New France; D. 13 Jun 1775, St-Vincent-de-Paul, Laval, New France

2. Therese Diel — B. 1707; D. 6 Sep 1777, St-Vincent-de-Paul, Laval, New France

3. Marie-Françoise Diel — B. 19 Jan 1708, Montreal, New France; M. René Lariviere, 1 Dec 1725

4. Jean-François Diel — B. 24 Dec 1710, Montreal, New France; M. Françoise Potier, 2 Jun 1738, Kaskaskia, New France

Sources:
Généalogie du Quebec et d’Amérique française (website)

Quebec Catholic Parish Registers, 1621-1979, FamilySearch.org
Charles Diel, Our First Canadian Ancestor (website)
A Drifting Cowboy (website) 

Escaped a Massacre at Age 12 — Marie-Renée Michel

B. 18 Jun 1677 in Montreal, New France
M. 27 Feb 1696 in Lachine, New France
Husband: Pierre Sauvé dit LaPlante
D.19 Nov 1750 in Ste-Anne-du-Bout-de-I’Île, New France

When Marie-Renée Michel was a girl, she lived a comfortable life with her parents and siblings on a farm near Montreal. Then on one terrible morning, it was all taken away.

Renée was born on June 18, 1677 in Montreal to Jean Michel and Marie Marchesseau, the fourth of their five children; she also had a half-brother from her father’s previous marriage. When she was very young, the family moved to Fort Frontenac, a remote outpost on the eastern end of Lake Ontario, where her younger sister Madeleine was born. The family returned to the Montreal area by 1681, settling in Lachine.

On August 5, 1689, Renée was probably asleep in bed when Iroqouis warriors invaded her house. Her father and two older brothers were killed on the spot, and her mother dragged away to die later. It isn’t known exactly what happened to Renée and and her sister Madeleine. They might have been captured by the Indians and released later, or they may have run away and hid somewhere outside. Either way, they survived; over 100 settlers in Lachine were killed in the massacre.

Deposition of two nuns who were eyewitnesses to the Lachine Massacre.

Remarkably, Renée continued to live in Lachine, and six years later, she found a husband. On February 27, 1696, she married Pierre Sauvé dit LaPlante, a soldier from France who was stationed in the area; after the massacre, France made an effort to counter the Iroquois threat with a greater military presence. Pierre was about 44-years-old when they married, and soon after, he retired from the service to become a farmer. They settled in Lachine where Renée gave birth to their first child in 1697; then they moved to the neighboring town of Ste-Anne-du-Bout-de-Î’lle, where she had eleven more. Her youngest was born in 1717 and was the only one who died young.

The rest of Renée’s life seemed to have been peaceful as she saw all eleven of her surviving children get married and the births of many grandchildren. Her husband Pierre died at the age of 85 in 1737, and Renée passed away on November 19, 1750. She was the ancestor of Dan Aykroyd and Rudy Vallée.

Children:
1. Pierre-Jacques Sauvé — B. 17 Feb 1697, Lachine, New France; D. 21 Dec 1751, Ste-Anne-du-Bout-de-I’lle, New France; M. Marie Merlot (1707-1781), 10 Jan 1736, Ste-Anne-du-Bout-de-I’lle, New France

2. François-Marie Sauvé — B. 27 Aug 1698, Lachine, New France; D. 14 Oct 1768, Ile-Perrot, Quebec; M. Elizabeth Lamadeleine (1707-1788), 4 Apr 1731, Ste-Anne-du-Bout-de-I’lle, New France

3. Pierre Sauvé — B. 7 May 1700, Lachine, New France; D. 13 Jun 1778, Vaudreuil, Quebec; M. Louise-Angelique Ranger Laviolette (1706-1751), 21 Oct 1726, Ste-Anne-du-Bout-de-I’lle, New France

4. Angelique Sauvé — B. 19 Feb 1702, Lachine, New France; D. 19 Jul 1772, Les Cédres, Quebec; M. Charles D’Aoust, 2 Dec 1723, New France

5. Louis Sauvé Laplante — B. 11 Mar 1704, Ste-Anne-du-Bout-de-I’lle, New France; D. 8 Jan 1773, Montreal, Quebec; M. Elizabeth Magdeleine (1709-1770), 3 Nov 1729, Ste-Anne-du-Bout-de-I’lle, New France

6. Suzanne Sauvé — B. 20 Jun 1705, Ste-Anne-du-Bout-de-I’lle, New France; D. 23 Apr 1784, Vaudreuil, Quebec; M. Joseph Ranger (1704-1782), 20 Oct 1726, Ste-Anne-du-Bout-de-I’lle, New France

7. Marie-Josephe Sauvé — B. 1 Oct 1707, Montreal, New France; D. 7 Feb 1759, Ste-Anne-du-Bout-de-I’lle, New France; Joseph Tabault (~1710-1795), 4 Apr 1731, Ste-Anne-du-Bout-de-I’lle, New France

8. Madeleine Sauvé — B. 6 Apr 1709, Ste-Anne-du-Bout-de-I’lle, New France; D. 3 Sep 1773, Montreal, Quebec; M. Pierre-Antoine Robillard, 3 Nov 1745, Ste-Anne-du-Bout-de-I’lle, New France

9. Marie-Felicité Sauvé — B. 28 Nov 1710, Ste-Anne-du-Bout-de-I’lle, New France; D. 13 Jun 1788, Vaudreuil, Quebec; M. Antoine Lalonde (1713-1786), 26 Apr 1735, Ste-Anne-du-Bout-de-I’lle, New France

10. Charles Sauvé LaPlante — B. abt 1712, Montreal, New France; D. 2 Jan 1778, Pointe-Claire, Quebec; M. Marie-Josephte Parisien, 10 Feb 1738, Ste-Anne-du-Bout-de-I’lle, New France

11. Antoine Sauvé — B. 11 Apr 1714, Pointe-Claire, New France; D. 18 May 1760, Ste-Anne-du-Bout-de-I’lle, New France; M. (1) Marie-Jospehe Ducharme, 25 Feb 1743, Lachine, New France; (2) Marie-Charlotte Charlebois, 17 Jan 1757, Ste-Anne-du-Bout-de-I’lle, New France

12. Jeanne-Anne Sauvé — B. May 1717, Ste-Anne-du-Bout-de-I’lle, New France; D. 4 Jan 1724, Ste-Anne-du-Bout-de-I’lle, New France

Sources:
Généalogie du Quebec et d’Amérique française (website)
Quebec Catholic Parish Registers, 1621-1979, FamilySearch.org
Le vieux Lachine et le massacre du 5 août 1689, Désiré Girouard, 1889
WikiTree
Find A Grave

Farm Burned by English Invaders — Jacquette Archambault

B. about 1632 in Dompierre-Sur-Mer, La Rochelle, Aunis, France
M. 28 Sep 1648 in Quebec City, New France
Husband: Paul Chalifour
D. 17 Dec 1705 in Quebec City, New France

In 1690, Jacquette Archambault’s home was in the path of English forces as they tried to invade Quebec. And for that reason, she suffered one of the few losses on the French side.

Jacquette was born in the village of Dompierre-Sur-Mer, France to Jacques Archambault and Françoise Toureau in about 1632. Jacquette was the third child in the family, and she would have four more siblings, with one younger sister dying young.

In about 1646, Jacquette and her family boarded a ship and moved to America. When they arrived in Quebec City, it was a thriving settlement, but there were few marriageable women living there. Jacquette and her sisters must have attracted a lot of attention from young men needing wives; older sister Anne got married during the summer of 1647. Then came Jacquette’s turn, and she was married on September 28, 1648 to a man named Paul Chailfour. She shared her wedding day with younger sister, Marie, who married Urbain Tessier in a double ceremony; the two brides were just 16- and 12-years-old. 

The double wedding ceremonies of Jacquette and Marie Archambault.

Jacquette’s new husband Paul was a carpenter who was recently widowed, and he was about 20 years older than Jacquette. She gave birth to their first child in October of 1649, and by 1673, she had 13 more. Remarkably for the times in which she lived, only one child died in infancy. Her first seven babies were all girls, which likely put a strain on the family because sons were needed to help run their farm. As each daughter entered her teens, she was soon married off; some of the girls were barely 13 at the time of their weddings.

In about 1652, Jacquette’s family moved to a farm just outside Quebec City in a section called La Canardière. Their lot extended 40 arpents inland with 3 arpents of river frontage, and Paul built their house near the water. There were several other families with similar lots in the section. Things were fairly uneventful until 1678 when Paul became sick. He made out his will in December of that year and died on October 30, 1680. His estate was to be jointly owned by Jacquette and their surviving children.

Jacquette stayed on at the house in La Canardière and was still living there in 1690. That year, a fleet of ships from Massachusetts sailed up the St. Lawrence with the intent of taking control of Quebec. The effort was led by Englishman William Phips, who arrived with 32 ships and over 2,300 men. After delays and bad weather took a toll on their force, the English set up camp on a plateau just across a small river from La Canardière  The French forces were ready and defeated the English invaders, but as they retreated, they were said to have inflicted “significant losses on their opponents by burning farms in La Canardière and killing livestock.” One of these farms was Jacquette’s.

Map showing English invasion of Canada in 1690.

It’s not known if Jacquette’s house burned to the ground, and if it was, whether the house was rebuilt. She lived another 15 years and died on December 17, 1705 in Quebec City. Among her descendants were Alex Trebek, Dan Aykroyd and Adrienne Barbeau.

Children:
1. Marie Chalifour — B. about Oct 1649, Quebec City, New France; D. 12 Oct 1663, Quebec City, New France; M. Joachim Martin (~1636-1690), 5 Nov 1662, Quebec City, New France

2. Marguerite Chalifour — B. 23 Apr 1652, La Canardière, New France; D. 28 Dec 1705, Quebec City, New France; M. Jean Badeau (1636-1711), 28 Oct 1665, Quebec City, New France

3. Jeanne Chalifour — B. 22 Feb 1654, La Canardière, New France; D. 1682, Trois-Riviéres, New France; M. François Bibaut (1642-1708), 17 Aug 1671, Quebec City, New France

4. Simone Chalifour — B. 18 Oct 1655, La Canardière, New France; D. 26 Oct 1695, Quebec City, New France; M. Julien Brosseau (1640-1713), 28 Oct 1668, Quebec City, New France

5. Françoise Chalifour — B. 4 Dec 1657, La Canardière, New France; D. 5 Jul 1697, St-Pierre, New France; M. Jacques Nolin (1641-1729), 18 Nov 1671, Quebec City, New France

6. Jeanne-Anne Chalifour — B. 25 Sep 1659, La Canardière, New France; D. 18 Jan 1703, Quebec City, New France; M. Germain Langlois (1642-1749), 14 Jul 1675, Quebec City, New France

7. Marie-Louise Chalifour — B. 3 Sep 1661, La Canardière, New France; D. 29 May 1735, Quebec City, New France; M. Joseph Vandendaigue (1653-1725), 18 Apr 1678, Quebec City, New France

8. Paul-François Chalifour — B. 13 May 1663, La Canardière, New France; D. 29 May 1718, Quebec City, New France; (1) Catherine Huppe (1668-1685), 22 Jan 1685, Quebec City, New France; (2) Marie-Jeanne Phileau (1665-1708), 28 Nov 1686, Beauport, New France; (3) Marie-Madeleine Brassard (1676-1752), 4 May 1711, Quebec City, New France

9. Marie-Madeleine Chalifour — B. 24 Mar 1665, La Canardière, New France; D. 2 May 1682, Quebec City, New France

10. Etienne Chalifour — B. 21 Mar 1667, La Canardière, New France; D. 10 Nov 1687, Quebec City, New France; M. Claudine Bourbeau (1671-1688), 29 Oct 1687, Charlesbourg, New France

11. Pierre Chalifour — B. 12 Dec 1668, Quebec City, New France; D. 25 Mar 1715, Charlesbourg, New France; M. Anne Mignier (1672-1743), 17 Oct 1689, Charlesbourg, New France

12. Anne Chalifour — B. 15 Apr 1670, Quebec City, New France; D. 13 Dec 1730, Beauport, New France; M. (1) Jean Normand (1661-1691), 6 Jun 1686, Quebec City, New France; (2) Jean Delage (1667-1724), 7 Feb 1692, Beauport, New France

13. Jean-Baptiste Chalifour — B. 9 Jan 1672, Quebec City, New France; D. 25 May 1672, Quebec City, New France;

14. Claude Chalifour — B. 30 Jan 1673, Quebec City, New France; D. Feb 1723, Quebec City, New France

Sources:
Généalogie du Quebec et d’Amérique française (website)
Quebec Catholic Parish Registers, 1621-1979, FamilySearch.org
Our French-Canadian Ancestors, Gerard Lebel (translated by Thomas J. Laforest), 1990
Find-a-Grave.com
WikiTree

An Unusual Lease for his Farm — Charles Boyer

B. about 1631 in Vançais, Deux-Sevres, Poitou-Charentes, France
M. (1) 23 Nov 1666 in Montreal, New France
Wife: Marguerite Tenard
M. (2) 29 Oct 1678 in La Prairie, New France
Wife: Louise Therese Dubreuil
D. after 24 Jul 1703 in (probably) La Prairie, New France

In New France, tenant farmers usually paid rent in a percentage of their crops, but for a time, Charles Boyer had a contract that required him to more or less be a servant of his landlords. He was born in in about 1631 in Vançais, France, a village in Poitou-Charentes. His parents were named Pierre Boyer and Denise Refence. There is no evidence that Charles was educated or had any special skills. He first turned up in records on May 5, 1663, when he signed an indentured servant contract to work in New France.

St-Martin church in village where Charles was born.

Five days after agreeing to go to America, Charles boarded a merchant ship at La Rochelle, the Taureau, along with 25 other passengers. They arrived at Quebec on July 24th. Charles ended up in Montreal, where he became a servant at Hotel-Dieu, a hospital run by nuns. As a servant, he likely did physical labor and any other chores needed by the sisters who took care of the patients.

On November 30, 1666, Charles married Marguerite Tenard, one of the Filles du Roi who had just arrived in Montreal. He continued to work at Hotel-Dieu at least into the following year; his name appeared on the 1667 census along with the nuns and other servants. During the summer of that year, Marguerite gave birth to their first child. They had five more children, with the youngest born in January 1678.

By the summer of 1671, Charles got a concession of land in La Prairie, on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River. His name was on several transactions of property over the next few years, but the contract he signed on June 29, 1675 was the most noteworthy. New France operated in a system of seigneurs (lords) who would oversee sections of land, collecting rent from the farmers in return for taking care of community needs. The farm in this transaction was part of a seigneury run by a Jesuit mission, and they demanded more for their rent than just money or crops. In return for the concession, Charles and his wife were to do the following:

— Deliver 500 pounds of wheat each year to the Jesuits in Montreal
— Bake 12 pounds of bread per week for the Jesuit mission
— Provide food for the priests each year amounting to 180 pounds per person
— Give food each day for visitors to the mission
— Chop 15 cords of wood each year for the priests
— Maintain all of the bridges and fences on the property

It’s not known how Charles and his wife managed to do this, as well as raise their family and support themselves on the farm. It may have put a physical strain on Marguerite, who died in early 1678. Charles remarried on October 29th of that year to a widow, Louise Therese Dubreuil. They didn’t have any children, but they were in their late 40s when they married.

Mark made by Charles on a 1679 document.

Charles continued to live on various farms in the La Prairie area for the rest of his life. It isn’t known exactly when he died; he last appeared on a record on July 24, 1703, and likely passed away not long after that date. His wife Louise survived him by many years and died at the age of 95 in 1727.

Children (all by Marguerite Tenard):
1. Marie Boyer — B. 24 Aug 1667, Montreal, New France; D. 10 Oct 1749, Yamaska, New France; M. André Forand (1643-1721), 30 Dec 1684, La Prairie, New France

2. Joseph Boyer — B. 7 Jan 1669, Montreal, New France; D. about 1670, New France

3. Antoine Boyer — B. 10 Apr 1671, La Prairie, New France; D. 27 Mar 1747, La Prairie, New France; M. (1) Marie Perras (1673-1736), 4 Feb 1692, La Prairie, New France; (2) Catherine Surprenant (1686-1762), 9 Sep 1737, La Prairie, New France

4. Jean-Baptiste Boyer — B. 17 Aug 1673, La Prairie, New France; D. 1734; M. Anne Caillé (1675-1717), 10 Feb 1698, La Prairie, New France

5. Marguerite Boyer — B. 5 Jul 1675, La Prairie, New France; D. 17 Nov 1708, Montreal, New France; M. (1) Claude Guichard (~1664-?), 7 Nov 1689, La Prairie, New France; (2) Jean Bonnet (~1669-?), 4 Oct 1694, Montreal, New France

6. Louise Boyer — B. 16 Jan 1678, La Prairie, New France; D. before 1681, New France

Sources:
Généalogie du Quebec et d’Amérique française (website)
Quebec Catholic Parish Registers, 1621-1979, FamilySearch.org

Prairie en Nouvelle-France, 1647-1760, Louis Lavallée, 1992
Navires venus en Nouvelle-France: Gens de mer et passagers des origines a la Conquete
A Drifting Cowboy (blog)
WikiTree

Fille du Roi Who Died in Childbirth — Perrette Vallée

B. about 1645 in Chalons-sur-Marne, France
M. 20 Oct 1665 in Quebec City, New France
Husband: Jean Bourassa
D. 5 May 1676 in Quebec City, New France

When a woman signed a contract offering to marry a stranger in New France, she was giving herself to a life of producing lots of children. For Perrette Valleé, this decision may have shortened her life.

Perrette was born in about 1645 in Chalons-sur-Marne, France, a city in the Champagne region. She was the daughter of Nicolas Vallée and Madeleine Major (or Mayor), but all that’s known about her parents are their names. Perrette had enough education that she could sign her name. When she was about 20, she was living in Paris in the parish of Saint-Sulpice. It’s not known whether she was on her own or with any of her family.

During the 1660s, an opportunity came up for young women to get paid to move to America. They would get free passage and a dowry in return for a promise to marry a settler who needed a wife. It was an effort supported by the king in order to populate New France. It’s known that the parish of Saint-Sulpice had a priest who recruited many women, and this is probably how Perrette became a Fille du Roi.

The ship that brought Perrette to New France was the St-Jean-Baptiste, which sailed out of Dieppe during the late summer of 1665, arriving in Quebec on October 2nd. (There are some sources which state the ship arrived in June, but given that many Filles du Roi married in October, it seems more likely that this is the correct date.) On board were from 80 to 90 women; this was the peak year of the Filles du Roi program.

Three days after arriving, Perrette signed a contract to marry a man named Jean Bourassa, who was about 33. The contract signing was attended by an impressive group of people, including the governor of New France, Daniel de Rémy de Courcelles, and Jean Talon, who was in charge of the civil administration of the colony. Talon had been the one who suggested the Filles du Roi idea to the king, and he had only recently been appointed to his post in New France; he also was born in Perrette’s hometown of Chalons-sur-Marne. Besides these two men, other witnesses to the contract were the head of the French army in New France, two women who ran the hospital, and two seigneurs who held land near Quebec City. There were several other marriage contracts that day, and this may be why so many important people were gathered at the signing. 

Daniel de Rémy de Courcelles and Jean Talon.

Perrette and Jean’s wedding took place on October 20th. It's unclear where they made their home afterwards because they were missing from the 1666 and 1667 censuses, but eventually they settled on the south shore of the St. Lawrence in Lauzon. There was a big incentive for new wives to have large families (if a couple had ten children, they’d get 300 livres as an annual pension), and Perrette gave birth to a son in 1667. This was followed by six more, born between 1669 and 1675. Then on May 5, 1676, Perrette died while in labor, trying to give birth to her eighth child. The baby wasn’t named and was likely stillborn. She was buried at the cemetery of Notre-Dame de Quebec.

It isn’t known whether Perrette had medical difficulties leading up to her last pregnancy, but her body probably wore out in having so many children in a short time. Her husband remarried six months later. She was the ancestor of Leo Durocher.

Perrette's burial record in the parish register.

Children:

1. François Bourassa — B. 13 Apr 1667, (probably) Lauzon, New France

2. Pierre Bourassa — B. 11 Feb 1669, (probably) Lauzon, New France

3. Jeanne Bourassa — B. about 1670, (probably) Lauzon, New France; D. about 1682, (probably) Lauzon, New France

4. Jean Bourassa — B. 24 May 1671, (probably) Lauzon, New France; M. Marie-Françoise Méthot, 10 Jan 1698, St-Nicolas, Lévis, New France

5. Marie Bourassa — B. about 1672, (probably) Lauzon, New France

6. Marie-Madeleine Bourassa — B. 13 Sep 1673, (probably) Lauzon, New France; D. 9 Mar 1742, St-Antonie-de-Tilly, New France; M. Jean-François Dussault (1688-1719), 8 Jan 1692, St-Jospeh de la Pointe-de-Lévy, Lauzon, New France

7. Catherine Bourassa — B. about 1675, (probably) Lauzon, New France

Sources:
Généalogie du Quebec et d’Amérique française (website)
Quebec Catholic Parish Registers, 1621-1979, FamilySearch.org

King’s Daughters and Founding Mothers—1663-1673, Peter Gagne, 2000

Historire de la Seigneurie de Lauzon, Volume 1, Joseph-Edmund Roy, 1897

La Fondation Lionel-Groulx (website) 

La Société des Filles du roi et soldats du Carignan (website)

Secretary of the Chamber of the King — Jean Bourgoin

B. about 1590 in Paris, France
M. France
Wife: Marie Lefebvre
D. after 1642 in (probably) France

Jean Bourgoin was a 17th century Frenchman whose whose story is sketchy in many ways, but there are two known things about him. One is that he fathered a woman who had many descendants. And the other is that he had quite a career involved with the king of France.

Jean was a bourgeois (middle-class) man from Paris, living during his adulthood in the parish of Notre-Dame. Based on the dates of some of his activities, he was likely born around 1590. At some point he married a woman named Marie Lefebvre; they probably had several children, of which one (possibly the youngest) was Marie-Marthe, born in about 1638.

Researchers of Jean’s life have noted that he held the office of Secretary of the Chamber of the King in 1628, but there is much more to his story than that. Jean started out as the clerk of a financier who worked in the government, and he used his behind-the-scenes knowledge to later author several pamphlets that were used to support King Louis XIII. It seems from their content, that he was working for the king, either directly or indirectly, when he wrote them.

Portrait of Louis XIII.

Louis XIII had inherited the throne from his father, who was assassinated when he was 9-years-old in 1610. When a child became king, a regent ruled in their place, in this case Louis’ Italian-born mother, Marie de’ Medici. As Louis came of age, his mother continued to rule, along with a faction of men who served as her advisors. One of the advisors was an Italian man named Concino Concini, and his unpopularity caused revolts within the country led by a man named Conté. In 1617, Louis defied his mother by taking charge, having Concini assassinated, then ordering that she be exiled.

Part of the political process was the publication of pamphlets written to arouse the public to join one side or the other. Jean was the author of one such pamphlet in 1618 called La Chasse aux Larrons (The Hunt for Thieves), which was an argument in support of the king. The booklet contained about 100 pages, giving a negative view of the queen mother and Concini, and was said to be “ripe with rhetoric” and made use of “anti-Italian stereotypes.” Jean’s main point was that the finance department in the government needed to be overhauled, and advocated for a Chambre de Justice to expose how they’d been stealing money from the treasury. He suggested that the king was the one who could straighten things out.

Title page of La Chasse aux Larrons.

Over the next decade, Jean authored many more pamphlets. One was entitled Offers & Proposals made on February 7th, 1623, to the King, to return to His Majesty the funds taken and stolen by the Officers of Finance. That year, a rebuttal to Jean’s writing was published by the king’s rivals, called The Table of Slander, in favor of the Financiers, against the impostures of Bourgoin & the accomplices. It’s hard to say how much impact Jean’s pamphlets had, but it was said that at least one financier was hung in effigy and others were penalized in some way. It was also said that the pamphlets supporting the king were much more widely read than the ones supporting the opposing side, and this may have encouraged Louis to keep up the print attacks against his enemies.

Not much more is known of Jean outside of what he wrote while working on behalf of Louis XIII. In 1642, he was appointed Commis de l'extraordinaire des guerres, and then he disappeared from records. His daughter, Marie-Marthe, migrated to New France in about 1661, and Jean was likely dead by that time.

Known Children:
1. Marie-Marthe Bourgouin — B. abt 1638, Paris, France; D. 19 Dec 1682, Ste-Famille, Ile-d’Orleans, New France; M. (1) Nicolas Godbout (1635-1674), 9 Jan 1662, Quebec, New France; (2) Antoine Marcereau, 11 Jul 1675, Ste-Famille, Ile-d’Orleans, New France

Sources:
Our French-Canadian Ancestors, Gerard Lebel (translated by Thomas J. Laforest), 1990
Monarchy Transformed:Princes and their Elites in Early Modern Western Europe, Robert von Friedburg, John Morrill, 2017
Louis XIII of France (Wikipedia article) 
“Political Pamphlets in Early Seventeenth Century France: The Propaganda War between Louis XIII and His Mother, 1618-1620,” The Sixteenth Century Journal, Vol. 42, 2011
French Absolutism: The Crucial Phase, 1620-1629, A.D Lublinskaya, 2008

Was he in New England & Virginia? — William Wadsworth

B. (probably) Feb 1594 in Long Buckby, Northamptonshire, England
M. (1) about 1625 in (probably) England
Wife: Sarah Talcott
M. (2) Jul 1644 in (probably) Connecticut
Wife: Elizabeth Stone
D. 15 Oct 1675 in Hartford, Connecticut

William Wadsworth was a Puritan who migrated to New England in the 1630s and was one of the founders of Hartford, Connecticut, but there is a claim that he may have also been to the Virginia colony a decade earlier.

It’s believed that William was born in Long Buckby, a village in Northamptonshire, England, and baptized there on February 26, 1594. His parents may have been William and Elizabeth Wadsworth and he was one of their five children, but this hasn’t been proven. While William was of sketchy origins, the woman he married was not. Her name was Sarah Talcott, and she was from the town of Braintree in Essex. They were husband and wife by 1626 when their oldest child was born on January 1st; another two were born in 1628 and 1631.

William made his home in Braintree and this brought him into contact with a Puritan preacher, Reverend Thomas Hooker. This association would set the course for the rest of his life. Like many in Essex, Hooker’s followers saw an opportunity to join a haven for their religion in America. On the heels of the Winthrop Fleet of 1630, other ships followed in the next few years, and William and some of his brethren boarded the ship Lyon in July of 1632. Also on board were wife Sarah with their two surviving children, and Sarah's brother John Talcott. They all settled in the new community of Cambridge; Sarah gave birth to another two babies, but she died not long after. 

Statue of Reverend Thomas Hooker in Hartford.

Reverend Hooker had also settled in Cambridge, and after he began having disagreements with the Puritan leaders in Boston, decided to form a new community on the Connecticut River. In June 1636, William and his family joined a group of about a hundred people on a journey by foot to the place which became the town of Hartford, Connecticut. He was assigned a lot for his new home, and would spend the rest of his life there. In June 1644, he married a second wife named Elizabeth Stone, the daughter of Hartford settlers. She was much younger than William, and between 1645 and 1656, they had six children.

As an original settler of Hartford, William was a respected member of the community, and was often chosen for important civic offices. He was named as constable in 1651, and as list and rate-maker in 1668 (a rate-maker was someone who decided how much tax each settler would pay). Between 1656 and 1675, William served as a deputy to the General Court, the governing body of Connecticut.

William wrote his will on May 16, 1675 and he died on October 15th of that year. His estate was worth over £1,677, which was a large sum of money. His wife Elizabeth survived him and died in about 1682.

The Wadsworth family left an important mark on Connecticut history in 1687, when William’s son Joseph saved the colonial charter from an English official who came to retrieve it. The charter was the basis for Connecticut’s government, and authorities in England decided they wanted to revoke the powers it gave. On the day the document was to be handed over, Joseph defiantly hid it in a hole in a tree. The tree became known forever after as the Charter Oak, which is commemorated on the Connecticut State Quarter issued in 1999.

The Charter Oak quarter.

Was William Wadsworth of 1621 Virginia the same man?
In 1621, an adventurer from Kent, England named Daniel Gookin attempted to start a settlement in the Virginia colony by bringing over about 80 colonists on a ship called the Flying Harte. The first name on the passenger manifest was William Wadsworth, described as a servant of Gookin. A 19th century descendant of the New England William Wadsworth discovered this and claimed his ancestor was the same man.

But was he? There’s no way to disprove it, but it seems highly unlikely. The William Wadsworth in Virginia also appeared on a list of settlers at Newport News in February 1625. The William Wadsworth from New England had his oldest child born less than a year later, so it doesn’t seem plausible that he could have returned to England and gotten married in that period of time. Wadsworth wasn’t a common name, but there were other families with that name in England, and the name William is very common. While it makes an interesting story, it doesn’t seem true that one William Wadsworth was in both colonies.

Children by Sarah Talcott:
1. Sarah Wadsworth — B. 1 Jan 1626, Braintree, England; D. 16 Oct 1648, Middletown, Connecticut; M. John Wilcox (1622-1676), 17 Sep 1646

2. William Wadsworth — B. 1628, Braintree, England; D. young

3. John Wadsworth — B. 1631, Braintree, England; D. 6 Nov 1689, Farmington, Connecticut; M. Sarah Stanley (~1638-1711), about 1656, Farmington, Connecticut

4. Mary Wadsworth — B. 1632, (probably) Cambridge, Massachusetts; D. 1685, Hartford, Connecticut; M. Thomas Stoughton, 30 Nov 1655, Hartford, Connecticut

5. Lydia Wadsworth — B. 1634, (probably) Cambridge, Massachusetts; D. young

Children by Elizabeth Stone:
1. Elizabeth Wadsworth — B. 17 May 1645, Hartford, Connecticut; D. about 12 Mar 1714, Simsbury, Connecticut; M. John Terry (1637-1691), 27 Nov 1662, Windsor, Connecticut

2. Samuel Wadsworth — B. 20 Oct 1646, Hartford, Connecticut; D. 16 Sep 1682

3. Joseph Wadsworth — B. 1647, Hartford, Connecticut; D. 1724; M. (1) Elizabeth Talcott, 6 Dec 1677, Hartford, Connecticut; (2) Mary Blackleach

4. Sarah Wadsworth — B. 17 Mar 1649, Hartford, Connecticut; 9 May 1705, Hartford, Connecticut; M. Jonathan Ashley (1646-1705), 10 Nov 1669, Springfield, Massachusetts

5. Thomas Wadsworth — B. 1651, Hartford, Connecticut; D. about 1726, Hartford, Connecticut; M. Elizabeth Barnard, 14 Nov 1677, Hartford, Connecticut

6. Rebecca Wadsworth — B. 1656, Hartford, Connecticut

Sources:
William Wadsworth (patriarch) (Wikipedia article) 
Society of the Descendants of the Founders of Hartford (website)
Charter Oak (Wikipedia article)
Find A Grave
WikiTree