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
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