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 was Alex Trebek.
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
