Fille du Roi Married to a Fur Trader — Marie Blanchard

B. 15 Jan 1647 in Rouen, France
M. (1) 10 Nov 1667 in Quebec City, New France
Husband: Mathieu Brunet dit LeTang
M. (2) about 1713 in New France
Husband: Yves Lucas dit St-Renaud
D. 29 Jul 1722 in Lachine, New France

The story of Marie Blanchard tells of the adventure that some French women got when signing up to be a bride in New France. While many ended up raising families on farms near Quebec City, her fate played out rather differently.

Marie was born in Rouen, France on January 15, 1647. Her parents were Jean Blanchard and Martine Lebas, but everything else about her origins is unknown. At age 20, whatever her circumstances were, Marie agreed to marry a man in New France, becoming one of the Filles du Roi. On June 10, 1667, she boarded the ship Le St-Louis in Dieppe along with around 80 other women, and a number of men who were also emigrating. The women later reported that those running the ship didn't provide enough food, with only a small ration in the morning, and dinner being “a little biscuit.” The ship arrived over three months later in Quebec, and 16 of the women had become sick.

Once in Canada, Marie and the other Filles du Roi were courted by prospective husbands, and she soon found one who would marry her. His name was Mathieu Brunet dit LeTang, a young man who had arrived within the year, possibly on the same ship as Marie. Their marriage took place on November 10, 1667 in Quebec City. There was reportedly no marriage contract (for some reason, Mathieu and Marie had one drawn up 12 years later). Married couples in New France were encouraged to have large families, and Marie gave birth to ten children between about 1668 and 1688.

Instead of staying near the more-established settlement of Quebec City, Marie and her husband moved to Champlain, and later, Cap-de-la-Madeleine. These were places upriver, far from the heart of the colony. In 1673, Mathieu was sued in a dispute involving hitting a woman and injuring her, but it’s not clear if Marie was actually the one to blame; the matter was settled with the payment of a fine. Mathieu and Marie lived in a somewhat rugged place, and when she had a child on January 3, 1674, the baptism took place six days later “by a visiting priest from Trois-Rivières.” The lack of permanent clergyman was a hardship many settlers had to face. 

Cap-de-la-Madeleine.

Around this time, Mathieu became involved in fur trading, and by 1683, was organizing expeditions to the west. Not long after that, the family relocated further west to the Montreal area. For a time they lived in Lachine, but moved away before the terrible massacre of 1689.

Being married to a fur trader meant having your husband away on expeditions for long periods of time, sometimes for more than a year. This left Marie to manage the farm and see to it that her children were fed, without having a man around. For the first of Mathieu’s journeys in the spring of 1683, he put it in his contract that Marie be provided with 600 livres while he was away. He was gone for more than a year, but within a short time he planned another more extensive trip, one that took him all the way into what is now Minnesota. On May 17, 1685, a document signed in Montreal formally provided for Marie during Mathieu’s expected long absence; he didn’t come home until 1687, but it was his final journey out west.

On November 4, 1687, Mathieu and Marie signed a farm lease for five years on the Saint-Pierre River in the town of Hautmesnil. Five years later, they bought property in Montreal, on “Place d’Armes” which was “near the western edge of the walled community.” The lot was very small — only 12-1/2 feet wide along the back — and they paid just 450 livres for it. It had no house on it and he promised to build one. The property was then turned over to their oldest son Michel. In early 1700, a document gave Mathieu and Marie’s residence as Côte-St-Paul, which was part of Lachine, and this may have been where they lived out their last few years together.

Mathieu died at age 60 in December 1708, and in about 1713, Marie married Yves Lucas dit St-Renaud, a man who was about 18 years younger than she was. By now the fur trade frontier had moved far to the west; Yves made a living as a barrel maker. Marie and her young husband continued to live in Lachine, and that’s where she passed away on July 29, 1722. Yves survived her by just a few years, dying in 1726. By virtue of being a 17th-century settler of New France, Marie had several famous descendants, including Dan Aykroyd, Liza Minelli and Rudy Vallée.

Children:
1. Michel Brunet — B. about 1668

2. Jeanne Brunet — B. about 1670; D. 1704; M. François Huart, 12 Apr 1684, Champlain, New France

3. Marie-Anne Brunet — B. about 1672; D. 6 Nov 1747, Pointe Claire, New France; M. (1) Antoine Pilon (~1664-1715), 10 Jan 1689, Montreal, New France; (2) Laurent Godin, 26 Jun 1719, Pointe Claire, New France

4. Jean Brunet — B. 3 Jan 1674, Cap-de-Madeleine, New France; D. Mar 1723, Pointe Claire, New France, M. Marie Perrier, 19 Oct 1694, Lachine, New France

5. Pierre Brunet — B. 13 Feb 1676, Cap-de-Madeleine, New France

6. Marie Brunet — B. 25 Oct 1677, Cap-de-Madeleine, New France; D. Jan 1756, Ste-Genevieve, Pierrefonds, New France; M. François Bigras dit Fauvel (1665-1731), 31 Aug 1693, Montreal, New France

7. Jacques Brunet — 30 Jul 1680, Champlain, New France; D. about Nov 1708, Montreal, New France; M. Jeanne Verray, 14 Nov 1701, Lachine, New France

8. Catherine Brunet — B. 5 Nov 1681, Champlain, New France; M. Honoré Danis (1669-1722), 15 Nov 1694, Lachine, New France

9. Marguerite Brunet — B. 19 Aug 1683, Champlain, New France; D. 3 Aug 1699, Lachine, New France

10. Mathieu Brunet — B. Sep 1688, Montreal, New France; D. Nov 1706, Montreal, New France

Sources:
Généalogie du Quebec et d’Amérique française (website)
Navires venus en Nouvelle-France (website)
King’s Daughters and Founding Mothers—1663-1673, Peter Gagne, 2000
WikiTree

Phantoms of the French Fur Trade: Twenty Men Who Worked in the Trade Between 1618 and 1758, Vol. 2, Timothy J. Kent, 2015