M. 2 Jun 1692 in Quebec City, New France
Husband: Jacques Chouinard
D. 1 Jan 1750 in St-Jean-Port-Joli, New France
Louise Jean experienced motherhood sixteen times while living in remote places along the St. Lawrence River. She was born on May 18, 1678 in La Canardière, New France to Pierre Jean and Françoise Favreau. Her parents were immigrants from the La Rochelle area of France, who moved to America in 1669. Louise grew up with two brothers—a much smaller family than the one she would raise.
On June 2, 1692, Louise was married at age 14 to Jacques Chouinard, a 29-year-old man from France. To get the couple started in life, her father gave her new husband a plow with rigging, two horses, a foal, a cow, a heifer and 400 bales of hay. He offered temporary housing for the newlyweds, then provided a small farm at La Canardière. Louise had her first child, a son, in 1695, and the baby was baptized in Quebec City.
Louise’s family next moved to Île-aux-Oies (Island of the Geese), where Jacques had acquired a farm in 1697. The island was sparsely populated and had no church, so when Louise gave birth to her next four children, they had to be taken to the south shore community of St-Ignace in order to be baptized. Sadly, two babies born in 1697 and 1698 died as infants.
Perhaps the isolation of the island caused Louise’s family to migrate once again, this time to the south shore of the St. Lawrence. After the harvest of 1702, they settled in St-Jean-Port-Joli, where Louise's father and some of her siblings already lived. Jacques built a house, described as being "20 by 18 feet, covered with planks and with a stone fireplace," and it was here that Louise gave birth to 11 more children. One child died in a terrible accident; in April 1707, 2-year-old Jean-Baptiste was “burned in the fire and drowned in the cold water.” The death record gave no other details of the incident.
Louise’s last pregnancy was in 1720 when she was 42 years of age. The following year, her husband Jacques seems to have died on a trip back to France. At the time Louise became a widow, she had 10 children in the household, but her oldest three sons were of age, so they likely helped support the family.
On February 10, 1727, Louise signed over her property and possessions to the seven children who were still under her roof; in return, she kept the use of her home during her lifetime, and asked her oldest unmarried son, Pierre, to have 60 masses said for her after her death. French Catholics had a belief that priests who celebrated mass in honor of the deceased helped their souls reach heaven, and this was done by paying the church.
Louise died at St-Jean-Port-Joli on January 1, 1750 at the age of 71. It isn’t known if her wishes regarding the 60 masses were carried out by her son.
Children:
1. Pierre Chouinard – B. 20 Apr 1695, (probably) La Canardière, New France; D. 19 Jun 1767, L'Islet-sur-Mer, Quebec; M. Ursule Martin (1704-1792), 14 Feb 1724, Ste-Anne-de-la-Pocatiere, New France
2. Jacques Chouinard – B. 10 Aug 1697, Île-aux-Oies, New France; D. 14 Aug 1697, Île-aux-Oies, New France
3. Joseph Chouinard – B. 9 Aug 1698, Île-aux-Oies, New France; D. 2 Dec 1699, Île-aux-Oies, New France
4. Jacques-Eustache Chouinard – B. 17 Sep 1700, Île-aux-Oies, New France; D. 3 Nov 1760, Montmagny, New France; M. Marie-Madeleine Berube (1708-1763), 8 Jul 1725, Riviere-Ouelle, New France
5. Pierre Chouinard – B. 28 Feb 1702, Île-aux-Oies, New France D. 7 Jan 1790, St-Jean-Port-Joli, Quebec; M. (1) Genevieve Lizotte (1705-?), 18 Nov 1727, Ste-Anne-de-la-Pocatiere, New France; (2) Marie-Anne Pelletier (1725-1773), 4 Nov 1743, Saint-Roch-des-Aulnaies, New France
6. Louise Chouinard – B. 28 Jan 1704, L'Islet-sur-Mer, New France; D. 8 Jan 1783, Saint-Roch-des-Aulnaies, Quebec; M. Charles Pelletier (1700-1776), 25 Nov 1726, L'Islet-sur-Mer, New France
7. Jean-Baptiste Chouinard – B. 10 May 1705, L'Islet-sur-Mer, New France; D. Apr 1707, L'Islet-sur-Mer, New France
8. Marguerite Chouinard – B. 29 Mar 1707, Saint-Jean-Port-Joli, New France; D. 24 Jan 1751, St-Ours, New France; M. Pierre Fortin (1704-1788), 19 Nov 1730, L'Islet-sur-Mer, New France
9. Marie-Anne Chouinard – B. 25 Jul 1708, L'Islet-sur-Mer, New France; M. (1) Alexandre Saint-Pierre (1703-?), 15 Nov 1728, L'Islet-sur-Mer, New France; (2) Jean-Baptiste Migneault (1707-?), 10 Nov 1766, Ste-Anne-de-la-Pocatiere, Quebec
10. Marie-Ursule Chouinard – B. 14 Aug 1710, L'Islet-sur-Mer, New France; D. 24 Mar 1735, L'Islet-sur-Mer, New France; M. Henri Parent (1696-1780), 15 May 1729, L'Islet-sur-Mer, New France
11. François Chouinard – B. 14 Aug 1710, L'Islet-sur-Mer, New France; M. Marguerite Luret (~1716-1789), abt 1737, New France
12. Elisabeth Chouinard – B. 5 Feb 1714, L'Islet-sur-Mer, New France; D. 5 Aug 1714, L'Islet-sur-Mer, New France
13. Jacques Chouinard – B. 15 Feb 1715, L'Islet-sur-Mer, New France
14. Julien Chouinard – B. 22 Nov 1716, L'Islet-sur-Mer, New France; D. 14 Dec 1791, St-Jean-Port-Joli, Quebec; M. Reine Fortin (1708-1790), 16 Jan 1741, L'Islet-sur-Mer, New France
15. Baby Boy Chouinard – B. 18 Dec 1718, L'Islet-sur-Mer, New France; D. 18 Dec 1718, L'Islet-sur-Mer, New France
16. Charles Chouinard – B. 12 Aug 1720, L'Islet-sur-Mer, New France; M. Marie-Dorothee Fortin (1714-1793), L'Islet-sur-Mer, New France
Sources:
Généalogie du Quebec et d’Amérique française (website)
Our French-Canadian Ancestors, Gerard Lebel (translated by Thomas J. Laforest), 1990WikiTree
