B. about 1648 in Paris, France
M. (1) about 1670 in (probably) Île d'Orléans, New France
Husband: Jean Soucy dit Lavigne
M. (2) 22 Aug 1679 in L’Islet, New France
Husband: Damien Bérubé
M. (3) 7 Nov 1692 in Rivière-Ouelle, New France
Husband: François Miville
D. 12 Mar 1721 in Rivière-Ouelle, New France
Jeanne Savonnet married three husbands in the rugged early days of French Canada, and she outlived them all. She was born in Paris in about 1648 to Jacques Savonnet and Antoinette Babilette. When Jeanne was a young woman of about 22, she was recruited to be a Fille du Roi, agreeing to marry a man in New France in return for passage and a dowry.
Jeanne arrived in Quebec City during the summer of 1670, competing with 120 other prospective brides of that year. She successfully found a husband, Jean Soucy dit Lavigne, who had come to New France as a Carignan Regiment soldier and decided to settle there. Their marriage record is lost, but the event is thought to have happened in Île d’Orleans. Then they moved to a farm on the remote Île-aux-Oies. The small, narrow island was sparsely populated, and life must have been challenging for a woman from Paris. She gave birth to four children there, with one dying young. Then in 1678, Jean died; it’s been speculated that he may have drowned since there was no burial record.
Getting a new husband meant moving to the mainland, and on August 22, 1679, Jeanne married Damien Bérubé in L’Islet, located on the south shore of the St. Lawrence. It was the very first marriage recorded at that parish. Damien was a mason by trade and they settled in Rivière-Ouelle, where Jeanne gave birth to five more children. She was pregnant with their sixth when an epidemic seems to have hit the area, and within a few days in March 1688, two baby girls and husband were dead. Her last child with Damien, a boy, was born that October.
Jeanne was on her own for the next few years, and most likely her oldest son, Pierre, helped to support the family. In 1690, Rivière-Ouelle was threatened by a direct attack when a force from New England sailed up the St. Lawrence to invade Quebec. When the ships tried to land at their small settlement, everyone in the community banded together, and led by the village priest, they bravely fought off the English. It’s not known how Jeanne participated in the battle, but she certainly experienced the fear and anticipation of being invaded.
On November 7, 1692, Jeanne married a third time to François Miville, the son of an immigrant from Switzerland. François had at one time been a seigneur, but he had given it up by the time he married Jeanne and made a living as a carpenter. Together they had one daughter, Jeanne’s last child, born in 1694.
Jeanne’s third husband passed away on November 23, 1711, and she died almost ten years later on March 12, 1721. Her descendants include Alex Trebek.
Children by Jean Soucy dit Lavigne:
1. Anne Soucy – B. 5 Sep 1671, Île-aux-Oies, New France; M. (1) Jean Lebel (?-1699), 16 Aug 1689, Riviere Ouelle, New France; (2) Jacques Bois, 24 Nov 1704
2. Pierre Soucy – B. 13 Apr 1673, Île-aux-Oies, New France; D. 7 Jan 1760, Riviere Ouelle, New France; M. Elisabeth-Ursule Fouquereau (1679-1758), 13 Jan 1699, Riviere Ouelle, New France
3. Marie-Anne Soucy – B. 15 Feb 1675, Île-aux-Grues, New France; M. (1) Charles Pelletier (?-1713), 24 Nov 1701, Riviere Ouelle, New France; (2) Robert Gaulin, 15 Apr 1716, Ste-Famille, New France
4. Guillaume Soucy – B. 5 Apr 1677, Île-aux-Grues, New France
Children by Damien Bérubé:
1. Jeanne-Marguerite Bérubé – B. 27 Oct 1680, Rivière-Ouelle, New France; D. 24 Feb 1709, Rivière-Ouelle, New France; M. René Plourde (1667-1708), 26 Aug 1697, Rivière-Ouelle, New France
2. Pierre Bérubé — B. 4 Jan 1682, Rivière-Ouelle, New France; D. 5 Oct 1736, Rivière-Ouelle, New France; M. Genevieve Dancosse (1687-1745), 8 Jan 1706, Rivière-Ouelle, New France
3. Ignace Bérubé — B. about 1683; D. 7 Mar 1709, Rivière-Ouelle, New France; M. Angélique Marguerite Ouellet (1690-1756), 16 Aug 1707, Rivière-Ouelle, New France
4. Marie-Josephe Bérubé — B. 28 Oct 1684, Rivière-Ouelle, New France; D. Mar 1688, Rivière-Ouelle, New France
5. Thérèse Bérubé — B. about 1686, Rivière-Ouelle, New France; D. 7 Mar 1688, Rivière-Ouelle, New France
6. Mathurlin Bérubé — B. 17 Oct 1688, Rivière-Ouelle, New France; D. 20 Nov 1741, Rivière-Ouelle, New France; M. Angélique-Marie Miville (1697-1769), 6 Apr 1712, Rivière-Ouelle, New France
Child by François Miville:
1. Marie-Françoise Miville – B. 18 Jan 1694, Rivière-Ouelle, New France; D. 17 Jun 1758, Rivière-Ouelle, New France; M. Prisque Boucher (1689-1768), 6 Apr 1712, Rivière-Ouelle, New France
Sources:
Généalogie du Quebec et d’Amérique française (website)
Our French-Canadian Ancestors, Gerard Lebel (translated by Thomas J. Laforest), 1990
King's daughters and founding mothers: the filles du roi, 1663-1672, Peter J. Gagné, 2001
1690: Qui sont les héros et les héroïnes de la bataille de Rivière-Ouelle? (blog) Robert Bérubé, 2017
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