B. about 1758 in (probably) St-Jean-Port-Joli, New France
M. (1) 12 Jan 1779 in St-Jean-Port-Joli, Quebec
Husband: François-Joseph Mignault dit LaBrie
M. (2) 26 Jan 1807 in Lauzon, Quebec
Husband: Joseph Lacasse
D. 2 Dec 1828 in Bellechasse, Quebec
As a mother, Marguerite Chouinard experienced an unusual amount of infant mortality, suggesting that she had trouble with carrying a child to term.
Marguerite was born in about 1758 to Jean-François Chouinard and Marguerite Morin. She was the fourth of 12 children. Baptismal records are missing for the six oldest siblings, but it’s believed they were born in St-Jean-Port-Joli, New France. This was around the time when England took over the colony, and Marguerite’s family lived in a place where the British set fire to and destroyed almost all of the houses in her community.
On January 12, 1779, Marguerite married a widower named François-Joseph Mignault dit LaBrie. She was about 15 years younger than he was, and became the step-mother to three children that he had from his first wife. By the end of 1783, Marguerite had three children of her own. She had two more children, born in 1787 and 1788, who each died before their fourth birthday. Then she had seven babies who all died at birth (or soon after).
The list of the burial records of Marguerite’s children tells a heartbreaking story. One-by-one, each of her pregnancies between 1790 and 1798 ended in tragedy. Of the seven children, five were unnamed, and it’s possible they weren’t even live births. One of her named babies was baptized and buried on the same day; only the final one, a girl named Marie-Adelaide, lived for a few days. It’s clear that Marguerite had no problem conceiving, but might have had a medical condition that caused her to go into labor prematurely. Evidence shows that in 1790, she had an unnamed baby in April and unnamed twins in December—a gap of just eight months. It’s easy to imagine that Marguerite gave birth prematurely in the other later pregnancies as well.
Within a few years of the birth of Marguerite’s youngest child, the family moved to Lauzon, Quebec, where on May 9, 1805, her husband François-Joseph died. On January 26, 1807, Marguerite married Joseph Lacasse, a farmer who had been recently widowed. By this time, Marguerite was thankfully past the age of bearing children. She lived another twenty-plus years, passing away on December 2, 1828 in Bellchasse, Quebec. Her second husband survived her by a short time and died in 1829.
Children:
1. Jean-François Mignault dit LaBrie — B. 26 Oct 1779, St-Roch-des-Aulnaies, Quebec; D. 26 Aug 1807, Lauzon, Quebec; M. Marie-Anne Fortier (1778-1858), 16 Feb 1801, Lauzon, Quebec
2. Jean-Baptiste (or Joseph) Mignault dit LaBrie — B. 21 Jul 1781, St-Jean-Port-Joli, Quebec; D. (probably) 15 Jul 1846 in St-Norbert, Quebec; M. (probably) Marie-Charlotte Dubois (1797-?), 19 Oct 1812, St-Joseph-de-la-Pointe-Lévy, Quebec
3. Marguerite Mignault dit LaBrie — B. 12 Sep 1783, St-Jean-Port-Joli, Quebec; D. 26 Dec 1812, Lauzon, Quebec; M. Ambroise Bedard (1781-1876), 3 Aug 1801, Lauzon, Quebec
4. Antoine Mignault dit LaBrie — B. 9 May 1787, St-Jean-Port-Joli, Quebec; D. 18 Nov 1788, St-Jean-Port-Joli, Quebec
5. Noël Mignault dit Labrie — B. 11 Nov 1788, St-Jean-Port-Joli, Quebec; D. about 10 May 1792, St-Jean-Port-Joli, Quebec
6. Baby Mignault dit Labrie — B. 19 Apr 1790, St-Jean-Port-Joli, Quebec; D. 19 Apr 1790, St-Jean-Port-Joli, Quebec
7. Baby Mignault dit Labrie — B. 21 Dec 1790, St-Jean-Port-Joli, Quebec; D. 21 Dec 1790, St-Jean-Port-Joli, Quebec
8. Baby Mignault dit Labrie — B. 21 Dec 1790, St-Jean-Port-Joli, Quebec; D. 21 Dec 1790, St-Jean-Port-Joli, Quebec
9. André Jérémie Mignault dit Labrie — B. 22 Jan 1792, St-Jean-Port-Joli, Quebec; D. 22 Jan 1792, St-Jean-Port-Joli, Quebec
10. Baby Mignault dit Labrie — B. 6 Aug 1793, St-Jean-Port-Joli, Quebec; D. 6 Aug 1793, St-Jean-Port-Joli, Quebec
11. Baby Mignault dit Labrie — B. 11 May 1796, St-Jean-Port-Joli, Quebec; D. 11 May 1796, St-Jean-Port-Joli, Quebec
12. Marie-Adelaide Mignault dit Labrie — B. 23 Mar 1798, St-Jean-Port-Joli, Quebec; D. 28 Mar 1798, St-Jean-Port-Joli, Quebec
Sources:
Quebec Catholic Parish Registers, 1621-1979, FamilySearch.org
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