Migration Up the St. Lawrence — Charles Boyer

B. (probably) 7 Sep 1673, Quebec City, New France¹
M. (1) 9 Feb 1699 in Charlesbourg, New France²
Wife: Marie-Marguerite Vanier
M. (2) 19 Aug 1715 in Charlesbourg, New France³
Wife: Marie-Madeleine Vivier
D. 18 Mar 1727 in Chambly, New France⁴

Charles Boyer was of the subset of French Canadian colonists who started out near Quebec City and ended up near Montreal. He was born during the early 1670s to Étienne Boyer dit LaFontaine and Marie-Therese Viel. Charles’ mother was a Fille du Roi and his father was a Carignan-Salières Regiment soldier, and the couple married in Quebec City in 1671.⁵ There was no baptismal record in the family for a child named Charles, but a baby named “Hugues” who was born on September 7, 1673 may actually have been him.¹ Charles' marriage contract called him Hugues, and there’s no other reference to a Hugues Boyer in parish records.

Baptism of "Hugues Boyer," who is assumed to be Charles.

There was some drama early in Charles’ life when his mother decided to go on a trip to France; he was the only child at the time and seems to have stayed in Quebec with his father. When his mother returned months later, she was pregnant by another man, and in early 1677, Charles’ half-sister was born.⁵ His parents seemed to patch up their marriage and had ten more children together, but only three of them survived, all boys.

On February 9, 1699, Charles got married to Marie-Marguerite Vanier at the St-Charles church in Charlesbourg.² It was a double wedding with his younger brother Louis also getting married that day. Charles’ bride was not yet 15-years-old, which wasn’t unusual in New France. A few months into their marriage, there was some friction between his mother and his mother-in-law when they had an argument which escalated beyond words. Charles’ mother ripped the hat off his mother-in-law’s head, throwing it to the ground and ruining it. The two women ended up in court over their fight.⁵

Charles and Marguerite lived in Beauport, then later in a section of Charlesbourg called St-Romain. Between November 1700 and June 1714, they had seven children born, although one may have been stillborn because it was unnamed in the burial record.⁶ In addition to that, at least one other child died as an infant. Sadly, Marguerite passed away on April 18, 1715.⁷ On August 19th, Charles married a second wife, Marie-Madeleine Vivier, who was the widow of Michel Bouron. During the fall of 1716, he sold his farm,⁸ and the family moved west.

On March 16, 1717, Charles purchased a concession in the seigneury of St-Laurent on the island of Montreal.⁹ He and second wife Madeleine had two children born in 1721 and 1725. Meanwhile, Charles’ oldest daughter, Marie-Josephte got married in 1722 to Antoine-Joseph Bouron,¹⁰ who was the brother of Madeleine’s first husband.

Charles was in the settlement of Chambly when on March 18, 1727, he died at the age of 53.⁴ Chambly was the site of a fort that was being used at the time to defend against the English, and it isn’t known if he was farming there, or involved with the fort itself. His burial was at a small cemetery just outside the fort walls. Madeleine was pregnant when he died, and later gave birth to a son who was baptized at St-Laurent.¹¹ Curiously, there’s a road not far from the Chambly fort that’s called “Rue Charles-Boyer,” but it isn’t known if it was named for him. Charles was the ancestor of Ricky Gervais.

Rue Charles-Boyer in Chambly, Quebec.

Children by Marie-Madeleine Vanier:
1. Marie-Françoise Boyer — B. about 17 Nov 1700, Beauport, New France;¹² D. 10 Apr 1701, Beauport, New France¹³

2. Marie-Josephte Boyer — B. 24 Jun 1704, Charlesbourg, New France;¹⁴ D. 24 Dec 1742, (probably) Montreal, New France;¹⁵ M. (1) Antoine-Joseph Bouron (1696-1741), 7 Jan 1722, St-Laurent, New France;¹⁰ (2) Jean-Baptiste Dumouchel (1710-1783), 2 Jul 1742, Montreal, New France¹⁶

3. Jean-Baptiste Boyer — B. 14 Nov 1706, Charlesbourg, New France¹⁷

4. Pierre Boyer — B. 14 Dec 1708, Charlesbourg, New France;¹⁸ M. Marie-Josephe Gatien, 25 Nov 1743, Montreal, New France¹⁹

5. Madeleine Boyer — B. 2 Dec 1710, Charlesbourg, New France;²⁰ M. Jean-Baptiste Boudeau, 1739, Quebec City, New France²¹

6. Baby Boy Boyer — B. Dec 1712, Charlesbourg, New France;⁶ D. before 13 Dec 1712, New France⁶

7. Charles-François Boyer — B. 28 Jun 1714, Charlesbourg, New France²²

Children by Marie-Madeleine Vivier:
1. Marie-Louise Boyer — B. 19 Mar 1721, St-Laurent, New France;²³ D. 5 Sep 1789, Boucherville, Quebec;²⁴ M. Gilles-Joachim Laverdure, 7 Oct 1748, Boucherville, New France²⁵

2. Michel Boyer — B. 2 Mar 1725, Montreal, New France;²⁶ M. Josette-Marguerite Dulignon, 7 Jan 1760, Michilimackinac, New France²⁷

3. Antoine Boyer — B. 20 Sep 1727, St-Laurent, New France;¹¹ D. 7 Sep 1790, Cahokia;²⁸ M. (1) Marie-Louise Brigade Dufour (1742-1766), 24 Oct 1757, Detroit, New France;²⁹ (2) Louise Rouillard, 6 Nov 1769, Sault-au-Recollet, Quebec³⁰

Sources:
1    Baptismal record of Hugues Boyer, Quebec Catholic Parish Registers, 1621-1979, FamilySearch.org
2    Marriage record of Charles Boyer and Marie-Marguerite Vanier, Q.C.P.R.
3    Marriage record of Charles Boyer and Marie-Madeleine Vivier, Q.C.P.R.
4    Burial record of Charles Boyer, Q.C.P.R.
5    King’s Daughters and Founding Mothers—1663-1673, pp. 246-247, Peter Gagne, 2000
6    Burial record of Baby Boy Boyer, Q.C.P.R.
7    Burial record of Marie-Marguerite Vanier, Q.C.P.R.
8    Sale of land from Charles Boyer to Louis Pépin, 4 Oct 1716, Florent de La Cetière, notary
9    Sale of land from Jean-Baptiste Vanier to Charles Boyer, 16 Mar 1717, Florent de La Cetière, notary
10  Marriage record of Antoine-Joseph Bouron and Marie-Josephte Boyer, Q.C.P.R.
11  Baptismal record of Antoine Boyer, Q.C.P.R.
12  Baptismal record of Marie-Françoise Boyer, Q.C.P.R.
13  Burial record of Marie-Françoise Boyer, Q.C.P.R.
14  Baptismal record of Marie-Josephte Boyer, Q.C.P.R.
15  Burial record of Marie-Josephte Boyer, Q.C.P.R.
16  Marriage record of Jean-Baptiste Dumouchel and Marie-Josephte Boyer, Q.C.P.R.
17  Baptismal record of Jean-Baptiste Boyer, Q.C.P.R.
18  Baptismal record of Pierre Boyer, Q.C.P.R.
19  Marriage record of Pierre Boyer and Marie-Josephe Gatien, Q.C.P.R.
20  Baptismal record of Madeleine Boyer, Q.C.P.R.
21  Marriage record of Jean-Baptiste Boudeau and Madeleine Boyer, Q.C.P.R.
22  Baptismal record of Charles-François Boyer, Q.C.P.R.
23  Baptismal record of Marie-Louise Boyer, Q.C.P.R.
24  Burial record of Marie-Louise Boyer, Q.C.P.R.
25  Marriage record of Gilles-Joachim Laverdure and Marie-Louise Boyer, Q.C.P.R.
26  Baptismal record of Michel Boyer, Q.C.P.R.
27  “Michilmackinac Families,” Diane Wolford Sheppard, 2016
28  Old Cahokia: A Narrative and Documents Illustrating the First Century of its History, Joseph Desloge, 1949, p. 98
29  Marriage record of Antoine Boyer and Marie-Louise Brigade Dufour, Tanguay Collection, p. 504
30  Marriage record of Antoine Boyer and Louise Roulliard, Q.C.P.R.