M. (1) 11 Jun 1638 in St-Martin-du-Vieux-Bellême, Perche, France1
Husband: Louis Gasnier
M. (2) 1 Sep 1666 in Beauport, New France2
Husband: Paul de Rainville
D. 12 Nov 1687 in Ste-Anne-de-Beaupré, New France3
Marie-Madeleine Michel was a pioneer woman of early New France, who lost her husband in his prime and continued operating their farm in his absence. She was born in about 1619 in the Perche, France town of St-Martin-du-Vieux-Bellême;1 her parents were Pierre Michel and Louise Gory. Madeleine’s father died before 1638,1 but nothing else is known of her childhood.
On June 11, 1638, Madeleine married Louis Gasnier who was from the nearby village of Igé.1 For the first few years of their marriage, they made their home in another village, St-Côsme-en-Vairais, and Madeleine gave birth to two children, one of whom died young. Louis worked as a miller,4 a skill that may have attracted one of the men recruiting Perche natives to migrate to New France.
The house in France where Marie-Madeleine and Louis lived still exists today.
And in about 1644, Madeleine, Louis and their young daughter boarded a ship bound for America.4 After the family arrived in Quebec City, Madeleine gave birth to a child who was baptized on September 5th.5 Then the family moved to Cap-Tourmente, downriver from Quebec on the north shore of the St. Lawrence,4 and two more children were born. They moved to Beaupré, and the births of another four children completed the family.
Madeleine's family survived intact until 1661, when Louis was captured in an Iroquois raid along with seven other men.4 The group was taken across the river and marched for many miles to the Indians’ camp, where they were tortured, then slaughtered. This must have been very difficult for Madeleine emotionally, but in a practical sense, it was even worse because it left her without a man to run the farm. She was 41-years-old and still had six children ages 2 to 14 living at home. Fortunately, the oldest two were boys who could do enough of the farm work to get by. She probably also received help from her two sons-in-law.
Between 1661 and 1665, Madeleine was shown to have paid an annual tithe to the seigneury for the use of her farm, said to be a quantity of the wheat crop.6 She also supplemented the family’s income in 1663 by doing some work for the “fabrique of Petit-Cap.”6 A fabrique was a civil organization run by church authorities that saw to the common needs of a community. It’s not known exactly what Madeleine did, but she received four livres for three days of work.6
On September 1, 1666, Madeleine finally remarried.2 Her new husband was Paul de Rainville of Beauport, who had been widowed in February of that year. He had five children with his first wife, but only the youngest were still unmarried: a 13-year-old girl and a 14-year-old boy. Both of them were part of the blended household in the 1667 census, but of Madeleine’s children, only youngest son Joachim was listed.7
Madeleine moved to Bellechasse, appearing on the 1681 census with husband Paul.8 Then they returned to Beauport where Paul died on December 10, 1686.9 Madeleine went to live with her married daughter Anne in Beaupré and died less than a year later on November 12, 1687.3
Marie-Madeleine was the ancestor of Celine Dion, Angelina Jolie, Julianne Hough, Derek Hough, Dan Aykroyd, Adrienne Barbeau, Emeril Lagasse, and Nathan Fillion.10
Children (all by Louis Gasnier):
1. Louis Gagné — B. Sep 1639, St-Côsme-en-Vairais, Perche, France;11 D. young12
2. Louise Gagne — B. Jan 1642, Igé, Perche, France;13 D. Apr 1721, St-François-Xavier-de-la-Petite-Riviére, New France;14 M. Claude Bouchard (~1626-1699), 25 May 1654, Quebec City, New France15
3. Marie Gagné — B. 5 Sep 1644, Quebec City, New France;5 D. 18 Nov 1717, Beaupré, New France;16 M. (1) Andre Berthelot (1640-1687), 26 Jan 1659, Quebec City, New France;17 (2) Jacques Abelin (~1644-1704), 30 Jul 1690, Beaupré, New France18
4. Pierre Gagné — B. 27 Mar 1647, New France;19 D. 25 May 1714, Cap-Saint-Ignace, New France;20 M. Louise Faure (~1636-1714), 28 Oct 1668, New France21
5. Olivier Gagné — B. 7 May 1649, Cap-Tourmente, New France;22 D. before Jul 1738, (probably) Île d’Orleans, New France;23 M. Elizabeth Pépin (1662-1738), 8 Nov 1679, Île d’Orleans, New France24
6. Louis Gagné — B. 7 Jul 1651, Quebec City, New France;12 D. 24 Jun 1698, Château-Richer, New France;25 M. Marie Gagnon (1659-1722), 9 Feb 1678, Château-Richer, New France26
7. Anne Gagné — B. 27 Oct 1653, Quebec City, New France;27 M. François Normand Lacroix (1641-1710), 11 Sep 1670, Beaupré, New France28
8. Ignace Gagné — B. 12 Mar 1656, Quebec City, New France;29 D. 20 Jul 1702, Quebec City, New France;30 M. (1) Barbe Dodier (~1665-1689), 5 Nov 1680, Ste-Anne-de-Beaupré, New France;31 (2) Louise Tremblay (1669-?), 6 Nov 1689, L’Ange-Gardien, New France32
9. Joachim Gagné — B. about 1659, New France;33 D. 7 Feb 1688, Beauport, New France;34 M. Therese-Louise Marcoux (1667-1735), 12 Jan 1682, Beauport, New France35
Sources:
1 Généalogie du Québec et d’Amérique française listing for Marie-Madeleine Michel
2 Marriage record of Paul de Rainville and Marie-Madeleine Michel, Quebec Catholic Parish Registers, 1621-1979, FamilySearch.org
3 Burial record of Marie-Madeleine Michel, Q.C.P.R.
4 Perche-Quebec.com listing for Louis Gagné
5 Baptismal record of Marie Gasnier, Q.C.P.R.
6 Our French-Canadian Ancestors, Gerard Lebel (translated by Thomas J. Laforest), 1990
7 Recensement de 1667 en Nouvelle-France
8 Recensement de 1681 en Nouvelle-France
9 Burial record of Paul de Rainville, Q.C.P.R.
10 FamousKin listing of Marie-Madeleine Michel
11 Baptismal record of Louis Gasnier (older child), Q.C.P.R.
12 Died young based on birth record of brother Louis Gagné, Q.C.P.R.
13 Baptismal record of Louise Gasnier, Q.C.P.R.
14 Burial record of Louise Gasnier, Q.C.P.R.
15 Marriage record of Claude Bouchard and Louise Gasnier, Q.C.P.R.
16 Burial record of Marie Gasnier, Q.C.P.R.
17 Marriage record of André Berthelot and Marie Gasnier, Q.C.P.R.
18 Marriage record of Jacques Abelin and Marie Gasnier, Q.C.P.R.
19 Baptismal record of Pierre Gagné, Q.C.P.R.
20 Burial record of Pierre Gagné, Q.C.P.R.
21 Marriage record of Pierre Gagné and Louise Faure, Q.C.P.R.
22 Baptismal record of Olivier Gagné, Q.C.P.R.
23 Wikitree listing for Olivier Gagné
24 Marriage record of Olivier Gagné and Elizabeth Pepin, Q.C.P.R.
25 Burial record of Louis Gagné (younger child, Q.C.P.R.
26 Marriage record of Louis Gagné and Marie Gagnon, Q.C.P.R.
27 Baptismal record of Anne Gagné, Q.C.P.R.
28 Marriage record of François Normand Lacroix and Anne Gagné, Q.C.P.R.
29 Baptismal record of Ignace Gagné, Q.C.P.R.
30 Burial record of Ignace Gagné, Q.C.P.R.
31 Marriage record of Ignace Gagné and Barbé Dodier, Q.C.P.R.
32 Marriage record of Ignace Gagné and Louise Tremblay, Q.C.P.R.
33 Wikitree listing for Joachim Gagné
34 Burial record of Joachim Gagné, Q.C.P.R.
35 Marriage record of Joachim Gagné and Therese-Louise Marcoux, Q.C.P.R.
