M. (1) before 1665 in France2
Husband: Jacques Baro
M. (2) 9 Nov 1665 in Champlain, New France3
Husband: Jacques Aubert
D. 25 Feb 1697 in Grondines, New France4
The women who became Filles du Roi had many reasons for doing so, all related to the need and desire to make a new life. Some came from poverty, some came from orphanages, and a few came from scandalous situations. But Antoinette Meunier’s story seems to have been that after her husband died, she had no means of support, and turned to America for opportunity.
Little is known of Antoinette’s beginnings. She was born in about 1636 in the town of Autun,1 located in Burgundy. Autun dated back to Roman times, and her family was from the parish of St-Pierre. Antoinette's parents’ were Antoine Meunier and Anne Lami (or Lamy). Her father was a baker, and at some point, likely during the 1650s, she married another baker, Jacques Baro.2 No other information survives of who he was, or when and why he died. If the couple had any children together, it’s likely they died young.
Autun, France: the town where Antoinette was born.
The Filles du Roi program had been in place for two years when Antoinette signed up during the spring of 1665.2 Authorities in charge of running New France looked to bring over 100 “marriageable girls” that year. Many came from Paris or Normandy, so it was somewhat unusual for a woman from Burgundy to be recruited. Antoinette boarded the ship St-Jean-Baptiste in Dieppe, and after a long sea voyage, landed at Quebec City on October 2nd.2 Her journey wasn’t over yet — she became one of the women selected to be taken upriver to Trois-Rivières. There she found a husband in Jacques Aubert, and they agreed to a marriage contract on November 9th at Champlain.3
The duty of women in New France was to have as many children as possible, but Antoinette was known to give birth to just three, all girls born between about 1666 and 1672. Perhaps the fact she was a little older than many of the women was a factor in her small family, but she also may have had other babies who died young. None of her children appeared in parish baptismal records.
Antoinette and Jacques eventually settled in Grondines, a settlement between Trois-Rivières and Quebec City. In 1683, Jacques became its seigneur,3 so she enjoyed the status of being wife of the landlord, although it wasn't as glamorous as it sounds since their community was little more than a handful of farms. The mill they operated still exists on the coast of the St. Lawrence and is the oldest such structure in Canada.5
After all of their children were married, Jacques gave up the seigneury in 1694,6 and he returned to France for some reason. Antoinette didn’t go with him, though, and remained in Grondines. She never saw him again because she died on February 25, 1697.4 Was there a split in their marriage before his trip? This is unknown, but when word reached him in France, he remarried to another woman and didn’t move back to New France until after his second wife died in 1702.6
Children:
1. Antoinette Aubert — B. about 1666, Champlain, New France;1 D. 8 Dec 1720, Grondines, New France;7 M. Louis Hamelin (~1650-1718), 7 Aug 1679, Grondines, New France8
2. Marie-Madeleine Aubert — B. about 1667, New France9 2 Jun 1742, Grondines, New France;10 M. François Hamelin (~1658-1725), 27 Nov 1685, New France11
3. Marie-Anne Aubert — B. about 1672, Grondines, New France;9 D. 29 Aug 1712, Grondines, New France;12 M. Roch Ripault (~1660-1715), 6 Feb 1689, Cap-Santé, New France13
Sources:
1 Recensement de 1667 en Nouvelle-France
2 Navires venus en Nouvelle France (website)
3 King’s Daughters and Founding Mothers—1663-1673, Peter Gagne, 2000
4 Burial record of Antoinette Menuer, Quebec Catholic Parish Registers, 1621-1979, FamilySearch.org
5 Moulin à vent de Grondines (Wikipedia article)
6 Généalogie du Quebec et d’Amérique française listing for Jacques Aubert
7 Burial record of Antoinette Aubert, Q.C.P.R.
8 Marriage record of Louis Hamelin and Antoinette Aubert, Q.C.P.R.
9 Recensement de 1681 en Nouvelle-France
10 Burial record of Marie-Madeleine Aubert, Q.C.P.R.
11 Marriage record of François Hamelin and Marie-Madeleine Aubert, Q.C.P.R.
12 Burial record of Marie-Anne Aubert, Q.C.P.R.
13 Marriage record of Roch Ripault and Marie-Anne Aubert, Q.C.P.R.
