M. 15 Nov 1665 in Beauport, New France2
Wife: Marie Morin
D. 31 Aug 1694 in Quebec City, New France3
Étienne Dauphin was once caught in a dispute with his landlord, causing physical violence that put his wife in the hospital. Little is known of Étienne’s origins other than that he was from the village of Bonnes, France, which is in the Poitou region, and that his parents were named Étienne Dauphin and Julienne Richard. His birth year was about 1637, which is an estimate from records later in his life.1,2
It’s impossible to say when Étienne migrated to New France, or what prompted him to do so. There’s no trace of him in records until his marriage at Beauport on November 15, 1665.2 The woman Étienne married was Marie Morin, a Fille du Roi who arrived from France in the fall of 1665. Single men in the colony were being encouraged to find wives, a process made easier when they came from France by the shipload. After they were married, Marie was soon pregnant, and their first child was born in October of the following year.4 By the end of 1682, they had seven more, including three who died young.
Beauport was one of the oldest settlements in New France outside of Quebec City, and its founder, Robert Giffard, was a notable figure in the colony’s history. Étienne may have been recruited by Giffard directly from France, but even if he wasn’t, he certainly knew him. When Giffard died in 1668, he left the seigneury to his son Joseph.5 During this time, Étienne received two concessions of land from the younger Giffard, one in 1667 and one in 1672.6
As Étienne’s children came of age, the first to get married was his oldest daughter, Marie. The girl was just 17-years-old when she married Jean Giroux, the son of neighbor Toussaint Giroux, on February 19, 1685.7 But sadly Marie’s life ended just a few months later when she drowned while crossing the St-Charles River;8 it’s likely that the boat she was on overturned. Her body was recovered for burial at the church in Beauport on September 30th.
It was a couple of years later when another event shook up Étienne’s family. He had leased property from Paul de Rainville, a long time habitant of Beauport, on July 23, 1684.6 After de Rainville died in December 1686, management of the lease was taken over by his son Jean, and in 1688, some sort of dispute developed over terms of the agreement.9 Things erupted into physical violence, not with Étienne, but with his wife Marie. Jean de Rainville was said to have beaten her to such an extent that she needed treatment at Hôtel-Dieu in Quebec City. Étienne threatened to sue de Rainville, who then agreed to pay him 135 livres for the land he had cleared for planting, plus Marie’s medical fees from the hospital.
Nuns treating patients at Hôtel-Dieu.
Étienne only lived a few years more, and passed away on August 31, 1694 at Hôtel-Dieu.3 Marie remarried about a year later, and lived to the age of 83, dying in 1729.10 Among Étienne’s descendants is Tom Bergeron.
Children:
1. René Dauphin – B. 14 Oct 1666, Beauport, New France;4 D. 13 Mar 1742, Quebec City, New France;11 M. Susanne Gignard (1667-1736), 22 Apr 1686, Beauport, New France12
2. Marie Dauphin – B. 16 Feb 1668, Beauport, New France;13 D. 29 Sep 1685, Beauport, New France;8 M. Jean Giroux (1664-1733), 19 Feb 1685, Beauport, New France7
3. Étienne Dauphin – B. 12 Jan 1670, Beauport, New France;14 D. 19 Apr 1691, Quebec City, New France15
4. Michel Dauphin – B. 27 Dec 1671, Beauport, New France;16 D. before 1681, New France17
5. Marie Dauphin – B. 7 Oct 1673, Beauport, New France;18 before 1681, New France17
6. Marie-Therese Dauphin – B. 8 Sep 1674, Beauport, New France;19 D. May 1732, Beauport, New France;20 M. Toussaint Giroux (1672-1750), 15 Nov 1690, Beauport, New France21
7. Jean Dauphin – B. about 1678, (probably) Montmorency, New France;22 D. 24 Nov 1714, Montmorency, New France;22 M. Jeanne-Ursule Gelly Laverdure (1683-?), 14 Jul 1701, New France23
8. Marie-Catherine Dauphin – B. Dec 1682, Beauport, New France;24 D. Dec 1682, Beauport, New France25
Sources:
1 Recensement de 1667 en Nouvelle-France
2 Marriage record of Étienne Dauphin and Marie-Charlotte Morin, Quebec Catholic Parish Registers, 1621-1979, FamilySearch.org
3 Burial record of Étienne Dauphin, Q.C.P.R.
4 Baptismal record of René Dauphin, Q.C.P.R.
5 Marriage record of Joseph Giffard and Michelle-Thérèse Nau, Q.C.P.R.
6 Inventaire des Greffes Des Notaires du Régime Français, Pierre-Georges Roy and Antoine Roy, 1942
7 Marriage record of Jean Giroux and Marie Dauphin, Q.C.P.R.
8 Burial record of Marie Dauphin (older), Q.C.P.R.
9 King's Daughters and Founding Mothers: the Filles du Roi, 1663-1672, Peter J. Gagné, 2001
10 Burial record of Marie Morin, Q.C.P.R.
11 Burial record of René Dauphin, Q.C.P.R.
12 Marriage record of René Dauphin and Susanne Gignard, Q.C.P.R.
13 Baptismal record of Marie Dauphin (older), Q.C.P.R.
14 Baptismal record of Étienne Dauphin (younger), Q.C.P.R.
15 Burial record of Étienne Dauphin (younger), Q.C.P.R.
16 Baptismal record of Michel Dauphin, Q.C.P.R.
17 Recensement de 1681 en Nouvelle-France
18 Baptismal record of Marie Dauphin (younger), Q.C.P.R.
19 Baptismal record of Marie-Therese Dauphin, Q.C.P.R.
20 Burial record of Marie-Therese Dauphin, Q.C.P.R.
21 Marriage record of Toussaint Giroux and Marie-Therese Dauphin, Q.C.P.R.
22 Burial record of Jean Dauphin, Q.C.P.R.
23 Marriage record of Jean Dauphin and Jeanne-Ursule Gelly, Q.C.P.R.
24 Baptismal record of Marie-Catherine Dauphin, Q.C.P.R.
25 Burial record of Marie-Catherine Dauphin, Q.C.P.R.
