Pregnant and Alone in New France — Catherine Vieillot

B. 20 Oct 1642 in Rouen, France¹

M. (1) 18 Oct 1667 in Quebec City, New France²
Husband: Jacques Dubois
M. (2) 19 May 1675 in Ste-Famille, Île d’Orleans, New France³
Husband: Pierre Guenet
D. before 7 Feb 1689 in St-Laurent, Île d’Orleans, New France⁴

When Catherine Vieillot boarded a ship to America, she probably had hopes for a better life, with at the very least, a secure future. But sadly, things didn’t work out that way. Catherine was born on October 20, 1642 in Rouen, France to parents François Vieillot and Catherine Blanc.¹ She was baptized at the parish of St-Vivien, a church near the center of the city. Nothing else is known of her family or childhood.

Catherine was 25-years-old when she agreed to a contract to marry a man in New France in exchange for passage and a dowry. On June 10, 1667, she boarded the ship Le St-Louis at Dieppe, along with about 80 other Filles du Roi.⁵ The voyage was a difficult one, with a trip that took over three months; food shortages and sickness took a toll on the women, and many had to be hospitalized after the ship arrived at Quebec on September 25th.¹ Catherine must have survived the ordeal in fairly good shape because in about three weeks time, she got married to a settler named Jacques Dubois. Their wedding took place at Notre-Dame-de Quebec on October 18th.²

Catherine and Jacques moved to Ste-Famille on the Île d’Orleans, a beautiful location, but a harsh place to live. Before any planting could be done on their farm, the trees had to be cleared, and ten years later it was reported that only 8 arpents (6.75 acres) had been done.⁶ Meanwhile they started a family with the birth of a son in November 1668;⁷ Catherine had three more by 1673, one of whom died young. Then something happened to Jacques, and he died in March 1675.⁸

The death of Jacques must have hit Catherine hard. It was almost time to plant that year’s crops, and to make matters worse, she was pregnant with her fifth child. So the only thing she could do was to find a new husband quickly, and on May 19th, she married a recently-arrived settler named Pierre Guenet,³ a man about ten years younger than she was. In October, Catherine gave birth to a baby boy,⁹ and about 18 months later, had a child with Pierre.¹⁰ With all of the children now in his household, Pierre was overwhelmed, and he decided to hire out Catherine’s oldest son, François, to another farm.¹¹ This didn’t bring any income into the family — it only gave them one less mouth to feed.

In May 1678, Pierre looked to abandon the Ste-Famille farm and move elsewhere. It’s hard to say how much Catherine was involved with the decision, but her cooperation was necessary since the children with her first husband were due to inherit half of the land when they came of age (the other half was hers).⁶ An inventory was taken at that time, but it seems that they didn’t move to another farm until at least a year later. The new place was in another part of the island, St-Laurent. During the period 1679 to 1683, Catherine had three more children; sadly, the last two died at ages 6 and 3.

The two places Catherine lived on Île d'Orleans.

Catherine was in her mid-40s when she passed away. The exact date of her death is unknown because the burial record is missing; sometimes this indicates a drowning. Pierre remarried on February 7, 1689,⁴ so Catherine was gone by that time, most likely within a few months previous.

Children by Jacques Dubois:
1. François Dubois — B. 12 Nov 1668, Ste-Famille, Île d’Orleans, New France;⁷ D. 27 Feb 1714, Quebec City, New France;¹² M. Marie Guay (1674-1747), 18 Jan 1695, New France¹³

2. Clémont Dubois — B. 2 Sep 1670, Ste-Famille, Île d’Orleans, New France;¹⁴ D. before 26 Oct 1671¹⁵

3. Clémont Dubois — B. 26 Oct 1671, Ste-Famille, Île d’Orleans, New France;¹⁵ D. 15 May 1720, Bécancour, New France;¹⁶ M. (1) Catherine Guay (1676-~1700), 30 Jan 1695, Lauzon, Lévis, New France;¹⁷ (2) Catherine LaBrecque (~1669-1703), 7 Jun 1700, St-Laurent, Île d’Orleans, New France;¹⁸ (3) Marie-Anne Juin (~1679-?), 1 Feb 1706, Beaumont, New France¹⁹

4. Jeanne Dubois — B. 28 Sep 1673, Ste-Famille, Île d’Orleans, New France;²⁰ D. 24 Dec 1705, Bellechasse, New France;²¹ M. Jacques Charest (1664-1725), 15 Sep 1693, Lauzon, Lévis, New France²²

5. Pierre Dubois — B. 7 Oct 1675, Ste-Famille, Île d’Orleans, New France;⁹ D. 26 Nov 1743, Lachine, New France;²³ M. Marie-Anne Mailloux (1682-1735), 3 Nov 1699, Beaumont, New France²⁴

Children by Pierre Guenet:
1. Jacques Guenet — B. 26 Apr 1677, Ste-Famille, Île d’Orleans, New France;¹⁰ D. 11 Feb 1730, Quebec City, New France;²⁵ M. Marguerite Boutin (1664-1730), 25 Nov 1704, New France²⁶

2. Thomas Guenet — B. 16 May 1679, Ste-Famille, Île d’Orleans, New France;²⁷ D. 16 Sep 1753, St-Charles, Bellechasse, New France;²⁸ M. Marie-Anne Maheu (~1689-1775), 10 Feb 1705, Beaumont, New France²⁹

3. Marie Guenet — B. 1 May 1681, St-Laurent, Île d’Orleans, New France;³⁰ D. 25 Nov 1687, St-Laurent, Île d’Orleans, New France³¹

4. Michel Guenet — B. 21 Sep 1683, St-Laurent, Île d’Orleans, New France;³² D. 7 Sep 1686, St-Laurent, Île d’Orleans, New France³³

Sources:
1    Migrations.fr listing for Catherine Vieillot  
2    Marriage record of Jacques Dubois and Catherine Vieillot, Quebec Catholic Parish Registers, 1621-1979, FamilySearch.org
3    Marriage record of Pierre Guenet and Catherine Vieillot, Q.C.P.R.
4    Marriage record of Pierre Guenet and Élisabeth Paquet, Q.C.P.R.
5    Migrations.fr listing for ship Le St Louis de Dieppe  
6    Property appraisal for the children of Jacques Dubois and Catherine Vieillot, BAnQ  
7    Baptismal record of François Dubois, Q.C.P.R.
8    Burial record of Jacques Dubois, Q.C.P.R.
9    Baptismal record of Pierre Dubois, Q.C.P.R.
10  Baptismal record of Jacques Guenet, Q.C.P.R.
11  Le Pionnier Pierre Ganet (website) 
12  Burial record of François Dubois, Q.C.P.R.
13  Marriage record of François Dubois and Marie Guay, Q.C.P.R.
14  Baptismal record of Clémont Dubois (older), Q.C.P.R.
15  Baptismal record of Clémont Dubois (younger), Q.C.P.R.
16  Burial record of Clémont Dubois (younger), Q.C.P.R.
17  Marriage record of Clémont Dubois and Catherine Guay, Q.C.P.R.
18  Marriage record of Clémont Dubois and Catherine LeBrecque, Q.C.P.R.
19  Marriage record of Clémont Dubois and Marie-Anne Juin, Q.C.P.R.
20  Baptismal record of Jeanne Dubois, Q.C.P.R.
21  Burial record of Jeanne Dubois, Q.C.P.R.
22  Marriage record of Jacques Charest and Jeanne Dubois, Q.C.P.R.
23  Burial record of Pierre Dubois, Q.C.P.R.
24  Marriage record of Pierre Dubois and Marie-Anne Mailloux, Q.C.P.R.
25  Burial record of Jacques Guenet, Q.C.P.R.
26  Marriage record of Jacques Guenet and Marguerite Boutin, Q.C.P.R.
27  Baptismal record of Thomas Guenet, Q.C.P.R.
28  Burial record of Thomas Guenet, Q.C.P.R.
29  Marriage record of Thomas Guenet and Marie-Anne Maheu, Q.C.P.R.
30  Baptismal record of Marie Guenet, Q.C.P.R.
31  Burial record of Marie Guenet, Q.C.P.R.
32  Baptismal record of Michel Guenet, Q.C.P.R.
33  Burial record of Michel Guenet, Q.C.P.R.