M. after 21 Mar 1646 in Paris, France2
Husband: Pierre Petit
D. before 10 Sep 1691 in (probably) Paris, France3
Catherine-Françoise Desnaguets had an unusual story for a woman of New France: her travels and status led her to become a chaperone on a voyage of young women to the colony. She was thought to be born in Paris in about 1621;1 her parents were said to be Bonaventure Desnaguets (also spelled Desnaguetz or Desnoyers) and Anne des Gautiers.2 It’s known that Catherine-Françoise had three brothers and a sister.4 Her father had an important job as “Ingénieur du roi pour l'artillerie en France” which translates as “artillery engineer for the king of France.”5 He died in March of 1642 and was buried at St. Paul church;6 Catherine-Françoise’s mother passed away in September of 1644.6
View of Paris when Catherine-Françoise was born.
On March 21, 1646, Catherine-Françoise appeared in records on a contract of marriage.2 The man she agreed to marry was Pierre Petit, who was also from Paris. The document indicated that Catherine-Françoise had been living at “the house of the poor orphans of Saint-Joseph on Saint-Dominique street in Saint-Germain-des-Prés.” Given her background and age at her parents’ deaths, she wasn’t likely there as an orphan, but had a different role, perhaps as a teacher. Catherine-Françoise brought 300 livres in dowry, and was said to be vouched for by the woman who headed the orphanage, plus “several notables.” The record of the actual wedding is missing, but it probably happened soon after the contract signing.
A short time later, Catherine-Françoise left France with Pierre to sail to Canada. They landed at Quebec City by May 21st, when Pierre was granted a seigneury in a remote area upriver;7 it isn’t believed they ever moved there. Catherine-Françoise gave birth to their first child the following year,8 then they settled in Beauport. A second child was born in January of 1650,9 who seems to have died young. That May, their farm was invaded by a band of Iroquois, who slaughtered a man who worked for them, and kidnapped their firstborn child, 3-year-old Joseph. The boy was never returned, and was thought to be killed by the Indians at their camp near present-day Albany, New York.7
It’s easy to imagine that the hardships Catherine-Françoise and Pierre suffered led to their return to France, and in about the fall of 1651, they were back in Paris.7 A daughter was born soon after,7 but they once again moved to the colony by 1653, settling first on Île d’Orleans, then in Quebec City.7 Catherine-Françoise gave birth to two more sons, with the younger one born in April 1660.10,11 During this period, she appeared in a court record as handling a matter about the family’s property while Pierre was away from home.7 In the case dated August 26, 1659, Catherine-Françoise charged a neighbor with encroaching on their land with a structure he had built. The dispute was settled with a compromise, and the neighbor gave them a portion of his property to compensate for the amount taken up by the building.
In late 1660, the family moved back to France, and seemed to have stayed there for the next few years.7 Pierre might have made some trips to the colony, leaving Catherine-Françoise to manage things alone in Paris.7 It’s likely that her dealings around this time led to her participation in bringing women to Canada.12 During the 1660s, the officials in France made a concentrated effort to boost the population of New France by encouraging marriageable women to relocate there. The young brides later became known as the Filles du Roi, or Daughters of the King, and they arrived in the colony by the shipload. Part of the logistics of transporting the women required having a female to escort them, and in 1667, this task fell to Catherine-Françoise. At the time, she had three underaged children, and it isn’t known who may have looked after them while she took on this job.
On June 2nd, Catherine-Françoise brought women who had been recruited in Paris to the port city of Dieppe, estimated to be a group of about twenty. Among that year’s Filles du Roi were several who were from middle- and upper-class families. After they arrived at Dieppe two weeks later, some were unhappy with the way things were going and petitioned authorities about their “ill treatment.” They complained that they were deprived of food that Catherine-Françoise had promised they would get from the men operating the ship. In addition, they accused their chaperone of stealing their clothes.7
Unfortunately, no record has survived saying if Catherine-Françoise was found guilty of the accusations. Perhaps the issue of stolen clothing was that some of the women brought too much baggage, but this is speculation.12 Catherine-Françoise and her group of prospective brides boarded the ship Le St-Louis, along with sixty or so women from Normandy. The crossing was a difficult one that took almost three months, and many of the women were sick when they arrived at Quebec City on September 25th.7
Jean Talon, the man responsible for the Filles du Roi program, later wrote about the mismanaged voyage in a letter dated October 27th.7 While sticking up for the ship’s company and crew, he said this about Catherine-Françoise: “It would be my feeling about the people of their sex and their quality having a wise and authorized escort to make them give the necessary things.” Later he mentioned that there were "fifteen or twenty [women] who are said to be of fairly good birth… which has not prevented that they have not been very ill-treated by their escort who has robbed them of half of their clothes.”
The style of dresses Catherine-Françoise was accused of "stealing."
Needless to say, Catherine-Françoise made no more trips as a Filles du Roi chaperone. The women she brought over for the most part did find husbands, including Catherine Ballié, Marie Blanchard, Catherine Bourgeois, and Catherine Vieillot.12 Back in New France, Catherine-Françoise reunited with her husband Pierre, but by May 1669, they had returned once again to Paris, making their home in the Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois parish.7 Pierre later went back to Canada, but it’s believed that Catherine-Françoise did not, and she died at an unknown date, likely in Paris. Among her descendants are Ricky Gervais and Matt LeBlanc.
Children:
1. Joseph Petit — B. 12 Jul 1647, Quebec City, New France;8 D. (probably) May 1650, Fort Orange, New Netherland7
2. Marie Petit — B. 30 Jan 1650, (probably) Beauport, New France9
3. Anne-Charlotte Petit — B. about 1652, (probably) Paris, France;7 D. 2 Mar 1736, St-Augustin-de-Desmaures, New France;13 M. (1) Joachim Martin (~1636-1690), 16 Jun 1669, Quebec City New France;14 (2) Antoine Juchereau (1640-1699), 10 Sep 1691, St-Pierre, Île d’Orleans, New France;3 (3) Jean-Paul Maheu (1649-1708), 11 Jun 1703, St-Pierre, Île d’Orleans, New France15
4. René-Jacques Petit — B. 16 Jan 1657, Quebec City, New France10
5. Louis-Alexandre Petit — B. 6 Apr 1660, Quebec City, New France;11 D. before 20 Nov 1738, Varennes, New France;16 M. Marie-Anne Messier (1665-1751), 8 Jan 1721, Varennes, New France17
Sources:
1 Estimated age based on ages of siblings and likely age at marriage, Fichier origine
2 Marriage contract of Pierre Petit and Catherine-Françoise Desnaguets, Fichier origine
3 Marriage record of Antoine Juchereau and Anne-Charlotte Petit, Quebec Catholic Parish Registers, 1621-1979, FamilySearch.org
4 Baptismal records of St-Paul church, Paris, Fichier origine
5 Occupation of father in Catherine-Françoise’ profile in Fichier origine
6 Burial records of St-Paul church, Paris, Fichier origine
7 Un Martin en Amérique: Joachim Martin, né à Aytré, 1636-1690, Marcel Martin, 1997
8 Baptismal record of Joseph Petit, Q.C.P.R.
9 Baptismal record of Marie Petit, Q.C.P.R.
10 Baptismal record of René-Jacques Petit, Q.C.P.R.
11 Baptismal record of Louis-Alexandre Petit, Q.C.P.R.
12 “Catherine-Françoise Desnaguez: Accompagnatice des Filles du Roi,” Robert Berube
13 Burial record of Anne-Charlotte Petit, Q.C.P.R.
14 Marriage record of Joachim Martin and Anne-Charlotte Petit, Q.C.P.R.
15 Marriage record of Jean-Paul Maheu and Anne-Charlotte Petit, Q.C.P.R.
16 Burial record of Louis-Alexandre Petit, Q.C.P.R.
17 Marriage record of Louis-Alexandre Petit and Marie-Anne Messier, Q.C.P.R.
