B. about 1671 in (probably) Ste-Famille, Île d’Orleans, New France
M. about 1689 in New France
Husband: Étienne Blanchon
D. 14 Jan 1750 in Beaumont, New France
In the early days of New France, teenaged girls often married husbands who weren’t young. Such was the case for Marie-Françoise Cassé, and this set the course for the rest of her life.
Françoise was born to Antoine Cassé and Françoise Pilois, and she was the fourth of ten children; her birth was in about 1671, likely in Ste-Famille, Île d’Orleans, but the record for her baptism is missing. When Françoise was about 7-years-old, her family moved to the south shore community of Beaumont. Three years later, the 1681 census showed that only 14 families were living there.
In about 1689, Françoise got married to a curious choice of husband. His name was Étienne Blanchon, and he had a cloudy background. A man by that name had arrived in New France before Françoise was born, and he was a Carignan-Salières Regiment soldier. This Étienne Blanchon was married twice, but was said to have left his second wife by 1684 to move back to France. Then about five years later, Françoise married a man with the same name who had no known origins. Some think it’s the same man. What is known as a fact is that the Étienne who Françoise married was a lot older than she was, said to be born in about 1632. This would put their age difference at almost 40 years.
Françoise gave birth to her first child, a daughter, in September 1690. By the end of the decade she had five more, a total of four girls and two boys — both of the sons died young. Étienne passed away in 1712, and this began a widowhood for Françoise which lasted over 36 years. She never remarried, and with no males in her household, she looked out after her own affairs. Only her oldest daughter was married at the time her husband died, and she had to help arrange the marriages of the other three girls.
Sadly, two daughters died early in their marriages. The older of the two, Charlotte, passed away not long after giving birth to her only child, a son Étienne Carpentier, and Françoise took over guardianship of the boy when his father also died in 1724. Ten years later, Françoise appeared in court over a lease dispute with an innkeeper named David. The property in question belonged to grandson Étienne as part of his inheritance, and since he was still a minor, she represented his interests. Young Étienne was attending a seminary at the time and had rented the house he owned in Quebec City to David, who apparently was displaying “bad conduct,” and had committed the crime of selling liquor to some Indians. He was also delinquent on his rent, giving cause for eviction. The court record doesn’t show the outcome of the case.
Françoise died in Beaumont on January 14, 1750 at the age of about 78. She had lived long enough to see her grandson Étienne ordained as a priest, taking the name Father Bonaventure Carpentier, and he became a noteworthy figure in Canada. In 1758, he served as a missionary to the Acadians who were living in exile in present-day New Brunswick. The English brutally attacked their settlement, forcing Father Bonaventure to flee into the woods with his followers.
Nine years later, Father Bonaventure was accused of fathering a son with an Indigenous woman, which caused him to be recalled to Quebec. He stepped aside for a while, then defiantly resumed his role as a priest, saying that “no one had the right to remove him.” Was the charge of infidelity true? In 2024, a male-line descendant of the illegitimate child had a Y-DNA test done, and he matched closely with descendants of French man named Florent Carpentier of 17th-century Normandy. So it sounds like Françoise’s grandson really did have sexual relations while serving as a priest, a scandal that she thankfully didn’t live to see.
Children:
1. Marie-Françoise Blanchon — B. 28 Sep 1690, Beaumont, New France; D. 29 Apr 1768, Beaumont, Quebec; M. Jacques Fournier (1684-1767), 27 Nov 1708, Beaumont, New France
2. Charlotte Blanchon — B. 26 Mar 1692, St-Joseph-de-la-Pointe-de-Lévy, New France; D. 26 Sep 1716, Quebec City, New France; M. Étienne Carpentier (1688-1724), 25 Nov 1715, Quebec City, New France
3. Catherine Blanchon — B. 28 Feb 1694, Beaumont, New France; D. 10 Jun 1720, Beaumont, New France; M. Claude Rancourt (1691-1743), 4 May 1717, New France
4. Etienne Blanchon — B. 1 Nov 1695, Beaumont, New France
5. Bernard Blanchon — B. 25 Mar 1698, Beaumont, New France; D. 2 Apr 1698, Beaumont, New France
6. Suzanne Blanchon — B. 29 Sep 1699, Beaumont, New France; D. 15 Nov 1772, Quebec City, Quebec; M. Louis Parent (1695-1777), 27 Nov 1719, Quebec City, New France
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