Enslaved in Mexico and Louisiana — Catherine ________

B. before 1706 in (probably) Mexico, New Spain¹
Unmarried
D. after 7 Nov 1731 in (probably) Louisiana, New France²

It’s impossible to know much about the life of Catherine, an Indigenous slave who gave birth to a child fathered by her master Nicolas Chauvin de La Frénière. But the evidence that she existed is written in two documents attached to her daughter, and in the DNA of many of her descendants.

Based on the birth of her daughter Hypolite in January 1718,³ it’s likely that Catherine was born around 1700, although if she was a very young mother she may have been born as late as 1705.¹ She was of an indigenous people in Mexico, likely one of the tribes in the southern region (see DNA evidence below). It’s impossible to know if Catherine was born as a slave, or captured later on, so we can only speak in generalized terms of what her early life might have been like. 

Map showing tribes of southern Mexico.

Many of the tribes of early 18th-century northern and central Mexico were nomadic, and if Catherine was born outside of slavery, she may have belonged to a small band of people living off the land. Groups like this were vulnerable to being captured by either Europeans or other Indigenous men to be sold for a profit. Often the captives were worked to death, but sometimes they were used in trades, as seemed to be the case with Catherine.

The place where Catherine came to in Mexico was a garrison along the northern border called Presidio del Norte.⁴ This was one of many outposts set up to “protect” the colony while it was having a silver mining boom. The Navajos and Apaches were a threat, so putting some of their military on the frontier acted as a deterrent to being attacked.⁵ The presidios became small remote places where goods could be bartered for, and in the spring of 1717, this brought a group of French men from the Gulf Coast, one of whom was Nicolas Chauvin de La Frénière.⁶

Chauvin de La Frénière arrived at the presidio in about March or April of 1717.⁶ He and his colleagues were said to have brought from 40,000 to 60,000 livres worth of goods to trade,⁶ but little went according to plan. This was mostly because the people of northern Mexico had almost nothing to offer in return. Currency was just about non-existent, and this wasn’t a region rich with agriculture or any other type of production.⁷

The one thing they had were Indigenous slaves. Soldiers at the presidio were said to be underpaid, and therefore looking for ways to profit for themselves. In his book The Other Slavery, historian Andrés Reséndez wrote, “…garrison commanders and soldiers supplemented their earnings by catching Indians and selling them to the Spanish colonists.”⁸ From this we can speculate that when some French men came around to trade with them, Catherine would have been offered for barter. More than likely, this was how she fell into the hands of Chauvin de La Frénière. We can date Catherine’s first contact with him to about April 1717, because that’s approximately when she must have become pregnant.

Trading for a slave in Mexico. (AI-generated image)

Sometime during the summer, the decision was made by the Frenchmen to return to their home in Mobile (present-day Alabama).⁶ It’s easy to imagine this must have been a grueling trip for the now-pregnant Catherine, traveling, likely by horseback, across the uninhabited territory between the Rio Grande and the Mississippi River. They must have encountered the hot, humid weather that exists today in southeast Texas. Along with these conditions was the fact Catherine was being taken against her will far away from all that was familiar. Plus the language barrier must have made things even more difficult as she struggled to understand her new circumstances.

Catherine’s baby was born on January 17, 1718, a daughter named Hypolite who was baptized the following day in the Mobile church.³ We may speculate that Catherine continued to live as a slave in Chauvin de La Frénière’s household for at least a few years. He got married in 1724;⁹ by then he had relocated to the newly established city of New Orleans. One more document mentioned Catherine, and that was the record of Hypolite’s marriage on November 7, 1731, where the bride’s mother was described as “Catherine, former servant of Chauvin de La Frénière.”² This meant she was living as a free woman, likely part of the Creole culture of early New Orleans. 

Creole people of early New Orleans.

DNA evidence of where Catherine was from
Like many people in America who are primarily of European descent, I grew up with a family tradition that we were “part Indian.” This came from my paternal grandmother, Hazel Elwood, and the claim was from her father’s side. Often when genealogy research is done, these types of family stories have no basis in fact. But that wasn’t the case for me — I found two Indigenous connections on my father’s side, and an additional one on my mother’s side, all from French-Canadian fathers.

Of the three, my strongest connection came from Catherine, who was two generations closer to me than the others. My 23andMe test revealed that I have a segment of Native-American DNA on chromosome 10 totaling about .4% of my DNA. The segment clusters with matches in my grandmother’s family, and with people from Louisiana and Texas, a region that isn’t prevalent in my other DNA matches. This led me to believe that this DNA came from Catherine, who has a large amount of descendants tracking through that part of the United States. 

Segment on chromosome 10.

This reading also showed up in my results on Family Tree DNA, and the segment has been identified as Amerindian – Central & South Mexico. Others in my family who are on FTDNA have gotten similar results, so this doesn’t seem to be a false read. Ancestry DNA doesn’t measure my Indigenous DNA because it’s under 1%, but my aunt and cousin, who have larger amounts of Catherine’s DNA, have readings of “American Indigenous – Yucatan Peninsula.” By doing a “hack” on my own Ancestry ethnicities, which reveals small amounts that Ancestry doesn’t include in their report, I got a reading of .41% of Yucatan DNA.

Did Catherine have another child?
Among my DNA matches whom I can identify as sharing the segment on chromosome 10, there are 24 who don’t seem to be descendants of Hypolite, and have another person as a most recent common ancestor (MRCA): Joseph Gregoire Guillory (1769-1853).¹⁰ I believe this indicates that Catherine had another child, and this may have been Joseph Gregoire Guillory’s mother, Marguerite (born about 1730).

Marguerite was referred to in records as being a negresse, a French designation for having African heritage. While there is no mention that Marguerite was possibly half-Native American, a person who was half-African would likely identify as black. Marguerite had a notable story, in that she had four children with a French man who were openly acknowledged by him, and when he died, his white children wanted to claim Marguerite’s children as their slaves. She had to fight for their freedom in court, which was granted after she paid a sum of money.¹¹

Could these DNA matches have gotten the segment another way? I think the only possibility was if Catherine had a close relative who came with her as a slave from Mexico. But this doesn’t seem likely because it would mean that she and her relative would have been kept together by whoever may have captured her in Mexico, then both traded to Chauvin de La Frénière or another French man who was with him. Given the rough circumstances of people in this time and place, this scenario seems very unlikely.

While I may have found evidence of another child for Catherine, for now this must be looked at as speculation. I’m hopeful that with further DNA study, I’ll be able to draw a more solid conclusion about this.

Child by Nicolas Chauvin de La Frénière:
1. Hypolite Chauvin de La Frénière — B. 17 Jan 1718, Post Mobile, New France;³ D. before 15 May 1758, (probably) Opelousas Post, Louisiana, New France;¹² M. (1) Joseph Turpin, 7 Nov 1731, New Orleans, New France;² (2) Joseph de La Mirande, 19 Mar 1750, Kaskaskia, New France¹³

Sources:
1    Statement that she was born before 1706 is based on the fact she gave birth in January 1718 and must have been at least 13-years-old then.
2    Marriage record of Hyppolitte and Joseph Turpin, The New Orleans French, 1720-1733: a collection of marriage records relating to the first colonists of the Louisiana Province, Winston De Ville, 1973
3    Baptismal record of Hypolite Chauvin de LaFreniere, Sacramental records of the Roman Catholic Church of the Archdiocese of Mobile, Volume 1, Section 1, 1704-1739, Michael L. Farmer and Ann Calagaz, eds., 2002
4    “St. Denis’s Second Expedition to the Rio Grande, 1716-1719,” Charmion Clair Shelby, The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Jan., 1924, Vol. 27, No. 3 (Jan., 1924), p. 200
5    The Other Slavery: The Uncovered Story of Indian Enslavement in America, André Reséndez, 2016, p. 197-198
6    “The Chauvin Brothers: Early Colonists of Louisiana,” Gary B. Mills, Louisiana History: The Journal of the Louisiana Historical Association, Vol. 15, No. 2 (Spring, 1974), p. 123-124
7    From TexasBeyondHistory.net (Big Bend Presidios): “Life was very hard for the soldiers and scouts of the presidios. They often suffered from hunger, thirst, and lack of sleep and were forced to perform their duties in the most inclement weather with tattered uniforms, damaged weapons, and worn out horses. They worked long hours, leaving them with little time for their families or for instruction in reading, writing, religion, or military arts. Life… was made even harsher by the position of the presidios at the very end of the northern frontier supply line, and a harsh local climate that hindered farming efforts.”
8    The Other Slavery: The Uncovered Story of Indian Enslavement in America, André Reséndez, 2016, p. 205
9    WikiTree listing of Nicolas Chauvin
10  I have built a cluster of DNA matches who share at least some of the segment on chromosome 10, and the majority of them are descendants of Joseph Gregoire Guillory. In addition to the 24 matches with known pedigrees, there are 6 who don’t have known pedigrees and are likely also his descendants. Of these matches, there are 16 who show 1% or 2% Indigenous Americas DNA that's either Mexico or Yucatan Peninsula. Many of these people are descended from Marguerite multiple times which could account for that much south-of-the-border DNA. 
11  “Index to Spanish Judicial Records of Louisiana,” The Louisiana Historical Quarterly, 1935, p. 204-212
12  Marriage contract of Joseph Lamirande and Marie Catherine Frederic, establishing that Hypolite Chauvin was deceased, 15 May 1758, Opelousas, Louisiana, The Louisiana Historical Center, Louisiana State Museum
13  Généalogie du Québec et d'Amérique française listing of Joseph Dulignon De LaMirande

83 Years in Colonial Chelmsford — Tabitha Parker

B. 21 Feb 1658 in Chelmsford, Massachusetts¹
M. 18 Nov 1676 in Chelmsford, Massachusetts²
Husband: Stephen Peirce
D. 31 Jan 1742 in Chelmsford, Massachusetts³

As the Puritans who settled in colonial Massachusetts spread to its outskirts, some trailed north of Boston. This is where Tabitha Parker spent her entire life. She was born on February 21, 1658 to Jacob and Sarah Parker,¹ two early settlers of the village of Chelmsford. Tabitha was the fifth of their nine children; her father was the town clerk, but sadly he passed away when she was 17.⁴ A little more than a year later, on November 18, 1676, Tabitha married Stephen Peirce,² who was new to the town. Their first child was thought to be born in about 1677,⁵ and by 1689, they had four more.

In 1686, some Chelmsford men formed a group to buy land directly from a local tribe.⁶ The plots were located just to the north of the town, also known as the Wamesit Purchase, and this is where the Peirce family settled. Tabitha faced certain dangers while raising her family there with fears of invasion by Indians who lived nearby, and in 1697 the men wrote a petition to the authorities in Boston asking for assistance.⁶ Many families struggled to maintain their farms, and it was said that their hay was set on fire causing some to leave the area, but Tabitha and Stephen stayed. 

Setting hay on fire. (AI-generated image)

Another issue about where Tabitha lived was that it was a long distance from the nearest meetinghouse. Every Sunday meant traveling on wilderness roads by horse or cart to the all-day services at Chelmsford’s church. In 1719, Stephen was one of several men who asked for a stable to be built at the meetinghouse to accommodate his family and neighbors.⁶

The town records reported in 1728 that Stephen was “impaired in his reasoning,” which caused him to be removed from a town committee.⁶ Tabitha likely became his caretaker as he lived out his final years, dying on June 10, 1733.⁷

Tabitha wrote a will on November 18, 1735,⁸ and in it we can see a glimpse of her life at the time. She was “sick of body, but of sound mind and memory,” and had specific ideas of who should get her humble possessions. She left many items to her granddaughter Sarah Wheeler, including “my best bed & furniture, & warming pan, & iron kettle, & pottage pot, & half a dozen pewter plates, & two pewter platters, & my [tramels?] & box irons.” To her youngest daughter Tabitha, she offered “my other bed & furniture, … my brass kettle & box of drawers & … case on my chest of drawers.” Tabitha made her mark on the document, indicating she was illiterate. 

Tabitha’s 1735 will.

On January 31, 1742, Tabitha passed away in Chelmsford at the age of almost 84.³ Some of her descendants would eventually migrate north, and great-grandson Benjamin Pierce became the governor of New Hampshire.⁹ His son was President Franklin Pierce,⁹ and further down the line were Barbara Bush and George W. Bush as niece and nephew relationships⁹ — quite a legacy for a woman of colonial Chelmsford.

Children:
1. Jacob Peirce — B. about 1677, Chelmsford, Massachusetts;⁵ D. 20 Sep 1749, Westford, Massachusetts;⁵ M. Mary Whittaker (~1689-1761)¹⁰

2. Stephen Peirce — B. 10 Apr 1679, Chelmsford, Massachusetts;¹¹ D. 9 Sep 1649, Chelmsford, Massachusetts;¹¹ M. Esther Fletcher (~1685-1767), 5 Jan 1707, Chelmsford, Massachusetts¹²

3. Benjamin Peirce — B. 4 Jun 1682, Chelmsford, Massachusetts¹³

4. Sarah Peirce — B. 25 Mar 1686, Chelmsford, Massachusetts¹⁴

5. Tabitha Peirce — B. 24 Feb 1690, Chelmsford, Massachusetts;¹⁵ D. 6 Feb 1742, Chelmsford, Massachusetts;¹⁶ M. William Fletcher¹⁶

Sources:
1    Birth record of Tabitha Parker, Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001, FamilySearch.org
2    Marriage record of Stephen Peirce and Tabitha Parker, M., T. C., V. & T. R.
3    Death record of Tabitha Peirce, M., T. C., V. & T. R.
4    Parker in America 1630-1910, Augustus G. Parker, 1911, p. 532
5    WikiTree listing of Jacob Peirce
6    History of Chelmsford, Massachusetts, Wilson Waters, 1917
7    Death record of Stephen Peirce, M., T. C., V. & T. R.
8    Tabitha Peirce will, United States, Massachusetts, Middlesex – Probate Records, FamilySearch.org
9    FamousKin.com listing of Stephen Pierce
10  Marriage record of Jacob Peirce and Rachel Batchelder, New England Marriages prior to 1700, p. 582
11  Find-a-Grave listing of Deacon Stephen Peirce
12  Marriage record of Stephen Peirce and Esther Fletcher, M., T. C., V. & T. R.
13  Birth record of Benjamin Peirce, M., T. C., V. & T. R.
14  Birth record of Sarah Peirce, M., T. C., V. & T. R.
15  Birth record of Tabitha Peirce, M., T. C., V. & T. R.
16  Death record of Tabitha Peirce, M., T. C., V. & T. R.

Dutch Woman in Delaware — Catharina Cronenberg

B. before 1631 in (probably) Netherlands¹
M. (1) about 1648 in (probably) Flatbush, New Netherland¹
Husband: Hendrick _______
M. (2) before 18 Nov 1659 in (probably) Flatbush, New Netherland¹
Husband: Jan Teunissen Dam
D. before 25 Mar 1695 in (probably) Flatbush, New York¹

When we think of the Dutch colony in America, present-day New York comes to mind. But for a short time in the mid-17th century, New Netherland had control of part of Delaware, and Catharina Cronenberg moved there with her husband.

The early years of Catharina’s life are sketchy. She was from the Netherlands, perhaps into what is now Germany, and was born before 1631. She married a man who we only know by the first name of Hendrick,¹ and it isn’t certain which side of the Atlantic the wedding took place. They had one child named Magdalena,¹ born in the Dutch settlement of Flatbush (there may have been others who died young). Then Hendrick seems to have died.

Catharina took a second husband, probably in Flatbush, by the name of Jan Teunissen Dam; it’s believed that they didn’t have any children together. The marriage record is missing, but their names were on a document dated November 18, 1659.¹ Sometime earlier that year, they left Flatbush and relocated to the former colony of New Sweden,¹ now called New Amstel, where land was more plentiful. They apparently hadn’t cleared the move with the Dutch authorities, because court records show that they got into trouble for it, and Jan was arrested.¹

A home in New Sweden. (AI-generated image)

Why would the Dutch authorities come down on a family wanting to live in a place of their choosing? Because New Netherland was run as a company, and the colonists were in some sense their employees. So in order to relocate, people needed permission, and Jan and Catharina apparently didn’t have it. A few days after Jan was taken into custody, he escaped, and then Catharina was brought in for questioning on November 22nd.¹

A letter written by Wilhelmus Beekman to Director-General Peter Stuyvesant dated April 23, 1660 told of a man who worked for the authorities named Adries Lourens, who had been sent to where Catharina and her husband was.¹ He referred to Jan, Catharina and their child as “fugitives,” and he brought them back with him to New Netherland. Beekman was the man in charge of New Amstel, and later during the 1680s, he served as the mayor of New York City.¹ 

Wilhelmus Beekman.

The next place Catharina and Jan were known to be living was Southampton because a record named him as being involved with the building of the church. There is a document dated October 14,1667 saying that Jan was paid four barrels of pork, 30 bushels of wheat, and 30 bushels of Indian corn for the work he did as a carpenter.¹ On April 1, 1668, Jan was granted 4 acres in Southampton on the condition that he would live there for at least 4 years.¹ During this time, Catharina’s daughter married a man from Southampton,¹ another Dutchman.

Catharina and Jan didn’t stay in Southampton because records show that she bought property in Flatbush on August 22, 1679.¹ She paid 3,000 guilders for a house, orchard and yard, with the option to pay in wheat or rye worth that amount of money. The plan was to pay in installments in 1680, 1681 and 1682, so that seems to be a deal to surrender 1,000 guilders worth of farm production each year, and then she would own it outright. There are records for three payments to the seller, with the only the third adding the detail that stated an amount of 500 guilders, and that it was her husband who paid.¹ These documents also reveal that Catharina couldn’t sign her own name.

It isn’t known exactly when Catharina died, but it was between November 27, 1681, when her name was on a baptismal record,¹ and March 25 1695, when husband Jan wrote his will.¹ He left his estate to his step-daughter and her children, and he likely died by March of 1701.¹

Child by Hendrick ______:
1. Magdalena Hendricks — B. about 1649, (probably) Flatbush, New Netherland;¹ D. after 22 Apr 1716, (probably) Haverstraw, New York;¹ (1) M. Cornelius Vonck (~1634-?), 26 Dec 1667, Southampton, Long Island;¹ (2) Minne Johannis (?-1691), about Apr 1689, Flatbush, New York;¹ (3) Achias Jansz Van Dyck (?-~1707), after 22 Dec 1693, (probably) Brooklyn, New York¹

Source:
1    “Magdalena Hendricks, Wife of Cornelis Vonk/Vonck, and Her Mother, Catharina Cronenberg, Wife of Jan Teunissen Dam,” Carolyn Nash, The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, Vol. 143, 2012

Young Mother in a War Zone — Marie-Marguerite Morin

B. about 1735 in (probably) St-François-de-la-Rivière-du-Sud, New France¹
M. 18 Feb 1754 in St-François-de-la-Rivière-du-Sud, New France²
Husband: Jean-François Chouinard
D. 18 Sep 1816 in Kamouraska, Quebec¹

War touches more than the soldiers who engage in it — at times, it invades the lives of civilians. This was true for Marie-Marguerite Morin in the 1759 English takeover of French Canada. The story of her generation is one that needs to be remembered.

Marguerite was born in St-François-de-la-Rivière-du-Sud, a community near the St. Lawrence River. Her parents were Antoine Morin and Marguerite Daniau and she was the oldest of their 15 children. Her baptism is missing from parish registers, but by the age on her burial record, we can say it was about 1735.¹ It was on February 18, 1754 that Marguerite got married to Jean-François Chouinard; the wedding took place at her family’s parish.²

Over the next five years, Marguerite gave birth to three or four children in their home somewhere on the Côte-du-Sud (the south shore of the St. Lawrence). As to exactly where the family lived, that is in question because the baptismal records of her children are missing. The villages where she and her husband were born (St-François-de-la-Rivière-du-Sud and L’Islet) each have complete records, but a village nearby, St-Jean-Port-Joli, doesn’t have surviving parish registers before 1767. There is a strong possibility that this was where Marguerite and her family lived.

As Marguerite was raising her young children, the colony of her birth was dying. New France was overpowered and outnumbered by the English to the south, which was enough of a threat, but when England and France found themselves at war in the mid-1750s, it was almost inevitable that the British would take Canada. The first few years of the war caused terrible hardship to people like Marguerite with food shortages and limited access to other goods. The men were leaving their farms to take up arms in a desperate attempt to save their homeland, which made the food supply even more scant.

In the late spring of 1759, the British Navy arrived by ship to the St. Lawrence River. As they headed up the coast of the river to make campsites, they sailed along the Côte-du-Sud, and perhaps Marguerite saw them from her farm. People along the south shore knew they had to find shelter inland, and during this time, Jean-François and Marguerite likely packed up their family and moved to safer ground. This meant abandoning their farm during the planting season. 

Evacuating the farm. (AI-generated image)

There’s no specific details of what Marguerite’s family experienced. What we know is that when they were gone, the English came in and destroyed many villages. A force of 800 men landed at Kamouraska and marched through the towns along the river, one-by-one.³ They methodically visited each farm, killed the livestock, and set fire to the houses and outbuildings. This happened at virtually the same time as the battle on the Plains of Abraham.

Many communities, including L’Islet and St-Jean-Port-Joli, suffered near total destruction, and it's likely that Marguerite and her husband had nothing to return to except bare, scorched land. As with other residents of Côte-du-Sud, they resettled there and resumed their lives. On March 11, 1761, the baptism of her son, Louis-Marie was recorded at L’Islet;⁴ then followed two more children with missing baptisms until we see a daughter Marie-Françoise baptized on May 6, 1768 at St-Jean-Port-Joli.⁵ The family would grow to include five more children baptized at St-Jean-Port-Joli, with the youngest born in 1778 when she was about age 43.⁶

Eventually Marguerite and Jean-François moved downriver to St-Louis-de-Kamouraska. Jean-François passed away in 1807,⁷ and Marguerite lived until September 18, 1816.¹ Today the terrible events of 1759 are recognized in St-Jean-Port-Joli with a monument to those who lived through it. The French words on the monument translate as, “We remember you – We salute the courage and determination that cured the South Coasters following the devastating invasion of 1759.”⁸ 

Monument at St-Jean-Port-Joli.

Children:
1. Jean-Marie Chouinard — B. about 1755, Côte-du Sud, New France;⁹ D. 8 May 1836, St-Louis, Kamouraska, Quebec;¹⁰ M. (1) Genevieve Miville (1760-1788), 17 Aug 1778, St-Roch-des-Aulnaies, Quebec;¹¹ (2) Catherine Roy (1768-1791), 1 Feb 1790, Kamouraska, Quebec;¹² (3) Marie-Antoinette Pinet (1772-1813), St-Andre, Quebec;¹³ (4) Euphrosine Tardif (1773-1856), 21 Jan 1817, Kamouraska, Quebec¹⁴

2. (possibly) Marguerite Chouinard — B. 7 Oct 1758, Côte-du Sud, New France;¹⁵ D. 7 Oct 1758, Côte-du Sud, New France¹⁵

3. Marguerite Chouinard — B. about 1759, Côte-du Sud, New France;¹⁶ D. 2 Dec 1828, Bellechasse, Quebec;¹⁶ M. (1) François-Joseph Mignault dit LaBrie (1743-1805), 12 Jan 1779, St-Jean-Port-Joli, Quebec;¹⁷ (2) Joseph Lacasse (1754-1829), 26 Jan 1807, Lauzon, Quebec¹⁸

4. Charlemagne Chouinard — B. about 1760, Côte-du Sud, New France;¹⁹ D. 7 Apr 1852, Kamouraska, Quebec;²⁰ M. Perpetue Mignault (~1780-1849), 23 Nov 1801, St-Louis-de-Kamouraska, Quebec²¹

5. Louis-Marie Chouinard — B. 11 Mar 1761, L’Islet, New France;⁴ D. 16 Feb 1821, St-Louis-de-Kamouraska, Quebec;²² M. Marie-Josephe Levasseur (~1771-1821), 7 Nov 1785, St-Louis-de-Kamouraska, Quebec²³

6. Genevieve Chouinard — B. about 1763, Côte-du Sud, New France;²⁴ D. 19 Apr 1851, St-Denis, Kamouraska, Quebec;²⁵ M. Jean-François Lavoie (1762-1820), 28 Jul 1783, St-Louis-de-Kamouraska, Quebec²⁶

7. Jean-Chrysostome Chouinard — B. about 1765, Côte-du Sud, Quebec;²⁷ D. 1 Nov 1835, St-Ours, Quebec;²⁸ M. (1) Marguerite Michaud (~1742-1827), 3 Nov 1801, Ste-Anne-de-la-Pocatière, Quebec;²⁹ (2) Josephte Beaunoyer (~1790-?), 4 May 1829, St-Antoine-sur-Richelieu, Quebec³⁰

8. Marie-Françoise Chouinard — B. about 6 May 1768, St-Jean-Port-Joli, Quebec;⁵ M. Joseph Blouin (~1755-?), 18 Jun 1787, St-Louis-de-Kamouraska, Quebec³¹

9. Marie-Reine Chouinard — B. 13 Feb 1771, St-Jean-Port-Joli, Quebec;³² D. 3 Sep 1851, St-Louis-de-Kamouraska, Quebec;³³ M. Joseph-Marie Roy (1764-1856), 10 Feb 1792, Kamouraska, Quebec³⁴

10. Marie-Therese Chouinard — B. 18 Sep 1772, St-Jean-Port-Joli, Quebec³⁵

11. Amable Chouinard — B. 19 Jun 1774, St-Jean-Port-Joli, Quebec³⁶

12. Marie-Veronique Chouinard — B. 23 Sep 1776, St-Jean-Port-Joli, Quebec;³⁷ D. 11 Jan 1781, St-Jean-Port-Joli, Quebec³⁸

13. Archange Chouinard — B. 2 Nov 1778, St-Jean-Port-Joli, Quebec;⁶ D. 31 Oct 1860, St-Frederic, Drummondville, Quebec;³⁹ M. Benjamin Pinet (1768-?), 21 Jul 1794, Kamouraska, Quebec⁴⁰

Sources:

1    Burial record of Marie-Marguerite Morin, Quebec, Catholic Parish Registers, 1621-1979, FamilySearch.org
2    Marriage record of Jean-François Chouinard and Marie-Marguerite Morin, Q., C. P. R.
3    The French and Indian War and the Conquest of New France, William R. Nestor, 2014
4    Baptismal record of Louis-Marie Chouinard, Q., C. P. R.
5    Baptismal record of Marie-Françoise Chouinard, Q., C. P. R.
6    Baptismal record of Archange Chouinard, Q., C. P. R.
7    Burial record of Jean-François Chouinard, Q., C. P. R.
8    “Les Anciens Canadiens,” The Historical Marker Database
9    Généalogie du Quebec et d’Amérique française listing of Jean-Marie Chouinard
10  Burial record of Jean-Marie Chouinard, Q., C. P. R.
11  Marriage record of Jean-Marie Chouinard and Genevieve Miville, Q., C. P. R.
12  Marriage record of Jean-Marie Chouinard and Catherine Roy, Q., C. P. R.
13  Marriage record of Jean-Marie Chouinard and Marie-Antoinette Pinet, Q., C. P. R.
14  Marriage record of Jean-Marie Chouinard and Euphrosine Tardif, Q., C. P. R.
15  Dictionnaire généalogique des familles canadiennes depuis la fondation de la colonie jusqu'a nos jours, Cyprien Tanguay (The date of the baptism and burial of Marguerite is during a gap in the current surviving records, but it’s possible Tanguay had access to records that no longer exist.) 
16  Burial record of Marguerite Chouinard, Q., C. P. R.
17  Marriage record of François-Joseph Mignault dit LaBrie and Marguerite Chouinard, Q., C. P. R.
18  Marriage record of Joseph Lacasse and Marguerite Chouinard, Q., C. P. R.
19  Généalogie du Quebec et d’Amérique française listing of Charlemagne Chouinard
20  Burial record of Charlemagne Chouinard, Q., C. P. R.
21  Marriage record of Charlemagne Chouinard and Perpetue Mignault, Q., C. P. R.
22  Burial record of Louis-Marie Chouinard, Q., C. P. R.
23  Marriage record of Louis-Marie Chouinard and Marie-Josephe Levasseur, Q., C. P. R.
24  Généalogie du Quebec et d’Amérique française listing of Genevieve Chouinard
25  Burial record of Genevieve Chouinard, Q., C. P. R.
26  Marriage record of Jean-François Lavoie and Genevieve Chouinard, Q., C. P. R.
27  Généalogie du Quebec et d’Amérique française listing of Jean-Chrysostome Chouinard
28  Burial record of Jean-Chrysostome Chouinard, Q., C. P. R.
29  Marriage record of Jean-Chrysostome Chouinard and Marguerite Michaud, Q., C. P. R.
30  Marriage record of Jean-Chrysostome Chouinard and Josephte Beaunoyer, Q., C. P. R.
31  Marriage record of Joseph Blouin and Marie-Françoise Chouinard, Q., C. P. R.
32  Baptismal record of Marie-Reine Chouinard, Q., C. P. R.
33  Burial record of Marie-Reine Chouinard, Q., C. P. R.
34  Marriage record of Joseph-Marie Roy and Marie-Reine Chouinard, Q., C. P. R.
35  Baptismal record of Marie-Therese Chouinard, Q., C. P. R.
36  Baptismal record of Amable Chouinard, Q., C. P. R.
37  Baptismal record of Marie-Veronique Chouinard, Q., C. P. R.
38  Burial record of Marie-Veronique Chouinard, Q., C. P. R.
39  Burial record of Archange Chouinard, Q., C. P. R.
40  Marriage record of Benjamin Pinet and Archange Chouinard, Q., C. P. R.

The Signs of Poverty — Thomas Hughes

B. before 28 Nov 1790 in Almondsbury, Gloucestershire, England¹
M. 2 Jan 1811 in Bristol, England²
Wife: Hester Keen
D. 15 Jun 1835, Almondsbury, Gloucestershire, England³

Throughout the life of Thomas Hughes, every record had some indication of his social status: he was born into poverty and he died in it.

Thomas was the fourth son of John Hughes and Betty Morris of Almondsbury, England. The family lived in Almondsbury, England, which was just east of Bristol. Thomas was christened at St. Mary’s Church on November 28, 1790, likely as an infant.² Since he later signed his name with an X, we can assume he had little or no education.¹ Like many in the village, Thomas’ family received handouts from the community. Records show that his mother was sometimes given cloth, which she presumably turned into simple garments for her children. 

St. Mary’s Church in Almondsbury. (AI-rendered illustration)

In early 1800, Thomas’ father received money to put towards the building of a house.⁴ Likely it was a very modest structure, but the record suggests that John Hughes was constructing it. Thomas, age 9, may have picked up a few carpentry skills because after he came of age, he also received one pound towards the building of his own house. This was noted in the Almondsbury vestry order book on May 31, 1816.⁴ The meager amount of money donated to them would suggest that the houses built by Thomas and his father were little more than wooden shacks, although this is speculation.

By this time Thomas had gotten married. On January 2, 1811, he wed Hester Keen at St. Stephen Church in Bristol.² Between 1813 and 1831, they had eight children, of whom at least two died young. The records of St. Mary’s Church in Almondsbury show that there was a gap of over 9 years between Thomas bringing children into the church to be baptized. Although he had a son born in 1819, and another born in 1823, he waited until the last day of 1826 before having them baptized along with their newborn sister.⁵ Perhaps he didn’t have the money for the service when the boys were born.

Thomas’ adulthood was a time of widespread unemployment in England. In the aftermath of the Napoleonic wars starting in 1815, ex-soldiers returning from the battlefield created a situation where there were more men looking for work than there were jobs. The Industrial Revolution was also a factor in the evolution of the workforce. These things likely affected Thomas as he struggled to find employment as a laborer.

The hardships of Thomas’ life may have contributed to his early death at age 45. When he died on June 15, 1835,³ he left behind several underaged children, and his widow Hester remarried in 1838.⁶ Although she was widowed again, none of the surviving children ended up in the poor house (one son migrated to Canada), so the cycle of poverty seems to have died with Thomas.

Children:
1. George Hughes — B. before 31 Oct 1813, Almondsbury, Gloucestershire, England;⁷ D. 6 Feb 1814, Almondsbury, Gloucestershire, England⁸

2. George Hughes — B. before 11 Apr 1815, Almondsbury, Gloucestershire, England;⁹ D. after 1891, (probably) England;¹⁰ M. (1) Mary, before 1861;¹¹ (2) Elizabeth, before 1881¹²

3. James Hughes — B. before 10 Aug 1817, Almondsbury, Gloucestershire, England;¹³ D. before 4 Jan 1829, Almondsbury, Gloucestershire, England¹⁴

4. Charles Hughes — B. about 1819, Almondsbury, Gloucestershire, England;⁵ D. before 1864;¹⁵ M. Maria Bevan (1820-1888), 15 Jun 1842, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island¹⁶

5. Thomas Hughes — B. about 1823, Almondsbury, Gloucestershire, England;⁵ D. after 1861;¹¹ M. Mary Ann Wither (~1823-?), 7 Sep 1845, Almondsbury, Gloucestershire, England¹⁷

6. Rachel Hughes — B. before 31 Dec 1826, Almondsbury, Gloucestershire, England⁵

7. James Hughes — B. before 4 Jan 1829, Almondsbury, Gloucestershire, England¹⁴

8. Selina Hughes — B. before 31 Jan 1831, Almondsbury, Gloucestershire, England;¹⁸ M. William Cardin (1831-?)¹¹

Sources:
1    Baptismal record of Thomas Hughes, Bristol, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812, Ancestry.com
2    Marriage record of Thomas Hughes and Hester Keen, England, Marriages, 1538-1973, FamilySearch.org
3    Death record of Thomas Hughes, England, Bristol, Parish Registers, 1538-1900, FamilySearch.org
4    Overseers order books, 1797-1817, England, Almondsbury, Gloucestershire, FamilySearch.org
5    Baptismal record of Charles, Thomas and Rachel Hughes, E., B., P. R.
6    Marriage record of Jonathan Horler and Hester Hughes, England & Wales Marriages, 1538-1988, Ancestry.com
7    Baptismal record of George Hughes (older), E., B., P. R.
8    Death record of George Hughes (older), E., B., P. R.
9    Baptismal record of George Hughes (younger), E., B., P. R.
10  1891 U. K. census, Almondsbury, England
11  1861 U. K. census, Almondsbury, England
12  1881 U. K. census, Almondsbury, England
13  Baptismal record of James Hughes (older), E., B., P. R.
14  Baptismal record of James Hughes (younger), E., B., P. R.
15  Hutchinson’s Prince Edward Island City Directory, 1864, which shows Maria Hughes as a widow
16  Marriage record of Charles Hughes and Maria Baird, Canada, Prince Edward Island Marriage Registers, 1832-1888, FamilySearch.org
17  Marriage record of Thomas Hughes and Mary Ann Wither, Bristol, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1935, Ancestry.com
18  Baptismal record of Selina Hughes, E., B., P. R.

Survivor of Childhood Tragedies — Marie-Thérèse Maillot

B. 3 Mar 1708 in Montreal, New France¹
M. 11 Aug 1730 in Montreal, New France²
Husband: Antoine Mallet
D. after 25 Oct 1753 in (probably) Post Vincennes, New France³

By the time Marie-Thérèse Maillot had reached her 14th birthday, she had seen the death of both parents and eight of her ten siblings, plus her home was destroyed in a fire. But she survived, and wound up making a life far from where she started out.

Thérèse was born on March 3, 1708 in Montreal to Guillaume Maillot and Marie-Anne Massé.¹ Her father and grandfather were both blacksmiths,^4,5 a vital part of the growing settlement on the St. Lawrence. When she was a child, Thérèse watched as her parents buried infants, one-by-one. Then in 1718, her father died at age 47.⁶

Thérèse’s mother remarried to merchant from France named Pierre Courault de LaCoste,⁷ who became her step-father even though he was just 12 years older than she was. The family continued to live in the house owned by Thérèse’s father, said to be two stories tall and measuring 33 feet by 45 feet.⁸ Unfortunately, it was made of wood, which would come into play one fateful day during 1721.

That June 19th, the people of Montreal had gathered on the streets in celebration of the feast of Corpus Christi, one of many special dates on the Catholic calendar. It’s easy to imagine Thérèse and her sister Marie-Anne joining in the excitement. But then someone fired a gun in the air, with sparks landing on and igniting the roof of a church building. Before anyone could stop it, lower Montreal was engulfed in flames.⁹ The house where Thérèse lived was on Rue Saint-Paul,¹⁰ and wasn’t far from the church. The blaze ended up destroying about 150 homes, and hers was one of them. For the next several months, the family was forced to take refuge in a house located outside of the fire zone.¹¹ 

Map of the 1721 Montreal fire.

Things got worse for Thérèse that year. In September, her mother went through her final labor, delivering a stillborn child — and then she died.¹² Thérèse and Marie-Anne were left under the care of their young step-father, who remarried to someone even younger in March 1722.¹³

It may have been because Pierre Courault de LaCoste was a fur trading merchant¹⁴ that Thérèse ended up moving to the West. Certainly she came into contact with many people in Montreal who had dealings with her step-father, such as Antoine Mallet, a man from Detroit. They were married on August 11, 1730 at Notre Dame de Montreal with Courault de LaCoste in attendance.² Not long after that date, she left the St. Lawrence River area, never to return.¹⁵ Thérèse was able to sign her name on the marriage document, an indicator that she had received some education. 

Signature of Therese.

After a long trek by canoe and foot, Thérèse and Antoine set up their household at Detroit.¹⁵ Established in 1701, the French outpost was already a lively place of fur trading leading to places further west. Thirty years after its founding, it still was a rough existence, and of the ten children Thérèse gave birth to, only four survived. Her child-bearing spanned the years 1731 to 1743.

Thérèse moved one more time in her life. In 1750, her 15-year-old daughter was married at Post Vincennes,¹⁶ which is in present-day Indiana. Thérèse’s name was on a Post Vincennes baptism dated October 25, 1753, and she was described as a widow.³ Most likely, Antoine had died after they both moved there, but there is no record of his death. The baptism was the last mention of Thérèse, and she probably passed away during the 1750s.

Children:
1. Marie-Therese Mallet — B.about 3 May 1731, Detroit, New France;¹⁵ D. Jan 1734, Detroit, New France¹⁵

2. Marie-Catherine Mallet — B. about 22 Oct 1732, Detroit, New France;¹⁵ D. Oct 1732, Detroit, New France¹⁵

3. Marie-Therese Mallet — B. about 12 Apr 1735, Detroit, New France;¹⁵ D. 19 Sep 1763, Post Vincennes, New France;¹⁶ M. Jean-Baptiste Renaud dit Deslauriers (1708-?), 26 Oct 1750, Post Vincennes, New France¹⁷

4. Jacques-Louis Mallet — B. about 15 Apr 1736, Detroit, New France;¹⁵ D. 14 Jun 1794, Vincennes, Indiana Territory;¹⁸ M. Marie-Louise Crepeau (1758-1825), about 1778, Post Vincennes, Illinois Country¹⁸

5. Joseph Mallet — B. about 26 Aug 1737, Detroit, New France;¹⁵ D. Apr 1739, Detroit, New France¹⁵

6. Jean-François Mallet — B. about 11 Oct 1738, Detroit, New France;¹⁵ D. before 25 Jul 1806, Vincennes, Indiana Territory;¹⁹ M. Marie-Charlotte Levron dit Metayer (1756-1814), 30 Jan 1770, Kaskaskia, Illinois Territory¹⁹

7. Marie-Timothea Mallet — B. about 6 Sep 1739, Detroit, New France;¹⁵ D. Dec 1739, Detroit, New France¹⁵

8. Angelique Mallet — B. about 9 Dec 1740, Detroit, New France;¹⁵ D. Dec 1740, Detroit, New France¹⁵

9. Antoine Mallet — B. about 12 Feb 1742, Detroit, New France;¹⁵ M. Catherine Bordeleau (1759-1818)²⁰

10. Augustin Mallet — B. about 12 Apr 1743, Detroit, New France;¹⁵ D. Apr 1743, Detroit, New France¹⁵

Sources:
1    Baptismal record of Marie-Therese Maillot, Quebec, Catholic Parish Registers, 1621-1979, FamilySearch.org
2    Marriage record of Antoine Mallet and Marie-Therese Maillot, Q., C. P. R.
3    Baptismal record of Marie-Therese Renaud dit Deslauriers, “Records of the Parish of St. Francis Xavier,” Records of the American Catholic Historical Society of Philadelphia, Vol. 12, 1901, p. 209
4    Généalogie du Quebec et d’Amérique française listing of Martin Masse
5    Our French-Canadian Ancestors, Vol. 6, Gerard Lebel (translated by Thomas J. Laforest), 1990
6    Burial record of Guillaume Maillot, Q., C. P. R.
7    Marriage record of Pierre Courault de LaCoste and Marie-Anne Massé, Q., C. P. R.
8    Montreal Fire 1721, Google Groups
9    Torture and the Truth: Angélique and the Burning of Montreal (website)
10  Property sale record, 9 Jul 1721 to 30 Jan 1722, BAnQ
11  Inventory of property of Pierre Courault de LaCoste, 23 Sep to 16 Oct 1721, BAnQ
12  Burial record of Marie-Anne Massé, Q., C. P. R.
13  Marriage record of Pierre Courault de LaCoste and Marguerite Aubuchon, Q., C. P. R.
14  Généalogie du Quebec et d’Amérique française listing of Pierre Courault de LaCoste
15  Genealogy of the French Families of the Detroit River Region, 1701-1936, Christian Dennison, 1987, p. 783
16  Burial record of Therese Mallet, “Records of the Parish of St. Francis Xavier,” Records of the American Catholic Historical Society of Philadelphia, Vol. 12, 1901, p. 325
17  Généalogie du Quebec et d’Amérique française listing of Therese Mallet
18  WikiTree listing of Jaques Louis Mallet
19  WikiTree listing of Jean François Maillet
20  WikiTree listing of Antoine Maillet

On Land Between Two Muddy Rivers — George Sutherland

B. about 1660 in (probably) New Kent County, Virginia¹
M. about 1680 in (probably) Virginia¹
Wife: Elizabeth (possibly) Norment
D. before June 1699 in (probably) King and Queen County, Virginia²

To tell the story of George Sutherland, what we know is almost entirely contained in a series of documents about his estate after he died. But by putting the established facts into the context of history and geography, it’s possible to understand a little more about who he was.

George is thought to have been born in Virginia in about 1660 to Alexander Sutherland (also spelled Southerland), a man from Scotland;¹ George’s mother is completely unknown. Many researchers have claimed that Alexander’s pedigree connects to Scottish royalty, and this seems to be fraudulent, or at the very least unlikely. More probable is that Alexander came from more humble roots that are impossible to trace — his only appearance on a document is in a passenger list for a ship that arrived in York County, Virginia on November 1, 1654.¹ That puts him near the land his supposed son George later claimed. This fact, plus that the name Sutherland is less-than-common, makes a case that Alexander was the father of George.

After George came of age in around 1680, he married a woman named Elizabeth (her last name is thought to be Norment).¹ The couple had at least three sons, and possibly other children. Sometime during the 1680s or 1690s, George acquired land from some Indians, apparently giving them money or goods in return. This wasn’t a valid transaction in the eyes of the colony because legally, the King of England owned the land, and only he or his representatives could grant it to an individual. The title wasn’t disputed, though, until after George died.⁴

George’s land was located in a place described as Pamunkey Neck,² which was a geographic feature formed by two small rivers (the Pamunkey and Mattaponi) coming together to form a larger river (the York). It was these inland waterways that gave the Virginia Tidewater its climate, which in turn gave the colonists their livelihood. The rivers wide enough to be navigable supplied a way for planters to transport their tobacco to the ports where it could be shipped around the world. Deposits of the rivers made the soil very rich along the riverbanks, and this was the land granted to the wealthier settlers who came over from England.⁵ 

Working along the inland waterways of the Virginia Tidewater. (AI-generated image)

Places that weren’t along the water’s edge weren’t nearly as good for growing tobacco. “Neck” land was described as being “thin and barren.”⁵ This is probably the type of acreage George got in his deal with the Indians. Land of this type was said to be worth as low as “5 shillings an acre,” compared to the “rich bottom land” typically valued at £5 an acre.⁵ Perhaps this is why even without proper documentation, the courts posthumously cleared up the title and allowed his sons to inherit the land.

Since the single known record identifying George seems to suggest that he died at age 40 or younger, it leads to the question of how he died. The answer may lie in the climate of the region. The heat and the swampy nature of the Virginia Tidewater meant that mosquitos were a huge presence, and with that came diseases like malaria, typhoid fever and dysentery.⁵ This is pure speculation, but George may have been the victim of one of these illnesses. His death date is unknown, but it was before June of 1699.² It’s unknown when his wife Elizabeth died.

Children:
1. Joseph Sutherland — B. about 1680 in (probably) King and Queen County, Virginia;¹ D. about 1739, King William County, Virginia;¹ M. _____ Chiles, before about 1718, (probably) Virginia⁶

2. Phillip Sutherland — B. before June 1799 in (probably) King and Queen County, Virginia²

3. George Sutherland — B. before June 1799 in (probably) King and Queen County, Virginia²

Sources:

1    Sutherlands and Their Tangled Branches, Robert J. Walsh, 1985, pp. 12-13
2    English Duplicates of Lost Virginia Records, 1958, p. 62
3    “Southerland Famiy of King William County, Virginia,” Winston of Virginia and Allied Families, Clayton Torrence, 1927, pp. 389-394
4    Journal of the House of Burgesses, Vol. 3, page 283
5    Albion’s Seed: Four British Folkways in America, David Hackett Fischer, 1989
6    There is a string of evidence that points to a Miss Chiles being the wife of Joseph. (1) In 1763, Fendall was executor to the probate of a man named Walter Chiles, implying a close relationship. (2) Walter Chiles had two sisters, one of whom married a Mr. Sutherland (Reports of Cases in the General Court of Virginia, 1829, p. 133). (3) The age of Walter Chiles and his sisters would put them on the generation of Fendall’s father, Joseph.