Monday, May 14, 2018

Bridging a French and Indian Culture — Agnes Richard

B. 5 May 1719 in Pointe-aux-Trembles, New France1
M. (1) about 1735, New France2
Husband: François Godere
M. (2) 8 Aug 1756 in Post Vincennes, New France3
Husband: Jean-Baptiste Vaudry
D. before 24 Jul 1778 in Post Vincennes4

During the 18th century, the waterways of colonial Canada drew many of its French people deep into the West, and in the process created a mixed culture of both European and Indigenous influences. It also brought the mixing of blood, and one person who embodied both of these things was Agnes Richard.

Agnes was born in Pointe-aux-Trembles, New France on May 5, 1719 to Jean-Baptiste Richard and Marie-Anne You.1 Her father was an interpreter of Native American language who spent time in the Illinois country,5 and her mother was half-French and half-Native American. They had married in Montreal and already had a one-year-old girl when Agnes was born; later, they had a son.

Agnes' baptismal record.

When Agnes was about three-years-old, her father went to Fort Ouiatenon to work as a blacksmith.6 Men didn’t usually bring their families to such places, but Agnes’ mother wanted to return to her people, so special permission was granted.7 The family loaded up canoes and made the journey up the St. Lawrence, across the lengths of Lake Ontario and Lake Erie, and up the Maumee River, finally arriving at the fort on the Wabash River. Typically such a journey took at least 2 months. Parts of the trip required portages where the family traveled on foot; it’s likely that young Agnes had to walk for at least some of the distance. She spent the rest of her life in the Illinois country, and probably never again visited the Montreal area.

Agnes’ new home was a fur trading outpost that was set up next to the Indian village (it's possible that this was where her mother had grown up). A small fort was built in 1717 by a group of French men that included Agnes’ father,6 and during the time the family settled there, it was a lively place. There were houses within the fort and many more just outside of it. Every year, French men and Indians from other places would gather at Ouiatenon to trade furs and goods. The population grew to as much as 3,000 people during the 1740s, and was said to be made up of French, Indians and people of mixed blood. Agnes likely received no education, as she was unable to sign her name as an adult.

When she was still a teen, Agnes married a French man named François Godere.2 There is no record of her marriage, or of the births of her children, but later records of her children as adults establish a timeline. Between about 1736 and about 1752, she gave birth to five sons and five daughters, with two of the girls dying young. One of the girls drowned in the Wabash River in 1750, “15 leagues” from Post Vincennes, and she was buried at the church there.8 Agnes and her husband were described in the burial record as being residents of Ouiatenon, but at some point soon after, the family relocated to Vincennes.

Wabash River near Vincennes.

During the mid-1750s, Agnes’ husband François died, and on August 8, 1756, she married Jean-Baptiste Vaudry at St. Francis Xavier church in Vincennes.3 She must have been far along in a pregnancy at her wedding since she gave birth to a daughter two months later.9 Agnes had two more children, with the youngest born in 1761. Jean-Baptiste served as an interpreter at a meeting with Indian tribe leaders in 1775, and he was one of the signers of the Vincennes oath of allegiance to America in 1778,10 but Agnes had died by that time.4

Children by François Godere:
1. Pierre Godere — B. about 1735, Ouiatenon, New France;11 D. 24 May 1789, (probably) Northwest Territory;12 M. Susanne Bolon (1740-?), 5 May 1760, Post Vincennes, New France13

2. Rene Godere — B. about 1736, Ouiatenon, New France;14 D. 9 Feb 1793, (probably) Northwest Territory;14 M. Catherine Campeau, 3 Mar 1761, Vincennes, New France15

3. Marie-Anne Godere — B. about 1738, Ouiatenon, New France;16 D. 31 May 1792, Vincennes, Northwest Territory;16 M. Louis Boyer, 12 Jan 1758, Post Vincennes, New France16

4. Louis Godere — B. 14 May 1739, Ouiatenon, New France;17 D. 15 Jun 1794, Vincennes, Northwest Territory;17 M. Barbe-Elizabeth Levron (1748-1798), 8 Feb 1770, Post Vincennes, Illinois Territory18

5. François Godere — B. about 1740, Ouiatenon, New France;19 D. after 12 Jul 1779, (probably) Vincennes, Virginia Territory;19 M. Marie-Therese Campagnot (~1745-1803), 18 Jan 1773, Post Vincennes, Illinois Territory20
6. Marie-Louise Godere — B. about 1745, Ouiatenon, New France;21 D. 18 Jul 1774, Prairie du Rocher, Illinois Territory;22 M. Antoine D’Amours de Louvieres (1744-1801), 4 Feb 1766, Prairie du Rocher, Randolph, Illinois23

7. Agnes Godere — B. about 1749 (probably) Ouiatenon, New France;8 D. 6 Dec 1750, Illinois Territory, New France8

8. Ursule Godere — B. about 1750, (probably) Ouiatenon, New France;24 D. 12 Nov 1756, Post Vincennes, New France24

9. Toussaint Godere — B. about Nov 1751, (probably) Ouiatenon, New France;25 D. 30 Oct 1792, Vincennes, Northwest Territory;26 M. Barbe Chapart (1758-?), about 1775, Post Vincennes, Illinois Territory26

10. Marie-Josephe Godere — B. about 1752, (probably) Ouiatenon, New France;27 D. 1 Jan 1796, Lawrence County, Illinois, Northwest Territory;28 M. Amable-Charles Bolon (~1750-?), 26 Jan 1773, Post Vincennes, Illinois Country29

Children by Jean-Baptiste Vaudry:

1. Marie-Louise Vaudry — B. 17 Oct 1756, Post Vincennes, New France;9 D. 3 Sep 1796, Vincennes, Northwest Territory;30 M. Antoine Richardville (1759-?), 14 Jul 1779, Vincennes, Northwest Territory31

2. Marie-Ursule Vaudry — B. 20 Apr 1759, Post Vincennes, New France;32 D. 23 Oct 1813, Vincennes, Indiana Territory;33 M. Pierre Gamelin, 24 Jul 1778, Post Vincennes, Illinois Territory34

3. Jean-Baptiste Vaudry — B. 18 Feb 1761, Post Vincennes, New France;35 D. 10 Jul 1793, Vincennes, Northwest Territory;36 M. Marie-Claire Chappard (1761-1801), 20 Jun 1785, Vincennes, Virginia Territory37

Sources:
1    Baptismal record of Agnes Richard, Quebec, Catholic Parish Registers, 1621-1979, FamilySearch.org
2    Date of marriage based on estimated birth of oldest child
3    Marriage record of Jean-Baptiste Vaudry and Agnes Richard, Indiana, Church Marriages, 1780-1993, FamilySearch.org
4    “Records of the Parish of St. Francis Xavier,” Records of the American Catholic Historical Society of Philadelphia, Vol. 12, 1901, p. 54 (Agnes is described as deceased in daughter’s marriage)
5    “Richard dit Lafleur, Guillaume,” Dictionary of Canadian Biography
6    Fort Ouiatenon and Feast of the Hunters’ Moon School Guide, Tippecanoe Historical Association
7    Permission granted at Montreal for Jean-Baptiste Richard to take canoe to Ouiatenon, 3 Sep 1722, BAnQ
8    Burial record of Agnes Godere, Indiana, Births and Christenings, 1773-1933, FamilySearch.org
9    Baptismal record of Marie Vaudry, I., B. & C.
10  Vincennes Oath, 1778, Illinois History and Lincoln Collections, Illinois Library
11  WikiTree listing of Pierre Gauder
12  Burial record of Pierre Codere, Indiana, Deaths and Burials, 1750-1993, FamilySearch.org
13  Marriage record of Pierre Gauder and Susanne Bolon, Indiana, Church Marriages, 1780-1993, FamilySearch.org
14  WikiTree listing of René Codere
15  Marriage record of René Gauder and Catherine Campos, I., C. M.
16  WikiTree listing of Marie Anne (Goder) Boyer
17  Find-a-Grave listing of Louis Godere
18  Marriage record of Louis Codere and Barbe- Elizabeth Levron, I., C. M.
19  WikiTree listing of François Gaudere
20  Marriage record of François Gaudere and Marie Therese Campagnot, I., C. M.
21  WikiTree listing of Marie Louise (Godere) D’Amours de Louvieres
22  Burial record of Marie Louise Codere, I., D. of B., C. P. R.
23  Marriage record of Antoine D’Amours de Louvieres and Marie Louise Godere, Illinois, Diocese of Belleville, Catholic Parish Records, 1729-1956, FamilySearch.org
24  Baptismal record of Ursule Godere, Indiana, Births and Christenings, 1773-1933, FamilySearch.org
25  Baptismal record of Toussaint Goder, I., B. & C.
26  WikiTree listing of Toussaint Godere
27  Estimated birth date based on marriage date
28  Burial record of Josette Godere, I., D. & B.
29  Marriage record of Amable Beaulon and Marie Josette Godere, I., C. M.
30  WikiTree listing of Marie Louise (Vaudry) Drouet de Richardville
31  Marriage record of Joseph Antoine Drouet de Richardville and Marie Vaudry, I., C. M.
32  Baptismal record of Ursule Vaudry, I., B. & C.
33  Burial record of Ursule Gamelin, I., D. & B.
34  Marriage record of Pierre Gamelin and Ursule Vaudry, I., C. M.
35  Baptismal record of Jean Baptist Vaudry, I., B. & C.
36  WikiTree listing of Jean Baptiste Vaudry
37  Marriage record of Jean Baptist Vaudry and Marie Claire Chappart, I., C. M.