M. 25 May 1691 in St-François, Île d’Orleans, New France2
Husband: Jean Pruneau
D. before 10 Dec 1715 in (probably) Berthier-en-Bas, New France3
There was a strain of independence in the women of Suzanne Émond’s family, although she seemed to take on a more normal role of wife and mother. Suzanne was born on New Year’s Day of 1668 on a farm in St-François, Île d’Orleans.1 Her parents, René Émond and Marie LaFaye, had come to New France just a few years earlier. Perhaps her mother was the first to show a sense of adventure by being among the first group of Filles du Roi, recruited to give up her life in France to marry a stranger in America. Suzanne was the third of ten children, of whom four seemed to have died young.
In about 1691, a young man from France came into Suzanne’s life. His name was Jean Pruneau, and they were married on May 25th at the church in St-François.2 Little is known about Jean’s background except for that he came from Limoges, and he seems to have arrived in New France as an engaged servant sometime during the late 1680s.4 After their wedding, they settled in St-François for a couple of years, and Suzanne gave birth to two children.5,6 Then Jean saw opportunity across the river on the south shore of the St-Lawrence; they acquired a farm at Berthier-en-Bas, a place that was far from any church. Between about 1697 and 1708, Suzanne had seven more children, although at least two of them died as infants.
Marriage record of Jean and Suzanne. (Source: FamilySearch.org)
During the time Suzanne was keeping a home and raising a family, two of her sisters were involved in quite different activities. In 1696, younger sister Anne ran off to Quebec City at age 16, getting into mischief that landed her in jail.7 She disguised herself as a male and made false claims that she had knowledge of an imminent attack by the Iroquois; after Anne was put on trial for lying to authorities, she was sentenced to a public whipping. The story of Suzanne’s other sister, Marie-Madeleine, took place two years later in Montreal. She was a married woman who was arrested for running what seemed to have been a prostitute ring.8 Marie-Madeleine had also given birth to an out-of-wedlock child conceived while her husband was away on a fur trading expedition in 1688.9
Suzanne showed none of the wildness of her two sisters, but she always kept a close relationship with her family. On February 27, 1713, she witnessed the marriage contract of Marie-Madeleine’s daughter, who was getting married in Berthier-en-Bas.10 The bride’s mother had passed away years earlier, and the document seems to suggest that Suzanne had taken in the young girl.
Just a couple of years later, Suzanne died; there’s no burial record in the parish records, but her husband was noted as a widow on December 10, 1715, when an inventory of the family’s estate was taken.3 This was standard procedure in New France when one spouse died, so that in case of remarriage, the inheritance of their children only included what was owned by their parents when they were a couple. Suzanne’s husband Jean didn’t remarry, and he was last known to be living was at their daughter Marie’s wedding in 1724.11
Children:
1. René Pruneau — B. 11 May 1692, St-François, Île d’Orleans, New France;5 M. (1) Madeleine Dumont (~1696-1718), 10 Feb 1716, St-Michel-de-Bellechasse, New France;12 (2) Anne Leroux (1694-1757), 24 Nov 1721, Charlesbourg, New France13
2. Catherine Pruneau — B. 10 Jan 1694, St-François, Île d’Orleans, New France;6 M. (1) André Patri (1682-1741), 18 Nov 1711, Berthier-en-Bas, New France;14 (2) Joseph Forgues (~1698-1751), 19 Oct 1744, New France;15 (3) Jacques Morand (1687-1756), 4 Oct 1752, St-Charles, New France;16 (4) Joseph Jahan (1698-1773), 21 May 1764, St-Michel-de-Bellechasse, Quebec17
3. Jean Pruneau — B. about 1697, New France;18 M. Geneviève Boutin (1697-1771), 10 May 1723, New France19
4. Élisabeth Pruneau — B. 24 Feb 1699, Berthier-en-Bas, New France;20 D. 2 Mar 1699, Berthier-en-Bas, New France21
5. Pierre Pruneau — B. 8 Aug 1700, Berthier-en-Bas, New France22
6. Michel Pruneau — B. Sep 1702, Berthier-en-Bas, New France;23 D. 10 Mar 1703, Berthier-en-Bas, New France24
7. Marie Pruneau — B. 9 Jan 1704, Berthier-en-Bas, New France;25 M. François Lachambre (1702-?), 9 Oct 1724, Quebec City, New France11
8. Geneviève Pruneau — B. 8 July 1706, Berthier-en-Bas, New France; D. after 8 May 1742;26 M. Olivier Sautier, 19 Nov 1724 in Louisbourg, Acadia27
9. Marie-Madeleine Pruneau — B. 20 Jun 1708, Berthier-en-Bas, New France;28 M. (1) Jean-Baptiste Cassé (1705-?), 31 July 1731, Detroit, New France;29 (2) Vital Caron (1700-1747), 20 July 1735, Detroit, New France29
Sources:
1 Baptismal record of Suzanne Émond, Quebec Catholic Parish Registers, 1621-1979, FamilySearch.org
2 Marriage record of Jean Pruneau and Suzanne Émond, Q.C.P.R.
3 Inventaire Des Greffes Des Notaires du Régime Français, XXII, Abel Michon, 1979, p. 21
4 Inventaire Des Greffes Des Notaires du Régime Français, IV, Gilles Rageot, 1979, p. 143
5 Baptismal record of René Pruneau, Q.C.P.R.
6 Baptismal record of Catherine Pruneau, Q.C.P.R.
7 Trial and testimony of Anne Émond, June 1696, BAnQ
8 Trial between Marie-Madeleine Émond and Robert Reaume, 1698, BAnQ
9 Baptismal and burial record of Mare-Catherine Émond, Q.C.P.R.
10 Marriage record of René Patry and Charlotte Dupuis, Q.C.P.R.
11 Marriage record of François Lachambre and Marie Pruneau, Q.C.P.R.
12 Marriage record of René Pruneau and Madeleine Dumont, Q.C.P.R.
13 Marriage record of René Pruneau and Anne Leroux, Q.C.P.R.
14 Marriage record of André Patri and Catherine Pruneau, Q.C.P.R.
15 Marriage record of Joseph Forgues and Catherine Pruneau, Q.C.P.R.
16 Marriage record of Jacques Morand and Catherine Pruneau, Q.C.P.R.
17 Marriage record of Joseph Jahan and Catherine Pruneau, Q.C.P.R.
18 Généalogie du Quebec et d’Amérique française listing for Jean Pruneau
19 Marriage record of Jean Pruneau and Geneviève Boutin, Q.C.P.R.
20 Baptismal record of Élisabeth Pruneau, Q.C.P.R.
21 Burial record of Élisabeth Pruneau, Q.C.P.R.
22 Baptismal record of Pierre Pruneau, Q.C.P.R.
23 Baptismal record of Michel Pruneau, Q.C.P.R.
24 Burial record of Michel Pruneau, Q.C.P.R.
25 Baptismal record of Marie Pruneau, Q.C.P.R.
26 Baptismal record of Geneviève Pruneau, Q.C.P.R.
27 WikiTree listing of Suzanne Émond
28 Baptismal record of Marie-Madeleine Pruneau, Q.C.P.R.
29 Genealogy of the French Families of the Detroit River Region, Christian Denissen, 1987
