Founding Mothers: La Fille du Roi

Working with the genealogies of the mothers on my family tree in honor of Mothers' Day I realized all the fascinating women that are in my own bloodline. This blog entry will focus on one of the founding mothers - the original female  immigrant of the Chicoine line and her story. She was my 7th great grandmother and came to New France as an imported bride at age 18.

St. Eustache church Paris

Magdelaine Chretien 1652-1709 was born in Paris, France and baptized in the parish of St. Eustache. The church dates from the 16th century and was next to the large city market Les Halles. Her parents were Toussaint Chretien and Francoise Bertaut.  She had some education - at least enough to sign her name on her wedding record. She was a Fille du Roi, (Daughter of the King)  one of about 120  women assisted immigrants  that year. They were part of a government funded program to provide French wives for the many single Frenchmen living in the colony of New France. Over a ten year period about 770 women came this way to New France. (There are at least 40 other Filles du Roi in our family tree)

Magdelaine   left a city of perhaps 500,000 inhabitants, with beautiful and historic buildings, commerce and culture. Moliere was premiering a play in her neighborhood that year. The Filles from Paris traveled by river boat to the nearby port of Dieppe to board their ship, aptly named  "La Nouvelle France". The ship probably left in late spring, around mid May. The 53 girls from Paris  were joined by the 22+ young women from Normandy. The ship then continued to  La Rochelle where the rest of the passengers joined them.

The ocean voyage probably took about two months, although some travelers mention 11 weeks depending on the weather. Conditions were crowded and unsanitary. If the passengers were lucky they got fair weather and could get fresh air on deck. The women had ample time to get to know one another and there are many connections between them. Besides Magdelaine, two others: Marguerite Moreau and Catherine Fourier are ancestors of my grandmother Ida Emma Desrosiers who would marry Paul Chicoine, Magdelaine's descendant. Marguerite Moreau may have joined the vessel in La Rochelle or Dieppe since she lived in Orleans. She would become my 8th great grandmother. A descendant of hers,  Marguerite Ricard would be the mother of  my grandfather Joseph Moreau dit Desrosiers. (From a different Moreau line) Catherine Fourier who also appears in the  Moreau line was, like Magdelaine, from Paris. She was married at least 3 times - her first to Mathurin Mercardier on October 15 was witnessed by Magdelaine Chretien and Magdelaine Therese Salle. When, a young widow with a child, she married Pierre Bosquet in 1672 Magdelaine Salle was again a witness. A 7th great grand aunt, Marguerite Deshayes from Rouen, is coming to join her sister Marie, my 7th great grandmother. Marie arrived in 1668. and married Adrien Betourne.  Marguerite's eldest niece would marry Magdelaine's eldest son Pierre Chicoine.

Magdelaine age 18, along with Marie Chretien, 15 who may have been a cousin, left for the colony in May 1670.  Marie also lived in Paris but on the left bank in the 5th arrondissment in the parish of St.Suplice. Magdelaine Therese Salle  was from the same parish as Marie and would attend Magdelaine's wedding as she would hers. Also from St. Suplice was Catherine Fourier my 8th great grandmother ancestor of my grandmother Ida Emma Desrosiers.  The pastor of the parish of St.Suplice recruited about 68 women and 12 from his parish were on board the Nouvelle France in 1670. 

Many of the girls on the voyage were orphans but Magdelaine Chretien's parents were alive, based on evidence from her marriage record. Marie's father was deceased. Magdelaine Therese Salle's parents were living, her father was a master painter for the King.  Most of the Filles were young and single but at least one widow traveled on this trip Francoise Goubilleau who traveled with her son  Pierre Maguet. There is a sprinkling of women from  bourgeois families and daughters of military and court officials on the passenger list who may have carried additional funds for their dowry. The King's program provided most of the women with a grant of at least fifty French pounds and a trunk with some basic clothing and sewing supplies.

The towers of La Rochelle .

La Rochelle from ship in harbor

La Rochelle was a good size town with impressive towers that protected the harbor and many churches and large buildings. Ruled at times in the middle ages by England it was now the center of trade with New France. It had survived some bitter religious wars and there were Protestant (Reformed) churches in the city. Religious strife between Catholics and Protestant led many Reformed church members to immigrate. Although New France was closed to all but Catholics there were some  who managed to immigrate there by adopting the Catholic faith.

View looking back at the town of La Rochelle

Paving stones from New France

So many ships went from this harbor to New France that some streets were paved with the ballast stone of those returning from Canada.  The last glimpse of their homeland for Magdelaine and her companions was the city of La Rochelle. Most would never see their homeland again. However for all of the girls this adventure gave them a financial security and independence that they could not have hoped for in their homeland. At least one girl on this trip, Magdelaine Therese Salle, would only stay in New France for 10 years and would return. Her husband and children would join her in Paris where she would die.

Summer provided a smoother and safer voyage, winter traveling ran the risk of rough stormy crossings. It was possible to encounter ice bergs at anytime.  Extremes of weather and violent thunderstorms are described by contemporary travelers.

When she arrived in New France July 31st the ship stopped in Quebec city, a large settlement with about 3,000 inhabitants. It had a  few stone dwellings, a church the size of village ones in France and the wilderness pressing in around it. Marguerite Moreau and some of the others disembarked here. She would be married in a month to Andre Morin from Poitiers. As they continued down to Montreal,  Magdelaine would have seen farms of the "long lot" type which lined the banks of the St. Lawrence. Their narrow and long fields that allowed families to live near each other for protection and communication with the river.  When she arrived in Montreal it must have been a big contrast with the city of Paris. It had about 500 with perhaps 50 dwellings mostly of wood.  

Notre Dame des Victoires near port

When they docked in Montreal the Filles du Roi were lodged with the nuns of St. Marguerite Bourgeoys in Montreal or in Maison Saint Gabriel outside of the city. The current church of Notre Dame des Victoires, near where they landed  was a small chapel at the time and the facing stone house may have housed some of the girls. Marguerite is credited with inventing the title: Fille du Roi to distinguish between immigrants who came with government assistance and those who came on their own. The girls ranged in age from 13-18 or more. The Sisters took on the task of educating these girls, many from urban areas, and some very young, in domestic arts and the skills they would need to survive as a frontier wife.

After the Filles du Roi arrived the nuns put out a sign advertising "girls to marry" and eligible men cleaned up, got dressed up and came to be interviewed. The girls were able to ask pertinent questions such as whether the young man owned a cow or chickens, had a house with a floor and was clean in his habits.  Men looked for robust women who would survive the harsh weather and produce many children. The bachelors were eager since every year a man remained single after 20 he faced the "bachelor tax".

House where women stayed in Montreal

Magdelaine had made a friend on the voyage, Magdeleine Therese Salle. She  attended her wedding Sept. 30, signing the register. A few weeks later her friend attended hers and signed. Some time between her arrival in Montreal in mid August she met with and liked Pierre Chicoine age 28 born in a small town near Poitiers,  who had arrived in the colony a few years before her. He may  also have been an assisted immigrant - a person whose passage was paid by a landholder in return for a number of years of service. He appears in the 1666 Montreal census as a domestic, working for Mathurin Langevin, one of the original settlers of Montreal. By the time he met his future bride he was living in Longueil on the seigneury or fief of the LeMoyne family. Charles LeMoyne, age about 14, son of the seigneur would be one of the witnesses to the marriage of Pierre and Magdelaine. (see below). On the same day as Pierre and Magdelaine another girl, from the ship, Anne Foubert was married in Notre Dame church (a much smaller chapel than the current grand cathedral). Her groom Pierre Boisseau also worked for the LeMoyne's. Their two families would remain connected. Their daughter Marie Boisseau would later marry Magdelaine and Pierre's son Paul.

She and Pierre remained in the Montreal area where many of their children were baptized.  By the census of 1681 they appear the town of Vercheres east of Montreal. They own a gun and 7 head of cattle and have 10 arpents of land. Their eldest son Pierre settled on his own fief called Bellevue in Vercheres where today there are many Chicoine descendants.  They had 7 girls and 3 boys. Most of modern day US Chicoines are descended from sons Pierre and Paul. (Their other son Francis married but had no children) Magdelaine survived her husband and remarried in 1702. Unlike her friend Magdelaine Therese Salle she would stay in New France and die there 7 years later.

In 1826 Jean Baptiste Chicoine, 5th generation descendant of Pierre and Magdelaine, who had married in Swanton, Vermont,  traveled back to have his daughter Marie Emilie baptized in the parish church of Vercheres. His aunt Marie Emilie Chicoine and her husband Antoine Gosselin served as godparents.