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Lynne C. Levesque

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Jeanne Chevalier, Fille du Roi: Son Histoire

Finally, the story of Jeanne Marguerite Chevalier is available in French!  Thanks to a wonderful team of translators and editors, I am very happy to announce the publication of the book:  Jeanne Chevalier, Fille du Roi : Son histoire.

The book is available as a paperback and e-book on the Internet at www.amazon.fr, at  www.amazon.ca and at www.amazon.com .

It is also available at Le Plumier, 22 24 Rue Saint-Jacques in Dieppe, France.

I hope you will find her story as captivating as I did!   Please feel free to email me your comments!

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Filles du Roi in New France

At news of a ship’s arrival with a contingent of Filles du Roi, men were said to hurry to greet the passengers. Many were probably eager for female companionship. Orders from the Intendant requiring young men to find a bride soon after a ship’s arrival or lose their hunting and fishing privileges most likely spurred them on as well. And perhaps the King’s gifts upon marriage were also seen as helping to jumpstart a farm. For whatever reason, the arrival of these women must have been a joy, at least for those seeking to stay in the colony, maintain their freedom and a brighter future than in France, and still have a family.

How must these women have felt when they walked off the ship into the throngs of men to their new, though temporary, home in Quebec City, Trois Rivieres, or Montreal? Did they think, “What have I done?” or were they both excited and scared about the adventure ahead? [⇒]

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Legends of the Filles du Roi

For years (centuries actually) there has been confusion over whether the Filles du Roi were women to marry or “women to enjoy.” Erroneous information based on random comments and prejudices on the one side, and possible nationalistic pride that has embellished their challenges and legacy on the other have all contributed to the confusion. It seems that Yves Landry, one of the foremost authorities on the topic of the Filles du Roi, explained it best when he summarized the issue by declaring that there is probably an element of truth in both sides of the story.  [⇒]

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New France in 1671

On my visit to Quebec in the summer of 2014, I drove from Montreal to Quebec City and then two weeks later on to Riviere Ouelle, even further east along the south coast of the St. Lawrence on the Chemin du Roi, or King’s Highway. As I drove through the villages of Berthier sur Mer, Montmagny, L’Islet, and Roch des Aulnaies, I tried to imagine what these villages and the countryside looked like in 1671, with less than 6000 non-natives living in all of Quebec. [⇒]

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New France’s Economic System in 1671

By 1671, the year Jeanne arrived in Quebec, settlers were beginning to clear land in New France, under an arrangement of land grants, based on the French feudal system as modified by early French settlers in Quebec. The first grants were in and around Quebec City, westward toward Trois Rivieres and Montreal, eastward along the north shore of the St. Lawrence around the villages of Chateau Richer and L’Ange Gardien, and on Ile d’Orleans, the large island just east of Quebec City. Since the land along the southern shore of the St. Lawrence east of Quebec City remained heavily forested, Jean Talon as Intendant would begin to make many new land grants there during the next year (1672) to ensure the colony continued to expand. [⇒]

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Why did Robert wait so long to marry?

Robert Levesque, my eighth great grandfather, was over 36 years old when he made his official entrance into Jeanne’s life in late 1678 or early 1679. The books and chapters that have been written about him tell his story so I only need to briefly note the highlights here.   Robert’s baptism took place on September 3, 1642 in Hautot St. Sulpice, a small village in upper Normandy, 45 kilometers northwest of Rouen. He was the son of Pierre Levesque and Marie Caumont, who had married on October 27, 1641. His father died in May 1648, and his mother in September 1660, leaving Robert an orphan at 18 years old. When Robert sailed from France in 1671, he left behind a brother, Francois, baptized on April 5, 1644, and possibly other siblings. [⇒]

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Searching for a Wife Before the Internet and Telephone

On April 22, 1679, 36 year-old Robert married 35-year-old, newly widowed Jeanne Chevalier in L’Ange Gardien, a village located just northeast of Quebec City. How he met Jeanne is another mystery. I speculate that he used his community of friends and colleagues in those days before the Internet and the telephone to spread the word. At the time the number of people living in or around Quebec and on the north and south shores of the Eastern St. Lawrence River was still relatively small. With trading trips, work projects, and baptisms and weddings taking him to Quebec City, a young man from Riviere-Ouelle could have solidified friendships, particularly with compatriots from Normandy who spoke his native dialect. So the word could have gone out: “Hard-working single French male from Normandy, well positioned and respected carpenter, with home and good prospects, seeks wife. French-speaking young widows with young children will be considered.” [⇒]

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Jean-Baptiste François Deschamps and Family — Getting Started (1672-1681)

Little is actually known about what Jean-Baptiste François Deschamps de la Bouteillerie did during the year after his arrival. He appears to have been busy. He wrote a letter to his father shortly after arriving in Quebec and asked for an additional woodworker. On October 29, 1671, he hired Gabriel Lambert to also help out on the estate. Both actions suggest that he had already investigated and decided on a preferred grant site and was scoping out the work involved. The actual grant did indeed mention that he had already started working on it.

Despite Father Asseline’s reference to a promised land grant between Trois Rivières and Montreal, which I have not been able to substantiate, the land Deschamps was officially granted by Intendant Talon on October 29, 1672, lay 148 kilometers northeast of Quebec City.  [⇒]

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Jean-Baptiste Deschamps & Rivière Ouelle: the early years

In the fall of 1674, two years after Jean Baptiste had received his grant, he began to make concessions of land to the men who had served out the terms of their three-year contracts with him and had demonstrated their commitment to settle in Quebec. Many of these men were countrymen from the same area in Normandy who came with him in 1671. My ancestor, Robert Levesque, was one of the first to receive a grant, on November 10, 1674. His land, on the southern bank of the Ouelle River, was right across from Deschamps’ estate.

At the time of their grants, most of these men, Robert included, were still single. I suspect that once they had their land secured,  [⇒]