Marriage: Guillaume FOURNIER et Françoise HÉBERT

Françoise Hébert & Guillaume Fournier

Early Quebec Settlers

Françoise Hébert (1638-1716)

Françoise Hébert was born on January 27, 1638, in the small Quebec settlement. She was baptized on January 23, 1638, at the parish of Notre-Dame, Québec, Canada.[1] She was the daughter of Guillaume Hébert (c.1614-1639) and Marie Hélène Desportes (c.1620-1675).

Her paternal grandparents were Louis Ganton Hébert and Marie Rollet, notable early settlers of Quebec. Though Louis only lived for a short time at the French Trading Post, Marie kept the family together through epidemics, war, and even British occupation.

Françoise’s maternal grandparents were also among the first would-be colonists but did not survive the deportation by the Kirke Brothers. However, her mother, Hélène Desportes, did return with her aunt and uncle, Marguerite Langlois and Abraham Martin, when the French post was returned to French control.

Guillaume Fournier (c.1620-1699)

Guillaume Fournier was born around 1620 in Coulmer, in the diocese of Sées and the former province of Perche, France (now in the department of Orne in Normandy).[2][3][4] He was the son of Gilles Fournier (c.1597-after 1651) and Noëlle Gageut (also recorded as Gagnon) (c.1601-after 1651).

Guillaume migrated from Perche to Canada around 1651, where he is first mentioned at the time of his marriage.[5][6] He worked as a baker in the colony.

Marriage and Family

On November 20, 1651, at the church of Notre-Dame de Québec, 13-year-old Françoise Hébert married 28-year-old Guillaume Fournier.[7] Historical accounts describe Guillaume as “rather disagreeable,” and although his marriage to Françoise gave him control of substantial land, he reportedly was constantly fighting for more.

Guillaume and Françoise had fifteen children, fourteen of whom are documented in records:[8][9]

  1. Gilles (1653-1653)
  2. Marie (1655-1716), m. Pierre Blanchet
  3. Agathe (1657-1743), m. Louis Gesseron
  4. Jacquette (1659-1736), m. Jean Prou
  5. Joseph (1661-1741), m. Barbe Girard
  6. Marie Madeleine (1663-1664)
  7. Jean (1665-?), m. Marie Roy
  8. Simon (1667-?), m. Catherine Rousseau
  9. Pierre (1669-1750), m. Marie Isabel
  10. Françoise (1671-1734), m. Jacques Boulay
  11. Louis (1673-1721), m. Marie Caron
  12. Madeleine (1675-?), m. Pierre Laporte
  13. Charles (1677-1739), m. Élisabeth Bouchard
  14. Jacques (1679-?)

As six Fournier sons married and had families of their own, Guillaume Fournier and Françoise Hébert became the source of the largest “Fournier” lineage in all of North America.

Life in New France

Religious Life

On August 10, 1659, Guillaume was confirmed in the Catholic faith by Monseigneur François de Laval in Québec.[10]

Census Records

In the 1667 census, the family is recorded as:[11]

  • Guillaume Fournier, 44
  • Françoise Hébert, 30
  • Marie, 12
  • Agathe, 10
  • Jacquette, 8
  • Joseph, 6
  • Jean, 4
  • Simon, 6 months
  • Jean Martin, 33
  • 4 cattle, 17 arpents under cultivation

They lived on the coast of Notre-Dame-des-Anges, Canada.

In the 1681 census, the family is recorded as:[12]

  • Guillaume Fournier, 60
  • Françoise Hébert, his wife, 46
  • Children: Joseph 20, Jean 16, Simon 14, Pierre 12, Françoise 11, Louis 9, Madelaine 6, Charles 4
  • 3 rifles
  • 12 horned beasts
  • 10 arpents under cultivation

By this time, they lived in the seigneurie of Bellechasse, Canada.

Land and Property

Guillaume was co-seigneur of Saint-Charles.[13] On February 22, 1671, Jean Prou sold his land at Rivière-à-la-Caille for 150 livres to Guillaume Fournier, the transaction witnessed by notary Romain Becquet.[14]

On November 3, 1672, Guillaume Fournier obtained a concession of the fief of Pointe-au-Foin, near Montmagny.[15]

From 1672 to 1676, Noël Morin and his wife divided the fief of Saint-Luc among Guillaume Fournier, Jean Groulx, Alphonse Morin, Louis Bossé, Pierre Jolliet, Jean Boilly, Michel Isabel, David Corbin, Charles Bazire, and Jean Rollandeau.

Community Contributions

Guillaume Fournier was one of the founders of the parish of Saint-Thomas de Montmagny.[16] On December 21, 1685, Guillaume and his wife granted “land with three or four arpents of cleared and arable land” and provided firewood to the parish priest.[17] On this land, the first church of Saint-Thomas parish was blessed by Bishop Saint-Vallier on April 21, 1686.

Following in her grandmother’s footsteps, Françoise was very active in the community. On November 21, 1703, she was elected “midwife” in the assembly of women of the parish, by a plurality of votes.[18] She served as a midwife to the small settlement for many years.

The family eventually settled at Saint-Thomas de La Pointe A La Caille, in Montmagny, Quebec.

Deaths

Guillaume Fournier, described as a “benefactor of the parish,” died on October 24, 1699, at approximately 76 years of age.[19] He was buried the following day in the church of Saint-Thomas in the seigneurie of Rivière-du-Sud.[20][21] By 1729, Guillaume had 356 descendants.[22]

Françoise Hébert died on March 16, 1716, at the age of 78 (though her burial record states she was about 90 years old). She was buried in the church of Saint-Thomas-de-la-Pointe-à-la-Caille, Canada, New France.[23] In her burial record, her husband Guillaume is described as the founder of the church.[24]

Sources

  1. Baptême / Baptism Françoise Hébert – FamilySearch. ↩︎

  2. PRDH: Le Programme de recherche en démographie historique: Pionnier: 27621 Guillaume FOURNIER. Date et lieu de naissance selon RDH: Date – v 1623. Lieu – Coulmer, ev. Sees, Normandie (ar. Argentan, Orne). ↩︎

  3. BAnQ (PDF): Tanguay, Cyprien, Dictionnaire Généalogique des Familles Canadiennes depuis la fondation de la colonie jusqu’à nos jours; Montréal, 1887 (7 volumes) Vol 1 pg 239. ↩︎

  4. Géographie historique et moderne du lieu de baptême: Coulimer (INSEE 61122) est aujourd’hui connu comme la commune française située dans le département de l’Orne en région Normandie. ↩︎

  5. Carpin 1999, Annexe D, p. 577. Numéroté #180 dans la liste de Carpin et dans la liste qu’on peut voir à la page Percheron Immigration Category. ↩︎

  6. Lesperance 2002 citant Jetté 1983, p. 1015: “ROUSSIN, Jean (Farmer) with children Madeleine & Louise departed Tourouvre 1650. Two sons, Francois & Nicolas departed 1647.” ↩︎

  7. Mariage / Marriage – Guillaume Fournier & Françoise Hébert – FamilySearch. Québec, registres paroissiaux catholiques, 1621-1979, Québec > Notre-Dame-de-Québec > Baptêmes, mariages, sépultures 1621-1679 > image 144 of 512; Archives Nationales du Quebec (National Archives of Quebec), Montreal. ↩︎

  8. FOURNIER, Guillaume – famille – Tanguay vol 1, p. 239. ↩︎

  9. La Mémoire du Québec, Fournier (Guillaume). ↩︎

  10. Confirmation record. ↩︎

  11. Wikisource Recensement 1667. Histoire des Canadiens-français, Tome IV. Chapitre IV. Benjamin Sulte. Montréal. 1892. Pages 51-94. ↩︎

  12. Wikisource Recensement 1681 Histoire des Canadiens-français, Tome V. Chapitre IV. Benjamin Sulte. Montréal. 1892. Pages 53-92. ↩︎

  13. Map of/Carte des seigneuries #118. ↩︎

  14. Proulx(1998), p. image 26. ↩︎

  15. Nos Racine page 235. ↩︎

  16. La Mémoire du Québec, Fournier (Guillaume). ↩︎

  17. Hébert (1996), pp. 55-56. ↩︎

  18. Histoire de famille [Broken Link]. ↩︎

  19. 80 ans selon son acte de sépulture. ↩︎

  20. Sépulture / Burial – Guillaume Fournier – FamilySearch. ↩︎

  21. Au registre de sépulture de son épouse Françoise Hébert, il est inscrit comme fondateur de l’église. ↩︎

  22. La Mémoire du Québec, Guillaume Fournier. ↩︎

  23. Sépulture / Burial – Françoise Hebert – FamilySearch. Québec, registres paroissiaux catholiques, 1621-1979, Montmagny > Saint-Thomas > Baptêmes, mariages, sépultures 1679-1785 Abjurations 1787-1869 > image 53 of 584; Archives Nationales du Quebec (National Archives of Quebec), Montreal. ↩︎

  24. A travers les registres. Tanguay, Cyprien, 1819-1902. Montréal Librairie Saint-Joseph, Cadieux & Derome. 1886. Page 110. ↩︎

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