Madeleine DUBOIS
Biography

Madeleine Dubois was the mother of several children, but her oldest was conceived with another man before she got married. Madeleine was born in La Rochelle, France in about 1640 to Isaac Dubois and Anne Richer. Isaac was a "master wool comber." She had at least two sisters, neither of whom came to America.

In 1661, Madeleine traveled on her own to New France, offering herself as a marriageable woman. Upon arrival in Quebec, she seems to have gotten involved with a man named Jean Royer, by whom she became pregnant, but they didn’t get married. Instead, Madeleine married Michel Baugis at his home in Beauport on October 19th. Royer went on to marry another woman, Marie Targer, who arrived in New France two years later among the first ships carrying the Filles du Roi. He would have seven children with his wife, but died in 1675 at the age of 40.

Madeleine gave birth to baby girl on February 7, 1662, and the child took the name of her step-father, Baugis. Michel and Madeleine went on to have six children of their own born between 1663 and 1679. They settled in Beauport and were listed in the 1681 census as having "30 arpents of land under cultivation."

In 1672, Madeleine seems to have been involved in a lawsuit with another woman named Marie Leblanc, whom she was accused of slandering. The ruling went against her, and Madeleine was forced to “ask forgiveness” of Leblanc.

In 1711, Madeleine and her husband Michel drew up a document that signed their property over to a grandson in return for having him care for them in their old age. Michel died on November 26, 1717 and Madeleine died March 5, 1721.

ancestorbios.blogspot.com

Learn more about the life of      Madeleine DUBOIS.

Visit La Rochelle, Charente-Maritime, Poitou-Charentes, France
Discover the people who lived there, the places they visited and the stories they shared.