🇫🇷 Builders of New France: Settlers, Captives, and Legacies
The foundation of New France was laid by various groups—the Habitants (farmers), Soldiers, and Voyageurs (fur traders). However, the population and cultural landscape were also profoundly shaped by an often-overlooked group: Anglo-American captives who were assimilated into French-Canadian and Indigenous societies.
Colonial Foundations and Population Growth
Early New France's population struggled to grow solely through voluntary immigration. The colony relied on programs such as the Filles du Roi (King's Daughters) to provide wives for the settlers, as detailed by historian Yves Landry. Beyond these planned immigrants, the population expanded through:
- Habitants: Individuals like Abraham Martin and Jean Baudet who received land concessions and established the agricultural basis of the colony under the seigneurial system.
- Soldiers: Many members of the Régiment de Carignan-Salières chose to remain in New France after their service in the 1660s, forming new settlements and marrying into the local population.
- Coureurs de bois / Voyageurs: Explorers and traders who were crucial for the fur economy and the expansion of French influence deep into the continent (See: Moise Dupuis).
Captives as Builders: Assimilation and Cultural Blending
A unique feature of New France's demographics was the assimilation of Anglo-American captives taken during raids on New England, such as the famous 1704 Deerfield Massacre (Williams, J., The Redeemed Captive, 1707).
These individuals, often children, were typically adopted into French-Canadian or Indigenous (Kahnawà:ke Mohawk) families, converted to Catholicism, and became integrated members of colonial society (Haefeli, E. & Sweeney, K., Captors and Captives, 2003).
Case Study: Elizabeth Corse (Marie-Elisabeth-Isabelle Lacasse)
Elizabeth Corse is a powerful example of this process:
- Capture: Taken at age 8 during the 1704 Deerfield Massacre.
- Assimilation: She was raised by Pierre Roy and Catherine Ducharme in La Prairie, Québec (Adoption Record), and baptized as Marie-Elisabeth-Isabelle Lacasse in Montréal in 1705 (Baptismal Record).
- Legacy: In 1712, she married Jean-Baptiste Dumontet dit Lagrandeur (1712 Marriage Contract, BAnQ). Her descendants contributed significantly to the social fabric of the nation (PRDH Genealogy; Find a Grave: Marie-Elisabeth-Isabelle Lacasse).
The blending was deep: Elizabeth's cousin, Marthe French, married Jacques Roy (the son of Elizabeth's adoptive parents), creating profound inter-colonial family ties.
Key Genealogical Tools for Research
Researching ancestors from New France requires specialized tools to navigate the demographic and notarial records of the French regime:
| Resource | Description | Purpose in Genealogy |
|---|---|---|
| PRDH | The Programme de recherche en démographie historique is a massive demographic database indexing Quebec families from 1621–1849 at the Université de Montréal. | Essential for verifying the core structure of a family (births, marriages, and burials) and generating research numbers (PRDH Nos.) for individuals. |
| BAnQ | Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec provides access to the digitized notarial records (contracts, deeds, inventories), censuses, and parish registers of the French regime. | Crucial for finding primary source documents that describe property, finances, and relationships, such as Elizabeth Corse's 1712 marriage contract. |
| FamilySearch / Drouin Collection | Collaborative family trees and digitized church records (the Drouin Collection). | Used for finding microfilmed records, connecting to collaborative research, and cross-referencing BMD data, often linking back to original parish registers. |
Recommended Additional Tutorial Components
To create a more comprehensive background tutorial for the Nouvelle France section, you should consider adding dedicated modules on these structural and social topics:
1. The Seigneurial System: Land & Life
- Key Concept: The land division system used in New France, where a Seigneur granted concessions of long, narrow lots (rangs) to Habitants.
- Content Focus: Explain the cens et rentes (annual dues/fees) paid by the habitants. Include images or diagrams of the distinctive long-lot farm layout running to the river.
- Relevance: This system defined the geography and the daily economic obligations of nearly all French-Canadian pioneers (e.g., Abraham Martin, Jean Baudet).
2. The Role of the Catholic Church
- Key Concept: The Church was the sole authority for education, healthcare, and record-keeping.
- Content Focus: Discuss the importance of parish registers (birth, marriage, burial records) as the primary genealogical source. Mention the role of religious orders (like the Jesuits, Sulpicians, and Hospitalières Nuns) in settlement and social services (e.g., the Hôtel-Dieu hospitals).
- Relevance: Nearly all surviving pioneer records are church records, making an understanding of the Church's role vital for researchers.
3. Filles du Roi and Marriage
- Key Concept: The state-sponsored program (1663–1673) to send single women to New France to balance the male-heavy population.
- Content Focus: Detail the "King's Gift" (50 livres), the average number of children they had, and the strict marriage contracts often required. Use the example of Marie Grandin (wife of Jean Baudet) as a classic case.
- Relevance: These women are the ancestral mothers of the vast majority of French Canadians.
4. Coureurs de Bois and The Fur Trade
- Key Concept: The illicit or licensed fur trade that drove exploration and wealth.
- Content Focus: Contrast the coureurs de bois (unlicensed runners of the woods) with the Voyageurs (licensed traders). Mention the Congé (trading license) and the Engagements (contracts signed before notaries) which document the movement of these men into the interior (e.g., Moise Dupuis).
- Relevance: This covers the non-agrarian pioneers and the adventurous side of colonial life.
Credits and Licensing
Compiled by Mark Rabideau, Opa & Professional Genealogist.
All materials licensed: CC BY-ND 4.0 by eirenicon llc.