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François Brousseau dit Lafleur and Marie Jeanne Collet

Explore the story of a French soldier in New France, and his Canadian wife, the daughter of a soldier. Discover their contributions and enduring impact on the colony of New France.

 Cliquez ici pour la version en français

François Brousseau dit Lafleur and Marie Jeanne Collet

Explore the story of a French soldier in New France, and his Canadian wife, the daughter of a soldier. Discover their contributions and enduring impact on the colony of New France.

 

François Brousseau dit Lafleur, son of François Brousset and Françoise Grimbaut (or Grebault), was born around 1666 in the parish of Saint-Louis in Ressons-sur-Matz in Picardie, France (in the present-day department of Oise in France). [On Canadian documents, François’s surname has also been spelled Brousson, Brosson, Brouson, Broussan and Brousset.]

 

Location of Ressons-sur-Matz in France (Mapcarta)

 

Place de Verdun, Ressons-sur-Matz, 1916 (postcard, Geneanet)

Aerial view of Ressons-sur-Matz, circa 1920-1940 (postcard, Geneanet)

François was a soldier in the Compagnies franches de la Marine, under the command of Captain Raymond Blaise des Bergères de Rigauville. Des Bergères and his troops arrived in Canada, in New France, on July 29, 1685, accompanying the new governor, Jacques-René de Brisay de Denonville. Their primary mission was to counter Iroquois (Haudenosaunee) threats and prevent English advances on territory claimed by France.

Des Bergères’s first expedition was against the Seneca nation, south of Lake Ontario, in July 1687. The Seneca were the largest of six indigenous nations that comprised the Iroquois Confederacy. By the time des Bergères reached the lake, the Seneca had fled. He and his men burned their villages and crops, claiming the territory for France. Following this expedition, des Bergères was given command of the Fort Niagara garrison. The winter of 1687-1688 was especially catastrophic for the soldiers at Niagara, as an outbreak of scurvy killed almost all the men stationed at the garrison. Des Bergères and 12 soldiers survived; François Brousseau was likely one of the fortunate survivors at Fort Niagara. Des Bergères and his remaining troops left the fort in September 1688 and returned to Montreal.

A few months after his arrival, des Bergères was named the commandant of Fort Saint-Louis at Chambly. The fort was built in 1665 on the Richelieu River by the Carignan-Salières Regiment. It was later renamed Fort Chambly. François was likely stationed there for several years.  

"Fort Chambly," 1942 drawing by Charles W. Jefferys (Library and Archives Canada)

Marie Jeanne Collet, daughter of Jean Collet and Jeanne Déchard, was born on December 22, 1672. She was baptized on January 1st, 1673, in the chapel of Fort Saint-Louis in Canada, New France. Her parents were inhabitants of the fort. Her godparents were René Poupart and Marie Lefebvre. [The baptism record is in the register of Sainte-Famille in Boucherville.]

1673 Baptism of Marie Jeanne Collet (Généalogie Québec)

Jeanne’s father was a soldier in the Petit company of the Carignan-Salières Regiment. He arrived in Canada in September of 1665.

1666 map of the forts constructed by the Carignan-Salières Regiment on the Richelieu River, showing Fort St. Louis ("Plans des forts faicts par le regiment Carignan Salieres sur la riviere de Richelieu dicte autrement des Iroquois en la Nouvelle France"), map by François Le Mercier (Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec)

Marriage

On the morning of January 16, 1689, François “Brousson” and notary François Trottain dit Saint-Seürin made their way to the Collet family home. There, Trottain drew up a marriage contract between François and Marie Jeanne. The contract followed the norms of the Coutume de Paris (the Custom of Paris). This legal framework generally imposed the regime of “communauté des biens” (community of property), under which all movable and immovable property of both spouses, whether acquired before or during the marriage, was pooled into the marital community. The husband had exclusive administrative rights over this communal property. François endowed his future wife with a customary dower of 150 livres. The preciput was set at 100 livres. [The preciput was an advantage conferred by the marriage contract on one of the spouses, generally on the survivor, and consisting in the right to levy, upon dissolution of the community, on the common mass and before any partition thereof, some of which specified property or a sum of money.] Marie Jeanne was able to sign the marriage contract; François made his mark.

 

The mark of François Brousseau and the signature of Marie Jeanne “Colet” on their marriage contract (Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec)

 

François and Marie Jeanne were married on January 18, 1689, in the parish of Saint-François-Xavier in Batiscan. François was 23 years old; Marie Jeanne was 16.

1689 Marriage of François Brousseau dit Lafleur and Marie Jeanne Collet (Généalogie Québec)

The couple had at least eight children:

  1. François (1692-1692)

  2. Jean François (1694-?)

  3. Pierre (1696-1762)

  4. Marie Marguerite (1699-1713)

  5. Luc (1701-1769)

  6. Marie Anne (1705-1774)

  7. Ambroise (1707-1753)

  8. Joseph (1713-?)

The first three Brousseau children were baptized in Batiscan, whereas the others were baptized in Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pérade.  

On November 22, 1700, Jean Lemoyne gave François a land concession in the seigneurie of Sainte-Marie (located between the seigneuries of Batiscan and Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pérade). The plot of land measured 8 arpents of frontage facing the St. Lawrence River, by 25 arpents deep.

Satellite image (Google) of the area between Batiscan (in the south) and Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pérade (in the north), where François’s land would have been located. The remnants of the seigneurie-style plots, long and narrow along the river, can still be seen today.

Extract of the 1700 Concession to François Brousseau dit Lafleur (FamilySearch)

Death of Marie Jeanne Collet

Tragically, Marie Jeanne Collet died at the age of 40 on August 11, 1713, within four months of giving birth to her last child, Joseph. She was buried the next day in Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pérade, “after only being able to receive Extreme Unction because of the delirium she suffered several days before her death.”

 
 
 

1713 Burial of Marie Jeanne Collet [copy] (Généalogie Québec)

 
 

Delirium

In the 1690 edition of the Dictionnaire Universel de Furetière (Furetière’s Universal Dictionary), delirium is defined as a medical term: “It is a symptom which often occurs in fevers caused by wounds and inflammation, which disturbs the mind to the point of madness and fury. When the diaphragm is offended, it causes delirium and frenzy. Delirium is caused by excessive loss of blood, which weakens the brain, by the bite of a poisonous beast, by semen and menstruation retained in the womb, by the rotting of a cannulated limb, and so on. Hot fever also causes delirium, when there is transport to the brain. Patients should be given the sacraments early if delirium is feared.”

Unlike most men in New France at the time, François doesn’t appear to have used the services of notaries very often to conduct his affairs. Besides his land concession, and the baptisms, marriages and burials for himself, his wife and his children, he doesn’t appear in the public record again until 1735.   

On October 6 and 7, 1735, François asked notary Arnould-Balthazar Pollet to draw up the inventory of his “community of goods” with his late wife Marie Jeanne. Following the inventory, those goods were divided between François and his children Pierre, Luc, Marie Anne and Ambroise, including a plot of land in Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pérade. Pierre’s newly acquired portion of land was estimated to be worth 350 livres, Luc’s was worth 300 livres, Marie Anne’s 200 livres and Ambroise’s 30 livres. [This likely means that sons Jean François and Joseph were already deceased, though their burial records haven’t been found.]  

The inventory listed all the movable property that François and Marie Jeanne owned, estimated to be worth 350 livres and 12 sols. Their possessions included: [not all items were included as some are illegible]

  • A pine table

  • Cooking pots, a glass bottle, 5 plates, 2 platters, a wooden spoon, a salt shaker, a pewter cup and a tin cup

  • A spinning wheel

  • An old tablecloth and napkin

  • A metal pail

  • A hammer

  • Two sheep skins with wool

  • An old cart with new wheels

  • Two pairs of oxen, two cows (one black, one red), [two horses?], a small piglet, an old sheep, and three sheep. 

François was able to sign his name on the document.

Signature of François Brousseau dit Lafleur in 1735

 

The After-Death Inventory

The Coutume de Paris (custom of Paris) governed the transmission of family property in New France. When a couple married, with or without a contract, they were subject to the “community of goods.” All property acquired during the union by the spouses was part of this community. After the death of the parents (assuming the couple had children), the property of the community was divided in equal parts between all the children, sons and daughters. When the community was dissolved by the death of one of the spouses, the survivor was entitled to his or her half, the other half being divided equally between the children. When the survivor died, the children divided their share of the community. Inventories were drawn up after a death in order to itemize all the goods within a community.

Extract of the 1735 Inventory (FamilySearch)

Death of François Brousseau dit Lafleur

François Brousseau dit Lafleur died at the age of about 74 on June 7, 1740, at the home of his son-in-law Jean Baptiste Orson (husband of Marie Anne) in Saint-Anne-de-la-Pérade, “after receiving the sacraments with piety.” He was buried there the next day in the parish cemetery, “in the presence of a large number of the parishioners of Sainte-Anne.”

1740 Burial of François Brousseau dit Lafleur (Généalogie Québec)

A Lasting Legacy

The military histories of François Brousseau dit Lafleur and his father-in-law, Jean Collet, exemplify the broader struggles and sacrifices of many in the service of New France. Their dedication to protecting the fledgling colony against external threats underscores a legacy of courage and commitment. As soldiers, they played pivotal roles in key military campaigns, ensuring the survival and expansion of French interests in North America.

After his military career, François, along with Marie Jeanne, established roots and built a lasting legacy. Despite the hardships, including the tragic early death of Marie Jeanne, the Brousseau family persevered. Their contributions are a testament to the enduring impact of the early settlers of New France.

 
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