Related to Me

Name: Catherine Baillon
Birth: 1645 in Bourg Montfort-la-Morelle, Beauce, France.
Marriage: 12 November 1669 to Jacques Le Suisse Miville Deschènes in Québec, Québec, Canada.
Death: 27 January 1688 in Rivière-Ouelle, Québec, Canada.

Fille du Roi / King’s Daughter

Catherine Baillon was born in 1645 in the parish of Bourg Montfort-la-Morelle, located in the province of Beauce, Francep^[1]. She was among the courageous women known as the Filles du Roi (Daughters of the King), a group sponsored by the French crown to help populate the colony of New France during the 17th century^[2].

Catherine arrived in Québec and, on 12 November 1669, married Jacques Le Suisse Miville Deschènes in Québec City^[3]. Their marriage contract notably records that Catherine brought with her a dowry of 1,000 livres in cash, a substantial sum for the time, affirming her status among the more well-endowed of the Filles du Roi. ^[4]

She and Jacques settled in Rivière-Ouelle, where they raised their family and contributed to the development of the young colony. Catherine Baillon passed away on 27 January 1688 in Rivière-Ouelle, Québec, leaving behind a legacy intertwined with the early growth of French Canada ^[5].

Footnotes

1. Parish records of Bourg Montfort-la-Morelle, Beauce, France.
2. Archives of New France, Immigration Records of the Filles du Roi, 1663–1673.
3. Québec Parish Marriage Registers, 1669.
4. Marriage contract excerpt, Notarial Archives of Québec.
5. Burial records of Rivière-Ouelle, Québec, 1688.