Louise Bercier was born about 1649 at Auvergnac in Poitou, in the diocese of Luçon, the daughter of Jean Bercier and Marie Morel.¹ She came to New France in 1668, accompanied by her uncle Louis Bercier.²
On 15 October 1668 a marriage contract was drawn before the notary Latouche for the marriage of Louise Bercier and Michel Feuillon at Batiscan; neither the bride nor the groom was able to sign.¹ The marriage followed shortly afterward.³
Michel Feuillon, born about 1630 at Saint-Pierre-le-Vieux in Poitou, was the son of René Feuillon and Mathurine Nicou. He was confirmed 1 May 1664 at Cap-de-la-Madeleine and appears in the 1666 census as a volunteer at Trois-Rivières or Cap-de-la-Madeleine.¹
The couple established their household at Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pérade, where the parish registers record their children:
- Marie-Madeleine, about 1669
- Michel, about 1671
- Antoine, about 1675
- Barbe (Marie-Barbe), about 1680
- Marie-Louise, baptized 27 January 1681³
Louise Bercier died at La Pérade between the census of 1681 and 21 January 1687.¹
Michel Feuillon died there between 28 October 1698 and 3 March 1699.¹
Her arrival in 1668, the royal assistance she received, and her marriage soon afterward place her among the women sent to the colony under the royal program to establish families in the seigneurial settlements along the St. Lawrence.²
Sources
- Peter J. Gagné, King’s Daughters and Founding Mothers: The Filles du Roi, 1663–1673 (Pawtucket, R.I.: Quintin Publications, 2001), 83–84, Louise Bercier.
- Yves Landry, Les Filles du roi au XVIIe siècle (Montréal: Leméac, 1992), entry for Louise Bercier.
- Québec (Canada), Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), marriage of Louise Bercier and Michel Feuillon, 1668, Batiscan; baptism of Marie-Louise Feuillon, 27 Jan 1681; see also Cyprien Tanguay, Dictionnaire généalogique des familles canadiennes, s.v. “Feuillon.”
- Québec, Canada, Notarial Records, 1637–1935, marriage contract of Louise Bercier and Michel Feuillon, 15 Oct 1668, notary Latouche.