Map of Île d’Orléans, 1781
Joseph Frederick Wallet Des Barres, Île d’Orléans, 1781. Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec.
Charlotte-Françoise Juchereau de Saint-Denis was born in Quebec in the colony of New France in 1660. She was the daughter of a powerful colonial family and had eleven brothers and sisters. Her parents were wealthy enough to give all their children a good education. Charlotte learned to read, write, and do arithmetic. She also learned all of the domestic skills a wealthy French woman would need to run a household.
In addition to her formal education, Charlotte learned how to achieve wealth and prosperity in the colony of New France by observing her father. He was a seigneur, or landed lord, which meant he oversaw a large area of New France. He rented out sections of his land and collected rent from his tenants. He was also a successful fur trader. He frequently traveled outside the French settlement to make trade agreements with Indigenous communities and served on the New France council for the fur trade. By the time of his death, Charlotte’s family was one of the wealthiest in New France. The king of France had even granted him an aristocratic title for his service to the colony.
In 1680 Charlotte married François Viennay-Pachot, a Frenchman who moved to the colony in 1679. Like Charlotte’s father, François pursued a variety of business interests. He became a seigneur and also made a fortune selling fish. Over the course of their eighteen-year marriage, Charlotte gave birth to sixteen children. This means that she spent almost their entire marriage pregnant. Her wealth allowed her to hire nannies and wet nurses to help raise her children.
When François died in September of 1698, Charlotte inherited half of his estate. She was given the responsibility of managing the other half until their children came of age. Her father likely prepared Charlotte for such responsibilities when she was growing up, which proved to be vital to her success.
Charlotte appears in colonial records of sales, purchases, loans, ship charters, and building contracts. Together with her brothers Louis and Charles, she made large investments to expand the family’s fur trade, building networks that reached all the way to Detroit in the west and modern-day Texas in the south. She often sent out trading expeditions without the approval of the royal government. This infuriated colony officials and earned her a reputation as a “dangerous woman.” These ventures were so successful that in 1702 Charlotte was able to purchase the Île d’Orléans from the king’s secretary.
The Île d’Orléans is an island in the St. Lawrence River just a few miles east of the city of Quebec. It was valuable because of its strategic importance, with the ability to control trade and access by water to Quebec. When she purchased the land, Charlotte was granted the title Countess of Saint-Laurent, making her an official member of the French aristocracy. Charlotte achieved the same success as her father by elevating her family to the highest social circles in New France.
On November 11, 1702 Charlotte married Captain François Dauphin de la Forest. François was a rising star in the colony. He arrived in New France as a clerk in service to one of the colony’s seigneurs. But he quickly moved through the ranks due to his intelligence, business savvy, and loyalty to the crown. Charlotte met him through her trade network. François was one of the most well-connected men in western New France and would eventually be named commander of the settlement of Detroit.
Charlotte emerged on the scene as an energetic businesswoman. She often sent out trading expeditions without the approval of the royal government, which infuriated colony officials and earned her a reputation as a dangerous woman.
Charlotte’s second marriage reveals a great deal about her status in the colony. It was common practice in New France for married couples to sign a marriage contract called a communauté de biens. This contract combined the wealth of both marriage partners and made them legally responsible for the financial well-being of their spouse. It also set aside a dowry for the wife, so that she would be financially secure in the event that the communal wealth was lost.
Charlotte did not sign a communauté de biens with François. This suggests that she was both wealthy enough to care for her own wellbeing and interested in continuing to pursue her own business interests separate from her husband. In all business contracts after her second marriage, Charlotte included a clause declaring her status as a financially independent person. Those who did business with her had to acknowledge that they could not sue her husband if the deal went sour. The fact that Charlotte was able to negotiate this kind of marriage and then continue to operate her businesses independently speaks to the privilege of her birth, her reputation as a businesswoman in New France, and the opportunities afforded to women in the colony.
By 1704, some of Charlotte’s business risks had put the rest of her empire in jeopardy. She was not able to make her payments for the Île d’Orléans, and the king’s secretary tried to take the land back. Charlotte took him to court, and when the court decided against her, she traveled to France to appeal the decision. For the next nine years, Charlotte was locked in a legal battle for the Île d’Orléans. She even appealed directly to the king on multiple occasions.
In 1713 King Louis XIV ordered Charlotte to give up her lawsuits and return to Quebec. She obeyed and lived out the rest of her life in the colony. After her husband’s death in 1714 she continued to operate her businesses and promote the interests of her children. She died on December 29, 1732 at the age of seventy-two.
Vocabulary
- aristocracy: Highest class in certain societies, especially those who hold inherited titles like lords, dukes, and countesses.
- charter: Hiring a ship to move trade goods from one port to another.
- communauté de biens: French marriage contract that combines the wealth and debts of husband and wife.
- domestic: Relating to the home.
- Île d’Orléans: An island in the St. Lawrence River just a few miles east of the city of Quebec. It was the site of one of the original settlements in New France.
- inherited: Received things from someone who has passed away.
- savvy: Ability to make good judgements.
- seigneur: A person granted rights to a large tract of land that they can rent and manage.
- tenacious: Determined.
- wet nurse: A woman paid to breastfeed and care for an infant.
Discussion Questions
- What does Charlotte’s life story reveal about the society and economy of New France?
- Did all women in New France have the same opportunities as Charlotte? Why or why not?
- How was Charlotte viewed by French men in the colonies and in France? What accounts for this reputation?
Suggested Activities
- APUSH Connection: 2.7 Colonial Society and Culture
- Include this resource in a lesson about trade in the American colonies. This story highlights how European women had business opportunities in the colonies that they would not have had back in Europe.
- Many women throughout history have been called “dangerous” by their male contemporaries (i.e. Rosa Parks, Emmeline Pankhurst, etc.). Ask students to analyze why Charlotte was called dangerous, and then compare and contrast her actions with other “dangerous” women from history. What do these women have in common? What do their stories reveal about attitudes toward women throughout history and around the world?
- Pair this life story with Life Story: Agathe Saint-Père, another successful businesswoman in New France. What opportunities did both women have in New France to become successful? How did they use their social connections in business?
- Compare and contrast Charlotte’s life as a business woman with Life Story: Johanna de Laet and Life Story: Margaret Brent.
- Charlotte’s success was due in no small part to her intimate network of family and friends. This kind of unacknowledged power network allowed women in many different colonial societies to exert influence far beyond what was traditionally available to them. Use any of the following resources to explore this idea of intimate power networks:
- Compare and contrast the legal and economic rights of French, English, Spanish, and Dutch women by coupling this life story with:
- Charlotte married men who could further her interests. For other examples of women who used marriage as a way to improve their life circumstances, use any of the following resources:
Themes
WORK, LABOR, AND THE ECONOMY
