Agathe (Saint-Père) de Saint-Père (1657 - abt. 1748)

Born 27 Feb 1657 in Montréal, Canada, Nouvelle-France

Ancestors

Wife of Pierre (Legardeur) Legardeur de Repentigny — married 26 Nov 1685 in Repentigny, Canada, Nouvelle-France

Descendants

Died about 1748 at about age 90 in Québec, Canada, Nouvelle-France

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Biography

Agathe (Saint-Père) de Saint-Père lived
in Canada, Nouvelle-France.

SAINT-PÈRE, AGATHE DE (Legardeur de Repentigny), manufacturer; baptized 27 Feb. 1657 in Montréal, daughter of Jean de Saint-Père, a notary, and Mathurine Godé^[1]; d. in 1747 or 1748 in Québec.

Agathe de Saint-Père belonged to a family of renowned colonists of Ville-Marie. Her father, her grandfather Nicolas Godé, and her godfather Raphaël-Lambert Closse, were killed by the Iroquois. In 1658 her mother, some months after she had been widowed, married the merchant Jacques Le Moyne de Sainte-Marie; Agathe de Saint-Père thus entered a family whose name was made famous by the exploits of Charles Le Moyne de Longueuil et de Châteauguay, brother of Jacques, and his sons.

Agathe de Saint-Père probably attended Marguerite Bourgeoys’s school, as her Le Moyne half-sisters did. In 1672, after her mother’s death, Agathe, who was barely 15, took over the raising of the ten Le Moyne children, the youngest of whom was a new-born baby. She seems to have brought these children up firmly and to have retained responsibility for them even after her marriage, on 26 Nov. 1685 in Repentigny^[2], with the ensign Pierre Legardeur de Repentigny. A son and seven daughters were to be born of her marriage.

Legardeur’s easy-going nature allowed the dynamic Agathe de Saint-Père to outshine her husband frequently. She signed contracts, made profits on fur-trading licences, bought and sold land, made loans, and settled her accounts as well as the debts of her husband and her brothers-in-law...

Mme de Repentigny experimented widely, especially with nettles and bark fibres, cottonweed, and the woolly hair of the buffalo. The king considered that her samples of cloth were successes and enjoyed the maple-sugar candy of her own making that she sent him. In 1705, when news arrived of the shipwreck of the Seine, which was bringing supplies for a whole year, the daring woman set up in her house 'a factory to make linen, drugget, twilled and covert-coating serge.' She ransomed nine English weavers who were prisoners of the Indians, hired them, and assigned Canadian apprentices to assist them. She put at their disposal and distributed about Montreal looms that she had had made from the sole model to be found on the island. Several inhabitants of the island learned the techniques and soon there were more than 20 looms, which turned out daily 120 ells of coarse cloth and canvas both hard-wearing and cheap.

Continuing her experiments, the indefatigable and hard-working Mme. de Repentigny discovered, with the help of a blue stone and native tinctorial plants, a number of dyes and new processes for fixing colours. She even succeeded in dyeing deerskins without treating them with oil. In 1707, when the inhabitants of Boston ransomed the nine English weavers, Mme de Repentigny’s workshop could continue on its own. Until 1713, or as long as she was the owner, it kept up its rate of production. In 1712 the king was still granting her an annual gratuity of 200 livres in recognition of her services. Having come out of the clothing crisis triumphantly, and having completely achieved her aim, Mme de Repentigny decided to hand over her industry on 9 Oct. 1713 to Pierre Thuot Duval, a master baker.

A few years earlier she had paid the ransom for young Warham Williams, who was four years of age and whom the Indians had brought to Canada as a captive in 1704 after the expedition against Deerfield, Massachusetts. Later she refused to exchange this child for an English weaver who was offered her and whom she needed badly.

We lose sight of this exceptional woman for some time after 1713. After her husband’s death in Montreal in 1736, she chose to finish her days at the Hôpital Général of Quebec. She rejoined her daughter, Marie-Joseph de la Visitation, who was to be superior there for nine years, and she was also living nearer to another daughter, Marie-Jeanne-Madeleine de Sainte-Agathe, who had been a nun in the Ursuline convent since 1717...'"

In the will she signed on 6 Feb. 1746 she indicated that she wanted to be buried at the Hôpital Général. Although her death certificate has not yet been found, it is likely that she passed away in her 91st year: in 1748, the annalist of the institution inscribed under the heading of receipts at the end of the year the sum of 400 livres, the first legacy from Madame de Repentigny.^[3]

"Radio Canada: 'De Remarquables Oubliés; AGaTHe De RePeNTIGNY-Père With time and knowledge of Algonquin, this woman of action made ​​her mark in trade in textile and candy.'"^[4]

"'L'actualité: '35 héroïnes méconnues du Québec', by Micheline LaChance: '4- Agathe de Saint-Père (1657-1748) Dans sa manufacture de tissus, la première au Canada, Madame de Repentigny fabrique des toiles pour remplacer le lin et la laine, raréfiés par la crise. Elle commercialise aussi le sirop d’érable...'" ^[5]

"Dictionary of Canadian Biography: 'LEGARDEUR DE REPENTIGNY, PIERRE, military officer and seigneur; b. 10 March 1657 at Quebec, eldest son of Jean-Baptiste Legardeur de Repentigny and Marguerite Nicollet; d. 18 Nov. 1736 at Montreal... In April 1733 his record of service was given final consecration in the form of the highest military honour bestowed in New France: he was made a knight of the order of Saint-Louis.

He was also a seigneur. On 20 Sept. 1680 his father made over to him Île Bourdon, which was near the family domain. To this property was added, on 4 June 1706, the sixth part of the Repentigny seigneury, a gift from his uncle Ignace Legardeur de Repentigny; Pierre thus became coseigneur of Repentigny. And on 3 May 1715, at his wife’s earnest request, he acquired the Lachenaye seigneury by auction... On 26 Nov. 1685, at Repentigny, he had married Agathe de Saint-Père, daughter of Jean de Saint-Père and Mathurine Godé. As he was inclined to be indolent, and was rather easy-going, he was sometimes overshadowed by his active wife. Seven daughters and one boy were born of their marriage. He died on 18 Nov. 1736 at Montreal, and was buried the next day in the church there.'" ^[6]

"Do More with Maple: 'Quebec Maple, A Natural, Nutritional Ingredient - Culinary Curriculum', developed by Daniel LaGarde, CEC; American Culinary Federation American Culinary Federation; 2007: 'The tradition surrounding maple syrup was passed from the Native Americans of North America to the European settlers. Amerindians used their tomahawk, channeling the maple water (sap) towards a bark container, they boiled the sap in clay pots to obtain maple syrup. Well before the arrival of the European settlers, First Nations peoples knew about and savoured the sap from maple trees and used this “sugared water” to cook game. Much later, in 1702, when war between France and England prevented many basics, including sugar, from being delivered to New France Agathe de Saint de Saint-Père, wife of Pierre Legardeur de Repentigny of Montréal, initiated the production of maple syrup. When spring came, she and her French and First Nations neighbours tapped the maples and produced sugar from the sap they obtained. Within a few years, Agathe de Saint-Père reported to the King of France that the Montréal colony annually produced 13,600 kg of maple sugar. ^[7]

Notes pour SEIGNEUR PIERRE LE GARDEUR DE REPENTIGNY : Écuyer, Seigneur de Repentigny, Chevalier de l'Ordre Militaire de Saint-Louis, Capitaine d'une Compagnie du détachement de la Marine. Enterré dans l'église. Décédé une heure après minuit. Âgé de 80 ans.'" ^[8]

Sources

1. ↑ Bapt. image IGD - Drouin
2. ↑ Marriage image IGD
3. ↑ Madeleine Doyon-Ferland, SAINT-PÈRE, AGATHE DE, in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 3, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003
4. ↑ Radio Canada Listen to the radio-Episode Agathe de Repentigny FR
5. ↑ L'actualite.com
6. ↑ Dictionary of Canadian Biography, Volume II (1701-1740)
7. ↑ Do More With Maple
8. ↑ de Repentigny.com

• Livre/Book: Agathe de Repentigny. Une manufacturière au XVIIe siècle, by Julien Fabienne; XYZ Éditeurs, 1996." (FR)XYZ Éditeurs

• "Grand Québec: 'AGATHE DE SAINT-PÈRE-LE GARDEUR DE REPENTIGNY.'" Grand Québec short bio FR

• Biographi.ca Agathe de St-Père FR