Individual Details
Catherine Bonhomme Beaupré
(12 Jun 1677 - Abt 21 Feb 1745)
Chapter I: Deep Roots in the Soil of New France (1677)
The lineage of Marie-Catherine Bonhomme dit Beaupré connects her to some of the absolute foundational pioneers of French North America. Born in the fortified colonial capital of Québec, she was baptized on June 13, 1677. Catherine was the daughter of Ignace Bonhomme dit Beaupré and Agnès Morin. Through her mother, she was the granddaughter of Hélène Desportes, widely recognized by historians as the very first child of European descent born and surviving in New France.
Catherine spent her early childhood on the exposed frontier of the Saint-Michel coast in Sillery. The landmark 1681 colonial census captured a vivid snapshot of her bustling ancestral home. At just four years old, Catherine lived in a multigenerational household managed by her father, Ignace. The home was filled with her siblings, her mother Agnès, and members of the related Gaudry dit La Bourbonnière family, all working together to clear fields and secure their homestead against the harsh Canadian wilderness.
Chapter II: The Prévost Household and a Growing Family (1699–1713)
As a young woman of twenty-two, Catherine stepped forward to build her own legacy. In 1699, she married her first husband, François-Michel Prévost, the son of early settlers François Prévost and Marguerite Gaillard dit Duplessis. The young couple established their own farm, and over the next twelve years, Catherine’s life was defined by the profound joys and deep sorrows typical of a frontier mother.
She gave birth to eleven children during this first marriage. While daughters like Marie-Anne and Marie-Madeleine, and sons like Jean-Baptiste, Noël, Charles, and Pierre grew up to ensure the survival of the family line, Catherine also tasted the bitter grief of the era. She buried her infant son René in 1603, an unnamed newborn in 1707, and baby Joseph-Augustin in 1710. The ultimate tragedy of this chapter arrived around 1711, when her husband François-Michel passed away, leaving Catherine a young widow with a large household of fatherless children to raise and protect.
Chapter III: A New Chapter in Sainte-Foy (1714)
Faced with the monumental task of managing a farm and supporting her surviving children, Catherine demonstrated the profound resilience of her pioneer ancestors. On February 12, 1714, she remarried, binding her future to Pierre Fortier in the rural parish of Sainte-Foy. Pierre was an industrious local settler who helped Catherine steady her estate. This second union brought much-needed stability back to the household, blending her Prévost children into a secure environment where they could grow, learn trades, and eventually marry into neighboring families.
Through her strength, adaptability, and deep familial ties, Marie-Catherine Bonhomme dit Beaupré successfully navigated the transition of New France from a perilous string of outposts into a thriving, self-sustaining society. Known variously in historical records as Marie-Catherine, Marie, or simply Catherine, her enduring gift to Canada was the massive generation of children she nurtured, weaving her prestigious Desportes, Morin, and Bonhomme bloodlines deep into the fabric of the generations that followed.
Events
| Birth | 12 Jun 1677 | Sillery, Québec, Canada, Nouvelle-France |  | ||
| Christen | 13 Jun 1677 | Notre-Dame de Québec, Quebec City, Québec, Canada, New France | | ||
| Marriage | Abt 23 Oct 1695 | Québec, Canada, Nouvelle-France - François Michel Provost | | ||
| Marriage | 12 Feb 1714 | Ste-Foy, Québec, Canada - Pierre Fortin Paris | | ||
| Death | Abt 21 Feb 1745 | Repentigny, Montréal, Canada, Nouvelle-France | | ||
| Burial | 21 Feb 1745 | Repentigny, Montreal, Canada, New France | |
Families
| Spouse | François Michel Provost (1669 - 1711) |
| Spouse | Pierre Fortin Paris (1691 - 1746) |
| Father | Ignace Bonhomme-Beaupré (1647 - 1711) |
| Mother | Agnès Morin (1641 - 1687) |
| Sibling | Catherine Bonhomme Beaupré (1671 - 1747) |
| Sibling | Anne Felicite Bonhomme (1673 - 1757) |
| Sibling | Anne Agnès Bonhomme Beaupré (1675 - 1703) |
| Sibling | Charles Ignace Bonhomme Beaupré (1682 - 1752) |
| Sibling | Noël Bonhomme Beaupré (1684 - 1755) |
| Sibling | Madeleine Bonhomme Beaupré (1685 - 1733) |
Endnotes
1. René Jetté, Professor, historian, demographer and Quebec genealogist., Genealogical Dictionary of Quebec Families Dating to 1730 (Montréal, Quebec, Canada: University of Montreal Press, 1983), .
2. Diane Lebrun , "Ancestors of Calixte Perreault," pp. 1-137; Unpublished family tree, 2025-02-04, Al Perreault, Calgary, AB, Canada.
3. "Canada, Québec, registres paroissiaux catholiques, 1621-1979," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G993-F93D-L?cc=1321742&wc=HCT2-829%3A17585101%2C19508101%2C19508102 : 16 July 2014), Québec > Notre-Dame-de-Québec > Baptêmes, mariages, sépultures 1621-1679 > image 401 of 512; Archives Nationales du Quebec (National Archives of Quebec), Montreal. .
4. "Find a Grave Index", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6FYQ-MWX6 : Sat Jul 18 12:17:13 UTC 2026), Entry for Marie Catherine Bonhomme..
5. "Canada, Québec, registres paroissiaux catholiques, 1621-1979," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G993-F93D-L?cc=1321742&wc=HCT2-829%3A17585101%2C19508101%2C19508102 : 16 July 2014), Québec > Notre-Dame-de-Québec > Baptêmes, mariages, sépultures 1621-1679 > image 401 of 512; Archives Nationales du Quebec (National Archives of Quebec), Montreal. .
6. René Jetté, Professor, historian, demographer and Quebec genealogist., Genealogical Dictionary of Quebec Families Dating to 1730 (Montréal, Quebec, Canada: University of Montreal Press, 1983), .
7. Diane Lebrun , "Ancestors of Calixte Perreault," pp. 1-137; Unpublished family tree, 2025-02-04, Al Perreault, Calgary, AB, Canada.
8. René Jetté, Professor, historian, demographer and Quebec genealogist., Genealogical Dictionary of Quebec Families Dating to 1730 (Montréal, Quebec, Canada: University of Montreal Press, 1983), .
9. Diane Lebrun , "Ancestors of Calixte Perreault," pp. 1-137; Unpublished family tree, 2025-02-04, Al Perreault, Calgary, AB, Canada.
10. Diane Lebrun , "Ancestors of Calixte Perreault," pp. 1-137; Unpublished family tree, 2025-02-04, Al Perreault, Calgary, AB, Canada.
11. "Canada, Québec, registres paroissiaux catholiques, 1621-1979," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L99Q-39W5-4?cc=1321742&wc=HCHQ-W38%3A17673401%2C17673402%2C17673403 : 16 July 2014), Repentigny > La Purification-de-Repentigny > Baptêmes, mariages, sépultures 1679-1766 > image 383 of 657; Archives Nationales du Quebec (National Archives of Quebec), Montreal. .
12. "Find a Grave Index", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6FYQ-MWX6 : Sat Jul 18 12:17:13 UTC 2026), Entry for Marie Catherine Bonhomme..
13. "Canada, Québec, registres paroissiaux catholiques, 1621-1979," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L99Q-39W5-4?cc=1321742&wc=HCHQ-W38%3A17673401%2C17673402%2C17673403 : 16 July 2014), Repentigny > La Purification-de-Repentigny > Baptêmes, mariages, sépultures 1679-1766 > image 383 of 657; Archives Nationales du Quebec (National Archives of Quebec), Montreal. .
14. "Find a Grave Index", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6FYQ-MWX6 : Sat Jul 18 12:17:13 UTC 2026), Entry for Marie Catherine Bonhomme..