Denise Savard

Biography

Denise Savard came to New France as part of a migrating family. Baptized at Montreuil, near Paris in France, in November 1646, she was a daughter of Simon Savard and Marie Hordouille, whose surname also appears as Hordoville. Accounts place her arrival in 1662 or 1663, during the family’s migration in stages: her father went first, and her mother followed in 1663.

Within months, Denise and Abraham Fiset were making arrangements for marriage. Their contract was drawn up by Paul Vachon on November 30, 1663; the church marriage followed at Château-Richer, on the St. Lawrence’s north bank downstream from Québec city in present-day Canada, on February 5, 1664. Abraham was a carpenter who had trained in the colony. Their first son, Jean-Baptiste, was born in April 1665.

The family subsequently became established at nearby L’Ange-Gardien. In 1681 the census listed Denise and Abraham with eight children, four cattle and twenty-five arpents under cultivation. The census describes a household with children ranging from toddlers to adolescents, supported by farming and Abraham’s trade.

Parish entries continued through the 1680s. A daughter, Marguerite, was born on June 14, 1687 and died four days later; Michel was born in August 1688. These children belong in Denise’s history alongside those who lived to marry. Her exact death date remains uncertain.