She divorced her first husband on October 18, 1907. Five days later, she married another man in Indiana. Five days. But before we judge Emma Gilbert for that desperate flight across state lines, we need to understand what it meant to be a divorced woman with a three-year-old son in 1907. This is the story of the voyageur's daughter who became the working woman—and never stopped surviving. Part of the Storyline Genealogy Series: Documentary Biographies From Research to Story

A boy fishes beside an ancient woman in Miami. She is in her nineties, he barely ten. Seventy years later, that boy will tell his daughter about the great-great-grandmother who taught him to fish—but he won't know her story. Born in Quebec before Canada was a nation, married to a voyageur, twice widowed, mother of six. This is her story, recovered from the records she left behind.

From the Storyline Genealogy series: Documentary Biographies From Research to Story

Between 1683 and 1738, Marie Lorgueil's family appeared in colonial courts six times across three generations. They sued neighbors, defended against criminal charges, fought for orphaned children, and—in the most extraordinary case—a seventy-year-old granddaughter named Françoise demanded separation from her abusive husband Jean Larpenteur. This is the story of how one immigrant woman's strategic pragmatism became a family legacy of legal agency.

Part of the Storyline Genealogy series: Documentary Biographies

On September 13, 1690, Gabriel Dumont, Baron de Blaignac, ran Marie Lorgueil's husband through with a sword and fled into the wilderness. Marie was 56, widowed, with eight children and mounting debt. She filed suit against the nobleman—then sold her legal rights for 520 livres and debt forgiveness. This is the story of an impossible choice, and what it reveals about justice, power, and survival in colonial New France.

Part of the Storyline Genealogy series: Documentary Biographies

From her 1634 baptism in Bordeaux to her 1700 burial in Montreal, we've assembled 40+ documents tracing Marie Lorgueil's complete life. This is not typical—this is extraordinary. Most 17th-century women exist only in fragments. Marie's complete documentary arc reveals strategic intelligence, colonial resilience, and women's agency across 66 years and an ocean. Episode 4 concludes the series synthesizing what this remarkable documentation achievement means for family historians.

Part of the Storyline Genealogy series: Documentary Biographies

In 1690, after 36 years of marriage, Toussaint Hunault died, leaving Marie a widow at age 56. Through legal documents from 1691 and the framework of the Custom of Paris, we examine how Marie navigated widowhood with agency and competence. She wasn't a helpless dependent—she was a legally capable woman who participated in estate settlements, protected her dower rights, and maintained dignity. Episode 3 of Marie Lorgueil's complete documented life (1634-1700).

Part of the Storyline Genealogy series: Documentary Biographies

In 21 years, Marie Lorgueil bore 10 children and raised 8 to adulthood—an extraordinary 80% survival rate in an era when half of all children died young. The 1666 census captures a perfect snapshot: all six children living, ages matching baptism records exactly. Through systematic analysis of baptism records, birth spacing, and documentary gaps, we reconstruct Marie's achievement as a frontier mother. Episode 2 of Marie Lorgueil's complete documented life (1634-1700).

Part of the Storyline Genealogy series: Documentary Biographies

In 1654, Marie d'Orgueil crossed the Atlantic to New France and strategically misrepresented her age by four years. This wasn't desperation—it was calculated intelligence. Through baptism records, marriage documents, and census data, we resolve conflicting evidence and discover a family pattern: her daughter would employ the exact same strategy 22 years later. Episode 1 of Marie Lorgueil's complete documented life (1634-1700).

Part of the Storyline Genealogy series: Documentary Biographies