The Voyageur of New France
Jacques Philippe Farly was a person of fame and importance in New France. He led a fascinating life, an account of which can be found at The Voyageur, a website I prepared for one of my courses.
Jacques Philippe (J.P.) Farly was born on December 9, 1710, in Montreal, and baptised the next day.
Jacques Philippe grew up helping his father in the family business until about 1736, when the government in "Paris formally forbade the making of hats in the colony and ordered the destruction of all the workshops in New France". Paris wanted to keep the profits from hat making in France.
This was an important turning point in Jacques Philippe's life and led to his being an important man in New France - a successful business man, fur trader and interpreter. He was probably making business connections in Montreal and at Fort Michilimackinac during the years after 1736.
Fort Michilimackinac was a fur-trading fort and trading post built where Lake Michigan and Lake Huron join together. It was built as a link in the French trading post system that stretched from the Mississippi River through the Illinois Country to the St. Lawrence River. It started as a small fort in about 1680, with a more modern fort replacing it in 1715. This strategic location guaranteed French Canadian merchants access to the western fur basin.
Jacques Philippe married Marie Josephte Dumouchel (Josette) in 1739 "PRDH No. 150005 - Mariage-JPF.pdf". Josette was the daughter of Marie Louise Tessier Lavigne and Paul Dumouchel Laroche. Josette gave birth to their first child, Marie Josephe Farly, in Montreal in January 1740 but sadly the baby died in November at Fort Michilimackinac. In 1742, Josette may have given birth to a son, Albert, although this has not been confirmed. Her third child, Jean Baptiste Farly, was born in May 1742 in Montreal, but he only lived for 2 months.
On June 23, 1742, while living on Notre-Dame Street in Montreal, Jacques Philippe formed a fur trade society with Jean-Baptiste Marsolet in the office of Notary Simonnet and became "marchand-voyageur". In this position, he would call on "voyageurs" to help him in his commerce. Working with groups of two to four boats, they would command flotillas of canoes making the trip between Montreal and the Great Lakes. The voyageur should not be confused with the "coureur des bois", who traded furs whenever they wished, almost like outlaws, while the voyageur was bound by a contract normally signed in front of a notary.
Voyageurs Travelling to Trade
Another son, Jacques, was born in 1746. Since Josette had no children between 1742 and 1746, it can be assumed that she stayed most of the time in Montreal, with Jacques Philippe staying at the fort.
Francois Charles was born in 1747 at Montreal. Then in 1754, Mary Charlotte Farly was born at Fort Michilimackinac. Another Albert was born in 1755 at Fort Michilimackinac. Because this baby was named Albert, it can be assumed that either Josette did not in fact give birth to a baby named Albert earlier or that the baby did not survive. Louis Joseph was born in 1758 at Fort Michilimackinac but died 4 days later. Andre Vital was born in 1760 at the fort. They also raised two Amerindian 'slaves' who were baptised at the Mission of St-Ignace at Michilimackinac: Charlotte and Louise-Joseph.
Jacques Philippe and Josette were quite prominent in the Catholic community at the fort because their names are listed as godparents for many of the people baptised in the area. The couple lived apart for many periods throughout their marriage, as Josette would remain in Montreal while Jacques Philippes lived at the fort, and perhaps travelled with the boats and the voyageurs who worked for him. There may have been several reasons why wives did not join their husbands at these distant forts for long periods of time - it could have been that their children were attending school, or that the wives did not wish to undertake the difficult journey to Fort Michilimackinac any more than they had to. Travel between Montreal and Michilimackinac was not easy - it took 2 to 3 months for the journey, and throughout the trip the men had to portage at least 30 times. "Portage" describes the journey overland; the men had to carry the canoes and goods being transported. The terrain was rough and rocky and some areas were heavily forested with many small streams, hills and valleys.
In 1752, Jacques Philippes hired a voyageur named Louis Neveu, and in 1753 he contracted two more voyageurs, Louis Lécuyer and Jacques-Philippe Dolfin. In 1757 he hired three more voyageurs specifically for the trip to the fort: Pascal Pominville, Antoine Surprenant and Louis Beaupre. Because Jacques Philippe was required to be away for considerable lengths of time, he gave Josette power of attorney in 1746 to manage his assets.
Jacques Philippes was not only a fur trader, he was a bookkeeper and interpreter. In 1747 he signed an agreement to manage the business of François Dailliboust de la Magdeleine at the Michipicoton Post, north of Sault Ste-Marie. He became the King's official interpreter at Fort Michilimackinac in 1753 (see certificate).
In 1761, the French relinquished the fort to the English, along with the rest of their territory in Canada, following the French and Indian Wars. That year, Alexander Henry, a British merchant and writer, hired Jacques Philippe during a visit to the fort, although he never trusted him. He suspected he was spying for the French in order to discourage trade with the English. In his memoirs, Alexander Henry stated that Jacques Philippe was married to a Chippewa woman which gave him a great deal of influence over her tribe. Obviously this relationship occurred while Josette was living in Montreal.
The beaver pelt was the foundation of the fur trade, but the Indians also traded in otter, mink, fox, bear and deer. The Indians became dependent upon the trade goods they received for the furs, such as iron axes, tomahawks, knives, fish hooks, cloth, woolen blankets, guns, powder, plus other items. Some of these the Indians had formerly made for themselves, so as trade increased, so did the loss of their culture.
In 1767, 29 fur shipments were sent to Montreal via the Ottawa River, and 13 shipments were sent to Albany by lake schooners. The French traders dominated trade at Fort Michilimackinac because they could send their furs more economically on the Ottawa River, where the Americans had to use the lake system (Lakes Erie and Huron) which was not economical.
Jacques Philippe lived at the fort for more than 20 years. Josette gave birth to four of her children at the fort. As Jacques Philippe spoke French, Ojibwa and English, his interpretive skills were in high demand.
Jacques Philippe owned slaves, which had been an accepted practice since the time of Champlain. Slaves were sometimes blacks who were brought to Quebec from Africa via the Caribbean. Most were war captives of the French and their allies, and were commonly referred to as "panis" or Pawnee. These "panis" slaves were preferred and came from many different tribes, even the Inuit. They were most commonly purchased for domestic service. Some were permitted to marry and a few were granted freedom. In general, though, their lives were harsh and brief. While living at the fort, Jacques Philippe is thought to have taken one of his slaves as a "country wife" during the Seven Years War when his wife, Josette, was living in Montreal, as reported by Alexander Henry. He may even have had children with this wife.
After many years of successful trading, a significant involvement in the Seven Years War, and working closely with Charles Langlade, who is hailed today as the founder of Wisconsin, Jacques Philippe and Josette returned to Quebec and settled on Dupas Island, St-Pierre Archipelago. He was 53. Jacques Philippe became a farmer, after signing a contract for the purchase of a strip of land in the "seigneurie" of Dupas Island. Jacques Philippe died in 1785 at 74 years of age, and Josette died in 1799 at 87 years of age PRDH No. 383294 Sépulcure-MJD.pdf. More about Jacques Philippe's life as a fur trader can be found in the French Connection document.
John Farley and Marie Ann Gorri
Antoine Farly and Marie Ann Basquin
Jacques Philippes Farly and Josephte Dumouchel
Albert Farly and Marie-Joseph Desery-Latour
Pierre Albert Farly and Marie-Celeste Masson
Francois Xavier Farly and Emelie Denomme
Amable Farly and Marie Forcier