In the shadowed fringes of New France, where rivers carved paths through contested lands and empires clashed over furs and faith, Moïse Dupuis emerged as a figure of mobility and adaptation. Born on July 10, 1673, in Québec City to François Dupuis (1634-1681) and Georgette Richer (1647-1699), Moïse grew up in the settlements of Saint-Augustin-de-Maure and La Prairie, absorbing the rhythms of a colony perpetually on the edge of expansion and conflict. As a young man, he dove into the shadowy world of the coureurs des bois—unlicensed "runners of the woods" who traversed forbidden routes to trade furs, evading royal monopolies and risking arrest for the allure of profit. Without ever receiving an official travel permit, Moïse engaged in illicit commerce between La Prairie and Schenectady (then known as Corlaer), New York, a Dutch-English outpost that served as a gateway to Indigenous trading networks and a hotspot for smuggling beaver pelts south of French territories.
Moïse's life took a dramatic turn amid the brutal border skirmishes of King William's War (1688-1697). Historical accounts suggest he may have participated in the French raid on Schenectady in February 1690—a midnight assault led by French and Indigenous forces that left the village in flames, killing dozens and capturing survivors as retaliation against English encroachments. Though some sources, including genealogical theories by Marcel Fournier, date this event to 1692 (likely a clerical error), Moïse's potential role as a soldier or volunteer remains unconfirmed due to missing muster rolls and absent records of his involvement in specific battles. What is clear is that he lingered in Schenectady afterward—perhaps as a wounded fighter, a prisoner, or an opportunistic trader—long enough to forge deep personal ties in this multicultural borderland.
It was here, in the aftermath of conflict, that Moïse defied colonial boundaries through love. Around 1697, he married Annetje (Marie-Anne-Louise) Christiansen, a Dutch Protestant born circa 1675 in Schenectady to Christiaan Christiaanse (a native of Holland) and Mantie Ysbrantse Elde. The union, recorded on June 21 or July 12, 1697, in the Dutch Reformed Church records of Albany (encompassing Schenectady), represented a rare exogamy—marriage outside one's cultural group—in an era when endogamy dominated communities like La Prairie. Annetje, nominally Protestant amid a period when the local church lacked a minister, likely converted upon their relocation. Their marriage, possibly solemnized by a Catholic priest to bridge faiths, was not revalidated in New France, suggesting it was deemed valid by Sulpician authorities.
By 1699, Moïse and Annetje had returned to New France, settling in La Prairie with their young daughter. Annetje was baptized in Montréal, embracing Catholicism, and in 1710, she naturalized as a French citizen, fully integrating into colonial society. The couple raised ten children, with at least one—and possibly three—born outside New France, their baptisms later recorded in La Prairie. Most offspring remained tied to La Prairie, marrying into local families, while one daughter wed an engagé—a contracted worker—in the fur trade, perpetuating Moïse's connections to that world. His own links to prominent fur-trading clans, such as through extended family networks, underscored his role in the informal economy that sustained New France.
Moïse's story exemplifies the fluid identities of the St. Lawrence Valley's border regions, where French, Dutch, English, and Indigenous worlds intersected amid war, trade, and migration. He passed away on January 19, 1750, in La Prairie, followed by Annetje in October of the same year. Their legacy flowed through son François Moïse Dupuis (1709-1764), daughter Marie Anne Dupuis (1753-1807), Marie Angelique Barette dit Courville (1779-1815), Marie Emélie Meunier Lagacé (1808-1883), and ultimately to Lucy Pinsonneau (1836-1917), our 2nd great-grandmother whose lineage echoes the daring crossings of her ancestor. Moïse Dupuis was not just a voyageur but a bridge between worlds, his life a testament to the resilience required to thrive in the liminal spaces of early America.
Earlier file & documents: Moïse Dupuis — Voyageur Grandfather
https://laprairie-voyageur-canoes.blogspot.com/2019/04/moise-dupuis-voyageur-grandfather.html
Thank you to Grok xAI for updated information and enhancements.
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