Thinking of Susanne

The Marie Saugrain baptized in 1718 died in 1756. She was married to a Barreau.

After reviewing the ANOM documents in my attempt to reconstruct the origins of the Gory family in colonial Bainet, I realize that I have likely made a mistake. I failed to identify an enslaved woman of the Saugrains as the most likely mother of the Marie Françoise Saugrain who married François Gory. I initially thought the Marie Françoise who married Gory was the one baptized in 1718, an illegitimate child of Alexis Saugrain and an unnamed enslaved mother. It actually looks like Marie Françoise was the daughter of Suzanne and an unnamed father, presumably another Saugrain (Louis or Alexis?). 

In 1781, Marie Françoise Saugrain died. Aged around 60, she was probably the child of Susanne.

Thus, Marie Françoise was born in 1721 and was the sister of the mixed-race Saugrain mother of Jean Baptiste Marillac, Marie Barbe. This actually explains why Jean Baptiste Marillac's godmother was Marie Françoise Saugrain of Bainet. Basically, several of the Gory children of Marie Françoise Saugrain were actually cousins of Jean Baptiste Marillac. Of course, this means that Jean-Baptiste Marillac was actually related to Anne Marie Joseph Gory, his godchild, through Susanne.

The Marie Françoise who later married was François Gory was baptized in 1721. What makes things even more confusing is the appearance of another Marie Françoise, baptized in 1722, whose enslaved mother, Marguerite Susanne, was owned by the Saugrain.

As for the Marie Saugrain born in 1718, she married a Jean François Barreau. It is difficult to say if Suzanne was also the mother of Marie, but it is possible. A child born to Suzanne later in the 1720s had Jean François Barreau and a Marie as godparents, perhaps the very same Marie Saugrain, daughter of Alexis and Suzanne? And it looks like all her children went on to use the Saugrain name, or later changed it to Sougrain. So the white fathers eventually recognized their children or at least acted as godparents, as Alexis Saugrain did for a child of Marie Françoise.

In 1725, the twin daughters of Susanne were baptized. One of them, Marie Barbe, was actually the mother of Jean Baptiste Marillac, the godfather of Anne Marie Joseph.

Unfortunately, our poor Suzanne appears to have remained in bondage to the white Saugrains. I could not find any trace of Suzanne or indication of her origins. It is possible she was the young "Negress" slave of the Saugrain mentioned in the 1703 census for the Jacmel quarter and its dependencies. Or, perhaps, she was one of the adult enslaved women of the Saugrain indigoterie. However, knowing her as the progenitor of many of the Gory helps explain Victoire Susanne Monteise's name. Her mother or godmother may have named her after their enslaved ancestor, Susanne. So at least they remembered her in a fashion. 

Jean Baptiste Marillac's godmother was Marie Françoise Saugrain of Baynet, and probably the sister of his mother, Marie Barbe, daughter of Susanne.

It would have been interesting to find out where Suzanne came from or what African "nation" she represented, but for all I know she could have been born in the colony. In fact, if she was the young female slave child listed in the 1703 census, she possibly grew up with the Saugrain. Since we have yet to find any record of what happened to her after the 1720s, we are left in the dark about her origins or fate.