Esther Wheelwright

Early life

Esther Wheelwright was born in 1696, the fourth of eleven children, to John Wheelwright and Mary Snell. John Wheelwright served as a tavernkeeper and justice of the peace of the province. Esther was raised in a deeply religious Puritan family where Sabbath rules were strictly followed. Esther's father led the family service on Saturday night. On Sunday, the family walked in a procession to the meetinghouse for a full day service.

The Wheelwright household at the turn of the eighteenth century included not only the Wheelwright parents and their children, as well as Anglo-American indentured servants and at least a few enslaved African Americans. Esther's grandfather Samuel Wheelwright owned slaves in the 1690s, and both her father and mother continued to enslave African Americans in the 1740s and 1750s, bequeathing them to free family members when they died. Slavery was common in New England, even in rural places like southern Maine, and it could be just as abusive as life in slave labor camps in the southern Anglo-American colonies. The murder of Rachel, an enslaved woman in Kittery, illustrates the isolation and brutality of New England slavery. Esther's father built a garrison and was licensed to "keep a house of public entertainment", where they served alcoholic beverages. Their house became a common stopover for influential men (governors, judges, ministers, generals, lords) as well as common travelers and traders

Puritan girls were taught to never be idle, thus even at the age of seven, Esther would have been expected help out with the daily routines of cooking for the family and guests at the inn and keeping safe her younger siblings. Because she was growing up in a tavern on the borderlands of Anglo-American colonial invasion, the world came through the Wheelwright garrison. She was probably familiar with the Wabanaki because they sold beaver, otter and bear skins to English traders like her father, in exchange for cloth and other imported goods. But despite the casual trade between the Wabanaki and English traders, there still existed mutual animosity and distrust between the two parties.

Capture by the Wabanaki

During the late summer and early fall of 1702, there was talk of an imminent attack by the Indians and French. By the spring of 1703, French and Indian forces were stationed along the borderlands preparing for their attack. On August 21, 1703, the two-day attack ensued. The Wheelwrights′ status, and John Wheelwright's involvement as militia captain, meant that they were one of the prime targets. The attack covered an area of over fifty miles. People who escaped capture were killed, buildings were torched and homes were looted. The only Wheelwright among the twenty-two murdered and seven kidnapped, was Esther, who was taken captive by the Wabanaki.

Because of her age and sex, Esther was probably adopted into a Wabanaki family, and was expected to assume the personality, duties and role of a Wabanaki daughter. As her adoptive family taught her to how to live as a Wabanaki girl and to pray as a Catholic, it's possible that they "became attached to this child with an extraordinary affection." After only a few months with the Wabanaki, Esther had probably shed so much of her former identity that she would have barely been recognized by her English family.

Two Jesuit priests who were also brothers, Jacques and Vincent Bigot, were active missionaries in Acadia and Quebec from the 1680s through the 1710s. They were probably some of the first French priests she met, and they were instrumental in her eventual move to Québec because of their long history of bringing Wabanaki girls to the Ursuline convent school.

Life at the Chateâu St. Louis

Esther's birth family eventually learned about her faith and, using their ties through the government of Massachusetts, petitioned the General Governor of New France, Philippe de Rigaud, Marquis de Vaudreuil, to get her back. Vaudreuil had the clear order from Versailles: "You have nothing so important in the present state of affairs as the maintenance of peace with the Iroquois and other Indian nations." Wartime conditions meant that it was difficult to act on Esther's return to Wells. Vaudreuil himself was denouncing the "deplorable state" of New France's economy to his superiors and had to carefully plan his moves. In order to negotiate a better deal with New England, Vaudreuil started to spread the idea that the young girl was the daughter of an important English man. Esther, in these conditions, found herself sheltered at his own residence, the Chateau St. Louis, in Québec City.

For a year, Esther was immersed in the French aristocracy. Vaudreuil's wife, Louise-Élisabeth de Joybert, took her under her wing. Although he must have known that she was not from a very important family, he called her 'the daughter of a governor of a small place', inflating her family's status by calling her father a "governor," a title which in New France was reserved for ennobled men only. Upon her arrival, she would have been 'degreased' and dressed up à la française. Her new household was even served by Indigenous slaves, although Vaudreuil had never admitted this to his superiors. Esther had known life as a Puritan, then as a Wabenaki, and now, she experienced a tasted of life as a French Aristocrat in New France.

However, her time at the Chateau St. Louis was brief. By January 1709, she was enrolled as a boarding student at the Ursuline boarding school.

Beginning with the Ursulines

On January 18, 1709, Esther was enrolled as a boarding student in the Ursuline boarding school. She was proving to be a good student, excelling in music, languages, grammar and embroidery. She deepened her interest for Catholicism, especially for its mysticism component. After having been with the Ursulines for 18 months as a pupil, she asked to become a nun. Father Bigot, who had spent some time with the girl previously, sponsored her entry and used his influence to get her accepted by the Ursulines. He was particularly attached to the young girl, convinced of his own triumph at turning a Puritan girl into a devoted Catholic. However, Vaudreuil that had dealt her return to her family, intervened and took her back to his residence the following fall with the intention to fulfill his promise. Convinced of her future vocation as a nun, Esther was reluctant to the idea of being sent back to her Puritan origins. Fortunately for her, the plan did not follow through and, in June 1711, she was sent to the Hôtel-Dieu, where she spent several months. The place was also sheltering other English captives among whom she met two of her own cousins, Mary Silver and Esther Sayward. Although Esther was eventually sent to Trois-Rivières, where the Ursulines were looking forward having her, the young girl decided she rather preferred to be placed with the Ursulines of Québec City.

Life as an Ursuline nun

In 1712, the Mother Superior, Le Marie des Anges, created a contract for 18-year-old Esther's entry to the convent. Esther then began a three-month postulancy, during which time she abided by the disciplined monastic schedule but did not don the religious habit. Her connections with Father Bigot and the Marquis de Vaudreuil allowed Esther to have an impressive career as an Ursuline nun. Most women of modest backgrounds like Esther who were joining the Ursulines were only permitted to become lay nuns, meaning they were relegated to the back of the procession and were forbidden to sing in church. Esther, however, was allowed to become a choir nun despite not being able to afford the full dowry.

In January 1713, Wheelwright was given her veil and habit and became a novitiate as Sister Esther Marie Joseph de l'Enfant Jésus. Father Bigot paid for her marriage gown, normally the responsibility of the novice's parents, and delivered the sermon at the ceremony. His story of her life emphasized Catholic and French resilience in the face of grim English Protestantism. As the great-granddaughter of a Protestant minister, who was raised by the Abenakis, then converted to Catholicism and embraced French culture, Esther's story was a symbol of the future of French superiority in the New World.

For one year as a novice, Esther was trained for monastic life by observing a strict routine and following the Rules of the Quebec Ursulines. She practiced performing daily activities in accordance with the rules of chastity, and learned to sacrifice all luxuries. During her time as a novice, the Wheelwrights wrote to Esther frequently asking her to return. The letters did have an effect on Esther, and she later admitted that they caused her "infinite trouble," however she remained committed to her religious life.

After the Treaty of Utrecht was signed on April 11, 1713, Esther at risk of being reclaimed by English officers. On February 16, 1714, English commissioners met with the Marquise de Vaudreuil demanding proof that all captives who remained in New France were there by their own will. In the face of these threats, the Ursulines were forced to expedite Esther's novice training period so that she could take her vows as soon as possible. On April 12, 1714, Esther took her final vows as an Ursuline sister.

As an Ursuline nun, Sister Esther Marie-Joseph Wheelwright de l'Enfant Jésus, had no contact with her family, and over time lost her connections with most people from her previous life. Those who had been instrumental in her joining the Ursulines, including the Marquise de Vaudreuil and Father Bigot, died in the succeeding years. In 1724, the Abenakis were attacked by an English force led by a friend of the Wheelwrights, Captain Johnson Harmon, and many of the people with whom Esther grew up were killed.

As Esther moved up in the convent hierarchy, she took on more responsibilities. She progressed from class mistress, to principal of the boarding school and mistress of the novices. In 1726, Esther became a religieuse vocale which meant she could vote in the assembly and became "Mother Marie-Joseph de l'Enfant Jésus." In 1747, Esther received correspondence from her mother stating that her father had died. In his will he left money for Esther and instructions for her brothers to take care of her should she ever return to Wells, indicating her parents' enduring hope for her return, even after many decades of religious commitment. After her parents' deaths, Esther's brothers maintained correspondence with their sister in Quebec, acknowledging the benefits that might come with having a contact in New France.

In 1759, English forces attacked New France in the Battle of Quebec. The nuns were evacuated from the convent and Esther was sent to the Hôpital Général as a nurse. General Louis-Joseph de Montcalm's army was overwhelmed by the English army, and Montcalm died on September 14, 1759. He was buried in the convent's chapel.

Mother Superior and later life

During the war, Wheelwright had been assistant superior as the Ursulines nursed both French and British soldiers in the convent. On the 15th of December, 1760, Esther Wheelwright was appointed Mother Superior of the Quebec Ursuline order. In part due to her respected personality, this was also a strategic move by the Order, as her English and Protestant heritage was crucial to maintaining the Ursulines' position and independence under British rule.

Esther's background facilitated contact with the British and made the Ursulines seem less threatening. The convent was a popular target of criticism, representing France, Catholicism and women in power, and the Ursulines feared that the British might close the convent. Nevertheless, it had frequent contact with and visits from the community. The Mother Superior's threefold British, French and Indigenous ties made her a strong political symbol, and it was in English interest to claim her as one of their own.

As Mother Superior, Esther functioned as a diplomat, maintaining good relations with the British Governors of Québec Amherst and Murray, as well as with France. During the negotiations for the Québec Act of 1774, her diplomacy with Governor Guy Carleton proved influential. The convent was central to the City of Québec, both in location and in relation to the British. Right after the defeat of Québec in 1759, General Murray established both a British military hospital and Québec's first Anglican church in the convent.

Esther furthermore established close ties to Frances Moore Brooke, as her husband John Brooke was appointed chaplain of the Québec garrison by Murray, in charge of ministering to sick soldiers and conducting church services at the convent. Descriptions of both Esther and the Québec Ursuline convent are present in The History of Emily Montague, the first novel written in Canada.

The Ursulines being in great debt, Wheelwright established much-needed financial stability for the Order, primarily by encouraging the nuns to pursue Amerindian embroidery, using Native materials of birch bark, deer skin, moose and porcupine hair to create images of saints. Despite being an arduous task, the moose hair requiring constant rethreading, this art became a commercial success, and many embroideries were sold to English soldiers and tourists. The Ursulines' economic self-sufficiency helped provide for their community services to French and Native inhabitants, and contributed to their independence from reform-minded bishops. In the latter half of the 18th century, the Ursuline school increasingly hosted British students, among them the Brookes' daughters.

The convent was marked by internal turmoil during Esther's final term as Mother Superior, due to a lack of new recruits, British opposition to the convent and an increase in Catholic women converting to Anglicanism to marry. The remaining nuns were increasingly critical of Esther and the state of the school, the Ancien Régime was in its decline, they endured yet another military conflict in The Battle of Quebec and the ensuing siege. In 1772 she became assistant superior, and from 1778 until her death Wheelwright served as an overseer and advisor.

Esther Wheelwright died in Québec City on the 28th of November 1780, at the age of 84, without suffering illness.