SPAGNIOLINI (Espagnoli, Hispanioli), JEAN-FERNAND, surgeon; b. 1704, son of Domenico Spagniolini and Margherita Tussichi (Toussiqui)of Rome; m. first on 26 Aug. 1733 at Chambly (Que.) to Charlotte Bourloton, secondly on 7 Jan. 1737 at Boucherville (Que.) to Catherine Bénard dit Carignan, and thirdly on 16 Jan. 1745 at Boucherville to Françoise Boucher de Niverville; buried 25 Feb. 1764 at Boucherville.

Spagniolini’s life before his first marriage is as yet unknown. Judging from his association with military men, it is likely he had come to Canada with the colonial regular troops and had been a garrison surgeon at Fort Chambly. His wife’s family had migrated from Charlesbourg to Chambly via Quebec. Charlotte died childless at about the age of 20, a few years after their wedding.

Although Spagniolini had bought an island called “Île à la brisé” in the Bassin de Chambly in July 1736, he moved to Boucherville the following winter. There he married the orphaned daughter of Joseph Bénard, dit Carignan. Spagniolini’s friends Marien Tailhandier*, dit La Baume, a fellow surgeon, and François Garreau, a merchant, acted as witnesses to the marriage contract. Of the children of this union only Marie-Apolline attained maturity; she married François Poudret.

The Spagniolinis lived in comfort at Boucherville, with a paid maidservant. The surgeon travelled throughout the south shore and visited Montreal Island. One record, for August 1736, reports him at the poor-house of the Hôtel-Dieu at Pointe-Saint-Charles to examine a girl who had been struck with a pitchfork when her parents were seeking damages from the owners of a runaway pig. Other records note the surgeon’s presence at Verchères and Longue-Pointe.

Early in 1745 Spagniolini married a daughter of Jean-Baptiste Boucher de Niverville, seigneur of Chambly, who had sold him “Île à la brisé” in 1736. In the intimidating presence of his future wife’s relatives, Spagniolini increased her préciput from 500 to 1,000 livres. Of their ten children just two escaped death in infancy: Marie Élisabeth, who married Michel-Joseph Gamelin, and Jean-Baptiste. The Spagniolini name was not perpetuated. His two married daughters left few if any descendants and the fate of the one son is unknown.

Peter N. Moogk