Louisa (de Lotbinière) Harwood (1803-1869)

In 1829, she and her husband chose to inherit the Seigneury of Vaudreuil (48,821-acres), which although the smallest of her father's seigneuries, it was also the most valuable. 25,052-acres of Vaudreuil's land was cultivated for arable crops and farmed by censitaires. The seigneury also included her family's manor house, a domaine near the church (built by her grandfather and still closely associated with the de Lotbiniere-Harwood family today), a mill, and several hay-producing islands on the river. Unlike both her sisters, she enjoyed a happy marriage with her popular and well-respected husband. Her portrait was painted by Matthew Harris Jouett (1787-1827) of Kentucky who painted, among others, Thomas Jefferson. When the old Seigneurial system of New France was abolished in 1854, the 48,821-acre Manor of Vaudreuil was subdivided and sold for over $1 million which was divided between the Harwood's 10-children.