Daniel Vuil

Daniel Vuil (also recorded as Vuril, Voil, or Wril; d. October 7, 1661) was a miller who lived in New France during the 17th century until his execution in 1661.

Extant records provide that Vuil was suspected of being a witch, leading some historians to identify him as the only witch to be sentenced to death in New France. However, he was most likely officially executed for illicitly trading alcohol.

Life before New France Vuil was a citizen of France and a Huguenot, or French Protestant. Historian Mairi Cowan estimates that he was born between 1627 and 1637.

In April 1659, Vuil boarded a ship bound for Quebec from the port city of La Rochelle. Also aboard was François de Laval, who had recently been appointed vicar apostolic of New France.

Vuil also developed an unrequited romantic interest in fellow passenger, Barbe Hallay, who was around fourteen years old. Some historians suggest that Hallay herself refused Vuil's proposal; The only contemporary source detailing Vuil's bid to marry Hallay is an account written by Marie of the Incarnation, whose subordinate Catherine of St. Augustine later cared for Hallay.

Protestants were also viewed poorly by the Catholic community, and locals believed Vuil's conversion to their faith was inauthentic; he reportedly did not attend Catholic mass. Selling alcohol to Indigenous peoples was, itself, an activity closely associated with Protestants. Visitors to Hallay's place of employment reportedly heard drum and flute music emanating from no particular source, and witnessed stones flying across rooms as though thrown by an unseen person.

Historian Mairi Cowan notes that, at the time of Hallay's possession, female colonists were being pressured to wed and have children. The former would make Vuil's case the responsibility of Bishop Laval; the latter would make it the responsibility of Pierre de Voyer d'Argenson, governor of New France. The Relations reported that Vuil had a "long history" of unspecified crimes that were detailed elsewhere, though these documents were lost in subsequent centuries. Davaugour was, at least initially, more receptive to Laval's requests than d'Argenson. The proximity of Vuil to this unknown liquor trader in the record suggests that Vuil was similarly punished for selling liquor to Indigenous groups, but this was not made explicit until 19th century editions of the Jesuit Relations listed both punishments under the heading "Executions for trade". If Vuil was punished for spiritual offences, he was the only person sentenced to death for heresy in New France. Cowan posits that the Jesuit Relations' chronicler intended to write solely that Vuil was killed by gunshot, hence their immediate attempt at self-correction. Although Ragueneau's 1671 publication claimed that Vuil was hanged, most historians accept that Vuil was executed by arquebus. It is likely that he faced one executioner rather than a firing squad, owing to the customs of the time.

Aftermath Vuil's burial site is unknown.

Barbe Hallay recovered from her apparent possession in October 1662, a year after Vuil's execution, while under the care of her original employer Marie Regnouard. Regnouard entered Hallay's room one night while the girl was exhibiting signs of another demonic fit, brandishing a relic from Jean de Brébeuf. After the martyred Brébeuf's bone made contact with Hallay, Hallay's symptoms ended and did not return. Regnouard effectively performed an exorcism as a woman and a layperson, both of which remain prohibited by the Catholic Church as of the 21st century.

Hallay married a local man named Jean Carrier in 1670, with whom she had four children. Hallay died in June 1696, around the age of fifty.