Church Record Sunday: Pierre Bertrand’s 1816 Burial Record

Two hundred years ago this month, my maternal 6x great-grandfather Pierre Bertrand dit Aulas died.

Pierre Bertrand burial record (FamilySearch)

Originally from Aulas, Languedoc, France, Pierre came to New France (Canada) in 1756 as a soldier in the Seven Years War. Four years after his arrival, he married Marie Josephe Gauthier dite St-Germain on 4 November 1760 in her hometown of Boucherville, located across from Montreal on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River. Pierre and Marie Josephe had four sons and ten daughters, including my ancestor Marie Marguerite (1771-1846).

Pierre died on 23 April 1816. The parish priest was by his bedside and administered Extreme Unction (Annointing of the Sick). Pierre was buried two days later in the cemetery of St-Jean-François-Régis of St-Philippe, south of Boucherville, in Laprairie County. [1]

The burial record (above) reads in French:

Le vingt cinq avril mil huit cent Seize par nous pretre sous / signé a été inhumé dans le cimetiere de cette paroisse le corps de / Pierre Bertrand laboureur de cette paroisse age de quatre / vingt quatre ans décédée avant hier munie du Sacrement de / l’Extreme onction. Etaient presents [Drule Surgon?] Joseph Za / [betier?] et Ange [Zabetier?] qui n’ont su signer. [signed Pigeon ptre]

My English translation:

The twenty fifth april one hundred Sixteen by us priest under / signed has been interred in the cemetery of this parish the body of / Pierre Bertrand laborer of this parish age of eighty / four years deceased before yesterday provided with the Sacrament of Extreme Unction. Were present [Drule Surgon?] Joseph Za / [betier?] and Ange [Zabetier?] who didn’t not how to sign [their names]. [signed Pigeon priest]

Although the name of Pierre’s wife’s is not mentioned in his burial record, I believe I have the right person. For example, he is 84 years old at his death (giving him a year of birth of about 1732) and his occupation is stated: “laboureur de cette paroisse” [labourer in this parish]. He is also described as “Pierre Bertrand laboureur en cette paroisse de son vivant” [Pierre Bertrand labourer in this parish in his lifetime] in his wife’s burial record in 1822. [2]

Sources:

1. St-Jean-François-Régis (St-Philippe, Quebec), parish register, p. 52 verso, no entry no. (1816), Pierre Bertrand burial 25 April 1816; St-Jean-François-Régis parish; digital images, "Québec, registres paroissiaux catholiques, 1621-1979", FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ : accessed 8 April 2016). Note: To access this browsable-only image, follow this path from the FamilySearch homepage: Search > Records > Canada > Quebec, Catholic Parish Registers, 1621-1979 > [Browse] > Saint-Philippe > Saint-Philippe > Baptêmes, mariages, sépultures 1809-1823 > image 250 of 578.

2. St-Jean-François-Régis (St-Philippe, Quebec), parish register, 1809-1823, p. 145 recto, entry no. S.35 (1822), Marie Joseph Gothier [sic] burial, 6 May 1822; St-Jean-François-Régis parish; digital images, "Québec, registres paroissiaux catholiques, 1621-1979", FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ : accessed 8 April 2016). Note: To access this browsable-only image, follow this path from the FamilySearch homepage: Search > Records > Canada > Quebec, Catholic Parish Registers, 1621-1979 > [Browse] > Saint-Philippe > Saint-Philippe > Baptêmes, mariages, sépultures 1809-1823 > image 530 of 578.

Copyright © 2016, Yvonne Demoskoff.