Church Record Sunday: Charles Gagnon’s 1797 Baptism Record

Today – May 7 – marks the 220th anniversary of the baptism of my maternal 4x great-grandfather, Charles Gagnon.

Eldest child of Charles Amable and Thérèse (née Poitras) Gagnon, Charles was born on 2 May 1797. He was baptised five days later in the parish church of St-Roch-de-l’Achigan, about 60 km (37 miles) north of Montreal. [1] Charles had five brothers (Joseph, François, Jean-Baptiste, Pierre, and Toussaint) and one sister (Marie Marguerite Thérèse, who died young). [2]

Charles Gagnon's 1797 baptism record (Ancestry.ca)

My transcription of Charles’ baptism record above (original lineation indicated by / ):

Le sept mai l’an mil sept cens quatre vingt dix sept par nous sous / signé prêtre curé de la paroisse Saint Roch a été baptisé / Charles né du deux du present mois du légitime mariage de Charles / Gagnon habitant de cette paroisse et de Marie Therèse Poitra. Le / parrain a été Charles Gagnon et la marraine Anne Poitra qui / avec le pere ont déclaré ne savoir signer
[signed] Raizenne ptre

My translation of the record (original lineation indicated by / ):

The seven May of the year one thousand seven hundred ninety seven by us under / signed parish priest of the parish of Roch was baptised / Charles born of the second of the present month of the legitimate marriage of Charles / Gagnon resident of this parish and of Marie Therèse Poitra. The / godfather was Charles Gagnon and the godmother Anne Poitra who / along with the father have declared they could not sign [their names]
[signed] Raizenne [priest]

In October 1823, Charles married his distant cousin Marguerite Ducasse, also from St-Roch, by whom he had nine children. He died possibly in 1860 in Russell County, Ontario.

Sources:

1. St-Roch (St-Roch-de-l’Achigan, Quebec), parish register, 1797, p. 8 recto, no entry no., Charles Gagnon baptism, 7 May 1797; St-Roch parish; digital images, “Quebec, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967”, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 6 May 2017).

2. “Dictionnaire”, database, Programme de recherche en démographie historique (PRDH) (http://www.genealogie.umontreal.ca : accessed 2 May 2017), Charles Amable Gagnon – Thérèse Poitras Turenne, Famille no. 75859.

Copyright © 2017, Yvonne Demoskoff.