Church Record Sunday: Elisabeth Lemieux’s 1891 Burial Record

Elisabeth, also known as Isabelle, is my maternal 3x great-grandmother.

The ninth child of Jean-Baptiste and Marie-Anne (Séguin) Lemieux, Elisabeth was born on December 16, 1810 in LaPrairie, a community on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River facing Montreal.

In January 1828, Elisabeth married François Desgroseilliers in nearby Châteauguay. The following year, her elder sister Jovite (1808-1893) married Joseph Desgroseilliers, François’ brother. (One day I’ll write an article about how they are sometimes confused as one couple in online family trees.)

Elisabeth and François had eleven children, eight of whom survived to adulthood. About twenty years after François’ death in 1853, Elisabeth left her home in Châteauguay County, Quebec for Russell County, Ontario. Her children Aurélie, François, and Pierre (my 2x great-grandfather) also moved to Ontario about that time.

Elisabeth died in Embrun, Russell County, Ontario on July 14, 1891. [1] Her death registration, however, states that she died on July 15. [2] The funeral took place two days later (July 16) at St-Jacques church, followed by burial in the parish cemetery.

Elisabeth Lemieux burial record (Ancestry)

My transcription of Elisabeth’s burial record (original lineation indicated by / ):

Le seize Juillet, mil huit cent quatre vingt onze / Nous soussigné Vicaire, avons inhumé dans le / cimetière de cette paroisse, le corps de Isabelle / D. Lemieux, décédée avant-hier a l’âge de quatre- / vingt-deux ans, épouse de feu François Desgro- / seillers [sic], cultivateur de cette paroisse. Étaient / presents Onésime Desrosiers, Amable Bourdeau / et autres de cette paroisse, qui ainsi que le fils / François Desgroseillers [sic], n’ont pu signer. / Lecture faite. [signé ChsSdeCarufel Ptre]

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

The sixteen July, one thousand eight hundred ninety one / We undersigned Vicar, have interred in the / cemetery of this parish, the body of Isabelle / D. Lemieux, deceased before yesterday at the age of / 82 years, spouse of the late François Desgro- / seillers [sic], farmer of this parish. Were / present Onésime Desrosiers, Amable Bourdeau / and others of this parish, who along with the son / François Desgroseillers [sic], could not sign [their names]. / Reading done. [signed ChsSdeCarufel Ptre]

I noticed a couple of minor errors in Elisabeth’s burial record. One, she was 80 years old (not 82) when she died. Two, her late husband François never lived in Embrun (he died in Châteauguay County, Quebec), so could not have been a cultivateur de cette paroisse. Someone present at the funeral, possibly a family member, likely gave these incorrect details to the vicar, the recently ordained Charles Sicard de Carufel. [3]

Sources:

1. St-Jacques (Embrun, Ontario), parish register, 1884-1891, page no. 531 stamped, entry no. S.25 (1891), Isabelle Lemieux (written as Isabelle Lemieux, indexed as Isabelle Desgroseillers) burial, 16 July 1891; St-Jacques parish; digital images, “Ontario, Canada, Catholic Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1747-1967”, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 22 September 2015).

2. “Ontario, Canada, Deaths, 1869-1938 and Deaths Overseas, 1939-1947”, digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 22 September 2015), entry for Isabelle Desgroseilliers (written as Isabelle Desgroseilliers, indexed as Isabelle Desposeillien), 15 July 1891; citing Archives of Ontario, Registrations of Deaths, 1869-1938, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, series MS935, reel 62.

3. Cyprien Tanguay, Répertoire Général du Clergé Canadien […] (Montréal, 1893, 514); digital images, Internet Archive (https://archive.org/ : accessed 11 July 2018), entry for Charles-Olivier Sicard de Carufel.

Copyright © 2018, Yvonne Demoskoff.