Church Record Sunday: Jeanvril – Lalonde 1845 Marriage Record

One hundred and seventy-three years ago today – on 2 September 1845 – my paternal great-great-grandparents Paul Janvry dit Belair and Angélique Lalonde married. [1]

Paul, born in 1822, was the third, but eldest surviving son of Pierre Janvry dit Belair by his second wife Scholastique St-Michel. (To learn more about Pierre’s children by his two wives, see 52 Ancestors 2015: #32 – Pierre Janvry dit Belair, Father of 25 Children.)

Angélique, four years older than her husband, was born in 1818. She was the eleventh of twelve children of Jean-Baptiste Lalonde by his wife Angélique Bray.

Jeanvril - Lalonde marriage record, Ancestry

Transcription of Paul and Angélique’s marriage record (original lineation indicated by /):

Le deux Septembre, mil huit cent quarante-cinq / après la publication de trois bans de mariage faits / au prône des messes de nos missions, entre Paul / Jeanvril, domicilié à Hull, fils majeur de Pierre / Jeanvril et de Scholastique St-Michel de Hull / d’une part et Angélique Lalonde, aussi domiciliée / à Hull, fille majeure de Jean Baptiste Lalonde du / Côteau du Lac, et de défunte Angélique Bray d’autre / part; ne s’étant découvert aucun empêchement et / vu le consentement des parens [sic], nous prêtre mission- / naire soussigné avons reçu leur mutuel consen- / tement de mariage et leur avons donné la benediction / nuptial en présence de Pierre Jeanvril, Louis [Poulin?] / Louis Guilbault et Toussaint Jeanvril qui ainsi / que les époux ont déclaré ne savoir [signé]. [signed] J. Desautels, ptre

My English translation (original lineation indicated by /):

The two September, one hundred eighteen forty-five / after the publication of three banns of marriage made / at the sermons of the masses of our missions, between Paul / Jeanvril, domiciled at Hull, son of age of Pierre / Jeanvril and of Scholastique St-Michel of Hull / on the one part and Angélique Lalonde, also domiciled / at Hull, daughter of age of Jean Baptiste Lalonde of / Côteau du Lac, and of the late Angélique Bray on the other / part; not having found any impediment and / having the consent of the parents, we missionary priest / undersigned have received their mutual consent / of marriage and have given them the nuptial benediction / in the presence of Pierre Jeanvril, Louis [Poulin?] / Louis Guilbault and Toussaint Jeanvril who along / with the couple have declared they could not sign [their names]. [signed] J. Desautels, [priest]

The ceremony took place in St-Paul’s R.C. church in Aylmer, Quebec. Four witnesses were present, including Paul’s father Pierre and his younger brother Toussaint.

Source:

1. St-Paul (Aylmer, Quebec), parish register, 1841-1848, p. 250, no entry no. (1845), Paul Jeanvril – Angelique Lalonde marriage, 2 September 1845, Missions d’Aylmer parish; digital images, “Quebec, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1968”, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 1 March 2012).

Copyright © 2018, Yvonne Demoskoff.

Church Record Sunday: Hubert Neveu’s 1853 Burial Record

Hubert Neveu died 165 years ago this month in July 1853. He is my paternal 4x great-grandfather and is somewhat of an ancestral brick wall. For example, I haven’t found a birth or baptism record for him and I don’t know who his parents are.

Born about 1777, Hubert was a voyageur in the fur trade. He married Josephe Pitabanokwe (var. Petabanokwe), an Algonquin, in August 1818. They were the parents of at least 11 children, including Louise Neveu, the great-grandmother of my grandmother Julie Vanasse.

Hubert died between July 8 -14, 1853. His burial record doesn’t indicate the exact date, only that it was in the second week of July of that year and that he was buried in the church cemetery of Notre-Dame-du-Mont-Carmel in LaPasse, Renfrew County, Ontario. [1]

Hubert Neveu burial record (Ancestry)

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

Dans la seconde semaine de Juillet a été inhumé dans le cimetière / de cette mission le corps de Eubert Neveu agé de 76 ans. Témoins / Antoine Lavoie et J. Baptiste Lanvin. [signé L.C.A. Ouellet]

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

In the second week of July was interred in the cemetery / of this mission the body of Eubert Neveu aged 76 years. Witnesses / Antoine Lavoie and J. Baptiste Lanvin. [signed L.C.A. Ouellet]

Source:

1. Notre-Dame-du-Mont-Carmel (LaPasse, Ontario), parish register, 1851-1943, p. 6 recto, entry no. S.2 (1853), Eubert Neveu [sic] burial, July 1853; Notre-Dame-du-Mont-Carmel parish; digital images, “Ontario, Canada, Catholic Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1747-1967”, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 20 September 2014).

Copyright © 2018, Yvonne Demoskoff.

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.

Church Record Sunday: Almina Belair’s 1902 Baptism Record

Almina Belair (1902-1997) was the youngest sister of my paternal grandfather, Fred Belair.

She was actually his half-sister, being the daughter of Fred’s father Pierre Janvry dit Belair by his second wife, Mathilde Cloutier. For a list of Pierre’s children by his first two wives, see Sibling Saturday: The Children of Pierre Janvry dit Belair (1851-1941).

Almina was born on 8 July 1902 in Ste-Cécile-de-Masham (now La Pêche), Quebec, about half an hour northwest of Ottawa, Canada’s capital. Almina received the names Elizabeth Elmina two days later at her baptism in Ste-Cécile parish church. [1] Her godparents were her 22-year old half-brother Pierre and her half-sister Délia, 17 years old. Although his aunt appears as Elmina in her baptism record, my father Maurice remembered his aunt as Almina.

Almina Belair baptism record (Ancestry)

My transcription of Almina’s baptism record (original lineation indicated by / ):

Ce dix juillet mil neuf cent deux, Nous prêtre / curé soussigné, avons baptisé Elizabeth-Elmina / fille née avant-hier du légitime mariage / de Pierre Bélaire et Domitille Cloutier de / cette paroisse. Les parrains ont été Pierre / Bélaire et Délia Bélaire aussi de cette paroisse / qui, ainsi que le père n’ont pas signé avec Nous. / Lecture faite. [signé] P. Garon, Ptre Curé

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

This tenth July one thousand one hundred two, We parish / priest undersigned, have baptised Elizabeth-Elmina / daughter born before yesterday of the legitimate marriage / of Pierre Bélaire and Domitille Cloutier of / this parish. The godparents were Pierre / Bélaire and Délia Bélaire also of this parish / who, along with the father have not signed [their names] with Us. / Reading done. [signed] P. Garon, [Parish Priest]

Source:

1. Ste-Cécile (Ste-Cécile-de-Masham, Quebec), parish register, 1899-1908, p. 147 (stamped), entry no. B.44 (1902), Elizabeth Elmina Belaire [sic] baptism, 10 July 1902; Ste-Cécile parish; digital images, “Quebec, Canada, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1968”, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 7 July 2018).

Copyright © 2018, Yvonne Demoskoff.

Church Record Sunday: Joseph Deschatelets’ 1813 Baptism Record

Joseph Pinau dit Deschatelets, my maternal 3x great-grandfather, was born 205 years ago this month.

The eldest son of Joseph Pinau dit Deschatelets by his first wife Marguerite Bouvret (Beauvais), Joseph fils was born on 24 April 1813. He was baptised the next day in Ste-Anne R.C. church in Ste-Anne-des-Plaines, about 40 km (25 miles) north of Montreal. [1]

Joseph Deschatelets baptism record (Ancestry)

My transcription of Joseph’s baptism record (original lineation indicated by / ):

Le vingt cinq Avril mil huit cent treize nous curé de / Ste Anne soussigné avons baptisé Joseph né le jour / précédent du légitime mariage de Joseph Pinau dit Descha- / telets cultivateur de cette paroisse et de Marguerite Bou- / vret. Parrain étienne Bouvret, marraine Marie Duquet / qui ont déclaré avec le Père ne savoir signer.
[signed] Ant. Tabeau Ptre C.

My English translation (original lineation indicated by / ):

The twenty fifth April one thousand one hundred thirteen we undersigned [parish priest] have baptised Joseph born the day / previously of the legitimate marriage of Joseph Pinau dit Descha- / telets farmer of this parish and of Marguerite Bou- / vret. Godfather étienne Bouvret, godmother Marie Duquet / who have declared with the Father not knowing how to sign [their names].
[signed] Ant. Tabeau Ptre C.

The godfather Etienne might be the child’s grandfather, Etienne Bouvret, or might be his uncle, also named Etienne Bouvret.

Source:

1. Ste-Anne (Ste-Anne-des-Plaines, Quebec), parish register, 1813, p. 50 recto, no entry no., Joseph Pinau dit Deschatelets (written as Joseph Pinau dit Deschatelets, indexed as Joseph Pinau Dt Deschatelets) baptism, 25 April 1813; Ste-Anne parish; digital images, “Quebec Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967”, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 25 April 2008).

Copyright © 2018, Yvonne Demoskoff.

Church Record Sunday: Mathilde Belair’s 1923 Burial Record

Mathilde Cloutier, second wife of my paternal great-grandfather Pierre Belair, died 95 years ago on 16 April 1923. [1]

Pierre’s first wife, Angélina Meunier, died in July 1896, leaving behind seven children, including my grandfather (Pépère) Fred, who was only six years old.

A year later, Pierre married Mathilde Cloutier, who was born and raised in Ste-Cécile-de-Masham, Pontiac County, Quebec, like Pierre and his family. They had five children: two sons and three daughters.

Mathilde’s burial record doesn’t indicate the cause of death (such records rarely did), but she was 62 years old at her death. Her husband was present at the funeral on 18 April, along with their son Joseph, my grandfather’s eldest half-brother.

I don’t know what kind of relationship Fred had with his stepmother. I wish I had thought of asking him when he was older after I got interested in genealogy.

Mathilde Cloutier burial record (Ancestry)

The burial record above reads in French:

Ce dix-huit avril mil neuf cent vingt-trois / je soussigné curé de cette paroisse ai / inhumé dans notre cimetière le / corps de Mathilde Cloutier, épouse / de Pierre Belair, de cette paroisse / et y décédée avant-hier âgée de / soixante ans. Etaient pré / sents Pierre Belair, Joseph Belair et autres parents et amis qui ne / revinrent pas après le service. 
[signed] Hector Yelle, ptre

My English translation:

This 18 April nineteen hundred and twenty-three / I undersigned [parish priest] of this parish have / interred in our cemetery the / body of Mathilde Cloutier, wife of Pierre Belair, of this parish / and who died [the day] before yesterday aged of / sixty years. Were pre / sent Pierre Belair, Joseph Belair and other relatives and friends who did not / return [to the church] after the [burial] service. 
[signed] Hector Yelle, [priest]

Source:

1. Ste-Cécile (Ste-Cécile-de-Masham, Quebec), parish register, 1918-1930, p. 95 verso, entry no. S.11 (1923), Mathilde Cloutier burial, 18 April 1923; Ste-Cécile-de-Masham parish; digital images, “Quebec Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967”, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 30 March 2018).

Copyright © 2018, Yvonne Demoskoff.

Church Record Sunday: Marie-Antoinette Chouart and Her Godchildren

Marie-Antoinette Chouart (1661-1731) was the daughter of the famous explorer and coureur de bois Médard Chouart, sieur des Groseilliers. She acted as godmother on several occasions to local French and Aboriginal children.

The first time was on 1 May 1674 in Trois-Rivières, when Marie-Antoinette was only 12 years old. (She turned 13 three weeks later.) She was godmother nine other times, from 1674 to 1717, when she was 56 years old.

Marie-Antoinette had five godsons and five goddaughters.

All were French, except Louis Ouramanampek, an Aboriginal.

Four of five of Marie-Antoinette’s goddaughters were named after her.

All the godchildren were infants at their baptism. The two exceptions are Marie Antoinette Barabbé in 1674, whose baptism record doesn’t mention her age, although she was likely a newborn or only a few days old. The second exception is Louis Ourmanampek, who was an adult when he received the Sacrament of Baptism in 1674.

Here is the list of Marie-Antoinette’s godchildren:

Marie-Antoinette could write her name. She signed seven of the ten baptism records. In the example below from 1697, we can see her beautiful, easy-to-read, balanced signature (indicated by the red arrow): “Marie antoinette choüard”.

Baptism record of Marie Catherine Jolive [11]

Sources:

Image credit: CCO Public Domain, Pixabay.

1. “Actes”, database, Programme de recherche en démographie historique (PRDH), (http://www.genealogie.umontreal.ca : accessed 14 August 2009), Adrien Senegal, Baptême no. 87758.

2. “Actes”, database, Programme de recherche en démographie historique (PRDH), (http://www.genealogie.umontreal.ca : accessed 14 August 2009), Marie Antoinette Barabbe, Baptême no. 87762.

3. “Actes”, database, Programme de recherche en démographie historique (PRDH), (http://www.genealogie.umontreal.ca : accessed 14 August 2009), Louis Ouramanampek, Baptême no. 87764.

4. “Actes”, database, Programme de recherche en démographie historique (PRDH), (http://www.genealogie.umontreal.ca : accessed 14 August 2009), Marie Antoinette Verger, Baptême no. 19435.

5. “Actes”, database, Programme de recherche en démographie historique (PRDH), (http://www.genealogie.umontreal.ca : accessed 14 August 2009), Marie Antoinette Lorry, Baptême no. 19451.

6. “Actes”, database, Programme de recherche en démographie historique (PRDH), (http://www.genealogie.umontreal.ca : accessed 14 August 2009), Jean Baptiste Delpesche Belair, Baptême no. 19508.

7. “Actes”, database, Programme de recherche en démographie historique (PRDH), (http://www.genealogie.umontreal.ca : accessed 14 August 2009), Marie Antoinette Desoye, Baptême no. 19512.

8. “Actes”, database, Programme de recherche en démographie historique (PRDH), (http://www.genealogie.umontreal.ca : accessed 14 August 2009), Marie Catherine Jolive, Baptême no. 41812.

9. “Actes”, database, Programme de recherche en démographie historique (PRDH), (http://www.genealogie.umontreal.ca : accessed 14 August 2009), Pierre Bouchard, Baptême no. 43009.

10. “Actes”, database, Programme de recherche en démographie historique (PRDH), (http://www.genealogie.umontreal.ca : accessed 14 August 2009), Charles Reaume, Baptême no. 13993.

11. Notre-Dame (Montréal, Quebec), parish register, 1695-1699, no page no., no entry no. (1697), Marie Jolive baptism, 25 September 1697; Notre-Dame parish; digital image, “Le LAFRANCE”, Généalogie Québec (http://www.genealogiequebec.com : accessed 17 May 2017).

Copyright © 2017, Yvonne Demoskoff.

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.

Church Record Sunday: Jeanne Petit’s 1733 Burial Record

Born about 1656, Jeanne Petit was originally from Ste-Marguerite parish in La Rochelle, France. [1] She came to New France as a fille du roi in 1672. [2] That September, Jeanne entered into a marriage contract with François Séguin dit Ladéroute, a soldier from Picardie, France. They married the following month in Boucherville, now a suburb of Montreal. [3] Jeanne and François were the parents of six sons and five daughters. [4] Interestingly, I descend from three of those children: Françoise (1674-1751), Pierre (1682-1760) and Simon (1684-1758).

Jeanne died on 29 March 1733. She was buried the next day in the cemetery of St-Antoine-de-Padoue church in Longueuil. For some reason, the attending priest recorded her name as Françoise in her burial record. [5] Many people were present at the funeral: her daughter Jeanne and Jeanne’s husband Charles Patenaude, her son-in-law François Achin (Marie Madeleine Séguin’s second husband), as well as Charles Varri, Charles Truto and others.

Jeanne Petit's burial record (FamilySearch.org)

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

L’an de nôtre seigneur mil sept cent trente et trois [...] / 30 mars a eté inhumé dans le cimetière de cette paroisse Le corps de / francoise petit, veufve de defunct Francois seguin Dit Laderoute envi / ron quatre vingt dix ans, decedée de hier, après avoir recu [la?] / penitence et extreme onction, en presence de jeanne seguin, pate / notre fille et fils de la defuncte, de francois achin son gendre [de] charles / varri de charles truto et de plusieurs autres qui [ne?] signent 
j. ysambart pr. cure De Longueuil 

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

The year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and thirty three [...] / 30 March was interred in the cemetery of this parish The body of / francoise petit, widow of late Francois seguin Dit Laderoute approximately / ninety years old, died yesterday, after having received [the?] / [sacrament of] reconciliation and extreme unction, in the presence of jeanne seguin, pate / notre daughter and son[-in-law] of the deceased, of francois achin her son-in-law [of] charles / varri of charles truto and of many others who did [not?] sign [their names] 
j. ysambart [priest of] Longueuil 

Father Ysambart noted that Jeanne was about 90 years old at her death, but she was more likely about 77 years old.

An epidemic raged in the St. Lawrence valley, including Longueuil, in 1733. [6] Many burial records in St-Antoine-de-Padoue’s sacramental register for that year indicate “picote”, aka “variole” (smallpox), as the cause of death for its parishioners, but Jeanne’s burial record does not mention this disease.

Sources:

1. René Jetté, Dictionnaire généalogique des familles du Québec (Montréal: Les Presses de l’Université de Montréal, 1983), 1041. Jeanne’s age (25) on the 1681 census of New France gives her an approximate year of birth of 1656.

2. Peter J. Gagné, King’s Daughters and Founding Mothers: The Filles du Roi, 1663-1673, 2 vols. (Pawtucket, Rhode Island: Quintin Publications, 2001), 2: 451.

3. Jetté, Dictionnaire, 1041.

4. “Dictionnaire”, database, Programme de recherche en démographie historique (PRDH) (http://www.genealogie.umontreal.ca : accessed 7 December 2016), Francois Seguin Laderoute – Jeanne Petit, Famille, no. 4015.

5. St-Antoine-de-Padoue (Longueuil, Quebec), parish register, 1731-1767, page no., if any, illegible, recto, entry no. S.18 (1733), Françoise Petit (sic) burial, 30 March 1733; St-Antoine-de-Padoue parish; digital images, “Québec, registres paroissiaux catholiques, 1621-1979”, FamilySearch.org (https://familysearch.org/ : accessed 7 December 2016).

6. Rénald Lessard, Au temps de la petite vérole: La médecine au Canada aux XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles (Québec: Septentrion, 2012), 34.

Copyright © 2017, Yvonne Demoskoff.

Church Record Sunday: Angélique Desautels’ 1699 Baptism Record

With Christmas just one week away, I searched my ancestor database for an ancestor who was born on Christmas Day. The closest I got, though, were two ancestors who were baptised on December 25th: Angélique Desautels (1699-1780) and Augustin Rochon (1728-1805).

I wrote about Augustin, my paternal 6x great-grandfather, two years ago; see 52 Ancestors: #52 Augustin Rochon, born on Christmas Eve. Today, I’m featuring Angélique Desautels, ancestor no. 965, my maternal 7x great-grandmother.

Eldest child of Pierre Desautels dit Lapointe and his wife Thérèse-Angélique Thuillier, Angélique was born on 24 December 1699, eleven months after her parents’ marriage in Montreal. [1] She was likely a premature baby or appeared in danger of dying, because she was baptised without delay at home by her paternal grandfather Pierre Desautels. [2]

Newborn Angélique survived and was baptised the next day on Christmas in Notre-Dame church in Montreal. Father R.C. de Breslay, a French-born Sulpician and Notre-Dame’s parish priest, administered the Sacrament. [3] In attendance at the ceremony were Angélique’s father Pierre and her godparents Pierre Desautels (her paternal grandfather) and Jeanne Bernard [sic] (her maternal grandmother). [4] Of those three, only Pierre, grand-père, declared he could sign his name, which he did. (His signature appears just before that of the priest, in the second image below.)

Angélique Desautels' 1699 baptism record (FamilySearch)

My transcription of Angélique’s baptism record, above (original lineation indicated by / ):

Le vinq cinquième Décembre mil six cent / quatre vinq dix neuf les ceremonies du baptême / ont étés supplies a Angelique fille de pierre / Desautels et d’Angelique Thuillier [sa femme] née / et ondoiée a la maison par pierre Desautels grand- / pere [du dit] enfant le vinq quatrieme des mois / et an [le dit] grand pere a servi de parein aux ceremonies / La mareine Jeanne Benard femme de Jacques Thuillier / le pere et la mareine ont declaré ne savoir signer / de ce interpollés suivant l’ordonnance / 
[signed] P desautels / R C De Breslay [prêtre] faisant / les fonctions curiales

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

The twenty fifth December one thousand six hundred / ninety six the ceremonies of baptism /  were substituted to Angelique daughter of pierre / Desautels and of Angelique Thuillier [his wife] born / and [provisionally] baptised at home by pierre Desautels grand- / father [of said] child the twenty fourth of the month / and year [the said] grand father has served as godfather at the ceremonies / The godmother Jeanne Benard wife of Jacques Thuillier / the father and the godmother having declared they could not sign [their names] / added to [the text] following the regulation /  
[signed] P desautels / R C De Breslay [priest] performing / the parish functions

In January 1720, Angélique married Simon Sicard, a miller, by whom she had eleven children. Angélique died on 13 September 1780 in Sault-au-Récollet, in present-day Montreal. [5]

Sources:

1. René Jetté, Dictionnaire généalogique des familles du Québec (Montréal: Les Presses de l’Université de Montréal, 1983), 338.

2. Notre-Dame-de-Montréal (Montreal, Quebec), parish register, 1642-1699, no page no., no entry no. (1699), Angelique Desautels baptism, 25 December 1699; Notre-Dame-de-Montréal parish; digital images, “Quebec, Catholic Parish Registers, 1621-1979”, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ : accessed 9 December 2016).

3. E. A. Chard, “Breslay, René-Charles de”, Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 2, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003– (http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/breslay_rene_charles_de_2E.html : accessed 9 December 2016).

4. Notre-Dame-de-Montréal, parish register, 1642-1699, Angelique Desautels baptism, 25 December 1699.

5. “Dictionnaire”, database, Programme de recherche en démographie historique (PRDH) (http://www.genealogie.umontreal.ca : accessed 9 December 2016), Marie Angelique Therese Desautels Lapointe, Individu no. 24106.

Copyright © 2016, Yvonne Demoskoff.

Church Record Sunday: Médard Chouart, sieur des Groseilliers’ 1618 Baptism Record

Nearly 400 hundred years ago, my maternal ancestor Médard Chouart, sieur des Groseilliers, was born in Charly-sur-Marne, France.

Médard Chouart's baptism record [1]

I downloaded the record (above) a few years ago, but could only partially decipher the Latin text:

31 […] [die?] […] [x. […] [baptizatur?] [fuii?] Medardus filius Medar / Souar de Mariae Poirier [coningmy?] [C---iraxman?] fui Ant[onius / Chouar maxenna aubry Fllim […]

Basically, the words translate into English as Medar, son of Medar Chouar and Marie Poirier, was baptised on 31 July1618. The godfather was Antoine Chouart, presumably brother to the elder Médard. [2]

The officiating priest of St-Martin, a 12th century church, did not indicate when Médard was born, but it’s reasonable to think that he received the Sacrament the day he was born or the next day.

Few details are known about Médard’s early years due to the “obscurity that covers his youth”. [3]

Sources:

1. Saint-Martin parish (Charly-sur-Marne, France), Registres paroissiaux et d’état civil, Baptêmes 1600-1645, vue: 126/364, poste: 242; baptême, Medardus Souar [sic], 31 juillet 1618; digital image, Archives Départementales de l’Aisne (www.archives.aisne/fr : accessed 8 September 2012).

2. Grace Lee Nute, Caesars of the Wilderness: Médard Chouart, Sieur Des Groseilliers and Pierre Esprit Radisson, 1618-1710 (St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press, reprint, 1978), 2.

3. Nute, Caesars of the Wilderness, 5.

Copyright © 2016, Yvonne Demoskoff.

Church Record Sunday: Angélina Meunier’s 1896 Burial Record

Two years ago, I wrote about my great-grandmother Angélina Meunier; see 52 Ancestors: #7 Angélina Meunier – My great-grandmother. Today, I focus on her burial record on the 120th anniversary of her death.

Angélina died on 26 July 1896, four days after giving birth to her 11th child, a son, who did not survive. Her funeral took place two days later in Sainte-Cécile parish church in Masham (now La Pêche), Quebec.[1]

Angélina Meunier burial record (Ancestry)

Here’s a close-up version:

Angélina Meunier burial record, cropped (Ancestry)

The burial record (above) reads in French:

Le vingt-huit Juillet, mil huit cent quatre vingt-seize, nous / soussigné, Curé de cette paroisse, avons inhumé, dans le cime / tière paroissial, le corps d’Angélina Meunier, décédée / l’avant-veille, en cette paroisse, à l’âge de quarante et / un ans, épouse de Pierre Bélair, cultivateur, de cette parois / se. Étaient presents Pierre Bélair, époux de la Défunte, Jo- / seph Pinsonneault, cultivateur, qui n’ont pas su signer; / plusieurs Dames de la Congrégation de Ste. Anne, dont la / Défunte faisait partie, qui ont signé avec nous. Lec / ture faite. [Signatures of twenty-four women belonging to the Dames de la Congrégation de Ste. Anne, followed by the officiating priest.]

My English translation:

The twenty-eight July, one thousand one hundred ninety-six, we / undersigned, [parish priest] of this parish, have interred, in the parochial ceme / tery, the body of Angélina Meunier, deceased / the previous day, in this parish, at the age of forty / one years, spouse of Pierre Bélair, farmer, of the pari / sh. Were present Pierre Bélair, spouse of the Deceased, Jo- / seph Pinsonneault, farmer, [neither of] who knew how to sign [their names]; / several Ladies of the Congregation of Ste. Anne, of which the / Deceased belonged, who signed with us. Reading [of this record] done. [Signatures of twenty-four women belonging to the Dames de la Congrégation de Ste. Anne, followed by the officiating priest.]

Source:

1. Ste-Cécile (Ste-Cécile-de-Masham, Quebec), parish register, 1887-1898, p. 209 verso, entry no. S.20 (1896), Angélina Meunier burial, 28 July 1896; Ste-Cécile-de-Masham parish; digital images, “Quebec Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967”, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 1 March 2012).

Copyright © 2016, Yvonne Demoskoff.

Church Record Sunday: Marie-Antoinette Chouart’s 1731 Burial Record

July 5, 2016 marks the 285th anniversary of the death of my 7x maternal great-grandmother, Marie-Antoinette Chouart.

A daughter of intrepid explorer Médard Chouart, sieur des Groseilliers, Marie-Antoinette was born in June 1661 in Trois-Rivières.

In November 1677, Marie-Antoinette entered into a marriage contract with Jean Jalot, originally from Picardie, France, by whom she had eight children. Jean was killed by the Iroquois in July 1690. Five years later, Marie-Antoinette married Jean-Baptiste Bouchard dit Dorval in Montreal on 19 December 1695. The couple had six children, including son Jean-Baptiste (1698-1755), my ancestor.

Marie-Antoinette Chouart's burial record (Généalogie Québec.com)

Marie-Antoinette died on 5 July 1731. The officiating priest, Cheze, recorded that she died at ten or two o’clock (the handwriting is difficult to read) in the morning. She was buried the next day in Montreal’s Notre-Dame cemetery. [1]

Her burial record (above) reads in French:

Le Sixieme Jour du mois de Juillet de L’annee / mil sept cent trente et un a ete inhumée dans le / cimetière [pres de] l’eglise le corps de marie antoinette / chouar agée de soixante et dix ans veuve de Jean / baptiste bouchart dit dorval, decedee le Jour precedent / vers les dix [deux?] heures du matin. ont ete present [?] Deat prêtre et talbot ecclesiatique qui ont Signé / avec nous[signed Deat / Talbot / Cheze]

My English translation:

The Sixth Day of the month of July of the year / one thousand thirty one was buried in the / cemetery [near the] church the body of marie antoinette / chouar aged seventy years widow of Jean / baptiste bouchart dit dorval, died the previous day / about ten [two?] hours of the morning. were present Deat priest and talbot ecclesiastic who have Signed [their names] with us[signed Deat / Talbot / Cheze]

Source:

1. Notre-Dame (Montreal, Quebec), parish register, 1726-1733, p. 133 recto, no entry no. (1731), Marie Antoinette Chouar [sic] burial, 6 July 1731; Notre-Dame parish; digital images, “Le LAFRANCE”, Généalogie Québec (http://www.genealogiequebec.com : accessed 18 December 2014).

Copyright © 2016, Yvonne Demoskoff.

Church Record Sunday: Françoise Paquet’s 1731 Burial Record

Two hundred and eighty-five years ago, my 7x maternal great-grandmother Françoise Paquet dite Lavallée died on or about 22 February 1731. [1] A pious and Christian woman, according to her parish priest, she died in peculiar circumstances.

Françoise Paquet burial record (Ancestry)

First, some background. One of fourteen children of Isaac (Etienne) Paquet dit Lavallée, a French-born soldier, by his wife Elisabeth (Isabelle) Meunier, Françoise was born on 23 November 1682 in St-Laurent on Ile d’Orléans. [2]

Shortly before her twenty-first birthday, Françoise married Charles Lacasse on 12 September 1703 in Beaumont, a village on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River across from Quebec City. [3] The couple had ten children, including Jean Baptiste (1713-1792), my ancestor.

In early December 1730, Charles and Françoise’s 19-year-old son Charles died. [4] His burial record does not state the cause of death, but his passing must have been a great loss to his parents.

On 22 February 1731, Françoise flees from her home in an impaired mental state. The nearby woods are searched, but Françoise is not located. Could her son’s death have precipitated an emotional crisis and led her to lose her reason?

A few weeks later, a young girl looking for domestic animals that had wandered into the forest happened across Françoise’s body. She appeared to have succumbed to the cold weather or from lack of food. Her funeral took place on 23 May 1731 in St-Etienne parish church in Beaumont.

Françoise’s burial record (above) reads in French:

Le ving et trois de may de l’an mil sept cent trente / et un a eté inhumé le corps de françoise paquet dit / Lavallée agée d’environ cinquante cinq ans morte le / vingt et deux du mois de février a ce que nous présumons / qui est le jour que [la dite] femme de Charles Lacasse de / cette paroisse s’est enfuie de chez elle étant privée / de l’usage de ses sens, et qu’on a lieu de croire quelle est / morte ce jour la du froid ou de la faim; elle a été / trouvée par une fille cherchant des bestiaux La vie / quelle a menée nous fait esperaie que Le Seigneur Luy / a fait misericorde ayant vécû en bon exemple et / piété; [La dite] inhumation a eté faite en presence de Jacques / Fournier et de Joachim moleur qui ont declaré ne / savoir signer de ce enquis Suivant l’ordonnance
[signed J. Chasle ptre]

My English translation:

The twenty and three of may of the year one thousand seven hundred thirty / and one was interred the body of françoise paquet dit / Lavallée aged about fifty five years died the / twenty and two of the month of February to which we presume / was the day when the said spouse of Charles Lacasse of / this parish had run away from home being deprived / of the use of her senses, and we are led to believe that she / died that day of frost or of starvation; she was found by a girl looking for farm animals The life / that she led leads us to hope that The Lord has / show mercy [for she] had lived in good example and / piety; The said interrement was done in the presence of Jacques / Fournier and of Joachim moleur who declared they / could not sign [their names] [burial record read aloud for approval] according to regulations
[signed J. Chasle priest]

Parish priests do not ordinarily give so much information about a parishioner’s demise in a burial record. Father Chasle obviously felt compelled to document as fully as possible the circumstances of Françoise’s death. I am grateful for his attention to detail.

Sources:

1. St-Etienne (Beaumont, Quebec), parish register, 1731, p. 4 recto, no entry no., Françoise Paquet burial, 23 May 1731; St-Etienne parish; digital images, “Quebec, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967”, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 19 April 2016).

2. “Dictionnaire”, database, Programme de recherche en démographie historique (PRDH) (http://www.genealogie.umontreal.ca : accessed 20 April 2016), Isaac Etienne Paquet Lavallee – Elisabeth Isabelle Meunier, Famille no. 3173.

3. Cyprien Tanguay, Dictionnaire généalogique des familles canadiennes, 7 vols (1871–1890, reprint, Montréal: Editions Elysée, 1991), II: 575.

4. “Dictionnaire”, database, Programme de recherche en démographie historique (PRDH) (http://www.genealogie.umontreal.ca : accessed 19 April 2016), Charles Lacasse – Marie Francoise Paquet Lavallee, Famille no. 85852.

Copyright © 2016, Yvonne Demoskoff.

Church Record Sunday: Marie Elisabeth Martel’s 1816 Burial Record

Two hundred years ago this month, my paternal 4x great-grandmother, Marie Elisabeth Martel, died.

Marie Elisabeth Martel burial record (Ancestry)

Marie Elisabeth was born on 16 August 1733 in St-Antoine-de-Tilly, located on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River, near Quebec City. She was the eldest child of Joseph (Louis) Martel by his first wife Marie Légaré.

When she was 16½ years old, Marie Elisabeth married Pierre Jean Boileau (Bouleau) on 7 January 1750 in Ste-Geneviève (now Pierrefonds), just west of Montreal. The couple had four children (the two youngest died when infants) before Pierre died in June 1760.

Widow Marie Elisabeth remarried on 7 January 1761 in Ste-Geneviève. Her second husband, François Janvry dit Belair, was a French-born soldier. Their six children, including my ancestor Pierre (1772-1848), were born in Ste-Geneviève.

Marie Elisabeth died on 13 May 1816. [1] She was buried the next day in Ste-Geneviève. The priest recorded her age as 86, but she was three months shy of her 83rd birthday.

The burial record (above) reads in French:

L’an mil huit cent seize quatorze mai je soussigné ai inhumé dans le / cimetière le corps de marie elisabeth martel femme d [blank space] janvry / habitant de cette paroisse décédé d’hier agée de quatre vingt six / ans munie des Sacrements furent presents pierre [pilon?] forcier louis / lalonde et antoine Demers qui n’ont su signer [signed Dumouchelle ptre]

My English translation:

The year one thousand eight hundred sixteen fourteen may I undersigned have interred in the / cemetery the boy of marie elisabeth martel wife of [blank space] janvry / settler of this parish died of yesterday aged eighty six / years provided with the Sacraments were present pierre [pilon?] forcier louis / lalonde et antoine Demers who did not know how to sign [their names] [signed Dumouchelle priest]

Source:

1. Ste-Geneviève (Pierrefonds, Quebec), parish register, 1812-1823, p. 90 verso, no entry no. (1816), Marie Elisabeth Martel burial, 14 May 1816; Ste-Geneviève parish; digital images, “Quebec, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967”, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 28 April 2008).

Copyright © 2016, Yvonne Demoskoff.

Church Record Sunday: Pierre Belair’s 1941 Burial Record

Seventy-five years ago, my paternal great-grandfather Pierre Belair died on 6 May 1941.[1] He was 89½ years old, the father of 16 children (ten predeceased him), and outlived three wives.

I first saw Pierre’s burial record when I visited Ste-Cécile-de-Masham (now La Pêche), Gatineau County, Quebec in the 1980s. The parish church secretary allowed me to look at and photocopy family records from Ste-Cécile’s sacramental registers. Years later, I got the opportunity to re-view my great-grandfather’s burial record after I got a subscription to Ancestry.ca. The image, my transcription and my translation are from that site.

Pierre’s burial record (above) reads in French:

Le huit mai mil neuf cent quarante et un, nous soussigné / curé avons inhumé dans le cimétière de cette paroisse / le corps de Pierre Bélair époux de feues Anna Meunier / Mathilde Cloutier et de Rosalie Lavictoire, décédé en / cette paroisse, muni des derniers Sacrements de l’Eglise / le six du courant mois à l’âge de quatre-vingt-dix / ans et cinq mois. Furent présents Joseph Bélair, Paul / Bélair et autres qui ont signé. Lecture faite.
[signed Paul Bélair / Joseph Bélair / J.R.X. Filiatreault ptre curé]

My English translation:

The eight May one thousand one hundred forty one, we undersigned / [parish priest] have interred in the cemetery of this parish / the body of Pierre Bélair spouse of the late Anna Meunier / Mathilde Cloutier and of Rosalie Lavictoire, died / in this parish, provided with the last Sacrements of the Church / the six of the current month at the age of ninety / years and five months. Were present Joseph Bélair, Paul / Bélair and others who signed. Reading [of this record] done.
[signed Paul Bélair / Joseph Bélair / J.R.X. Filiatreault parish priest]

Most of my CRS posts end about here, but today I’m adding something else: a summary of what I learned about Pierre from this record.

One thing I didn’t learn, though, was if my grandfather Fred, Pierre’s younger son, attended his father’s funeral. His name is not recorded as being present, but I suspect that he wasn’t there. Fred, who lived in the small village of Fauquier in northern Ontario, might not have received the sad news in time to make the journey to Masham.

Source:

1. Ste-Cécile (Ste-Cécile-de-Masham, Quebec), parish register, 1930-1943, p. 326 (stamped), entry no. S.7 (1941), Pierre Bélair burial, 8 May 1941; Ste-Cécile-de-Masham parish; digital images, “Quebec Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967”, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 1 March 2012).

Copyright © 2016, Yvonne Demoskoff.