Wedding Wednesday: Laronde – Kekijicakoe

One of the more interesting weddings among my ancestors is that of Toussaint Laronde, a voyageur, and his Native American (possibly Algonquin) wife Marie Kekijicakoe, from whom I descend patrilineally. [1]

Toussaint and Marie seem to have been a couple from about 1812 or 1813 when their first child (daughter Angélique) was born. There were thirteen more children born to them until about 1839. [2] I’ve written about two of those children in Sibling Saturday: Euphrosine and Elisabeth Laronde.

In 1837, Toussaint and Marie married in a Roman Catholic ceremony officiated by Father Pascal Brunet, a missionary priest from Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours, now Montebello, Papineau County, Quebec. [3] Toussaint and Marie were granted a dispensation to marry because of their relationship of second degree of consanguinity (they were first cousins). [4]

I searched digitized images of the parish registers of Petite Nation and Buckingham (both in the province of Quebec) and Notre-Dame Cathedral in Ottawa, Ontario for 1836-1837, where some of Father Brunet’s sacramental records are conserved, but didn’t find an entry showing this Laronde marriage. [5]

Before they married, Toussaint baptised (specifically, “ondoyé”) Marie. [6] A spiritual affinity or relationship thus formed between the one who baptised (Toussaint) and the one who was baptised (Marie). [7] Father Brunet was not aware of this baptism and the resulting affinity, an impediment to the marriage.

It wasn’t until a year later that another missionary, Father Louis-Charles Lefebvre de Bellefeuille, a Sulpician priest from Montreal, discovered the impediment. [8] He accordingly granted two dispensations (spiritual affinity and consanguinity) and rehabilitated or ‘ratified’ Toussaint and Marie’s 1837 marriage, making their union canonically valid. [9] The rehabilitation took place on 28 August 1838 at Poste des Allumettes on Ile des Allumettes in Pontiac County, Quebec. [10]

Note that no mention is made in Toussaint and Marie’s 1838 marriage record that they were previously wed in a Native American ceremony or that they received an annulment for such a ceremony. [11]

Finally, here are images from the FHL microfilm showing the marriage rehabilitation record, followed by my English translation of the French text. I originally prepared the translation (Appendix C, further below) on 20 March 2011 when I put together my Laronde research in a 23-page document (“The Family of Toussaint Laronde and Marie Kekijicakoe”); it appears on my blog for the first time.

Marriage rehabilitation record of Toussaint and Marie Laronde (page 77 verso and page 78 recto)

Marriage rehabilitation record of Toussaint and Marie Laronde (page 78 verso)

English translation of the marriage rehabilitation record

Sources:

1. Marie’s surname is “Kekijicakoe” in her son François’ baptismal entry. (Her name appears to be spelled Kekiji[cakoe], although it is somewhat difficult to decipher.) To date, this is the only record I have found in which Marie’s Aboriginal surname is explicitly stated. St-Grégoire-de-Nazianze (Buckingham, Quebec), parish register, 1839-1854, p. 35 verso, entry no. B136 (1840), Francis Laronde baptism, 15 September 1840; St-Grégoire-de-Nazianze parish; digital image, “Quebec Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967”, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 28 February 2011).

2. “Registres paroissiaux” [Régistres des missions de 19 juillet 1836 au 27 may [sic] 1839], p. 77 verso, no entry no. (1838), Laronde – Laronde marriage rehabilitation, 28 August 1838; Family History Library (FHL) microfilm 1703968. Toussaint and Marie had fourteen children, according to their marriage rehabilitation record. By 1838, thirteen survived and they were all legitimated by Father de Bellefeuille when their parents married that year in August. (The deceased child is not identified in the record.) The children and their ages appear in the record in the following order: Denis (23), Angélique (25), Marie (22), Toussaint (19), Euphrosine (17), Anne (15), François (13½), Elizabeth (11), Charles (9½), Eustache (8), Louis (7), Paul (3) and Susanne (4 months). According to some online family trees, Toussaint and Marie were the parents of an elder son named Alexander. The marriage rehabilitation record does not mention Alexander, suggesting that he is not Toussaint and Marie’s son.

3. The marriage rehabilitation record of 1838 states that Father Brunet married the couple “l’année dernière” [last year]. “Registres paroissiaux”, p. 77 verso, Laronde – Laronde marriage rehabilitation, 28 August 1838.

4. “Registres paroissiaux”, p. 77 verso, Laronde – Laronde marriage rehabilitation, 28 August 1838.

5. Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours (Montebello, Quebec), parish register, 1815-1900, pages 118-130 (1837); Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours parish; digital image, “Quebec Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967”, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 28 February 2011). Also, St-Grégoire-de-Nazianze (Buckingham, Quebec), parish register, 1836-1860, pages 1-22 (1836-1837); St-Grégoire-de-Nazianze parish; digital image, “Quebec Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967”, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 20 March 2011). Also, Notre Dame (Ottawa, Ontario), parish register, 1829[-1948], unpaginated, entries no. 19–24 (1836); Notre-Dame parish; digital image, “Ontario, Canada, Catholic Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1747-1967”, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 12 March 2011).

6. “Registres paroissiaux”, p. 77 verso, Laronde – Laronde marriage rehabilitation, 28 August 1838.

7. “The Catholic Encyclopedia”, New Advent (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/ : accessed 18 June 2015), “B: Baptism: Minister of the sacrament: Extraordinary minister”. See also Fr. John Zuhlsdorf, “ASK FATHER: Can a godparent marry a godchild? Confirmation sponsor a confirmand?”, Fr. Z's Blog, 28 October 2014 (http://wdtprs.com/blog/2014/10/ask-father-can-a-godparent-marry-a-godchild-confirmation-sponsor-a-confirmand/ : accessed 18 June 2015).

8. Father de Bellefeuille led three missions from 1836 to 1838 to minister to the Christians and Native Americans who lived at Poste des Allumettes and the nearby region of Lake Timiskaming. It was during his last mission in August 1838 that he rehabilitated Toussaint and Marie’s marriage, before his death that October in Montreal. Dictionary of Canadian Biography/Dictionnaire biographique du Canada (http://www.biographi.ca/en/index.php : accessed 18 June 2015), “Louis-Charles Lefebvre de Bellefeuille”.

9. A rehabilitated marriage is a non-canonically valid marriage that receives official church recognition. “The Catholic Encyclopedia”, New Advent (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/ : accessed 18 June 2015), “V: Validation of Marriage”.

10. “Registres paroissiaux”, p. 77 verso, Laronde – Laronde marriage rehabilitation, 28 August 1838. Poste des Allumettes, also known as Fort William, was a Hudson’s Bay Company trading post situated on the Ottawa River near Sheenboro in Pontiac County, Quebec.

11. “Registres paroissiaux”, p. 77 verso, Laronde – Laronde marriage rehabilitation, 28 August 1838.

Copyright © 2015, Yvonne Demoskoff.

Sibling Saturday: Euphrosine and Elisabeth Laronde

My ancestor Euphrosine Laronde is sometimes confused with her younger sister Elisabeth in family trees at Ancestry.ca. Those muddled trees give her two husbands (Jean-Baptiste Guérard and François-Xavier Gaudette) and give 1878 as her year of death.

Based on my research, Euphrosine had one husband, Guérard, and she died before the 1861 census. It was her younger sister Elisabeth who was the wife of Gaudette, and who died in 1878.

Background Information

Euphrosine and Elisabeth were the daughters of Toussaint Laronde and his Aboriginal wife Marie Kekijicakoe. [1] The Laronde family lived on Ile aux Allumettes, an island located in the Ottawa River between the province of Quebec on the east and the province of Ontario on the west.

Euphrosine was born about 1820 or 1821 at Lake Nipissing. [2] Elisabeth was born between 1826 and 1831 in Ontario or Quebec. [3]

Euphrosine married Jean-Baptiste Guérard at an unknown date and place, but presumably before December 1840. [4] (I’ve written about how I haven’t been able to find their marriage record here.) The couple had three children.

Elisabeth and François-Xavier Gaudette’s date and place of marriage are also unknown, but the event took place before 30 April 1846. [5] They had seven children.

Separate Identities

I examined the sacramental records for the parish of St-Alphonse de Liguori on Ile des Allumettes and made a list of the different names under which the two sisters appeared. The results gave me a better understanding of the sisters’ identities at various times in their lives.

In Euphrosine’s case, she was known as ‘Euphrosine’ as early as 1824. [6] On other occasions, she was known by what appears to be shortened phonetic versions of that name: ‘Frisin’ and ‘Fisina’. [7] Interestingly, I found only one occasion where she was known as ‘Isabella’. [8]

Meanwhile, her sister Elisabeth was known as Elizabeth/Elisabeth, [9] Isabelle/Isabella, [10] or Eliza. [11]

Family Units

Now that Euphrosine and Elisabeth’s names and aliases were established, I turned to baptism records to recreate their family units.

Euphrosine and Jean-Baptiste had three known children:

• Marie (Mary), born December 1840 [12]
• Delina (Célina), born 4 August 1851 [13]
• Euphémie, born 24 October 1852 [14]

All three daughters were baptised at the parish church at Chapeau on Ile aux Allumettes, with the records stating they were the children of Jean Baptiste Guéra[rd] and Euphrosine Laronde (1840), John B. Gerrard and Fisina Laronde (1851), and J.B. Girrard and Felicita Laronde (1852).

Elisabeth and François-Xavier had seven known children:

• Francis (Olivier), born 30 November 1846 [15]
• Michael, born 3 September 1848 [16]
• Mary Julie, born 2 October 1858 [17]
• Andrew (Denis), born 18 January 1861 [18]
• Toussaint, born 12 March 1863 [19]
• Susanne, born 9 June 1864 [20]
• Mederick (Edward), born 20 June 1867 [21]

Like their Guérard cousins, the Gaudette siblings were baptised at Chapeau. The records show they were the children of Francis Gaudette and Isabella Laronde (1846), Xavier Gaudet and Isabella Laronde (1848), Michel [sic] Gaudette and Elisabeth Laronde (1858), Francis [X.] Gaudette and Elizabeth Laronde (1861), Francis Xavier Gaudette and Isabella Le Rhonde (1863), Francis X. Gaudet and Elizabeth Leronde (1864), and Xavier Gaudet and Isabelle Leronde (1867).

More Clues

Two sets of godparents stood out among these baptism records. First, Michael Gaudette’s godparents at his 1848 baptism are recorded as “Michael Gaudet” and “Frisin Laronde”. [22] Although the relationship between the infant and his godparents isn’t stated in the parish register, Michel is likely his father’s brother, while Frisin is likely his mother’s sister. (In French, ‘Frisin’ sounds like a shortened version of ‘Euphrosine’: Euphrosine = Phrosine = Frisin.)

Second, at Delina Guérard’s baptism in 1851, her godparents are named “X. Gaudet” and “Isabell Laronde”. [23] Again, no relationship is stated, but they are likely her mother’s brother-in-law and her sister.

Sorting Death Dates

The exact date and place of Euphrosine’s death is a mystery to me. However, the event occurred between 24 October 1852 when her daughter Euphémie was baptised [24] and the 1861 census of Canada on which her husband is a widower. [25]

Unlike her sister, Elisabeth’s date and place of death are known. Her burial record states that she died on 11 October 1878 and that she was buried in Chapeau two days later. [26] Her widowed husband remarried in 1883. [27]

Conclusion

Sacramental and census records helped untangle fact from fiction and eliminated confusion between Euphrosine and Elisabeth Laronde. They showed that although the sisters both used the name Isabella, Euphrosine married Jean-Baptiste Guérard and died before the 1861 census, while Elisabeth was the wife of François-Xavier Gaudette and died in 1878.

Sources:

1. Marie's surname is "Kekijicakoe" or "Kekijicoköe" in her son François' baptism record. To date, this is the only record I have found in which her Aboriginal surname is stated. St-Grégoire-de-Nazianze (Buckingham, Quebec), parish register, 1839-1854, p. 35 verso, entry no. B136 (1840), Francis Laronde baptism, 15 September 1840; St-Grégoire-de-Nazianze parish; digital image, "Quebec Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967", Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 28 February 2011).

2. “Registres paroissiaux” [Régistres des missions de 19 juillet 1836 au 27 may [sic] 1839], p. 77 verso, no entry no., Laronde – Laronde marriage rehabilitation, 28 August 1838; Family History Library (FHL) microfilm 1703968. Euphrosine’s age (17) is stated in her parents’ marriage record. Also, Ste-Anne (Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue, Quebec), parish register, 1796-1846, p. 54 verso, no entry no. (1824), Euphroisine [sic] Laronde baptism, 28 July 1824; Ste-Anne parish; digital image, “Quebec Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967”, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 4 March 2011). Euphrosine was 3 years old. Her baptismal entry states she was born “au Lac Népiscingue” [at Lake Nipissing].

3. “Registres paroissiaux”, p. 77 verso, Laronde – Laronde marriage rehabilitation, 28 August 1838. Elisabeth was 11 years old. Also, “Registres paroissiaux” [Régistres des missions de 19 juillet 1836 au 27 may [sic] 1839], p. 77 verso, entry no. B117 and B118, Marie and Elizabeth Laronde baptism, 28 August 1838; FHL microfilm 1703968. Elisabeth was about 11 years old. Also, 1871 census of Canada, Allumette Island, Pontiac South, Quebec, population schedule, division 01, subdistrict k, p. 20, dwelling 59, family 71, Elizabeth Gaudette; digital image, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 1 July 2009); citing Library and Archives Canada microfilm C-10025. Elisabeth is 43 years old and her place of birth is Ontario. Also, St-Alphonse (Chapeau, Quebec), parish register, 1876-1886, p. 56 recto, entry no. S15 (1878), Isabelle Laronde burial, 13 October 1878; St-Alphonse parish; digital image, “Quebec Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967”, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 1 April 2009). Elisabeth was 48 years old. Also, 1861 census of Canada, [Allumettes,] Pontiac, Canada East [Quebec], population schedule, p. 12, line 21, Eliza Gaudet [sic]; digital image, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 1 July 2009); citing Library and Archives Canada microfilm C-1305. Elizabeth was 30 years old and was born in Lower Canada [Quebec].

4. Euphrosine and Jean-Baptiste’s marriage date is deduced from when their presumed eldest daughter Marie was born – “dans le mois de décembre dernier” [in the month of last December]. St-Paul (Aylmer, Quebec), parish register, 1841-1851, p. 14 verso, no entry no. (1841), Marie Guérard baptism, 4 February 1841; St-Paul parish; digital image, “Quebec Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967”, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 11 March 2008). Marie’s baptism took place in the “mission de St Alphonse de Liguori des Allumettes”, but the priest recorded the event in St-Paul’s sacramental register.

5. Elisabeth and François-Xavier married before 30 April 1846, because they are described as a married couple who witnessed the marriage of François-Xavier’s brother Michel Gaudet [sic] to Vitaline Généreux on that date. St-Alphonse (Chapeau, Quebec), parish register, 1846-1856, p. 20 verso, entry no. M20 (1846), Gaudet – Généreux marriage, 30 April 1846; St-Alphonse parish; digital image, “Quebec Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967”, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 9 February 2011).

6. Ste-Anne, parish register, 1796-1846, p. 54 verso, Euphroisine [sic] Laronde baptism, 28 July 1824.

7. St-Alphonse (Chapeau, Quebec), parish register, 1846-1856, p. 78 recto, entry no. B76 (1848), Michael Gaudet [sic] baptism, 10 September 1848; St-Alphonse parish; digital image, “Quebec Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967”, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 6 March 2011). Euphrosine’s name is rendered as “Frisin Laronde” in her godchild’s baptism record. Also, St-Alphonse (Chapeau, Quebec), parish register, 1846-1856, p. 137 recto, entry no. B77 (1851), Delina Gerrard [sic] baptism, 5 August 1851; St-Alphonse parish; digital image, “Quebec Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967”, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 11 March 2008). Euphrosine appears as “Fisina Laronde” at her daughter’s baptism.

8. St-Alphonse (Chapeau, Quebec), parish register, 1859-1876, p. 278 recto, entry no. M16 (1870), Foisy – Guérard marriage, 10 October 1870; St-Alphonse parish; digital image, “Quebec Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967”, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 30 March 2009). Euphrosine’s name is given as “Isabella Laronde” in her daughter’s marriage record.

9. “Registres paroissiaux”, p. 77 verso, Marie and Elizabeth Laronde baptism, 28 August 1838. Elisabeth’s name is spelled “Elizabeth” at her baptism. Also, St-Alphonse (Chapeau, Quebec), parish register, 1846-1856 [sic], p. 232 verso, entry no. B55 (1858), Mary Julie Gaudette baptism, 10 October 1858; St-Alphonse parish; digital image, “Quebec Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967”, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 6 March 2011). Elisabeth’s name is spelled “Elisabeth” in her daughter’s baptism record.

10. St-Alphonse, parish register, 1846-1856, p. 20 verso, Gaudet – Généreux marriage, 30 April 1846. Elisabeth’s name is rendered as “Isabelle” on this occasion. Also, St-Alphonse (Chapeau, Quebec), parish register, 1846-1856, p. 39 recto, entry no. B186 (1846), Francis Gaudette baptism, 1 December 1846; St-Alphonse parish; digital image, “Quebec Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967”, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 6 March 2011). Elisabeth appears as “Isabella Laronde” in her son’s baptism record.

11. 1861 census of Canada, [Allumettes,] Pontiac, Canada East [Quebec], pop. sched., p. 12, line 21, Eliza Gaudet [sic].

12. St-Paul, parish register, 1841-1851, p. 14 verso, Marie Guérard baptism, 4 February 1841.

13. St-Alphonse, parish register, 1846-1856, p. 137 recto, Delina Gerrard [sic] baptism, 5 August 1851.

14. St-Alphonse (Chapeau, Quebec), parish register, 1846-1856, p. 164 verso, entry no. B95 (1852), Euph[émie] Guérard baptism, 24 October 1852; St-Alphonse parish; digital image, “Quebec Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967”, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 11 March 2008).

15. St-Alphonse (Chapeau, Quebec), parish register, 1846-1856, p. 39 recto, entry no. B186 (1846), Francis Gaudette baptism, 1 December 1846; St-Alphonse parish; digital image, “Quebec Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967”, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 6 March 2011).

16. St-Alphonse, parish register, 1846-1856, p. 78 recto, Michael Gaudet [sic] baptism, 10 September 1848.

17. St-Alphonse (Chapeau, Quebec), parish register, 1846-1856, p. 232 verso, entry no. B55 (1858), Mary Julie Gaudette baptism, 10 October 1858; St-Alphonse parish; digital image, “Quebec Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967”, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 6 March 2011).

18. St-Alphonse (Chapeau, Quebec), parish register, 1857-1876, p. 44 recto, entry no. B22 (1861), Andrew Gaudette baptism, 2 February 1861; St-Alphonse parish; digital image, “Quebec Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967”, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 22 June 2010).

19. St-Alphonse (Chapeau, Quebec), parish register, 1857-1876, p. 107 verso, entry no. B22 (1863), Toussaint Gaudette baptism, 13 March 1863; St-Alphonse parish; digital image, “Quebec Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967”, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 6 March 2011).

20. St-Alphonse (Chapeau, Quebec), parish register, 1857-1876, p. 141 recto, entry no. B49 (1864), Susanne Gaudet [sic] baptism, 14 June 1864; St-Alphonse parish; digital image, “Quebec Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967”, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 6 March 2011).

21. St-Alphonse (Chapeau, Quebec), parish register, 1857-1876, p. 208 verso, entry no. B52 (1867), Mederick Gaudet [sic] baptism, 24 June 1867; St-Alphonse parish; digital image, “Quebec Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967”, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 6 March 2011).

22. St-Alphonse, parish register, 1846-1856, p. 78 recto, Michael Gaudet [sic] baptism, 10 September 1848.

23. St-Alphonse, parish register, 1846-1856, p. 137 recto, Delina Gerrard [sic] baptism, 5 August 1851.

24. St-Alphonse, parish register, 1846-1856, p. 164 verso, Euph[émie] Guérard baptism, 24 October 1852.

25. 1861 census of Canada, [Township of Chichester,] Pontiac, Canada East [Quebec], population schedule, p. 132, line 11, Bte Gerard [sic]; digital image, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 8 June 2010); citing Library and Archives Canada microfilm C-1305. The official enumeration date was 14 January 1861.

26. St-Alphonse, parish register, 1876-1886, p. 56 recto, Isabelle Laronde burial, 13 October 1878.

27. François-Xavier married widow Maria Pack on 16 October 1883 in Chapeau. St-Alphonse (Chapeau, Quebec), parish register, 1876-1886, p. 139 recto, entry no. M13 (1883), Gaudette – Pack marriage, 16 October 1883; St-Alphonse parish; digital image, “Quebec Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967”, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 1 April 2009).

Copyright (c) 2013, Yvonne Demoskoff.