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: Frappier – Neveu Marriage

My 3x paternal great-grandparents Michel Frappier and Louise Neveu married on 31 January 1836. [1] Today marks the 180th anniversary of their union.

Michel and Louise were married by Pascal Brunet, the curé (curate) of Notre-Dame-de-Bonsecours church in Petite Nation seigneurie, Lower Canada. It was one of six marriages he performed that day. Father Brunet undertook a mission in early 1836 to serve the needs of Roman Catholics who lived in nearby counties that didn’t have resident priests. This particular mission took him to the remote settlements of Grand Calumet, la Passe, Fort Coulonge, and Ile aux Allumettes in what is now Pontiac County, Quebec. [2]

After the mission was completed, the baptism and marriage records were placed in the archives of Notre-Dame church in Ottawa, not in Father Brunet’s own parish.

It’s unfortunate that the Frappier – Neveu marriage record contains the minimum of information: names of the bride and groom and names of the witnesses. Additional details that were required by ecclesiastical law and civil law are missing: for instance, Michel and Louise’ ages, their parish or place of residence, their marital status, and most importantly, the names of their parents. [3]

Father Brunet also did not record if Michel and Louise were previously married and if such a marriage required to be rehabilitated. They appear to have lived as a couple, however, since about 1832, when their daughter Elizabeth (my 2x great-grandmother) was born. [4]

The marriage record (above) reads in French:

Michel Frappier et Louise Neveu, en présen / ce de Frs Leclerc, Hubert Neveu, Louis Lamarche.

In English:

Michel Frappier and Louise Neveu, in the presen / ce of Frs Leclerc, Hubert Neveu, Louis Lamarche.

Sources:

1. Notre-Dame (Ottawa, Ontario), parish register, 1825-1836, p. 301, entry no. 2 (1836), Michel Frappier – Louise Neveu marriage, 31 January 1836; Notre-Dame parish; digital images, “Quebec, Catholic Parish Registers, 1621-1979”, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org : accessed 30 January 2016).

2. Notre-Dame (Ottawa, Ontario), parish register, 1825-1836, p. 300 and p. 302; digital images, “Quebec, Catholic Parish Registers, 1621-1979”, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org : accessed 30 January 2016).

3. René Jetté, Traité de généalogie (Montréal: Les Presses de l’Université de Montréal, 1991), 438, “Tableau 10.3: Evolution du contenu des actes de mariage d’après la réglementation ecclésiastique en vigueur au Québec” [Evolution of the contents of marriage records according to ecclesiastical regulation in force in Quebec].

4. Notre-Dame (Ottawa, Ontario), parish register, 1825-1836, no page no., entry no. B.3 (1836), Nancy Frappier [sic] baptism, 1 February 1836; Notre-Dame parish; digital images, “Quebec, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967”, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 28 May 2011).

Copyright © 2016, Yvonne Demoskoff.