Funeral Card Friday: Agnes Burchill

Agnes Burchill was the youngest sister of my paternal grandmother Julie (Vanasse) Belair.

“Aunt Aggie”, as my late father knew her, lived in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada since the late-1930s. I think the only time I met her was when my family and I were there on vacation, probably in the 1980s. We visited her and her husband “Uncle Freddie” at their apartment in a multi-storied building one afternoon. It was a real pleasure to meet my great-aunt because she was a connection to my beloved Mémère Julie. I was researching my family tree at this time, so I came prepared with questions for Aggie and Freddie. Unfortunately, I don’t know what happened to those notes and now remember very little about that visit.

Youngest child and youngest daughter of Olivier and Elizabeth (Vanasse) Vanasse, Agnes was born on 12 September 1905 in Chapeau, Pontiac County, Quebec. She had eight older siblings: Mary, George, William, Cecilia, Julie (my grandmother), Joseph, Corine and David.

Agnes died on 28 June 2000, Freddie having predeceased her in November 1989. They were both laid to rest at Capital Funeral Home & Cemetery in Ottawa.

Copyright © 2016, Yvonne Demoskoff.

Sunday’s Obituary: David Venasse

Great-uncle David was my grandmother Julie (Vanasse) Belair’s youngest brother. Some of the family spelled their last name Vanasse, others spelled it Venasse.

David, the eighth of nine children of Olivier and Elizabeth (Vanasse) Vanasse, was born on 3 May 1903 on Ile des Allumettes, Pontiac County, Quebec. He married Louise St-Martin in June 1929 and they adopted a son, Glen.

I don’t think I ever met David or Louise, but my Dad used to talk about his Uncle Dave to me.

A resident of Pembroke, Ontario, David passed away of cancer on 28 May 1979 in Queensway-Carleton Hospital in nearby Ottawa, Ontario. [1] His funeral took place three days later in Petawawa, just north of Pembroke, and he was interred in Chapeau on Ile des Allumettes. [2]

David’s death was a great blow to his wife Louise and to his surviving sisters Celia and Agnes, who were devoted to their brother.

Sources:

1. Agnes (Vanasse) Burchill (Ottawa, Ontario) to “Dear Joan”, letter, 1 June 1979; privately held by Yvonne (Belair) Demoskoff, British Columbia, 2016. Yvonne received assorted family memorabilia, including this letter, from her aunt Joan (Belair) Laneville when she visited her home in May 2014. Joan was Agnes’ niece.

2. “Venasse”, obituary, undated clipping, 1979, from unidentified newspaper; privately held by Yvonne (Belair) Demoskoff, British Columbia, 2016. Yvonne received assorted family memorabilia, including this obituary, from her aunt Joan (Belair) Laneville when she visited her home in May 2014. Joan, David’s niece, received it from his sister Agnes (Vanasse) Burchill in a letter to Joan dated 1 June 1979.

Copyright © 2016, Yvonne Demoskoff.

Workday Wednesday: Maurice Belair, Bushworker

Rural Preliminary List of Electors, 1945 (Ancestry)

I knew that my late father, Maurice Belair, worked in bush camps as a young man, but I didn’t know the details. I recently called my Aunt Joan (Dad’s younger sister) to see if she could fill in the blanks for me. We had a nice, long chat that lasted about an hour. Aunt Joan remembered how, during the summer school holidays, Dad used to follow his father Fred into the camps to work. When Dad left school (I think it was grade 7 or 8) about 1940-1941, he started to work full-time in the bush. Before he left home, his mother Julie prepared him a ‘goodie’ bag (sort of like what a hobo carries on a stick) to take with him. Dad was only 13 years old.

In the spring of 1945, Dad appeared on a voters’ list as “M. Belair”. He was a bushworker in Camp 49 in the township of Cumming near Kapuskasing, in northern Ontario, Canada. [1] He’s no. 3 on the list of mostly French-Canadian men. (Dad was only 17½ years old at the time, so I’m not sure if he should have been on that voting list.) I had a vague idea of what ‘bushworker’ meant, but Aunt Joan told me that Dad did a young man’s work: he drove horses and cut wood.

Maurice Belair (1945)

Dad must have been a thrifty fellow when he worked in the bush camps. In the above photo, taken in the winter of 1945, he’s dressed in good winter clothes that he bought with his wages.

For the next few years, Dad worked in logging camps, in mills and in mines in places like Matheson, Kirkland Lake and Haileybury in northeastern Ontario. He eventually became a welder after he moved to Blue Water, near Sarnia in southwestern Ontario in the early 1950s. (I’ve written about that occupation in Workday Wednesday: Maurice Belair, Welder.)

Source:

1. “Voters Lists, 1935-1980”, digital images, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 3 March 2016), entry for M. Belair (written as M. Belair, indexed as M Bushworkcr Belair), bushworker, 1945 Rural Preliminary List of Electors, Electoral District of Cochrane, Rural Polling Division No. 210, Camp 35 [and] 49, Township of Cumming, stamped p. 1228; citing Voters Lists, Federal Elections, 1935–1980, R1003-6-3-E (RG113-B), Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

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.

Sibling Saturday: The Children of Jean-Baptiste Bouchard (1698-1755)

My 6x maternal great-grandfather Jean-Baptiste Bouchard was the father of ten children: five sons, four daughters, and one child of unknown gender. At least three survived, but only two of them married – my ancestor Joseph Prosper (b. 1743) and his sister Marie-Louise (b. 1752).

Repentigny, fleuve Saint-Laurent

Jean-Baptiste was born on 17 January 1698 in Montreal. [1] He was a younger son of Jean-Baptiste Bouchard and Marie-Antoinette Chouart, daughter of the famed explorer Médard Chouart, sieur des Groseilliers.

When Jean-Baptiste was 36 years old, he married Marie-Josèphe de Chavigny on 26 September 1734 in Beauport. [2] Marie-Josèphe, who was 17 years old when she married, was a younger daughter of François de Chavigny, sieur de La Chevrotière by his second wife Geneviève Guyon.

Jean-Baptiste worked as a commis (agent) at several fur trading posts of the Domaine du roi (King’s Domain), like Mistassini, Ashuapmouchouan and Ilets de Jérémie. [3]

He died on 11 October 1755 [4]. His wife Marie-Josèphe survived him and died on 19 July 1762. [5]

Jean-Baptiste’s surname varied during his lifetime. For example, he was:
• Bouchard at his baptism in 1698,
• Dorval Degroseliers at his marriage in 1734 (he signed J. b: dorval),
• Dorval Des Groselier at a son’s baptism in 1740 (he signed desgroselier),
• Dorval Desgrosellier at a son’s burial in 1741,
• Dorval at a son’s baptism in 1742, 
• Desgroseliers and Desgrozeliers at a son’s baptism and burial in 1746, and
• Desgroseliers at his burial in 1755.

The children of Jean-Baptiste Bouchard and Marie-Josèphe de Chavigny

Note: All locations are in the present-day province of Quebec, Canada. “Quebec” refers to the city of Quebec. The children’s surnames appear in parentheses.

1. (f) – Marie Joseph (Desgroseliers, 1775) [6]
• born about 1736 (age (39) at death)
• died on 25 April 1775
• buried on 27 April 1775 in Repentigny.

2. (m) – Jean Baptiste Ambroise (Dorval, 1739) [7]
• born [not stated in his baptism record]
• baptised on 11 July 1739 in [Ilets de Jérémie] Tadoussac (Postes du Domaine du roi)
• died [unknown].

3. (m) – Joseph Louis (Dorval, 1740, 1741) [8]
• born on 2 September 1740 in Quebec
• baptised on 3 September 1740 in Quebec
• died [not stated in his burial record] (age (four months old) at death)
• buried on 4 January 1741 in Quebec.

4. (f) – Marie-Louise (Dorval, 1742) [9]
• born on 11 May 1742 in Deschambault
• baptised on 12 May 1742 in Deschambault
• died on 7 July 1742 in Deschambault
• buried on 8 July 1742 in Deschambault.

5. (m) – Joseph Prosper (Dorval, 1743; Desgroseliers, 1772, Desgrosier [Desgrosillier], 1795, Desgrosellier, 1800) [10]
• born on 19 May 1743 in Deschambault
• baptised on 19 May 1743 in Deschambault*
• died between 1 February 1795 (he was present at his daughter Léonor’s baptism) and 28 July 1800 (he was described as deceased at his son Ambroise’s marriage)
• married on 17 February 1772 in Châteauguay, Charlotte Nunegand dite Beaurosier, daughter of François Lunégand dit Beaurosier and Marie Louise Ouimet.

* I've transcribed and translated Joseph Prosper's baptism record here.

6. (m) – Joseph Eléonord (Eleonard) (Desgroseliers, 1746, Desgrozeliers, 1746) [11]
• born on 23 May 1746 in Deschambault
• baptised on 23 May 1746 in Deschambault
• died on 20 June 1746 in Deschambault
• buried on 20 June 1746 in Deschambault.

7. (m) – François Eléonord (Eleonard) (Desgroseliers, 1748, Desgrozeliers, 1748) [12]
• born on 12 May 1748 in Deschambault
• baptised on 12 May 1748 in Deschambault
• died on 11 July 1748 in Deschambault
• buried on 12 July 1748 in Deschambault.

8. (f) – Marie Françoise (Desgroseliers, 1750) [13]
• born on 31 July 1750 in Deschambault
• baptised on 31 July 1750 in Deschambault
• died 22 August 1750 in Deschambault
• buried on 23 August 1750 in Deschambault.

9. (f) – Marie Louise (Desgroseliers, 1752 and 1772, Dégroseillier, 1795) [14]
• born on 7 November 1752 in Deschambault
• baptised on 7 November 1752 in Deschambault
• died on 11 April 1795 in St-Paul-de-Lavaltrie
• buried 12 April 1795 in St-Paul-de-Lavaltrie
• married on 2 March 1772 in Repentigny, Pierre Euphrosine Arnaud (Renaud), son of Henri Arnaud (Renaud) and Marie Marguerite de Chavigny and widower of Marie-Josephe Desjardins.

10. [unnamed child of unspecified gender] (Desgrozeliers, 1755) [15]
• born on 13 April 1755 in Deschambault
• died on 13 April 1755 in Deschambault
• buried on 13 April 1755 in Deschambault.

Note: No child named Marguerite, born and baptised on 2 November 1748 in Quebec, appears in the list of children at PRDH. Tanguay is in error when he places Marguerite among the (incomplete) list of Jean-Baptiste and Marie-Josèphe’s children. According to her baptism record, Marguerite was the daughter of Jean Marie Dorceval and Marie Joseph [last name omitted]. [16]

Sources:

Image credit: “Repentigny, fleuve Saint-Laurent”, by George Heriot (1759-1839), Library and Archives Canada, Acc. No. 1989-470-14.

1. Notre-Dame (Montreal, Quebec), parish register, 1695-1699, page no. illegible, no entry no. (1698), Jean Baptiste Bouchard baptism, 18 January 1698; Notre-Dame parish; digital images, “Le LAFRANCE”, Généalogie Québec (http://www.genealogiequebec.com : accessed 11 May 2016).

2. Notre-Dame (Beauport, Quebec), parish register, 1720-1778, no page no., no entry no. (1734), Jean Baptiste Dorval de Groselier – Marie Joseph de Chevigny marriage, 26 September 1734; Notre-Dame parish; digital images, “Le LAFRANCE”, Généalogie Québec (http://www.genealogiequebec.com : accessed 10 May 2016).

3. J.-Allan Burgesse, “Les Registres du Postes du Roi”, Mémoires de la Société généalogique canadienne-française 3 (juin 1949): 211-216, specifically p. 213; DVD edition (Montreal, QC: SGCF, 2013). According to Jetté, he was a “marchand de fourrures”. (René Jetté, Dictionnaire généalogique des familles du Québec (Montréal: Les Presses de l’Université de Montréal, 1983), 134.) According to Tanguay, he was an “agent de la compagnie d’Occident”. (Cyprien Tanguay, Dictionnaire généalogique des familles canadiennes, 7 vols (1871–1890, reprint, Montréal: Editions Elysée, 1991), II: 367, note 4.)

4. St-Joseph (Deschambault, Quebec), parish register, 1713-1791, p. 56 verso, no entry no. (1755), Jean Baptiste Desgroseliers (written as Jean Baptiste Desgroseliers, indexed as Jean Desgroseliers) burial, 12 October 1755; St-Joseph parish; digital images, “Quebec Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967”, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 10 October 2015).

5. St-Joseph (Deschambault, Quebec), parish register, 1713-1791, page no. illegible, no entry no. (1762), Josette Lachevrotieres burial, 20 July 1762; St-Joseph parish; digital images, “Le LAFRANCE”, Généalogie Québec (http://www.genealogiequebec.com : accessed 10 May 2016).

6. “Dictionnaire”, database, Programme de recherche en démographie historique (PRDH) (http://www.genealogie.umontreal.ca : accessed 13 January 2012), Jean Baptiste Bouchard Dorval Desgroseliers – Marie Josephe Dechavigny Lachevrotieres, Famille no. 19093. And, La-Purification-de-la-Bienheureuse-Vierge-Marie (Repentigny, Quebec), parish register, 1746-1775, p. 264 verso, no entry no. (1775), Marie Joseph Desgroseliers burial, [27] April 1775; Purification de la Bienheureuse-Vierge-Marie parish; digital images, “Le LAFRANCE”, Généalogie Québec (http://www.genealogiequebec.com : accessed 10 May 2016).

7. “Dictionnaire”, PRDH, Jean Baptiste Bouchard Dorval Desgroseliers – Marie Josephe Dechavigny Lachevrotieres, Famille no. 19093. And, Burgesse, “Les Registres du Postes du Roi”, 213.

8. “Dictionnaire”, PRDH, Jean Baptiste Bouchard Dorval Desgroseliers – Marie Josephe Dechavigny Lachevrotieres, Famille no. 19093. And, Notre-Dame (Quebec, Quebec), parish register, 1738-1743, p. 9 penned recto (p. 109 stamped), no entry no. (1740), Joseph Louis Dorval baptism, 3 September 1740; Notre-Dame parish; digital images, “Le LAFRANCE”, Généalogie Québec (http://www.genealogiequebec.com : accessed 10 May 2016). And, Notre-Dame (Quebec, Quebec), parish register, 1738-1743, p. 27 penned recto (p. 127 stamped), no entry no. (1741), [first name omitted] Dorval burial, 4 January 1741; Notre-Dame parish; digital images, “Le LAFRANCE”, Généalogie Québec (http://www.genealogiequebec.com : accessed 10 May 2016).

9. “Dictionnaire”, PRDH, Jean Baptiste Bouchard Dorval Desgroseliers – Marie Josephe Dechavigny Lachevrotieres, Famille no. 19093. And, St-Joseph (Deschambault, Quebec), parish register, 1713-1791, p. 8 recto, no entry no. (1742), Marie Louise Dorval baptism, 12 May 1742; St-Joseph parish; digital images, “Le LAFRANCE”, Généalogie Québec (http://www.genealogiequebec.com : accessed 10 May 2016). And, St-Joseph (Deschambault, Quebec), parish register, 1713-1791, p. 9 verso, no entry no. (1742), Marie Louise Dorval burial, 8 July 1742; St-Joseph parish; digital images, “Le LAFRANCE”, Généalogie Québec (http://www.genealogiequebec.com : accessed 10 May 2016).

10. “Dictionnaire”, PRDH, Jean Baptiste Bouchard Dorval Desgroseliers – Marie Josephe Dechavigny Lachevrotieres, Famille no. 19093. And, St-Joseph (Deschambault, Quebec), parish register, 1713-1791, p. 10 verso, no entry no. (1743), Joseph Prosper Dorval baptism, 19 May 1743; St-Joseph parish; digital images,  “Quebec Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967", Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 17 May 2016). And, St-Joachim (Châteauguay, Quebec), parish register, 1768-1775, pp. 36-37, no entry no. (1772), Joseph Prosper Desgroseliers – Charlotte Nunegand marriage, 17 February 1772; St-Joachim parish; digital images, “Le LAFRANCE”, Généalogie Québec (http://www.genealogiequebec.com : accessed 30 June 2015).

11. “Dictionnaire”, PRDH, Jean Baptiste Bouchard Dorval Desgroseliers – Marie Josephe Dechavigny Lachevrotieres, Famille no. 19093. And, St-Joseph (Deschambault, Quebec), parish register, 1713-1791, p. 20 recto, no entry no. (1746), Joseph Eleonard Desgroseliers baptism, 23 May 1746; St-Joseph parish; digital images, “Le LAFRANCE”, Généalogie Québec (http://www.genealogiequebec.com : accessed 10 May 2016). And, St-Joseph (Deschambault, Quebec), parish register, 1713-1791, p. 20 verso, no entry no. (1746), Joseph Eleonard Desgrozeliers burial, 20 June 1746; St-Joseph parish; digital images, “Le LAFRANCE”, Généalogie Québec (http://www.genealogiequebec.com : accessed 10 May 2016).

12. “Dictionnaire”, PRDH, Jean Baptiste Bouchard Dorval Desgroseliers – Marie Josephe Dechavigny Lachevrotieres, Famille no. 19093. And, St-Joseph (Deschambault, Quebec), parish register, 1713-1791, p. 25 recto, no entry no. (1748), François Eleonord Desgroseliers baptism, 12 May 1748; St-Joseph parish; digital images, “Le LAFRANCE”, Généalogie Québec (http://www.genealogiequebec.com : accessed 10 May 2016). And, St-Joseph (Deschambault, Quebec), parish register, 1740-1748, p. 26 recto, no entry no. (1748), François Eleonore Desgrozeliers burial, 12 July 1748; St-Joseph parish; digital images, “Le LAFRANCE”, Généalogie Québec (http://www.genealogiequebec.com : accessed 10 May 2016).

13. “Dictionnaire”, PRDH, Jean Baptiste Bouchard Dorval Desgroseliers – Marie Josephe Dechavigny Lachevrotieres, Famille no. 19093. And, St-Joseph (Deschambault, Quebec), parish register, 1713-1791, p. 34 verso, no entry no. (1750), Marie Françoise Desgroseliers baptism, 31 July 1750; St-Joseph parish; digital images, “Le LAFRANCE”, Généalogie Québec (http://www.genealogiequebec.com : accessed 10 May 2016). And, St-Joseph (Deschambault, Quebec), parish register, 1713-1791, p. 35 recto, no entry no. (1750), Marie Françoise Desgroseliers burial, 23 August 1750; St-Joseph parish; digital images, “Le LAFRANCE”, Généalogie Québec (http://www.genealogiequebec.com : accessed 10 May 2016).

14. “Dictionnaire”, PRDH, Jean Baptiste Bouchard Dorval Desgroseliers – Marie Josephe Dechavigny Lachevrotieres, Famille no. 19093. And, St-Joseph (Deschambault, Quebec), parish register, 1713-1791, p. 44 recto, no entry no. (1752), Marie Louise Desgroseliers baptism, 7 November 1752; St-Joseph parish; digital images, “Le LAFRANCE”, Généalogie Québec (http://www.genealogiequebec.com : accessed 10 May 2016). And, St-Paul (St-Paul-de-Lavaltrie, Quebec), parish register, 1786-1795, page no. illegible, entry no. S.12 (1795), Marie Louise Dégroseillier burial, 12 April 1795; St-Paul parish; digital images, “Le LAFRANCE”, Généalogie Québec (http://www.genealogiequebec.com : accessed 10 May 2016). And, La-Purification-de-la-Bienheureuse-Vierge-Marie (Repentigny, Quebec), parish register, 1746-1775, p. 232 recto, no entry no. (1772), Pierre Arnaud – Marie Louise Desgroseliers marriage, 2 March 1772; Purification de la Bienheureuse-Vierge-Marie parish; digital images, “Le LAFRANCE”, Généalogie Québec (http://www.genealogiequebec.com : accessed 10 May 2016). Although Marie Louise and Pierre were first cousins (their mothers were sisters), their marriage record does not mention if they received a dispensation to marry.

15. “Dictionnaire”, PRDH, Jean Baptiste Bouchard Dorval Desgroseliers – Marie Josephe Dechavigny Lachevrotieres, Famille no. 19093. And, St-Joseph (Deschambault, Quebec), parish register, 1713-1791, p. 54 verso, no entry no. (1755), [unnamed child of unspecified gender] Desgrozeliers burial, 7 November 1752; St-Joseph parish; digital images, “Le LAFRANCE”, Généalogie Québec (http://www.genealogiequebec.com : accessed 10 May 2016).

16. “Dictionnaire”, PRDH, Jean Baptiste Bouchard Dorval Desgroseliers – Marie Josephe Dechavigny Lachevrotieres, Famille no. 19093. And, Cyprien Tanguay, Dictionnaire généalogique des familles canadiennes, 7 vols (1871–1890, reprint, Montréal: Editions Elysée, 1991), II: 367. And, Notre-Dame (Quebec, Quebec), parish register, 1743-1748, p. 70 verso stamped, no entry no. (1748), Marguerite Dorceval baptism, 2 November 1748; Notre-Dame parish; digital images, “Le LAFRANCE”, Généalogie Québec (http://www.genealogiequebec.com : accessed 10 May 2016).

Copyright © 2016, Yvonne Demoskoff.

Joseph Prosper Desgroseilliers’ 1743 Baptism Record

Two hundred and seventy-three years ago today, my maternal 5x great-grandfather, Joseph Prosper Desgroseilliers, was born.

Joseph Prosper Desgroseilliers baptism record (Ancestry)

Joseph Prosper was the fifth child and third son of Jean-Baptiste Bouchard (aka Dorval, Desgroseliers) and Marie-Josèphe de Chavigny. Born on 19 May 1743, he was baptised that day at St-Joseph church in the seigneurie d'Eschambault (Deschambault). [1] The seigneurie, located on the north shore of the St. Lawrence River between Trois-Rivières and Québec, belonged to Joseph Prosper’s maternal grandfather François de Chavigny, sieur de la Chevrotière.

My transcription of his baptism record, above:

Le dix neuvieme jour de mois de may de l’année mil sept cent quarante trois / dans leglise de St. Joseph sur le Cap Lauzon seigneurie d’Eschambaux a été / baptisé Joseph Prosper né de ce même jour du légitime mariage de Sieur Jean baptiste Dorval et de [demoiselle] marie Joseph Lachevrotieres ses pere et mere / residans de temps en temps dans la seigneurie delachevrotieres paroisse de / Saint Joseph. Le parrain a été Joseph Chapelin et la marraine marguerite lesot / lesquels ont déclaré ne scavoir écrire ni signer de ce enquois suivant [l’ordonnance] / lequel bapteme a été fait par nous prêtre soussigné curé de la ditte paroisse / de Saint-Joseph En foy de quoi nous avons signé au dit lieu dans nôtre maison [presbêtitalle?] le jour et an que de [mai?][signed Menage ptre]

My English translation:

The nineteenth day of month of may of the year one thousand seven hundred forty three / in the church St. Joseph on the Cap Lauzon seigniory of d’Eschambaux was / baptised Joseph Prosper born of this same day of the legitimate marriage of Sieur Jean baptiste Dorval and of [young lady] marie Joseph Lachevrotieres his father and mother / residing from time to time in the seigniory delachevrotieres parish of / Saint Joseph. The godfather was Joseph Chapelin and the godmother marguerite lesot / who declared could not write nor sign [their names] as inquired following the [ordinance] / said baptism was made by us undersigned priest of the said parish / of Saint-Joseph In faith we have signed at said place in our [presbyterial?] house the day and year of [May?][signed Menage priest]

In February 1772, Joseph Prosper married Charlotte Nunegand dite Beaurosier in Châteauguay. The couple had 13 children, including my ancestor François.

Joseph Prosper died at an unknown date and location. However, the event occurred between 1 February 1795, when he was present at his daughter Léonor’s baptism, and 28 July 1800, when he was described as deceased at his son Ambroise’s marriage.

Source:

1. St-Joseph (Deschambault, Quebec), parish register, 1713-1791, p. 10 verso, no entry no. (1743), Joseph Prosper Dorval baptism, 19 May 1743; St-Joseph parish; digital images, “Quebec Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967”, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 17 May 2016).

Copyright © 2016, Yvonne Demoskoff.

Maurice Belair and the Coquihalla Highway

2016 marks the 30th anniversary of the completion of the first phase of the Coquihalla Highway in British Columbia, Canada. The new highway was “carved out of some of the toughest, most daunting terrain in British Columbia”. [1] It cost $375,000,000 and took nearly two years to build. [2]

View of the unfinished Coquihalla Highway from Maurice's truck (ca 1985)

My late father Maurice Belair was one of the 1000s of men and women who worked on that project from 1984 to 1986. He and his trusty Mack dump truck worked on Phase 1 (Hope to Merritt) of the 120 km (about 74.5 miles) toll highway. [3]

Maurice's dump truck on the unfinished Coquihalla Highway (ca 1985)

In early May 1986, Dad received a letter from the Ministry of Transportation and Highways (MOTH) to thank him for his “contribution in helping build the Coquihalla Highway”.

MOTH letter to Maurice Belair

We still have the letter, but the pin seems to be missing. I know that I didn’t attend the official opening on 16 May 1986, but I can’t remember if Dad did.

Sources:

1. “Coquihalla: more than just a new highway”, The Hope (British Columbia) Standard, 14 May 1986, p. 4.

2. “Paving starts in spring”, The Hope (British Columbia) Standard, 8 January 1986, p. 3.

3. “Paving starts in spring”, The Hope Standard, 8 January 1986.

Copyright (c) 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.