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| French-Canadian Voyageurs |
In my previous post, I set out the Charbonneau lineage for the children of Omer 'Red' Charbonneau (Mary Agnes Raney) and his double cousin, my father, Albert Charbonneau (Geneva Raney), Al's siblings and me, from Spokane, back to North Dakota and farther back to Quebec, Canada. HERE
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| Lumina Bourassa (1866-1952) |
This blog is on the lineage of our mutual great-grandmother, Marie Elisa Lumina Bourassa (1866 Quebec - 1952 Seattle, WA), wife of our great-grandfather, Charles Omer Charbonneau (1863 Quebec - 1913 ND), beginning with our 7th great-grandfather, François LaRonde Bourassa/Bourasseau, born about 1659 at Saint-Hilaire-de-Loulay, Poitou, in the Loire Valley of western France.
The Loire Valley is noted for its many chateaux, and here is the chateau at Saint-Hilaire, although it's doubtful François ever set foot in it.
François Bourassa arrived in New France, and was at Fort Chambly (about 12 miles from Montreal) by the end of September 1683, where he stood godfather to a newborn. In July, 1684, he married at Fort Chambly the young widow Marie-Ann Le Ber (Deslauriers), our 7th great-grandmother.
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| Fort Chambly, this fortification built in 1707 |
That marriage connected François to the fur trade of La Prairie, a community near Montreal, but across the St. Lawrence at the confluence of the St. Jacques and St. Lawrence rivers. Its location gave its inhabitants easy access to river traffic, and it became a source of coureurs des bois and voyageurs, but made it vulnerable to attack from Iroquois and British alike, despite the efforts of its inhabitants to erect a stockade around it.
François and Marie-Ann began their family in 1685 with the birth of a son. They were still at Fort Chambly on land inherited from Marie-Ann's first husband. That same year word arrived that the British had established fur trading forts at James Bay, just below the larger Hudson's Bay. François and his brother-in-law, Joachim-Jacques Le Ber, were hired by the French Companie du Nord, that claimed the region's fur trading for itself and France, to accompany the military expedition of the Chevalier de Troyes, 70 volunteer Canadiens, 30 military troops, a few Indian guides, and 30 large canoes to reclaim James Bay.
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| A large canoe could carry 20 men and a couple of tons of goods |
They set out in March 1686, the rivers still frozen. HERE
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| Route of the expedition to take back the Hudson's Bay region from the British |
The expedition was successful and they returned in the autumn with the loss of only two men by drowning and one by exposure.
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| Michilimackinac Trading Post |
In 1686 François and Joachim-Jacques Le Ber were hired to voyage west to trade with the Ottawa tribe. In 1690 these two men, with a few others, were hired to voyage to the Straits of Michilimackinac, a strategic passageway between Lake Huron and Lake Michigan to again trade with the Ottawa. By now, François and Marie-Ann had a second son, Rene.
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| Below the Canadian-U.S. black border line lie the Straits of Michilimackinac, at the northern tip of lower Michigan, between Lake Huron on the right and Lake Michigan in the middle. |
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| 1691 route to Fort Michilmackinac. A little portaging and a lot of paddling |
François was expected back in the autumn of 1691, but failed to return. Allegedly he disappeared during a skirmish with the Iroquois. We know his brother-in-law, Joachim-Jacques Le Ber, returned, because he married in 1692 at La Prairie, but there were fears François had been captured and killed. What was Marie-Ann to do? By January 1693 she was described as a 'widow' when she and her mother, Jeanne Testard Le Ber, our 8th great-grandmother, petitioned for one year's food and lodging from Claude Caron of Montreal because François Le Ber, Marie-Ann's father, was missing and feared among the enemy (Iroquois or English? Her father did return and died in May 1694, age 72). And yet, Marie-Ann did not remarry. Not every voyageur who was captured was killed, for in the autumn of 1692, newly-married Joachim-Jacques Le Ber was captured, probably by the Iroquois, and taken down the Hudson River to Albany, New York Colony, where he was questioned by Governor Benjamin Fletcher about French military strength at Montreal.
François miraculously returned in 1693, but the details of his likely captivity and escape are lost in the shadows of time. Never to venture out again, he took up farming at La Prairie when, in September 1694, he was granted a concession of 4 by 25 arpents at Fontarabie (St
Claude) by the Jesuits (who owned most of the land). François had more children with Marie-Ann, including our 6th great-grandfather, François-Joachim Bourassa, born in 1698, named for François' boon companion and brother-in-law, Jaochim-Jacques Le Ber, who was killed by the Iroquois in 1696. François and the eldest son, also named François, died during a yellow fever epidemic in 1708. Because Marie-Ann had underage children, an inventory was conducted in 1710 on François Bourassa's estate:
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| French-Canadian farm |
FIRSTLY, in the said house was found a cracked cooking pot; estimated at 3 livres currency.
ITEM one grill and a frying pan; estimated together at 6 livres,
ITEM one collander; estimated at 30 sols.
ITEM 31 pounds of old plates; estimated at 25 sols per pound making altogether the sum of 38 livres, 15 sols.
ITEM two (…) together 5 livres.
ITEM one spit and an old hook; estimated together at 5 livres
ITEM two earthen bowls, estimated together at 4 livres.
ITEM one dragging chain; estimated 2 livres.
ITEM one old wooden mattock [digging and grubbing tool] and two old dowels of iron and one bolt; estimated for all at 2 livres and 10 sols.
ITEM a jointing plane blade and two old locks; estimated together at 2 livres.
ITEM two old files and 4 old horseshoes; estimated together at 2 livres and 10 sols.
ITEM
one old iron flask and 2 old lanterns; estimated together at 3
livres.
ITEM
five stirring spoons, 2 basters, two little axes, one old turning
knife, And one piercing auger; estimated together at 30
livres.
ITEM six old sickles; estimated together at 50 sols.
ITEM one bottle; estimated at 1 livre.
ITEM five earthen pans; estimated at 5 livres.
ITEM three old kettles; estimated at 10 livres.
ITEM one old hutch; estimated at 3 livres.
ITEM one old pair of wool carding brushes; estimated at 30 sols.
ITEM one old iron shovel; estimated at 1 livre.
ITEM four old pouches; estimated as is 3 livres.
ITEM one old scythe with and 3 locks; estimated as is 3 livres.
ITEM
one old straw mattress, a piece of Illinois leather [possibly bison leather] and one old
bolster pillow; estimated together as is 10 livres.
ITEM one old plow, garnished of all its attachments; estimated together as is 30 livres.
ITEM one old wagon equipped with all its hoops [over which a canvas was thrown]; estimated as is 20 livres.
In the yard is found:
FIRSTLY two steer, seven years old, brown hair; estimate each one at 85 livres making together 170 livres.
ITEM
two cows, one aged 7 years, and the other 1 year old, black hair and
red hair; one with black hair estimated at 45 livres and the other with
red hair estimated at 40 livres; making together 85 livres.
ITEM two heifers aged 1 year of red hair; estimated together at 14 livres.
ITEM one 14 year old mare; estimated at 30 livres.
ITEM two 1 year old pigs; estimated at 14 livres each making together 28 livres.
ITEM
three other pigs; estimated 12 livres each making together 36
livres.
ITEM one other pig; estimated at 6 livres.
ITEM one other little pig; estimated at 2 livres and 10 sols.
ITEM two 1 year old fattened pig; estimated at 7 livres each making together 14 livres.
ITEM three 1 year old ewe; estimated at 7 livres each making together 20 livres.
ITEM one little sheep; estimated at 4 livres.
At the barn is found a calf, as is; estimated at 6 livres.
ITEM one lever as is; estimated 3 livres.
ITEM one half minot as is; estimated at 2 livres.
At the stable is found a horse harness; estimated as is 20 livres
Marie-Ann appeared to own her home and had long-term leases on numerous small pieces of land that she rented out; still, there was no sign of easy living here. She remarried and lived to be 90, dying at La Prairie in 1756. In 1729, having now only sons François, Rene, Antoine and daughter Marie, she divided the land among them. To François she gave a strip of land at Fontarabie, two arpents in front by twenty five arpents deep, next to land given her daughter and her husband, a public road running along the land. A square arpent equals about .84 of an acre. Not a great amount, I suspect.
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| Voyageurs camping |
Of interest is the Le Ber-Le Moyne House, the oldest complete house in Montreal, built 1669-71 by Jacques Le Ber and Charles Le Moyne as a fur trading post near Montreal at Lachine on the St. Lawrence River, giving them control of the Indian fur trade coming through that point. They ceased using it for the fur trade in 1685.
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| Le Ber-Le Moyne fur trading post, now a designated historical site, and example of French colonial architecture. |
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| Fur Trading Exhibit at the Le Ber-Le Moyne House |
This younger François and two of his brothers, Rene (1688-1788) and Antoine (1705-1780), became voyageurs in the fur trade, acquiring furs from the Ottawa and other tribes, returning them to La Prairie, but sometimes illegally selling them for twice as much to merchants in Albany, New York Colony, just as Native Americans did. Caught in 1722, Rene was fined 500 livres, but he was back in business by 1726, dispatching canoes west.
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| Fort St. Charles is at the top of Minnesota where the little knob juts up into Canada |
In 1735, brother Rene wintered with the fur trader, Pierre Gaultier de La Verendrye, at Fort St. Charles. In
June, 1736, Rene set out from Fort St. Charles with four others for
Michilimachinac to the east. They were captured by Sioux warriors, who claimed the
French were arming their enemies, a truth because La Verendrye was
trading guns to the Assinabois, who were fighting the Sioux. The Sioux were preparing to burn Bourassa at the stake when his reputed Sioux common-law wife pleaded for his life and he and his men were released. He also narrowly missed death when other Sioux on Lake-of-the-Woods ambushed
and massacred a party of 21 following close behind Rene’s party,
including Jean Baptiste de La Vérendrye, La Verendrye’s son, and Father
Jean-Pierre Aulneau de la Touche, for crimes against their people.
As for François Joachim Bourassa, our 6th great-grandfather, who died in 1775 at La Prairie, he might not have had great adventures like his brother Rene, or visited the English colonies like Antoine, but he did go to Detroit in 1757 as a voyageur on a trading venture. By then, he'd lost two wives. By his first wife, Marie-Anne Deneau (1704-1733), our sixth great-grandmother, whom he married in 1721, he had our 5th great-grandfather, Jacques Albert François Bourassa (1732-1786), who had a large family with his first wife and, a few years after her death, married in 1780, Marie Elisabeth Janot-La Chappelle (1749-1834), our 5th great-grandmother (a 2nd marriage for both), and had as their third child, our 4th great-grandfather, François Xavier Bourassa (1785-1869). The following year, Jacques Albert François Bourassa, age 54, died at L'Acadie, Quebec, about 30 miles from Montreal and the same distance from the tip of Lake Champlain in the U.S. His widow remarried in 1795.
The glory days of the fur trade were gone, the British ruled Canada, and the French-speaking Québécois fretted. His grandson recalled in 1943 that François Xavier Bourassa did not get along with his step-father, and left for the United States when he was fourteen, which would have been in 1799. He went to Vermont and was in the service of a Presbyterian family, where he learned to
read and write English. He never
knew how to write in French. He returned to Canada
when he was 25, in 1810. His grandson Henri recalled:
Two years after his return, he married Geneviève Patenaude (1789-1872), our fourth great-grandmother, and they had eight children in twenty-three years (not all lived past childhood).
After a full life - he was captain of the local militia and mayor of L'Acardie in 1845 - François Bourassa retired with his wife to the
rectory of Montebello about 1858, when his son Medard [a Catholic priest, born 1818] was named
pastor there. The visit of the Prince of Wales, the future Edward
VII, occurred in 1860. From The “Franco-Canadian”
formerly the “French Canada” (of Saint Jean), in its edition of September 1860: “The Prince, on his way to Ottawa, had to pass before “La
Petite-Nation” [a large estate owned by his friend Joseph Papineau] where . . . M. Bourassa greeted him with a Royal 21 Gun
Salute which he had improvised for the occasion. . ."
“During my stay at the town, you know how beautiful the
weather was; the grains were ripening, and the harvesters were not more
numerous. Because of that, Dad was
fidgety and could not stay put in the house.
It was very hot; yet he was spending the whole day in the fields. On Thursday, he came back to the house to
dine only at about 4 o’clock of the afternoon.
He had waded into the river for a few hours to gather the wood that the
big downpours of the preceding days had carried away to the river. After a dinner which he ate with appetite,
he was cheerful and fresh until the moment of retiring for the night. The following morning, the family found him
in his bed, unable to speak and almost incapable of moving. He attempted to get up but didn’t regain his
speech. He passed away about 9 o'clock
in the evening the following day, Saturday.
He had taken his last breath.
The torch from which my own life was lit had just been extinguished." Further on, he adds:
“He leaves nothing in my memory which does not deserve respect; for me,
the name that he bequeaths us is an honor.
I have the satisfaction of having seen in him a man who accepted all the
duties that life imposes and who accomplished them as they must be, generously,
without weakness for oneself and for the others.”
Why do these beautiful portraits of our 4th great-grandparents exist when they were simple farmers?
This talk given by Lionel Fortin, Historian and Biographer, on the 27th of June 1993 at the church of L’Acadie,
under the auspices of the “Societie d’Histoire du Haut-Richelieu”, on
the occasion of the unveiling of the new Bourassa Monument at the
L’Acadie cemetery
Ah, you think, very interesting to know our 3rd great-grandfather was a long-time member of the Canadian Parliament, but who created those beautiful portraits of our 4th great-grandparents? The artist was François' younger brother, Napoléon Bourassa (1827-1916), whose talent the family early recognized. Napoléon's biography HERE
François, the member of Parliament, married Sophie Trahan (1817-1898), our 3rd great-grandmother, in 1832 at L'Arcadie.
I don't know why this is the only image I've found of Sophie. Surely Napoléon painted his sister-in-law at some point. Her husband, the parliamentarian, had numerous formal photographs taken of himself.
Our 2nd great-grandfather, François-Xavier-Alfred Bourassa, was the eldest child of François and Sophie, born in 1836. He married Marie Louise Paquet LaVallee in 1856 when they were both twenty. They settled in North Dakota in 1883. I'm excited to tell you that about 1908 he wrote a memoir about their homesteading. I will post it in my next blog.
In honor of our voyageur ancestors I offer you a musical composition accompanied by a slide show of paintings HERE
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| Vermillion, Minnesota, where Rene Bourassa established a trading post in 1737 |
In 1737, Rene constructed a post and wintered at Vermillion, Minnesota,
to trade with the Ojibwa. After that, most of his trading activity was around
Michilimackinac, where he sold trade goods to the Indians. His family joined him there. The Ojibwa captured the fort at Michilimackinac in 1763 and, because
they disliked Rene, killed all his cattle and horses. Soon
afterwards, Rene returned to Montreal, establishing himself as a merchant in the fur trade. He died in 1788. His daughter, Charlotte Ambrosine Bourassa (1729-1801), our first cousin 7X removed, married at Michilmackinac in 1754, and by whom she had two daughters, the mixed-race Ottawa/French Charles Langlade, future bane to the British during the French and Indian War and the to the Americans during the American Revolution HERE
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| Called the 'Father of Wisconsin,' Charles Langlade, who married Charlotte Ambrosine Bourassa, this bronze created by a descendant in 1933 in Wisconsin |
François Joachim Bourassa's younger brother, Antoine (1705-1780), also traded in the west and even ventured down to Philadelphia in the 1740s.
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| L'Acardie, now called St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, just above Lake Champlain. You can also see Albany down the Hudson River |
“He
at that time took three pieces of land, 336 acres of it being woods and
wetlands; they had named the place Bon-Jarret because you needed to have a
strong leg calf to cross it . . . In the space of 30
years, he completely cleared his lands, irrigated them with ditches and
enclosed them. The last years of his life, he harvested at L’Acadie where he
lived, 3,000 minots of barley and 1,500 minots of wheat. A minot was about 8
gallons volume, about a bushel."
Two years after his return, he married Geneviève Patenaude (1789-1872), our fourth great-grandmother, and they had eight children in twenty-three years (not all lived past childhood).
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| Interior of 19th c. French-Canadian house. Note bread oven left of cooking fire |
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| The future King Edward VII in 1860, Montreal |
He died at Montebello 18 September 1869 at age 84. His son, Napoléon [more of him later], in a letter dated from Montebello, the 26th
of September 1869, narrated to his cousin, Dr
Joseph Leman, the last moments of his life:
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| 4th GGF François Xavier Bourassa (1785-1869) |
Why do these beautiful portraits of our 4th great-grandparents exist when they were simple farmers?
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| 4th GGM Geneviève Patenaude Bourassa (1789-1872) |
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| François Bourassa (1813-1898), our 3rd great-grandfather |
I will reveal my discovery of the talents of a member of our Bourassa family. But for now . . . their first-born in 1813 was a son they named - you guessed it - François Bourassa (1813-1896), our 3rd great-grandfather.
Here is his biography, given as a lecture in 1993 for the unveiling of a Bourassa monument:
It pleases me to speak
to you of François Bourassa, junior, who was the first Member of the
Federal Parliament from the county of Saint Jean.
Born at L’Acadie on the 5th
of June l8l3, the Deputy (Member of Parliament), François Bourassa was
the eldest child of François Bourassa and of Genevieve Patenaude, and he
had received the same forename as his father as was the custom of the
times. After having attended the elementary school of his native parish for a few years, he
started young (about age 12) to work on the farm of his father who
owned 336 acres of land, in order to provide to the needs of the family
while his younger brothers and sister continued their education. This
rudimentary education was not to be harmful to François Bourassa in the
future, because he possessed by nature a quick intelligence and a great
judgement.
François Bourassa was a farmer by profession. He had a farm at Napierville, then at L’Acadie, afterwards at St Jean, then again at L’Acadie before staying at last at St-Valentin.
Early on, François Bourassa, junior, had became interested in politics. Involved in the rebellion of 1837-1838 on the side of the Patriots with the title of Captain of a company of Freres-Chasseurs (Brother-Hunters), he took refuge in the United States when he ascertained the failure of the revolt.
He was however arrested and incarcerated at the Montreal prison on his return to the country. But not having participated in affrontements against the British Volunteers, he obtained his freedom without a trial some days later. In 1847, he became Captain of the 3rd Battalion of Militia of the county of Chambly, a rank that he maintained until 1859.
The 3rd of July 1850, he was elected Municipal Councilman of the Parish of Saint Jean by the Council of the County of Chambly, a function that he filled until 24 July 1854. Partisan of the abolition of the Seignorial System which had become at the time, burdensome and unnecessary, he was elected the 22nd of August 1853 at the same time as the notary Pierre Paul Demaray of St Jean, as one of the delegates to take part in the Convention for the abolition of the Seignorial Rights in the district of Montreal.
A year later, in July 1854, he ran with the support of Louis Joseph Papineau, the Chief Patriot, as the liberal or candidate of the “Reds” as they called the liberals at that time, in the new county of Saint Jean which had just been created following a overhaul of the electoral district. . . The electoral campaign lasted the whole month of July and the voting occurred on several days. It is finally the 1st of August 1854 when François Bourassa was declared elected Member of Parliament of the County of Saint Jean in the Parliament of United Canada being carried by a majority of 434 votes over his opponent, the notary Tom Robert Jobson of Saint Jean.
During some general subsequent elections, he was reelected by acclamation, in December 1857, on 11 July 1861 and on 15 June 1863. This was before the birth of the Canadian Confederation which was proclaimed the 1st of July 1867. Recall that before this date, Quebec was called Lower Canada and Ontario was then called Upper Canada and they formed together since 1840 a single Province called the Province of Canada or Province of United Canada. The Assembly of the Parliament of United-Canada alternated in the cities of Quebec and Toronto. It was in 1857 that Queen Victoria made the selection of the city of Ottawa as capital of Canada and that the governmental offices were fixed there permanently.
François Bourassa was among the Members of Parliament opposed to the proposal of Canadian Confederation who signed a petition addressed to the Secretary of the Colonies at London in 1866. This petition was rejected and the Canadian Confederation came to be in 1867. The Deputy Bourassa then made the decision to continue to champion the interests of his citizens of the county of St Jean at the federal level at Ottawa. He ran therefore as the Liberal Candidate in the general election of July 1867. His opponent was Charles Joseph Laberge, lawyer, who also was Mayor of the town of Saint Jean. The electoral contest, was very tight because Laberge was one of the chief politicians and most visible in the country in addition to being an excellent speaker and former Member of Parliament of the County of Iberville. Finally, François Bourassa carried it, however by a slim majority of 96 votes. He became, in this way, the first Federal Member of Parliament of the County of Saint Jean.
At subsequent elections, François Bourassa will always far outrun his political opponents. At the General Elections of July 20 1872, he was reelected by acclamation, over his opponent, Jean Louis Beaudry, Mayor of Montreal, having withdrawn from the contest before the ballot. A year and a half later, some new general elections were launched and he was again reelected by acclamation on 22 January 1874. This mandate of 4 years being expired, some new general election took place on 17 September 1878. Always a Liberal Candidate, François Bourassa faced a Conservative Candidate, Judge Charles Loupret of St Jean. Again a victorious time, Bourassa was reelected Member of Parliament by a majority of 197 votes. Thereafter, the Deputy Bourassa participated in 3 other general elections and defeated his Conservative opponents each time. . . It was before the election of 23 June 1896, that François Bourassa decides to take his retirement. At this date, he was 83 years old and he had to his name an astonishing career of 42 years of political life marked, as underscored in the newspaper Le Canada-Francais of 15 January 1897, "with a honesty which was never denied and a strict observance of his duty.” It would seem that François Bourassa has attained a record of political longevity by being Member of Parliament of the same county, without interruption, for 42 years. For the sake of statistics, let us mention that he had run in 11 general elections in the course of which he was reelected 5 times by acclamation. As Member of Parliament he had participated in 45 Parliamentary sessions of periods varying from 2 to 6 months each. It goes without saying that he has witnessed at multiple changes or events in Canada. We mention among others: The abolition of the Seignorial System, the founding of the townships of parishes and of counties, the choice of Ottawa as the Capital of Canada, the advent of the Confederation, the development of the Canadian West, the uprising of the Metis half-breed of Saskatchewan, the execution of the Chief Metis half-breed Louis Riel, and the question of schools of Manitoba.
François Bourassa was a farmer by profession. He had a farm at Napierville, then at L’Acadie, afterwards at St Jean, then again at L’Acadie before staying at last at St-Valentin.
Early on, François Bourassa, junior, had became interested in politics. Involved in the rebellion of 1837-1838 on the side of the Patriots with the title of Captain of a company of Freres-Chasseurs (Brother-Hunters), he took refuge in the United States when he ascertained the failure of the revolt.
He was however arrested and incarcerated at the Montreal prison on his return to the country. But not having participated in affrontements against the British Volunteers, he obtained his freedom without a trial some days later. In 1847, he became Captain of the 3rd Battalion of Militia of the county of Chambly, a rank that he maintained until 1859.
The 3rd of July 1850, he was elected Municipal Councilman of the Parish of Saint Jean by the Council of the County of Chambly, a function that he filled until 24 July 1854. Partisan of the abolition of the Seignorial System which had become at the time, burdensome and unnecessary, he was elected the 22nd of August 1853 at the same time as the notary Pierre Paul Demaray of St Jean, as one of the delegates to take part in the Convention for the abolition of the Seignorial Rights in the district of Montreal.
A year later, in July 1854, he ran with the support of Louis Joseph Papineau, the Chief Patriot, as the liberal or candidate of the “Reds” as they called the liberals at that time, in the new county of Saint Jean which had just been created following a overhaul of the electoral district. . . The electoral campaign lasted the whole month of July and the voting occurred on several days. It is finally the 1st of August 1854 when François Bourassa was declared elected Member of Parliament of the County of Saint Jean in the Parliament of United Canada being carried by a majority of 434 votes over his opponent, the notary Tom Robert Jobson of Saint Jean.
During some general subsequent elections, he was reelected by acclamation, in December 1857, on 11 July 1861 and on 15 June 1863. This was before the birth of the Canadian Confederation which was proclaimed the 1st of July 1867. Recall that before this date, Quebec was called Lower Canada and Ontario was then called Upper Canada and they formed together since 1840 a single Province called the Province of Canada or Province of United Canada. The Assembly of the Parliament of United-Canada alternated in the cities of Quebec and Toronto. It was in 1857 that Queen Victoria made the selection of the city of Ottawa as capital of Canada and that the governmental offices were fixed there permanently.
François Bourassa was among the Members of Parliament opposed to the proposal of Canadian Confederation who signed a petition addressed to the Secretary of the Colonies at London in 1866. This petition was rejected and the Canadian Confederation came to be in 1867. The Deputy Bourassa then made the decision to continue to champion the interests of his citizens of the county of St Jean at the federal level at Ottawa. He ran therefore as the Liberal Candidate in the general election of July 1867. His opponent was Charles Joseph Laberge, lawyer, who also was Mayor of the town of Saint Jean. The electoral contest, was very tight because Laberge was one of the chief politicians and most visible in the country in addition to being an excellent speaker and former Member of Parliament of the County of Iberville. Finally, François Bourassa carried it, however by a slim majority of 96 votes. He became, in this way, the first Federal Member of Parliament of the County of Saint Jean.
At subsequent elections, François Bourassa will always far outrun his political opponents. At the General Elections of July 20 1872, he was reelected by acclamation, over his opponent, Jean Louis Beaudry, Mayor of Montreal, having withdrawn from the contest before the ballot. A year and a half later, some new general elections were launched and he was again reelected by acclamation on 22 January 1874. This mandate of 4 years being expired, some new general election took place on 17 September 1878. Always a Liberal Candidate, François Bourassa faced a Conservative Candidate, Judge Charles Loupret of St Jean. Again a victorious time, Bourassa was reelected Member of Parliament by a majority of 197 votes. Thereafter, the Deputy Bourassa participated in 3 other general elections and defeated his Conservative opponents each time. . . It was before the election of 23 June 1896, that François Bourassa decides to take his retirement. At this date, he was 83 years old and he had to his name an astonishing career of 42 years of political life marked, as underscored in the newspaper Le Canada-Francais of 15 January 1897, "with a honesty which was never denied and a strict observance of his duty.” It would seem that François Bourassa has attained a record of political longevity by being Member of Parliament of the same county, without interruption, for 42 years. For the sake of statistics, let us mention that he had run in 11 general elections in the course of which he was reelected 5 times by acclamation. As Member of Parliament he had participated in 45 Parliamentary sessions of periods varying from 2 to 6 months each. It goes without saying that he has witnessed at multiple changes or events in Canada. We mention among others: The abolition of the Seignorial System, the founding of the townships of parishes and of counties, the choice of Ottawa as the Capital of Canada, the advent of the Confederation, the development of the Canadian West, the uprising of the Metis half-breed of Saskatchewan, the execution of the Chief Metis half-breed Louis Riel, and the question of schools of Manitoba.
After
the death of Sir John A. Macdonald in 1891, François Bourassa was
considered the Dean of the Federal Parliament and he was nicknamed “The
Father of the Chamber of Commons.”
What do others say of the career of Deputy Bourassa? First, that he didn’t quit during all these years of defending the interests of the farmers of the County of St Jean to Ottawa. Also, that Bourassa never knew how to speak English. Also,
that starting in 1854, he had recourse to Felix-Gabriel Marchand as
interpreter to deal with his anglophone constituency who were
concentrated for the most part at Lacolle. Concerning his
failure to master English, here is an anecdote concerning the answer
which François Bourassa gave to Sir John A. Macdonald, when the latter
made a comment concerning his ignorance of the English language. While underlining the assiduity of M. Bourassa to the meetings of the Chamber of Commons (“M. Bourassa
was always the first at his seat and the last one to leave it,” Sir
John A. Macdonald, the Premier of Canada, said to him, “don’t you find these proceedings boring, M. Bourassa, especially seeing that you do not understand English? “Ah," retorted the venerable Member of Parliament, "I would perhaps find them more boring if I understood your tongue.”
We mention that in addition to the commission of Deputy, François Bourassa was Mayor of L’Acadie during 7 months, from the 1st of February to the 6th of September 1858. In
beyond, he met only one electoral defeat, that being in 1862 when he
ran as candidate to the position of Legislative Counselor. He had been defeated by Jacques-Olivier Bureau who had obtained a majority of 236 votes.
As
far as his personality is concerned, one can say of Francis Bourassa
that he was talented and of a fine and sensitive mind, of a charming
good nature, of a good communicative mood. He also was a gracious man, hospitable, and generous.
After his withdrawal from political life, François Bourassa had returned to live at St-Valentin in the 3rd
rang. (A rang is a basically a row of houses, each on a road farther
out from the first, in the town.) It is in this parish that he died on 13
May 1898 at the age of 84 years, 11 months and 7 days. His
funeral ceremony took place on 16 May 1898 in the church at L’Acadie in
the middle of a grand assembly of relatives and of friends, of notables
and political personalities one of which was Felix-Gabriel Marchand,
then Premier of Quebec.
François Bourassa was married at St Jean on 28 February 1832, to Sophie Trahan. She survived him by 3 years and died on 5 April 1901. Of the Bourassa-Trahan marriage was born 14 children of which eleven attained the age of adults, being 5 sons and 6 daughters. Nearly
all his descendants by his sons are today in the Canadian West and the
American West, while his descendants by the daughters are very numerous
in the Upper-Richelieu. . .
. .To
conclude, it is evident to me that Francois Bourassa rightly deserved,
because of his tireless devotion throughout 42 years, to the title of
Member of Parliament of St Jean, and that his memory perpetuates in our
collective memory and that his name remains immortalized on the
gravestone inaugurated today.
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| "Faith, Virtue, Labor" - Bourassa Monument dedicated 1993 L'Acadie Cemetery. |
Ah, you think, very interesting to know our 3rd great-grandfather was a long-time member of the Canadian Parliament, but who created those beautiful portraits of our 4th great-grandparents? The artist was François' younger brother, Napoléon Bourassa (1827-1916), whose talent the family early recognized. Napoléon's biography HERE
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| Napoléon Bourassa, our 4th great-uncle |
I don't know why this is the only image I've found of Sophie. Surely Napoléon painted his sister-in-law at some point. Her husband, the parliamentarian, had numerous formal photographs taken of himself.
Our 2nd great-grandfather, François-Xavier-Alfred Bourassa, was the eldest child of François and Sophie, born in 1836. He married Marie Louise Paquet LaVallee in 1856 when they were both twenty. They settled in North Dakota in 1883. I'm excited to tell you that about 1908 he wrote a memoir about their homesteading. I will post it in my next blog.
In honor of our voyageur ancestors I offer you a musical composition accompanied by a slide show of paintings HERE
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