QUEBEC HISTORY 1800 - 1849 
Quebec Culture

04/13/2008

FRENCH HISTORY 1850-1899

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In Montreal 1,500 young lady immigrants were in actual distress, starving and freezing.  The females servants were subject to the usual European conditions, including the tact understanding that they were sexually available to their male employers. 

1800  

The number of illegitimate (enfant du Roi) births recorded in Quebec from 1791 to 1800, was 411, legitimes are 89,343.

Anglican, Bishop Mountain, insisted that English speaking, Protestant teachers be established in each parish so that each child, by degree, be led to the Protestant religion.  These are the same tactics used by the Catholic to recruit converts.  Lieutenant Governor Milnes took possession of the Jesuit Estates and proposed the Estates be used to implement the Mountain System of Education.  The decree passed with a proviso that required a majority consent in each parish before setting up any schools.

After 1763, the British suppressed the Jesuit Order by placing a ban on recruitment.  Pope Clement XIV dissolved the Order about 1773 in response to increasing pressure from most of Europe and America for their clandestine methods.  Bishop Briand of Quebec violated his vow of obedience and apposed the Pope by refusing to read the proclamation publicly.   The last of the Canadian Jesuit priests died this year, and their considerable property and seigneuries reverted to Lower Canada.  This was confirmed by London in 1831.  The Jesuits would re-establish in Canada in 1842, but would never regain the property. 

The illegitimate (enfant du Roi) births recorded in Quebec from 1791 to 1800 numbered 411.

The expulsion of Ezekiel Hart from the Quebec legislation, first officially introduced anti-Semitism into Canada.   Goldwin Smith, a pathological anti-Semite, charged through his writings that Jews were parasites, dangerous and enemies to civilization.  He had a profound impact on Mackenzie King and Henri Bourassa.  Bourassa, in 1905, had urged Canada to keep its gates shut to Jewish immigrants.  The Roman Catholic Church associated Jews with modernism, liberalism and a host of other dangerous doctrines, and used their press from 1880 to the 1940's to denounce the Jews.  Popular news papers also joined in the ethnic assault.  Current Quebec language laws are a more modern version of ethnic bigotry.  Don't think it was only confined to Quebec- it had permeated into all regions of Canada, and North America, its systemic taking different forms.   Language is an instrument by which people of European distinction articulate their identity, their very culture.  History has proven that this fundamental European principle has been divisive, facilitates misunderstanding and leads to war.  Language should be a living instrument that evolves with time and is influenced by other cultures.  To attempt to freeze in time a language is fundamentally wrong.      

It is estimated that 8,400 Canadian exiled Acadians found their way back to Nova Scotia.  The Acadians from New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island finally got the right to vote.

Between the 1680's and 1800, it is estimated that New France had 4,000 slaves.  This likely excludes those residing outside Quebec.   These slaves lived short lives.  Indian slave's average age at death was 18 years and black slaves was 25 years.  How could this happen in a supposedly Christian community?  As early as 1435 Pope Eugene IV in his Bull Sicut Dudum condemned slavery and those engaged in it, and those who ignore the Bull are excommunicated, ipso facto.  In 1537, Pope Paul III issued the Bull Sublimis Deus that condemned slavery, Popes Gregory XIV, 1591, Pope Urban VIII, 1639, and Pope Benedict XIV, 1741 also all condemned slavery.  In 1839, Pope Gregory XVI will again issue a Bull, entitled in Supremo, "we, by apostolic authority, warn and strongly exhort in the lord faithful Christians of every condition that no one in the future dare bother unjustly, despoil of their possessions, or reduce to slavery Indians, Blacks or other such people."  It is noteworthy he used the words "in the future" in an attempt to exclude previous actions by the clergy concerning slavery.    

January: St. Eustache, marriage (III)-Ignace Raizenne, Metis b-1771 son (II)-Jean Baptiste Raizenne, Metis and Marie Charlotte Sabourin; to Clemence Guindon. 

October 27, Montreal, marriage, (IV)-Marie Sauvage, Metis daughter (III)-Pierre Sauvage, b-1751 and (IV)-Fillicite Viger, Metis, b-1743; married Joseph Nadeau, died July 16, 1832, Ottawa.

 

1801 

November 16:  Lachine, marriage (III)-Etenne Guy, Metis,, died September 31, 1820, Montreal,  son (II)-Pierre Guy (1738-1812) and (IV)-Marie Joseph Hervieux, Metis (1743-1785); married Catherine Vallee 

 

1802 

 

Three hundred Scottish Highlanders settled at Sydney, Nova Scotia.

Charles Roy married February 15, 1802, Nova Scotia, Marie Louise Minet an Indian from Red River.

(III)-Louise Versailles, Metis, b-1802, son (II)-Luois Bourquin dit Versailles, b-1743 and Magdelaine Montagnaise Sauvage; married 1823 Jean Baptiste Jolibois. 

In the Niagara Herald several advertisements are found relating to Indian slaves. One of August 25, 1802, forbids all persons harboring a runaway Indian slave.

A Montreal Judge ordered 25 lashes on the bare backs of two dissolute women.  The general public were horrified but the law abolishing whipping of females was not abolished until 1886.

 

 

1803 

Joseph Beriault, b-1803, Trois Rivieres, Quebec, son Joseph Beriault and Marianne; married Isabelle Duval, Metis, b-1820 daughter Alexis Duval and Francoise, Metis.

Thomas Douglas, fifth Earl of Selkirk, 1771-1820, sailed with eight hundred of his poor tenants to settle on Orwell Bay, Prince Edward Island in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.  William Osgoode, Chief Justice of Upper Canada, declared slavery was inconsistent with the laws of Canada.

Horora Ryan, Acadian Metis, died this year, buried Baie des Vents, Hardwick, New Brunswick, source Archie Martin 

France was aware that they could not hang on to the vast Louisiana Territory and sold it to the U.S. at about 2 1/2 cents an acre rather than let it fall into the hands of the British.

Bishop Pierre Denaut, in his ignorance, blamed the Acadians for the deportation of the Acadians saying it was because of their simple ways.  Denaut estimated the Acadian numbered 7,500 with 1,000 in the Bay Sainte Marie, 500 Cape Sable, 1,500 Canso and ille Madame, 350 Cape Breton, 350 Magdalen Islands, 750 Prince Edward Island, 1,100 in southern New Brunswick and 2,000 along the Saint Lawrence River. 

July 19:  St. Charles, Montreal, marriage, (V)-Louis Menard, Metis, son (IV)-Pierre Menard dit Montour, Metis, b-1725 and Genevieve Sicard epouse November 27, 1781 Fort Detroit Joseph Carie; married Marie Berthelet.

 

1804  

Thomas Douglas conducted a second group of his highland tenants to the mouth of the Thames River which he called Baldoon Farm.

1805  

June 25: Joseph Martin, b- 1744, Acadian Metis, died this year, buried Baie des Vents, Hardwick, New Brunswick, source Archie Martin 

November 11:  marriage (V)-Andre Ste Marie, b-1774, died July 12, 1858 Longueuil, married (III)-Elisabeth Vincent, Metis, b-1786, daughter (II)-Pierre Vincent, Metis, b-1756 and Elisabeth Brais

1806 

Francois David Clairmount, Metis born November 16, 1806 son Francoise (Sauge) Clairmont Metis and (VI)-Ludivine Doucet, Metis.  

February: St Eustache, birth (IV)-Clet Raizenne, Metis son (III)-Ignace Raizenne and Clemence Guindon; married February 8, 1831 Rigaud, Rose Sophie Gautier. 

(III)-Jean Baptiste Versailles, Metis, b-1806, son (II)-Luois Bourquin dit Versailles, b-1743 and Magdelaine Montagnaise Sauvage; married February 18, 1833, Red River, Genevieve Short, Metis, b-1808 daughter James Short, b-1767 and Betsey Sauteuse (Chippewa), b-1783, died April 2, 1863 Red River. 

Quebec is still being controlled by the Roman Catholic Church and the appointed French seigniorial system that dominated French thinking (1627-1854).  It was closely aligned with the English feudal system.  The Province of Quebec (Lower Canada) is embracing the English parliamentary system with its free elections.  The introduction of the printing press in Lower and Upper Canada, fuels the revulsion of the British ruling system.  Upper Canadians go as far as calling the the British pimps.  Opposition to the the British style of rule is not tolerated and will not be forgiven.  The publishers of the press are imprisoned for treason.

May:  Jean Baptiste Lagimodiere and wife Marie Anne Gaboury departed Quebec for Red River des Metis.

June 18: Marguerite Muzerall,, b-1749, Acadian Metis, died this year, buried Baie des Vents, Hardwick, New Brunswick, source Archie Martin 

    

1807  

Ezekiel Hart, born 1770, Trois Rivieres d-1843 son Aaron Hart  is elected to represent Trois Rivieres, but is declared ineligible because he is a Jew.  He is re-elected in 1808 and again barred from sitting.  It would take 25 years to settle the issue if a Jew can sit in the legislature.  Only Christians are allowed to be members of Parliament.

1808  

The first possible indication of anti-Jewish sentiment in Canada was the expulsion of Ezekiel Hart from the Quebec legislature.  Anti-Semitism was particularly acute in Quebec, where the Roman Catholic Church regarded Jews as the killers of Christ.  They refused to repent and be converted.  They were seen as supporting modernism, liberalism, and violated a host of other Church doctrines.

 

1809 

A Montreal Judge ordered twenty-five lashes on the bare backs of two disorderly women.

Canada's first steamship, Accommodation, is launched in Montreal, Quebec.

Propertied women in Quebec voted unchallenged between 1809-1849 on municipal voting.  The word male was inserted into the Quebec Franchise Act removing this loop hole.  Most Canadians, this century, believed that the sexes were assigned to separate spheres by natural and divine laws that overrode mere man-made laws.  It is noteworthy that many Canadians still believe into the twenty first century, that mans interpretation of God's laws override natural, civil  and criminal laws.

1810  

The number of illegitimate (enfant du Roi) births recorded in Quebec from 1801 to 1810, was 632, legitimes are 114,441.

The Acadians were not given the right to vote by the English until this year and until they were sure they were in a minority.  This is the same tactics they would employ in western Canada against the Metis and Indians.  

Peter Durandm a British Merchant invented the tin can this year.  The Quebec French used the tin cans as bougie.  A bougie is an Arabic word for candle lantern.  It is a candle set in a tin can with a small hole cut in the side to let light out.  It was used to make ones way to the outhouse or barn at night.

1811  

British war ships are seizing American ships who are supplying goods to France.  The American crews are pressed into service for the British.  The Americans are incensed, and Thomas Jefferson says Canada can be taken by just marching.  Thomas Jefferson, a Virginian, believes in a peaceful eradication of the Indian culture through education of their children and by emphasizing agriculture to confine the men to the land.

 

1812  

President James Madison calls for a declaration of War against Canada on June 1, 1812.  One grievance is that the Canadians are supporting the western Indians in opposing white settlement. The other is control of the western fur trade.

Cape Breton Island is re-annexed to Nova Scotia.  The British wanted to flood the area with British emigrants as they didn't trust the loyalty of the American squatters along the border.

Africville, Halifax, Nova Scotia is considered as having started about this time and was officially recognized in the 1840's.  Residence however have traced their ancestry back to the 1700's.  Africville is now an underused park that stands as a reminder of racism in Nova Scotia.  The City of Halifax over the years was determined to destroy the historic village of Africville.  They refused to provide water, sewage and lightning to the community but religiously collected their taxes.  They allowed a railway line to be constructed right through the community.  They authorized the building of a fertilizer plant and located a city dump in the community.  Then they had the ignorance to label the area a dark dirty blight on the city and in the 1960's forced these people from their historic lands and used city garbage trucks to transport their goods to slum housings.

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1813  

Timothee Doucet, Metis son Joseph Doucet and (V)-Ludivine Muise aka Mius, Metis, b-1737; married August 1813, S.A.R. Gertrude Muise aka Mius, Metis. 

In the fall of this year, the Americans control the western frontier of upper Canada.  The now plan to attack Quebec.  The plan is to take Montreal in a pincer movement. 

A thirteen year old boy was hanged in Montreal for stealing a cow. 

A troop ship returning from the war of 1812 ran ashore at Cape Pine on Newfoundland's Avalon Peninsula.  All 350 passengers died.

The invading US army burned the Canadian Niagara-on-the-Lake.

May 14:  St Joseph de Chambly, marriage Charles Michel Sallaberry and (IV)-Marrie Anne Julie Hertel, Metis died April 24, 1854 daughter (V)-Jean Baptiste Melchior Hertel b-1748 and (IV)-Marie Anne Hervieux, Metis.

May 27:  The invading US army captured Fort George Canada.

May 29:  The invading United States Army under command of William Henry Harrison (1773-1841) captured Fort Meigs, Canada.

June 6:  The US invasion of Canada is stopped at Stoney Creek, Upper Canada (Ontario).  Billy the Scout aka William Green (1794-1877) is credited with providing information and leading the Canadian allies that surprised and defeated the US invading army.

October 26:   About 4,000 Americans advance on a few hundred Canadians.  The Canadians shoot 35-40 rounds each with deadly accuracy, and the Americans are in full retreat within a few hours.  The Canadians remain in position another eight days, thinking the Americans are reforming for another attack.  

November 11:   The second attack at Montreal, from an American force much superior to the small Canadian and British defending force, is also a total failure. 

December 18:  Canada and her allies defeated the US army at Fort Niagara.

December 29:  The Canadian army and her allies marched on and burned Buffalo, New York. 

 

1814  

A seven year old colored boy named Dick is bonded to slavery to Joseph Clark in New Brunswick to be trained in the business of husbandry and house servant.

Dozens of Upper Canadians commit treason, being led by Joseph Wilcox who is still a member of the Upper Canada government and has been passing information to the Americans.  He gets 130 Canadians to join his personal army.  They have been burning and pillaging Canadian villages for the past year; even the towns that voted him into power.  Wilcox joins the American Army in an all out attack on Canada.   At  Lundays Laine,  3,500 Canadians and British are waiting for the Americans and turncoats, and will fight the bloodiest battle of the war.  About 5,000 men die this day, including 1/3 of the Canadians, and the fighting went on into the night.  But Wilcox and his turncoats retreat, and the Canadians and British hold the battlefield.  Joseph Wilcox is killed six weeks later in another battle.

The Kingston House of Industry (1814-1916), a workhouse under English Poor Law, is opened for degraded habits, immorality and an undesirable environment for the young.  The children are not cared for, supervised or protected from vice and degradation.  It has no humanizing influences.

John Molson an emigrant from Lincolnshire, a brewer, learned French and started his fanous Molson's Beer empire.  He was nicknamed le Pere Molson.  He was not considered the creme de la Creme of French society so this year he changed religions from Presbyterian to Anglican to step up the social latter.

St. Paul Island in the Cabot Strait between Nova Scotia and Newfoundland is the site of 350 shipwrecks.  This year a British troop ship sank with few survivors, it is said 200 were buried in a mass grave near Atlantic Cove.

Summer:  Eight men are convicted of treason for aiding the Americans, sending a strong message to other Americans in Upper Canada.

August 19:  The Canadian allied forces landed Patuxent River putting the US Army on the run.  They then marched on Washington D.C. after defeating the US Army at Blansburg, Maryland.  The capital of the United States fell to the Canadians and the President and his family fled the Whitehouse.  Washington D.C. was burned, the Whitehouse and nearly every public building was also burnt.  This was in retaliation for the United States burning of York (Toronto) of Upper Canada.  Unfortunately the Library of Congress containing 3,000 books was also burnt.  The Whitehouse got its name as it was painted white to cover the Canadian burn marks.  It stands as a reminder of the infamous attack on Canada.

August 24, 1814.  The English sailed up Chesapeake Bay and marched to Washington after driving out the American army.  The White House was looted then burned.  It is believed the HMS Fantome contains the White House loot.

November 5:  The US army were in full retreat from the Niagara Frontier in Canada and on their way blew up Fort Erie on their retreat.

November 24:  the HMS Fantome a man-of-war sank 20 miles southwest of Halifax, Nova Scotia as did two other ships in the convoy.  The Fantome was full of plunder having taken and burned the American White House on August 24, 1814.  Others dispute the White House loot story.

December 25:   A peace treaty is signed, and Canada will never again will be attacked by the Americans.  The American war was to assimilate Canada, but it did the opposite, driving the Canadians into the arms of Britain.

 

1815  

(III)-Francois Xavier Vautrin dit Bienvenne, Metis born May 10, 1815, St. Philippe, Quebec, son (II)-Pierre Vautrin dit Bienvenne and Agathe Baudin (Baubin) a Miami Indian of the Detroit River region.  

The immigrant trade began in earnest because of the Canadian Timber Trade.  Owners of vessels carrying wood from Quebec and Saint John each summer did not want their vessels returning to Canada empty so they offered space to poor emigrants.  By 1845 this human cargo in ships, called 'coffin ships', earned more money than timber and other goods.  The British Government called it their answer to the surplus inhabitant policy.  They underwrote some of the first mass migration, but this proved too costly.  The French of Quebec encouraged the English to move on to Ontario, fearing domination as a plot by the English to overwhelm the French.

Forty thousand Scots came to Nova Scotia between 1815 and 1838, being enticed by forty hectares of free land.  A New Brunswick yeoman indentured his eight-year-old daughter for ten years to her master to neither fornicate nor marry, nor absent herself day or nights from the household without leave.  At age 18 she is to be provided two suits of clothing for common and Sunday wear for the ten years service.

Halifax more than any other British Colony practiced an extreme form of a class system.  The rich and the poor treated each other as members of a different species.  As an example "the Bishop's lady once swept out of the ball-room with her daughters, because he saw the wife of a baker who had made money coming in the door."

After the end of the War of 1812. Halifax swarmed with sailors from the British Navy.  Privateers towed their captured prizes into harbor to be auctioned off.  To serve this traffic whole sections of grog shops and dancing houses sprang up.  Abandoned females, in a constant state of drunkenness, without shoes, in filthy and abominable conditions sprawled or solicicited.

The Priests were scandalized by the dress of young ladies.  Not only did the girls go practically naked to balls, but the dresses they wore in the daytime were hardly any better.  Some women didn't bother to wear even one petticoat.

Washing all over, like the savages, that was previously thought to be dangerous to the health, is becoming accepted.  Bathtubs are becoming fashionable in upper society.

A man was hanged for shoplifting.

 

1816  

The Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia, George Ramsey, 9th Earl of Dalhousie, wrote that the people are very poor and very indolent, fond of rum; they appear generally half-drunk.  They waste time loitering about their houses and their field work and seem content in raising a sufficiency of potatoes for their winter.

Bathing after October was viewed as highly imprudent, even among the upper class.  New France was a smelly place even though they wore perfume.

Between 1749 to 1816 about 10,000 blacks came to Acadia (Nova Scotia).

July 12:  Montreal, death (III)-Marie Charlotte Raizenne, Metis grey nun, daughter (II)-Jean Baptiste Jerome Raizenne, Metis and (IV)-Marie Charlotte Sabourin b-1741.

September 2:  Bonaventure, marriage Levag, a Soulanges de Joybert to Marguerite Ranger, Metis daughter Claude Ranger and Felicite Sagola Sanschagrin, Sauvahesse.

September 9:  Paul Mazerolle, b-1`754, Acadian Metis, died this year, buried Baie des Vents, Hardwick, New Brunswick, source Archie Martin 

 

 

1817  

Even lower-middle-class French Canadian families had a servant, usually female.  Back in England, with its surplus population and starving poor, servants counted themselves lucky even if they had to slave from morning to night and did so without complaint.  In Montreal 1,500 young lady immigrants were in actual distress, starving and freezing.  The females servants were subject to the usual European conditions, including the tact understanding that they were sexually available to their male employers.  Prospects for pregnant servants were bleak, she might become a wet nurse for the upper class who considered it déclassé to nurse their own babies.  Most babies were left on the Hotel Dieu for the nuns.

I'lle a La Crosse, birth (VI)-Louis Riel, Metis son (V)-Jean Baptiste Riel son (IV)-Jean Baptiste Riel and French Metisse.

May:  The chief agent of the American Fur Company, at Lachine, Quebec, complained that upwards of 25 men out of 60 had failed to show for canoe departure. He expects 12-15 will not show before departure and very few will return monies and supplies advanced.  Matthews is in charge of the canoes.

June 7:  Longueuil, birth (VI)-Jean Baptiste Ste. Marie, Metis, died July 19, 1887 St. Hubert, son (V)-Andre Ste. Marie (1774-1858) and (III)-Elisabeth Vincent, Metis, b-1786; married 1st. October 18, 1842 Longueuil, (VI)-Zoe Achin, b-1821, died September 28, 1864 Longueuil; married 2nd. October 21, 1871, Montreal, Tharsille Ida Larocque. 

 

1818  

Peter Skene Ogden (1794-1854) son Isaac Ogden and Sarah Hanson, is indicted in murder in Quebec, so he fled with the NWC to the Columbia River.  He abandoned his Cree wife and two Metis children.  He was known to be a violent man and a bully-boy on the Saskatchewan River.

February 15:  Paul Martin, b-1782, Acadian Metis, died this year, buried Baie des Vents, Hardwick, New Brunswick, source Archie Martin 

 

1819  

October 2: Acada, birth,  Rose Suzanne Robichard, Metis daughter Pierre Robichard, b-1737 and Marie Rose Corporon, Metis, b-1752: married John Fitzgerald.  Rose birth date appears to be error? 

1820  

The number of illegitimate (enfant du Roi) births recorded in Quebec from 1811 to 1820, was 911, legitimes are 145,195.

January 10:  Montreal, birth (V)-Toussaint Pothier, Metis, son (IV)-Louis Toussaint Joseph Pothier, Metis, a merchant and (III)-Marie Louise Courault, courreaud Lacote b-1749; married Anne Francoise Bruyere. 

October 16:   Cape Breton is re-annexed to Nova Scotia.  A committee is established in Halifax to stop children from begging on the street.  In 1820 alone, 4,213 handouts are given.

1823 

John Caldwell is dismissed as receiver-general of Lower Canada for defrauding the Government of £96,000.

1824 

Nova Scotia has an estimated population of 100,000 people and by 1855, would total 275,000 people.  The Scots and Irish took advantage of the low fares on the returning empty timber ships.

Patrick Bergren an 18 year old boy in St. Johns, New Brunswick is hung for stealing 24¢.

Newfoundland became a British Colony.

1825  

(II)-Angus McAskill (1825-1863) was born Scotland, lived St. Anns, Nova Scotia.  He was 7 feet 7.5 inches tall and weighted 419 lbs.   

An October fire in New Brunswick destroyed four million acres and the towns of Fredericton and Newcastle, killing 160 people.  Smoke burned the eyes and lungs of people as far away as Montreal.

November 7: Acada, birth,  Pierre Robichard, Metis son Pierre Robichard, b-1737 and Marie Rose Corporon, Metis, b-1752: married Marie Thibault 

 

1827  

The journey from Scotland is perilous.  One ship of Gaelic speaking Highlanders, this year, lost 20 percent of the passengers.  The Scots usually immigrated in family groups or clans.

1829  

Two men were executed for sacrilege in Quebec.

September 14:  Mathurin Mazerolle, b-1745 or 1755, Acadian Metis, died this year, buried Baie des Vents, Hardwick, New Brunswick, source Archie Martin 

 

1830  

The number of illegitimate (enfant du Roi) births recorded in Quebec from 1821 to 1830, was 1,409, legitimes are 194,766.

Segregated schooling is introduced in Newfoundland to protect the delicacy of feeling and resentment, but the desperately poor children’s sensibilities are ignored.

Acadians were not allowed to become members of Parliament until this year.

 

1832  

The governor wants to see the French become a minority and the Quebec governments calls for massive waves of Anglophone immigration, mostly Irish.  They bring cholera that kills 10,000 people in a single year.

The English army opened fire on an unarmed crowd in Montreal killing three citizens.

A quarantine station is built at Grosse Island, St. Lawrence River (50 km from Quebec) this year to avoid the cholera epidemic that is sweeping Europe.  Catherine Parr Traill, an Englishwoman who landed at Grosse Island, St. Lawrence River, noted every variety of disease, vice, poverty, filth and famine.  Human misery in its most disgusting and saddening forms.  Over 50,000 immigrants are examined at Grosse Island in its first year of operation.  However, the immigrants, this season, still brought cholera to Quebec and it spread throughout Canada.  One thousand people died in Montreal, and it then spread into upper Canada.  Others suggest the cholera epidemic killed 7,000 people in Montreal and Quebec.  Smallpox, typhus, influenza, malaria and tuberculosis also took heavy tolls. 

Protestant Orphan Houses, alias Asylums or more commonly known as Work Houses, began in Montreal this year.  Most children of these asylums are not orphans but are removed from their homes on moral grounds and placed, indentured or bound into indenture-ship.  Adoption, at this time, simply meant that very young children were placed with families and had no legal claims to that family in later years.  Most natural parents had to relinquish all claims for the child for an indefinite period or a minimum two-year period.  Requests for reclaiming or even visiting their children was usually refused for fear that the child might be enticed from their place of employment.  The grounds for taking children were demoralizing influences of ungodly homes by downward degraded parents.  The Methodist Asylum of St. John's, later this century, would return girls if their mother remarried.

A committee report of Poor Houses in Halifax concluded that conditions are intolerable and observed that a great number of the 74 children are forced to sleep with male or female adults with no regard for health or morals.
Asiatic cholera visited Montreal, leaving 70 orphans in its wake.  Years of insect plagues and alternative floods and droughts has ruined the harvest.  Habitants around Montreal were destitute.  Many were forced to abandon the land.  Some clogged Montreal and were forced to begging beside the new immigrants.  Some trekked south to Vermont.

A law is passed giving Jews the same rights and privileges as other citizens.

October 2:  Longueuil, marriage (VI)-Andre Ste. Marie, Metis, born November 30, 1807, died July 16, 1885 St. Hubert, son (V)-Andre Ste. Marie (1774-1858) and (III)-Elisabeth Vincent, Metis, b-1786; married Louise Lamarre daughter Alexis Lamarre 

 

1833  

Negro slavery was abolished in Ontario in 1793, but not in Quebec until 1833.

Public outrage against hanging is mounting and the number of offences for hanging is reduced from over one hundred to twelve.  The public demanded women have their own jails to keep them from depravity.  Crime was no longer viewed as the result of Original Sin.

October 5:  Longueuil, birth/death (VII)-Anonyme Ste. Marie, Metis, child (VI)-Andre Ste. Marie, Metis and Louise Lamarre.

October 8:  Longueuil, marriage (VI)-Pierre Ste. Marie, Metis, born January 26, 1809, son (V)-Andre Ste. Marie (1774-1858) and (III)-Elisabeth Vincent, Metis, b-1786; married Mare Bray Labonte, daughter Amable Bray-Labonte. 

 

1834  

Charlotte Creighton, in Halifax, Nova Scotia, wrote of 600 deaths from cholera in the past six weeks despite the use of burning tar pots during the night and day.

731 lives were lost in shipwrecks on their way to Quebec this year.  One was an Irish ship enroute to Quebec that struck a rock off the coast of Nova Scotia and sank with 316 passengers.

December 19:  Longueuil, birth (VII)-Marie Heloise Ste. Marie, Metis, died February 7, 1837 Longueuil, daughter (VI)-Andre Ste. Marie, Metis and Louise Lamarre.

 

1835  

Joseph Howe purchased the Nova Scotian newspaper and proclaimed that if you want learned men, make learned women.

A painting by John Toole shows what appears to be a game of hockey in Virginia on a frozen pond.  This predates the Nova Scotia painting of 1867 that is considered a hockey match.

October 6:  Longueuil, marriage (VI)-Michel Ste. Marie, Metis, born December 13, 1813, son (V)-Andre Ste. Marie (1774-1858) and (III)-Elisabeth Vincent, Metis, b-1786; married Sophie Adam Laramee, b-1817 daughter Francois Adam-Laramee. 

 

1836  

Some contend La Rebellion des Patriotes started this year.

1837  

Henry Forrester, aged five years, is indentured (enslaved) in New Brunswick for 16 years, to faithfully serve his master and to keep his secrets, his lawful commands, and not to commit fornication nor contract matrimony until he reaches 21 years of age.  A scandal of the Orphans' Friend Society that indentured children to colonists in New Brunswick and the African colonies, said that the harsh treatment of the children represents the labor previously extracted from the now free coloreds or emancipated slaves.  Slavery in America just adopted a different form and few people protested.  Many claimed these children are only the filth of the streets, being dumped in the Americas and were of little concern.  Only the young are desired as being the most pliable in nature.  The other fear is if children reached the age of 12 to 14, being able to earn a living, the parents would claim the child and, thereby, make them unavailable for the slave trade.

The insurrection of 1837-1838 was a demand for democracy, self-government, liberalism, nationalism and anticolonial ideology for Lower Canada (Quebec).  Some aspired to the ideals of the American Revolution.  The Patriotes (Parti Canadien) as they were called wanted to maintain the historic seigniorial System (which was abolished 1854) and return to their agricultural roots and stem the flow of British capitalism.  The issues was the British domination of the French.  Leaders include Louis Joseph Papineau (1786-1871), Jean Oliver Chenier and Wolfred Nelson.  

850 insurrection suspects were arrested
108 suspects were brought before the courts
  99 of those brought before the courts were sentenced to death
  58 of those sentenced to death were deported to Australia
  12 of those sentenced to death were hung.

The only winners of the insurrection was the Roman Catholic Church as they had a vision of a French, Catholic Nation.

January 14:  Saint John, New Brunswick, fire ignited on Peter's wharf and destroyed most of the old city.  The glow could be seen in Frederiction, 90 miles away.

October:  Longueuil, birth (VII)-Andre Ste. Marie, Metis, died March 8, 1839 Longueuil, son (VI)-Andre Ste. Marie, Metis and Louise Lamarre.


October 23:  St. Charles, 4,000 Patriotes at a rally proclaimed French Independence and the 'Patriotes Rebellion' began.  

November:  British Troops were sent to put down the rebellion but are defeated at St. Denis but won the battles at St. Charles and St. Eustache.  Some suggest Louis Joseph Papineau (1786-1871) disappeared just before the fighting at St. Denis and fled to the United States after the revolution appeared lost.  Some at the time considered Papineau a traitor.

1838  

November 4:  Rebels attacked Caughnawaga, near Montreal, while the Iroquois were at church.  They rushed out, and put the rebels to flight.

1840  

The number of illegitimate (enfant du Roi) births recorded in Quebec from 1831 to 1840, was 1,841, legitimes are 246,341.

Louis:  Sidney, Australia, death (IV)-Louis Dumouchel, Metis, born Quebec, son (III)-Louis Joseph Dumouchel, Metis (1712-1769) and (II)-Marie Louise Lecleric, b-1720; married January 27, 1777 Chaleauguay, Marguerite Brau.

Because of poor economic conditions in Quebec between 1840 to 1850 some 40,000 French Canadians immigrated to the United States.  It is noteworthy that between 1850 to 1940 is called the Great Exodus when 900,000 French Canadians leave Quebec for the United States.

 

1841  

At the invitation of Ignace Bourget, the second Roman Catholic bishop of Montreal, the Oblates of Mary Immaculate order, found its way to Canada this year to establish its first foreign mission.  The Oblates would build schools and churches dedicated to erasing or neutralizing Aboriginal culture.  Their total authority corrupted many, as magistrates, notary publics, doctors and priests bullied and even sexually abused their parishioners.  Father Albert Lacombe would be an exception to the rule, and the Indians called him the Man of Good Heart.

(I)-Edward Martin Hopkins (1820-1893) son Martin Edward Hopkins (1786-1836) and Anne Manley (1785-1875). who married Trois Rivieres about 1847 Annie Ogden, d-1854, daughter of Isaac of Trois Rivieres.  Hopkins joined the Hudson Bay Company in 1841 as a clerg, indentured for five years.  Hopkins was the journey writer for Governor (I)-George Simpson (1787-1860) and accompanied him on most of his trips.

 

1842 

Bishop Ignace Bourget of Montreal invited the New Society of Jesus (Jesuits) to Canada.  Pope Pius VII reconstitutes the outlawed society in 1814.  They still believe in their motto of the end justifies the means which led to their dissolution 40 years earlier, but are now more careful in its execution.

October 18:  Longueuil, marriage (VI)-Jean Baptiste Ste. Marie, Metis, b-1817, died July 19, 1887 St. Hubert: married 1st (VI)-Zoe Achin St. Andre, b-1821, died September 28, 1864 Longueuil daughter (V)-Amable Achin St. Andre; married 2nd October 21, 1871, Montreal, Tharsille Ida Larocque.

 

1843  

The Board of the Halifax Asylum returned an illegitimate (enfant du Roi) child to the doctor who admitted it, not wanting to cloak vice or diminish natural affection.

 

1845  

The Governors of a Cornwallis poorhouse expressed perfect abhorrence and disgust at the inhumane treatment of little indentured Bridget Cody at the hand of her master.  Nevertheless, Bridget is summarily indentured again into another household.   Between 1832 and 1847, in Halifax , 301 children had been bound-out into slavery.

Francious Xavier Garneau (1809-1866), is said to have started his History of Canada, because of remarks made by John George Lambton, Earl of Durham (1792-1840), her majesty's High Commissioner and Governor General of British North America (1839).  He said the French Canadians were a people "without a history and without a literature".  He was nicked named 'Radical Jack' when he proposed the assimilation of French Canadians.   It is noteworthy the French had an assimilation policy when it came to Huguenots, Indians and Metis cultures but were horrified at being assimilated into an English culture. 

July 31:  Longueuil, birth (VII)-Marie Basilisse Ste. Marie, Metis, religieuse des SS. NN. de Jesus et Marie, Hochelaga, Montreal daughter (VI)-Jean Baptiste Ste. Marie, Metis, (1817-1887) and (VI)-Zoe Achin St, Andre (1821-1864) St. Hubert..

August:  Francious Xavier Garneau (1809-1866), in his three volume History of Canada, without first hand knowledge, continued to support the stereotypes of Native Peoples.  He considered the French as civilized and the Indians as cruel hordes of barbarians.  He spoke of the habitual vindictiveness of Indians.  He wrote that they were sexually promiscuous, enslaved their women, took inadequate care of their children and lived solely by hunting and fishing.  He believed the French introduced agriculture in 1650 to the savages.   The 1st volume of his 'Histoire du Canada' was published in Quebec.  Three more volumes were published in 1846, 1849 and 1952.  His perspective was the history of French Canadians as a struggle for survival.  He was hailed by the French as a 'National Historian' during his lifetime.

 

1846  

Children as young as age eight years old are sent to the penitentiary and subjected to hard labor and silence and, like mature convicts, are also tortured and subjected to sexual predators.  Some indentured children who were imprisoned were later found to be innocent of minor crimes, but their innocence was long lost.

Dr. Abraham Gesner first demonstrated kerosene in Prince Edward Island

  

1847  

A line of 40 sailing ships stretched for three kilometers down river from Grosse Island on the St. Lawrence River with 90,000 passengers; mainly Irish.  Many died from typhus and dysentery.  Over 5,000 people would die this summer at this quarantine station, including six doctors tending the dying.  The deadly fever, however, would be carried on into Quebec, Montreal, Kingston and Toronto, where another 17,000 would die; mostly Irish immigrants.  The total of all emigrants who died was 17,477; about 19% of all emigrants.  The total number of deaths on ships was 5,293, and 3,452 at quarantine stations.  Infants under one year of age are not counted.  The average age was 24.4 years.  Many deaths are attributed to overcrowded ships, poor hygienic conditions, and lack of food on board.

Partridge Island, in the harbor at Saint John New Brunswick. 16,000 emigrants arrived this year, and many had typhus.  Six hundred victims were buried this summer.

February 25:  Longueuil, birth (VII)-Rose de Lima Ste. Marie, Metis, died August 11, 1864 St. Hubert son (VI)-Jean Baptiste Ste. Marie, Metis, (1817-1887) and (VI)-Zoe Achin St. Andre (1821-1864).

August: Trois Rivieres (I)-Edward Martin Hopkins (1820-1893) son Martin Edward Hopkins (1786-1836) and Anne Manley (1785-1875). married Annie Ogden, d-1854, daughter of Isaac of Trois Rivieres.  Hopkins was the journey writer for Governor (I)-George Simpson (1787-1860) and accompanied him on most of his trips.

 

 

1849  

Twelve people are killed in a riot between Orangemen and Catholics in Saint John, New Brunswick.

Grosse-Ill, Quebec is the resting place for over 6,000 Irish souls and 1,480 others.  It is a quarantine stop-over for European immigrants and was started in 1832 and eventually closed as a quarantine station in 1937.  A Gaelic monument reads:

"Children of the Gael died in their thousands on this island having fled from the laws of the foreign tyrants and an artificial famine in the years 1847-48.  God's loyal blessing upon them.  Let this monument be a token to their name and honour from the Gaels of America.  God save Ireland."  

 

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