Day Trip
One day we drove to seven churches that were on the other side of the Saint Lawrence from Quebec. These were all places where my ancestors were.
Beaumont
This church was actually here when my ancestors were here. It was built in 1733. Elizabeth Turgeon and her husband Augustin Couture went to this church. They were married before the church was built. Their daughter, Genevieve Couture, and Jacque Labrie were married in this church. They moved to Saint-Charles.
Elizabeth's parents, Zacharie Turgeon and Elizabeth Isabelle Roy, probably went to this church. Elizabeth Isabelle Roy was the daughter of Nicolas Roy (where my last name comes from) and Jeanne Lelievre. There is no record of her death so I don't know if she was alive when this church was built. Zacharie Turgeon died in 1743 and he was buried here.
Saint Michel
Many generations of my ancestors were in this area. The church was built in 1858 after they had left. The last ancestors who left the area were Charles Roy and his wife Angelique Lalibert. They left in the early 1800s to live in Saint Gervais.
Noel Roy (son of Nicolas Roy where my last name comes from) and his wife Marguerite Rabouin moved to Saint Michel where they had some of their children in the early 1700s. In about 1715 they moved to Saint Vallier where Noel's parents lived.
Saint Vallier
This is Roy country! There is a commerative plaque for Nicolas Roy and his wife Jeanne Lelievre that is found to the right of the door. The church was built in 1900. The plaque says
Tribute
to a pioneering family
NICOLAS LEROY
AND JEANNE LELIÈVRE
arrived in New France in 1661,
from Dieppe, Normandy,
established in the seigniory of La Durantaye
in 1676, and several
children lived in Saint-Vallier.
Unveiling made in the year 2000, the day before
the 325th anniversary of their establishment on the South Shore
Their descendants remember
Roy Family Association - August 26, 2000
To the left of the door is another plaque about my ancestors. These two were married in Saint-Famille and died in Saint Jean. They were both born in France. Their child Anne was my ancestor. None of Anne's children who would be my ancestors are mentioned on the plaque. The plaque ays
IN TRIBUTE TO
JEAN BROCHU and NICOLE SAULNIER
1642-1705 Ca 1651-1714
census of 1691 of the seigniory of La Durantaye
and ancestors of all the Brochu of America,
to their grandchildren,
JEAN-BAPTISTE, MATHURIN, MARY,
GENEVIÈVE and MARGUERITE
and their descendants who have contributed to the implantation and
development of several Bellechasse communities,
from Quebec and the North American continent.
THE ASSOCIATION OF GRATEFUL AMERICA BROCHU
August 11, 2001 Gift of the Joseph-Napoléon Brochu family
The cemetery is a couple of blocks from the church. The orginal church was located by the cemetery. In 1906 a new church was built a few blocks away. The cemetery is located on Roy Avenue. I walked through and there are many Roy tombstones. In the back of the cemetery there is a tombstone for my ancestor Etienne Corriveau. It says
300
1678 Corriveau 1978
Ètienne,
THE ANCESTRY OF CORRIVEAU AMERICA,
ARRIVAL OF FONTCLAIREAU
(CHARENTE) FRANCE, EN 1668.
HE SET UP IN STE-FAMILLE,
ILE D'ORLÉANS, AND IN 1678
IS ESTABLISHED IN THE SEIGNEURIE OF THE
DURANTAYE, HERE, IN THE PARTY
TODAY NAMED ST-VALLIER.
The first place of worship of Saint-Vallier was a dairy converted into a chapel and presbytery to allow the first parish priest of La Durantay, appointed in 1700, to go about his business and worship his flock.
Following a convention for the construction of a church and a presbytery in Saint-Vallier, on January 12, 1712, in front of the notary Abel Michon, a stone church was erected at the edge of the water which was completed in 1716 and enlarged in 1744 under Bishop de Pontbriand. This church located on the current site of the cemetery was demolished in 1906 said, because of its narrowness and its dilapidation. It will have served nearly 200 years.
It was on November 15, 1906 that the new church was inaugurated, set in the heart of the village, imposing monumental, rich, truly worthy of the generous parishioners who raised it, and who called, welcomed in its broad nave full of light encircled by elegant columns and vaulted with gilded boxes, the crowd will now have to kneel and pray. This new church will, however, be destroyed by fire in January 1931. The fire originated in the vault, probably as a result of a chimney failure.
Mr. Herménégilde Roger, then parish priest, was replaced by M. Elzéar Parent. It was under his guidance that was rebuilt a new church on the still standing walls of the old. The interior was however completed much later, under the administration of Mr. Theophilus Pageot, parish priest of St.Vallier between 1951 and 1955. Sunday, May 29, 1932 before the high mass parish, Mr. Le Canon J. Vaillancourt, the Archbishopric, solemnly blessed the new church of Saint-Vallier ... The new church built of incombustible materials contains 230 benches.
Despite its reconstruction, the new church never found its two pinnacles, probably for the sake of economy. Losses during the fire were about $ 250,000, covered by only $ 90,000 of insurance.
Purchase bells for the needs of the new church.
Quebec, March 3, 1905
Reverend Mr.J.C. Arsenault, worse
Parish priest in Saint-Vallier, County of Bellechasse
Sir,
Here are the guarantees and conditions regarding the purchase of your bells: The bells will be made with metals of first choice, without flaws or defects; they will give the notes mi, fa # and sol # and that of a correctness without reproaches and retouches after the casting, they will give pure, soft sounds. Of course, the system of clapper will be the one said retro launched. If the bells do not meet all the specified higher conditions, we make a formal commitment to take them back at our expense without risk to the factory. They are guaranteed for ten years against any fracture resulting from manufacturing defects, mounts. They will be made with materials of first choice and following the rules of art. The bells will be billed to 29 cents on the wharf in Quebec City and the sum of $ 275.00 will be allocated or rather added for mount costs, transport, installation. Transportation by car from the Station to the church and vice versa will be at the Fabrique's expense. The frames will be complete.
C. E mile Morissette
General Representative in Canada
Paccard Foundry, France
The first cemetery of Saint-Vallier was located just next to the church, originally built on the edge of the promontory, near the river. We can see on the picture and the painting, the wall that surrounded it, custom spread under the French Regime. It should be noted that, parallel to the use of the cemetery, in the basement of the first church there is a small cemetery ad sanctus which favors the burial of notables like certain lords and pastors.
Saint Gervais
Etienne Beaudoin was born here. Jacques Baudon's son Jacques left the Ilse d'Orleans for Berthier where two generations stayed and then Etienne's father was born in St-François-De-La-Rivière-Du-Sud.
Etienne's future wife's parents were born here. Everyone later moved to Saint Anselme.
This church was built in 1873. My ancestors left this area in the 1850s so they would not have attended this church.
Saint Anselme
This is where Etienne Beaudoin and Henriette Roy were married in 1855. Henriette was born here. Etienne's parents and Henriette's parents died here as well as Henriette's paternal grandparents.
This church was built in 1850. Etienne and Henriette were married in this church. Their first child, Delphine, was baptised in this churh.
Sainte Claire
This is where Etienne Beaudoin and Henriette Roy moved to. The family would have attended this actual church. It was built in 1824, However, the church was extensiviely remodeled in the 1930s so they may not have seen this exact church. Seven of their children were baptised here. My ancestor Amanda was not baptized here even though her siblings before and after her were baptized in Sainte Claire. Amanda was baptized in Sainte Lazare, near Montreal. Her name is listed as Amanda Bodouin and her parents are from Sainte Claire.
Thier older children moved to Saint-Prime.
Around 1885 Etienne and Henriette moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota with thier six youngest children. Five of their older children also moved to Minneapolis. Their oldest daughter moved directly to Rhode Island with her family. You can read about all the children here.
1824
Foundation of the parish of St. Claire
The parish of Sainte-Claire was the first Roman Catholic parish in Lower Canada erected canonically and civilly under the English regime. It was in 1824 that this historic event occurred while on April 14, Bishop J.-O. Plessis granted the canonical decree creating our parish. On the following August 13th, Sir Francis Burton, lieutenant governor, had the letters patent approving the ecclesiastical and canonical erection for the said parish of Sainte-Claire.
The purpose of this approach was to provide our parish with a priest but also to ensure the implementation of a legal distribution for the construction of the church. From the plans and specifications made by the architect Thomas Baillargé, the construction work began in the summer of 1823. However, for lack of money, they had been suspended in the autumn because the voluntary contributions were not enough to pay the costs.
The work will resume in 1825 under the supervision of trustees Joseph Fournier, Pierre Bouchard and François Chrétien. The main contractor being François Audet dit Lapointe, master carpenter. The blessing of the bells of the church of Sainte-Claire will be held on September 12, 1827 by Bishop Bernard-Claude Panet in the presence of the Reverend Messire Joseph-Philippe Lefrançois, first priest of Sainte-Claire, Jean-Thomas-Taschereau, lord of Jolliet as well as many faithful.
In 1930, major works will significantly modify the interior and exterior of our church including the porticoes, the bell tower and the roof of the chapels, thus substantially transforming the appearance of our parish church
Made of Sainte-Claire
May 2009
Saint Henri
This is where Francois Regis Roy was born in 1817. He was my grandfather's father. On my grandfather's mother's side, Charles Roy and Angelique Laliberte werer married here. Angelique was born here. They were Amanda Beaudoin's great grandparents on her mother's side. Some other ancestors died in this area.
This church was built in 1870, after my ancestors were here.
