The extraordinary journey we embarked on since the beginning of this series comes to an end for Adam Bangle. No doubt I will revisit in future posts his military life during the American War of Independence and his emigration to Canada, but for now let’s go back to Terrebonne where he spent, more or less, the last fifteen years of his life.

The review of notarial records proves to be the next logical research step when one is done digging in the parish records. For those of you who may not be that familiar with Québec notarial records, let me tell you that these documents contain a wealth of information about our ancestors. Yes, this is a lot of work but it is so rewarding! The diversity of information that we are able to discover therein is priceless. You see, without these records, we would not know that on the afternoon of April 12, 1792, Adam Bangle and Marie Davis were with Notary Public Joseph Turgeon Jacques Dufault concluding the purchase of a piece of land in the village of Terrebonne.

The seller was “Christin Bolmant” (Christian Bollman), master tailor from the village of Terrebonne. You might have guessed that he was German. He was an auxiliary who was discharged in 1783. He later settled in Saint-Roch-de-L’Achigan where he died in 1824.*

“[…] Were present Christin Bolmant master tailor residing in this village [Terrebonne] who […] sold […] to adam Benguett and marie Devis His wife residing in this village accepting […] a piece of land of ninety feet of frontage by ninety feet deep situated in the lower part of this village, the front being on Ste-Marie Street, the back to the land of Janis’ widow, on the north side, on St-François Street and on the other side, besides André Dubai’s land on which is built a log-house and shed […].” [translated from French]

I think it is the first time I come across a contract in which the purchaser’s wife’s identity is referred to. I wonder if it’s just a coincidence.

Wishing to know if the streets mentioned in said contract still exist nowadays, I therefore looked at Google Maps which confirmed they were. But I was also wondering if these street names match with those located on the same site in 1792. I then had the idea to ask the question on the Société d’histoire de la région de Terrebonne’s Facebook Page.

Good call! Not only did Mr. Claude Blouin, of the Société, indicate the exact spot where Adam Bangle’s house was but he also informed me about other documents related to the Bangles which I had not found yet. Always keep in mind to contact local genealogical and/or historical societies where your ancestors lived. These happen to be more than useful when some assistance is needed to get through your research about your family.

From said notary act, we also learned that Adam paid “300 schillings in old currency of this province”.

You are probably wondering if Adam signed this contract. Yes, he did, here you go:

Adam Bangle’s signature from Joseph Turgeon Jacques Dufault’s notary act of April 12, 1792.

Only one other act passed before Notary Public Jacques Dufault, dated June 20, 1792, with respect to Adam Bangle has been found: an acquittance to Adam Benguell concerning the acquisition of the Ste-Marie Street piece of land two months earlier.

As you already know, Adam died in 1800. But what happened to Marie Davis after her husband’s death? All the details in two weeks.

* I would like to sincerely thank Mr. Claude Blouin, of the Société d’histoire de la région de Terrebonne, for all the help he provided me with regarding the notary acts which were prepared for the Bangles then living in Terrebonne. You will be able to see same first-hand once I have published posts on deeds for some other Bangles. When I started to write this series a few months ago, I was convinced it would help me organize my documents and notes but I never thought it would give me so many new leads as well. And all of you will benefit from this! If you wish to visit their Website, click here.

For related posts about The Bangle Files, please refer to the Introduction Page