Josephte Content (née Hubou) (1761-1834)

While doing my fan chart a couple of years ago I was in for a surprise. I found out that my 4G grandfather Étienne Content’s wife went by the name of… Josephte Hubou-Tourville! Another one!

So not only do I descend from the couple Joseph Hubou and Geneviève Bisson but also from the one formed by his brother Jérôme and Catherine Brunet.

You might remember that Jérôme was the father of Pierre and Toussaint who went to Florissant, Missouri. Josephte is their older sister. She was born on May 13, 1761, in Lachenaie just like her siblings.

content tourvilleWhen I came upon Étienne and Josephte’s marriage contract dated August 11, 1781 (Notary Public Jacques Dufault), I was curious to see if Pierre, aged 17, and Toussaint, aged 11, were present at the notary’s office, but they were not mentioned in said contract. Josephte’s parents as well as her younger sister Elizabeth, aged 14, were mentioned though.

Étienne and Josephte were married two days later at Saint-Charles Church in Lachenaie. For Étienne, it was a second marriage at… 60 years old. Josephte was only 20. Yep!

I was able to identify seven children born from this marriage—two boys and five girls. Only four made it to adulthood: Étienne, Louis, Clémence (my 3G grandmother), and Euphrosine. Étienne and Louis never married. Even so, I was lucky enough to find out that Louis was still alive in 1812 as he was cited in a notary’s contract. Both sisters died in Montréal—Clémence in 1857, and Euphrosine in 1880. With no marriage and no parents’ names in the burial records as well as homonymous names, I still have to confirm the death dates of Étienne and Louis.

I hope to have inherited some of Étienne’s genes as he passed away at the age of 95 years old in 1817. Josephte was married to him for 35 years. In 1826, at age 65, she remarried to François Leclerc, 74, a widower. He died in 1833, in Terrebonne, and she died in St-Luc in 1834. What was she doing there? Her son Étienne was a witness at her burial. Maybe they were both living there at the time.

A few interesting facts. Believe me, you will need to be focused for this.

Josephte’s first husband, Étienne Content, was first married to Catherine Dupras and this couple had a son, also named Étienne. And this Étienne married Angélique Leclerc, François Leclerc’s sister. Their other sister, Marie-Anne Leclerc, was married to Jean-Baptiste Hubou-Deslongchamps whose great-grandparents were Mathieu Hubou and Suzanne Betfer!

And wait…! Catherine Dupras’ parents were Jacques Dupras and Catherine Hubou-Deslonchamps whose grandparents were also Mathieu Hubou and Suzanne Betfer!

Did I forget to mention that Étienne Content and Josephte-Hubou Tourville were first cousins twice removed? Through their maternal lines, Étienne and Josephte had Antoine Basinet as a common ancestor.

To put it mildly, I guess we could say that Lachenaie was a very close-knit community at the time.