Jean-Baptiste Tourville: From Saint-François-de-Sales To South Hero

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I cannot help it—I keep going back to the Québec Notaries Index on Ancestry. Same proved useful as I actually found some references regarding one Jean-Baptiste Tourville. The dates of the documents lead me to believe that these are concerning Jean-Baptiste Tourville, who will later be known as John Troville, in South Hero, Vermont. Before I can put my hand on these documents (I’ll have to get them at the Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec in Montréal), let’s take a look at Jean-Baptiste’s life.

The oldest living child of Michel Tourville and Catherine Marié was born and baptized on November 10, 1785, in Saint-François-de-Sales, Île Jésus (or Laval nowadays). In fact, he was the only child who had the joy of having his father present at his marriage before the latter passed away.

Jean-Baptiste’s entire childhood was spent in Saint-François-de-Sales. On October 3, 1808, at age 22, he married Rosalie Blot, born on January 9, 1780, also in Saint-François-de-Sales (she was almost six years older than her husband). We know from various notaries records that Jean-Baptiste and Rosalie made their home on the family farm. Indeed, going through the baptismal records of their seven children (three died in infancy) confirmed that all were born in Saint-François-de-Sales, even if they were baptized in other nearby churches such as Terrebonne, Saint-Vincent-de-Paul, Lachenaie, and Rivière-des-Prairies (for the church of Saint-François-de-Sales was not in service during that period). Two baptismal records from Saint-Vincent-de-Paul mention that the parents were living in that parish, but I am pretty sure it is a mistake considering they were living on the family farm.

The four surviving children are :

  • Jean-Baptiste Tourville, born November 7, 1810 (married to Marguerite Dome)
  • Rosalie Tourville, born March 3, 1812 (married to Jean-Baptiste Lefebvre/Bean)
  • Narcisse Tourville, born October 7, 1813 (married to Adéline Durand)
  • Perpétue Tourville, born June 22, 1820 (married to Gonzague Robillard a.k.a. Isaac Robyar)

When Perpétue was born in 1820, her mother Rosalie was 40 years old. It might explain why there seems to be no other children born after her.

Nevertheless, two facts are unquestionable: firstly, the family was in Saint-Luc, Saint-Jean County, in Québec, by 1836, as three of the children (Jean-Baptiste, Rosalie, and Narcisse) were married there; and secondly, their presence in South Hero, Grand Isle County, Vermont, in 1840. Both Jean-Baptiste (John) Sr and Jean-Baptiste (John) Jr “Troville” were found in the census, including John Bean and Narcisse (Francis) “Troville”. Even if May 12, 1839, is the reported birthdate of Isaac Robillard and Perpétue Tourville’s oldest daughter Matilda, Perpétue seems to be living with her parents in 1840. As for Isaac, he is nowhere to be found—maybe he is living with his father Peter in South Hero as well. Matilda would be born in 1841 as per the 1850 census. Therefore, it is possible that Perpétue and Gonzague were married after the census was conducted.

Jean-Baptiste Sr is listed on the 1850 census, but not his wife Rosalie. We assume she died before it was taken.

In future posts, I will present each of the children to you as well as the notaries records in respect of Jean-Baptiste. But most importantly, I am pretty sure that with the help of these records, I should be able to reduce the gap between 1820 and 1836.

Hope to unearth something interesting!