The Death of François Tourville: a Timeframe

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In 1851, François Tourville was living in St-Jude, Québec, with his wife Louise Corriveau, and their children: Marie, Alexandre, Léonard, Marie-Louise, Luc and Célestin (Louis).

In 1860, his wife Louise was living in Sutton, Worcester County, in Massachusetts. We can assume from the Census that she is a widow. Lucky enough, I found two contracts signed before notary Timothée Brodeur in St-Hughes to give us a hint about when François Tourville died and confirm the fact that Louise Corriveau was indeed a widow when she moved to Massachusetts.

The first one is dated February 14, 1854. The document states that François Hubou dit Tourville and his wife Louise Corriveau, both residents of St-Jude, acknowledge receipt for the fourth payment that was due last January “of this year” for the sale of a land that was made by François to Bazile Richard, on March 30, 1850 before the same notary. The buyer is the owner of the neighbouring land.

Act No. 3004 dated Jan 10, 1854 before notary Timothée Brodeur

Act No. 3004 dated February 14, 1854 before notary Timothée Brodeur.

The second contract was dated January 26, 1855 where Louise Corriveau, widow of the late François Tourville, resident of St-Jude, acknowledges receipt for the last payment regarding the sale of a land made by the late François Tourville, to Bazile Richard.

Act No. 3855 dated January 26, 1855 before notary Timothée Brodeur.

Act No. 3153 dated January 26, 1855 before notary Timothée Brodeur.

I have checked the St-Jude and St-Hughes church records for 1854 and early 1855 and I haven’t find anything. Was François planning to move to Massachusetts and he died on his way to the States or in Massachusetts? When his son Alexandre married in 1856, he states that he is from the United States. Did the family leave right after receiving that last payment? Généalogie Québec has baptisms, marriages and death entries indexed until 1850. When the years 1854-1855 will be indexed, maybe we will find his death record in another parish.

Both documents have been uploaded on the Website on the pages of François Tourville and Louise Corriveau.

At least, we now have a timeframe to continue the search.

Migration Patterns in North America for the Hubou-Tourville Family – I

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When Mathieu Hubou left Le Mesnil-Durand, in France, in 1641, he first settled in Quebec City. Then, in 1675, the family moved to Lachenaie, near Montreal. In the 17th century, his descendants did not move much, either staying in Lachenaie or nearby, principally in Mascouche, Terrebonne and St-François-de-Sales (now Laval).

In the 1600's, the Hubou-Tourville lived in New France.

In the 1600s, the Hubou-Tourville lived in New France.

On April 3, 1790, brothers Pierre and Toussaint Tourville, respectively 26 and 20 years old, signed an indenture contract before notary Louis Chaboillez, as “voyageurs” for Todd, McGill and Co. and left Lachenaie. The destination was at the discretion of the Company, North excluded. This trip took them to St. Louis which at that time was administrated by the Spanish. In 1800, this territory was given back to France and in 1803, Napoleon Bonaparte sold it to the United States. As you probably know, Missouri became a territory in 1813 and reached statehood in 1821.

If Pierre came back several times to Lachenaie after this first trip, Toussaint settled down in Florissant, Missouri, near St. Louis. In 1797, he married Marie-Reine Calvé and left numerous descendants in Missouri and Illinois.

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In the 1700s, the Hubou-Tourville family is concentrated in New France or later, Lower Canada. Only Toussaint Tourville left for St. Louis.

In the 1800’s, many families moved from Lower Canada or Quebec Province towards the United States. If some, like Charles Tourville, his sister Catherine or his brother Jean-Baptiste, settled near the Canadian border, respectively in upstate New York (Chateaugay) or Vermont (South Hero) around 1840, others like Louis Tourville and his nephew Alphonse, went to Chicago in the late 1870s and later to Nebraska in search of a better life. It is the children of those families who moved to other states: mainly Wisconsin, Colorado and Massachusetts.

For the children of Prosper Tourville and Julie Bélisle, in the 1880s, the destination is the Far West. Julie, Marie-Louise and Magloire (Mack) settled in Montana, the latter living for a while in Lethbridge, in Alberta. As for Napoléon, his new home was Brandon, in Manitoba.

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The amber color indicates which the states the 2nd generation families moved to.

The map of the 20th century will be even more colorful (!). To be continued in a future post.

St. Louis Cholera Epidemic in 1832

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St. Louis Catholic Church Records for October 1832

The St. Louis Church Burial Records for October 22, 1832 indicate that both Toussaint Tourville Sr and Toussaint Tourville Jr were buried on that date.

I was always intringued by this entry and often wondered what happened to them. A few people asked me if I knew the cause of death and I didn’t. Of course, a quick look at the history of St. Louis might have helped me find out.

Not so long ago I found a document on the Missouri Digital Heritage Website pertaining to a land dispute between Sylvina Tourville and her husband William Petersen as the plaintiffs and Catherine Seig as the defendant.

The testimony of Charles Tourville, father of Sylvina, and son of Toussaint Tourville Sr has finally shed some light on this mystery. During his testimony, Charles mentioned that his father died during the first year of the cholera.

In fact, the cholera epidemic in North America started in Quebec City during the month of June 1832. It spreads to St. Louis via the Great Lakes. According to the Missouri Intelligencer in October and November, 1832, the cholera raged in the city during those particular months.

For more information on the cholera epidemics in St. Louis :

 

 

 

Genealogy, my Father and Me

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René Tourville (1913-1985) – Photo dated November 1945 – From Studio O. Allard Fund, ANQM

If my father was still alive he would turn 100 years old today.

See this picture? Do you know where I found it? Not at home but at the Québec National Archives Center in Montréal.

My father got married when he was over 40. His parents were poor. I only have a few pictures of him, mostly from the fifties. And these pictures are kind of small, not very clear.

A few years back, I was at the Québec National Archives Center in Montréal on Viger Street. I was looking at binders and something caught my eye. The Studio O. Allard Fund.

I know what Studio Allard is. My student card photo was taken by this studio. Intrigued, I decided to look at the microfilms and went directly to the name Tourville. I was so surprised to read the name and address of my father before his marriage!

I went to the counter and asked what was in those files? Negatives they told me. I ordered the file and the clerk opened it before me and said: no negatives but pictures in this one!

I discovered a picture of my father that I have never seen before, that dates back from 1945. He was 32 years old on that photo and I was ecstatic!

We find tons of things on the Internet but nothing compares to a visit to an archives center. My father was no celebrity nor big shot but I did find a portrait of him at the Archives. If I wasn’t into genealogy, I would have never found that picture of him.

The Studio O. Allard contains more than 1 800 000 portraits and shots of Montreal shops ranging from 1930 to 1990.

Wherever you live, a visit to a provincial, state or local Archive Center is worth the trip.

What’s in a name?

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In the past and more recently, some of you have asked me about the name Hubou-Tourville. When I was a little girl, looking in the dictionary, I was of course convinced that Anne Hilarion de Costentin Tourville, a count from Normandy, in France, was my ancestor. Well, unfortunately, such is not the case.

Anne Hilarion de Costentin, count of Tourville (1642, Coutances – 23 May 1701, Paris)

In 1975, we had the opportunity to ask for our genealogy tree to be made for free from a special program from the ministry of culture (Québec). It took us one year to get a response. I was too young at the time, but looking back, knowing that it would be so easy in our case (it would have taken me 30 minutes), I would have liked to do it myself. When we actually received our genealogy tree, my father said with astonishment: “Hey, I just remembered that my father once told us that our real name was Hubou!” What amazed me is that if my father wouldn’t have seen it that day, he would have probably never told us about it.

In New-France, many people had a “dit” name which I could translate by a.k.a. It was often descriptive. For Americans looking for their French-Canadian ancestry, the task can be a little more difficult, not to mention the anglicization of some names (Boisvert to Greenwood for example).

Mathieu Hubou, our ancestor, came to which is now Québec City around 1642. Later on, he also adopted a “dit” name which was Deslongchamps. His two sons, Jean-Baptiste and Mathieu were also called Hubou dit Deslongchamps. All the descendents of Mathieu kept the name of Deslongchamps, which that means that the Deslongchamps and the Tourvilles do have the same ancestor.

However, the son of Jean-Baptiste, Augustin, was called Hubou dit Tourville. The “dit” name Deslongchamps is easy to figure out. In a contract, Mathieu Hubou is said to be living in the place called “des longs champs” (the place where there are long fields). However, the “dit” name Tourville is not descriptive. The first mention of this surname in the church or notary records is at the time of his marriage in 1712.

Could it be possible that Augustin adopted it because he admired the Count of Tourville? I think this could be an explanation. The count of Tourville died in 1701 in France and by the time Augustin was an adult (he was born in 1691), he had surely heard about the victories of Count Tourville’s battles against the English and Dutch fleets.

Another family in New France adopted the Tourville name as a “dit” name. Some Dutaut-Tourvilles also emigrated to the United States (mainly to Minnesota) but that family is not related at all to the Hubous even we have the same surname. The first mention of the surname of Tourville for the Duteaus is in 1720.

If you want to know more about the count of Tourville:

If you want to know more about the “dit” name custom