Francois Caron and Francoise Pare, my 8th great-grandparents, on the Peltier side of my family, lived on the south side of the St. Lawrence River not all that far northeast of Quebec City, in the Berthier-sur-Mer, L’Islet area. Francoise had given birth to 14 children (5 girls and 9 boys) and she and Francois had raised all of them in the same area.
The couple would meet an untimely death. I knew they both died on the same day, but I also knew that I may not be able to determine the circumstances surrounding their deaths. Likely causes included an Indian attack, disease, food poisoning and drowning. There was a smallpox epidemic the year they died, maybe they both died after contracting smallpox. Could I find a written record telling me the cause of death?
Since there were no death certificates, as we know them today, to tell me how they died, my best hope was to see what, if anything, had been recorded by the priest in their burial records. Upon searching, I found the record in the Notre-Dame-de-l’Assomption (Berthier-en-Bas) church records.
The burial record is one of the more difficult records for me to read. Part of it says, “…ont ete inhumes les corps de francois caron et francoise pare sa femme, jean labranche, marie francoise boirie, marie josephe bourassa, tous cinq dans la meme fosse; ils avaient ete trouves morts le jour d’auparavant dans la riviere de bellechasse, apres avoir souffert un coup de mauvais temps…” when translated reads, “The bodies of Francois Caron and Francoise Pare, his wife, Jean Labranche, Marie-Francoise Boirie, and Marie-Josephe Bourassa were interred—all five in the same grave; they had been found dead the day before in the Bellechasse River, after having been caught in a spell of bad weather.” In other words, they had drowned.
According to another source, on November 4, 1733 the couple was traveling with some other people on a schooner when a violent storm caused it to sink in the Cove of Berthier (Anse de Berthier) on the St. Lawrence River. They were found dead in the Bellechasse River.3 I assume currents had moved the bodies.
I have no idea and cannot even venture to guess why the couple was buried in a grave with 3 other people, a practice I’ve only seen with burials during epidemics.
In New France during the 17th and 18th centuries, travel of any significant distance was primarily done via waterways, mainly the St. Lawrence River and the many tributaries flowing into it. Travel on water posed a threat to the majority of the population because they did not know how to swim. Even for those that could swim, there was a portion of the year when the temperature of the water put a swimmer at high risk of drowning. The St. Lawrence River was particularly dangerous because of its size.
At the time of their deaths, Francois was 58 years old and Francoise was 47 years old. They had been preceded in death by 6, possibly 7, of their 14 children.
Thanks for visiting, come back soon,
Cynthia
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Wow! Which of their children are we decendents? Little Marie was only 5 when the parents died. Thanks so much! oxoxo
Their son Ignace and his wife Marguerite Rousseau are our 7th great-grandparents.
Fascinatilng stuff, Cynthia.
I often find moving stories in your postings, whether or not they are relatives of mine.
Thank you.