OUR FRENCH-CANADIAN ANCESTORS
Thomas J.
Laforest
Biographies
of ancestors:
· CHARLES ALLAIRE · JOSEPH BONNEAU dit LABECASSE · JEAN
BOUCHER
· JACQUES BUSSIERE
dit LAVERDURE · OLIVIER
CHARBONNEAU
· SEBASTIEN CHOLET
dit LAVIOLETTE · JEAN
~DECARIE
dit LEHOUX · FRANCOIS DUPONT · FRANCOIS
FRECHETTE
· MICHEL GAUTRON dit
LAROCHELLE · GUILLAUME
GUERIN
dit SAINT-HILMRE · JEAN MIGNAULT dit LABRIE
·ANDRE PATRY · RENE PLOURDE Jacques ROUSSEAU
·JEAN SOUCY dit LAVIGNE · JEAN-JACQUES TALBOT dit GERVAIS
·ROBERT VAILLANCOURT · BARTHELEMY VERREAU dit LEBOURGUIGNON.
~: 0914163-10-8
volume x LISI
PRESS PALM HARBOR 1990
CHAPTER 7
Sébastien Cholet dit Laviolette
Lovers of geography and history
brighten up reading the word Cholet.
It is the name of a town in
France, today the leading town of the arrondissement in the department of Maine-et-Loire. It has borne this name for nearly one thousand years. The wars in the Vendée inflicted mortal wounds on the town. It was burned thrice and for a time after 1794 it was abandoned. Now, with industry revived, the town numbers about 40,000 inhabitants. It has given its name to the well known handkerchiefs of Cholet.
Jean Cholet dit De Nointel, the Cardinal of Beauvais in 1281, served
the pontifical interests with zeal. He was the founder of the Co11ège des
Cholets on Mount Sainte-Geneviève. The politician, F. Auguste Cholet
(1747-1826), and the priest P.-F. Etienne Cholet (1814-1867), still have a
right to their place of honor in the prestigious dictionaries of famous people.
As for the Canadian ancestor of the Cholets or Cholettes, he was born
in the area of Cholet. The
genealogical ties which unite him to the great families of the same name remain
to be discovered.
Let us add that Marie Cholet, born about 1640 at La Rochelle, the
daughter of Jean and of Catherine Héraut,
was married at Ville-Marie in 1660 to Jean Chaperon. The couple had at least 7 children and still
count descendants among us. In the
census of 1681, the Chaperons farmed land on the island of Montreal and owned 5
head of cattle.
René Cholet dit
Saint-Paul, brother of ancestor Sébastien, and Jeanne Gazaille settled at
Montréal about 1700. Their daughter was married to Francois Viger in 1726 and
to Jacques Cusson in 1729.
According to etymologist Albert Dauzat, Cholet is a diminutive of
cholier, which means a small truck gardener of cabbage.
HE
CAME FROM AUBIGNE
Several past generations of Canadians have tried in vain to fix the
precise place of origin of Sébastien Cholet.
The available evidence indicates that he came from Aubigny but there was
little else to go on.
In May 1982, during a trip to France, M. Albert Cholette, a professor
at Laval University, conducted a search for the geographic origin of his
ancestor. What a surprise! He located the baptismal act rather easily
in the departmental archives of Angers.
He found that Sébastien Cholet was baptized on 7 March 1677 in the
church of Aubigne in Aubigne-Briand, today known as Aubigne-sur-Layon, a
community in the department of Maine-et-Loire,
arrondissement of Saumur, canton
of Vihiers, in Anjou.
Sébastien's baptismal act gives us the names of his father and mother:
Sébastien and Perrine Hylaire; his godfather, Mathurin Touchet; his
godmother, Gabrielle Cholet, wife of
Jean Froger, probably an aunt; a witness, Jean Berar, merchant; finally, the
assistant priest acting as curate; Abbot J., Barraut. The veil of uncertainty had just been lifted. Sébastien Cholet,
the Canadian ancestor, was most certainly born at Aubigne.
It could be wagered that Sébastien Cholet arrived in Canada as a
soldier. A few signs pointing to this fact:
In
his marriage contract, he called himself “dit” Laviolette, a frequent
nickname in the army. In addition,
Jean-Baptiste C6loron was present at the birth of the first child of Sébastien.
This master of the fief of Blainville, was also
a Captain in the Troupe de la Marine from 1701-1704. Blainville had replaced Claude-Charles Le
Gouès de Merville. The godfather of
the fourth Cholet child was named Louis-Hector du Vivier, son of a Lieutenant in
la Marine. Jules Le
Fournier, Sieur du Vivier, was married
to Madeleine-Thérèse Gadois on 16 August, 1694, at Montreal. On 21 November 1712 at Montreal, Sébastien
Cholet and Jacques Morel dit Lafontame, a former Sergeant of de Blainville,
appeared as witnesses at the marriage of a former soldier, Jean Hervé.
Companions in arms usually remain companions for life.
SEBASTIEN
MARRIES AN ENGLISH GIRL
It is an historical fact that the English paid military visits to New
France from time to time. That a citizen of Montréal would marry an enemy
English girl was truly astonishing! It
seems that the scourge of war, even a small war, brought to Laviolette the most
charming of flowers from across the border, Anne Herd.
After the British inspired the Iroquois massacre at Lachine in 1689 and
the bitter setback of the English Admiral
Phipps at Ouébec
in 1690, the centuries-old European
antagonists, France and England, fought tooth and nail through their proxies in
North America; New France and New England. The latter was tenacious; the former
audacious. For twenty years there was
guerilla warfare between the Papal rooster and the Protestant eagle. Both lost feathers, blood and shed tears. Thus Anne Herd, born about 1681, daughter of
Benjamin Herd, a cobbler, and Elisabeth Roberts, from Dover, was one day taken
captive by a French allied Amerindien tribe of Loups.
It is difficult to
indicate the year of the young girl's captivity. Was it during the winter of 1692, in which, according to Ferland,
"at the request of the Indians of saut Saint-Louis and la
Mountagne," Manteht, Courtemanche
and Lanoue attacked Albany and Schenectady in the middle of winter? It is the opinion of Cyprien Tanguay that
the event took place on 25 January 1692.
However, the following year brings more explicit details. Under the command of Villieu, a Lieutenant
from Acadia, the Abenaquis, Malécites and Micmac Indian tribes attacked, in
particular, Piscataqua (Dover) on the Cocheco River in the state of present-day
New Hampshire. One hundred English were
killed or taken prisoner.
On the other hand, a study by Madame Coleman, claims that the young
girl, Anne Herd, was taken captive in 1691, according to documents found on the
American side. She adds that Intendant
Beauharnois received 2,000 livres from the King in humanitarian aid for the
captives. Our heroine received 30 livres in 1702 as a consolation price.. Anne
Herd became a naturalized Canadian in 1710, five years after her marriage. That year, 81 people of American origin
obtained similar letters of citizenship. Author P.-G. Roy states that the
recipients of these certificates were paid a monetary compensation. In 1722,
the compensation was fixed at one hundred livres.
Pierre Prud'homme, a gun and locksmith from Montréal, the son of Louis
and Roberte Gadois, adopted the little prisoner when she was about 10 or 11
years old. This was the same Pierre
Prud'homme who had accompanied Cavalier de La Salle on his expedition to the
Mississippi. He was married to
Anne-Andrée Chasle at Ouébec on 8 February 1688. The Prud'homme family already
had 4 children, three of whom died while still in the cradle. Anne Herd was received as a gift from
Heaven. Madame Prud'homme instructed
her in Catholic catechism and even became her godmother on 10 April 1694. Jean Martinet dit Fonblanche, surgeon,
husband of Marguerite Prud'homme was at the baptism as godfather, before Father
Jean Frémont, Sulpicien. The little
Herd girl was christened with the first name of Anne. Later she was often called Marie-Anne. Instead of Herd, some
records call her "Prévost."
We are unaware of the reason.
As Anne Herd grew up, Louise and Cecile Prud'homme, her adopted sisters, became nuns. Pierre Prud'homme died in 1703. And, in 1705, when about 24 years old, Anne married Sébastien Cholet dit Laviolette.
SERIOUS
MARRIAGE CONTRACT
On the afternoon of the seventeenth day of October 1705, the text of
the marriage contract signed by Sébastien and Marie-Anne took on a special color
under the plume of notary Antoine Adhémar.
In addition to a promise of marriage in our holy mother Catholic
Church, the two agreed to live in joint ownership of property according to the coutume
de Paris, even if they have to live "in another province which has
different provisions”. The bride
brought a dowry of 300 livres in silver.
The groom, by now a successful weaver, agreed to a dowry of 400 livres.
According to the law of the time, a naturalized foreigner and all her
children not born in the country would lose the grace of the King
(citizenship), if they resided outside the realm. At the time of her marriage,
Sébastien's wife was not officially naturalized and her contract could one day
be subjected to some needless difficulties.
In 1710, Sébastien wanted to clarify the legal status of his loving
companion. He was therefore eager to help her obtain French citizenship.
Signing this matrimonial agreement in October 1705 were Nicolas Jenvrin
dit Dufresne, a merchant; Jean Petit and Jean Meschin, royal bailiffs; Pierre Pinet, prosecutor;
and Claude Maurice, the last witness.
The lovers affirmed that they could neither read nor write.
The Sulpicien Father Henri-Antoine Mériel gave the nuptial blessing on
the following 19 October at the church
of Notre-Dame in
the presence of Philippe Robitaille, husband of Madeleine Warren, a native of Dover, Nicolas Jenvrin, Jean
Lacroix, the Angevin Jean Hervé and the Grand Vicar, François Vachon de
Belmont. The registry states that the mother of the bride was named Elisabeth
Roberts.
Anne Herd admires a
piece of fabric woven by her husband,
Sébastien Cholet.
(Artist: E. Chauveau)
LEASE
TERMINATED AFTER FOUR DAYS
It is difficult to discover the exact place where the Cholet family
lived at Ville-Marie. However, nearly
all the official acts in which Sébastien is involved give him the title of
weaver.
On 14 May 1706, Cholet and Jean Hervé dit Laliberté became partners in
order to rent the entire basement and two rooms in the house of Jean Cailloud
dit Le Baron, located on rue Saint-Joseph, not far from the Cholet house on rue
Saint-Paul. It appears that the two
weavers wished to establish a business, for which they needed a convenient
building. Cailloud demanded 180 livres a year as half of the rental price, to
be paid jointly every six months. Notary Adhémar initialed the lease.
After some recalculation, the two tenants concluded that they would
have to cancel the contract, which they did the following 18 May. However, Sébastien and Jean kept on weaving for all that. Did they work in hemp, flax or wool? Who
will tell us?
ON THE
BANKS OF LAKE SAINT-LOUIS
During ancestor Cholet's time, the trade of weaver provided a meager
livelihood. Sébastien soon found it
necessary to diversify his activities. He looked over the land on the banks of
Lake Saint-Louis, above Lachine, today Saint-Joachim de Pointe-Claire.
At this time, a friend named Jean Reinier dit Brion owned a farm which he had bought on 20 November 1698 from François Lafaye. It measured three arpents in frontage by 20 deep. Brion did not work it and no buildings had been constructed on the said property. Their neighbors were Mathurin Chartier dit Lamarche, a former soldier, and a monsieur Dubois dit Macon. Sébastien Cholet decided to buy this property, for which he paid 80 livres on 20 January 1707. It was only on 10 August 1710 that the new farmer was able to pay off his debt.
At the time of the signing of the purchase contract for their land in
1707, the Cholets had a home on rue Saint-Jean-Baptiste at Ville-Marie. Did the
family immediately move to this new concession? Probably not.
ELEVEN
GUESTS AT THE BANQUET OF LIFE
Marie-Anne Herd and Sébastien Cholet welcomed into their home 11
children: 5 girls and 6 boys. The first
five were baptized at Notre-Dame de Montréal and the others at Pointe-Claire. They were:
Marie-Anne, born on Sainte-Anne's day, 1706 and baptized on the same
day. Soldier Jean Hervé was godfather
to the infant. She was married on 14
January 1726 at Pointe-Claire to Jean-Baptiste Legault.
The eldest of the boys, Jean-Baptiste, was born on 4 November 1707, and
joined his destiny to that of Marie-Anne Faucher and founded a family.
As for Marie-Marthe, chosen as her godmother was Marie-Marguerite French, daughter of Thomas French a notary at Deerfield on
the river of the same name in Massachusetts.
Marie-Marthe became the wife of Jean-Baptiste Théoret or Triolet on 9
July 1731.
The Cholets wanted a Marie-Josephe at any price, so they had three of them.
The first was buried at Montréal at the age of one year in 1712. The second, born on 24 March 1714, died the
following 20 April at Pointe-Claire.
The third, the tenth Cholet child, almost reached the age of eight
before dying on 8 April 1728, perhaps as a result of an epidemic.
Sébastien junior and Joseph-Sébastien Cholet died in the cradle. As for Louis-Sébastien, born on 12 January 1717, he was buried at Montréal on 12 July 1729 after a stay at the General Hospital. Antoine-Joseph only saw the light of one spring in 1719.
The youngest, Jacques, received his first name from his godfather
Jacques Séguin on 25 March 1723 at Pointe-Claire. He was married in the parish of his birth on 30 January 1747 to
Antoinette Legault and founded a family.
Sébastien and Anne Herd had invested in life at the price of great
suffering and many disappointments. Their
descendants may remember
their persevering courage with
pride.
FROM
POINTE~CLAIRE UNTIL TODAY
The year 1728 was an ill-fated one for the Cholets. On 22 January, Marie-Anne Cholet, wife of
Jean-Baptiste Legault, carried her year old child to the cemetery. On 8
April, 8 year-old Marie-Josephe also died. And six days later, ancestor Sébastien Cholet, 51 years old, went
to rejoin several of his children who had already preceded him into
eternity. Curate Jean-Baptiste Breul,
Sulpicien, presided at the funeral ceremony before witnesses Joseph Charlebois,
Jean Beaune and ancestor Antoine Dubois, husband of Louise Plumereau.
Marie-Anne Herd lived to a ripe old age surrounded by her family. On 28 January 1747, she attended the
ceremony surrounding the signing of a marriage contract of her youngest son
Jacques, in whose home she lived at Pointe-Claire. The worthy widow was buried
on 2 January 1753. Abbot Simon-Louis
Perthuis, Sulpicien, signed the burial act in the registry of Pointe-Claire.
Among the descendants, let us note J.-A.-Flavien Cholet, born at Rigaud on 16 February 1817, ordained a priest at Chambly on 6 March 1842 where he was director of the college, then curate of Rawdon and Saint Polycarpe. He was the first of the descendants to take holy orders. Hilaire Cholette (1856-1905), a doctor, also born at Rigaud, became provincial deputy to the legislative Assembly in 1892 as a representative from the district of Vaudreuil. Nothing gives more stability to our lives than the lasting role model provided by our ancestors.
FAMILY
NAME VARIATIONS
In addition to Cholette, already mentioned, the variations of the name Cholet are: Chaulet, Choret, La Violette, Laviolette, Saint-André and Saint-Paul.
The catholic church in
Aubigné-Briand, from the 12th Century
where Sébastien Cholet was baptized on Sunday March 7, 1677
(Courtesy of Albert Cholette)
END NOTES
Records of Adhémar, 17
October 1705; 14 May 1706; 20 January 1707.
Record of Raimbault, 10 March 1727.
Bouchard, Russel., Les Armuriers de Ia NouvelleFrance
(1978), p. 94.
Cholette, Albert.,
Personal notes. Mister
Albert Cholette is one of the
founders of the Faculty of Physics at Laval University at Québec and the inventor of
an automatic heat-control unit
called the CHOLETTE. Maple syrup makers
use it to control the boiling temperature of the sugar vats. Mister Gaston
Cholette, brother of Albert, is presently head of the Commission for
surveillance of the French language created by the government of the
Province of Québec.
Coleman, Emma Lewis., New Fngland Captives Carried
to Canada, (Portland,
Maine, 1925), Volume I, pp. 92,
123,
126, 143, 227, 233-234, 254.
Dauzat, Albert., DENF~PF (1951), p. 128.
Droum, Gabriel., DNCF (1965), Volume I, p. 274.
Ferland, J.-B.-A., La France dans lÁmérique du Nord
1663-1760 (1865), p. 184-198, 208.
Godbout,
Archange., Emigration Rochelaise
en
Nouvelle-France (1970), p. 55.
Stanley, George F.G., Nos Soldats, l'histoire
militaire
du Canada en 1604 a nos jours (1980), pp. 70-74.