Joseph and Marie Anna were both born and grew up on the Ile D'Orleans. Marie Anna Raimond's family may have moved to the island before she was born, but her father was born in St. Louis, Kamouraska, Quebec; not on the island. The Labrecques; however, had lived on the island since the 1600s.
Soon after Joseph and Marie-Anna were married, they moved off the island. Joseph was 22 years old and Marie Anna was just 19 years old. The 1851/1852 Census of Canada East has Joseph and Marie living in the sub district of St. Flavien, Lotbinière county, in the area that was then known as Canada East (Quebec). They were living in a one story house with another couple, Gabriel Valliere (age 45) and Calostique Metaye (age 27). Although this couple was older, I am guessing they knew at least Calostique fairly well, as she was also born on the Ile' D'Orleans. By 1852, parish records show Joseph and Marie Anna belonged to the parish of St. Croix, Quebec, where they had their first four children baptised between the years of 1852 and 1856. St. Flavien and St. Croix are only about 6 miles apart; both parishes must have been fairly rural as Joseph is listed as a "cultivateur", or farmer.
In October of 1856, there is one record of their son Joseph's death recorded in the parish of St. Roch, Quebec. It looks like they left the area of St. Croix in 1856, heading a couple of miles north, closer to the island they grew up on. Around 1857, they may have moved back to the parish of St. Jean on the island, as their 5th child, Joseph, was baptised in the parish there. They did not stay on the island long as their next child, Achilles, was baptised in the Beauport section of Quebec City in 1859, a year and a half later. Their next child, Moise, was christened in the parish of St. Roch in 1861; however, their last 6 children's baptism's were recorded again at the the parish of La Nativité de Notre Dame, Beauport, Quebec.
View Joseph Labrecque and Marie Anna Raimond in a larger map
The later census records I have found for this family support that they lived in the sub district of Beauport from 1861 to at least 1881. [1] I am not sure why their children were baptised in different parishes unless they moved back and forth between areas. Perhaps they were renting and moved to where they could afford. The area of Beauport and St. Roch are close though, so maybe they did not move and just baptised Moise at a different parish. Maybe that is where his godparents attended mass and they decided to have him baptised there. The record does however state, "de cette paroisse" (of this parish). Beauport and Saint Roch are both close to the Il D'Orleans, just on the west side of the St. Lawrence River. They may have moved to this area to be closer to the island where their parents lived. Even though the bridge to the island was not built at this time, perhaps they took a boat to the island sometimes to visit family.
Joseph's occupation also changed with this move by 1856 from farmer to "menusuir", or carpenter [2]. Maybe moving closer to the city of Quebec provided better working opportunities as a carpenter, or maybe he changed professions because they moved away from farming land. His employment did not seem to stay consistent though, as it changed frequently within the parish records of his children. The 1861 Census has Joseph as "journalier', day laborer. By 1871 his job is listed as "meunier", which is miller; apparently still working with wood. The records starting in 1873 have a new job listing, mecanicien. According to babylon.com, translates to mechanic, a bit different than a carpenter or miller. By the 1881 census, and up until the 1901 census, Joseph has an occupation of "charretier". I have found a couple of translations of this profession as wagoner, carter or teamster. The 1901 census states he was an employer, not an employee. The 1881 and the 1901 census also list education information. According to these censuses, Joseph was unable to read or write, I am guessing in either French or English. I did find this a little surprising, but I am not sure what education was available to him. Marie Anna; however, was able to read and write, and the 1901 census also states she could speak English. She must have been a great source of guidance to her husband with her knowledge.
While Joseph was out supporting his family financially, Marie Anna gave birth to at least 13 children. The last child was born in 1876, when Joseph was 47 and Marie Anna was 43. Since there were so many children I created a one generation descendant report from my Legacy software. I am not sure I am happy with the Google Sites format, although I have not had the chance to play with it much. I am usually a big fan of all things Google, so I will have to work on this. I am also not sure the descendant report itself is the best way to display all the information on their children - I think a more concise view may be better, listing only children's names and birth and death dates.
I have spent some time on ancestry.com trying to find records for Joseph and Marie Anna's children. Sadly, many of their children died at very young ages. Their first daughter died at age 11, their third child died at age 2, their fourth child died before the age of 5. Their 8th child died at age 1, their 10th child died before the age of 12. Their last three children died before their first birthdays, one at birth and was unnamed. The French Canadian parish records are a great resource for vital records in Quebec, but the death records do not list the cause of death. I am guessing that the cause of most children's death were some common childhood diseases. I could not imagine losing 8 children. How sad it must have been to experience all these losses. (the deaths occurred in the following years : 1856, before 1861, 1863, 1864, 1871, 1873, 1877, and one before 1881) [3].
Not only did Joseph and Marie Anna lose many children from death, but at least three of their children also left Canada to go to the United States before 1900. One was my 2nd great grandfather, Achilles Labrecque, in addition to his older brother Eugene and his younger brother Moise [4]. As a result of all the childhood deaths and emigration, Joseph and Marie Anna would have only 2 out of their 13 children living in Quebec after 1900, Marie Virginia Mathilda and Joseph.
Joseph and Marie Anna's ninth child, Marie Virginia Mathilda (Labrecque) Senechal [5] is living in Beauport, Quebec in 1891; the same district her parent were living in, in 1881. She is the only member of this family I have been able to find in the 1891 census, but I assume her parents are still living close by. I was not able to locate Marie Virginia in the 1901 census, but I did find her death recorded in the Beauport parish record in 1908.
Their fifth child, Joseph Labrecque and his family were living in Beauport, Quebec in 1881; the same district as his parents at that time. Joseph and his growing family did move out of Beauport to the ward of Jacques Cartier by 1901, while his parents Joseph and Marie Anna had moved to the St. Vallier district of Quebec, on the other side of the St. Lawrence River. (Marie Anna's mother, Justine Turcotte Raimond was still living until 1899 on the Island, in St. Jean parish; directly across the river from St. Vallier - maybe the moved to be closer to her.) By the 1911 census, Joseph and Marie Anna's son, Joseph, had moved to the St. Vallier district also. Joseph and Marie Anna are not recorded in the 1911 census; however, as they were not living at that time. Both of their death records are recorded in the Beauport parish, not St. Vallier. Perhaps they moved back to Beauport, or maybe they were just buried in Beauport, at the church they spent most of their lives with. Marie Anna died at the age of 74 in December of 1906, and Joseph died only a month later, in January of 1907 at the age of 77. They were fortunate to spend 55 years together.
1851-1907
View Joseph Labrecque and Marie Anna Raimond in a larger map
The Roman Catholic church at Beauport was the La Nativité de Notre Dame de Beauport. According to the eglisesdequebec.org website, the church that is standing now was built in 1917-1918, and is the 5th church built at Beauport. This is not the church that was standing while Joseph and Marie Anna were sill living. As their death records are from La Nativité de Notre Dame de Beauport, I assume they are both buried at this cemetery. There is a website that lists burials from this church, interment.com. I am not sure if all the names were recorded at this cemtery, but I do not find Joseph and Marie Ann Labrecque. I look forward to visiting someday to try to locate them.
links of interest:
1. Wikipedia's Timeline of Quebec history (1867 to 1899)
2. Wikipedia's Timeline of Quebec history (1900 to 1930)
notes:
1. I was not able to find them in the 1891 census.
2. breakdown of Joseph's occupation throughout the records:
marie's baptism - cultivateur: farmer
no occupation stated for eugene, joseph (1st), marie hermine, achilles, charles jean
baptist, joseph alphonse baptisms
Moise, joseph (2nd), marie virginia mathilda baptisms, joseph (1st) death - menusuir:
carpenter
marie florine baptism, Marie Florine death - meunier: miller
unnamed labrecque bapt, joseph arthur baptism and death - mecanicien: mechanic?
1852 cultivateur: farmer
1856, 1857, 1861,1867 menusuir: carpenter
1861 census journalier: day laborer
1871 census meunier: miller
1871 meunier: miller
1873, 1876, 1877 mecanicien: mechanic?
1881 - 1901, charretier: wagoner, carter, teamster
3. I was not able to locate entries for death in the parish registers for their children Marie Florine or Joseph Alphonse, but they were not listed as children in their next census with Joseph and Marie Anna's family - most likely had died by the time the census was taken.
4. Joseph and Marie Anna's oldest son Eugene was in Cook County Illinois by 1897, they year he was married. He was an oiler for a railroad. He died in Illinois in 1931. Their son Achilles, my 2nd great grandfather, was in Massachusetts by 1888 when their son George was born in Cambridge, MA. Achilles died in Quincy, MA in 1937. Joseph and Marie Anna had one more son, Moise, move to the United States. I found a record of birth for a son of Moise, Harry, in Amesbury, MA in 1894. I have lost track of Moise after 1894, I am not sure if he moved back to Canada, but I could not find census or death records for he or his wife, Sarah. I found their son Harry living with his Aunt and Uncle (his mother's brother) in Wisconsin when he was only 16 in 1910.
5. It seems she was called Exilda or Esilda in the records.
