Simon Parent 1794 - 1874
Simon Parent was my last direct Parent ancestor to be born in Quebec. He was born on L'ile Perrot on July 26, 1794. L'ile Perrot is an island just west of the main island of Montreal. The island was granted by Intendant Jean Talon to Francois - Marie Perrot on October 28, 1672 who was governor of Montreal at that time.
I wondered why Simon was born on L'ile Perrot, the best answer that I can give at this time is that his parents, Pierre Parent and Genevieve Lalonde lived there. Simon was baptised the next day on July 27, 1794. I found Simon's baptismal record but it was barely legible. I used the fact that most baptismal records are written according to the same template to decipher the record. It stated that Simon was baptised on July 27, 1794. He was the legitimate child of Pierre Parent and Genevieve Lalonde. The godfather was Joseph Marie Lalonde (Genevieve's father) and the godmother was a female Parent. I could not make out the first name so it could have been any one of the Parent women. The baptism took place at the church of St. Joseph de Soulanges, Les Cedres.
Simon's father, Pierre Parent died in 1812 at the age of 44. Simon would have been eighteen years old in 1812. Pierre's wife, Genevieve Lalonde, remarried two years later to Charles-Michel Lalonde when Simon was twenty years old. Although Genevieve and Charles shared the same surname there were not related, at least as far back as I could trace them into the 1500s which is enough degrees of separation to satisfy any church requirement.
I have Simon Parent's marriage record to Josephte Andre on April 8, 1825 in St. Polycarpe which is about 20 kilometers south - west of Les Cedres. This puts St. Polycarpe in the immediate neighbourhood of Les Cedres. At the time they were married, Simon was 31 years old and Josephte was only 17. For the times, Simon was old to be married. I think I know why. Since his mother remarried after his father's death, Simon did not inherit the rights to his father's farm, his mother's new husband did. The only choice that Simon had was to become an itinerant worker.
I need to digress at this point to explain that I found contradictory information in the course of my research on Simon Parent. On the one hand, I have evidence that Simon engaged in short distance emigration in order to find work. On the other hand I have clear evidence, through baptismal records, that his first five children were all born in St. Polycarpe where he and Josephte were married. This discrepancy caused a lot of examination of the data and some deep thinking on how to reconcile two seemly irreconcilable sets of data.
I consulted with Leslie Choquette, the author of Frenchmen to Peasants, Modernity and Tradition in the Peopling of French Canada. In chapter seven, Traditional Patterns of Mobility, Leslie discusses short-distance and medium distance movements. In these cases, the migrant, who is usually the male, but not always, emigrates to a nearby seigneury, city, or province and then returns home when the work or season is finished. After discussing the information that I found with Leslie Choquette, she agreed with me that Simon was most like a short to medium distance migrant.
In the 1825 Census of Lower Canada Simon Parent is listed as being a resident of St. Augustin, which is now part of Montreal near Mirabel airport. In the early 1800s, St Augustin was still a seigneury. Simon Parent was living and working in St. Augustin as an itinerant worker. This seems probable because St. Augustin is only about 30 kilometers from Polycarpe where Simon married Josephte. I would only take Simon a few hours to travel from St. Augustin to Polycarpe on a horse or in a carriage. Even on foot, it would only take about half a day. More likely though Simon could have taken a steam ship from Montreal to Quebec City in less that 24 hours in 1825.
In the 1831 Census of Lower Canada I found Simon Parent in L'Anse des Meres which was all the way to Quebec City, a distance of about 250 kilometers. I wondered why Simon would travel to Quebec City for work. In 1831 George Black owned a shipyard in L'Anse des Meres. George Black build the paddle-steamer, Royal William in 1831. It was the first ship of its kind to cross the Atlantic. It is likely that Simon Parent worked on this project in some capacity.
There was no rail service between Montreal and Quebec City in 1831. Simon would have had to travel by coach which would have at least a couple of days, probably stopping in Trois Riviere for the night. I can only assume that his wife, Josephte, would have been with him because I could not find her in the 1831 census but under Simon's entry it stated that there were two people in his household. I have to assume that the second person was Josephte. As I stated earlier, Simon and Josephte could have taken a steam ship to Quebec City.
Unfortunately, I could not find any information on Simon Parent in the 1841 Census for Canada, at least not at this time. New information seems to be made available daily so who knows what I might discover in the near future.
In 1851 Census of Canada we find Simon Parent is Charlesbourg, very near to Beauport, his familial home. He has the position of agriculture scheduler. I could not find a definition for this position but I would surmise that it is someone who plans the crops and planting, a position somewhat higher than a farm worker.
In 1861 Census of Canada Simon Parent is listed as Samuel Perault in the Census of Canada. The change in name is probably due to the fact that the census taker was an Anglophone who misheard and mis-spelt Simon Parent's name. The name change stuck with the family for at least a generation. In 1861 Simon Parent is a resident of North Gwillimbury in Simcoe county. It is interesting to note that Paul Perault, one of Simon's son, is listed as being a farmer while all the rest of the men in the Perault family are listed as labourers. It seems that Peter had the farm and everyone else lived there and helped work the farm.
In the 1871 census, just three years before the end of Simon's life, he is still listed as a labourer and living with Peter Perault, (Pierre Parent). Simon passed away in 1874. His wife, Josephte (Josette) lived until 1891.
Simon and Josephte had eleven children during their marriage together, Josephte (Josephine) (1826 - 1860), Joseph (1828 - ?), Salmon (1830 - 1830), Martine (Martha, Matty) (1831 - 1904), Joseph (1832 - 1905?), Pierre (Peter) (1833 - 1909) (Perrault), Francois (Frank) (1842 - 1922), Almira (Ellen) (1847 - 1882) (Perrault), Andrew (1849 - 1926), George Albert (1852 - 1926).
There is so much more to learn about Simon Parent but that will require more research. I am sure that I will come back to Simon Parent at a later date to fill in some of the missing information. I am mostly interested in what motivated Simon to make his short distance migrations and why he decided to move to North Gwillimbury in Ontario. I believe that he was recruited but that will take more research to find the proof.
I wondered why Simon was born on L'ile Perrot, the best answer that I can give at this time is that his parents, Pierre Parent and Genevieve Lalonde lived there. Simon was baptised the next day on July 27, 1794. I found Simon's baptismal record but it was barely legible. I used the fact that most baptismal records are written according to the same template to decipher the record. It stated that Simon was baptised on July 27, 1794. He was the legitimate child of Pierre Parent and Genevieve Lalonde. The godfather was Joseph Marie Lalonde (Genevieve's father) and the godmother was a female Parent. I could not make out the first name so it could have been any one of the Parent women. The baptism took place at the church of St. Joseph de Soulanges, Les Cedres.
Simon's father, Pierre Parent died in 1812 at the age of 44. Simon would have been eighteen years old in 1812. Pierre's wife, Genevieve Lalonde, remarried two years later to Charles-Michel Lalonde when Simon was twenty years old. Although Genevieve and Charles shared the same surname there were not related, at least as far back as I could trace them into the 1500s which is enough degrees of separation to satisfy any church requirement.
I have Simon Parent's marriage record to Josephte Andre on April 8, 1825 in St. Polycarpe which is about 20 kilometers south - west of Les Cedres. This puts St. Polycarpe in the immediate neighbourhood of Les Cedres. At the time they were married, Simon was 31 years old and Josephte was only 17. For the times, Simon was old to be married. I think I know why. Since his mother remarried after his father's death, Simon did not inherit the rights to his father's farm, his mother's new husband did. The only choice that Simon had was to become an itinerant worker.
I need to digress at this point to explain that I found contradictory information in the course of my research on Simon Parent. On the one hand, I have evidence that Simon engaged in short distance emigration in order to find work. On the other hand I have clear evidence, through baptismal records, that his first five children were all born in St. Polycarpe where he and Josephte were married. This discrepancy caused a lot of examination of the data and some deep thinking on how to reconcile two seemly irreconcilable sets of data.
I consulted with Leslie Choquette, the author of Frenchmen to Peasants, Modernity and Tradition in the Peopling of French Canada. In chapter seven, Traditional Patterns of Mobility, Leslie discusses short-distance and medium distance movements. In these cases, the migrant, who is usually the male, but not always, emigrates to a nearby seigneury, city, or province and then returns home when the work or season is finished. After discussing the information that I found with Leslie Choquette, she agreed with me that Simon was most like a short to medium distance migrant.
In the 1825 Census of Lower Canada Simon Parent is listed as being a resident of St. Augustin, which is now part of Montreal near Mirabel airport. In the early 1800s, St Augustin was still a seigneury. Simon Parent was living and working in St. Augustin as an itinerant worker. This seems probable because St. Augustin is only about 30 kilometers from Polycarpe where Simon married Josephte. I would only take Simon a few hours to travel from St. Augustin to Polycarpe on a horse or in a carriage. Even on foot, it would only take about half a day. More likely though Simon could have taken a steam ship from Montreal to Quebec City in less that 24 hours in 1825.
In the 1831 Census of Lower Canada I found Simon Parent in L'Anse des Meres which was all the way to Quebec City, a distance of about 250 kilometers. I wondered why Simon would travel to Quebec City for work. In 1831 George Black owned a shipyard in L'Anse des Meres. George Black build the paddle-steamer, Royal William in 1831. It was the first ship of its kind to cross the Atlantic. It is likely that Simon Parent worked on this project in some capacity.
There was no rail service between Montreal and Quebec City in 1831. Simon would have had to travel by coach which would have at least a couple of days, probably stopping in Trois Riviere for the night. I can only assume that his wife, Josephte, would have been with him because I could not find her in the 1831 census but under Simon's entry it stated that there were two people in his household. I have to assume that the second person was Josephte. As I stated earlier, Simon and Josephte could have taken a steam ship to Quebec City.
Unfortunately, I could not find any information on Simon Parent in the 1841 Census for Canada, at least not at this time. New information seems to be made available daily so who knows what I might discover in the near future.
In 1851 Census of Canada we find Simon Parent is Charlesbourg, very near to Beauport, his familial home. He has the position of agriculture scheduler. I could not find a definition for this position but I would surmise that it is someone who plans the crops and planting, a position somewhat higher than a farm worker.
In 1861 Census of Canada Simon Parent is listed as Samuel Perault in the Census of Canada. The change in name is probably due to the fact that the census taker was an Anglophone who misheard and mis-spelt Simon Parent's name. The name change stuck with the family for at least a generation. In 1861 Simon Parent is a resident of North Gwillimbury in Simcoe county. It is interesting to note that Paul Perault, one of Simon's son, is listed as being a farmer while all the rest of the men in the Perault family are listed as labourers. It seems that Peter had the farm and everyone else lived there and helped work the farm.
In the 1871 census, just three years before the end of Simon's life, he is still listed as a labourer and living with Peter Perault, (Pierre Parent). Simon passed away in 1874. His wife, Josephte (Josette) lived until 1891.
Simon and Josephte had eleven children during their marriage together, Josephte (Josephine) (1826 - 1860), Joseph (1828 - ?), Salmon (1830 - 1830), Martine (Martha, Matty) (1831 - 1904), Joseph (1832 - 1905?), Pierre (Peter) (1833 - 1909) (Perrault), Francois (Frank) (1842 - 1922), Almira (Ellen) (1847 - 1882) (Perrault), Andrew (1849 - 1926), George Albert (1852 - 1926).
There is so much more to learn about Simon Parent but that will require more research. I am sure that I will come back to Simon Parent at a later date to fill in some of the missing information. I am mostly interested in what motivated Simon to make his short distance migrations and why he decided to move to North Gwillimbury in Ontario. I believe that he was recruited but that will take more research to find the proof.
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