Simon Jacques Parent (1729 - 1802)

I will start this post about Simon Jacques Parent with the transcript of his baptismal record followed by the original French text.

"The last day of 1729 was baptised Simon Jacques born of the legitimate marriage of Simon Parent and Jeanne Bedard, his wife. The godfather [was] Jacques Parent and the godmother [was] Marie Anne Duprac, have declared that they do not know how to sign their names [on the record]. 

(signed) Royet."

"le dernier jour de 1729 a este baptise Simon Jacques ne du mariage de Simon Parent et de Jeanne Bedard son épouse. Le parrain Jacques Parent [et la] marraine Marie Anne Duprac qui ont déclaré ne savoir signer de ce (anquis[enquis?]

(signer) Royet."

According the record, Simon Jacques Parent was born and baptized on the same day, December 31, 1729. Both of his parents, Simon Pierre Parent and Jeanne Parent attended his baptism along with the godparents, Jacques Parent and Marie Anne Duprac. Jacques Parent was Simon Pierre's cousin and Simon Jacques' uncle. Marie Anne Duprac and Charles Parent's wife (1713 - 1747). She was the mother of Jacques Parent (1679 - 1744) and the great aunt of Simon Jacques Parent. It seems something special that the great aunt of Simon Jacques and his uncle would agree to be his godmother and godfather, respectively. The attending priest for Simon Jacques' baptism was 'xxxxx' Royet, at least that is how it was written in the baptismal record. The baptism took place in Beauport, Quebec. To me, this baptism record shows the close knit relationships within the Parent family.

The next event in Simon Jacques life was his marriage to Marie Jeanne Giroux. Simon Jacques Parent and Marie Jeanne Giroux were married on February 1, 1751 in Beauport. Simon Jacques was twenty - two years old and Marie Jeanne was twenty-one years old. Simon Jacques father was at the marriage ceremony but his mother, Marie Jeanne Bedard had passed away on June 17, 1737 at the age of thirty-six. I should note that Marie Jeanne Bedard is a direct ancestor through my maternal grandmother, Alice Bedard. Simon Pierre had remarried in 1742 but I will leave that story for another post. Marie Jeanne's mother attended the marriage ceremony but his father had died on March 16, 1744 at the age of fifty-seven. Aside from their respective parents who attended the marriage there was an interesting list of relatives who were also at the marriage that show the closeness of relationships between the two families.

At the bottom of the marriage act for Simon Jacques Parent and Marie Jeanne Giroux there is a note stating that, "L'EVEQUE A ACCORDE LA DISPENSE DE PARENTE AU QUATRIEME DEGRE", which means that the bishop gave dispensation to Simon Jacques Parent to marry Marie Jeanne Giroux because there was four degrees of separation between them. I did not understand why this was an issue because according to canon law four degrees of separation was sufficient for a man and a woman to marry. I realized the reason why when I researched Simon Pierre Parent, Simon Jacques' father. I will explain this when I write the post of Simon Pierre Parent. leave it to say that Simon Jacques Parent's wedding was blessed by the bishop, Pontbrian but Jean Olivier Briand, the secretary for the bishop signed the dispensation. Jean Olivier Briand would come into his own in 1760 after the conquest.

There were five other members of the Parent family who were witnesses at Simon Jacques and Marie Jeanne's marriage; Jacques Parent dit Desbuttes who was the son of Jacques Parent and Simon Pierre's brother which made him Simon Jacques' uncle. Jacques Parent dit Desbuttes was a carpenter. I learned this from a legal document where Jacques Parent took legal action against someone who refused to pay him for work that Jacques had completed. Jacques Parent dit Debuttes was married to Marie Madeleine Sassville. There were two Joseph Parent's who were at the marriage ceremony. One Joseph was Simon Jacques's brother and the other was Simon Pierre's brother and Simon Jacques's uncle. Charles Parent was Simon Pierre's brother and Francois Parent. Charles was Simon Jacques's uncle and Francois Parent was Simon Jacques's brother.

In addition to the Parent entourage at the marriage ceremony there was Joseph Baptiste Bellanger (Belanger) who was the husband of Marie Louise Giroux. Marie Louise Giroux was the older sister of Marie Jeanne Giroux. Then there was Germain Mailloux who was married to Marie Madeleine Giroux. Marie Madeleine Giroux was Marie Jeanne's aunt. Last, was Nicolas Giroux, the son of Michel Giroux who was the brother of Raphael Giroux (senior), Marie Jeanne's grandfather. This made Nicolas, Jeanne's uncle, once removed. With the exception of the priests, everyone who attended the marriage ceremony was related either to the Parent family or the Giroux family.

Father Chardon was the presiding priest at Simon Jacques and Marie Jeanne's marriage ceremony. Jean Olivier Briand was the canon who signed the dispensation that allowed Simon Jacques and Marie Jeanne to be married.

It my most sincere hope that Simon Jacques Parent and Marie Jeanne Giroux enjoyed themselves  thoroughly at their wedding celebration because they would have completely ignorant of the fact that the world as they knew was going to be turned completely upside down is just a few short years. The Parent family and most of the inhabitants of New France had no knowledge of these developments. The seven years war would cause great privation for the small colony of New France. In addition to husbands and sons going off to war the entire colony would face poor crops and a severe lack of food during the war. Many in the colony faced starvation.

Simon Jacques Parent and Marie Jeanne Giroux had thirteen children between 1751 and 1771. Only five of those children lived to become adults. At least two possibly four children lived for less than a day. The rest of the children did not live past childhood. The difficulty of life during the Seven Years War may have played a role in the difficulties that Simon Jacques Parent and Marie Jeanne Giroux had trying to raise a family during that period.

the first child of Simon Jacques Parent and Marie Jeanne Giroux was Marie Jeanne Parent, born and baptized on October 12, 1751. Unfortunately, Marie Jeanne Parent did not survive. There was no information that I could find regarding what happened to Marie Jeanne Parent.

The second child, also a girl, also name Marie Jeanne was born on September 25, 1752. This Marie Jeanne Parent would grow up to Michel Marcoux in 1772.

In 1753, a twenty-two year George Washington ambushed French soldiers from Fort Duquesne, including the French commander of Fort Duquense, Coulon de Jumonville. This incident was instrumental in providing the spark that started the seven years war that eventually led to the conquest of New France.

On March 12, 1754 Simon Raphael was born and baptized on the same day. There is no further information about Simon Raphael so I can only surmise that he did not survive.

Elizabeth Parent was born and baptized on July 24, 1755 and died on July 19, 1810 at the age of 55.

In April of 1756 the marquis de Montcalm arrived in Canada with French troops to defend the colony. Britain declared war with France in may of 1756. Montcalm captured Fort Oswego in 1756.

Marie Louise was born and baptized on April 4, 1757 and died on July 31, 1730. She was three years old.

In 1757, Montcalm captured Fort William Henry on Lake George.

The war started to go badly for the French in 1758.The British attacked Louisbourg and Fort Frontenac.

Genevieve Parent was born on February 28, 1759 and died on October 19, 1759. Genevieve was seven months old.

On September 13, 1759, the fateful battle on the Plains of Abraham in Quebec City took place. Both Montcalm and James Wolfe died on the battlefield. Quebec City fell to the British.

Marie-Genevieve Parent was born and baptized on November 22, 1760 and died on November 22, 1760. Marie-Genevieve lived long enough to be baptized.

Dominique Parent was born and baptized n January 1, 1763.He died on May 5, 1836 at the age of 73.

Britain and France signed a peace treaty in 1763 to send the Seven Years war.

Michel Parent was born on October 16, 1764 and baptized on October 17, 1764. Michel died on March 25, 1766. He was seventeen months old.

Marie-Anne Parent was born and baptized on August 18, 1766. Marie-Anne died on July 22, 1822 at the age of 55.

Pierre Parent was born and baptized on January 21, 1768. Pierre Parent died on September 16, 1812 at the age of 44. Pierre is my direct ancestor.

Michel Parent was born and baptized on October 14, 1771. There are no records of the date that he died.



Last. Simon Jacques Parent died on July 17, 1802 in Beauport at the age of 75.



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