It is said that the descent of the population of Quebec in the early to mid 20th century was equally one-third French, English and Gaelic. The Gaelic is of course both Irish and Scots.
My sister-in-law's many French ancestors were among the earliest settlers of New France. We thought she had no other origins among her ancestors. But we were wrong. AncestryDNA tells us that she and her children (my niece and nephew) have
three direct Scots ancestors: one on her mother's side, and two on her father's side.
In fact, by all accounts, the earliest Scots ancestor in Quebec fought with the 78th Regiment of the Fraser Highlanders as part of General Wolfe's forces at the Plains of Abraham on 13 Sep 1759. His name was
Augustin Fraser, probably born about 1734 in Abriachan near Kirkhill in Inverness, Scotland to
Thomas Fraser and
Elspet Fraser. But as
this 1969 article first published in Canadian Explorer, a Clan Fraser publication and later transcribed on Electric Scotland, notes, his given name at birth was probably Hugh, or the Gaelic "Uisdean". Here's the key paragraph about his name:
This explains why the name Augustin Fraser does not appear in the
database of soldiers at the Plains of Abraham, while ten Hugh Frasers are in the database. Only officers warranted more than the bare bones facts of name and rank.
Augustin (or Hugh) is also mentioned in a 2009 article of
Au fil des ans, a publication of La Société Historique de Bellechasse. This loose English translation of that, courtesy of
Google Translate:
"Simon Fraser
In the winter of 1760-1761, the 78th Scottish Regiment, commanded by Colonel Simon Fraser, spent some of the winter in Beaumont. He had for Lieutenant Malcolm Fraser. A soldier of the company, by the name of Augustin Fraser, settled in Beaumont and would be the origin of the Fraser family. These are the Highlanders. According to Pierre-Georges Roy, "The Scots sympathized a lot faster with French Canadians than the English and the Irish. A son of Augustin, Simon Fraser, was born in Beaumont and, after classical studies at the Séminaire de Québec, served as notary in Beaumont from 1804 to 1855."
Augustin, or Hugh, as he then was, likely became part of the 78th Regiment of the Fraser Highlanders when the regiment was first raised by Lieutenant-Colonel Simon Fraser of Lovet in Inverness, Scotland in 1757. He is mentioned as Hugh on the master index of soldiers on the
78th Fraser Highlanders official website:
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| 78th Fraser Highlanders master index |
The history of the 78th Fraser Highlanders
is also recounted in this Wikipedia entry. In addition to being at the Plains of Abraham, Hugh likely also saw active combat at the second
Siege of Louisbourg in June 1758. The Siege of Louisbourg and the Battle of the Plains of Abraham are both significant milestones in the
Seven Years' War.
Augustin/Hugh married
Françoise Adam (1742-1828), the daughter of Beaumont's notary, on 17 Nov 1863 at the local church, St-Etienne. This is documented in the parish records and in the Tanguay Collection
(Dictionnaire généalogique des familles canadiennes). They went on to have eight children, none of whom they named Hugh. Augustin, yes, but not Hugh. It is from these records that we have the names of Augustin's parents.
Augustin became a merchant and also operated a tavern in Quebec City's Lower Town. Most of his children had their own large families, and at least two of his grandsons and their families settled in Illinois. It is very safe to say that his descendants are scattered across North America and beyond.
During the 1776 Blockade of Quebec by American rebels, Augustin organized provisions for the British soldiers defending the city. This is recounted in the 1969 article linked earlier in this post.
Augustin died on 21 Oct 1779 and is buried in the cemetery of his parish church, St-Etienne-de-Beaumont, which is a half hour drive today from where my sister-in-law lives. Family legend is that he foretold his death. From the same article mentioned above, this:
'There is a legend, passed down through Augustin’s eldest son Joseph Fraser [1765-1844], that he and other descendants of Augustin Fraser would be warned of the day and hour of their death. In the morning of October 21, 1779, Augustin and his son Joseph went to get their horses to plough their fields. Augustin decided not to plough that day and the two men returned to the house where Augustin announced that he only had a few hours to live: he would die when the sun set. He put his affairs in order; he asked for the parish priest (M. Descheneau). Just before sunset, Augustin got up from his bed, looked through the window at the setting sun, then went back to bed saying: "I only have a few minutes left." Just as the sun disappeared below the horizon, he died.'
What a great story! When Augustin died his children ranged in age from about 23 years to just eight months old. The church where Augustin was married and buried from, and so many of his family and descendants were baptized, married and buried, still stands. The cemetery there holds many ancestors of my sister-in-law, niece and nephew.
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| Église Saint-Étienne-de-Beaumont,credit: Jeangagnon CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=41670181 |
The never ending story continues....
© Margaret Dougherty 2016-2019 All rights reserved
