Alexandre Roy-Desjardins and Léocadie Gagnon
1827-07-24 St-Jean-Port-Joli
Alexandre Roy dit Desjardins, the eldest child of Joseph Roy-Desjardins and Modeste Pelletier, was born on September 3, 1805 and baptised the next day in St-Louis de kamouraska, Quebec.
He was married twice, the first time to Auzille Danjou on January 18, 1825. There doesn’t seem to be any children from his first marriage. It seems likely that his first wife died, though a record of her death has not been seen by the author of this website. Alexandre then married the second time to Léocadie Gagnon on July 24, 1827 at St. Jean Port Joli.
He lived in Kamouraska until the early 1860s when he migrated to Notre-Dame-de-Hébertville in the Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean region of Quebec with his wife and children Hermine and Pierre. He died there February 23 1869, "aged 63 years and six months".
Léocadie Gagnon, born around 1807, was the daughter of Joseph Jacob Gagnon and Marie Marthe Thibault, married 1797-10-10 in St-Jean-Port-Joli. After her husband’s death, she moved to Montreal. She lived many years with her son Charles and his family (she is enumerated in 1881 with his family, "widow, aged 74"). She moved in later with her daughter Hermine and her husband Hilaire Hudon-Beaulieu, a policeman, where she died at a very venerable age (90+?).
Left-photo: Alexandre Roy dit Desjardins (old photo supplied by Bertrand Desjardins)
Children:
Though birth records for all the children don't seem to be available, most can be extrapolated from the 1861 census for Kamouraska, Quebec.- Élise
The June 1861 census lists Elise as being 31 years of age, her birth would have to be between June 1830 and June 1831- Octave, married 1857-08-14 Kamouraska to Rose Cayouette (Jean-Baptiste and Thècle Levasseur)
It seems like Octave's birthdate is the most difficult to extrapolate. He isn't listed as being at his parents' home when the census was taken in June 1861. This is confirmed by the fact that he married in 1857. We can figure out his age only roughly. If he was born between Elise and Hermine, then he must have been born around 1832 and 1833. He would then have been about 25 years of age when he married, which makes sense.
- Hermine, born 1834, married 1866-08-07 to Hilaire Hudon-Beaulieu (Alarie and Osithe Raymond)
- Antoine
- Louis
- Pierre, born 1839-04-13, died 1916-05-12 Manitoba, married 1862-02-04 Hébertville to Luce Robitaille (Barthélemy and Luce Joncas)
-Charles, born 1843-06-07 Kamouraska, died 1917-04-22, married 1864-10-11 L’Islet to Malvina Fortin (Charles and Anastasie Langelier), born 1842-11-24 L’Islet, died 1926-03-24
The 1862 Quebec census for St. Louis de Kamouraska has the following information on the family:
Name/Profession/Age at Next Anniversay/Sex/Married or Single
Alexandre Roy Cultivateur (farmer) 56 M M
Elize Gagnon 53 F M
Elize Roy 31 F S
Hermine Roy 25 F S
Pierre Roy 22 M S
Louis Roy 21 M S
Antoine Roy 18 M S
Charles Roy 17 M S
It is not sure what is meant here by age at the next anniversary. It seems that the census was done in June 1861, but was going to come out for the year 1862. So, possibly the next anniversary is the date that the census was to come out, that is 1862.
The birthdates of neither Alexandre nor of Leocadie are known, though it is known for Pierre, the ancestor of the Manitoba Desjardins. Unfortunately the Quebec census does not indicate the birthdates for the individuals in the census, but the age at the anniversary (probably of the census)- which was probably to come out on the following year. The 1901 Manitoba census records, on the other hand, indicate the birthdays, to the day of the individuals in the census. The Official Notice of Death from the Manitoba Vital Statistics, indicates that Pierre was born on April 13, 1839. This census indicates that Pierre was born on April 15, 1839. It seems that the discrepancy between the actual date may be due to a typo error. Regardless, in June 1861 Pierre would have been 22 years old, so probably still 22 in 1862 right up to April 13-15th of 1862, so still 22 at the ‘next’ anniversary of the census.
If we add the difference in years to the above individuals we can work out a rough birth-date for the parents and the rest of the children as follows:
Member Age at next anniversary Calculation Rough Birth
Date
Alexandre Roy 56 1861 (2)-56 = 1805-1806
Elize Gagnon 53 1861 (2)-53 = 1808-1809
Elize Roy 31 1861 (2)-31 = 1830-1831
Hermine Roy 25 1861 (2)-25 = 1836-1837
Pierre Roy 22 1861 (2)–22 = 1839-1840
Louis Roy 21 1861 (2)-21 = 1840-1841
Antoine Roy 18 1861 (2)-18 = 1843-1844
Charles Roy 17 1861 (2)-17 = 1844-1845
The 1861-2 St. Louis de Kamouraska census records also gives some information on the farm owned by Alexandre Roy dit Desjardins, as follows:
Alexandre Roy Agricultural Census
180 acres occupied by each member of the family
120 acres cultivated
67 acres having been harvested in 1860
52 acres is pasture in 1860
One-half acres in garden or vineyards (vergers)
60 Acres of forest
Value of land = $8,000
Value of machinery = $100
12 Acres of wheat in spring
80 bushels (minots) produce
3 Acres of peas
30 Bushels of peas
36 Acres of oats
1,000 Bushels of oats
2 Acres of apples
200 Bushels of apples
3,000 tons of hay
Leocadie Gagnon herself had a very interesting ancestry. According to one genealogical source, she brought with her a portfolio describing her ancestry all the way back to France and it is a very interesting one. However, others claim that often reports of nobility in ancestors are often based on rumours and have no truth to them. However, in this case, unless someone can prove that the ancestry listed is incorrect, the assumption will be that it is correct.
Apparently, there are many others of French Canadian ancestry who can claim this ancestry. Even though, the amount of genetic material inherited is really insignicant, the very fact that it forms part of our ancestry is interesting, if only from a historical viewpoint.
Joseph Roy dit Desjardins (father of Alexandre Roy dit Desjardins