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Charles François Beaupré was born in 1778. He passed away in 1855.
Note: The linked 1851 census in notes has him listed as being born in France. He may therefore not belong with these parents at all. His first marriage needs to be located to see if it names parents. Liard-1
Born 12 JAN 1778.
Died
15 OCT 1855.
Charlotteville, Norfolk, Canada.
Francis Borpreau (how it reads on the census) is found in the 1851 Canadian Census living in Brant, Ontario. He is listed as 81 years old, living with his second wife Emily (33) and his children Mary E. (9), Roseann (6), and Francis Charles (3). He is listed as a labourer born in France. [1]
There has been much confusion between Francis Charles Beaupre and Charles Beaupre. Not only did they share the name of Charles but their wives were both named Josette and their children had the same names as well. It was discovered in collaboration with other Beaupre researchers that the two men were brothers. Hopefully this biography will help to sort out the information.
Charles François Beaupre was born January 12, 1778 and was baptized the next day with his twin brother Joseph in L'Ancienne-Lorette, Province of Québec, Roman Catholic Church the next day. Their parents were Pierre Beaupre and Marie Anne Martin. Charles' godfather was the officiating priest, his godmother Marie Josephe Paquet[2].[3]. The name on the baptism record is Charles François Beaupre but our ancestor was known as Francis Charles. His brother Joseph's name is clearly stated on the baptism record but it was missed in the transcription record by ancestry.ca. Francis Charles married Josephte (Josette) (unknown maiden name) and his younger brother Charles born 1784 married Josephte (Josette) Plante. This has proven to be very confusing for family researchers.
It is thought that Francis Charles and Josette left Quebec to settle in Kingston in about 1801 (based on the year of the birth of their first child). It is unknown if they married in Quebec or Kingston as no record was located. It is thought that Francis chose to break all ties with his family due to religious differences. It is possible that Josette was Baptist. Future records revealed that the family was Protestant/Baptist. Their first born child, Sophia, was baptized in the St. George's Cathedral Anglican Church in Kingston. [4]. Their second son, Edward was also baptized in Kingston in 1804 in the Anglican Church. [5]. Daughter Julia and son John were their next children but their birthplaces are unknown. Charles was born in 1811 in Chippawa, Ontario according to his death record.[6] By the 1812 Census of Woodhouse Twp in Norfolk County, the family was living in that district. The family members were shown as Francis Beaupre (age 36), Josette (28), Sophia (9), Edward (7), Julia (8... perhaps actually 6), John (5) and Charles (2). [7]. In 1814, Francis and Josette welcomed son Matthias, born in Woodhouse into their family.[8] Francis would remain in Norfolk County the rest of his life.
During the early days of Upper Canada, the threat of invasion from the United States remained a strong one and militia units were created and maintained on a county-by-county basis. Within the county, militia companies were comprised of residents of each township, for example, the Charlotteville Company of the Norfolk Militia. [9] All able-bodied men were expected to enlist to protect Canada from the invading Americans. Francis did his part by serving as a private in McCracken's Detachment and Benjamin Mead's Company of the Norfolk Militia in Woodhouse Twp. The muster roll revealed that Francis was one of eighteen privates in the second company, 2nd regiment from April 25- May 24, 1814. [10] Little did he know that a raid would be conducted in his month of service.
In the late afternoon of 14 May, 1814 the Americans landed near Port Dover. There was a minor skirmish between American militiamen and some Canadian militiamen who were trying to remove goods from a storehouse.[6] The Americans remained where they had disembarked during the night of 14 May. The next day, they marched to the village of (Port) Dover, where they drew up in formal line of battle, although there was no opposition. On US Lieutenant Colonel John Campbell's orders they then set fire to every building in the settlement: twenty houses, three flour mills, three sawmills, three distilleries, twelve barns and some other buildings. All livestock was shot, and their bodies left to rot. Some of Sinclair's sailors took the hind ends of the slaughtered hogs, but other than these opportune thefts, there was no plundering.[3] Although the local women and children were allowed to remove their personal possessions from their houses before they were set on fire, they were able to remove only small items.[11]
It is unknown if Francis was in or near Port Dover when the raid occurred nor if his land and possessions were destroyed. Often troops would be taken to an area other than where they lived so they would not be called upon to enforce excessive measures on their neighbours.
Following the war, Francis Beaupré was active in community affairs often appearing in court to post bonds and giving evidence. By 1838, his wife Josephte had died and then Francis married Josephine Emily Raymond who was 42 years younger than him. When they married, around 1838, Francis was 60 and Emily was 18. Together they had four children: Sarah Ann (1840), Mary Elizabeth (1844), Roseannah (1845), and Francis (1846). Their three daughters lived to adulthood but Francis died as an infant. It is believed that they all might have been born in Woodhouse Twp. [12]
Francis passed away, October 15, 1855 in Norfolk County. He was buried in Hillcrest Baptist Church Cemetery in Forestville, Norfolk County, Ontario at the age of 77. [13]His children with Emily were ages 10- 15 at the time of his death. Francis and Emily had been married 17 years.
In 1815, Francis' father Pierre Beaupre composed a poem where he proudly described the military contributions of his sons and sons-in-law to the War of 1812 cause. A verse was devoted to each man. The one representing Francois went as follows: "But what of you, Francois, my third beloved child? No less valiant than others, no less faithful or true. Tho' dead or living, or or lost in the wild, Your country will yet pay her tribute to you." [14] [15] It can be assumed from this refrain that Francois remained estranged from his family after leaving Quebec in 1801.
Note: These sources are from MyHeritage smartmatches that took WikiTree data and incorporated them into WikiTree over again (round-robin)
Profile Beaupre-286 created by David Ward, Thursday, October 2, 2014.
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Francis is 24 degrees from Herbert Adair, 23 degrees from Richard Adams, 21 degrees from Mel Blanc, 22 degrees from Dick Bruna, 19 degrees from Bunny DeBarge, 32 degrees from Peter Dinklage, 22 degrees from Sam Edwards, 19 degrees from Ginnifer Goodwin, 23 degrees from Marty Krofft, 17 degrees from Junius Matthews, 18 degrees from Rachel Mellon and 18 degrees from Harold Warstler on our single family tree. Login to find your connection.
B > Beaupre > Charles François Beaupre
Categories: L'Ancienne-Lorette, Province of Québec 1763-1791 | Twins
Is there another significant difference between the two profiles that I missed? Thank you.
... although, of course, the wives, though they have different profiles, are similar; both have a daughter Mary Elizabeth (Beaupre) Perry; they both died on the same day and in the same place, and basically from their arrival in Ontario, their life story is similar.
edited by Isabelle (Rassinot) Martin
edited by Anne X