Marguerite-Émélie (Starnes) Sicotte (1819 - 1908)

Born 26 Jun 1819 in St-Hyacinthe, Bas-Canada

Ancestors

Wife of Louis-Victor Sicotte — married 7 Nov 1837 in Notre-Dame du Rosaire, St-Hyacinthe, Quebec City

Descendants

Died 18 Sep 1908 at age 89 in St-Hyacinthe, Bas-Canada

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Biography

Wife of SICOTTE (Cicot), LOUIS-VICTOR (baptized Louis),

On 7 Nov. 1837 LOUIS-VICTOR had married Marguerite-Émélie Starnes, sister of Henry Starnes*. Of their 11 children, the eldest, Victor-Benjamin, became a lawyer in Saint-Hyacinthe, and their second son, Eugène, was a notary in Montreal.

In 1838 Sicotte settled in Saint-Hyacinths, opening a law office on Rue Saint-Antoine; he was made a qc in 1854. His firm grew and he acquired a number of law partners including, in 1863, Magloire Lanctôt*. According to Le Courrier de Saint-Hyacinths, he had a large clientele and became “one of the most eminent members of the bar in the district of Montreal”; given 19th-century traditions his position was bound to lead him into politics. Meanwhile he joined the Société des Amis, a literary society formed in 1842 and considered the forerunner of the Institut Canadien of Montreal.

On 5 September, Sicotte became a puisne judge of the Superior Court for Saint-Hyacinthe District. The appointment caused a great stir in political circles. The parliamentary opposition was indignant that the government was muzzling one of its most formidable adversaries in this fashion. A motion of censure followed in the assembly and was narrowly rejected by 63 to 61. Sicotte’s supporters themselves found it hard to understand his withdrawal, and interpreted it as a complete about-face. The house was functioning at the time with no solid parliamentary majority and Sicotte’s departure, which meant one vote less for the opposition, therefore strengthened the government. The most conciliatory of his friends saw a reason for his action, however: Sicotte was the father of 11 children, and politics had literally ruined him. “The only excuse,” wrote Laurent-Olivier David*, “was his poverty. . . . Let us add that he was disappointed, disillusioned, [and] offended by the way the house and even his friends had treated him.” In short, Sicotte was at a crossroads; he chose the safest and probably the wisest path.

Having given 12 years to politics, Sicotte devoted almost a quarter of a century to the administration of justice in Saint-Hyacinthe. He retired on 7 Nov. 1887 and died on 5 Sept. 1889 at Saint-Hyacinthe.

Andrée Désilets

Sources

• Ancestry.ca
• 1861 1871 1881 1891 1901 Census of Canada
• Quebec Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967
• Michigan, Death Records, 1867-1950