Les Sabourin d'Amérique

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Cette rubrique comprend les articles suivants :

1) Descendants de garçon Sabourin

2) Descendants de fille Sabourin

a) Charles Rapin

b) Alexis Coquillard

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Descendants de garçon Sabourin

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Descendants de fille Sabourin.

Charles Rapin

Un patriote condamné et gracié pour sa participation aux événements de la Rébellion de 1837-1838

Charles Rapin est le fils de François Rapin et Rosalie Brazeau et petit-fils de François Rapin (père) et d'Agathe SABOURIN (fille de Pierre Sabourin et Josephte Pîlon).
Le 25 juin 1832 à Saint-Timothée, il épousa Rose Léger, fille de Paul Léger-Parisien et d'Élise Boyer.

Charles Rapin est né en 1809 le 3 avril à Pointe-Claire. Issu d'une famille de neuf enfants, il a la chance de suivre des cours dans un collège de Montréal et d'entreprendre des études notariales sous Jean-Baptiste Peltier à Sainte-Geneviève; des études qu'il ne terminera pas pour aider son père sur la ferme. En 1831, il prend en charge un magasin établi à Saint-Timothée et s'y installe tout en prenant pour épouse Rose Léger. Durant les Rébellions il prend part au soulèvement de Beauharnois en 1838. Après avoir été gracié par le gouverneur, il part, avec d'autres Canadiens français, pour la quête de l'or en Californie en l'été 1849. Il en revient les mains vides, mais fait fortune avec son établissement de Beauharnois. De mauvais endossements et des cautionnements ont cependant raison de lui vers la fin des années 1890. Ses mémoires furent publiées dans le Progrès de Valleyfield du 13 août au 15 octobre 1897.

Quoique modeste, l'apport de Charles Rapin durant le soulèvement de Beauharnois n'est pas à négliger. Comme plusieurs rebelles, Rapin est membre des Frères chasseurs. On lui demande même d'être commandant castor (deuxième poste le plus élevé derrière l'aigle). Il refuse et l'offre plutôt à François-Xavier Prieur, un autre marchand de Saint-Thimothée et ami de Rapin. Durant cet automne 1838, la maison de Rapin sert à plusieurs rassemblements des Frères chasseurs et, à certains moments, Rapin, Prieur ainsi que d'autres rebelles doivent aller se cacher dans les bois pour éviter les agents du seigneur de Beauharnois (Aubin, 2000: 11). Le soir du 2 novembre, il reçoit la visite d'un ancien collègue de classe, de Lorimier, qui lui apporte les dernières nouvelles concernant les événements et amène Rapin avec lui vers le camp Baker. Dans la nuit du 3 novembre, ils arrivent tous deux à Beauharnois alors que la seigneurie est sous le contrôle des rebelles et qu'on expédie les prisonniers, tels Ellice, Brown et le juge de paix Norval vers Châteauguay. Le soir même, les rebelles prennent d'assaut le vapeur Henry Brougham qu'on pense occupé par des soldats venant de Glengarry, mais on ne trouve qu'un simple équipage et quelques personnes provenant du Haut-Canada en direction de Montréal. Tous les passagers sont dirigés vers le presbytère du curé Quintal où ils sont relâchés peu après (Julien, 1986: 53-54). Quelques jours plus tard, diminué de ses ressources militaires pour aller aider les docteurs Nelson et Côté à Odelltown, le camp Baker est brûlé par une troupe d'Écossais de près de 1200 hommes (Julien, 1986: 55) qui ont la vie aussi facile à Beauharnois devant à peine 300 rebelles ( Aubin, 2000: 15.). Rapin échouant dans sa tentative de s'enfuir vers les États-Unis reste caché chez son frère et chez le bedeau avant de se rendre au major Denny qui promet des les libérer en échanges de leurs armes. Une fois toutes les personnes importantes du soulèvement de Beauharnois réunies dans un même endroit, le major Denny les fait mettre aux arrêts et conduire au grenier du moulin banal de Beauharnois.

Le 21 décembre commence le procès de Charles Rapin. On l'accuse de trahison envers la Couronne britannique et aussi d'avoir pris part au soulèvement. Celui-ci nie catégoriquement, disant que s'il était présent ce n'était qu'en tant que Canadien français et rien d'autre. D'autres témoins viennent cependant affirmer que Rapin avait bien un rôle important dans le soulèvement. Un certain Cousin déclare que Rapin agissait en tant que chef et qu'il l'avait vu à plusieurs reprises agir tout en connaissant les plans des rebelles. Peter Lynch et Robert Fenny témoignent aussi contre Rapin et disent l'avoir vu commander des troupes (Aubin, 2000: 20.). Le curé Archambault gracie Rapin pour les bons gestes qu'il a posé envers les prisonniers loyalistes. Finalement, seuls les témoignages inculpant Rapin sont retenus et à 10hrs, le 21 février 1839, Rapin et sept autres de ses compagnons, sont condamnés à la pendaison. La journée de l'exécution n'est pas encore fixé, mais les accusés seront prévenus trois jours à l'avance. Onze mois après son arrestation, Rapin obtient finalement son pardon, signé de la main de Colborne, soit le 23 septembre 1839. Depuis le 15 février 1839, on n'avait plus pendu aucun rebelle, mais aucun condamné ne croit que ça va les sauver. Durant la même semaine, 58 prisonniers sont exilés en Australie, dont son ami F-X Prieur, lequel écrira ses mémoires devenues très importantes pour la connaissance des Rébellions, Notes d'un condamné politique de 1838. Rapin retourne chez lui auprès de sa famille avant de quitter en 1849 pour la quête de l'or en Californie.

Christian Desjardins

AUBIN, Georges ; Mémoires de 1837-1838 suivis de La quête de l'or en Californie ; Édition du Méridien ; 2000; JULIEN, Yvon ; Beauharnois, d'hier à aujourd'hui ; Édition Ville de Beauharnois ; 1985.

Source
Les Patriotes de 1837@1838

Voir aussi :
Georges Aubin: Mémoires de 1837 - 1838 ,Adélard-Isidore DesRivières et suivis de La Quête de l'or en Californie,Charles Rapin

Alexis Coquillard, Indian Trader

"Texte à traduire plus tard"

The St. Joseph River has its source southeast of Lake Michigan, then runs in a winding course through the northern part of the State of Indiana, where it suddenly bends and, running from south to north, pours into the aforementioned [St. Mary’s] lake. There in the south, before it turns suddenly to the north, running out of the State of Indiana and running back in, it forms parallel waterlines, which on a peninsula within the connecting bow encloses the village of South Bend (south bow). The little town, like most of the larger settlements in America, looks very new and youthful, but despite its great distance from the Atlantic harbor-towns has several stores, in which all luxury articles are available, to keep up in the western wilderness with the customs and habits of the rich New Yorker. The inhabitants of South Bend are for the most part Anglo-Americans, who for the most part profess Methodism or sentimental religion. Only a few families of my faith [Catholic] are living there, and I had a hard time finding them. Fairly well known, however, is the family of Coquillard, a French Canadian, who has a magnificent house with an extended estate in the northern part of South Bend. He was a trader among the savages and became so rich doing this that he could build a palace-like residence in a marvelous area and buy a large adjacent stretch of land. I stopped off at this house without reservations, was met with a friendly reception, and was treated during my stay with the utmost attention. (A pleasant reflection of the golden times of our holy religion, where Christians were always welcomed by their fellow believers.) Such a comfortable and splendid estate as the one of Mr. Coquillard is only bought by traders. Many of them grow so fond of their wandering in the primeval forests among the Indians that they don’t like the stable and domestic life anymore, even if they amass a great fortune. Used to the hardships and dangers of life, the quiet and secure mastery of things appears to them to be too dull to sustain. For that reason, when soul and body have always been at work, the lasting calm of standing still makes both sick. Mister Coquillard introduced me to one such restless trader. He speaks Canadian French and a little English and understands the languages of several Indian tribes, particularly that of the Potawatomis; for more than 12 years he has been married to a wild Indian woman. He dwells with her among the Potawatomis, living their way of life, dressing in a manner only a little more European than theirs. His wife, a big, enormously strong woman, had a pretty good laugh when the old gray Canadian was making some boyish jokes for us, at the same time negotiating with my host over some hides that he brought from his forests. Mister Coquillard, who negotiated as the American government’s agent for Indian affairs, offered him, who is cultivating himself for savagery, 300 dollars a year to stay with him as his assistant agent. But the strange Canadian prefers to disport himself in the primeval forest with his fat and not at all beautiful squaw and to fast severely, sometimes for several days, when there is nothing to eat. That is how it is to be human! The cultivated toil away to civilize the savages, and the civilized toil away to run wild again. But this is not the only example. In the history of Canada we find several considerable aristocrats, well raised in Europe, who let themselves be accommodated as comrades by the Indians along the St. Lawrence River, and remained with them. The sister of an Englishman living in America had been kidnapped in her early youth by Indians and had been raised by them. Through an extraordinary coincidence the sister has been found and recognized by her cheerless brother after many years. The joy of the reunion didn’t last very long, because the sister could not be induced through any pleading or begging to return with her brother to her relatives in the civilized world. She stayed with the savages! Also the British captain Marryhat tells in his diary how he met a formerly very educated European who settled with the Indians and even became one of their war chiefs.

Source
The spirit of Notre-dame

Alexis COQUILLARD, fondateur de South Bend Indiana est l'arrière-arrière-petit-fils de Françoise Sabourin

Alexis Coquillard. St. Joseph County was that of Alexis Coquillard, who is usually regarded as the founder of the city of South Bend. The continuity of our history is well preserved in the life of Mr. Coquillard. While he was a fur trader and of French descent, as were most of his predecessors in the valley of the St. Joseph, and while he was always on friendly terms with the Indians, is so far that the Pottawatomies would have made him their chief if he had not prevented it; yet both he and his wife were Americans of the Americans, spoke the English language as readily as they did the French, and came to the valley to lay the foundation of a distinctively American community.
     Alexis Coquillard was born in Detroit, September 28, 1795. In the war of 1812 with Great Britain, though but a boy of seventeen, he gave his services to the American cause, in the army under William Henry Harrison, seeking the camp of Major George Crogan, the brave defender of Fort Stephenson on the Sandusky river, and there accepting the hazard duties of dispatch messenger for the beleaguered garrison. After the war young Alexis became a fur trader, and was soon acting as agent for John Jacob Astor’s American Fur Company. In the ear 1822, in connection Francis Comparet, formerly of Detroit, but then of Fort Wayne, Mr. Coquillard purchased the agency of the fur company for the region of the upper lakes. The partners are said to have paid several thousand dollars for the property and control of this extensive agency.
     It was in the year 1823 that Alexis Coquillard established a trading post on the St. Joseph river. This he operated by himself, Mr. Comparet remaining in charge of the post at Fort Wayne. To distinguish the two posts, the one at this point was called the Big St. Joseph’s Station; and the one at Fort Wayne, the Little St. Joseph’s Station. Our river St. Joseph, formerly the river of the Miamis, was for a time called the St. Joseph’s of Lake Michigan, and afterwards the Big St. Joseph’s, to distinguish it from the small stream at Fort Wayne, also called the St. Joseph’s river. The post on the two St. Joseph’s were the centers of the fur trade with the Indians of northwestern Indiana and southwestern Michigan.
     The first trading post open at this place by Alexis Coquillard, the first business house in St. Joseph county, was located on what was then called the Dragoon trace, from Fort Wayne to Chicago, but which is now known as Vistula avenue. The post stood about half a square easterly from Washington street, and in front of what is known as the Edmund Pitts Taylor residence. Soon after locating at this point Mr. Coquillard abandoned it, and built a more pretentious log store and residence close to what is now North Michigan street, on the north side of La Salle avenue, and near the site of the fine concrete bridge now (1907) in course of construction over the St. Joseph river, on that avenue. It was at that point that the first ferry on the river was soon afterwards established. The site of this famous and hospitable residence has long been occupied by the Miller and Loutz coal and wood yards. In the spring of 1824, Mr. Coquillard married and brought here from Fort Wayne his wife, Frances C., daughter of his partner Francis Comparet. This was the first white man’s home in this vicinity, and, for some time, the only one. The unit of society is the family; and the community of the great county of St. Joseph was then gathered in the hospitable home of Alexis and Frances Coquillard, on the banks of the beautiful river that was to give its name to the county.

Source : History of South Bend

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