05 the Family of Mary Euphrasia Pelletier (Part 1)

05 THE FAMILY OF MARY EUPHRASIA PELLETIER (PART 1)

The research done in 1983 and 1984 by F. Pelletier has allowed us to complete and, where necessary, rectify all that has been said and written about Mary Euphrasia Pelletier’s close family.

1. On the quays of NOIRMOUTIER, NANTES AND ROCHEFORT At the time of the census decreed by the DIRECTORY (September 1789) the PELLETIER family was living in Noirmoutier in the “Quartier de la Place”, that is, in the house now considered as the birthplace of Rose-Virginie PELLETIER.

Children of all ages played in this Place de L’hotel de Ville whose aspect has hardly changed since that time.

At this date, the Pelletier family numbered 6 children of whom, according to the census, 5 were under 12 years of age.

Anne-Joséphine, the eldest, she who would later be called Aunt MARSAUD, was born in SOULANS in 1784. Julien-Arsène: was declared as being under 12 years of age, and several times during his life his date of birth would be “fixed” thus on official documents. He was born in November 1785, while his brother, André-Constant was born in 1788. Then came Victoire- Emilie in 1790 and Armand in 1791: all four born in SOULLANS.

The only one to be born in NOIRMOUTIER was Rose-Virginie (31st July 1796); but she would have another brother, Paul-Fidèle, who would be born in 1801.

Two sisters died very young in Soullans: Nathalie (1783-1793) and Sophie (1787 – 1788).

When the Revolution came and M. and Mme PELLETIER were taken to Noirmoutier as prisoners (March 1794), Mme MOURAIN, Mme PELLETIER’S mother and widow of Dr. MOURAIN, had to take charge of the 5 children; this state of affairs would last for 2 years.

In the MOURAIN household in Soullans, there would also have been at least one of Mme PELLETIER’S brothers, Jean-Pierre-André, who, aged around 30 years old, would undoubtedly have been able to see to the family businesses and the properties they possessed, and in particular in the Marais du PERRIER.

As well as this, despite the happenings of the times, the incessant passage of republican troops and Vendeen insurgents, the PELLETIER children certainly had, in SOULLANS enough to eat.

But what could the two older ones, Julien-Arsène and André-Constant do to occupy themselves all day, far from their parents and in a place where there was no school?

Of course, it was the age when, in the country, on the farms, one learned to manage alone, but this could not go on ad infinitum. 2

In the month of May 1796, BONAPARTE’S first victories had been celebrated with enthusiasm, and it was on 19th June 1796, that in VANNES what was called for VENDEE “the second peace” was signed by CADOUDAL (it was in reality only a short truce). Dr. PELLETIER was thus able to go in all tranquillity to announce the birth of their little sister to his children, as much as he wanted his eldest daughter Anne-Josephine to be her godmother.

We can imagine the return journey: 45 kilometres with 5 children, one of whom was not yet 5 years old.

A family tradition says that during this journey from SOULLANS – NOIRMOUTIER, Dr. PELLETIER was helped by the family’s tenant farmers: the BARANGERS of PERRIER

Everything points to it being at this time.

While the two youngest slept in the cart on their big sister’s knees, the two older brothers were discovering the countryside and the sea for the first time: the Gois crossing, then the bad road across the dunes of BARBATRE and la GUERINIERE, before arriving at l’EPINE, la BOSSE and finally the Bridge of the Corbe (which still exists) in order to enter NOIRMOUTIER by the Five Ways Crossroads.

The cart must have been full, not only with some luggage, but also with food, the dues from the farms: butter, cream, hens and ducks.

For the family, at last reunited, a new life was beginning around Rose-Virginie’s cradle.

The inhabitants of NOIRMOUTIER found themselves almost stuck on their island; day after day, they followed what was happening from the several observation points on the coast where young and old gathered together frequently.

Thus, on 30th July 1797, they would have been able to see four English Frigates give chase, out at sea beyond the pillar, to a Sloop and three surveillance vessels, obliged to take refuge near the Port of l’EPINE.

On 7th August, the English were again to be seen, but this time between NOIRMOUTIER and the ILE d’YEU. On NOIRMOUTIER, they really wondered if the English were not going to try yet again to land on the island in order to settle there and then paralyse the navigation of the Loire from where came various Pirates and many of the provisions for LORIENT and BREST.

From the beginning of October, the English could constantly be seen at the mouth of the Loire even, outside SAINT-NAZAIRE… Finally, at NOIRMOUTIER, they were afraid of the English who knew the coast very well and of whom there was everything to fear…

This sudden activity in the Port of NOIRMOUTIER delighted Arsène and Constant PELLETIER (12 and 9 years old) and their friends of the same age likewise. The Port was really very close to the house; you only had to cross the square, pass behind the JACOBSEN house, and you were on the quay: just about 150 metres in all… 3

For several weeks the young Noirmoutrins were thus able to see the boats in action and become familiar with the crews, where there was often a ship’s boy of their own age. Any excuse to go aboard was good; and how many times did they manifest their desire to go, they too?...

For the Noirmoutrins, still stuck on their island, England was evidently the implacable enemy that must be beaten by any means whatever. As well as this, all the young people, who at this time were between 10 and 15 years of age had lived, since they were of an age to understand, in a country that was continually at war, under the perpetual threat of landings and even bombardments.

What is more, there was no school to speak of anywhere; and when there was one, like at BOUIN or on the Ile d’Yeu, it was not obligatory. So all these young people remained idle, without the possibility of following a course of studies, nor even of learning a trade. The only solution: to go to sea at the first opportunity.

Arsène and Constant were among these young people who dreamed of sailing and going far away.

They had to wait until the month of August 1799 before the English disappeared from the Noirmoutrin coasts.

The coastal traffic, the coastal navigation was able to resume its activity and Arsène managed to embark on one of the many boats going to NANTES with their cargoes of wheat or salt.

But he dreamed of going much further, and, once on the quay in NANTES that he discovered for the first time he searched for an embarkation, a true one. In fact he was spoilt for choice and having been accepted, he was able to embark as a Probationer on the REOLAISE.

One could imagine Arsène’s emotion the day they cast off: 21st August 1799; at this date he was not yet 14 years old. It was for him the beginning of a long life as a sailor; his dream was coming true.

The relative calm had encouraged Dr. PELLETIER to request a new passeport in order to go from NOIRMOUTIER to SOULLANS to regain contact with the family. The time when the smallholders had to settle the price of rents and their farms and also pay their dues : Michelmas was approaching.

But finally, Dr. PELLETIER delayed a little and did not leave NOIRMOUTIER until 18th October, Now, this was exactly the day when the Chouans (French counter revolutionaries) decided to besiege the town of NANTES and when Dr. PELLETIER was able to return to NOIRMOUTIER the situation in VENDEE was still very confused.

In the month of March 1800, calm finally seemed to have returned and Mme PELLETIER, in her turn, decided to go to SOULLANS. It was probably a quick trip, for she could not abandon her 6 children, the last of whom Rose-Virginie was only four years old, for long. 4

THE FAMILY OF M E PELLETIER - SUITE Anne-Joséphine, the eldest, was 16 and actively involved in looking after the youngest, helped no doubt by Constant, 12 years old, who was upset at his big brother Arsène’s departure, but who had decided that one day, like him, he would go looking for adventure.

Then, in 1800, came a maritime event that plunged the population of NOIRMOUTIER into turmoil – the English attack on 40 or so buildings full of grain and flour in the Goulet de Fromentine. The inhabitants of the island were always preoccupied and intrigued by the unexpected visits from the English.

After a period of relative calm during which Dr. PELLETIER was again able to return to SOULLANS, where Mme MOURAIN’S health was giving some cause for concern. They saw the return – surprise, surprise – of Arsène who had just had his first contact with the English and who had had a baptism of fire.

They whole crew disembarked and, while waiting for a new posting, Arsène was thus able to return to NOIRMOUTIER.

The whole family was reunited when on 14th December Mme MOURAIN died in SOULLANS.

The older children, Anne-Joséphine, Arsène and Constant, remembered this good grandmother, who had taken them in for more than two years, but Rose-Virginie had never known her, from now on for the whole family their adopted town was NOIRMOUTIER.

Arsène had then met up with Constant and Armand, and all three certainly spent long days on the quayside of the Port again, chatting to the sailors and without doubt sometimes taking their little sister, Rose-Virginie, who was not yet five, with them. And in the family they were waiting for a new birth.

On 25th March 1801, Paul-Fidèle PELLETIER was in fact baptised in the church of NOIRMOUTIER.

It was one of the first baptisms celebrated by Fr. BOUSSEAU, who had returned to NOIRMOUTIER after 8 years of exile. Godfather: Arsène and Godmother: Marie-Anne Adélaide VIAUD.

But Arsène was still not officially demobilised and could be called up any day to go on a ship of the National Navy.

In fact notification of demobilisation only arrived after the peace of AMIENS (27 th March 1802) and Arsène only received his on 17th August; straightaway he sought a passage on a merchant ship and a sailor from NOIRMOUTIER, Pierre CHEVALIER, agreed to take him as a Probationer on board the surveillance vessel, the DEUX-AMIS.

For Arsène, this meant a series of journeys between NOIRMOUTIER and NANTES which allowed him to get home to NOIRMOUTIER quite often and also to get to know the region of the Pointe Saint-Gildas, PORNIC, LA PLAINE. 5

In 1803 when he was 18 years old, the Peace of AMIENS was broken and BONAPARTE began a gigantic struggle against ENGLAND that would last for 12 years.

Every citizen over the age of 18 was enrolled and considered as consenting due to the single fact that he had been to sea and continued to sail. This was the case with Arsène who found himself once more forced to serve periodically on the Ships of the State.

On 22nd March 1804, he left the surveillance vessel belonging to Mess. BARON and PINEAU to follow his friend Pierre CHEVALIER to ROCHEFORT where they were taken on the ARMIDE; CHEVALIER as an able seaman of the first class and Arsène as Probationer.

It was probably on his return from ROCHEFORT that Arsène learned of the death, in NOIRMOUTIER, of his sister Victoire-Emilie.

II DURING THE NAPOLEONIC WARS Constant On 6th December 1805, Arsène had returned to the Island on L’ARMIDE with Rear-Admiral ALLEMAND’s squadron, preparing for a new campaign, Constant, dreaming of following his brother’s example, succeeded in getting himself enrolled on the gunboat L’ISLE DIEU as a Probationer.

When he was 18 (1806), Constant was, in his turn, a maritime conscript. But while, it seems he was able to return to NOIRMOUTIER several times, Arsène did not have the same leisure. A first training exercise was carried out on 28th August and finally the Division got under way on 24th September 1806. Arsène was by this time an able seaman/helmsman.

After a series of extremely hard combats, the four other Frigates fell into the hands of the enemy and were obliged to sail to England. For Arsene, it was the beginning of a long exile. Arsène stayed in England until the fall of the Empire.

For Dr. PELLETIER, Arsène’s disappearance was a hard blow, he fell ill and died on 27th November 1806.

Mme PELLETIER found herself left to her own devices with the youngest children for Anne- Joséphine, who was 22, often stayed in BOUIN with her uncle and aunt, M. and Mme André PELLETIER and near her aunt Mme François PELLETIER, she too a widow with three young children: Julie, François and Henri. And it was in BOUIN on 25th June 1810 that Anne-Joséphine married François MARSAUD.

Rose-Virginie who, at the time of her father’s death was only 10 years old, remained the only girl in the parental home in NOIRMOUTIER with her two brothers, Armand – 15 years old and Paul-Fidèle – 5 years old. School kept the two younger ones busy, while Armand helped his mother with the material organisation of the family and the relationship with the tenant farmers; then in 1811, he was put on the register of the Conseil de Révision de NOIRMOUTIER, as, “property owner, living with his mother but capable of serving”. From his side, Constant got permission to come home to NOIRMOUTIER during the months of January and February 1808 and he remained until 1809. 6

In 1811, following the death of her brother Pierre, Mme PELLETIER decided to leave NOIRMOUTIER and go back to the old family home in SOULLANS. As Armand had “2 brothers serving in the Marines” he was for a while exempt from all Military Service, so he was able to continue to look after the business of the family. It was to SOULLANS that Constant returned home ill, and he died there on 15th October 1812.

After Napoleon’s disastrous campaign in Russia, there were no longer many volunteers to be had among the young. Armand was aware that this time he could not escape Military Service. Like many of those in his situation, in order not to be enrolled in the Infantry Regiments of the Great Army, he asked to enter the Guard of Honour that the Emperor had just decided to create.

For several reasons, Armand PELLETIER does not figure on the first list of young people likely to be designated for this Guard of Honour, first because he did not completely fulfil the required conditions, and more importantly because he was not able to assure all the expenses.

We find him being mentioned as having 3.000F in revenue, then only 2.000F in personal revenue. In other words, proof had to be given. Happily, he was very highly thought of his reports were: “Well done. Volunteer. Good Behaviour. Honest family and again: Bourgeoisie Family. Good Reputation.

Finally, Armand was put on the waiting list and would only be definitively admitted thanks to some others falling out. But then:“The horse was given to him and paid for from the common funds of the Department. All the rest was at his own expense and he “had to pay M. the Receiver: 659F.”

And further on: “Has received complete equipment with gloves, a “horse, plus 90F for the arms”. We are at June 5th and thus Armand left to go in the direction of TOURS where he would meet up again with several friends from NOIRMOUTIER.

The first squadron – of which he was a member – was to take the road to MAYENCE on 26 th June, under the orders of Squadron Leader DARBAUD-MISON. Now, Mme PELLETIER died in SOULLANS on 11th June. According to her expressed wish, she was to be buried in NOIRMOUTIER near the tombs of Dr. PELLETIER and their daughter Victoire-Emilie.

It was undoubtedly M. and Mme André PELLETIER, of BOUIN, who had to see to this transfer; but one can imagine the sorrow of the three boys, none of whom were able to be present at their Mother’s funeral. Like the youngest, Paul-Fidèle, Rose-Viginie was away at boarding school.

For them, only their big sister Anne-Joséphine, Mme MARSAUD who already had two children of her own was left. Thus it was that M. and Mme François MARSAUD were designated as guardians of the two school children. They were also already caring for their young nephews and niece, the three children of M. and Mme Francois PELLETIER, orphaned in 1812 – Julie, François and Henri.

Blanca Inés Veláquez RBP 7

OVER TO YOU: RESEARCH: 1. DO YOU KNOW A STORY ILLUSTRATING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE PELLETIER FAMILY AND THE FAMILY OF MME CHOBELET? 2. DO YOU KNOW THE CONDITIONS ARSENE LIVED IN WHILE IN PRISON IN ENGLAND?

3. REFLECTION: ROSE-VIRGINIE’S FAMILY WAS SEPARATED WHEN THE PARENTS WERE IMPRISONED AND FORCIBLY TAKEN TO NOIRMOUTIER. THE CHILDREN DID NOT HAVE THE CHANCE TO GO TO SCHOOL AS WOULD BE USUAL. THE YOUNG BOYS WENT EITHER VOLUNTARILY OR WERE CONSCRIPTED INTO THE ARMY. ARSENE SUFFERED IN PRISON IN ANOTHER COUNTRY, AND CONSTANT FROM A FATAL ILLNESS FAR FROM ALL FAMILY CARE …LATER IT WOULD BE ARMAND WHO DIED ALONE IN MARTINIQUE. THE CHILDREN LOST THEIR FATHER, THEIR GRANDMOTHER AND THEIR MOTHER IN DIFFICULT CIRCUMSTANCES. 3.1 HOW DID THE MEMBERS OF THE PELLETIER FAMILY OVERCOME THESE CIRCUMSTANCES? 3.2 IN YOUR PERSONAL HISTORY AND IN YOUR APOSTOLIC ACTIVITY WHAT WERE THE FAMILY CIRCUMSTANCES THAT WERE DIFFICULT TO SURMOUNT? 3.3 COULD YOU FIND ELEMENTS IN THE EXPERIENCE OF THE PELLETIER FAMILY THAT WOULD BE USEFUL TO YOU IN YOUR APOSTOLIC WORK TODAY? Bibliography: F. Pelletier: NOIRMOUTIER-BUOIN, THE BROTHERS OF MOTHER MARY OF SAINT EUPRASIA PELLETIER, 2 Quai Chausée des Moines, 44120, VERTOU. March 1984 photocopy.