Joyals in Manitoba
Data and photos on these pages courtesy of Ken Joyal. I am deeply indebted to Ken for sharing his research. You may contact him at:
How My Branch
of the Joyals Came to Manitoba
This story has its roots in Quebec, but we’ll begin in the early 1800s, in what became the province of Manitoba.
Jean-Baptiste Lagimodiere (my 5th great grandfather) was a well known voyageur and trapper from Maskinonge, Quebec. He is also remembered in Canadian history as the man who walked from the Red River settlement (present day Winnipeg) to Montreal with news for Lord Selkirk of the difficult situation at the settlement. Around 1806, he brought his young wife, Marie-Anne Gaboury, to Red River. In 1807, she gave birth to a daughter, Reine (my 4th great grandmother) named for King George III. Reine Lagimodiere is known as the first non-Native child to be born on the Canadian prairies. Reine had seven siblings, one of them a younger sister named Julie, who was the mother of Louis Riel.
In 1823 Reine married Joseph Lamere (Lemaire). He had come to Red River some time before that date for reasons unknown. Perhaps he was a voyageur, trapper, or settler. About 1823 Reine and Joseph had a daughter, Catherine (my 3rd great grandmother. The family lived on the Lagimodiere homesite where the Seine River flows into the Red River in St. Boniface (Winnipeg).
After the terrible flood of 1826, the Lameres decided to leave Red River. It seemed that life was a continuing series of hardships. They took their children (Catherine and Joseph jr.) to Joseph’s old home of Sorel, Quebec.
Catherine met and eventually married (1838) David Joyal jr., who farmed at St. David de Yamaska, near Sorel.
At some point around 1855, Catherine, David, and their children moved to Woonsocket, Rhode Island. Why they made this move is a small mystery. One explanation may be that in the mid-1800s there was a large emigration from Quebec to the New England states, as people searched for a better life. It is important to note that poverty was fairly common among the French in Quebec, there had been a rebellion there in the late 1830s, and it was difficult for unilingual French people to "get ahead" in Quebec. French people established what became known as "Little Canadas" within existing cities in New England. Places like Fall River, Worcester, and Lowell in Massachusetts; Woonsocket in Rhode Island, as well as communities in Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine were magnets for emigrants leaving Quebec.
After Joseph Lamere died (1858), his wife Reine joined her daughter Catherine, and son-in-law, David Joyal in Woonsocket. On September 12, 1876, Reine accompanied by many of her descendents, left Woonsocket and returned to Manitoba. They arrived in St. Boniface on September 26, 1876. Among her descendents traveling with her was her grandson Jean-Baptiste Joyal and his wife Julienne Millette (my 2nd great grandparents).
Jean-Baptiste Joyal and Julienne (Emilienne) Millette (my 2nd great grandparents).
From Edouard Joyal, St. Boniface
These pages
Click the image below to e-mail me
Links
ALL PHOTOS ON THIS SITE ARE THE PROPERTY OF THE OWNER OF THIS PAGE. . WHEN THE OWNER / PHOTOGRAPHER ARE NOT ONE AND THE SAME, THE COPYRIGHT BELONGS TO THE PHOTOGRAPHER DO *NOT* REPRODUCE OR COPY ANY OF THESE PHOTOS WITHOUT EXPRESS PERMISSION
Copyright © 2001 Bonnie Stevens Dannenberg All Rights Reserved