Marriage of Thomas Handfield & Marie Joseph Senécal
It was difficult for a widower, 30 years of age with three young
children, to stay alone for long and Thomas did not seem to have the temperament
of a hermit, because on 15 January 1771, only five months after the death of
his first wife, in presence of Maitre Duvernay, notary in Verchères, he signed
a marriage contract with Miss Marie-Joseph Senécal, daughter of Joseph Senécal
and of Marie-Joseph Truto. Marie-Joseph was a descendant of Etienne Truto, pioneer
of Ville-Marie, famous for an armed battle against the Iroquois 06 May 1662.
The marriage was not celebrated right away, I do not know for
what reason, but we know that it was difficult for the Catholic clergy to marry
persons of different religions, is it the reason???
A strong bond of friendship and confidence united Thomas and
his family-in-law, especially his mother-in-law. Ten days after his mother-in-law
was abandoned by her husband, and only three months after signing the marriage
contract, 30 April 1771 Thomas mortgaged all his properties to guarantee a debt
of five thousand chelins contracted by his in-laws for some consumer goods purchased
from Mr. Bouteiller, merchant of Montréal.
Mr. Senécal returned home and willingly, or by force, paid
the entire debt 04 January 1772, and was given the receipt from Mr. Bouteiller.
The summer of 1771 passed, the autumn also, and the marriage
was not yet celebrated, but 21 December 1771, Joseph Senécal, his daughter Marie-Joseph,
Thomas Handfield and his witness Joseph Brem Bourdelets crossed the St. Lawrence
River and had their marriage blessed at St. Sulpice. The Institut Généalogique
Drouin records 21 October as the marriage date, however, in the church records
at Saint Sulpice, I found 21 December as the marriage date. It was the last
marriage entry for 1771. Eight days later the parish priest at Verchères baptized
the first child of the new couple. The first, but not the last, for twelve others
followed between 1773 to 1791.
Of these eighteen children, born of his two wives, nine died
in early age, and the other nine, four daughters and five sons, married. Of
the five sons who married, four are the ancestors of the Handfields of Montréal
and its surrounding area. I will talk about these descendants in detail later.
Children of Thomas and Marie Joseph Senécal
Thomas -- born at Verchères 29 December 1771, buried
at Verchères 06 July 1772
Marie-Joseph -- born at Verchères 09 December 1773;
1st marriage at Verchères 13 January 1794 to Louis Martel; 2nd marriage at Verchères
23 November 1818 to Godefroy Lemonde; buried at Verchères 30 June 1832.
Marianne -- born 03 November 1775; baptized November
4th at St-Michel d'Yamaska, married at Verchères 22 November 1802 to Michel
Petit; buried at St. Hyacinthe 27 March 1855.
Michel -- born at Verchères 06 March 1777; buried at
Verchères 12 March 1777.
Thomas -- born at Verchères 06 January 1778; buried
at Verchères -6 July 1778.
Charlotte -- born at Verchères 19 November 1778; married
at Verchères 04 November 1799 to Francois Desmarais.
Antoine -- born at Verchères 08 October 1780; buried
at Verchères 12 October 1780.
Thomas -- born at Verchères 05 November 1781; married
at Varennes 18 June 1804 to Françoise Fontaine; buried at Verchères 21 September
1834.
Joseph -- born at Verchères 15 April 1783; married Françoise
Desmarais at Verchères 10 November 1806; buried at St. Marc 03 October 1820.
Jean Baptiste -- born at Verchères 30 October 1784;
married at Varennes 11 February 1805 to Catherine Fontaine; buried at Verchères
15 August 1864.
Unnamed stillborn -- at Verchères 23 June 1787.
Francois Xavier -- born at Verchères 07 December 1789;
married at Verchères 14 January 1811 to Marguerite Lalus; buried at Verchères
04 September 1872.
Antoine -- born 25 March 1791; buried at Verchères 12
July 1791.
Guardianship and inventory
Having being selected guardian for the minor children of his
marriage with Marianne Poulin, in accordance with a certificate signed by Mr.
Jean Fraser, justice for Acts of Guardianship, and delivered by the clerk Mr.
Jean Farquhar, on 28 December 1771, Thomas had Notary Duvernay make, on 13 January
1772, an inventory of all the goods and chattels of the joint estate. The list
indicates that the couple lived well, but modestly. A house, all paid, in the
City of Québec and goods and chattels worth 479 livres without counting clothing,
but including a cow and heifer, the only animals owned by the couple, which
shows he was not yet established on a farm. As he had neither horse nor carriage
nor boat, I wonder how he carried on his occupation as a trader.
January 28, 1772, Thomas signed, at Québec, the following petition:
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To the Hon'ble Hector Theophilus Cramahe, Esq.
Lieutenant Governor and Commander in Chief of the province
of Québec and the Hon'ble The Members of His Majesty's Council
for said Province
The Petition of Thomas Handfield Humbly Sheweth
That your Petitioner intends to settle himself on the
north side of the great River, about Thirty Leagues above Montréal,
and ten Leagues above the long Rapid: he therefore prays that your Honour,
and the Hon'ble Members of the Council may Grant onto him three Leagues
in front, to begin opposite to the lower end of the Island Roussant, continuing
along up the said River and three Leagues in depth or such part thereof
as to your Honors shall seem meet, from the North bank of the great River,
which Trait is to take in the Nation River.
And your Petitioner as in Duty bound shall ever pray.
Québec 28th January 1772
Thos Handfield
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Slowness of administration existed at that time. The American
revolutionary war was declared and ended and always no answer to his request.
A second petition was made on the 17th of January 1789 and is registered under
the number 602 on the Government list for the years 1785-1790.
Discovering the original of the second petition permits to find what happened with the first one; in the report of the "Land Committee"
of 19 June 1789, it is granted to Thomas Handfield, his wife and eight children
(he had three at the time of his first request) 1000 acres on the Ottawa or
"Grande River". See Appendix 5
He never took possession of this land. Why? One thing that
is certain, no title of property was registered in his name in Canada. After
having read the index of patent letters issued to proprietors of land grants,
I even turned over the pages of volumes containing the copies of these patent
letters in case he may have been forgotten in the index, but found nothing.
In 1845 his son Jean Baptiste Handfield enquired about a land
grant to his father and was told that the land had been "sold" by Thomas to
John McKinlay before the titles were issued. Jean Baptiste did, however, receive
"script for the resident of the grant, say 50 acres". See
Appendix 6
