October 27, 1662
The New World
What makes October 27, 1662 significant to our family? It is the date when Charles Turgeon and his family arrived in Quebec. The ancient family members setting foot on New France soil included his wife, Pasquire Lefebvre and their children Claire, Jacques and Anne. We have written a great deal about this family over the years, so we won't go through a "re-hash" of our Turgeon family history. We will include a set of links or hyperlinks, such as the Turgeon Family, that will take you to other articles of interest to the Turgeon side of our family. There are, however, a few things that are worth mentioning again as they explain some of the new photographs added. The great majority of Turgeons in the United States and Canada trace their origin either to Charles and Pascquire, or to Charles's brother who went back and forth between France and Quebec in the early years. While Charles Turgeon's descendents remained in Quebec, or New France as it was called, it is uncertain whether Charles and his wife remained in New France. Some family histories suggest they went back to France and remained there until their deaths. |
Included are links to the Turgeon history that you may find interesting. Many of the topics, stories and photos have been provided by our cousins. |
Peter G. Delire and Merida (Merilda) Patry Turgeon Delire. Most likely these portraits were produced by their daughter Agnes, a well known regional artist. In the 1900 census, we see seven children - six with her first husband Phileas Turgeon who died from a drowning accident in the Missouri River. The seventh child in the household was Louis, age 8 1/2 months old. The census shows that Merida was Pete's senior by almost 5 years. Our grandmother Mary, who was 14 years younger than Pete, said that he treated the Turgeon children with respect and kindness. |
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This photograph of Frank Smith was part of John Smith's collection at his law office in Eureka, South Dakota. Frank's photo is new to our collection, and was a brother-in-law to Mary Turgeon. The wedding picture on the right has been included on our website since 2009.
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Phileas Turgeon and Merida Turgeon on their wedding day. Variations of this photo have been created over the years, especially photos of Phileas which were painted by Merida's daughter Agnes Delire. A few of the family trees in Ancestry.com have used Phileas' portrait to reflect one of their Turgeon ancestors - a problem with Ancestry.com with creating "leafs" to suggest that these "might" be photos, etc. associated with an ancestor. |
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Photo of Isabelle Irene and her baby in 1932. Belle Turgeon is with her mother and grandmother. Belle was the granddaughter of Abraham Turgeon, Phileas Turgeon's eldest brother. "This is actually my mom's DNA test that I did for her. My grandma's maiden name was Isabelle Irene Turgeon. Her parents were Joseph and Josephine and they were from South Dakota. My grandma "Belle" was the oldest of their 9 children and outlived them all. She had 5 children, 3 of which are still living. My mother is also a Josephine" |
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Squawman Tujohns. Lets put "it" on the table. There was quite a bit of bigotry against the Native Americans in the early Dakotas. Among the early white settlers to come into the territory, the men of French descent were more open in developing friendships and marriages with the native population. Even the Smith's DNA shows 1-3% of our heritage as "American Indian", which suggests that at least one of our earliest Canadian ancestors was of aboriginal descent. Once the Turgeon brothers entered Dakota Territory, two of the Turgeon brothers married into the indiginous population - Ben and Abraham. Years ago I read a letter that my father, grandson of Phileas Turgeon, wrote his future wife about the discrimination he occassionally felt because some of his cousins were of Sioux descent (my father was dark complected with jet black hair, and by default some thought he was also American Indian). So what is our American Indian Heritage?Recently, one of my brothers noted the death of an American Indian male with a "modern" surname, e.g. Village Center in Mobridge, South Dakota. As I saw his posting, it motivated me to dig deeper into our French roots where the "Indian" heritage most likely could be traced. What I found was fascinating, and will develop a more complete storyline around the origin of this aboriginal line at a later date. In short, this is the connection: Initially, I could see that we were connected to the Huron tribe through Abraham Martin's wife, Marguerite Langlois (METIS or Half Breed born around 1600 in Kebec). She married Abraham Martin, born in 1580 in France, and his arrival to the new world was at the request of his best friend, Samuel de Champlain. But as I was reviewing the METIS surnames, it became a clearer that we must have another connection to the indigenous population. What I found was a little surprising. Initially, I found this connection through Jean Marie Trachey who was Phileas Turgeon's mother (my great great grandmother). Phileas' grandmother was a Bourget, and the Bourgets traced their lineage to Anne Martin born 1645 (daughter of Abraham Martin and Marguerite Lagnois) and spouse of Jacques Rate a Frenchman. There are many stories about "who" Marguerite was...was she a METIS...was she born in France, however, the church records show that her children were described as "savage", "METIS", or "half-breed". This suggests that Marguerite was minimally "half-breed", and we are also told that she was of the Huron Wendat tribe (Hurons from Kebec). While we could show a connection to the Huron tribe through Anne Martin, born 1645, it did not fully explain how our genetic profile could range from 1-3%. If this was it, then the percentage should be lower as this is 9 generations back. As I researched further, I found a second connection to the original natives of Kebec, or Quebec. The second connection was through Merida Patry, wife of Phileas Turgeon. Merida's grandmother was a Cote who traced her lineage to Jean Cote born in 1610 in early Kebec, or Quebec. In the church records, Jean is listed as "half breed or METIS", and I think he was the first child born in Canada to a French man. What did I find surprising? Jean Cote married Anne Martin, born 1614, who was also a daughter of Abraham Martin. Abraham was married twice. His first marriage was to a full breed Huron Wendat woman, and they had several children of which this Anne (born 1614) was one of them. His second wife was Marguerite Langlois (METIS), and they had quite a few children but what made this interesting is that one of their children was also named Anne (born 1645). We are connected to both Annes. Abraham is a common ancestor, and we have two lines that connect to him through two different wives. As indicated earlier, we will provide a more detailed write-up of this early Canadian ancestor. There is something else that is signficant - our French family has been in the new world 50 years before the Turgeons set foot in Kebec...which was a little over a 100 years after Christopher Columbus disovered America in 1492. And more important, our family has been in the Americas hundreds of years before Columbus if we "count" our aboriginal link. Now that is something to think about
Below is a story we found that showed how people felt against the Indian population, and in this case a story associated with the Turgeons...and in some ways its also a story of lost opportunity. "Lewis Lucas, came to Brule county September 1888. "one weekend I asked for Monday off and planned to go see a girl that lived near Lucas in Gregory county, a niece of Blanche Tujohns. I would leave on Saturday, see her on Sunday, and come home on Monday. It was about 35 miles to her place. Saturday night I stopped at a friends house by the name of McKinsey. I spent the night there. Next morning I asked the way to the Tujohns and he said "That sqawman"! I didn't know that he was a sqawman. I thought about it for awhile and decided I better not go and see her - but oh! How she could dance. I never did forget what that girl looked like - half French and half sqawman. " P 580, History of Brule County South Dakota." "John recalled the first dance he attended when he rode into the Wheeler County. The dance was held in a log house at the old Felice Fallas place where a Turgeon then lived. It was located above Snake Creek on the east side of the River. Narcisse Drappeau and big Bill LaRoche were the fiddlers. There were full bloods and half-breed Indians there but John Flisram, Tom Lunn, and George Lane were the only whitemen. The crowd numbered approximately one hundred people. The admission charged was fifty cents per person for the dance and supper." SAGA of Sully Buttes, source. It is not surprising that the Turgeon men and women were great dancers... |
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Francis and Nettie Turgeon. |
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Rebecca Leda Turgeon, daughters of Onesime and Marie Turgeon. They lived in Charles Mix County, South Dakota |
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