Antoine Paulin (1734 - 1813)

Born 24 Apr 1734 in Saint-Paul-de-Varces, Dauphiné, France

Husband of Theotiste Cottard — married 12 Jan 1767 in Saint-Antoine-sur-Richelieu, Province de Québec

Descendants

Died 7 Sep 1813 at age 79 in Coopersville, Clinton, New York, USA

Biography

Captain Antoine Paulin served with Second Canadian Regiment, Continental Army during the American Revolution.

Antoine Paulin is an NSSAR Patriot Ancestor.
NSSAR Ancestor #: P-266970
Rank: Captain

Daughters of the American Revolution, DAR Genealogical Research Databases, database online, (http://www.dar.org/ : accessed Oct 25, 2017), "Record of Antoine Paulint", Ancestor # A086649.

Antoine Paulin lived
in Canada, Nouvelle-France.

The story of the PAULIN family is contained in the book "Chroniques d'autrefois en Dauphiné" published in 2013 by the Editions BELLIER of Lyon.

His wife's request for his pension indicated that he went to Quebec with the Colonial army in 1775.

The French translation follows the English./La traduction française suit l'anglais.

FIGHT FOR FRANCE IN AMERICA: CAPTAIN ANTHONY PAULIN 1734-1813, SOLDIER OF LIGHT By Claude Ferradou (Member of the Genealogical Center of Dauphiné)

This true adventure is dedicated to soldiers who have left the country of their birth and their ancestors to defend the name and the honor of France, "New France." Many are killed in the glory of their king, but some have remained over there and founded a new homeland.

The year 2009 celebrates the anniversary of the two hundred and fifty years of the Plains of Abraham near Quebec September 13, 1759 sealed the fate of La Belle Province.

We modestly agreed to pay tribute to the courage and sacrifice of these veterans the Enlightenment: This is their story.

I-St Paul de Varces, Dauphine, April 24, 1734

It's cold this morning in the church where the family gathered for the baptism of the second son of Antoine PAULIN, farmer of the village of Saint Paul Varces, Diocese of Grenoble. The procession came to the farmhouse of Blanchières where the father holds his farm and several acres of land and vineyards.

Eglise de Saint-Paul de Varces

Few women in the assembly: The Mother, Dominica, born VALLOIRE, remained at the home for her prayers in company with one or two neighbors; there are of course, godmother, Marguerite Francoise VALLOIRE and then also the sister of seven years, stares at the sight.

What is the fate of this big baby who is struggling with wails of fury when the Curé Gaudoz splashes ice water by saying the words of the rite of baptism?

He will be called Antoine, like his father, but as the younger son, he has little hope of it is his older brother and godfather, Peter, a strong boy of sixteen who holds firmly to the font of the old baptistery and tries to calm the infant, and will inherit the home and land, according to the custom of the time. So goes life in the Dauphine nineteenth year of the reign of Louis the Beloved.

II-North Atlantic, Spring 1758: Land!

The cry of the watch has thrown in a moment all the men on their feet: They scream their joy of the end of the test by pressing the rail: The horizon ring gradually effect ... the purple edging the coast of New France.

The journey was rough and the French squadron had to face a big gust of wind during the crossing, then navigate for several days blindly between the icebergs, in a thick mist and cold weather.

Despite the jubilation of his comrades, Antoine PAULIN wondered to himself how foolish it or madness made him leave his village and his family for this adventure.

The chance of passage of two sergeants recruiters in Saint Paul? The attraction of the uniform tricorner hat, braids and gold buttons of the regiment of infantry? The glory of fighting? or just hope for new horizons offered his impatient youth.

The father died fifteen years ago, he was only seven, and Peter the elder, assisted by the Mother, Inherited the farm as planned but only twenty four years, the farm chores and the burden of Family: Himself with Francoise, led the animals and helped with farm work like all children of peasants.

But the call to another destination did call out despite the tears of his mother and his sister, and the silence of his brother.

This was the beginning of his new life after the goodbyes to his family by the roadside in Grenoble to see him leave with the others, and soon the passage under the height gauge at Fort Barraux. He was not of those who were too small, counterfeit, or consumptive who were ruefully returned to their homes ... Antoine had an imposing stature, fair complexion and curly hair, as his descendants said much later, but especially force and impetuosity of his age ... provinces Finally, the big trip after training at the hands of sergeants, crossing the provinces without mountains, the outstanding discovery of the sea for the young Dauphinois embarkation and departure of the squadron MONTCALM for New France.

Then for weeks, the snap of the sails, the cries of the top-men, and the rustle of waves fetching and deck hammocks swinging in the strong odor of men.

But for now, regrets are useless: Canada is right there in front of his eyes as is the Promise of a New World.

III-Saint-Antoine over Richelieu, Quebec, January 12, 1767

The church is larger than that of Saint Paul, but all in wood: Outside, a pale sun makes the silent and frozen plain glitter. Anthony looks great in his old uniform and takes her hand tenderly his young Wife was seventeen and he was thirty three.

It is true that she is very gracious Theotiste in her wedding dress that he gave her the day of their betrothal.

Acte de mariage d’Antoine Paulin à Saint Antoine sur Richelieu, le 12 janvier 1767

In this new world the fates were quickly sealed for life or death. Theostiste was the daugher of the former soldier Pierre COTTARD and the deceased Agnes of Saint Denis on the Richelieu was perhaps decided early, despite her youth:

Theotiste was ten years old in 1759 when the city of Quebec and her family lived was evacuated by the French before it fell into ruin at the hands of the English. Antoine PAULIN and the family were known to each other. Peter COTTARD was wounded in action and hospitalized at the Hôtel Dieu in June 1758.

Thinking back to the terrible defeat on the Plains of Abraham September 13, 1759 and MONTCALM died in the aftermath of that fateful day, Anthony's heart ached.

But what glory in the victories won by the courage and sacrifice of these young soldiers and the talent of their revered leader! The battles of Oswego and Ontario in 1756, the heroic defense of Fort Carillon fifteen thousand men of General ABERCROMBIE July 8, 1758, to which he participated as a soldier of the Queen's Regiment, to cries of "Long live the King! Long live our General!"

Bataille de Fort Carillon, 8 juillet 1758

But God and fate did not want the Belle Province remains to France.

Antoine PAULIN had to disarm and leave the army at the end of the year 1761. He was still on the rolls on September 30, 1761 as soldiers of the regiment Royal-Roussillon.

However, he did not want to leave as his comrades, on the English ships at the end of the War: His life is here now, he has decided, in this land of snow that has become his by the sweat and blood of his regiment.

IV-On the road to Ft. Chambly St- Jean, Quebec, on Sun. morning Jun 16, 1776

Antoine PAULIN Theotiste are in despair: Their young son Amable seven years, has disappeared from the convoy!

In their haste to flee Chambly with other people, on the eve of this Sunday's disaster, meanwhile the troops of the vanguard of General BURGOYNE already entered the city, Amable in the turmult, was separated from his family and got lost.

The settlers of French origin in Chambly feared terrible retaliation which FOSTER had threatened, like the massacre ordered by Captain FOSTER of French Canadians suspected of being rebels, after burning their houses and their fields.

In the terrible anxiety that gripped the parents of Amable, Antoine does not hesitate: He leaves his wife there on the convoy holding in her arms the little Theotiste aged three, and retraces their steps to seek the lost child on the rain-soaked road. Luckily friends had found Amable and sent him to his family. He had been sitting on a table in a tavern either making sport of, or with English Soldiers.

What Cruel fate had been the lead in to this debacle?

Sixteen years after the conquest of 1760, and probably tired of his status as subjects of the King England, Antoine PAULIN volunteered among the first to join in at forty-one years of age, like other French veterans, the cause of the thirteen American colonies fighting for their independence.

His captain's commission from the independent company of Canadian volunteers dated November 20, 1775, will be assistant to the Second Regiment of Light Infantry under the command of Moses HAZEN founded January 20, 1776 to be called "Congress Own Regiment (COR) or Hazen Regiment, then at the end of the war the 2nd Canadian Regiment , whose uniforms offered by France in autumn 1778 are brown with red fringes.

Antoine PAULIN now known as "Captain PAULIN, with a salary of forty dollars per month, participated with General MONTGOMERY on the attack on Fort Chambly held by the English with the local knowledge of French colonists and then to the Fort St. Jean and attack the bastion of Cap Diamant in Quebec.

But the English having received reinforcements after the harsh winter of 1775, the retreat of the American troops and their Canadian allies had to begin in May 1776: The company of Captain PAULIN with the HAZEN Regiment was sent in pursuit of FOSTER's troops before joining forces at Chambly to organize the flight of the settlers and their families to Fort St. Jean.

Antoine was able to reach his house and take in all haste, in pouring rain, Theotiste and his two children to join with some business, the bulk of the convoy of residents.

A voice finally answered his calls: Amable is running towards him, found by a neighbor, perched on a table and laughing with British soldiers!

V-Coopersville, Clinton County, New York State, summer 1813

In the evening of his life, the memories of his childhood in Saint Paul and all his life as a soldier come back to him gradually, blurred by age and time, like the shadows of the past.

The Blanchières farm, the PAULIN vineyard and the old Saint Paul church; the loved faces of his family, his father whom he knew little, his mother who was crying when he saw him leave, Pierre his brother whose name he gave to his son after Amable the eldest, and Francoise his sister whom he also given the name so sweet to his last born.

Then the rough life of a soldier, the great departure, the crossing of the Atlantic, the discovery of the Belle Province, the battles won and those lost, his marriage and life in Saint Denis and Chambly, and again the war with his companions, very quickly called the "HAZEN's Demons" (HAZEN's Infernals ...) for their courage and their fighting qualities; the battles of Staten Island in August 1777, Germantown in September and Brandywine in October, his meeting with General LAFAYETTE during the winter quarters of 1777 at Valley Forge; his oath of allegiance to the thirteen colonies united in the spring of 1778 which made him henceforth an American citizen, the battle of Monmouth in June of the same year, the harsh winter 1778 at Redding Camp in Connecticut and that of 1779 even harder, in Morristown, New Jersey with General WASHINGTON and again the great victory of Yorktown in the fall of 1781.

Finally, his retirement on the first day of July 1782, he was only forty-eight, and the long wait with his family in the Fishkill barracks on the Hudson River, lands promised by the American Congress to the Canadian veterans of the war of independence, and finally the act of concession on 28 August 1786 nine hundred acres of standing timber "in Clinton County, the first concession granted to Corbeau, near Chazy River and Lake Champlain.

A solid log house he built with his neighbors, land clearing and the founding of the city of Coopersville by all these veterans of Canada.

The happiness and the daily concerns of a family that has grown throughout these years: Eleven children, six of whom survived, Amable and Théotiste born in Saint Denis, Pierre, Marie-Angélique and Geneviève born in Fishkill, and finally Francoise born in Albany: They married at Acadia in Quebec for lack of a priest to Raven, but will be a strain in America, their new country.

His pride of father also, that gave him the little Amable, his eldest son, engaged in 1780 at the age of twelve in his regiment and his own company, before integrating those of the captain Antoine SELIN then of the captain Clément Gosselin-226.

The war again in 1812, barely a year ago, between the English and the Americans, a few miles from his house, which he attends as a helpless spectator: His descendants will report that the old soldier pointing his finger at the English ships crossing Lake Champlain then exclaimed crying, "If I were still young, I would be in this war too!"

Theotist his tender and faithful companion for forty-six years, is busy at the office: it's soon supper time. The shadows lengthen on the valley, the sun sinks on the horizon and finally disappears, as if it was extinguished in a final fire, the Age of Enlightenment fourteen years ago and Captain PAULIN still looks at it, sitting in front of his house.

Antoine PAULIN will leave the world on September 7, 1813 in Coopersville, surrounded by the respect and affection of all his family. For lack of a cemetery, his remains will be laid to rest in Graves Acres, on the grounds of a certain Hiram SHUTE.

Theotist will join him at the age of ninety on September 20, 1841. A large number of descendants, from the couple of Antoine and Théotiste and their six children, will perpetuate the memory of this ancestor, thanks to whom this story true story is told.

VI-Christmas 2005

On my screen this Christmas day, an email from the U.S. appears to me silently the surprise of a great-great-great-great-granddaughter of Captain Paulin respond beyond time and space, a descendent of Peter's brother.

Thus, renews itself and closes the loop over time: Two hundred seventy-one years after the baptism in 1734 at St. Paul Varces seven generations later and both sides of the Atlantic, the two brothers finally meet by their descendants.

Painting of Antoine Paulint

COMBATTRE POUR LA FRANCE EN AMERIQUE: LE CAPITAINE ANTOINE PAULIN 1734-1813, SOLDAT DES LUMIERES By Claude Ferradou (Membre du Centre Généalogique du Dauphiné)

Cette aventure vraie, racontée en six tableaux, est dédiée aux soldats qui ont quitté le pays de leur naissance et de leurs aïeux pour défendre au nom et pour l'honneur de la France, la « Nouvelle France ».

Beaucoup y sont tombés pour la gloire de leur Roi, mais certains y ont connu et fondé là bas une nouvelle patrie. L'année 2009 célèbre l'anniversaire des deux cent cinquante ans de la bataille des Plaines d'Abraham près de Québec qui scella le 13 septembre 1759 le sort de la Belle Province. Il convenait modestement de rendre hommage au courage et au sacrifice de ces combattants du siècle des Lumières : C'est là leur histoire.

I- Saint Paul de Varces, Dauphiné, le 24 Avril 1734

Il fait froid ce matin dans la petite église ou toute la famille s’est réunie pour le baptême du deuxième fils d’Antoine PAULIN, laboureur du village de Saint Paul de Varces, Diocèse de Grenoble.

Le cortège est venu du mas des Blanchières ou le Père tient sa ferme et quelques arpents de terres et de vignes.

Peu de femmes dans l’assemblée : La Mère, Dominique, née VALLOIRE, est restée à la maison pour ses relevailles en compagnie d’une ou deux voisines ; sont là bien sûr, la marraine, Marguerite VALLOIRE et puis aussi Françoise la petite soeur de sept ans, qui écarquille les yeux devant le spectacle...

Quel sera le destin de ce gros nourrisson qui se débat et vagit de fureur quand le Curé GAUDOZ l’asperge d’eau glacée en prononçant les paroles rituelles du baptême ?

Eglise de Saint-Paul de Varces.

Il sera appelé Antoine, comme son Père; mais cadet de famille, il n’a guère d’espoir de reprendre la ferme des Blanchières ; c’est à son frère ainé et parrain Pierre, solide garçon de seize ans qui le tient fermement sur les fonts du vieux baptistère et tente de le calmer, que reviendra la maison et les terres, selon l’usage du temps. Ainsi va la vie en Dauphiné cette dix-neuvième année du règne de Louis le Bien Aimé...

II- Atlantique Nord, printemps 1758

Terre ! Le cri de la vigie a jeté en un instant tous les hommes sur leurs pieds : Ils hurlent leur joie de la fin de l’épreuve en se pressant au bastingage : L’horizon se cerne peu à peu en effet du liseré violet des côtes de la Nouvelle France...

Le voyage fut rude et l’escadre française dut affronter un gros coup de vent au cours de la traversée, puis naviguer plusieurs jours à l’aveugle entre les icebergs, dans une brume épaisse et un temps glacé...

Malgré la liesse de ses camarades, Antoine PAULIN se demande en lui- même quelle folie lui a fait un jour quitter son village et les siens pour cette aventure...

Le hasard du passage de deux sergents recruteurs à Saint Paul ? L’attrait de l’uniforme à tricorne, galons et boutons dorés du régiment d’infanterie ? la gloire du combattant ? ou simplement l’espoir d’horizons nouveaux offerts à sa jeunesse impatiente...

Le Père est mort il y a quinze ans, il n’en avait que sept ; et Pierre l’aîné, aidé de la Mère, a repris comme prévu mais à seulement vingt quatre ans, les tâches de la ferme et la charge de toute la famille : Lui-même avec Françoise, a conduit les bêtes et aidé aux travaux des champs comme tous les enfants de paysans.

Mais l’appel d’un autre destin lui a fait tout quitter malgré les larmes de sa mère et de sa sœur, et le silence de son frère.

Ce fut alors le début de sa nouvelle vie après les adieux à sa famille restée au bord du chemin de Grenoble pour le voir partir avec les autres, et bientôt le passage sous la toise à Fort Barraux : Il ne fut pas de ceux qui, jugés trop petits, contrefaits, bréchus ou poitrinaires furent renvoyés piteusement dans leurs foyers... Antoine lui, a de la prestance, le teint clair et les cheveux bouclés, comme le diront bien longtemps après, ses descendants, mais surtout la vigueur et la fougue de son âge...

Enfin, le grand voyage après l’instruction sous la férule des sergents, la traversée de provinces sans montagnes, la découverte saisissante de la mer pour le jeune Dauphinois, l’embarquement et le départ de l’escadre de MONTCALM pour la Nouvelle France...

Puis pendant des semaines, le claquement des voiles, les cris des gabiers, et le bruissement des flots, la corvée de pont et le balancement des hamacs dans la forte odeur des hommes.

Mais pour l’heure, les regrets sont inutiles : Le Canada est là, à portée de ses yeux comme la promesse d’un Nouveau Monde...

III- Saint Antoine sur Richelieu, Province de Québec, le 12 Janvier 1767

L’église est plus grande que celle de Saint Paul, mais toute en bois : Dehors, un soleil pâle fait scintiller la plaine silencieuse et glacée. Antoine a fière allure dans son ancien uniforme et tient tendrement la main de sa toute jeune épouse : Elle a dix sept ans et lui trente trois. Il est vrai qu’elle est bien gracieuse Théotiste, dans sa robe de noces qu’il lui a offerte le jour de leurs accordailles...

En ce monde nouveau ou les destins sont bien vite scellés pour la vie ou la mort, le mariage de l’ancien soldat et de la fille de Pierre COTTARD et de défunte Agnès BOURGEOIS de Saint Denis sur Richelieu fut peut être décidé de bonne heure, malgré sa jeunesse:

Acte de mariage d’Antoine Paulin à Saint Antoine sur Richelieu, le 12 janvier 1767

Théotiste avait dix ans en 1759 quand la ville de Québec ou habitait sa famille fut évacuée par les français avant de tomber, en ruines, aux mains des anglais. Antoine PAULIN y connut-il Pierre COTTARD alors que blessé au combat, il fut hospitalisé à l’Hôtel Dieu en Juin 1758?

Songeant a la terrible défaite des Plaines d’Abraham le 13 Septembre 1759 et à la mort de MONTCALM le lendemain de ce jour funeste, le coeur d’Antoine se serre...

Que de gloire pourtant dans les victoires remportées par le courage et le sacrifice de ces jeunes soldats et le talent de leur chef vénéré!

Les batailles d’Oswégo et de l’Ontario en 1756, la défense héroïque de Fort Carillon contre les quinze mille hommes du Général ABERCROMBIE le 8 Juillet 1758, à laquelle il a participé comme soldat du Régiment de la Reine, aux cris de « Vive le Roi ! Vive notre Général! »

Bataille de Fort Carillon, 8 juillet 1758.

Mais Dieu et le destin n’ont pas voulu que la Belle Province reste à la France... Antoine PAULIN a donc dû déposer les armes et quitter l’armée dès la fin de l'année 1761.

Il sera encore témoin à Verchères le 30 Septembre 1761 en qualité de soldat du régiment Royal-Roussillon.

Cependant, il n’a pas voulu repartir comme ses camarades, sur les navires anglais à la fin de la guerre : Sa vie est ici désormais, il en a décidé, dans ce pays de neige qui est devenu le sien par la sueur et le sang de son régiment. Il est maintenant colon dans cette campagne fertile du bord du fleuve Richelieu et possède une terre au village de Saint Denis.

Antoine se marie en ce jour d'hiver, comme au pays, son frère Pierre l’a fait il y a treize ans à Saint Martin de la Cluse et Françoise sa soeur il y a six ans à Saint Paul: Eux ont déjà des enfants, comme le lui a écrit le vieux curé de Saint Paul; lui, sa nouvelle famille est à créer et sa maison sera ici en Nouvelle France même sous le joug des anglais à Saint Denis d'abord puis à Chambly.

« Oui je le veux... » répond il d’une voix ferme au prêtre qui recueille les consentements des nouveaux mariés : Il ne sait pas encore que sa mère qui a soixante douze ans quittera ce monde dans un mois et qu’elle a déjà réclamé plusieurs fois son fils...

IV- Sur la route de Chambly au fort Saint Jean, Québec, le Dimanche matin 16 juin 1776

Antoine et Théotiste PAULIN sont au désespoir : Leur jeune fils Amable sept ans, a disparu du convoi!

Dans leur hâte à fuir Chambly avec les autres habitants, à l’aube de ce Dimanche du désastre, alors que les troupes de l’avant-garde du Général BURGOYNE entraient déjà dans la ville, Amable dans le tumulte, a été séparé de sa famille et s’est perdu.

Les colons de Chambly d’origine française craignent en effet les représailles terribles dont les menacent les troupes anglaises, à l’exemple du massacre ordonné par le Capitaine FOSTER de canadiens français soupçonnés d’être des rebelles, après avoir brûlé leurs maisons et leurs champs.

Dans la terrible angoisse qui étreint les parents d’Amable, Antoine n’hé- site pas : Il laisse là sa femme qui tient dans ses bras la petite Théotiste âgée de trois ans, et retourne sur ses pas chercher l’enfant perdu dans le chemin détrempé par la pluie.

Quel destin cruel a pu le conduire dans cette débâcle, lui et sa famille ? Seize ans après la conquête de 1760, et las sans doute de son statut de sujet du roi d’Angleterre, Antoine PAULIN s’est porté volontaire parmi les premiers pour rejoindre à quarante et un ans, comme d’autres vétérans, la cause des treize colonies américaines en lutte pour leur indépendance.

Sa commission de capitaine de la compagnie indépendante des canadiens volontaires date du 20 Novembre 1775 ; elle sera adjointe au second régiment d’infanterie légère du Colonel Moses HAZEN fondé le 20 Janvier 1776 qui sera dénommé « Congress Own Regiment (C.O.R) ou Régiment de Hazen, puis à la fin de la guerre le Régiment Canadien, dont les uniformes offerts par la France en automne 1778 sont bruns avec des franges rouges. Antoine PAULIN qu’on appelle désormais « Capitaine PAULIN », au salaire de quarante dollars par mois, a participé à la prise par le Général MONTGOMERY du Fort de Chambly tenu par les anglais, grâce à la connaissance des lieux des colons français, puis à celle du Fort Saint Jean ainsi qu’à l’attaque du bastion de Cap Diamant à Québec.

Mais les anglais ayant reçu des renforts après le rude hiver 1775, la retraite des troupes américaines et de leurs alliés canadiens a dû commencer en Mai 1776 : La compagnie du Capitaine PAULIN avec le régiment HAZEN fut envoyée à la poursuite des troupes de FOSTER avant de rejoindre à marche forcée Chambly pour y organiser la fuite des colons et de leurs familles vers le Fort Saint Jean.

Antoine a pu rejoindre sa maison et emmener en toute hâte, sous une pluie battante, Théotiste et ses deux enfants, rejoindre avec quelques affaires, le gros du convoi des habitants.

Une voix répond enfin à ses appels : C’est Amable qui court vers lui, retrouvé par un voisin, perché sur une table et riant avec des soldats anglais!

V- Corbeau (Coopersville) comté de Clinton, Etat de New-York, été 1813

Au soir de sa vie, les souvenirs de son enfance à Saint Paul et de toute sa vie de soldat lui reviennent peu à peu, estompés par l’âge et le temps, comme les ombres du passé...

La ferme des Blanchières, la vigne des PAULIN et la vieille église de Saint Paul ; les visages aimés de sa famille, son père qu’il a peu connu, sa mère qui pleurait en le voyant partir, Pierre son frère dont il a donné le prénom à son fils après Amable l’ainé, et Françoise sa soeur dont il a aussi donné le prénom si doux à sa dernière née...

Puis la rude vie de soldat, le grand départ, la traversée de l’Atlantique, la découverte de la Belle Province, les batailles gagnées et celles perdues, son mariage et la vie à Saint Denis et à Chambly, et à nouveau la guerre avec ses compagnons, très vite appelés les « Démons d’HAZEN » (HAZEN’s Infernals...) pour leur courage et leurs qualités de combattants ; les batailles de Staten Island en Aout 1777, de Germantown en Septembre et de Brandy- wine en Octobre, sa rencontre avec le Général LAFAYETTE pendant les quartiers de l’hiver 1777 à Valley Forge ; son serment d'allégeance aux treize colonies unies au printemps 1778 qui fit de lui désormais un citoyen américain, la bataille de Monmouth en Juin de la même année, le dur hiver 1778 au camp de Redding au Connecticut et celui de 1779 plus dur encore, à Morristown au New Jersey avec le Général WASHINGTON et encore la grande victoire de Yorktown à l'automne 1781...

Enfin sa retraite à demi solde le premier Juillet 1782, il n’a que quarante huit ans, et la longue attente avec les siens dans les barraquements de Fishkill sur la rivière Hudson, des terres promises par le Congrès Américain aux vétérans canadiens de la guerre d’indépendance, et enfin l’acte de concession du 28 Aout 1786 « de neuf cent acres en bois debout » dans le Comté de Clinton, première concession accordée à Corbeau, près de la ri- vière Chazy et du Lac Champlain...

Une solide maison en rondins qu'il a bâtie de ses mains avec ses voisins, le défrichement des terres et la fondation de la ville de Coopersville par tous ces vétérans du Canada...

Le bonheur et les soucis quotidiens d'une famille qui s'est agrandie tout au long de ces années : Onze enfants dont six ont survécu, Amable et Théotiste nés à Saint Denis, Pierre, Marie-Angélique et Geneviève nés à Fishkill, et enfin Françoise née à Albany : Ils se sont mariés à l'Acadie au Québec faute de prêtre à Corbeau, mais feront souche en Amérique, leur nouveau pays...

Sa fierté de père aussi, que lui a donnée le petit Amable, son fils ainé, engagé dès 1780 à douze ans dans son régiment et sa propre compagnie, avant d'intégrer celles du capitaine Antoine SELIN puis du capitaine Clément GOSSELIN.

La guerre encore en 1812, il y a un an à peine, entre les anglais et les américains, à quelques miles de sa maison, à laquelle il assiste en spectateur impuissant : Ses descendants rapporteront que le vieux soldat pointant son doigt vers les navires anglais traversant le lac Champlain s'écria alors en pleurant « Si j'étais encore jeune, je serais dans cette guerre aussi ! »

Théotiste sa tendre et fidèle compagne depuis quarante six ans, s’affaire à l'office : c’est bientôt l’heure du souper. Les ombres s’allongent sur la plaine, le soleil sombre à l’horizon et s’éteint enfin, comme s’est éteint dans un ultime embrasement, le siècle des Lumières il y a quatorze ans et le Capitaine PAULIN le regarde encore, assis devant sa maison...

Antoine PAULIN quittera le monde le 7 Septembre 1813 à Coopersville, entouré du respect et de l’affection de tous les siens. Faute de cimetière, ses restes seront déposés à Graves Acres, sur les terres d’un certain Hiram SHUTE.

Théotiste le rejoindra à quatre vingt dix ans, le 20 Septembre 1841. Une nombreuse descendance, issue du couple d’Antoine et de Théotiste et de leurs six enfants, perpétuera le souvenir de cet ancêtre, grâce à qui cette histoire est une histoire vraie...

VI- Noël 2005

Sur mon écran en ce jour de Noël, un courriel des Etats-Unis s’affiche silen- cieusement et me dit la surprise d’une arrière-arrière-arrière-arrière petite fille du Capitaine PAULIN de répondre par delà le temps et l’espace, à un descendant de Pierre son frère ainé...

Ainsi, se renoue et se ferme en boucle le fil du temps : Deux cent soixante et onze ans après le baptême de 1734 à Saint Paul de Varces, sept générations plus tard et de part et d’autre de l’Atlantique, les deux frères se retrouvent enfin par leurs descendants...

Sources

• Fichier origine 243178 Antoine Paulin 2016 Fédération québécoise des sociétés de généalogie//Québec Federation of Genealogical Societies
  • Dossier Fichier
• On the family PAULIN of St-Paul-de-Varces: Personal genealogical research
• HUGUES, Dorothy C., Arthur J. BOWSER, Wilford L. L’ESPERANCE et Roland J. AUGER, “Genealogy and family History: Captain Antoine PAULIN of Hazen's Canadian Regiment “Congress own” and the American Revolution," in French Canadian and Acadian Genealogical Review, volume VI N° 1, spring 1978 p 17
• Biron, Pierre. "The history of Lake Champlain, in website" School Louis Charbonneau Sailing."
• Reed, Adela Peltier. “Memoirs of Antoine Paulint, Veteran of the Old French War, 1755 to 1760”: Captain in Hazen's Second Canadian, "Congress' Own" Regiment, 1775 to 1783; Brevet Major at the Close of the Revolutionary War

From, Familysearch.com

Cpt Antoine Paulint · 23 June 2013 · Some of the SAR and DAR information has Captain Paulint dying in 1816. This is INCORRECT. He died before the end of the War of 1812. His death was 7 September 1813. Also, many of the Application forms for the SAR record Cpt. Paulint as “being a Captain that came over with LaFayette and was promoted to Colonel by Washington. He was fighting in the war before LaFayette came to the Colonies during the Revolution. In fact he fought in the French and Indian War over a decade before! Also, some references in muster rolls indicate that he is from Virginia! This Particular Paulin(t) was not from Virginia.

DAR: PAULIN, ANTOINE Ancestor #: A086649 Service: CANADA Rank: CAPTAIN Birth: 9- -1737 GRENOBLE FRANCE Death: 7 Sep 1813 CHAMPLAIN CLINTON CO NEW YORK Service Source: *W16671 (indicates wife rec'd pension) Service Description: 1) COL HAZEN'S 2ND CANADIAN REGT Residence1) ST.DENIS - QUEBEC - CANADA Spouse Number Name 1) THEOTIST COTTARD/COLLARD

Antoine Paulint, who was born in France, enlisted 1775, and commanded a company in Col. Moses Hazen's Canadian regiment. He served until the surrender at Yorktown, and the land given him he located at Coopersville, Clinton County, where he died, 1816, aged seventy-nine.

S.A.R. lookup PAULIN, Antoine Captain NY Coopersville Cem. Coopersville, Clinton County, NY 1737 - 1816, 46th-55th Annual Reports DAR. Senate documents (United States Congress, Senate). Government Printing Office: Washington, DC

From an article “Joseph Trombley Tells of “Capt. Poulinte” PLATTSBURGH DAILY PRESS MON., MARCH 5, "1934

Among the first settlers of Champlain was Captain Antoine Paulinte who came to this country with Lafayette during the Revolutionary War, served his country and settled in Coopersville about 1779, erecting his home about 300 feet north of the present Roman Catholic church at that place which was the first Catholic church established in this section. Captain Paulinte donated the land on which the church was later built, he having acquired thousands of acres from the government as a reward for valuable services. Captain Paulinte reared a family of five boys and two girls. He died in 1816 and was buried in the Short Cemetery on the upper road about two miles west of the church. The old Paulinte home plot is still owned by descendants. The name, however, has been changed from Paulinte to Poland.

"MOSES HAZEN AND THE CANADIAN REFUGEES IN THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION" by Allen S. Everest and published by Syracuse University Press for the New York State American Revolution Bicentennial Commission: Page 43 (When the Pro-Revolution Canadians had to evacuate their families from Canada and come into the Colonies) The Retreat was hasty improvised. Wagons for the Canadian women and children were added to the baggage train from Chambly to St. John. Confusion was so great that Amable, only son of Captain Paulint was left behind; he was later discovered being happily entertained by British soldiers.

Page 70 (referring to Moses Hazen sending scouting parties into Canada in 1779) In July he sent a scouting party under Major Whitcomb of the New Hampshire regiment and Captain Antoine Paulint of his own. (I believe that this is why Paulint’s name doesn’t appear on the monument for the builders of “Coos Road” in Vermont. It is because he was on a spy mission at the time.)

Page 96 Congress in January 1782 declared that all supernumerary officers were to be retired at half pay. As a result, a number of Hazen's officers left the service including Captain Antoine Paulint, Lieutenants Pierre Boileau, Francis Guilmat and Alexander Ferriol.

Page 115 ……Captain Paulint and his wife, for example lost twins and other children during the war, of which there is no official record. The first child to live after they left Canada was a daughter, born in Albany in the "year of peace", 1783.

Pages 123-124 Antoine Paulint was born in 1737 in Grenoble, France. As the second son he was destined for the priesthood, for which he prepared in his youth. But he preferred a military career and enlisted under Montcalm for service in New France. He took part in the major battles of the French and Indian War and then settled at St. Denis in the Richelieu Valley. He was a captain of local militia but he was among the first to take up arms against the British in the fall of 1775. His company was annexed to Hazen's regiment early in 1776, and he and his family retreated with the American army in June. In the confusion of the retreat their young son was left behind, but friends helped him on his way. He served in Livingston's regiment until it was disbanded when he was transferred to Hazen's, from which he was retired on half pay in 1782 as a supernumerary officer. After the war he settled on land granted him in Corbeau, now called Coopersville, at the mouth of the Great Chazy River. This was his first permanent home in ten years.

• Daughters of the American Revolution, DAR Genealogical Research Databases, database online, (http://www.dar.org/ : accessed Aug 25, 2017), "Record of Antoine Paulin", Ancestor # A086649.
• "United States Census, 1790," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHKP-HWN : accessed 22 May 2019), Andrew Poling, Champlain, Clinton, New York, United States; citing p. 182, NARA microfilm publication M637, (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 6; FHL microfilm 568,146.
• 1800 United States Federal Census; Champlain, NY
• Abstract of Graves of Revolutionary Patriots; Coopersville, NY
• New York, Tax Assessment Rolls of Real and Personal Estates, 1799-1804; Champlain, NY
• Quebec, Canada, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1968; St-Antoine-de-Chambly, Marriage
• Quebec, Genealogical Dictionary of Canadian Families (Tanguay Collection), 1608-1890
• U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900
• Find A Grave: Memorial #66335840
• U.S., Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files, 1800-1900; Widow's Pension
• U.S., Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783; Captain, Continental Troops
• U.S., Sons of the American Revolution Membership Applications, 1889-1970
• [1] Antoine Paulint
• [2] Geneaology Blog
• PRDH/Repertoire des Actes de Bapteme, Mariage, et Sepulture, et des Recensements de Quebec Ancien XVIIe Siecle; (Pionneer Profile)
• [3] "Memoirs of Antoine Paulint" writen by Adela Peltier Reed
• [4] Fold3 Honor Roll
• [5] French Canadian Migration to Grand Isle County, Vermont
• [6] Following Canadian Refugees
• [7] Society of Cincinnati New York Chapter
• [8] CAPTAIN ANTOINE PAULIN OF HAZEN'S CANADIAN REGIMENT CONGRESS' OWN AND THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION