Who were Charles Gauthier & Josephe Berthiaume, parents of Joseph Gauthier?

Question

Joseph Gauthier was born on an unknown date (probably 1740s). His 1770 marriage record in Maugerville (now Sunbury County, New Brunswick) records his parents as "Charles Gauthier & Josephe Berthiaume of the parish of Trois Rivieres in Canada". I presume that means that's where they were living in 1770, as opposed to either they or Joseph necessarily being born there?

I can't seem to make sense of who this couple is - if Joseph was baptised in Quebec, we can't seem to find it, nor have I found a good candidate in Quebec for their marriage record. I suppose they could have come from Acadia and were displaced to Trois Rivieres.

I know we have folks with a lot more Acadian and Quebec skills than I have, so would appreciate anyone taking a look to see if parents can be added with some level of detail. Thank you!

Comments

Hi Matthew, thanks for asking this question! I see that Joseph is ancestor of us both. I have never made much progress in properly identifying his parents.

Joseph's marriage record does not specify whether his parents were married. I have wondered whether he could have been born out of wedlock.

There are many potential Charles Gauthier entries in the PRDH that could be his father, but none of them seem to have lived in Trois Rivieres.

Josephe Berthiuame is a much less common name. There are two Josephe's about the right age, but again neither was born or lived in Trois Riveres as far as I can tell: Bertheaume-1 and Berthiaume-176.

The witnesses in Joseph's marriage record for the groom's side are three friends of his. The record states that his wife Catherine's parents were "of the parish of St Martin de Boulene, France", which is where they were born and married rather than where they resided at the time (her parents were present at the marriage ceremony). So I would think that Joseph's parents weren't necessarily living in Trois Rivieres at the time of his marriage in 1770.

Godparents for his two children were Jean Vienneau (Catherine's brother, Vienneau-43) and Francoise Masrol(?) (maybe Mazerolle-8), both baptisms recorded at the same time.

Edited to add: there is an Acadian Gauthier family, the family of Joseph Nicholas Gauthier (Gauthier-374). But no son Charles is known.

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Thanks Valerie for your work on this profile, and these helpful notes!

Answer 1

hmm, nope, no trace of that couple.  The ONLY Gauthier showing in Trois-Rivières' Immaculée-Conception parish between 1700 and 1769 are listed as residents of Sainte-Croix (across the river) for the most part.  No Charles among them, and the only Joseph is born in 1755, so not old enough to marry in 1769.  Another Joseph was listed as father of Antoine, who married in 1754 (father of the 1755 boy).

You might try to see if Joseph and his wife had a marriage contract, which often have more details.

Comments

Thank you Danielle!