Marie Scholastique Gosselin (1806 - 1876)

Born 11 Jun 1806 in Ste-Famille I.O., Bas-Canada

Ancestors

Died 5 Oct 1876 at age 70 in Saint Boniface, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Biography

Scholastique Gosselin, Grey Nun of Montreal, missionary; born and baptized on the 11 June 1806 at Sainte-Famille, Île d’Orléans, L.C., daughter of Joseph Gosselin, farmer, and of Marie Josephe Pageot; ^[1] d. 5 Oct. 1876 at Saint-Boniface, Manitoba.

Scholastique received a good education as her elegant writing shows. She entered the Congregation of the Grey Nuns of Montreal and took her vows on 8 July 1828. After making her profession, she was for 18 years in charge of the education and care of orphans at the mother house. In 1844 the Grey Nuns of Montreal, in response to the request of Bishop Joseph-Norbert Provencher, founded their Red River mission. ^[2]

She set out from Montreal on 10 July 1846 and the small reinforcement disembarked at the Red River banks on September 5 was greeted with indescribable joy. There were six new workers for the vineyard: Father Bermond for the Oblates, Sister Gosselin, Sister Ouimet, Miss Lefebvre and Miss Sophie Messier for the Grey Nuns. ...The travelers landed at 3:30 in the afternoon. . . some gunshots were fired as a signal of their arrival. Sister Gosselin was so excited to finally reach firm land that she forgot to greet his Excellency. ^[3]

On the morning of December 14, 1859 the shouts of fire went out. A cauldron of molten wax left unattended on the stove boiled over and the wax falling on the stove caught on fire which spread like lightning. ...the fire soon spread to the cathedral. Laymen acting quickly save the Blessed Sacrament, the harmonium*, the master altar and the statue of our Blessed Mother. Sister Gosselin, at the risk of her own life, was able to save some of the sacred vessels. ^[4]

Family

Her grandfather Gosselin‘s brother was Clément Gosselin rebel and major in the 2nd Canadian Régiment and one of General Washington’s spies. Another brother served the Americans in the 2nd Canadian Régiment in the rank of Lieutenant was Louis Gosselin who spent nearly eleven months on a secret mission to Québec for General Washington. Truly this family was not afraid to venture out into new frontiers and unknown adventures.

Sources

1. ↑ "Québec, registres paroissiaux catholiques, 1621-1979," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-899Q-SDDS?cc=1321742&wc=HCRF-4WL%3A24018201%2C24018202%2C24952701 : 16 July 2014), Sainte-Famille > Sainte-Famille-de-l'île-d'Orléans > Baptêmes, mariages, sépultures 1758-1832 > image 341 of 497; Archives Nationales du Quebec (National Archives of Quebec), Montreal.
2. ↑ Continue reading at Dictionary of Canadian Biography
3. ↑ The Grey Nuns of Montreal and the Red River Settlement 1844-1984 by Estelle Mitchell s.g.m., page 40
4. ↑ The Grey Nuns of Montreal and the Red River Settlement 1844-1984 by Estelle Mitchell s.g.m., page 73

• PRDH/ Repertoire des Actes de Bapteme, Mariage, et Sepulture, et des Recensements de Quebec Ancien XVIIe Siecle, Jacques Legare & Hubert Charbonneau, Les Presses de Université de Montréal, Montreal, Québec (PRDH-IGD Family, Baptism, and Individual Records)
• Manitoba History: The Grey Nuns and the Red River Settlement
• Family Tree," database, FamilySearch (http://familysearch.org : modified 8 October 2020, 12:25), entry for Scholastique Gosselin (PID https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/G9NW-V7J); contributed by various users.

Footnotes

• Harmonium a keyboard instrument in which the notes are produced by air driven through metal reeds by foot-operated bellows.