Henri Gagnon & Marie-Virginie Daigle; & Denise Soucy



Henri Gagnon (on left) with three other unidentified people, sometime in the 1920s


Mass card for funeral of Henri Gagnon,
dated 22 February 1930

Grave of Marie Daigle
Gravestone of Marie Daigle
(click on image for enlarged view
)

(16.) 21. Henri GAGNON was born on 6 Feb 1857, although it is not clear where he was born [source: "Record of Death, State of Maine"]. The US censuses all list "Maine" as his place of birth, but there is no record of his baptism in the then-existing parishes of the St John valley.(86) (87) (It is possible he was born and baptized in Canada, either during a visit by his mother or perhaps the family had temporarily relocated. I am looking into this; if you've got any information on this please let me know!)

Henri appeared on the 1860 US census in Township 18, Range 5, Aroostook, Maine, as Annri Gagnon, 3, living with parents Antoine and Ortans Gagnon.(88)

He appeared in the 1870 US census in Dickeyville (T.18, R.5) as Aurea Gonion (English-speaking census taker's attempt to write how Henri is pronounced in French), age 12, born in Maine, living in household of Antoine and Artimese Gonion. He appeared on the 1880 US census in Frenchville, Maine as Hanri Gagnon, age 20, single, working on farm, could read and write, born in Maine, living with parents Antoine and Artence. (89)

Henri GAGNON was married to Marie Virginie DAIGLE (daughter of François Régis DAIGLE and Anastasie CYR) on 15 May 1882 in Frenchville, Maine.

(17.) Marie Virginie DAIGLE was born on 1 May 1858 in Madawaska Parish, New Brunswick, and she was baptized on 2 May 1858 in Ste-Luce church, Frenchville, Maine.(32) Her godparents were Germain Levesque and Zile Cyr (her mother's sister and brother-in-law); she was baptised by Fr. Henri Dionne.

She appeared in the 1871 New Brunswick census as Marie Daigle, age 12, born in New Brunswick, living in the household of her widower father Regis.

Henri and Marie Virginie had the following children:

child+77 i. Marie Alice GAGNON.
child78 ii. Henri (Harry) GAGNON was born in 1887.  A the time of the 1920 US census he was living in Bangor, Maine, listed as age 35.  In the 1930 US census he's still in Bangor, age 44.  He died in 1964, and was buried in Ste-Luce cemetery .
child+79 iii. Albertine GAGNON.
child+80 iv. Eugenie GAGNON.
child(8.) +81 v. Wilfred Philip GAGNON.
child82 vi. Pierre GAGNON.

Marie Virginie DAIGLE died on 22 Apr 1892, and was buried in Ste-Luce Church cemetery, Frenchville.

 

Henri GAGNON married a second time, to Denise SOUCY (daughter of Alexis SOUCY and Marie Luce PARADIS) on 29 Jun 1895 in Edmundston, New Brunswick.

Denise SOUCY was born 16 Feb 1864, and baptized the same day, at St.Basile, New Brunswick. The name in the baptismal record is "Élise". [source: Poitras, Répertoire des naissances, Saint Basile, comté de Madawaska, Nouveau Brunswick, 1792-2005, p.398] She appeared in the 1871 New Brunswick census in St. Basile parish (p.12) as Denise Soucy, age 7, born in New Brunswick, in the household of Alexis and Lucie Soucy. She appeared in the 1881 New Brunswick census as age 17, in the household of Alexis and Lucie Soucy.

Denise SOUCY was married to Georges Hébert (son of Xavier Hébert and Marguerite Martin) on 11 Sep 1882 at St.Basile. They had the following children:

i. Louis Alfred Hébert, b. 25 Aug 1883 and baptized the following day at St.Basile. He died 29 May 1910 and was buried at St.Basile. The death record notes that he been adopted by Éloi Hébert (son of Joseph and Marguerite Cyr; Joseph was Georges' uncle) and Élodie Martin. But in the 1901 census, he is listed as "adopted son" in the home of Baptiste Bouchard and his wife Marie Ouellet.
ii. Sophie Hébert, b. abt 1887, d.7 Jun 1897 at (age 10), buried at St. Basile.
iii. Xavier Hébert, b. abt 1891, d. 30 Jun 1897 (age 6), buried at St.Basile.

It's not clear why the children remained at St. Basile after Denise married Henri; we know they did not come with her because Louis Alfred had been adopted by another family, and it seems the other two children also remained in St Basile, since that is where they were buried when they died. In any event, two of Denise and George's children died within two years of Denise's marriage to Henri, while the third was living with other families. (If you've got any information on this family, please contact me.)

After their marriage on 29 Jun 1895, Henri GAGNON and Denise SOUCY had the following children:

child83 i. Hector GAGNON was born on 4 Apr 1896 in Frenchville, Maine. (95)(96) He appeared on the 1900 US census in Frenchville, Maine, listed as born Apr 1896 in Maine, age 4, living with parents Henri and Denise.(97) On his WWI draft registration card, dated 5 Jun 1917, he listed his occupation as "farmer," employed by Harie Gagnon (probably his brother Henri or Harry), and was described as having blue eyes, black hair, and no disability. He died on 4 Feb 1973 in Bristol, Connecticut. (96)
child+84 ii. Anna GAGNON.
child+85 iii. Marie GAGNON.
child86 iv. Élisabeth GAGNON.
child+87 v. Isabelle GAGNON.
child+88 vi. Lévite GAGNON.
child+89 vii. Laura GAGNON.
child+90 viii. Edna GAGNON.

Henri and Denise appeared on the 1900 US census in Frenchville, Maine, listed as Henri Gagnon, born Feb 1857 in Maine, age 43, married 18 years, farmer, could read, write and speak English, owned his own home (farm) free of mortgage, farm schedule #91; and Denise Gagnon, born Feb 1864 in French Canada, age 36, married 18 years and had given birth to 10 children, all still alive (note: the census-taker seems to have assumed that all Henri's children were also Denise's, since they had been married only 5 years and only 4 of the 10 children at home were hers; also, of the three children she had with Georges Hébert, two had died by this time), could read and write, did not know English, had immigrated to the US in 1880 and had been in the country for 20 years (again, this seems to be based on the census-taker's assumption that Henri and Denise had been married for 20 years). They are listed as living with their children: Alice (age 17), Henrie (15), Albertine (14), Eugenie (12), Philippe (10), Pierre (8), Hector (4), Anna (3), Mary (1), and Elisabeth (2 months) (for image of this census return, see below).(90)

They appeared in the 1910 US census in Frenchville, as Henrie Gagnon, age 53, living in household with Denise, 46, Alice, 27; Albertine, 23; Eugenie, 21; Philip, 19; Pierre, 18; Hector, 13; Anna, 11; Mary 10; Elizabeth 9; Levit, 5; Laura, 3; and Edna, 2. [Frencvhille, famly no.161, p.15]

Denise SOUCY died on 13 Oct 1912. She fell and gashed her knee in the potato storage area; the doctor told her to put carbolic salve on the gash. She did so but ended up dying of carbolic poisoning. She was buried in the Ste-Luce cemetery.

Henri appeared on the 1920 US census in Frenchville, Maine, as Henrie Gagnon, age 62, widower, owned his home free of mortgage, could read and write, was a farmer on a general farm and an employer (Reference to farm schedule no.73.), living in household with children Mary (20), Isabelle (18), Levite (15), Laura (13), and Edna (12).(91)

Henri GAGNON died at home on 22 Feb 1930 in Upper Frenchville, Maine. The cause of death listed on his "Record of Death" filed with the state of Maine was "chronic endocarditis" (definition) with a "contributing cause" of "chronic nephritis" (definition). He was buried on 25 Feb 1930 in Ste-Luce Cemetery, Frenchville, Maine. (92) (Buried by Rev. A. Laventure.)

Click for other images of these families

An image of the 1900 US census of Frenchville showing this family:

1900 US census
Click for enlarged view of the image


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Last revised 14 Feb 2011