Étienne Gagnon (1781)
| Étienne Gagnon | |
| Nationality: |  Canadian (British subject) American (Disputed territory)
|
| Born: | September 30, 1781 Les Éboulements, Québec |
| Died: | Unknown Date Eagle Lake, Maine |
| Father: | Dominique Gagnon |
| Mother: | Geneviève Lavoie |
| Spouse: | Marie Marthe Fortin |
| Married: | February 19, 1805 Les Eboulements, Québec |
| Children: | Étienne Gagnon Geneviève Gagnon Élie Gagnon François Gagnon Jean Gagnon Adolphe Gagnon Paul Gagnon Hélène Gagnon |
| Religion: | Roman Catholic |
| Residence: | Les Éboulements, Québec Madawaska, Québec Frenchville, Maine Eagle Lake, Maine |
| Profession: | Unknown |
Étienne Gagnon was born in September 1781 in Les Éboulements, Québec.
He was married to Marie Marthe Fortin (daughter of Augustin Fortin and Marie Anne DUCHÊSNE) in 1805 in Les Éboulements, Québec.(1) Marie Marthe Fortin was born about 1785 in Les Éboulements, Québec.
Étienne Gagnon appeared in the 1825 census of Lower Canada (Québec) living in Les Éboulements with five children, his wife, and an older married couple, possibly his parents. (Microfilm no.C-718, p.1977).
Étienne and his family moved from les Éboulements sometime in the summer of 1831 to the Madawaska Settlement. It is unclear why they moved, or how the knew about the upper St.John River valley region. The family shows up in the 1831 survey of the Madawaska settlements by Deane and Kavanagh, as having just moved to the valley that year, having bought two lots fronting on the St.John river, about 275 yards (50 rods) wide, a few miles down-river from the Ste-Luce chapel (probably near what is today Gagnon Brook). The survey, taken in late July 1831, notes that Étienne was living on the lot with his family, that they had arrived that same year, had just begun building a house, and that they were for the time being "sheltered by a few boards laid over their heads." Étienne's son Élie is also listed in the 1831 survey, as having just begun clearing some land about 3-1/2 miles further downstream on the St.John river; he was still living with his father at that time. A document from 1844 on land holdings shows Étienne owning 114.07 acres in Township 18, Range 5 (now Frenchville) fronting on the river; his son Étienne owned 57.36 acres right next door.
It is not clear where the family was living between 1833 and 1860. The 1840 US census shows the family (of Etienne Gonreau) living in what was surveyed as "Madawaska North of the St.John River," though in a section that included people who definitely were located on the South bank.
By 1850 two of Étienne's sons show up in the 1850 US Census in Madawaska Plantation (as the area was then known), including Elie (p.157b, line 15), who with his wife Julie are listed with five children, including son Abraham; and François (p.157b, line 22) who with wife Emelie is listed with son Xavier (François Xavier). Other members of the family do not show up in the 1850 census however.
By the time of the 1860 US census, Étienne had moved to what is today Eagle Lake. He appeared in the 1860 US census of Township 16, Range 7 (now Eagle Lake), as H.N. Gagnon (H.N. is phonetic equivalent in English of Étienne), age 80, living in the household of his son Adolph Gagnon.
The World He Lived In
The French-speaking population of Madawaska were "Brayons" — nominally British subjects — who (at least rhetorically) considered themselves to belong to the unofficial "République du Madawaska", and thus professed allegiance to neither Americans nor British. Another factor was the mutual sympathy between John Baker (see below) and many members of French-speaking communities located near Baker's mill, who both felt betrayed by their respective authorities. The population of the area swelled with outsiders, however, when winter freed lumbermen from farm work to "long-pole" up the Saint John River to the valley. These migrant seasonal lumbermen caused particular tension for the governments of Maine and Massachusetts, responsible for the protection of resources and revenues of their respective states. Some itinerant lumbermen eventually settled year-round in the Saint John valley. Most settlers found themselves too remote from the authorities to apply formally for land. Disputes heated as factions maneuvered for control over the best stands of trees.
