11/21/06

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1792 - Marriage of Philip Long to Marie-Julie Couillard Després

Copy of original mariage contract

Holy Trinity Church of Quebec City

Key Events of 1792

Additional Information

1792 - Marriage of Philip Long and Marie-Julie Couillard Després at the Holy Trinity Church of Quebec City

On December 6, 1792, Philip Long of Cape St-Ignace married Marie-Julie Couillard-Després, from the Parish of L'Islet, in the Holy Trinity Church of Quebec City, the main anglican

The officiating Minister was David Francis De Montmollin while David Higginbotham (Merchant), Andrew Johnston (Cooper) and Murdoch MacKenzie (Cooper) were witnesses. 

  Original contract obtained from the Holy Trinity Church in Quebec City (Source: Ghislain Long, Image: Benoît Long). Note: There are two other versions available by clicking here.

Philip's connections with Higgibotham were probably around commerce as Higginbotham, an indian who had once been a courrier and described himself as "Merchant", had been the original settler at the exact same location that Philip Long would come to call home at the head of the Lake Temiscouata.  MacKenzie was Scottish and had a fascinating history.  Philip was able to sign his name and we know from later correspondence that he had agood grounding in grammar and the language, even with a visitor describing his oral English as having "propriety".  Julie was not able to sign her name but instead made a mark, a very normal occurence during that time.  The likely connection between Philip and Julie that brought them together was Julie's father, Emmanuel Couillard-Despés who was Captain of the local militia and keeper of the "poste de relais", a kind of hotel where horses could be exchanged during the long trek along the St-Lawrence.  Later in the life as a family, Mary Julie would get another opportunity to practice her childhood experiences as Philip  and his family were placed by the Postmaster General at the Head of the Lake Temiscouata with the express prupose of sheltering voyageurs and transporting the English Mails through the region and betwen Fredericton and Quebec City.  Long's Farm, which was immortilized by a Bouchette lithography, was also described in the Centennial brochure for Cabano as a "hotel".

From Gilles Long we learn that this marriage was quite a cross-cultural and cross-religious affair.  DeMonmollin was a franco-swiss Rector from the Anglican Church.  Philip, if oral history is to be believed, was himself Scottish and likely a presbyterian.  Marie Julie was Roman Catholic while Murdoch McKenzie was a protestant who had converted to Cahtolicism!  On top of all this, the service took place in an Anglican Church which used to be a Catholic Chapel!  Gilles also informs us that Murdoch McKenzie arrived at Quebec City in 1774, and he participated in the American Revolution as a member of the Guides and Pioneers Regiment under Captain Samuel McAlpine.

A further point raised by Gilles is the fact that Philip would have been at least 40 (if we use Mgr. Lang's affirmation of 1757 as a likely birth year) or more likely and surprisingly, he would have been exactly fifty years old when he married the young Marie Julie who was only sixteen at her wedding!  Wow!  The picture of the Récollets convent and church based on a drawing in 1760.  The current Anglican Cathedral was built between 1800-1804 after a fire destroyed the original.

Gilles tells us also that many believed for some time that Philip, given his advanced age, might have had a second family somewhere - either in the United States or Canada. There was a Philip Long, soldier, who had married Angélique Carpillet in Montréal in 1785.  Thanks to the PRDH program, it was possible for Gilles to eliminate this possibility since that Philip was in fact a "Lang" from German origins and he had served with the 34th British Regiment.  This couple established a family in Montreal at the same time as Philip and Julie were raising another on the south shores of the St-Lawrence.

English text in large part based on the orignal French text by Gilles Long

Évènements marquants de 1792

Historical chronology of events

Chronology of the History of the Canadian Postal Service

• On 17 March, Timothy Pickering, Postmaster General of the United States, proposes to Hugh Finlay the terms for the first postal convention between the Canadas and the United States. This convention is also recognized as the first attempt to facilitate the international handling of mail whereby one country accepts the prepaid correspondence of another. By the terms of the convention, mail from Great Britain destined for the colonies will be routed through New York City to Burlington, Vermont, and then on to Montréal. Conversely, mail from colonies destined for Great Britain is shipped from New York City. The proposal is accepted and the agreement continues until 1794. Although its terms remain in force during subsequent years there is no immediate new agreement.
  
  British mail received at New York for the Canadas is sent in sealed bags by the New York Postmaster to Burlington, Vermont, where it is met by the Canadian courier who brings it to Montréal. Service is every 14 days.

Information intéressante supplémentaire

History of the Recollets Chapel with additional information and photographs of the Holy Trinity Church.