In the footsteps of the descendants of François
Fournier de Pescay, planter in St-Domingue: from the
slopes of Blaye to the banks of the Mississippi, passing through St-Domingue -
Haiti
Jacques Royer, Hugues Chatain and Patrick
Stephenson
In his works entitled 'The
Eldorado of the Aquitains' and 'The Sugar Islands' Jacques de Cauna paints the
mythical picture of the Eldorado St-Dominguois, which enriches the ports of
France and excites the imagination of some "American" adventurers who
came to make a fortune. It is undoubtedly in pursuit of this Eldorado that
François PESCAY, born in Blaye, embarked on March 21, 1740 for Le Cap Français
at the age of 27 to become a planter in Santo Domingo. Little is known about
his parents (?), Or his early years in the colony, except that he was a member
of the Cape Truth Lodge and raised an important controversy by marrying a woman
of color. However, one of his sons born in St-domingue, François PESKAY alias,
Messire François de PESKAY son of François de Peskay and the late Marie Thérèse
VIARD, native of the parish of Ste-Anne in the Limonade district, returned to
France after having fled to Philadelphia during the revolutionary troubles
which ignited St-Domingue, he was elected deputy of the Dordogne to the council
of the Ancients, the germinal 24 year V. One of the grandson of the patriarch,
Dr. François Xavier Fournier of PESCAY, would have published a biography of his
father, awarded by the Royal Society of Agriculture in 1822 entitled:
'Biographical note on François de Pescay, farmer in Saint-Domingue' that we
thought disappeared. At least one copy would have survived at Gorrequer, coming
from the personal library of Jacques ROYER, which he probably holds from the
fund Dr. Bégin, stepson of Dr. FOURNIER-PESCAY. The beautiful property of
Gorréquer, currently owned by Jacques ROYER houses the LEYSSÈGUES-ROZAVEN manor
where at least three generations of the descendants of the second son of our
"American" would have lived: Louis Georges FOURNIER de PESCAY. If our
'American' would not have realized his dream of Eldorado, taken aback by the
events which ignited St Domingue from 1789, it will not be before having at
least carried out 'big works' according to the annotations of the Dr. Bégin
himself, and left to posterity an illustrious descent.
François de Peskay (born in
Blaye, 1713), the ancestor,
We don't know much about him,
except that he was born in Blaye around 1713, and that he embarked for Cap
Français in 1740. It was according to Jacques de Cauna and Philippe and
Bernadette Rossignol an ex-captain of ships living in Port-Margot, one of the
first French settlements after Tortuga Island, in the North of St- Domingue. He was also the founder and Venerable for
life of the La Vérité du Cap-Français lodge.
"He is said to have
remained famous in the annals of the colony for having sparked an important
controversy leading to his resignation through his marriage to a woman of
color" (Cauna, 332). This woman of color could be ° Marie Thérèse VIARD,
her only known marriage in St- Domingue, and that the son born of this union
François - son - was born in the parish Ste-Anne district Limonade. The
population of this town according to Moreau de St-Mery was made up mostly of
people of color. He had been a member of the lodge since 1767 and asked to be
relieved of his office on June 24, 1770, because his "misalliance"
prevented La Vérité from being admitted by the other lodges of the colony
(Escalle, 736). We do not know what became of him afterwards or if it is this
"Pescay" that we find in the entourage of Toussaint Louverture during
the War of Independence, which would correspond well to the character (Cauna,
197 ).
His son, François Pescaye
fils, (born in Bordeaux in 1742?) And resident of Port-Margot, was also a
member of La Vérité since 1767 as well as of the Cercle des Philadelphes du
Cap. This society had as one of its honorary members Benjamin Franklin, of
"the American Philosophical Society" of Philadelphia, with which it
corresponded. It is said that he was even made a gold circle medal because
having received one in silver, he let them know that he believed it was to be
gold.
In one of the GHC bulletins
Jean-Michel André cite 'de PESKAY, St Domingue on January 2, 1788 in L'Isle
(Dordogne), marriage certificate between Messire François de PESKAY, son of
François de Peskay and the late Marie Thérèse de VIARD, native of the Ste-Anne
parish in the Limonade district, Isle St-Domingue, living in France for 5 to 6
months- and Marguerite MERLHIE de LAGRANGE, daughter of Georges M (erlhie) de L
(agrange), ec. C (onseill) er du Roy assessor of the constabulary of Guyenne,
lawyer, and Jeanne MOREAU, living in Périgueux, from where a son François
Marguerite Joseph de PESCAY o 17-11-1788 and bap. 24-11-1788 in the same
parish. (f ° 10, 5E 239/5) ’(J.M André, 1997). It is in our opinion this widow
PESCAY that we find later in Philadelphia then in St. Louis Missouri after the
death of François PESKAY, with his sons and who gave the ‘American’ descendants
of the Widow PESCAY. The couple Angelica LA -GRANGE with Francis PESCAY, born
in St- Domingue, had two sons Julius and Georges PESCAY. In our opinion, despite
the Americanization of names and the use of secondary first names, it was
indeed François PESKAY father who had taken refuge in Philadelphia for a few
years and then returned to France remarried in second marriage to Marguerite
MERLHIE. de LAGRANGE. Moreover, the death certificate of the father of our
Fournier de Pescay, known under the Directory as' François Peskay, dated 29
thermidor, year VI of the republic, declares him as a settler, aged around 60,
born in Cap Français St Domingue, domiciled Rue Childebert at N ° 882 in Paris,
married to Angélique LAGRANGE '. The death was declared (among others) by
Jacques Philippe Fournier Peskay, aged 25 years his son'. We do not know if
François Marguerite Joseph and Jacques Philippe would have survived, or if they
would have had descendants.
The police report illustrated above would indicate that François Peskay after his return to France had
to fight with the Directory, while he was a deputy for the Dordogne and commissioner in this region
to the Council of Elders. His wife Marguerite MERLHIE de LAGRANGE is said to have been accused
of having received money to bring her husband to use his influence to remove from the list of
emigrants qualified at the time as "traitors", "not very patriotic" against - revolutionaries liable to the
death penalty on their return as well as to the confiscation of their property. In addition, the law of
September 17, 1793 qualified the parents of emigrants as "suspects". (Soboul 411-413, Vidalenc 35-
361.
Would François Peskay actually
had been favorable to the cause of the emigrants ?. Several reasons lead us to
believe so. Besides, could it be otherwise, himself a refugee from St Domingue to
Philadelphia with his wife for a few years with other famous personalities like
Moreau de St Mery, Talleyrand and La Rochefoucauld-Liancourt. Besides, the
emigrants, contrary to popular belief, did not constitute a "block",
but rather a rather disparate group, the law of March 28, 1793 defines seven
categories. In fact a third of these ‘emigrants’ in the United States were in
fact ‘refugees’ from St Domingoue, including François Peskay. What would then
have been the relationship between François Peskay and Moreau de St-Mery, both
former members of the Cape Town City Council and members of the Philadelphia
circle. Perhaps the 'Speech delivered at the funeral of Mr. Moreau de
Saint-Méry, January 30, 1819' would tell us about the nature of the relationship
between these two men so that his son François-Xavier finds it natural to pay
him homage to his death by publishing his praise in Biographie Universelle.
This society identified as rather Royalist, would it have supported "the
princes" during the revolution hence "the services rendered" of
which Louis XVIII is grateful by naming his second son Louis-Georges at Brest
(1784-1793) (Royer)?
The Sons
of François Fournier de Pescay, planter in St- Domingue: An attraction for the
military career
Messire François de
Pescay father, known as François Peskay under the Directory, son of François
PESCAY, the ancestor, and Marie Thérèse VIARD, native of the parish Ste-Anne
district of Limonade, Isle of St Domingue would have had at least three known
links with descendants. The first with Adélaïde RAPPAU. From this union were
born at least two sons François-Xavier FOURNIER of PESCAY born in Bordeaux in
1771 and later in 1777, in St-Domingue, a second son Louis Georges Fournier of
PESCAY (1777-1847). A third son Jacques Philippe FOURNIER of PESCAY would
perhaps be the fruit of the same marriage, since born in 1773 before Louis
Georges, who appears in the declaration of death of François Peskay as his son
aged 25 years in 1796.
Messire François
PESKAY, their father, took refuge in Philadelphia during a few years during the
troubles of the revolution of St Domingue then, returned to France, became
deputy with the council of the “Old ones’. He had contracted a second marriage
in 1788 in L’Isle (Dordogne) with Marguerite MERLHIE de LAGRANGE, daughter of
Georges M. de L, ec. Cer du Roy assessor of the constabulary of Guyenne,
lawyer, and Jeanne MOREAU, resident of Périgueux (f ° 10, 5E 239/5) (André,
1997). From this union were born three other sons, the first François
Marguerite Joseph born around 1793 of whom we lose track (Andre,). The two
others, George and Julius PESCAY, after the death of Messire François de Pescay
in 1796 (aka François Peskay), emigrate once again with their mother for
Philadelphia then St-Louis USA where they settle with a small business hence
the American descendants PESCAY. A young lady, Pescaye, wife of
Saint-Paul-Lahitte, was also the owner in Saint-Domingue in 1786 and was
rescued (received compensation?) In the Landes in 1826 (Cauna, 463) ’. We do
not know if she would have been one of the daughters or the sister of François
PESKAY.
Dave LOSSOS, communicated
to us number of documents found in the Annals of St-Louis on this widow PESCAY
emigrated to St-Louis and on her sons. The reasons for his new emigration are
not known, but could have been because of his setbacks with the French Justice
under the Directory.
Some notices from these
annals and reproductions of newspapers from the period are quite edifying, the
reader will allow us to quote them below:
‘Madame A. Pescay
In these
territorial days of St-Louis, there were several ladies here who, thanks to
their natural talents, their higher education, and the tact for the businesses,
played an important role in the
community.
One of the most remarkable among them was the lady whose name appears as the
title of this article. Her maiden name was Angélique La_Grange (anglicized read
Lagrange), of a remarkable old family from France, where she had received her
education, she had become the wife of Francis Pescay of the island of Santo
Domingo, (anglicized read François, Angélique Lagrange is indeed the last wife
in the death certificate of François de Pescay, planter in St Domingue, found
in the inventory of the bottom of Penhars, communicated by Hugues Chatain:
Extract from the Inventory Penhars- affair FOURNIER de PESCAY and
LEISSEGUES-ROZAVEN: judgment of the court of first instance of the district of
Quimper, permission to marry, promise of marriage, death certificate of
François FOURNIER de PESCAY. Sub-series 3 I: Justice 3 I_PEN 1 Judgments ,
convictions 1817-1884. Pescay-Leyssègues-Rozaven case),
from where at the time of the black insurrection
of 1793, they fled to Philadelphia, where they maintained a retail store for a
few years. In 1810, widowed, she came to St-Louis with her two sons, George,
the oldest, a young man just in age, and Jules, a few years younger; they
brought with them a stock of goods and opened a store. In January of the
following year, in 1811, George Pescay had left for New Orleans on a keel boat
with a cargo of lead from their stock of goods. The stranded boat sank, the
cargo was lost and the young Pescay was drowned. After this terrible shock,
finding it necessary to engage in some pecuniary activity for its maintenance,
and encouraged by sympathizing friends, she decided to open a day school with
pension of a higher class for young girls, there at that time had no other in
the West. With this in mind, she bought eligible land on second street, had an
appropriate building erected, published a prospectus, and opened her academy in
1812. It was a success, well sponsored by our first families, she completed the
education of a large number of young girls from the area and the surrounding
area. She continued in this profession for about four years, when her other
son, Jules, having reached adulthood, and to herself perhaps wanting a change, she
left the academy and embarked again in business . In 1822 they retired to
Pensacola, Florida. Jules Pescay, having not long before married a Miss
Marineau, from Philadelphia, an old family acquaintance, they all died in the
South.
Mr.
George Pescay (drowned in Mississippi a year later)
informs
the public that he has just arrived from the city of Philadelphia and that he
has opened in the house formerly occupied by Mr. Robidoux, 1 a complete line of
dry goods, groceries and dishes.
April
18, 1810
Page
124.
Madame
Pescay's prospectus
for an
academy with board and day courses for young ladies in French and English in
the Sanguinet1 house, on second street.
8 May
1812
Page 124
Madame
Pescay
announces
new stock of fresh goods in his white house opposite the Union1 tavern.
April
27, 1816
page 141
Michael
Tesson and Jules Pescay
successors
to Patrick Lee, in auctions and commission business.
June 13,
1817.
One or
more other PESCAY widows are known in the archives of St Domingue and then
those of Haiti. One of them is known as Angélique Anne FAURE, godmother of Dina
de Pescay born February 14, 1825 in Port au Prince, Haiti. We find in the
archives of the St-Dominguoises era many documents bearing the name Madame de
PESCAY, owner, who had married François PESCAY in St Domingue in 1793 and they
had fled to Philadelphia at the time of the troubles of the revolution. In the
Jérémie papers ’a Madame PESCAY receives in donation in 1794 all the goods of
the Widow MAINVILLE probably a relative on the maternal side. Besides, they
both appointed the same person as proxy, in this case François Louis of MINUTY
We did
not manage to clarify this enigma, the correspondence of the names and first
names between Marguerite MERLHIE de LAGRANGE married to François PESKAY in Lisle
in 1788, Angelica LA_GRANGE said Veuve PESCAY emigrated in Philadelphia then in
St-Louis, and finally Angélique Anne FAURE said Widow PESCAY later in the civil
registry of Haiti in 1825.
Except that it seems to us The widow PESCAY born LAGRANGE is the same person who married François PESKAY in Lisle in 1788. It would be this same Vve. de PESCAY which we find after 1810 giving lessons in St-Louis before 1818 (Mc Dermott 1968) under the name of Angelica LA_GRANGE. Could it be the same Vve. PESCAY which would bear in 1825 in Haiti the name of Angelique Anne FAURE? What would she do in Haiti at the same time as Dr. François-Xavier, as godmother in the birth certificate of Dîna de PESCAY. Are they both in Haiti to complete pending family cases? Would it rather be the widow of Baron de PESCAY who disappeared from the Royal Almanac in 1812? Angélique Anne FAURE, the widow PESCAY named above, would she have had a link with Baron de PESCAY, whose first name and mother are unknown, but who is around 1811, colonel, commander of the 2nd infantry regiment of the Kingdom of the North, having its capital in Cape Town, according to the Armorial of the Kingdom of Haiti. In any case, they seem to have had their entry with the Haitian high authorities of the time, in particular Admiral Casimir PANAYOTI, Commander of the Naval Forces and Senator of the Republic in 1818, in whose house Fournier seems to have stayed. In fact, François-Xavier is cited in the civil status archives of Haiti as the godfather of Francine NICOLAS natural daughter of Benjamin NICOLAS, lieutenant, and of the so-called 'Marie-Jeanne' apparently born on the PANAYOTI dwelling . He also seems to be close to Jonathas GRANVILLE, government commissioner from an old northern family, since the latter’s wife, Lady Louise SARAZIN, is the godmother of Eugénie Adélaïde Louise Maxime of PESCAY. Jonathas GRANVILLE will also be Director of the National High School to replace Dr. De PESCAY from 1826.
It is also possible that the patriarch François
PESKAY who had settled in the vicinity of Cape Town, or else his son Messire
François de PESCAY had other descendants in Santo Domingo or Haiti. Even today
the name esc Pescaille ’designates a mountainous locality in North Haiti about
fifty kilometers from Cap Haitien, probably an old coffee estate.
If there is one constant among these PESCAYs
linked to Santo Domingo, it is that at least three of them will choose the
military career where each will be illustrated in his own way. First the eldest
and best known François-Xavier joined the French army as a major assistant
surgeon in 1792. He became the deputy of the famous Saucerotte, chief surgeon
in the army of the North, then assistant chief surgeon to the army of Sambre
and Meuse. He was thereafter major surgeon of the corps of gendarmes, then
secretary of the health council of the armies in 1813. Before that he was also
among the founders of the Société de Médecine de Bruxelles, and of the Spirit
of the newspapers, a literary society and scientist of the time. He was also a
personal doctor of the King of Spain who granted him a pension for his good
services.
As for Louis-Georges, colonel during the Russian
campaign, prisoner in Berezina, he returned in favor to Louis XVIII who
appointed him to Brest on his release ‘in memory of the services rendered by
his father to the princes during the revolution’. This would indicate that
Francois PESKAY father would have played a certain role during the revolution
either through the different colonial assemblies, or through the circle of the
Philadelphia, or even as deputy of the Dordogne and central commissioner to the
council of elders (year IV). Moreover, the second-hand bookseller
‘bibliorare.com’s recently offered an old scientific work dating from 1780-1785
from‘ the Pescay library, a member of the Circle of the Philidelphines, with
manuscript ex-libris on the title ’*. According to us it can only be the
property of one Pescay, having lived in Santo Domingo, more precisely in French
Cape, between 1784 and 1792, during the brief existence of this famous colonial
academy of sciences in the tropics : He is the father of our Fournier de Pescay
.
It was certainly around Brest that Louis Georges FOURNIER de PESCAY, the second son of Messire
François de Pescay father and Adélaïde RAPPAU, met his future wife Marie Anastasie LEYSSÈGUES
de ROZAVEN with whom he married in marriage. 1820. Our two brothers FOURNIER de PESCAY
will be made Knights of the Legion of Honor.
We know less about the military career of Baron de PESCAY, presumed son of one of our PESCAY
planters in St Domingue. His coat of arms is nevertheless published in ‘Héraldicamerica’ and in the
Royal edict of April 5, 1811, reproduced in the work of Clive Cheesman (2007):
'Baron de PESCAY, colonel, commander of the 2nd infantry regiment On a stamped shield of a helmet
with raised visor, tared and posed in profile, accompanied by his lambrequins taken from the enamels
of arms: Vert, to the golden hare in shape, at the foot of a natural tree.
Supports: two natural bears raised. Motto "Discipline, value". According to Clive Cheesman, 'Rouge
Dragon Poursuivant', of the 'College of Arms of London', although the blazon of Baron de PESCAY
appears in the Royal Edict of April 5, 1811, the reproduction of the blazon is absent in the Almanac
Royal of 1812. Would he have died or fallen into disgrace in the meantime, like eight other ennobled
in 1811 but which did not appear in the Royal Almanac towards the end of 1812? (Pierre Toussaint,
account of Marmelade, Maximin Jassemain, account of Dondon, barons Isaac, Papalier, and Theodore.)
It seems plausible to us that this Baron de Pescay is the PESCAY that de Cauna () mentions in his work
'L'eldorado Aquitains 'among other mulattos who stood out in the entourage of Toussaint Louverture and
who would have played a role during the War of Haitian Independence as' Blanc Casenave, Cazes,
Baradat, Gayot, Pesquidoux, commander of Ennery, Toussaint's last refuge, Gabart, known as 'the
Vaillant', hero of the battle of Vertières, the brilliant cavalry officer Morisset, of Charentaise origin,
the Rochelais Fleuriau-Madron and Sabourin, Benjamin Ogé, aide-de-camp of Montbrun, son by
Marie Thérèse Leremboure 'And others more famous like Jérome Maximilien Borgella allied to
PREZEAU, successor to Rigaud in the South,' who received Bolivar in his palace at Cavaillon on the
Custine dwelling in 1815 , Jean-Pierre Dartiguenave, dit Batichon, brigadier general assassinated by
order of Christophe in 1807 ’oublier Without forgetting Charles Guillaume Castaing (son of
Guillaume, petit-blanc established in the parish of St-Rose de la Grande Rivière de Léogane and of the
black slave Catherine Champi), who after fighting alongside Sonthonax against the English, married
in second marriage in Paris in 1797 (first marriage to a young lady Laporte, Creole), Marie Françoise
de Beauharnais, Joséphine's sister-in-law, divorced from the Marquis François VIII '. Hence the reaction
of Napoleon Bonaparte ‘It would probably have been better not to marry him, but since it’s done keep
him’ (de Cauna,) ..
We do not know if the Baron of PESCAY would have left a progeny, however the AGH database
contains some other PESCAY, PESCAY and PESCAYE from Haiti which are not currently linked to
our Fourniers de PESCAY although 'There are apparently certain alliances which tend to associate them
, in particular through the RIBOUL, BRUNET-BRUNO, DESTOUCHES, HIBBERT, DE DELVA,
LÉON, WIENER, SENDRAL families.
In the same way we managed to attach a young lady born PESCAY, the Widow of SAINT PAUL
LAHITTE, owner in St-Domingue, refugee in the Landes by de Cauna. It is indeed the sister of
Francois Pescay-son, daughter of Francois Pescay and Marie Therese VIARD an old family which
goes back to the filibuster according to the Biography of Francois F, of Pescay on his father. And.
We have since confirmed that she would have been the sister of François Peskay or our Fournier de
Pescay, since owner in Santo Domingo in 1786.
A) The descendants
of Dr. François-Xavier Fournier de Pescay:
At least three known beds, at least two with separate descendants
Robert
Jr. Fikes in his article on Dr. François Fournier de Pescay, cites at least
five children of Dr. de Pescay including a boy, Gustave died 20 years old in
1818 (be born in 1798) author of the Praise of Saint Jérôme (Paris: Delaunay,
1817) and having contributed certain articles in the Universal Biography
(Fikes, 1985).
Hugues
Chatain and Jacques Royer, thanks to pure serendipity, found during their
research at the manor of Guorrequer, this little gem: a copy of the work of
Gustave de Pescay with a handwritten note in ink washed out by time and barely
legible at the bottom of the title page of the book 'by Gustave Fournier
Pescay'. We would lose our guess as to who would have been the first owner and
the author of this handwritten annotation: would it be his brother
Louis-Georges, his niece Eugénie Anne or even her husband Louis-Jacques Bégin
himself, having all lived a while in Gorrèquer.
Nevertheless,
François-Xavier would have remarried in Brussels in 1808 with Honorine
Françoise BAYER, born in Paris. We do not know if this union had descendants
(detail Michel Vanwelkenhuyzen, Migranet).
The
last spouse of François-Xavier would have been Christine Elizabeth CHASTARD
(CHATARD) according to the vital statistics of Haiti. We do not know if Dr.
FOURNIER de PESCAY would have met her before, or during his stay in Haiti.
Nevertheless, 'An article by the Haitian Propagator of July 15, 1822 announces
the imminent arrival in Haiti of Doctor Fournier Pescaye, describing it as
"former Haitian [that is to say probably mulatto at the time] withdrawn in
France for a number of years […] where he has enjoyed a great reputation and a
decent fortune. ”He himself said in a letter of 1821 that he wanted“ after such
a long emigration ”to join“ this land [which] covers five generations of our
ancestors "to" shed some light in this emerging Republic victorious of slavery ".
He succeeded Delille Laprée on the latter's death
in 1823 as director of the Lycée de Port-au-Prince, then to Doctor Mirambeau as
chief inspector of the Health Service and published the regulations of the
Academy of Haiti before resuming the road to France following certain
disappointments (Léon, 1974, 471-472). JdC.
Strange coincidence, the market town of CHATARD
(Lat 19 ° 34 '60N, Long 72 ° 28' 0W, Altitude 426 m) is less than 50 km from
the town called PESCAILLE (Lat 19 ° 41 '60N, Long 72 ° 31 '60W, Altitude (724
m) in the North of Haiti, not far from Cape. Would it be related to this
CHATARD apothecary of the king in Cape, also a refugee in Philadelphia
According to Fikes, he apparently made the
trip accompanied by a few children around 1822-1823. Under the government of
Haitian President Jean-Pierre BOYER, Dr. de PESCAY would have headed a national
university or lycée, ‘The Academy of Haiti’ adding Law and Medicine to the
curriculum.
According to
Brière (1945) François Xavier, while during his residence in Haiti even held
correspondence with Abbé Grégoire, the abolitionist priest and friend of people
of color who had supported the Revolution, and the Independence of Haiti. was
subsequently director general of public health services (Fikes, Lamy,
Lherisson). Without adequate funding and having accomplished few of his
objectives, it was undermined by illness that Dr. De Pescay returned to France
in 1828, to settle in Pau, Pyrenees where he died in 1833. He would have during
the last years of his life occupied the post of Water Inspector of the city of
Barèges. It was not long after his death that his daughters, born of his union
with Christine Elizabeth CHASTARD, made the return trip to Haiti (Fikes).
There are
indeed in the civil status archives of Haiti several official acts where Dr.
François-Xavier Fournier de Pescay appears. In particular three birth
certificates.
That of
Eugénie Adélaïde Louise Maxime de Pescay born January 24, 1824 in Port au
Prince, natural daughter of (sic) 'François Xavier Jn Baptiste Anne Fournier de
PESCAY, Doctor of Medicine, Director of the Lycée National and of Christine
Elizabeth CHASTARD' . The godfather of the child is Admiral (Casimir) PANAYOTI
Commander of the Naval Forces and senator of the Republic of Haiti in 1818. The
Godmother is Louise SARAZIN, wife of Jonathas GRANVILLE, an old family from Cap
allied with FRANGEUL, GENTIL, RIBOUL and PRÉZEAU
The second
act is the birth certificate of Anne Elizabeth Dina de Pescay born February 14,
1825 in Port au Prince, natural daughter of (sic) 'François Xavier Jn Baptiste
Anne Fournier de PESCAY, Doctor of Medicine, Inspector General of the Service
de Santé, and Christine Elizabeth CHASTARD '. The godfather of the child is
Philippe Lieutout secretary of the Senate and the godmother is none other than
Angelique Anne FAURE, known as Veuve PESCAY. Would she be François-Xavier's
step-aunt by her marriage in 1793 to Baron de PESCAY or to Francois Pescay the
ancestor?
The third
daughter of François Xavier found in the National Archives of Haiti is
Marie-Pierre Eugénie de PESCAY born March 13, 1827, in Cap-Haitien, just before
the return to France of Dr. de PESCAY, legitimate daughter of ( sic) 'François
Xavier Jn Baptiste Anne Fournier de PESCAY, Doctor of Medicine, and (Justine)
Christine Elizabeth CHASTARD'. The act is drawn up in the presence of two
witnesses, Bastien
COURTOIS
public auctioneer and Jean Baptiste BITTON LAGRANE (LAGRANGE?), Government
commissioner. François-Xavier on the eve of his return to France in 1838, after
having occupied several official posts in Port-au-Prince seems to have returned
in the footsteps of his father, in Cap-Haitien. He also regularizes his marital
status with (Justine) Christine Elizabeth CHASTARD, who is now quoted as his
"wife" in this act.
- I - French
Branch
Dr.
François-Xavier Fournier de Pescay
X Constance
CLAESSENS
o 1) Gustave
François FOURNIER de PESCAY (d. 8 Feb. 1818, aged 20 = b. + _ 1798)
o 3) Eugénie
Anne FOURNIER from PESCAY
x Dr. Louis
Jacques Bégin (1793-1859), (married in 1820) including 1 only daughter
Louise BÉGIN
X
Jean Auguste BARRE (General engraver of French coins)
From where
descend BARRE and MAZZEROLLE (current owners of a full-length portrait of Dr.
François-Xavier Fournier de Pescay, after Jacques Royer (1993)
X Honorine
Françoise BAYER (marriage in Brussels in 1808) Unknown or no descendants?
Doctor Bégin
remarries Corinne LAMBERT, who will raise her daughter Louise born from her
first marriage to Eugénie Anne FOURNIER de PESCAY, who left the family home in
1854 according to Jacques ROYER.
Still
according to Jacques ROYER, "Dr. François FOURNIER of PESCAY would be the‘
key to the presence of Dr. Bégin in Gorréquer "owned by LEYSSEGUES of
ROZAVEN. "
- II -
Franco-Haitian branch
X Christine
Elizabeth CHATARD
o 4) Anne
Elizabeth Dina DE PESCAY (?)
X Bruno
o 5) Eugénie Adélaïde Louise Maxime DE
PESCAY
o 6)
Gabrielle (?) DE PESCAY?
o 7) Louise
Elizabeth Claire from PESCAY (?)
X Jean
Alexandre RIBOUL (February 4, 1823 - July 1893) with posterity (Association of
Genealogy Haiti http://agh.qc.ca.
O Marie-Pierre Eugénie de PESCAY born
in Cap Haitien on March 13, 1827
X Moses
Dr.
François-Xavier Fournier de Pescay according to family tradition is the father
of Elizabeth Claire de PESCAY, our grandmother who returned to Haiti
definitively around 1834, after the death of her father, accompanied by her 3 sisters,
Dîna , Maxime and Gabrielle (Fikes, R.Jr. 1985). They would have obtained a
passport from the prefect of Gironde. We do not find their trace, in the
embarkations of Bordeaux according to the database of the Association
Genealogique Bordelaise (AGB, 2006). Would they be shipped from another port
like Le Havre, Nantes or St-Malo?
We have seen above that
Louis Georges de Pescay married Marie-Anastasie de Leyssèques Rosaven.
It should be recalled
here the link between the Leissègues and the Gorréquer manor. (J. Royer - 2000)
Origin of Leissègues.
The Leissègues family is
reported in the Armorials of Auvergne and those of Brittany as nobility from
Auvergne established in Brittany in the XVIth Century. The book of Breton
filiations indicates three Breton branches Rozaven, Pennayeun and Legerville.
The LEISSEGUES-GORREQUER
link
The Leissègues were the
owners of Gorrequer's land in the 18th century. The one who built the manor
(1760) was a Leissègues lady from Tréanna, then Gorrequer passed to her
grand-nephew Germain Jean-Guillaume de Leissègues de Rozaven (Died in 1833)
notary public in Locronan. In 1828 the four children of Germain Jean-Guillaume
namely: the elder, Germain-Daniel, then Théodore, the third Marie-Anastasie and
finally Marie-Jeanne shared his goods. The elder man kept the Kermoysan mansion
in Penhars and helped the third man to manage his property. Precisely the manor
of Gorréquer returned to Marie-Anastasie who married Colonel Louis-Georges
Fournier de Pescay.
(Waiting for the precise
military file of Louis Georges Fournier de Pescay)
The town hall of Quimper
keeps in the background of the archives of Penhars the marriage permission
granted on October 21, 1817 to Mr. Louis Georges Fournier de Pescay, battalion
commander in the Calvados legion as well as a judgment dated November 5, 1817
approving the act of notoriety that the latter had to provide being unable to
produce a birth certificate "because of the troubles which reigned and
still reign in the colony of Santo Domingo and because all communication with
this island is interrupted and that any new attempt would be as unsuccessful as
the previous ones and that the said Sieur Fournier de pescay could not in the
current state of things manage to obtain his birth certificate. ".
(Www.net4war.com.e-review
/ museum / restauration.htm)
The dismissal of the
imperial army, pronounced in March 1815, was confirmed after the Hundred Days.
Conscription is abolished. The infantry is replaced by "departmental
legions". The purpose of these measures is to disperse the actors and
witnesses of an overly glorious epic.
In 1818, Marshal Gouvion
St-Cyr was responsible for undertaking the military recovery of France. We come
back to a conscription disguised under the name of appeal. The legions were
dissolved in 1820.
Louis-Georges was mayor
of Locronan as specified in his gravestone.
Where the Royers come in
and where we find the imperial army ...
Louis-Georges Fournier de
Pescay and Marie-Anastasie de Leissègues de Rozaven had three children:
Gustave (1817 - 1831),
Louise Marie Germaine (1821 - 1887), Emilie (1830 - 1857).
Louise Marie Germaine
Fournier de Pescay. was born on March 3, 1821. His birth was registered at
Penhars. She died on June 5, 1887 in Vannes. In 1844 she married
Gustave-Phocion Royer.
Gustave-Phocion ROYER,
born September 27, 1812 in Gray (70) and died in VANNES on July 15, 1891 was
the son of Achille ROYER and Marie Yvonne RIOU of COSQUER.
His father, Achille
ROYER, was born in Grenoble on June 19, 1770. He was Deputy of Isère in 1790
and began a military career which, from second lieutenant to the 12th regiment
of dragons in 1791 saw him pass Lieutenant
then Captain on 7 Vendémiaire An 111, Squadron leader in 1806, Major in 1807.
He made the campaigns of
1792 and 1793 to the army of the Rhine, the year 2,3,4 and 5 to the army of the
West, the year 6 to that of Sambre and Meuse, the year 7 and 8 in Helvetia then
in Italy. Year 9 saw him in Batavia, years 12 and 13 in the Army of the Coasts
of the Ocean in the body of Ireland. In 1807 he was part of the Grande Armée,
in 1808 he was in Spain.
Besieged in Mainz,
bayonet wounded at the Battle of Treviso, similarly wounded in Jena, his horse
was killed under him and he was taken prisoner. In 1807 in Narmsdorf he
received a saber blow on the head. In July 1808 he was again taken prisoner,
this time captured by Spanish insurgents. He died in the "Battle of the
Nations" - Napoleon's first major defeat - in Leipzig on October 18, 1813,
shot twice, one in the head, the other across the body. He was Colonel of the
3rd regiment of hunters on horseback.
He was himself the son of
Etienne ROYER, a consistorial lawyer in the Grenoble parliament and Françoise
BERTON.
Gustave-Phocion
therefore did not know his father, who was killed when he was little more than
a year old. No doubt his stepfather knew how to remind him of his memory by
talking about his own campaigns with the Grande Armée. Polytechnician (1832),
artillery officer, he was knight of the legion of honor
Gustave-Phocion
ROYER and Louise Marie Germaine FOURNIER DE PESCAY had 4 children
Achille ROYER
(1846 -1872)
Gustave Marie
Denis ROYER (1849 - 1900)
Georges ROYER
(1850 - 1871)
Emile-Severin
ROYER (1854 - 1906)
It was the
latter, polytechnician (1873), lieutenant-colonel of engineering, officer of
the legion of honor who was to receive Gorréquer transmit it to his son René
ROYER who passed it, in turn, to Jacques ROYER, polytechnician himself- even,
co-author of this article.
Attempt to
descend from the third American bed by François FOURNIER de PESCAY with
Marguerite MERLHIE DE LAGRANGE, known as Veuve de PESCAY.
We know that
a François de PESCAY (father or son?), Planter in St. Domingue, after his
widowhood or divorce (?) From Adélaïde RAPPAU, would have possibly contracted
another marriage around 1793. We do not know the name of his wife, Angélique
Anne FAURE, known as Veuve PESCAY thanks to the birth certificate of Anne Elizabeth
Dina de PESCAY born on February 14, 1825 in Port au Prince, of which she is the
godmother. The Widow PESCAY would she also be known as Angelica PESCAY who
baptizes as godmother with William CARR, Mary Angelica, MARINEAU born on April
6, baptized on June 18, 1804 in Philadelphia. The presence of Dr. de Pescay and
his mother-in-law in Haiti at the same time, seems to testify to a coordinated
attempt to settle outstanding family cases. We find in the St. Dominguoise
archives of the time many documents bearing the name Widow of PESCAY, owner,
who had married François PESCAY in Santo Domingo in 1793 and they had fled to
Philadelphia at the time of the troubles of the revolution. In Jér the Jérémie
papers ’she receives as a gift all the goods of the widow MAINVILLE probably a
relative on the maternal side. Besides, they both appointed the same person as
proxy, in this case François Louis of MINUTY still in ‘the Jérémie papers’.
It’s that same Vve. de PESCAY whom we find giving lessons in St-Louis before
1818 (Mc Dermott 1968). What is she doing in Haiti in
même
temps que le Dr. François-Xavier, comme marraine dans l’acte de naissance de
Dîna. Sont-ils tous les deux en Haïti pour conclure des affaires familiales en
suspens?.
the same time as Dr. François-Xavier, as godmother in Dîna’s birth
certificate. Are they both in Haiti to conclude pending family cases ?.
The
surname PESCAY, seems to have survived in Philadelphia and Louisiana. The
patriarch of the American branch known as Francis PESCAY born in St Domingue
(it would rather be François PESKAY, refugee from St-Domingue in Philadelphia,
returned to France, become deputy of the Gironde and member of the council of
elders ) husband of Angelica LA_GRANGE (Marguerite MERLHIE de LAGRANGE), father
of George PESCAY and Julius PESCAY. Julius PESCAY married August 22, 1820
Angélique MARINOT (MARINEAU), also born in Philadelphia. She would be the
goddaughter of the Widow PESCAY and William CARR, Mary Angelica, MARINEAU born
April 6, baptized June 18, 1804? Julius PESCAY is said to have died in the
southern United States (Louisiana). He seems to have had a rather adventurous
career, since he is found as a signatory to several treaties with the
Amerindians, Sioux, Dakotas etc. From the PESCAY-MARINEAU couple would be born
a son Paul PESCAY, born around December 1829, baptized on April 18, 1830 in St
Louis King Fr, St Louis, St Louis Co, MO. This couple would also have had a
daughter Pélagie PESCAY, baptized on June 8, 1824, still in St-Louis .. When in
George PESCAY, he would have died in 1811 drowned in Mississippi
We also find
an Auguste PESCAY baptized on June 29, 1828 in St Louis King Fr, St Louis, St
Louis Co, MO. son of Jean Auguste PASQUIE (read PESCAY) and Geneviève PRIMEAU.
Joseph PESCAY born in 1835, also in St-Louis, was also born of this couple.
Jean Auguste
PASQUIE was born in, Lorient,, France ??????. It may well be an error on the
person ???
Jean Auguste
PASQUIE (read PESCAY). He was married to Genevieve PRIMEAU on 29 Oct 1822 in St
Louis King Fr, St Louis, St Louis Co, MO. Children were: Pelagie PESCAY,
Auguste PESCAY, Paul PESCAY, Joseph PESCAY.
°
RÉFÉRENCES & BIBLIOGRAPHIE
AGB. Communications
personelles. E-mail reçu le 19 septembre 2006.
Amilcar Lamy. Le Lycée Alexandre Pétion.
Port-au-Prince: Impr de I’État, 1950, p 18.
Léonidas C. Lherisson. Les
écoles de Port-au-Prince. ’Port-au-Prince: H. Amblard, 1895, p 13.
Briere, Jean-Francois 1945-
"Abbe Gregoire and Haitian Independence"
Research in African Literatures - Volume 35, Number 2, Summer 2004, pp.
34-43. Indiana University Press.
Research in African Literatures - Volume 35, Number 2, Summer 2004, pp.
34-43. Indiana University Press.
Jacques ROYER (1993?). Les fêtes du
Bicentenaire de la naissance du bon docteur Louis Jacques Bégin. Gorréquer adr.
(Bulletin; LOCRONAN).
Jacques ROYER (1993?). Les
fêtes du bicentenaire de la naissance du bon docteur Louis Jacques Bégin.
Gorréquer adr. (Bulletin; LOCRONAN).
Jacques ROYER (1997)
Renseignements sur la famille LEISSEGUES et Souches Bretonnes de la famille
ROYER
-
I – MOREAU LEISSEGUES (XVIIe siècle)
-
II – LEISSEGUES DE ROZAVEN (XVIIIe Siècle)
-
Robert Fikes Jr. 1985.
FRANCOIS FOURNIER DE PESCAY:THE UNHERALDED PRECURSOROF THE MODERN BLACK
PHYSICIAN. JOURNAL OF THE NATIONAL MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, VOL. 77, NO, 9, 198
Michel Vanwelkenhuyzen 200 série 6V des archives de Paris :Mariages 1805-1837. Mariage
N° 60326 Date du mariage: 1808 Commune: Bruxelles Département: 9131 Belgique – Pays: Belgique
Nom: FOURNIER DE PESCAY Prénom: François Lieu de naissance du marié: Bordeaux (33 Gironde)
Nom de la mariée: BAYER Prénoms de la mariée: Honorine Françoise Lieu de naissance de la mariée: Paris (75 Paris)
Déposant: Michel Vanwelkenhuyzen. http://www.francegenweb.org/~migranet/listed.php?dept=9131&limite=3275
Jean Michel André.
1997.Trouvailles : GHC Bulletin 93 : Mai 1997 Page 1975
John Francis Mc Dermott 1968. "Philippine Duchesne and her times" St Louis, 1968, pp. 45-58
"Education in St Louis before 1818" : (pp. 48-49 et 54). In GHC Bulletin 23 : Janvier 1991 Page 265
Inventaire Penhars- affaire FOURNIER de PESCAY et DE LEISSEGUES-ROZAVEN :jugement du
tribunal de première instance de l’arrondissement de Quimper, permission de mariage, promesse de
mariage, acte de décès de François FOURNIER de PESCAY. Sous-série 3 I : Justice 3 I_PEN 1
Jugements, condamnations 1817-1884.
James E. McClellan III, «L’historiographie d’une académie coloniale : le Cercle des Philadelphes
(1784-1793)», in Annales historiques de la Révolution française, Numéro 320, [En ligne], mis en
ligne le : 21 février 2006. URL : http://ahrf.revues.org/document148.html. Consulté le 7 juin 2007.
Articles
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Auteur(s) : Fournier-Pescay, François (1771-1833) Titre(s) : Discours prononcé aux obsèques de
M. Moreau de Saint-Méry, le 30 janvier 1819, par M. Fournier-Pescay,... [Texte imprimé]Publication :
Paris : impr. de Mme Huzard, (s. d.)Description matérielle : In-8 ̊ , 15 p.
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