Josèphe-Jeanne Trotochaud

Information, autres enfants, notes, etc. 'Fille de Louis et Marie-Anne-Raphese Vafe'

nosorigines: source

“De Sang-froid [In Cold Blood]

As I was researching my ancestors from Pointe-du-Lac (where I visited not too long ago), I was very surprised to learn that my 5x great-grandmother, Jeanne Trotochaud, was murdered there in 1779, along with a members of the Louis Pothier family.

Johanne Pothier, a descendant of Louis, wrote a historical novel, "Trois Bêtes à Sept Têtes" (Three Seven-Headed Beasts), in part inspired by the story of the mass murder that had been handed down to her through the generations.I was reminded of Truman Capote's "In Cold Blood", which recounts the senseless murder of the Clutter family in rural Kansas in 1959. I haven't read Pothier's book, but apparently the second volume begins with an account of the murder.aa

As yet I have no idea why Jeanne Trotochaud was at the Pothier residence.

The parish register of Trois-Rivières has an entry for the burial of four of the victims, including Jeanne. Here's my rough translation:

"The 22nd of October, 1779, there were interred by me, priest undersigned (with the approval and permission of Joseph Godefroy, Colonel of the Militia and Peace Commissioner in this town) in the cemetery of this parish [L'Assomption, Trois-Rivières] the bodies of Louis Pothier, around forty-eight years of age, of Marie-Anne Bélisle his wife, around twenty-eight years of age, of Barbe Pothier their daughter, about eight years old, and of Jeanne Trotocheau, wife of Jean Chaillé of Pointe-du-Lac, who were all murdered on the evening of October 21st in the home of Louis Pothier ..." Mark Catt, Facebook, French Canadian Heritage Society of Michigan, June 12, 2020

https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/466502/pothier-roman-1779