Fonds

The families chronicled in this fonds lived in the seigneury of Contrecœur, which was located east of the Island of Montreal, on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River. Louis-Joseph Cartier and his son, Joseph-Louis, were the last owners. LOUIS-JOSEPH CARTIER (1848-1922), a merchant and second cousin of Sir Georges-Étienne Cartier, was given the title of seigneur following his 1873 marriage to MARIE DELPHINE HERMINE KEMNEUR-LAFLAMME (1844-1932). Nicknamed Ermelinde, his wife was the daughter of Joseph Kemneur-Laflamme (1803-1875), a prosperous farmer who purchased the seigneury of Contrecœurfrom John Fraser in 1872.

After his marriage, Louis-Joseph gradually moved away from the world of business to focus instead on managing the family property. Also an active participant in public affairs, he was a political organizer for his county (Verchères), a councillor and then mayor of Saint-Antoine, and county prefect. He and his wife had eight children, only four of whom reached adulthood: Jeanne (1879-1966), Armand (1881-1935), Marie-Anne Cécile (1883-1901) and Joseph-Louis (1885-1948). The family had a new home built in Saint-Antoine-sur-Richelieu: completed in 1897, "Le Château" is still standing today. Louis-Joseph Cartier was 73 years old when he died in 1922. His wife Ermelinde outlived him by another ten years and devoted herself to charity work.

JEANNE CARTIER married notary JEAN-MARIE RICHARD (1879-1955) in 1907. They lived in Lenoblet-du-Plessis, a home in Contrecœur, and had two children: Cécile (1908-1995) and Marthe (1912-1999). Jean-Marie Richard held various positions in the community, including registrar of the schools and village of Saint-Ours and chairman of the Contrecœurschool board. He was also a Liberal MNA for Verchères from 1921 to 1927. Richard had to close his notarial practice in 1949 because of vision problems.

JOSEPH-LOUIS CARTIER contracted polio at a young age, which caused some paralysis. When he was 28 years old, he was given the title to the seigneury of Contrecœur. He also supported himself with the farm he acquired from his father and his work as a photographer, a profession he practised from 1906 to 1920. He was a partner of postcard photographer and publisher J.-L. Pinsonneault from Saint-Jean, providing him with images to publish. Joseph-Louis lived in "Le Château" until his mother's death in 1932. At that time, he moved to Montreal where he remained until his death on May 10, 1948. He was the last person to hold the title of Seigneur of Contrecœur.

Though Armand Cartier briefly made his home in "Le Château," it was finally purchased in 1937 by Dr. Georges-Aimé Blanchard. Incidentally, Blanchard married MARTHE RICHARD, one of the two daughters of Jeanne Cartier and notary Jean-Marie Richard.