Fonds

The Turgeon family made its mark on the history of Quebec thanks to the activities of family members known for their social and political involvement, members like Joseph Ovide Turgeon, a councillor on the Legislative Council of the Province of Canada, and Charles Laberge, a judge, member of the Legislative Assembly, mayor and journalist.

JOSEPH OVIDE TURGEON, père (1797-1856) was born in Terrebonne on December 17, 1797. He was the son of Joseph Turgeon (1761-1832), a notary and justice of the peace, and Marguerite Lepailleur (1773-1831). On June 26, 1828, he married Hélène Olive Turgeon (1804-1863), the daughter of Michel Turgeon (1765-1846), a colonel in the militia, and Angélique Bouc (1776-1832). The couple had eleven children, seven of whom reached adulthood.

He studied at the Petit Séminaire de Montréal from 1806 to 1814, and was elected to represent the district of Effingham in 1824 and 1827. The district was renamed Terrebonne in 1829 and Turgeon became the MLA the following year. At the same time, he was named the commissioner in charge of extending the Effingham road to Kilkenny, which connected the seigneuries of Terrebonne and Lachenaie to the township of Kilkenny. On December 28, 1848, he was appointed to the Legislative Council of the Province of Canada.

Joseph Ovide Turgeon died in Terrebonne on November 9, 1856, at the age of 58. On November 12, 1856, he was buried in the St. Louis parish cemetery.

RACHEL TURGEON (1842-1904), the daughter of Joseph Ovide Turgeon and Hélène Olive Turgeon, was a nun, a Sister of the Sacred Heart with the Society of the Sacred Heart of Jesus based in Montreal's Sault-au-Récollet parish.

JOSEPH OVIDE TURGEON, fils (1843-1886), the son of Joseph Ovide Turgeon and Hélène Olive Turgeon, was born December 9, 1843. On December 30, 1872, he married Marie Julie Berthelot (1853-?), the eldest daughter of Judge Joseph-Amable Berthelot and Julie Bédard.

He studied law at Université Laval and then became a lawyer. He maintained a close relationship with his brother-in-law, Charles Laberge, who became his guardian following the death of his father when he was 13 years old.

CHARLES JOSEPH LABERGE (1827-1874) was born in Montreal on October 21, 1827. He was the son of Ambroise Laberge (1798-1829) and Rose Franchère (1804-?). He married Hélène Turgeon (1840-1874), daughter of Joseph Ovide Turgeon and Hélène Olive Turgeon, on November 23, 1859. The couple had five children, at least two of whom reached adulthood: Rachel Laberge (1858-?) and Charles Joseph Laberge.

While studying at the Collège de Saint-Hyacinthe from 1838 to 1845, he started Le Libéral, a student newspaper. Called to the Bar in 1848, he went into practice with lawyer Toussaint-Antoine-Rodolphe Laflamme.

In 1845, he helped found the Institut canadien and, in 1847, frequently wrote for the newspaper L'Avenir.

He was elected to the Legislative Assembly as the representative for the county of Iberville in 1854 and served until 1860. He was also mayor of Iberville from 1855 to 1857.

In 1860, with his friend Félix-Gabriel Marchand, he founded the paper Le Franco-Canadien; he also wrote articles for L'Ordre, a liberal Montreal paper, using the pen name "Liberal, but Catholic." In 1863, he was appointed a Superior Court judge in Sorel. Four years later, he was elected mayor of Saint-Jean, serving until 1869.

In 1872, he decided to move to Montreal to become the editor of Le National, despite his failing health. He died there on August 3, 1874, and was buried in Notre-Dame-des-Neiges cemetery.