Three Brothers, Three Sisters

The Subjects

Jean-Baptiste Larocque — grandson of Philibert Couillaud dit Roquebrune, son of Louis Couillaud dit Larocquebrune — married Marie Charlotte Séguin dit Ladéroute at the mission of the Lake of Two Mountains on 27 January 1744. He was buried at Vaudreuil in November 1791; she was buried there on 7 December 1796. Fourteen children are recorded to them, most baptized at the mission.

Three of their sons married daughters of Louis (Louison) Georgeteau dit Jolicoeur and Marie Catherine Lemay. All three couples lived in the seigneurie d'Argenteuil, along the rivière du Nord, and their acts fall in five parishes over sixty years. This methodology sets out how each child of the two younger couples was assigned to a father, and why the mother's name was never used to do it.

Two Wives Named Marie-Josephe

When two men share a surname, the usual check is the mother's name: each child's baptism names both parents, and the wife tells the households apart. In this family that check fails at the root. Thomas and Joseph married sisters, and both sisters were baptized Marie-Josephe. Their father, mother, surname, parish of origin and seigneurie were the same.

The clerks then wrote each woman under every available form of the name. Set side by side, the forms used for the two wives in the acts read for this case do not separate at all:

Marie appears for both wives. So does Josephte. No form belongs to one household. The only reliable discriminator is the father's given name, tested against the acts in which both brothers are placed at once.

A Third Rocbrune–Georgeteau Household

In 1793 the eldest brother, Jean-Baptiste, a widower, married the youngest sister, Marguerite. His household lived in the same seigneurie. His wife's given name keeps it apart from the other two, but any record that gives only Rocbrune and Georgeteau could belong to any of the three couples.

Each Brother at the Other's Wedding: Oka, 1786 and 1793 Strong

Oka, 9 October 1786 Marriage of Thomas la Roque brune and Marie Jorsetho dit Jolicoeur; Joseph la Roque among the witnesses. Oka (L'Annonciation), registre 1786, 10e feuillet

Thomas's marriage names both sets of parents and puts the families at the rivière du Nord. Among the witnesses are two of his brothers, Hyacinthe and Joseph, and a marie joseph jorsetho. The bride is written simply as marie.

Oka, 11 November 1793 Marriage of Jean Baptiste Rocbrune and Marguerite Georgeteau, in the presence of her mother Marie Catherine Lemai and of Joseph Rocbrune. Oka (L'Annonciation), registre 1793

This act does not name the groom's parents or state that he was a widower. He is identified as the Jean-Baptiste born in 1747 by his burial in 1818, which calls him "époux de Marguerite Georgeteau" and names as present André, Louis et Antoine Rocbrune fils du défunt — three sons of his first marriage — and by the database linkage of both acts. Joseph is present again.

"Oncle de l'époux": Saint-Benoît, 23 November 1812 Strong

Saint-Benoît, 23 November 1812 — Detail Thomas Rocbrune oncle de l'époux, at the marriage of Joseph Rocbrune fils, son of Joseph and Marie Georgeteau. Saint-Benoît, marriage no. 32, 1812

Saint-Benoît, 1812 — Register Page The full page, 34e feuillet. Saint-Benoît (Deux-Montagnes), registre 1812

This is the first act in which both younger brothers appear together under stated relationships. The groom is the son of Joseph; Thomas, his uncle, is present. The groom's mother is written Marie — the form used for Thomas's wife in 1786 and 1839. A reader matching on the mother's name would place this groom in the wrong household. The act itself does not allow it.

The act names Joseph as the groom's father but does not say he was present. That is consistent with Evidence Line 3, which shows him alive three years later; it is not evidence of his presence.

"Frère du défunt": Rigaud, 16 July 1815 Strong

Rigaud, 16 July 1815 — Detail Joseph Rocbrune père, époux de Josephte Georgetau; present Thomas Rocbrune frère du défunt. Sainte-Madeleine de Rigaud, burial no. 30, 1815

Rigaud, 1815 — Register Page The full page, 24e feuillet. Sainte-Madeleine de Rigaud, registre 1815

The burial closes the question of whether Joseph and Thomas could be one man. The deceased is Joseph, husband of a Georgeteau; Thomas stands at the grave as his brother. Two of Joseph's sons are present. The first is Joseph fils of Evidence Line 2. The second is Jean Marie, whose baptism has not yet been located.

The recorded age of fifty-seven implies a birth about 1758. The abstract of Joseph's baptism gives April 1764, which would make him fifty-one. Burial ages in this family run high: his brother Jean-Baptiste was recorded at about seventy-six in 1818 against a baptism of 1747.

Thomas After 1815 Strong

Rigaud, 12 January 1818 Marriage of Jacques Poiriault dit Belfeuille and Josephte Rocbrune, fille mineure de Thomas Rocbrune; Thomas present as père de l'épouse. Sainte-Madeleine de Rigaud, marriage no. 6, 1818

Thomas is present at his daughter's marriage two and a half years after Joseph's burial. His wife is written Josephte — the form the 1815 burial used for Joseph's widow. Again, the father's presence and given name decide the household; the mother's name would point the other way.

Saint-André-d'Argenteuil, 16 February 1839 — Detail Marie Georgeteau épouse de Thomas Rocbrune, aged seventy-five. Saint-André-d'Argenteuil, burial no. 3, 1839

Saint-André-d'Argenteuil, 1839 — Register Page The full page, troisième feuillet. Saint-André-d'Argenteuil, registre 1839

An age of seventy-five fits the elder sister, born in December 1764. She is épouse, not veuve: Thomas was alive in February 1839. The witness named Thomas has a surname of his own; he is not the husband.

Pointe-Gatineau, 4 July 1850 — Detail Thomas Laroque décédé avant hier âgé de quatre-vingt-dix-sept ans; no wife or parents named. Saint-François-de-Sales, burial no. 17, 1850

Pointe-Gatineau, 1850 — Register Page The full opening, 49e feuillet. Saint-François-de-Sales, Pointe-Gatineau, registre 1847–1857

Joseph's Children Strong

Joseph fils, Oka, 1788

Oka, 27 September 1788 Baptism of Joseph, son of joseph rokbrune and marie joseph jorchetau; godmother marie catherine lemai. Last entry on the left-hand page. Oka (L'Annonciation), registre 1788

The godmother is the child's maternal grandmother. The godfather is a Jean-Baptiste Rocbrune — the paternal grandfather, then still living, or the uncle; the act does not say which. This is the earliest known act of Joseph's household and fixes his marriage before September 1788.

Basile, Oka, 1799

Oka, 12 May 1799 Baptism of Basile, son of Joseph Rocbrune and marie Josephte Jolicoeur, habitants d'Argenteuil; godparents Augustin Malette and Marie Angélique Prudhomme. Oka (L'Annonciation), registre 1799

Marie Madeleine, Rigaud, 1805

Rigaud, 18 August 1805 Baptism of Marie Madeleine, daughter of Joseph Rocbrune and Marie Josephte Georgeteau dit Jolie-coeur; godfather Joseph Rocbrune fils. Sainte-Madeleine de Rigaud, baptism no. 43, 1805

Madeleine's godfather is her brother Joseph, aged sixteen.

Jean Noël, Rigaud, 1822

Rigaud, 19 November 1822 — Detail Jean Noël Rocbrune… fils de feu Joseph Rocbrune; present Joseph Rocbrune frère de l'époux. Sainte-Madeleine de Rigaud, marriage no. 57, 1822

Rigaud, 1822 — Register Page The full opening. Sainte-Madeleine de Rigaud, registre 1822

Marie Madeleine, Rigaud, 1823

Rigaud, 25 November 1823 — Detail The witnesses: Gabriel Guilbeault père, Louis Louisseize père, and the bride's brothers Jean Noël and Basile Rocbrune. Sainte-Madeleine de Rigaud, marriage no. 27, 1823

Rigaud, 1823 — Register Page Marriage of Gabriel Guilbeault and Magdeleine Rocbrune, fille mineure de feu Joseph Rocbrune. Sainte-Madeleine de Rigaud, registre 1823

The Baptism That Names Thomas: Jean Noël, 1798 Outweighed

Oka, 3 March 1798 Baptism of Jean Noël, entered as born of the marriage of Thomas Rocbrune and Marie Josette Jolicoeur, de la rivière du Nord. Oka (L'Annonciation), registre 1798

This is the only act in the case that places a child of Joseph's household under Thomas's name. The child was seven weeks old, born at the rivière du Nord about mid-January and carried to the mission for baptism; the act does not say who presented him.

Against it stand two later acts:

• 1822 — Jean Noël's own marriage: "fils de feu Joseph Rocbrune," with "Joseph Rocbrune frère de l'époux" present.
• 1823 — Madeleine's marriage: "Jean Noël Rocbrune frère de l'épouse," beside Basile.

The 1822 marriage was made when Jean Noël was an adult, before his own brother as witness, and the next year's marriage of his sister, with a different brother beside him, repeats the same family grouping. Basile, born in March 1799, fourteen months after Jean Noël, was baptized as Joseph's son. Thomas was living throughout and is not recorded at either marriage.

Joseph's burial in 1815 does not bear on the question either way. The son present there with Joseph fils is Jean Marie, a different name.

The Presence Ledger

Each act is entered against each brother. A relationship term stated in the act is entered as written. Shaded rows are the acts that place both younger brothers at once.

Three Daughters of Louis Georgeteau dit Jolicoeur

Sault-au-Récollet, 23 September 1770 — Detail Entry B.45: marie joseph fille légitime de louis jolicoeur et de marie catherine lemay. La Visitation, Sault-au-Récollet, 1770

Sault-au-Récollet, 1770 — Register Page The full opening; B.45 is on the right-hand page. La Visitation, Sault-au-Récollet, registre 1736–1778

The younger Marie-Josephe was baptized at Sault-au-Récollet in September 1770. An elder sister of the same name was born on 9 December 1764; a third sister, Marie-Marguerite, on 30 September 1775. The elder sister's age at her burial in 1839 — seventy-five — fits the 1764 birth, which makes her Thomas's wife and the 1770 sister Joseph's. Neither marriage act states the bride's age, so that pairing is an inference from the 1839 age and from the order of the marriages; it is consistent with every act read.

Their mother, Marie Catherine Lemay, stood godmother to Joseph's first son in 1788 and was present at Marguerite's marriage in 1793. Their father witnessed Thomas's marriage in 1786.

Unresolved Questions

• Joseph's marriage. Not found. Before 27 September 1788. Searched: the Oka marriages of 1786–1788 in the register index. Next: Sault-au-Récollet, 1786–1788.
• Thomas's other children. Josephte and a brother named at her wedding are placed with him; his household is otherwise less fully documented here than Joseph's.
• Jean Marie. Present as Joseph's son in 1815. His baptism has not been located.
• The 1850 burial. Attached to Thomas by fit only.
• The brothers' baptisms. Known only from the typed abstract of the mission registers. No image of the pre-1786 originals has been located.

Assessment of Proof

Joseph and Thomas Larocque Rocbrune were two men, brothers, married to two sisters who shared a baptismal name. The separation rests on acts that place both at once under stated relationships — Thomas as uncle of Joseph's son in 1812, as brother at Joseph's burial in 1815 — and on Thomas's continued presence in the record after Joseph's death. Each child is assigned on the father's given name and on the relatives who stood with him. The mother's name, which in this family describes both households equally, carries no weight in any assignment.