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Dragons in the
Rebellion of 1837-1838
In 1837 through 1838, French-Canadians rebelled agains the British
rule. Members of both the Saint-Denis Dragons, and
the "Southern" Dragons
were active in the famous rebellions, an incredible
story, well worth the study, but much too complicated to detail here. The
important fact is, though, that upon the end of the rebellions, the British
reprisals were some of the most horrible for those very communities inhabited
by the Dragons.
Saint-Denis had been the place of the only successful battle
for the French, and afterwards was pretty much destroyed. The southern
villages were the center of a second attempt at the rebellion, and they
suffered the same fate. The Dragons of those southern villages fled,
establishing themselves in northern New York. A look at the map shows
that Rouses Point,
Champlain, and Chazy were the most accesible towns in New York, and indeed,
were the homes to many Dragons in the years to come. (Directly across
Lake Champlain, in Vermont, are the towns of Alburgh and Isle LaMotte:
they
also became the homes to Dragons, but to date, the family ties have not
been established)
Following are transcriptions of documents relating to Dragons
in the Rebellion.
* Joseph Dragon: Farmer of Saint Denis:
He produced before the Commission of Losses a claim for 461 pounds,
for properties burnt by troops, but this claim, after having been reduced
to 267 pounds, was finally rejected by the commission, since the claiment
had been implicated in the rebellion. He admitted, during his interrogation,
as having been at the battle, and having fought in the house of Madame
Saint-Germain. ---Commision de Pertes, 1852, no 313
From Patriotes de 1837-1838 by Aegidius Fauteux (Montreal,
1950) translation by Ric Dragon
* In the issue of September 1997 of L'Ancêtre
(Vol. 24, # 1), in the chronicle "L'Événement de 1897" (Jacques Saintonge),
where the author picks a few articles of the newspapers a hundred years
ago, there was this short note on Louis Ethier dit Dragon, pp. 23-24
(10 septembre 1897):
Mort d'un patriote de 1837 - Il était un des plus ardents
M. Louis Ethier dit Dragon qui vient de mourir à Montréal à la demeure
de son fils, M. E. L. Ethier, fut un des patriotes de 1837-1838. Il
était de Saint-Valentin, paroisse qui a fourni tant de patriotes. Il
fut l'ami intime de Lucien Gagnon, Gagnon l'"habitant" comme on l'appelait
généralement. Monsieur Ethier était connu, à cette époque, sous le nom
de "Capitaine Dragon".
Avec Gagnon, il a été l'âme du mouvement populaire de 1837 dans les
paroisses de la frontière. Il était à Lacolle et à Odelltown où il se
battait bravement. Pendant ce temps-là, sa maison était saccagée, ses
troupeaux enlevés, sa famille chassée. Après la défaite lorsqu'il vit
que tout était perdu, il partit pour les Etats-Unis où il se livra à
l'agriculture. En 1845, l'amnistie ayant été accordée à tous ceux qui
avaient pris part à l'insurrection, il revint dans le pays reprendre
possession de ce qui restait de ses biens. M. Ethier est mort à l'âge
de 93 ans.
courtesy Guy Frechet, Société
de généalogie de Québec
Last Updated 14 November, 1998
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