Honore Beaugrand

Honore Beaugrand (March 24th, 1848 - October 7th, 1906) wire of Louis Beaugrand, known as Champagne, navigator, and of Marie-Josephte (Joséphine) Marion, was a Canadian journalist, born in the village of St-Joseph-of-Lanoraie, the Quebec. Began its studies with the College from Joliette and made a short noviciate in the Fathers of Saint-Viateur. As graduate of the military academy it united the French military forces under the general Bazaine with the Mexico supporting the unfortunate emperor Maximilien of Mexico and turning over with these troops to France after the fall of Chapultepec and the execution of Maximilien. After a few months he moved with La Nouvelle-Orléans in 1868 and became journalist. Subsequently he wrote for American newspapers with Saint Louis, Boston and Fall River, Massachusetts. The October 5th 1873, it married in the church methodist St Paul Fall River, Massachusetts, Eliza Walker (1854-1934), and they had a girl, Estelle (1881-1918); deceased on October 7th, 1906 in Montreal.

It became Franc-maçon in 1873. In 1875, it launches to Boston the newspaper the Republic whose publication continues in Fall River. It specifies its political opinions and nuns there: he says “very advanced freemason, liberal admiror enthusiastic of the principles of the French revolution and in favor of the declaration of the human rights”. This deist anticlerical affirms to practice “what good seems to him, the American constitution not recognizing a religion of State”.

In 1878, it is established with Ottawa and founds the Federal one, which will last until September 1878. One month later, Beaugrand is with Montreal, where it still launches newspapers: initially a satiric weekly, the Joker, then, in February 1879, at the request of the Liberal party, a promised daily newspaper this time at more the brilliant future, the Fatherland , of which he will remain owner until in 1897. This newspaper ceased its publication in 1957, after 78 years. This newspaper which expresses the topics of liberalism will be a great commercial success and will make its fortune. It was made a name like receiver and political writer, and in 1885 accepted the cross of the French Légion of honor. He wrote many Conte S, of which the Drive out-Gallery (1891).

He was mayor of Montreal of 1885 with 1887. He is characterized by his interventions in favor of obligatory vaccination at the time of the epidemic of small pox. Epidemic which would have made 3164 victims.

It takes part in 1897 in the foundation of the maconnic cabin montréalaise the Emancipation, radical tendency, and remains near thereafter to the anticlericals mediums.

The Riel business and the epidemic of variola

When the troops of the 65e battalion return to Montreal after having overcome the Cries which are the allies of the mongrels, at the time of the Rébellion of the North-West, the Beaugrand mayor multiplies the homages and a large banquet in the honor of the soldiers chairs. The English stores of the metropolis expose the portrait of the Middleton general who has just besieged during 30 days Batoche, the district-general of Louis Riel and Gabriel Dumont where a hundred insurgent Mongrels were overcome. The City issues on July 25th celebrates civic in order to point out this “great” victory…

The more the days pass, the more the countryside to prevent the hanging of Riel develops. Meanwhile the epidemic of Variole becomes an extremely alarming question. In a climate boosted by the Riel business, the majority of the anglophone newspapers claim coercive measures like the insulation of the patients and obligatory vaccination and they are not obstructed to treat the French Canadians of late and swines.

Part of the French-speaking press denounces these authoritative measurements perceived like an aggression at the place of the French Canadians. The Gazette, the Star and Herald multiply the provocations at the place of the French-speaking people. Demonstrators will break the panes of Herald when this last allots the epidemic to the dirtiness of the French-speaking population.

In September, 30 people per day succumb to the disease; the municipal council issues obligatory vaccination. Doctors go from door in door to vaccinate but the public refuses to receive them. The municipal council hesitates to take other measures. At this point in time the owner-editor of The Gazette, Richard White, and the editor of the Star, Hugh Graham, multiply the provocations and tackle the municipal authorities. Supported by the business men, White and Graham delegations lead to the Town hall. Finally Graham is named with the head of a committee of insulation of the patients and White becomes the person in charge of a committee of vaccination.

the confrontation

In this context of ethnic war and precisely at the time when agitation in favor of Riel develops, these nominations are not very happy. When Mgr Stained obtains a one month deferment to make it possible to lawyers of Riel to carry his cause in call to the private Council, riots against vaccination and forty burst. On September 28th and 29th, crowd besieges the Office of health of the suburb of the East and fire puts at it. Crowd goes chahuter Herald. One breaks there the panes and one will threaten the houses of the doctors vaccinators of which that of the Hingston ex-mayor. The chief of police force is wounded; it is the owner of the newspaper The Gazette, Richard White, who asks for the intervention of the troops. The Beaugrand mayor, confined to bed, suffering of asthma, court at his office and consigns 600 soldiers. In a declaration, it invites the citizens not to leave the evening and not to obstruct the action of the police force.

Demonstrations begin again in spite of the proclamation of the mayor. The riders are accommodated by stone jets in the East. In the week from September 26th to October 2nd, variola causes 400 deaths. It is panic. Beaugrand, approved by the anglophone press, agrees to impose the insulation of the patients and vaccination. The police force must accompany each doctor vaccinator. The mayor freemason and anticlerical are constrained to request the support of Évêché. Mgr Fabre agrees to make read with preaches a note urging the faithful ones to let itself vaccinate and a circular of the Office of health explaining the inoffensive character of the puncture. To give the example, it is made vaccinate twice. Montreal is quarantined: the trade close, the theaters are deserted, the empty streets.

October 22nd, 1885, bad news: the appeal of Louis Riel is rejected. The defense committee of Riel now claims a mental examination by a commission of doctors. It obtains another deferment until November 10th. The English newspapers are furibonds whereas the Standard and the Press accentuate the countryside to save Riel.

In November, an incident starts a riot: a French-speaking workman, father, resist weapon the hand with an employee of the office of health come to seek his ill child and to lead it to the hospital. In front of this situation, the Beaugrand mayor launches a massive police intervention and takes the head of the operations, facing the hostile population with this aggression of a residence. The oldest son inside car of the shots. At the time when the house is taken by storm, one of the ill children dies. The French-speaking newspapers seize this business: Beaugrand is shown to have caused this death by its brutalities and this housebreaking. The debate around vaccination takes the form of an ethnic conflict, even if the group of doctors anti-vaccinators includes/understands as well english-speaking as French-speaking people.

During this time, in all the hearths, one requests for Riel! The execution is given to November 16th. Even Herald does not finish requiring grace for Riel in front of the popular pressure. After an ultimate step of Joseph-Adolphe Chapleau, Riel is hung on November 16th on décidion the Council of Ministers conservatives of Ottawa. Indignation is general in Quebec. November 22nd, is held at joining together Field-of-March the most important public assembly: 50000 people come to hear Honore Draper and Wilfrid Bay-tree. Portraits of Riel appear with the windows of the stores of the East. Draper takes the head of the movement, announces the formation of a national party joining together liberal and conservatives to avenge Riel. The ex-mayors Beaudry and Coursol repudiate the conservative government and support Honore Mercier. On the other hand, the Beaugrand mayor opposes Mercier of which he denounces the coalition with the conservative-ultramontanes.

Even if the Beaugrand mayor lost partisans in the business of vaccination, it were worth to him the support of the anglophone mediums of businesses. The latter, combined to the liberals, support it for his re-election. It carries it by: 5055 votes against: 3100 in February 1886. The year will be rather quiet. The hour is with the economic revival. A new generation of business men Canadian-French continue and think of off creating a Chamber of commerce French-speaking, distinct from Board Trade, which will be carried out the following year.

After having given up the town hall in 1887, it will share its time until its death in 1906 between the voyages, the writing and the animation of various cultural companies. In conformity with its wills, it was incinerated and these ashes were buried close to those of his Protestant wife, with the Mount-Royal cemetery in Montreal in the F3 section.

A street of Montreal and a station of the Métro of Montreal were named in its honor.

Beaugrand appears for its biographer François Ricard like “one of the figures more attaching end of the XIXe century: exiled voluntary in his youth, man of culture in his ripe age, it incarnates with his manner, in the ideological and cultural landscape of his time, a “modernity” that criticism and the history tend up to now to be unaware of or badly evaluate”. Being located from a point of view plus avant-gardist and “universal”, Beaugrand was undoubtedly misunderstood of its compatriots who saw it as a torturer (the business of vaccination) even if it were right and, perhaps even like a renegade vis-a-vis his nationalist compatriots in the business Louis Riel.

Works

the Drive out-gallery and other accounts (New published in volume for the first time in 1900.)
Anita: memories of against-guerillas
Jeanne the ropemaking machine
Canadian Tales
fire-merry the
Letters of voyage: France, Italy, Sicily, Malta, Tunisia, Algeria, Spain
Of Montreal with Victoria by transcontinental Canadian
Six months in theRock ones: Colorado, Utah, New Mexico

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