QUEBEC-L Archives

Archiver > QUEBEC > 2005-09 > 1125897086


From:
Subject: Excommunication
Date: Mon, 05 Sep 2005 01:11:26 -0400


"2,200 French-Canadian troops (plus families) were excommunicated from
the Catholic Church by Bishop Breand of Quebec in 1776 and also exiled
by the British Canadian Government."

One of my ancestors 1st Lt. Francois Martin-Pelland was one of the 2200
French soldiers who fought the British forces occupying Quebec. The
French soldiers were exiled to New York State and joined the American
side against the British Forces in the American Revolutionary War.
Francois was killed in battle in 1778 in Fishkill, NY. Although the
French troops were given land grants in upstate NY at the end of the war
in 1784, many soldiers moved back to Quebec.

Does anyone have more information about these French troops illegally
excommunicated from the Catholic Church in 1776. This information might
explain why it is hard to get info on some family names, because they
are Catholic up to a point and then just disappear with no explanation.

Ed Hagerty
Monroe, CT

This thread: