Marie-Josephe Angélique – slave born in Madeira accused of burning Old Montreal

Marie-Josephe Angélique was a slave in New France (Quebec) who became famous for allegedly burning part of present Old Montreal. Born in Madeira, Portugal, around the year 1705, she was sold at a young age to a Flemish man named Nichus Block, who was responsible for bringing her to North America.

Marie-Joseph initially settled in New England, but was then sold to Frenchman François Poulin de Francheville who brought her to Montreal as a slave. She worked in the Franchehville dwelling as a homemaker and occasionally helped with farm work.

Angélique had three children from the same father, Jacques César, a black slave himself, who belonged to a friend of Francheville. It is not known if they were in love or if they were forced to mate since, back in those days, children of slaves became possession of the slave owners. What is known is that all three children died at a very young age: a boy, born in 1731, lived only a month and twins, born in 1732, died within five months.

François Poulin de Francheville’s passing, in 1733, led to a series of events that would eventually seal the fate of Angélique and make her a historical figure to remember. While Madame Francheville became occupied with her late husband’s affairs in Trois-Rivieres, north of Montreal, her brother-in-law, Alexis Moniere, kept Angélique who, meanwhile, had started a relationship with a white servant named Claude Thibault. Both Angélique and Thibault saw this as an opportunity to flee to New England but it was winter and weather conditions forced them to hide in a farm in Châteauguay. They were captured a few weeks later and brought back to Montreal where Thibault was jailed and Angélique was returned to her owner.

Marie-Joseph Angélique was perceived as a rebel and considered very difficult to control. Madame Francheville, as a result, did not punish her as it was believed that she intended to sell her to François-Etienne Cugnet, a former associate of her late husband. Angélique sensed that she was to be sold, but wanted to stay, probably because of her romantic involvement with Claude Thibault. However, Madame Francheville had already completed the transaction, which further aggravated Angélique who, allegedly, began to whisper threats of running away again.

It was during this feud that at seven o’clock in the evening of Saturday, April 10, 1734 a fire erupted at Madame Francheville’s home, located on the south side of Rue Saint-Paul. The fire destroyed a hospital, a church and forty-five homes.

Sister Véronique entered the following in her journal to describe the fire:

“The April 10 [1734] while all was most quiet and our thoughts were far from some fatal mishap, at 7 in the evening during our time of leisure, we heard a cry of fire. In the moment, we all rose to catch sight of its whereabouts. It was sighted at a neighbouring house. We rushed to contain the fire, but the Lord did not allow us to succeed. All took refuge in our church, thinking that we would be spared, but the flames rose so ardently towards the church, which was just across the street from the burning houses, that we soon found ourselves engulfed.”

Angélique was immediately accused of setting fire to the house. The rumour was based on the following two claims: she wanted to create a distraction to flee again; Marie-Manon, a young slave who communed with Marie-Joseph, commented that she had heard Angélique say that her owner would not sleep one more night in her house. As a result, Angélique was arrested, charged and tried in Montreal. The trial lasted about six weeks, after which the following sentence was declared:

“And everything Considered, We have Declared the Said accused, Marie Joseph Angelique Sufficiently guilty And Convicted of Having set fire to the house of dame francheville Causing the Burning of a portion of the city. In Reparation for which we have Condemned her to make honourable amends Disrobed, a Noose around her Neck, and carrying In her hands a flaming torch weighing two pounds before the main door and Entrance of the parish Church of This city where She will be taken And Led, by the executioner of the high Court, in a Tumbrel used for garbage, with an Inscription Front And Back, with the word, Incendiary, And there, bare-headed, And On her Knees, will declare that She maliciously set the fire And Caused the Said Burning, for which She repents And Asks Forgiveness from the Crown And Court, and this done, will have her fist Severed On a stake Erected in front of the Said Church. Following which, she will be led by the said Executioner in the same tumbrel to the Public Place to there Be bound to the Stake with iron shackles And Burned alive, her Body then Reduced To Ashes And Cast to the Wind, her Belongings taken And Remanded to the King, the said accused having previously been subjected to torture in the ordinary And Extraordinary ways in order to have her Reveal her Accomplices.”

As was customary at the time, the sentence was automatically appealed to the Superior Council, in Quebec City, where Angélique was tried and found guilty once again, but this time with some changes to the original sentence: she was no longer to have her hand severed and be burnt alive, but hanged, burned when dead, and have her ashes scattered.

Although Angélique confessed, after having both legs broken, that she was guilty of the crime, many historians continue to argue that she was innocent while others maintain that she committed the crime. Those who argue for her innocence claim that Marie-Manon was the one who accidentally started the fire while cooking and then took advantage of Angélique’s reputation to pin the crime on her.

Marie-Josephe Angélique has become the topic of many publications, which include the non-fictional account of her trial, written by Beaugrand-Champagne and published in 2004, and a novel written by Afua Cooper and published in 2006. The complete transcript of Marie-Joseph Angélique’s trial is available on the website of Biblioteque et Archives Nationales du Quebec.

Angélique’s story has helped us understand the struggles that slaves faced in those days. She has become a fictional character in many stories but, above all, a true testament of times that we cannot allow to return.

In front of Montreal’s City Hall, there is a park named Place Marie-Josephe-Angélique. So we may never forget.

With references from Wikipedia.org (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie-Joseph_Ang%C3%A9lique)

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