François Dollier de Casson
François Dollier de Casson (1636 – 27 September 1701) was born in Vitré, Province of Brittany, France, into a wealthy bourgeois and military family. He began his adult life in the army which he left after three years to continue his studies and become a priest.
After becoming a Sulpician, he was assigned to New France, an assignment he took with some reluctance. He arrived in Quebec in 1666 and was immediately sent as a military chaplain with Prouville de Tracy in an action against the Mohawks.[1] He was active as a missionary and explorer until becoming superior of the Sulpicians in New France in 1671. He also built the first canal.
In 1674, François returned to France for an extended rest and served as preceptor to his nephew. He returned to Canada in 1678 and served the Sulpicians until his death.
François Dollier de Casson is perhaps best known for his Histoire de Montréal. He also contributed to church architecture and served as vicar general of the diocese of Quebec. He ordered the first street survey of Montreal, executed by notary and surveyor Bénigne Basset Des Lauriers, creating the street layout of what is now known as Old Montreal.[2] He was one of the key figures of the first attempt to dig the Lachine Canal, in 1689.
From the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia
François Dollier de Casson — Fourth superior of Saint-Sulpice, Montreal, Canada, b. near Nantes, France, 1636; d. in 1701. He was first a soldier and served as a captain under Marshal Turenne, his bravery eliciting this general's esteem. In 1657 he entered the Seminary of Saint-Sulpice, at Paris, was admitted into the Company, and went to Canada in 1666. There he devoted himself with great ardour to missionary work and, in company with Father Galinée, a fellow Sulpician, made a reconnoitring tour of Lakes Erie and Ontario; unfortunately, his account of the expedition has been lost. In 1671 Father de Casson succeeded Father de Queylus as superior of the Sulpicians, and while in this position contributed largely to the development of Villemarie (Montreal), planned the laying out of its streets, began the canal known since by the name of Lachine, and moreover, stimulated the energy of the colonists under trying and hazardous circumstances. He wrote a "Histoire du Montreal" (Mémoires de la société historique de Montréal, 1869), and "Récit de ce qui s'est passé au voyage que M. de Courcelles a fait au lac Ontario" (Bibliothèque nationale de Paris, old French supplement, no. 13, 516, 516, fol. 207-218).
A. FOURNET
References
- Back to citation Burton, Clarence M. (1922). The City of Detroit, Michigan, 1701-1922, Vol. I, p. 61. The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company.
- Back to citation Goldman, Norman. "A Summer Walk into Montreal's Early Years under French Rule". Bootsn All Travel. Archived from the original on 2012-07-28. Retrieved 2008-03-02.