Bigot, Jacques (missionary in Chaudiere River, Quebec)

Bigot, Jacques (missionary in Chaudiere River, Quebec)

Father Bigot arrived in Canada in 1679, where he was assigned to the mission to the Algonkins. Forced to move the Abenakis to Chaudiere River, every year Father Bigot went on preaching trips to those who stayed in Acadia. The new mission became the most zealous in North America. Bigot was forced to move the mission to Saint-Francois River in 1700 because the land in Chaudiere River was no longer useful for cultivation. His life was devoted to spreading the gospel, at Saint-Francois River the great evil was drunkenness. He would leave the mission in 1707 or 1708. Jacque Bigot retired due to disease, and die in 1711.

1683-1700

Person

Saint-Francois de Salle mission near the falls on the Chaudiere River, Quebec

Thomas Charland, “BIGOT, JACQUES,” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 2, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–, accessed September 30, 2021, https://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/bigot_jacques_2E.html.

1651

Bourges, France

1711

Quebec

Priest; Missionary

French

Jacques Bigot, brother of Vincent Bigot, was a Jesuit priest at Saint-Francois de Sale mission. He arrived in Canada in 1679, assigned to mission Abenakis, and moved to Chaudiere River. Father Bigot was later instructed to go to Boston by Brisay de Denonville to gain Abenakis to join his mission. The inhabitants would join the French in case of an attack. Denonville would praise Bigot and his brother for the good relations they have with the Indigenous peoples, which helped with their attacks on the English. In 1691, Bigot went back to France, bringing with him the Abenakis’ vow Our Lady of Chartres and a wampum belt.Returning to Quebec in 1694, he would replace his brother, who was ill, at the mission at Naurakamig. Due to lack of cultivation land, in 1700 the mission transferred from Chaudiere River to Saint-Francois Lake. Father Bigot leaves the mission in 1707 or 1708. He died in 1711 of lingering disease.

Conflict and Change in Early Canadian History (Carleton HIST 1301)

Dawson Irving