Reflections on Deschambault

By Ronald Eustice

My attendance at the Perron Gathering at Deschambault, Quebec in August 2001 was like a dream come true.

As a child, I heard my father proudly proclaiming that my mother was “100% French Canadian.” It sounded very special. My grandparents were both born in Rice County, Minnesota, but spoke French to their friends and siblings. They lived at Faribault, a town started by Alexander Faribault and other French Canadians in the early 1860’s.

In 1975 I began the journey in search of Perron family roots. One of my first steps was to purchase a subscription to a journal called “Memoires” de la Societe Candienne Francais. One day an article by Guy Perron appeared. I immediately wrote to the society and asked to be put in contact with the author. A few days later, a letter from Guy Perron arrived and that was my first link with  Canadian cousins. Earlier I had obtained a letter from Marianne Perron (Mdme. Sergius Millier) of St. Antoine-sur-Richelieu written in 1949, telling how her father Henri Perron together with seven brothers went to Minnesota in times of “beaucoup des Sauvages.” Henri did not like Minnesota and returned to Quebec, but five of the brothers stayed and four had large families.

Eventually, I was able to identify Contrecoeur and St. Ours as the home of my great grandfather Joseph Perron and his brothers Alexis, Clement. In 1990, my wife and our three young children went to Quebec for the first time. Since then, we have been back a total of six times and each time my French gets a little bit better.

This year was special. I was asked to unveil the plaque honoring my direct ancestor Jean Perron at Deschambault. It was a special privilege and another memorable step on the journey that I began 27 years ago. A dream come true! While I am the only one of the Perron family  in Minnesota that can speak some French, we are all very proud to say that we are descendants of courageous French Canadian pioneers who came to Minnesota 150 years ago.