| Notes |
- He was a locksmith. For the murder of their son-in-law Julian Latouche, he and his wife Gillette Banne were the first couple executed together in Quebec.
From "The Trial and Execution of Gillette Banne and Jacques Bertault," by Janice Burkhart:
[The text below is excerpted from a piece published in Je Me Souviens, a publication of the American-French Genealogical Society, volume 41, number 1, Spring 2018. The piece itself states that it was condensed from Before the King's Daughters: The Filles à Marier, 1634-1662 by Peter J. Gagné (2002) and an unspecified article in Je Me Souviens volume 8, number 2, Winter 1985.]
Jacques [Bertault] arranged a marriage for his daughter Élisabeth-Isabelle-Thérèse with Julien Latouche, a laborer employed by Maurice Poulin. Julien had been given a small piece of land to work in order to provide for his family. When the marriage took place on August 12, 1671, he was thirty and Élisabeth just twelve. Élisabeth was reportedly not willing to be married but in spite of her tears and her mother’s objections, the father’s wishes prevailed.
Julien was a heavy drinker and not a very productive farmer. He was rarely able to put food on the table. As a result, Élisabeth’s parents were constantly having to bring them meat, bread and eggs, and often Élisabeth would simply go to their home for meals. While there, she would complain constantly about Julien. He was a poor farmer, lazy, domineering and abusive, and the young girl didn't know how much longer she could stand it.
Jacques spoke to his son-in-law about it, and he'd always promise to change, but never did. Finally, after one severe beating of Élisabeth at Latouche's hand, Gillette had had enough. She could not tolerate the suffering that her child was enduring and decided to take matters into her own hands. In desperation, she decided to poison the abusive Latouche to save her daughter from more abuse and possibly even death. She made soup for her son-in-law and put in some plants known to be poisonous. Julien ate the soup but did not die!! So the husband and wife, in the presence of their daughter, beat Julien to death with either a hoe or a pick axe. Then they threw his body into the river. Neighbors heard the screams. The next day they investigated and found the barn covered in blood, reported what they had heard and shortly after, the Bertaults and Élisabeth were arrested.
The trial found the three guilty of Julien’s murder and they received the following punishments. On the 8th of June 1672, the fiscal procurer rendered his verdict. He asked that the three prisoners be executed and that no allowance be made for Élisabeth because of her age, as she had also been involved (passively) in the murder. Sitting on Monsieur Chartier's court were Juchereau de la Ferte, Ruette Dauteuil, de Bermen, Duquet, Morin de Rochebelle, and Simon Denis. They showed no pity for Jacques Bertault and Gillette Banne, but in spite of the petition of the fiscal procurer, they were merciful to Élisabeth because of her age. The prisoners were to be taken from the prison with ropes tied around their necks, burning torches in their hands, and led to the door of the parish church. There, Bertault, bare headed and in his shirt, and Gillette and Élisabeth dressed in their shirts were to kneel and ask forgiveness of God, the King, and Justice, for the crimes they had committed. Then they were to be led by the executioner to the scaffold erected in the public square of the 'haute ville'. There was a cross of St-Andre on which Jacques Bertault was to be laid out and receive a swift blow on the right arm, then strangled. After his death, another blow was to be struck on his left arm, a blow on each of his thighs and three blows to his chest. Gillette Baune was to be hanged and strangled on a scaffold. Élisabeth Bertault was to witness the executions of her parents with a rope tied around her neck as previously stated.
After the executions, the body of Jacques Bertault was placed on a wheel at Cap-aux-Diamants to remain and serve as an example. Bertault, his wife and his daughter, were also fined 60 'livres'.
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Nielsen Hayden genealogy
Abt 1626 - 1672 (~ 46 years)
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