Contes et Sfeqendes
THE FIRST ACADIAN
--
MURDER
The name "Acadian" easily connotes a simple, peaceloving and neutral people, exiled from their home in Nova
Scotia. Closely associated with this is their strong
faith and moral fiber. Major crimes were non-existent in
the Acadian community. Thus, it is rare to conceive of
such an act as murder as taking place within their environment. Early in the history of the settlement of Prince
Edward Island, in fact in June of 1812, such a heinous act
did take place. This gruesome event is still recalled in
a ballad, popular in various parts of the Canadian Maritimes,
entitled "Le Meurtrier de sa Femme" or "La Complainte de
Pinquin"
.
Rare as it is that something good should result from
something so tragic, it is not surprising. Due to the
actions of a temporarily insane ancestor, Xavier Gallant,
his direct act of violence, and subsequent incarceration
in the deplorable conditions of the Charlottetown jail, led
to a complete reform of prisons for that smallest of the
Canadian provinces.
The Man and His Deed
Louis Gallant and Anne Chiasson were married at StPierre-du-Nord on Ile St-Jean (today Prince Edward Island)
on the 8th of January 1753. His grandparents were Michel
~ a c h gdit Gallant and Anne Cormier who had come to PortLajoie from Beaubassin in Acadia. Michel was later named
harbor-master of Port-Lajoie (now Charlottetown). From
all evidence, Louis and Anne Gallant, during the deportation of the Acadians from Ile St-Jean, fled to Ristigouche
at the western end of the Baie-des-Chaleurs. While there,
they had a child baptized on the 9th of January 1761. Although the child's name was omitted from the baptismal act
in the register, the family genealogist, Father Patrice
Gallant, presumes that this was their son Xavier, the
subject of this article.
Much later, Xavier and two of his brothers, Alexandre
and Fabien returned to live on Ile St-Jean. While there,
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GENEALOGY OF XAVIER GALLANT
0
L'ARCH~,Pierre (
LANGLOIS, Adrienne (
of St-Pierre-Mondidier, France
Diocese of Beauvais
I
HAcHE/ dit GALLANT, Michel (Pierre & Adrienne Langlois)
CORMIER, Anne (Thomas & Madeleine Girouard)
mg. 1690 - Beaubassin, Acadia
I1
HACH~&GALLANT, Pierre (Michel & Anne Cormier)
LAVERGNE, ~e/cile (Pierre & Anne Bernon)
mg. towards 1725 - Beaubassin, Acadia
111 HAcH6-GALLANT, Louis (Pierre & Ce/cile Lavergne)
CHIASSON, Anne (Fran~ois& Anne Doucet)
mg. 8/1/1753 - St-Pierre-du-Nord, P.E.I.
IV
GALLANT, Xavier (Louis & Anne Chiasson)
DOUCET, Madeleine (Michel & Louise Belliveau)
mg.
- Rustico, PEI
Children of Xavier Gallant and Madeleine Doucet:
1. Lange mg. cl812-Mt-Camel ,PEI to M-He/l\eneGallant
2. Daniel mg. 26/9/1814-Rustico,PEI to Marguerite
Arsenault
3. ~idilelmg.cl811-Miscouche,PEI to Barbe Poirier
11
2mg. 14/11/1836-Miscouche,PEI to Marguerite
Arsenault
4. Victor mg. 10/2/1817-Egmont-Baie,PEI to Charlotte
Bernard
5. Bruno mg. 19/2/1822-Mt-Carme1,PEI to Henriette Aucoin
-Rustico,PEI to Clgment Martin
6. Julithe mg.
-Rustico,PEI to Armand Martin
7. ~dgssemg.
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Xavier married Madeleine Doucet, the daughter of Michel
Doucet and Louise Belliveau. Of this marriage were born
eight children, seven of which were living at the time of
the murder. They were/: Lange, Daniel, id he, Victor,
Bruno, Julithe and Edesse. The new couple established
themselves on lot number 16, near other tenants, in the
area contingent to Malpeque Bay. This land later passed
into the hands of the John Ramsay family, of English origin, and later took the name of "Rose Hill Farm".
On Thursday, the 11th of June 1812, Xavier Gallant
took his wife for a walk in the woods, where he murdered
her with an ax, and where he also hid the body. The reason for this fatal act is ambiguous, as the account of
his trial will later reveal. The following Sunday, the
people of the village came to apprehend the murderer, who
led them to the mortal remains of the victim. He was then
immediately transported to the Charlottetown jail.1
Gladly, first-hand documents concerning the murderer
and his action are numerous, which inform us in a suffusely-detailed fashion concerning the major part of the circumstances which surround this event. Thanks to these
documents, many discrepancies are able to be explained
concerning the event as well as the ballad. One must note
that the descendants of Xavier Gallant are numerous in the
Egmont-Baie and Mont-Camel regions of the Island, where
many folkloric inquiries have been made concerning the
"complainte", and where oral tradition has greatly supplemented many important facts reported concerning this affair. The murder of Madeleine Gallant by her husband was
certainly an epoch event among the Acadian population of
Prince Edward Island. To our knowledge, this was the first
murder committed among the insular Acadians.
The King vs. Francois-Xavier Gallant
On Tuesday, the 30th of June 1812, Xavier Gallant appeared in the Supreme Court of Prince Edward Island before
chief-justice Caesar Colclough and his assistant judges
Robert Gray and James Curtis. He pleaded not guilty to the
murder of his spouse. His trial was set for the following
Friday, the 3rd of July. It lasted a relatively short
duration, beginning at 9 A.M. and ending the same day at
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7:30 P.M.
The Procurator-General appointed James Bardin Palmer,
judicial counsellor for the Crown, to be lawyer for the
prisoner. The jury was composed of twelve men, all Englishspeaking. They were: William McEwen, Richard Chappel, James
Wilson, Peter Hewitt, Joseph Dingwell, Donald McDonald,
George ~ a c k e ~John
, McGregor , David Higgins , Nathan Davis,
Joseph Avaard and George Aitkin. The witnesses numbered
eleven, six for the Crown, and five for the defense. Tvse
produced by the Procurator-General were: Victor and Fidele
Gallant, sons of the accused; Jean-Baptiste Gallant, Xavier's
cousin; Prosper Poirier; Daniel Campbell and Col. Harry
Compton. On his side, the defense lawyer called the following witnesses: Placide Arsenault; William Clark; George
Blood; Samuel Cameron, Xavier's closest neighbor; and Lange
Gallant, Xavier's oldest son. Given that most of the witnesses could not speak English, John Frederick Holland, a
member of the accusation jury, was assigned as the trial's
interpreter.
Most of the witnesses were of the opinion that Xavier
suffered from a mental imbalance. His son, ~idele,declared
that the people of the village believed that this was responsible for the murderous act of his father. His brother,
Lange, affirmed that he had perceived the first signs of
irregularities in the mental health of his father on the
day of Mardi Gras, two years previous to this. Since then,
his parents had quarrels, he added.
According to many witnesses, Xavier lost his reason
after he obtained a certain sum of money from a Mr. Marsh.
Here is what was revealed on the subject by his son,
~idkle
:
From what he was able to recall, more than
a year had passed since Mr. Marsh gave him
the money. This was the cause of his derangement, when he began to lose his mind.
He worked no more. In fact, he worked little since last autumn. Before that he was
a laborious man; he had always been an aimiable man and good towards his famil and
all this until about three years ago3:
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Unfortunately, the trial report does not divulge the
nature of the transaction by which Xavier had obtained
this money from Mr. Marsh. Also, the amount was not precise. Witness Daniel Campbell mentionned the sum of $380
that Xavier said he possessed before making a voyage to the
Baie-des-Chaleurs. On his return, he said he could only
find $200 of it.
On the subject of Xavier's imbalanced state, Prosper
Poirier, another witness, himself said money was the cause.
At his word, one dollar had caused him to kill his wife,
because while Xavier was poor, he was loving and good to
her. He was equally a good worker.
It is evident, by the tenor of the testimonies, that
Xavier suffered from mental alienation. He blamed his
wife and children for stealing his money. He also believed
himself cursed by a local dog (Acadians are somewhat superstitious in this regard), as well as imagined that someone
was going to take possession of his house. He sometimes
imagined that his wife was the wife of his son, and so
forth. Could Xavier Gallant have had a breakdown, or be
going senile? He was only 51 years of age at the time of
the murder. Could avarice for his money have caused his
temporary madness? These are all plausible questions.
In his testimony, Fidele Gallant also made known to the
court how his father had justified his criminal act:
...
He (Xavier) had said that the reason
for which he killed her was that she
was not sufficiently attentive to her
household affairs and that she no longer
occupied herself for him- for example,
he was obliged to do his own cooking3
This added detail of information makes us wonder if marital
difficulties or even something scandalous might have been
at the root of the problem, compounding the issue.
After a
6 P.M., the
and a half.
guilty, but
court.
full day of witnesses' testimonies, towards
jury retired and deliberated for about an hour
When they returned, the verdict was one of
the jurors recommended the clemency of the
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The Thursday f o l l o w i n g t h e t r i a l , t h e 9 t h of J u l y ,
Xavier w a s brought b e f o r e t h e c o u r t t o r e c e i v e h i s sentence. The d e a t h p e n a l t y was i n f l i c t e d upon him, b u t h i s
lawyer, James Palmer, a t t h e end of t h e d e c l a r a t i o n of
punishment, proposed t h a t t h e e x e c u t i o n be d e f e r r e d . The
c o u r t decided t o c a r r y t h e d i s c u s s i o n of t h i s motion t o
t h e following Saturday. Here i s how t h e verbal-process
of t h e c o u r t resumed i t s meeting t h a t day:
The h i g h s h e r i f f , on t h e a d v i c e of t h e
c o u r t c l e r k , having been ordered t o
b r i n g t h e p r i s o n e r h e r e t h i s day t o receive h i s sentence, presented t h e prisoner who was p l a c e d b e f o r e t h e T r i b u n a l .
H e was asked i f h e had, according t o him,
some r e a s o n f o r which t h e judgment of t h e
l a w should n o t b e imposed. He responded
t h a t h e had none. The c h i e f - j u s t i c e pronounced t h e d e a t h s e n t e n c e on t h e p r i s o n e r
who was s e n t back t o j a i l . The d e f e n s e
lawyer proposed a d e l a y t o t h e e x e c u t i o n .
The c o u r t , a f t e r having heard t h e lawyer,
o r d e r e d t h a t t h e c o n t e n t s of h i s motion
b e r e t a i n e d u n t i l t h e f o l l o w i n g Saturday4
.
The WEEKLY RECORDER, a newspaper of t h e e r a , p u b l i s h e d
a t Charlottetown, gave i n i t s i s s u e of 4 t h of J u l y 1812 an
account of t h e j u d i c i a r y procedures i n i t i a t e d a g a i n s t
Xavier G a l l a n t . It i s s u r p r i s i n g t o r e p o r t t h a t t h i s
weekly p u b l i s h e d i n t h a t same i s s u e X a v i e r t s d e a t h s e n t e n c e ,
which was n o t a c t u a l l y pronounced u n t i l t h e 9 t h of t h a t
month, almost a week l a t e r . The newspaper, presuming t h e
consequences of X a v i e r ' s a c t i o n , r e p o r t e d t h e following:
The c h i e f - j u s t i c e , a f t e r having made t h e
commentary on t h e t r a g i c end t o which t h e
p r i s o n e r had brought h i m s e l f , pronounced
t h e t e r r i b l e s e n t e n c e of t h e law, t h a t h e
b e brought on Monday t o t h e p l a c e of execu t i o n where h e b e hanged by t h e neck u n t i l
dead, and a f t e r w a r d s , t h a t h i s body b e
housed f o r a n a t o m i z a t i o n , and t h a t God
have p i t y on h i s soul5.
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According t o t h e r e p o r t e r who w r o t e t h e a r t i c l e , Xavier
G a l l a n t was t o b e hanged on Monday, t h e 6 t h of J u l y , w h i l e
i n r e a l i t y , h i s s e n t e n c e was n o t v e r i t a b l y pronounced unt i l t h e f o l l o w i n g Thursday, 9 J u l y . The newspaper jumped
t h e gun.
The Death of Xavier G a l l a n t
The c a s e of Xavier G a l l a n t i s no l o n g e r r e p o r t e d i n t h e
v e r b a l - p r o c e s s of t h e c o u r t a f t e r t h e 9 t h of J u l y 1812.
From a l l e v i d e n c e , h e had been pardonned, because a n o t h e r
i m p o r t a n t document l a t e r shows u s t h a t i n September 1813,
h e had s t i l l been imprisoned i n t h e Charlottetown j a i l .
T h i s document, more p r e c i s e l y d a t e d t h e 2 1 s t of Septemb e r 1813, was a p e t i t i o n from Caleb S e n t n e r , J a i l o r o f t h e
Charlottetown j a i l , which h e s e n t t o t h e Lieutenant-Governor
of t h e I s l a n d , C h a r l e s Douglas Smith. I n h i s r e q u e s t , t h e
j a i l o r d e p l o r e d t h e inhuman s t a t e i n which c e r t a i n p r i s o n ers were r e t a i n e d , n o t a b l y t h e s i t u a t i o n of Xavier G a l l a n t .
Xavier's case i s given i n d e t a i l .
From what Caleb S e n t n e r w r o t e , s i n c e t h e murderer was
i n c a r c e r a t e d i n June o f 1812, he was o r d e r e d t o f e e d him
and s e e t o h i s o t h e r needs. H e was promised as payment,
t h e sum of 1 5 s h i l l i n g s p e r week, t h i s money provided from
t h e l i q u i d a t i o n of t h e p r i s o n e r ' s p r o p e r t y , which had been
confided t o t h e o l d c o r o n e r , C h a r l e s S e r a n i . The p e t i t i o n e r followed h i s r e q u e s t by e x p l a i n i n g t h a t s i n c e t h e month
of February 1813, h e h a d n ' t r e c e i v e d a n o t h e r c e n t . H e
himself s a i d i t was i m p o s s i b l e t o c o n t i n u e t o m a i n t a i n t h e
p r i s o n e r by r e a s o n of h i s t o o meager s a l a r y , and because
h e gave what h e earned t o s u p p o r t h i s l a r g e family.
The j a i l o r gave a s t u p i f y i n g d e s c r i p t i o n of t h e s t a t e
of p r i s o n e r s , a c c e n t u a t i n g t h e c a s e of Xavier G a l l a n t :
And t h a t i t b e p a r t i c u l a r l y p e r m i t t e d t o
your P e t i t i o n e r of r e p o r t i n g t o h i s Exc e l l e n c y t h e m i s e r a b l e s t a t e of t h e
prisoners retained i n t h i s t e r r i b l e place,
a p p a l l i n g t o human n a t u r e and repugnant
t o a l l s e n t i m e n t ; beds and bedding are
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not furnished, except for two rugs or
blankets, which were sent in a spirit
of charity by the old sheriff, Mr.
Samuel Cambridge. Your petitioner is
in the disagreeable obligation of placing prisoners in their respective
quarters where they have found only the
bare floor for sleeping, without blankets
to protect them from the effects of changing climate to which this Island is exposed,
and which eventually leads to sickness
or to death. Xavier Gallant, previously
mentioned, has such need at this moment
of a change of clothes, and he himself
and his cell are in such a dirty state
that it is impossible for one to live
there without exposing oneself to a
condition of life as pitiable as his own6
.
In his presentation to the Lieutenant-Governor, Caleb
Sentner spoke of having asked many of Xavier's friends to
furnish him with linens. They made known to him that Mr.
Serani disposed of the prisoner's property, and that
Sentner should have addressed himself to Serani for aid.
The same day that the petition was presented, it was
read to the Council of the Island, the resulting action of
which was that it ordered Misters Sentner and Serani to
present themselves at its meeting the next morning. It
demanded the old coroner to produce a report on the deposition of Xavier Gallant's property. That day, the 22nd of
September, they both appeared before the Council. Mr.
Serani gave his oral report to them regarding Xavier's belongings, yet the Council asked him to produce a complete
report at their next meeting. He didn't immediately obey
the orders of the Council, as it reiterated its request
on the 19th of October, and again, on the 6th of November
1813.
On the 19th of October, the Council finally decided to
occupy itself with the well-being of Xavier Gallant. The
jailor received from them the directive to conveniently
wash the prisoner, by bathing him in an infusion of strong
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tobacco. The s h e r i f f , on h i s p a r t , r e c e i v e d t h e o r d e r t o
d r e s s him warmly.
S e v e r a l weeks l a t e r , Xavier d i e d a t t h e C h a r l o t t e t o w n
j a i l on t h e 6 t h o f November 1813. That same day, w i t h i n
t h e w a l l s of t h e p r i s o n , a j u d i c i a r y inquest b e f o r e a jury
was brought by t h e p r e s e n t c o r o n e r Fade Goff. This i n q u e s t
determined t h a t Xavier G a l l a n t "died o f t h e v i s i t a t i o n of
God, and i n a n a t u r a l way".
The same day of X a v i e r ' s d e a t h , t h e I s l a n d Council h e l d
a s p e c i a l meeting. We do n o t know i f t h e members of t h e
Council were aware o f h i s d e a t h , as we do n o t know whether
h e d i e d b e f o r e o r a f t e r t h e meeting. B e t h a t a s i t may,
t h e s t a t e of t h e p r i s o n w a s t h e o b j e c t of a l e n g t h y d i s c u s s i o n . F i r s t o f a l l , t h e deputy c l e r k of t h e Council
was mandated t o approach t h e o l d c o r o n e r , M r . S e r a n i , t o
once more e x h o r t him t o f u r n i s h a complete r e p o r t on t h e
d e p o s i t i o n o f Xavier G a l l a n t ' s p r o p e r t y . Following t h a t ,
t h e j a i l o r , M r . Sentner presented himself before t h e
Council. Once a g a i n , h e made known t h e needs o f t h e p r i s o n e r s i n food and bedding. The Council f i n a l l y decided t o
a r i g h t t h i s problem i n a d e f i n i t i v e f a s h i o n . Some good had
come from X a v i e r ' s imprisonment.
The l i f e o f Xavier G a l l a n t f i n i s h e d q u i e t l y i n t h e
Charlottetown j a i l , a f t e r h e had been imprisoned more t h a n
a y e a r and t h r e e months, and t h i s , f o r t h e murder of h i s
w i f e . He d i e d abandonned of a l l , family and f r i e n d s , and
from a l l e v i d e n c e , a v i c t i m of t e r r i b l e t r e a t m e n t of p r i soners.
The B a l l a d
Subsequent t o h i s d e a t h , t h e Acadians composed a song
which r e c a l l s t h i s d r a m a t i c e v e n t i n t h e h i s t o r y of P r i n c e
Edward I s l a n d . The b a l l a d i t s e l f n e i t h e r r e v e a l s t h e name
of t h e murderer n o r h i s v i c t i m , n o r does i t s a y a word
about t h e p l a c e o r d a t e of t h i s drama. Y e t of a l l t h e b a l l a d s i n t h e Maritime a r e a , i t i s t h e most famous. U n t i l
t h e p r e s e n t , i t had been c o l l e c t e d i n t o 26 v e r s i o n s provided from P r i n c e Edward I s l a n d , and t h e " p e t i t e s Acadies"
of t h e Madeleine I s l a n d s , t h e ~ a s ~ g s i and
e , the ~ 6 t e - ~ o r d
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/
of Quebec.
Of a l l t h e v e r s i o n s c o l l e c t e d , n o t one i s complete.
The "complainte" h a s b e s t been preserved o u t s i d e of P r i n c e
Edward I s l a n d , w i t h t h e most complete v e r s i o n , counting
42 v e r s e s , being t h a t of t h e ate-~ord h i s t o r i a n and
f o l k l o r i s t , P l a c i d e Vigneau of Havre s t - p i e r r e 7 .
Many of t h e v e r s i o n s from P r i n c e Edward I s l a n d , New
Brunswick, and t h e ~ a s ~ e / s ci ae r r y t h e t i t l e "Le M e u r t r i e r
d e s a Femme", y e t t h e v e r s i o n s from t h e Madeleine I s l a n d s
and t h e ~ o " t e - ~ o radr e known a s "La Complainte d e Pinquin".
On t h e Madeleine I s l a n d s i t was known a s a very a n c i e n t
b a l l a d . You might a s k why t h e l a t t e r t i t l e , s i n c e t h e
word pinquin does n o t appear i n t h e t e x t of t h e "complainte"?
I n h i s HISTOIRE DE RUSTICO, h i s t o r i a n and g e n e a l o g i s t ,
J-Henri Blanchard, n o t e s t h a t Xavier G a l l a n t , whose two
d a u g h t e r s had married t h e Martin B r o t h e r s of t h a t v i l l a g e ,
was nicknamed "pinquaing/pinquinl1.
The Senator P a s c a l P o i r i e r of P r i n c e Edward I s l a n d
s a i d he had heard t h e word used only t o d e s c r i b e an Acadian
r e c i p e , d e s i g n a t i n g a "dish composed of p o t a t o e s , l a r d ,
and p i e c e s of mixed chicken, cooked i n a c a s s e r o l e " .
Today, t h i s e x p r e s s i o n i s l i t t l e known among t h e Acadians
of t h e I s l a n d , b u t i t i s w r i t t e n "pincan".
Although t h e
meal i s v e r y common, i t i s b e t t e r known a s "rapare" o r
l1chiardl1
.
On t h e Madeleine I s l a n d s , t h e e x p r e s s i o n "pinquin" was
o t h e r w i s e known, b u t i n a t o t a l l y d i f f e r e n t sense. Among
t h e a n c i e n t Madelinots, i t s i g n i f i e d a " l e a s t commendable
The person who was s e e n a s a " t r a i t o r t o h i s
person".
From i t s common usage,
neighbor" q u a l i f i e d a s a "pinquin".
and r e f e r r i n g t o t h e b a l l a d , t h e name "pinquin" q u a l i f i e d
any person having somewhat of a m a l i c i o u s o r murderous
c h a r a c t e r . I n c l o s i n g we p r e s e n t Vigneauls v e r s i o n of t h e
11
complainte", w i t h supplemented v e r s e s by M a i l l e t and Benoit
( i n p a r e n t h e s i s ) , from t h e n o r t h e r n New Brunswick a r e a ,
where Anne Chiasson-Gallant, ~ a v i e r ' smother d i e d on t h e
1 3 t h of A p r i l 1814 a t Shippagan I s l a n d , and where o t h e r
r e l a t i v e s of t h e family were known t o s e t t l e following t h i s
t r a g i c y e t epoch drama.
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