Yamachiche, Quebec
Encyclopedia
Yamachiche is a municipality
Types of municipalities in Quebec
The following is a list of the types of local and supralocal territorial units in Quebec, including those used solely for statistical purposes, as defined by the Institut de la Statistique du Québec....

 in the Mauricie
Mauricie
Mauricie is a traditional and current administrative region of Quebec. La Mauricie National Park is contained within the region, making it a prime tourist location. The region has a land area of 35,855.22 km² and a 2006 census population of 258,928 residents...

 region of the province
Provinces and territories of Canada
The provinces and territories of Canada combine to make up the world's second-largest country by area. There are ten provinces and three territories...

 of Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....

 in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

.

Etymology

The name Yamachiche was first used to identify the Little Yamachiche River (Petite rivière Yamachiche) which runs through the town. It came from the Native American (possibly Cree
Cree language
Cree is an Algonquian language spoken by approximately 117,000 people across Canada, from the Northwest Territories and Alberta to Labrador, making it the aboriginal language with the highest number of speakers in Canada. It is also spoken in the U.S. state of Montana...

) words iyamitaw (meaning "much") and achichki (meaning "mud"). Therefore Yamachiche could have the general meaning of "muddy river", which is a characteristic of this stream. In Abenaki
Abenaki language
The Abenaki language is a dialect continuum within the Eastern Algonquian languages, originally spoken in what is now Vermont, New Hampshire, northern Massachusetts and Maine...

, it was identified as Namasis (small fish) and Obamasis (small white fish).

The name has gone through many spelling variations: Machiche, Ouabmachiche, Yabamachiche, Hyamachiche, Yamachiste, Amachis, à Machis, à Mashis, Machis, Augmachiche, Ouamachiche, Yabmachiche, etc., which have mainly affected the name of the river, whereas the parish and municipal names have remained more stable.

History

In 1653, the area was part of a fief granted to Pierre Boucher de Grosbois
Pierre Boucher
Pierre Boucher and later Pierre Boucher de Boucherville, born and baptized 1 August 1622 in Mortagne-au-Perche, died 19 April 1717 at the age of 95 at Boucherville, came to Canada from France in 1635 with his father...

, Governor of Trois-Rivières
Trois-Rivières
Trois-Rivières means three rivers in French and may refer to:in Canada*Trois-Rivières, the largest city in the Mauricie region of Quebec, Canada*Circuit Trois-Rivières, a racetrack in Trois-Rivières, Quebec...

, and in 1672, it was formally ceded to Grosbois. The Grosbois or Machiche Seignory was 1.5 leagues
League (unit)
A league is a unit of length . It was long common in Europe and Latin America, but it is no longer an official unit in any nation. The league originally referred to the distance a person or a horse could walk in an hour...

 long by 2 leagues deep along the shores of Lac Saint-Pierre. But because of war with the Iroquois
Beaver Wars
The Beaver Wars, also sometimes called the Iroquois Wars or the French and Iroquois Wars, commonly refers to a series of conflicts fought in the mid-17th century in eastern North America...

, it could not be colonized until the beginning of the 18th century.

In 1703, the first colonists, the three Gélinas brothers, settled in the area and by 1706, there are 7 families. That same year, the name Yamachiche first appeared in the census. In 1711, the first chapel was built, dedicated to Sainte Anne by Récollet
Recollets
The Récollets were a French branch of the Roman Catholic order, the Franciscans , which developed out of a reform movement that began in the 15th century in Spain and established itself in France in Tulle in 1585, at Nevers in 1592, at Limoges in 1596 and in Paris in 1603...

 Siméon Dupont, and the Parish of Sainte-Anne was formed in 1722. A year later, the settlement consisted of about 20 families and 100 persons.

In 1725, the Chemin du Roy
Chemin du Roy
The Chemin du Roy is a historic road along the north shore of the St. Lawrence River in Quebec. The road begins in Repentigny and extends almost eastward towards Quebec City, its eastern terminus...

(French for "King's Highway") was built connecting it with Louiseville
Louiseville, Quebec
Louiseville is a town in the Mauricie region of the province of Quebec in Canada. It is located near the mouth of the Wolf River on the north shore of Lac Saint-Pierre....

 and Pointe-du-Lac
Pointe-du-Lac, Quebec
Pointe-du-Lac is a former municipality in Quebec, Canada on the St. Lawrence River. It was founded in 1738 and its actual church dates from 1882. Another old building in the village is the Moulin Seigneurial, founded in 1721 and rescued in the 70s by resident Mariette Chenay.The municipality was...

. In 1764, the West Grosbois Seignory was purchased by Conrad Gugy
Conrad Gugy
The Hon. Conrad Gugy J.P., M.P. , was secretary to Sir Frederick Haldimand in Lower Canada, a seigneur and political figure.-Early life:...

, thereby becoming the first French-Canadian Seignory in English possession. Between 1765 and 1790, Yamachiche grew quickly with new settlers from Acadia (Acadians expelled by the English) and from the United States, particularly Loyalists
Loyalist (American Revolution)
Loyalists were American colonists who remained loyal to the Kingdom of Great Britain during the American Revolutionary War. At the time they were often called Tories, Royalists, or King's Men. They were opposed by the Patriots, those who supported the revolution...

 from Massachusetts.

In 1828, the Saint-Barnabé
Saint-Barnabé, Quebec
Saint-Barnabé, also known as Saint-Barnabé-Nord, is a parish municipality in the Mauricie region of the province of Quebec in Canada.-List of Mayors:The Mayor is the municipality's highest elected official. Saint-Barnabé has had fifty mayors....

 and Saint-Sévère
Saint-Sévère, Quebec
Saint-Sévère is a parish municipality in the Mauricie region of the province of Quebec in Canada.- References :...

 Parishes were formed by separating from the Sainte-Anne-d'Yamachiche Parish. In 1831, the post office opened. In 1845, the Municipality of Yamachiche was founded but abolished in 1847. It was reestablished in 1855 as the Parish Municipality of Sainte-Anne-d'Yamachiche, with Francois Gerin-Lajoie as first mayor. In 1878, the first train came to Yamachiche, followed by the telegraph
Telegraphy
Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages via some form of signalling technology. Telegraphy requires messages to be converted to a code which is known to both sender and receiver...

 in 1880.

In 1887, the village itself separated from the parish municipality and became the Village Municipality of Yamachiche, with George Felix Heroux as first mayor. In 1895, telephone was installed in Yamachiche and street lighting in 1904.

In 1973, the railway station (Canadian Pacific) closed, but in 1975, the new Quebec Autoroute 40
Quebec Autoroute 40
Autoroute 40 is a major highway on the north shore of the St. Lawrence River in Quebec, Canada. It is one of the two main connections between Montreal and Quebec City...

 opened, providing access to Yamachiche with 3 interchanges. In 1987, the village and parish municipalities were merged to form the current Municipality of Yamachiche.

List of Mayors

Yamachiche's first local government was established in 1855. From 1887 to 1987, Yamachiche was divided into a parish municipality and a village municipality. Each entity had its own local council and its own mayor. Both structures were merged in 1988 with only one municipal council and one mayor. Officially, municipal elections in Yamachiche are on a non-partisan basis.

Parish Municipality of Sainte-Anne-d'Yamachiche

# Mayor Taking Office Leaving
1 François Gérin-Lajoie 1855 1858
2 Joseph Lacerte 1858 1860
3 Charles Lajoie 1860 1864
4 Madore Gélinas 1864 1868
5 Raphaël Boucher 1868 1870
6 Georges-Horace Proulx 1870 1872
7 Héli-Léonard Héroux 1872 1875
8 Joseph Bellemare 1875 1877
9 Alexandre Daveluy 1877 1878
10 François-Sévère Lesieur Desaulniers
François-Sévère Lesieur Desaulniers
François-Sévère Lesieur Desaulniers was a politician in the Quebec, Canada. He served as Member of the Legislative Assembly.-Early life:He was born on September 19, 1850 in Yamachiche, Mauricie...

1878 1879
11 François Lacerte 1879 1880
12 Antoine Lamy 1880 1881
13 Thomas Ricard 1881 1882
14 Louis Dussault 1882 1884
15 Arthur Lacerte 1884 1885
16 Joseph Lapointe 1885 1886
17 Élie Lacerte
Élie Lacerte
Élie Lacerte was a Quebec physician and political figure. He represented Saint Maurice in the Canadian House of Commons as a Conservative member from 1868 to 1874 and in the Legislative Assembly of Quebec from 1875 to 1878.He was born in Saint-Sévère in 1821. He studied at the college at Nicolet...

 
1886 1887
18 Thomas Dufresne 1887 1889
10 François-Sévère Lesieur Desaulniers
François-Sévère Lesieur Desaulniers
François-Sévère Lesieur Desaulniers was a politician in the Quebec, Canada. He served as Member of the Legislative Assembly.-Early life:He was born on September 19, 1850 in Yamachiche, Mauricie...

1889 1892
19 Esdras Lamy 1892 1896
20 George L. Duchêne 1896 1907
21 Honoré Lapointe 1907 1912
22 Jean-Baptiste Fréchette 1912 1913
23 Théodore Bourassa 1913 1914
24 Thomas A. Lamy 1914 1915
25 Élie Bellemare 1915 1917
26 Georges Proulx 1917 1921
27 Joseph L. Desaulniers 1921 1923
25 Élie Bellemare 1923 1925
28 Alexandre Gignac 1925 1929
29 Omer E. Milot 1929 1933
30 Joseph Gauthier 1933 1935
31 Alcide Bellefeuille 1935 1937
32 Alide L. Desaulniers 1937 1939
33 Henri P. Milot 1939 1941
32 Alide L. Desaulniers 1941 1949
34 Clovis Héroux 1949 1953
32 Alide L. Desaulniers 1953 1959
35 Fleurimond Pellerin 1959 1961
36 Philias Isabelle 1961 1967
37 Gaston Houle 1967 1973
36 Philias Isabelle 1973 1978
38 Marcel Duchesne 1978 1979
39 Jacques Landry 1979 1986
40 André Chainé 1986 1987

Village Municipality of Yamachiche

# Mayor Taking Office Leaving
1 Georges Félix Héroux 1887 1899
2 Arthur Héroux 1899 1900
3 Pierre Gaspard Bellemare 1900 1901
4 Napoléon Pellerin 1901 1905
5 Joseph Boucher 1905 1906
6 Adrien Milot 1906 1908
7 Moïse Carbonneau 1908 1908
4 Napoléon Pellerin 1908 1909
8 Napoléon Bellemare 1909 1910
9 Hyacinthe Trahan 1910 1912
10 Napoléon Samson 1912 1912
11 Eugène Lesieur 1912 1916
12 Victor Descôteaux 1916 1919
13 Didier St-Louis 1919 1921
14 Pierre Bellemare 1921 1923
15 Hercule Descôteaux 1923 1925
16 Dionis Villemure 1925 1927
17 Eugène Maillette 1927 1929
18 Raoul Duchesne 1929 1931
14 Pierre Bellemare 1931 1935
19 Charles-Édouard Girardin 1935 1943
20 Omer St-Louis 1943 1951
21 J. Sylvio Villemure 1951 1953
20 Omer St-Louis 1953 1957
22 Émile Pellerin 1957 1961
23 Charles-Denis Girardin 1961 1973
24 Roland Girardin 1973 1982
25 Raymond Bellemare 1982 1987

Merged municipality

# Mayor Taking Office Leaving
1 André Chainé 1988 1991
2 Louise A. Bellemare 1991 1999
3 Michel Isabelle 1999 Current

Demographics

Population trend:
  • Population in 2006: 2760 (2001 to 2006 population change: 4.9 %)
  • Population in 2001: 2631
  • Population in 1996: 2776
  • Population in 1991: 2784


Private dwellings occupied by usual residents: 1083 (total dwellings: 1141)

Mother tongue:
  • English as first language: 0 %
  • French as first language: 99.1 %
  • English and French as first language: 0.5 %
  • Other as first language: 0.4 %

Notable people from Yamachiche

  • Nérée Beauchemin
    Nérée Beauchemin
    Charles-Nérée Beauchemin was a French Canadian poet and physician.He published two volumes of his poetry: Les Floraisons Matutinales in 1897 and Patrie Intime in 1928.-External links:*...

     (1850–1931), poet and physician
  • Antoine Gérin-Lajoie
    Antoine Gérin-Lajoie
    Antoine Gérin-Lajoie was a Québécois Canadian poet and novelist. He was the author of the famous poem Un Canadien Errant . He was the father of the sociologist Leon Gérin.- External links :*...

     (1824–1882), poet and novelist

Footnotes

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