Honoré Beaugrand (1848–1906) National Historic Person

 

 

Historical importance: as head of various French-language newspapers in the U.S.A. and then in Canada, notably La Patrie (1879-1978); free thinker and Freemason, publisher and author, he published the earliest works of Franco-American literature such as La Chasse galerie: Légendes canadiennes (1891-1892, 1900).

Commemorative plaque: no plaque installed^{Footnote 1}

Honoré Beaugrand (1848–1906)

Honoré Beaugrand was a free thinker and Freemason who vigorously defended freedom of thought in the late 19th century. The head of various French-language newspapers in the United States and Canada, his blend of liberal, republican, and anticlerical ideas were considered radical at a time when ultramontanism was gaining influence in French-Canadian society. After several ventures in journalism, Beaugrand founded La Patrie (1879-1978) and enjoyed commercial success, reflecting the influence of the publication and his ideas. Beaugrand was also an author who came to prominence with the publication of Jeanne la Fileuse (1878), one of the earliest works of Franco-American literature. He further distinguished himself with La Chasse galerie: Légendes canadiennes (1891–1892, 1900), which popularized the French-Canadian version of the chasse-galerie legend, featuring lumberjacks, and which is now well integrated into French-Canadian culture. Through these tales, he contributed to the wide array of publications from the second half of the 19th century that drew inspiration from French-Canadian folklore.

Born in 1848 to an influential family in Lanoraie, northeast of Montréal, Beaugrand enlisted in the French army in 1865, then in 1871, settled in New England and became involved in associations bringing together other French Canadians. There he founded two newspapers, L’Écho du Canada (1873–1875) and La République (1875–1878), which promoted a positive image of French-speaking communities in the United States. In 1878, he published the novel Jeanne la Fileuse about the experience of French-Canadian migrants to the United States. In it, he condemns politicians for ignoring the real reasons behind the mass departures: difficult living conditions and lack of work in Quebec.

Beaugrand returned to Montréal and founded the influential and commercially successful newspaper La Patrie in 1879. He ran the paper like a business to ensure financial independence and maintain freedom of the press. For almost two decades, he devoted himself to his newspaper and became involved in controversial arguments against conservatives, the Catholic clergy, and ultramontanism. In 1885, Beaugrand was elected mayor of Montréal. His two mandates were marked by a smallpox epidemic, the trial and execution of Louis Riel in Regina, Saskatchewan, and high water and flooding in southwest Montréal caused by ice jams on the St. Lawrence River. In 1890, he ran as an independent liberal candidate in the provincial general election in the Montréal riding of Division No. 3 but was defeated.

In the late 1880s, Beaugrand fell ill with lung disease and severe asthma attacks. To recover, he frequently left Montréal to avoid the more polluted and humid months and visited capitals in the United States and Europe, as well as more distant countries such as Japan, India, China, and Egypt. He continued to write and participated in cultural societies such as the Alliance française, the Société des traditions populaires and the Canadian Folklore Society. Around this time, he published La Chasse galerie: légendes canadiennes, a collection of folktales that he had reworked. It contributed significantly to the popularization of the legend of the chasse-galerie. Several versions of the chasse-galerie exist in Quebec, Canada, and Europe, as well as among First Nations. Beaugrand’s version, which features lumberjacks, became the most popular and well-known version of the story in French Canada, and is an integral part of Québec culture and folklore.

“By turning our attention to Honoré Beaugrand, a prominent Canadian historical figure, the Maison des Cageux (Raftsmen House) offers us the opportunity to discover the odyssey of this remarkable 19th-century French Canadian. A forerunner erudite from Lanoraie, mayor of Montreal, and founder of the renowned newspaper La Patrie, Honoré Beaugrand bequeaths to our literary heritage The Hunting-Gallery (The Flying Canoe), this timeless legend moored in the Indigenous tradition of the bark canoe and anchored in the centuries-old epic of the raftsmen of the St. Lawrence River."

This press backgrounder was prepared at the time of the Ministerial announcement in 2026.

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