René Bourassa

Biography

René Bourassa was born at La Prairie, across the St. Lawrence from Montréal in present-day Québec, Canada, on June 1, 1718, the son of René Bourassa dit La Ronde and Agnès Gagné. His mother died while he was still a small child. As an adult he appears in the parish record of Michilimackinac, in the Straits of Mackinac region of present-day Michigan, as the younger Bourassa, within a community where his father was also present.

On August 3, 1744 René married Anne-Charlotte-Véronique Chevalier. The same record describes the couple acknowledging their son René-François, born on March 31 that year, as their legitimate child. The priest supplied the ceremonies of baptism; René’s father stood as godfather, and Marie-Françoise Alavoine, Anne-Charlotte’s mother, was godmother.

Their son Daniel was born and baptized at the post on October 8, 1752. That entry names his father as Bourassa the younger and his mother as Anne Chevalier. The signature is recorded as René Bourassa, fils. These details distinguish this family from other men bearing the same surname and given name.

René’s later life is connected with Detroit, on the river of the same name in present-day southeastern Michigan. A historical note from the Mackinac Letter Book dates his burial there to November 24, 1792.

At the time of his sons’ births, Michilimackinac was a mainland fort and fur-trading settlement at present-day Mackinaw City, beside the straits joining Lakes Michigan and Huron. This younger René was distinct from his half-brother René-Clément.