The Danville Story
The first Bourré, Gilles, arrived from France with the Carignan regiment. A farm is conceded to him in recognition of his military service. The same farm has been occupied by his descendants up until 1982.
As for Georges Bourré, he was the son of Joseph Bourré and Marie Odile Boisvert. They were married at St Felix de Kinsey on Nov. 4, 1845 and cultivated a farm in Canton de Shipton. Georges is born on June 29, 1859 at Danville. The children of his age attended little school as work on the farm required their help. On Oct 8, 1879, Georges marries Alida Charland, daughter of Michel Charland and Mathilde Parquin at St Felix de Kinsey. They then reside in St Adrien. From this union ten children were born. The grandfather (Joseph) cultivated a flax-like plant called 'lin' from which the bark or skin is used to make composted loam or fertilizer. In 1903, since the house was too small and it was made known that there was work in the textile industry, the whole family was moved to Central Falls, RI as there was already five children old enough to work. In 1909, the grandfather returned alone to Quebec with the idea of choosing a farm. Georges chose his farm in the area of Canton de Shipton. He sent word to the grandmother (Mathilde) to sell household goods and furniture and return with the children by train. All returned and the girls worked at Hotel Danville of Ingalls so that the grandmother could concentrate on sewing/dressmaking for the women of Danville. As for the younger girls, they attended the convent in Danville as 'pensionnaires' (boarding school). It was at that moment that we began to write Bourré with a 'T' at the end. The religious did not like to write the word as it was and demanded to pronounce it Bourret as with accent aigue rather than Bourré with accent grave.
In 1935, Georges and Alida moved into the village of Danville. Georges died on August 31, 1935. Alida lived until November 18, 1951.
