Commemorative plaque in honour of Nicolas II

We reproduce here the speech of Jacques Paquin, at the unveiling of a commemorative plaque, in tribute to Nicolas Paquin II, one of the pioneers of Deschambault. This unveiling took place during the inauguration of the Park «Les Jardins du Cap Lauzon»                                                                                                                            

July 31, 2005

At the entrance of the Municipality of Deschambault-Grondines, on the east side, on Chemin du Roy, opposite the Experimental Farm, you can see a commemorative plaque erected by the Commission des Monuments historiques du Québec.

This plaque reminds all passers-by that the seigneurial Fief of Chavigny was granted to François de Chavigny on December 4, 1640. And it is added that the ownership of this fief was transferred by the widow De Chavigny, Éléonore de Grandmaison, to his son-in-law Jacques-Alexis Fleury D'Eschambault in 1683.

Next to this plaque, on the land, formerly owned by the Paquin Family, is a memorial to the faith and valour of the Paquin ancestors.

The immediate vicinity of these two monuments is not the result of chance. Indeed, the Paquin family and the Éléonore de Grandmaison family, before living side by side here in Deschambault, lived first in the same neighborhood on the Île d'Orléans.  The Paquin family cultivated one of the first farms of the Sainte-Famille, while the Éléonore de Grandmaison family lived, not far from there, on the Fief de Beaulieu.

Thus Nicolas Paquin, Son, invited by the Éléonore de Grandmaison family, came to settle at Deschambault around 1698.

It is therefore a happy coincidence that today these two Families, once again, find themselves in the same neighborhood. Two plates, adjacent to each other: one to recall the memory of François de Chavigny and his wife Éléonore de Grandmaison, and the other as a tribute to one of the first pioneers on this land of Deschambault,  Nicolas Paquin II.

What we are doing today is a sign of our pride and respect for our ancestors. We want to keep in touch with our past, not in a spirit of nostalgia or dreams, but rather in order to find a better knowledge of who we are as "Québecois",  and in order to find new dynamism and new paths to the future.

“Ask past generations, be attentive to the experience of the fathers” (Job 8:8), the Holy Scriptures tell us! It is of the utmost importance that we "Québecois" remain attentive to the interpretation of our past. “Our future is rooted in our history”!  If we do not relate to our past, we risk going around in circles, finding ourselves constantly facing ourselves, without heroes, without legends, without pride, without a national project.

In closing, we would like to extend a cordial thank you to all the volunteers from Deschambault, members of the Embellishment Committee and others, who designed and built these << Jardins du Cap Lauzon >>, a place of history and beauty!