Jacques Deniau dit Destaillis accused of illegally selling brandy to savages

Jacques Deniau dit Destaillis accused of illegally selling brandy to savages

This is one of those stories family historians hate to find…

TRIAL OF JACQUES DENIAU DIT DESTAILLIS ACCUSED OF ILLEGALLY SELLING BRANDY TO SAVAGES, WHICH LED TO MURDER…

Trial against JACQUES DENIAU DIT DESTAILLIS (7TH GREAT-GRANDFATHER - A VOYAGEUR), La Prairie de La Madeleine, accused of illegally selling brandy to savages, which led to the murder of TWO-YEAR-OLD PIERRE GAGNÉ by two unidentified savages.- February 22, 1719 - February 25, 1719.

SCOPE AND CONTENT:

This file of a criminal matter is composed of the following parts: the request to the effect that the name JACQUES DENIAU SAID DESTAILLIS, of Laprairie, sold water of life to two wild Iroquois, which, drunk, killed little PIERRE GAGNÉ (1ST COUSIN 8X REMOVED) on the way back to Sault-Saint-Louis; the request for the holding of a judicial inquiry; permission granted; order to assign 

WITNESSES; the assignments to the latter, including RENÉ BOURASSA (7TH GREAT-UNCLE), of Laprairie, aged 30; PIERRE PINSONNAULT (7th great-uncle), of Laprairie, 43 years old; Claude Bisaillon, of Laprairie, aged 24; GUILLAUME BARET DIT COURVILLE (7th great-grandfather), notary, 35 years old; and FRANÇOIS GAGNÉ DIT DAUBIGEON (8TH GREAT-UNCLE), 39 years old. The judicial information relating the facts surrounding the circumstances of the discovery of the death of the little Gagné complete the file.

SEE: http://pistard.banq.qc.ca/unite_chercheurs/description_fonds?p_anqsid=20070502092503105&P_classe=TL&P_fonds=4&P_centre=06M&P_numunide=862992

MORE…

Pierre Gagne (Gagnier) 1717–1719 (1st cousin 8x removed)
BIRTH JANVIER 1717 • La Prairie, Québec, Canada
DEATH 21 FÉVRIER 1719 • La Prairie, Québec, Canada
Son of Pierre Gagne (Gagnier) 1678–1756 (8th great-uncle) AND Madeleine Baudreau 1686–1771 (wife of 8th great-uncle)

THE REST OF THE STORY (found in ancestry (dot) com archives)

Au XVIII e siècle, les seigneurs rappelleront (...) la même interdiction (...) de vendre des boissons enivrantes aux Indiens. Défense d'autant plus rigoureuse depuis 1719 que trois Iroquois du Sault-Saint-Louis se sont enivrés chez Jacques Deneau à La Prairie et ont tué, en l'éventrant, le jeune fils de Pierre Gagné, âgé de deux ans. (...) Au sujet de l'affaire Gagné, un long interrogatoire (...) conclut à la culpabilité de Deneau et le condamne à 300 livres d'amende.

Translated:

In the eighteenth century, the lords will recall (...) the same prohibition (...) to sell intoxicating drinks to the Indians. Defense so much more rigorous since 1719 that three Iroquois of Sault-Saint-Louis were intoxicated at Jacques Deneau's in La Prairie and killed, by the gutting, the young son of Pierre Gagné, two years old. (...) About the case Gagné, a long interrogation (...) CONCLUDES TO THE CULPABILITY OF DENEAU AND CONDEMNS HIM TO 300 POUNDS OF FINE.

NOTE: The original file from BAnQ Old Montreal includes 12 pages of handwritten documents.

I believe he was the son of Marin Deneau dit Destaillis (1621–1678) and Louise Therese LeBreuil (1636–1727); and the husband of Marie Rivet (1673–1705). His death date was 29 Jun 1720...  I wonder if the punishment might have been more severe than the ancestry record stated?