Share Bookmark
Marie Raizenne

Marie Raizenne

Female 1736 - 1811  (75 years)    Has 38 ancestors but no descendants in this family tree.

Personal Information    |    Notes    |    Event Map    |    All

  • Name Marie Raizenne 
    Birth 1736  Oka, Deux Montagnes, Quebec, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Gender Female 
    Death 1811  Montréal, QC, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Siblings 7 Siblings 
    Person ID I355481  Geneagraphie
    Last Modified 28 Dec 2001 

    Father Ignace dit Shoentakouani Raizenne,   b. 2 Feb 1694, Suffield, Hartford County, Connecticut, USA Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 30 Dec 1771, Oka, Deux Montagnes, Quebec, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 77 years) 
    Mother Abigail Elizabeth Nims,   b. 11 Jun 1700, Deerfield, Franklin County, Massachusetts, USA Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 3 Jan 1747, Oka, Deux Montagnes, Quebec, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 46 years) 
    Marriage 29 Jul 1715  Oka, Deux Montagnes, Quebec, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Family ID F140413  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  • Event Map Click to hide
    Link to Google MapsDeath - 1811 - Montréal, QC, Canada Link to Google Earth
     = Link to Google Earth 
    Pin Legend  : Address       : Location       : City/Town       : County/Shire       : State/Province       : Country       : Not Set

  • Notes 
    • Marie Raizenne, named Saint Ignace, sister of the Congregation o f Notre Dame and superior (superior general), daughter of Josia h Rising (Shoentakwanni, Ignace Raizenne) and Abigail Nims (Tow atogowash, rebaptized Elisabeth).

      Marie Raizenne's parents had both been born in Deerfield, Massa chusetts. Captured by the Indians during the War of the Spanis h Succession (under Jean Baptiste Hertel de Rouville) and take n to Sault au Recollet (Montreal North) in 1704, they were bapt ized in the Catholic faith. The two captives, who were "raise d in the Indian fashion", attended the mission schools run by t he sisters of the Congregation of Notre Dame and the Sulpicians . At the end of the war they decided not to return to their nati ve land and on 29 July 1715 they were married. Three of their c hildren were to dedicate their lives to God. Indeed, when Mari e entered the noviciate of the Congregation of Notre Dame in Mo ntreal in 1752, she was taking the step that her elder sister , Marie-Madeleina, named Saint Herman, had taken 21 years earli er; her brother Amable Simon, had been ordained a priest in 174 4. Having made her profession in 1754 under the name of Siste r Saint Ignace, she lived through the events of the Seven Years ' War in Montreal; then in 1761 she helped restore the Sainte F amille mission on Ile d'Orleans. She was serving as mistress o f novices in Montreal when the mother house was destroyed by fi re in 1768. However, the following year she was sent to Quebec t o take charge of the newly established mission in Lower Town, w hich had had to suspend operations when the town was captured b y the British in 1759. Rebuilding the convent required a load o f 11,000 lives from merchant Jean Baptist Amiot. Even though sh e could not count on the aid of the townspeople, who were thems elves victims of the war, Sister Saint Ignace was successful i n repaying much of this debt within six years, thus demonstrati ng her administrative abilities. In 1775 she was recalled to Mo ntreal and became assistant to the superior, Veronique Brunet d it l'Estang, named Sainte Rose, whom she succeeded in 1778.

      During Sister Saint Ignace's first superiorship the community e xperienced its share of the woes brought on the country by the W ar of American Independence. Resources were so scarce that th e council of the community refused to repair any of its house s unless "it is raining a great deal [in them] ;" in 1780 the s isters were able to buy their supply of wheat (300 bushels) fro m one of their regular benefactors, Etienne Auge'. In 1781 th e superior of the Sulpician seminary in Montreal, Etienne Montgo lfier, released the community from the obligation of paying a s um of 1600 lives which represented the lods et ventes owed to th e seminary as a result of the sisters' purchase of Parc a Baron , a property between the St. Lawrence River and the road to Lac hine. That year, at her request, Governor Haldimand freed Siste r Saint Ignace from the requirement of amortizing, by annual pa yments, the seigneurial dues on the community's fief of Ile Sai nt Paul (Iles des Socurs), near Montreal.

      Given the financial difficulties facing the community, the siste rs in charge of the missions were strongly tempted to take int o their schools all the boarders who applied. However, to assur e the quality of the services offered and to safeguard the miss ionaries' health, a regulation was passed in 1780 limiting th e number of boarders to 40 and giving priority to pupils who we re getting ready for their first communion.

      Moreover, the community's dire poverty prompted Sister Saint Ign ace to be extremelt prudent when she was called upon in 1782 t o examine a proposal for the founding of a mission at Detroit , Michigan. A petition to that end had already been presented i n 1755 by the inhabitants of the "lower region of the colony" , but to no avail. This time Jean Francois Hubert, who was the n parish priest of Notre Dame de I'Assomption, near Detroit, ad dressed the request to Bishop Briand of Quebec, and was so conf ident of receiving a favorable reply that he sent 2400 lives fo r the missionaries voyage, promising to provide them with a sui table house. The founding of such a mission, however, posed pro blems for the Congregation of Notre Dame. For one thing, it rep resented a new financial burden for the community, which coul d barely maintain missions that were already established and we re close at hand; moreover, a mission at Detroit would not onl y be precarious, but might well be short lived. The superior als o thought that she could not compel any sister to move to Detro it, since going so far away had not been up to this time part o f the obligations implied in taking vows. In the series of mate rial and spiritual conditions that she considered appropriate t o submit to the Bishop before agreeing to the proposed mission , the superior revealed not only reservations but also her goo d sense and respect for her sisters' liberty. Afterwards, havin g weighed the advantages and disadvantages, she rejected the pr oject. On the other hand, in 1783 the congregation set up a mis sion at Saint Denise on the, Richelieu, taking possession o f a convent built for the sisters by the parish priest, Francoi s Cherrier. The running of the mission was entrusted to Marie-L ouise Compain, named Saint Augustin.

      In 1784, when her six year term of office came to an end, Siste r Saint Ignace became mistress of novices and four years late r second mistress, then in 1790 she was reelected superior. Dur ing her second superiorship she felt some quite legitimate anxi eties about the congregation's affairs in France. It was the pe riod of the Revolution, and the community's procurator, Jean Lo uis Maury, had not been heard from since 25 February 1789. Cons equently the community was deprived of the annuity payments whi ch constituted its main income. On learning of the spoliation o f the properties belonging to the clergy and the religious comm unities in France, Sister Saint Ignace was rightly concerned abo ut the fate of the congregation's possessions there. However sh e did not give up hope of seeing Canadian owned property treate d like that of other foreign countries, since the colony had no t been under French rule for many years. In a letter dated 1 1 March 1791, the procurator explained that he could no longe r pay the bills of exchange as before, since he was no longer c ertain he would be reimbursed for the money he advanced. Nor di d he give much reassurance as to the future of the property in F rance belonging to Canadian communities.

      By the time her second superiorship ended in 1796, Sister Sain t Ignace still had received no revenues from France and did no t know what fate had befallen the congregation's possessions th ere. It will be readily understood that such a period marke d a decided hiatus in the community's development. No new missi ons were founded. The sisters merely did the essential repair s and raised the monthly board in all the missions to seven liv es and a bushel of wheat, and the half board to four lives and h alf a bushel of wheat. On 14 May 1793, they sold Parc a Baron a nd a property in the Faubourg Quebec, in the cast end of Montrea l, that had come from a sister's dowry.

      During this six year term of office, the financial foundations a nd indeed the very future of the congregation Sister Saint Igna ce directed were seriously endangered. Becoming mistress of nov ices again when the term was over was a welcome rest for her. S he carried out this duty until 1802, and then lived in retireme nt for the last nine years of her life.

      (Condensed from an article by Andree Desilets, Canadian Biograph ies. Sent to Mary Ann Mickey by Denise Choppin Santos Januar y 18, 1998)



Home Page |  What's New |  Most Wanted |  Surnames |  Photos |  Histories |  Documents |  Cemeteries |  Places |  Dates |  Reports |  Sources