Papineau, Amédée, 1819-1903

• Papineau, Louis J. A. (Louis Joseph Amédée), 1819-1903

Louis-Joseph-Amédée Papineau, or Amédée Papineau, was born on July 26, 1819, in Montreal, Quebec.

He was a writer and Québecois patriot. He was educated at the College of Saint-Hyacinthe. Since childhood, he was immersed in politics because his father Hon. Louis-Joseph Papineau (1786-1871), was the speaker in the House of Assembly and a leader in the Rebellion of 1837 in Lower Canada. On September 5, 1837, Amédée attended the founding meeting of the Sons of Liberty (Les Fils de la Liberté) at the Nelson Hotel in Montreal. On November 6, 1837, he took part in the battle of the Doric Club against the Sons of Liberty. Shortly after he fled to Saratoga Springs, N.Y., and met up with his father who had fled earlier. In the late 1840s, he fought with his father for the annexation of Lower Canada to the United States. Between 1837 and 1842, he drew up the first four books of his personal journal as “Journal d'un Fils de la Liberté” in which he chronicled the events of the 1837 rebellion and his life in exile. He completed his legal training during his stay in the United States.

In 1846, he married Mary Eleanor Westcott (-1890), and in 1896, he married Martha Jane Iona Curren. He died on November 23, 1909, in Montebello, Quebec.