Guillaume Couture

Monument to Guillaume Couture in Levis

Guillaume Couture (January 14, 1618 – April 4, 1701) was a citizen of New France. During his life he was a lay missionary with the Jesuits, a survivor of torture, a member of an Iroquois council, a translator, a diplomat, a militia captain, and a lay leader among the colonists of the Pointe-Lévy (now named Lévis city) in the Seigneury of Lauzon, a district of New France located on the South Side of Quebec City.

Early life and recruitment by the Jesuits

Couture was born in Rouen in 1618, the political center of Normandy, a province in Northern France, the son of Guillaume Couture Sr. and Madeleine Mallet. Guillaume Sr. was a carpenter in the St. Godard district and young Guillaume was trained in the same occupation. However, by 1640 he was recruited by Jesuits to be a donné in New France to help convert the natives of New France to Roman Catholicism. Couture had to take a vow of celibacy and give up his inheritance, transferring it to his relatives in Rouen.

Work with Isaac Jogues

Arriving in New France in 1640, Couture went to work among the Hurons. By 1642, Couture was working with the Jesuit leader Isaac Jogues. During this period, Couture learned several major native languages, which increased his stature, for he could now work as a translator for the Jesuits. Couture also learned much about native culture and ways during this period.

Tortured by the Iroquois

In 1642, Couture set out with Father Jogues, another lay missionary, René Goupil, and several Huron converts for Quebec City. On their way back to the Huron missions, an Iroquois war party ambushed the group. Right before the attack, Couture saw the Hurons, who realized what was about to happen, take off into the woods; Couture followed them as Jogues and Goupil were captured. However, according to Relations des Jésuites de la Nouvelle-France (the official reports sent by the Jesuits to their leaders in France) reported that Couture soon began to regret what he did. The Relations reported that:

This young man was able to escape; but the thought of it having come to him -"no" he says, "I wish to die with the Father; I cannot forsake him; I will gladly suffer the fire and the rage of these tigers for the love of Jesus Christ, in the company of the good Father" That is speaking like a truly faithful man.

On his way to surrender himself to the Iroquois, Couture was ambushed by five Iroquois. One of them fired a gun at Couture, but he missed. Couture shot back, killing the warrior instantly. The other four Iroquois fell upon Couture and beat him with war clubs. They also took a javelin and forced it through one of his hands. Later on, Couture, Jogues, and Goupil were subjected to even more torture. The Iroquois tore out Couture's fingernails, and bit the ends to cause maximum pain. Then the three men were stripped and forced to walk through a party of two hundred warriors, the Iroquois beating the three men with sticks of thorns. After arriving at an Iroquois village, an Iroquois leader took out a dull knife and began to cut off Couture's right middle finger. When this failed to work, the chief simply pulled the finger out of its socket. At this point, Couture was sent deep into Iroquois Country (present day upstate New York in Auriesville) where he was given to a family to be their slave.

Diplomacy and release

For the next three years, Couture impressed his captors greatly. No doubt they were impressed with the fact that he withstood his torture (which would have killed most people) and performed the tasks assigned to him with dignity. So impressed were the Iroquois that they invited Couture to sit on their councils. No other European would ever get this honor.

In 1645, de Montmagny, the governor of New France, decided it was time to end the war with the Iroquois. He released several Iroquois prisoners and sent them into Iroquois Country to negotiate a peace settlement. The Iroquois in turn released Couture, and asked him to act on their behalf, which Couture agreed to do. Couture arrived at Trois-Rivières and, along with two Iroquois leaders, was able to put an end (for the time) the war between the Five Nations Iroquois and the French.

Instead of settling down after such an ordeal, Couture decided to go straight back to Huron Country. In 1646 he was reported as working in the Huron missions with Father Pijart. He only did this for only two years between 1645 and 1647.

First settler of Pointe-Lévy in the Seignory of Lauzon

On May 15, 1647, he became the first settler of the Seignory of Lauzon at Pointe-Lévy (located in front of Quebec City) which will become the city of Lévis in 1861. However, he was not a seignor because the Seignory of Lauzon was the property of Jean de Lauzon, the Governor of New France between 1651 and 1657. In 1649, the Jesuit leaders in New France voted unanimously to release Couture from his vows and to allow him to get married. The woman who Couture chose to be his bride was Anne Aymard, who was from St André de Niort, in Poitou region of France. The couple would have ten children during their years of marriage.

Last mission and last expedition in New France

During the 1650s and 1660s, Couture acted as a diplomat, going to New Netherlands to negotiate trade and to settle boundary disputes between the two colonies.

In 1663, Couture was recruited by French Governor Pierre Dubois Davaugour for a mission in the North of New France. The main mission was to find the North Sea. However, Couture found the Mistassini Lake and he goes to the Rupert River. He was accompanied by Pierre Duquet and Jean Langlois and many Amerindians. This shipment consisted of 44 boats. No doubt Couture's skills with native languages came into good use. The party worked among the Papinachois, who lived in present-day northeastern Quebec.

The administrator and Captain of the Militia of Pointe-Lévy

Sometime around 1666, with war with the Iroquois and the English looming, Couture, now living full-time in Pointe-Lévy (Lévis) since 1647. Couture was the main administrator and had been named Captain of the Militia for the area he lived in. This was a major honor in New France, going only to those who had proved themselves, something Couture had done again and again. In 1690, when Admiral William Phips invaded Quebec City Area, Couture was able to prevent the English from attacking Pointe-Lévy at the age of 72.

By this point, Couture was also the Chief Magistrate of the Pointe-Lévy (today Lévis) district. Among his jobs were to run the censuses, enforce government edicts, and run the local assemblies that met from time to time. Couture was also in charge of local court cases, being both judge and jury. On some occasions, Couture was invited to sit on the Sovereign Council, which ran New France for Louis XIV. The fact that the status-obsessed French government offered Couture a part-time seat on the council shows how highly the leaders of New France viewed him.

Marriage and children

Plaque of Guillaume Couture in Lévis.

Guillaume married Anne Emard (or Aymard) on November 16, 1649 in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. Together they had the following children:

Death

On November 18, 1700, Couture's wife, Anne, died. In the spring of 1701, Couture was 83 years old and sick. He was moved to the Hôtel-Dieu de Québec, where he died on April 4, 1701. The location of his tomb is unknown, as is the location of the tomb of Samuel de Champlain, founder of Quebec City.

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