The obvious question is why would the second son be named John, unless the first John had died before 1770?

Although no death record of the first John has been found, the register of Notre-Dame de Montréal records the death 15 Apr and the burial 16 Apr 1777 of the second John (Jean), aged six years and some months, son of the Honorable Jean Frazer, member of the legislative council and judge of common pleas, a former captain in his Majesty’s service, and Dame Claire Fleury Deschambeau.  The other children were Catherine (1767), William (1771), Margaret (1773), Simon (1775), Josephte (1776), Marie-Claire (1778), Jane (1781) & Helen (1783).   There is no reference to a son named John after 1777 in any documents related to the other members of this family.  A document, dated 11 Jan 1796, related to the tutorship of the children of the late John Fraser, names Josette, 19 yrs; Fleury, 17 yrs; Hélène, 11 yrs. Curatorship to Marguerite, wife of Thomas Bonner, absent, out of province. Relatives: William Fraser, brother; Etienne Deschambeault, uncle; George Selby, cousin.

According to a letter 6 Mar 1786 Montreal from J. Fraser, Judge of Common Pleas, he was in England when he heard of the death of his sister-in-law, of Côteau du Lac, Quebec.  [American Loyalist Claims, Vol. 1, p. 168, by Peter Wilson Coldham (Washington, DC: National Genealogical Society, 1980)]


John Fraser - Field Train Dept., Royal Artillery

The following entries are taken from the register of the Montreal Garrison Anglican for 1815:

March 31^st - Fraser - Buried: Elizabeth, Wife of John Fraser Field Train Dept., aged 39 years, died the 28th & was buried the 31st of March one thousand eight hundred & fifteen.  By me, Geo Jenkins, Chaplain to the Forces.  Witnesses: William Kane, Robert Skene.

July 3^rd - Fraser - Married: John Fraser Gent of the Field Train Department and Monique Daveluy dite La Rose of Montreal Spinster, were married by Licence the 3rd of July one thousand eight hundred and fifteen.  By me, Geo Jenkins, Chaplain to the Forces.  This Marriage was so solemnized between us: John Fraser, Monique Daveluy Larose.  In presence of: John Lyle, Robt Nelson.

Several documents, recently found by Paul Lessard, may shed some light on this union.

1^st Aug 1817 - Power of Attorney given by John Fraser, Officer on half pay of the Field Train Dept., and by Monique Daveluy, his wife, to Notary Paul Edouard Daveluy, brother in law and brother.  John and Monique were getting ready to leave for Edinburgh, Scotland.   [Jean-Marie Mondelet, N.P. No. 4096].

John Fraser, Field Train Dept., and Monique Daveluy had two children: Monique (1816) and Jean-Antoine (1818).  According to the 1818 Census by the Curate of the Catholic parish of Quebec, the Fraser family was living in a rented house on St. Gabriel Street, Upper Town. 
John Fraser  39   Officer on half pay
Monique Daveluy Larose  25;  Monique  2; Jean-Ant.  3 weeks
One is Protestant, 3 are Catholics
John Fraser was 39 in 1818, so he was born about 1779.

8^th Feb 1825 at Montreal – Monique Fraser is put under tutorship following the death of Notary Paul Edouard Daveluy.  Monique, then about 9 years old, was his universal legatee.  Her father was out of the province and her mother, residing at Rivière-du-Loup (District of Trois-Rivières = Louiseville) was declared unable to take care of her interests.

Monique Fraser died 11 Nov 1839, aged 23.  Her brother Jean-Antoine Fraser married Agnès Legendre on 31 Jan 1842, by whom he had 9 children: Julie Claire (1842), Jean Gustave (1844), Siméon (1845), Omer Edouard (1846), Samuel Bernard (1847), Ludger Eugene (1849), Ernest Joseph Adesse (1851), Josephine Marie Alvine (1854) & Ludmille (1858).

The 1873 marriage of François Siméon Xénophan Fraser (1845-1908) & Alice May Bothwell (1853-1938) at Durham United was also recorded in St Pierre de Durham RC.
7^th Oct 1873 – St Pierre de Durham RC – Siméon, Notary of the Township of Durham, Arthabaska, son of John Fraser, blacksmith, and Agnès Legendre, enters into a contract of marriage with Alice May Bothwell, Protestant, of minor age, daughter of Frederick & Margaret Bothwell.  She promises to educate her children in the Catholic Religion.

On Feb 18th 1908 The Sherbrooke Daily Record reported that Siméon Fraser, joint prothonotary, died of heart failure last evening.  The chief mourners were Dr. S. B. Fraser, Fitch Bay, son of the deceased; Homer Fraser, Hartford, Conn.; Ernest Fraser, St. Croix, brothers; O. Couture, St. Croix, Registrar Lotbinière County; Edward and F. J. Bothwell, brothers-in-law.  A brief biography noted he had studied at Ste-Anne de la Pocatière, Kamouraska, was Mayor of L’Avenir in 1874 and moved to Richmond in 1884.  His grandfather, Captain John, was lost at sea on his way to Scotland to visit his parents in 1819.

On 10 Sep 1908 Dr. Siméon Bothwell Fraser (1879-1927) married Alice Ethel Campbell, who died 2 Feb 1920 at Brownsburg and was buried in Richmond.  According to The Sherbrooke Daily Record, the late Mrs. Fraser was the second daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Chas. Campbell.   She leaves two brothers, Grant of the Boston Last Company, Richmond, and Colin of the Sterling Bank, Montreal, Miss Islay, teacher in the High School, Sherbrooke, her husband and two young sons some ten and eight years of age.  Dr. Siméon B. Fraser died 19 May 1927, aged 47 years.  The same paper reported: Word was received on Friday morning (20th) of the death of Dr. Robin B. Fraser [sic] of New York, son of Mrs. S. Fraser of this town.

Alice Mary Bothwell died 20 Apr 1938.  She was survived by a daughter, Miss Hortense Fraser (1874-1954), who resided with her.  The two other children were Alice, wife of Frederick R. Bigelow of St. Paul, Minn., and Dr. Siméon B. Fraser, who predeceased her.  The grandchildren were Miss Eileen Bigelow of St. Paul, Minn., Mrs. O. H. Ingram of Nashville, Tenn., Campbell Fraser (born 1909) and Robin B. Fraser (born 1911) of North Bay, Ontario.

The following entry has been extracted from Les Vieilles Familles d’Yamachiche (Montreal: A.P. Pigeon, Imprimeur, 1900) with respect to Monique Daveluy (p. 262) –

Monique, b 12 mai 1793; 1º m à John Fraser (i), officier du 76ieme régiment de ligne anglaise; 2º m 30 juin 1834, à François Roberge (veuf de Susanne Paradis).

(i)     John Fraser a péri en traversant la mer, dans le but de revoir ses vieux parents. C’est le grand père de M le notaire S. Fraser, de Richmond, qui occupe une position distingué dans les cantons de l’Est. M le notaire sera, parait-il, candidat aux prochaines élections fédérales dans le comté de Richmond et Wolfe.

If John Fraser died at sea in 1819, why was he declared “outside this province” in 1825?   Several of his descendants believed he was lost at sea on 25 Oct 1831 while traveling on the Lady Digby in the Magdalen Islands.

A document found in the Court of King’s Bench proves that the marriage ended in 1820.

10^th Aug 1820 – Petition of Monique Daveluy – Action against John Fraser, her husband, residing at Quebec.  Grounds: Jealousy, Slander, Insult, Hatred, Harassment, Cruelty, Battery, Drunkenness.  Monique and her 2 year-old child were thrown out by John Fraser a month ago.  Claim: Separation of body, of residence and of estate.  She abdicates the Joint estate.  John must give her back 150 Pounds currency.  She must be cleared of all the debts contracted by him, past and future.  John must pay Alimony of 30 Pounds annually.  Young Monique, not mentioned, was likely living with a relative.

4^th Sept 1820 – John Fraser was summoned personally by the Sheriff to appear in Court on 2nd October 1820.

2^nd Oct 1820  – Judgment book, Vol. 2, p. 443.  Case No. 1057.  The Action in Separation is subject to further investigation.

20^th Oct 1821  – Judgment book, Vol. 3, p. 1365.  Case No. 1057.  In the case of Monique Daveluy, wife of John Fraser, Half Pay Officer in the Royal Artillery of the Field Train Dept.  The case is abandoned and dismissed.  John had probably left Quebec.

This may explain why no other child was born after 1818 and why he was declared “out of the province” in 1825.  By 1826 Monique was probably living with her brother Jean-Baptiste Daveluy, curate at St-Louis de Lotbinière, since she acted as godmother at a baptism at Ste-Croix de Lotbinière on 14th June 1826.  What happened to John Fraser from 1820 to 1831?  His death in 1831 now makes sense, as his widow married her second husband, a widower, in 1834.  We may never know what really happened to John Fraser, but the events leading up to 1820 provide some clues.

15 Dec 1812  Military Papers C-1707, p.83 (Ottawa, Reel C-3840)
A distribution of the Field Train Department in Canada, dated Quebec 15th Dec 1812, lists John Fraser as Civil Conductor of Stores at Fort George (Niagara), Upper Canada.

17 July 1813  Military Papers C-84, p.200 (Ottawa, Reel C-2645)
A Warrant, No. 661, dated Kingston 17th July 1813, was granted (including John Fraser, Conductor of Ordnance Stores, for the loss of the whole of his Baggage) for £65 Army Sterling in favour of Larratt Smith Esq Paymaster of the Field Train Department - viz - James Gordon, Asst Commissary, to receive ¾ as a Captain = £60 and John Fraser, Civil Conductor = £5 for the whole baggage, both lost 27 May 1813, when the Americans took Fort George.

16 Oct 1813  Military Papers C-1221, p.189 (Ottawa, Reel C-3527)
Mr John Fraser refused to receive that amount.

26 Nov 1816   Immigration: Canada from Scotland (Archives of Ontario)
John Fraser, Army depot conductor.  Located with wife and 1 ch, Lot 15, Con 2, Drummond Twp, Lanark Co, Ont.  (ICS-1). 
RG1-158-0-3  (MS 693, Reel 120) formerly RG1-C-1-3 #101:
John Fraser Fld Train Dep, from Scotland, is listed with wife and 1 female child.

John Fraser, born c1779, is not mentioned in the document, dated 11 Jan 1796, related to the tutorship of the children of the late Judge John Fraser who died in Montreal on 5 Dec 1795.  Furthermore, if John Fraser of the Field Train Dept., was born in Quebec and/or was a son of Captain (later Judge) John Fraser, he would have had no reason to be crossing the ocean to visit his parents in 1819, as indicated in the book on the families of Yamachiche.


Family of Captain John Fraser - 76th (Hindoostan) Regt.

Malcolm Holliday of Saint-Romuald, QC was cleaning out some papers prior to moving to a smaller home in the fall of 1998 and kindly sent us photos of the Fraser tombstone and close-up of the transcription on the bronze memorial plaque at Mount Hermon Cemetery, which reads as follows:
William John FRASER 8th Royal Rifles 1856-1922; Emma Victoria LEMESURIER 1859-1909; Allen and Muriel 1887-91; Constance 1883-1974; Florence M. 1891-1975; Descendants of Captain John M. FRASER 76th Scottish Regiment of Foot who served in H.M. Forces at Spain, Holland, Waterloo and U.S.A., and was Town Major of Quebec 1838; brother of Col. Alexander FRASER 78th Fraser Highlanders, Louisburg June 2, 1758 and Plains of Abraham Quebec September 13, 1759.  

On 13 Sept 1820 John Fraser, Esq., Captain on the half pay of the 76th Regt., Bachelor, aged 29, was married (by license & with consent of her mother) to Frances, daughter of the late Francis John Dupont, Merchant - Spinster, aged 18.  He was from Haldimand, Upper Canada.  Their children from 1821-29 were born in Cobourg and from 1830-40 in Quebec where he died in 1841.

Captain John had a large family.  His eldest son was Alexander Fraser (1823-1905), married to Martha S. Wyatt (1827-1909), whose third son was William John Fraser  (1856-1922) noted above.

Very useful information, but how could Captain John Fraser born in Scotland c1790, have been a brother of Colonel Alexander Fraser of the 78th born about 1730?  Also, the only Colonel in the 78th Regiment of Foot (Fraser’s Highlanders) was Lieut.-Colonel Simon Fraser of Lovat (1726-82) who raised the regiment in 1757.

It is possible that Captain John M. Fraser’s [unnamed] grandfather was a brother of Alexander Fraser of the 78th Fraser Highlanders although he could not have had the rank of Colonel when the regiment was disbanded in 1763.  If that were the case, he could have been the Alexander Fraser, late lieutenant in the 78th, who traveled down the Ohio River and the Mississippi after the Pontiac Rebellion. After serving with the 9th, 20th & 34th in which he was gazetted a captain 11 Nov 1776, he was detached from his regiment to lead a company of British marksmen called Fraser’s rangers.  He was gazetted a major in the 34th Foot on 18 Nov 1790 and promoted to lieutenant-colonel on 1 Mar 1794.  On Sep 1st 1795 he was lieutenant-colonel of the 45th Regiment of Foot.   According to the History of the 45th: 1st Nottinghamshire Regiment (Sherwood Foresters) by Col. P.H. Dalbiac, Late Captain 45th Regiment (1902), they were in the West Indies from 1795-1807, leading an uneventful life, but suffered terribly from disease.  “In 1797 and 1798, no less than 13 officers died, namely, Lieut.-Colonel Frazer; Captains Morrison and Hutchinson, etc…"

According to the British Army Lists, John Fraser’s name appears continuously from the time he was gazetted a lieutenant in the 76th Regiment on March 5th 1805 to his promotion as a captain on Dec 25th 1817.   The Army List for 1820 records that he was put on half pay Dec 25th 1818.

Although his age (29 in 1820 and 51 in 1841) places his birth c1790, his lieutenant’s commission in March 1805 raises the likelihood that John Fraser may have been older.

The 76th Regiment also included Alexander Fraser, Major, commissioned Sept 8th 1808, promoted Lt.Col. June 4th 1814; & Archibald Fraser, Assistant Surgeon, commissioned Dec 22nd 1808.  Formed in 1787 for service in India, the regiment was there from 1788 to 1806, when they embarked for England.  In 1808 they were sent to Spain; Holland in 1809; Spain again in 1813; to Canada in 1814 (Chambly, Plattsburg, St Johns); Quebec 1816-17, Kingston 1818, Quebec 1819-20, Kingston 1821, Fort George (Niagara) 1822; Montreal & Quebec 1826.  The regiment embarked for Ireland in 1827.  [ Historical Record of the 76th “Hindoostan” Regiment from its formation in 1787 to 30th June 1881, compiled and edited by Lieut.-Colonel F.A. Hayden, D.S.O., 2nd Battalion Duke of Wellington’s (West Riding Regiment), Lichfield, 1908]