Martin Prévost, born on Jan. 4, 1611, is the son of Pierre Provost and Charlotte Vié (Vien) of Montreuil-sous-Bois, a suburb to the east of Paris. Martin had had four brothers and one sister. He came to Canada around 1639 and married in 1644. According to the official records of New France, Martin Prévost was the first white to marry an indian. The wife of Martin called Marie Olivier Sylvestre, was of the Algonquian tribe. Her name at birth was Manitouabéouich and she was given the Christian name d'Olivier in honor of her adoptive father, Olivier LeTardiff, interpreter and commissioner general of the company of the One Hundred Associations. Martin Prévost and his family moved from Quebec to Beauport. He died at age 80, on Jan. 27, 1691.
By Suzanne Guimont Binette
In the early history of Canada, it was not until Olivier
LeTardif
became the personal representative and interpreter for Samuel de
Champlain that we first hear the name Manitouabewich.
This young Indian, of the Huron Nation, had been hired as
LeTardif's
own scout and traveling companion. Manitouabewich had been converted to
Christianity by the French missionaries, and as part of the baptismal
ritual, had been given the Christian name of Roch, in honor of St.Roch,
the patron saint. Olivier LeTardif and Roch Manitouabewich
traveled
together for many years. It was the responsibility of LeTardif to
establish a network of fur trading posts for the "Company" that
Champlain had based at Quebec (l'Habitation at Basseville). Actually,
the fur trading posts were the "middle link" between the trappers and
the "Company". There were three types of trappers:
a) the trappers that were "licensed" by the authorities of the
Company
b) the itinerant unlicensed trappers known as the "Coureurs des
bois"
c) the Indians who trapped and traded with the Company
All of these three types bartered their furs at the fur trading
post of
his choice, usually the post nearest his hunting area. The system worked
well and was rather efficient. The trading posts gave the trappers a
"depot" at which they could dispose of their furs and at the same time
barter for traps, knives, and items of clothing such as hats, shirts,
etc. The Indians almost always bartered for blankets, mirrors, the
white man's hats, and for colored beads to adorn their native costumes
and headdresses. As a team, LeTardif and Manitouabewich oftentimes
penetrated deep into the vast expanse of the Canadian wilderness to make
contact with some of the outlaying Indian settlements of the "back
country", and along the way they met and did business with some of the
nomadic Indians. They encouraged these nomadic Indians to use the
facilities of the various trading posts that had been set up for the
operation of fur trade.
After eight years in the field, LeTardif was promoted by
Champlain and
became the head clerk (equivalent to Secretary-Treasurer) of the fur
trading company. It was then that Le Tardif settled down to a more
normal way of life, conducting the "inner affairs" of the Company at the
main office at Quebec (Basse-ville). Roch Manitouabewich also settled
down to a more domestic way of life, but in his own environment of the
Huron settlement at Sillery near Quebec. The bond off friendship,
trust, and loyalty between these two men was very strong, and, although
each lived in his own "milieu", they never lost contact one from the
other. It was when Roch Manitouabewich and his wife had a daughter and
had her baptized that LeTardif became "Godfather" for the baby girl, and
in accordance with the custom of the times, LeTardif gave the girl his
own name of Olivier. In addition, the missionary performing the baptism
gave the girl the name Marie, in honor of the Virgin Mary, and he also
gave her the name Sylvestre, meaning "one who comes from the forest" or
"one who lives in the forest". When Marie Olivier Sylvestre was ten
years old, Olivier LeTardif, in his generous way and because of his
respect for his friend and servant, Roch Manitouabewich, adopted the
young Indian girl as his very own daughter (she never carried the family
name of LeTardif). This enabled her to be educated and reared in the
same manner as a well-to-do French girl. First he placed her as a
"live-in border" and student with the Ursuline Nuns at Quebec, and later
he boarded her with a French family where she was privately tutored. It
was in the atmosphere of this respected family of Guillaume Hubou and
his wife Marie Rollet (when she married Guillaume Hubou, she was the
widow of Louis Hebert) that Marie Olivier Sylvestre met and married
Martin Prevost, friend of the Hubou family and a very personal friend of
Olivier LeTardif. This marriage was to be the first marriage on record
between an Indian girl and a French colonist. The marriage took place
on the third of January 1644 at Quebec. Recorded as witnesses to the
ceremony was Olivier LeTardif and Quillaume Couillard (father-in-law of
LeTardif).
A LIFETIME SERVING THE PUBLIC
Throughout his career, Pierre Provost has shown a genuine pride in
serving and helping his community. Pierre Provost spent his entire life
saving lives and protecting properties in his occupation as fireman,
Captain of a fire brigade and Fire Chief until his death in Ottawa in
1909.
Pierre Provost was born on September 8, 1863 in Malone, New York. His
parents, Pierre Provost and Mary Theophile Pepin-Lachance, left the
Beauce area and emigrated to the States looking for work. His father
worked for a number of years in the vicinity of Malone. Pierre's
parent's wedding date is not known, neither is the exact date of their
departure from Quebec to the United States, but we believe that the
Provost family had been living in Malone for a while. The employment
opportunities must have been difficult because the Provosts decided to
return to Quebec in 1866. Pierre Provost was three years old when the
family arrived in Montreal and Pierre's father found work as a
blacksmith.
The family found a house for rent in downtown Montreal on Centre Street
at close proximity to the Chaboillez Square. The Chaboillez Square, in
those days, was at the city limits and, before long, became the hub of
the commercial district. The Chaboillez Square was crossed by Notre-Dame
Street in the east-west direction. Several streets also termined there:
Albert Street, Du Cimetiere Street, Chaboillez Street, Saint-Maurice
Street and De L'Inspecteur Street. Today many of those streets no longer
exist. Louis Cyr, the strongest man in the world, lived for a while at a
huge wooden boarding house located on Chaboilly Square. The Montreal
Fire Hall, Station No.4, was located at 15 Chaboillez Street facing the
Square of the same name. Pierre Provost grew up and played as a child
next to the fire hall. He was fascinated by the firemen and their horse
drawn equipment. From his daily contacts with the firemen, Pierre
gradually developed a desire to become a fireman himself one day.
A MONTREAL FIREMAN
The Provost/Pepin-Lachance family lived several years on St-Martin
Street near the Chaboillez Square and Pierre in the meantime graduated
from the Belmont Academy. On June 1, 1883, at age 19, Pierre Provost was
hired by Montreal's Fire Department as a junior fireman. The following
year he asked for the hand of Henrietta Catherine Martin. Henrietta's
parents lived in New York. The marriage was celebrated on August 4, 1884
at St.Patrick's Church in Montreal. The newlyweds found a house at 58
Albert Street, a few yards away from the No. 4 Fire Hall.
Pierre Provost showed to his superiors his skill by quickly
understanding the complexity of a situation and showed his remarkable
energy in fighting the fires. His determination and courage were
immediately noticed: on September 16, 1888 he became foreman of the crew
responsible for the Salvage Wagon and on September 25, 1890 Pierre was
promoted Captain of a fire brigade. He demonstrated with assurance his
qualities of leadership and the members of his group had great respect
for his knowledge and his courage. On several occasions when the
situation was dangerous Pierre preferred to go in first in order to
prevent any possible injuries to his men. He was known for his daring
rescues of victims, his sense of duty was responsible for the many of
the injuries he suffered. One day during a big fire in a building,
located in the downtown district, he was trapped by the flames with one
of his men and had to jump four stories causing serious injury to his
leg and to the side of his body.
THE FIRE ON PARLIAMENT HILL
Captain Pierre Provost's reputation was well known in the major cities
of Quebec and to the Eastern Ontario communities and even in Toronto.
But, the fire on Parliament Hill was the one incident that contributed
the most to the advancement of his career. On February 11, 1897, a small
fire started in a storage room on the third floor of the West Block
building. The West Block building was occupied by the Members of the
Opposition and the civil servants. The fire was first detected by a
clerk at around 2 P.M. The fire appeared to be at first of little
concern, a little bit of smoke and a little bit of flame. The Ottawa
Fire Brigade was dispatched to the scene. The firemen took a while to
organize themselves and were slow to connect the hoses to the fire
hydrants. In the meantime the fire was increasing and the situation was
becoming serious and urgent. To the firemen's surprise, the water
pressure was very low and the water streams did not reach the flames.
The blaze was getting very serious and the employees were evacuated from
the entire building. At the end of the day's session, with the
parliamentarians walking out of the House of Commons at 6.30 P.M., the
fire was now out of control. The politicians, seeing what was taking
place, began criticizing Fire Chief Young. A Cabinet member, Colonel
William Mulock, walking by, expressed the opinion that the fire "was
very badly managed" and complained of the poor condition of the
hydrants. The newspaper The Evening Journal was critical of the
performance of Chief Young.
The news of the Ottawa fire was now known throughout the country. In
Montreal, Mayor Richard Wilson Smith cabled the Ottawa Mayor, Samuel
Bingham, to offer his help and offered to dispatch men and equipment to
help the Ottawa firemen. The offer was promptly accepted and the same
night at around 9 P.M. a special train left the Bonaventure Yard towards
Ottawa. On board were a modern fire pump, six firemen and three Fire
Captains, Nolan, Doolin and Pierre Provost. The Montreal firemen and the
equipment were at the scene of the blaze at midnight and their help
contributed greatly in controlling the flames. The fire had gutted three
quarters of the building. The last flames were extinguished the next
morning at around 10 A.M.
Saturday, February 13, the Ottawa's Chairman of the Fire and Light
Committee recommended to the city authorities the purchase of modern
fire equipment. A week later, a delegation of citizens lead by Mr.
White, Municipal Counsellor and Chairman of the Fire and Light
Committee, were invited by the City of Montreal to assist at a Fire
Drill demonstration given by the Montreal Fire Department. The Ottawa
Fire Chief, Mr. Young and Mr. White were quite impressed by the skills
and discipline that Captain Pierre Provost and his men displayed during
the exercises. In the meantime in Ottawa, the citizens were putting
pressure on the municipal council for a change in the management of the
Fire Department. Mr. White and the members of the Fire and Light
Committee recommended to the municipal council the nomination of Captain
Pierre Provost as Fire Chief of the Ottawa Fire Brigade. This
recommendation was criticized by a few citizens and members of the
municipal council. The main reasons were: Captain Provost was not a
resident of Ottawa, he was too young, he was French Canadian, etc. The
Evening Journal, in an editorial, pointed out to City Hall officials
that it was more important to look at the competence of Captain Provost
before any other considerations and strongly supported his hiring.
On April 1, 1897, Pierre Provost was officially hired by the Ottawa
Fathers and nominated as Fire Chief of the Ottawa Fire Brigade at an
annual salary of $1700. Pierre Provost was 33, the youngest Fire Chief
ever; this record still holds today. The Municipal Council voted for the
hiring of Chief Pierre Provost by a vote of 18 in favour, 5 against.
Pierre Provost didn't lose time, he took immediate control of the
situation. The Ottawa firemen were poorly trained and many of them had
been appointed by municipal favouritism. Pierre obtained from the city
authorities complete freedom to administer the fire department. He began
by giving his men good training with the best techniques available, he
hired new candidates who were more apt to this kind of work and he
applied and maintained a rigid discipline to the entire staff. He
purchased new equipment: a ladder truck, a hose wagon and steam engine.
He improved the efficiency of the brigade by retiring or dismissing 30
men in a two year period.
Fire Chief Pierre Provost gained the respect and the admiration of the
Ottawa population. The number of major fires was reduced significantly.
In 1907 while on duty during the fire at the ice rink arena on Rideau
Street (Rideau Rink), Pierre slipped and injured his head which
necessitated an operation. The following year, in August 1908, due to an
infection, Chief Provost required a second head operation which was
successful.
In the winter of the same year, at the scene of a blaze on St.Andrew
Street, both Pierre Provost and the Assistant-Chief Latinger fell in the
basement of the blazing house and Chief Provost injured himself in the
abdomen. While convalescing, he received from Frederick Arthur Stanley,
Lord Stanley, Canada's Governor-General, a message wishing him a prompt
recovery. It also congratulated him for his performance during the fire
drill demonstration the previous year at Montreal's Champ de Mars, and
praised the skill of his men in the handling of the fire equipment.
Chief Provost was now well known for his competence and his courage, he
had good rapport with his staff while keeping a good grip on discipline
which made him the envy of his peers.
A SUDDEN DEATH
Since his injury at the Rideau Rink, Chief Provost had had difficulty
with his health. In the summer of 1909, the Board of Control granted him
three months leave of absence to enable him to regain his strength. In
November, Pierre Provost and his wife Henrietta were making the final
preparations for a vacation in Bermuda hoping to spend Christmas on the
sandy beaches. Pierre was very confident that after a rest near the
ocean he would be in great shape to resume his duties. At the beginning
of December Pierre felt good and was cheerful while receiving guests or
conversing with his family. A few days later Pierre Provost suddenly
felt pain on the side of his body and was forced to go to bed. On
December 5, at about 5 P.M., Pierre's sister who came from Montreal to
look after him, when suddenly she heard him exclaimed "I'm finished".
The doctor was immediately dispatched to his side but it was too late.
In the night of December 6th, Pierre Provost expired due to an internal
haemorrhage, he was 46.
The sudden death of Chief Pierre Provost caused consternation and
disbelief to the entire population of Ottawa. Pierre's wife and his
children; Alice (Mrs. J.A. Davis), Jean Charles, Fabien, Wilfrid, Harold
and Herminie (the last five were still at home), were deeply affected by
his death.
The funeral held on December 9, 1909 was one of the largest seen in the
Capital for quite some time. Representatives of fire departments from
Montreal, Toronto, Hamilton, Hull and Peterborough attended. Dignitaries
from the City of Ottawa and representatives of the Federal Government
also assisted at the funeral service. St.Joseph Parish church, on
Laurier Street, was filled to capacity, the choral and the music made
the funeral service solemn and impressive.