Date Published:
November 2006

L’Encyclopédie de l’histoire du Québec / The Quebec History Encyclopedia

Henri-Raymond Casgrain

CASGRAIN, Rev. Henri Raymond (R. C.), author, bro. of Hon. Charles Eusèbe. Born at Rivière Ouelle, P.Q., Dec. 16, 1831, he received his edu­cation at the Coll. Ste. Anne, P.Q., and studied theology at the Quebec Seminary. Ordained to the priesthood, 1856, he became a prof. in his Alma Mater, and was subsequently vicar of Beauport and priest at the Basilica, Quebec. He visited Europe in 1858, 1867 and 1873, in quest of historical material, and was successful in obtaining access to many valuable manuscripts relating to the early history of Can., among which were the journal and papers of the Maréchal de Lévis, as well as personal papers of Genl. Montcalm, none of which had previously been given to the public. In 1874 he was compelled, owing to a serious affection of the eyes, to give up active ministerial work. In 1877 he received from Laval Univ. the hon. degree of Lit. D., and in 1889 he was elected Presdt. of the Royal Soc. of Can. Among the best known of his works are Légendes Canadiennes (1861), Histoire de la Mère Marie de l'Incarnation (1864; new. ed. 1886), Vie des Saints (1867), Légendes et Variétés (1884), Biographies Canadiennes (1885), Histoire de l'Hôtel Dieu de Québec (1888), Un Pélerinage au Pays d'Evangéline (do.), which was crowned by the French Acad. 1888, and Montcalm et Lévis (1891). Dr. C. likewise assisted the late Abbé Laverdière in the preparation of Desbarats' ed. of the Œuvres de Champlain, and the Journal des Jésuites, and he wrote the Introduction to the Oeuvres Complètes d'Octave Crémazie. For some yrs. he was Chap. to the 9th Batt. V. M. Pension au Bon Pasteur, 78 Lachevrotière St., Québec.

Source: Henry James MORGAN, «Rev. Henri-Raymond Casgrain», The Canadian Men and Women of the Time: A Hand-book of Canadian Biography, Toronto, William Briggs, 1898, 1118p., p. 168.