ASA Annual meeting

RIGAUD, QUEBEC – This lovely city served as the host city for the 34th annual general meeting of l’Association des Seguin d’Amerique on Saturday, 15 June 2024. It was the seventh occasion in which Rigaud had been selected for the honor since the Association’s first meeting was conducted on 26 Jun 1990. Rigaud is a city of 43.9 square miles in southwestern Quebec in the Vaudreuil-Soulanges Regional County Municipality in Vallée-du-Haut-Saint-Laurent region. It is located at the junction of the Ottawa River and the Rigaud River, about 43 miles west of downtown Montreal. The population as of the Canada 2021 Census was 7,854. Historically, Rigaud is located on the traditional territory of the Algonquin people, who fled the region before the arrival of the French, due to violent attacks by the Iroquois.

The Seigneury of Rigaud was granted in 1732 to the brothers Pierre and François-Pierre de Rigaud de Vaudreuil, governors in New France, and was sold in 1763 to Michel Chartier de Lotbinière, who in turn gave the seigneury to his son in 1771. The seigneury saw its first settlers in 1783. According to the website of Sainte-Madeleine-de-Rigaud, the city’s only Catholic parish, “The first families, the Chevrier, the Gauthier, the Quesnel, the Seguin and the Villenueve, settled there in 1783, followed by the Brazeau and Sabourin families in 1786. These families constitute the core of the population of the Ste Madeleine parish of Rigaud.” At the beginning of the 19th century, the locality developed rapidly as an accommodation relay for loggers, and as a loading point for timber and grain. In 1802, the Mission of Sainte-Magdeleine-de-Rigaud was founded, which became a parish in 1830.

The Annual General Membership Meeting

The Association event began at 9:00 am at Edifice Paul Brasseur and lasted until 2:00 pm. The rear parking lot is the location of the original Sainte Madeleine parish ancient cemetery which was established in 1802 and closed in 1889. Casual visiting time between descendants of Francois Seguin dit Laderoute preceded the 10:30 am business meeting. A delicious lunch followed and then a raffle of various prizes was held and winners were announced by Association President Marthe Seguin.

Afterward a musical performance was conducted in French by three sisters – Diane, Denyse and Marie – who are known as Les Soeurs Marleau. They are Franco-Ontarian, born in Cornwall, and their grandmother was a Seguin. They have been singing together since they were young girls. Everyone enjoyed the wonderful entertainment which concluded the 5-hour celebration.