Girouard, Jean-Joseph, 1794-1855 : Jean-Joseph Girouard (1794-1855) was a Québecois notary, militia officer, politician, Patriote, philanthropist, and amateur artist and portrait painter. He was born at Québec City on 13 November 1794 to Joseph Girouard and Marie-Anne Baillargé. Jean-Joseph's father, Joseph, apprenticed with the master carpenter Jean Baillairgé in Québec, before working as a shipbuilding contractor and entrepreneur. Joseph married Jean Baillairgé's youngest daughter, Marie-Anne, and had three children, among them Jean-Joseph. When Joseph died in 1800, his widow and her children moved in with her parents, where Jean-Joseph received some informal artistic training. In 1805, upon the death of her father, Marie-Anne Girouard became the housekeeper for Jean-Baptiste Gatien, a priest on the Île d'Orléans, who recognized and encouraged Jean-Joseph's talent for academic subjects and artistry. In 1811, when Gatien became the parish priest at Saint-Eustache, Marie-Anne Girouard and her children moved with him. That year, Jean-Joseph began training as a notarial clerk under Joseph Maillou in Sainte-Geneviève on Montreal Island. He became a volunteer member of the militia during the War of 1812, but was too young to be called for active service until November 1812. After the war, he finished his clerkship and received his commission as a notary on 13 June 1816. The same year, he moved to the neighbouring village of Saint-Benoît, which remained his home for the rest of his life. After receiving his commission as a notary, Jean-Joseph opened an office in the house of the merchant Jean-Baptiste Dumouchel, where he was exposed to rebellious ideas. In 1818, he married Dumouchel's sister-in-law, Marie-Louise Félix. He gained a good reputation as a notary, and made many friends in the community. In addition to his work as a notary, he continued his artistic pastimes. In 1931, upon the death of the Patriote Jacques Labrie, Girouard was acclaimed as a member of the Legislative Assembly for the new constituency of Deux-Montagnes. In Québec, he became a supporter of Louis-Joseph Papineau and befriended Augustin-Norbert Morin. In 1834, Girouard ran for, and was elected to, the Legislative Assembly, a seat he kept until 1837. Jean-Joseph Girouard was imprisoned from 26 December 1837 to 16 July 1838 for his support of the Patriote movement during the 1837-1838 Lower Canada Rebellion. During his time in prison, he continued his artistic pursuits, sketching portraits of a number of his fellow prisoners. After his release from prison, embittered by the British sacking of St-Benoît, Girouard retired from political pursuits and devoted himself to his career as a notary, and to the study of science and philosophy. Four years after the death of his first wife in 1847, Girouard remarried. He and his second wife, Émélie Berthelot, had four children, two daughters (one who died at birth) and two sons. Girouard died at Saint-Benoît (Mirabel), Lower Canada on 18 September 1855.
