"As a flower of the field so he flourisheth – for the wind passeth over it and it is gone."   So reads the inscription on the Rousseaux window.   Below this, the words of dedication:   "George B. and Maggie Rousseaux departed this life - Nov. 28^th and Dec. 6^th, 1875 - aged 24 and 20 yrs."   The window, second from the front on the left side of  St. James' Church  in Ingersoll, is in memory of two young people, a brother and sister, who died of typhoid fever at the home of  Peter J. Brown  on Duke Street in Ingersoll.

Of all the stained-glass windows in the church, this particular one has held a peculiar fascination, for me.   I have questioned older members of the parish about the identity of these two persons; but they had no knowledge of, or couldn't remember anything about them.   I wanted to find out about these people and in the process discovered a wealth of interesting facts.

There are two stories to relate here.   The Brown family held a prominent place in the history of Ingersoll, while the Rousseau family played an important role in the early history of Upper Canada (now Ontario).

Peter Johnson Brown  was born at Brownsville on April 21, 1840.   After attending Osgoode Hall in Toronto, and called to the bar in 1863, he became the senior partner of the legal firm of Brown and (Thomas) Wells on King Street East.   Both lawyers were members of St. James' Church serving on the board and as Wardens.   In the Oxford Gazeteer and General Business Directory for 1870-71 Peter Brown wad listed as a Deputy Reeve, and in Henry W. Whitwell’s book, INGERSOLL – OUR HERITAGE, (Second Edition) he was listed as the mayor of Ingersoll in 1873.   On November 15, 1864, he married Mary Jane Rousseau, the eldest daughter of G. B. Rousseau of Ancaster.   George was her youngest brother and Margaret (Maggie) her youngest sister.

I contacted the Grand Secretary, the Most Worshipful Brother, Robert E. Davies at the Grand Lodge of Canada in Hamilton regarding Peter Brown's Masonic life in Ingersoll.   He was Worshipful Master of King Hiram’s Lodge, No. 37, in 1865-66, and was District Deputy Grand Master for Wilson District in 1870-71.   Then I asked about the Rousseaux men.   George Brock Rousseaux (Sr.) who was postmaster in Ancaster, was initiated into Masonry on December 14, 1854 in King Solomon's Lodge, No. 22.   George Brock (Jr.) was initiated into King Hiram's Lodge, No. 37, On February 11, 1873.   He was listed as a druggist.   In those days young men choosing pharmacy as a profession would apprentice in a drug store.   It is quite possible George apprenticed for either M. Tripp or John Gayfer, both of whose stores were destroyed in the 1872 fire.

Peter and Mary Jane Brown were no strangers to tragedy in the early years of their marriage.   Their first son  died  two months after birth, their second   son   when he was a year old and their first daughter was stillborn.   Peter had purchased a burial plot early in 1866 for the interment of their first child.

To begin the research for the names on the window I looked at the burial register at St. James' Church.   Maggie's burial was shown to have taken place on December 8, 1875, by Canon J. P. Hincks, with interment in the Brown plot.   No where could I find any record of George's burial.   Checking the cemetery register I discovered George's name among the early interments of 1876, with the word 'Removal' beside his name.   Where were his remains for three months?

He wasn't buried in Harris Street Cemetery, and I wondered if he could have been buried from Sacred Heart Church in Ingersoll.   I was directed by Kay Knott, Secretary of Sacred Heart Church, to the Chancery in London.   Sister N. Teresita, C. S. J., assistant archivist, checked the records for Sacred Heart.   No information there about George.

I began to piece together a possible scenario.   George died on November 28.   The Browns had his body taken by rail to be buried with his parents in the cemetery at St. John's Anglican Church in Ancaster.   But eight days later Maggie died.   Peter and Mary Jane decided they wouldn’t repeat the same exercise so soon after George's death, so Maggie was interred in their plot in Ingersoll.   Later they would bring George's remains to Ingersoll to be interred beside his sister.   He was reinterred in Ingersoll on Feb. 26, 1876.

I had to have proof for this sort of reasoning.   In reply to a letter to the Venerable Robert S. C. Grigg, Rector of St. John's Church in Ancaster, my assumption was proven correct.   George had been buried in Ancaster on November 30, 1875, the Rev. William Belt officiating.  

The Rousseau family can definitely trace its ancestry back to 1670, and possibly to 1643.   Jean Baptiste Rousseau (b. 1758, d. 1812) was the last of the coureurs-de-bois and fur traders.   Like his father, he spoke six Indian languages and carried on in his father's footsteps as an interpreter.   The family lived near the mouth of the Humber River in Toronto.   Their home was known far and wide as the Rousseau House, and they probably entertained such explorers as Sieur de la Salle and Father Hennepin.

Jean’s first marriage to Marie Martineau ended in an agreement of separation in June of 1786.   He later married the foster daughter (Margaret Cline) of Joseph Brant, Chief of the Six Nations.   Chief Brant likely performed the ceremony.   On October 15, 1795, they celebrated the ceremony more

formally at the Grand River by the Rev. Robert Addison of Niagara.   Since Jean's first wife was still living, he had to give up his beloved Catholic Church.   When Marie died, they were married for the third time by the same Rev. Robert Addison.   (There is some confusion here as regards church affiliation.   One source describes the family as French Protestants, connected in some way with the Hugenots, while another source lists them as Catholic).

On a midsummer morning in 1793, Rousseau, his wife and week-old infant were on board the Mississaga, carrying Governor Sir John Graves and Mrs. Simcoe.   Rousseau was piloting their ship into the bay where the new capital (York) was to be established.   The last Frenchman of Toronto was to welcome a governor who would proceed to wipe out all the traditions of the French regime.

In 1795, Jean Baptiste Rousseau and his family moved to Ancaster, where he built the first grist and saw mills.   He opened a general store and continued trading with the Indians in the area.   In later life Jean became a member of the Masonic Lodge No. 10, in the town of Barton, later to be known as Barton Lodge, No. 6, in Hamilton.   The land for St. John’s Anglican Church was a gift of the Rousseau family.

George Brock Rousseaux, a grandson of Jean Baptiste Rousseau, was born on April 29, 1817, and was named after Major-General Sir Isaac Brock.   Of his seven children we have mentioned three here:

Mary Jane (Brown) the eldest daughter, George Brock, the youngest son, and Margaret (Maggie), the youngest daughter.

This is the story of the two young people, whose names are on the memorial window in St. James' Church in Ingersoll.   I want to especially thank Mr. G. Whitfeld Ralfe, grandson of Peter J. and Mary Jane Brown, for supplying much of the information in this story.

Sources:
ROBINSON, Toronto During the French Regime 1615 - 1793, University of Toronto Press, second edition, c1965.
Dictionary of Canadian Biography, Vol. V, p.723.   "Rousseaux St. John, John Baptist", Charles M. Johnston.
ANCASTER HISTORICAL SOCIETY, The History of Ancaster Township, pub. 1967.   "Wentworth Bygones" from the papers and records of The Head-of-the-Lake Historical Society.

Acknowledgements:
Mr. G. W. Ralfe; Oxford County Library; Woodstock Public Library; Ingersoll Public Library; St. James' Church, Ingersoll, (Pat Shaddock, secretary); Sacred Heart Church, Ingersoll, (Kay Knott, secretary); Caroline French, secretary Ingersoll Rural Cemetery Board; Mary Evans, Oxford County Library Archives; The Venerable Robert S.C. Grigg, Rector, St. John's Church, Ancaster; The Grand Lodge of Canada in the Province of Ontario, Hamilton; the Diocese of London; and Dodsworth and Brown Funeral Home, Ancaster, Jerry Roberts, Manager.

--Erected by the Ontario Archaelogical and Historic Sites
Board.