Yamachiche is a municipality

Types of municipalities in Quebec

The following is a list of the types of local and supralocal territorial units in Quebec, including those used solely for statistical purposes, as defined by the Institut de la Statistique du Québec....

 in the Mauricie

Mauricie

Mauricie is a traditional and current administrative region of Quebec. La Mauricie National Park is contained within the region, making it a prime tourist location. The region has a land area of 35,855.22 km² and a 2006 census population of 258,928 residents...

 region of the province

Provinces and territories of Canada

The provinces and territories of Canada combine to make up the world's second-largest country by area. There are ten provinces and three territories...

 of Quebec

Quebec

Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....

 in Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

.

Etymology

The name Yamachiche was first used to identify the Little Yamachiche River (Petite rivière Yamachiche) which runs through the town. It came from the Native American (possibly Cree

Cree language

Cree is an Algonquian language spoken by approximately 117,000 people across Canada, from the Northwest Territories and Alberta to Labrador, making it the aboriginal language with the highest number of speakers in Canada. It is also spoken in the U.S. state of Montana...

) words iyamitaw (meaning "much") and achichki (meaning "mud"). Therefore Yamachiche could have the general meaning of "muddy river", which is a characteristic of this stream. In Abenaki

Abenaki language

The Abenaki language is a dialect continuum within the Eastern Algonquian languages, originally spoken in what is now Vermont, New Hampshire, northern Massachusetts and Maine...

, it was identified as Namasis (small fish) and Obamasis (small white fish).

The name has gone through many spelling variations: Machiche, Ouabmachiche, Yabamachiche, Hyamachiche, Yamachiste, Amachis, à Machis, à Mashis, Machis, Augmachiche, Ouamachiche, Yabmachiche, etc., which have mainly affected the name of the river, whereas the parish and municipal names have remained more stable.

History

In 1653, the area was part of a fief granted to Pierre Boucher de Grosbois

Pierre Boucher

Pierre Boucher and later Pierre Boucher de Boucherville, born and baptized 1 August 1622 in Mortagne-au-Perche, died 19 April 1717 at the age of 95 at Boucherville, came to Canada from France in 1635 with his father...

, Governor of Trois-Rivières

Trois-Rivières

Trois-Rivières means three rivers in French and may refer to:in Canada*Trois-Rivières, the largest city in the Mauricie region of Quebec, Canada*Circuit Trois-Rivières, a racetrack in Trois-Rivières, Quebec...

, and in 1672, it was formally ceded to Grosbois. The Grosbois or Machiche Seignory was 1.5 leagues

League (unit)

A league is a unit of length . It was long common in Europe and Latin America, but it is no longer an official unit in any nation. The league originally referred to the distance a person or a horse could walk in an hour...

 long by 2 leagues deep along the shores of Lac Saint-Pierre. But because of war with the Iroquois

Beaver Wars

The Beaver Wars, also sometimes called the Iroquois Wars or the French and Iroquois Wars, commonly refers to a series of conflicts fought in the mid-17th century in eastern North America...

, it could not be colonized until the beginning of the 18th century.

In 1703, the first colonists, the three Gélinas brothers, settled in the area and by 1706, there are 7 families. That same year, the name Yamachiche first appeared in the census. In 1711, the first chapel was built, dedicated to Sainte Anne by Récollet

Recollets

The Récollets were a French branch of the Roman Catholic order, the Franciscans , which developed out of a reform movement that began in the 15th century in Spain and established itself in France in Tulle in 1585, at Nevers in 1592, at Limoges in 1596 and in Paris in 1603...

 Siméon Dupont, and the Parish of Sainte-Anne was formed in 1722. A year later, the settlement consisted of about 20 families and 100 persons.

In 1725, the Chemin du Roy

Chemin du Roy

The Chemin du Roy is a historic road along the north shore of the St. Lawrence River in Quebec. The road begins in Repentigny and extends almost eastward towards Quebec City, its eastern terminus...

(French for "King's Highway") was built connecting it with Louiseville

Louiseville, Quebec

Louiseville is a town in the Mauricie region of the province of Quebec in Canada. It is located near the mouth of the Wolf River on the north shore of Lac Saint-Pierre....

 and Pointe-du-Lac

Pointe-du-Lac, Quebec

Pointe-du-Lac is a former municipality in Quebec, Canada on the St. Lawrence River. It was founded in 1738 and its actual church dates from 1882. Another old building in the village is the Moulin Seigneurial, founded in 1721 and rescued in the 70s by resident Mariette Chenay.The municipality was...

. In 1764, the West Grosbois Seignory was purchased by Conrad Gugy

Conrad Gugy

The Hon. Conrad Gugy J.P., M.P. , was secretary to Sir Frederick Haldimand in Lower Canada, a seigneur and political figure.-Early life:...

, thereby becoming the first French-Canadian Seignory in English possession. Between 1765 and 1790, Yamachiche grew quickly with new settlers from Acadia (Acadians expelled by the English) and from the United States, particularly Loyalists

Loyalist (American Revolution)

Loyalists were American colonists who remained loyal to the Kingdom of Great Britain during the American Revolutionary War. At the time they were often called Tories, Royalists, or King's Men. They were opposed by the Patriots, those who supported the revolution...

 from Massachusetts.

In 1828, the Saint-Barnabé

Saint-Barnabé, Quebec

Saint-Barnabé, also known as Saint-Barnabé-Nord, is a parish municipality in the Mauricie region of the province of Quebec in Canada.-List of Mayors:The Mayor is the municipality's highest elected official. Saint-Barnabé has had fifty mayors....

 and Saint-Sévère

Saint-Sévère, Quebec

Saint-Sévère is a parish municipality in the Mauricie region of the province of Quebec in Canada.- References :...

 Parishes were formed by separating from the Sainte-Anne-d'Yamachiche Parish. In 1831, the post office opened. In 1845, the Municipality of Yamachiche was founded but abolished in 1847. It was reestablished in 1855 as the Parish Municipality of Sainte-Anne-d'Yamachiche, with Francois Gerin-Lajoie as first mayor. In 1878, the first train came to Yamachiche, followed by the telegraph

Telegraphy

Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages via some form of signalling technology. Telegraphy requires messages to be converted to a code which is known to both sender and receiver...

 in 1880.

In 1887, the village itself separated from the parish municipality and became the Village Municipality of Yamachiche, with George Felix Heroux as first mayor. In 1895, telephone was installed in Yamachiche and street lighting in 1904.

In 1973, the railway station (Canadian Pacific) closed, but in 1975, the new Quebec Autoroute 40

Quebec Autoroute 40

Autoroute 40 is a major highway on the north shore of the St. Lawrence River in Quebec, Canada. It is one of the two main connections between Montreal and Quebec City...

 opened, providing access to Yamachiche with 3 interchanges. In 1987, the village and parish municipalities were merged to form the current Municipality of Yamachiche.

List of Mayors

Yamachiche's first local government was established in 1855. From 1887 to 1987, Yamachiche was divided into a parish municipality and a village municipality. Each entity had its own local council and its own mayor. Both structures were merged in 1988 with only one municipal council and one mayor. Officially, municipal elections in Yamachiche are on a non-partisan basis.

Parish Municipality of Sainte-Anne-d'Yamachiche

#	Mayor	Taking Office	Leaving
1	François Gérin-Lajoie	1855	1858
2	Joseph Lacerte	1858	1860
3	Charles Lajoie	1860	1864
4	Madore Gélinas	1864	1868
5	Raphaël Boucher	1868	1870
6	Georges-Horace Proulx	1870	1872
7	Héli-Léonard Héroux	1872	1875
8	Joseph Bellemare	1875	1877
9	Alexandre Daveluy	1877	1878
10	François-Sévère Lesieur Desaulniers François-Sévère Lesieur Desaulniers François-Sévère Lesieur Desaulniers was a politician in the Quebec, Canada. He served as Member of the Legislative Assembly.-Early life:He was born on September 19, 1850 in Yamachiche, Mauricie...	1878	1879
11	François Lacerte	1879	1880
12	Antoine Lamy	1880	1881
13	Thomas Ricard	1881	1882
14	Louis Dussault	1882	1884
15	Arthur Lacerte	1884	1885
16	Joseph Lapointe	1885	1886
17	Élie Lacerte Élie Lacerte Élie Lacerte was a Quebec physician and political figure. He represented Saint Maurice in the Canadian House of Commons as a Conservative member from 1868 to 1874 and in the Legislative Assembly of Quebec from 1875 to 1878.He was born in Saint-Sévère in 1821. He studied at the college at Nicolet...	1886	1887
18	Thomas Dufresne	1887	1889
10	François-Sévère Lesieur Desaulniers François-Sévère Lesieur Desaulniers François-Sévère Lesieur Desaulniers was a politician in the Quebec, Canada. He served as Member of the Legislative Assembly.-Early life:He was born on September 19, 1850 in Yamachiche, Mauricie...	1889	1892
19	Esdras Lamy	1892	1896
20	George L. Duchêne	1896	1907
21	Honoré Lapointe	1907	1912
22	Jean-Baptiste Fréchette	1912	1913
23	Théodore Bourassa	1913	1914
24	Thomas A. Lamy	1914	1915
25	Élie Bellemare	1915	1917
26	Georges Proulx	1917	1921
27	Joseph L. Desaulniers	1921	1923
25	Élie Bellemare	1923	1925
28	Alexandre Gignac	1925	1929
29	Omer E. Milot	1929	1933
30	Joseph Gauthier	1933	1935
31	Alcide Bellefeuille	1935	1937
32	Alide L. Desaulniers	1937	1939
33	Henri P. Milot	1939	1941
32	Alide L. Desaulniers	1941	1949
34	Clovis Héroux	1949	1953
32	Alide L. Desaulniers	1953	1959
35	Fleurimond Pellerin	1959	1961
36	Philias Isabelle	1961	1967
37	Gaston Houle	1967	1973
36	Philias Isabelle	1973	1978
38	Marcel Duchesne	1978	1979
39	Jacques Landry	1979	1986
40	André Chainé	1986	1987

Village Municipality of Yamachiche

#	Mayor	Taking Office	Leaving
1	Georges Félix Héroux	1887	1899
2	Arthur Héroux	1899	1900
3	Pierre Gaspard Bellemare	1900	1901
4	Napoléon Pellerin	1901	1905
5	Joseph Boucher	1905	1906
6	Adrien Milot	1906	1908
7	Moïse Carbonneau	1908	1908
4	Napoléon Pellerin	1908	1909
8	Napoléon Bellemare	1909	1910
9	Hyacinthe Trahan	1910	1912
10	Napoléon Samson	1912	1912
11	Eugène Lesieur	1912	1916
12	Victor Descôteaux	1916	1919
13	Didier St-Louis	1919	1921
14	Pierre Bellemare	1921	1923
15	Hercule Descôteaux	1923	1925
16	Dionis Villemure	1925	1927
17	Eugène Maillette	1927	1929
18	Raoul Duchesne	1929	1931
14	Pierre Bellemare	1931	1935
19	Charles-Édouard Girardin	1935	1943
20	Omer St-Louis	1943	1951
21	J. Sylvio Villemure	1951	1953
20	Omer St-Louis	1953	1957
22	Émile Pellerin	1957	1961
23	Charles-Denis Girardin	1961	1973
24	Roland Girardin	1973	1982
25	Raymond Bellemare	1982	1987

Merged municipality

#	Mayor	Taking Office	Leaving
1	André Chainé	1988	1991
2	Louise A. Bellemare	1991	1999
3	Michel Isabelle	1999	Current

Demographics

Population trend:

• Population in 2006: 2760 (2001 to 2006 population change: 4.9 %)
• Population in 2001: 2631
• Population in 1996: 2776
• Population in 1991: 2784

Private dwellings occupied by usual residents: 1083 (total dwellings: 1141)

Mother tongue:

• English as first language: 0 %
• French as first language: 99.1 %
• English and French as first language: 0.5 %
• Other as first language: 0.4 %

Notable people from Yamachiche

• Nérée Beauchemin
  Nérée Beauchemin
  Charles-Nérée Beauchemin was a French Canadian poet and physician.He published two volumes of his poetry: Les Floraisons Matutinales in 1897 and Patrie Intime in 1928.-External links:*...
  
   (1850–1931), poet and physician
• Antoine Gérin-Lajoie
  Antoine Gérin-Lajoie
  Antoine Gérin-Lajoie was a Québécois Canadian poet and novelist. He was the author of the famous poem Un Canadien Errant . He was the father of the sociologist Leon Gérin.- External links :*...
  
   (1824–1882), poet and novelist

Footnotes