MARIE-AURORE-LUCEINNE GAGNON AURORE GAGNON 10YRS (5-30-1909 to 2-12-1920) (KB-Telespore Gagnon & Marie-Anne Hounde-Bio Father & Step Mother) April 14th, 2014 @12:46 PM Born: Marie-Aurore-Lucienne Gagnon May 31th, 1909 Lotbinière, Quebec, Canada Died: February 12th, 1920 (aged 10yrs) Fortierville, Quebec, Canada Cause Of Death: Septicemia (blood poisoning) & Exhaustion Resting Place: Fortierville Cemetery Known For: Child abuse victim Parents: Télesphore Gagnon & Marie-Anne Caron Relatives: Marie-Jeanne Gagnon (sister), Georges-Etienne Gagnon (brother), Joseph Gagnon (brother) & Lucina Gagnon (sister) Marie-Aurore-Lucienne Gagnon, simply known as Aurore Gagnon (May 31st, 1909 – February 12th, 1920), was a Canadian girl who was a victim of child abuse. She died of exhaustion and blood poisoning from some 52 wounds inflicted by her stepmother, Marie-Anne Houde, and her father, Télesphore Gagnon. The story of lenfant martyre (English translation: The Child Martyr) received great attention in the media and Aurore became an icon of Quebec sociological and popular culture. Life Aurore was born into and raised in a Roman Catholic family as the second of five children of farmer Télesphore Gagnon and his first wife Marie-Anne Caron, whom he married in September 1906. They lived in Fortierville, Quebec, a small village on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River, a hundred kilometers southwest of Quebec. The Gagnons first child Marie-Jeanne was born in August 1907. Aurores birth was quickly followed by that of Lucina then Georges in 1910 and Joseph in 1915. In 1916, not long after Josephs birth, Marie-Anne Caron was hospitalized for tuberculosis. Marie-Anne Houde, the widow of a cousin of Télesphore, soon moved into the Gagnon home, claiming she wanted to take care of the house and children. She was a 30-something-year-old mother of two sons, Gerard and Henri-Georges. She was born in Sainte-Sophie-de-Lévrard, a neighboring municipality of Fortierville, Quebec. On November 6th, 1917, 2yr old Joseph was found dead in his bed. A coroners inquest revealed that it had been a natural death, although some villagers suspected that Marie-Anne Houde might have had something to do with it. On January 23rd 1918, Marie-Anne Caron died of tuberculosis at the Beauport Asylum. The following week, Télesphore married Marie-Anne Houde. Although villagers were suspicious when two of her children subsequently died, there was no investigation. Meanwhile, Télesphore was beating Aurore with an axe handle. At age 10yrs in September 1919, Aurore was hospitalized for more than a month at the Hôtel-Dieu de Québec with a severe leg infection caused by a beating. Upon her release, the beatings resumed. Death When Aurore died on February 12th, 1920, the cause was listed as poisoning. It was not immediately known if she had been poisoned deliberately or if she had succumbed to an infection from her many wounds. Télesphore Gagnon and Marie-Anne Houde were arrested as they tried to leave the church after her funeral on February 16th, 1920. Marie-Anne Houde was sentenced to be hanged for murder, but her sentence was commuted to life imprisonment. After serving 15 years she was paroled for health reasons, and she died of breast cancer in May 1936. Télesphore Gagnon was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to life imprisonment, but he was released from prison in 1925 for good behavior after serving only five years. He returned to his hometown and his previous life, where he wrote several letters to Marie-Anne Houde, still in prison. After Marie-Anne Houdes death, Télesphore remarried. He died peacefully in 1961. If you suspect that a child is being abused or neglected...It is your duty to report it! :( Call this number to report child abuse ANY WHERE 1-800-4-A-Child (1-800-422-4453) or National Center For Abused, Missing and Exploited Children 1(800)843-5678. Please Share!!! Thank you! ^_^ Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.- Martin Luther King, Jr.
Posted on: Tue, 09 Sep 2014 12:02:19 +0000