Last modified: 2019-12-08 by rob raeside
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![[flag of Yamachiche]](../images/c/ca-qcyam.gif)
image by Olivier
Touzeau, 6 November 2019
The municipality of Yamachiche (2,800 inhabitants, 106.9 km²)
Merger
in 1987 with parish municipality of Sainte-Anne-d'Yamachiche.
Olivier
Touzeau, 6 November 2019
Yamachiche was first permanently settled in 1703 on the Grosbois domain,
acquired in 1672 from Jean Talon by Pierre Boucher, Governor of Trois-Rivières.
Seven households were registered in 1705.
The parish of Sainte-Anne
d'Yamachiche was founded in 1722 and canonically erected in 1832. The parish
municipality of Saint-Anne d'Yamachiche was established in 1855, in the
aftermath of the suppression of the feudal system. The village municipality
seceded in 1887, the parish and village municipalities being reunited only in
1987.
http://yamachiche.ca/toponymie/historiq.html
Municipal website
Ivan Sache, 10 November 2019
White with coat-of-arms.
Olivier
Touzeau, 6 November 2019
The coat of arms of Yamachiche, designed by the local historian J.-Alide
Pellerin [author of "Yamachiche et son histoire"], was adopted on 6 March
1978 by the Municipal Council.
"Gules masoned sable a pall azure charged
with seven stars cantoned in chief with a crown inscribed 'S.A.' sable
dexter with a G-clef sinister with a garb of wheat all or. The shield
surmounted by a fleur-de-lis or surrounded by palmetto loops of the same.
The shield supported by two branches of oak vert in saltire. Beneath the
shield the motto sable 'HARMONIE et FIERTÉ' [Harmony and Pride)".
The
blue pall forms a "Y" for "Yamachiche": it also recalls the geographical
location of the village, at the junction of the Grande Rivière Yamachiche
and the Petite Rivière Yamachiche, which forms River Yamachiche that joins
the Saint-Lawrence in Lake Saint-Pierre.
The "Y" is charged with seven
yellow stars that represent "historical and cultural institutions as well as
prominent people" left unidentified by the designer.
Above the "Y" the
yellow crown inscribed with "SA" is a tribute to the parish's patron saint,
St. Ann., whose miraculous statue is still kept in the parish cemetery.
The shield is paved with bricks to recall that the soil is composed of 2-3
feet of earth surmounting 180 feet of clay. The extracted clay was used to
make bricks and pottery; the local soil is one of the most fertile in
Quebec.
The G-clef in the lower left quarter recalls the cantors and
musicians who contributed to the big religious festivals for which the
village was once famous.
The shield is surmounted by ornaments that
recall the local architects-sculptors, especially Milette and Héroux, who
erected 117 monumental churches in the Canada and northern United States and
the wealthy houses of the downtown.
The shield is surrounded by branches
of oak that recall the giant oaks, nut tree and pines for which Pierre
Boucher named his domain Grosbois (Big Wood).
http://histoire-du-quebec.ca/armoiries-yamachiche
Histoire du Québec
St. Ann was proclaimed patron saint of Yamachiche in 1711. The extremely
popular, yearly celebration of the saint went out of the control of the
religious authorities, so that Bishop of Quebec Pierre Denaut (1797-1806)
banned the festival, deemed a matter of "disorder and scandal", in 1801.
Archbishop Joseph Signay (1833-1850) eventually lifted the ban in 1846.
http://yamachiche.ca/toponymie/historiq.html
Municipal website
Georges-Félix Héroux (1833-1901) and his
brother Joseph were students and later, collaborators, of the sculptors
Alexis Milette (1793-1869) and his brothers Benoni and Milette, established
in Yamachiche. After a stay in Italy, the Héroux brothers established a
flourishing business in Yamachiche, acting as sculptors, architects and
public contractors; they hired up to 40 employees. The Héroux built or
restored more than 1000 churches in Quebec and New England, and decorated
several houses, for instance the Red Brick Houses Lining in Yamachiche.
Georges-Félix Héroux served as the Mayor of the newly established village
municipality of Yamachiche from 1887 to 1909.
http://www.patrimoine-culturel.gouv.qc.ca/rpcq/detail.do?methode=consulter&id=7624&type=pge#.Xccl4C17RBw
Répertoire du patrimoine culturel du Québec
Ivan Sache, 10
November 2019