DCB/DBC Mobile beta
+

As part of the funding agreement between the Dictionary of Canadian Biography and the Canadian Museum of History, we invite readers to take part in a short survey.

I’ll take the survey now.

Remind me later.

Don’t show me this message again.

I have already taken the questionnaire

DCB/DBC News

New Biographies

Minor Corrections

Biography of the Day

Confederation

Responsible Government

Sir John A. Macdonald

From the Red River Settlement to Manitoba (1812–70)

Sir Wilfrid Laurier

Sir George-Étienne Cartier

Sports

The Fenians

Women in the DCB/DBC

The Charlottetown and Quebec Conferences of 1864

Introductory Essays of the DCB/DBC

The Acadians

For Educators

The War of 1812 

Canada’s Wartime Prime Ministers

The First World War

THURY, LOUIS-PIERRE, priest, missionary in Acadia; b. c. 1644 at Notre-Dame-de-Breuil in Normandy; d. 3 June 1699 at Chibouctou (Halifax, N.S.). Abbé Thury had probably begun his theological studies in France. He arrived in Canada about 1675, where he finished his theological studies, and was ordained by Bishop Laval* 21 Dec. 1677. He first served some parishes on both shores of the St. Lawrence and became busar of the seminary of Quebec.

In 1684, as the institution was planning to found a mission in Acadia, Bishop Laval sent Abbé Thury on an observation tour from Percé to Port-Royal (Annapolis Royal, N.S.). The missionary sent the bishop a long account and chose to settle at Miramichi, where Richard Denys offered a piece of ground for a mission. He remained there three years, receiving the visit of Bishop Saint-Vallier [La Croix*], and occasionally went to the Saint John River and Port-Royal.

On Abbé Petit’s* advice, he then went to settle at Pentagouet (Castine, Maine), near Jean-Vincent d’Abbadie* de Saint-Castin, where he remained eight years. He acquired great influence over the Abenakis and took part in their expeditions. In 1689 he accompanied Saint-Castin on the raid which resulted in the destruction of Pemaquid; of this he left a detailed account. In 1692 he went along with a war party against York (Maine). Two years later he applied himself to thwarting the endeavours of Phips, who wanted to keep the Abenakis neutral; Thury played an important role in retaining them under French influence. He took part in the attack against Pescadouet (Oyster Bay), and was present with Robinau de Villebon and a party of Abenakis at the capture of Pemaquid by Pierre Le Moyne* d’Iberville in 1696.

The bishop of Quebec made him his vicar general in 1698 and appointed him to be the superior of the missions in Acadia. About the same time Abbé Thury founded a new mission at Pigiguit (on Minas Basin) and planned to group the Micmacs in one huge settlement between Shubenacadie and Chibouctou. The court looked with favour upon this plan and granted him a sum of 2,000 livres. His death prevented him from carrying out this undertaking.

He died 3 June 1699 at Chibouctou and was buried by the Indians under a stone monument. Dièreville* saw this monument and heard the hymns which the missionary had translated into Micmac.

Endowed with great qualities, Abbé Thury had a full career and was a great missionary. His political role is more open to discussion and has been variously judged. The French officers praised his activity and Charlevoix* represented him as a “true apostle,” whereas Parkman considered him merely an “apostle of carnage.”

René Baudry

AN, Col., B, 17, 19, 20, 22; C11D, 2, 3. ASQ, Documents Faribault, Lettres; Polygraphie; Séminaire; passim; A.-E. Gosselin, “Notes pour servir à la biographie des prêtres du Séminaire de Québec,” with marginal notes. Jean-Baptiste de La Croix de Chevrières de Saint-Vallier, Estat présent de l’Église de la colonie française dans la Nouvelle-France . . . (2e éd., Québec, 1856), 45–52, reproduces the report of Thury to Bishop Laval. H.-R. Casgrain, Les Sulpiciens et les Prêtres des Missions étrangères en Acadie (1676–1762) (Québec, 1897), 31–48, 139–143 (extract from Thury’s account of the destruction of Pemaquid, from Charlevoix). Parkman, Count Frontenac and New France (1st ed.), passim. Webster, Acadia, 198f.

General Bibliography

Cite This Article

René Baudry, “THURY, LOUIS-PIERRE,” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 1, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–, accessed March 29, 2024, http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/thury_louis_pierre_1E.html.

The citation above shows the format for footnotes and endnotes according to the Chicago manual of style (16th edition). Information to be used in other citation formats:


Permalink:   http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/thury_louis_pierre_1E.html
Author of Article:   René Baudry
Title of Article:   THURY, LOUIS-PIERRE
Publication Name:   Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 1
Publisher:   University of Toronto/Université Laval
Year of publication:   1966
Year of revision:   1979
Access Date:   March 29, 2024