FULL
TEXT: Quebec, April 22 – Mrs. Marie Anne Houde Gagnon was found guilty
yesterday of torturing and murdering her sixteen-year-old [sic] stepdaughter, Aurore
Gagnon, and sentenced to be hanged Oct. 1. The girl, after being beaten, was
burned with a red hot poker and made to walk barefoot in the snow was forced to
drink poison, the evidence disclosed. The post mortem examination of the body
revealed 54 wounds. The defense pleaded insanity.
[“Girl of 16 Branded With Poker, Killed, by
Her Stepmother,” The Hamilton Daily News (Oh.), Apr. 22, 1920, p. 5]
***
WIKIPEDIA:
Aurore Gagnon was the second of four children of farmer Télesphore Gagnon and
his first wife Marie-Anne Caron, whom he married in September 1906. 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. Aurore’s birth in 1909 was followed by
that of Lucina then Georges in 1910 and Joseph in 1915.
In
1916, not long after Joseph’s birth, Marie-Anne Caron was hospitalized with
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 6 November 1917, 2-year-old Joseph was
found dead in his bed. A coroner’s 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 23
January 1918, Marie-Anne Caron died of tuberculosis at the Beauport Asylum. The
next week, Télesphore Gagnon 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 10 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.
When
Aurore died on February 12, 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
19, 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 5 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 Houde’s death, Télesphore remarried. He died peacefully in 1961.
Aurore
Gagnon remains a popular cultural icon in Quebec, with almost mythical status.
Numerous books have been published detailing her life. In 1920, the first
dramatic production was written by Louis Petitjean; it quickly became his most
famous play. Télesphore Gagnon tried unsuccessfully to block the release of the
1952 film, La petite Aurore: l’enfant martyre. Another film, Aurore,
was released in 2005.
That picture of "Aurore" is actually of her older sister, Marie-Jeanne
ReplyDeleteThere is only one photo of Aurore and she is a wee todler. She's the little girl in front of the woman.
ReplyDeletehttp://bio.starquebec.net/aurore_fichiers/image002.jpg
I remember seeing this when I was 6 or 7 yrs old. I was in convent..... I screamed when she put her hands on the hot wood stove.... the nuns took me away I wish they had never allowed me to see it at that age. It still haunts me to this day!!!!!
ReplyDeleteWhat is it like to be in a convent? I grew up in the military, and that was strict enough!
DeleteAurore was mudered when she was 11.not 16 years old
ReplyDelete*10 it hadn't yet been her 11th birthday her birthday was May 31st and she died on February 20th
DeleteOops! I apologize! I put 16 as Aurore's passing. So many places I researched and half of them said 16 and the other half said 10, 11,etc.
DeleteThe newspaper coverage of Marie-Anne Houde's trial reported the age of 16, as this was entered into evidence in April 1920. The Court had it wrong and it was reported that way.But she was only ten.
DeleteThat is so sad, and i am glad that the father and stepmother died. Rest in peace angle
ReplyDeleteThe father only served 5 years in prison and was still writing letters to his cousin/wife who murdered his daughter. After his second wife died, he remarried and died peacefully in 1961. He did not give a damn that his daughter, Aurore, died. I just don't understand it. He was as much at fault as his deranged cousin/wife!!
DeleteReal question is who was willing to marry a monster who killed his own daughter? Women those days were surely stupid!
DeleteThat is so sad, and i am glad that the father and stepmother died. Rest in peace angle
ReplyDeleteSpeechless...
ReplyDeleteI am doing my Family Tree. I was told my Grandmother Rita M Parent ( Trudelle ) mother was a Nun. That her birth Father was Elphege Parent and her mother was Philomene Canuel on Death Cert it states these names. I founs some info however it went no further. I am close to getting my DNA matched to my Tree and have been searching diligently. I came across this story after researching. I hope and pray that this is not the same people. RIP Aurore. Terrible people...
If this page is still open I would like to say that this horrific case of child abuse seems to be a common event nowadays.
ReplyDeleteAurore was so severely tortured that it killed her and more and more children are dying from this fate now.
Why isn't more attention paid to this nightmare?
It is not true that more children die of abuse nowadays. Percentage-wise, children are safer now than they have every been in the history of this world. As little as three hundred years ago, it was legal to put a child to death for misbehaving. Now we have a vast array of services to help them.
DeleteThe problem is that the news tells you what is happening, and you never stop to consider that it has always been going on, possibly under your nose. You just know about it now.
Ever hear of Sylvia Likens who was tortured and murdered in 1965 in Indianapolis, IN? Even though Sylvia was no kin to Gertrude B. (I can't spell her name)...that poor kid suffered horribly and not just from Gertrude, but also her 7 kids and neighborhood kids that she invited and encourage to abuse the girl. I read the court transcript and which the old battle-axe was still alive so I could give her a taste of her own medicine!!
DeleteWe often think of the past as "the good ol days" but we are merely victims of selective memory. Be it the Holocaust or children suffering from abusive parents; for those willing to forget evil atrocities of years gone by, will be doomed to repeat it. - L Cohen
ReplyDeleteWe thought everyone lived that way. We did not know the difference, until we were grown. I vowed never to treat my children that way. I would not beat them and make them fear me. Love goes a lot further than fear. This story makes me sick. I just want to throw up.
ReplyDeleteAll I can say wow so lost for words to many victims ( children ) in that family in Gods arms they are safe and loved
ReplyDeleteWhat I find interesting is that women are sentenced to much harsher sentences when the stepfather hurts their children than when female stepparents hurt the natural children of biological fathers. This is another case. Not a single post here is aghast that the father let these things happen, and yet if the roles were reversed, we would all be demanding to know why the mother let this happen.
ReplyDeleteFor instance, in this case, the father only served five years. it was HIS CHILD. The stepmother's sentence was commuted from a hanging to life. She served 15 years, and then she was only released for health reasons.
It blows my mind that no one ever considers the double standard.
Hi. I believe it had something to do with the time frame they were living (double standard). It sounds like the southern states of Mississippi, Alabama, etc.., all the way up through to the 1990's. I had a hard time believing Telesphore let that woman loose on his own kids! It was what...just a few weeks from when the mother of his children was still alive, and though she was sick the family was still happy (or reasonably so), and Aurore was his "Sunshine" till the time when the evil step monster started collecting on the kids she 'found' dead. And he let it happen, and he had to have known something was up! But he did know. He was in lust or heat with his wife in the hospital for so long. But she wouldn't wait for dirt to get cold on the kids' mother. Aaaaarrrgh!
DeleteHorrific.
DeleteWe know what happened yo Joseph Gsgnon but does anyone know what happened to Lucina Gagnon?? Thanks.
I find interesting that you think hes more to blame and the woman shouldnt get a harsher sentence... double standard ?? Shes the one who was with these children bc he worked well into the night.... ok , granted he coukd care less about his children either.. but what difference does ot make stepparent , bio. Parents and children and what about aurures harsh sentence! And horrific abuse of these children who cant defend , protect or have no choice,! What about them. Im not going to tell you what i really think of this woman and what should be done to her bc i will be probably be banned! Sorry for the rant
DeleteI agree! There has to be a special place in hell for those who deliberately seeks out to cause harm or death to a kid! I believe that is one of the unforgivable laws...violence against children, and by all rights she was still just a child...even though she was 16. Poor Aurore! I see so much of her attitude in me! Don't get me wrong, I don't believe I was reincarnated from her... I just know my attitude begat me several serious whippings from my mom!
ReplyDeleteMarie-Anne Houde was a very spiteful, mean spirited person, whom had become very jealous of Aurore after Telesphore told her about how Aurore 'came to be', and herself pregnant just set her off to remove Aurore from the scene...the sooner the better. I don't think Telesphore would have raised a hand, much less an axe handle to any of his children...but Marie-Anne had a way to 'trip his switches' and in so doing brought about the child's death sooner.
ReplyDeleteShe also had an alleged mental issue due to illness when she was still a teen that affected her in ways that 'scream' psychopath.
*to Joseph Gagnon
ReplyDeleteIt is so messed up that Aurore's father still wrote to his wife (the stepmother) although she had murdered his daughter. I really don't get it! It is disturbing! He physically abused Aurore as well. According to thepapers from the trial, he whipped her. two of the children testified against him and his wife. They both said that they could hear the sound of the whip as it was going down on Aurore's small body. Aurore and her father were on the second floor and the children who testified were on the first floor but they could still hear the whip. Aurore screamed for her life. It is so sick to do that to a child !
ReplyDeleteOh sooo agreed. And these two monsters still get to go on and live their lives! They torture this poor victim for about 2 yrs and they get to gi on and live their lives. And over 100 yrs later it hasnt changed! What a disgrace!!
DeleteAurore was 10, not yet 11 when she died. She died on Feb. 12, 1920. I also thought of Sylvia Liken when reading the story of Aurore and watching some of the film. It makes me so angry that the stepmother was released due to failing health. She was shown mercy when she had shown none. As for her father, I think the same. He should not have been released. He should have been made to serve his sentence to the end. He took part in the beatings and allowed that monster to do those unthinkable things to his child(ren). I also think that little Joseph was murdered by the same woman. She prolly smothered him and back then there really wasnt any definitive way to diagnos a SIDS like death. Reminds me of a woman who lived in the same city as I did as a child. She had 9 children and killed either 8 or all 9 of her kids. Her name was MaryBeth Tinning. Its too bad Joseph has been gone too long for an exhumation and a detailed autopsy be performed. I am sure it would be found that he also was a victim. I question that why a father would find it normal for a mother to force her own child to sleep in a barn for being sprayed by a skunk. He appeared filthy in the film, which would lead me to believe that he had been out there for some time and hadnt bathed. Just a sick sad story all the around.
ReplyDeleteSoo agreed. .. i also read about sylvia likens and marybeth tinning and it is horrible !! Yes i also thimk she killed little joseph too!! They r both horrible ppl!!!
Delete