Plaques on the Founders Obelisk
Place d’Youville, Montréal

Translation:

On 18 May 1893 this monument was erected by the Historical Society of Montréal in memory of the generous founders of this town and of the first settlers, who arrived here in 1642.

“What you see here, gentlemen, is but a grain of sand, but I have absolutely no doubt that this little grain will produce a great tree, that it will one day make marvelous progress, and that it will multiply and expand in every way.”
--Address to the settlers by R.P. Vimont, 18 May 1642

“This project of Montréal will be in the future a great glory to God, the honor of the Church, and of great service to this realm.”
--Address by M. Olier, “Les Veritables Motifs,” etc.

The above plaque commemorates the first French settlers in Montréal. The top half lists the names those who arrived from May to August, 1642. In the left column can be seen the name of our ancestor Augustin Hébert. The next name is that of his wife Adrienne Duvivier, but it is there in error. When the obelisk was erected, in 1893, historians believed that she had accompanied Augustin to Montréal in 1642. But later research, including the discovery of the record of their 1646 marriage in Paris, demonstrated that Augustin had returned to France by that year to marry Adrienne, and then the couple voyaged together to Montréal.