Jules Caron is depicted here at the age of 27.
He was born on November 4, 1885, in the Saint-Christophe-d’Arthabaska parish and baptized under the first names Jules Wenceslas; he was the son of Césarine (Césarie) Desrochers and Louis Caron (1847-1917), a self-taught architect. Louis was born in L’Islet, a community located in the Chaudière-Appalaches region in Quebec; he learned the basics of architecture from books. He left to live and work for a while in the United States for the company of his father Louis-Frédéric Caron (1817-1888), a construction contractor, who lived there with his wife, Marie Mathilde Moreau (1820-1872). The latter died in the United States and was buried in Garrison Hill Cemetery in Ellis Grove, Randolph County, Illinois.
After returning to Quebec in 1874, the Caron family first settled in Arthabaska (now Victoriaville), then moved to Nicolet around 1886 and opened a factory behind the family home. Louis-Frédéric belonged to the household.
When Jules was born, his parents already had several children: Louis Joseph, Mance (born in Kankakee, Illinois in the United States), Angélina, Joseph-Henri, Ernest (who died at a young age), and Edwina. After Jules was born, Mariana (Marie Anna Joséphine), born in Nicolet in November 1887, Georges, and Eugène would come into the world.
Jules’ eldest brother, Louis Joseph, an architect, born in 1871, took over the management of the paternal business in 1910 with the help of his brother Joseph-Henri, a draftsman. As for Jules, after studying architecture and graduating in 1914, he worked at the manufacturing company known as Louis Caron et Fils.
For his part, among other achievements, Jules Caron produced the plans for the École Saint-Patrice, the Associated Textiles Limited factory in Joliette, the Cap-de-la-Madeleine post office, and the École Normale d’Amos in the Abitibi-Témiscamingue region.
The architect was also involved in his community. He acted as churchwarden at the cathedral as of January 1936.
Jules Caron died in Trois-Rivières on March 20, 1942. His funeral took place at the cathedral.
It would have been at the invitation of Louis Caron, Jules’ father, and the bishop of Nicolet, Msgr. Joseph Simon Herman Brunault, that the artist Giuseppe (Joseph) Uberti would have come to spend some time in the diocese of Nicolet.
The artist painted this portrait of Jules as well as that of his wife, Blanche Morin, during the year when the couple had just lost a 6-week-old son.
Donation from the estate of Jean-Louis Caron
Musée Pierre-Boucher Collection
2008 292 P
