Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
, 17 May 1610; d. at
Martinique
Martinique ( ; or ; Kalinago language, Kalinago: or ) is an island in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the eastern Caribbean Sea. It was previously known as Iguanacaera which translates to iguana island in Carib language, Kariʼn ...
, 18 June 1675) was a French
Jesuit
The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...
missionary to Canada.
Life
Poncet was born in Paris in 1610. His father was a member of the
Company of One Hundred Associates
The Company of One Hundred Associates ( French: formally the Compagnie de la Nouvelle-France, or colloquially the Compagnie des Cent-Associés or Compagnie du Canada), or Company of New France, was a French trading and colonization company ch ...
chartered to trade in
New France
New France (, ) was the territory colonized by Kingdom of France, France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Kingdom of Great Br ...
.
Poncet entered the Jesuit novitiate in Paris at nineteen, as a student in rhetoric and philosophy. He pursued his studies at
Rouen
Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine, in northwestern France. It is in the prefecture of Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one ...
, and taught at
Orléans
Orléans (,"Orleans" (US) and Zevely, Julia. "Joseph Anthony de la Rivière Poncet." The Catholic Encyclopedia Vol. 12. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911. 31 January 2018 Then he began his theological studies at Clermont, completing them at Rome.
While at Orleans, he met the son of the widow
Marie Guyart
Marie of the Incarnation, OSU (28 October 1599 – 30 April 1672) was a French Ursuline nun. As part of a group of nuns sent to New France (Quebec) to establish the Ursuline Order, Marie was crucial in the spread of Catholicism in New France. S ...
. In 1638 he put her in touch with Madame de la Pettrie. Both accompanied him to
New France
New France (, ) was the territory colonized by Kingdom of France, France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Kingdom of Great Br ...
the following year. Poncet arrived in Quebec in early August 1639 and was immediately sent to the
Huron
Huron may refer to:
Native American ethnography
* Huron people, who have been called Wyandotte, Wyandot, Wendat and Quendat
* Huron language, an Iroquoian language
* Huron-Wendat Nation, or Huron-Wendat First Nation, or Nation Huronne-Wendat
* N ...
mission, where he spent a year before returning to Quebec, after which he went to
Trois-Rivières
Trois-Rivières (, ; ) is a city in the Mauricie administrative region of Quebec, Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Saint-Maurice River, Saint-Maurice and Saint Lawrence River, Saint Lawrence rivers, on the north shore of the Sain ...
. In July 1643 he was a parish priest in Montreal.
While serving at the mission of Sainte-Marie in Huronia, in 1648 Poncet was sent to establish the mission of St. Pierre at Wiikwemkoong on the "Isle de Ste-Marie". In August 1653, after returning to
Quebec
Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...
Iroquois
The Iroquois ( ), also known as the Five Nations, and later as the Six Nations from 1722 onwards; alternatively referred to by the Endonym and exonym, endonym Haudenosaunee ( ; ) are an Iroquoian languages, Iroquoian-speaking Confederation#Ind ...
while attempting to get some persons to cut the harvest of a poor widow. He lost the index finger of his left hand due to torture, but was then adopted by an old woman in place of a relative that had been killed. His companion, Mathurin Franchelot, was burned at the stake. Towards October, Poncet was brought to Montreal, by way of
Fort Orange
Fort Orange () was the first permanent Dutch settlement in New Netherland; the present-day city and state capital Albany, New York developed near this site. It was built in 1624 as a replacement for Fort Nassau, which had been built on n ...
, in a prisoner exchange.
Although Johannes Dyckman, commissary at Fort Orange treated him coldly, an elderly Walloon offered him hospitality, while others provided him with clothes, and a Scotch matron sent a surgeon to tend his wounds. A young Frenchman in the settlement served as interpreter. He was conveyed by way of Oswego to Lake Ontario and down the St. Lawrence to Quebec."Father Poncet's Capture", ''Documents of the Senate of the State of New York'', Vol. 14, 1902, p. 315 /ref>
At the request of his superior
François Le Mercier
François Joseph le Mercier (4 October 1604 – 12 June 1690) was a prominent French Jesuit in the early missions to New France and the Huron people. He was the rector of the Jesuit college in Quebec and superior of the whole Canada mission fro ...
, Poncet wrote an account of his experience. The
Dictionary of Canadian Biography
The ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography'' (''DCB''; ) is a dictionary of biographical entries for individuals who have contributed to the history of Canada. The ''DCB'', which was initiated in 1959, is a collaboration between the University of Toro ...
describes Poncet as "an unreliable and capricious character".Campeau, Lucien. "Poncet de la Rivière, Joseph-Antione", ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography'', vol. 1, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003 /ref> In 1657, he became involved in ecclesiastical jurisdictional disputes and asked to return to France. He held the position of French penitentiary at Loreto, and was later sent to the Island of Martinique, where he died at the age of sixty-five.
"Father Poncet had an attractive personality, and did not lack talent, virtues, or zeal, although his suspicious and irritable character made him unhappy and difficult to handle."