Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 4).djvu/219

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MAMBERTOU
MANGE

3 Sept., 1867, and died while in the discharge of the duties of that office.


MAMBERTOU, or MEMBERTOU, Henry, Indian chief, b. in Acadia about 150(j ; d. there, 18 Sept., 1611. He was met in 1606 by Marc Lescar- bot, who affirms that he was then a hundred years old, and who relates his life in his " Histoire de la Xouvelle France " and sings his military exploits in his "Muses de la Nouvelle France." Accord- ing to his account and those of other travellers of the time, Mambertou was a brave and able warrior, with nothing of the savage in his appearance or manners. He learned the French language, but declined to receive baptism until he was fully in- structed in the Christian religion. He was then baptized and called Henry after Henry IV. On the arrival of the missionaries Peter Biard and Ene- mond Masse, early in 1611, he was of great assist- ance to them, as he had acquired an authority in Acadia that no chief before him had been able to exercise. He fell sick just as his aid was becoming necessary to the progress of the colony and the establishment of the Christian religion. Although for a time he insisted on being buried among his kindred and with certain Indian rites, he finally yielded to the missionaries, and left it to them to give him burial where they thought proper.


MAMBRÉ, or MEMBRE, Zenobius, French missionary, b. in Bapaume, Artois, France, in 1645 ; d. in Texas about 1687. He became a member of the order of Recollet Franciscans, and sailed for Canada in 1675. He accompanied La Salle to the west in 1678, and was adopted by an Illinois chief and well treated by the Indians, but had little suc- cess in converting them. The Illinois Indians hav- ing been defeated by the Iroquois, Mambre was obliged to fly, and, after much suffering, reached the Jesuit settlement in Green Bay. He passed through the same country in 1681-'2, and went down the Mississippi with La Salle, but he makes no mention of any intercourse with the natives until he reached the mouth of the river, where he preached to the Quappa Indians. His missionary labors were not successful. His " Journal " de- scribing his voyage in a canoe to the Gulf of Mexi- co forms a part of the " "fetablissement de la foi " by Chretien Le Clercq, who was his cousin. On his return to France he was made warden of Bapaume. When La Salle sailed from France for Louisiana in July, 1684, Mambre accompanied him, having spe- cial powers from the propaganda to establish a mission of his order. He was left by La Salle at a fort in Texas near Galveston bay with Father Le Clercq and twenty others. Here he established a mission among the Cenis or Assinais. It is not certainly known how long the party at the fort re- mained unmolested, but finally they were nearly all killed by the Quoaquis Indians.


MANCE, Jeanne, Canadian philanthropist, b. near Langres, France, in 1606 ; d. in Montresd, Canada, in June, 1673. She made a vow in child- hood to devote herself to a religious life. After the death of her parents she resolved to labor on the Canadian mission, and put herself in relation with Madame de Bullion, a wealthy lady, who con- sented to furnish her with the funds necessary to found a hospital in Montreal, provided she took the direction of the institution. She consented, and went to La Rochelle in 1641 in order to em- bark for her destination. Here she learned that a body of soldiers that had been sent out by the Society of Montreal, under De Maisonneuve (q. v.), had demanded, before embarking, that a woman should accompany them who might nurse such of them as should fall sick. She consented to become an associate of the Society of Montreal for this purpose, and sailed with the soldiers. After land- ing at Quebec she was obliged to pass the entire winter with the sol- diers, who were en- gaged in building wooden barracks, which they after- ward transported to the island of Mon- treal. She took sole charge of the admin- istration of these col- onists, distributed to them their provis- ions daily, and even had care of the mili- tary stores. She obtained such au- thority over the soldiers and colo-

nists that they

obeyed her like children. She left Quebec, 8 May, 1642, and reached Montreal a few days after- ward. She decorated the first altar there on 17 May, and then, with the funds of Madame de Bul- lion, she proceeded to build a hospital at Ville- marie, of which, after its erection, she became manager. She had first to take care of numerous soldiers that were wounded in almost daily com- bats with the Iroquois, and as the town grew her labors increased. She went to France in 1649 saw the members of the association of Montreal, who were thinking of abandoning their colony, and prevailed on them to reorganize it. In 1650, after her return to Villemarie, it was attacked by the Iroquois, and, after enduring great dangers, she was obliged to abandon the hospital and re- tire with her patients into the fort. Seeing that the colonists must succumb, if they were not suc- cored, she persuaded De Maisonneuve to return to France for soldiers, giving him part of the money that remained in her hands for the expenses of the hospitals, on condition that when peace was restored lands should be given in exchange. During the absence of the governor she did her best to keep up the courage of the colonists, only seventeen of whom were able to bear arms. The return of Maisonneuve restored security to the colony ; the hospital buildings were repaii'ed and en- larged, and Mdlle. Mance was enabled to leave the fort with her sick. The resolution of this courageous woman and the money that she gave at a critical time to arm and pay soldiers saved not only the island of Montreal, but the whole of Canada to France, which was recognized by successive gov- ernors in their reports to their government. But the hospital she had founded continued to grow to such an extent that she was no longer capable of directing it alone. De Maisonneuve consented to visit France again in search of nuns to aid and succeed her in its management. During his ab- sence a fall on the ice in the winter of 1657 injured her right arm, and she decided to go to France to obtain funds. On her way home a plague broke out on the vessel, and her attendance on the sick soon resulted in her own prostration, but she re- covered, and landed in Canada toward the end of the year 1659. Although in feeble health, she con- tinued to govern the Hotel-Dieu, and took another journey to France in 1662, in order to defend cer- tain interests of the colony that had been attacked. After her arrival she saw that the Society of Mon- treal was in a disorganized condition, and she persuaded the members to dissolve it and cede