Previously published in Examiner
Few people know the legend of how Montreal was burned to the ground in 1734. The legend has it that a black slave woman by the name of Angelique started the fire. She was a very willful woman and burnt down the city for spite. How much of this story is true, will not be known due to the torture she had to endure before she confessed under duress.
It was a known fact that Angelique was rebellious and did not want to be a slave. This makes even more sense if historian Afua Cooper is right and that Angelique was a free woman in her own country of Portugal then kidnapped and made a slave in Montreal. However, is that alone enough proof to say she burned down the city of Montreal?
On October 9, 1871, while Angelique was still living with Therese de Couagne,when the hospital and Convent Hotel-Dieu and 45 residences on Saint Paul Street was burned down. Today St. Paul Street is one of the most important streets in the tourist sector called Old Montreal.
It was said that Angelique and her lover were the culprits. There were 20 witnesses who claimed that this was what happened, yet not one of these witness ever saw Angelique, the slave of the widow Francheville, actually commit the crime. What they saw was her running from the scene shouting fire. They seemed to forget that Angelique actually helped with saving the belongings of the owner.
Angelique was on her own in a city that despised her. Her lover was no help. He fled the scene and left Angelique to stand trial on her own.
Source:
http://www.examiner.com/women-s-issues-in-montreal/slave-woman-burns-down-city