JOSEPH GUIMOND (c1806-?)
Joseph GUIMONT aka GUIMOND was born around 1806.At this point I have very little information about his origins or when he arrived and settled in St Boniface along the Red River. He was most likely a French Canadian from Quebec.
It was the fur trade that brought French Canadians and French Métis to the region in those early days, often as voyageurs and traders associated with the North West Company (NWC) or with free traders. These were predominantly French-speaking people who lived a nomadic lifestyle, often travelling back and forth from Quebec and the Great Lakes region to remote frontier outposts. In the late summer and fall they travelled by canoe to the west with trade goods which they traded for furs during the winter months. In the spring and summer they transported their furs back to the east for shipment to Europe.
It wasn’t until after 1812 that English-speaking settlers began to arrive in Red River in significant numbers. These were the Selkirk Settlers who were sponsored by Lord Selkirk and the Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC). The NWC and the HBC became embroiled in a long bitter and violent conflict, the Métis Rebellion led by Cuthbert GRANT (1796-1854), that didn’t end until 1817 when Lord Selkirk arrived with soldiers to recapture Fort Douglas which had been in the control of the rebels.
Red River Settlement (Assiniboia)
St Boniface, Red River On Nov 1, 1818, Father Joseph-Norbert PROVENCHER (1787-1853) built a small log chapel which he dedicated to Saint Boniface, the English missionary monk and apostle, who spread the Catholic faith among the Germanic tribes in the 8th century. Saint Boniface, the first permanent mission west of the Great Lakes, became the heart of Roman Catholic (RC) missionary activity extending to the Pacific and the Arctic coasts, as well as serving the growing population of the Red River Settlement. Early RC missionaries were commonly referred to as Oblates (Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate).
Union of the Hudson’s Bay Company and the North West Company
In 1821 the North West Company (NWC) was absorbed by the Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) in a merger that ended many years of bitter and costly fur-trade rivalry that seriously affected their financial stability. As a result, many voyageurs and fur trade employees were either dismissed or retired.
DCBO: In 1831 the white and Métis population of the Red River colony numbered 2,390, including 262 Catholic and 198 Protestant families. The first non-Roman Catholic missionary to work there was the Anglican minister John WEST (1778-1845). He had arrived in August 1820, and while serving the Protestants, who for the most part were Scots Presbyterians brought in by Lord Selkirk, he had opened a boarding-school for young Indian boys. Anti-Catholic, and not well received by the Scots who wanted a minister of their own church, WEST soon found himself in competition with PROVENCHER, who had already sought the right to solemnize marriages for Protestants, in the hope of thereby “retarding the introduction of Protestant ministers” into the northwest.
Joseph marries Marie CHARETTE
Around 1833 Joseph married Marie CHARETTE, probably in St Boniface. Marie’s origins are also uncertain at this time.
There was A Jean Baptiste CHORET (CHARETTE, CHAREST) born around-1775 in Quebec who married around 1802 to Charlotte SANSREGRET, with a child named Marie Ann born 1804 in Qu'Apelle, SK (died 1886 at Cavalier, ND, USA).
It was around 1834 that Joseph’s first child, Francois, was born.
We know that eldest son Francois married someone because in later censuses he was enumerated as a widower. If anyone has more details, please let us know via the Forum of this website.
In St Boniface in 1862, two marriages of note; son Augustin married Mary Anne (an Indian), and daughter Frances married Moise FONTAINE, son of Isabelle RIVARD & Jean Baptiste FONTAINE (1795-1873).
Information gathered thus far indicates that Marie & Joseph had at least 10 children, the last being Antoine born in 1863.
Left to Right: Bishop Alexander Tache, Father Joseph Lestanc and Father Joachim Allard (R)
Serving under Bishop Alexander-Antonin TACHE (1823-1894) of St Boniface, Joseph LESTANC (1830-1912) became the first Oblate missionary to visit the Winnipeg River area, and in 1867 the St Alexandre (Fort Alexander) Mission was established there with Father Joachim ALLARD (1838-1917) as the first resident priest.
We don’t know when Joseph and his family moved to the area that would later become the Sagkeeng (Fort Alexander) Indian Reserve, but we do know that all of his children married Indian or Half-breed wives and became Treaty Indians themselves by virtue of being residents there before the Treaty was signed, and by receiving Government annuities as such after the Reserve boundaries were established.
Canadian Confederation
On July 1, 1867 the British colonies in North America were united under the British North American Act to become the Dominion of Canada. Sir John A. MACDONALD was appointed as Canada’s first Prime Minister. William McDOUGALL (1822-1905) became the first Minister of Public Works for the new Dominion of Canada, and he began negotiations to acquire Rupert’s Land from the HBC. Surveyors were dispatched to Red River to prepare the way for an expected influx of settlers.
In 1867 son Andre married Therese KENT (a Saulteaux Indian) in St Boniface.
In 1868 daughter Catherine married Jacob MORRISSEAU in St Boniface, son of Mary DANIEL & Antoine MORRISSEAU (1808-1872).
On Oct 11, 1869, Louis RIEL (1844-1885) placed his foot on the surveyors’ chain to tell them their work was finished! This marked the beginning of another Red River Métis Rebellion. When it was all over, RIEL’s Provisional Government accepted the terms of the Manitoba Act and on July 15,1870 Manitoba became the fifth province of Canada, the Canadian Government having acquired the territory previously governed by the HBC.
On Aug 21, 1870, Colonel Garnet Joseph WOLSELY (1833-1913) and his soldiers arrived at Fort Alexander; then proceeded to Upper Fort Garry where on Aug 24 they forced their way into the Métis headquarters. RIEL, having learned that the soldiers were planning to lynch him, fled just a few hours before they arrived. After going to the bishop’s residence to tell TACHE that he had been tricked by the politicians, RIEL fled to the United States. He took refuge at St Joseph’s Mission, about 10 miles south of the border in Dakota Territory.
Around 1870 son Joseph may have married Isabella LINKLATER
Signing of Treaty Number One
In 1871 KAKAKEPENAISE (William MANN) signed Treaty Number One (The Stone Fort Treaty) on behalf of the Sagkeeng (Fort Alexander) First Nation people.
In 1871 son Pierre married Suzanne FINLAYSON in Fort Alexander, daughter of Sarah BRASS and Hector FINLAYSON. ** MORE ABOUT HECTOR FINLAYSON
In 1876 son Louis married Helen "Ellen" BIRD in Ft Alexander.
Census 1881: Lake Winnipeg NE Extension (Probably Ft Alex): Joseph GUIMOND b-c1806 (age 75), Hunter and farmer; Marie b-c1807 (age 74); Francois b-c1834 (age 47), a widower.
In 1897 youngest son Antoine married Marguerite JOHNSTON, daughter of Sarah BRUYERE and Joseph JOHNSTON (b-1843).
Please post comments & queries at this link: FORUM DISCUSSING the JOSEPH GUIMOND FAMILY
============================= Family Details ============================= Children: ** MORE ABOUT PIERRE GUIMOND |
