Red River Ancestry

New Family Page: JOSEPH LECLERC aka LECLAIR (1796-1875)

Please post comments and queries about Joseph LECLAIR and his descendants here.

Joseph & Therese LeClair were my great grandparents. My grandparents were Marie LeClair & Edouard Smith. I am not sure the total number of children they had, as my grandparents had passed away prior to my birth but I am sure several of my aunts & uncles had also passed away as well. I know they had at least five children - Suzette Williams Smith, Norman Smith, Alfred James Smith, Mary Matt Smith and Margaret Smith. My father, Norman Smith was born March 1, 1886 and was turning 60 when I was born. I am searching for any information on the Smith family. I do know that Edouard Smith was from St Peter's Band and at some time, probably worked for HBC as he worked in the fur trade on york boats & red river carts in Manitoba, Saskatchewan & Alberta. I have no knowledge of who his parents were or if he had any siblings. Any recommendations on how to find out this information would be helpful. I also know that baptismal records were lost in the church fire.

Marge: Edward SMITH was born about 1846, a son of Nancy and James SMITH (This from the 1870 census in St Andrews Parish). So far I am uncertain of the origins of Nancy and James SMITH.

Thank you for your reply Gary. I still have some checking to do but need to dig into my father's notes regarding his grandparents. Thank you so very much. This is quite exciting & interesting. Marge

Alfred BENOIT posted: I am new to the forum. I am looking for any information on my great-grandfather Joseph LECLERC/LECLAIR most likely born either May 1, 1878 (according to WW1 attestation) or April 30, 1879 (according to 1901 scrip). He died December 1950. His father was Francois Xavier LECLERC (1851-1932) His mother was Marguerite MERCREDI McCARTHY born 1860. I have searched Manitoba Vital Statistics database and found birth certificates for younger siblings but not for Joseph. The WW1 attestation states he was born in St. Pierre, Manitoba. The Northwest Half-Breed Claims Commission 1901 scrip states he was born in Grand Rapids. Any ideas on how I might locate a birth certificate? I live in BC and am not really familiar with these regions of Manitoba. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Sincerely, Alf Benoit

Alfred: I have lots of information about your lineage down to your Great Grandparents, Donalda LEONARD and Joseph LECLAIR/ LECLERC (b-1879). My last information had him as a widower in St Boniface with six kids, living with his mother-in-law, Widow Donalda LEONARD. You say that Joseph died in 1950. Where did he die?

I have a copy of his obituary. He died December 6, 1950 in Winnipeg and is buried in Assiniboine Memorial Park Cemetery. I also have a photo of his tombstone. The name on the stone is Private Joseph LeClair. Beneath that it says served as J. Leclerc. Donalda Leonard was his first wife. It appears that they separated and their six children lived with Joseph and his mother-in-law Virginie Johnson. Donalda remarried later in life.

This gets a bit confusing. In his World War I Attestation of 1916 Joseph is indicated as widowed, indicating that his wife had died by that time. He indicates the ‘Guardian of his child’ as Virginie JOHNSON. However, in the census record that same year he and his children are recorded with Widow Virginia LEONARD.
You say his wife re-married? I don’t understand where the name JOHNSON comes from.

Sorry, Johnson was Donalda's mother's maiden name. Yes, I see that the WW1 attestation paper states that Joseph is a widower. However, this is incorrect. He and Donalda were separated and at the time of his enlistment, he and the six children lived with his mother-in-law Virginie Leonard. Joseph remarried later and had two sons, Noel and Gideon.

Thanks Alf; I think I understand better now. For your information - I do special family pages for lots of people, in case you’re interested in documenting any of the other families in your lineage. More about that at this link:
SPECIAL FAMILY PAGES