Born England. Catherine arrived in British Columbia in
September 17, 1862 on the Bride Ship S.S. Tynemouth. Also listed
as a passenger was Emily Brit Abington, perhaps her sister. The
long arduous voyage from England saw the women treated like
cargo confined to the bottom level of the ship with no windows,
no fresh water, no fresh food, no sanitation.
The Tynemouth, it turns out, was the biggest of
four bride ships. It was part of a scheme to ship the urban poor
of London to what was considered one of the remotest parts of
the British Empire. This trip was sponsored by the Columbia
Mission Society through the Anglican Church.
August 26, 1863, in Victoria, she married Edward Wilson.
Abigail Adair
4558
Born 1736, New Jersey, U.S.A. .
Died 1821 Beamsville, Upper Canada (now Ontario). Abigail
married David Adair (1734-1811) in 1758 in the American colonies
and they had seven children. The couple had lived in the upper
part of the State of Deleware, U.S.A. prior to the American
Revolution. As loyalists their property was confiscated by the
Americans. They relocated to New Jersey to wait out the
Revolution before deciding to travel north to Upper Canada where
they received land from the Crown as settlers. The family
settled in 1788 in Clinton Township, Lincoln County, Upper
Canada near modern day Beamsville. The Niagara Escarpment ran
through their property and the Mountainview Conservation Area is
now where the family farm was located. Source:
The Niagara Settlers, online (accessed 2024); Wikitree, online
Accessed 2024)
Elizabeth
JaneAdams
née
Bulloch. Born January 8,1886,
Lanark, Ontario. Died September 1, 1993, Sinclair, Manitoba. In March 1904,
Elizabeth's family traveled to Sinclair, Manitoba, in
order to farm near their extended family. They brought five carloads of
livestock, furniture, and lumber with them from Ontario. In 1906 Elizabeth married
Robert Adams (1878-1957) in Sinclair, and the pair moved to their own homestead. They
had hired help for the maintenance of the house as Adams worked alongside
her husband farming. She also assisted the doctor in
Sinclair with maternity cases and farm accidents. Her story was recorded in
Voices of Yesteryear, part of the Westman Oral History Collection of
Audiocassettes. (2024)
Emma Helen Alexander
'Ship Bride'
3522
née Tammadge. Born July 29, 1840, London, England. Died June 3, 1916,
Victoria, British Columbia. Emma arrived with 70 other eligible women on
September 17, 1862 as a ship bride on the S. S. Tynemouth. On January 30,
1867 (sometimes reported as February 1, 1867) Richard Henry Alexander
(1844-1915). Richard had come from Scotland and was educated in Toronto,
Ontario. He was lured to the Canadian west coast with stories of gold. He
worked at various labouring and clerk positions and eventually worked his to
management of a successful saw mill. The couple had four children. According
to the Vancouver Province, Emma had administered to the sick and needy in
her early days on Burrand Inlet. With her husband deeply involved in the
island community perhaps it can be assumed that she also was involved with
her community which she watched grow from a small settlement to a modern
urban centre. Source: Tynemouth Bride ship passengers Online
(accessed 2021)
Nancy Alexander
Black Pioneer
Born May 25,
1824, St Louis, Missouri, U.S.A. Died March 23 1912, Lake Hill District, British Columbia. Nancy was a
free black who married a free Black carpenter, Charles Alexander
(1824-1913) in
Springfield Illinois, U.S.A. on December 25, 1849. The couple originally
settled in St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.A. In 1855 the family, now including two
children, travelled four months to reach the gold fields of California.
Charles did not have much success as a prospector and the family was on the
move again by 1858. Sir James Douglas, of the Hudson Bay Company, had put out
the call for settlers to come to Vancouver Island. The Alexander family were
one of some 700 Black families to answer the call to settle in Canada. In
the fall of 1861, the family settled in South Saanich, British Columbia to
raise their family of twelve children. Charles would build the first
school in the area and the first Shady Creek Methodist Church. The
Church was then, and is now, racially integrated. He also assisted in
establishing the first Temperance Society. In 1894 the family moved
to Lake Hill District of British Columbia. Nancy was one of the first
members of the local Women’s Institute. As of 1992 the couple had 400
descendants. Source: British Columbia Black History Learning Centre online (accessed
January 2014) (2022)
Sarah Ashbridge
Died 1801, Toronto, Ontario. As a widow with five children
Sarah left Chester County near Philadelphia and moved to Upper Canada. She
was fleeing after the American Revolution escaping persecution against
Quakers. As a United Empire Loyalist she was granted 600 acres of land on
Lake Ontario. Settling in an area outside of York (now Toronto) she began
clearing land in 1794. She built her home near the mouth of the Don River.
In the 1920's the family land was parceled off with the house being left on
two acres of land. The city of Toronto honoured this early pioneer settler
by naming a street in her honour. The family house build in the 1850's is
now an historic site.
Sarah Ballenden
Métis Pioneer
Born 1818, Rupert's Land, Western Canada. Died 1853,
Edinburgh, Scotland. Sarah was one of
eight children of a North West Company Trader and
an aboriginal mother. In the 1830's she married John Ballenden and the
couple would have four children. She died in Edinburgh, Scotland supposedly
of a broken heart. She had been the victim of strong racism that occurred in
the early Red River Settlement. She had been accused of having an affair
with a white man and even though her name was legally cleared the stigma
remained and she was snubbed and an outcast in Red River society. Source D C B Vol. lll pg. 573-74.Recommended
reading: The Reputation of a Lady: Sarah Ballenden and the Foss-Pelly
Scandal by Sylvia Van Kirk Manitoba History, No. 11 Spring 1986. (2020)
Frances Hornby Barkley
Pioneer Adventurer
née Trevor.
Born 1767, Bridgewater Somersetshire, England. Died 1845. At 17 she married
Captain Charles William Barkley, a fur trader. The couple arrived in
Vancouver, British Columbia in June1789. She was the 1st European
woman in British Columbia. In 1788 she gave birth to her first child,
William, in Mauritius and the family headed back to England thus having
circumnavigating the globe. She was the 1st women to have
circumnavigated the globe without having hidden the fact that she was a
woman. In 1791 a daughter was born in India as the family headed back around
the globe. In 2009 the University of Auckland, New Zealand established the
Barkley Scholarship in her honour. The M. V. Frances Barkley, a vessel
carrying passengers on the west coast was named in her honour. She managed
to keep a detailed diary of her trip to Canada and her additional
globetrotting adventures which provides a rich record of this adventuresome
woman. Source: 100
more Canadian Heroines by Merna Forster, Dundurn Press, 2011. (2020)
Elizabeth Barrett
Died 1888, Morleyville,
Alberta. Like many young women of her era Elizabeth attended Normal school
to become a teacher. In 1874 she was teaching at Orone, Ontario when she
decided to head the call for teachers and missionaries to go to the Canadian
Northwest. Her 1st post was at Whitefish Lake Mission100 miles
northeast of Fort Edmonton with the Rev. Henry Bird Steinhauer
‘Shawahnekezhik, an Ontario Ojibwa she was the 1st First Nation
Christian Missionary in the Northwest. Elizabeth taught there two years and
made sure that Henry’s son, Egerton Steinhauer could continue with the
Whitefish Lake school. While at Whitefish Lake Elizabeth had learned the
Cree language. In 1877 she was one of six white women to sign Treaty No. 7
with the local tribes. Her second assignment was with Reverend George
McDougall and his family at the Morley Mission. Here she studied the
language and customs of the Stoney. She was soon relocated to Fort Macleod
where she opened a public School, the 1st in southern Alberta.
She also held the 1st Methodist Services at Fort Macleod.
Suffering from ill health she returned to Morleyville. Cochrane, Alberta is
proud to be home to theElizabeth Barrett Elementary
School, named for the 1st professional teacher in Alberta. Source: 200 remarkable Alberta women.
Online (accessed October 2014)
Azilda Belanger
Pioneer, Healer, & Teacher
née
Brisebois. Born 1863, St Andre-Avellin. Died 1942,, Northern Ontario. In
1886 Azilda and her
husband Joseph Belanger, a Canadian Pacific Railroad worker, moved to
Rayside, Ontario just outside of Sudbury. The couple would have t3 children.
Azilda was one of the first white women in the area. Joseph would
become Mayor from 1890 to 1900. A relative of the family, Sir Wilfrid
Laurier, enjoyed Azilda’s hospitality when he visited the area in 1911.
Azilda was a teacher not only educating her own children but also local
Aboriginal children. She was also held in high regard for her knowledge of
local herbs and medicinal plants. She often provided local health car and
even helped prepare the bodies of the dearly departed for funerals. The area
where the family lived is known as Azilda and is part of Greater Sudbury. In
1991 a historical plaque was erected at the family homestead.
Sources: Les femmes de la route ll. Les elles du nord. (accessed June 2015)
Jeanne CharlotteAllamand Berczy
Pioneer, Painter, Teacher, & Founder of Early Toronto Society.
Born April 16, 1760, Lausanne, Switzerland . Died September 18, 1839.
On Novembe1, 1785 young Charlotte married Wilhelm Albrecht Ulrich Moll AKA
Guillaume (William) Berczy. The young couple were bonded together by their
love of art and their painting. They would move around Europe and settle in
London, England for a short time in 1790 when William became involved with
the Genoese Company which was interested in settlements in New York State.
They sailed for the USA in 1792 and by 1794 William was working with the
German Company with plans for settlements in Upper Canada. William and
Charlotte are considered early founders of Toronto, with William responsible
for settlers in the Markham area to the north. Business meant that her
husband traveled extensively and for long periods of time. She often found
herself in charge of the settlers. She also supported her two sons by
establishing a textile shop. In 1798 the family settled in Montreal where
she supported herself by opening an academy to teach painting, music and
languages (French, Italian and German) She was one of the first women on
record to teach art in Montreal. The Royal Ontario Museum holds some of her
portrait paintings.
Source : Dictionary of Canadian Biography Vol. Vll pg 13 (Toronto:
University of Toronto Press)
Lucie 'Ruthie' Blackburn
National Historic Person
Born 1804, West Indies. Died February 6, 1895 Toronto, Ontario. 'Ruthie/Ruthy', as she was originally named, was sold as a
slave for the Backus family in New Orleans. She became a house slave and
cared for the daughter of the house. She eventually ended up in
Louisville, Kentucky where she met and married Thornton Blackburn (died
1890), a fellow slave. In
June 1831 she was sold when their daughter suddenly died. That year the young couple
posed as freed blacks and escaped with forged papers they managed to escape
to Cincinnati and on to Detroit Michigan which was a free state. The couple lived there
for two years until Thornton was
recognized as a runaway slave. The couple were imprisoned but with help they
escaped to Upper Canada where they were free according to the law. The next
year she was reunited with her husband and the
couple settled in Toronto where 'Ruthie /Ruthy' took a non slave name of Lucie.
Thornton worked as a waiter and then they began in 1837 the 1st cab
company in Upper Canada. They were successful in business and were able to
purchase a small home. Sometime in the 1830's he defied chance and
returned to Kentucky to bring his mother back to Toronto. The couple were
active in anti slavery activities and in their community. They helped to
build the Little Trinity Church the oldest surviving church in Toronto.
In 1985 an archaeological dig uncovered the foundations of the Thornton home
and instigated the book I've Got a Home in Glory Land; A lost Tale of the
Underground Railroad published in 2007 sinning the Governor
Generals Literary Award for Nonfiction. In 2002 an historic plaque was placed at the site of
their Toronto home and the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada
recognized the couple as persons of national historic significance. In 2015
a mural was installed in the area of their home depicting the history of the
area and included the Thornton's' cab. In 2016 George Brown College, Toronto
named their conference Centre for Thornton and Lucie Blackburn.
(2020)
Mary Bradley
née Coy. Born September 1, 1771, Grimross (Gagetown) New Brunswick. Died March 12, 1859.
Mary and her first husband, David Morris took up
farming in the Saint John New Brunswick area in 1801. Widowed in 1817 she
remarried in 1819 to Levitt Bradley. Unable to speak out at church meetings
simply because she was a woman gave her a cause. She spoke out whenever she
could and sought out a church that accepted women as speakers. In 1803 she
joined the Wesleyan Methodists. In 1849, although a relatively uneducated
person, she published A Narrative of the life and Christian experience of
Mrs. Mary Bradley of Saint John. Her life was dedicated to the expansion of
the Christian word. In her will she left a large portion of her substantial
estate for continuance of the teaching of the Christian gospel.
Esther Brandeau
Born 1718?. She was the first
person of the Jewish faith to set foot in New France. Disguised as a boy and
using the name of Jacques La Farque she sailed to Quebec in 1738. Once her
disguise was discovered she told a tale of having been the only family
member to have survived a shipwreck and having survived as a cabin boy and
baker’s boy in a Christian community. She was unwilling to accept the
Catholic teachings of the Nuns of Quebec and after being deported back to
France she disappears from written history.
Catherine Brant
Indigenous Leader
née Croghan. Born 1759?. Died November 23 / 24, 1837. Her aboriginal name is Ohtowa
kéhson and she was the head woman of the Turtle Clan of the Mohawk. In 1779
she married and became the third wife of Chief Joseph Brant (1743-1807). The couple
would have seven children. The family moved to the Grand River in 1785 where
Joseph founded the City of Burlington where he build for his family a fine
new house that today houses a museum. While she knew and understood English
she much preferred to speak her own native language. As Clan Mother of the
Mohawk she wielded much influence among the Six Nations. Both she and Joseph
are buried at Her Majesty’s Chapel of the Mohawks which they had built in
1785. It is the oldest protestant church in Ontario. Source:
D C B Vol. Vll.
Molly / Mary Brant
Indigenous Leader
(Native name
Konwatsi'tsiaienni = someone lends her a flower) Born circa 1736, Died April
16, 1796. She was one of the powerful Six Nations Indian matrons who were
chose the chiefs of the Iroquois Confederacy. She was also the life partner
of William Johnson, the British Superintendent of Northern Indians. She was
the chatelaine of Johnson Hall in New York state, where she entertained and
took over total management when Johnson was absent. She encouraged the
Iroquois to support the British during the American Revolution. Her lands in
New York were ravaged by the Americans for her stand with the British and
she was forced to flee to Canada. The Governor of the area had a house build
for her and she received a pension of 100 pounds a year, the largest pension
ever paid to a native person during this era.
Jemima Bray
née McKay. Born January 1, 1858. Died March 31, 1926, Medicine Hat, Alberta.
Jemima lived with her family in Fort Walsh, Alberta. On November 16, 1876
she married John Henry Grisham Bray
(1840-1923)
who was a member of the North West Mounted Police. Jemima was one of the
first police wives in the Canadian North West Territories. After their
marriage the couple transferred to Fort MacLeod. The couple would have 13
children. From 1881 through 1892 they lived at Pincer Creek, Alberta. In
1883 Sergeant Bray retired from policing. The family resettled in Medicine
Hat in 1992. Source:
Kay Saunderson, 200 Remarkable Alberta Women, (Famous Five
Foundation, 1999)
Sarah
'Allie' Brock Brick
née
Lendrum. Born December 1, 1877, Vanleeck Hill, Ontario. Died May 23, 1947,
Victoria, British Columbia. Allie married and independent fur trader Alfred
‘Fred’ Lambly Brick and the couple took a 700 mile journey to their home in
Fort Vermillion. The voyage included 300 miles don river on a 100 foot raft
on which supplies possessions and animals where housed. Fred had to teach
his wife the basics of keeping a house on the Canadian frontier as she could
not even make bread. The couple had four children three of who were born in
Fort Vermillion.
Louisa Ann Brown - Bailey -Tillman 4202
Black Pioneer Businesswoman in
Halifax
née
Johnson / Johnston. Born 1830's or 1840's, Halifax, Nova Scotia. Died
December 29, 1911, Halifax, Nova Scotia. Louisa married the first time to
John F. Brown (died before 1871). As a widow she lived with her shoemaker
brother and and her widowed mother. who owned a variety store in Halifax.
Louisa worked as a dress maker until she remarried January 9, 1877 to
Alexander C. Bailey (died 1886), a truckman and Baptist pastor in Beech
Hill. After the death of her mother , Louisa took over the mother's property
and store developing a business in second hand clothes and branching out into
herbs, roots and groceries. She became active in the African Baptist
Association promoting temperance and teaching Sunday school. She helped
establish the Pastor's Aid Society where she served as president. She also
contributed to a projected vocational school for Black children. She
would marry a third time to a Baptist clergyman from Boston, George Tillman
but it appears they never lived together.Source: D C B Vol XIV
(1911-1920) (accessed 2023) .
Amelia Lemon Burritt
Pioneer & Suffragist
Born August 1, 1822, on the banks of the St. Lawrence River Died January 29,
1929, Portage la Prairie, Manitoba. She came to Winnipeg with her husband in
1880. During the work of the Political Equality League to gain the vote for
women, at the age of 93 years, she got 4,000 names on a petition to Premier
T. C. Norris.
Interviewed on the occasion of her 103rd birthday in 1925, making
her the province’s oldest women at that point.
Source:
Pioneers and
Prominent People of Manitoba Online version 2007, Manitoba
Historical Society; Memorable Manitobans Online (accessed December
2011).
Sarah Foulds Camsell
Born 1849, Red River Settlement, Manitoba.
Died January 9, 1939, Penticton, British Columbia. In1868, she was invited
by the wife of fur trader William Lucas Hardisty to accompany her on her
return to Fort Simpson, North West Territories. There, she met and married
Julian. Stewart
Camsell on 28 January 1869. The couple lived much of their lives
in the North West Territories raising a family of eleven children, nine of
whom lived to adulthood. Sarah returned to Winnipeg in 1900. In 1923, her
reminiscences about her life were included in the book
Women of Red
River, published by the Women’s Canadian Club of Winnipeg. She moved to
Penticton, British Columbia in 1931, where she died. Source: Memorable Manitobans. Biography
by Gordon Goldsborough. (accessed March 2012)
Zina
Young Williams Card
'Aunt Zina'
née
Young. Born April 3, 1850, Salt Lake City, Utah. Died January 31, 1931,
Salt Lake City, Utah. Zina was the daughter of Mormon leader Brigham Young
(1877) . As a member of Jesus Christ of. Latter Day Saints religion , Zina
was in favour of plural marriages. On October 12, 1868 she became the second
wife of Thomas Williams (died
1874).
The couple had two sons. After the death of her husband, Zina, to support
her small children, learned how to produce silk, raised silkworms and turned
the silk into fabric. In January 1879, Zina and Emmeline B. Wells travelled
to Washington, D.C., as delegates to the 1st women’s Congress. There, Zina
met powerful women including Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and
others. Returning home, Zina attended school at Brigham Young Academy where
she became Matron of young ladies. Her son Thomas died in 1881 and she
turned her efforts to working harder at the Academy. On June 17, 1884 she
became the second wife of Charles Ora Card (1839-1906). Charles’ 1st
wife had divorced him so in fact Zina was his third marriage. June 3, 1887
Zina moved with ten other families to join her husband at Lee’s Creek in
southern Alberta. Charles other wife and children remained in Utah. Zina
used some of her own monies to fund a school and local businesses in the
settlement. Her 1st home was a log cabin nick named the ‘Cotton
Flannel Palace” because she lined the walls with bright cotton flannel.
Charles was often absent from the community as he visited his other wives
and families in Utah and Iowa. Perhaps the wide distribution of his families
was his way of avoiding the law against plural marriages. Zina meanwhile
welcomed visitors and new settlers as guests in her home. In 1900 Charles
gave Zina some land and she funded the building of a large brick home to
accommodate the family and numerous visitors. Zina's many responsibilities
were establishing a drama society, leading the Young Women’s Mutual
Improvement Association, raising her own children and sometimes the children
of other wives, entertaining literally hundreds of visiting dignitaries, and
acting as a surrogate mother to much of the western Canadian province. She
also served as a midwife.
Throughout the area she was known as Aunt Zina. When Charles became
ill she moved back to Utah with him. Her only daughter, Zina, married and
remained in Alberta. The church work that Charles did to lay the foundation
of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints (Mormons) in Canada
has earned him the title of ‘Canada’s Brigham Young’. Lee’s Creek was
renamed Cardston in honour of this pioneer family.
Sources: Sanderson, Kay. 200 Remarkable Women of Alberta. (s.l., s.d.) online
(Accessed September 2014) ; Aunt Zina; the life of Zina Young Williams
Card. Church History. (accessed September 2014)
Eliza Ann Chipman
Born July 3, 1807, Nova Scotia. Died October 23, 1853. She would marry the
Reverend William Chipman May 24, 1827 and become stepmother to 8 children
at 19 years of age! She and William would also have 12 children of their
own. From 1823 until her death she kept a personal and secret journal. Two
years after her death her husband, published the diary his wife had left
behind. The importance of such a work lies in the insight provided into the
daily life of the pioneers themselves. Eliza Ann was a strong individual
with close connections to her Baptist belief. Her writings show her support
and encouragement for education for education. After all she did have a
household with 20 children! The Memoirs of the life of Mrs. Eliza Ann
Chipman… left a literary legacy providing a portrait of women’s lives in
early 19th century Nova Scotia. Source: D C B V. 111 pg 148-149.
Jeanne Chartier
Fille du Roi
Born 1646? St Jean Nermours, France. Died December 31, 1708, Montmagny, New
France (now Quebec) Jeanne was one of the brave young French women who
answered the French Royal Call for women to go to the colony of New France.
She arrived in Quebec June 30, 1669. She married Pierre Rousset dit
Beaucourt and after his death she married Francois Lavergne
(2018)
Suzanne Connolly
Born 1788. Died August 14, 1862. She was also known as La
Sauvagess or as Suzanne Pas de nom. She was partnered/married as was the
custom of the fur trade era with William Connolly in 1801. Usually when
traders returned to the urban centers of Canada they made a choice of either
leaving their partner/wife and children or taking them with them. Most
traders simply left. Suzanne moved to Lower Canada with William where he
married Julia Woolrich in the Catholic Church. In 1841 Suzanne and her 6
children moved back to the Red River Country where she took residence in the
Grey Nuns Convent and was supported by William and later by Julia. Her
daughter Amelia would marry Sir James Douglas (Governor of the Hudson Bay
Company). Her son John sued and a case for part of his father’s estate. The
case was pursued through various levels of the British court system before a
settlement was accepted. Suzanne was the only Canadian woman who’s “legal”
marriage question came before Privy Council. She had lived as wife to
William Connolly for 28 years.
Source: D C B vol. IX pg 150-151.
Elizabeth Isabelle Couc - Montour
Died 1667, Quebec. Died circa 1750, Harris Ferry,
Pennsylvania. U.S.A. (now Harrisburg)
Information
of the life of tis woman is contradictory and she has been written into
history in various accounts. She was captured by the Iroquois about 1695 at
an uncertain location. She was ransomed by her brother-in-law Maurice Menard
and she accompanied him to Michilmackinac to serve as an interpreter. Tales
of her being sent to Quebec and from there to France abound. However she was
supposedly rescued by her future husband a chief of the Ottawas, Outoutagan,
also known as Jean LeBlanc (1698-1712) By 1704 she was living in Detroit as
Mme La Chenette or Mme Techenet. Here she reportedly led a scandalous life
with Etienne de Veniard, Sieur de Bougmont (1679-1734). By 1709 she called
herself Mme Montour and was working once again as an interpreter as the wife
of an Oneida Chief. In 1727 she and her husband attended an Indian gathering
in Philadelphia where she was regarded as a French woman. She remained in
this area, eventually blending in and living with one of her sons near
Harris Ferry.
Source: D C B
Guillemette Couillard de Lespinay
4239
née Hébert.
Born 1606?, Paris or Dieppe, France. Died October 20, 1684, Quebec, New
France (now Quebec). Guillemette was the daughter of Canada's first farmers,
Louis
Hébert
& Marie Rollet .
August 26, 1621 she married at to Guillaume Couillard de Lespinay.
After the death of her father in 1627 the couple
inherited the family estate on the brow of the cliff. The house was the only
private swelling in Quebec. She was often godmother to
baptized Indigenous babies. She also too in Montagnais girls who were protégées
of Samuel Champlain. The household also included Olivier Le Jeune,
an enslave Malagasy boy sold by the English. By 1648 the household
had servants and then children. In the early 166's two of her sons
and a nephew were killed by the Iroquois. In the spring of 1663 she
became a widow. She disposed of some of the family properties
and litigation begun by the disapproving children would continue
over generations even into the 20th century. She would withdraw into
the convent of the Hôtel-Dieu living as a boarder for her las years.
At the time of her death her descendants were over 250 people. Many
of her descendants opted to use the surname Hébert. Source: D C B
(2023)
Regina Mary 'Polly' Rowell Craig
Born
December 13, 1882
Regina, Saskatchewan . Died 1965. She was the firs
settler child born is what is now Regina, Saskatchewan. Thomas Rowell
brought his wife from Durham County, England to take up free Canadian Land.
They named their daughter in honour of their new hometown. Regina was
presented with Deed no. 1, Regina on April 11, 1883, a deed to lot 23 in
block 282. Unfortunately the land was not tax free for the baby and the land
was seized by the town for non-payment of taxes and sold. The deed itself
was eventually useful to Regina when she went to claim her old-age pension,
she used the deed as proof of age. Regina married Henry Craig and the couple
had two sons. Regina Rowell Craig was honoured by the City of Regina by
having a street, Rowell Crescent in northwest Regina, named after her.
Source: City of Regina. Heritage. Online (accessed January 2012.)
Annie Davidson
Born 1836?, New Brunswick. Annie was married when she was
young and was the mother of 10 children. In her late 60's, as a widow, she
relocated from her native New Brunswick to Calgary, Alberta to be closer to
four of her remaining children. In 1906 she started the Calgary Women's
Literary Club in this untamed western Canadian settlement. The members read
and discussed the classics. The club soon thought the town of 12,000 needed
a library. Annie contacted the American Philanthropist, Andrew Carnegie who
was a known library supporter and she was guaranteed $80,000.00 towards the
library project. The Calgary municipal council said they would lend support
to the library project only if a petition of 10% of the voting population
was procured. Since women could not vote at the time this meant the
signatures had to be gentlemen of the community. In 1912 the new Calgary
Public Library was opened. Today it is the Memorial Park Library and
in 2018 it was declared a National Historic Site as the 1st public library
in the province. Annie never saw the finished library building as she
relocated before it was completed. There is an opera. The Annie Davidson
Opera that tells the story of this former book reading citizen of Calgary.
Catherine A Delany 4466
née Richards. Born October 10, 1822, Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. Died
July 11, 1894, Wilberforce, Ohio, U.S.A. In 1843 Catherine Married
Martin Robinson Delany (1812-1885) who in 1850 was one of the first
African-American men admitted to Harvard Medical School. The couple had 11
children. The family moved to Chatham, Canada West (now Ontario0 in 1856
where the last of their children were born. In May 1858 Martin attended a
convention organized by John Brown held at the First Baptist Church in
Chatham. In 1959 Martin had published a novel published in
installments in the Anglo African Magazine. Catherine would remain
home to care for the large family while Martin travelled to Liberia and
Niger. In the spring of 1860 Martin was on a speaking tour in England. He
returned to Catherine in Chatham in December of that year. By 1864 the
family relocated to Wilberforce, Ohio, U.S.A. and Marin had enlisted in the
Union army. After the war they lived in South Carolina where Martin
ran unsuccessfully for Lieutenant Governor of the state. Catherine would
work to aid the family income by being a seamstress. Catherine and three of
her children were buried in an unmarked grave next to Martin who had a
simple tombstone. In 2006 the National Afro -American Museum installed a
black granite monument to the family at the grave site.
Source: Chatham-Kent Physician Tribute online (accessed 2024)
Marie Rose Delorme -Smith
National Historic Person
Born 1861, Manitoba. Died April 4, 1960, Lethbridge, Alberta. She was the
daughter of Métis fur traders. She had two years of convent education and
was fluent in English, French and Cree. In 1877 at 16 she married Charlie
Smith who paid her parents $50.00 for his bride The couple had 17 children.
Marie out lived Charlie and 12 of her children. In 1881 they started the
Jughandle Ranch near Pincer Creek, Alberta. Marie not only cared for her
family but she also sewed buckskin cloths by hand while acting as nurse and
midwife. When Charlie bought her a sewing machine she was to trade hew sewn
goods for food and clothing. She. She and two other women sewed 36 tents for
Canadian Pacific Railway workers to use. The ranch was sold and a house was
purchased in Pincer Creek where after Charlie’s death in 1914 Marie took in
boarders and expectant mothers. Marie wrote an account of her life leaving a
legacy of a firsthand account of western Canadian pioneer life.
In 2023 she was declared a National Historic Person. Sources:
Herstory, the Canadian Women’s Calendar 2006 Coteau Books, 2005 : Métis
Culture and Heritage Resource Centre. (accessed April 2013). (2023)
Catherine Jérémie de Lamontagne
Baptized September 22, 1664.
Died July1, 1744. In her era, this mother of some 11 children, would become a well
known midwife and amateur botanist. She collected plants and sent them back to
France for study. Her shipments were made more valuable by the descriptive notes
she included with explanations of the properties and effects
of the medical herbs.
Francoise Marie Jacqueline de la Tour
Born July 28, 1621, France. Died 1645 Saint
John, Canada. She sailed to Port Royal in New France to marry in June 1640,
Charles de Saint-Etienne de la Tour (1593-1666).The couple settled at Fort
la Tour at the mouth of the Saint John River (modern day Nova Scotia) .
She soon became involved in the Acadian Civil War. In 1643 gave birth to her
only child. She escaped a blockade of the Fort and headed to France to plead
her case before the King. The decision came down against her husband and she
escaped to England where she hired a ship to get her back to her husband.
The ship was stopped by LaTour's rival Charles de Menou d'Aulnay de
Charnizay (1604-1650) and Francoise was forced to go to Boston. Eventually
she and her husband were reunited in Fort la Tour. In spring 1645 la
Tour was in Boston in the American colonies when the fort was attached.
Assuming command of the Fort Francoise refused to surrender and fought three
days to defend the Fort only to be forced to surrender on the forth day of
battle. Charles de Menou d'Aulnay de Charnizay (1604-1650) slaughtered the
remaining defence forces forcing Francoise to watch the executions. She died
three weeks later. She earned the nickname of Lioness of la Tour.
She was the 1st European woman to make a home in
the colony that would grow to become Acadia.
Hélène Desportes - Hébert - Morin
4267
Born 1620?, New France. Died June 24, 1675, New
France (now Quebec). It is often cited that Hélène was the first white child
born in New France. Her father Pierre Desportes (1580-1629?) was in charge
of the warehouse in Quebec and hew was also the village baker. Her
Mother was Françoise Langlois (1595?-1629?).After the fall of Quebec City in
1629 the family was transported to London, England and then to France. After
the peace of 1632 Hélène returned to Quebec landing on May 16, 1633. October
1, 1634 she married Joseph Guillaume Hébert (died died 1639),
son of the first farmer in New France, Louis Hébert (1575-1627), and his
wife, Marie Rollet (1580-1629). The couple had three children, one of whom
died in infancy. January 9, 1640 she married a second
time to wheelwright Noel Morin (1616-1680). The couple had 12 children.
Hélène became a midwife in the communities of Château-Richer, Cap-St-Ignace,
and Montmagny, New France. Source D C B (2023)
Elizabeth Doane
née Osborne. Born 1715, Massachusetts . Died May 24, 1798. As a
young woman she married Captain William Myrich who was lost at sea. The
widow then married William Pain who dies within a year of the marriage. Her
third marriage was to Edmund Doane in 1749 and the amalgamated family was a
total of 7 children. The new family settled in Nova Scotia. Since there was
no doctor in the area her skills in roots and herbs as remedies were welcome
in the province. She was well known for her doctoring, nursing and midwife
skills well into her 80's.
Madeleine Dumont
3716
née
Wilkie. Born 1840 Pembina, Dakota. Died October 1886,
Lewiston, Dakota Territory, (now Montana) U.S.A. Madeleine was a Métis,
daughter of Isabella Azure and Jean-Baptiste Wilkie, a buffalo hunter. She
grew up with her family moving about the Canadian prairies and the Dakota
area of the U.S.A. She would marry in 1858 to Gabriel Dumont (1837-1906) and
the couple had two adopted children. She worked closely with her husband
many times traveling to sell his furs. By 1872 the Dumont family settled in
the Batoche-St. Laurant are where they ran Gabriel's Crossing, a ferry
service across the North Saskatchewan River. With the resistance and
'rebellion' of 1885 Madeleine and other women of the area left Batoche and
camped in tents where they nursed the sick and wounded, cared for the youth
and elders, and distributed what supplies and food they could share to the
fighting men. After the uprising Madeleine lived with her father-in-law
Isadore Dumont until his death when she joined her husband who had sought
refuge in the United States. In May of 1886 she was injured in a buggy
accident.
Source: Encyclopedia ofSaskatchewan online
(accessed 2022)
Adrienne DuVivier -Lecavelier
4026
Pioneer of New France
Born 1626, Corbeny, France. Died October 20, 1706.
In 1646 she married Augustin Hébert (1623-1653), a soldier, in
Paris, France. After the birth of her first child in 1647 the
young family arrived at Montreal Island, New France in 1648.
Adrienne was one of the first white women in the colony. In 1649 her
daughter Pauline was the first white child baptised in Montreal.
Jeanne Mance (1606-1673) the first nurse in Canada stood as the
child's God mother. Sadly the child died within a few weeks.
Adrienne had four children in total, three lived to adulthood. After
the death of her husband she became one of the biggest landowners in
Montreal with her inheritance. She married a second time on November
19, 1654 to a gunsmith Robert Lecavelier (died 1699) and the couple
had four children. Her name appears on the Pioneers Obelisk in
Montreal's Place d'Youville. Among her many descendants are two
Canadian Prime Ministers. (2022)
Anna Eleniak
Ukrainian Pioneer of Alberta
née Roszko. Born November 6, 1863, Nebiliv, Ukraine. Died September
26, 1935, Chipman, Alberta. In 1883 she married Vasyl Eleniak
(1859-1956). Vasyl was one of the early Ukrainian settlers to come
to western Canada in 1891. He later returned to the Ukraine to
reunite and bring his wife and three children to Canada. The couple
had an additional five children born in Alberta. The family settled
in 1898 in Chipman , Alberta. Anna would have dug, fertilized,
planted , carried water and weeded her garden. She used hemp and
flax made oil based clothing.
(2023)
Margaret 'Maggie' Jane Elms - Gero
Black Pioneer in Nova Scotia
née Elms.Born 1894, Nova Scotia. Maggie's family had
arrived in Nova Scotia in 1783 as loyalists. Her father would buy
his freedom By the age of ten Maggie was helping to deliver babies
and by eleven was working as a domestic servant to help family
finances. She cleaned toilets for families but was never permitted
to use the toilet. After having a child she moved to Upper Big
Tracadie and married a neighbour. A drinker and abusive he died
young. Maggie married a second time to Joe Gero, a coal miner. In
1933 the family moved to Thorburn where they were the only black
family. After an assault and the death of their daughter Mary the
family moved back to New Glasgow in 1944. Fifty years of Maggie's
life is covered in the book Gooseberries Have Thorns by her
granddaughter Margaret States. (2022)
Marie-Françoise Hébert
Born
January 27, 1638, New France, Died March 16, 1716, Montmagny, New
France. Marie-Francoise was the granddaughter of Louis Ganton Hebert
(1575-1627) and Marie Rollet (1580-1649) the first farming family in
New France. On November 20, 1651 the 13 year old Marie-Francoise
married Guillaume Fournier (1619-1699), a settler in New France who
was a baker by trade. The couple had 13 children. Four of whom died
as infants. Like her Grandmother Marie Rollet, she was a n active
participant in community life in New France. She would serve for
many years as midwife for her community. She and Guillaume would be
grandparents to 107 grandchildren.
Mary Evans - Coady -Johnson
3547
'Ship Bride'
Born July 4, 1831, London, England. Died February 10, 1920,
Victoria, British Columbia.
Mary Evans arrived in British Columbia in September 17, 1862 on the Bride Ship S.S. Tynemouth. The
long arduous voyage from England saw the women treated like
cargo confined to the bottom level of the ship with no windows,
no fresh water, no fresh food, no sanitation.
The S S Tynemouth, it turns out, was the biggest of
four bride ships. It was part of a scheme to ship the urban poor
of London to what was considered one of the remotest parts of
the British Empire. This trip was sponsored by the Columbia
Mission Society through the Anglican Church. Mary, like some of
the other 'Ship Brides', soon found a position teaching in Victoria. A year
after arriving in 1863 she married Edward Coady-Johnson (1829-1909) and the
couple raised three children.
Sources: Find a grave Canada (accessed 2021)
Margaret Faussett-Jessop
3546
'Ship Bride'
Margaret arrived in British Columbia in September 17, 1862 on the Bride Ship S.S. Tynemouth. The
long arduous voyage from England saw the women treated like
cargo confined to the bottom level of the ship with no windows,
no fresh water, no fresh food, no sanitation.
The S S Tynemouth, it turns out, was the biggest of four bride
ships. It was part of a scheme to ship the urban poor of London to what was
considered one of the remotest parts of the British Empire. This trip was
sponsored by the Columbia Mission Society through the Anglican Church.
Margaret, like some of the other 'Ship Brides' soon found a position
teaching in Victoria. On March 30, 1868 she married a fellow teacher John
Jessop (1829-1901). The couple did not have any children.
(2021)
Mary Barbara Fisher
née Till Born 1749. Died February 15, 1841, Fredericton, New Brunswick. Mary
married Lewis Fisher who fought for the Crown with the New Jersey volunteers
during the American Revolution. In 1783, along with 34,000 other Loyalists,
the family fled to Nova Scotia and then on to New Brunswick by November of
that year. They left their comfortable living conditions to suffer some of
the most frightening winter weather conditions of the British Colonies
without having had time to construct solid living shelters, surviving in
tents their first winter in their new homeland. One of Mary’s sons, Peter
(1782-1848), is regarded at New Brunswick’s first English language
historians and based his work Sketches of New Brunswick, published in
1852 on his mother’s memories. Her granddaughter, Georgiana, no doubt named
from the families Loyalist cause, left a manuscript recalling stories her
grandmother told her. These stories were published by Natural Heritage Books
in 2012 providing a new generation of Canadian with a apt description of
what early hardships the loyalists survived in support of the King. Source: Early Voices: Portraits of Canada by women writer’s 1639-1914.
Natural Heritage Books, 2010.
Mary Margaret Florence
née Bouskill. Born Manitoba. Died 1956, Saskatchewan. She and her
family relocated to homestead in Manitoba. Margaret married George Alexander
McRobbie Florence and they farmed in Richardson, Saskatchewan.
Arthamise Fortin
Northern Ontario
Pioneer
née
Courturier. Born August 9, 1879. Died November 1953, Chapleau, Ontario. As a
youth Arthamise left her home in Quebec to work in a cotton factory in Fall
River, Massachusetts, U.S.A. Her sweetheart Philias (Felix) soon followed
and the young couple married on April 28, 1898. They would raise a family of
15 children. With nor steady work in Quebec, the family decided to try
living in Ontario and in May 1909 Felix landed a job with the Canadian
Pacific Railway (CPR) in Chapleau in Northern Ontario. When the family 1st
arrived there were few houses and they lived in a railway box car. The
depression years of the 1930’s were difficult years but the family survived.
Laid off from the CPR, father and older sons worked providing cord wood for
sale. Felix also left his family in late summer , hoped on train cars
heading west to work harvesting in the grain fields. Arthamise kept the
family clean, healthy and made sure they were all bilingual. Some of her
sons went on to work on the trains when Chapleau was a central train hub.
Source:
Michael J. Morris, Philias (Felix) Fortin. Michael J. Morris Report.
Online (accessed June 2015)
Sydna Edmonia Robella Francis
Black Pioneer
3516
née Dandridge. Born 1815, Virginia, U.S.A. Died May 11, 1889,
Victoria, British Columbia. Sydna moved with her family to New York where
met and married Abner Hunt Francis (1812-1872), an abolitionist and
entrepreneur in 1840. The couple had one daughter. Sydna was involved in her
community working with the Dorcas Society providing clothing to the Poor.
During their life in Buffalo, New York she served as president of the Ladies
Literary and Progressive Improvement Society which supported education for
African American Women and Votes for Women while Abner was a member of the
Buffalo City Anti-Slavery Society. In 1843 the couple both attended the
National Coloured Convention: Prosperity and Politics: Taking Stock of Black
Wealth held in Buffalo. Relocating to the west coast around 1850, the
family was running a successful clothing business in Portland, Oregon
Territory, U.S.A. They somehow managed to stay in Oregon Territory even after the
1849 Expulsion Law which prevented Black people from settling in the state.
In 1862 they were one of 700 Black families that settled in Victoria on
Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Here the family joined Sydna's parents
who had settled in Victoria two years earlier and became prominent members
in the Black community. Abner was elected as a town the first Black
councilor in Victoria in 1865 but soon resigned in an election controversy.
There the family clothing store got off to a rocky start and was destroyed
by fire in 1870. They were rebuilding when Abner died in 1872. Sydna tried
to carry on with the business but had also inherited her husband's debts and
found herself even working as a housekeeper in order to help pay of the
debt. She continued to be an active member of her community working with the
British Columbia Protestant Orphan's home.
Sources: Suffragist, abolitionist, devoted daughter, and wife,
mother. BC Black History Awareness Society. Online (accessed 2021); Find a
Grave Canada (accessed 2021)
Catherine Fraser
née MacDonnell. Born March 17,
1790, Matilda Township, Canada (now Ontario) Died August 19, 1862, St
Andrew's, Upper Canada (now Ontario) On June 7, 1820 she married Simon
Fraser (1776-1862) adventurer and explorer of Western Canada with the North
West Company. The couple had nine children, eight of whom lived to adulthood.
Catherine married Simon upon his return from his adventured in the far west
of Canada. Simon served in the Rebellion of 1837 and sustained an injury
which severely hampered him for the rest of his life. He tried farming and
various business ventures including a saw mill but was basically
unsuccessful and never became financially comfortable. Catherine would have
had to work hard to keep the family together. The couple died within a day
of each other and were buried in a single grave in St. Andrew's West, Canada
West. In 1921 the Hudson Bay Company erected a marker with inscription which
mentions Simon's explorations 1805-1808 and Catherine's name is included on
the stone. A small rusty sign at the graveyard indicates to highway drivers
that Simon Fraser is buried there. Source: D C B;
personal knowledge.
Caroline
Blowers Gaetz
née
Hamilton. Born April 12, 1845, Nova Scotia. Died December 20, 1906, Red
Deer, Alberta. In 1865 Caroline married Methodist minister, Leonard Gaetz.
(1841-1907). The couple would have 11 children. Ill heath forced Leonard to
resign from his ministry in 1883 and he took his family to the North West
territories near Red Deer Alberta. It must have been quite a shock for
Caroline to move from a comfortable home that she would have had with a
church for which her husband worked to living in a log cabin in the far
west. In 1890 the family had relocated to a large house in Red Deer itself.
In 1897 Leonard once again returned to the pulpit and served at churches in
Brandon and Winnipeg, Manitoba. In 1901 the family returned to Red Deer to
retire. In 1909 the newly built Methodist church in Red Deer was named to
honour Rev. Leonard Gaetz and in 1925 with church union it became the Gaetz
Memorial United Church. Sources:
Sanderson, Kay. 200 Remarkable Women of Alberta. (s.l., s.d.) online
(accessed September 2014) ; Cemetery Project, Red Deer Cemetery, Red Deer
Alberta. Online (accessed September 14, 2014)
Mary Gage 4557
née Davis. Born October 22, 1777, North Carolina, U.S.A. Died
October 18, 1852, Hamilton, Ontario. Mary's family were loyalists who
settled on the north shore of Lake Ontario. In 1796 Mary married James
Gage (1774-1854) and the couple had 10 children. James' family had moved to
the area from New York after his father had been killed fighting the British
about 1777. His family came to live with an uncle. The family home, with
Mary as hostess, was a hub of the community welcoming many notables of the
day. During the war of 1812 between the British and the Americans the Gage
farm at Stoney Creek occupied by the British who had been able to stop the
Americans in the Battle of Stoney Creek. After the war the family purchased
land from the estate of Chief Joseph Brant (1743-1807) and they became
pioneers of what is now the City of Burlington. In 1835 the family relocated
to Hamilton where the family prospered in commerce. The Gage family home in
Stoney Creek is now the Battlefield House part of an historic and National
Historic Park. Source: James Gage, D C B (accessed
2024)
Ann 'Annie' Lowden Gordon
3877
née McQueen. Born 1865, Pictou, Nova Scotia. Died 1941, Victoria,
British Columbia. Annie attended Normal School (teachers' college) in Truro,
Nova scotia and then headed west with her sister, Jessie to teach in the
Nicola Valley of British Columbia. She met and married Jim Gordon and the
couple had three children. The newly married couple settled in
Kamloops in 1994 relocated to Salmon Arm to homestead. A creek which ran
through their property still bears the family name. By 1907 there
were living in Victoria. After the death of her husband in 1911, Jessie,
became involved in the right Sikh women to immigrate to British Columbia.
She became known as a lecturer of note throughout the province.
(2022)
Elizabeth Goudie
See - Writers - Authors
Theresa
Mary Gowanlock.
née Johnson. Born July 23, 1863, Tintern,
Upper Canada (Ontario) . Died September 12 1899. She was married in
her home of Tintern, Lincoln County, Ontario on October 1, 1884. The
newlyweds headed for western Canada to begin life where she one of two
white women at their settlement. Her husband, John was massacred by the
Cree Indians at Frog Lake, North West Territories (now Alberta) during the
Northwest Rebellion on April 2, 1885. Theresa was taken captive into the
camp of Chief Big Bear, and held captive for two months before being rescued
by the Northwest Mounted Police. Theresa and the other white women captive
Theresa Delaney wrote of there experience. Theresa returned home to Ontario
but never overcame the terrors of the ordeal which broke her spirit.
Gudrid
Born Iceland. Died 1980. As a youth she and her family
followed Erik the Red to Greenland. She was a seasoned traveler by the time
she found herself at a settlement in North America (Vineland) and gave birth
to a son, Snorri in 1007. He was the first European child to be born in
North America. The young family remained in Vineland for some three years
before they abandoned the settlement and returned to Greenland. Her story
was put into writing by great grandson, Thorlak who became Bishop of
Skalholt.
Isobel/Isabella Gunn
AKA John Fubbister; Mary Fubbister
Born August 10, 1780/81, Tankerness, Scotland. Died November
7, 1861, Stromness, Scotland. Disguised as a man she travelled
to North America to work for the famous Hudson's Bay fur trading company
(HBC). Was she an adventurer? Was she following her lover? The stories are
not clear. The truth is she had to disguise as a man as women were not hired
by HBC and women were not allowed to sail on HBC ships. In 1806, using the
name, John Fubbister, she signed a three year contract to work with the HBC
sailing for Canada on June 29 of that year and arriving at Moose Factory (in
modern northern Ontario) in August. Traveling up the Albany River the work
journal reports she performed servants' tasks. In 1807 she travelled 2,900
km to Martin Falls to take supplies to HBC outposts and that fall she
travelled up the Red River to Pembina (in what is now North Dakota, U.S.A.).
She is believed to have been one of the 1st European women to travel in
western Canada then called Rupert's Land. At the end of December 1807 she
was not feeling well and gave birth to a son. A HBC employee, John Scarth
was the father of the child but had kept Isobel's true identity to himself.
From this point she was known as Mary Fubbister. She took work as a
washerwoman and a nurse, appropriate work for a women at the time. September
20, 1809 she sailed for Scotland. Little is known of her life after she
returned to Orkney, Scotland. Having a child out of wedlock would have
brought same to her family and she may have had to find her own way in life.
It is said she became a stocking knitter and lived in Stromness. In the 1820
a satirical skit written by fur traders mentioned a washerwoman which may
have been a reference to Isobel. In 199 author Audrey Thomas published an
historical fiction work called, Isobel Gunn. In 2001 a documentary
film was produced called: The Orkney Lad: The Story
of Isabel Gunn.
Mary Ann Gyves
3790
née Tuwa'hwiye Tusium Gosselim. Born 1854, Burgoyne Bay, Salt Spring
Island, British Columbia. Died December 11, 1941, Fulford Harbor, Salt
Spring Island, British Columbia. July 11, 1886 Mary Ann married Michael
Gyves (1833-1920). The couple had three children. The couple were
homesteaders clearing the land together and lived in a windowless shack
until a more comfortable home was built. Mary Ann also served as a midwife
have learned healing from her Cowichan family. Her family was close knit and
Mary Ann made sure her grandchildren could attend high school The great
granddaughters went on to nursing careers. (2022)
Eliza Victoria Hardisty
née
McDougall. Born 1849. Died 1929. Her parents were Wesleyan-Methodist
Missionaries in the Canadian North West territories. Her mother, Elizabeth
Chandler McDougall (1818-1903) believed in equal education for all her
children and sent them all to Canada East for their education. After
attending the Wesleyan Female College , Hamilton, Canada West, Eliza joined
her family at their Victoria Mission on the North Saskatchewan River. It was
here she met Richard Charles Hardisty (1831-1888) an employee of the Hudson
Bay Company. The two were married on September 21, 1866. The couple had 4
children, three of whom lived to adulthood. In 1877 Richard became Chief
Factor for the Hudson Bay Company in Edmonton. He built his family home on
what is now the site of the Alberta Legislature. As 1st Lady at
Fort Edmonton, Eliza welcomed visitors and her home became the social centre
for the fort. In 1877 Eliza was one of only 6 women who signed Treaty No. 7
between the government and the Aboriginal people. In 1883 the family spent
two years in Calgary where Eliza one more was a main force in the social
life of the town. In 1885 the couple returned to Edmonton and Richard was
appointed as Alberta’s 1st senator.
Source:
Sanderson, Kay. 200 Remarkable Women of Alberta. (s.l., s.d.) online
(accessed September 2014) ;
Simonson, Gayle. Eliza McDougall Hardisty; Prairie pioneer (2005)
online (accessed September 2014)
Alexandra 'Lexie' Helen Hargrave
née Sissons.
Boren June 23, 1853, Kent, Ontario. Died June 5, 1932, Medicine Hat,
Alberta. Lexie came to the Canadian Northwest as a young woman. On February
17, 1875 she married James Hargrave (1846-1935) an employee of the Hudson
Bay Company to who she had been engaged for 2 years. James was ill when they
were married but her good nursing brought him back to health. Lexie followed
James as he was posted to Norway House, Fort Frances and Cumberland House,
all HBC posts. In 1882 James resigned from HBC and became an independent
trader and rancher. In 1884 Lexie and their younger of 5 children joined
James on his property. Lexie had become fluent in Cree and she made sure all
her children learned the language as well. Knowledge of the language and
respect for the Aboriginals was a great help to making friends wherever they
settled. In 1888 after suffering some setbacks with fire and poor crops,
James, his 11 year old son Thomas and an aboriginal friend, Corn Man,
searched for natural pasture land. They established a home that was fueled
by gas from a one of the 1st wells drilled in the area.
Source: 200 Remarkable Alberta Women. Online (accessed October, 2014); Butler, Lorna Michael. The Hargrave Ranch 1888-2013. (2013) ; Hargrave:
Our family tree. Online (accessed October 2014)
Letitia Hargrave
née McTavish. Born Rupert's Land, Canada.
Died
September 18,1854. In 1840 she married and accompanied her husband James
Hargrave to his job as Chief Trader of the Hudson Bay Company at York
Factory. She was one of the earliest pioneer women of the fur trade in
Western Canada. She enjoyed corresponding with her family back in Scotland
and her letters have been saved over the generations providing written
accounts of her insight as to the daily life in the Canadian “wilderness”
of the Hudson Bay Company and the fur trade. She realized early that the
morals and norms of British society had to be “relaxed” for the lifestyle of
the HBC outposts. She wrote of adapting her wardrobe to include the warmer
native clothing. Can you imagine the beautiful fur s that might have been
her winter clothing? Sources: D C B vol. lll pg.
589-90
Zenora
'Nora' Rose Hendrix
Black Pioneer Entertainer
née Moore.
Born November 19, 1883, Georgia, U.S.A Died July 24,1984, Vancouver,
British Columbia. The family soon relocated to Tennessee where Nora would
grow up. In her early 20's and her sister, who's stage stage name was Belle
Lamar, joined a traveling vaudeville group as chorus girls touring the
country. It was while she was on the road that she met a stagehand, Bertram
Philander Ross Hendrix (1886-1934). The couple were married in Seattle after
the touring show closed in 1912. They moved to the long established black
settlement in Vancouver, British Columbia. She and her husband Ross would
have a family of four children, including James also known as Al. Al would
raise his family back to the U.S.A., but would send his son, Jimi, to visit
Grandma during summers and young Jimi’s would live with his musical and
talented grandma Nora. She was one of black Vancouver’s pioneers. A well
know church choir singer she also was involved with a theatrical performance
troop that accessorized in colourful and rich long fitted gloves, giant hats
and feather boas. What fun for a grandson, who no doubt became influenced by
what he saw. Jimi later played at one of Vancouver’s’ east end night clubs
the Smillin’ Buddha Cabaret and went on to perform around the world creating
a musical legend. In the 1980's Nora went to live with Al and his family in
Seattle, Washington but later returned to Vancouver. Nora is buried in the
Hendrix family plot in Seattle Washington, U.S.A.
Source: Find a Grave Canada online (accessed 2022)
Theresa Hirsch/Hersch-Miller
3548 'Ship Bride'
Born England. Died British Columbia?
Theresa arrived in British Columbia in September 17, 1862 on the Bride Ship S.S. Tynemouth. The
long arduous voyage from England saw the women treated like
cargo confined to the bottom level of the ship with no windows,
no fresh water, no fresh food, no sanitation.
The S S Tynemouth, it turns out, was the biggest of
four bride ships. It was part of a scheme to ship the urban poor
of London to what was considered one of the remotest parts of
the British Empire. This trip was sponsored by the Columbia
Mission Society through the Anglican Church. On June 30, 1863,
Theresa married Jacob Miller.
(2021)
Alma Isobell Sebastapol Belaclave Forbes
Hodder
3572
Born November 30, 1859, Scotland. Died 1942, Lethbridge,
Alberta. Alma was named to signify the important role that women had played
in the Crimean War. Alma immigrated to Canada where she worked as a
Governess for the H. F. Greenwood family in Toronto. When the family
relocated in 1883 to Fort Macleod, Alberta Alma moved with them. The
following year the Greenwood family along with Alma had settled in
Lethbridge. While in Fort Macleod Alma became reacquainted with Eli Hodder
whom she had met in Toronto. On March 9, 1886 they became the firs couple to
be married in Lethbridge. The couple had one daughter who sadly
died in infancy. Alma was a member of the First Ladies
Aid Society and was an active member in the Presbyterian church. The city of
Lethbridge had named a street in her honour. Source:
Legacy of Lethbridge Women, Lethbridge Historical Society 2005; Find
a Grave Canada online (accessed 2021)
Catherine 'Ketty' Holmes
3848
née Timlin. Born December 12, 1926, County Mayo, Ireland. Died July
2, 1911, Outaouais, Quebec. During the Irish Potato Famine in 1847 Catherine
saw her husband, Frances O'Boyle, and their two children die. Deciding to
emigrate to the Canadian colonies with her brother and his family, she
buried them all at sea. In Canada she first made her way to Kingston, Canada
West (now Ontario) where she was quarantined. She joined a group of settlers
who walked nearly 200 kilometres to Bytown (now Ottawa) where she worked as
a maid. She met and married William Holmes (18251885), another Irish
Immigrant, in 1848 and the couple raised a family of nine children on a farm
in Wilson's Corners in the Gatineau area. At one point she took a bush trail
and ferried across the Gatineau River to have an infant daughter baptized.
The original family farm remains in the family.
Source: Notable Women of Gatineau. online (accessed 2022);
Find a Grave Canada (accessed 2022)
Mary Hoople
"Granny Hoople"
née Whitmore. She married and settled with her husband to raise a family in
the Saint Lawrence River area near modern day Cornwall, Ontario. During an
uprising, she was captured by Indians and forced to live 7 years with her
captors. Her infant daughter was killed by the attackers and her daughter
Sally was taken from her and she never saw her again. Returned to her own
people she became the local woman to seek out during illness. In the famine
of 1788 she was able to locate berries and roots to eat. This knowledge,
which she had gleaned from her aboriginal captors, allowed her to help save
people, many of whom were United Empire Loyalists settling along the St.
Lawrence River, from starvation. The area of settlement around her family
home is still called Hoople’s Creek. Her story is almost legend in the area
where she is sometimes called the witch of Hoople’s Creek or simply Granny
Hoople. She is also sometimes credited as being Ontario’s first woman doctor.
Source: Local History Collection, Cornwall Public Library. Cornwall,
Ontario.
Florence Roseltha Howey
3867
Pioneer of
Northern Ontario
née Ward.Born October 4,1856, Delhi, Ontario. Died December 10, 1936,
Sudbury, Ontario. A young William H. Howey (1856-1929) was in his first year
of medical school at McGill University, Montreal when he returned to Delhi
to marry his sweetheart, Florence, in 1878. After his graduation the couple
settled in Norfolk County for a few years before William answered a call
from the Canadian Pacific Railway for a doctor to practice in Northeastern
Ontario. The job even provided a house! In March 1883 he sent for Florence
to come and join him in the north and by July 1883 they arrived in Sudbury
as the first permanent settlers of the settlement. The adventuresome couple
became early pioneer settlers in Sudbury, which at this time was no more
than a camp. A small hospital was built near their home and was soon called
'Pill Hill'. Although not a trained nurse, Florence often assisted her
husband. William would be Sudbury's firs medical officer of health and
served on the Town Council. Florence grew to love the outdoor life fishing
and canoeing, picking blueberries, and relaxing at the family camp
'Idlewilde'. In 1933 Florence would write of their life together in her book
Pioneering on the CPR which was published posthumously in 1938. The
city of Sudbury boasts of Howey Drive, named for this pioneer couple.
Source: The Pioneering Howey's online (accessed 2022)
Lucille Hunter
Black Prospector
née Hall.Born 1878/9, Michigan, U.S.A. Died June
10, 1972. At 16 Lucille
married Charles Hunter (d1939) and the couple followed the call of the
Klondike gold rush. It was shortly after they arrived in the Yukon that
Lucille gave birth to their daughter at Teslin Lake. Lucille worked their mining claim on
Bonanza Creek along side of her husband. Their daughter, Teslin, died
shortly after her son, Buster, was born and the couple took to raising their
grandson. After the death of her husband Lucille and Buster kept on mining.
Lucille did not drive and each year she would walk the 140 miles to
register work on her claims and walk 140 miles back home. With the advance
of the Alaska Highway in 1942 Lucille and Buster relocated to Whitehorse
where she opened a laundry business. Lucille, in later life, was almost blind.
She lived in a small house that was piled with newspapers. She heated with a
wood stove and then the inevitable happened and she lost her home to fire.
She was forced to live in a small basement apartment where she was content
listening to her radio.
Source: A Guide to Who Lies
Beneath Whitehorse Cemeteries. Online (accessed 2019) (2020).
Julia Louise Hurst-Mitchell
3549
'Ship Bride'
Born 1837, London, England. Died Marcxh1, 1921, New
Westminster, British Columbia.
Julia arrived in British Columbia in September 17, 1862 on the Bride Ship S.S. Tynemouth. The
long arduous voyage from England saw the women treated like
cargo confined to the bottom level of the ship with no windows,
no fresh water, no fresh food, no sanitation.
The S S Tynemouth, it turns out, was the biggest of
four bride ships. It was part of a scheme to ship the urban poor
of London to what was considered one of the remotest parts of
the British Empire. This trip was sponsored by the Columbia
Mission Society through the Anglican Church. Julia married
Thomas Robert Mitchell (1840-1903) on September 26, 1863 in Victoria. Thomas
would go on to become a prominent figure in Victoria serving as a city
councilor. The couple had four children. Sadly Julia died in the Public
Hospital for the Insane, New Westminster, British Columbia. She had
previously been a patient in 1901 and again in 1911.
Source: Find a grave Canada (accessed 2021)
Hannah Jarvis
née
Peters. Born January 2, 1763, Hebron, Connecticut, U.S.A. Died September
9,1845, Toronto, Upper Canada. . During the American revolution the family to
Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A. and left Hannah with family while he fled in
exile to England and France. Joining her father they lived in poverty in
London, England and then in France. At 20 years of age Hannah married
William Jarvis a Loyalist military officer who was appointed provincial
secretary and Registrar of Upper Canada (now Ontario). The family including
their three children settled in the area of Niagara-on-the-Lake in 1792. The
couple would have four more children born in Canada. Hannah was not only a
prolific letter writer but she also kept a diary where she wrote of items
she was kept from talking about in the political era of early colonial
Canada. Her family life, struggles, hardship of providing daily necessities,
her anger and other emotions which society required that a lady should not
voice. Hannah was left bankrupt with the death of her husband in 1817 since
all the estate had been transferred to her son Samuel. She received a modest
pension of $100.00 a year from the government but all other finances had to
come from her son. Her journals and letters are in the Archives at the
University of Guelph.
Clarissa Bristow Johnson
4201
Black Ontario Pioneer
Born Louisiana, U.S.A. Died Buxton, Ontario. Born a slave
Clarissa was the personal maid to her mistress. Clarissa even travelled to
Detroit with her mistress. Returning home with her mistress she told her
mother about the trip and about seeing the shores of freedom across from
Detroit. She promised her mother that if she ever travelled to Detroit again
that she would try to escape to freedom. At 12 she was once again in Detroit
and escaped to freedom in Canada. She settled in the Buxton Settlement also
called the Elgin Settlement, and loved with a local family. She would marry
Abraham Johnston and the couple had 11 or 12 children. Sadly only four of
their children lived to be adult She was a young widow who managed as a
single parent to provide for her family and to keep the family farm. (2023)
Anna Koivu
Born 1889, Finland. Died April 29, 1979. Anna was a Finnish immigrant woman who was a
conventional wife, mother, and grandmother who also showed an independent
side by writing columns for the Finish Canadian Newspaper. She was a pioneer
in the bush of Northern Ontario being among the 1st women to work
in the Lumber camps. She was a widowed homesteader described as having ‘sisu’,
a work that is most closely understood as ‘having guts’. Taking an interest
in Canadian politics she became a dominant for in the 1930’s Liberal Party
of Canada. Often when she wrote she used the name Mokin Muori meaning ‘Log
Cabin Granny’. Her writings helped members of the Finnish community to
assimilated to the community She often wrote to advance women’s issues.
Source: Great Dames, University of Toronto Press, 1997. (2018)
Marie-Anne Lagemodiére.
née
Gaboury.
Born August 2, 1780, Maskinongé,
Quebec. Died December 14, 1875,
Saint Boniface, Winnipeg, Manitoba. She Married Jean-Baptiste Lagemodiére ( 1778-1855) on April 21, 1806
and traveled with her fur trading husband and in
1806 she was one of the 1st white women to visit such outposts as Red River (
later Winnipeg) and
Fort Edmonton in the Canadian west.. Her daughter, Reine, was the 1st legitimate white child to be
born in the Canadian west in 1807. Marie-Anne led an adventuresome life and was
the mother of eight children. Marie-Anne has sometimes been called the
Grandmother of the Red River and she is also the grandmother of Louis David
Riel (1844-1865) the political leader of the Métis
peoples who led rebellions against the Canadian government.. In 1978 a
fictionalized story about Marie Anne became a Canadian feature film.
(2019)
Catherine Bouvier Lamoureaux
née Beaulieu. Born 1836, Salt River Region, North West Territories. Died 1918,
Fort Providence, Northwest Territories. Catherine was baptized in the Roman
Catholic Church at Portage La Loche, Saskatchewan. Between 1848 and 1852 she
attended the Grey Nuns’ school in St. Boniface, Red River. At 16 in 1852 she
married Joseph Bouvier (d1877) and the couple had five children. She was known
for driving her dog team 150 miles along her own trail to old Fort Rae to
visit family members and deliver mail. The Mackenzie Highway now follows her
travel route. She also snowshoes out in spring to gather birch sap to make
her Birch syrup. In 1879 she married Jean-Baptiste Lamoureaux (d 1918) While
they lived in Fort Providence, Northwest Territories she help established
the Sacred Heart Hospital and worked with the Grey Nuns to establish a
school. She was a strong believer of preserving her Métis culture and
language. She was known as Kukum Baie which meant grandmother of us all, one
who gives and sustains life. In 2011 the Canadian Sites and Monuments Board
declared her a Historical Person, the 1st Métis woman of the
Northwest Territories to receive this distinction.
Hannah Land r4493
née Horning. Born April 24, 1777, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. Died June 9,
1870, Hamilton, Ontario. Hannah moved up to Canada as a Loyalist family. In
1797 she married Robert Land Jr. or ll (1772-1867) who was also of Loyalist
stock. The couple settled in Wentworth County near Hamilton in Upper Canada.
The couple would have nine children. While more is written about her
husband's family and her husband one only has to imagine the difficulties of
early Loyalist life in a new settlement. Robert fought in several of the
battles of the War of 1812 which must have been harrowing for Hannah. He
would become a Lieutenant Colonel with the 3rd Gore Militia after the War.
He commanded a post in the rebellion of 1837 but this would not have carried
as much worry for Hannah and the 'Rebellion' did not last long.
Source: Find a grave online (accessed 2024)
Anne Langton 4140
Born June 24, 1804, Yorkshire Dales, England. Died May 10,
1893, Toronto, Ontario. As a child she was raised in a mansion near
Ormskirk, Lancashire, called Blythe Hall. After the As many affluent young
women of her day she studied fine arts in Italy and other European
countries. She became a skilled miniaturist painter and sketch artist. After
the Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815) the family faced financial downturn and the
family relocated to Liverpool where Anne took light housekeeping for the
family. In the mid 1830's she came to Canada with her mother and her aunt to
join her brother John. The three ladies arrived in New York city, U.S.A. and
traveled by horse drawn railway to Niagara Falls and crossed to Canada in a
row boat! They continued their journey by ferry to Port Hope and then
went by stage coach to Rice Lake and met John in Peterborough who then took
them to Sturgeon Lake to his cabin on what was called Blythe Farm.
Anne would write and create high quality drawings of everyday life and
hardships in early Upper Canada. A contemporary of Susanna Moodie
(1803-1895) and Catharine Parr Trail (1902-1899) her works were not
discovered until the mid 1970's in a cardboard box on the back dusty shelves
of the Fenelon Falls Public Library. Anne started the first school in
Fenelon Falls in her house and advocated to get a schoolhouse build for the
area. She was also and advocate to have an Anglican church build in Fenelon
Falls. Anne's early years in Upper Canada were told in the book a
Gentlewoman in Upper Canada.
(2022)
Jeanne LeMarchant / LeMarchand de La Celloniere
et La rocque Le Neuf
Born 1575? Normandy, France. Died 1647, New France. Jeanne married in France
on December 5, 1599 to Mathieu Le Neuf du Herrisson. Jeanne arrived with
her sons Michel and Jacques and daughter Marie in New France June 11,1636.
The family settled near Trois Riviéres. Jeanne also had a daughter. They
were the 1st noble family to settle in New France. The family
immigrated to New France in the hopes of re-establishing the family fortunes.
Her children would become well established in Trois Riviéres becoming
Governors of the area.
(2018)
Sarah L'esperance
née Allyn. Born May 3,1692. A
daughter of a Massachusetts Puritan family, Sarah was kidnapped from
Deerfield by the Indian allies of the French and taken to live in Quebec.
She was 12 years old. She trekked through the harsh wilderness of New
England and New France and grew strong in her survival of the ordeal. She
was baptized as a Catholic in 1705 in Bellevue, Quebec. At 18 she
married Guillaume LaLonde dit L'esperance and they had ten children.
Nancy Lester
3553
Black Pioneer
née Davis. Born Haddensfield,
1810, New Jersey, U.S.A. Died February 1892, Victoria, British Columbia.
Nancy was married to Peter Lester (1814-18??) an avid abolitionist. The
couple and their five children relocated from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,
U.S.A. to San Francisco, California, U.S.A. where they built up a
flourishing shoe store in 1850. After their teen aged daughter had
problems as the only Black student at an otherwise all white school
the family moved to Victoria, British Columbia. In Victoria the family
established themselves with a grocery store and became prominent citizens of
the Black community. By late December 1859 their daughter Sara was giving
piano lessons in Vancouver. In February 1860 Peter became the first Black
person to sit on a jury in British Columbia.
Jane Mary Livingston
4199
née Howse. Born 1848,
Saskatchewan. Died October 5, 1919, Calgary, Alberta. Jane met Samuel 'Sam'
Henry Harkwood Livingston (1831-1897) Livingston, a trapper and prospector,
in Fort Victoria, Northern Alberta and the couple married in 1865 at the
Hudson's Bay Company post. Together they had 14 children as they pioneered a
farm in Calgary, Alberta. When the North West Mounted Police came to the
area Sam Livingston gave them land for their barracks. They imported fruit
trees from the U.S.A. and as the land at the junction of the Bow and Elbow
rivers, allowed them to prosper on the farm they bought Calgary's
first binder, rake, mower, and threshing machine. When Jane could find time
she wrote books on the Cree language honouring her Cree grandmother and her
grandfather who also wrote.
Sarah Ann Lovegrove - Jackman
3551
'Ship Bride'
Born December 16, Middlesex, England. Died February 26,
1917, Victoria, British Columbia. Sarah while living in England worked
at the Pancras Workhouse and then worked as a servant. Unhappy with thoughts
of a future life in England, this adventurous woman set off for the Canadian
Colonies as a Ship Bride.
Sarah arrived in British Columbia in September 17, 1862 on the Bride Ship S.S. Tynemouth. The
long arduous 99 day voyage from England saw the women treated like
cargo confined to the bottom level of the ship with no windows,
no fresh water, no fresh food, no sanitation.
The S S Tynemouth, it turns out, was the biggest of four bride
ships. The settlement of 'Ship Brides" was part of a scheme to ship the
urban poor of London to what was considered one of the remotest parts of the
British Empire. This trip was sponsored by the Columbia Mission Society
through the Anglican Church. Philip Jackman (1835-1927) had been working on
the Cariboo Wagon Road in British Columbia when he was discharged in October
1863. He received 150 acres of land as a benefit for working as a Royal
Engineer. Philip and Sarah were married and their first son arrived in
January 1864. The family which grew with four more children and
moved around British Columbia where Philip held various jobs. By 1881 the
family owned the Beehive Saloon in Victoria for a year. They relocated to
the Alder Grove area where they had a general store and ran the local post
office and newspaper and Philip became immersed in local politics.
(2021)
Elizabeth Lount
née Soules. Elizabeth married Samuel Lount in 1815 and had a family
of seven children. Her husband was a well respected blacksmith and surveyor.
He was reported to b a generous man. However, he had what was considered at
the time by the powers of the community to have questionable political
beliefs. He sided with the rebel William Lyn Mackenzie and participated in
the Upper Canada Rebellion of 1837. Unfortunately for him and his family he
was caught attempting to flee to the United States the same as other rebels
had done. He was arrested and sent to trial where he was sentenced to hang
on April 12, 1838. Elizabeth Lount stepped up in defense of her husband. She
spoke out on his behalf and gathered 35,000 signatures on a petition to
grant clemency to her husband. Governor John Beverly Robinson would not
listen to her efforts. Several years later, the rebels who had escaped were
granted amnesty and many like William Lyon Mackenzie returned to the serve
the colony. In a letter addressed to Mackenzie in 1850, Elizabeth Lount
provided a written description of her husband which gives historians insight
to this historical figure.
Margaret Lucas
née Morrison.
Born August 29, 1860, Trilick, Ireland. Died October 20, 1922, Wetaskiwin,
Alberta. In 1875, at 15, Margaret arrived in Aylmer, Quebec with her family.
On December 12, 1883 she married Frances “Frank’ Arnold Lucas. She and her
husband traveled by train to Calgary, Alberta and loaded their worldly goods
on a wagon and headed for the Peace Hills Agency Farm where Frank was to
work as a government farm Inspector. Margaret was the 1st white
woman to settle in the Wetaskiwin District. Their home was a stagecoach stop
on the route from Edmonton to Calgary and Margaret was host to stage
drivers, mail carriers, North West Mounted Police Officers, missionaries and
all other travelers. During the Riel Rebellion of 1885 Margaret was sent to
the Hudson Bay Company site in Edmonton for two months for safety. When she
returned home she found that Fort Ether had been built by the N W M P (the
block house of the fort still remains on the site) Frank and Margaret would
raise 9 children in 1897 the top floor of their home was the school until
the children were able to attend a school in Wetaskiwin. Margaret would
serve on the Wetaskiwin School Board. In February 1898 the family survived a
house fire and were forced to spend the chilling winter in makeshift
accommodations. Margaret and Frank were the first farmers to grow grain in
the area and to have the first cattle site. They had the 1st white baby in
the district, 1st baptism and funeral. Their youngest son, Cortez and the
1st car (1915 McLaughlin), 1st tractor and helped build many roads in the
region. In 1915 Margaret and her daughter Maude founded the Wetaskiwin
Women’s Institute. Her descendants still live on the family farm.
Sources:
Kay Sanderson, 200 remarkable Alberta Women. Online (accessed July 2015; (accessed January 2016.
)
Sara Mary Lynch -Staunton
née Blake.
Born 1864, Galway, Ireland. Died 1953. As a young girl Sara attended a
convent at St. Leonards-on-the-Sea in Sussex, United Kingdom. She followed
her brother Frank to Pincher Creek, Alberta, where he started the Deer Horn
Ranch. In 1890 she married Alfred H. Lynch-Staunton of the North- West
Mounted Police at Pincher Creek. The couple would have 8 children. Even
though raising children and working a ranch Sara also worked at a tea house
of the Pincher Creek Polo Club that had been established by her husband.
Sara even found time to paint the world around her. She producing small
sketches and party invitations and for larger canvases she painted the doors
in her home with landscapes.
Source: CHIN website (accessed September 2015); Kay Saunderson, 200
Remarkable Alberta Women, (Famous Five Foundation, 1999).
Martha 'Mattie' Jane Mayes
Born 1850, Georgia, U.S.A. Died 1953. Saskatchewan. Mattie
was born a slave and was sold at the age of four and taken from her mother.
She was renamed Martha Jane Warner her her new mater's wife. By the time she
was a teen slavery was outlawed and Mattie called herself a 'Freed Slave'
She married another free slave Joseph Mayers and in 1865 they couple moved
through Texas and Oklahoma before they became a part of a group of 12
families that sought cheap land from the government on the Canadian
prairies. The settled in Eldon, Saskatchewan also known as Shiloh. The
couple would raise 13 children. Blacks were not necessarily welcomed in the
province. The government of Sir Wilfrid Laurier (1841-1919) set up an Order
in Council in 1911 stating that Saskatchewan was not suitable for Black
People. While some of the Original Black families did not remain the
the Mayer family persevered. Mattie became the matriarch of the small
settlement and was a well known and respected midwife. The church in
Shiloh, the first and only Black settlement in Saskatchewan, became in 2019
a provincial historic site. (2020)
Helen
'Nelly' MacDonald
4257
Born 1750?, Scotland. Died 1803, Prince Edward
Island. In 1772 , helen and he family landed and settled on St. John Island
(now Prince Edward Island). Her brothers went to war and Nelly ran the
family affairs. The family were landowners and farmers. Her brother had the
responsibilities of a Scots Highland Laird with a considerable number of
dependant tenants. When her brother retuned after a 16 year absence he often
relied on Nelly for advice on running the family affairs.
Source: D C B Vol 5 (2023)
Janet Ann Macdonald - Lawson
3550 'Ship
Bride'
Born February 3, 1848, England. Died October 1934, Victoria,
British Columbia.
Janet arrived in British Columbia in September 17, 1862 on the Bride Ship S.S. Tynemouth. The
long arduous voyage from England saw the women treated like
cargo confined to the bottom level of the ship with no windows,
no fresh water, no fresh food, and no sanitation.
The S S Tynemouth, it turns out, was the biggest of
four bride ships. It was part of a scheme to ship the urban poor
of London to what was considered one of the remotest parts of
the British Empire. This trip was sponsored by the Columbia
Mission Society through the Anglican Church. She married James
Hill Lawson (1840-1915) an employee of the Hudson Bay Company and the couple had two children.
Source: Find a Grave Canada (accessed 2021)
Maura Macnaghden
3807 'Billy' Pioneer Cowgirl
Born 1883, Tipperary, Ireland. Maura seems to have always
been somewhat adventuresome. She answered an advertisement for a housekeeper
by a rancher, Charles Saunders, in Maple Creek, Alberta, and set off
for Canada. She proved to be better as working with horses than at cleaning
house however. She took the name 'Billy' and in 1905 wearing mean's overalls
she rode horses astride rather than side saddle as was expected of a lady
she became a pioneer cowgirl. (2022)
Susanna Maxwell
Black Pioneer
Born 1805, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. Died
February 11 1922, Toronto, Ontario. Susanna was born to free black parents.
She was orphaned when very young and was placed with a white family as an
indentured servant until she became an adult. She was treated fairly by the
family who made sure that she could read and write. Just prior to the
civil war in the United States she and her husband narrowly escaped being
kidnapped and being sold into slavery. The couple who would have 5 children
decided to escape to the safety of Canada. The took the underground railroad
settling near Richmond Hill, Ontario. Later in life Susanna ran a
laundry with her youngest daughter Charlotte Matilda, Known as Tilly in
Toronto. At the time of her death at 116/117 she may have been the oldest
woman in Canada. Source: D C B (2019)
Elizabeth McLean
replacement 02
née Blyth. Born 1838? Ancinnate, Ohio, U.S.A.
The Blythe family moved to Canada to first settle in Toronto and when
Elizabeth was 8 in 1846 she settled in Owen Sound, Cnada West (now Ontario).
Elizabeth decades later, would tell her early family life with detailed
accounts of the settlement in Owen Sound. She wrote about the corduroy road
that was 10th street. It was built over a swamp and the 'quaking logs' were
the main road. Often people walked on fence rails rather than on the log
road. Source: Pioneer Story of a Child in 1846 Parts l
and 2 online (accessed 2024); Not on find a grave 2024
Elizabeth McDougall
née Boyd. Born 1853, Grey County, Canada West
(Ontario). 1853. Died March 31, 1941, Calgary, Alberta. As the wife of a Methodist missionary
Elizabeth accompanied her husband to his postings. She took the trek
across the early plains to become the first white woman in the Alberta
foothills. For some 25 years she and her husband worked to share their faith
at the Stoney reserve. She managed to travel with her husband by all of the
traditional conveyance of the time including canoe, wagon and dog sled. She
would raise her six children in the foothills. In 1898 she retired to
Calgary where she became president of the Southern Alberta Pioneer Women and
Old Timer’s Association. She held the strong belief that it was the presence
of the frontier women who allowed the frontier families to survive. She
pointed out the large number of bachelors who found it necessary to leave
prairie life when they did not have the emotional and physical support in
their work from a loving, energetic and sympathetic woman. Source: Canadian Encyclopedia
Elizabeth Chantler McDougall
Born 1818,
England. Died 1903, Morley Alberta. Elizabeth married the Reverend George
McDougall, a Wesleyan Methodist minister and missionary. The couple had nine
children. She believed in education equally for boys and girls and all the
children were sent back to eastern Ontario to be educated. The family
settled at Morley Mission, Alberta, where Elizabeth not only cared for her
family but she also administered to the sick of the Mission. While her
husband was away, often for long periods visiting various points of his
large geographical charge, she also took over the running of the entire
business of the Mission. Upon the death of her husband she remained at
Morley Mission in order to carry on business.
Source:
Sanderson, Kay. 200 Remarkable Women of Alberta. (s.l., s.d.) online
(accessed September 2014)
Lovisa McDougall
née Amey. Born 1855, Cannington, Canada West (now Ontario). Died 1943,
Edmonton, Alberta. In 1878 Lovisa married her high school sweetheart John
Alexander McDougall
(1854-1928). John had headed west in 1873 to trade for furs. By 1877 he had
settled in Edmonton to trade. Lovisa moved west with John but returned home
to Cannington in 1880 to give birth to her 1st child, Alice. She then took
the long trip, much of it by wagon train, back to Edmonton. The couple would
have a family of 6 children. John was very successful and soon built a
general store which thrived. He soon built a mansion for his family and
Lovisa made the home a social centre in Edmonton. John became a politician
and served as a councilor and mayor in Edmonton and became a member of the
provincial legislature. In their later years the couple enjoyed world
travel. His company McDougall and Secord exists in Edmonton as one of the
oldest surviving companies in the area. In 1978 the Historic Resources
Department of Alberta Culture published the Letters of Lovisa McDougall
1878-1887.
Source: Kay
Saunderson, 200 Remarkable Alberta Women, (Famous Five Foundation,
1999)
Marcella McFarland 3574
née Sheran. Born 1844, New York, U.S.A. Died October 27, 1896, Fort
Macleod, Alberta. Marcella came to Alberta by wagon train up the Whoop-Up
Trial search for her brother Nicholas. She settled in Coalbanks
working as a housekeeper for her brother. In 1878 she married Joseph
McFarland (died 1919) who was the first farmer in the Fort Macleod
area. She had a sold reputation as a good hostess for Aboriginal and white
travelers alike. The couple had no children. The city of Lethbridge Alberta
had named a street in her honour.
Source: Legacy of Lethbridge Women, Lethbridge Historical Society,
2005; Find a Grave Canada online (accessed 2021) .
Jane Flett Mckay
Born December 1857, La Pierre’s House, Canadian Northwest. Died 1947. She was
the daughter of an aboriginal parent and a French Canadian Parent which
meant she was a Métis. The family lived at a Hudson Bay Company site north
of the Arctic Circle and she was brought up in the cultures of both parents.
In 1874 she married Dr William Morrison McKay who is considered Alberta’s 1st
resident doctor. Jane became a medical assistant to her husband. The couple
had a family of 13 children. In 1898 they retired to Edmonton, Alberta where
Jane proved to be a keen bridge player and an avid reader.Source:
Kay Saunderson, 200 Remarkable Alberta Women, (Famous Five
Foundation, 1999)
Elizabeth Ferguson McKellop
née Fisher. Born 1858, White Lake, Renfrew County, Ontario. Died 1938,
Lethbridge, Alberta. In 1881 Elizabeth married Presbyterian minister Charles
McKellop. In 1887 traveling with 2 of her young children she followed her
husband to Lethbridge, Alberta. Charles had traveled west a year earlier as
the 1st
clergyman to arrive in the area. When Elizabeth moved
west she brought with her some comforts for their new home, comforts such as
her piano and a washing machine. The couple would have 8 children in total
but two sons died as infants and a daughter died of appendicitis at 17. In
her later years Elizabeth often lectured on pioneer life in the area. In
1954 the new church in Lethbridge was named in honour of the couple McKellop
Church.Source:
Kay Saunderson, 200 Remarkable Alberta Women, (Famous Five
Foundation, 1999)
Anne Nancy 'Matooskie' McKenzie4475
Born 1790?, Athabasca Country (Canadian North
West). Died July 24, 1851, Victoria, British Columbia. Matooskie was
abandoned as a young girl by her fur trading father Roderick McKenzie and
left in the care of a fellow fur trader John Stewart. In 1813 she married
George McTavish with whom she had seven daughters. McTavish abandoned his
family for another woman and although higly condemed for his actions
Matooskie became dependant on the Hudson Bay Company for support. She lived
in various settlements across Hudson Bay territories in the Canadian west
before she married Pierre LeBlanc on February 7, 1831. Sadly Pierre drowned
in the Columbia Rives along with some of the children when crossing the
Rockies to the Canadian West coast. By 1851 Matooskie was living with her
youngest Daughter at Fort Victoria. Source; Histropedia on
Facebook. (accessed 2024)
Mary McKenzie
née
Mckay ? Born 1796. Died October 4, 1886. Her mother was probably descended
from a voyageur and her father was a Nor’Wester who abandoned his family to
return to Scotland. Mary became the wife of another Nor’Wester, Charles
McKenzie. Together they traveled and lived in the undeveloped Canadian
north west. She was an accomplished hunter and kept her family and at time
other non hunting families of her community in wild game, including bear
meat. She was also a competent business woman of her era, for her husband
left her in charge of his fur trading post while he took care of company
business in the south. Her story is told through the pages of her husbands
journals. She did not keep a journal of her own. She outlived her husband by
three decades living with her son and his family in St James, west of the
Red River along the Assiniboine.Source: The Beaver,
February/March 2005.
Margaret McLaughlin
née Waddens. Born 1775 ? Canada. Died
1860, Oregon City, Oregon, U.S.A. Margaret was the young “country
bride of Alexander McKay a fur trader of the North West Company. The would
have been married by mutual contract as was the custom of the day for
“country wives” . The couple had 4 children. By 1811 she was a widow of a
murdered husband and she became the “Country wife” of a medical doctor John
McLaughlin (1784-1857), in Sault Ste Marie. John brought Margaret a step son
and the couple would have four children of their own. The family first
settled in Fort William (Thunder Bay, Ontario) with Dr McLaughlin working in
the fur trade which meant he travelled the north. In 1824 the great fur
companies amalgamated and the doctor was chief factor for the Hudson Bay
Company in the area of Oregon. Margaret and the family soon followed to the
west where the doctor helped found Fort Vancouver. Margaret was
hostess to other wives, many of who were like herself aboriginal
“Country wives” She was also known to have travelled on shorter trips with
her husband for his work. A true pioneer her family became spread across
North America, some following their aboriginal roots and others following
their father’s people. Dr. McLaughlin is considered by some to be the father
of Oregon. There were formally married November 1842 when the church became
established in their area. Sources: Pioneers every one by
E. Blanche Norcross (Burns and MacEachern Ltd. 1979) : Di
C B under “John McLaughlin” by W .K. Lamb Vol. viii.
Catherine McPherson
Born 1789?, Scotland. Died 1867. In
1813 she courageously left her homeland as on one the settlers of Lord
Selkirk’s Red River project. The party landed in Fort Churchill where they
spent the long, cold winter. On June 21, 1814 the settlers finally reached
the Red River Settlement. Catherine married Alexander McPherson and they
began a pioneering adventure that would see their home burned in a raid,
their crops destroyed in raids and in naturally bad weather. The family
survived floods and droughts and plagues of grasshoppers as well as
epidemics of small pox. These early prairie pioneers were true heroines of
Canadian life. Source: Catherine 'Kate' Mcpherson Nellie McClung Foundation
online.
Nancy McTavish Leblanc
Métis Pioneer
Indigenous name Matooskie. Born 1790, Hudson Bay Lands, Canada. Died July 24, 1851.
Her Father was a North West Company Trader and her mother an
aboriginal woman. She herself was abandoned by her first husband, McTavish,
a fur trader. It was the custom held by man fur traders to cohabit with
aboriginal women and when they decided to leave the fur trade and the area
they would abandon their fur trade territory wives and children and perhaps
legally marry a white women and start a “legal” family. The Hudson Bay
Company arranged a marriage for Nancy with another trader Pierre LeBlanc in
1831. Nancy was just one of many victims to the whim of the HBC. The
practice of abandoning aboriginal partners and their children and then the
HBC custom of partnering the women with other traders fostered racial
discrimination that lasted for many decades in the Canadian northwester
regions. Source: D C B, Toronto, online vol. lll pg 560-561.
Martha Merrifield
née Stafford. Born 1781, Stillwater, New York, U.S.A. Died
July 25, 1851. Eardley, Canada East (now Quebec) Martha married Nathan
Merrifield (1775-1826) in Montague, Lanark, Ontario around 1803 and the
couple settled Eardley, Quebec to raise their nine children. They are
considered as probably the first European Settlers arriving in 1806.
Source: Find a Grave Canada online (accessed 2023); History
of Eardley, Luskville & Breckenridge online (accessed 2023)
Annie Midlige
Fur Trader & Businesswoman
Born Fusheeyea Mitre Tabashrant. 1864, Beirut, Lebanon. Died
February 12, 1947, Parent, Quebec. At 18 she was working in a silk factory in
Beirut. She married Nadar Midlige, the factory manager and the couple had 4
children. 11 years later she was a widow leaving her children with family
members and sailing for America. She worked as a cook in a Lebanese
restaurant in New York City, U.S.A. prior to relocating to Ottawa, Ontario
where she worked as a housekeeper for a Lebanese family and a peddler. She
traveled by canoe up the Gatineau River peddling goods to the Aboriginals in
the Abitibi region. She would trade for furs each summer becoming a rival in
the area with the famous Hudson Bay Company. She spoke only Arabic and some
of the native language but never learned English or French. Eventually she
earned enough money to send for her family and made sure they were educated
in Ottawa. She bought a 400 acre farm in Baskatong and opened a hotel and a
store. She encourage son John to return from the gold fields of the Yukon to
return and become her fur trading farmer. The whole family would become
involved with her businesses with multiple stores open for trade. She
settled in Parent, Quebec in the 1920's.
Mikak
Born 1740?, Labrador. Died 1795, A
daughter of an Inuit Chief, Mikak lived with her husband and son in a small
British fishing station when the settlement was raided and her husband was
killed. The young widow learned to speak English from a British solder,
Francis Lucas. She and her son went to England with Lucas. Here she was
treated like the Inuit Princess that she was. She and her son had their
portrait painted by the famous artist John Russell. In London she met Jens Haver, a Moravarian Missionary. She helped the missionary raise funds for a
mission and in the summer of 1768 she returned to Labrador with Francis
Lucas. When Jans Haven arrived in 1769 she helped establish the mission for
which she had helped to raise funds from the British. She remarried an Inuit
hunter, Tugavina, and settled with her family in her homeland.
Dorothy Elizabeth Miller
4255
née Chambers. Born September 19, 1854, South Sherbrooke, Ontario.
Died June 13, 1929, Barrie, Ontario. In 1876 Dorothy married a farmer,
William Miller (1837-1911). The couple built a log cabin as their first home
(the building stood until 1940). They later built a brick home and raised
four children. They lived on the farm until 1920 when the property was sold.
In 1970 the City of Barrie annexed the land and Formosa Sprin Brewery was
built on the site. The Brewery was purchased within four years by the Molson
Breweries Company who build a new brewery and turned some of the are as
Molson Park to hose community events. In 2000 the brewery closed and the
land was sold to be turned into a commercial development called Park Place.
The original Miller brick farmhouse was demolished. Source:
Find a Grave Canada. (accessed 2023)
Priscilla Miller
4206
Black Pioneer Grey County, Ontario
Born 1789?, Maryland, U.S.A. Died 1865? Sullivan Township,
Grey County, Canada West (now Ontario) The family folklore has it that
Priscilla was a free Black but she and her husband Henry Miller (1792?-1869)
still felt the need to flee to the safety of Canada. By 1836 the family that
included three children and a young grandson had settled in Toronto. By the
fall of 1842 they became one of the earliest settlers on the west side
of Garafraxa on what is known a Negro creek in Sullivan Township, Grey
County. Henry built a log cabin on the family farm for Priscilla, their
daughter Catherine and her family and the grandson Thomas Henry Jr. The
miller family would also hold land in the Owen Sound area and descendants
still live in the area. Source: Negro Cree Ancestors of 1851...Henry Miller
by Nancy Lee. online (accessed 2023)
Sally Ainse
Montour
Born
1728?. Died 1822. She grew up on Susquehanna River (now New York State,
U.S.A.) and learned English at the colonial school. She married at 17 to
Andrew Montour. She left her drunken husband circa 1750 and her 2 children
were placed with a family in Philadelphia. She had her 3rd child
shortly after the break up while living with her Oneida relatives. She
became a fur trader with the British, eventually trading in the Great Lakes
area. By 1774 she settled in Detroit as a prosperous businesswoman with
slaves. She purchased properties on the Thames River near Chatham Ontario
and married an English trader, John Wilson. After the American Revolution
she had a legal battle for her Detroit properties. Her husband’s claims in
Canada were reduced substantially and fire destroyed her harvest in Canada
where she was forced to exist on charity. She continued to submit land claim
through to 1815 when the Claims Council insisted she was dead. An historical
plaque in Chatham, Ontario commemorates the life of this fiery aboriginal
Woman: Sources:
Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online, accessed 2011 : 100 More
Canadian Heroines: Famous and Forgotten Faces by Merna Forster (Dundurn
Press, 2011)
Elizabeth Bond Morris
née Leggett. Born 1734, Massachusetts Bay, U.S.A. Died April 25,
1812, Halifax, Nova Scotia. September 5, 1756 she married Charles Morris
(1731-1802) in Massachusetts Bay Colony. The couple had two children
while living in Massachusetts. About 1760 the family settled in Halifax,
Nova Scotia where Charles served as a Member of the Legislative Assembly and
Surveyor General. The family grew to include 11 children. Their son Charles
Jr succeeded his father as Surveyor General.
Ruth Morton
née Mount. Born March 17, 1848, Yorkshire, England. Died December. 14, 1939,
Vancouver, British Columbia. Ruth arrived in British Columbia in 1884 to
marry John Morton,(1834-1912) She was the first white woman to settle in
the area of New Westminster, British Columbia. The couple would make their
first home on English Bay. John Morton and his partners Samuel Brighouse and
William Hailstone, are known in local history lore as The Three Greenhorns.
After their first business failed he and his partners bought 550 acres in
what is now the West End, at $1 an acre. When the Canadian Pacific Railroad
arrived, "the Morton Ranch" proved a bonanza. Upon his death in 1912, John
Morton left funds to build a church, The Ruth Morton Memorial Baptist
Church, to be named in honour of his wife.Source: The Vancouver Hall of Fame online ; “Romance…” by Bruce
Woods, Newsletter, Vancouver Historical Society Vol. 51 no. 7.
Mary Newton
Born 1860, England. Mary and her husband arrived from England
in 1886. Mary had her nursing training through St John’s House which was
affiliated with the Anglican Church of England. Her training predated the
formal education that was established by Florence Nightingale. In fact St
John’s House provided 6 nursing sisters for Nightingale when she left to
serve in the Crimean War. Mary had been a professor at Queen Charlotte’s
Maternity hospital in London, prior to immigrating. She arrived at
Hermitage, near Edmonton in the summer of 1886, is considered the 1st
lay nurse in Edmonton. She had suffered ill health in England and she came
to Hermitage to recuperate at her brother's mission. There was already a
small log hospital there and Mary recovered her health and went quickly to
work. In 1891, she put an advertisement in the paper saying that she would
do nursing and midwifery in private homes--for ten dollars a week. She is
also credited with introducing lilacs to Alberta.
Source; Kay Saunderson, 200 Remarkable Alberta Women, (Famous Five
Foundation, 1999);
Amanda Matilda Nilsson
née Johnson. Born July 14, Fairview, Utah, U.S.A. Died August 17, 1940
Raymond, Alberta. At 17 Amanda married Christopher Nilsson (1857-1943). The
couple would have 13 children and also opened their hearts to 5 foster
children. In 1901 the family immigrated to Raymond, Alberta. Here Amanda
settled in to being nurse and doctor to her community. She founded the
literary club and also helped organize a womens club that promoted education
and literature, a part of the Alberta Women's Institute. She also supported
the basketball team in Raymond, a team that brought honour to the town. She
allowed the 1st press in town to be set up in her living room and
the Raymond Chronical was born with herself as reporter and a regular
literary contributor of poems. Amanda sold homemade donuts to raise monies
for her various charities. The family also provided free coffins for the
community which Amanda carefully lined. She also helped established the
Raymond Brass Band which was well known in its day throughout the area. She
was a true community spirit.
Sources: ‘Christopher Nilsson and Amanda Matilda Johnson’, Mary’s
Genealogy Treasures Online (accessed October 2015) ; Kay
Saunderson, 200 Remarkable Alberta Women, (Famous Five Foundation,
1999);
Thirza Jane Nolan
3755
Western Pioneer Rancher
née Little. Born July 15, 1867, Somerset, England. Died March
31, 1948, Alberta. After immigrating to Canada, in 1884 Thirza married
Thomas Patrick Noland (1862-1951). By 1870 Thomas had a job with the Alberta
Railway and Irrigation Company and he brought his family to live in
Lethbridge the next year. In 1901 Thirza was not so certain about buying a
ranch but by April 1902 the Nolan Ranch was established on the Oldman River
near Coaldale. She used her household saving to purchase the first cattle
for the ranch. The family with four children, Thirza's father and a cat with
four kittens settled into ranch life. Four more children born on the ranch
would round out the family. The original family home , The Nolan
House' was moved to Coyote Flats Pioneer Village in the 1990's. Both husband
and wife were active members in the Pemmican Oldtimers' Association.
Source: Lethbridge Historical Society, on Facebook. (accessed 2022);
Find a Grave Canada. online (accessed 2022)
Harriet Oliver
Pioneer & Political
Wife
née Dunlop.
Born 1863, Ontario. Died 1943. She arrived in the Canadian was as a
youngster when her family relocated to Prairie Grove, Manitoba. In 1881 she
married Frank Oliver (1853 -1933) and the newlyweds set out by oxcart on the
three month trip to Edmonton where she helped her husband publish the 1st
newspaper in Alberta, the Edmonton Bulletin. The couple had 7 children. In
1885 the family refusing to take refuge in a nearby Hudson Bay Company post
survived a month long Indian uprising. Harriet was also a prime instigator
in the founding of the 1st Presbyterian church in Edmonton.
Harriet enjoyed exploring the land by taking annual trips and she even
reached the Yukon and went down the Mackenzie River. In 1896 Frank left
provincial politics and was elected to the House of Commons in Ottawa as the
1st member from Alberta. In 1906 Frank was appointed as a
federal cabinet minister and Harriet became a popular hostess in Ottawa. Two
of her sons were killed during World War l and she would travel to England
and France to visit their resting places.
Sources:
Kay Saunderson, 200 Remarkable Alberta Women, (Famous Five
Foundation, 1999).
Yoko Oya
née Shishido. Born 1864 or 5 Kanagawa, Japan. Died 1914 Vancouver, British
Columbia. At the age of 23 she married Washiji Oya and the couple headed
for Canada. Landing in Vancouver, British Columbia in 1887, Yoko was the 1st
Japanese woman to immigrate to Canada. The couple settled in an area called
Little Tokyo and opened the 1st general store in the community.
In 1889 Yoko gave birth to the 1st Canadian Japanese child, a
son. The couple would have two sons both of whom were educated in Japan
before returning home to take over the family business. The business was
vandalized in September 7, 1907 during the racist riots.
Catherine-Angelique Quevillon-Papineau
née Quevillon. Born March 14, 1686, Montreal, New France. Died
March 30, 1781. As a youth in 1693 she was
carried off by the Iroquois and was ransomed only after several years in
captivity. During her full lifetime she would marry four times. She had on
child with Van Tekakwitha (d 1703) a young Aboriginal brave who had
protected her during her captivity and returned her and his daughter to New
France. July 30 1703 she married Guillaume Lacombe dit Saint-Amand
(1673ca-1703). In 1704 she
married Samuel Papineau de Montigny (1668 or 1670-1737), a soldier, in
Rivière-des-Prairies, Montreal, Quebec. They would had nine children together
and founded a Canadian family dynasty. In 1742 at 56 years old she married
Jacques Daniel and February 18, 1754 she married Jean Baptiste Nicolas
DeVerac/Devarac/Verac/Verrat also called Parisian, an upholsterer from Paris,
France.
Kate 'Fanny' Partridge
née Pridham. Born 1854, Bristol, England. Died January 10,
1931, Yukon Territory. Kate married Otto Partridge (1857-1930). She joined
her husband in Millhaven Bay near Carcross where he ran a saw mill. The
couple lived in a houseboat. After trying his hand as a mine owner the
couple built a homestead called Ben-My-Chree. The name came from the Manx
language of the Isle of Man and means 'girl of my heart'. Here Kate grew two
acres of flower gardens on the rich glacial silt. In 1912 seamwheelers began
stopping at Ben-My-Chree not only to drop off supplies but to also stock up
on fresh garden vegetables. By 1916 tourists were arriving to view the
spectacular gardens which were framed by towering snow caped mountains. Some
9,000 visitors came annually and Kate, always dressed in long formal gowns,
greeted visitors at the garden gate. In the evenings she entertained
visitors with organ music. Visitors included the Prince of Wales, President
Roosevelt, Governor General and Lady Bing as well as silent picture movie
stars.
Source: A Guide to Who Lies Beneath Whitehorse Cemeteries.
Online (accessed 2019.)
Arabelle "Belle" Frances Patchen
Born
August 10, 1874,
St. Paul, Minnesota, U.S.A. Died 1952. As a child she
had moved with her family to the American northwest coast. In 1898 in
Spokane, Washington she married an older gentleman of local society named
Allen and became a trophy wife. She was the talk of the town after a popular
scandal when, for charity, she road a horse bareback sporting only pink
tights with a short knee length skirt! She married a second time to Thomas
Noyes and the couple headed north to Nome , Alaska in 1900. Here the couple
adopted a half Inuit girl, Bonnie, in 1905. After the death of Tom, Belle
married a 3rd time in 1919 to surveyor, Bill Muncaster and the
family took a honeymoon across two northern glaciers. The couple spent years
searching for gold along the Canadian U.S.A. boarder finally staking a
claim. Fighting off wolves, wolverines and severe winter weathers the
scraped by with a meager earning that barely paid for expensive supplies. It
is a common story of life in the north. In her 60’s she was teaching young
men how to pack supplies and seek their fortune in the North. A true pioneer
who embraced Northern life to the fullest.
Source: “Pioneer woman of Squaw Creek” by Michael Gates in Yukon News
November 23, 2007 (accessed online June 2011).
Lettice Perry 3723
née Wall. Born April 19, 1849, Burntwood, England. Died February 27,
1939, Lethbridge, Alberta. Lettice married in England were six of her 17
children were born. Some sources record that there were14 children and
records of 12 names have been found. One child was born and died on the ship
coming to Canada. In 1883 her husband, James, was in Albert
mining. Lettice soon joined him with their children. The other miners felt
it was necessary for the family to have a home so they built one for the
family. Soon the family was living on a 40 acre farm. A second home
was built, a three room cottage, which is now considered the oldest
surviving home in Lethbridge. It was called the Perry Ranch. The City of
Lethbridge has names a street in her honour. Source:
Legacy of Lethbridge Women, Lethbridge Historical Society, 2005; Find
a grave Canada (accessed 2022)
Myrtle Philip
née Tapley. Born March 19, 1891, Maine, U.S.A. Died August 1986. As a
young teacher Myrtle met and married Alex
Philip in 1908. This adventuresome couple eventually settled in Vancouver,
British Columbia but could not resist the call of the mountains. In 1914 they
established Rainbow Lodge at Alta Lake, which is now the modern famous
Whistler ski area. Myrtle became a well known horsewoman, fisherman, hiker,
organizer, and community builder. In 1915 she petitioned the government for a
post office and became the areas first post mistress. She established the
first school even though the government offered no help. The Rainbow Lodge,
under the Philip’s expert management, grew and prospered and in the 1940’s
was expended to accommodate 100 guests. The couple sold the Loge in 1948 and
it continued operation through to 1977 when the main building was destroyed
by fire. Toda the area is preserved as Rainbow Park with some of the
original cabins on site. In 1976 the Myrtle Philip Elementary School was
established and in 1992 the Myrtle Philip Community School became a centre
of activities. There is also the Myrtle Philip Community Centre. Each year
Whistler celebrates Myrtle Philip Day on March 19th.
Sources: Herstory: the
Canadian Women’s Calendar 2007 Coteau Books, 2006 page 78.; Myrtle
Philip Community School. On line (accessed June 2011
Christine Pilon
née Dumas. Born
1862. Died 1959, Batoche, Manitoba. Christine Married Barthelemi Pilon and
the couple, along with Christine’s widowed mother settled in Batoche in
1882. The couple would have 8 children. She often helped her neighbours by
writing their letters either personal or for business. Their home was burned
in 1885 during the North-West Rebellion and the family was forced to flee.
Christine and her children win in the woods with the ill Mme Louis Riel.
Eventually Christine and her children walked 18 miles back to Batoche. A new
home was build and the couple started over again making a home for their
family. The couple celebrated their golden wedding anniversary in 1932.
Source: Diane Payment. Christine Dumas Pilon. Métis Resource Centre.
(accessed April 2013).
Ada Annie Rae-Arthur
'Cougar
Annie'
Born June 19, 1888, Sacramento, California, U.S.A. Died Port
Alberni, British Columbia April 28, 1985. In 1915 after having lived in
England, South Africa and the Canadian Parries, Annie with her husband and 3
children came from Vancouver to settle on a 5 acre tract of forest
wilderness at Boat on the west coast of Vancouver Island. With great
hardship, they cleared the land and made a large unique botanical garden, a
mail order nursery business, post office and general store. Defending her
land against prowling animals, Annie used her shotgun skills as well that
she earned the nickname “Cougar Annie”. After four husbands ( the last one
was a drunkard and was run off with a shotgun in 1967) and eleven children,
she finally left her home and beloved garden when she was over ninety.
Cougar Annie’s garden became derelict but was lovingly returned by
Businessman Peter Buckland and run as a tourist attraction with botanical
study centre opening in 2007 by the Boat Basin Foundation. However in 2010
the property was up for sale because of high debt. Source:
Cougar Annie Further fabulous Canadians hysterically historical
Rhymes by Gordon Snell and Aislin. Toronto: McArthur & co. 2004. Pages
59-63: Ecotrust Canada (accessed August 2011).
Mary Rawn
In 1899 Mary and her husband, Tom, arrived by canoe to be
the first white settlers in Atikokan, Ontario. The following year they she up the
Pioneer Hotel which would become a magnificent two story, 18 room hotel.
Tome went prospecting while Mary ran the hotel. A devout Roman Catholic she
made sure that church services were held each month in the largest place in
town, her hotel. Rawn Road bears the family name.
Delphine Rivard 4518
Midwife
née Dupre. Born June 9, 1871, Massachusetts, U.S.A. Died February
14, 1966, St. Elizabeth, Manitoba. The family had moved to the U.S.A. from
Quebec and would relocated again to homestead in the Dakotas Territory in
the American prairies. Her youth living the hardship of pioneer life meant
that her formal education was limited to learning to read and write. On
April 5, 1888 she married Jean Baptiste 'JB' Rivard Along with their first
two children the little family relocated to St, Elizabeth a rural
French-Canadian settlement in southeastern Manitoba. Their home , now with
11 children, often took in local teachers and children from the local
Children's Aid Society. As well as being an excellent homemaker and
seamstress Delphine became known for helping the sickand wounded.
She also gained a reputation as a midwife helping an estimated 200 children
into the world and looking after mother and baby and the rest of the family
for a week or more after the birth. Delphine and JB retired in 1940 to the
local village of St. Elizabeth. Source: Delphine Rivard,
Nellie McClung Foundation online (accessed 2024)
Marie Rollet
First Farmer's Wife
Born circa 1580, France. Died May 27, 1649,
New France. In
1617 she arrived in New France with her husband and young children. Her
husband would be known as Canada’s first farmer. He was also an apothecary
and Marie befriended the local natives to whom her husband administered. She
is Canada’s first farmer’s wife. Their farm was on Cape Diamond which is
located in the heart of the modern city of Quebec. She may also be
considered Canada’s first teacher as records show she enjoyed teaching the
local native population. After the death of her husband in 1627 she remained
in her new homeland. She would marry a second time to a settler by the name
of Hubot and they would raise an adopted native daughter
A Québec, La première de la colonie, veuve de l'apothicaire Louis Hébert,
pratique " l"interculturalisme" avant l'heure: elle instruit les "sauvagessess"
et les forme ...à l'éuropéenne.
Marie-Henriette LeJeune Ross
"Granny Ross"
Baptized August 13 1762, Rochefort, France. Her family would
emigrate and settle in Acadia only to be deported back to France twice as
the area transferred back and forth from the France to England. As a young
girl in France she married Joseph Comeau and in 1784 the young couple headed
back to Cape Breton where Comeau drowned leaving a young widow. Marie-
Henriette married Bernard Lejeun dit Briard and after being a widow again in
1792 she married James Ross. She not only raised her family of 11 children
but she became a known healer herbalist and midwife who traveled hundreds of
miles tending to the care of the people of Nova Scotia for over 60 years.
Her name and stories of her life deed have been passed down through the
family from generation to generation merging fact and fiction. She is said
to have killed two bears one with a musket and one with a fire shovel! She
is known to have spent hours in the forest studying plant life and learning
the medical properties of the flora and fauna making her a knowledgeable
scientist of her day. Sources : Canadian women in Science, Library
and Archives Canada, accessed March 2006; D C
B vol. lll p. 498-499
Olive Blewett Ross
Born 1850,
United Kingdom. Olive immigrated to Canada with her family when she was a
child. By 1878 she had moved to Edmonton, Alberta. She married a miner,
Donald Ross, and the couple had 3 children. Eventually the couple opened the
Edmonton Hotel which may have been the 1st such establishment
west of Brandon, Manitoba. It is said that during the Gold Rush that people
even competed to rent sleeping spaces on the billiard tables. Olive as an
avid and active gardener and was well known for her produce. She is said to
also have been very active in her local church.
Source:
Kay Saunderson, 200 Remarkable Alberta Women,
(Famous Five Foundation, 1999);
Elizabeth Russell
Born December 26, 1754.
Died 1822. After the death of her father she moved to the Canada's
with her older half brother, Peter. Peter was an administrator in the
colony. She became an able entertainer on behalf of her brother and his
position in York (Toronto), socializing with the elite society of the day.
In her letters and diary she has left a detailed picture of one woman's life
in early Upper Canada.
Mrs. Sargeant
Wife of the Governor of the Hudson Bay Company,
her companion, Mrs. Maurice, and a maidservant are the
first
English women to come to James Bay in 1683.
Jane Anne Saunders - Nesbitt
3524
Ship Bride &
Businesswoman
nee Saunders. Born 1844, England. Died June 17, 1897,
Victoria, British Columbia. Jane was one of 70 women who sailed from England
on the S S Tynemouth as a 'ship bride' to marry and settle in British
Columbia. She arrived on September 17, 1862.
The
Columbia Emigration Society, working with the Anglican Church, had arranged
for single women from England to travel to British Columbia to become brides
of gold rush miners.
She soon found service with a family. It was her
she met a young baker delivering his bread and bake goods each day. Samuel
Nesbitt ( 1829-1881) married Jane in April 16,1863. The young couple worked
the bakery business together and prospered. When she became a widow she
worked the family bakery into a business empire to care for her seven
children. (2021)
Alice Mary Schnieder
née Baylie. Born
1875, England. Died 1962. Although she was engaged and her fiancé was away
serving in the Boer War in South Africa, Mary fell in lover with another
man. Against her family wishes she followed Frances 'Frank' Joseph Schneider
(b 1876) to Canada and the couple married in what is now Thunder Bay,
Ontario on August 13, 1902. They followed the gold trail to northern
Ontario were there were almost 100 men at the mine and Alice the only woman.
When the Elizabeth mine panned out the couple settled in Atikokan, Ontario
in 1902 and soon they became proprietors of the General Store and Frank
became Post Master for almost 25 years. The couple raised four children.
Amy Florence Scott
r 10
Black Settler
née Aldridge.Born 1864, U.S.A. Died 1934, British Columbia. Amy met
and married her husband Henry Houston Scott (1854-1934) in Mississippi in
1880. By 1905 the couple and they ten children homesteaded inn Oklahoma
Territory. By 1912, the family, with only three children in tow, settled on
a family farm. They were among the earliest Black families to settle in
Surrey. They grew hay and farmed dairy cattle. The farm lad was divided in
1971 with the death of their last living child. In 2019 the town established
The Henry Houston Scott Park which marks the family homestead and boasts of
having some original fruit trees planted by the family, still in the park.
There is a heritage sign that shares the Scott Family story. In 2018 a
family grave stone was installed in the Surrey Centre Cemetery.
(2023)
Mary Scovil
née
Barber. Born September 25, 1803. As a young woman she was a teacher. She worked in Sutton Township
( Lower Canada) in 1834 for her room and board and a salary of $1.00 a week! She
married a farmer, Stephen Scovil. At 44 she was pregnant, a widow and already
a mother of three older children. She worked harder than ever with her farm. Against
the sentiment of her own era she worked herself into the position of a prosperous
farmer. A strong minded individual she left her estate to her family assuring
that her daughters inheritance could not become part of the estate of their husbands!
Eudoxia Sorochan Shewchuk
Born Ukraine.
Died 1967, Manitoba. She immigrated to Canada at 16 with her widowed mother
and three siblings. Landing in Montreal with only $4.00 to their name,
Eudoxia took simple jobs to earn enough money to send her mother and
siblings on the train to Winnipeg. She remained behind to earn money for the
family as a live in house keeper until she could afford to join the family.
In 1908 she married Peter Shewchuk and the couple settled in Saskatchewan in
1909. Here they would raise their 11 children. She often took their farm
produce to market. In winter she had to break a path for the horse and wagon
to reach the market with goods. She was a well known midwife in
Saskatchewan. She was also a natural negotiator and helped people solve many
conflicts peacefully. In 1944 the couple sold their farm and relocated to
Manitoba. Source:
Herstory: The Canadian Women's calendar. 2008 (Saskatoon Women's
Calendar Collective / Coteau Books, 2007)
Susan Sibbald
née Mein. Born November 29, 1783, Fowey, Cornwall England. Died July 9, 1866,
Toronto, Ontario. In 1807 she married Col. William Sibbald and the couple
had two daughters and nine sons.. Susan visited Canada with one of her sons
to see what two of her other sons were doing. After the death of her husband in 1835 she emigrated to Canada to
investigate her sons' activities and to find a suitable farm for the family. She
took a day tour on Lake Simcoe and decided to settle on what is now called
Sibbald Point. Mrs. Sibbald and John Coomer donated land for a cemetery and
church near the entrance to her estate which she name Eildon Hall after the
family's Scottish estate. She was a
close friend with the daughter of Governor General Simcoe and later with
members of what was known as the "Family Compact' leaders in Ontario. A great grandson
published her memoirs that included letters covering her early years in Canada
from 1783-1812 in 1926. In later life in Toronto she lamented the decline of
the old British values. In 1951 part of the Susan Sibbald estate was sold to
the county of York to be used as a park. In 1957 this became Sibbald
Provincial Park. Eildon Hall is now the Sibbald Memorial Museum with an
Ontario Historical Plaque to commemorate it as an important part of
Ontario's heritage. (2022)
Frances
Ramsay Simpson
Lady Simpson
Born March 28, 1812, London, England. Died March 21 1853,
London, England.
Frances
married her cousin, George Simpson (1792-1860) on February 24 1830. His
career as Governor with the Hudson Bay Company would bring her to Canada. She
and her companion, Catherine Turner, wife of another H B C employee, were the
first white women to travel to remote Hudson Bay Company areas. After a
visit to Rainey Lake (in modern Ontario) the settlement was named Fort
Frances in her honour. Living in Red River she became homesick and lonely
and remained semi invalided after the birth and death of her first child.
Eventually the family settled permanently in Lachine Quebec in 1845 were
their five Canadian born children could be raised. The diaries she wrote
during the time she spend on her adventures in the Canadian west left a
vivid written record of the times.
Rhoda Skinner
Born 1775.
Died 1834, Scarborough, Upper Canada (now Ontario). She married Parshall Terry, becoming
mother to his seven children. The couple had 12 children together. After the
death of Parshall she married William Cornell (1773-18??) and adding 12 more
step - children to her family. In all she was mother to 37 children.
Source:
Toronto’s Historical Plaques (accessed May 2012)
Charlotte Small
Born 1786, Canadian North West. Died 1857. Charlotte was the daughter of fur
trader Patrick Small and a Cree wife. Her father left the business and
abandoned his fur trade family when Charlotte was just five. As a young
woman of 13 she married the 29 year old explorer and well known map maker
David Thompson on June 10, 1799 at Ile-à-la Crosse in the Canadian North
West . They remained together for 58 years and would have 13 children.
Charlotte and children often traveled with David Thompson on his exploits.
She was possible the best traveled Canadian woman of her time! Thompson
mapped the largest expanse of North American than anyone else. He retired
from the North West in 1812 and relocated his family to an area near
Montreal. On October 30, 1812 the couple were remarried according to his
tradition and Charlotte and the children remaining at home were also
baptized. Charlotte signed the church registry in a clear and confidant had
leading historians to believe that she could both read and write. The couple
never returned to the Canadian North West but lived their lives out together
in the Montreal area Charlotte died only three months after her 87 year old
husband died. Source: Travels with Charlotte by Aretha Ven Herk, Canadian Geographic Vol.
127. No. 5 July/August 2007 Pages 54-64.
Catherine Smith
4261
née May. Born June 21, 1772. Died 1840?, Upper Canada (now Ontario).
On August 26, 1788 she married Nicholas Smith (1758-?), a neighbour.
Catherine and Nicholas were United Empire Loyalist who in 1797 settled in
Upper Canada (now Ontario) with their five children. Nine more children were
born in the Canadas. They owned and operated a pioneer family farm.
(2023)
Maiden Rice-Stacy
4559
Born Virginia?, American Colony (U.S.A.)
Died 1810?, Upper Canada (now Ontario). Maiden and her husband lived
farm in Virginia. Her husband was killed during and Indian raid while Maiden
and two children, one perhaps just a baby0 were taken prisoner. One child
was killed on the journey north to Fort Detroit and a daughter may have been
sold or traded on the journey north. Maiden evidently escaped from
imprisonment in Fort Detroit and made her way to Chatham in Upper Canada.
Supposedly she met, at a British Army Camp, one Col. Stacey and the couple
were married. Maiden's daughter who had been sold by the Indians to a Silas
Secord is listed in the 1783 census of Niagara as Mrs. Secord 23. A second
history has Maiden Rice is listed as a Prisoner of War on a Provisioning
List at the British Fort Detroit along with four children. The British at
the Fort were concerned that the original India raid had been conducted
after the Treaty of Paris had been signed in 1783. The problem was solved
when in 1784 Maiden married John Stacy. The family stayed in Detroit until
1785 when the Fort was turned over to the Americans. The family moved to
Niagara where Maiden was reunited with daugher Mary Secord. May 2, 1792 John
Stacey/Stacy was granted 200 acres of land in Welland County. John
Stacey/Stacy went to England to settle his father's estate and his ship was
lost at sea. Maiden Stacy, their daughter, Elizabeth and the step son Moses
inherited the family land in 1799. There is nothing like tales handed down
through families to muddy the true story of an early pioneer. It is
known that Elizabeth Stacey married twice and lived in Port Rowan and Stacey
Street in the twon is named in her honour. Source: The
Niagara Settlers, online (accessed 2024).
Jane Stafford
née Gibb.
Born March 7, 1842, Auchinleok, Ayrshire, Scotland. Died April 3, 1925,
Lethbridge, Alberta. On December 13, 1863 Jane married William Stafford
(1842-1907) who would become a Galt Mine superintendent in Canada. The
couple resided in Scotland for the 1st portion of their married
life where they became parents of 7 children. In 1871 the family settled in
Wolfville, Nova Scotia where 4 more children were born. In 1882 William and
his son Henry left for the coal mines of Alberta. Jane took the arduous
journey west a year later with her other children. The family settled in the
rough mining area of Coal Banks, Alberta where Jane was the 1st
white woman I the area. Here she gave birth to Henrietta, the 1st
white child born in the area and two more children. Jane made the Stafford
house a welcome place for all visitors and it was in her home that the 1st
church services in the area were held. Jane took a great interest in the
lives and welfare of all the peoples of the community from the miners,
settlers and Aboriginals alike. She had left the relative comfort of a life
with all community conveniences in Nova Scotia to be participant and witness
to the rough and tumble coal mine town into the settlement that would become
the town/city of Lethbridge.
The City of Lethbridge has named a street in her honour.
Source:
Sanderson, Kay. 200 Remarkable Women of Alberta. (s.l., s.d.) online
(accessed September 2014)
Sylvia Stark
née Estes. Born 1839, Clay Co. Missouri, U.S.A. Died November 7, 1944,
Fruitvale, Salt Spring Island, British Columbia. Sylvia taught herself how to
read and write by learning from the lessons of the white children she cared
for as a slave. Her father, owned by a different person, wanted to gain
freedom for himself and his family. He earned money working the gold fields
in California with his slave owners and had to seek legal help in order to
purchase his freedom and that of his family. The freed family originally
settled in Missouri but fear of the Klu Klux Klan forced them to move to
California. Sylvia married Louis Stark in 1855. California law changed in
the late 1850’s and it was not favourable to freed slaves. The Stark and
Estes families moved to British Columbia in search of full freedom. Sylvia
and Louis and their children settled as pioneer farmers on Salt Spring
Island, a fertile gulf island between the mainland and Vancouver Island. In
1875 she and her husband left the farm to the oldest son, Willis, and
resettled in Nanaimo on Vancouver Island. In 1895 Louis was murdered and
Sylvia returned to Salt Spring Island to farm with her son.
Sources; Sylvia Estes – women in BC. Sylvia Stark
. March 4, 1997 Section15.ca (accessed December 2011):Ten Female
trailblazers of Western Canada, The Canadian Encyclopedia online (accessed
2024)
Frances Anne Stewart
née Browne.
Born 1794, Dublin, Ireland. Died October 24, 1872. She married Thomas
Alexander Stewart on December 16, 1816. When Thomas lost his job with a
bankrupt company the young couple decided to emigrate to Canada with other
family members. They left Ireland on June 1, 1822 spending seven weeks
aboard ship for the crossing to Canada! A true pioneer to Upper Canada, she was a diarist and letter writer.Her letters to home have left us with a rich insight into early
Canadian life of such of her friends as the Strickland family. Her
family published her writings after her death. Many of her personal
writings are stored in the Archives at Trent University, Peterborough,
Ontario.
Charlotte Taylor
Born between 1752-1755, London, England between . Died April 25, 1841, Tabusintac, New
Brunswick. In the 1775 she reportedly ran off to the West
Indies to escape the disapproval of her family. Here she would experience
the death of her partner and would find herself along and heavy with child.
In that same year she married Captain John Blake and gave birth to her first
child Elisabeth Williams. The Blake’s found their way to Canada’s east coast
and became pre-loyalists. Charlotte was a true pioneer of the Canadian
Maritimes, being among the first to settle in wilderness areas. A son Robert
Blake Jr. (1782-1853) was born in the Canadian wilderness. After the death
of Robert Blake Sr. in 1785 she partnered with William Wishart (perhaps a
neighbor) and a son William Wishart (1785-1851) was born. Within the next
two years Charlotte married Philip Hierlihy ( - 1804). In all Charlotte
would have 10 children. In 1785 she would snowshoe to Fredericton, the
centre of New Brunswick government, to ensure the title of land from the
estate of her first husband. The land ownership battles would be a major
part of the families’ life struggle. Charlotte survived and ensured the
survival of her family . She was a land owner and a desirable widow who
married, as was the style of the era, several times to ensure survival. She
outlived her husbands and some of her children, but was comforted by a
family members who made up a true dynasty. She is considered the Mother of
Tabusintac.
Sources: Charlotte Taylor: Her life and Times by Mary Lynn Smith.
.
Nancy Lee Tegart
née Lee. Born
October 28, 1912, England. Died February 10, 2012, British Columbia. In 1927
Nancy Lee moved to British Columbia with her mother and her sisters. She
took to the rugged life on a ranch and began a life long love of horses. In
Edgewater British Columbia she became a rebellious tomboy. A cousin funded
her to attend Agricultural College at the University of British Columbia.
Returning home she worked on various ranches and particularly liked working
with horses. In 1936 her mother sold the family B Arrow Ranch and Nancy
headed to Vancouver working at whatever job she could find. Late in 1942 she
enlisted in the Women’s Division of the Royal Canadian Air Force. She
trained in Toronto but declined officer training preferring to drive trucks.
By December that year she was posted to Canadian Bomber Group no. 6,
Yorkshire, England. After the war she took time to visit France before
sailing home to British Columbia. She married Lloyd Tegart in May 1958 and
with the aid of the Veterans Land Act they purchased Hidden Valley Ranch
outside of Invermere, British Columbia. Lloyd died in 1967 and while she
ranched on her own for a few years she before she sold her land and worked
for other ranchers doing whatever job need doing. She planted Christmas
trees and she even bred horses. In 1975 she set up an animal ‘baby sitting’
business. Everywhere she lived she became involved in community life through
groups such as the Ladies Auxiliary or the Saddle Club. At 88 she wrote
short stories about the horses she had known. In 2004 she published her
autobiography with the help of her friend Susan Wass. She had also been
active in the East Kootenay Agricultural Society and was pleased when this
group established the Nancy Lee Tegart Award for youth who were considering
a life in agriculture. Nancy had her photo taken on her 90th
birthday riding a horse and she drove her own truck until she was 92.
Sources: Elinor Florence, Nancy Lee Tegart. Eleanor Florence
blog (accessed July 2015); Ian Cobb, ‘Nancy Lee Tegart was a true British
Columbia Pioneer’ (accessed July 2015)
Adelaide Morin-Thomas
Born 1847,
Ile à la Crosse, Manitoba. Died 1957, Manitoba. In 1864 she married George
'Geordie' Thomas (1840-1927) at Brochet, Manitoba. The couple lived off the
land and she trapped muskrats to sell for provisions up to 1952! She was
also known for her Maple syrup. She sewed long leather Métis coats with
intricate beadwork and fringes to sell at the Hudson Bay Company store. In
her later years she lived with her daughter.
Source:
Adelaide Morin-Thomas. Métis Resource Centre of Manitoba. Online.
(accessed April 2013)
Charlotte Townsend
Ship Bride
3512
née Townsend. Born December 6,
1833, London, England. Died January 7, 1929, Victoria, British Columbia.
Charlotte
was raised in a middleclass family learning French and taking music lessons.
In 1862 she and her sister Louisa arrived in British Columbia on September
17 on the 'Bride Ship" Tynemouth. The voyage had taken three months and and
Louisa suffered severe seasickness. The Columbia Emigration Society, working
with the Anglican Church, had arranged for single women from England to
travel to British Columbia to become brides of gold rush miners. Louisa was
not in love with this new country when she first arrived in the muddy town
of New Westminster. Host/employers had been arranges for the women but
Louisa found herself doing choirs she had never known about in her live. In
addition the living conditions was akin to being cloistered as the women
were not allowed out on their own. Charlotte worked to support herself as a
music teacher. She married Alfred Allatt Townsend(1816-1884) in 1873 and the
couple had two children. Sources: Tynemouth Bride ship
passengers. Online (accessed 2021); Find a Grave Canada online (accessed
2021)
Louisa Townsend -Mallandaine
Ship Bride 3510
née Townsend. Born September 24, 1831, London, England. Died
September 28, 1925, Victoria, British Columbia. Louisa was raised
in a middleclass family learning French and taking music lessons. In
1862 she and her sister Charlotte arrived in British Columbia on
September 17 on the 'Bride Ship" Tynemouth. The voyage had taken three
months and and Louisa suffered severe seasickness. The Columbia
Emigration Society, working with the Anglican Church, had arranged for
single women from England to travel to British Columbia to become brides
of gold rush miners. Louisa was not in love with this new country when
she first arrived in the muddy town of New Westminster. Host/employers
had been arranges for the women but Louisa found herself doing choirs
she had never known about in her live. In addition the living conditions
was akin to being cloistered as the women were not allowed out on their
own. Louisa soon found employment as a governess in Victoria where she
could play cricket and join a choir. She had brought her piano and
sewing machine with her from England and these were said to be the first
in the settlement of Victoria. On September 1, 1866 she married Edward
Mallandaine (1827-1905) who had arrived during the gold rush and who
would attempt to seek success with various careers including surveying
and being an architect. The couple would have five children. In 1880
when the couple wished to build an new house Louise raffled a diamond
necklace for $350.00 to help pay for the construction. In 1919 the
widowed Louisa suffered an accident that left her confined to a
wheelchair. In 1940 her son Charles died and the family home, for which
Louisa had sold her diamond necklace, was sold. The new owner cleaned
the attic and burning all the Mallandaine family papers. The house was
demolished in the late 1960's replaced by a three story apartment block.
Stories of the Bride Ship women is told in the book: Voyages of Hope:
The Saga of the Bride Ships, by Peter Johnson published in 2002.
Source: Mallandaine Family History. Online accessed 2021.
Emilie Tremblay
née Fortin. Born January 4, 1872,
Saint-Joseph-d’Alma, Quebec. Died April 22, 1949,
Victoria, British Columbia.
Emilie moved with her family as a teen to Cohoes, New
York, U.S.A. On December 11, 1893 she married a miner from the Canadian Yukon,
Pierre-Nolasque Tremblay. He would take his bride across country to access
trails to the north. In 1894 she was one of the first white woman to climb
the famous and traitorous Chilkoot trail of the Klondike gold rush era. She learned to cook on the trail
and also learned English to converse with the miners they met. The couple
lived in a small log cabin and opened their doors that first Christmas with
Emilie cooking a full course Christmas meal for one and all. During a trip
home to New York, gold was discovered in the Klondike and the northern live
changed with a flood of hopeful fortune seekers. The Tremblays returned
home to the north laden with supplies to sell to the miners at Bonanza Creek
located close to the new Dawson City. In 1906 the couple travelled to Europe
in style and visited relatives in Quebec on the way home. The couple adopted
one of Emilie’s nieces to return home with them. In the family settled in
Dawson City where Emilie opened a dry goods business known simply as Mrs.
Tremblay’s Store. Emilie was active in charity work with her church. She
knit 263 pairs of socks for soldiers in World War l (1914-1918). She founded the Society
of the Ladies of the Golden North in 1922 and in 1927 she was president of
the Yukon Order of Pioneers. In 1937 she received the King George IV Medal.
In 1940, now a widow, she married Louis Langlois and once again, of their own
choice, the couple lived in a small northern cabin. In 1946 she attended the
annual Convention of Alaska and Yukon Pioneers in San Francisco, California,
U.S.A. The
following year the aging couple sought comfort living in Victoria, British
Columbia. Sources:
Pioneers every one by E. Blanche Norcross (Burns and MacEachern Ltd,
1979) : Emilie Tremblay The great names of the French Canadian
Community Online (accessed November 2012) (2021)
Mary Morris Vaux
Walcott 4784
Born July 31, 1860, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,
U.S.A. Died August 22, 1940, Saint Andrews, New Brunswick. Mary was from a
prosperous Quaker family. She graduated from Friends Select School in
Philadelphia in 1879. After the death of her mother in 1880 she cared for
her father and younger brothers. and for over 40 years she would be in
the Canadian Rockies where she and her brothers conducted some of the first
studies on glaciers in Canada. She helped document their studies with
drawings, maps surveys, and photographs. As a mountaineer she became a
founding member of the Alpine Club of Canada and May was the first woman in
Canada to summit a peak over 3,000 metres when she ascended Mount Stephen.
In 1914 she married Charles Doolittle Walcott (1850-1927) she was Secretary
of the Smithsonian Institution. She would publish in 1940, North
American Wild Flowers which contained over 400 watercolours in five
volumes. Mary was on the American federal Board of Indian Commissioners from
1927 through 1932. In 1933 she was president of the Society of Women
Geographers. In 1935 15 of her drawings were included in Illustrations of
North American Pitcher Plants. Jasper National Park in Alberta has Mount
Mary Vaux. In 2016 Marjorie Jones published The Life and Times
of Mary Vaux Walcott. Source: Ten Female Trailblazers of
Western Canada, The Canadian Encyclopedia, online (accessed 2024); Canadian
Women Artists Database online (accessed 2024)
Marie Albertina Wallace Black pioneer
3515
née Stark. Born August 15, 1867, Salt Spring Island, British
Columbia. Died June 19, 1867, Victoria, British Columbia. Marie married
Joseph Benjamin Wallace (1869-1953) in 1897 and the couple raised five
children. In her late 90's Marie wrote her family history showing that her
father bought the family's freedom from slavery in Missouri, U.S.A. The
family history was published posthumously in an eleven part series in the
Gulf Islands Driftwood newspaper from November 1979 through February 1980.
Sources: the Gulf Islands Driftwood. online; Find a Grave
Canada Online (accessed 2021)
Mildred Ware
Pioneer Rancher
née Lewis. Born 1871, Toronto, Ontario. Died 1905, Brooks, Alberta. Leaving
Toronto as a youth, Mildred headed for the Canadian West and settled in
Calgary. Alberta. Here Mildred met a former American slave who had moved to
Alberta after the American Civil War and had prospered as a rancher. Mildred
married John Ware (1854-1905) at the First Baptist Church in Calgary on
March 2, 1892 and the couple settled on the Ware ranch. In 1902 the family,
now including 6 children, moved to Red Deer Alberta building a ranch house
near what would become known as Wear Creek. They were flooded out in their
first year and John rebuild a home on higher ground. Mildred did all the
bookkeeping for their cattle business and also home schooled the children
for their primary education. The children would move to Blairmore to live
with their grandmother to attend school.
Source: Slavery in Canada. Online
(accessed February 2015)
Catherine 'Kate' Weldon
Pioneer Telegraph Operator
née Liggett. Born February 4, 1850, Ireland. Died
1903. Kate and her brother sailed to settle in the U.S.A in 1871. It was
there that she met and married another Irish immigrant, George Weldon in
1876. Emigrating to Hamilton, Ontario George was approached by the
representative of the Canadian Pacific Telegraph line who enticed the couple
to build establish and maintain a telegraph station in the Canadian
northwest site of Humboldt. Kate was an expert telegraph operator and soon
taught George. On August 25, 1878 Kate sent the first commercial telegraph
message from the earthen floor, rough wood station they had built. Known for
being a good hostess her hospitality even welcomed the Marquis of Lorne,
Governor General, on his visit in 1881. In 1882, despite the attempt to
receive instructions of help for their sick child over the telegraph, the
Weldon daughter died. In 1883 the Weldon’s left for Grenfell where George
worked as a CPR agent and Kate would give birth to their son.
Source: Saskatoon Women’s Calendar Collective. Herstory 2007: the Canadian
Women’s Calendar (Regina: Couteau Books, 2006) pg. 6..
Eunice Williams
Born September 17, 1694, Deerfield, Massachusetts, U.S.A. Died November 26,
1785. Eunice was the daughter of a Puritan minister and his wife is
Deerfield, Massachusetts. At the age of seven, she and her
family were captured
by Indians during a raid on their home in Deerfield in February 1704. She was taken with
100 other prisoners to Canada. Many of the captives died or were killed during
the long winter journey including Eunice's mother who was unable to keep up
with the group. After six weeks of travel the party of captives
arrived Fort Chambly, Quebec and were settled in Kahnawake, a Catholic
Mohawk settlement south of Montreal.
Eunice became known by the names Marie, Maria, Margueritte, Marguarett,
Gannenstenhawt (meaning she who brings in the corn), Ouangote, Aongote
(meaning they took her and placed her as a member of the tribe).
The tribe she lived with became very
fond of the child and she learned their ways. Eventually she married a Mohawk
man, Francois-Xavier Arosen. The couple had several children and she
remained with the Mohawk for the rest of her life.
Her father was ransomed from the Mohawks and freed. He managed to retrieve
his other children and returned to live in Massachusetts.Eunice would keep in touch with her birth family and often visited her brothers with her
own husband and children. Her children took their mother's name as is the native
tradition. One of her grandsons became a chief of Sault-Saint-Louis. Her descendants
may be found living in this same area today.
Florence M. B. Wilson
'Ship Bride'
Born England.
Died
Victoria, British Columbia. In 1862 she and 60 other women arrived in
British Columbia on September 17 on the 'Bride Ship" S. S. Tynemouth. The
voyage had taken three months and there were many who suffered severe
seasickness. The Columbia Emigration Society, working with the Anglican
Church, had arranged for single women from England to travel to British
Columbia to become brides of gold rush miners. Florence spent tow years in
Fort Victoria where she was a seamstress and opened a fancy goods and
stationery shop on Government St. Florence then followed the gold rush to
Barkerville which was a two week trip with the last part of the trip spent
walking with a Aboriginal packer. In Barkerville she invested in a gold clam
which was known as the ;'Florence Claim'. She also opened a fancy saloon
which even boasted of a doorman. While Florence knew that if she married her
wealth would become the property of her husband and she choose not to marry
but rather settled for a relationship. he became a founding member of the
literary institute, hte dramatic association and had started a local
library. She is considered the first librarian in British Columbia. In 1868
the town was completely destroyed by fire but stout hearted citizens soon
rebuilt their own. The Theatre Royal in Barkerville is said to be haunted by
Florence. Source: An Interview with Florence Wilson. Okanaganwomen. online
(accessed 2021)
Julia Smith Winder
née Stimson.
Born 1846, Quebec. Died 1926, Lennoxville, Quebec. Julia (Some sources call
her Jane) married William Winder (1844-1885) and the couple first lived in
California before returning to Quebec in 1872. The following year William
joined the new North West Mounted Police and was assigned as superintendent
to Fort Macleod in Alberta. Julia moved west with her two children and would
give birth to her third child at the fort. Life in the early north west
Canadian frontier was not easy but Julia was able to share the hardships
with other North West Mounted Police (N W M P) wives at the fort. Hardships and separation from their
husbands was a part of N W M P family fife. In 1881 William retired from the
N W M P force and with the financial aid of supporters like his brother-in Law,
Frederick Stimson, entered into pioneering cattle ranching in the area.
Julia returned to Quebec in 1884 for the birth of their forth child. Source:
Sanderson, Kay. 200 Remarkable Women of Alberta. (s.l., s.d.) online
(accessed September 2014)
Marie-Madeleine Winniett
néeMaisonnat. Born
1695, Port Royal 9now Annapolis Royal), Nova Scotia. Died after 1670, Nova
Scotia. When she was just 15 in 1710 Marie-Madeleine lived in Port Royal
when it was captured by British forces. In 1711 she married Lieutenant
William Winniett (died 1741). The couple had 13 children. As a widow in 1741
she was left impoverished. Three of he daughters were married and the
families may have been influential in the province of Nova Scotia. Marie
-Madeleine herself would gain a position of prominence at the Port Royal
garrison. Peggy Armstron wrote a full-length stage play called Forever Marie
based on the life story of Marie-Madeleine.Source: Writers Federation of
Nova Scotia. Peggy Armstrong. online (accessed 2008); D C B
Josette Work
née
Legacé.
Born 1809? Kettle Falls, Washington, U.S.A. Josette’s father, like many
early settlers of the era took an Spokane Indian woman as his wife. When she
was in her mid-teens she married in the traditional manner to as Hudson Bay
Company employee, John Work. The couple would have 10 children. Josette
traveled with her husband throughout the Washington area and into British
Columbia. Some of her children were born during their travels in the
wilderness. In 1836 she joined her husband to settle in Fort Simpson,
British Colombia. The children were educated at home and in 1849 they
relocated to Victoria, British Columbia to afford better education for the
family. On November 6, 1849 she and her husband formalized their wedding in
an Anglican Church ceremony. Josette became the wife on one of the most
prominent land owners in Victoria. Her home was well known for its
hospitality. Josette would out live her husband by 35 years becoming the
matriarch of a large clan. Upon her death the British Columbia gave special
tribute to her for her ‘usefulness in pioneer work and many good deeds”.
Elizabeth 'Libbie' McDougall Young
Born 1852. Died 1945. Libbie moved to Alberta with her
family in 1863. She returned to Ontario to attend the
Wesleyan Female College in Hamilton. By 1870 she was
back in Alberta at the family Wesleyan/Methodist Mission
at Morley. In 1873 she married Harrison Stevens Young,
an employee of the Hudson Bay Company (HBC). The young
couple settled at the HBC post at Lesser Slave Lake.
Libbie spoke fluent Cree and was readily accepted by the
aboriginal community at the HBC outpost. During the
Northwest Rebellions the family lived at Lac La Biche
where they were forced into hiding in the woods to
ensure their safety. The couple had nine children, 6 of
whom lived to adulthood. Between 1887 through 1909 the
family lived in Edmonton where Libby was known as the
last chatelaine of Fort Edmonton. Source: 200 Remarkable Alberta Women.
Online (accessed October, 2014)