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Cuthbert Grant, Jr.

Male 1793 - 1854  (61 years)    Has 7 ancestors and 17 descendants in this family tree.

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  • Name Cuthbert Grant 
    Suffix Jr. 
    Birth 1793  Fort dela Riviere Tremblante Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Christening 12 Oct 1801  Montréal, QC, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Gender Male 
    Death 15 Jul 1854 
    Siblings 4 Siblings 
    Person ID I674260  Geneagraphie
    Last Modified 11 Dec 2009 

    Father Peter Cuthbert James Grant,   b. 1752, Cromdale, Strathspey, Inverness, Scotland Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 1799, Kaministiquia Ontario-Thunder Bay Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 47 years) 
    Mother Utinawasis,   b. Between 1770 and 1780, qu' Appelle, Saskatchewan, Canada Find all individuals with events at this locationd. Yes, date unknown 
    Family ID F296868  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family 1 Elizabeth McKay   d. Yes, date unknown 
    Marriage 22 May 1814  Fort Gibraltar, Gibraltar, British Oversea Territory Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Children 
     1. James Grant   d. Yes, date unknown
    Family ID F296915  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
    Last Modified 11 Dec 2009 

    Family 2 Marie Desmaris   d. Yes, date unknown 
    Marriage 1820 
    Children 
    +1. Maria Grant,   b. 15 Jul 1820   d. Yes, date unknown
    Family ID F296918  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
    Last Modified 11 Dec 2009 

    Family 3 Marie McGillis   bur. 30 Apr 1856, St.-Francois-Xavier Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Marriage Abt 1823 
    Children 
     1. Elise Grant   d. Yes, date unknown
     2. Charles Grant   d. Yes, date unknown
     3. Pierre Grant   d. Yes, date unknown
     4. Elizabeth Grant   d. Yes, date unknown
     5. Marguerite Grant   d. Yes, date unknown
     6. Cuthbert Louis Marie Grant   d. Yes, date unknown
     7. Cuthbert Grant   d. Yes, date unknown
     8. James Grant   d. Yes, date unknown
     9. Sophia Grant   d. Yes, date unknown
     10. Caroline Grant   d. Yes, date unknown
     11. Jessie Grant   d. Yes, date unknown
     12. Julie Rose Marie Grant   d. Yes, date unknown
    Family ID F296916  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
    Last Modified 11 Dec 2009 

  • Event Map Click to hide
    Link to Google MapsChristening - 12 Oct 1801 - Montréal, QC, Canada Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsMarriage - 22 May 1814 - Fort Gibraltar, Gibraltar, British Oversea Territory Link to Google Earth
     = Link to Google Earth 
    Pin Legend  : Address       : Location       : City/Town       : County/Shire       : State/Province       : Country       : Not Set

  • Photos Photos (Log in)Photos (Log in)

  • Notes 
    • In 1801 at the age of eight, he was sent to Scotland to be educated. It is not known exactly when he returned to the West , but in 1812, he entered the service of the North West Company at the age of 19. He then travelled with the spring brigade to Pays d'en haut, the "high country" of the Northwest.
      He was recognized as a leader of the Métis people, and became involved in the bitter struggle between the Nor'westers and the Hudson's Bay Company stemming from the Pemmican Proclamation, which forbade anyone from exporting pemmican from the Red River Colony . The capture and destruction of the North West Company's Fort Gibraltar in 1816, caused further anger at the HBC from the Nor'westers and the local Métis. This led to the bloody encounter known as the Battle of Seven Oaks , where Robert Semple and 21 colonists from the Red River Colony were slain.
      Despite this, when the two rival companies merged in 1821 under the name the Hudson's Bay Company, the new governor, Sir George Simpson , requested Grant to head a Métis settlement of some 2,000 people situated some 16 miles west of the Red River settlement on the Assiniboine River . The settlement was to be known as Grantown for many years, but in more recent times was renamed St. Francois Xavier after the patron saint of the town.
      By 1825 wheat was becoming an important food crop and although there were several windmills in operation in the area, Cuthbert Grant was the first to undertake the construction of a watermill . His mill was completed on Sturgeon Creek in 1829. While the exact location is not known, it is probable that it was close to where the Portage Trail crossed the creek; and it is altogether likely that the dam was used as a bridge for crossing the creek during the season of high water. Unfortunately the dam proved unequal to the spring floods and for three successive years it was washed out. Grant finally abandoned the site and moved his machinery to Grantown where he constructed a successful windmill.
      In 1828, the Hudson's Bay Company placed him in charge of the defence of the Red River Settlement . He later became a sheriff and magistrate in the District of Assiniboia .
      On July 15, 1854, Cuthbert died from injuries sustained after falling from his horse.


      Around 1823, Cuthbert married Marie-Marguerite McGillis, the daughter of . Cuthbert and Marie-Marguerite were the parents of eleven children: Grant.
      Marie-Marguerite survived another 1-1/2 years past her husband's death in 1854. She was buried on April 30, 1856, in St.-Francois-Xavier.

      CUTHBERT GRANT (1793-1854)
      "WAPESTON: WHITE ERMINE"
      By Lorraine Freeman
      The Metis Resource Centre

      When Cuthbert's father died in 1799, in accordance with his father's will, William McGillvary, Director of the North West Company , became Cuthbert's guardian. Cuthbert was baptized October 12, 1801, at age eight in the Scottish Church on St.Gabriel Street in Montreal, a church his father donated money to help build. Cuthbert's father's will also stated that he wished his sons to be educated in Scotland. Cuthbert spent approximately the next ten years of his life in Scotland. He returned to Montreal at the age of nineteen and was appointed clerk at Fort Esperance on the Qu'Appelle River.

      In 1812, there was a growing conflict between the two major companies, the Hudson's Bay Company and the North West Company. 1812 also marked the arrival of the first colonists. The Nor'Wester's saw the colonists as a threat to the fur trade and supply of pemmican. The conflict grew. In 1814, Governor Miles Macdonald made a proclamation prohibiting the sale of pemmican from the Assiniboine, in fear of starvation of thecolony. The North West Company needed pemmican as food supply for the voyageurs. The Métis depended on the sale of pemmican to the Nor' Westers to support their families. A second proclamation ordered the stop of "running buffalo" at the Red River Settlement. The Métis felt that they were the true owners of the North West and need not obey these laws. The Nor' Westers were, after all the "New Nation".

      Cuthbert Grant, Peter Pangman, William Shaw and Nicholas Montour were appointed "Captains of the Métis". In March, 1816, the Métis appointed Cuthbert Grant as "Captain - General of all the Half-Breeds" (Métis). In May Cuthbert and his men set out to Brandon House with the intention of destroying it. Peter Fidler of Brandon House recorded the first sighting of the Métis Flag, "At half past noon about 48 Half-Breeds, Canadians, Freemen and Indians came riding on horseback with their flag flying, blue, about 4 feet square and a figure 8 horizontally in the middle". June 19th The Battle of Seven Oaks occurred with Governor Semple and twenty of his men killed on Frog Plain. Cuthbert and the Métis then took Fort Douglas. Settlers who wanted to leave the Red River Settlement were offered protection by Cuthbert. Cuthbert was later to face charges in Montreal arising from the fight but never actually went to trial. While Cuthbert was away his wife Elizabeth McKay and their son disappeared and were never heard from again.

      George Simpson was concerned about theconflict between the Sioux and the Métis living at Pembina and, knowing that Pembina would be south of the 49th parallel, he asked Grant for his help to establish a new community 29 kilometres west of Fort Garry. This was the district of White Horse Plains. They formed the community of Grantown with 80 Métis families who were displaced from Pembina,. The people of Grantown supplied fur traders with pemmican, and being some of the best fighters, they acted as a buffer between the Sioux and the Red River Settlement. In 1823, Cuthbert married Marie McGillis and established a permanent home in Grantown. Cuthbert built a flour mill along the banks of Sturgeon Creek, now known as "Grant's Old Mill". He was also a private freighter. In 1824, Grant transported goods by York Boats to andfrom Norway House and the Red River Settlement along with the voyageurs of Grantown.

      The American Fur Trade Companies entering the north west were an ever increasing problem.



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