My mother is descended from an extraordinary North American lineage: English, Welsh, Irish and Scots; lots of Puritans and Quakers, a few New Netherlands Dutch, and dozens of French-Canadian fur traders.
Mom was born in the backwoods of Kalispell, Montana in 1914. Her mother and father married and homesteaded there in 1912.
Mom’s grandparents, the Browns, (photo above) had arrived in Montana in the early 1900s.
One of my fondest childhood memories was a 1950 visit to the Lon and Olive Brown family, mom’s aunt and uncle, in Montana.
They literally lived in the woods several miles out of Kalispell, Montana.
Uncle Lon described his home as a ‘stump ranch,’ where he made his living by farming, ranching, logging, hunting and fishing.
During that visit I heard tales about Lewis and Clark’s Voyage of Discovery, and stories about cowboys, Indians, and trappers in early Montana.
I was hooked and I wanted to know everything possible about such a beautiful and alluring place as Montana.
I was hooked and I wanted to know everything possible about such a beautiful and alluring place as Montana.
As luck would have it, I also grew up during a time when America still embraced its rural roots.
Hollywood, especially early television, treated us to a wide variety shows about the history and settlement of the American West.
One of the shows that intrigued me most was the “Adventures of Davy Crockett,” which aired on ABC from 1954 to 1955.
As I grew older my thirst for knowledge about the American West, and especially Montana, grew.
In time I discovered artists like Charles M. Russell, Philip R. Goodwin, Frederic Remington and Frank Schoonover whose paintings captured the fast fading memory of America’s Westward expansion and the many colorful characters of the era.
I also discovered writers like James Willard Schultz, Frank Bird Linderman, and George Bird Grinnell who lived part of the early history of Montana.
In time I learned about the fur trade and early French-Canadian explorers from the writings of Agnes Laut, Grace Nute, Marjorie Campbell and others.
Eventually my interest in the fur trade led me to discover ‘Rendezvous Reenactments’ sponsored by the National Muzzle Loading Rifle Association.
During the 1980s and 1990s I participated in many Rendezvous events in California, Arizona, Montana and Wyoming.
At the same time my passion for canoeing led me to adventures in the Boundary Waters of Minnesota, the upper Missouri River in Montana, and Algonquin Provincial Park in Ontario, Canada.
Rewind back to the early 1970s my aunt Muriel, our family genealogist, gave me a photo of her French-Canadian great grandmother.
Muriel didn’t know much about her great grandmother other than her name, Lucy Passino, and that her parents and emigrated from Canada to New York around 1850.
When I actively started pursuing my ancestry, in the mid 1990s, I could not find any reference to PASSINO in Canada.
Fast forward to 2010, I finally discovered an online article from “Press Republican newspaper” (Plattsburgh, New York), posted 24 Nov 2002.
The article was titled, “French connection -- From street signs to surnames, French-Canadian influence on region manifests itself in many distinct ways,” by Robin Caudell Staff Writer.
In that article I found a list of anglicized surnames along with the original names… "Current Name: Passino -- Original Name: Pinsonneau," Source: "Volume III, Headstone Inscriptions, Clinton County, NY" by Clyde Rabideau Sr.
That same day I found Lucy’s parents in La Prairie, Quebec. Within another week I had identified nearly 200 French-Canadian ancestors. Some had arrived in Quebec as early as 1635.
During the past decade I have discovered, researched and written about over 125 French-Canadian ancestors who were involved in the fur trade.
The following posts are for a presentation given to the French-Canadian Heritage Society of California and are dedicated to Lucy Pinsonneau, my 2nd great grandmother, my link to the Canadian fur trade.
During the past decade I have discovered, researched and written about over 125 French-Canadian ancestors who were involved in the fur trade.
The following posts are for a presentation given to the French-Canadian Heritage Society of California and are dedicated to Lucy Pinsonneau, my 2nd great grandmother, my link to the Canadian fur trade.
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| John and Lucy (Pinsonneau) BROWN, Creston, MT, c. 1910 |
Presentation for the FCHSC — October 27, 2019
Part I. — INTRODUCTION
Part II. — LA PRAIRIE DE LA MAGDELEINE
Part III. — VOYAGEURS OR COUREURS DES BOIS
Part IV. — VOYAGEURS AND THEIR CANOES
Part V. — LA PRAIRIE VOYAGEUR GRANDFATHERS
Part VI. — A FEW MORE INTERESTING VOYAGEUR RELATIVES
If you liked this and want to dig deeper...
SEE: http://laprairie-voyageur-canoes.blogspot.com/2017/10/ripples-from-la-prairie-voyageur-canoes.html
UPDATE 2021...
Peter Pond, Connecticut Yankee, Nor”Wester Founder, and Cartographer
https://laprairie-voyageur-canoes.blogspot.com/2020/08/peter-pond-connecticut-yankee-norwester.html
Sir Alexander Mackenzie, Scottish fur trader and explorer, was my 7th cousin
https://laprairie-voyageur-canoes.blogspot.com/2021/03/sir-alexander-mackenzie-scottish-fur.html
Hi Jerry, I have been thrilled reading your blog on our Pinsonneau Voyageur ancestors ! My name is Glen Maurice Parsneau, I am a retired Forester who worked in my early years in Northwestern Ontario for pulp and paper companies in Fort Francis and ThunderBay. I am writing a book on our Parsneau (Pinsonneau) ancestors and your detailed research will be invaluable to me. As you probably know your ggrandmother Lucy had two older brothers Nelson b1826 and Moses b1827 in Vermont as shown in the 1830 Vermont census after Gabriel emigrated from La Prairie. Moses is my 3rd ggrandfather and I have been tracking my lineage through his descendants. Moses moved to Carlton Wisconsin from Natural Bridge NY in 1853 along with his brother Nelson to farm. My 2nd ggrandfather George was born in Carlton Wisconsin in 1863 and he moved to St. Cloud Minnesota (on the Mississippi River) in 1892 where he became a Millright for the Tileston Flour mill. My grandfather Maurice was born in 1896 in St. Cloud. George homesteaded in Mortlach Saskatchewan in 1906. My grandfather fought with the South Saskatchewan regiment and was wounded twice in WW1. My Dad Douglas Parsneau was born in Moose Jaw Saskatchewan in 1924 and he served as a signalman in the Navy on the HMCS Provider doing convoy duty on the eastern seaboard chasing and dodging U-boats. I was born in 1955 in Calgary Alberta and now am retired living in Brighton Ontario.
ReplyDeleteJerry I would love to get your comments on what I have done so far on my Parsneau Saga book. I will be expanding the early Quebec chapter with your great info on the voyageur connections. I could send you a thumb drive with the draft so far if you send me your mailing address. You can email me at :
gparsneau@xplornet.com
cheers, your Canadian cousin Glen Parsneau
Hi Glen, I was very happy to receive your comments on my blog this morning.
ReplyDeleteI would be honored to read your family history and look forward to assisting you however I may. Address sent via email
Regards,
Jerry