RODERICK McKENZIE SR (1772-1859)
(A draft version that is under review)
MACKENZIE COUSINS?
There were many McKENZIE families (also spelled MacKENZIE by many historians) connected with the early fur trade and the North West Company (NWC). The most prominent of these being Sir Alex and Sir Roderick.
Sir Alexander MacKENZIE was born around 1764 in Stornoway, Isle of Lewis, in the Northern (Outer) Hebrides. In 1778, during the American Revolutionary War, Alex went to Montreal, where he entered the employ of a fur trade firm (John Gregory, Macleod & Company) in 1779. It was actually much later that Alex was knighted as Sir Alex.
The Honorable (Sir) Roderick McKENZIE was born around 1761, “a native of Ross-Shire, Scotland”. Again, in order to distinguish this Roderick from all the other Roderick’s (especially our Roderick), I will refer to him as Sir Roddy (this Sir also came later).
Left: (Sir) Alexander MacKenzie (c1800)
There are many confusing and conflicting versions regarding the origins of the McKENZIE cousins. Here is a link to one discussion well worth reading: "Exploring" a relationship
Some people believe Our Roddy was a cousin of the famous explorer Sir Alexander MacKENZIE; and/or also a cousin of the Honorable (Sir) Roderick McKENZIE (who many researchers erroneously confuse with OUR Roderick). I am still on a quest to find the real origins of our Roddy and of these so-called cousins as well. Unfortunately, at this time my endeavors have not yielded totally convincing results. I would be very grateful to anyone who can provide enlightenment, and look forward to discussions on the Forum. Here is the link to the topic: Origins of the McKENZIE or MacKENZIE Fur Trade Cousins
Our Roderick “Roddy” McKENZIE
Our Roderick “Roddy” McKENZIE was born around 1772 in the Parish of Assynt, Scotland. (The name is also spelled as MacKENZIE by many historians), apparently the son of Alexander McKENZIE of Ullapool (who died Mar 12, 1802).
In 1783, the North West Company (NWC) was officially created, with its corporate offices on Vaudreuil Street in Montreal. In 1784, William McGILLIVRAY engaged two young Scot cousins, (Sir) Alexander MacKENZIE (age 21) and his cousin, (Sir) Roderick McKENZIE (about 23). Our Roderick was only around 12 years old at that time, still in Scotland as far as I know.
On Oct 12, 1792, Sir Alexander MacKENZIE departed from Fort Chipewyan on his famous overland trip to the Pacific. He followed the Peace River into the Rockies, crossed the Continental Divide, followed the turbulent Fraser River down the western slopes, and finally reached the coast by way of the Bella Coola River on July 19, 1793.
I don’t know exactly when our Roddy immigrated to Canada, but it is said that he may have been in the Timiskaming area as early as the late 1790’s.
Roddy in the Service with the North West Company
According to the HBC Archives (online) our Roddy began his fur trade career with the North West Company (NWC) in 1804 in the Nipigon District as a clerk.In charge of the district at that time was Duncan CAMERON (1764-1848), a NWC shareholding partner. To see our Roddy’s service record for yourself, here is the link: Hudson’s Bay Company Archives
It wasn’t long after Roddy arrived at Nipigon that he began a connubial relationship with Angelique MALLOTTE.Angelique was born around 1784 in the Nipigon district of Ontario, and is said to have been an Ojibwe Indian. Judging from her name, it is likely that she had some French ancestry as well. Roderick wanted her, and so “abducted” her from her family in the dead of night. Whether Angelique went willingly is not known (from Heather Hallett’s Children of the Rivers). This is often referred to as a “Country Wife”, à la façon du pays (in the custom of the country or in common law).
Note: I found some information that may provide some clues about Angelique’s origins, and will add this in a later update, after I get a chance to give it more scrutiny.
In 1807-08 Roddy was again recorded as a clerk at Fort Duncan (also known as Fort Nipigon), in the Nipigon District. The name Fort Duncan undoubtedly got its name from the previously mentioned Duncan CAMERON.
During this period Roddy became acquainted with Daniel Williams HARMON (1778-1843), the son of a Vermont innkeeper, who joined the NWC in 1800. He was about six years older than Roddy and was already a veteran of the fur trade. HARMON kept a Journal during his stay in the Nipigon District in which he mentions Roddy: Friday, 7 August, 1807. Fort Duncan which stands on the north side of Nipigon lake.... Saturday, 1 August, 1807. Pointe à la Gourgaine, [Gourgane-horse-bean; the point is at the north entrance to Nipigon strait]. In the morning Messrs HALDANE, LEITH, CHABOILLEZ, McLOUGHLIN, RUSSEL, Dougall (probably Duncan) CAMERON and Roderick McKENZIE overtook and came on with us. Thursday, 13 August, 1807. In the morning Mr. HALDANE, the Doctor and myself, etc., left fort Duncan, where Mr. McKENZIE will pass the ensuing winter and where we separated also with the Mr. CAMERON as there we took different routes they northward and we westward.
Some interesting insights into the custom of marriage between white traders and native women are also provided in HARMON’s Journals. In fact HARMON may have had some influence upon Roddy’s decision to begin his connubial relationship. From HARMON’s Journal: "October 10, (1805) Thursday. This day a Canadians Daughter (a girl of about fourteen years of age) was offered me, and after mature consideration concerning the step I ought to take I finally concluded it would be best to accept of her, as it is customary for all the Gentlemen who come in this Country to remain any length of time to have a fair Partner, with whom they can pass away their time at least more sociably if not more agreeably than to live a lonely, solitary life as they must do if single. In case we can live in harmony together, my intentions are now to keep her as long as I remain in this uncivilized part of the world, but when I return to my native land shall endeavor to place her into the hands of some good honest Man, with whom she can pass the remainder of her Days in this Country much more agreeably, than it would be possible for her to do, were she to be taken down into the civilized world, where she would be a stranger to the People, their manners, customs & Language. Her Mother is of the Tribe of the Snare Indians, whose Country lies about the Rocky Mountain. The Girl is said to be of a mild disposition & even tempered, which are qualities very necessary to make an agreeable Woman and an affectionate Partner."
It was probably around 1805 that Roderick Junior was born, and around 1807 that son Benjamin was born.
Between 1808 and 1814 there is a six year gap in Roddy’s service record as it is presented in the HBC Archives. Daughter Nancy was born around 1810 and Samuel around 1813. This was the period when the first of Lord SELKIRK Settlers were arriving in Red River.
In 1814-15 Roddy was a clerk (in Charge) at the Attawapiskat Post. This is unlikely the Attawapiskat on James Bay, but more likely was a post near Attawapiskat Lake which is north of Nipigon.
Son Benjamin was baptised in Montreal in 1815. Apparently Roderick Junior and Benjamin began their education there. Roderick Junior, although only around 13 years old was placed on the NWC payroll as an Apprentice Clerk, probably under the supervision of his father.
The Beginning of the End for the North West Company
Many years of bitter rivalry between the NWC and the HBC reached a climaxed on June 19, 1816 at Lord SELKIRK’s Red River Settlement with the Battle of Seven Oaks at Frog Plain. Governor SEMPLE and twenty of his men were killed when Cuthbert GRANT and his Métis soldiers took Fort Douglas. The fort was destroyed and the settlers driven from their homes. Much has been written about the complex and controversial events and personalities of this period leading up to the union of the NWC and the HBC. I will only touch upon a few details pertinent to our Roddy’s involvement.
Coincidentally in June of 1816, Lord SELKIRK himself was on his way from Montreal to Red River with soldiers at that time. He was proceeding west from Drummond’s Island (near Sault Ste Marie) when he first learned of the complete destruction of his colony at Red River. On August 12 SELKIRK reached Fort William, and the next day he arrested William McGILLIVRAY and eight other NWC partners. The prisoners were sent east for trial.
In October (1816), claiming to be writing on behalf of NWC partner Daniel McKENZIE, MacDONELL sent a letter to Roderick McKENZIE of the NWC’s Nipigon department, in which he urged the wintering partners to abandon their ties to Montreal and send their furs out through Hudson Bay.(DCBO re Miles MacDonell)
** Note: I must apologize for my erroneous information in the previous version of this narrative. After further review I am now convinced that our Roderick was NOT a clerk at Fort Wedderburn in 1816-17. That was the Roderick McKENZIE who married Sarah SUTHERLAND. There are many confusing and erratic references to people named Roderick McKENZIE. If we work together, perhaps we can get them straightened out.
In the spring of 1817 SELKIRK and his soldiers left Fort William for Red River. Soon after, William McGILLIVRAY, having been released, regained the fort for the NWC, strengthening its defences against future attack.
In 1817 Roddy continued as the Clerk in Charge at Fort William. It seems that by this time his son, Rod Junior, was on the work-force, employed as an Apprentice Clerk.
Daughter Catherine was born around 1817. Their fifth child, Patrick, was born about 1818.
Over the next few years some of the wealthiest and most capable partners began to leave the NWC, fearful of its future viability.In 1820 they held their last meeting as Fort William.
Union of the NWC and the HBC
On June 1 1821 the HBC and the NWC were unified ending years of keen competition for Red River's fur trade business. For nearly a century the two companies had operated as two competing organizations, each with their own forts or trading posts. After the union, Roddy became an HBC Chief Trader (now with the new HBC) at Nipigon, in their Lake Superior Region. In 1824-25 he was serving at Pic Post. In the Appendix of Jean Morrison’s book, under “Managers in Charge at Fort William”, Roderick is listed as Chief Trader from 1824-1829.
Around 1828-29 son Benjamin married Catherine CAMPBELL, the daughter of Liza McGILLIVRAY & Colin CAMPBELL. Roderick was then at Fort William until 1830.
Twenty Years as Chief Trader at Ile a la Crosse
In 1830 Roderick was moved to Ila a la Crosse where he would spend the rest of his career as a Chief Trader. He was about 58 years old now and had fathered 11 (perhaps 12) children.
Eldest son, Roderick Junior, would have been about 25 years old then, and on his own somewhere in the Lake Superior region. So far, I have very little information about his activities. Benjamin was married now, and may have been working as an Accountant at Fort Vancouver by that time. Eldest daughter, Nancy, was around 20 years old now and apparently stayed behind; perhaps she had found a spouse. Samuel, in his late teens, was now an HBC employee and had been posted to the English River District. The rest of his children went with him to Ile a la Crosse.
As early as 1832 Gov George SIMPSON was suggested that McKENZIE, whose health was “broken and worn out so that his useful Days are over,” ought to retire.
On Apr 19, 1835, daughters Mary, Margaret and Jane were baptised at St John’s Church in Red River. They were attending Miss DAVIS School for Girls
In the fall of 1837, Rod's eldest son, Benjamin, an Accountant for the HBC, died of TB near the Hawaiian Islands (Honolulu). Ben's widow, Roddy's daughter-in-law, Catherine (nee CAMPBELL), gave birth to Ben Jr at Fort Vancouver, only a day after her husband died. Catherine also had 2 other children at the time; five yr old Angelique and four yr old Colin. It's not clear exactly when, but soon after, Catherine and her 3 youngsters made their way to Ila a la Crosse, to be taken in by Angelique & Rod McKENZIE Sr.
In 1837 Thomas SIMPSON described Rod Sr as a “well-meaning, warm-hearted but passionate and crabbed old Highlander,” and by the early 1840s the opinion was widespread that he should take his retirement, especially after he broke his leg in 1843
It was probably in the early 1840's that Rod Sr's daughter-in-law Catherine, and his 3 young grandchildren, were sent to Red River, where the youngsters could begin their education.
In 1838 daughter Margaret married Adam McBEATH at Fort Simpson, NWT.
In 1839, son Patrick entered the Company service.
In 1839 Roddy was appointed to the Council of Assiniboia, formed by the HBC, to govern the Red River colony, but he had little interest in such activities. Writing to James HARGRAVE in 1839 he said, “I will not be at the Council in Red River - I can be of more use at my Post, in Trading a Skin; than at the Council, as Legislator I have no great ambition, to shine as an Orator, that I leave to young Gentlemen, better qualified.”
The good returns McKENZIE was able to maintain during his early years at Île-à-la-Crosse began to fall off in the early 1840s as the Chipewyan Indians who traded in this district moved into the plains region. McKENZIE placed part of the blame for the desertion of his post by the Indians on the machinations of his neighbor in the Saskatchewan district, Chief Factor John ROWLAND, and worried about the growing influence of the Roman Catholic missionaries at Fort Pitt (Sask.). Governor George SIMPSON commented upon the injurious rivalry existing between the two districts and, although his high opinion of ROWLAND was well known, he did not appear to play favorites.
In 1841 Patrick married at Rocky Mountain House (AB) to Nancy FINLAY.
Roddy broke his leg in 1843, but, limping and nearly blind, he stayed on (despite widespread opinion hat he should retire), worrying about his finances and about finding a place where he could settle with his wife and family.
Apparently in 1844 Roderick Junior killed an Indian in a drunken brawl near Lake Nipissing (ref 27). He was acquitted on the murder charge, but his excessive drinking brought about his dismissal from the Company service shortly afterward. He died destitute in a shanty near Mattawa in 1850 (ref 28). He left a Temagai Indian wife, widowed with several children. Again, very skimpy information in these regards.
Son Ferdinand apparently went to Edinburgh as an apprentice to a Dr. ELLIOT. When, I do not know.
DCB: McKENZIE’s invitation to the Catholic missionary Father Jean-Baptiste THIBAULT* and the arrival of the latter at Île-à-la-Crosse prompted a rebuke from SIMPSON in 1845. McKENZIE explained that his acceptance of missionaries was motivated by the desire of the Chipewyan Indians, who could be induced to trade where priests were to be found, and by the religious needs of the HBC employees, most of whom were Catholic. With the governor’s consent priests were established at Île-à-la-Crosse in subsequent years, and during McKENZIE’s time two future bishops, Alexandre-Antonin TACHE and Louis-François LAFLECHE, served in the area.
n 1841, 69 year old Rod Sr formally married ANGELIQUE MALLOTTE, now 57 yrs old.
Retirement
Rod was 78 years old in 1850 when he was then given two successive years of furlough and retired in June of 1852, ultimately to Red River Settlement.
DCB: Finally, in 1850 McKENZIE took a leave of two years at Fort Alexander (Man.) before retiring in 1852 and settling reluctantly in what he called “the civilized world of Red River.” Like other HBC employees, McKENZIE placed his savings, which in 1851 totalled £4,724, in Canadian investments such as the Bank of Montreal, the Montreal and Lachine Rail-road, the Bank of British North America, the Commercial Bank of the Midland District, and private loans. These investments, which provided his only link with the united Canadas, generally paid good returns of from six to eight per cent.
By 1854, son Samuel was listed as an HBC employee at Ile a la Crosse, probably taking over the post after his father's retirement.
Angelique & Roderick McKENZIE Both Die in 1859
Leaving a sizeable estate, Rod Sr died Jan 2, 1859 at Caberleigh Cottage, Red River, surrounded by symbols of a distant Highland past, but committed to the Indian country he had adopted as his home. All seven of his sons served the HBC, one of them, Samuel, rising to the rank of chief trader; of his five daughters, one died unmarried and the other four married men in the Company service.
Roddy’s Will Arthur: When Roderick McKENZIE died, it was the task of Sir George SIMPSON, as one of the executors, to acquaint his heirs with the details of his will. Letters to the three sons-in-law informed them of their wives’ considerable legacies, and slight variations in the wording make it clear what SMPSON considered the social position of each in 1859. ANDERSON ranked highest and McBEATH lowest.
ANGELIQUE (nee MALLOTTE) McKENZIE died on Nov 17, 1859 (75 yrs old) and was buried in the same cemetery as her husband.
Note: In my own searches, much of the information that I find about Roddy and his family appears to have emanated from an article called “Angelique and Her Children”, Thunder Bay Historical Museum Society, Papers and Records, Vol. VI, 1978. Pages 30 to 40. Author: Elizabeth Arthur. I have a copy. This article is frequently quoted in references. Dr M. Elizabeth Arthur was Professor of History at Lakehead University and the Honorary President of the Thunder Bay Historical Museum Society, 1983-1986.
Children: 1. c1805 RODERICK McKENZIE JR (m. Jane [Temagai Indian]) 2. 1807 BENJAMIN McKENZIE SR (m. Catherine CAMPBELL) ** Parents of REVEREND BENJAMIN McKENZIE (1837-1928) ** 3. c1810 NANCY (ANNE) McKENZIE (m. Antoine DuTREMBLE) 4. c1813 SAMUEL McKENZIE (m. Ann SPENCER) 5. c1817 CATHERINE McKENZIE (?m. Rev Thomas COOK) 6. c1818 JOHN PATRICK SPENCER McKENZIE (m. Nancy FINLAY) 7. 1822 MARY McKENZIE (m. Adam McBEATH) 8. 1823 MARGARET McKENZIE (m. James ANDERSON) 9. est c1825 FERDINAND McKENZIE (m. Catherine TEPA) 10. 1826 JANE McKENZIE (m. Roderick McKENZIE) 11. Apr 30, 1828 ALEXANDER (BLACK) McKENZIE (m. Christina BELL) 12. c1830 WILLIAM McKENZIE 13. 1832 JAMES McKENZIE (?m. Nancy MILLER) 14. 1838 ANN McKENZIE (m. James Francis ANDERSON)
|
