Marion, Narcisse (b. 1806)

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Narcisse Maurice (Xavier) Marion.(1806-1877)

Narcisse was born on December 7, 1806, the son of Franois Marion (b.c. 1781)andLisette Martel. In 1830, possibly at York Factory or Norway House he married MarieRosalie Bouchard dit Richard dit Grandbois(b. 1811) and they had twelve children

Marie Rosalie Bouchard dit Richard was one of the Metis First Ladies of the RedRiver Settlement as were several of her daughters who were married to powerful RedRiver merchants.

Marie Rosalie Bouchard dit Richard was born on May 11, 1811, at Lac Lapine nearYork Factory, the Metis daughter of Francois Bouchard dit Richard and an unknown Creewoman.. A number of their children married into the Turtle Mountain Band at Belcourt,North Dakota.

According to church records they baptized two infants born in 1831 and 1834 at

either York Factory or Norway House. Their son Maxime Marion was a guide for theBoundary Commission in 1872-73, for the boundary east of the Red River. Their sonRoger Marion was a politician. He was the Conservative M.P. for Carillon in 1886 and1888, he was defeated in 1892 and re-elected in 1896. He was the mayor of St. Bonifacefrom 1887 to 1889. In 1891, he was elected president of the Union Mtisse Saint-Joseph.

Narcisse was a HBC blacksmith. In 1849, he was designated to serve on the Councilof Assiniboia, but Governor Simpson refused to accept his nomination. This WinnipegMetis blacksmith was an opponent of Riel and, although he worked to support theProvisional Government, the Compensation Commission awarded him $100 for hardship.In the early 1840s, Marion built a windmill south of the St. Boniface Mission Church. Up

until the 1850s this was the only windmill on the east side of the Red River (except theone much further north at St. Peters).

Children of Marie Rosalie Richard (Bouchard) and Narcisse Marion:

Elise Marion was born on December 18, 1831 at York Factory. Elise marriedNorman Wolfred William Kittson (b: 1814) in 1847 in St Boniface Parish Church. Elisewas 14 and Kittson was 33. He was the son of William Kittson and Helene McDonald.

Commodore Norman W. Kittson, was the millionaire head of the Red RiverNavigation Companys fleet of stern wheel steamers which served Winnipeg in the earlydays. Kittson, a fur trader, helped end the Hudson Bay Companys fur trading monopoly.

In1849; he became a member of the Minnesota Territorial Councils 7th District, from1852to 1855 he was mayor of St. Paul Minnesota. From 1858 to 1859; he operatedsteamboats on the Red River from Minnesota north into Winnipeg in the 1870. He thenworked with James J. Hill to build the St. Paul, Minneapolis and Manitoba Railway in1879-81.

Commodore Kittson was 33 when he came seeking a bride at the house of NarcisseMarion. Elise Marion was just fourteen. Bridegrooms of pioneer days were oftenolder; but Kittson, who had made a fortune in the fur trade and another fortune in the

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steamboat business, had since he was a young man carried a weight of responsibilitywhich, had brought early wrinkles and the aspect of age.

Edouard Marion was born of February 24, 1834 in St. Boniface. Edouard marriedEliza McDougall (b. 1833) circa 1833 at Red River. She was the daughter of John

George McDougall and Genevieve Jennie Jasper (Gaspard). Theuir son, Jules Marion(b. 1867) appeared in the 1889 Exposition Universelle (Paris Worlds Fair) with BuffaloBill Cody. The other Metis from Manitoba in this show were, Maxiome goulet, MaximeLepine and Michel Dumas. These men were presented as French-Canadian trappers withteams of Eskimo sled dogs.

Josephte (Josette) Marion was born on May 10 1836 in St. Boniface. She firstmarried Joseph Genthon (b. 1830) and then married Francois Gingras, the son of Metistrader Antoine Blanc Gingras and Scholastique Trottier.

Maxime Marion was born on April 25, 1838 in St Boniface. He died on May 15, 1910 on the TurtleMountain Reserve, near Belcourt, North Dakota. Maxime married Elise Elizabeth St. Matte dit Jerome (b:June 15, 1843) on September 1, 1862 in the Assumption Mission, near Pembina, North Dakota. She wasthe daughter of Martin St. Mathe dit S. Matte Sr. dit Jerome and Elizabeth Isabelle Bethsy Wilkie.Maxime Marion was a guide for the Boundary Commission in 1872-73, for portion of thesurvey from Lake of the Woods to the Red River.

Louis Marion was born on March 17, 1840, at St. Boniface. He married AndroniqueRoss, the daughter of Roderick Ross and Marie Delorme. This was a plains buffalohunting family that ranged as far west as Blackfoot Crossing and Buffalo Lake (BossHill). On the familys scrip applications of 1876, Louis is listed as a voyageur, trader andfarmer. The Marion family from St. Francois Xavier followed the buffalo and hadestablished hivernant camps in the Souris River basin. Louis brothers Amable, Narcisse,

Roger, Norman and Adophe settled around Oak Lake in the late 1870s. Louis spokeFrench and Cree. He accompanied Gabriel Dumont on buffalo hunts in the 1870s. Louisjoined the community around Petit Ville, Batoche and Duck Lake. Louis and his brothersMaxime (and wife Elise Jerome) and Joseph (wife Annie McDermott) joined the TurtleMountain Chippewa Band sometime after 1885.

At the time of the 1885 Resistance Louis and Marie were living at Duck Lake and hewas working as the farming instructor on One Arrows Reserve. Later, theirdaughter Elise would marry Francois Moreau the son of Resistance Captain Louis was amember of Captain Baptiste Vandals company, one of the 19 dizaines led by GabrielDumont during the 1885 Metis Resistance. Louis did not want to join the fighting and

was locked up by Louis Riel, who threatened to shoot him if he did not join. Underduress he agreed to participate, then under the pretence of going home for a gun managedto escape before the fighting began. He gives the following statement :

On the 17th March I was at Walters store at Batoche and a young man came andtold me there was going to be trouble. Next morning we were removed to thechurch and they had a meeting and Riel told me that I had ten minutes to considerif I would join them or else he would have to do something. I promised to join but

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first chance I escaped I saw a son of George Fisher and a son of SalomonVenne and young Gareault who had been brought this way. I saw a number ofIndians there, some of One Arrows band, some of Beardys band and some SiouxIndians. I heard that many were forced to join.

Amable Marion was born on July 16, 1842. He never married hispartner Francoise McGillvray. He did marry Josephte Berard, thedaughter of Louis Berard and Catherine Hughes in 1875. They had one

adopted son and two children of their own.

Rosalie Marion was born on September 14, 1845 at St. Boniface, she marriedHorace Belanger, the son of Edouard Belanger and Sophie Casgrain. She died in St.Boniface in 1837 at age 41. Rosalie married Horace Belanger on August 27, 1861 andhad 11 children.

Horace Belanger was born at Rivire-Ouelle, Quebec on 11 June 1836, the son ofdouard Blanger and Marie-Sophie Casgrain. After service at Michipicoten

(Michipicoten River) from 1855 to 1857, Blanger was promoted clerk in 1858 andstationed at Fort Albany. In 1860 he transferred to the Lac La Pluie district, an area ofcompetition with free traders. There he displayed the necessary initiative and enduranceto counter any opponents, despite his massive bulk, for he was a great burly man with jetblack curly hair, full beard and must have weighed over 300 pounds.

In 1867 Blanger moved to Cumberland House (Sask.), where again the companyfaced the threat of free traders. As clerk in charge at Fort--la-Corne in 186869, hesupervised the summer boat brigades, the vital transportation link between CumberlandHouse and its northern posts. In 1870, still a clerk, he took charge of the entireCumberland district. Two years later he was promoted chief trader and in 1873 he was

made factor. In 1885 he was appointed Chief Factor of the Cumberland andSaskatchewan Districts and, four years later, Chief Factor at Norway House. He was acorresponding member of the Manitoba Historical Society during this time, donatingseveral items to its collections.

In 1889 Blanger, two years after Rosalies death, was transferred to Norway House(Man.). While there, he was appointed justice of the peace for the Keewatin District andserved until 1892. A widower since 1887, he planned to resign from the HBC in 1893 tomake a home for his children. Before he could do so, however, he drowned at Sea RiverFalls during his 40th year of service.

Children Auguste born February 5, 1863 Horace Luc, born January 20, 1869. Horace Luc married Marie Adele Morin and

had a child. Alexander, born in Cumberland House on 1 Dec 1872. Roger, born in Cumberland House on February 25, 1875. He passed away on

1894 in St Boniface, Manitoba.

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William, born in Cumberland House on October 16, 1876 He passed away in thewinter 1893.

Rosalie Louise, born in Cumberland House on 20 Oct 1879. Charles Eugene, born in Cumberland House on September 18, 1880

Children Deceased (at time of Rosalies scrip application): Joseph Edouard, born on the Saskatchewan River August 25, 1864, died April 30,

1885. Marie Eugenie born on December 31, 1866. She passed away on 1 Apr 1872. George, born March 10, 1871, died January 28, 1875. Narcisse born September 10, 1873, died at 7 months in 1874.

Roger Marion, M.P. (b. 1846). Roger married Julienne Carriere, on July 31, 1873.She was the daughter of Francois Carriere. They had six daughters, three of whombecame nuns, and two sons. A politician, Marion was the Conservative M.P. for Carillon

in 1886 and 1888, he was defeated in 1892 and re-elected in 1896. He was the mayor ofSt. Boniface from 1887 to 1889. In 1891, he was elected president of the Union MtisseSaint-Joseph. Roger was born at York Factory and educated at Collge de Saint-Boniface. He worked for several years at the trading post of Charles Bottineau in DakotaTerritory, after the 1862. He worked from 1872 to 1876 with the Customs Service thenserved as Manitoba License Commissioner from 1879 to1885.

Joseph Marion was born on August 16, 1848 at St. Boniface. He married AnnieMcDermott the daughter of Thomas McDermott and Elisabeth Collin. They had fivechildren. He died in 1890.

Narcisse Jr. was born in October 1850 in St Boniface Parish. Narcisse was able tospeak fluent English, French and Cree. He also picked up some Blackfoot, Stoney andOjibwa. Narcisse Jr. moved to Alberta in the late 1870s or early 1880s. He married MarieGaudin Munro, who had been born at St. Albert, Alberta in 1860. They had two children,Louis and Emilie, both of whom passed away. It is not clear if these two children wereburied in Calgary or whether they were interred in the largely - forgotten First Nationsand Mtis cemetery that is located on the shoulder of the North Hill, below the formersite of St. Joseph Convent. In the mid-1880s, the Marions moved to the Poplar Ridgedistrict, west of Red Deer. Narcisse was able to secure a homestead. However, he did notdo much farming. He preferred to support himself and his family by hunting, trappingand acting as a land guide to new settlers coming into the district.

Norman Norbert was born on October 9, 1854 at St. Boniface. He married RoseOuelette (or Ellette), the daughter of Metis trader Antoine Ratte Ouelette andAngelique Bottineau. They had seven children born at Wood Mountain and Oak Lake.

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Compiled by Lawrence BarkwellCoordinator of Metis Heritage and History ResearchLouis Riel Institute

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Documents

Marion, Narcisse (b. 1806)