In some of the old histories of the tiny villages
which grew up along
the south shore of Lake Ontario in the period from
1790 to 1830, the
presence of "French Fur Traders" is mentioned and
it is noted that some of the traders lived among the Tribes. The
histories, written by European settlers who poured into the region during
this forty year period, fail to mention what happened to the "redskins"
(as they were actually called in a few of the books I had a chance
to read) once the Europeans began populating the region.
From 1830 to 1860, there was huge development and
industry moved into the entire region with a vengence. There was
a very big wave of
emigration from Quebec into the area from 1838-1840
which coincides with the Quebec Rebellion. My own gggrandfather was
in this wave. He entered the USA at Ogdensburg but seems to have
stayed there only briefly. Like many new emigrants, he seems to have
followed the shoreline west going first to Oswego, then to a tiny village
called Hannibal and finally to a new settlement called Fair Haven.
The industries which were exploding along the Lake
were ship building (the famous lake schooners and later, the steamers),
coal transport, salt mining and transport, transport of farm produce, manufacture
and transport of leather goods, and fishing. My relatives worked
(actually slaved) in all of these industries. Like many Metis people,
they eventually saved enough to open a grocery store in Fair Haven and
a tiny soda and hot dog stand years later in Oswego.
As soon as the French surnamed people arrived in
the USA, their names were Anglicized. In my own family, L'Angelier
became Loungley, Paquette became Perkins, and Jacques became James.
The only place were the original names were preserved was in the records
of the French Catholic churches were the marriages and baptisms and burials
were performed.
The word "metis" seems to have not found its way
into the local culture (not around Oswego, at least). However, everyone
knew about the Breeds - the descendants of the earlier Fur Traders and
their Indian wives and about the other Breeds who came down from Quebec
and Ontario.
During the same period, the Underground Railroad
was also hard at work smuggling escaped Black slaves into Canada and there
are MANY Underground Railroad stops throughout this area of New York, especially
around the Syracuse area. Some of the escapees did not go all the
way into Canada but stayed along the Lake and worked in the newly forming
industries hidden and sheltered by their free relatives. Some of
the escaped slaves were welcomed into the Metis communities and married
into our families.
The religions played major roles in
settling the south shore area. The new industrial communities that
were born and flourished along the Lake from 1830 to 1900 were controlled
by the Presbyterian Church and many of the first churches now stand as
State Historical Sites. The members of the churches were the owners
of the mills, factories, ship building yards, etc.
Although there are now an equal number of Catholic
and other Protestant churches, they seem to have followed the immigrants.
In other words, once enough Catholics were in an area, a church was soon
opened and a priest would visit from time to time.
There is surprisingly little Dutch influence in
this region of New York. Perhaps the ruggedness and frigid, long
winters made the south shore unappealing
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until enough technology was
available to help the newcomers live through the winter in their new little
cities. The winters are very rough with temps below -20 F. for days
and weeks at a time and snowfall levels from 160 to 200 inches per year.
That's quite a bit of snow. Syracuse was named the snowiest metropolitan
area in the United States three years ago and maintains the title today.
Sometimes Buffalo steals the honor away but it is always one or the other
of them that wins the distinction.
Also pouring into the region beginning in the early
1840s and cresting in the early 1850s were the Irish emigrants fleeing
the famines and a few waves of Italian artisans and laborers. Most
of the settlements along the south shore quadrupled in size from
1830 to 1880. Fortunes were made and lost. Neighborhoods were formed
and were generally segregated by language and blood.
Where did the Breeds live? It seems that,
in my own family, the tendency was to live near the remaining Indian communities
with other French speakers and people who spoke the various Indian languages.
The Breed families were (and still are) referred to as "Indians" by the
local people. When I inquired at the Post Office in Hannibal asking
the people there if the James family had been known to be Indian
years ago, the answer was, "They still are Indians!"
My grandmother, born in 1895, considered both of
her parents to be
"Indians" but I have photos of them both and they
are clearly Breeds/Metis. My grandfather (second generation German)
and his whole family considered my grandmother to be an Indian despite
her blue eyes and they all referred to her as "that old Indian".
Yet, she was completely removed from any Native American culture.
She knew French children's tales and songs. She knew the stories
of the land around the Lake and she was definitely the daughter of field
laborers and farmers. But she knew nothing of the Tribes.
I think that was the case with many of the Breed
families. They banded together and lived near the Tribes but not
with them. The Breeds became part of the emerging industrial culture
and also the slaves of the new industries.
My gggrandfather, one of his sons, and the man who
would become my
ggrandfather were all sent to a school to learn
to be bootmakers using the new machines (1870-80). There were a few
hundred men in this school and the names read like the Quebec city directory.
My gggrandfather married a Breed woman from Quebec.
Their children, the generation of my great grandparents, also married Breeds.
It was the next generation, that of my grandparents, who began marrying
"out" into the other immigrant groups. My grandmother married the
son of German immigrants, her brother married an Irish girl and so
forth. They wanted to "fit in" and they started becoming European
or white. They moved away from the original settlements.
My own grandmother and her new husband moved from
Oswego to Syracuse in 1917 and then to California in 1952 where she remained
until she died at the age of 104 - in March, 1999. She talked to
me about her Indian parents just weeks before she died so she never forgot
or denied that part of herself. She just was ignorant of it and had
no idea how to claim it. Some of her direct James (Jacques) relatives
remain in the village of Hannibal, New York and are still known locally
as "Indians".
In a few months, I'm going back to Hannibal to talk
with my cousins and to read their histories. I'll let you know how
they see themselves in our modern times.
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