Métis Marriages: John Saunders & Frances Swanson

On May 18, 1870, John Saunders married Frances Swanson in Moose Factory. Their union of proud Métis families both reflected and continued to strengthen the enduring kinship networks of their Métis fur trade community in the Abitibi Inland region. 

Frances herself came from a Métis fur-trading family, making the union of the two families a continuation of a familiar way of life shaped by shared work, culture, and community ties.

John Saunders was born in 1845 in Matawagamingue and spent his early years moving between his parents’ home at Flying Post where he was raised alongside his seventeen siblings and the household of his grandmother in Moose Factory, where he was sent to attend school. As an adult, John worked as a missionary, traveling widely, before eventually settling more permanently with Frances to raise their family.

Together, Frances and John raised seven Métis children, surrounded by a large network of siblings, nieces, and nephews who continued to marry and nurture relationships within their Abitibi Inland Métis Community, just as John and Frances had.

See Our Sources

• Saunders-Leblanc VMFL

• Abitibi Submissions to the Expert Panel

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