Métis Marriages: Beausoleil & Brissette

On October 20, 1884, Georgian Bay Métis Community members Charles Beausoleil and Catherine Brissette were united in marriage at St. Anne’s Church in Penetanguishene. With fellow Métis community members, Joseph Giroux and Deline Boucher standing as witnesses, Charles and Catherine’s marriage reflects the deeply rooted interconnectedness and mutual support that has defined the Georgian Bay Métis Community for generations.

Catherine Brissette was born around 1863 in Tiny, the daughter of Julien Brissette and Cecile Gendron. Raised within her closely knit Métis community, connected by their shared experience of relocation to Penetanguishene from Drummond Island a generation earlier, Catherine carried forward strong family ties and kinship traditions, which she continued through her marriage to Charles.

Charles Beausoleil was born around 1856 in Penetanguishene. Charles was the son of Olive Geroux and 1840 Penetanguishene Métis Petition signatory, Alexis Beausoleil. 

By the 1901 census, Charles and Catherine were living in nearby Tiny Township, where Charles worked as a tour guide and the couple was raising a family of eight Métis children.

Charles and Catherine’s living example further deepened the enduring connections among Georgian Bay Métis Community families across generations, carrying forward relationships and belonging which continue to this day.

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• Beausoleil-Giroux VMFL

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