Vasseur Family Connections

The strength of Métis connections and kinship in the Upper Great Lakes is reflected across generations of families, such as the Vasseurs of Penetanguishene.

For example, War of 1812 veteran Charles Vasseur married fellow Métis Marguerite Longlade on Mackinac Island and later settled together among the richly connected Métis community on Drummond Island. Charles became a prominent member of Penetanguishene’s Métis community following its relocation from Drummond Island, signing the 1840 Penetanguishene “Halfbreed” Petition alongside several of his Métis neighbours and former Drummond Islanders. Together, Charles and Marguerite raised a large Métis family in Penetanguishene, including their son Paul Vasseur.

Paul Vasseur became a well-known figure in Penetanguishene in his own right, remembered for his active presence in the community and noted in a 1921 Toronto Star article as a “virile and thrilling” Métis resident once known as the “terror of Penetanguishene”. In 1863, he married a Métis woman named Marie Legris Prisque, raising seven children.

Paul was not alone in marrying within his Métis community. His sister Catherine Vasseur married Joseph Legris dit Prisque. Paul’s brother, Louis Vasseur, married Harriet Boviness, and were both recorded as “Half Breed Indians” on their marriage record.

The Vasseur family’s connections also extended beyond their own Métis household, with Paul standing as witness to the marriage of Marie Girroir and Joseph Boucher, a member of Penetanguishene’s Métis Delaronde family, reflecting the Vasseur family’s deep involvement in community life and kinship networks that has continued for generations.

See Our Sources

• Vasseur-Longlade VMFL

• “Strange Old Legends Surround Penetang”

• Penetanguishene Halfbreed Petition, 27 January 1840

• Upper Great Lakes Submission to the MNC Expert Panel

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