Nicholas Montour facts for kids
Nicholas Montour (born 1756 – died August 6, 1808) was an important person in early Canada. He was a fur trader, a seigneur (which meant he owned large pieces of land), and a political leader in a region called Lower Canada. Lower Canada is now part of the province of Quebec.
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Early Life and the Fur Trade
Nicholas Montour was born in 1756 in what was then the province of New York. When he was about 18 years old, in 1774, he started working in the fur trade. This was a big business in North America where people traded animal furs, especially beaver pelts, for goods.
He worked as a clerk for Joseph and Benjamin Frobisher. They operated near the Churchill River, in an area that is now Manitoba. Later, he also worked in what is now Saskatchewan. Nicholas Montour even owned parts of a very large fur trading company called the North West Company. This company was a major player in the fur trade.
Life in Montreal and Business Ventures
In 1792, Nicholas Montour decided to stop working in the fur trade. He had earned a lot of money, about £20,000, which was a huge fortune back then! He moved to Montreal, a big city in Canada. In Montreal, he joined a special group called the Beaver Club. This club was for important fur traders who had retired.
Nicholas Montour also became a businessman. In 1794, he bought a company in Montreal that made spirits. The next year, in 1795, he bought large estates called seigneuries. These included the seigneuries of Pointe-du-Lac and Gastineau. A seigneurie was a big piece of land given by the king, and the seigneur was like the landlord. He also owned land along the Thames River in Upper Canada (which is now Ontario). He inherited this land from his mother. He also bought and sold other seigneuries, like Pierreville and Rivière-David.
Political Role and Later Life
Nicholas Montour also got involved in politics. In 1796, he was chosen to be a member of the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada. This assembly was like a parliament that helped make laws for the region. In 1799, he was also named a justice of the peace for the Trois-Rivières area. A justice of the peace helps keep order and deals with minor legal matters.
In the same year, he moved to his seigneury at Pointe-du-Lac. There, he built a beautiful house and also large mills for grinding flour and cutting wood. Even though he had made a lot of money, his generous way of living meant he eventually lost much of his fortune.
Nicholas Montour passed away on his seigneury at Pointe-du-Lac in 1808. He was buried in Trois-Rivières. His son, who was also named Nicholas, later worked for the Hudson's Bay Company, another very famous fur trading company.
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