Page 67 - Fortier Family History

“pension.” I would argue that this photo was quite possibly taken at the behest of the HBC to mark John’s retirement from the HBC. Hence the mention of the HBC in the caption. In 2005 I met Diane Michano Richmond (sister of Chief Roy Michano) at the Pic River Powwow for the first time. Diane’s grandmother was Agnes’s sister Sarah Finlayson, who married Abraham Desmulons. I had already been emailing with her daughter Nicole after she stumbled upon my early family history page of my website. Diane and I became more acquainted through emails and Facebook after I got home and I started sharing more of what I had unearthed in my research. She told me that she saw John and Angelique’s graves at the old cemetery in Mobert. Of course this threw me for a loop because Mobert is not even mentioned in his HBC bio. John Finlayson was supposed to be at Michipicoten where he last lived as a pensioner for HBC. In 2011, while completing filming at Batchewana First Nation, and then at Heron Bay/Pic for the documentary Gifts From the Elders, I decided to go to Mobert and see for myself if the gravestones were there. And yes they are there, and it is clear that the HBC provided the headstones as they are very distinctive among the more common wooden crosses etc. And there was Angelique’s Oji-Cree name, Shebagajig, etched right into her headstone. Also on that trip, another distant relative named Wes Luloff (he had also contacted me after seeing my family history page of my website) took me up to Longlac for my first visit there. His grandfather was Agnes’ oldest brother Emile Finlayson through Emile’s daughter Florence or Flora, named after Emile and Agnes’ sister Flora. We went to the old Church cemetery which was completely overgrown with brush but we did manage to find Emile and Agnes’ sister Flora Finlayson Echum and brother John (Johnny) Finlaysons’ headstones there. We could not find their parents Nick and Jane Finlayson’s graves. Wes said they probably slid into the river/lake in the 1960s after the Hydro project up river dammed it, causing severe flooding along the banks where the oldest graves were. So who else is in the portrait? Uncle Bob told me the following: John Finlayson is seated with his wife Angelique Shebagijig to his left. Standing behind them is John’s son, full name was Louis Victor Nicholas Finlayson “Nick” 1857-1931. Nick was Chief at Long Lake band #58 from 1887-1896. Standing to his right is his wife Jane 1860-1929. She was actually a young widow, previously married to John Anango Sr 1821-1884ish, almost 40 years older than she was. The Ojibway word Anango translates as Star and the Starr family name at Heron Bay/Pic appears to descend from him. In a weird twist, Nick was also previously married and to none other than Elizabeth “Betsie” Anango, the youngest daughter of John Anango Sr and his previous wife. John Anango had only one child while married to a young Jane Souliere (her maiden name) and his name was Paul Anango (Starr) born in 1880. Nick had one surviving son by his first wife Betsie Anango, his name was Stephen Finlayson, 1879-1903, he married Agnes Godchere in 1900 and they settled at Mobert but he died young leaving behind his young widow to raise their 2 small girls, Marie Mary and Agnes Isabelle. Mary married Gilbert Sabourin and Agnes Isabelle married Ernest Otikwam (various spellings) and then married a second time to Louis or Louison Desmulons (various spellings) 1891-1926. Nick and Jane married in 1885 and in 1886 they moved to Long Lake. So only Emile was born at Pic River, the rest at Long lake. And now the children in the photo: Uncle Bob said that Agnes is the little girl in Jane’s arms back row, age about 3. Agnes was born in 1893, so if this picture was taken in 1895, that little girl looks about 2-3 years old. So that makes sense. Working forward, the next born was Johnny, Feb 7, 1895. So one would have to conclude that he is the baby in the cradleboard. The next born were sons Duncan in 1896 and then Michael in 1901. So they were not yet born, therefore they are not in the picture. Then, going up in age, based on the known birth dates of each child and judging by the ages they appear in the photo we deduced the following, starting with the first born, Emile, b. Nov 7, 1885, sitting front row right. Emile is the oldest looking child and looks about 10 years old in this picture so that adds up. But wait, there were no more boys born until Johnny so who is this other boy on the left in