From the ancient forests of Saintonge and the fortified ramparts of New France to the swift birchbark freight canoes of the fur trade and the vast, open rangelands of frontier Montana, the Pinsonneau dit Lafleur lineage is written in white water, pine pitch, and raw American soil.
Where other lines cleared homesteads and stayed within sight of the meetinghouse, the Pinsonneaus were born to move. They were the muscle, the compass, and the courage of the North American interior—a ten-generation saga of soldiers, coureurs des bois, master canoe builders, and western pioneers.
Act I: The Fortress on the St. Lawrence (Gens 1–2)
The saga catches fire in September 1665 when François Pinsonneau dit Lafleur (1646–1731) stepped off the troop ship La Justice onto the rocky shores of Quebec. A young soldier in the Saint-Ours Company of the famed Carignan-Salières Regiment, François carried a musket to defend the fledgling colony against the Iroquois Confederacy. When his military service ended, he chose the frontier over return to France. Settling at La Prairie de la Madeleine—the grand launching pad for western trade expeditions—he married the Fille du Roi Anne Leber (1647–1732), who had braved the Atlantic crossing under the royal sponsorship of King Louis XIV.
[Carignan-Salières Regiment] [Fille du Roi]
François Pinsonneau dit Lafleur ═════════════ Anne Leber (LeBer)
(1646–1731) (1647–1732)
│
▼
Jean Dit Jacques "Jacques" Pinsonneault dit Lafleur
(1682–1773) [Coureur des Bois]
=== Marie Elisabeth Bourassa (1695–1766)
Their son, Jean Dit Jacques "Jacques" Pinsonneault dit Lafleur (1682–1773), inherited none of the European urge to stay behind a plow. Embracing the wild interior, Jacques became a true coureur des bois—an unlicensed woods-runner navigating the unmapped rivers of the Great Lakes. He married Marie Elisabeth Bourassa (1695–1766), herself the daughter of a seasoned voyageur, embedding the trade even deeper into the family's DNA.
Act II: Masters of the Master Canoe (Gens 3–5)
By the mid-18th century, the fur trade had evolved from wild wilderness wandering into a massive, organized engine powering global commerce. At its heart were the men of La Prairie.
Joseph Pinsonneau (1733–1799) worked the trade routes as a contracted voyageur, paddling 35-foot canots du maître down the Ottawa River toward Michilimackinac and Grand Portage. He married Marie Madeleine Duquet (1734–1791), uniting two major fur trade dynasties: her father was not only a veteran voyageur but a master craftsman of the very birchbark canoes that made the trade possible.
Their son, Gabriel Pinsonneau (1770–1807), followed his father to the riverbanks, plying the northern waterways until his early death. Gabriel married Marie Louise Vielle (1780–1813), daughter of Michel Vielle dit Cossé (1724–1805)—a veteran soldier in the Regiment of the Queen and descendant of early voyageur stock.
Joseph Pinsonneau (1733–1799) === Marie Madeleine Duquet (1734–1791)
[Voyageur] [d/o Voyageur & Canoe Builder]
│
▼
Gabriel Pinsonneau (1770–1807) === Marie Louise Vielle (1780–1813)
[Voyageur] [d/o Soldier, Regt. of the Queen]
│
▼
Gabriel (Gilbert) Passino (Pinsonneau) === Marie Emélie Meunier dit Lagacé
(1803–1877) (1808–1883)
[US Immigrant / NY Pioneer] [d/o NWC Voyageur]
As New France gave way to British rule and economic shifts, Gabriel's son, Gabriel (Gilbert) Passino (Pinsonneau) (1803–1877), made a monumental decision. Crossing the border into northern New York, he brought his family into the United States. It was here that English census clerks phoneticized the ancient French name Pinsonneau dit Lafleur into Passino. Gilbert married Marie Emélie Meunier dit Lagacé (1808–1883), daughter of an elite North West Company voyageur, forever merging two of La Prairie's greatest fur-trading clans.
Act III: Big Sky Frontiers & The Montana Trail (Gens 6–10)
The spirit of migration that pushed the voyageurs across the Great Lakes took on new life in the 19th century as the family turned its gaze toward the American West.
Gilbert and Marie Emélie’s daughter, Lucy Passino (Pinsonneau) (1836–1917), embodied this frontier transition. Leaving the Northeast, she married John Galloway Brown (1833–1915) and journeyed across the plains to become a pioneer Montana Homesteader. Where her great-grandfathers had cut through the wilderness with paddles, Lucy and John staked out land under the vast expanse of Big Sky country.
Their son, Abraham Lincoln Brown (1864–1948), grew up working the rugged Montana soil. He married Geneva (Neva) Plympton (1870–1939), daughter of Union Civil War veteran Charles Henry Plympton, uniting the French-Canadian voyageur bloodline with deep New York Patriot roots.
In the next generation, Lydia Corinna Brown (1891–1971) married Franklin Jackson Bailey (1886–1968), another tough-as-nails Montana homesteader. Their daughter, Velma Veda Bailey (1914–2004), remembered reverently as "The Last Pioneer," grew up in open ranching country before marrying Leonard John Head (1914–1998), a master home builder and grandson of an English Royal Arsenal foreman.
This unbroken, ten-generation chain reaches into the present day with Jerry Leonard HEAD-ENGLAND—known to thousands of readers and western history enthusiasts as "A Drifting Cowboy." Author, horseman, and historian, Jerry bridged the gap between the historic trails and the modern era, passing this rich heritage down to his son Michael and grandsons Ryan, Kevin, and Ian.
Ten-Generation Lineage Summary
Gen | Ancestor / Pair | Primary Role & Historical Significance |
1 | François Pinsonneau dit Lafleur & Anne Leber | Carignan-Salières Soldier (1665) & Fille du Roi |
2 | Jacques Pinsonneault dit Lafleur & Marie Elisabeth Bourassa | Early Coureur des Bois of New France |
3 | Joseph Pinsonneau & Marie Madeleine Duquet | La Prairie Voyageur & Daughter of Master Canoe Builder |
4 | Gabriel Pinsonneau & Marie Louise Vielle | Great Lakes Voyageur & Daughter of Queen's Regt. Soldier |
5 | Gabriel (Gilbert) Passino (Pinsonneau) & Marie Emélie Meunier dit Lagacé | Immigrant to NY; Merged Pinsonneau & NWC Lagacé Lines |
6 | Lucy Passino (Pinsonneau) & John Galloway Brown | Voyageur Granddaughter & Montana Pioneer Homesteader |
7 | Abraham Lincoln Brown & Geneva (Neva) Plympton | Montana Homesteader & Son-in-Law to Union Civil War Vet |
8 | Lydia Corinna Brown & Franklin Jackson Bailey | Montana Ranchers & Big Sky Homesteaders |
9 | Velma Veda Bailey & Leonard John Head | "The Last Pioneer" & Master Home Builder |
10 | Jerry Leonard HEAD-ENGLAND | "A Drifting Cowboy" — Historian, Writer, & Father |
Thank you Gemini AI for your wisdom and research assistance. -- Drifting Cowboy
No comments:
Post a Comment