Claude-Nicolas-Guillaume de Lorimier (September 4, 1744 – June 7, 1825) was a businessman, officer in the

British Indian Department The Indian Department was established in 1755 to oversee relations between the British Empire and the First Nations of North America. The imperial government ceded control of the Indian Department to the Province of Canada in 1860, thus setting ...

, and political figure in

Lower Canada The Province of Lower Canada (french: province du Bas-Canada) was a British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence (1791–1841). It covered the southern portion of the current Province of Quebec an ...

. He was also known as Guillaume, Chevalier de Lorimier, Major de Lorimier, and by the Iroquois name Teiohatekon.

Career

Claude-Nicolas-Guillaume de Lorimier was born in Lachine,

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, Canada in 1744. He was the son of Claude-Nicolas de Lorimier de La Rivière, and served as a junior officer when the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

took control of New France. Lorimier aided the British in recruiting native warriors during the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...

and took part in the defence of Fort St Johns (later Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu). He was wounded during an expedition led by Major-General

John Burgoyne General John Burgoyne (24 February 1722 – 4 August 1792) was a British general, dramatist and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1761 to 1792. He first saw action during the Seven Years' War when he participated in several bat ...

into New York state in 1777. In 1783, following his service during the American Revolution as one of the leading officers of "British Indian" warriors, he married an

Iroquois The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian-speaking confederacy of First Nations peoples in northeast North America/ Turtle Island. They were known during the colonial years to ...

woman by the name of Marie-Louise Schuyler and the couple moved to

Kahnawake The Kahnawake Mohawk Territory (french: Territoire Mohawk de Kahnawake, in the Mohawk language, ''Kahnawáˀkye'' in Tuscarora) is a First Nations reserve of the Mohawks of Kahnawá:ke on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River in Queb ...

, where he became resident agent. Shuyler died in 1790. Claude was elected to the 1st Parliament of Lower Canada for Huntingdon in 1792. In 1793, Lorimier married Marie-Madeleine-Claire, the daughter of

seigneur ''Seigneur'' is an originally feudal title in France before the Revolution, in New France and British North America until 1854, and in the Channel Islands to this day. A seigneur refers to the person or collective who owned a ''seigneurie'' (or ...

Joseph Brassard Deschenaux Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...

. In 1801, Claude remarried a third time, this time to Iroquois woman and

resident Anne Skaouennetsi (also known as McGregor or Gregory) with whom he had four children, including Antoine-George de Lorimier. Claude served as resident captain for the Iroquois forces at Caughnawaga during the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States, United States of America and its Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom ...

and fought at the

Battle of Châteauguay The Battle of the Chateauguay was an engagement of the War of 1812. On 26 October 1813, a combined British and Canadian force consisting of 1,530 regulars, volunteers, militia and Mohawk warriors from Lower Canada, commanded by Charles de Sal ...

. One of his sons, Guillaume-François, was killed at the

Battle of Crysler's Farm The Battle of Crysler's Farm, also known as the Battle of Crysler's Field, was fought on 11 November 1813, during the War of 1812 (the name ''Chrysler's Farm'' is sometimes used for the engagement, but ''Crysler'' is the proper spelling). A Brit ...

, and another,

Jean-Baptiste de Lorimier Jean-Baptiste is a male French name, originating with Saint John the Baptist, and sometimes shortened to Baptiste. The name may refer to any of the following: Persons * Charles XIV John of Sweden, born Jean-Baptiste Jules Bernadotte, was King ...

, was wounded at the

Battle of Beaver Dams The Battle of Beaver Dams took place on 24 June 1813, during the War of 1812. A column of troops from the United States Army marched from Fort George and attempted to surprise a British outpost at Beaver Dams, billeting themselves overnight in ...

. Lorimier was named deputy superintendent of the Embodied Indian Warriors in 1814. He died in Kahnawake in 1825.

Descendants

Claude-Nicolas-Guillaume de Lorimier's son George de Lorimier (1805–1863) was also known as Antoine-George de Lorimier and George Oronhiatekha de Lorimier. He was a merchant, a wealthy land owner and a ferry operator in

. In 1835, George married Marie-Louise McComber. Stephen-Ambroise, attorney Albert-Emmanuel (Albert Oronhiatekha), Georges-Gervais, Joseph (Sose Ountiakase) and Jean-Baptiste (Sawakis Tahohenta) were five of their seventeen children. The first two still have many descendants in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

and the latter has descendants in places such as

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...

and

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

. George de Lorimier lies buried under the Saint-Francis-Xavier Mission in

. The first image shows Claude-Nicolas-Guillaume. The second image is a portrait of his son, Antoine-George. Image:Claude-Nicolas-Guillaume de Lorimier, sketch.jpg This is a picture of his son (and grandson of Claude-Nicolas-Guillaume), and Montreal attorney Albert-Emmanuel de Lorimier: http://www2.ville.montreal.qc.ca/archives/portraits/fr/fiches/P1267.shtm

External links

* * The stone house in which de Lorimier was born and lived in as a child is now known as the Museum of Lachine. Its web page can be accessed here: http://ville.montreal.qc.ca/portal/page?_pageid=3156,3579362&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL The stone house which de Lorimier owned from 1795 to 1803 still stands as of 2009. Its full listing can be viewed here: http://www.historicplaces.ca/visit-visite/com-ful_e.aspx?id=4844 {{DEFAULTSORT:Lorimier, Claude-Nicolas-Guillaume de 1744 births 1825 deaths British Indian Department Members of the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada People from Lachine, Quebec