From a book about Acadia

 

This is written in French but it would be a good information to share as this could very well be the father of Magdeleine Dedam or his father. I will have to find out. What peaked my interest is that they say in this book that Denis Dedam was chief of Nipisiquit (Bathust). I was told as a teenager that John Young was married to the chief’s daughter. 

In his thesis Ethnogenese des premiers metis canadiens (1601-1763), Denis Jean has a discussion of the origin of the Desdames surname in Eastern Canada. he explains that in 1635 employees (and two missionaries) arrived in Miscou when a permanent fishing post was established there by the Compagnie de Miscou. The Compagnie de Miscou was part of the Company of One Hundred Associates. A certain Thierry Desdames was named Captain and he became the progenitor of the Metis Dedams. The Dedam  surname appears in several Gaspe records, and in particular, Jean states that the surname was appearing regularly in civil records after the Restigouche census of 1765. An interesting note (still from Denis Jean) is that 25 years earlier, in 1741/1742, a certain Denis Dedam of the Gaspe – received a valuable gold-embroidered robe from the King. Denis Dedam was described as a saqamaw. My notes – a saqamaw is a chief or commander, and the king in question  would have been Louis XV.

 They are preventing me from sharing this on Facebook: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/indian-act-charter-supreme-court-1.7614346

 

If someone would like to help me with this blog and write articles just message me in the comments. 

 I have made an intersting discovery of a book written Janet E. Chute who depicts all Mi'Kmaq territories I have found in it some quotes from my blog but there is a lot of research in this book and a lot has to do with the Young family. There is some parts of in on Google which is still very informative but myself I have ordered the hard copy. It can be purchased on Amazon .

Here is a sample of this manuscript 

Something is lurking in the St-Lawrence

Toward the end of WWII aunt Alice Young was working at a dining room at The Bic a few miles from Rimouski, Quebec. On that particular morning she noticed something unusual in the St-Lawrence river. At first she thought it was a big fish but looking closely it was something else, nothing that was familiar to this young lady who left home with her thirteen siblings left behind. She was one of the eldest of the family. So she had to go to work to help the family.

Setting tables before the guest woke up for their breakfast was her daily routine. Her two sons related the same incredible story to me so it must be true. The odd object in the cold water of the river was a German submarine. Towards the end of the war Germany was out of fuel. The sub was stranded in the St-Lawrence seaway. In the early morning the submarine would surface without any light to keep from being detected but this young lady was a witness and couln't keep it a secret so she alerted her employer who alerted the authorities. The submarine was intercepted by the Canadian Army. It appears that the reason the ship was behaving as such was because the people on board were hungry as they ran out for rations and were sneaking at the cover of darkness to go to neighbouring farms to steel eggs and whatever else they could find to eat or clothing to move undetected dressed as civilians. 

They were busted by this sharp teenager with a keen eye. Years later aunt Alice is working at her restaurant in St-Jerome Que. a man walked in with a German accent. His name was Shultz she learned. Commandant Shultz. Apparently this Commandant was the same one who was aboard the submarine a few year prior. Alice and Mr. Shultz became friends for years to come. When my cousins were narrating this amazing tale I was in awe. This was the first time I had heard anything about a member of my family having any close encounter with anything to do with WWII. Wait a minute not so true. My mother use to tell me when I was a child about her cousin Adrian who was like her big brother as they were both adopted by their uncle Polydore and aunt Maggie from Eel River Crossings N.B. Adrian was around twenty years old when he was drafted to go abroad to fight for the Canadian Army but he chose to go hide in the Yukon until the end of the was. Adrian while he was on the run from the authorities contracted tuberculosis and died. Later on my mother was sick with tuberculosis  but after about eight months in the hospital came back home. 

Two members of the same Young family dead at the same railway crossing a few years apart. A coincidence?

A few years ago I came across the story of Frank Young a fellow from Bathurst who was involved in a car crash at a railway crossing. Him and another young man had borrowed a car and perished when they crossed the path of an uncoming train. Here is the news paper article: 

A collision between a freight train and a car at a level crossing not far from the C.N.R. Station attracted a large crowd on September 28, 1926. Cormier noted on his negative that a gentleman by the name of Fraser lost his life under a freight car while Frank Young, driving Mr. Charles Miller’s car was also killed by the impact. One can understand that such an accident would attract a large crowd.

Keeping that article in mind the other day I came across another interesting story and it had a link to this one. Here is the death certificate of Frank Young.

There is another accident that occured at a crossing in Bathurst N.B. It involved a teen by the name of Gertrude Young. Here is the news paper article: YOUNG; Gertrude age 21 died on the 8th/February/1936, she had been staying at the home of Mrs. James McGibbons since early November and was planning to leave for Montreal on Saturday she went to visit her mother at South Bathurst when she left she was seen walking on the train tracks toward Newcastle the trainman seen her by the McIntyre’s crossing about two miles from Bathurst, she crossed the track when they blew the whistle she then knelt down facing the oncoming train which being so close was unable to stop. She leaves her mother Mrs. James Daigle, her step-father James Daigle, two sisters, Miss. Katherine Young at home, and Miss. Isabelle Young of South Tetagouche three brothers, Leonard Caraquet, Edmond South Bathurst, and Joseph of Jacquet River. Her brother was killed at the same crossing 5 years ago when his car was struck by the train. Here is her death certificate.

It appears that she had never got over the fact that her brother was killed by the train, she wanted to go the same way a few years later.

 

Gilbert Sewell 

Gilbert Sewell 1939-2021 is a descendant of Etienne Young my ancestor. His great great grandmother was Elisabeth Anastasia Young. Elisabeth from Pabineau First Nation was married to Lemi (Remi Sewell) a member of the Eel River Bar first nation. Here is a list of the descendance: 

Gilbert I met a few years ago when I found out we were related, he was knowledgeable about the family history and the history of the Pabineau First Nation. He recanted how our common ancestor John Young was given land for the reserve where the Gowen Brae golf course is situated in Bathurst but he refused and asked for land along the big river (Nepisiquit) which is more populated with salmon. I ran into this fine gentleman many times after this first encounter and he was always happy to tell stories about the link of the Young family to the Pabineau Reserve. Gilbert was a highly regarded elder in his community, he was an Actor a storyteller, an Ambassador, he was a teacher of the Mi'kmaq language and the traditions and a lot more. From Atlantic Books: Over the years, oral storyteller Gilbert Sewell has achieved more than most people could ever imagine doing in a lifetime. He’s met with Pope John Paul, Lady Diana and the Consul of France. He’s received the Queen’s Jubilee Medal, the New Brunswick Human Rights Award, the New Brunswick Eco Award and the Canadian Merit Award. And he has had his work featured by media outlets like the CBC, Aboriginal Peoples Television Network and the Discovery Channel.

I am honored to have had the pleasure of meeting such a nice soul he will be greatly missed by all who were in contact with him. If Sewell means soul he wore it well. 

Here is a video of the songs he performed in his story telling: https://vimeo.com/48892696