Collection search - Thomas Gummersall Anderson fonds [textual record]

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1
Thomas Gummersall Anderson fonds [textual record]

Hierarchical level:

Fonds

Date:

1814.

Reference:

R6424-0-2-E, MG24-F19

Type of material:

Textual material

Found in:

Archives / Collections and Fonds

Item ID number:

99556

Context of this record:

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Thomas Gummersall Anderson fonds
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Record information – Details
Date(s):

1814.

Place of creation:

No place, unknown, or undetermined

Extent:

2.5 cm of textual records (122 p.).

Language of material:

English

Scope and content:

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Fonds consists of a journal of events at Fort McKay, 10 August-28 November 1814, kept by Captain T.G. Anderson while he was in command there during the absence of Lieutenant-Colonel McKay. Also included are copies of military orders issued by Anderson.

Provenance:

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Anderson, Thomas Gummersall, 1779-1875

Biography/Administrative history:

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Anderson, Thomas Gummersall, 1779-1875 : Thomas Gummersall Anderson was born 12 November 1779 at Sorel, Province of Quebec. He was taken to New Johnstown (Cornwall) when his family settled there in 1783. In 1795 he was apprenticed for five years to Thomas Markland, a Kingston merchant. Anderson accompanied a half brother of Markland's out to the American post of Mackinac and for the next 14 years traded with the Indians in the upper Mississippi valley in what is now the state of Wisconsin. In the first actions of the War of 1812, Mackinac was captured by the British. Anderson learned there that the Americans had captured Prairie du Chien and had built a fort. He then immediately raised a company of volunteers and, with the aid of the commanding officer at Mackinac, hastened to Prairie du Chien and recaptured the fort.

Until the end of the war, he remained in charge of Fort McKay which was named after an old Nor'wester, William McKay, who had accompanied the expedition. In 1815, Anderson was given employment at Mackinac in the Indian Department as storekeeper, interpreter and clerk. The department remained under military jurisdiction from 1816 to 1830 and Anderson attained the rank of captain. Anderson stayed with the Indian Department for the remainder of his career. As trader and government employee, he had close contact with the Indians for 58 years and was seen as a shrewd judge of their character and devoted to their interests. He wrote copious journals and reports, many of which were printed after his death 10 February 1875.

Finding aid:

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(No finding aid)
Subject heading:

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Thomas Gummersall Anderson - Diaries, 1814 Lieutenant-Colonel McKay, 1814

Armies - Officers, 1814

Fort McKay (Tebesanque) - Description, 1814
Source:

Private

Former archival reference no.:

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MG24-F19
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Textual records

[Consultation90 Open]

Volume [MG24 F 19] 1

[Consultation 90 Open]

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