History

Painting by Fredrick Remington (1905)

DES GROSEILLIER:THE GROZELLE CONNECTION

This page is divided in three parts:

1. Family tree part one
2. Family Tree part two
3. Medard des Groseilliers Story
4. Documents for your research.

To begin our story of des Groseilliers we start with a family tree from Medard des Groseilliers to Antoine Alfred Grozelle. After that you will click a button that will take you to a continuation of the family tree beginning with Antoine Grozelle Alfred’s son.

Further down the page you will learn how des Groseilliers opened up the fur trade in Canada, how he became an explorer of all of 🍁, and how he was the first European to sail the Great Lakes. Some exciting reading and images ahead of you.

🧭 1618 — Médard Chouart des Groseilliers

Explorer, coureur des boise, and co‑founder of the Hudson’s Bay Company.
His journeys opened the interior of Canada to trade and exploration.

👶 1661 — Marie‑Antoinette Chouart

Daughter of Médard.
Her marriage carries the Des Groseilliers bloodline into the Bouchard family.

👨‍👩‍👧 1698 — Jean‑Baptiste Bouchard

Grandson of Médard.
Born in Montréal. He marries Marie‑Josephte Des Chavigny.
Their children continue the family line in New France.

🌾 1774 — François Desgroseilliers

Born in the Châteauguay region of Quebec.
Marries Catherine Reid.
This generation anchors the family in the parishes of Châteauguay, Sainte‑Martine, and Beauharnois.

🏡 Early 1800s — Joachim Desgroseillers

Son of François and Catherine.
Marries Geneviève Rochon.
As they move to english speaking regions,their children stop using Desgroseilliers and start using the Anglicize Grozelle name.

👶 1842 — Antoine Alfred des Groseilliers (Grozelle)

Born in Châteauguay, Quebec.Antoine moves to Callander, Ontario.
Antoine marries Elenore Laroche.
He is your great‑great‑grandfather and the bridge between the Quebec and Ontario branches.

👶 1869— Antoine des Groseilliers (Grozelle)

Born in Callander, Ontario, he moves to Haileybury Ontario. Marries Anne Jane Johnston. They have seven children.

🌲 Late 1800s–1900s — The Grozelle Family in Ontario

The name Grozelle becomes firmly established in Northern Ontario communities. These cities were Callander, Nipissing and now Sault Ste. Marie. Where Faye Smedley (Grozelle) is living.

As you can see we Grozelle’s are direct descendants of Médard Chouart des Groseilliers.
This website is attempting to preserve and share a family story that spans four centuries.

From Alfred’s generation onward, the surname appears as Grozelle, reflecting the common practice of English clerks simplifying French names. The Grozelle branch leads to our families today.

Why This Story Matters

This lineage is not just a list of names. It is a story of:

• Exploration and resilience
• The Culture blending between the French, the Indigenous, and the English people.
• Migration from Quebec to Ontario
• The des Groseilliers family name change to Grozelle maintains its roots.

It is a reminder that our ancestor’s journeys shape who we are today.

new beginnings:recent descendants

Instead of loading this page up with the family tree a click of the button continues the family tree from Antoine Alfred and to his son Antoine and our generation.

Don’t miss learning all about our generation.

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Medard Chouart des Groseilliers:Life in Canada

Médard Chouart des Groseilliers was a French explorer and fur trader whose journeys helped expand European knowledge of the interior of North America. Working with Pierre-Esprit Radisson, he explored important waterways and contributed to the development of the North American fur trade. This section brings together images, historical information, documents, and a short timeline to introduce his life and legacy.

Medard’s Biography

As quoted from Widipedia.

Médard Chouart Des Groseilliers , born and baptized in Charly-sur-Marne on July 31, 1618 and died in 1696 in Trois – Rivieres.

The son of Médard Chouart and Marie Poirier, he was raised at the farm known as ” Les Groseilliers  ” in Bassevelle on the banks of the Marne River . Arriving in New France in 1641, young Médard first worked as a lay assistant at the Jesuit mission of Sainte-Marie-au-pays-des-Hurons . He explored the Lake Huron region for ten years . He then settled in Trois-Rivières , where he became a coureur des bois ( fur trader ). This information is from Wikipedia

In 1647, he married Hélène Martin, daughter of Abraham Martin and widow of Claude Étienne. He had two children from this first marriage before becoming a widower. Only one of these children, Médard, reached adulthood. In 1653, he married Marguerite Hayet, widow of Jean Véron de Grandmesnil. They will have four children: Jean-Baptiste, Marie-Anne, Marguerite and Marie-Antoinette. (Our Ancestor)

Pictured above is Medard Chouart Groseilliers. Beside Medard is his brother-in-law Pierre Radisson. Pierre is quite a bit younger than Medard, but they explored Canada together and helped develop the Hudson Bay Company.

exciting research about Medard Chouart des Groseilliers

What the Canadian Museum of History tells Us

The Explorers

Médard Chouart Des Groseilliers 1654-1660

Médard Chouart Des Groseilliers , a native of Champagne, was baptized on July 31, 1618 at Charly-sur-Marne. Except for having spent some time in Touraine, nothing is known of his life before his arrival in New France in 1641. Taken into the service of the Jesuits as a servant, a donné or an interpreter, Des Groseillers travelled with them until 1646. He was the first Frenchman in New France to recognize the possibilities for fur trade around Hudson’s Bay. Despite being the person responsible for identifying the primary economic resource that could save the colony, history dismisses his as a mere adventurer trying to make money for himself.

Medard settled in Canada: his story –

The Des Groseilliers lived in Chateauguay, Quebec (New France). Some of that family moved to Callander, Ontario, where a name change to Grozell occurred. An “e” was added and the name became Grozelle.

des Groseilliers Achievements

MEDARD DES GROSEILLIERS AND RADISSON (his -brother-in-law)

were the first Europeans WHO:

ON HIS TRAVELS OF THE GREAT LAKES HE CAMPED IN SAULT STE. MARIE, ONTARIO

Médard Chouart des Groseilliers and Pierre-Esprit Radisson stopped at Sault Ste. Marie in the summer of 1659 during their unauthorized trading expedition to the upper Great Lakes. I will encourage you to read more as it is a surprise to hear that someone who has done so much for Canada should be put in prison and have the money he earned taken from him by the Governer of New France.

Des Groseilliers received – Knight of the Garter –

Although he was a Frenchman he was knighted by King Charles 11 for the services he did for England.

On May 2, 1670, under the authority of King Charles II of England, the Hudson’s Bay Company is set up under the name ” The Governor and Company of Adventurers of England, trading into Hudson’s Bay “. According to Marie de l’Incarnation, writing shortly after her return to London, “des Groseillers received twenty thousand écus as a reward from the King who made him a Knight of the Garter, which is said to be a very great honour. ”

His courage and determination helped open the interior of North America to exploration and trade, shaping the course of Canadian History. He was Knight of the Garter by King Charles II for his contributions to England.

Des Groseillier and Radisson – The Hudson’s Bay Company

Des Groseilliers’ career was not merely adventurous and romantic. His daring led him to explorations that were crucial for French and English territorial claims in North America; and his intelligence enabled him to see quickly and clearly that the easiest and quickest route to the richest fur region of the continent was not by the difficult, dangerous, and time-consuming canoe highway through the Great Lakes and along the Grand-Portage–Lake of the Woods waterway, but across Hudson Bay in ships carrying large cargoes quickly and easily to the very heart of the continent. In addition he had the address sufficient on the one hand to assuage Indian fears of white men and on the other to persuade European officialdom and businessmen to carry out his ideas. The Hudson’s Bay Company continues to this day to prove the correctness of his judgement.

In the same year, Chouart returns to Hudson’s Bay. In New France, rumours abound that there are foreign vessels in the Bay. On November 10, the Intendant, Jean Talon, writes to the Minister of the Colonies: “After reflecting on the nations that might have penetrated as far North as that, I can only light upon the English who, under the guidance of a man named des Groseilliers, formerly an inhabitant of Canada, might possibly have attempted the navigation, of itself not much known, and no less dangerous…

The following information relating to the importance of des Groseilliers’ contributions to the founding of the Hudson Bay Company can be found at the end of the page. You will find the page in the Sault Ste. Marie Library

EVEN TODAY THE EXPLORERS ARE REMEMBERED WITH COMMEMORATIVE COINS AND PLAQUES

SILVER DOLLAR 1995- HONOURING DESGROSEILLIERS AND RADISSON

The 1995 Canadian silver dollar showing Médard and Radisson, we are looking at history and our own family’s story. A story of explorers, settlers, and generations who carried their name and courage forward.

And now, you are the one keeping that story alive.

Documents

HERE IS A CHANCE TO READ FOR YOURSELF THE LIFE OF Des GROSEILLIERS

The button link below (Documents in French and English) will take you to a number of old French and English documents.

Below is one button that will take you to Google. There are a number of articles relating to Des Groseilliers there.

Learn more about Medard and his involvement in the creation of the Hudson Bay Company, by clicking the button “Hudson Bay Beginnings” below.

Each button below will take you to one of the articles in Google Search.

📖 Family‑Friendly Narrative (Short Version for Kids & Grandkids) can be found in the list of bullets below in orange.

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