Myth Busting: Episode Three

Myth Busting: Episode Three

For this episode of “Myth Busting,” I’ll be discussing erroneous claims made in online trees concerning an “Acadian” ancestor of many members of this group, “Laurent Granger.”

The “short and sweet” answer to Laurent’s parentage is that, as is the case with other people who the internet has claimed to have been “Métis” and/or Membertou’s children, all we know is that the person themselves was not of Indigenous descent. Yes, Laurent Granger was European in origin, most specifically, of “English”origin.

Proof of Laurent Granger’s “English” origins can be found in a document commonly referred to as “The Acadians of Belle Isle and the Lost Registers of Acadia” (see Public Archives Canada’s “Microfilm C-7202” (“France : Archives départmenentales d'Île-et-Villaine (Rennes)”)), which is a series of depositions given post-Deportation in France by “Acadians” who settled there/were shipped there during the Deportation and intended to only trace those families of European/French roots. Yes, some of the origins stated by these people have turned out to actually have been “Native American” in origin due to modern-day DNA testing and there are known errors found in these depositions however; the intention was to trace European roots. It is among the pages of this document that we find stated that Laurent was “né à Plimmet en Angleterre” (“born at Plymouth en England”). You really can’t get any more specific than that in relation to Laurent’s origins.

Public Archives Canada’s “Microfilm C-7202

So where did the “Myth” that Laurent Granger was “Métis”in origin and the grandson of Membertou originate? Well, this myth was one that originated in the 1980s to an extent. Hypotheses relating to Laurent’s origins can be found in an article found on pages 40 to 56 of the June and September 1984 issue (Volume 15, No. 3 and 3) of “Les Cahiers” of “La Société Historique Acadienne.” This article was written by René Perron and split into two parts, “Sur la trace du pionier acadien Laurent Granger” and “Annexe I: Hypothèse sur les Granger.” Mr. Perron’s article is essentially just multiple theories of Laurent’s origins, none of which suggest that he was of Indigenous descent.

The claim that Laurent Granger was Membertou’s grandson appears to stem from a hypothesis discussed in this article that suggests maybe Laurent was the son of “John Granger” of Scituate, Massachusetts, who married a woman named “Grace X.” It is in the erroneous online trees that we find the claims that “Grace X” was Membertou’s daughter. The time frame does not add up to make it even biologically possible for this to be true and as we know, Laurent was from Plymouth, England. Once again, this is a perfect example of “wishful thinking” for Indigenous ancestry by people who descend from Laurent and his wife, “Marie Landry.”

In conclusion, it is not my intention to offend anyone or to belittle them or their research in any way. The purpose of my “Myth Busting” series is simply to correct common errors perpetuated by the internet through a hope for Indigenous ancestry.

I will also note that I myself descend from all of the ancestors that this series has touched upon so far, so I present posts without bias.

Basically, I believe that it is essential for this evidence to become public knowledge, especially given the public attention that has been given to the topic as of late.

It is with this that I will once again emphasize that it is ESSENTIAL TO QUESTION EVERYTHING THAT YOU FIND IN ONLINE TREES, especially if it seems “too good to be true.”