Nicholas Montour

Who was Nicholas Montour?

Nicholas Montour was a fur trader, seigneur and political figure in Lower Canada.

He was born in the province of New York in 1756, the son of Andrew Montour and Sarah Ainse, and the grandson of Madame Montour. In 1774, he was employed as a clerk in the fur trade by Joseph and Benjamin Frobisher on the Churchill River in what is now Manitoba and later worked in what is now Saskatchewan. Montour owned shares in the North West Company. In 1792, he retired from the fur trade with a fortune of £20,000 and settled at Montreal where he was a member of the Beaver Club.

In 1794, he bought the Montreal Distillery Company from Isaac Todd and his partners. In 1795, he purchased the seigneuries of Pointe-du-Lac and Gastineau. Montour also owned land along the Thames River in Upper Canada, which he inherited from his mother. He also purchased and later sold the seigneuries of Pierreville and Rivière-David. In 1796, Montour was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada for Saint-Maurice. He was named a justice of the peace for Trois-Rivières district in 1799. In the same year, he took up residence at Pointe-du-Lac, where he built a handsome dwelling house and large flour and saw mills. He might have increased his fortune by a great extent but his style of living and free and generous disposition led to the loss of his money.