Fonds F0729 - Peter Erasmus fonds

Peter Erasmus, 1833-1931, was born in the Red River Settlement, the son of a Danish father employed by the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) and a Metis mother. He began his education for the Anglican ministry at St. John's College in Winnipeg, but never completed his studies. In 1855 he came to Fort Edmonton as an interpreter for Methodist missionary, Rev. Thomas Woolsey. In 1858 he joined the Palliser Expedition as a guide and interpreter. He then lived in Fort Edmonton until 1862 when he moved to Whitefish Lake where Henry B. Steinhauer had established a Methodist mission. He traded furs and ran a store. He also acted as an interpreter for Rev. George McDougall at Victoria Settlement.

Erasmus married Charlotte Jackson in 1864 and they had six children, Eliza (Borwick), 1867-1963, James, 1868-?, Robert, 1872-?, Caroline (Henderson), 1874-?, David, 1876-?, and George, 1878-1913. After his wife's death he married Peggy Stanley in 1882 and they had three daughters, Lily (Whitford), 1884-?, Sarah (Whitford) and Catherine (Williams).

For further information see Michael Payne's article, "Peter Erasmus", in the Dictionary of Canadian Biography (www.biographi.ca); and "The Metis Cultural Brokers and the Western Numbered Treaties, 1869-1877" / Allyson Stevenson. -- Unpublished MA thesis, University of Saskatchewan, 2004.