 Abt 1794 - 1865 (71 years)
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| Name |
Thomas Corcoran [1, 2, 3, 4, 5] |
| Birth |
Abt 1794 |
Crossmolina, Mayo, Connacht, Ireland  [6] |
| Gender |
Male |
| _UID |
271EFB36DC251D49965ABFA2E94E727C53FC |
| Death |
17 Apr 1865 |
Rawdon, Montcalm, Québec, Canada [7] |
| Burial |
21 Apr 1865 |
St-Patrice de Rawdon, Montcalm, Québec, Canada [8] |
| Notes |
- Per 1851 (1852) Canada census - age 56, residing with son Richard, occ listed as Trader
Nicole Gareau attached this information on marriage, but date is unexplained:
Date
04 October 1840
Location
Moose Factory, Ontario, Canada
to Charlotte Sophia Sutherland
Description
Officiated by: George Barnley, Wesleyan Missionary. Witnesses: Samuel & Helen Loutitt
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| Person ID |
I1162 |
broderick |
| Last Modified |
7 Oct 2025 |
| Father |
John Corcoran, b. Abt 1755, Prob Crossmolina, Mayo, Connacht, Ireland d. Bef 1826, Prob Crossmolina, Mayo, Connacht, Ireland (Age 70 years) |
| Mother |
Bridget Edwards, b. Prob Crossmolina, Mayo, Connacht, Ireland d. Bef 1826, Prob Crossmolina, Mayo, Connacht, Ireland |
| Marriage |
Prob Crossmolina, Mayo, Connacht, Ireland |
| Family ID |
F2028 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
| Family |
Charlotte Sophia Sutherland, b. 18 Jul 1799 d. 30 Jul 1854, Fort Albany, Hudson Bay, Ontario, Canada (Age 55 years) |
| Marriage |
Abt 1822 |
Moose Factory, , Ontario, Canada |
| Children |
| | 1. Richard Edward Corcoran, b. 9 Apr 1823, Hudson Bay, Canada d. 22 Apr 1894, Montréal, Québec, Canada (Age 71 years) |
| | 2. Jane Isabella Corcoran, RSCJ, b. 18 Jan 1825, Fort Albany, Hudson Bay, Ontario, Canada d. 15 May 1855, St-Vincent-de-Paul-de-l'Île-Jésus, Laval, Québec, Canada (Age 30 years) |
| | 3. Margaret Charlotte Corcoran, RSCJ, b. 17 Sep 1829, Fort Albany, Hudson Bay, Ontario, Canada d. 6 Dec 1850, St-Vincent-de-Paul-de-l'Île-Jésus, Laval, Québec, Canada (Age 21 years) |
| | 4. Thomas Corcoran, b. Abt 1832 d. 27 Jan 1843, Montréal, Québec, Canada (Age 11 years) |
|
| Family ID |
F360 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
| Last Modified |
6 Apr 2011 |
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| Event Map |
|
 | Birth - Abt 1794 - Crossmolina, Mayo, Connacht, Ireland |
 |
 | Marriage - Abt 1822 - Moose Factory, , Ontario, Canada |
|
 | Death - 17 Apr 1865 - Rawdon, Montcalm, Québec, Canada |
|
 | Burial - 21 Apr 1865 - St-Patrice de Rawdon, Montcalm, Québec, Canada |
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| Sources |
- [S116] Ancestry.com, Census of Canada, 1851, (Database on line, 1851 Census of Canada East, Canada West, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia.
Note - enumeration form numbers lines 23 and 24 as line 24 (repeated).), Image 53 of 93, indiv 39 (Reliability: 3).
Trader. Age 55, born Ireland.
Residing with son Richard.
- [S7] Ancestry.com, Québec Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967., ([database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2008. Includes images of the actual copies of parish registers submitted to the central authorities.), Rawdon (St-Patrice), pp 14v&15, M-9, img 15 (Reliability: 3).
Witnesses were Thomas Corcoran, Luke Daly, Peter Skelly, John Dorwin {sp?), and Barnard McManus.
Bride a minor.
Groom's father notes as "Capt. of the Honorable Hudson's Bay Company"
Groom's mother's given names listed as "Charlotte Sophia"; English language record.
- [S18] Ancestry.com, Family Trees on Ancestry.Com, (http://trees.ancestry.com), Gareau/Burns Family Tree, by Nicole Gareau (Reliability: 3).
NAME: CORCORAN, Thomas PARISH: Cro ssmolina Ballina, ENTERED SERVICE: May 1818 DATES: b. ca. 1794 Co. Mayo, Ireland d. 17 April 1865 in Rawdon Appointments & Service Outfit Year*: Position: Post: District: HBCA Reference: *An Outfit year ran from 1 June to 31 May 1818, May - 17 Aug., came to Moose on Eddystone from Gravesend C1/306 fo. 3 1818 - 1822 [Clerk] Writer Moose Moose A16/18 p.141; A30/16 fo. 45 1822 - 1824 Clerk & Accountant Albany Albany B135/k/1 p.4; A16/18 p.141 1824 - 1825 Clerk & Accountant Moose Moose A16/18, p.1411825 - 1827 Clerk & Accountant Albany Albany A16/18, p.141 1827 - 1828 Clerk in Charge Martins Falls Albany River B135/k/1 p.53 1828 - 1830 Clerk Moose Factory Moose B135/k/1 p.91 1830 - 1833 Clerk in Charge Martins Falls Albany River B135/k/1 p.98, 111 1834 - 1837 Clerk in Charge Eastmain Ruperts River B59/a/120 - 122 1836 - 1837 Appointed Clerk in Charge Nichiquon Ruperts River B135/k/1 p.143] 1837 - 1841 Clerk in Charge Big River (Fort George) Ruperts River B135/k/1 p.164, 183 1841 - 1842 Chief Trader Big River (Fort George) Ruperts River B135/k/1 p.208; E204/1 fo. 35 1842 - 1843 Leave of Absence for health to Canada [Montreal] B239/k/2 p.247; E204/1 fo. 37-39 1843 - 1851 C.T. in Charge of District Albany Factory Albany B135/k/1 p. 226, 249, 275, 294 1851 - 1852 Leave of Absence B135/k/1 p.304, 316, SF 1852 - 1855 C.T. in Charge of District Albany Factory Albany B135/k/1 p.328, SF 1855 - 1856 Furlough for health reasons B239/k/3 p.97 1856 Retired to Montreal ARCHIVES WINNIPEG 1865, 17 April Died, buried in Rawdon, PQ A36/5 fo. 76 - 77 Brothers: John, Patrick, Richard, Edward E204/1 Wife: Charlotte, daughter of John Sutherland & widow of Donald McPherson [Biog.] B135/z/3 fo. 264 m. c1822, d. 30 July 1854 at Albany Search File; E204/1 fo. 10, fo. 14 [in 1827 -- 2 children; in 1835 - 2 girls, 2 boys and daughter of brother John] E204/1 fo. 14; E204/1 fo. 23 Children: Richard Edwards+ +(in Will in A36/5 fos. 76-77 1855) Jane Isabella+, Margaret, young boy died 1840 E204/1; E204/1 fo. 29-30 John McPherson+ (stepson) in HBC c1834-1839, b.c1817 Mary Corcoran (daughter of John Corcoran), b. c1821, m. Thomas Wiegand at Albany, 1855, d. 20 April 1873 A36/5 fo. 76; Search File Search File: "Corcoran, Thomas" Filename: Corcoran, Thomas (b. ca. 1794-1865) (fl. 1818-1856) ; JB/nt April 1990 ; June/99/mhd Rev. AM 04/04
See text.
- [S18] Ancestry.com, Family Trees on Ancestry.Com, (http://trees.ancestry.com), Gareau/Burns Family Tree, by Nicole Gareau (Reliability: 3).
WILL OF THOMAS CORCORAN
HBCA. A.36/5 Wills Con-Cz #76
d. 17 April 1865, proved 25 April 1866
Executors: William Gregory Smith, Esq. (Secretary for the HBC, London) and Richard Edward Corcoran, Luke Daly, son, of Village of Rawdon, Co. of Leinster, Canada East)
He willed £500 to his daughter Jane Isabella Corcoran. If she was not living, £400 to his son Richard Edward and £100 to the Ladies of the Sacred Heart of St. Vincent, Isle of Jesus [near?] Montreal, Canada East.
To his niece Mary Wiegand, wife of Thomas Wiegand at present [illegible] residing at Albany in Rupertsland., £50
To his stepson John McPherson: all his shares in the Puget Sound Land Co.
To Rev. Père André Marie Garin [Carin?], R. C.missionary at Albany, £100.
To his son Richard Edward, the rest, viz. property in the Twp. Of Rawdon, Co. of Leinster, Can. E., with “all houses and offices thereon . . . my household furniture, linen and wearing apparel boots horses carts and carriages and all cash, funds, and securities.”
Will of Thomas Corcoran, 25 Apr 1866, Rawdon, PQ, Canada.
See text.
- [S18] Ancestry.com, Family Trees on Ancestry.Com, (http://trees.ancestry.com), Gareau/Burns Family Tree, by Nicole Gareau (Reliability: 3).
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ABISHABIS (Small Eyes), Cree religious leader; d. 30 Aug. 1843 at Severn House (Fort Severn, Ont.).
In 1842 and 1843 a powerful religious movement spread rapidly among the Cree Indians between Fort Churchill (Man.) and the Moose River (Ont.). The meteoric rise and downfall of its principal prophet, Abishabis, are traceable in some detail in contemporary Hudson’s Bay Company post journals and correspondence and in the records of George Barnley, Methodist missionary at Moose Factory.
Unusual religious activity among the Crees was first recorded at Churchill and Severn in late 1842, coincident with the spreading influence of Methodist missionary James Evans, who had been based at Norway House (Man.) since 1840. On 4 Sept. 1842 John Cromartie at Severn, for example, noted that the Indians gathered there “have been a pest to me . . . with their psalm Singing and painting Books that has been all there occupation this three weeks Back.” On 15 September they were “doing nothing But Roaring and Singing night and day in place of hunting Geese.” By late October more Indians had assembled, “making the woods to Ring . . . with musick and at the Same time they have Empty Stomacks and I am afraid it will be the Case with them after this if they Continue as they have done all the Fall.”
On 6 Oct. 1842 Barnley at Moose Factory also encountered manifestations of religious excitement, this time linked explicitly with the activities of Evans. Two visiting Indians from Severn asked him to “decypher a piece of writing the work of an Indian . . . and the characters employed those of the Rev J Evans’ invention.” Unfamiliar at the time with Evans’s new syllabic writing system, Barnley failed, and thus may have enhanced the influence of those Crees who did grasp it. He later recorded how Abishabis and his associates elaborated their symbolic repertoire further with other texts and charts, and pictographs on wood.
The movement spread during the winter of 1842–43. Its strength was manifest at Fort Albany when the Indians gathered there in the spring. George Barnston*, officer in charge, thought it necessary to address his hunters on 8 June 1843 about Abishabis (who was being called Jesus Christ) and Wasiteck (“the Light”) “who they believe have been in heaven, and returned to bring blessings and Knowledge to their Brethren.” He asserted that “the Imposters . . . were assuming characters which were known to the Indians at first only by the preaching of the Missionaries” and that these leaders’ claims – notably, of being able to map the “Track to Heaven” with lines drawn on paper or wood – were false and “wiles of the Devil.” The Indians then told him they would give up “these foolish notions,” and a paper portraying the road to heaven was handed to Barnston for burning by “the priestess, an elderly woman who walked from York last fall.” The concern of Barnston and other HBC men about the movement was twofold: first, it distracted its converts from hunting furs so that the trade suffered; and second, some adherents reportedly were so absorbed by their new faith that they gave up all other activity and starved, as did one Albany Indian who, said Barnston, “depended on the Charts that he had in his possession, of the roads leading to Heaven and to hell for all his wants. On these unmeaning scratches – traced on wood or paper – . . . he did not cease to look from the moment he pitched his tent in the fall to the hour of his death.”
In mid 1843 the movement became less visible in the Churchill-York area, owing in part to HBC pressures against it. Abishabis himself was said to be losing influence. As a prophet, he had gathered “tithes of clothing, arms and ammunition” in great quantities from his followers, according to James Hargrave*. When, however, he also demanded five or six wives from them, “some giving their daughters and others being obliged to surrender their wives,” along with more goods, support weakened and during the spring of 1843 reports reached Hargrave at York Factory of his being “in a state of as great beggary as that from which he had at first arisen.”
In July 1843 Abishabis, alienated and desperate, murdered an Indian family in the York Factory area and stole their goods, evidently to support himself on a trip to his home district of Severn. He reached Severn House on 9 August and was put in irons three days later by John Cromartie; the local Indians, knowing of his crime, were “making Complaints that he was threatning them if they Did not Comply with his Requests in Giving him food &c and in fact they was afraid to leave Place while he was hear.” On 13 August he was allowed to escape, Cromartie hoping that he would “Leave the quarter when liberatted.” He left but briefly; on 28 August he was in custody again. On 30 August, three of his countrymen resolved to mete out their own justice to him; they dragged him from confinement, knocked his brains out with an axe, and burned the body on a nearby island, “to secure themselves against being haunted by a ‘windigo’” (a cannibalistic spirit associated with dangerous human beings).
In the Albany area his movement retained adherents through much of the next winter, especially among inland Indians unaware of his death. Thomas Corcoran, in charge at Albany, warned his colleagues at Moose Factory and Martin Falls (Ont.) to watch for its appearance and he complained to Governor Sir George Simpson* of its effects on his trade. Assured by Hargrave that the death of Abishabis had “entirely tranquilized the ferment” in the north, Simpson advised Corcoran that he now saw little cause for concern.
The movement was not forgotten, however, among the Crees. In February 1844, after an absence from Moose, Barnley returned to find the Indians under its “pernicious influence.” In August he heard that “The Severn system of folly and falsehood” was spreading among the Crees of the Eastmain (Que.). At Norway House, in the winter of 1847–48, the Reverend William Mason encountered a Cree, James Nanoo, who described himself as a minister ordained in the new faith. But Indian awareness of both HBC and missionary disapproval of the movement seems to have led most adherents to conceal their creative synthesis of Cree and Christian religion, and further written references are scarce. In the 1930s, however, anthropologist John Montgomery Cooper found that his Moose Factory informants had vivid oral traditions about the movement. Its expressed meaning, though, had been modified. They recollected nothing about Barnley, first missionary at Moose, except his surname and credited Abishabis and his associates with introducing them to Christianity.
Jennifer S. H. Brown
PAC, MG 19, A21, James Hargrave corr., Robert Harding to Hargrave, 23 June 1843; MG 24, J40 (mfm.). PAM, HBCA, B.3/a/148: f.22; 149: f.30; B.3/b/70: 9–10, 19, 27, 45; B.42/a/177: ff.3, 6, 17; B.198/a/84: ff.9–10, 13; 85: ff.5–6, 8, 13; B.239/a/157: f.50; 163: f.4; D.5/9: ff.308–9. SOAS, Methodist Missionary Soc. Arch., Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Soc., corr., Canada, William Mason, “Extracts from my journal,” 1847–48 (mfm. at UCC-C). UWOL, Regional Coll., James Evans papers. J. S. H. Brown, “The track to heaven: the Hudson’s Bay Cree religious movement of 1842–1843,” Papers of the thirteenth Algonquian conference, ed. William Cowan (Ottawa, 1982), 53–63. J. S. Long, “‘Shaganash’: early Protestant missionaries and the adoption of Christianity by the Western James Bay Cree, 1840–1893” S.C. ed. thesis, Univ. of Toronto, 1986). J. M. Cooper, “The Northern Algonquian Supreme Being,” Primitive Man (Washington), 6 (1933): 41–111. N. J. Williamson, “Abishabis the Cree,” Studies in Religion (Waterloo, Ont.), 9 (1980): 217–41.
© 2000 University of Toronto/Université Laval
Last updated: 2005-05-02
Moose Factory, Ontario
See text.
- [S116] Ancestry.com, Census of Canada, 1851, (Database on line, 1851 Census of Canada East, Canada West, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia.
Note - enumeration form numbers lines 23 and 24 as line 24 (repeated).), Image 53 of 93, indiv 39 (Reliability: 3).
Trader. Age 55, born Ireland.
- [S25] Parroissioux de St-Patrice de Rawdon, Registres Parroissioux de St-Patrice de Rawdon, (FamilySearch.org. Québec Catholic Parish Registers, 1621-1900. Database online, with images of original parish registers.), Vol III, S-4, film frame 164, Microfilm #1293145. (Reliability: 3).
- [S25] Parroissioux de St-Patrice de Rawdon, Registres Parroissioux de St-Patrice de Rawdon, (FamilySearch.org. Québec Catholic Parish Registers, 1621-1900. Database online, with images of original parish registers.), Vol III, p , S-4, film frame, Microfilm #1293145. (Reliability: 3).
Witnesses were Alexander Daly and Michael Rowan.
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