Alexander Henry
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not to be confused with Alexander Henry (the younger) d. 22 May 1814, who was also a fur-trader, and the nephew of this Alexander Henry.
Alexander Henry (August 1739 – April 4, 1824) was a fur trader and entrepreneur.
Born in New Brunswick, New Jersey in what was then British North America, he became a fur-trader at Fort Michilimackinac (Mackinac, Michigan) in 1761. Captured by Native Americans in 1763 in connection with the operations unleashed by Pontiac, he was rescued by Wawatam, an Ottawa, who had adopted him as a brother.
In 1764 he took part in Colonel John Bradstreet's expedition and in 1770, with Sir William Johnson, the duke of Gloucester and others, he formed a company to mine copper in the Lake Superior region. Henry was a fur-trader again until 1796 and then became a merchant in Montreal, Quebec in Canada where he lived until his passing in 1824.
His Travels and Adventures in Canada and the Indian Territories between the Years 1760 and 1776 (1809; reprinted 1901) is a valuable account of the fur trade and of his adventures at Michilimackinac.
He should not be confused with his nephew of the same name, also a fur-trader, whose journal was published in 1897 in 3 vols., as New Light on the Early History of the Greater Northwest.
For Alexander Henry, Scottish gunsmith, see Alexander Henry (gunsmith)
External links
- Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online (http://www.biographi.ca/EN/ShowBio.asp?BioId=37033)