Cameron, John Dugald

  • DICTIONARY OF CANADIAN BIOGRAPHY ARTICLE: Sylvia Van Kirk, “CAMERON, JOHN DUGALD,” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 8, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–. https://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/cameron_john_dugald_8E.html
  • DCB profile notes:
    • Fur trader; b. c. 1777 in the province of Quebec; d. 30 March 1857 in Grafton, Upper Canada.
    • John Dugald Cameron was probably born in the loyalist town of Sorel, Quebec, where his family settled while his father fought for the British during the American revolution. Little is known of his upbringing, except that his education was minimal. In January 1794 he followed in the footsteps of his brother Ranald and entered the fur trade, signing on with David and Peter Grant, and by the following year he was a clerk for the North West Company. He served for more than a decade in the Nipigon country (Ont.), during which time he married à la façon du pays an Ojibwa woman, who was later baptized Mary. Cameron undoubtedly owed much of his fluency in Ojibwa and his outstanding skill as an “Indian Trader” to the aid and influence of his wife.
    • John Dugald Cameron had a distinguished fur-trade career, being widely admired by colleagues and Indians alike for his integrity, affability, and generosity. Simpson, with whom he maintained a warm correspondence, described him as “a very good well meaning steady man.” Of abiding religious faith, Cameron also thirsted for knowledge and largely educated himself by reading “almost every Book that ever came within his reach.” Finally, he was a devoted family man, remaining loyal to his Indian wife during a time of increasing racial prejudice and showing considerable concern for the education of his children, of whom there were at least four sons and three daughters.
  • Son of United Empire Loyalist listed in Loyalist Directory: https://uelac.ca/loyalist-directory/detail/?wpda_search_column_id=1167
  • Find A Grave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/142190872/john-dougald-cameron