Joseph Gerrior (1867 - 1949)

Born 3 May 1867 in Larrys River, Guysborough, Nova Scotia, Canada

Ancestors

Died 20 Jan 1949 at age 81 in Lundy, Guysborough, Guysborough, Nova Scotia, Canada

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Judith Jordan [send private message]

Biography

Joseph Gerrior was born on 3 May, 1867, at Torbay, Guysborough County, Nova Scotia, to Joseph, Fisherman, and Anne Gerrior (Gerrior-80 and Avery-8290)^[1].

At the time of the 1871 Census, Joseph Girrior, 4, was living at Molasses Harbour (Larry's River), Guysborough, Nova Scotia with his parents, Joseph, 51, Labourer, and Nancey, 48, brother Simon, 25, Fisherman, and his wife Mary, 21 (married within the last 12 months), and siblings Peter, 22, Fisherman, Hubert, 16, Lawerance, 12, Mary, 9, and Catherine, 6^[2]. According to the Census, none of the adults over 20 could read or write.

At the time of the 1881 Census, Joseph Gerroir Jr., 14, was living at Larry's River, Guysborough County, Nova Scotia, with his parents, Joseph, 59, Farmer, and Nancy, 60, and siblings Mary, 19, and Catherine, 16^[3]. Brother Simon and his family were living next door, and brother Lawrence and his family next door to him. Next door to Lawrence was the family of William Petitpas.

Joseph Gerrior married Margaret Petitpas ca. 1894, and they had 4 children (that we know of):

• Nancy Jean, born 1895;
• Daniel Thomas, born 20 August, 1900;
• Peter Henry, born 1905; and
• Marie Gertrude, born 1907.

Joseph was widowed for the second time on 20 November, 1909.

He died on 20 January, 1949, at Lundy, Guysborough, Nova Scotia, and was buried in St. Peter's Church Cemetery in Larrys River, Guysborough, Nova Scotia^[4][5].

Joseph's Find a Grave Memorial Page reads:

Son of Joseph Simon Gerrior and Nancy Avery. Husband of 1) Angelique DeCoste, 2) Margaret "Maggie" Petitpas and 3) Sophie Anne DeGruchy.

Guide Joe Gerrior dies at 83

The sole remaining link with the late days of the last century when New Glasgow sportsmen first forsook their firesides for the Guysboro lakes and forests, died at his home at Lundy on January 20, according to reports received by friends. Eighty-three years old Joseph Gerrior, who served grandfathers and fathers of the present generation as fishing and hunting guide, died from sudden heart attack.

Stories of Joe Gerrior have been told in New Glasgow for sixty years by sportsmen wherever sportsmen are gathered. It was Joe who knew the best pools, the best weather, the best bait, the best time of day, for luring fish to creel from the myriad of lakes that attracted town dwellers by the score in summer months. It was Joe who was the best moose caller, it was Joe that knew the trails through the moose swamps and across the barrens, and Joe who knew where the deer were hiding in the hunting season. In the summer and fall of '48 he was still rowing fishing parties on the lakes and guiding hunters through the Guysboro woods. His patrons parted with him, with the promise they would be back next year, a farewell given to Joe Gerrior, for somewhere between fifty to sixty years.

Descent of Acadian stock, all his life was lived in the Lundy district. In winter he trapped, fished, sometimes cut pulp and timber. Spring, summer and fall he was in the woods and on the lakes, a handy man around the camp betimes, cook and bottle washer: he could patch a leaky boat, portage a canoe, make a raft, fix a broken rod, take apart and put together a bulky gun, while his clients from town were arguing what to do next. He could, and did when asked to, shepherd mixed parties through the delights of July mosquitoes and November frosts, and for the lame and lazy carried their packs and his own.

Thrice married, he is survived by his wife and six children. Quietly, at his home, death came unexpectedly. Interment was in his own Guysboro soil.

-From "Acadian Awakenings," by William D. Gerrior

Research Notes

Profiles need to be created for or linked to for Joseph's first and third wives and missing 2 children, once found. Links on Family Search lead to further Censuses, birth and marriage records for children.

Sources

1. ↑ "Canada, Nova Scotia Births, 1864-1877", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:W99Z-HP3Z : 15 July 2021), Joseph Gerroir, 1867.
2. ↑ Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa. Search Results: Census Year: 1871; Item Number: 2024260; Surname: Girrior; Given Name(s): Joseph; Age: 4; Province: Nova Scotia; District Name: Guysborough; Sub-District Name: Molasses Harbour; View digitized page of Census of Canada, 1871 for Image No.: 4396671_00456 [[1]] and Image No.: 4396671_00457 [[2]]
3. ↑ "Canada Census, 1881," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MV62-153 : 2 March 2021), Joseph Gerroir Jr in household of Joseph Gerroir, Larrys River, Guysborough, Nova Scotia, Canada; from "1881 Canadian Census." Database with images. Ancestry. (www.ancestry.com : 2008); citing Joseph Gerroir, citing Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa, Ontario.
4. ↑ "Canada, Nova Scotia Vital Records, 1763-1957," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KMLK-1NY : 8 December 2014), Joseph Gerrior, 1949, Death; citing p. 1206, volume 1949, Lundy, Guysborough, Nova Scotia, Canada; Nova Scotia Archives, Halifax.
5. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/160963574/joseph-gerrior : accessed 04 July 2022), memorial page for Joseph “Joe” Gerrior (3 May 1867–20 Jan 1949), Find a Grave Memorial ID 160963574, citing Saint Peter's Church Cemetery, Larrys River, Guysborough County, Nova Scotia, Canada ; Maintained by Diane (contributor 47878506) .