John Christian Schultz (1840 - 1896)

Born 1 Jan 1840 in Amherstburg, Essex County, Upper Canada

Died 13 Apr 1896 at age 56 in Monterrey, Mexico

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Michel Pilcic [send private message]

Early life

John Schultz is Notable.

Birth

John Christian Schultz was born in Amherstburg, Upper Canada (Ontario) on January 1, 1840. He was the son of William Ludwig Schultz and Elizabeth Reily.

Suspect beginnings

John liked to tell people he attended Oberlin College, Victoria University, Cobourg, and claimed to have graduated from Queen’s University at Kingston.

Oberlin has no record of his attendance. He attended one term at Victoria, and two terms at Queen’s, but received no degree.

There's no evidence of his having received a medical degree or having been licensed by Victoria University, as he had claimed.

life in the Red River Settlement

Arrival

In 1861 John went to Fort Garry to visit his half-brother, Henry McKenney. Soon after his arrival, he advertised in the Nor’Wester as a “Physician and Surgeon.” According to Archbishop Matheson, Schultz was the first doctor in the community to undertake major surgery in his attempt to save the life of John H. Sutherland.

Marriage

John married Agnes Campbell Farquharson, daughter of James Farquharson, agitator in St. Boniface, Rupert's Land on September 11, 1867.

Arrests/escapes from custody

January 7, 1868, John was jailed for resisting a sheriff. Eleven days later, with the help of a party led by his wife, he escaped from the gaol.

When Louis Riel formed his Provisional government in 1869, Schultz played a leading role in the opposition to it. In December 1869 he and other Orangemen defending his home were captured by Métis officers of the provisional government and imprisoned at Upper Fort Garry. John again escaped with his wife’s assistance.

Shortly after he began to organize opposition to Riel and his government, eventually leaving the Red River for eastern Canada, via Minnesota, where he helped organize Ontario agitation against the Métis for the murder of Thomas Scott.

He returned to Manitoba in September 1870, and received a substantial sum for losses which occurred during the rebellion.

Freemason and politician

From Red River to Manitoba

John was the leader of the pro-Canadian party in the Red River Settlement, and one of the founders of the Masonic Lodge in Winnipeg. In 1867 he was found unacceptable as a councillor of Assiniboia.

John was defeated in the December 1870 Manitoba election in the riding of Winnipeg - St. John's. Subsequently, he was elected as a Conservative to represent the riding of Lisgar, MB in the House of Commons in 1871, 1872, 1874 and 1878.

After his defeat in the 1882 election to A. W. Ross, on September 23rd of the same year, he was called to represent Manitoba in the Canadian Senate. That is until he was appointed as Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba on July 1, 1888. He served in that role for 7 years, but resigned on September 1, 1895, due to health concerns.

Sir John Christian Schultz

John was knighted in 1894 as Knight Commander of St. Michael and St. George.

Death

John passed away in Monterrey, Mexico on April 13, 1896^[1] an extremely wealthy man thanks to his real-estate holdings and the wealth he and others pilfered from settlers in the Red River Colony, by way of land speculation and other shady dealings.

Extremely flawed character

• Excerpt taken from Manitoba Historical Society biography of John Christian Schultz 1840-1896; by Gordon Goldborough:

John Schultz is a fascinating and contradictory character, who played a central role in the founding of Manitoba and had great influence in shaping the young province.

Lady Aberdeen, the wife of the Governor General, recorded during a visit to Winnipeg in 1895 that Schultz and his wife had been “intensely unpopular,” and Sheriff Colin Inkster, on reading the complimentary description on Schultz’s tombstone, remarked, “What a pity we knew him.”

The source of this bad feeling can be found in Schultz’s attitudes and actions during his early days in Red River when he was the aggressive and single-minded leader of those who advocated the acquisition of the Northwest by Canada.

His antagonism toward and opposition to Riel’s government are well known to anyone familiar with the Resistance of 1869-1870. What is not so generally known about him is the gradual softening of his attitudes later in life.

Contributions to Manitoba

Although he expressed some regrets in later life, John profited from, and helped cement, the policies of institutionalized racism aimed at indigenous peoples, and associated bigotry towards Franco-Manitobans that still exists to this day across the prairies.

Sources

1. ↑ "Mexico, Select Deaths, 1680-1940", Original data: Mexico, Deaths, 1680-1940. Salt Lake City, Utah: FamilySearch, 2013; FHL Film Number: 670861, Ancestry ca Record 9298 #174134 (accessed 10 December 2023), John Schultz death 13 Apr 1896 (age 46), son of William Schultz & Elizabeth Riley, in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico.

See also:

• Clark, Lovell, Schultz, John Christian Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Toronto: University of Toronto/Université Laval (1990, 2003) Volume 12. Accessed April 24, 2022.
• Wikipedia: John Christian Schultz

• Manitoba Historical Society: John Christian Schultz (1840-1896) Freemason, Merchant, Unlicensed Physician

• https://themanitoban.com/2023/10/its-almost-winnipegs-150-but-we-really-shouldnt-be-celebrating/45809/

• Manitoba Historical Society James Farquharson, Agent and Agitator

• Find a Grave (has image), Find A Grave: Memorial #16763763 (accessed 10 December 2023), Memorial page for Sir John Christian Schultz (1 Jan 1840-13 Apr 1896), citing Saint John's Anglican Cathedral Cemetery, Winnipeg, Greater Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada (plot: Sec K - north); Maintained by JC (contributor 46812044).