John askin biography

ASKIN (Erskine), JOHN, fur trader, merchant, office holder, and militia officer; b. 1739 in Aughnacloy (Northern Ireland), son of James Askin, a shopkeeper, and Alice Rea (Rae); d. 1815 in Sandwich (Windsor), Upper Canada.

According to family tradition, the Askins were related to John Erskine, 23rd Earl of Mar, whose unsuccessful revolt in 1715 forced some of the family to move to Ireland from Scotland.

John Askin came to North America in 1758 and was a sutler with the British army at Albany, N.Y. Following the capitulation of New France he entered the western fur trade and formed a series of partnerships, the most notable of which included Major Robert Rogers*.

Bankrupted by Pontiac*’s uprising of 1763, the firm was dissolved, but Askin was not cleared of his debts until 1771.

John askin biography wikipedia

Meanwhile, some time in the mid 1760s Askin had moved to Michilimackinac (Mackinaw City, Mich.). He ran a trading store in the settlement, was commissary for the garrison, and farmed. It w