Jean-Moïse Raymond

Jean-Moïse Raymond (January 5, 1787 – February 8, 1843) was a businessman, militia officer and political figure in Lower Canada, and briefly in Canada East (now Quebec), in the Province of Canada. He was active in a family business inherited from his father, and also served in the Lower Canada militia during the War of 1812, at the Battle of the Châteauguay. As a member of the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada, he was critical of British government of the province, voting in favour of the Ninety-Two Resolutions, which set out a detailed list of problems with the government. He opposed the union of Lower Canada with Upper Canada. Following the union of those two provinces into the Province of Canada, he was elected to the Legislative Assembly of the new province, but resigned his seat after only one year to take a government appointment. He died in 1843.

Family and early life Raymond was born in La Tortue (later Saint-Mathieu) in 1787, the son of Jean-Baptiste Raymond, who was likely of Huguenot ancestry. The Raymond family later moved to La Prairie. Jean-Moïse studied at the Collège Saint-Raphaël in Montreal. In 1810, he married Archange Denaut, daughter of a local merchant in La Prairie, but their infant daughter died in 1812 and his wife Archange in 1813. In 1815, he married a second time, to Angélique Leroux, the daughter of Laurent Leroux, who was a very wealthy businessman. The couple had thirteen children, of whom nine lived to adulthood.

His family was active in politics: His father was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada, for Huntingdon county; His father-in-law, Laurent Leroux, was also a member of the Lower Canada Assembly, for Leinster county; His daughter Marie-Clotilde married Tancrède Sauvageau, who was the member of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada for Huntingdon from 1848 to 1851; Another daughter, Hermine, married Jean-Baptiste Varin, who followed Sauvageau as the member for Huntingdon from 1851 to 1854; His brother-in-law, Joseph Masson, was a member of the Legislative Council of Lower Canada; His nephew, Louis-François-Rodrigue Masson, served in the Canadian House of Commons, the Senate, and the Legislative Council of Quebec, and was lieutenant-governor of Quebec. Another nephew, Édouard Masson, was a member of the Legislative Council of the Province of Canada.

Business career By 1810, Raymond had entered his father's business in manufacturing and the sale of goods. His father was disabled from injuries sustained as a young boy on a fur-trading expedition, and became chronically ill. He was named justice of the peace for Montreal district and also served as school inspector. Raymond was not a radical, however, and does not appear to have supported those who took up arms against the provincial government in the Lower Canada Rebellion.

The Union Act came into force in early 1841. The first general election was held that spring and Raymond stood for election in the Leinster electoral district in the new Legislative Assembly. He was elected unopposed. In the first session, Raymond voted against the union of the Canadas and generally opposed the Governor General, Lord Sydenham. He was part of the informal Groupe canadien-français.

Resignation and death Raymond did not sit in the subsequent sessions of the first Parliament. He resigned his seat effective January 1, 1842 to become District Registrar for Leinster County, possibly for financial reasons. In 1843, he suffered a short but violent illness and died in Saint-Jacques-de-l'Achigan.