Companion family matriarch Marie (Brake) Companion joins a long list of maternal Mi’kmaq women of the same maternal line (mtDNA).

mtDNA testing of ancestral women across Newfoundland has continued under our unofficial project to determine the maternal lines of our earliest female ancestors. This includes figuring out if our maternal women are related to each other. 

To understand a bit about mtDNA testing, you have to understand that on the basic level, it is DNA found in the mitochondria of the cell that is specifically passed from mother to child. To test for mtDNA of a specific ancestor, it has to be a direct unbroken female line (your mother’s mother’s mother etc.). For earlier articles on this Mi’kmaq line please see the following links: Blanchard & Taylor of the South Coast, The Moulton Connection & Fortune Bay mtDNA. 

Marie (Brake) Companion

Marie or Mary Brake was born about 1848 according to the 1921 Census of Innismara (Woods Island) in the Bay of Islands. There is some debate over her parentage as some believe she was the daughter of Joseph & Mary Brake who both died in 1850, while others believe she was of James & Susanna Brake. There is actually a baptism record for a Mary Brake of James & Susanna in 1849 by the traveling Bishop Feild, while he only baptized a daughter Elizabeth at the same time for Joseph & Mary.

Either way oral history has maintained Marie was of Mi’kmaq descent and thus this could now be in combination from Brake matriarch Jane (Matthews) Brake and through her new DNA-discovered maternal line. Some stories passed down have that Marie was raised in a wigwam in the Bay of Islands.

In 1867, Marie became the second wife of well known early Bay of Islands settler Jean Prosper Companion. He was considerably older than her and together they had many children whom joined his children from his first marriage.

Jean Prosper unfortunately passed just 18 years into their marriage and family stories have it that Marie struggled after his death. Thankfully, it seems she was a survivor and lived till her late 70s, passing away on Woods Island on November 24th, 1925. 

Maternal Line Continues to Grow

Without clear confirmation of Marie’s parentage it is difficult to determine how she fits into these lines. It could be that her maternal line goes back the large families of Blanchard or Park already living in the Bay of Islands or another Mi’kmaq ancestor. When mtDNA testing Marie through her descendant we did not expect this result but it certainly makes the line even more interesting for descendants of hers.

Stay tuned for more mtDNA testing updates. If you would like to test your mtDNA you can do so at FamilyTreeDNA. Remember you are testing your own mother’s mother’s mother’s line. So if you want to test a maternal ancestor not on that line you will have to test a cousin of yours that fits the bill.