(23 March 1871-20 Sept. 1950), political figure. Born at St- Rédempteur, Que. Parents: Napoleon Seguin and his wife Dorimene Vallee. In 1881 his family moved to the Glen Robertson area of GC, where Gilbert Seguin was a resident throughout the remainder of his life. In Dec. 1931 he was elected reeve of Lochiel Township for the year 1932, defeating the well-known storekeeper Johnny Archie McCrimmon. (Glengarry News 4 & 11 Dec. 1931) Gilbert Seguin was re-elected as reeve for 1933, again defeating the same opponent, and was acclaimed as reeve for 1934. (GN 2 & 9 Dec. 1932, 1 Dec. 1933) Altogether, Gilbert Seguin was reeve for the six years from 1932 to 1937 inclusive, the central years of the Great Depression in GC. Gilbert Seguin ran the carefully-managed, severely-economical government expected by the GC voters of the time, but he found opportunity to promote a special cause of his, the betterment of the Lochiel portion of GC’s undeniably bad roads. He was a strong advocate of the use of concrete and steel for repairing or replacing GC’s many wooden bridges. (Standard Freeholder 3 March 1937) An articulate man, he sometimes published letters in the press stating his opinions and reporting on his achievements as reeve. His family of Seguins belonged to the small minority of GC French Canadians who were Protestants. Gilbert Seguin was an elder from 1919 to 1949 at the “Round Church,” Dalhousie Mills (at first a Presbyterian elder but a United Church elder after Church Union). In 1975, it was noted that his great-grandson belonged to the fifth generation of the Seguins to be christened in the Round Church. (Glengarry News 28 Aug. 1975) Gilbert Seguin was married in Sept. 1905 to Elizabeth Lois Hambleton (1874-1949). (two children surviving him) He died in Cornwall General Hospital. See also William C. Sylvester.

Glengarry News 22 Sept. 1950 * A History of St. Andrews United Church, Dalhousie Mills, Glengarry County, Ontario: “The Round Church” (1991?) 28 * gravestone, Round Church cemetery * biog. sketch of Gilbert Seguin, repr. GN 16 July 1937 from Ottawa Citizen * letters Gilbert Seguin to GN: 4 Jan. 1929 (criticizing Johnny Archie McCrimmon’s work as reeve), 1 Dec. 1933 (intention to collect taxes, be firm with relief claimants), 10 July 1936 (on San project, SDG roads), 7 Jan. 1938 (on his six years as reeve) * letter Gilbert Seguin to Standard Freeholder 4 March 1933 * MacMaster 235, 238 * Sherrill MacLaren, Braehead (1986) 252 (anecdote about marriage of his sister?) * defeated as candidate for reeve of Lochiel, GN 30 Nov. & 7 Dec. 1945