Some notes and to-do tasks for myself, provided as-is—they may or may not make sense, or be useful, to other people.

FIXME: The table of contents is too long. I need to split this page into two.

dit names

When identifying someone by an alternate name, dit should be thought of as meaning "called," and it indicates a kind of nickname that eventually became formal. A good explanation for this custom can be found at "dit" Names. As the page explains, a dit name could become a last name for one generation, which then might or might not be retained by the next generations. A perfect example is Pierre Vallée, discussed in Our Ancestors Pierre and Jean Vallée: born Vallée, he became known as "La Vallée," a surname his son Charles adopted. But Charles' own children dropped the "La" to return to the original family name.

Useful Resources

Center for French Colonial Studies

Many-Roads.com - Researching Nouvelle France (New France)

Hard-to-Find Sources

Here are some PDF versions of some useful sources on Upper Louisiana history.

Belting, Natalia Maree (1945), Kaskaskia Under the French Regime.

Lankford, George E. (1995). Almost 'Illinark': The French Presence in Northeast Arkansas.

Reyling, August (1963). Historical Kaskaskia.

Alvord, Clarence Walworth, ed. (1909). Kaskaskia Records (1778-1790).

Gregory M. Franzwa, The Story of Old Ste. Genevieve

Impossible-to-Find Sources

Lucille Basler: Pioneers of Old Sainte Genevieve

Helen Valle Crist: They Was Frenchmans

French Orthography

French Wikipedia's article on French Orthography

The spelling of words is largely based on the pronunciation of Old French c. 1100–1200 AD, and has stayed more or less the same since then, despite enormous changes to the pronunciation of the language in the intervening years. Modern French spelling was codified in the late 17th century by the Académie française, based largely on previously established spelling conventions.

This means that in French the ubiquitous final silent "s" occurs on words where the "s" used to be pronounced, but became silent over time. From my reading in linguistics I am pretty sure that, during the transition away from pronouncing the "s" you would have had some speakers using one while others used the other—or even some speakers using both, possibly depending on the social context.

This could shed some light on some issues on the AuBuchon pages.

  • Confusion over the writing of the French ancestors' home town in Saint-Saëns and the Vallée Families.
  • There is evidence on the The Janis Line, Pt. 1 page that the final "s" in Janis can be pronounced or silent. To wit: Tanguay says that "Gany" is an alternate spelling of Janis (meaning it would end in a silent "s"), but historical documents have both Janice and Jannice as alternate spellings of Janis (meaning the "s" would be pronounced).
  • In the church records on that same page, there is great inconsistency in the spelling of marraine and parrain (godmother and godfather). Is that because the missionary priests sent to New France were bad spellers? Or was it because, in the 18th Century, the number of "r"s was optional—in the way that grey is a valid variant of gray in English? But if French spelling has "stayed more or less the same since" the 12th Century, then the spelling of these words was probably not optional in the 18th Century. Ergo, the French Jesuit priests sent over to the New World were not always very well educated.

French Roots

Notes on "Our Ancestors Pierre and Jean Vallée"

The Original and a Rival English Translation

Here are some notes on Les ancêtres Pierre et Jean Vallée.

One concern I have with this webpage is that it has the ambiance of the kind of website that might sooner rather than later go down—it seems to be implemented with very basic HTML, for example. For this reason I provide a link to a PDF version of the webpage here. The .pdf file has some dicey links, but it's better than nothing.

Here's Norm Léveillée's English translation, which is no longer on the Internet.

In case I one day decide to remove the link above, you can view Norm Léveillée's translation by going to the Wayback Machine, a database of old web pages. Follow these steps:

  1. Go to https://web.archive.org.
  2. Paste this URL into the search bar:
    • http://www.leveillee.net/ancestry/AncetresPierreJeanVallee.htm
  3. It should open up to a calendar for the last backup of this website, in 2020. Hover your cursor over the last date, Feb. 17, 2020, and in the window that appears click on "10:16:13".
  4. This should bring you to the old webpage. The only thing missing are the images, and those are in the original French version.

The Crossing to America

Regarding Pierre and Jean's crossing of the Atlantic, Maurice Vallée's article has:

Our research hypothesis is that the Brothers Vallée embarked at Dieppe for New France during the summer of 1657 on one of ships commanded by Captain Poullet and financed by the merchants of Rouen, the Saint-Sebastien, and they did this in the company of Charles LeFrançois from Muchedent.

The author doesn't explain what makes him pose this as a research hypothesis. How did he come up with the name of the captain, the ship, and one specific passenger?

Naturally, as soon as I got the chance I was googling key words from this paragraph. But nothing came of it. Or almost nothing.

At https://web.ncf.ca/et116/r116x14.htm I found what looks like the notes of a genealogist-wannabe like myself. They seem somewhat disorganized, which I hope is not the way these notes appear to my readers (assuming I have any). The following come from a page that would seem to be someone's notes from a ... diary perhaps? Originally in French?

1656
Kabec, 6 ships arrived, the Rene at 80 tonnage, the Taureau at 150 tonnage captain Rlie Tadourneau, the Fortune at 100 tonnage captain Elie Raymont, the Saint Sebastin captain Guillaume and Jean Poulet and 2 unknown ships.

1657 August 20: Kabec, the ship Armes d'Amsterdam at 250 tonnage arrives with captain Jacob Gilles, the Saint Sebastien captain Guillaume and Jean Poulet and at least one ship unknamed..

1658 Kebec, 5 ships arrived, the Saint Joseph at 350 tonnage captain Fabien Marot, the Taureau at 150 tonnage captain Elie Tadourneau, the Prince Guillaume at 200 tonnage captain Jacques Jamain, the Saint Sebastien captain Guillaume et Jean Poulet and the Sacrifice d'Abraham at 300 tonnage pilopt Pierre Boileau and captain Elie Raymond.

At https://www.acadian.org/history/regiment-de-carignan-salieres/:

  • The page mentions Poulet and the Saint-Sebastian but not together.

Searching for "LeFrançois" Muchedent was a little more satisfying.

  • This link reassures me that he once existed, but there's nothing about the ship he crossed on: https://ancestors.familysearch.org/en/LY6R-HFG/charles-lefrançois-1626-1700
  • This page from My LeFrancois pioneering ancestors briefly mentions his crossing:

  • A pioneer of New France, Charles was a boyhood friend ofanother pioneer Romain Trepanier in France. At 30 years old he decided to go and find his friend in Nouvelle France at Beaupre. History first finds him in Canada as a witness at Pierre Tremblay's wedding on the 19 Sep 1657. On 2 Feb 1660, Charles was confirmed by the Mgr. of Laval.

  • I cannot find any link between him and the Saint-Sebastien.

Map of New France

Here's a map, which may one day be of service to my genealogy website.

New France, 16th-18th Centuries (Encyclopedia Brittanica)
New France, 16th-18th Centuries (Encyclopedia Brittanica)


Upper Louisiana and François Vallé

John Reynolds

In and around Chapter XII, John Reynolds in his autobiography devotes a lot of space to summarizing the Creole culture.

Further Research

Jeannie M. Whayne, ed: Cultural Encounters: Indians and Europeans in Arkansas

Natalia Maree Belting: Kaskaskia Under the French Regime

Allan Greer: The People of New France

M. J. Morgan: Land of Big Rivers: French & Indian Illinois 1699-1778

Carl J. Ekberg: French Roots in the Illinois Country: The Mississippi Frontier in Colonial Times

Robert Englebert and Guillaume Teasdale: French and Indians in the Heart of North America, 1630-1815

Washington Irvine: Three Western Narratives (p. 88)

Pre-American history of the Vallés:

  • http://www.leveillee.net/ancestry/AncetresPierreJeanVallee.htm

Sophi White, Wild Frenchmen and Frenchified Indians: Material Culture and Race in Colonial Louisiana, 2012

  • Referenced in Tiya Miles.

  • https://books.google.com/books/about/Wild_Frenchmen_and_Frenchified_Indians.html?id=Mm03mQEACAAJ&hl=en

  • "Based on a sweeping range of archival, visual, and material evidence, Wild Frenchmen and Frenchified Indians examines perceptions of Indians in French colonial Louisiana and demonstrates that material culture—especially dress—was central to the elaboration of discourses about race."

  • "French officials had effectively admitted defeat of their policy by the time Louisiana became a province of New France in 1682. But it was here, in Upper Louisiana, that proponents of French-Indian intermarriage finally claimed some success with Frenchification. For supporters, proof of the policy's success lay in the appearance and material possessions of Indian wives and daughters of Frenchmen."

Anton J. Pregaldin, "Genealogies of the French Settlers in the Mississippi River Valley

  • Most comprehensive and accurate, according to Ekberg (p.29).

Robert Englebert and Bronwyn Craig, "La conquête, la liberté et l’adaptation franco-américaine au Pays des Illinois, 1778-1787"

Il est surprenant de constater le peu d’attention qui est accordée à la population créole française au Pays des Illinois par les spécialistes de la Révolution américaine. L’historiographie se fixe en grande partie sur les Américains comme George Rogers Clark, ainsi que sur les victoires et les défaites militaires. Cette piste historiographique anglo-centriste et chauvine marginalise les autres, c’est-à-dire les Autochtones et les francophones, en donnant du poids au mythe fondateur et nationaliste des États-Unis. Quelques-unes des rares enquêtes qui se penchent sur les Créoles dépeignent la disparition supposée de la population francophone au Pays des Illinois. Par exemple, l’étude de Clarence Alvord, au début du XXe siècle, souligne qu’une vague d’immigration américaine, dont la révolution marque le début, met fin aux communautés créoles. Un peu plus nuancé, Carl Ekberg déduit que la domination éventuelle des États-Unis se confirma avec le contrôle américain de la farine créole destinée à La Nouvelle-Orléans pendant les années 1770 et 1780.

It is surprising to witness the paucity of attention given to the French Creole population in the Illinois Country by specialists of the American Revolution. The historiography focuses for the most part either on Americans such as George Rogers Clark or on military victories and defeats. This chauvinistic, anglo-centric mind-set marginalizes others, specifically the indigenous people of North America as well as the French-speaking population, while giving weight to the nationalistic founding myths of the United States. Some rare research covering the Creole population does explore the "disappearance" of the francophones from the Illinois Country. For example, a study by Clarence Alvord at the start of the 20th century, makes the case that a wave of American immigration, of which the Revolution marked the beginning, put an end to the Creole communities. A little more nuanced, Carl Ekberg deduces that the eventual domination of the United States was solidified with American control of the wheat destined for New Orleans during the 1770s.

Alice of Old Vincennes

  • http://www.gutenberg.org/files/4097/4097-h/4097-h.htm
  • The preface mentions “Gaspard Roussillon's letter,” which inspired her romance. Find this letter.
    • https://greatpenformances.wordpress.com/2011/11/12/alice-of-old-vincennes/
  • There’s a chapter on Father Gibault
    • http://www.gutenberg.org/files/4097/4097-h/4097-h.htm#chap05
    • Compare to Ekberg’s account
    • His statue at the national park: https://www.nps.gov/media/photo/gallery.htm?id=942C3356-D3CA-87A9-ABF314AF81E3F2F6
    • He also appears in Alberts.

Disorganized To-Do List

  • "Almost 'Illinark': The French Presence in Northeast Arkansas," by George E. Lankford, in Cultural Encounters: Indians and Europeans in Arkansas, edited by Jeannie M. Whayne
    • This is the article I quote re Jean Baptiste Janis
    • Can’t find on Arkansas University Press website.
    • Put into Amazon queue, $6.95
    • Trying to find the books referenced in this article in the Kaskaskia Under the French pdf/book:
      • Tanguay is mentioned many times; Ekberg not once.
    • Try WorldCat library resource, or ask at library.
  • John Henry Sander as Johann Heinrich
    • Kristi’s posting has Johan
  • New Vallee page using Ekberg book.
    • Tree from his parents/grandparents to Mom.
    • First section of Ekberg gives picture of conditions in France.
  • Louis Sedilot
    • See Wikipedia article.
  • Civil War prisoner
    • https://www.civilwar.org/learn/articles/ancestor-research-guide
  • Emma Lewis Coleman: New England Captives Carried to Canada Between 1677 and 1760
  • https://books.google.com/books?id=UoBIBs9HiW8C
  • Search for names in family tree here.
    • Dominique Thaumur, master surgeon
  • Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Archambault
  • Ekberg article: “Agriculture, "Mentalités", and Violence on the Illinois Frontier”
    • https://www.jstor.org/stable/40192931?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents
    • French less prone to violence than Anglo-Americans.
  • Kaskaskia Under the French
    • Looking for names in Ahnentafel report that are mentioned in book.
    • Started at Margurrite Sédiolot and went backward.
    • p. 84: July I. Dominique La Source, son of Jean Baptiste La Source, ancien officier de milice, and Frangoise Rivard, and Elisabeth Aubuchon, daughter of Antoine Aubuchon and Elisabeth de Launay.
      • Jean Baptiste = Jean Baptiste Thaumur
      • Elisabeth de Launay = Elisabeth Delaunaise
    • p. 84: November 8, 1757. Henri Carpentier, Nouvelle Chartres, and Alaric .\ubuchon, daughter of Pierre Aubuchon and Marie Brunet. Three bans.
      • Marie Brunet = Marie Brunet Bourbonnais.
    • p. 89: Claude Caron:
      • Eighth child of Claude Caron and his second wife, Jeanne Boyer, baptized at ^Montreal July 12, 1714. (Tanguay, H, 548). He married Charlotte Lachenais, daughter of Philippe Lachenais and Marguerite Texier, February 29, 1743. Their children included:
  • Abraham P. Nasatir, Before Lewis and Clark
  • Alvord, Cahokia Records, https://archive.org/details/cahokiarecords1702alvo
  • Alvord, Kaskaskia Records, https://archive.org/details/kaskaskiarecords05alvo

Indian Ancestry Investigation

Check out:

Adultery

Marguerite Vallé's mother was probably a slave, Ekberg reasons, because there is almost no record of adultery between the French in Upper Illinois.

Corroborating this are these paragraphs from Chapter XII of John Reynolds' autobiography:

Chastity with the Creoles was a sine qua non, and a spurious offspring was almost unknown among them. It is the immutable decree to man from the Throne itself, that in proportion to the introduction of sin and guilt into the heart, the same proportion [of] happiness abandons the person.

The early French were forced to practise that excellent injunction in the Lord's prayer, "lead us not into temptation." This was a negative lever, if such can exist, in their humble and innocent happiness.

Also, the paragraphs above this quotation give you a good sense of their culture.

  • Could I squeeze this into the early part of the Jean Baptiste pages?

Marguerite's mother: Indian slave or African slave?

It seems safe to presume that Marguerite's mother was an Indian rather than a black slave.
  • Indian slaves were more often married. There is precedent for Frenchmen to free Indian women and have families with them. (See Tiya Miles notes.)
  • On the other hand, p. 245 of Ekberg's François Vallé and His World says that Vallé had only one Indian slave in the census of 1770, and that was a man. So how would he have access to an Indian woman for long enough that he would learn she became pregnant by him and he would feel responsible for raising their child?
  • The answer could be that he owned Marguerite's mother when she was conceived (1759 or 1760), but that her mother later died or was freed.
Try to find genealogy of Louis Carron.

Old Indian Ancestry Notes

(Note: I compiled these notes in 2015. As of Fall, 2021, many of the links are dead. I'm hoping that a little bit of scrounging around wherever the links lead you will turn up the reference in question.)

Here are some links and notes that I hope to explore in the (apparently) never-ending quest to answer the question, "Are we part-Native American?" Some of these also appear as links on the Our (Supposed) Indian Ancestry page.

Historic Missourians page on François Vallé. This is the first stop if you'd like to learn more about Vallé. It has a passing reference to Marguerite: "Together the couple had six children: four boys and two girls. Vallé had another daughter, Marguerite, from an extramarital relationship. No details are known about her birth mother, but Marguerite was raised in the Vallé household along with the rest of the Vallé children."; book cited: Crist, Helen Vallé. They Was Frenchmans: The Vallé Family Legacy. Brea, CA: Creative Continuum, 2003. [REF F508.2 V242cr]. But this book is probably not useful since the article says ""little is known," and it was published only a year after Ekberg's biography.

National Register of Historic Places, including 483 Roberts Street in St. Genevieve. A record of historical St. Genevieve houses that mentions a "Louis Caron, son of Claude Caron and Charlotte La Chense. He married Marguerite Vallé, daughter of François Vallé Sr., in 1778." A PDF version can be found at National Register of Historic Places. You'll find the quotation above on p. 62; you should also be able to find it by hitting Ctrl-F and searching "Marguerite."

Marguerite Vallé at Ancestry.com Has "Marguerite Vallé - daughter of Indian slave (1760-1804)"

Dictionary of Missouri Biography (1999). An entry written by Carl J. Ekberg on François Vallé's wife, Marianne, which reads in part: "In addition to these six children there was a seventh child, Marguerite, whom Vallé raised in her household. Marguerite was the illegitmate daughter of François Vallé, but the evidence suggests Marianne accepted her into the family as one of her own. Marguerite was perhaps the product of a passing liaison between François and an Indian woman, but in any case Marianne's acceptance shows a wonderful generosity of spirit."

Car(r)on family page at Ancestry.com. "Louis Carron was born abt 1756 in Kaskaskia, ILL to Claude and Charlotte. Louis was given a land grant on the forks of Gabourie about 3 miles north of Ste. Genevieve, MO. Louis was one of the first men to examine Iron Mountain on the St. François River. On Nov. 24, 1778, he married Marguerite Vallé who was half indian and the illegitimate daughter of François Vallé. They had 11 children."

Discussion of Brian Joseph Oster's website on Upper Louisiana genealogy. So far I have been unable to find this website on the internet.

Ancestors of George Louis Grimshaw. Not much here about Marguerite, but it may track some of her descendants. The source for Marguerite seems to be Tom Stevenson. I have tried to contact him at the given email address, with no reply so far.thomass@dca.net/thomass@dca.net

Brenda Weeks' Email

Here is the text of Brenda Weeks' email from June 27, 2019.

I am Brenda Weeks - an officer of the Blair Society for Genealogical Research. I wanted to address your comments about DNA testing being an iffy sort of thing. Quite the contrary it is not at all iffy. DNA testing will positively link one to one's relatives. I know this from my work with the Blair Society - see Blair DNA project - and also from my own DNA testing. I used a company called 23&me because I am a woman and tracking the DNA that was passed to me from my mother (mt DNA) would not get me very far that I could follow with a paper trail. Because I am a woman my Y DNA can't be traced this way. As my father is an Eggemeyer and there is no Eggemeyer DNA project with any company we chose 23&me. We tested independently of each other and the results are that I am connected to my dad - showing the appropriate 50% match and I have also matched a 2nd cousin on my father's side -who I knew ahead of time - and she showed up there in my DNA matches and a different distant cousin who I had been in contact with about genealogy on my mother's side. Most recently I found another descendant of Francois Valle in my DNA matches. I went looking for that connection after I had a good paper trail back to Francois Valle. Since, in my case, it was 6 to 8 generations back according to the DNA company I looked for someone in my DNA connections in that range who had a French surname and without much trouble was able to find someone related to me and who also descends from Francois Valle. It sounds to me like Aunt Gennie also tested on 23&me since it told her what percent was Indian. I am .2% so more diluted than your Aunt Gennie and my daughter doesn't show a trace of the Indian ancestry saddly. My father though is .7% - this I can't explain this percentage except to say that the DNA does not give you exactly 50% from each parent that is an average.

I too had a family story about a grandmother who was an Indian. I too descend from Marguerete Valle. My lineage is this me- my dad - his mother - Lena Brase Eggemeyer Rhodes, her mother, Jennie Carrow Brase Smith, her father Charles Carrow, his father Louis Athanasius Carron, his father Athanaise Cigfroid Caron "Anton" his mother Marguerite.

Aunt Gennie can look for me and my father on 23&me but we will not show up as very closely related to her. If I knew what Gennie's real name was I would also look for her in my matches.

By "Aunt Gennie" I think Brenda means my Aunt Ginny/Virginia. See my Indian Ancestry Notes for my take-aways from Brenda's email.

Kristi AuBuchon

√ Notes for Kristi, on her sheet:

  • Bertha Louis Franck “married an unknown spouse”.
  • Daniel Adam Franck “was born on 08 Mar 1851 in Alsenbruck-, Langneil, Bavaria, Germany”
    • Couldn’t google this until I found a page that described it as “Alsenbrück-Langmeil Pfalz Bavaria”.
      • Searching on that in Google gives good results.
    • https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alsenbrück-Langmeil
      • https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=de&u=https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alsenbr%25C3%25BCck-Langmeil&prev=search
        • “Until 1880 the municipality name was only Alsenbrück”
  • “Mary Rebecca Wessel was born in 1801 in Twistringen, Kingdom of Hanov”
  • Should be Hanover.
    • Friedrich Jakob Franck “was born on 1 Juni 1808”
  • “Friedrich Jakob Franck, son of Daniel Frank”
    • Is the father’s last name spelled correctly?
  • √ Notes for Kristi, other:
    • It looks like John Henry Sander’s widow eloped a couple of years after his death.
      • https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/148698526/
      • The Cape Girardeau Democrat from Cape Girardeau, Missouri, December 8, 1900, Page 5
      • “Perry Hopper and the widow of the late John Henry Sander, it is reported, eloped the other day and got married.”

A Bountiful Original Document

I haven't confirmed this, but at this time of writing I think that a FamilySearch.org "Source" is a verifiable record which the genealogists there can demonstrate is legitimate via some kind of paper trail; whereas a "Memory" is a less documented, or even undocumented, source submitted by an individual outside the organization. An image from US Census data could fall into either category: the difference is the paper trail and, ultimately, the degree of confidence you can have about the conclusions you draw from the source.

The Nicolas Janis page at FamilySearch.org has an interesting genealogical record as one of its "Memories." It is bountiful in that it happens to be useful to a number of distinct lines of research:

  • It is a record of marriage for which Nicolas Janis served as witness. I came across this while trying to work out the question of whether there were two Nicolas Janis covered in The Matter of Two Nicolases.
  • It's the record for the marriage of Augustin AuBuchon (son of Pierre AuBuchon and Marie Bourbonnais) to Thérèse Lalumondier, who are my great-great-something grandparents. (See AuBuchon Family Tree.)
  • It mentions a couple of members of the Vallée family, mostly as witnesses—but there's also a bride named Marie Louis Vallée, "born in Canada." Was she perhaps a niece of François'? Towards the end of Ekberg's biography, I recall mention of a despondent letter from his brother, who had remained behind in Quebec and who, as I recall, was asking for help. Did some of his children follow his pioneering brother to the Illinois Country?
  • It includes the marriage record of some Vallée slaves. The line is hard to follow: the groom's name appears to be François Jean (perhaps the son of Thérèse), and the bride's name is Elizabeth Thérèse.

Below you'll find some other notes on the record.

On the website there is no explanation for where this image comes from, other than the name of the person who apparently uploaded it.

Jean Baptiste Morel Marriage
Jean Baptiste Morel Marriage

Description:

  • Across the top it reads, "Transcribed Record of Marriages Kept in the Church of Ste. Genevieve, Ste. Genevieve, Mo." Still at the top, but much smaller, it reads, "GEO. D. BARNARD STATIONERY CO., ST. LOUIS".
  • There are 11 columns whose headings are in Latin, spanning across two facing pages.
  • The first three columns are for Day, Month and Year, and they run from 17 January 1773 to 27 August 1776.

So the image seems to be a handwritten transcription of Ste. Genevieve church records from the 18th century. The use of Latin in the column headings and the font suggest a date of 1880-1920.

  • The entries themselves are in three languages: English, French and Latin.
    • English is the dominant language.
    • Latin is used only for the names of the months.
    • French is used only for: père (father) and fils (son), to distinguish a father and son having the same name; prêtre (priest), curé (pastor) and capucin (as in Capuchin monk) in the column headed NOMEN PAROCHI (Name of the Priest).

The original church record was very likely in French, and part of the transcriber's task was to translate the French into English. It seems to me likely that in the original the months were in Latin.

Now this is all very interesting, but what does it tell us about Nicolas Janis?

That he was a witness (in the TESTES column) for this marriage:

  • Conducted on 14 June 1773.
  • The MATRIMONIUM CONTRAXERUNT column is empty. The Latin is supposed to mean They contracted marriage, although this translation doesn't make sense here. The column is used in just a few cases, for notes it seems, such as to indicate that the couple were slaves of the Vallées.
  • Louis Lasource was the groom, son of Jean Lasource and Marie Françoise Poivert (?).
  • Marie Lasource was the bride, daughter of Jacques Lasource and Charlotte Lalande. (Marie was a not-too-close cousin of the groom, one should hope.)
  • The other witness was Marie Louise Lasource (?).
  • The marriage was conducted by P. (Pierre) Gibault.
  • There may be some additional notes in "Book A," p. 152—but of course, since we have no definitive explanation of where these pages come from, we have no idea what that refers to.

The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents 1610 to 1791

The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents 1610 to 1791 contains links to English translations of many, many original documents related to the Jesuit missionaries in New France, originally published as Reuben Gold Thwaites, ed. The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents, The Burrows Brothers Company: Cleveland, Late 1800s.

The series consists of 71 volumes. I have only gone through three, only insofar as looking for particular search terms. From what I've been able to ascertain, this is a huge collection of all the paperwork involved in the running of the Jesuit. There is nothing "important" here; it is all trivial. The publication's value is that it gives us insight into the day-to-day operations of the missions. Put together in the right way, like a puzzle, a collection of some of these quotidian details could lead to great insights.

Volume 69: All Missions 1710 to 1756

Published 1899.

Hits for search term "janis"

1. Many mentions of "janis" as owing or being owed some amount of money for a service.

  • In "ACCOUNT-BOOK OF THE HURON MISSION OF DETROIT; BEGUN ON THE FEAST OF ST. JOHN, 1740."
  • In "CONTINUATION OF THE BOOK OF ACCOUNTS OF THE HURON MISSION ON ÎLE AUX BOIS BLANCS FROM THE 30TH OF JULY, 1746, THE DATE OF FATHER DE LA RICHARDIE’S DEPARTURE."

2. Note 73 of the editor's notes at the end

Nicolas François Janis, born at Quebec, in 1720, a master-mason by trade, settled at Detroit. In 1745, he married Thérèse (daughter of Pierre) Méloche, then thirteen years old, by whom he had eight children. The date of his death is not recorded.

Volume 70: All Missions 1747 to 1764

Published 1899.

Hits for search term "janis"

1. Editor's Preface for the Volume

In the summer of 1751, “Niagara” Campeau cesses [sic] to work the mission farm, and is succeeded (September 1) by Nicolas F. Janis. The terms of settlement with the former, and the contract made with the latter, are given in detail. This ends the “book of accounts.”

2. Many mentions of "janis" as owing or being owed some amount of money for a service.

3. (I have reformatted the following run-on paragraph in an effort to make it easier to read.)

Janis took The farm of the huron mission of detroit on The 1st of September, 1751, on the following conditions:

Ist, that The superior of The said mission shall supply Him for The 1st year of The said lease with all The seed required for sowing The land belonging to The said mission — on condition that, at The end of the lease, The same quantity and kind of seed be returned to the said superior, Which shall be taken from The said farmer’s share.

2nd, that all The produce of The farm shall be divided between The said superior and the farmer; as regards both the seed and the animals above mentioned, the whole in equal portions.

3rd, that The said farmer shall be obliged to Put up substantial fentes around The farm of The said mission in The very 1st year of his lease; in consideration whereof The superior of the mission shall allow Him a man for The period of 2 months, to help Him in making The fences; this man shall be fed by The farmer, and be paid by The superior.

4th, that The farmer shall haul every year The firewood required for The use of The said mission, not exceeding 40 cords. That he shall, moreover, also Plow every year 3 arpents of new or other land in order that The mission may have for itself The indian corn produced by The said 3 arpents. Further, The said farmer shall be obliged to wash all The Linen belonging to The said mission, and to bake all The bread needed for the same; The soap to be supplied for washing. In consideration thereof, The superior of the mission shall pay to the said farmer The sum of 110 livres every year.

5th, The profits which The farmer may [Page 69] make by Plowing and carting, etc., with the animals of The mission, shall belong wholly to Him, without the said mission exacting any portion thereof.

6th, The original stock of animais, or Their equivalent, Delivered to the said farmer at The beginning of his lease, shall be given back by Him on leaving, in the same number and of the same value, to the superior of The said mission; and all The implements for Plowing, carting, etc., which shall be Delivered to Him shall also be given back by him in the same form, condition, and value. For this purpose, an inventory shall be made of the said implements, as well as of the said animals. The produce of the said animals shall be shared equally between The said superior and the farmer.

7th, with regard to the buildings, The said farmer shall be bound to make ordinary repairs, and to give Them back at the end of his lease in the same condition as that in which he received Them.

The lease shall terminate in 3 years unless The said farmer or The said superior wish to extend The term thereof.

Agreed and stipulated between The said superior and The said janis, this 25th of july, 1751.

Signed, Armand de La Richardie, jesuit Missionary; janis, not knowing how to write, has made a cross, +.

4. "BAPTISMS AT THE HURON MISSION, 1752-56."

This day I baptized françois, recently born of the Marriage of Louis viller and Marie josephine Marin; the sponsors were français janis and Marguerite La Durantaye . January 1, 1753.

Pierre Potier, jesuit Missionary.

Volume 71 Lower Canada Illinois 1759 to 1791

Published in 1901.

Hits for search term "janis"

No hits.

Hits for search term "kaskaskia"

Many hits.

Hits for search term "vallee" or "valée"

No hits.


The Janis Line

Green Tree Tavern, home of François Janis.

Nicolas Janis

Questions for François Oulette

Notes on Alvord's Kaskaskia Records (1778-1790)

Alvord, Clarence Walworth, ed. (1909). Kaskaskia Records (1778-1790) is a collection of historical primary sources which in 1909 Alvord felt were valuable and yet too difficult for researchers to gain access to. In our age of the Internet I doubt the book would have been published; rather, the documents would have been scanned and posted online.

There's a lot here, but it's not for the casual historian, and certainly not for the casual genealogist. I myself have only skimmed the book. Perhaps one day I shall give it more attention. Until then, here is the start of some notes.

p. xv, Introduction

  • Probably a must-read. Seems to cover the major themes of the documents, whose ebb and flow in the texts themselves make them difficult to follow.
  • I. "Thomas Bentley and the Occupation of the Illinois Country in 1778". Alvord's summation echoes my experience doing genealogy:

  • The historian pursuing that elusive idea called truth is happy when, after collecting all available material, the testimony of the sources supplement each other so completely that he can declare: "Thus must this event have happened, and not otherwise." Unfortunately in the determination of some most elemental truths of the historical science this result is not to be attained, and the historian is compelled to content himself with approximately true explanations. Often even this is not attainable; and the residue of his research yields a plausible hypothesis, or perhaps only a speculative conception. It is to be feared that the present subject under investigation can be regarded only as a matter for speculation. The very nature of the evidence adduced is such that no assertion of proved fact can be made; yet the examination of the sources is not wholly idle, since it may lead to further search, by which a truth may be ascertained; or, if such is not the result, still it may assist some future student in interpreting allied facts by pointing out the possibility of distant connections.

  • II. "Father Pierre Gibault and the submission of Post Vincennes, 1778"

  • III. "Ecclesiastical Affairs"
  • p. xlvi: Nicolas Janis makes his first appearance, playing a central role in a dispute between French Catholic congregants and a certain Father de la Valiniere.
  • p. 574: Nicolas has issues with the local Father De La Valinière. The priest wants to charge for slave marriages, and Nicolas refuses. The priest calls him names from the pulpit and threatens excommunication.
    • p. 578: It continues.
    • August Reyling's Historical Kaskaskia (see link above) is mostly an ecclesiastical history written by a priest in 1963. What does he say about De La Valinière?

p. 18

Nicolas Janis was a native of France. He married at Kaskaskia, in 1751. a daughter of Marie B. Thaumur dit Lasource. He occupied an important position in the community, being captain of militia under the British, to which position he was reappointed by Clark, and later by Todd. His influence was thrown on the side of the Americans even before the occupation of the village by them, and after that event he gave them financial assistance. His son, Jean Baptiste, accompanied Clark on the Vincennes campaign and conducted himself with great bravery. Nicolas Janis was elected justice, when the first court was inaugurated by John Todd. He was still living in Kaskaskia in 1787, according to the census of that year. (See post, p. 414 ) Members of the family settled later in Ste. Genevieve Mo. Kaskaskia MSS.; Draper MSS., 18

p. 116

  • "Sieur Janis" agreed to donate 6,000 (livres?) to an American regiment during the Revolution.

p. 161

  • Letter to Nicolas from Captain Fowler.
  • p. 246: The reply. Did Nicolas write this, or a scrivener?

Contention with George Rogers Clarke

  • p. 208 is one of a series of letters they have written to GR Clarke--reveals issues between them.
  • p. 238 they are complaining to someone else about Clarke; signed by the Janis sons, including Jean Baptiste
  • p. 420: Jean Baptiste Janis's "services were particularly praised by Clark".

Contention with someone named Winston

  • p. 342: Reference to the literary figure of "Tartufe".

  • At the same time and after he had vomited all these imprecations against us, he played his role of Tartufe and had the impudence to try to make us believe that the military which had come to take possession of our country was nothing more than a band of ruffians and thieves who came for that express purpose.

  • I do not fully understand the reference in this context. As Wikipedia notes, a "tartuffe" is "a hypocrite who ostensibly and exaggeratedly feigns virtue, especially religious virtue."
  • Wikipedia also notes that Molière's play was first performed in 1664, and was immediately banned, not performed in public again until 1669.
  • p. 344: Janis is one of those who "violently" attacked Winston. Preceding pages mention Winston's trial, but I haven't been able to make out what the fuss was about--but it does seem to concern more French grievances against the Americans, and they threaten to move to Spanish territory across the river.
  • they mention Tartuffe.

Censuses

  • p. 414: Kaskaskia.
  • P. 419: Prairie du Rocher.

Jean Baptiste

Email Exchange

One of my sources for the Jean Baptiste Janis, Pt. 1 and Jean Baptiste Janis, Pt. 2 pages was the "Southern Campaigns Revolutionary War Pension Statements & Rosters" web site. Here's an email exchange between myself and Will Graves, one of the historians there. I never thought that his reply entirely answered my questions, but I appreciate the time he took to reply and offer the full exchange here as a starting point to anyone wishing to pursue this inquiry further.


Sat 6/24/2017 12:57 PM

Dear Mr. Kulandski,

I’m delighted you found our pension site useful to your research.

For ease of response, I’ve interlined my answers to your inquiries in red text below.  Hopefully, these responses fully answer your questions, but, if not, feel free to email me again.

All the best,

 

Will Graves

revwarapps@att.net

http://www.revwarapps.org 

 

 

 

From: Kurlandski Jerry [mailto:jkurlandski@hotmail.com] 
Sent: Saturday, June 24, 2017 12:20 PM
To: revwarapps@att.net
Subject: question on revwarapps.org

 

Hello, Mr. Graves:

 

First of all I want to thank you for your work on the "Southern Campaigns Revolutionary War Pension Statements & Rosters" web site. I'm doing some research on an ancestor of mine, Jean Baptiste Janis, and at the start I would never have imagined that I would get as far as I have--thanks to your research and diligence, not only do I have a description of my ancestor's experience at the Battle of Vincennes, but I also have the image of his signature.

 

I appreciate your attention to detail and, at the top of the page for my ancestor, the painstaking description of your methodology. But there are a few questions I have about your transcription at http://revwarapps.org/s15901.pdf that I don't understand. I have gone through your FAQ's page as well as, I think, every other main page on the website, and still I can't find the answer to these questions. So I thought I would write to you, as much as I regret having to.

 

Basically, what I want to know is what, exactly, these are transcriptions of [The pension applications filed by Revolutionary War veterans (or their widows) with the Federal Government.  Click on ORIGINAL APPLICATIONS  at the top of our website]. I have a feeling that abbreviations such as "S15901," [file number assigned by the War Department] "f39VA," [my own coding which tells me I made the transcript from the images posted on Fold3.com; that the file contained 39 pages; and is indexed with the Virginia veterans.] and "SS" [legal abbreviation for “scilicent” Latin for “particularly” or “namely”—it has no significant bearing on the transcription—same as the abbreviation “Sct” which also appears in many applications] should mean more to me than they do. Your FAQ's page explains that "S" indicates an "application by a surviving soldier whose widow did not apply." But I don't understand the "15901" [S15901 is the file number assigned by the War Department when the application for a pension was first made]. Does it refer to a specific record somewhere? If so, where? [Again, click on ORIGINAL APPLICATIONS ]

 

In other words, the page referenced above has comments like "[p 12]". What I'd like to find is the document whose p. 12 you have transcribed [the reference is to the page number of the pension as posted on Fold3.com].

 

I'm hoping that this information might give me a better understanding of the historical context of the information you provide. For example, on http://revwarapps.org/r13147.pdf , I'm not sure what is going on here. Why is Jean Baptiste Janis attesting that he knew Francis Charleville? In the phrase "deponent [to wit: Janis] is now 76 years old and served in the same Regiment as Ensign [Janis was in the same regiment in which Charleville as a ]," who is the deponent and who is the ensign? I thought Jean Baptiste was an ensign and Charleville was his officer. ... I'm not asking you to find the answers to these questions for me; rather, I'm asking you to tell me what the original document is, so that I can do the research myself.  [If you have a subscription to either Fold3.com or Ancestry.com, you have access to the digital images of the handwritten, original applications.  If you have a library card and if your library provides online access to HeritageQuest.com, you can access the images for free on that website. Click on ORIGINAL APPLICATIONS for more details.]

 

Even if you are unable to help me, I want to thank you again for your work. As I've already said, what you have provided on your website is much more than I originally hoped to find.

 

Sincerely,

 

Jerry Kurlandski