The picture above is an early drawing of Fort de Chartres that was designed and built by Francois Saucier in the Illinois territory.
Francois Saucier
Engineer of the Colony
Francois Saucier was born in 1712 at Mobile, youngest son of John Baptiste Saucier and Marie Gabrielle Savary. After the death of his father, Jean Baptiste, he moved in 1721, at the age of nine from Mobile with his widowed mother, Marie Gabrielle and siblings to New Orleans.
As a young boy growing up, Francois Saucier was the church Cantor and leading singer of the choir and was among the earliest musicians at New Orleans' St. Louis Cathedral. He was a great-grandson of Charles Saucier who was the organist of St. Eustache Cathedral in Paris a century earlier. At an early age Francois seemed destined to follow his great grandfather in the music profession, a destiny that was in the near future to elude him, placing him on track for a career as engineer of the Louisiana Colony for the French territorial government.
At the age of sixteen years, Francois had drawn a very detailed map, "Plan de la Nouvelle Orleans", using surprisingly precise geometry, creativity and artistic design in creating his map of the city. This was a remarkable feat for a boy of his age with only a minimal education received from his mother and no formal education whatsoever. This map, which still exists today, was to completely change the future for Francois.
His mother, Gabrielle, and his older brothers all recognized his potential, which they knew would otherwise go to waste in the limited careers open to those in the Colony at the time. Gabrielle made numerous pleas to the colonial officials at New Orleans for guidance and assistance in the education of Francois. For some time the requests by Gabrielle on behalf of Francois fell on deaf ears in the colonial government. Help would be slow in coming as the Governor actually did not pursue her requests with Paris. He would have needed permission from the officials in Paris before any assistance could be given.
The map drawn by Francois finally caught the attention of the Louisiana Territory's Governor Vaudreuil and made him realize just how important an asset Francois could possibly be to the colony. Governor Vaudreuil then contacted officials in Paris on behalf of Francois and was able to made the necessary arrangements for two years of formal schooling in France for Francois with Gabrielle's permission. Any educational assistance for those living in the colonies was seldom granted by France, nor were there many possibilities of careers, military or otherwise for colonist without the proper connections in France. Governor Vaudreuil had expressed to the Paris officials that Francois "was very bright, learned quickly, could do anything he set his mind upon to do" and would be a great asset to the colony in his request to Paris for educational assistance for Francois.
It was probably this useful talent for exact detail which Francois had shown in drawing the map of New Orleans that specified the program for his schooling in Paris to prepare him for the engineering profession. Francois spent the years 1728 through 1730 in Paris, France pursuing his education and learning mathematics.
Francois dedicated his life and career to the colonial government when he returned home to New Orleans and his family after completing his formal education in Paris.
Francois was the only member of his immediate family to be accorded the privilege of a formal education in Paris, France, his brothers having been taught and educated by their mother of what she had learned from her formal education growing up in the Convents of France. This was much more than usually afforded those growing up in the early colony as most never had any schooling at all and most colonists could neither read nor write.
After returning to New Orleans and the colony, Francois, now about twenty years of age, spent the next ten years serving the colonial government with great determination and devotion. Francois produced at least ten different maps of the territory for the Louisiana government and the Company of the Indies. Francois also had completed nineteen surveys of different sections of the Louisiana Territory he explored during this period of time.
On Francois' return to New Orleans, he served as a draftsman in the office of the colonial engineer Ignace Broutin at New Orleans. Francois gained a lasting respect for Broutin, his mentor. Francois also gained the respect of Broutin who often spoke of the good work of his apprentice to his superiors. This respect between the two would hasten the career advancements of Francois in the coming years. Records show that in 1732 both Ignace Broutin and Francois were residing together in a “House of the King” (a home that was owned by the French government) which probably also served as their work place at New Orleans.
Francois' first job under Broutin in 1737 was to explore and survey "the Bienville lands" surrounding New Orleans along the Mississippi River. Francois conducted a survey with Captain de Memberde between the Mobile and Yazoo rivers, crossing the present state of Mississippi. The work was completed on May 7, 1738. On this journey to survey the areas, he met with the Choctaw Chief Red Shoes on concerns of protecting the area. The survey was ordered by the French colonial government to decide on how to best defend the New Orleans settlement from attacks by both the British and their allied Indian Tribes. After being assigned and completing his surveys and maps of the area west of the city, Francois was assigned the task of exploring and reconnaissance in preparation for war with the Chickasaw Tribe, which was being incited by British traders in the east. In his journey, exploration and surveying of the territory, completed in 1740, Francois had journeyed by land to Fort Assumption in Memphis, through the Chickasaw territory, then down to Mobile and back to New Orleans with his maps of the territory he had explored.
In 1740, then Governor Bienville made the statement in a letter to officials in France about Francois, "A Creole of good family, educated in Paris, where he learned mathematics, and who has served these past ten years, since returning to the colony with indefatigable zeal". Three years after Francois' return and Bienville's praise of him in June of 1740 for all his hard work in a letter written to his superior at New Orleans, Ignace Broutin, the Governor proposed that Francois "function as engineer" for the Mobile post, with his responsibilities to include Forts Tombecbe and Toulouse.
In 1743 then governor Vaudreuil made numerous requests for Francois, who held the rank of sergeant, to be granted the rank of Lieutenant Reforme, due to his military work and supervision of soldiers. These requests were denied for a number of years. Later the request was finally granted and Francois received his rank of Lieutenant in the French military. Records show that the governor of the colony moved Francois around the territories often before he was assigned to the Mobile Post and then Fort de Chartres.
A contract of Marriage was drawn up while Francois was serving as engineer at Fort Toulouse in early 1743. During this era there was no Catholic Church or priest at Fort Toulouse or its surrounding area. Francois and Marie would have entered into more or less a common law marriage at Fort Toulouse or possibly were married by the fort's commander with plans for having their marriage blessed by a priest and have a church wedding when transferred back to Mobile. On November 25, 1743, Francois Saucier, engineer of the Mobile Post, which was his principal place of residence, married Marie Jeanne Fontaille, daughter of Jean Fontaille, a Cadet in the French military at the Mobile post and Marie LeMir of the Brittany region in North-West France. Their marriage was performed at the Cathedral of Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Mobile, where they resided for a while after their marriage.
Their first child and son Jean Francois was born in Mobile on October 1, 1743, shortly before their marriage at Mobile, second child and son Mathieu was born 1745 in Mobile but baptized in Illinois. Third child, Cezar Philippe was born at Mobile on March 13, 1748 and died in early 1749 at Mobile. Their fourth child, daughter Marie Jeanne was born at Fort Toulouse, near Montgomery on February 19, 1749 and baptized at Mobile. Their fifth child and third son Jean Baptiste was born at Mobile on February 27, 1752 shortly before the move to Illinois. Their sixth child and daughter Jeanne Felicite was born in Illinois in 1754 after the family moved to Illinois from Mobile.
In August of 1751 Francois was summoned from Mobile to New Orleans by Governor Vaudreuil for a special assignment. This assignment was for the construction of a new fort to accommodate the garrison of additional troops that France was sending to the colony. The new fort was to replace the old wooden Fort de Chartres and was to be constructed of stone at the settlement. The main purpose of the new fort was to impress the warring Chickasaw Tribe of the area and to check and halt the progress of the British in the area. This new assignment required Francois to immediately journey to his new post in Illinois without the benefit of first returning home to Mobile for personal necessities. Before embarking on his journey Francois requested and was promised by the then governor of Louisiana that his family would later be provided transportation to Illinois to join him.
The original intention of the French Government was for Francois and his crew to build the new stone Fort de Chartres in Kaskaskia. The Governor of the territory, Vaudreuil, eventually made the decision to leave the Fort where it stood. Due to problems of flooding it was decided to move it a little over one half mile north of the old fort. Upon arriving he took on the task of surveying the terrain, its situation and advantages, in order to make recommendations on construction. Once his plans were completed he sent them as instructed to the governor in New Orleans with all specifications and estimated costs. After some time of deliberations by the French government and many delays and discussions of the cost of construction as planned by Francois, a scaled down version of the fort was finally given approval and Francois was then given permission to start its construction. During this period of waiting for approval from France, preparations were being conducted by Francois and his crew of soldiers as he had been instructed by the governor for the forts construction, including clearing the land, felling of trees for timber and other site preparations. After the many earlier delays, the budget for building the new fort was finally approved and they proceed with the construction of Fort de Chartres.
The cost of construction was estimated to be five million French livres, according to some reports, the cost of its construction began to escalate to such a high level that the French Government wanted to abandon the project. The new Governor of New Orleans, Louis Kerierec, assured the French Minister that Francois and his crew had almost completed the project. Although, in reality it would not be completed until several years later. The fort's stone perimeter, twelve feet tall, two feet thick, was completed by the end of 1756, as well as all the interior buildings housing the troops, construction workers and other essential buildings. Fort de Chartres was to be the most expensive fort built by the French government, costing well over a million dollars. Although some small finishing work remained, the massive gray-white fort on the Mississippi brought renewed confidence to the people of Fort Chartres. The settlers of Fort de Chartres did not actually live within the Fort itself, instead, the French Government founded a village with the same name located outside the fort’s enclosure.
François found the construction of the new fort to be a difficult project. The lack of experienced workers and the constant desertion by many of the workers had slowed his efforts to proceed with its construction. Due to the problems with his work crew and the extreme cold, he wrote to the French general in New Orleans the following:
"The works to be done here promise my grave at Illinois, unless some favorable chance turns up some meantime or adequate workmen. I am that I shall be here for a long time, I am writing my wife to come here and join me here. It is on this matter, Monsieur that I take the liberty to remind you of your goodness in promising you would allow her to embark on the next Bateaux (flat bottom boat). And that as no transportation was available to carry up anything at all for me; you promised that what I needed would be loaded on the first convoy to come up. That is my sole recourse. My fate, dear general, rests in your hands. Do me the favor of not letting me be ignored."
General Vaudreuil had not been able to fulfill his original promise to Francois, as he was called back to France, and his successor had to point out the unfulfilled promise to the French government. Permission was finally granted for his family and possessions to be sent on the next convoy to Fort de Chartres. From Francois' comments on workers to the General in charge at New Orleans, it shows that Francois was having serious problems finding and retaining
Soon after his complaint to the Government officials, the new Governor at New Orleans made the proper arrangements for Francois’ family to make the journey to Illinois to join him. On April 28, 1752 a convoy from Mobile to Fort de Chartres embarked with Francois' wife Marie Jeanne and three children, Mathieu, Jeanne and Jean Baptiste the baby of a few months and their possessions. Their oldest child Jean Francois was left at New Orleans in the care of Monsieur d'Estrehan, Royal Treasurer, to be sent to Paris for further schooling, at the request of his father.
Inside of the completed fort and its massive and impressive gate, Francois had constructed the Fort’s Commanders house, the Commissary building, the storehouse, the guardhouse, two large soldier’s barracks, a bakery building, a powder magazine for storage of black powder, and four dungeons. Considered to be the best built fort in North America, it is a lasting tribute to the skills of Francois Saucier.
Francois' earlier engineering work was mainly on the Forts Condé, Toulouse and Tombecbe. He spent a good bit of time on mission at Ft. Toulouse. His work also included repairs of Fort Conte at Mobile, construction of Fort Toulouse, finished in 1751 and Fort Tombecbe.
In July of 1757, Monsieur Descoteaux of Fort de Chartres reported to officials in New Orleans that Monsieur Francois Saucier, engineer at Illinois, died on February 26, 1757. His letter continues, "Permit me to represent to you that this is a very great loss to the service by the impossibility of replacing him now in the colony." He also wrote that the latter's widow deserves "les bontes de votre grandeeur" (the goodness of your greatness) by the distress in which she is burdened with a large family." Perhaps the stress and harsh working conditions during the construction of the new fort contributed to the early death of Francois. Through the intervention of the governor of the Louisiana Territory with officials in France, Marie Jeanne was awarded half of the pay that was being received by her husband Francois at his death.
Francois in his brief life had gone from being the Cantor and lead choir singer at church services at St. Louis Cathedral in 1726/1727 to being an explorer of the Louisiana territories for the Louisiana territory government, map maker and finally the engineer of the colony.
Son Jean Francois remained in school at Paris until after the death of his father in 1757. In 1758, his mother Marie Jeanne sent word that he was to return home, that since the death of his father, and the loss of half of Francois' salary from the crown; she could no longer pay for his schooling and stay in Paris, as he was now needed at home to help with the support of his siblings.
Francois and Marie Jeanne's first two sons, Jean Francois and Mathieu, became junior officers in the French Colonial army and were in charge of Fort Massac when it was delivered by the French to the British in 1765.
Four years after his death, Francois' widow, Marie Jeanne Fontaille, in July of 1761, married a younger man, about fourteen years younger, Joseph Duclos, son of Alexander Duclos, at Fort de Chartres.
François and Marie Jeanne's daughter, Marie Jeanne Saucier, on April 19, 1768 married Antoine Duclos, son of Alexander Duclos. With this marriage, Marie Jeanne's mother, Marie Jeanne Fontaille, who had become the sister-in-law of Antoine by her marriage to Antoine's brother Joseph had now become Antoine's mother-in-law by his marriage to her daughter Marie Jeanne Saucier.
Today, the restored Fort de Chartres is located within an Illinois state park that is visited by thousands annually with special programs and reenactments depicting French colonial life during that era. The site and its associated buildings were placed on the National Register of Historic Places and recognized as a National Historic Landmark on October 15, 1966, and was named one of the contributing properties to the new French Colonial Historic District in 1974, along with other area French-influenced sites such as the Angelique Saucier and Pierre Menard home, known as the "Mount Vernon of the West". The fort's stone magazine, which survived the gradual ruin that overtook the rest of the site, is considered the oldest building in the state of Illinois.
As a young boy growing up, Francois Saucier was the church Cantor and leading singer of the choir and was among the earliest musicians at New Orleans' St. Louis Cathedral. He was a great-grandson of Charles Saucier who was the organist of St. Eustache Cathedral in Paris a century earlier. At an early age Francois seemed destined to follow his great grandfather in the music profession, a destiny that was in the near future to elude him, placing him on track for a career as engineer of the Louisiana Colony for the French territorial government.
At the age of sixteen years, Francois had drawn a very detailed map, "Plan de la Nouvelle Orleans", using surprisingly precise geometry, creativity and artistic design in creating his map of the city. This was a remarkable feat for a boy of his age with only a minimal education received from his mother and no formal education whatsoever. This map, which still exists today, was to completely change the future for Francois.
His mother, Gabrielle, and his older brothers all recognized his potential, which they knew would otherwise go to waste in the limited careers open to those in the Colony at the time. Gabrielle made numerous pleas to the colonial officials at New Orleans for guidance and assistance in the education of Francois. For some time the requests by Gabrielle on behalf of Francois fell on deaf ears in the colonial government. Help would be slow in coming as the Governor actually did not pursue her requests with Paris. He would have needed permission from the officials in Paris before any assistance could be given.
The map drawn by Francois finally caught the attention of the Louisiana Territory's Governor Vaudreuil and made him realize just how important an asset Francois could possibly be to the colony. Governor Vaudreuil then contacted officials in Paris on behalf of Francois and was able to made the necessary arrangements for two years of formal schooling in France for Francois with Gabrielle's permission. Any educational assistance for those living in the colonies was seldom granted by France, nor were there many possibilities of careers, military or otherwise for colonist without the proper connections in France. Governor Vaudreuil had expressed to the Paris officials that Francois "was very bright, learned quickly, could do anything he set his mind upon to do" and would be a great asset to the colony in his request to Paris for educational assistance for Francois.
It was probably this useful talent for exact detail which Francois had shown in drawing the map of New Orleans that specified the program for his schooling in Paris to prepare him for the engineering profession. Francois spent the years 1728 through 1730 in Paris, France pursuing his education and learning mathematics.
Francois dedicated his life and career to the colonial government when he returned home to New Orleans and his family after completing his formal education in Paris.
Francois was the only member of his immediate family to be accorded the privilege of a formal education in Paris, France, his brothers having been taught and educated by their mother of what she had learned from her formal education growing up in the Convents of France. This was much more than usually afforded those growing up in the early colony as most never had any schooling at all and most colonists could neither read nor write.
After returning to New Orleans and the colony, Francois, now about twenty years of age, spent the next ten years serving the colonial government with great determination and devotion. Francois produced at least ten different maps of the territory for the Louisiana government and the Company of the Indies. Francois also had completed nineteen surveys of different sections of the Louisiana Territory he explored during this period of time.
On Francois' return to New Orleans, he served as a draftsman in the office of the colonial engineer Ignace Broutin at New Orleans. Francois gained a lasting respect for Broutin, his mentor. Francois also gained the respect of Broutin who often spoke of the good work of his apprentice to his superiors. This respect between the two would hasten the career advancements of Francois in the coming years. Records show that in 1732 both Ignace Broutin and Francois were residing together in a “House of the King” (a home that was owned by the French government) which probably also served as their work place at New Orleans.
Francois' first job under Broutin in 1737 was to explore and survey "the Bienville lands" surrounding New Orleans along the Mississippi River. Francois conducted a survey with Captain de Memberde between the Mobile and Yazoo rivers, crossing the present state of Mississippi. The work was completed on May 7, 1738. On this journey to survey the areas, he met with the Choctaw Chief Red Shoes on concerns of protecting the area. The survey was ordered by the French colonial government to decide on how to best defend the New Orleans settlement from attacks by both the British and their allied Indian Tribes. After being assigned and completing his surveys and maps of the area west of the city, Francois was assigned the task of exploring and reconnaissance in preparation for war with the Chickasaw Tribe, which was being incited by British traders in the east. In his journey, exploration and surveying of the territory, completed in 1740, Francois had journeyed by land to Fort Assumption in Memphis, through the Chickasaw territory, then down to Mobile and back to New Orleans with his maps of the territory he had explored.
In 1740, then Governor Bienville made the statement in a letter to officials in France about Francois, "A Creole of good family, educated in Paris, where he learned mathematics, and who has served these past ten years, since returning to the colony with indefatigable zeal". Three years after Francois' return and Bienville's praise of him in June of 1740 for all his hard work in a letter written to his superior at New Orleans, Ignace Broutin, the Governor proposed that Francois "function as engineer" for the Mobile post, with his responsibilities to include Forts Tombecbe and Toulouse.
In 1743 then governor Vaudreuil made numerous requests for Francois, who held the rank of sergeant, to be granted the rank of Lieutenant Reforme, due to his military work and supervision of soldiers. These requests were denied for a number of years. Later the request was finally granted and Francois received his rank of Lieutenant in the French military. Records show that the governor of the colony moved Francois around the territories often before he was assigned to the Mobile Post and then Fort de Chartres.
A contract of Marriage was drawn up while Francois was serving as engineer at Fort Toulouse in early 1743. During this era there was no Catholic Church or priest at Fort Toulouse or its surrounding area. Francois and Marie would have entered into more or less a common law marriage at Fort Toulouse or possibly were married by the fort's commander with plans for having their marriage blessed by a priest and have a church wedding when transferred back to Mobile. On November 25, 1743, Francois Saucier, engineer of the Mobile Post, which was his principal place of residence, married Marie Jeanne Fontaille, daughter of Jean Fontaille, a Cadet in the French military at the Mobile post and Marie LeMir of the Brittany region in North-West France. Their marriage was performed at the Cathedral of Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Mobile, where they resided for a while after their marriage.
Their first child and son Jean Francois was born in Mobile on October 1, 1743, shortly before their marriage at Mobile, second child and son Mathieu was born 1745 in Mobile but baptized in Illinois. Third child, Cezar Philippe was born at Mobile on March 13, 1748 and died in early 1749 at Mobile. Their fourth child, daughter Marie Jeanne was born at Fort Toulouse, near Montgomery on February 19, 1749 and baptized at Mobile. Their fifth child and third son Jean Baptiste was born at Mobile on February 27, 1752 shortly before the move to Illinois. Their sixth child and daughter Jeanne Felicite was born in Illinois in 1754 after the family moved to Illinois from Mobile.
In August of 1751 Francois was summoned from Mobile to New Orleans by Governor Vaudreuil for a special assignment. This assignment was for the construction of a new fort to accommodate the garrison of additional troops that France was sending to the colony. The new fort was to replace the old wooden Fort de Chartres and was to be constructed of stone at the settlement. The main purpose of the new fort was to impress the warring Chickasaw Tribe of the area and to check and halt the progress of the British in the area. This new assignment required Francois to immediately journey to his new post in Illinois without the benefit of first returning home to Mobile for personal necessities. Before embarking on his journey Francois requested and was promised by the then governor of Louisiana that his family would later be provided transportation to Illinois to join him.
The original intention of the French Government was for Francois and his crew to build the new stone Fort de Chartres in Kaskaskia. The Governor of the territory, Vaudreuil, eventually made the decision to leave the Fort where it stood. Due to problems of flooding it was decided to move it a little over one half mile north of the old fort. Upon arriving he took on the task of surveying the terrain, its situation and advantages, in order to make recommendations on construction. Once his plans were completed he sent them as instructed to the governor in New Orleans with all specifications and estimated costs. After some time of deliberations by the French government and many delays and discussions of the cost of construction as planned by Francois, a scaled down version of the fort was finally given approval and Francois was then given permission to start its construction. During this period of waiting for approval from France, preparations were being conducted by Francois and his crew of soldiers as he had been instructed by the governor for the forts construction, including clearing the land, felling of trees for timber and other site preparations. After the many earlier delays, the budget for building the new fort was finally approved and they proceed with the construction of Fort de Chartres.
The cost of construction was estimated to be five million French livres, according to some reports, the cost of its construction began to escalate to such a high level that the French Government wanted to abandon the project. The new Governor of New Orleans, Louis Kerierec, assured the French Minister that Francois and his crew had almost completed the project. Although, in reality it would not be completed until several years later. The fort's stone perimeter, twelve feet tall, two feet thick, was completed by the end of 1756, as well as all the interior buildings housing the troops, construction workers and other essential buildings. Fort de Chartres was to be the most expensive fort built by the French government, costing well over a million dollars. Although some small finishing work remained, the massive gray-white fort on the Mississippi brought renewed confidence to the people of Fort Chartres. The settlers of Fort de Chartres did not actually live within the Fort itself, instead, the French Government founded a village with the same name located outside the fort’s enclosure.
François found the construction of the new fort to be a difficult project. The lack of experienced workers and the constant desertion by many of the workers had slowed his efforts to proceed with its construction. Due to the problems with his work crew and the extreme cold, he wrote to the French general in New Orleans the following:
"The works to be done here promise my grave at Illinois, unless some favorable chance turns up some meantime or adequate workmen. I am that I shall be here for a long time, I am writing my wife to come here and join me here. It is on this matter, Monsieur that I take the liberty to remind you of your goodness in promising you would allow her to embark on the next Bateaux (flat bottom boat). And that as no transportation was available to carry up anything at all for me; you promised that what I needed would be loaded on the first convoy to come up. That is my sole recourse. My fate, dear general, rests in your hands. Do me the favor of not letting me be ignored."
General Vaudreuil had not been able to fulfill his original promise to Francois, as he was called back to France, and his successor had to point out the unfulfilled promise to the French government. Permission was finally granted for his family and possessions to be sent on the next convoy to Fort de Chartres. From Francois' comments on workers to the General in charge at New Orleans, it shows that Francois was having serious problems finding and retaining
Soon after his complaint to the Government officials, the new Governor at New Orleans made the proper arrangements for Francois’ family to make the journey to Illinois to join him. On April 28, 1752 a convoy from Mobile to Fort de Chartres embarked with Francois' wife Marie Jeanne and three children, Mathieu, Jeanne and Jean Baptiste the baby of a few months and their possessions. Their oldest child Jean Francois was left at New Orleans in the care of Monsieur d'Estrehan, Royal Treasurer, to be sent to Paris for further schooling, at the request of his father.
Inside of the completed fort and its massive and impressive gate, Francois had constructed the Fort’s Commanders house, the Commissary building, the storehouse, the guardhouse, two large soldier’s barracks, a bakery building, a powder magazine for storage of black powder, and four dungeons. Considered to be the best built fort in North America, it is a lasting tribute to the skills of Francois Saucier.
Francois' earlier engineering work was mainly on the Forts Condé, Toulouse and Tombecbe. He spent a good bit of time on mission at Ft. Toulouse. His work also included repairs of Fort Conte at Mobile, construction of Fort Toulouse, finished in 1751 and Fort Tombecbe.
In July of 1757, Monsieur Descoteaux of Fort de Chartres reported to officials in New Orleans that Monsieur Francois Saucier, engineer at Illinois, died on February 26, 1757. His letter continues, "Permit me to represent to you that this is a very great loss to the service by the impossibility of replacing him now in the colony." He also wrote that the latter's widow deserves "les bontes de votre grandeeur" (the goodness of your greatness) by the distress in which she is burdened with a large family." Perhaps the stress and harsh working conditions during the construction of the new fort contributed to the early death of Francois. Through the intervention of the governor of the Louisiana Territory with officials in France, Marie Jeanne was awarded half of the pay that was being received by her husband Francois at his death.
Francois in his brief life had gone from being the Cantor and lead choir singer at church services at St. Louis Cathedral in 1726/1727 to being an explorer of the Louisiana territories for the Louisiana territory government, map maker and finally the engineer of the colony.
Son Jean Francois remained in school at Paris until after the death of his father in 1757. In 1758, his mother Marie Jeanne sent word that he was to return home, that since the death of his father, and the loss of half of Francois' salary from the crown; she could no longer pay for his schooling and stay in Paris, as he was now needed at home to help with the support of his siblings.
Francois and Marie Jeanne's first two sons, Jean Francois and Mathieu, became junior officers in the French Colonial army and were in charge of Fort Massac when it was delivered by the French to the British in 1765.
Four years after his death, Francois' widow, Marie Jeanne Fontaille, in July of 1761, married a younger man, about fourteen years younger, Joseph Duclos, son of Alexander Duclos, at Fort de Chartres.
François and Marie Jeanne's daughter, Marie Jeanne Saucier, on April 19, 1768 married Antoine Duclos, son of Alexander Duclos. With this marriage, Marie Jeanne's mother, Marie Jeanne Fontaille, who had become the sister-in-law of Antoine by her marriage to Antoine's brother Joseph had now become Antoine's mother-in-law by his marriage to her daughter Marie Jeanne Saucier.
Today, the restored Fort de Chartres is located within an Illinois state park that is visited by thousands annually with special programs and reenactments depicting French colonial life during that era. The site and its associated buildings were placed on the National Register of Historic Places and recognized as a National Historic Landmark on October 15, 1966, and was named one of the contributing properties to the new French Colonial Historic District in 1974, along with other area French-influenced sites such as the Angelique Saucier and Pierre Menard home, known as the "Mount Vernon of the West". The fort's stone magazine, which survived the gradual ruin that overtook the rest of the site, is considered the oldest building in the state of Illinois.
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