The Saucier Family - Page 34
That article reads as follows:
MO. - 1800 - The first white child born in the settlement of Portage des Sioux was Brigitte Saucier, born in the month of March, the daughter of Commandant Francois Saucier. Ref. pg. 862, Hist. of St. Charles and Montgomery Counties, W. Conn and the St. Charles "Missourian" (Newspaper) of August 8, 1821.
The above newspaper article leaves this writer and the reader with the impression that the child was that of (Jean) François Saucier, as he was the actual Commandant of Portage des Sioux at that time. Francois' brother Mathieu was never the Commandant of the village. But the birth dates of Francois’ two Brigitte’s do not coincide with the date of birth for the first white child, while that of his brother's child does, March 1, 1800. So this leaves the question of: was the newspaper account incorrect and should have read Mathieu Saucier instead of Francois? If the date is correct, this writer believes it would have been the daughter of Mathieu and not one of Francois’s daughters. Although, the last born of Jean Francois’ daughters named Brigitte was born at Portage des Sioux, five years earlier than the stated date for the first white child, the older daughter was not, she was born at St. Phillipe. Only the daughter of Mathieu fits all the criteria for the stated first white child’s birth. In the 1991 book “Gabrielle’s People”, Walter Saucier states in his section on Mathieu makes the statement: “Daughter Brigitte, born March 1, 1800, was said to be the first white child to be born there.” Considering his statement and the actual dates involved, it leaves the only conclusion: it was Mathieu’s daughter. For the above reasons I have listed this fact and article on Brigitte under Mathieu Saucier and not his brother (Jean) Francois Saucier.
Cezar Phillipe Saucier the third born child of Francois Saucier and Jeanne Fontaille was born on March 13, 1848 at Mobile and died in 1849 at Mobile. Cezar was a grandson of Jean Baptiste Saucier and Gabrielle Savary of Colonial Mobile.
Marie Jeanne Saucier, the oldest daughter of Francois and Jeannie Fontaille was born on February 19, 1749, at Fort Toulouse, north of Montgomery, Alabama. She was a granddaughter of Jean Baptiste Saucier and Gabrielle Savary. At the age of nineteen Marie Jeanne married twenty-five year old Antoine Duclos on April 19, 1768 at Prairie du Rocher, Illinois, son of Alexander Duclos, an Officer of the troops of France, and Elizabeth Philippe. Antoine was born in 1743 at Fort de Chartres and died on July 17, 1783 at Sainte Genevieve, Missouri. Marie Jeanne’s mother, Jeannie Fontaille, upon the death of her husband and Marie Jeanne’s father, Francois Saucier, as a widow, married Joseph Decelle Duclos in 1761. He was the brother of Antoine Duclos who married her daughter, Marie Jeanne, in 1768. This marriage by Jeanne Fontaille made her Antoine’s sister-in-law in 1761, and then she became his mother-in-law when he married her daughter Marie Jeanne Saucier in 1768. Marie Jeanne and Antoine had eight children, Jeanne, Antoine, Elizabeth, Marie, Alexandre, Michel, Felicite and Marguerite Saucier before his death. On March 7, 1788, thirty-nine year old Marie Jeanne married her second husband, twenty-eight year old Jean Baptiste du Martin at Kaskaskia, Illinois. Jean Baptiste du Martin was born in Quebec, Canada in 1760 and died in Canada on December 16, 1796 at age thirty-six. He was a son of Joachim Martin of Aytre, France, and Margaret McGillveray of Quebec, Canada. Marie Jeanne and Jean Baptiste du Martin had two daughters before his death, Marie Anne and Susanne Martin. On October 7, 1797 at St. Genevieve, Missouri, Marie Jeanne married for a third time to Etienne de Linel who was born in about 1824. Marie Jeanne passed away in 1803 in Missouri
Jean Baptiste Saucier, son of Francois Saucier and Jeanne Fontaille was born at Mobile on February 26, 1752 and later settled between Kaskaskia and Cahokia in Illinois. He died in May of 1805 at Cahokia, Illinois at age 53. He was a grandson of Jean Baptiste Saucier and Gabrielle Savary. No records have been found supporting that his occupation was that of a farmer; it is believed he was a merchant engaged in trading along the Mississippi. His signature is found in early church records and in the Cahokia Court records and suggests he was a merchant. Records of the Cahokia courts show that he also served as a Justice of the court. His signature changed over time from Jean Baptiste Saucier; to Bte. Saucier; and then to just B. Saucier; shown by court and church records bearing his signature. In 1777 he married Josephe Belcour at Prairie Du Rocher, Illinois, daughter of Joseph Belcour and Marie Mercier. Josephe Belcour was born on April 2, 1762 in Illinois and died in about 1784. Jean Baptiste and Josephe had seven children, Adelaide, Jean Baptiste, Celeste, Marie, Mathieu, Brigitte and Cecile Saucier.
Jeanne Felicite Saucier, the youngest daughter and last child of Francois and Jeanne Fontaille, was born in about 1754 and died on January 10, 1816 in Prairie du Roche, Illinois. She was a granddaughter of Jean Baptiste Saucier and Gabrielle Savary. On September 4, 1775, she married Antoine Louviere at Prairie du Rocher, Illinois, a widower with two sons from his first marriage, Pierre and Antoine. He was the son of Pierre Louviere and Mary Anne Richaume of Quebec. Antoine was born in about 1744 and died on September 12, 1801 at Prairie du Rocher, Illinois. Jeanne Felicite and Antoine had nine children, Jeanne Felicite, Marie Anne, Francois, Marie Agathe, Noel, Ursule, Celeste, Lucie and Jean Baptiste before Antoine’s death in 1801 and her death in 1816.
The three heads of families, the sons of Francois Saucier and Jeanne Fontaille, brothers, Jean Baptiste, Mathieu and Jean Francois Saucier, were quite prominent in the public affairs of Cahokia, Illinois and vicinity during the latter part of the eighteenth century, all three serving for some time as Justices of the district court. Working together, Jean Francois and his brother Mathieu Saucier “founded the village of Portage des Sioux in upper Louisiana (Illinois)”, and for many years were successful traders there. Jean Francois Saucier laid out the village of Portage des Sioux, Missouri in 1799 and is the founding “father” of that city. Because of its location at the mouth of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers it was considered an important location for a settlement and military post. Both brothers, Jean Francois and Mathieu, were present for the ceremonies that transferred the Louisiana Territories to the United States in 1803. Youngest brother Jean Baptiste was also a witness to the Louisiana Territory being transferred to the United States by France, having died about two years afterwards. Jean Francois unfortunately did not get to see Missouri become a state in the union; he died a few days before it was admitted as the 24th state. Mathieu, having died in 1835, did witness Missouri becoming the 24th state of the union on August 10, 1821, fourteen years before his death.
Marie Gabrielle Savary Saucier deterred in 1726 from her stated intention to leave the Louisiana Colony with her four sons and re-settle in the supposed security of the Island of St. Dominique, Gabrielle, the widow Saucier, had instead bequeathed to the Louisiana Colony, a family, that twelve or more generations later, now numbers into many thousands of descendants. Today, the Saucier family is one of the largest families of French ancestry in the United States and North America.
Just think if you could visit and talk with these ancestors today, they would have an awesome story to relate to us of their lives in the early days, of the areas they settled at and built their family homes. Their story of the hardships in settling, providing for their families and taming the vast early French Louisiana Territory where they chose to reside, I'm sure it would be very interesting and hard for those of us today to even imagine.
All those that share our surname of Saucier in both Canada and the United States are the descendants of either Charles Saucier or his younger brother Jean Baptiste Saucier. Charles Saucier with his three wives had a total of fourteen children all born and raised in Canada and has left a broad heritage and numerous descendants still residing today in Canada. Many descendants of Charles Saucier had immigrated in the middle 1800’s and the early 1900’s to the United States and have settled along the East Coast in the New England States and today are scattered throughout the entire country. The descendants of Jean Baptiste Saucier reside mainly in the states of Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Missouri and Illinois, in the area that formed part of the original old French Louisiana Territory where our paternal ancestor Jean Baptiste first settled in 1699. Jean Baptiste’s descendants, like those of his brother Charles, today are also scattered throughout the entire country.
The awesome and amazing fact is that all of today's descendants of these two brothers, both born and raised in Quebec, all share the distinction of being distant cousins to one another. Together we form a gigantic extended family. We indeed are one of the largest families of French descent in the United States and North America.
MO. - 1800 - The first white child born in the settlement of Portage des Sioux was Brigitte Saucier, born in the month of March, the daughter of Commandant Francois Saucier. Ref. pg. 862, Hist. of St. Charles and Montgomery Counties, W. Conn and the St. Charles "Missourian" (Newspaper) of August 8, 1821.
The above newspaper article leaves this writer and the reader with the impression that the child was that of (Jean) François Saucier, as he was the actual Commandant of Portage des Sioux at that time. Francois' brother Mathieu was never the Commandant of the village. But the birth dates of Francois’ two Brigitte’s do not coincide with the date of birth for the first white child, while that of his brother's child does, March 1, 1800. So this leaves the question of: was the newspaper account incorrect and should have read Mathieu Saucier instead of Francois? If the date is correct, this writer believes it would have been the daughter of Mathieu and not one of Francois’s daughters. Although, the last born of Jean Francois’ daughters named Brigitte was born at Portage des Sioux, five years earlier than the stated date for the first white child, the older daughter was not, she was born at St. Phillipe. Only the daughter of Mathieu fits all the criteria for the stated first white child’s birth. In the 1991 book “Gabrielle’s People”, Walter Saucier states in his section on Mathieu makes the statement: “Daughter Brigitte, born March 1, 1800, was said to be the first white child to be born there.” Considering his statement and the actual dates involved, it leaves the only conclusion: it was Mathieu’s daughter. For the above reasons I have listed this fact and article on Brigitte under Mathieu Saucier and not his brother (Jean) Francois Saucier.
Cezar Phillipe Saucier the third born child of Francois Saucier and Jeanne Fontaille was born on March 13, 1848 at Mobile and died in 1849 at Mobile. Cezar was a grandson of Jean Baptiste Saucier and Gabrielle Savary of Colonial Mobile.
Marie Jeanne Saucier, the oldest daughter of Francois and Jeannie Fontaille was born on February 19, 1749, at Fort Toulouse, north of Montgomery, Alabama. She was a granddaughter of Jean Baptiste Saucier and Gabrielle Savary. At the age of nineteen Marie Jeanne married twenty-five year old Antoine Duclos on April 19, 1768 at Prairie du Rocher, Illinois, son of Alexander Duclos, an Officer of the troops of France, and Elizabeth Philippe. Antoine was born in 1743 at Fort de Chartres and died on July 17, 1783 at Sainte Genevieve, Missouri. Marie Jeanne’s mother, Jeannie Fontaille, upon the death of her husband and Marie Jeanne’s father, Francois Saucier, as a widow, married Joseph Decelle Duclos in 1761. He was the brother of Antoine Duclos who married her daughter, Marie Jeanne, in 1768. This marriage by Jeanne Fontaille made her Antoine’s sister-in-law in 1761, and then she became his mother-in-law when he married her daughter Marie Jeanne Saucier in 1768. Marie Jeanne and Antoine had eight children, Jeanne, Antoine, Elizabeth, Marie, Alexandre, Michel, Felicite and Marguerite Saucier before his death. On March 7, 1788, thirty-nine year old Marie Jeanne married her second husband, twenty-eight year old Jean Baptiste du Martin at Kaskaskia, Illinois. Jean Baptiste du Martin was born in Quebec, Canada in 1760 and died in Canada on December 16, 1796 at age thirty-six. He was a son of Joachim Martin of Aytre, France, and Margaret McGillveray of Quebec, Canada. Marie Jeanne and Jean Baptiste du Martin had two daughters before his death, Marie Anne and Susanne Martin. On October 7, 1797 at St. Genevieve, Missouri, Marie Jeanne married for a third time to Etienne de Linel who was born in about 1824. Marie Jeanne passed away in 1803 in Missouri
Jean Baptiste Saucier, son of Francois Saucier and Jeanne Fontaille was born at Mobile on February 26, 1752 and later settled between Kaskaskia and Cahokia in Illinois. He died in May of 1805 at Cahokia, Illinois at age 53. He was a grandson of Jean Baptiste Saucier and Gabrielle Savary. No records have been found supporting that his occupation was that of a farmer; it is believed he was a merchant engaged in trading along the Mississippi. His signature is found in early church records and in the Cahokia Court records and suggests he was a merchant. Records of the Cahokia courts show that he also served as a Justice of the court. His signature changed over time from Jean Baptiste Saucier; to Bte. Saucier; and then to just B. Saucier; shown by court and church records bearing his signature. In 1777 he married Josephe Belcour at Prairie Du Rocher, Illinois, daughter of Joseph Belcour and Marie Mercier. Josephe Belcour was born on April 2, 1762 in Illinois and died in about 1784. Jean Baptiste and Josephe had seven children, Adelaide, Jean Baptiste, Celeste, Marie, Mathieu, Brigitte and Cecile Saucier.
Jeanne Felicite Saucier, the youngest daughter and last child of Francois and Jeanne Fontaille, was born in about 1754 and died on January 10, 1816 in Prairie du Roche, Illinois. She was a granddaughter of Jean Baptiste Saucier and Gabrielle Savary. On September 4, 1775, she married Antoine Louviere at Prairie du Rocher, Illinois, a widower with two sons from his first marriage, Pierre and Antoine. He was the son of Pierre Louviere and Mary Anne Richaume of Quebec. Antoine was born in about 1744 and died on September 12, 1801 at Prairie du Rocher, Illinois. Jeanne Felicite and Antoine had nine children, Jeanne Felicite, Marie Anne, Francois, Marie Agathe, Noel, Ursule, Celeste, Lucie and Jean Baptiste before Antoine’s death in 1801 and her death in 1816.
The three heads of families, the sons of Francois Saucier and Jeanne Fontaille, brothers, Jean Baptiste, Mathieu and Jean Francois Saucier, were quite prominent in the public affairs of Cahokia, Illinois and vicinity during the latter part of the eighteenth century, all three serving for some time as Justices of the district court. Working together, Jean Francois and his brother Mathieu Saucier “founded the village of Portage des Sioux in upper Louisiana (Illinois)”, and for many years were successful traders there. Jean Francois Saucier laid out the village of Portage des Sioux, Missouri in 1799 and is the founding “father” of that city. Because of its location at the mouth of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers it was considered an important location for a settlement and military post. Both brothers, Jean Francois and Mathieu, were present for the ceremonies that transferred the Louisiana Territories to the United States in 1803. Youngest brother Jean Baptiste was also a witness to the Louisiana Territory being transferred to the United States by France, having died about two years afterwards. Jean Francois unfortunately did not get to see Missouri become a state in the union; he died a few days before it was admitted as the 24th state. Mathieu, having died in 1835, did witness Missouri becoming the 24th state of the union on August 10, 1821, fourteen years before his death.
Marie Gabrielle Savary Saucier deterred in 1726 from her stated intention to leave the Louisiana Colony with her four sons and re-settle in the supposed security of the Island of St. Dominique, Gabrielle, the widow Saucier, had instead bequeathed to the Louisiana Colony, a family, that twelve or more generations later, now numbers into many thousands of descendants. Today, the Saucier family is one of the largest families of French ancestry in the United States and North America.
Just think if you could visit and talk with these ancestors today, they would have an awesome story to relate to us of their lives in the early days, of the areas they settled at and built their family homes. Their story of the hardships in settling, providing for their families and taming the vast early French Louisiana Territory where they chose to reside, I'm sure it would be very interesting and hard for those of us today to even imagine.
All those that share our surname of Saucier in both Canada and the United States are the descendants of either Charles Saucier or his younger brother Jean Baptiste Saucier. Charles Saucier with his three wives had a total of fourteen children all born and raised in Canada and has left a broad heritage and numerous descendants still residing today in Canada. Many descendants of Charles Saucier had immigrated in the middle 1800’s and the early 1900’s to the United States and have settled along the East Coast in the New England States and today are scattered throughout the entire country. The descendants of Jean Baptiste Saucier reside mainly in the states of Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Missouri and Illinois, in the area that formed part of the original old French Louisiana Territory where our paternal ancestor Jean Baptiste first settled in 1699. Jean Baptiste’s descendants, like those of his brother Charles, today are also scattered throughout the entire country.
The awesome and amazing fact is that all of today's descendants of these two brothers, both born and raised in Quebec, all share the distinction of being distant cousins to one another. Together we form a gigantic extended family. We indeed are one of the largest families of French descent in the United States and North America.
It is hoped that this project will help the current generation know who their ancestors are and future generations to know who we were and from where we all came.