Descendants of Jean Aubuchon
b. 1591 in Ste. Rémi de Dieppe, Normandy, France
The Migration to Ste. Genevieve, Missouri
Ste. Genevieve, founded in either 1735 according to Goodspeed's "History of Southeast Missouri", or 1750 according to Carl J. Ekberg's "Colonial Ste. Genevieve", was the first town settled west of the Mississippi River (also see History of Ste. Genevieve). The first land grants were conveyed in the 1740's. The old village, called St. Joachim of Ste. Genevieve (also called "Big Field"), existed on the west side of the big bend of the Mississippi River, with Kaskaskia on the east side of the river.
Throughout much of the colonial period Ste. Genevieve society was dominated by a handful of established and wealthy families, most of which had come to the Illinois Country via French Canada and had been settled for some time on the east bank of the Mississippi before moving to Ste. Genevieve. Vallé, Deguire, Aubuchon, Carpentier, Pratte, Bauvais, Janis, Bolduc, Datchurut, and Lachance were families that supplied the personnel for the power elite in colonial Ste. Genevieve. These families were not aristocratic; indeed, their origins in France were largely peasant. But in Ste. Genevieve members of these families had money, status, and power, and they dominated the cadre of the local militia. Wealth was important but it was not the only factor that conveyed prestige in the community. Neither the Deguires nor Aubuchons, for example, had great wealth like the Vallés, but they were old, respectable, and well-to-do families.1
Beneath the upper crust of society the economic and social gradations were so fine that there was an essentially unbroken continuum down to the disenfranchised slaves. The detailed Spanish census of 1791, which includes information on the slave ownership and economic productivity, provides a convenient overview of the range of economic positions and social levels occupied by the citizens of Ste. Genevieve. Agriculture was the single most important economic activity in the community, employing the largest number of people and producing the most revenue, and the three principle crops were wheat, corn and tobacco. Most of the prestigious families were engaged in agriculture, as well as other things like trade, lead mining and salt production, and used slaves to work their crops. François Vallé II had the largest number of black and mulatto male slaves, twenty-four. Beneath the upper crust of society existed a large group of farmers (habitants or cultivateurs). These men owned few or no slaves and yet they produced sizable quantities of wheat, corn and tobacco. This group of sturdy yeomen farmers constituted the single largest economic and social category in colonial Ste. Genevieve and must be considered to have been the backbone of the community. They were not members of the upper crust but they freely associated with persons from the power elite and would have been scorned by no man in Upper Louisiana. Many of the Aubuchons, Deguires, and Lalumandières fell into this grouping.2
As written by Carl J. Ekberg in his book "Colonial Ste. Genevieve: An Adventure on the Mississippi Frontier", "The Aubuchons remained one of the foremost families of Ste. Genevieve throughout the colonial period". He also wrote, "In the early 1780s, Antoine Aubuchon, a member of one of Ste. Genevieve's oldest (if not best) families..."
The French government granted long narrow strips of land in "LeGrande Champ" (meaning "Big Field") to the early settlers. These strips of land were from one to two arpents wide and measured 2/3 of an acre. Antoine was one of the owners of these grants. Other notable owners were Julien Labruyere, a son of Louis Ratte Labruyere, one of the first settlers, Nicolas LaPlante, Jean Baptiste Pratte, Bazile Maisplait, Louis LeClere, Joseph Bogy, Nicolas Roussin, Hypolite Robert and Vital Beauvais.3
Antoine was the first Aubuchon to migrate across the Mississippi river to settle in Ste. Genevieve, traveling there with his family Elisabeth Delaunay his wife and their two known children, Elisabeth and Antoine Tonish. It is not known exactly when they settled in Ste. Genevieve, but further research into the French land grants of the time should shed light on this.
Since, Ste. Genevieve didn't have a resident pastor until 1759, marriages and baptisms would have been recorded in Kaskaskia4. Antoine was recorded in the Kaskaskia census of 17525 which means he had not settled in Ste. Genevieve at that time. Elizabeth Aubuchon is recorded in the Ste. Genevieve church records as a Godmother on January 3, 17606. This particular Elizabeth could be the daughter of Pierre Aubuchon, Antoine's wife Elizabeth Delauney or most likely Antoine's daughter. Based on this information I believe Antoine settled in Ste. Genevieve sometime between 1752 and 1760.
Pierre Aubuchon, along with members of his family, Pierre (Jr.), Marie Anne, (the wife of Phillippe-Henri Carpentier) and Augustine, all followed Antoine to Ste. Genevieve. Pierre Aubuchon's family began going by the dit "Morel" to distinguish themselves from Antoine's family. It is not known when Pierre and his family settle in Ste. Genevieve. The first recorded date for Pierre's family in Ste. Genevieve was the marriage of Pierre (Jr.) and Charlotte Guillemot LaLande on January 10, 1763. Pierre was recorded in the Kaskaskia census of 1752 as Pire Obuchon. This implies that Pierre and his family settle in Ste. Genevieve sometime between 1752 and 1763.
Descendants of Antoine Aubuchon:
Elisabeth Aubuchon b. Abt. 1738 in Kaskaskia, Illinois
Elisabeth was the eldest child of Antoine Aubuchon (that migrated to Kaskaskia, July 1, 1729) and Elizabeth Delaunay, and sister to Antoine Tonish Aubuchon. She was born around 1738 in Kaskaskia. She married Dominique Thomure LaSource on July 1, 1755, in Kaskaskia, IL. They had two known children, Jean Baptiste Thomure LaSource and Marie Louise Thomure LaSource. Dominique was the son of Jean Baptiste LaSource an officer of the militia and Francoise Rivard. He received grants for both residential and agricultural land at Ste. Genevieve in April 1752 on the condition that he homestead there for a year and a day7. Dominique died in Ste. Genevieve in January 1773.
The following is a recount of the theft of an Indian slave owned by Elizabeth Aubuchon, stolen by Céledon. Céledon was, at the time, under suspicions for theft and murder of another Indian slave woman.
Then a month later, in April 1773 Céledon struck again, not to regain his belongings that remained chez Larose but instead to get the woman that he wanted and needed as a companion and partner in the outback. On April 24 François Vallé and two witnesses went to the residence of Widow Aubuchon (LaSource) to collect information from the widow and a nine-year-old Indian slave boy. Widow Aubuchon recounted that on the night of April 20-21 her Indian slave, Marianne, was tethered with a chain in a locked and barred room of the Aubuchon residence where she was supposed to be sleeping with her nine-year-old son. On the morning of April 21, the widow discovered that the bars on the window of Marianne's room had been cut and that Marianne was gone, although her son was still there.8
Commandant Vallé was also interested in Marianne in her own right and he routinely queried his deponents about their contacts with her. They informed him that Marianne was living with Céledon on the Black River and that both of them carried fusils, light muskets. Charles Boyer of Ste. Genevieve conversed with Marianne at a hunting camp and reported that she weepingly asked him about her two sons. Boyer told her that one remained with Widow Aubuchon and that the other had been placed chez Antoine Aubuchon, the widow's brother. There is no evidence that Marianne tried to retrieve her two boys, who were still slaves in Ste. Genevieve in 1778. Such a rescue mission would have been virtually assured of failure.9
Elisabeth gave (or sold) her three Indian slaves, Marianne and her two sons, Baptiste and Louis to Antoine Aubuchon, Elisabeth's brother. Those three Indians were listed on the Indian slave census of 1770 as the property of Antoine Aubuchon. It appears that Elisabeth and Antoine passed ownership of the slaves back and forth a couple of times.
She remarried on April 19, 1774, in Ste. Genevieve, to Jacques Baptiste Morel. They had no known children. It is not known when either of them died.
Elizabeth is recorded as a Godparent at many baptisms between 1760 and 1770. I can't be completely confident that it is this Elizabeth that is the Godparent of all or any of these baptisms. There is Antoine's wife, Elisabeth Delaunay and Elizabeth daughter of Pierre Aubuchon that could have been in Ste. Genevieve around the same time. The baptisms are as follows10:
Françoise Le Beau, 3 Jan 1760, daughter of François Le Beau and Margueritta Pertuis.
Charles Larche, 5 Feb 1760, son of Paul Larche and Alice Anglaise
Jean Baptiste Dorlac, date not recorded, son of François Dorlac and Françoise Phillipaux.
Elisabeth, 18 Mar 1760, daughter of Marie, slave of André Larose.
Margueritta Leferve, 23 Jun 1760, daughter of Jean Marie Leferve and Louise Rondeau.
François, 20 Oct 1760, son of Sandau and Marie Louise, slaves of François Vallé.
Victoire, 5 Nov 1760, ??? of Jaque and Marie, slaves of François Vallé.
Alexis, 17 Nov 1760, son of Alexis Sawa and Françoise, slaves of François Vallé.
Hypolite Larose, 21 Mar 1760, ??? of Jean Baptiste Larose and mother not recorded.
Jeanne, (bet. 12 May and 21 Jun 1761) daughter of Adulte, slave of Jean Baptiste Bauvais.
Jaque, 5 Jul 1761, son of Adulte, slave of Jean Baptiste Bauvais.
Madelaine 5 Jul 1761, daughter of Adulte, slave of Jaque Lasource.
François Lebeau, 1 Dec 1761, daughter of François Lebeau and Margueritta Pertuis.
Jeanne, 10 Jan 1762, daughter of Louis and Theresa slaves of F. Vallé.
Louis, 25 Oct 1762, son of Joseph and Elisabeth, slaves of François Vallé.
Charles, 31 Mar 1765, son of Charles and Françoise, slaves with owners not identified.
Elisabeth Boldue, 29 Jul 1766, daughter of Louis Boldue and Agathe Govereau.
Therese, 18 Oct 1766, illegitimate daughter of Elizabeth, slave of Carpentier.
Elisabeth Deguire, 20 Aug 1768, daughter of Andre Deguire and Margueritta Govereau.
Antoine Aubuchon, 23 Jun 1769, son of Antoine Aubuchon and Marie Denis Verronnaux.
Louis Julien Labruyere, 10 Jan 1770, son of Louis La Bruyere and Agnes Pierralier.
Antoine Tonish Aubuchon b. Abt. 1750 in Kaskaskia, Illinois
Antoine was the son of Antoine Aubuchon and Elizabeth Delaunay (also spelled de Launay and other various spellings), and was the brother to Elisabeth Aubuchon. He was born around 1750, but there are conflicts as to the accuracy. According to the vital records of the Church of Ste. Genevieve, Antoine was 48 when he died on February 25, 1798, but that conflicts with the 1752 census. According to that census, Antoine (the elder) had only his wife and daughter living within his household, which implies that Antoine Tonish was not born until after the 1752 census.
Antoine Tonish married Marie Louise dit "Veronneau" Denis on November 24, 1766, in Ste. Genevieve. Marie Louise was born around 1754 and was the daughter of Jean Baptiste Denis Veronneau and Marthe Hubert Duplessis. Together they had nine children: Jean Baptiste, born about 1767; Antoine, born June 23, 1769, married Helene Roussin on February 11, 1800 and died November 29, 1858; Marie Louise, born August 25, 1771, married Michel Placet on January 19, 1791 and died in September of 1832; Louis, born July 6, 1774, married Pelagie Caron (other spelling include: Carron; Carrow) on November 20, 1798 and it's not known exactly when he died; Jean Baptiste, born July 13, 1776, married Celeste Roussin (the younger sister of Helene Roussin who married Antoine) on July 2, 1778, and it's not known when he died; François Georgei, born December 23, 1779, married Eugenie Tropez Ricard on November 25, 1806 and died in 1838; Cecile, born January 18, 1782, married Antoine Duclos on June 12, 1798, and died on November 10, 1858, in Old Mines, Missouri; Baptiste, born June 8, 1787, but no known death date; Finally, Bazile, born December 20, 1790, married Adelaide Tropez Ricard (the younger sister of Eugenie Tropez Ricard) on February 1, 1815. When Adelaide died in 1832, Bazile remarried Marie Felician Govereau on April 28, 1834. Bazile died on February 1, 1864.
On May 26, 1770, Antoine officially declared ownership of three Native American Creole slaves. The following is the English translation of the document:
INDIAN SLAVES AT Ste. GENEVIEVE
May 28, 1770.
General Census of all the Indian slaves, their ages and nations, and names of masters. Recorded in the Clerks Office.
Antoine Aubuchon, resident, declares he owns the following: one savage women named Marianne, baptized, twenty five years of age and her two children; a boy named Baptiste age seven, and another boy called Louis, age five. The two boys are creoles and are baptized. The three are valued at two thousand livres.
Vallé (signed)
In the early 1780's he began a liaison with a free black woman named Elizabeth. The records do not tell us, but it seems likely that Aubuchon purchased Elizabeth as a concubine and then emancipated her. Probably Elizabeth, "free negress," who appears on the 1787 census with her two sons was the mistress of Antoine Aubuchon. Before Antoine died in 1798 at age forty-eight, he and Elizabeth had had ten children, and in March of that year Elizabeth sued Antoine's estate on behalf of those mulatto children. In the settlement she collected thirty-five minots of wheat, ten minots of maize, a carbine and a rifle. This was not a munificent inheritance upon which to raise ten children, but in any case Elizabeth had been able to demonstrate to the judge (Delaussus de Luzieres in this case) that her children had been sired by Antoine Aubuchon and that they deserved a share of this estate.11
Antoine died in Ste. Genevieve on January 25, 1798.
Descendants of Pierre Aubuchon:
More to come...