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François
Bienvenu dit Delisle
(following)
On 23 July 1701 the convoy
spent the night at what is now Grosse Ile, Michigan and the
next day "founded" Detroit. On 26 July the first mass was
said at Fort Pontchartrain in Ste-Anne's by the Recollet
priest, Constantin Delhalle.
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In the fall of
1701, Madame Cadillac
and Madame Tonty were the first known women to
arrive at Fort Pontchartrain, possibly with their
families as was indicated in the 5 September 1701
contract by Adhémar with Robert
Réaume, Toussaint Pothier and Joseph
Trottier dit Desruisseaux.
It is possible that Geneviève CHARRON dit
LAFERRIERE, François' wife, joined him
in the spring of 1702
with their young son, Alexis.
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On 5 October 1703, a fire at
Fort Pontchartrain destroyed a part of the fort and the
church. The church registers were destroyed. ( At this time
it is not known exactly when this young family arrived at
the fort. The register of Ste-Anne does not exist before
1704 because of the 1703 fire in Detroit. New records are
being found and it is possible that some day the
approximate, if not the exact, date of arrival of many of
the people to Detroit between 1701-1710 will be known.).
On 2 June 1706, Father
Constantin Delhalle, a soldier named Larivière, as
well as Pierre Tichenet who was the godfather of Joseph, the
third child of François Bienvenu, were killed during
an attack on the Fort by the Ottawas.
On 10 March 1707,
François received a contract for a piece of property
30 feet long on St. Louis Street and 22 feet wide between
the property of Desroches (Jacob Marsac, sieur de Lhommetrou
et Desrochers) and Michel Massé. He was to pay three
livres in rente and ten livres for other
rights.
In an act dated 13 May 1723,
François Bienvenu, when the body of Constantin
Delhalle was exhumed and was transferred to the new church,
was cited as having helped bury him in 1706.
He had four children with Geneviève CHARRON dit
LAFERRIERE :
- Alexis, born in 1701 and who married
Marie-Josèphe Bouron in Detroit on 17 January 1740.
He died in Detroit on 13 October 1763.
- Raphaël, born in 1703 and was buried on 24
April 1706 in Detroit. (This was the first recorded death
in Detroit and the last act recorded by Delhalle before his
death).
- Joseph, born 5 May 1704 in Detroit and buried on
31 December 1711 in Detroit.
- Marie, born 8 December 1705 in Detroit and who
married, in Detroit, Jacques Roussel on 4 April 1725.
The exact dates of death and burial of Geneviève
Charron dit Laferrière are not known. However, it can
be assumed she was deceased by 11
September 1707 when an inventory was made of his
property in Detroit.
On 20 August 1708 at Montreal
(contract by Lepailleur de LaFerté on 14 August 1708)
he married Marie-Anne LEMOYNE, born 1 April 1685 in Lachine, daughter of Nicolas
Lemoyne, a royal huissier, and of Marguerite Jasselin
who had been a "fille du roy".
François had eleven children with Marie-Anne :
- Marie-Josèphe, born 25 August 1709 in
Detroit and who married Étienne Gibaut on 8 January
1731. She died on 24 February 1733 in Montreal.
- Louise, born 20 May 1711 in Detroit.
- Étienne François, born 5 December
1712 in Detroit and died there on 12 April 1713.
- Louis, born 29 April 1714 in Detroit.
- Marie-Charlotte, born 27 March 1716 in Detroit
and who was buried in Montreal on 13 December 1729.
- Marie-Françoise ( Louise? ), born 27 July
1717 in Detroit and died on 15 December 1729 in
Montreal.
- Angélique, born 16 February 1721 in
Detroit and who married in Detroit (1) 15 August 1742 Claude
Esprit and (2) 10 January 1752 Joseph Cabassier. She died in
Detroit on 14 December 1773.
- Suzanne, born 10 November 1722 in Detroit and who
married Simon Gendron on 7 January 1748 in Detroit. She was
buried there on 15 August 1764.
- Charles, born 9 December 1724 in Detroit.
- Marie-Josèphe, born 15 September 1726 in
Montreal and died there on 14 March 1728.
- René, born 1 July 1729 in Montreal and
died there on 29 July 1729.
François Bienvenu dit Delisle was an inn
keeper in 1729 in Montreal.
He died on 29 September 1751 in
Detroit at the age of 85.
Marie-Anne Lemoyne died on 6 September 1754 in
Detroit.
He has many descendants today in the United States,
particularly in the Detroit River Region (see some descendants
's photographies).
Most of the "Delisle" in that area descend from him and, in
particular, from his son, Alexis.
I thank Mrs
Esther Lyons, a far relative from Australia,
without who I never would know Mr Jeffrey McQueen who
supplied me many informations about our mutual ancestor, as
well Mrs Gail Desharnais-Moreau by the French-Canadian
Heritage Society of Michigan who effects
researches on the Detroit's pioneers and who gave me many
documents about François Bienvenu dit Delisle.
Along my researches, I regulary find new informations
which allow a usual up to date of the pages about
François Bienvenu dit Delisle. I request those, whose
ancestors are Bienvenu or Delisle to write me their
informations. Thank you.
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