  Dtowncitylover Member Username: Dtowncitylover Post Number: 4 Registered: 02-2008 |
I was wondering if anyone on here is a descendant of Detroit's early French settlers. Maybe a Livernois, Gratiot, or Cadieux. I know most left to St. Louis when the Brits took over, but I wish that somehow Detroit's French community survived with like a French Quarter or something. Also, does anyone have any information about the last French mass celebrated in the city in 1942? I plan to go to the Archdiocese of Detroit's offices on Washington Blvd, but any information is welcomed! | ||
Plymouthres Member Username: Plymouthres Post Number: 482 Registered: 02-2007 |
Dtowncitylover- Welcome to the forum! Try Kathleen. I believe that she is a direct descendant. Also see the French Ribbon farm thread and various others that have been discussed here previously. She is by far the foremost authority on this forum, bar none. | ||
El_jimbo Member Username: El_jimbo Post Number: 616 Registered: 12-2006 |
My French Detroit ancestry does not go that far back. However, I have ancestors who made their way from Europe to New France as early as the 1610s. One of my ancestors is Abraham Martin. He was a somewhat shady mover and shaker in the early colonial days of New France. It was on his property, the "Plains of Abraham" that the decisive battle in the siege of Quebec was fought during the French and Indian War. My families first recorded arrival in Detroit that I have been able to find is an 1801 marriage at St. Anne's. | ||
Texorama Member Username: Texorama Post Number: 201 Registered: 12-2006 |
The Monroe area is a good place to look. There's the very distinctive headquarters of the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, which was run by a black Haitian nun in its early years (higher-ups in Detroit tried to hush this up). Try the Frenchtown Township library branch! http://monroe.lib.mi.us/branch es/frenchtown_dixie/history.ht m | ||
Gazhekwe Member Username: Gazhekwe Post Number: 1781 Registered: 08-2007 |
Hey, El Jimbo, on my French side, I also am descended from Abraham. Did we have the same Aunt Eva Cote Ross McCarthy? | ||
El_jimbo Member Username: El_jimbo Post Number: 617 Registered: 12-2006 |
I have a great aunt Rosalie who I think was married to a McCarthy at one point. They might be one in the same. I don't know. | ||
Gazhekwe Member Username: Gazhekwe Post Number: 1784 Registered: 08-2007 |
Well, nice to virtually meet you, very distant cousin! My Great Aunt Eva knew almost all the descendants here in Detroit, but she never went by Rosalie. If we were more closely connected you would probably have heard of her at one point. I ran into a pre-med student at WSU in the 60s who was talking about his Aunt Eva, and she sure sounded like my Aunt Eva. Sure enough, it was the same Aunt Eva. I don't think he ever quite believed we were related even though I knew all her husbands' names. Aunt Eva passed on a couple years ago, but she was quite the wild gal in her time. | ||
El_jimbo Member Username: El_jimbo Post Number: 618 Registered: 12-2006 |
nope. Definitely not the same. Rosalie is still alive. It would be interesting to find out just how distantly we are related. | ||
Dtowncitylover Member Username: Dtowncitylover Post Number: 5 Registered: 02-2008 |
Is Cadieux St. still an important Belgian community spot? I know that Detroit still has the largest concentration of Belgians outside of Belgium. My 11th grade English teacher was half-Belgian. (Message edited by dtowncitylover on March 31, 2008) | ||
Gistok Member Username: Gistok Post Number: 6602 Registered: 08-2004 |
Although the Cadieux Cafe is still alive and kicking, I think most of the Belgian community has moved out to Macomb County, as have the German and Italian community. There are still remnants, but not that many. | ||
Kathleen Member Username: Kathleen Post Number: 2812 Registered: 10-2003 |
Hey, Dtowncitylover! Welcome to the Forum! Among my Detroit ancestors was Pierre Roy who reportedly was Cadillac's advance scout. He married an Indian woman named Marie Oubankikove; their daughter Madeleine was born in 1704 and baptised at Ste. Anne. Other ancestors were surnamed St. Aubin, Beaubien, and Chene, among others. I did most of my research using the Burton Historical Collection using the Father Denissen genealogy First French Families of the Detroit River Region, 1701-1901 and the Ste. Anne church records on microfilm. I requested baptismal and marriage records from Assomption Church, Windsor; St. Simon and Jude, Belle River; and Annunciation, Stoney Point, and also visited St. Mary's in Monroe to use their church records. It was an interesting ride! | ||
Sailor_rick Member Username: Sailor_rick Post Number: 206 Registered: 02-2004 |
Mrs. Rick's family arrived in De-Twah May 30, 1705 along with Piere Cadieu and Jean Campau. No streets named after them though. I belive there used to be an early Detroit founders society on the east side. If any luck, contact me at marzick@msn.com. Check out- www.telusplanet.net/public/dga rneau/metis4a1.htm | ||
Kathleen Member Username: Kathleen Post Number: 2813 Registered: 10-2003 |
Sailor_rick: Thanks for the link. It could be of interest, but I couldn't find any authoritative source listed on the website you suggesting checking out. Do you know dgarneau's background or where the information came from? | ||
Sailor_rick Member Username: Sailor_rick Post Number: 208 Registered: 02-2004 |
Kathleen, It was on the Internet so it must be true, Mon Dieu! Seriously, I found it through Monsieur De Google. I can not cite its sources, so I would not present it as hard evidence in the First District Forum Court of Genealogy. The name and dates syncs up with other information we have though. Thanks for your leads; I’ve a few hundred years to link together. | ||
Steelworker Member Username: Steelworker Post Number: 1087 Registered: 02-2004 |
My family moved to new france in about 1680's. They moved gradually towards detroit and live in windsor for maybe hundred year before they jumped the river for Detroit in late 1890's | ||
Mrsprunk Member Username: Mrsprunk Post Number: 15 Registered: 02-2006 |
my mother's mothers side of the family are descendants of cadillac himself. i need to do more research though..... | ||
Lowell Board Administrator Username: Lowell Post Number: 4722 Registered: 10-2003 |
A Monsieur L. Boileau landed in Detroit in 1966 to work on Zug Island and then in the Rouge. Does that count? | ||
Hudkina Member Username: Hudkina Post Number: 167 Registered: 12-2004 |
The only thing I know about my partial french ancestry is that we used to call my Great Grandmother "Mimi". | ||
Cambrian Member Username: Cambrian Post Number: 1830 Registered: 08-2006 |
"One of my ancestors is Abraham Martin" We are cousins. My Gramma's maiden name was Cote, and I 'm told her Great to the 10th power grandfather married one of Abraham Martin's daughter's. | ||
D_mcc Member Username: D_mcc Post Number: 631 Registered: 12-2007 |
My Mothers maiden name is Champagne, and her mothers maiden name is LaPonse... I should do some research and see how far back they go. I know my grandmother was on the SW side both grandparents went to Holy Redeemer and were married there, but I think my Great Grandparents were north of downtown...I'm not sure | ||
French777 Member Username: French777 Post Number: 392 Registered: 10-2006 |
My French ancestors came over to New Paltz, New York in 1690 I think Detroit should embrace its French Past more! What do you think? (Message edited by french777 on April 07, 2008) | ||
Jgavrile Member Username: Jgavrile Post Number: 61 Registered: 09-2005 |
Hey Cambrian, are you any relative to the Cote's that had the Ford dealerships in Detroit?? They were the Brothers of Evangeline Cote Dahlinger, who was the secretary of Henry Ford and had a Son John, that claimed to be the illegitemate Son of her and Henry Ford?? | ||
Jams Member Username: Jams Post Number: 8268 Registered: 10-2003 |
D_mcc, There is a small cemetery in Ecorse in the middle of a residential area near Southfield Road that is the final resting place for several Champagne/Champaign family members. It was there I discovered how the street in Allen Park I had lived on had come to be named. Philomene was the wife of Adolph Champaign , the next street over was Cleophis, after the son. | ||
D_mcc Member Username: D_mcc Post Number: 634 Registered: 12-2007 |
I thought the different spellings were telling though, I went to high school in AP so I was aware of the street name, might be some interesting research to do, but I don't want to pay for a geneology study | ||
Jams Member Username: Jams Post Number: 8269 Registered: 10-2003 |
There is a group Downriver dedicated to genealogy and offers a great deal of information and help, it's been a while, but I think you can get information about them through the Lincoln Park Library. I personally am at dead ends for both families. My paternal line ends in the early 1800s as the orphanage our ancestor in Glasgow, Scotland was raised in, had a fire sometime in the last century and all records were destroyed. Despite the fact that my maternal line extends back to the founding of Hungary and the family name is revered there, my uncles have not been able to connect the dots, as my grandfather refused to allow any discussion of his early life, including the place of his birth, which could have been anywhere in the Austrian-Hungarian Empire. Good Luck in your search. (Message edited by jams on April 08, 2008) | ||
Dtowncitylover Member Username: Dtowncitylover Post Number: 36 Registered: 02-2008 |
I think detroit should invest in a French Quarter. We should really embrace our French past, maybe that would bring class into the city. i wish we had a french speaking population like louisiana or northern maine. familysearch.org is a great free geneology site, d_mcc. | ||
Gaz Member Username: Gaz Post Number: 37 Registered: 04-2008 |
I think a French Quarter would be a great idea for Detroit! I lived in New Orleans for awhile, and believe me, it brings in the tourists. It wouldn't even have to be as big as NOLA's. Restaurants, antique shops, bars, special events, etc., could do wonders. | ||
Andylinn Member Username: Andylinn Post Number: 792 Registered: 04-2006 |
I'm a sixth generation Detroiter. Not original French settlers, but early. My family came here when a Frenchman, a Fornier, met a lovely native woman in Canada. A member of the Odawa tribe and together they had a few kiddies and came across the river. | ||
Lifeinmontage Member Username: Lifeinmontage Post Number: 71 Registered: 10-2007 |
"I think detroit should invest in a French Quarter. We should really embrace our French past, maybe that would bring class into the city. i wish we had a french speaking population like louisiana or northern maine." i too wish detroit had some sort of french quarter, embraced its french past, and had a french speaking population. however, an ethnic district (such as greektown, hamtramck, mexicantown) must grow naturally, not by "investing" in signage and language lessons. that however raises an interesting question: if there was a "french quarter" in detroit, would its inhabitants speak quebecois, parisien, or cajun french? my family is french canadian (surnames faubert & duprey). my ancestors came from france to quebec, then to ontario (where some relatives remain today), and eventually michigan. there's even a duprey street on detroit's east side, so there must be some other distant relatives nearby. | ||
Dtowncitylover Member Username: Dtowncitylover Post Number: 37 Registered: 02-2008 |
"Franco-Michigander" sounds cool. But we probably would have developed our own style of French apart from quebecois, parisian, or cajun, but probably some type of mix between quebecois and cajun, as cajun is from spanish also and quebecois french is an archiac type of Standard French. But your right Lifeinmontage, a French Quartier would have to be developed naturally, let's start now! Je parle un peu francais! hehe. |
