THE HISTORY OF THE DUSSEAU/DUSO FAMILY IN AMERICA FIRST GENERATION: JEAN-BAPTISTE DU SAULT IV AND THARCILE LA FOREST

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1 THE HISTORY OF THE DUSSEAU/DUSO FAMILY IN AMERICA FIRST GENERATION: JEAN-BAPTISTE DU SAULT IV AND THARCILE LA FOREST This history deals only with the descendants of Jean Baptiste DuSault IV and Tharcile LaForest s children, especially Joseph Dusseau and William John Duso and their descendants. The ancestors of Louis Joseph Dusseau, and his descendants, who are the Erie, MI, branch of the family, are covered in APPENDIX C. Our immigrant ancestor, Jean-Baptiste DuSault IV, was born June 9, 1803 in Trois Rivieres, Quebec, Canada, the son of Louis Basile DuSault and Marie-Louise Amiot. Louis Basile was the son of the last Seigneur, or Lord Toupin DuSault of Belair aux Ecureuils. Jean Baptiste s birth place and date was supplied by a family ledger now in the hands of Arbertha Gauthier Baker of Saginaw (2006), Michigan. This ledger was started by the grandson of Jean-Baptiste DuSault, John Joel Duso of Kawkawlin Michigan. Jean Baptiste DuSault IV married Tharcile LaForest on May 3, 1827, in St. Sulpice, Assumption Church, Quebec, Canada, according to the church records. She was born in August of 1797, probably in or near St. Sulpice as her mother was born there, both parents died there, and she married there. She was thus six years older than her husband, according to the family ledger. She was the daughter of Joseph Benoit dit LaForest III and Victoire Ferron, according to church records of the marriage. She was known as Tossie La Foray by her Bay County descendants. According to Lena Dusseau, the granddaughter of the immigrant couple, Jean-Baptiste and Tharcile, and Arbertha Gautier Baker, also a descendant of this couple through their son William John Duso, the family came to Michigan by covered wagon to Erie, Michigan. According to the family ledger, their son William John was born February 28, 1842 in White Hall, VT, now White Hall New York. His older brother, Joseph was naturalized in Toledo, Ohio, and those papers state he was born in Canada. Joseph was born in 1835, making the date of first entry in the US as somewhere between The most likely route taken from the St. Sulpice area would have been the water route down the St. Laurence River, then up the Richelieu River to the narrow, river like Lake Champlain to Whitehall which is several miles south of historic Ft. Ticonderoga. A trip in 2004 by the writer to Whitehall, NY, found a small town cramped on all sides by wooded foot hills and a snake-like projection of Lake Champlain running through the middle of it. As Jean Baptiste DuSault was a big man, lumbering may have brought him here. Lena Dusseau states that her grandfather came to Erie, Michigan with his family and a partner. She states he made and sold washboards made of wood. She described her grandfather as big and husky which is confirmed by a picture of this man, the original of which is held by Mrs. Baker, mentioned above. Jean Baptiste Dussault lived with his family in Erie, Michigan, probably from the mid 100

2 1840 s on until about At this point, his son Joseph and family moved to their LaSalle Street, formerly Pearl Alley, home in Toledo, Ohio, and his other son, William John Duso, after living briefly in Berlin Towmship, Monroe County, MI, around 1879 moved to Kawkawlin, Bay County, MI, in Tharcile LaForest, the family matriarch, died six years later in Kawkawlin, MI, on May 24, 1886, according to the family ledger. Her husband lived on until he was ninety years old. He was on a visit to Toledo, Ohio, with his son Joseph when tragedy struck. On 14 October 1893, Jean Baptiste s granddaughter, Ada Dusseau was engulfed in flames while getting rid of bed bugs with kerosene in a second story bedroom when her lamp exploded the fumes. She fell down the stairs and her grandfather, an invalid for years, jumped from his chair and tried to smother the flames. Ada died shortly thereafter and two months later, on December 9, A death date of March 1, 1892, in the family ledger, for his death is incorrect, according to Toledo, Ohio, records, including the city directory, which detailed such things in the 19 th century. Some of the details of this narrative were supplied by Allie May Lerby Zimmerman Dusseau Lisle, the wife of John s grandson, Richard Dusseau, Sr. In the summer of 1964 she gave this writer many details about the branch of the Dusseau Family who lived in Toledo, Ohio. According to Jean-Baptiste s great-great-granddaughter, Arbertha Gauthier Baker, Jean Baptiste s body was taken back to Kawkawlin by his son John William Duso to be buried with his wife Tharcile. This couple was first buried in St. Joseph s Cemetery, across Ste Street fom Visitation Church in Bay City. Their remains, along with others in the cemetery, as well as the surviving tombstones were removed to the new Calvary Cemetery in Kawkawlin in The old St. Joseph s Cemetery on State street ran from Smith to Elm Street and had a fence around it. Today it is a parking lot. Arbertha states that the funeral costs required William John Duso s family to mortgage their property. The Duso family ledger indicates that John Baptiste DuSault IV and his wife Tharcile LaForest had five children. They were born roughly in the following order, based upon records currently available: (Tharcile)-Alice Dusseau, Justine Dusseau, Joseph Dusseau, William John Duso, and Frank Dusseau. 101

3 THE SECOND GENERATION IN AMERICA: THE FIVECHILDREN OF JEAN BAPTISTE DU SAULT AND THARCILE LA FOREST Tharcile-Alice Dusseau, presumed eldest born child of Jean-Baptiste Du Sault IV and TharcileLaForest, is recorded in the Duso registry as Alice. She was, however, known as Tharcile, or Theresa, by her Toledo, Ohio, relatives. Tharcile s brother, William John Duso, had a daughter named Tharcile-Alice Duso. It would appear from these facts that the Alice of the registry is Tharcile, or Tharcile-Alice of Monroe County, as no Tharcile is mentioned in the Duso register. As she died at the age of 66, on 3 January 1897, it would appear she was born around 1831 in Canada, perhaps in the St. Sulpice area, although no baptismal record has been found in the church s registry. She is buried in the St. Charles Parish Cemetery, a cemetery which the couple donated to the parish. At the time she was buried in a brick mausoleum in the cemetery, but with time and neglect, it had to be torn down. Tharcile-Alice ( Theresa ) Dusseau married on October 13, 1846 at St. Joseph s Church, Erie, Michigan to Jean-Baptiste Anteau, born about 1825, probably at St. Antoine de la Riviereaux-Raisins, as were his brothers and sisters, the son of Augustus Jovitus Antaya and Isabelle Bourdreau. This would have made Theresa, with a conjectured birth date of 1831, only 15 years old, and her husband about 21. (As pointed out elsewhere such age differences were common among French-Canadian couples.) The couple either remained childless or their children died in infancy as none are known to have survived into adulthood. His youngest sister, Elizabeth, lived with them in their house in St. Charles Parish, Newport. The couple was well to do and prominent members of the parish. Prior to settling on his farm, he was involved in land speculation in Toledo, Ohio according to family oral tradition. Not only did they donate the land for the church cemetery, they also donated the church bell. Because they remained childless, Samuel Dusseau, the son of Joseph Dusseau, Theresa s brother, came to work as a farm hand on their property in the mid to late 1880 s. Their farm was in Berlin Township, Monroe County, where the family of Ralph Jarvis and Marie Trombley lived. It is under these circumstances that Samuel Dusseau of Toledo, Ohio, met the northern Monroe County girl, Matilda Jarvis, who became his wife. They are the greatgrandparents of the writer. This information was given to the writer by his great-aunt Norma Dusseau Gray, daughter of Samuel Dusseau. The St. Charles Parish History, published on the 50 th anniversary of the church s founding, has pictures of Jean Baptiste Anteau and his wife Tharcile Dusseau on p. 54. Two other references are made in this book to the Anteau couple: Another relic of their ancestors customs in France was the procession and ceremonies on the Rogation Days (the three days of special prayers preceding Ascension Thursday in the Catholic Religion), when the same procedure as on Corpus Christi would be followed, with the long line of marchers going to the west, usually instead of east as in the Corpus Chirsti procession. They would proceed down the road as far as the home of John B. Anteau, stopping at the shrines, praying (the rosary) and blessing the fields with holy water. At the Anteau home the procession would turn and retrace the line of march to Church. (In this procession, which started at the 102

4 Church of St. Charles, the young men were usually mounted on horses and as the procession came to a shrine along the way, of which there were two or three, the priest would walk up to the shrine with the golden monstrance in hand while a canopy was held over his head by four men.) (p. 20). A second quote from this book states (p. 23): Due to a number of causes the church was not completed until Father Laugel finished the details of the church and furnished the interior. A bell was donated by Mr. John B. Anteau and his wife, and it was blessed at special services. The 1880 Federal Census for Berlin Township, Monroe County, MI indicates that Jean-Baptiste Anteau was 55 years old and a farmer, stating he and his parents were born in Canada, which does not seem to be so in his case. His wife Theresa is listed as 48, born in Michigan as were his parents. (It appears the birth countries are reversed for these spouses and their parents. (Her age approximates a birth year of , as noted above in her age at death in1897) John s sister Elizabeth is also noted in this census entry and Adeline Clucka (probably Cloutier/Clukey, a relative of the Dusseau family by marriage to Joseph and William John Dusseau.) After Tharcile-Alice Dusseau s death, Jean-Baptiste Anteau married again to Rose Shippee who survived him. He died 19 August 1906 and his buried in a marked grave next to his first wife in the parish Cemetery. 2. Justine Dusseau, the daughter of Jean-Baptiste DuSault IV and his wife Tharcile LaForest, was probably their second child. She married in St. Joseph Catholic Church, Erie, Michigan, on November 9, 1849 to Victor Mominee, son of Bartholomew Momini and Nola Petres. An 1860 Federal Census entry for Erie, MI, reads: Victor Mominee, age 30; Justinia, age 26; Nelly (?), age 9; John, age 7; Filias (Phyllis?), age 5; and William, age 2. This Census would make her about at the time of her marriage, like her older sister Tharcile Dusseau three years before. Her birth year would be about As her younger brother Joseph was born in Canada a year later in 1835, she too would have been born in Canada, probably near St. Sulpice, although no baptismal record has been found there. It appears from research by Mindy Sexton that Victor Mominee remarried in 1874 to a woman named Christina in St Charles Parish, Newport. If this data is correct then Justina is deceased by 1874, at less than 40 years of age. No further research on this line is available as of Joseph Dusseau, the son of Jean Baptiste DuSault and Tharcile LaForest, was born 18 September 1835, according to his tombstone (or 17 September 1836, according to his death certificate), in Canada, probably near St. Sulpice, although no baptism records have been located there. His naturalization papers filed in Toledo, Ohio, and among the family papers, confirm his Canadian birth. Much of the information known about Joseph Dusseau and his family was supplied in an interview conducted with Allie (Alice) May Lerby Zimmerman Dusseau Lisle, the wife of Richard Dusseau, son of Joseph Dusseau and Mary Cluckey. The interview with Mrs. Lisle and the writer took place on July 17, 1964 at the Toledo homestead of the Dusseau Family, 220 LaSalle Street. She proved to be a thorough an accurate oral historian of the Joseph Dusseau family producing many stories and artifacts from that period of the family s history. A tape recording of this interview still exists. Joseph Dusseau came with his parents to America between his birth in 1835 and the birth of 103

5 his younger brother William John Duso who was born February 28, 1842, Whitehall, VT, no Whitehall, NY. He came in a covered wagon with his parents and brothers and sisters to Erie, Michigan around He married on February 18, 1860 in St. Joseph s Catholic Church in Erie, Michigan, Mary Cluckey/Cloutier, born November 9, 1835 (or 20 November 1839, according to her death certificate) in Monroe County, Michigan, the daughter of Jean- Baptiste Cloutier and Marie-Louise LaPointe. Witnesses at the wedding included John Trabbic and Jean-Baptiste Anteau, his brother-in-law. Joseph Dusseau s last surviving child, Lena Dusseau, whom the writer met in August 1959 in Los Angeles, stated that he bought and sold farm animals. She states he could not read or write. She described her father as small and slight of build compared to his largeboned, husky father, Jean-Baptiste DuSault IV. Mrs. Lisle states that Joseph and his wife Mary could only speak in broken English, their native tongue being French. She also narrated that Joseph Dusseau took a childish delight in having his feet tickled, laughing out loud when that happened. She states the Joseph Dusseau Family farmed for several years in Erie before moving to Toledo, from about 1846 to Their granddaughter stated that both Joseph and Mary smoked a pipe. Clay or hollowed out corncobs were often used for pipes in those days. Mrs. Lisle lived with her husband Richard Dusseau, Sr., in the Toledo family homestead, taking care of the old couple in the last seven years of their life. In their last years the old couple was bed ridden and never left the home, only getting out of bed to walk around the house. The family Toledo homestead was deeded to Joseph and his wife Mary on September 16, by Guion family heirs, Noel Reau and his wife Mary Esther Guion Reau and Frederick Peater and his wife Catherine Guion Peater (Lucas County Deeds, Vol. 18, p. 536). The property was purchased for $300.There may be evidence in the 1880 Federal Census and city directories that the Dusseau Family may have occupied the property, perhaps renting it, before the Deed was finalized. At any rate, the family was in Toledo, Ohio, as early as 1879, as the couple s last child, Clara Dusseau, was born there on February 2, At the time of purchase of the property, located at 220 LaSalle Street in modern times, there was an old rotting log cabin of the Guion family which was torn down to make room for the family homestead. It is a white frame, two story house which still exists. It was built without a basement and facing Pearl Alley. Subsequently the house was turned to face LaSalle Street and a basement was built. The house was at first severely plain white frame wooden building, but over the years, with a front porch addition and other work done to it, it began to take on its current appearance. The house is believed to be still in the hands of Richard Dusseau, Sr., descendants, at least as of the 1990 s. This house was built by a friend of Joseph Dusseau s from Erie, MI. Its foundation was made from river logs taken from the Maumee River directly behind the family property. A barn was also built on the property, but it was no longer in existence at the time of our 1964 interview. In the early days in Toledo the family supported itself by selling fish in a horse drawn 104

6 In the early days in Toledo the family supported itself by selling fish in a horse drawn spring wagon, both of which being purchased in Toledo. The fish were obtained from the Maumee River behind the family property. That Joseph and some of his children were fish peddlers is also confirmed by the Toledo City Directories of the period. Mary s brother, Ernest Cluckey/Cloputier lived with them for a while providing, no doubt, some money for rooming with them. On October 14, 1893, the second youngest daughter in the family, Ada, was cleaning an upper bedroom, using kerosene to kill bed bugs. She exploded in flames and ran falling down the stairs. Her chair-ridden Grandfather, Jean- Baptiste DuSault IV,visiting with them at the time from Kawkawlin, MI, and the home of his son William John Duso, incredibly was able to rise from the chair and lunge for his granddaughter to smother the flames. But it was all in vain as she died from her burns and injuries almost immediately. He was age 90 at the time and two months later, he too died, December 9, 1893, his age no doubt aggravated by injuries received in trying to rescue his granddaughter. Mary Cluckey/Cloutier Dusseau died in her Toledo, Ohio, home on April 10, 1912, of liver cancer. Two years later, Joseph died of nephritis (kidney inflammation) on 1 February He was buried with his wife Mary in Calvary Cemetery, Toledo. A heart shaped granite stone marks their graves. Joseph wrote his Will a month after his wife s death on 9 May 1912 with a codicil dated 2 January 1913 (Lucas County, OH, Probate Court, Wills, Vol. 48, p. 263, according to Mrs. Lisle s papers). As his son James Dusseau was cut off with a dollar, the will was contested, and his sister Clara asked each of his siblings to give him a share of their inheritance and the contestation was dropped on 6 April In the will the two grandmother pictures (assumed to be Tharcile LaForest and Marie Louis LaPointe) were bequeathed to his daughter Clara in California and Mrs. Lisle sent them to her. Their current whereabouts are unknown. A portrait of Tharcile LaForest does survive in the Bay County branch of the family, currently (2006) held by Arbertha Gauthier Baker. Joseph served in the Civil War as a private, but sought no pension. According to the National Archives Records of his service, he was drafted into the Army on 31 October 1663 at Detroit, MI, under the name of Joseph Duso. He mustered in on13 November 1863, two weeks later, for three years of service. He served in the Army, Cavalry Division, Company C of the Second Regiment of Michigan beginning on February 20, He mustered out of the army on August 17, 1865 in Macon, GA. He was apparently AWOL in April-May 1864 and 1865, perhaps to plant crops. As a consequence, his $300 bounty was owing to the army in addition to $61.61 for clothing and $10.00 for arms and equipment. It is not clear how a French-Canadian, speaking only in broken English, could have been of much service to the Army. (His brother William John Duso also served but was given an early discharge after contracting heart disease, according to his Civil War pension papers.)

7 Joseph s regiment lost 70 soldiers and 4 officers to wounds and 2 officers and 226 soldiers to disease. His service records describe him on 13 November 1863 as 5 feet 8 inches tall with gray eyes, light hair and complexion, a farmer, born in Canada, and 19 years old. (While his tombstone and death certificate are a year apart on his birth [1835 vs. 1836], he would have been 27 or 28 years old at that time, not 19.) A research of the Probate Court records of Lucas County, OH, indicates that Joseph Dusseau, a native of Canada, applied to become a naturalized citizen on 27 October Five years later, on October 26, 1893 he was granted citizenship by Judge Irvin I. Willard. On his application, which he was unable to sign, he stated he came to the U.S. at the age of 5. This would make his entry around His brother William was born in Whitehall, VT, in However, in 1888, he declared he was 49 years old and that he was born May 9, 1839, his third birth date. This date would put his passage to the U.S. after his brother s birth in 1842 in Vermont, and so may be described as a fiction. The nine children of Joseph Dusseau and Mary Cluckey/ Cloutier were as follows in order of their birth: Emil, Samuel Levi, James, Agnes, Richard J, Sr., Albert, Helena/ Lena, Ada, and Clara. The further history of this branch of the Dusseau Family is followed below. 4. William John Dusseau, the presumed fourth child of Jean-Baptiste DuSault IV and Tharcile LaForest, was born 28 February 1842 in Whitehall, VT, now Whitehall, NY, several miles south of historic Fort Ticonderoga. The usual route to Whitehall from Canada was to sail on the St. Lawrence River to the mouth of the Richelieu River and then south to the long river-like Lake Champlain to Whitehall. William John Duso also served in the Civil War, as did his older brother Joseph. Williams Civil War Records indicate that William Duso was discharged after less than three months service due to "heart disease". Throughout his life he applied for a pension on that basis. Information on John William Duso's descendants can be found in Joel Duso's Ledger book, currently (2007) in the possession of Mrs. Arbertha Gauthier Baker of Bay City, MI. William married in St Joseph Catholic Church, Erie, MI, 29 October 1861 Suzanne Cluckey/Cloutier, born 21 June 1842 in Erie, Michigan, the daughter of Jean-Baptiste Cloutier and Marie-Louise LaPointe, She was the sister of Mary Cluckey/Cloutier who married William s brother Joseph the year before. Both William and Suzanne were 19 when they married. Ironically, the farms of Toussaint Toupin, Sieur DuSault, founder of the Dusseau/Duso Family and Zacharie Cloutier, founder of the Cloutier Family, in 17 th Century Canada, were right next to each other in Chateau-Richer, at Sault a la Puce, and that Toussaint s son married Zacharie s daughter. Two hundred years later these two families, now in America, are again joined together when two brothers Dusseau marry two sisters Cloutier.

8 As noted before, William came to Erie, Michigan, around 1846, with his family in a covered wagon. He remained in Erie until 1869 when he moved with his wife and family to Newport, St. Charles Parish, Berlin Township, Monroe County, Michigan. In about 1880 he then settled permanently with his parents in Kawkawlin, Bay County, Michigan. There is currently an exit off I-75 to Kawkawlin. The family lived in a log cabin at first and then built a two story freame house across the street from it, leaving the log cabin abandoned and standing. The family ran the Duso Bar in Kawkawlin. William John Duso and his wife Suzanne had two children: John Joseph ( Joel ) Duso, born August 15, 1862, Ten Mile Creek, Erie, MI. Their second child was Tharcile-Alice Duso, born September 27, 1864, at Ten Mile Creek, Erie, MI. The further descendants of this family can be found in an outline descendant tree in Appendix B of this book. Tracing the descendants of this branch of the Duso Family continues in the hands of Ohma Willette (ohmaa@msn.com), Kenneth J. Weaver (kenglem@concentric.net), and Omer Lozo (olozo@prodigy.net). 5. Frank Dusseau, son of Jean-Baptiste Du Sault and Tharcile LaForest, died in childhood. Nothing further is known about this child listed in the Duso ledger.

Benedict Alford August 26, 1716 After 1790 By: Bob Alford 2010

Benedict Alford August 26, 1716 After 1790 By: Bob Alford 2010 Benedict Alford was the oldest child of Benedict Alford and Abigail Wilson. He was born August 27, 1716 in Windsor, CT, according to Windsor