I received a copy of the following manuscript which, as I understand, came from Judy Snethen of Cape Girardeau, who hired Mr. Robert Parkin of St. Louis to do research on her family. It appears here as written.
I have colored RED those passages that I question or have conflicting information with.
The green passages are my notes,
and I've also added some links for extra information.


page 121:
#488 - Nicolas Caillot dit Lachanse (1733-1799)
#489 - & Marianne Giard (1742-1796)

Nicolas Caillot dit Lachanse, a native of France, came to America's Mississippi Valley as a simple carpenter. As a settler of Kaskaskia, Illinois Country's capital, he rose to positions of prominence and influence before the Revolution, and, after the Americans drove out the British, Caillot became one of the first magistrates of the new government of Illinois County, Virginia.

Father of a large family, Caillot spent the last decade of his life under Spanish rule at Nouvelle Bourbon in Upper Louisiana's Ste. Genevieve District.

Nicholas was born in 1733 in France, where he received a fine education in basics as well as mastering his trade as a carpenter.

He well may have been in the employ of the French Company of the Indies, existing by virtue of the Bourbon king's royal charter, when--as a young man--he arrived by sailing ship at the firm's New Orleans headquarters.  Fort de Chartres, sixteen miles above Kaskaskia on the Mississippi River, was to be reconstructed in stone so as to make it a keystone of France's American holdings. It appears that Caillot was one of the workmen associated with this enterprise.

Nicholas Caillot's marriage took place in Kaskaskia's church, Immaculate Conception of Our Lady, on November 22, 1757 [Kaskaskia Parish Records, MR: #105]. He was twenty-four years old; his bride, Marianne Giard, was about fifteen.

Marianne was a native of Kaskaskia, a daughter of Jean Baptiste and Marianne (Fouillard) Giard.  Her father died in 1747, and her widowed mother was married twice before her daughter's nuptials, on June 14, 1747, to Francois Xavier Rollet and, on May 14, 1754, to Francois Perron.
[Note: Marianne Fouillard's 2nd marriage to Rollet is listed at this link. Other researchers say that Marianne's parents were Antoine Giard & Marie Ann LaFontaine--which is the one I go with.]

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Marianne and Nicholas became parents of thirteen children, ten boys and three girls, all born in their Kaskaskia home. The youngsters and their birthdates were
Nicholas Caillot, fils [244], who was born in 1759
Marianne, Oct 23, 1760 (she died very young)
Jean Baptiste, Aug 4, 1762
Antoine, April 2, 1764
Gabriel, May 20, 1766
Francois, Oct 6, 1768
Joseph, Jan 1, 1771
Michel, Oct 15, 1772
Marianne, March 15, 1774
Pelagie, Dec 25, 1775
Charles, March 30, 1777
Benjamin, July 20, 1778
Louis Benjamin, Oct 6, 1783

Caillot's appearance in Kaskaskia came at a time of metamorphosis for Illinois Country.  Fort de Chartres was reconstructed of stone at a cost of a million dollars. Its commandant, a major of engineers, Chevalier Jean Jacques McCarty, an Irishman by descent, had finished the 3-year job in 1756.  The Seven Years War between France and England began with British withdrawal from Fort Necessity and ended in France's defeat at Quebec.  By the peace of 1763, Kaskaskia became English. However, Captain Louis Daniel St. Ange de Bellerive (1702-1774) ruled Illinois from headquarters at Fort de Chartres for some two years before arrival of Captain Thomas Sterling and his 42nd Highlanders from Fort Pitt.  Many wealthy Kaskaskians, who could not bear English rule, left for Ste. Genevieve or St. Loui, Pierre Laclede Liguest's new fur-trading post, where St. Ange also became interim commandant before arrival of a Spanish governor.  

Over the next six years, a series of British military figures commanded Fort de Chartres, changing its name to Fort Cavendish. The British made no effort to formulate or establish a civil government in Illinois Country. As before, Kaskaskians ruled

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themselves through a combination of selected justices, militia officers and the parish priest. In 1762, Nicolas Caillot dit Lachanse was warden of the Immaculate Conception and subsequently became a trusted spokesman for the inhabitants.

In 1772, one wall and bastion of Fort de Chartres was undermined by water and fell into the Mississippi. Its garrison was evacuated to Kaskaskia where it remained until Fort Gage, just across the Kaskaskia River, was renovated. Kaskaskia, thus, came back to its own as capital of Illinois Country, and Fort Gage was the seat of British authority on the Mississippi until the Revolution, when its commander, Captain Hugh Lord, was sent to Detroit.

Before leaving, Lord chose as British agent Philippe Francois de Rastel, chevalier de Rocheblave, who previously had fought against England in the northeast. He commanded Fort Massiac in 1760 and, three years later, was married at Kaskaskia to Michele Marie Dufresne. When the English took control of Illinois, Rocheblave crossed to the Spanish bank, where he became commandant of Ste. Genevieve. Controversial at every position, he took refuge again on the British shore in 1773, following a legal dispute in Upper Louisiana. To win his loyalty, the British held out a juicy plum--someday, to become governor of New Orleans.

Cunningly, Rocheblave courted Kaskaskia's wealthiest French leaders, Gabriel Cerré, Louis Viviat, purchaser of Wabash Land Company, and Nicolas Lachanse. His followers constituted a powerful local political party, which was supposed to protect British interests.

France entered the Revolution on the American side in 1778, bringing about events in Europe, which subsequently involved Spain in the conflict. The Spanish, except for a haunting fear of future American dominance, had sympathized with the rebels from the outset.  Nonetheless, they lent material aid to the cause.

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That summer, Colonel George R. Clark and his Virginia militiamen carried out his brilliantly conceived plan for taking the back country from the British. On July 4, 1778, and the next day, Kaskaskia was taken. Rocheblave was unable to raise his militia to defend it as ordinary Frenchmen enthusiastically welcomed the "Long Knives," as the Virginians were called.

Nicolas Lachanse was not in the village at the time [Chicago HS Collections, iv:408], for he had been taken prisoner by Captain Willing's boat, which preceded Clark's occupation of Kaskaskia. Rocheblave was captured, relieved of his file of dispatches and sent as a prisoner to Virginia. He had lost most of his support. Viviat had died a year earlier. Cerré would return and throw his support to the Virginians.

On July 6th, Captain Joseph Bowman took Cahokia with a force of 30 Americans and more than a hundred Kaskaskians. "The Kaskaskias Gentn dispersed among their friends." Bowman reported. "In a few hours the whole was amicably arranged (and) the whole of the inhabitants took the oath of allegiance cheerfully."  When Clark announced news of the alliance between the united colonies and France, the French inhabitants went wild with enthusiasm.

Clark remained at Cahokia for five weeks, supervising affairs. The militia was Americanized, negotiations were carried on with Indian tribes, and Clark established a friendly climate with St. Louis' new Spanish commandant, Don Fernando de Leyba, resulting in a plan for slipping supplies past the British post at Natchez under the Spanish flag, and for construction of Fort Jefferson on the south bank of the Kaskaskia River.

On December 9, 1778, Virginia's state legislature formed.

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Illinois County from its own Augusta County, which included Kentucke district. Three days later, Governor Patrick Henry commissioned 28-year-old lawmaker John Todd as county lieutenant. Todd arrived in Kaskaskia early in May and was welcomed with open arms by his friend General Clark. Todd proceeded at once to organize a civil government and select officers of militia, mostly Frenchmen, from old residents of the village.

An election was held on May 12th, after reading of addresses by Clark and Todd in French to the gathered inhabitants. Harmony was evident from the names of those chosen as justices: Gabriel Cerré to head a court consisting of Joseph Duplasy, Jacques Lasource, Nicolas Janis, Jean Baptiste Barbeau, Nicolas Lachanse, Charles Charleville, Antoine Duchaufour de Louvieres, and Le Chevalier Girardot.  Todd issued their certificate of election on May 21st [Kaskaskia MSS, Court Record, f.169], the same day that he appointed Richard Winston as sheriff of Illinois County.

Winston always was a protagonist against members of Rocheblave's former party, particularly Cerré and Caillot (dit Lachanse). One time, in an undated note to the officer of the Guard at Fort Clark [Draper's Papers, 48J28-A.L.S.], Winston warned that "there is something incomprehensible a carrying on in town this night. 'Tis suspected that Cerré is ... (at the house) of Mr. L'Chance," insinuating desultory maneuvers in the dark of night.

Several court sessions were held before August 2, 1779 [Kaskaskia MSS.--A.D.S.], when Nicolas Lachanse, "having taken the oath of allegiance and of office," ascended to the bench along with Duplasy and Bauvais.

In November, Todd appointed the hated Sheriff Winston as deputy county lieutenant and left Illinois, never to return. That was a sever blow to the French element.

page 126 is a copy of the end of a document with many signatures, including Lachanse. Pictured at right is just part of this page (less than half) with Lachanse's signature near the top.

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Winston held power through 1782, ample time to promote understanding between the French and Americans, but he seems to have done all in his power to intensify mistrust.  The real leaders of the inhabitants--such as Nicolas Caillot pere and fils--were decidedly hostile to him. the Lachases found an ally in John Dodge, former trader whom Thomas Jefferson sent to Illinois as Indian agent to help Captain John Rogers, commanding the small garrison left to defend Kaskaskia.

When Colonel Augustin Mottin de LaBalme, an agent of the French ministry, appeared at Kaskaskia in summer of 1780, Lachanse and other old inhabitants found someone whom they could entrust with their political, military and monetary support. LaBalme had a plan--already approved by George Washington--to attack Detroit.

French Kaskaskians furnished goods valued at 1,700 livres in peltries for the expedition. Lachanse's share amounted to 282 livres, 10 sols (reckoned in furs & deerskins), providing 100 pounds of shot, 4 pounds of gunpowder, five bottles of brandy, a kettle with cover, and 40 pounds of biscuit [M.C.T.  MSS--D.S.]

LaBalme set out for Detroit with a force of only 80 Frenchmen and Indians. He and many men were killed, however, in an attack on the post of the Miami. Another detachment from Cahokia captured St. Joseph, but while returning, was overtaken and defeated by some traders and Indians near Chicago. Thus, the whole enterprise collapsed.

On May 4, 1781 [M.C., T.MSS.--A.D.S.], Lachanse, his older sons, Nicolas fils, Jean Baptiste and Antoine, joined Kaskaskia's French element in petitioning the governor of Virginia to address the supposed injustices committed against them by the county lieutenants, dispense with autonomy of the past, and "render them justice for the past."

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Illinois County as a legal organization ceased to exist when Virginia's assembly failed to re-enact its annual enabling legislation at the session convened on January 5, 1782.  Kaskaskia--except for Winston's heavy hand--became a self-governing community.  Winston was no match for the unscrupulous Dodge, who had him jailed on charges of treason. Then, after the French court acquitted him, Winston unilaterally abolished the court.

Sometime in March, [M.C.T. MSS.] enraged members of the court, Lachanse, Bauvais and Janis (Duplasy had died), drew up a memorial to Virginia's commissioners, containing a violent attack upon Winston--without ever mentioning his name. Instead, Winston was characterized as "principal author of the many disasters which have befallen us."  

They continued, "This same person continues to command us, he who annuled, broke and revoked the good law, which you gave us for the safety of the country.... The treatment we have received has plunged us...into poverty, calamity, misfortune, necessity and destitution. We have always had the highest opinion of the noble principle which governs our state," the Kaskaskians continued, "and we hope that the government will not cause us to change in this opinion by forcing us to seek the protection of Spain, as so many inhabitants have already done."

Winston died in abject poverty upon returning to Virginia in an effort to collect loans and press land claims of his supporters. Dodge proved to be too much of a tyrant. In spring of 1787 he abandoned his fort above the village and settled near Ste. Genevieve on the Spanish side.

From 1783 until mid-1787, Kaskaskia was forced to get along without a semblance of authorized authority. Lachanse and other justices attached themselves to Dodge's party.

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When courts were reformed, in June, 1787, Nicolas Caillot Lachanse was returned to the bench, along with Antoine, Vital and St. Gemme Bauvais, Francis Corset and Louis Brazeau.

The 1787 census of "habitans francais du village de Kaskaskias" [C.C., Ill., Kaskaskia & Kentucky, xiviii:181], lists Lachanse pere and seven of his sons.
[NOTE: The 1787 census of Kaskaskia lists his sons, Antoine, Gabriel, Francois, Joseph, Michel, Charles & Benjamin listed in order of their age! Jean Baptiste is also listed ("J Bte. Lachanse") but later down in the list.]
Nicolas Caillot dit Lachance fils, who had contracted a marriage to Judith Boyer on February 26, 1780 at Ste. Genevieve, had just returned to Spanish territory with his two sons who were born in Kaskaskia.

State and federal governments failed to adequately address Kaskaskians' complaints. Instead, there was an ever-increasing influx of land-hungry, opportunistic American settlers. Fifty-four-year-old Nicolas Caillot dit Lachanse was serving as captain of Kaskaskia's militia as well as in his post of civil magistrate in winter of 1787-1788 when he decided to carry out his long-standing threat to move to the Spanish side. Lachanse brought over his wife, 7 young bachelor sons, and 2 teenage daughters, as well as 14 slaves. Only Jean Baptiste, married to Therese Gosiaux on July 23, 1787 [Kaskaskia MR date], remained temporarily at Kaskaskia. They evidently came in company of a number of other Kaskaskians.

Coincidentally, two new settlements were being developed in Ste. Genevieve District to replace flood-ravaged old Ste. Genevieve. One was New Town Ste. Genevieve. The Lachanses chose the other town, successively called Calvary, Mont Genereux and, finally, Nouvelle Bourbon, for the royal House of Bourbon that had ruled both France and Spain. Nouvelle Bourbon was, in fact, envisioned as a refuge for families displaced by the French Revolution. These two towns were less than two miles apart.

page 130 has a plat map of New Bourbon

page 131

The Lachanses settled at Nouvelle Bourbon. The head of the family continued as a figure of influence in his new community. At an assembly of citizens convened by the Spanish lieutenant-governor, Don Zenon Trudeau, Lachanse was one of three laymen chosen by a plurality of voices as syndics to oversee building of a church at New Town Ste. Genevieve. A year later, the church was completed.

The Lachanses' youngest daughter, Pelagie, was married on August 14, 1787 [Ste. Genevieve MR date], to 32-year-old Pierre Chevallier, a widower. Gabriel Lachanse returned to Kaskaskia, where he was married on Feb. 16, 1789 to Genevieve Louise Chauvin (dit Charleville). On July 23, 1792 their other daughter, Marianne Caillot dit Lachanse, was married to Paul Deguire (dit Larose), who was a brother of Chevallier's first wife, Marie Rose Deguire.

Antoine Lachanse married Felicite Louviere. Joseph was married on May 6, 1796 to Julie Lacroix. Francois was married on
Jan. 9, 1798, to Pelagie, another daughter of Andre and Marguerite (Govereau) Deguire. Michael Caillot dit Lachanse was married on Oct. 10, 1804, shortly after the Louisiana Purchase, to Elizabeth Roussell.

One of their sons, 22-year-old Charles Caillot dit Lachanse died on Oct. 28, 1795. He was an armorer and unmarried.

Nicolas Lachanse's wife, Marianne, died on May 2, 1796 at their home in Nouvelle Bourbon. She was 54 years old, survived by her husband, 10 of their 13 children and a number of granchildren.

In November, 1797, Nouvelle Bourbon Commandant Pierre-Charles DeHaulte de Luzieres compiled a census of heads of household, which bore a curious resemblance to the 1787 census of Kaskaskia. Those enumerated, in addition to de

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Luzieres, Andre Deguire, John Dodge's widow and brother, Israel Dodge, included Nicolas Caillot dit Lachanse, five of his sons, Baptiste, Francois, Antoine, Gabriel and Joseph, and two sons-in-law, Paul Deguire and Pierre Chevallier. Individually, the elder Lachanse was identified as a carpenter, a native of France. His sons and sons-in-law all were "agriculturists." Total population, including these 37 heads of household, was 270 persons, adults and children, whites and blacks, free and slave.

Nicolas Caillot dit Lachanse died on Feb. 22, 1799 [Ste. Genevieve Burials, 1:42:#488], at his home in Nouvelle Bourbon. He was 66 years old.


------------------------------------------------

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#244 - Nicolas Caillot dit Lachanse (1759-1815)
#245 - and Judith Boyer (1766-1835)

Nicolas Caillot dit Lachanse, a youthful supporter of the American Revolution when George Rogers Clark took Kaskaskia from British control, later settled in Ste. Genevieve District of Spanish Upper Louisiana, where he and family members established St. Michael Village (Fredericktown). He and his wife, Judith (Boyer), had at least one daughter and two sons.

Nicolas was born in 1759, first of thirteen children of Nicolas and Marianne (Giard) Caillot. Their French-born father, one of the foremost men of Kaskaskia, was a justice of the first American court established there after Virginia's conquest of the Illinois country.

Nicolas and most of his nine brothers were well educated in French and could read and write. As a youth, Nicolas served in Kaskaskia's militia and took part in French Colonel Augustin Mottin de LaBalme's plan to take Detroit from the British. His father not only backed the expedition but contributed 30 livres in particular for the two pounds of gunpowder for his son.  The plan--unfortunately--collapsed when LaBalme and many of his men were massacred in a battle at the Miami.

At age 21, Feb 26, 1780 [Ste. Genevieve MR date], Lachanse was married to Judith Boyer, daughter of Nicolas and Dorothe (Olivier) Boyer. She was born on August 23, 1766, in Ste. Genevieve.

The young couple lived in Kaskaskia, having a daughter, Marie Louise, and two sons, Nicolas Caillott [122], who was born on Jan. 16, 1785, and Jean Baptiste.

After the war, overbearing dominance by American speculators

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drove many French families to the Spanish side of the river.

Nicolas Lachanse's family settled at Ste. Genevieve some years before his father and brothers, who helped to establish neighboring Nouvelle Bourbon.

In Ste. Genevieve, the enterprising Lachanse was the first entrepreneur to open a billiard parlor. Late in 1792, he sold his parlor to Francois Lalumandiere.  Two years later, Lalumandiere bought another billiard parlor, "equipped with six new balls and three old ones," and became Ste. Genevieve's first vice lord.

All of the Caillots received Spanish land grants. On May 12, 1799 [US Doc 16:200-201; MoLCM 4:515, 6:400, 7:71], Lieutenant-Governor Zenon Trudeau granted 5,200 arpents at Mine la Motte to Nicholas Lachanse and twelve others, including five of his brothers, Michel, Antoine, Gabriel, Joseph and Francois, and two brothers-in-law, Paul Deguire and Pierre Chevallier.  All, except brother Michel and Deguire signed this historic petition while it bore the "marks" (X) of the others. Each received a concession of 400 arpents. This land was situated between Saline and Castor (Village) Rivers, tributaries of St. Francois River.

After the manner of French settlers, they set about building a village of rude log houses, and clearing and cultivating their land. They set up sugar-making camps or worked in Mine la Motte's lead diggings, or both. Within a year's time this became the site of St. Michael. A mission of Ste. Genevieve's Catholic church was established there, although it did not become a separate parish until 1829.

On July 23, 1801 [SGA, Mines #1], after settlers at Mine a Breton were unable to resolve the murder of American O'Connor by another American named Stone, Commandant Francois Valle appointed Nicolas Caillot as interim commissaire de

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police. Violence in the mining area continued, however, and, in 1802, Joseph Decelle Duclos became its permanent police commissioner.

After President Thomas Jefferson's Louisiana Purchase, Lachanse found himself living under the United States flag for a second time. Born under the French colonial flag, he had lived under banners of Britain, the U.S., and Spain.

On Dec. 27, 1805 [Carter, Mo. Terr. Papers xiii:341], Lachanse and residents of St. Michael expressed their confidence in embattled territorial Governor James Wilkinson in a memorial to President Jefferson. On June 4, 1806 [Carter, Ibid, xiii:554] this  group and others sought appointment of Joseph Browne as General Wilkinson's successor; Browne was well-acquainted with the French element's problems and, besides, he spoke their language.

After a disastrous flood of Saline and Castor creeks, in 1814, St. Michael was relocated on higher ground and given a new name, Fredericktown. When Madison County was formed in 1818 from Ste. Genevieve and Cape Girardeau counties, Fredericktown was made its seat of government.

The 56-year-old Nicolas Caillot dit Lachanse died about 1815 at his farm home in the St. Michael's neighborhood.

His widow, Judith, survived him for many years. In 1830 [Madison Co Census 1830:349:8] at age 64, she lived with the family of her son, Nicholas Lachanse III, in Madison County, Liberty Township.

[there is no page 136]

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122 - Nicholas Caillot dit Lachanse (1784-1833)
123 - Cecile Chevallier (1796-1847)

Nicholas Caillot dit Lachanse, first of his line to be born in an American possession, lived under Spanish and both United States territorial and Missouri state flags as he became a farmer in Madison County. He and his wife, Cecile, had a large family, perhaps as many as a dozen children.

He was the third generation in succession by the name of Nicholas. As the family became Americanized, many adopted the French "dit" (nickname), Lanchanse (Lachance), as their surname.

Nicholas III was born on Jan. 16, 1785, and baptized in the ancient Catholic Church in Kaskaskia. His parents, Nicholas and Judity (Boyer) Caillot, both were natives of colonial Mississippi Valley. His father served in Kaskaskia's militia after Geroge Rogers Clark conquered the Illinois country. Near the end of the war, he and Judith were married at Ste. Genevieve. They were living in Kaskaskia, however, when their children were born. Thus, Nicholas actually was born after Kaskaskia officially became part of Illinois County, Virginia, and before it became part of the Northwest Territory.

About 1790, several years before the rest of the Caillots crossed over to Ste. Genevieve District, Judith and her husband brought their three young children, Marie Louise, age 7, Nicholas, 5, and Jean Baptiste, 4, to the Spanish-ruled village.

Nicholas (III) and his siblings were raised in Ste. Genevieve, where their father operated a billiard parlor, in Mine a Breton, where the elder Caillot served for a time as chief of police, and in newly established St. Michael's, the second village established on this side of the river by his father and uncles. As a teenage boy, in fact, Nicholas "carried the

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chain" for surveyor Antoine Soulard's deputy, Thomas Madden, when the 5,200 arpent landgrant was measured.

The Day of Three Flags was celebrated in Ste. Genevieve in March 1804 when the Lousiana Purchase went into effect, making the entire region a United States territory. Six months later on Nov. 13, 1804 [Ste. Genevieve MR Date], 19-year-old Nicholas Caillot dit Lachanse was married to Cecile Chevallier.  The bride, daughter of Pierre Joseph and Marie Rose (Deguire) Chevallier, was born in 1786 in Ste. Genevieve. Her mother died on Nov. 13, 1804 [Note: she died before 1797; she wouldn't have died on the same day her daughter was married]. Her father then married Pelagie Caillot, daughter of Nicholas and Marianne (Giard) Caillot, and he died on April 22, 1817 at Ste. Genevieve.

Young Lachanse was a farmer. He and Cecilia settled at St. Michael. Their first two daughters were baptized in the old Ste. Genevieve church; they were Marie Louise, born on Nov. 19, 1806, and Judith, who was born on Nov. 5, 1808. After that a missionary branch was established at St. Michael and their nine or ten other offspring were baptized there.

There's no question that Lachanse served in the Missouri Rangers during the War of 1812. St. Michael had its own militia troop as a defense against Indian attacks or depredations. No complete roster of the troop has been found, however.

After a disastrous flood of the Saline and Castor (Village) creeks in 1814, St. Michael was relocated on high ground and given a new name, Fredericktown. When Madison County was formed in 1818, from Ste. Genevieve and Cape Girardeau counties, Fredericktown was made its seat of government.

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Nicholas Lachanse was involved in only two of numerous land transactions by the family. On July 13, 1829 [Madison Deeds A:105], he sold property to Paul Deguire. Previously, on June 30, 1827 [Madison Bonds A:355], he provided bond for sale of Lachanse land to Huldy Stevenson.

Both Marie Louise and Judith Lachanse were married when the 1830 census was taken.

Marie Louise Caillot was married on Feb 6, 1826 [Madison MR Date], to her cousin, Francois Caillot, 25-year-old son of Francois and Pelagie (Deguire) Caillot dit Lachanse.  They lived in St. Michael Township [Madison Census 1830:342:8] with two young sons.

Judith Caillot was married on the day after Christmas, 1828 [Madison MR A:44], to Louis Deguire, 29-year-old son of  Louis and Marie (Dodge) Deguire. He died less than five years later. On Feb. 6, 1833 [Madison MR A:102], Judith was married again to 33-year-old Francis Aubuchon [60], himself a widower. This marriage was performed by Rev. J.F. Brasseur, priest at St. Michael's, and witnessed by a host of friends and relatives, including J.B., R.B. and J.B.V. St. Gemme, Paul Deguire, Simon Aubuchon, W.H. Brookes, Weisla Calliot, and Pelagie Chevallier.

Enumeration of Nicholas Lachanse's family, residing in Liberty Township [Madison Census 1830:349:8], showed him with his wife, his 64-year-old widowed mother, and 4 boys and 5 girls in his household. Francis J. Lachanse, their eldest son, resided next to them, with his wife, Francis (Lacomb) and their 3 youngsters born after theri marriage. On Jan. 6, 1827 [Madison MR Date].

Lachance was still living on May 31, 1833 [US Doc. 16:#12:196-197; MoLCM 6:260-261,410], when at age 49, he appeared as a witness before Missouri's Land Claim Commission and testified for his uncles, Michael Caillot and Paul

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Deguire in support of their claims. In the case of Michael Lachance, Nicholas said he carried the surveyor's chain. In Deguire's case he noted that one Charles L. Byrd jumped their claims and forced them to give it up.

Nicholas Caillot Lachanse died a short time after this, and presumably was interred at St. Michael's by the then pastor, Rev. Cellini.

Lachanse's wife Cecile died on May 24, 1847 at 61 years of age. She was buried by Father Cellini's successor, Rev. Lewis Tucker, parish priest of St. Michael's, in the churchyard cemetery at Fredericktown.

______________________
Posted by Mary Jo Freeman

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