Saint Antoine sur la Rievier-aux-Raisins

 

L’histoire de Louis LeDuc

 

The history of Louis Benjamin Leduc began in Normandy, France, where his ancestor Jean LeDuc was born c. 1600.   He married Cecile Le Chaperon c. 1622 in Bretagne, France.  Their son Jean was born in 1624 in LaPerche, France.  Jean immigrated to the colony of New France and married Marie Marthe Soulignie, in Montreal, Canada. She was born in Saintonge, France in 1632.  Their son, Jean, was born in Montreal in 1653.  He married Marguerite Desrochers in 1683. Their son Rene was born in 1711, in Montreal.  Rene traveled down the St. Lawrence to the Detroit settlement in Michigan territory, where he married Veronique St Denis in 1762.  Their son Louis Amable Leduc was born in 1759.  He married Cecile Labadie at St Anne Church in Detroit territory, and son Louis Benjamin was baptized there on 17 November 1809. The family travelled down the river to the Frenchtown settlement, where Louis Benjamin married Euphrosine Tessier dit Santure in 1849.

She was the descendant of Artis Tessier and Jeanne Meine, who were born in Anjou France. Their son Urbain was one of the original 70 Frenchmen who established a post in New France in 1641. He was a soldier, pit sawyer, carpenter, and Indian fighter.  He married Marie Archambault, daughter of Jacques Archambault and Francoise Toureau.  She was just a 12-year-old girl at the time of their marriage.  Urbain and Marie had 17 children, 13 of whom reached adulthood.  Their son Ignace was born in 1677 in Montreal.  He married Marie Marguerite L’hussier in 1703, and of their 12 children, son Pierre Tessier dit Lavigne was born in 1708.  He married Marie Genevieve Parenteau born 1715 in Yamanska.  Their son Pierre Tessier dit Lavigne was born in 1747 in Montreal, but he apparently had the same wanderlust as his intrepid ancestor Urbain.  By the late 1700’s he was a resident of St Antoine de Riviere aux Raisins, Frenchtown settlement, Michigan territory.  He married Barbara McDonald in St Anne Church, Detroit, on 31 October 1790.  Barbara is an anomaly in our ancestry.  She came from Assumption Sandwich (Ontario) but very little is known about her, including birthdate or parents name. She is the first non-French name we have documented.  We like to think she was Scots or Irish (McDonald!)  and that, in theory only, is where all the red headed descendants came from.

Pierre owned a ribbon farm along the Riviere aux Raisins as early as 1788.  He and Barbara had several children, and Pierre and a few of the children were buried at St Antoine cemetery.  Their son Dominique Tessier dit Santure was born in 1794, and married Teresa Chauvin and they had seven children, among them Euphrosine Tessier dit Santure born in 1826.

Louis LeDuc had married Clara Robert, and had one son, also named Louis.  Clara died young, and then Louis married Euphrosine Tessier dit Santure on 28 October 1849, and by then their names had changed to Louis LaDuke and Eliza Santure.  Residing and farming in Berlin township, Michigan, they raised eleven children.  Louis was active in community and religious affairs.

The residents of the settlement had been striving to establish a church, building several log structures with the labor and donations of families who wished to have a church in their settlement.  In 1853 another church was erected with the promise of a resident pastor. Four acres of land was donated a short distance from Dixie Highway on Trombley Road.  Shortly after this the old White Cemetery that had served the area was abandoned, and a parcel of land was donated by Louis LaDuke. (see the plat map) LeDuc Cemetery served the parish of St Charles Church until 1898 when a larger parcel was designated as the New St Charles Cemetery and LeDuc Cemetery became known as the Old St Charles Cemetery.  In 1882 the cornerstone was laid for the present St Charles Borromeo Church; a building Louis would have been proud to be a part of starting.

Louis was a well-respected farmer and pillar of the young St Charles parish. He embraced the Catholic Religion that was his heritage. By all accounts he was a pious yet fun loving family man. The family was raised with the customs and language of the French Canadians that were their ancestors.

The daughter of Louis and Eliza, Rose Anna LaDuke, born 24 March 1858, married Canadian immigrant Edward Rivard, born 20 November 1851 in St Alban Quebec, Canada.  They married at St Charles Church 8 January 1879.  They were the parents of nine children, including Eliza Paulina born 10 January 1893 in Newport. Young Lena, as she was known, spoke French in the home, but English in the greater community.  She was the first generation to have formal schooling. She married August John Wickenheiser on 20 April 1915, also at St Charles Church.  She was the next French Canadian after Pierre to marry a non-French person. Our grandparents, Lena and Gus, raised a large family of their own, continuing to practice the religion of their parents at St Patrick Church, Carleton, MI.

In the 1970’s this granddaughter of Louis LaDuke; Lena Wickenheiser, replaced the headstones of Louis and Eliza and erected a large granite cross inscribed with the LaDuke name for the family plot in the Old St Charles Cemetery.  He would be proud that his granddaughter gave this tribute to his Eliza and himself, and prouder still that his descendants still gather biannually to celebrate the legacy of family, friendship, and love that he was an instrumental part of.

 

 

Rana Joblinski Willit

Cover photo provided by Janet Zochowski Brant