M. 9 Jul 1779 in Vincennes, Virginia Territory
Husband: Jean-Baptiste Renaud dit Deslauriers
D. 21 Feb 1819 in Vincennes, Indiana
Marie-Madeleine Bordeleau lived during an era when Creole culture dominated her community, and she was mentioned in a folk story handed down over the generations.
Marie-Madeleine was born in the French fur trading outpost at Fort Vincennes on October 23, 1761. Her parents were Antoine Bordeleau and Marie-Catherine Caron, and she was one of ten children, only four of whom are known to have survived to adulthood.
Vincennes was a lively place when Marie-Madeleine was a girl, and the people there often gathered for traditional celebrations centered around holidays. As in New Orleans, the Tuesday before Lent was a time for wild behavior, and one of the events was a competition between marriageable girls that involved cooking skills. It was a contest to see who could flip the most crepes without dropping one, and the winner would have the honor of choosing which man she would like to marry.
The story was told to a writer who was compiling a book about Vincennes culture in the 1930s, and it was prefaced that it may not be “historically accurate,” but it was said that at the crepe-flipping contest in 1778, the girl who won beat out her “pretty” rival, Marie Bordeleau. The story went that a woman who was a friend of the winning girl distracted Marie-Madeleine with conversation until she dropped one of her crepes, causing her to lose.
Vincennes was a lively place when Marie-Madeleine was a girl, and the people there often gathered for traditional celebrations centered around holidays. As in New Orleans, the Tuesday before Lent was a time for wild behavior, and one of the events was a competition between marriageable girls that involved cooking skills. It was a contest to see who could flip the most crepes without dropping one, and the winner would have the honor of choosing which man she would like to marry.
The story was told to a writer who was compiling a book about Vincennes culture in the 1930s, and it was prefaced that it may not be “historically accurate,” but it was said that at the crepe-flipping contest in 1778, the girl who won beat out her “pretty” rival, Marie Bordeleau. The story went that a woman who was a friend of the winning girl distracted Marie-Madeleine with conversation until she dropped one of her crepes, causing her to lose.
Flipping a crepe.
Whether or not the story is true, Marie-Madeleine did find a husband the following year. It was an eventful time in Vincennes because the Americans under George Rogers Clark had attacked the fort in February, freeing the French settlers from British rule. Later that year, on July 9th, Marie-Madeleine married Jean-Baptiste Renaud dit Deslauriers at St. Francis Xavier Parish. Attending the service were her parents, her godfather, two uncles, and presumably many of the people in town. The wedding was conducted by Father Gibault, who served as priest for the entire Illinois Territory at that time. The priest hadn't visited Vincennes in many months, so it was the very first American wedding to be held there.
The date of Marie-Madeleine’s marriage and birth of her first child suggests that she was pregnant before she got married. Her first child, Genevieve, was born October 11, 1779, and was followed by eleven more, the youngest born in 1803.
Marie-Madeleine died on February 21, 1819 in Vincennes. Her husband survived her, and he died in 1834.
Children:
1. Genevieve Deslauriers — B. 11 Oct 1779, Vincennes, Virginia Territory; D. before Feb 1819, (probably) Vincennes, Indiana; M. Joseph Marion Edeline (1774-1819), 18 Feb 1799, Vincennes, Northwest Territory
2. Marie Desanges Deslauriers — B. 11 Jan 1782, Vincennes, Virginia Territory; M. Guillaume Tougas (1779-?), 6 Jul 1801, Vincennes, Indiana Territory
3. Archange Deslauriers — B. 22 Apr 1784, Vincennes, Virginia Territory; D. Feb 1793, Vincennes, Northwest Territory
4. Jean-Baptiste Deslauriers — B. Feb 1786, Vincennes, Virginia Territory; D. Jul 1789, Vincennes, Northwest Territory
5. Pierre Deslauriers — B. 13 Sep 1787, Vincennes, Virginia Territory; D. 2 Mar 1860, Vincennes, Indiana; M. Marie-Theotiste Ravellette (1795-?), 12 Nov 1813, Vincennes, Indiana Territory
6. Barbe Deslauriers — B. 2 Oct 1789, Vincennes, Northwest Territory
7. Victoire Deslauriers — B. 11 Jul 1791, Vincennes, Northwest Territory; D. Feb 1793, Vincennes, Northwest Territory
8. Marie Anne Deslauriers — B. 1 Feb 1794, Vincennes, Northwest Territory; M. François Mallet (1790-?), 14 Aug 1818, Vincennes, Indiana
9. Françoise Deslauriers — B. 1 Feb 1794, Vincennes, Northwest Territory; D. Jun 1835, Vincennes, Indiana; M. Louis Lacoste dit Languedoc (1790-1838), 11 May 1816, Vincennes, Indiana
10. François Xavier Deslauriers — B. 13 Feb 1798, Vincennes, Northwest Territory; D. 8 May 1837, Vincennes, Indiana; M. Cecile Racine, 7 Aug 1820, Vincennes, Indiana
11. Adélaide Deslauriers — B. 20 Jan 1800, Vincennes, Northwest Territory, D. Jul 1829; M. François Racine, 26 Jul 1824, Vincennes, Indiana
12. Catherine Deslauriers — B. 22 Jul 1803, Vincennes, Indiana Territory; D. 2 Mar 1865, Vincennes, Indiana; M. Joseph Cardinal (1799-?), 14 Jul 1823, Vincennes, Indiana
Sources:
“Records of the Parish of St. Francis Xavier,” Records of the American Catholic Historical Society of Philadelphia, Vol. 12, 1901
Creole (French) Pioneers at Old Post Vincennes, Joyce Doyle, Loy Followell, Elizabeth Kargacos, Bernice Mutchmore, and Paul R. King, 1930s
St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church Records: Baptisms 1749-1838, Barbara Schull Wolfe, 1999
A complete survey of cemetery records, Knox County, Indiana, collected and compiled by Mrs. Alta Amsler Bernice Mutchmore, and Paul R. King, 1930s
Indiana Births and Christenings, 1773-1933, FamilySearch.orgIndiana Church Marriages, 1780-1993, FamilySearch.org
