M. 14 May 1759 in Fort Detroit, New France
Wife: Marie-Joseph Thomas
D. 28 Apr 1799 in Vincennes, Northwest Territory
During the Revolutionary War, many Frenchmen living at Vincennes in the Illinois Territory aided American forces in the takeover of their town. A few also formally enlisted with the army, and one of them was Louis Victor Edeline.
Louis was born in Longueuil, New France on December 23, 1730 to Louis Antoine Edeline and Marie-Madeleine Drousson, the youngest of their four children, two of whom died young. Both of his parents were over 40 when he was born. Louis’ father was a fur trader who was frequently away from home, but his parents saw that he received an education, at least enough so that he could read and write.
Louis was still a teen when his mother died on August 25, 1747. Within a couple of years, young Louis joined his father at Detroit. In return for making a commitment to farm there, they received land, supplies and rations of food. Their land was on the south shore of the Detroit River in present-day Windsor, Ontario.
As Louis came of age, he found himself in a country at war. During the 1750s, England was fighting France, and one thing at stake was control of territory in North America. Detroit became a key stronghold, and the French sent 400 men to man the fort. It’s not known if Louis had any role in the defense of Detroit, but given his later military status, it’s likely he did.
Before the war was over, Louis’ father died in 1758. On April 28, 1759, Louis married Marie-Joseph Thomas, a woman who was born Philadelphia. She had been living in Detroit for two years at the time of their wedding; the story of how she ended up there isn’t known. The French were defeated in the war, and in 1760, British troops took charge of Fort Detroit. It was around this time that Louis and his wife left, moving to the settlement at Vincennes. Their first child was born the following year; between 1761 and 1786, they had 11 children.
Although the British controlled Vincennes, life for the French settlers went on pretty much as it had before. For a brief time in 1774, a governor came and went, but things really changed during the American Revolution. In July 1778, Americans under George Rogers Clark took over nearby Kasaksia, and the priest who served there, Father Gibault, was committed to the cause. The priest came to Vincennes and convinced the French men to sign an oath of allegiance to the Americans. Louis’ signature is prominent on the document; he was said to be one of only 12 men in Vincennes who were literate.
Louis was still a teen when his mother died on August 25, 1747. Within a couple of years, young Louis joined his father at Detroit. In return for making a commitment to farm there, they received land, supplies and rations of food. Their land was on the south shore of the Detroit River in present-day Windsor, Ontario.
As Louis came of age, he found himself in a country at war. During the 1750s, England was fighting France, and one thing at stake was control of territory in North America. Detroit became a key stronghold, and the French sent 400 men to man the fort. It’s not known if Louis had any role in the defense of Detroit, but given his later military status, it’s likely he did.
Before the war was over, Louis’ father died in 1758. On April 28, 1759, Louis married Marie-Joseph Thomas, a woman who was born Philadelphia. She had been living in Detroit for two years at the time of their wedding; the story of how she ended up there isn’t known. The French were defeated in the war, and in 1760, British troops took charge of Fort Detroit. It was around this time that Louis and his wife left, moving to the settlement at Vincennes. Their first child was born the following year; between 1761 and 1786, they had 11 children.
Although the British controlled Vincennes, life for the French settlers went on pretty much as it had before. For a brief time in 1774, a governor came and went, but things really changed during the American Revolution. In July 1778, Americans under George Rogers Clark took over nearby Kasaksia, and the priest who served there, Father Gibault, was committed to the cause. The priest came to Vincennes and convinced the French men to sign an oath of allegiance to the Americans. Louis’ signature is prominent on the document; he was said to be one of only 12 men in Vincennes who were literate.
Louis' signature on the Vincennes Oath of Allegiance.
At the same time that the people of Vincennes pledged support for the Americans, Clark sent one of his men, Captain Leonard Helm, to take charge of the fort. He organized a militia of French men, and it’s likely that this is when Louis signed up to serve. In December, a British force took the fort back without a fight. Captain Helm was imprisoned and the men of the militia were ordered to give up all of their ammunition. The men cooperated, though some of them buried their gunpowder rather than turn it in.
When George Rogers Clark made his sneak attack in February 1779, the militia men eagerly volunteered to help him. The gunpowder they had hidden was offered to Clark, whose own powder had been ruined when his soldiers trekked through water up to their necks. Louis and the other men took up arms and fought alongside Clark and his forces. The Americans captured the fort, freeing Captain Helm, and hauling away those on the British side as prisoners of war. On a personal note, Louis’ wife gave birth to a daughter on the day after the battle; the baby was appropriately named Victoire.
Surrender of Fort Vincennes.
Captain Helm took command of the Vincennes militia again, and Louis was formally given the rank of second captain. In March, 50 members of the militia went up the Wabash and captured 40 men fighting on the British side. It’s not known if Louis was on this mission, but presumably he was. Clark soon left Vincennes and a lieutenant from Virginia was sent to oversee the town. He appointed four French men as judges, one of whom was Louis. He would hold a judgeship in Vincennes for most of the rest of his life.
After the war, Louis and the other Vincennes judges turned their attention to apportioning land. The documentation of the original grants to the French settlers of Vincennes was somewhat sloppy and everything needed to be formalized. The judges were said to have given themselves generous plots of public land in the process. They did this in a system of having three of the four awarding the other one lands, taking turns doing this, so that they divided up the public land between them. After complaints were made to the authorities back east, the judges claimed they were only following the Vincennes custom of assigning themselves the authority over the land so they could then give it to new settlers as they saw fit.
In 1796, tragedy struck Louis’ family when one of his daughters drowned in the Wabash at age 28; she was said to be traveling from Fort Wayne to see her parents and siblings. Her second husband was a prominent military commander named Jean François Hamtramck, and his wife’s death left him with two young girls to raise. After Hamtramck’s death in 1803, the girls’ guardian was William Henry Harrison, the governor of the Indiana Territory and future president of the United States.
Louis died in Vincennes on April 28, 1799, and he was buried in the Old French Cemetery at St. Francis Xavier Church. It isn’t known when his wife died; she didn’t seem to be living at the time of his death. Louis’ estate consisted of three pieces of property; he had what was described as "an old house" on a tiny lot in Vincennes, and two tracts of farmland outside of town. Nothing was settled between his heirs until about 10 years later when a court ordered that everything needed to be auctioned in order to split into shares. After the sales were done and the court fees paid, the total from all three properties was $172.50.
Children:
1. Marie-Louise Edeline — B. 9 Sep 1761, Post Vincennes, New France; D. young
2. Marie-Joseph Edeline — B. Oct 1763, Post Vincennes, New France; D. 21 May 1796, Vincennes, Northwest Territory; M. (1) Nicholas Perrot; (2) Jean-François Hamtramck (1756-1803)
3. Marie-Barbe Edeline — B. 13 Dec 1764, Post Vincennes, New France; D. 11 Jan 1795, Vincennes, Northwest Territory
4. Jean-Louis Edeline — B. Jan 1767, Post Vincennes, Illinois Territory
5. Marie-Louise Edeline — B. 28 Oct 1770, Post Vincennes, Illinois Territory; D. Jan 1793; M. Joseph Joyeuse (1769-?), 15 Feb 1791, Vincennes, Northwest Territory
6. Nicholas Edeline — B. 2 Nov 1772, Post Vincennes, Illinois Territory; M. Therese Godere (1778-?), 10 Aug 1795, Vincennes, Northwest Territory
7. Joseph Marion Edeline — B. 28 Aug 1774, Post Vincennes, Illinois Territory; D. 16 Mar 1819, Vincennes, Indiana; M. (1) Genevieve Renaud dit Deslauriers (1779-~1819), 18 Feb 1799, Vincennes, Northwest Territory; (2) Cecile Delisle, 22 Feb 1819, Vincennes, Indiana
8. Jacques Edeline — B. 28 Mar 1776, Post Vincennes, Illinois Territory; D. about 1798
9. Alexis Edeline — B. 15 Jul 1777, Post Vincennes, Illinois Territory; D. about 1808
10. Victoire Edeline — B. 25 Feb 1779, Vincennes, Virginia Territory; D. young
11. Pierre Edeline — B. 21 Feb 1786, Vincennes, Virginia Territory; D. about 1825; M. Françoise LaTour (1796-?), 30 Apr 1813, Vincennes, Indiana Territory
Sources:
“My Ancestry & their descendants plus misc research,” Denis Paul Edeline, RootsWeb.Ancestry.com
Detroit Historical Society (website)
History of Knox and Daviess Counties, Indiana, 1886
St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church Records: Baptisms 1749-1838, Barbara Schull Wolfe, 1999
St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church Records: Marriages and Deaths 1749-1838, Barbara Schull Wolfe, 1999
Daughters of the American Revolution, DAR Genealogical Research Databases, dar.org
“The Tragic Story of Marie Joseph Edeline, First Wife of Jean François Hamtramck,” Michigan’s Habitant Heritage, Vol. 32, Karl DeLisle, Jan 2011
Conquest of the Country Northwest of the River Ohio 1778-1783, Volume 1, William Hayden English, 1896
François Riday Busseron (Wikipedia article)
