Born to Become a Fur Trader — Charles Diel

B. 29 Jan 1722 in LaPrairie, New France
M. 16 Jan 1746 in Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue, New France
Wife: Felicite Sauve dit La Plante
D. about 1756 in (probably) New France

In 18th-century New France, if your father was a fur trader, and his father was a fur trader, chances were you would follow the same profession. This was true for Charles Diel, who signed up for several expeditions to the west between 1747 and 1755.

Charles was born on January 29, 1722 to Charles Diel and Jeanne Boyer, and he was the fourth of their nine children. The family lived in LaPrairie, a town across the river from Montreal. Charles Sr. had been on at least two fur trading expeditions before young Charles was born. His mother Jeanne died when he was 8-years-old, and his father remarried, then his father died when he was 12.

On January 16, 1746, Charles married Felicite Sauve dite La Plante, who was from the western end of Montreal island. The couple made their home in Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue, and had a son born before the year was out. By 1752, they had three more children, all girls.

It was natural that Charles become a fur trader; in addition to his father and grandfather, his two brothers Antoine and Eustache also worked in the business. Men living around Montreal could make good money, although the work was hard and often dangerous, and took them away from their families for months at a time. One source said that Charles signed up for a trading expedition to Fort Ouiatenon (present-day Indiana) in 1747. This fits with the 2-year gap between the births of his first and second children. 

Charles listed on an expedition in 1750.

In June 1751, Charles contracted with Louis St. Ange Charly for a fur trading expedition to Michilimackinac, a post at the northern end of Lake Michigan. He was paid 230 livres for the work he did on this trip. This expedition consisted of three canoes manned by at least 7 men each, and was also given permission to stop at two other trading posts in the upper Great Lakes area. 

It’s believed that Charles went on another expedition to Michilimackinac in May 1755. There’s no record of him after this date, though, and he was dead by the end of 1756. Because there’s no burial record for Charles in Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue, it seems likely that he died while out in the West. Did he suffer an accident on his final journey? Or perhaps got killed in another way? It’s impossible to say. His wife Felicite remarried on January 8, 1757, but she died in October 1759 not long after giving birth to a child.

Michilimackinac in the 18th century.

Children:
1. Charles Diel — B. 16 Oct 1746, (probably) Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue, New France; D. 8 Jul 1813, Vincennes, Indiana Territory; M. Elisabeth Clermond Dubord, about 1773, (probably) Illinois Territory

2. Marie-Louise Diel — B. 1 Dec 1748, Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue, New France

3. Marie-Genevieve Diel — B. 20 Apr 1750, Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue, New France; D. 4 Jan 1773, Ste-Genevieve, Pierrefonds, Quebec; M. Olivier Charlebois (1736-1815), 24 Nov 1766, Pointe-Claire, Quebec

4. Marie-Charlotte Diel — B. 6 Jan 1752, Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue, New France

Sources:
Généalogie du Quebec et d’Amérique française (website)
Quebec Catholic Parish Registers, 1621-1979, FamilySearch.org

Indiana Diels Descended from Philippe Diel and Marie Anquetin (website)

Online Database of Voyageur Contracts

BAnQ