M. 14 May 1759 in Detroit, New France
Husband: Louis Victor Edeline
D. bef 28 Apr 1799 in Vincennes, Northwest Territory
There’s an amazing story about how Marie-Joseph Thomas of Philadelphia ended up living at the remote French outpost of Detroit in the 1750s. Unfortunately, it’s entirely lost to history.
How and why did Marie-Joseph make that trip? The only known facts come from her marriage record. On May 14, 1759, she married Louis Victor Edeline at Ste-Anne-de-Detroit parish. Louis Victor was a 28-year-old man from the Montreal area who had been living at Detroit since about 1750. The marriage record stated that Marie-Joseph had been in Detroit “for about two years or so,” and that she was a native of Philadelphia. Her father was called “André Thomas” and her mother’s name appeared to be written as “Lolis.” One more fact was that Marie-Joseph was a Catholic, or she wouldn’t have been allowed to marry her husband in the Church.
Map of Detroit in the 18th century.
It’s highly unlikely Marie-Joseph started out as a French Catholic because very few Catholics were living in Philadelphia in 1733. Also the name “Thomas” may not have been a French name—her father was probably Andrew instead of André. Based on the birth year of her youngest child, Marie-Joseph would have been no older than about 18 when she came to Detroit, and she was probably a little younger. From all evidence, she had no family with her. Since the French and Indian War was raging at the time, it doesn’t seem plausible that she was part of some sort of pioneer migration, and as a teenage girl, she wouldn’t have trekked through a war zone by herself.
But there is one way Marie-Joseph may have ended up at Detroit: as a captive. Her family may have been among the many settlers who were homesteading on the frontier in Pennsylvania. It was said that thousands of settlers were raided by hostile Indians during that time, with adults killed and children abducted. Often children, even teenagers, were raised as members of a tribe, and some were transported for long distances. So it was possible for Marie-Joseph to have been captured, then handed off to the French in Detroit. There she may have been taught French by nuns and converted to Catholicism.
There was another way Marie-Joseph might have been a captive. During the 1750s, a fort at the site of present-day Pittsburgh was involved in the conflict between the English and French. On July 9, 1755, the fort was successfully captured by the French, and it was reported that about 25 English women who served as maids and cooks were taken captive. Marie-Joseph may have been barely old enough to be among them. There’s no report of where the women were taken, but perhaps some ended up in a place like Detroit.
While Marie-Joseph’s early life is speculation, the rest of her years are somewhat well-documented. After marrying Louis Victor, Detroit fell to the British in 1760, and around this time, the two of them moved to Post Vincennes in present-day Indiana. It was here that Marie-Joseph gave birth to her first child in September 1761, who died young. She would eventually have 11 children, with the youngest born in 1786.
Starting in 1763, the fort at Vincennes was occupied by the British, and when news of the American Revolution was brought to the village in 1778, the French settlers were eager to support the rebel cause. Marie-Joseph’s husband Louis Victor signed the oath of allegiance to the Americans, then became a captain in a newly formed militia. The following February, George Rogers Clark led a sneak attack on the fort, successfully winning the surrender of the British, and it was said that all of Vincennes helped, including the women. But Marie-Joseph may not have actively participated because the very next day, she gave birth to a baby girl. The child was named Victoire, and was the first American child born in what is now Indiana.
After the war, Louis Victor was appointed as a judge, and the family had some prominence in the community. Sadly, Marie-Joseph seems to have died sometime between the marriage of her son Nicholas on August 10, 1795 and her husband's death on April 28, 1799.
Children:
1. Marie-Louise Edeline – B. 9 Sep 1761, Post Vincennes, New France; D. before 1770
2. Marie-Joseph Edeline – B. Oct 1763, Post Vincennes, New France; D. 21 May 1796, Vincennes, Northwest Territory; M. (1) Nicholas Perrot, 24 Jul 1778, Post Vincennes, Illinois Territory; (2) Jean-François Hamtramck (1756-1803)
3. Marie-Barbe Edeline — B. 13 Dec 1764, Post Vincennes, Illinois Territory; D. before 11 Dec 1809, Vincennes, Indiana Territory; M. Jacques Cardinal (1761-1810), 2 Aug 1784, Vincennes, Virginia 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
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
History – Archdiocese of Philadelphia (website)
Fort Pitt Museum (website)
Battle of Monongahela (Wikipedia article)
