The Founding Mothers of Mackinac Island: The Agatha Biddle Band of 1870

by Theresa L. Weller

Overview

Drawing on a wide array of historical sources, Theresa L. Weller provides a comprehensive history of the lineage of the seventy-four members of the Agatha Biddle band in 1870. A highly unusual Native and Métis community, the band included just eight men but sixty-six women. Agatha Biddle was a member of the band from its first enumeration in 1837 and became its chief in the early 1860s. Also, unlike most other bands, which were typically made up of family members, this one began as a small handful of unrelated Indian women joined by the fact that the US government owed them payments in the form of annuities in exchange for land given up in the 1836 Treaty of Washington, DC. In this volume, the author unveils the genealogies for all the families who belonged to the band under Agatha Biddle’s leadership, and in doing so, offers the reader fascinating insights into Mackinac Island life in the nineteenth century.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781628954289
Publisher:	Michigan State University Press
Publication date:	08/01/2021
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	244
Sales rank:	860,250
File size:	12 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

THERESA L. WELLER has been published in Michigan’s Habitant Heritage, St. Ignace News, and the Mackinac Island Town Crier. She is a member of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians.

Table of Contents

Contents Preface A Word about Names in This Book 38 Mrs. Louis Beaubien (Christine Otapitakewinam) 43 Mrs. Louis Belonzhay (Genevieve Montreuil) 26 Mrs. Paul Belonzhay (Angelique Montreuil) 6 Mrs. Charles Bennett (Angelique Antoine) 56 Miss Mary Bezonette (Miss Mary Dufijina, Mrs. Jean Baptiste Bazinet) 1 Mrs. Agatha Biddle (Agatha Sarrasin) 36 Mrs. Isaac Blanchard (Mary Babeau, Babbien) 20 Mrs. Vital Bourassa (Angelique Fountain) 8 Mrs. Louis Cadotte (Marie Louise Laverdure) 5 Mrs. Joseph Caron (Louise Vasseur) 34 Mrs. Moses Champagne (Sarah Martin) 30 Mrs. Bela Chapman (Marie Charette) 39 Mrs. Joseph Cheverow (Marie Charlotte Dejadon) 9 Mrs. Alice Cushway (Alice Graveraet Couchoise) 31 Mrs. Ambrose Davenport (Susan Descarreaux) 42 Mrs. William Davenport (Marie Dufault) 23 Mrs. Hyacinthe (François) Dophena (Josette Dejadon) 14 Mrs. Joseph Fountain (Angelique Fagnant) 16 Mrs. Henry Hudson’s Children (Angeline Caron) 22 Mrs. Peter Jacobear (Poline Martin) 57 Edward Karrow 10 Mrs. Henry Karrow (Judithe Diotte) 29 Mary A. Karrow (Marianne Kedegekwanabe) 7 Mrs. William Karrow (Isabelle Morin) 19 Mrs. David Knifffen (Marie Bennet-Beaubin) 25 Mrs. Michael Kuthron (Sophie Pogay) 58 Mrs. Mary LaDuke (Mary Bruneau, Mrs. Jeremie LeDuc) 32 Mrs. Joseph Lalotte (Lozon) (Marie Boyd) 12 a, b, c Sarah, Louisa, and Charles Lalotte (Lozon) 12 a Sarah Lalotte (Mrs. Paul Lancour) 12 b Marie Louise Lozon (Mrs. John Poupard) 12 c Charles Lozon 51 Mrs. Jane Lancour (Genevieve Pond) 4 Mrs. Edward Lasley (Therese Bennett) 40 Mrs. Joseph Laslin (Julia Lesieur Aslin) 45 Mrs. Samuel LeBlanc (Elizabeth Belonga) 54 Mrs. Angeline Louisignon (Angelique Aslin) 47 Miss Rosalie Louisignan (Lusignan) 53 Mrs. Moses Maillet (Angelique McClure) 2 Mrs. Louis Maishtaw (Marie Bennett-Beaubin) 21 Mrs. Francis Martin (Agatha Fountain) 55 Miss Lizzette Martin (later Mrs. Antoine Truckey) 49 Mrs. Benjamin McGulpin (Elizabeth Boyd) 52 Miss Mary McGulphin (later Mrs. Mary Garrison) 41 Miss Nancy McGulpin 44 Mrs. Joseph Menasaw (Mary Belanger) 18 Mrs. Daniel Moore (Louise Charbonneau) 3 Mrs. Andrew Moran (Mary Kekematiwain) 11 Mrs. Ignace Pelotte (Rosalie Boucher) 65 Victoire Peltier (Mrs. David Bellaire) 13 Mrs. Francis Rastoul (Christine Bennet-Beaubin) 48 Mrs. Benjamin A. Rice (Ursula Lusignan) 59 Angel Robinson (Mrs. George Lamyott) 33 David Robinson 27 Mrs. Charles Roussain (Rousseau) (Charlotte Martin) 46 Mrs. Louis St. Onge (Catharine Peltier) 37 Miss Martha Tanner 24 a Hester Terrien 24 c Peter Isaac Terrien 61 Mrs. Margueritta Thompson (Margaret Pouillat) 66 William Valier 50 Mrs. Henry Vaillancourt (Catherine LaCroix) 28 Mrs. Thomas Valliere (Josette Thibault) 60 Mama Walsh Appendix: Durant Correspondence to the Commissioner of Indian Afffairs Notes Bibliography

Editorial Reviews

This is a must-read for anyone seeking genealogical information on French-Canadian or Native American ancestors who lived in the Upper Great Lakes area during the nineteenth century. It took a superb historical researcher like Theresa L. Weller to finally unravel the personal and social history of the residents of Mackinac Island that has stymied so many other researchers. Besides providing much data on the people who made up the nineteenth-century island communities, Weller provides fascinating biographical information, which together helps us to understand life on the Michigan frontier during the fur trade era.—Charles E. Cleland, distinguished professor emeritus, Michigan State University, and author of Faith in Paper: The Ethnohistory and Litigation of Upper Great Lakes Indian Treaties
 

Theresa L. Weller has done a wonderful service for historians, Native Americans, and genealogists in researching the Agatha Biddle band in the Durant Field Notes. Hopefully, this book will inspire others to examine the rich history of Michigan’s Anishinaabe people, including the interaction of the Native Americans and whites. As the author points out, there are errors in the Field Notes that may not always be visible. Thanks to Weller for an interesting study and bringing to life “just names.”—James P. LaLone, cofounder and past president of the French-Canadian Heritage Society of Michigan

From the Publisher