François Gesseau Chouteau

First offical European settler of Kansas City Missouri

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=51549956&ref=wvr

The son of "Pierre" Chouteau and Brigite (Saucier), Francois Gesseau Chouteau was born 07 Feb 1797 in St. Louis and is known as the founder of Kansas City. He set up a trading post in 1821 in the great bend of the Missouri river. In 1827, he and other Chouteau members joined the American Fur Company, his trading post and warehouse being the headquarters for the company's western trading routes.

He married Bernice Menard, who was born in Kaskaskia in 1801 and was the daughter of Pierre and Therese (Godin). The couple were married on 12 Jul 1819, their wedding journey said to have been a boat trip up the Missouri river in search of a site to build a trading post. The father of nine children, it is believe that Francois died of a heart attack at the age of forty-one on 18 Apr 1838, leaving his widow who survived him by fifty years.

• Reference: MyHeritage Family Trees - SmartCopy: Sep 16 2016, 19:06:14 UTC