James Campau

Came to Detroit 3 SEP 1708 and 6/6/1727.

Jacques was a Trader who moved with his family Sep 3, 1708 to Detroit, obtained a grant of land from the French government in 1734, now known as private claim no. 18, where he resided.

Jacques Campau was one of the early arrivals in Detroit, travelling there for the Compagnie de la Colonie in 1703 and 1704. Apparently caught up in the internecine rivalries of the post, he falsely accused Pierre Rocquant, dit La Ville, a soldier from the garrison, of setting the fire which in 1703 destroyed the granary and nearly all the buildings of the fort. It had in fact been set by a Delaware Native American. The Conseil Supérieur ordered Campot to pay damages to Rocquant and a fine; it also condemned him to appear before the Quebec cathedral wearing only a tunic and there on his knees to proclaim the harm he had done and beg pardon.

In 1708 Campau brought his family to Detroit and the following year was granted a lot in the fort by Cadillac (Laumet*], the commandant. Although they later made several trips back to Montreal, the Campau’s settled permanently in Detroit. Jacques engaged in trade and also worked as a blacksmith, supplying the Detroit garrison and residents with metal work such as hinges and gun parts.

The decades after Cadillac’s departure in 1710 were difficult for Detroit. Pontchartrain, the minister of Marine, hoped that the discredited settlement might collapse if neglected sufficiently. Alphonse Tonty*, commandant from 1717 to 1727, levied excessive rents and taxes. Campau appears in a petition of 1721 as one of the substantial residents aggrieved by his extortionate practices.

In 1734 Campau was granted a lot of four by 40 arpents east of the fort. By the 1740s he had, in addition to his blacksmithing, developed one of the best all-purpose merchant houses in Detroit, buying and selling wheat, corn, bread, and furs. Towards 1750 he became too ill to work, and he died the next year.

Received grant of land from French government, now known as private claim.

Baptism Priest: Father Gilles Perot

Baptism Witnesses: Jacques Cardinal, Marie Anne Hardy and her husband, Pierre Mallet.

Marriage:

Etienne Campeau, Michel Campeau (brother), Urbain Brossard (Cecile's grandfather), Priests: R.C. Debreslay, Priest:, Father R.C. Dolier (dispensed with the time requirements. Cecile was able to sign the register, Jacques was not. Contract, marriage 30 NOV 1699 Raimbault

Sources:

Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online

Title: Dictionnaire genealogique de familles du Quebec des origines a 1730

Author: Rene Jette

Title: Genealogy of the French Families of the Detroit River Region (1701-1911)

Author: Denissen, Christian

He was a blacksmith, toolsmith & trader. Settled at Detroit 3 Sep 1708. Obtained land grant from french gov't in 1734---now known as Private Claim 18, where he resided.

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Buried 14 May 1751

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from Dictionary of Canadian Biography (online - http://www.biographi.ca)

CAMPOT (Campau), JACQUES, trader, blacksmith, merchant; baptized 31 May 1677 at Montreal; son of Étienne Campot and Catherine Paulo; m. Jeanne-Cécile Catin 1 Dec. 1699 at Montreal; buried 14 May 1751 at Detroit.

     Jacques Campot was one of the early arrivals in Detroit, travelling there for the Compagnie de la Colonie in 1703 and 1704. Apparently caught up in the internecine rivalries of the post, he falsely accused Pierre Rocquant, dit La Ville, a soldier from the garrison, of setting the fire which in 1703 destroyed the granary and nearly all the buildings of the fort. It had in fact been set by a Delaware Indian. The Conseil Supérieur ordered Campot to pay damages to Rocquant and a fine; it also condemned him to appear before the Quebec cathedral wearing only a tunic and there on his knees to proclaim the harm he had done and beg pardon.

In 1708 Campot brought his family to Detroit and the following year was granted a lot in the fort by Cadillac (Laumet*], the commandant. Although they later made several trips back to Montreal, the Campots settled permanently in Detroit. Jacques engaged in trade and also worked as a blacksmith, supplying the Detroit garrison and residents with metal work such as hinges and gun parts.
The decades after Cadillac’s departure in 1710 were difficult for Detroit. Pontchartrain, the minister of Marine, hoped that the discredited settlement might collapse if neglected sufficiently. Alphonse Tonty*, commandant from 1717 to 1727, levied excessive rents and taxes. Campot appears in a petition of 1721 as one of the substantial residents aggrieved by his extortionate practices.
In 1734 Campot was granted a lot of four by 40 arpents east of the fort. By the 1740s he had, in addition to his blacksmithing, developed one of the best all-purpose merchant houses in Detroit, buying and selling wheat, corn, bread, and furs. Towards 1750 he became too ill to work, and he died the next year. In the following century, his numerous descendants played leading roles in the commerce of the region.
Donald Chaput

AN, Col., B, 29, f.311v; C11A, 117, f.91ff.; 118, ff.51, 54, 60. DPL, Burton hist. coll., Macdonald papers, Extrait des registres d’intendance et du Conseil supérieur. “Cadillac papers,” Michigan Pioneer Coll., XXXIII (1903), 312, 378, 707. JR (Thwaites), LXIX, LXX. The John Askin papers, ed. M. M. Quaife (Burton Hist. Records, 2v., Detroit, 1928–31), I: 1747–1795, 31–37. Jug. et délib., V, 457–61, 510–12. The siege of Detroit in 1763: the journal of Pontiac’s conspiracy, and John Rutherfurd’s narrative of a captivity, ed. M. M. Quaife (Chicago, 1958). Massicotte, “Répertoire des engagements pour l’Ouest,” APQ Rapport, 1929–30. The city of Detroit, Michigan, 1701–1922, ed. C. M. Burton (5v., Detroit, 1922), II, 1362–64. Télesphore St-Pierre, Histoire des Canadiens du Michigan et du comté d’Essex, Ontario (Montréal, 1895), 145–46.

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http://www.agt.net/public/dgarneau/metis4a.htm

FORT PONTCHARTRAIN du DETROIT 1700 - 1710

NEW FRANCE (MICHIGAN)

EMPIRE de CADILLAC

LIST of visitors, inhabitants and settlers at Fort Detroit.

The Metis are reported to be swarming throughout the West.

Michel Campo (Compos), in town and farming 1 arpent, March 10, 1707, for 5 livres and 6 sols rent and 10 livres for other rights.

(II)-Jacques Campo (Campau, Campos, Campeau and Campot) (1677-1751), blacksmith, arrived September 3, 1708, and wife Jeanne Cecile Catin (1681-1715), town rent, March 1, 1709, at 40 sols rent and 10 livres for other rights.

James Campau, of Montreal, no rent

Jean Campau, canotier, arrived May 30, 1705, no rent

Michel Campau, died before 1740, farmer arrived August 3, 1707, and married 1696 Jeanne Masse, had daughters Jeanne Campau, Marguerite Campay baptized March 2, 1708, and Marie Anne Campau who married Pierre Belleperche, and son Paul Alexander Campau born September 14, 1700, he married February 15, 1740 Charlotte Sioneau daughter Mathurin Sioneau and Marie Charlotte Dubeau, no rent

(II)-Jacques Campau (1672-1747) married Cecile Catin (1681-1715), no rent.

Louis Campau, son Jacques Campau ; married Marie Louise Robert widow Francois Pelletier and daughter Pierre Robert and Angelique Tholme, January 7, 1724, no rent

Jacques Campau's daughter Marie Angelique Campau, born December 6, 1708, no rent.

GEDCOM Note

Jacques, with his family, and his brother Michel, moved to Detroit, Michigan in 1707/1708, as part of a contingent accompanying Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac, thus founding the Detroit, Michigan branch of the Campeau family.