Marie-Therèse Chouteau

Biography

Marie Thérèse Chouteau (Bourgeois) was mother of Auguste Chouteau (founder of St. Louis). Madame Chouteau was born in New Orleans & orphaned early in life. In 1749 she married Rene Auguste Chouteau, but left him shortly after the birth of Auguste because of his abusiveness to her. Madame Chouteau arrived in St. Louis in 1764 soon after her son had founded the city with Pierre Laclede. Madame Chouteau was the first white woman to live in St. Louis. She was also its first businesswoman, successfully managing a fur trading enterprise & accumulating a large amount of property. She introduced honey bees to the community & her charitable endeavors & nurturing ways led her to be known affectionately as "La Mere de St. Louis."

Marie-Therese Bourgeois Chouteau (January 14, 1733 – August 14, 1814) is the matriarch of the Chouteau fur trading family which established communities throughout the Midwest.

She was born in New Orleans to a French father (Nicolas Bourgeois) and Spanish mother (Marie Joseph Tarare).[1]

When she was 15 an arranged marriage was made to tavern keeper and baker René Auguste Chouteau, Sr. on September 20, 1748.

According to commonly accepted histories, René deserted her after she gave birth to René Auguste Chouteau in 1749.

She began a relationship with Pierre Laclède around 1755 and was to bear four children with him including Jean Pierre Chouteau in 1758.

After Laclede (along with his stepson Auguste Junior) established St. Louis, Missouri in 1764, he is said to have built her a house in 1767. The same year the elder René Chouteau demanded that authorities return her to New Orleans. In 1774 Louisiana Governor Luis de Unzaga ordered her to return. However she did not and the order was ignored until the elder Chouteau died in 1776. .[1]

Laclède died in 1778. Upon the death of Madame Chouteau in 1814, she set her Indian slave free. She was buried on the grounds of the Basilica of St. Louis, King of France (which is now on the grounds of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial. However when bodies were dug up in 1849 to move them to Calvary Cemetery and Bellefontaine Cemetery during a cholera epidemic, her body could not be found.

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=6133773

Mother of Auguste Chouteau (founder of St. Louis). Madame Chouteau was born in New Orleans & orphaned early in life. In 1749 she married Rene Auguste Chouteau, but left him shortly after the birth of Auguste because of his abusiveness to her. Madame Chouteau arrived in St. Louis in 1764 soon after her son had founded the city with Pierre Laclede. Madame Chouteau was the first white woman to live in St. Louis. She was also its first businesswoman, successfully managing a fur trading enterprise & accumulating a large amount of property. She introduced honey bees to the community & her charitable endeavors & nurturing ways led her to be known affectionately as "La Mere de St. Louis."

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http://stlouis.genealogyvillage.com/chouteau.htm

• Reference: MyHeritage Family Trees - SmartCopy: Feb 2 2016, 13:03:29 UTC
• Reference: WikiTree Genealogy - SmartCopy: Feb 6 2016, 15:53:56 UTC
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