Robidoux family

The Robidoux family played a major role in settling Canada and America from the 17th to the 19th centuries. This family was instrumental in the history of New France in Canada, and the expansion of American territories to such places as St. Joseph, Missouri, and San Bernardino, California. The descendants of the patriarch Manuel Robidoux are well known. For example, they are discussed in Meriwether Lewis’ journals, James Michener’s book Centennial, and have been chronicled as traveling with frontiersman Kit Carson.

Manuel Robidoux. Manuel Robidoux (1620-1667) was born in Paris, France and married Catharine Allue (1618-1667) of St. Marie de Galice, from the Bishopry of Burgos, Spain. Their only known child is André Robidoux.

André Robidoux. André Emmanuel Robidoux (1643-1678) was the son of Manuel Robidoux and Catharine Allue. According to Canadian vital and church records, he was born in Galicia, Burgos, Castilla-Leon, Spain. He was married to Le Duc Jeanne Denote (1645-1701), the fifth daughter of Antoine and Catherine Denote, of St. Germain of Auxerre, Paris. André came to Canada after Louis XIV, King of France, made Quebec a royal province and began colonizing what was then known as New France. The exact date of his immigration is unknown, though he did appear in the 1666 Quebec census, so an arrival date around 1665 is reasonable.

It is believed that André’s wife was one of the filles du roi, the King’s Daughters, sent to Quebec to promote marriage, family formation and the birth of children. The date of their marriage is believed to be 1667 and they moved to the concentration of St. Lambert in the Parish of Le Prairie, Quebec, Canada, on 7 June 1667. André and Jeanne had five children, including William (Guillaume) Robidoux.

André, known as the Spaniard, was employed by Eustache Lambert, a prominent landowner. He died at the age of 35 and his widow Jeanne married Jacques Suprenant, and thus became the founding mother of not one, but two of Canada’s largest families.

William Robidoux. William Robidoux (25 November 1675 – 8 July 1754) was the son of André Robidoux and Jeanne Denote. He was born in La Prairie, Quebec, Canada, and part of the first generation of the Robidoux family born in North America.

William married Marie Françoise Guerin (1681-1757) on 11 June 1697 in Montreal. Marie was born on 25 Apr 1681 in Cernay-les-Reims, France, and came to Canada at an early age with her parents. It is likely that her parents were engagés (indentured servants), as her father was a cobbler and mother a domestic, not likely to be able to afford to relocate on their own. William and Jean moved to Longueuil, a town adjacent to La Prairie, in 1705. The baronry of Longueuil was founded by Charles le Moyne de Longueuil et de Châteauguay, who, like William’s father, emigrated from France.

William was a teenager at the time of the British attempt to capture Quebec (the Battle of Quebec) in 1690 and likely took part in the city’s defense. William entered the fur trade in Canada as it was steadily growing. William and Marie had 13 children, 4 of whom died before their first birthday. Joseph Robidoux I was the second son, born 20 March 1701, who would go on to fame as the great-grandfather of the Robidoux brothers who helped explore and settle the western United States. William died on 8 July 1754 in Montreal, and was buried at the Basilique Notre-Dame.

Joseph Robidoux I. Joseph Robidoux I (20 March 1701 – 1778), the second son of William Robidoux and Marie Françoise Guerin. He was born in La Prairie, Quebec, Canada, and was part of the second generation of the Robidoux family born in North America. Because of the large number of descendants named Joseph Robidoux, the significant ones are highlighted by Roman numerals, even though they did not use such an indicator during their lives.

The vulnerabilities demonstrated by the Battle of Quebec in 1690 caused the Canadians to bolster defensive positions which served their purpose until the Battle of Quebec (Battle of the Plains of Abraham) in 1759 when the British were successful in their assault. This was known by the British as part of the Annus Mirabilis of 1759. Two of the sons of Joseph, François and Antoine, died in this battle. Following his father’s profession, Joseph entered the fur trade at its peak. By the middle half of the 18th century the fur trade was in a slow decline, and Joseph’s children began migrating south to American cities such as Detroit, Chicago and St. Louis.

He married twice, first to Marie-Anne Fonteneau (1 December 1699 – 16 February 1735), daughter of Pierre Fonteneau, and had six children including Joseph Robidoux II. Widowed, Joseph married second to Marie-Louise Robert (b. 17 October 1715), daughter of André Robert, and had seven children. Joseph died In Yamaske, Quebec, Canada, in 1778.

Joseph Robidoux II. Joseph Robidoux II (13 September 1722 – 28 August 1778) was the son of Joseph Robidoux I and Marie-Anne Fonteneau. Joseph was part of the second generation of the Robidoux family born in North America. He married Marie Anne Le Blanc (1724-1770), whose great-grandparents emigrated from Normandy, France, in the 17th century.

With the slowing of the fur trade and repeated conflicts with the British, Joseph and his family began to look south for better prospects. War between France and England in the colonies resumed in the War of Jenkins' Ear in 1739, with France in alliance with Spain. The fortress at Louisbourg was constructed to protect to Gulf of St. Lawrence and to allow the French to raid British sites in New England. The Siege of Louisbourg in 1745 resulted in the capture of the fortress. Following this, Joseph and his family traversed the Chicago Portage to relocate to St. Louis. Members of the family also settled in Detroit.

Marie also came from a distinguished family that settled in Quebec in the 18th century. Her great-grandfather was Abraham Martin l’Ecossais (the Scotsman), a royal pilot on the St. Lawrence River. The Plains of Abraham are named for him. This is where a famous battle of the Seven Years' War (the French and Indian War) between the British and the French was fought in 1759.

Joseph and Marie had four children, including Joseph Robidoux III. Joseph died in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1778.

Later Generations. Joseph III and his wife Catherine Marie Rollet had eight children that lived to adulthood including:

• Joseph Robidoux IV, referred to as the Founder, due to his founding of St. Joseph, Missouri,
• Antoine Robidoux, and
• Louis Robidoux, founder of Riverside, California

Today, the Robidoux family is widespread throughout North America, with thousands of descendants active in preserving the legacy of their common ancestor Manuel.

Sources

Willoughby, Robert J., The Brothers Robidoux and the Opening of the American West, University of Missouri Press, Columbia, 2012

Lewis, Hugh M., Robidoux Chronicicles, French-Indian Etnoculture of the Trans-Mississippi West, Trafford, Canada, 2004

Hafen, Leroy R. (ed.), Trappers of the Far West, University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, 1965

Reyher, Ken, Antoine Robidoux and Fort Uncompahgre, The Story of a Colorado Fur Trader, Western Reflections Publishing Company, Lake City, Colorado, 1998

Thwaites, Reuben Gold (ed.), Original Journals of the Lewis & Clark Expedition, 1804-1806, Arno Press, New York, 1969

Michener, James A., Centennial, Random House, New York, 1974, pg. 300