I can not think of a family which had more influence in the expansion of New France, than the LeMoyne family. The family's patriarch, Charles Le Moyne, sieur de Longueuil, arrived in New France in 1641 and worked for the Jesuit missions for 4 years, becoming a Huron/Iroquois interpreter. In Montreal (28 may 1654) he married Catherine Gifford and there by establishing himself in a family associated with the fur bussiness.
Catherine's two sisters had married two brothers:
The first brother to marry in to the Gifford
family was, Jean Juchereau de La Ferte (married Marie-Francoise Giffard),
who was with Pierre-Esprit, sieur de Radisson
in the western Great Lakes in 1659. Jean's daughter married Charles Aubert
de La Chesnay, who became a prominent fur merchant in the later half of
the 17th century.
The second brother, Nicolas
Juchereau dit St.Denys (married Marie-Therese Giffard), had fought
in the wars with the Iroquois and was a member of the Company of the Hundred.
Some of Nicolas' children found their way to LaSalle's, Illinois Country
(one son, Louis Juchereau de St.Denis, had found his way to Mexico by 1713,
in that year established Fort St.Jean Baptiste-Natchitoches on the Red
River and in 1715 married Emanuelle Sanche de Navarro) and one daughter
married Francois Dauphin de La Forest, destined
to become commander of Cadillac's Fort at today's Detroit - gateway to
Illinois Country.
With Charles LeMoyne's future in the fur trade
secure, his son's were given the task of re-establishing the French at
the mouth of the Mississippi R. and continuing the work of LaSalle in expanding
French claim to Louisiana Territory. The French began a campaign of establishing
a chain of forts from the Great Lakes to the mouth of the Mississippi River,
cutting off British expansion toward the Mississippi & beginning over
half a century of skirmishes/war with the British colonies and their respective
Native allies.
Charles LeMoyne's son, Pierre
LeMoyne, sieur d'Iberville, was 27 years old when he arrived at the
mouth of the Mississippi River, with the title of Governor of Louisiana.
The force arrived in two ships from France with, his brother (Jean
Bte. LeMoyne, sieur de Bienville), another brother ( Antoine LeMoyne
de Chateaugue), cousin (Louis Juchereau dit St.Denys) and the husband of
another cousin (Pierre-Charles LeSueur). Fort
Biloxi (Maurepas) was established by the brothers & LeSueur was on
his way to today's Minnesota River, familiar land to him since he had traded
furs south of Lake Superior for nearly twenty years already.
The following genealogical file is WinZip-ed;
To view/download file, click on file and UnZip in the Lotus 1-2-3 release
5 format.
lemoyne.zip