Early Families of French Colonial Mobile
 

Information gleaned from various resources.

Submissions welcome.

Jean Baptiste ALEXANDER. Married in 1704 at Fort Louis de la Mobile to Marie DUFRESNE who is listed as a Pelican Girl or Casette girl.

Jean Baptiste ALEXANDER II, born 1706, son of Jean Baptiste ALEXANDER and Marie DUFRESNE. Married in 1732 to Francois Hypolite BADON who was born 1716, daughter of Nicholas BADON, who established Miragouin Plantation near Mobile on 14,000 acres of land given to him by the French king; the plantation was on an island and that it was established near Fort Louis de la Mobile. Nicholas BADON was known as Sieur de Miragouin which means Master of Musketeer Plantation. Jean Baptiste and Marie had four children: Jean Baptiste ALEXANDER III, Charles ALEXANDER, Elizabeth ALEXANDER, and a fourth child. Francois Hypolite died 1744.

Francois ALEXANDER, born 1708, son of Jean Baptiste ALEXANDER and Marie DUFRESNE.

Phillipe ALEXANDER, born 1710, son of Jean Baptiste ALEXANDER and Marie DUFRESNE.

Antoine ALEXANDER, born 1715, son of Jean Baptiste ALEXANDER and Marie DUFRESNE.

Pierre ALEXANDER, born 1716, son of Jean Baptiste ALEXANDER and Marie DUFRESNE.

Marie Marguerite ALEXANDER, birthdate unknown, daughter of Jean Baptiste ALEXANDER and Marie DUFRESNE.

Jean Baptiste ALEXANDER III, born 1734, son of Jean Baptiste ALEXANDER II and Francois Hypolite BADON. Married Angelica LOISEL Their son Francis ALEXANDER, was born in 1779. Jean Baptiste ALEXANDER III is listed in the 1786 census as being a widower with two children and eleven slaves. 

Charles ALEXANDER, born 1736, son of Jean Baptiste ALEXANDER II and Francois Hypolite BADON.

Elizabeth ALEXANDER, son of Jean Baptiste ALEXANDER II and Francois Hypolite BADON.

Francis ALEXANDER, born in 1779, son of Jean Baptiste ALEXANDER III and Angelica LOISEL. Married on January 9, 1800 to Isabella NICHOLAS who was born 1784 and whose family was from New Orleans. Their son was Francis ALEXANDER II. Francis Alexander died in 1811. Isabella is listed on the property tax rolls of Mobile County for the year 1816.  Isabella died in 1824.

Francis ALEXANDER II, born in 1784, son of Francis ALEXANDER and Isabella NICHOLAS. Married Anna RESTER in Mobile in 1835. 

From Sharon Bond: There is a Francis ALEXANDER buried in an old cemetery in Delisle, Mississippi, just north of Biloxi.  Who might that be?

I believe that Francis and Anna were  the parents of my great-grandfather, Carlos F. ALEXANDER of Pearl River County, who applied for a Civil War pension at the age of 75 in the early 1900's.  There is a Francis ALEXANDER buried in an old cemetery in Delisle, Mississippi, just north of Biloxi.  It stands to reason that Francis, whose mother Isabella died when he was 13, may have lived in the New Orleans area since he had relatives there.

I am trying to find the Alexander connection.  Much of what I have given you was researched by a Clifton Alexander in Slidell, Louisiana.  It was shared with me by a cousin I didn't know I had until I started looking!  I also have information on Isabella and on Angelica LOISEL. I need information on Anna RESTER to establish the connection. 

FONTAILLE

Sr. Jean FONTAILLE, cadet of troops of Mobile. His wife was Dame Marie Le MIR. Jean had died by 1743 and Marie was remarried by then to Pierre LOISEL 1

Dlle. Marie Jeanne FONTAILLE, daughter of Sr. Jean FONTAILLE of Mobile, and Dame Marie Le MIR. 1

SAUCIER

Louis SAUCIER. Was of St. Eustache Parish, Paris. Married Marguerite GAILLARD dit DuPLESSIS. Went to Canada as early as 1666, listed as unmarried and age 32, at residence of Étienne DUMAY, Sillery, Québec. Marguerite Gaillard was a native of Boulogne, Picardy, and widow of a DUPERON when she married FrançoisePREVOST in Québec. Widowed again, she married Louis Saucier on 12 Jan 1671. Louis died by 1676. Marguerite married again to Michael LeGARDEUR who also preceded her in death.

Jean Baptiste SAUCIER (shown in records as Jean Sossié), born 4 Dec 1674, Québec, son of Louis SAUCIER and Marguerite GAILLARD dit DuPLESSIS. He was shown in the household of his stepfather LeGARDEUR in the 1681 census, St. Michel (now St. Foy) near Québec. He was shown as one of a group engaged by Pierre LeMOYNE, Sieur IBERVILLE, for the Hudson Bay Expedition. Sailed with Josph LeMOYNE, Sieur SÉRIGNY, to Rochefort, spring 1699. Sailed on the Renommé in Iberville's second expedition to the settlement near Biloxi. Jean was assigned a lot in fthe first plat, indicating he was instrumnetal in settling the colony. Shown living in the colony in 1706 with a wife and two children. Married one of the Pelican Girls Gabrielle SAVARAY who was daughter of Pierre SAVARY and Jeanne FAUTISSE, and who had been born 28 January 1684 in parish of Saint-Denis where her godfather, Plomier DESELUSE had been an important merchant. Jean was one of the 8 citizens of the colony who testified on BIENVILLE's behalf in interrogations by Inspector Martin d"ARTAGUIETTE that took place in 1708. Gabrielle is shown as a sponsor in a baptism in March 1715, then in December 1716, is shown as widow of Mr. Saucier as sponsor in another baptism. Gabrielle married twice more (see her listing). 1

François SAUCIER, acting engineer at Mobile, son of Jean Baptiste SAUCIER and Gabrielle SAVARAY, married in 1743 to Dlle. Marie Jeanne FONTAILLE, daughter of Sr. Jean FONTAILLE, cadet of troops of Mobile, and Dame Marie Le MIR. (records of the Cathedral Parish). BIENVILLE satted that François was educated in Paris no later than 1730, and he appears to be the only member of the family who did so. There exists a map drawn by him dated 12 May 1728 and he would have been but age 16 at the time. It may be that talent for drawing that allowed for his education. François was still in the colony continually in the 1730s.He served until 1737 as assistant to Captain Ignace François BROUTIN, principal engineer. François was then given the task of suveying "Bienville's lands". There were 19 surveys signed by him. His later work was mainly on the forts Condé, Toulouse and Tombechbe. He spent a good bit of time on mission at Ft. Toulouse and the couple had a daughter born 19 Feb 1749, Marie Jeanne SAUCIER. Other children were born to the couple -- JeanFrançois, the eldest, whom François referred to as "the other myself", Mathieu who was about 4 years older than Marie Jeanne, and Jean Baptiste, who was about two years tounger than Marie Jeanne. In 1751 François was summoned to New Orleans to construct a new fort and made engineer of the existing Ft. Chartres in Illinois. 1

Anne SAUCIER, daughter of Jean Baptiste SAUCIER and GabrielleSAVARAY. Shown as a sponsor for a baptism in 1718. 1

Henry SAUCIER, son of Jean Baptiste SAUCIER and GabrielleSAVARAY, was shown as age 29 in 1735 records. Married at Illinois, 1732, to Barbe LaCROIX. They lived at St. Phillippe near Ft. Chartres. They were living on the coast of Gulf of Mexico by 1740. 1

Jean Baptiste SAUCIER, son of Jean Baptiste SAUCIER and Gabrielle SAVARAY, is shown in baptismal records as born 28 Nov 1707, ana also shown elsewhere as age 27 in 1735. Married Marie Rose GIRADY of Bayou St. John, New Orleans, in 1740. They lived at Cannes Brulés. Died May 1746. 1

Jacques SAUCIER, son of Jean Baptiste SAUCIER and GabrielleSAVARAY, is shown in baptismal records as born 28 Apr 1710. 1

Charles SAUCIER. He was shown in the household of his stepfather LeGARDEUR in the 1681 census, St. Michel (now St. Foy) near Québec. 1

SAVARAY

Gabrielle SAVARAY, one of thePelican Girls, so-called because they came to the colony in 1704 aboard the Pelican, was daughter of Pierre SAVARY and Jeanne FAUTISSE, and who had been born the 285h of January 1684 in parish of Saint-Denis where her godfather, Plomier DESELUSE had been an important merchant. Married Jean Baptiste SAUCIER and bore him several children (see listing under SAUCIER) Gabrielle is shown as a sponsor in a baptism in March 1715, then in December 1716, is shown as widow of Mr. Saucier as sponsor in another baptism. Gabrielle remarried to Pierre VIFVARENNE, sargeant in the Mobile troops, and their son Jean Baptiste VIFVARENNE, was baptized on 25 Feb 1719, Mobile -- the father shown as deceased. Gabrielle married a third time to Jean Baptiste SANSOT dit LaGRANGE. They were parents of a daughter Jeanne Gabrielle, baptized 18 Oct 1721. Gabrielle is shown as the widow Saucier in a 1726 census of New Orleans, with 5 children, living on Rue St. Pierre. Governor Étienne PERIER wrote in a letter, "We have not been able to refuse passage to the islands to the widow Saucier and to four of her children." A 1727 census shows the widow and 4 children living on Royal Street, New Orleans. The 1735 sucession proceedings show that 4 of her children survived her -- Henry Saucier, Jean Baptiste Saucier, Françoise Saucier, and Vifvarenne. 1, 2

Sources:

1. Frenchmen and French Ways in the Mississippi Territory, edited by John Francis McDermott, 1969, University of Illinois

2. "Old Mobile Fort Louis de la Lousiane 1702-1711" by Jay Higginbotham, University of Alabama Press