Du Tisne

Seraphin Margame, Sieur de la Voltrie, and Louise Bissot had eleven chilren. The last, a girl, Louise-Margeurite, was born 5 Dec 1691 in Montreal. IN 1713 she married Claude-Charles Du Tisne. It was his second marriage. His father's name appears both as Claude-Charles and as Charles-Claude. His occupation was judge and counsel. He was married to Catherine Declou de Cusor of St. Germain-l'Auxerrois, France. For the sake of distinction, I shall refer to the father as Charles-Claude.

Charles-Claude Du Tisne, the father, was an ensign in the French army, who served in Illinois and in Louisiana. He was part of a clique against the authority of Governor Cadillac, who in turn, in a letter to the Directors of the Company of the West, charged that Charles-Claude was not suitablle for command.

He was an officer of troops in Mobile and in Louisiana in 1714. He served in Illinois from 1724 to 1729. His death was placed as 7 Aug 1730.

Claude-Charles, the son, was a captain of French Troops. He established the first fort at Natchitoches and later explored southwestern Missouri and northeastern Oklahoma. He was Commandant of French forces at Kaskaskia, Illinois, when he died in 1730 as a result of wounds inflicted by the Indians.

Although Claude-Charles Du Tisne had three children by his first marriage, he and Louise Marguerite Margane had only one child before his death. This daughter, Marie Louise Du Tisne married Jean Philippe Goujon de Grondel in 1741 in New Orleans and together with her husband, played a prominent part in the political and social life of Mobile, New Orleans and St. Charles Parish.

The person I shall discuss last was named Jean Philippe Goujon de Grondel. Goujon was the surname, de Grondel the name of the estate. He was the father of Marie Louise Grondel who married Francois Durand.

Accounts of Jean Philippe Goujon de Grandel differ. Some writers lionize him, while others depict him as a soldier of fortune, opportunist, and devil may care rascal. He may have been all of these. This account is drawn primarily from several historians 1

Grondel was born at Saverne in French Alsatia on 27 Nov 1714. His parents were Swiss. His father was Lieutenant Colonel Jean Baptiste Goujon de Grondel of the Swiss Guards Regiment known as the Karrar Regiment. His grandfather had been a captain of Austrian cavalry and served under Louis XIV at the time of his marriage to Marie-Therese of Hapsburg.

Jean Philippe entered as a cadet gentilhomme in the Karrar Regiment at five and a half years of age. He became a supernumerary enseigne in 1730 and in November, 1732 embanked with his regiment for Louisiana.

After a stormy four month voyage, he was sent directly to the Pointe Coupee Post where he remained for two years. In 1734 he was transferred to Mobile.

In 1736, the French attacked a large gathering of Indians at Ackia in central Alabama. He is credited with bringing about the death of Red Shoes, a chief of the Choctaw Indians. Grondel also put down a revolt of the garrison at Fort Trombecbé

In the encounter with the Choctaws, Grondel was wounded six times when he went to the rescue of a sergent who lay wounded on the battlefield. It was three years before he fully recovered. For his bravery and service, King Louis XV awarded him six hundred livres and a promise of the Cross of St. Louis, which was awarded in 1753.

In 1740, Grondel was made Commandant at Mobile.

In 1741, Grondel married Marie Louise Du Tisne, the daughter of Captain Claude-Charles Du Tisne, explorer, fur trader and French officer by his second wife, Louise Margaret Margane de la Vaoltrie. She was a descendant of Louis Hébert, the first European settler of Quebec.

In 1753, Grondel was at Dauphin Island when a Spanish vessel was wrecked and began to break up. Grondel, an excellent swimmer, threw himself into the angry seas and rescued several people. Various accounts placed the number of the rescued between five and ten.

In 1758, Grondel and his family moved to New Orleans. By this time, he and Marie Louise Du Tisne had eight children, two boys and six girls. Marie Louis Du Tisne, more commonly referred to as Du Tisne Grondel, had received an inheritance and Grondel found New Orleans a more fitting place to manage this largesse.

During his stay in Mobile and while in New Orleans, Grondel cut a dashing figure at the balls and on the field of honor, where he was noted for his marksmanship and daring.

In 1758, Grondel was also named Treasurer of the colony.

The following year he, and other officers, became embroiled in quarrels with Kerlerec, the new governor of the colony. Keslerec place him under house arrest for three years. In August, 1762, Kerlerec placed him and other recalcitrant officers secretly aboard a vessel. To be returned to France and were tried on charges of insurrection.

This trip was filled with hardship and adventure. A storm beset them in the Gulf of Mexico. As the storm abated, an English frigate chased them. Only nightfall provided an escape. At the entrance to the Bahama channel, an English privateer accosted them. Rather than surrender to the much stronger vessel, Grondel encouraged his shipmates to resist. The privateer was crippled and withdrew.

A few days later, Grondel attacked a large English merchantman and took possession of it. He forced the captain to give them all of the provisions they needed and a draft of 40,000 crowns, which was paid upon presentation.

Storms harassed them across the Atlantic until finally they made port at La Coruna on the north coast of Spain on 1 Nov 1762.

William R. Bailey writes that:

After resting three weeks, Grondel proceeded overland to Bordeaux. It being cold, Grondel was wrapped in a Canadian garment of fine wool with a hood which gave the resemblance to a Capuchin monk. He had attached his Cross of Saint Louis to this garment and was mistakenly thought to be a bishop by the natives en route. He went on, via Bayonne, Bordeaux and Rochefort to Paris and was greeted handsomewly at each stop. Arriving in Paris on 17 January 1763, he paid his respects to the Count of Hallwill, former Colonel of his regiment and unformed him of the difficulties with Governor Kerlerec in Louisiana. Kerlerec, recalled to explain his accusations and charges, used his influence with the Marshall D'Estes and obtained an arrest order against Grondel, who was palced in the Bastille on 9 April 1765.

After ten days in the prison, the Minister of Police interrogated him, and being favorably impressed, released him in a few days. Grondel with a friend then went to Port Louis near Lorient to visit his father who was 100 years old. After a short visit, he returned to Paris to sue for justice in his conflict with Kerlerec. On 11 August 1769, a judgement was rendered in his favor and, soon after, he was appoitned Lieutenant Colonel with a gratuity from the crown of 2500 livres and an annual pension of 1800 livres as testimony of the very high regard which the King had for his services.

On the 30th of December 1772, Grondel was appointed to the command of the city of Lorient and arrived there about the same time that his father died at the age of 107 years.

Bailey further stated:

In 1776, Grondel's wife and family, with the exception of two daughters who had married in Louisiana, came to join him in France. In 1778, he was made a Brigadier General. Ten years later, General Grondel retired to Nemours south of Paris.

Bailey was in error when he stated that two of Grondel's daughters remained in Louisiana.

In fact, threee daughters remained and are recorded as participants in many church ceremonies. One of these daughters was Marie Louise Grondel, who had been born on 24 February 1747 in Mobile and who had married Francois Durand.

Marie Grondel (Durand) was the sponsor for the baptism of Luis, the son of Louis Durand and Marianna Chalambert on 24 June 1803.

After the outbreak of the French Revolution, General Grondel was denounced as an aristocrat and thrown into prison. He was released after eight days.

On 29 April 1792, Grondel was elected by the citizens of Nemours to be the commanding general of the National Guards of the city. He discharged those duties until 1 September 1793. Bailey further states that:

While in command of the National Guard, at the age of 79, he quelled a riot between two rival groups of soldiers by sheer force of his personality.

In 1796, he moved in retirement from Nemours to Salins-near-Montereau. On 1 November 1797, Marie Louise died, leaving him a widower at 83 years.

Bailey places the year of Grondel's death ca. 1819. Pearl H. Krandke gave the year at 1802.

Probably both are wrong.

In 1803, Grondel was presented to Napoleon and, in 1805 he was named Chevalier of the Legion of Honneur.

Regardless of whether Grondel was 88 years or 105 years of age, he had lived a full and fruitful life.