Back to French 500

Andrew Lacroix

     Andrew was born in Normandy in 1766 and came to the United States at the age of 25 or about 1790 or 1791. In Gallipolis he became a whip sawyer for Monsieur Bertrand and carried on a horse mill.
     On February 17, 1797 he married Madame Serot (one of a family of 23 children), widow of Peter Serot. She brought four young children into the marriage, the oldest being only four and one half years old.
     Lacroix went to the French Grant in March 1797 shortly after his marriage. Coming at the same time were Jean Baptist Bertrand, Jean G. Gervais, Charles F. Duteil and William Duduit. He had drawn lot number 15 and he cleared his land and grew peaches. He distilled the peaches and as his business grew, he sent boats to New Orleans. He also grew apple trees and from September to March, he made apple or peach brandy.
     His life was challenging as he once fought a bear and survived and at another time he fell into a 36 foot deep well and managed to climb out unaided.
     His wife died December 16, 1824 leaving seven children of his. These included Cecilia, Zaire, Emily Catharine, Michael, Andrew and Alexander. Lacroix died September 29, 1844.

Source: History of Scioto County.

Contributed by Henny Evans

Mary Boben [Beaubein]

     In February 1790 over five hundred people, all natives of France, set sail from Havre de Grace , France to make their home in America. They set sail in five ships, namely, Recovery, Pennsylvania , Lady Washington , Nautilus and Scarborough. After landing in Alexandria in May they proceeded by land to the banks of the Ohio River where they settled and founded the little town of Gallipolis, Ohio, in October 1790.
     Among the passengers was a young girl who came with distant relatives. Her name was Mary Boben, or Mary Beaubein, according to French spelling. Legend has it that she was born in the palace of Versailles (although no record of her has been found there after a search by one intereseted). She was born in the year 1770. This young lady was very beautiful and the young Napoleon Bonaparte was supposed to be madly in love with her. It was his intention to follow her to America and there marry her. Sometime after the boat departed he changed his mind and decided to remain in France. He sent guards to this country to bring Mary Boben back to France but by that time the young lady said NO because on the boat she had met a young Frenchman, Claudius Roman Menager and they had fallen very much in love. After coming to Gallipolis Mary Boben and Claudius Roman Menager were married in 1790, their marriage being the first to take place in Gallipolis, Ohio. Many years later, Napoleon Bonaparte sent a medallion with his picture in the center to Mary Boben Menager to show that he had not forgotten one of his first loves.
     The medallion is now in the Our House Musuem, Gallipolis. It was given by a descendant, Ruth Hamilton, who lived in Columbus.
    
Note: There were probably six or even seven ships that set sail. Whether the story about Napoleon is fact or fiction, the medallion or a copy thereof, is indeed located in the Our House Musuem.

Transcribed by Henny Evans.

John Peter Romaine Bureau

     Also known as J.P.R. Bureau, he is mentioned elsewhere in this newsletter in an article by Eva Hughes, as the father of Madeline Bureau who married Dr. LeMoyne.
     John was born in Beton Bazoche, France in March 1770 and was one of the original French emigrants. Unable to find employment in Gallipolis, he went to Marietta where befriended by Edward W. Tupper, near in age to Bureua, he was invited to stay in the home of Edward’s father.
     The Indian War had started in 1791 and in 1792 Bureau returned to Gallipolis and became commissary of the local troops. He soon earned the respect of the citizens and after the war ended he held various positions in the community such as post master, justice of the peace, clerk of the supreme and common pleas courts, and elected member of the House of the Sixth General Assembly (the first in which Gallia held representation). He was re-elected to the both the House and the Senate for several terms.
     Bureau was for thirty years involved in various mercantile pursuits, he had some knowledge of the law and was a good surveyor using his talents in both Ohio and West Virginia. Due to injuries and a lame knee, he always was seen riding his horse side saddle.
     In 1799 he married Madelaine Marret. As there was no justice of the peace available, they obtained one from Point Pleasant, Virginia (now West Virginia) and were married on a boat on the Ohio River in order that the justice of the peace was in his own jurisdiction. Mrs. Bureau was the daughter of Peter and Madelaine Marret. She was married at age sixteen and lived to be 51 dying in June 1834.
     The children of the marriage were Madelaine Romaine, 1799-1873, Romaine Madelaine, 1802-1831, and Charles, 1812-1848. Madelaine Romaine married Dr. LeMoyne and Romaine married Samuel F. Vinton.
     Hon. J.P.R. Bureau died at the age of 81 in 1851.

Primary Source: Hardesty’s History of Gallia County, 1882 Reprint.

Contributed by Henny Evans

Adele E. Maguet

The Last of the Original French
Death of Mrs. Adele E. Maguet, at the remarkable age of One Hundred Years

     On the cold white marble covering the remains of the last of the old French Settlers of Gallipolis, will be engraved the legend: “Adele Susannah Maguet, born March 26, 1787, died March 8, 1887.” Within eighteen days of her Hundredth birthday, Mrs. Maguet passed to the unknown beyond, dying while retaining unusual vigor, the victim of illness, the result of a cold contracted last fall. For six weeks the deceased had been confined to her bed at the residence of Mrs. Geo. W. Heaton, a granddaughter, with whom she made her home. The end came gently, and the mind was conscious to the last. The funeral services were conducted at the family residence, Thursday, and the remains were deposited in the old cemetery, beside the ashes of her late husband, who departed this life in 1829.
     The history of Mrs. Maguet, alike that of all centenarians, is remarkable. She was the daughter of Louis LeClere, and was born in Havre de Grace, France. The family came here in 1792, while Gallipolis was a village of log huts and stockades. This was two years after its settlement, and the subject of this memoir was then five years old. To the last she retained the memory of events which occurred at that age. At the age of nineteen she wedded Anthony Rene Maguet, by whom she had seven children, there being three of whom survive her. Two sisters, Mrs. Cavin, aged quite 90 years, and Mrs. Felicity Denney of Porter, aged 83 years, also survive her. Among the incidents of her life she was accustomed to relate, as illustrating her remarkable memory, she spoke of losing a doll in the seas when a child while crossing the ocean. She frequently gathered nuts on the hillside with friendly Indians, and was at one time a captive among the redskins. Two years ago she related the circumstances of hearing a will read. Her relation of the contents, names of witnesses, etc., etc. was subsequently verified, although it was an occurrence of seventy-five years ago. The preservation of her faculties was a matter of local note. Her eyesight was so good that she read without glasses, and was able to recognize persons well known to her across the street. Her teeth were intact. In appearance, she was short of stature, plump, and fair in complexion. It was her habit to eat heartily, especially of the meat diet, and in late years, she retired immediately when through with the evening meal. In the household cares she was very useful until the last illness.
     She was as old as the constitution of the United States. Had lived under every administration from Washington to Cleveland. She was a blooming and bashful young lady, with suitors when Napoleon was made Emperor of her native country. She saw Lafayette walk up to the Gallipolis wharf in 1824, and witnessed the exiled King Louis Philippe of France on his temporary stop here.
     Mrs. Maguet was baptized in the Catholic faith. Her descendants are nearly all residents here. They number nearly 100. We are, through the kindness of Mrs. Geo. W. Heaton, enabled to present a complete list.

Names of children

Lucy Hern, aged 77; Lewis P. Maguet, 74; Mrs. Louisa Halliday, 69.

Names of grandchildren.

Mrs. Adeline Ralph, Nan Maguet, Mrs. Geo. W. Heaton, Mrs. Harry Enos, Mrs. Lucy A. Hern, Silas Maguet, J.L. Hayward, Robert A. Maguet, Mrs. Adele Alexander, John C. Maguet, John A. Vanden, Martin Maguet, Mrs. Mary Hall.

This lengthy list goes on to include four more generations.

Transcribed by Henny Evans from an article she received in 1983 by a descendant of Mrs. Maguet, Charlotte Bedwell.

Top of Page