Nicholas L. (Caillot) Caillot dit LaChance Sr (abt. 1730 - 1799)

Born about 1730 in France

Ancestors

Husband of Marie-Anne Giard — married 22 Nov 1757 in Kaskaskia, Randolph, Illinois Country

Descendants

Died 21 Feb 1799 at about age 69 in Sainte Genevieve, Sainte Genevieve, Missouri, United States

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Bernard Van Arsdale [send private message] and Mary Jo Freeman [send private message]

Biography

Nicholas (Caillot) Caillot dit LaChance Sr performed Patriotic Service in Virginia in the American Revolution.

Nicholas (Caillot) Caillot dit LaChance Sr served with Civil Service, Virginia during the American Revolution.

Nicolas L. (possibly Louis) Caillot was born in France, but date, place and parents are uncertain.
It was thought that he might have been born Dec 6, 1733 in Breban, Marne, Champagne-Ardenne, France (about 100 miles/183 km east of Paris), the son of Jean Baptiste Caillot (b 1710) and Jacqueline Chouez (b 1706). [Nicolas named his 2nd son Jean Baptiste, but he didn't name a daug Jacqueline.]
But this 1733 Nicolas seems to have different parents:
According to a French researcher, Patrick Parmantier --
"La date ne naissance est erronée. Celle que vous indiquez 06/12/1733 existe et correspond à Nicolas CAILLAT et la filiation est différente (fils de Jean CAILLAT et Tanche JULLIEN) de plus ce Nicolas s'est marié en 1759 avec CLEMENT Françoise."
Translation: The date of birth is wrong. The one you indicate 12/6/1733 corresponds to a Nicolas Caillat but the family is different. He is the son of Jean Caillat and Tanche Jullien,^[1] plus this Nicolas was married in 1759 to Françoise Clement.
He goes on to say: "La filiation que vous indiquez est également erronée; Le couple CAILLOT Jean Baptiste et CHOUEZ Jacqueline ont effectivement un fils prénommé Nicolas né le 13/09/1730 à POIX 51 mais celui-ci est décédé le 13/01/1739 à POIX 51"
Translation: The family you indicate is also wrong. Jean Baptiste Caillot and Jacqueline Chouez actually had a son named Nicolas born Sept 13, 1730 in Poix, but he died Jan 13, 1739 at Poix.

Nicholas spent some time in New Orleans as a soldier when he first came to America. "The First Families of Louisiana"^[2] contains "The General Roll of Louisiana Troops, 1720-70." One of those listed is "Nicolas Cailleux" who was discharged in the colony on April 1, 1756. Since this was in the middle of the French & Indian War (1754-1760), one wonders why he was released from duty, though if his term was up, perhaps he decided to not re-enlist.

Somewhere along the way, he got the nickname "the Lucky", or in French "dit LaChance," so his name became Nicolas Caillot dit Lachance. Many of the French settlers along the Mississippi River had nicknames like this. Most of his descendants dropped the Caillot and went by Lachance.^[3]

Soon after his discharge he went north to the French village of Kaskaskia (in what is now Illinois) where he married and settled down. He was about 24 years old when he arrived in Kaskaskia in about 1756-7. This was 7-8 years before St. Louis was started (1764), and the only settlement in Missouri was Ste. Genevieve (across the river from Kaskaskia).

Nicholas married Nov. 22, 1757 to 16-year-old Marie Anne Giard in Kaskaskia, IL at the Notre-Dame de l'Immaculee-Conception Church by Father P.F. Watrin. They could both read and write to sign the church marriage register. Marie-Anne's parents were French Canadian and had settled in Kaskaskia.

In Kaskaskia, Nicholas Caillot dit LaChance became a prominent resident of the community where he lived for 30 years (1757-1787). He was a master carpenter and trained two of his sons in the trade. In 1762 he was "marguillier" of the Kaskaskia parish. He was also referred to as "lieutenant of militia," which would seem to confirm his having previous military experience.
He was a warden of the church. As a literate person, he served repeated terms as a judge of the Kaskaskia court, and he owned a lot of property and several slaves. He was mainly involved in trading--mostly fur trading, but, according to one incident, he had a canoe load of brandy captured by Americans.
Nicholas and his family lived "at the termination of the Vincennes Road north of the billage and east of the Kaskaskia River." [The George Rogers Clark Adventure in Ill., p 102]

Beginning in 1778 when the Americans took Kaskaskia from the British, the Spanish authorities increased their efforts to draw the French/creole population from the east side of the Mississippi to the west side. These families preferred to live under Spanish Catholic rule rather than in the turbulent, young American republic. Nicholas was very long-suffering since he remained under American rule for 9 years before he finally left his home of 30 years in Kaskaskia.

1787 census of Kaskaskia, Illinois^[4]
Nichs Lachanse pere
Antoine Lachanse
Gabriel Lachanse
Francois Lachanse
Michel Lachanse
Charles Lachanse
Benjamin Lachanse

In 1787 Congress passed the Northwest Ordinance, the process by which the Americans were to settle their territory east of the Mississippi.
In August, 1787 the magistrates of Kaskaskia (including Nicolas Caillot Lachanse) and several inhabitants of Kaskaskia (including Antoine Lachanse, Gabrielle Lachanse, Bapt. Lachanse & P. Chevallier) signed an agreement with Barthelemi Tardiveau, Esq. sending him to Congress to claim their land rights in Kaskaskia. Whether or not he was successful seems doubtful because of the number of people who left Kaskaskia the next year. The 1787 census of Kaskaskia was created for Tardiveau's use.

Nicholas sold his Kaskaskia property to Tardiveau in September 1787, and in the winter of 1787-88 he moved to the west side of the Mississippi River to Ste. Genevieve, taking with him 14 slaves and his 11 children, many of them already married. It's likely that this had something to do with the Northwest Ordinance.

Marianne died May 1, 1795 at the age of 54 and was buried the next day in Ste. Genevieve. In 1797 Nicholas signed his name "N.L. Cailliot Lachance" on his daughter, Pelagie's marriage contract to Pierre Chevallier. It appears that Nicholas pere (Sr.) always signed his name Caillot LaChance, while his sons usually used only LaChance.

On June 28, 1798 Nicholas sold a house and land at New Bourbon to Robert Bruster. Then 8 months later Nicholas died, Feb. 21, 1799 (age 66). He was buried Feb. 22. [Since they usually buried the next day, he probably died Feb. 21.]
Find A Grave: Memorial #48439493

Ste. Genevieve Parish records:
"Buried 1799, Feb 22 - Nicholas Calliot dit Lachanse, aged 66"^[5]

1799 was called the year of the "hard winter" and Nicholas died right in the middle of it. February must have been a bad time to have a funeral and burial!

Sources

See also Nicholas Caillot dit Lachance bio at -- http://rfmin.net/mjgen/colyott/nicholas-caillot.html

1. ↑ https://www.myheritage.com/names/nicholas_caillot%20dit%20lachance
2. ↑ "The First Families of Louisiana, by G. Conrad, 1970
3. ↑
4. ↑ http://genealogytrails.com/ill/1787kaskcensus.html
5. ↑ Ste. Genevieve Parish records - http://genealogytrails.com/mo/stgene/church_records_oldchurch.htm

Daughters of the American Revolution, DAR Genealogical Research Databases, database online, (http://www.dar.org/ : accessed 04/14/2016), "Record of CAILLOT, NICHOLAS", Ancestor # A018128.

• U.S., Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current Author: Ancestry.com Publication: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. APID: 1,60525::0
• Marne, France Births, 1501-1907 Author: Ancestry.com Publication: Ancestry.com Operations Inc APID: 1,1311::0
• Missouri, Find A Grave Index, 1812-2012 Author: Ancestry.com Publication: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. APID: 1,70596::0
• Ancestry Family Trees Publication: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com. Original data: Family Tree files submitted by Ancestry members. Page: Ancestry Family Tree Data: Text: https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/tree/66876592/family

Daughters of the American Revolution, DAR Genealogical Research Databases, database online, (http://www.dar.org/ : accessed 04/11/2016), "Record of Service: VIRGINIA Rank(s): CIVIL SERVICE, PATRIOTIC SERVICE CAILLOT, NICHOLAS Ancestor #: A018128 Service: VIRGINIA MAGISTRATE", Ancestor # A018128.

• Early Ste. Genevieve Marriages
• Ste. Genevieve County Marriages 1807-27, 1842-66 (listed in Missouri Pioneers)
• Kaskaskia, by Belting
• Citizens of Missouri in 3 vols 1787-1835, by Inginire
• History of Southeast Missouri
• The George Rogers Clark Adventure in Illinois, by KW Seineke, 1981
• A History of Missouri, by L. Louck, 1908
• Colonial Ste. Genevieve, by CJ Ekberg
• Memorial Cemetary records, Ste. Genevieve
• Ste. Genevieve Tombstone Inscriptions, Vol. 1, manuscript by Rob Beckerman, 1981
• Missouri Territory Land Claims

File: https://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=image&guid=306aed70-cae1-470a-9142-478da745fbf3&tid=66876592&pid=354

Title: Caillot-Giard Marriage Record

Acknowledgements

• This biography was auto-generated by a GEDCOM import. Caillot dit LaChance-6 was created by Buddy Van Arsdale through the import of Van Arsdale Family Tree.ged on Sep 12, 2015.
• Page created 3 Oct 2018 by Mary Jo (Willard) Freeman
• Merged May 7, 2019.