Detroit River Region

See the following pages for additional information and resources regarding the Detroit River Region: Census Page, Land Page, and the Parish Records Page

Detroit Notary Records: Ancestry (a subscription site that is available for free at many public libraries and Family Search Centers) has filmed transcriptions of the Notary Records drafted in the Detroit River Region between 1737 - 1796. They are part of the Drouin Collection of Miscellaneous Records. To browse the collection, click on the box on the right and choose R, then Registre des Notaires de Detroit. The records are in French and in English. Following is the link for accessing these records: U.S. and Canada, Miscellaneous French Records (Drouin Collection), 1651-1941 | Ancestry®.

Presentations:

Center for French-Colonial Studies – 24 October 2015 Meeting at the University of Windsor – Presentations by FCHSM Members:

Two Remarkable Women, by Suzanne Boivin Sommerville

The Myths and Reality of Robert Navarre, Detroit’s First Royal Notary, by Gail Moreau-DesHarnais

Misconceptions, Misunderstanding, Myths, and Facts Regarding French-Canadian and Native-American Relationships in the Detroit River Region through 1763, by Diane Wolford Sheppard

1 October 2016 - Detroit Historical Museum:

French Detroit’s History and Culture and their Impact on Detroit’s Founding Families, by Diane Wolford Sheppard

30 September 2017 - Detroit Historical Museum:

17th and 18th Cenutry Maps of Michigan and Detroit, by Diane Wolford Sheppard

11 February 2023 - French-Canadian Heritage Society of Michigan's Zoom Meeting

On the Old Fur Trade Route from Le Détroit to les Miamis bt way of the Detroit River, Lake Erie and the Maumee River by Michael McCafferty

Notes from Michael's presentation

Articles:

Mystery of Marie Anne Lespérance, also known as Robert/Robert dite Lespérance/Magnan dite Lespérance

by Gail Moreau-DesHarnais and Diane Wolford Sheppard - The FCHSM Board selected this article as the best article of the year for 2021. Through their research in Notary Records and Parish Records, Gail and Diane solve a 306-year old mystery by identifying the mother of a baby who was baptized in Fort Pontchartrain in 1715!

Proof that No Indians Lived in Permanent Villages on either Side of the Detroit River When Antoine de Lamothe, sieur de Cadillac, Founded Fort Pontchartrain on 24 July 1701, by Diane Wolford Sheppard

Rush to Judgment? by Suzanne Boivin Sommerville

Bob-Lo Island, the Huron, and the French Canadians, by Suzanne Boivin Sommerville. This article was originally published Michigan’s Habitant Heritage in July 2015

1732 Plans of Fort Pontchartrain, the Huron Village, the Ottawa Village, and the Potawatomi Village, compiled by Diane Wolford Sheppard

Was Isidore Chesne, son of Charles Chesne and Catherine Sauvage, the same man as the Huron or Wendat chief named Pierre Rounia–téré or Isidore Chesne? By Diane Wolford Sheppard

Digitized Books:

Ernest Lajeunesse, The Windsor Border Region: https://ia800606.us.archive.org/13/items/windsorborderreg00laje/windsorborderreg00laje.pdf

George Paré, The Catholic Church in Detroit: https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015071402997;view=1up;seq=1

Cropped Portion of Chaussegros de Lery’s (?) copy of Henri Louis Deschamps de Boishébert’s 1731 map of Detroit, courtesy of New France Archives:

https://nouvelle-france.org/eng/item/details?id=40552