That Ignorant Frenchman - Jean Baptiste Trotochaud
The Forgotten Origins of St. Francis Solanus Church on W. Lake St in Petoskey, Michigan which includes the story of how this site got its name. Fortunately, since this article was written, community members launched a successful attempt to restore this historic church to a usable and safe condition. I especially salute the members of the restoration committee and the Little Traverse Bay Band of Odawa for their contributions. Information about the restoration committee and how to contribute may be found here.
Open House Schedule for the summer of 2009, as published in Petoskey News-Review
- Article published in Petoskey News on 11 June 2005 about restoration efforts
- Contributions sought for written history of the church (news article from 2009)
- Article published in the Petoskey News-Review 15 July 2008 covering the rededication of the church A short video is part of this page
- Variations of this surname used by this family. English rendition and "Keshata", the Odawa version used by some of J.B's descendants.
- Photo of St. Francis Solanus Church W. Lake St. Petoskey, built by John B. Trotochaud and dedicated by Bishop Baraga July 23, 1860 (This is a 300 kb file)
- Photo of a middle-aged man with two young children found among Lucy Trotochaud's personal effects in February 2006. From the context, this would be either Jean Baptiste Trotochaud or one of his two sons, John B Jr. or Louis. The man is wearing mocassins and a workman's apron.
- 1908 Field Note page from Durant roll listing Descendants of John B. 'Tro-to-chow' known to Special Agent Durant(a 425 kb file) It will open very large in some browsers, this was done on purpose to make it as legible as possible.
- Marriage record for Jean Trotochaud & Sophie Anaquet from St. Anne's Parish on Mackinac Island 1836 Again, size is maximized for the sake of legibility.
- Scan of Jean Trotochaud's baptismal record dated 1 May 1801 from the Drouin database It will also open very large in some browsers, this was done on purpose to increase legibility. This is a scanned image of a microfilm of records of St. Joseph Parish, Maskinonge, Province of Quebec. FamilySearch.org has put many of the old Quebec records on line. Click here and go to p. 11 to see their version of this image.
- Known descendants of Jean Baptiste Trotochaud to his grandchildren (all now deceased)
When JB's daughter Lucy passed away in 1922, the Petoskey Evening News published this:
MRS. JOHN DUVERNAY, PICTURESQUE INDIAN CHARACTER, IS DEAD
Mrs. Lucy Duvernay, who was born in Petoskey 63 years ago, and who claimed to be the daughter of Trocho, the Indian who donated the old Indian church on the beach near the western boundary of Petoskey, died at her home, 516 Sheridan street, last night.
The funeral will be held from St. Francis church Monday morning at 9 o'clock. Interment will be at the Catholic cemetery. She was the wife of John Duvernay, well-known Civil war veteran, who is a familiar figure on Petoskey streets.
--- from the Petoskey Evening News, on microfilm roll #59. "Dec. 13, 1921-Oct. 4, 1922." in the Petoskey Public Library. Issue of Friday 14 July 1922, p. 4. One can see how quickly the church's history was forgotten, even though the records of the gift of the land from J. B. Trotochaud to Bishop Baraga could have been found (and are still available) at the Emmet County court house.
- Trotochaud Homestead, originally located a distance west of St. Francis Church on shoreline, long since razed & replaced. The camera is pointed to the northwest. The horizon (Lake Michigan) can just barely be seen in the photo. Magnus City Park is now located very close to where this cabin once stood.
Here are some of my favorite websites:
Emmet County USGenWeb Home Page Vizenor-Trotterchaud family of Minnesota
More photos of the church
Last updated 12 October 2009
Send mail to Jean B. Trotochaud