Person:Francois LaChapelle (1)

Previously in New York, comming to Alcona County from Cleveland, Ohio in 1855. Accompaning them were Margaret`s brother Matthew O`Neil (1831-1896) - (spelled O'Neal on marker in the cemetery) - and his wife Catherine Eve (Eva) (1833-1917).

A brother Edward LaChapelle and his wife Catherine came soon afterward bringing their small son Charles (1867-1881). Edward was born in 1817 and died in 18

Source: History of Northern Michigan

            Lois Marentette's Letter
           1850 Frenchtown. Monroe County, Michigan census
           1860, 1870 & 1880 Alcona County, Michigan census
           The 1850 Frenchtown, Monroe County, Michigan lists: Matthew O'Neil, age 22, cooper, and his                 wife Catherine, age 18, as living with Francis and Margaret LaChapelle.
       

Lois Marentette's Letter of 1976 states that the oldest son, Bert, drowned off a fishing boat

Francis LaChapelle was a cooper, a highly skilled trade he probably learned as an apprentice. He was in his late twenties when he was married and it can be assumed that he was working at his trade. At that time the burgeoning fishing industry, particulary in the Great Lakes, created a demand for barrels needed for shipping salted fish to market. His first residence was in Canada where his oldeest son was born. The second son was born a year later in Ogdensburg, New York, a fishing area on the St. Lawrence River near the Thousand Islands.

His stay in New York was for only a year. In 1843 he moved to Frenchtown, Monroe County, Michigan. Frenchtown was a small village on the north bank of the River Raisin, midway between Toledo and Detroit.

Francis resided in Monroe County for more than ten years. Three sons were born, and one died there. In 1853 he moved to Cleveland, Ohio. This move was about the same time as his brother, Edward, immigrated from Canada to Cleveland. Although Edward remained in Cleveland until 1865. Francis moved in November 1855, accompanied by the Matthew O'Neil Family, to Harrisville, Michigan. Francis La Chapelle,Sr.,a native of old France, he first came from Cleveland to Michigan in 1855, and was for a time associated with William Hill,one of the pioneer fisherman of the shore. At a later date, assisted by some of his sons, he carried on a large cooperage business. He preempted 80 acres of land, to which he subsequently added 280 acres, making a tract 360 acres-mostly unbriken forest. The parcel of land now known as Huron View Beach,just south of Harrisville State park,was a part of this holding and was the site of the old LaChapelle cooperage. Most of th large family became residents of th county and took part in its public interests.

Facts about this person:

Fact 1 1850 Cooper in Frenchtown Township,Monroe Co.Mi

Military service Bet. 1865 - 2066 Civil War,Co E, 23 regiment infantry