Charles Danis

Charles Danis, born on February 20, 1684, in Montreal, was the youngest among 11 children of Honore Danis dit Tourangeau and Perrine LaPierre. Honore, a skilled carpenter, came to Montreal from LaFleche, France, in 1653.

In 1704, Charles entered the fur trade business, venturing westward from Quebec to trade along the Great Lakes or the Mississippi River. Around 1710, he likely wed Dorothee Mechipoueoua, whose birth and marriage records remain elusive. The baptism record of their son, Charles-Pierre Danis, in 1720, at the Immaculate Conception Church in Kaskaskia, Illinois, mentions Dorothee’s Native American heritage, referred to as “daughter of Big Laughter.”

In May 1722, Charles secured Kaskaskia’s first recorded land grant along the Metchigamie River. He and Dorothee had four known children: Helene, Marie-Anne, Charles-Pierre, and Michel, all baptized at the Immaculate Conception Church.

Charles passed away on April 27, 1724, at the age of 41, noted as an “ensign of the militia.” After his death, Dorothee remarried Louis Turpin, a prominent figure in Kaskaskia, on September 11, 1724, and bore at least seven children with him.

Dorothee’s death date remains unknown, but it occurred between 1741 and 1751. Michel Danis, born in 1723, became the progenitor of the family line. His son, also named Michel Danis, served as a patriot in the Revolutionary War, marrying Elizabeth Bienvenue in 1782.

In 1779, Michel Danis joined Capt. Francis Charleville’s company of Kaskaskia French volunteers, participating in the capture of Fort Sackville (Vincennes) alongside George Rogers Clark. It’s believed that Michel and his brothers aided in communication with Native Americans, a skill passed down from their father, who learned it from Dorothee.