ANTOINE REYNAL, JR. (17910500)
ANTOINE REYNAL, JR., the recorded second son and child of Antoine and Marie Toupart Reynal, was born in the month of May, 1791 in St. Louis, Upper Louisiana Territory. He was baptized on May 10, 1791 in the St. Louis Cathedral. He would have been around eight years of age when his doctor father and family moved to St. Charles, Upper Louisiana Territory, in the year 1799. Nothing is known of his early years or education, however, being the son of a prominent doctor of some wealth, it can be assumed that he received schooling or tutoring, as he could read and write, and later was involved in many business transactions. In the years 1806 and 1807, Antoine, Jr., along with his father, witnessed the marriages of Francois Baribeaut to Euphroaine Saucier and Michael Deroy to Eulalie Barrads. His name appears in the 1815 Territorial Tax Records, showing taxable persons in the Townships of Portage des Sioux, St. Charles, Dardenne, Lower and Upper Cuivre and Femme Osage in the County of St. Charles:
Antoine Reynolds (sic) Jr., town lot 1, St. Charles Field, original owner P. Ripley, valuation $600.00, slaves over ten years old, 1, taxes $2.42½
He was married to Louise(a) Saucier on or before the year 1812, the year of their first child's birth. They were living in the village of Portage des Sioux in 1812, and the 1815 tax list would also indicate Reynal, Jr. was a land and slave owner. The 1820 will of Antoine Reynal, Sr., named his son Antoine Reynal, Jr., as the recipient of a large portion of his estate. The 200,000 piastres in money and land left to him must have represented a sizable estate in these early days of Missouri.
A document dated March 18, 1823, written by hand in English, indicates that James and Jesse Morrison had settled with Antoine Reynal, Jr. for the account of his deceased father.
The first printed form document of these Reynal papers, dated April 2, 1824, shows that William Christy, Jr., the Clerk of St. Charles County, St. Charles Territory, appointed Benfiamin Emmius, George Collier and Auluff Secks as Appraisers of the estate of Antoine Reynal-Pere-deceased and named Antoine Reynalds (sic), his son as Adiminstrator.
Another legal document of 1830 described a mortgage for land mentioned in Reynal's will, indicated that Marie Toupart Reynal had died by that date:
St. Louis, July 21, 1830
Antoine Reynal, son & sole heir of the late Dr. Antoine Reynal, deceased and Marie Toupart his wife, also deceased, and the undersigned Charles S. Hempstead have this day settled and adjusted the account between us for the balance due by said Hempstead on his part of the purchase of 1800 arpens of land at Creve Couer Lake, of Dr. Antoine Reynal & wife by deed dated March 3rd, 1818 recorded in office of St. Louis County rook G. pages 82 and the following, and find the balance due by said Hempstead of his third of said purchase to be One hundred and thirty five Dollars 25/100, to be paid by said Hempstead purchasing for said Reynal. 80 arpens of land at Maria Croche, St. Charles County - 2 by 40 arpens formerly owned by Edward Hempstead, deceased and acquired by him off the grant of 240 arpens to F. Duquette at Maria Croche - and of by paying Reynal Thirty five Dollars 25/100 all of which being done, said C. S. Hempstead and _______________ are to be released from said mortgage for his third part of said 1800 arpens.
Given under our hands and seals day and year first above written.
(signed) Chas. S. Hempstead (Seal)
(signed) Antoine Reynal (Seal)
1831 - June 28th By cash paid copies $8.00
Antoine Reynal and wife Louise Saucier Reynal sold a piece of property to James Green, Jr. and Stephen Yarnall in September, 1831. The price was $200.00 to be paid in the form of a debenture. The property is described as a tract of land being Lot No. thirty one (31) in the Town of St. Charles, extending two hundred and forty feet in front on Main Street and reaching three hundred feet deep, to Second Street. On the said property there was a Horse mill, and a dwelling house that was lately occupied by John Kincaid, all of which the said Reynal inherited from his father, Antoine Reynal, Sr. Antoine and Louise Reynal signed the document, with Louise signing with an "X", indicating that she could not write her name. This may have been part of the property that caused the controversy in the 1960's regarding the St. Charles Fur Trading building, as part of that property faced Main Street, however the Missouri Historical Society research showed that Antoine Reynal, Jr. sold the land to John Mullanphy in 1822, shortly after his father's death.
Missouri was to become a state of the U.S. in 1821, and the first official census was taken in 1830. The 1830 U.S. Census of St. Charles County, Missouri, Copy No. 19, Roll 72, Page 276, lists the Antoine Reynal family living in that county:
Head of House Name Free White Males Free White Females
Antoine Reynalds (sic)
Under 5 years 1
5 to 10 years 1
10 to 15 years 1
15 to 20 years 2
30 to 40 years 1
40 to 50 years 1
Born in 1791, Antoine Reynal, Jr. would have been 39 or 40 years of age in 1830. His wife Louise, born sometime between 1792 and 1800, would be the female between 30 and 40 years of age. The children: Francois, born in 1812; Jean Baptiste (John B.), born in 1814; Louise, born in 1817; Mathieu, born in 1819; Edme, born in 1825; and Eugene, born in 1827, are the children listed on the census with their parents. The census also lists a male between 40 and 50 years of age and may have been a relative or hired man living with the family as was the custom in these early days.
The Land Tax of 1836-St. Charles County lists Antwine Reynold (sic) owning 68 acres of land, with Pier Rudardu as the previous owner. The Land Tax of 1836 also shows Francis Reynolds (sic) owning 14 acres of land and most likely would be their son, Francois Reynal, who would have been 24 years of age in 1836.
The Antoine Reynal, Jr. family was still living in St. Charles County in 1840, being listed in the 1840 U.S. Census in St. Charles Township:
Head of Household Name Males Females
Reynolds, Antoine (sic)
10 to 15 years of age 1
15 to 20 years of age 1 1
40 to 50 years of age 1
50 to 60 years of age 1
Antoine would have been around 50 years old in 1840, with wife Louise between 40 and 50 years of age. Their son George, born in 1833, would have been 7 years of age, with son Edme (18250630) being the male between 15 and 20 years old. Their daughter, Louise, born in 1817, would have been 23 years old in 1840, and was married in 1838. The female 15 to 20 years old in the census may have been a servant girl or relative with the family. Eugene, born in 1827, would be the male between 15 and 20 years of age.
This period of history in the Upper Missouri Territory was the era of the great fur trading expeditions, with St. Charles and St. Louis being the center of the fur trading business. Antoine Reynal, Jr. most likely was involved with his father in the fur business in the early years, and in the 1820's to the 1840's, the fur trappers scoured the western mountains for skins to trade and sell. In August of 1842, Antoine Reynal, Jr., was in Fort George in the Upper Missouri Territory. There he signed an agreement with John Ebbits, C. Kelsey, and F. Cutting, to serve as a Clerk of Trader, agreeing to go to the Upper Missouri, and its territory and serve for a period of one year. These Articles of Agreement, paying Reynal $700.00 for his year of service, and in turn he was to protect and assist the party by every means if attacked by Indians. It was signed at Fort George in the Upper Missouri Territory on August 22, 1842.
The copy of this Agreement is from the original at the Missouri Historical Society in St. Louis, Missouri.
{ INSERT LINK TO DOCS\18420822.JPG }
In December of 1842 or 1843 (the date is unclear), Andrew Drips, well known trader and U.S. Indian Agent at that time, wrote the following letter to Antoine Reynal, Esq.:
Antoine Raynal Esq., Cheyenne Trading House
Cheyenne River, December 15, 1842(43)
Sir: I hereby authorize you to destroy all spiritius liquor you can lay your hands on in this section of the country belonging to Whites or Indians. Should it be necessary to call on Indians to assist you to - - do it.
Respectfully Yours
(signed) Andrew Drips
U.S.I.A. (U.S. Indian Agent)
The above letter is a part of the Andrew Drips Papers, housed at the Missouri Historical Society in St. Louis. Andrew Drips was well known in the Upper Missouri Territory in the 1830's and 1840's . Accounts about Drips were prominent in Bernard DeVoto's well known novel Across The Wide Missouri, written in 1947 and later made into a popular movie in Hollywood. The Cheyenne Trading Post, where Reynal was staying when Drip's wrote to him, is not now shown on maps; however, the Cheyenne River is a tributary of the Missouri River, joining the Missouri in the central section of present-day South Dakota. Ft. Pierre was located at that junction in the 1830's , and later the state capitol of South Dakota, also named Pierre, located in the same area as the Fort. The Cheyenne Indians inhabited the section of the Upper Missouri principally during this time. DeVoto's novel mentions Andrew Drips several times and states on page 71 that "Drips went to St. Louis with Fontenelle in summer 1831 for goods to bring back up river. Wintered that year in Salmon River Valley of Idaho." DeVoto states that in 1833 Drips was located at Fort Pierre in business with Fontenelle as Upper Missouri River Traders and Packers. On page 374, DeVoto states "The Company (Rocky Mountain Fur Company) had its Andrew Drips made Indian Agent for the Upper Missouri, with jurisdiction throughout the West. He was directed by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs to stamp out the liquor traffic some more, and the Company supplied him with deputies and interpreters from its payroll. Stamping our the liquor traffic meant confiscating opposition liquor, and Drips worked hard at it." Apparently Antoine Reynal, Jr. was one of the deputies that Drips appointed to help in the liquor problem. DeVoto writes on page 373 that "Andrew Drips in 1840 at last took to the Flatheads the right kind of missionary. He was the famous Jesuit Pierre-Jean de Smet; - de Smet's success with the Indians won them over. This ended the rendezvous system."
So Antoine Reynal, Jr. had become a part of fur trading and trapping business, along with being a deputy for U.S.I.A. Andrew Drips in the early 1840's. The great fur trappers of the West from the 1820's until the 1840's met yearly to trade with the Indians and themselves in "rendezvous"' throughout the Rocky Mountains. Reynal was a part of this romantic era of the settling of the West.
By 1850, Antoine Reynal, Jr. was back in St. Charles, Missouri with his family, as the 1850 U.S. Census so indicates. Reynal, listed as 60 years of age in the census, shows him living with his wife Louise in more settled country.
From the Missouri Republican of St. Louis, dated June 10, 1859, the "Death Notices" carried the following:
Antoine Reynal, Sr., of Portage des Sioux, St. Charles County, 6 June, Aged 72 years.
Reynal's actual age in 1859 was 68 years of age, being born in 1791. Antoine Reynal, Jr., the son of the famous pioneer Missouri doctor, was to live and die near the place of his birth during the formative years of the State of Missouri. Jump up to parent
LOUISE SAUCIER REYNAL, the wife of Antoine Reynal, Jr., was the daughter of Mathieu Saucier and Catherine Gaudin. The Saucier family, of French heritage, was also well known in the St. Louis and St. Charles areas from the time of its earliest settlements. Louise's known family included a brother, Mathieu Saucier, Jr., who was living next to the Mathieu Saucier's in St. Charles County according to the 1830 U.S. Census. Mathieu was married to Louise Lapensee on January 12, 1812. Miss Bapensee was the daughter of Joseph L. Lapensee and Marianne LePage. Their children included Andre Saucier, who was married to Marie Marechal on August 21, 1854. Marie was the daughter of Baptiste Marechal and Anastasie Fournier. Another brother of Louise Reynal's was Jean Baptiste Saucier, a sponsor at the baptism of Antoine and Louise Reynal's son, Eugene Reynal on October 13, 1827. The Index of St. Charles County, Missouri Marriages 1792-1863 lists Jean Baptiste Saucier's marriage to Victorie Bienvenu, daughter of Etienne Bienvenu and Madeline Victore Roy.
Catherine Lucille Saucier was a sister of Louise Saucier Reynal, being the godmother at the baptism of Mathieu Etienne Reynal on April 12, 1819. The above mentioned Index of St. Charles County, Missouri Marriages 1792-1863 lists Catherine Lucille Saucier's marriage to Antoine Etienne Reilhe, Jr. on January 1, 1816. Reilhe was the son of Antoine Reihl and Stetta Camp.
Francois Saucier, the uncle of Louise Saucier Reynal, was named the chief justice of the St. Charles Territory Court of Common Appeals in 1805, at the same time that Antoine Reynal, Sr. and Daniel Boone were appointed to their Territorial Offices. Louise's father, Mathieu Saucier, was a large landowner in the St. Charles and Portage des Sioux areas and was the brother of Francois Saucier. He and Antoine Reynal, Sr. are mentioned prominently in the Land Claims in the Missouri 1809-1815, including their land claims from 1808 to 1814.
In Missouri Pioneers, Vol. 17-18, quotes The Missourian, St. Charles, Territory of Missouri, as follows:
August 8, 1821
Died on Monday, the 6th instance, at his residence in the village of Portage des Sioux, Francois Saucier, Sr. Esq., Aged about 81 years. He was one of the first settlers in the Province of Upper Louisiana, now the State of Missouri, and was the founder of the village in which he breathed his last.
The date and place of the death of Louise Saucier Reynal is not known at this writing. The 1860 U.S. Census of St. Charles County, Missouri lists a Mary Louisa Reynal, female, age 68, born in Illinois, living with the Jean Baptiste (John B.) Reynal family at Portage des Sioux. This would date her birth around 1792, but may not have been Louise Saucier Reynal, Jean Baptiste's mother. The date of birth seems correct and her husband, Antoine Reynal, Jr., were living near the Jean Baptiste (John B.) Reynal family, according to the 1850 U.S. Census. There was a Mary Louisa LaBelle who was a sponsor at a Reynal infant baptism later and she may have been the 68 year old female living with the Jean Baptiste Reynal family in 1860. Jump up to parent
THE CHILDREN OF ANTOINE REYNAL, JR. (17910500) AND LOUISE SAUCIER
(18121214) FRANCOIS REYNAL, b. December 14, 1812 at Portage des Sioux, Missouri, m/l Josephine Chanceller on March 2, 1835 in St. Charles County, Missouri, m/2 Louise Gornon on June 26, 1845 in St. Charles County, Missouri. Place and date of death unknown. Jump down to biography and offspring
(18141201) JEAN BAPTISTE REYNAL (JOHN B.) b. December 1, 1814 at Portage des Sioux, Missouri. Baptized at St. Francis Catholic Church, Portage des Sioux, Missouri. on March 12, 1815, with Godmother being Therese Saucier. m/1 Virginia A. Sherman on March 1, 1843 in St. Charles County, Missouri, m/2 Catherine Saucier (3rd cousin) on June 21, 1852 at St. Francis Catholic Church, Portage des Sioux, Missouri Place and date of death (after 1875) unknown. Jump down to biography and offspring
(18171218) LOUISE REYNAL, b. December 18, 1817 at Portage des Sioux, Missouri, m. Etienne LePage on February 26, 1838 at St. Francis Catholic Church, Portage des Sioux, Missouri. Place and date of death unknown.
(18190119) MATHIEU ETIENNE REYNAL, b. January 19, 1819 at Portage des Sioux, Missouri. Place and date of death unknown.
(18250630) EDME REYNAL, b. June 30, 1825 at Portage des Sioux, Missouri. Place and date of death unknown.
(18271011) EUGENE REYNAL, b. October 11, 1827 at Portage des Sioux, Missouri. Place and date of death unknown.
(18331100) WILLIAM GEORGE REYNAL, b. November, 1833 at Portage des Sioux, Missouri. Place and date of death unknown.