Nicolas François Janis (1720 - 1801)

Born 6 Jan 1720 in Québec city, Canada, Nouvelle-France

Ancestors

Husband of Marie-Louise Thaumur — married 27 Apr 1751 in Kaskaskia, pays des Illinois, Nouvelle-France

Descendants

Died 22 Dec 1801 at age 81 in Saint Genevieve, Upper Louisiana Territory

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Nicolas Janis is a DAR Patriot Ancestor, A061745.

Biography

Nicolas-François Janis was born on 6 Jan 1720, baptized on the 7th in Québec (ND)^[1], the son of François Janis and Simone Rousseau (sic- Brousseau/Brosseau); godparents were Nicolas Lanouillier, and dame __ Millon, wife of Mr Amariton, Captain (document has part hidden). ^[2]

Nicolas was born in Québec but there are no records of his adulthood there. He traveled from Quebec to Kaskaskia, a major trading area in the centre of New France (at the time). New France spanned the area from the Hudson to the Gulf of Mexico. In 1747, Nicolas was in a partnership with Andre Roy and had a significantly successful shop. Nicolas was noted as a voyageur (an experienced trader, especially in the fur trade). ^[3]

Marriage

On 27 April 1751 Nicolas married Marie Louise Taumur in the Church of the Immaculate Conception. ^[4]

Military

• In 1754 the 7 years war between the French and the English began. The French lost their territory in 1763 and Nicolas and Marie became British citizens.^[5]
• In May 1779, Nicolas Janis was appointed Captain of the 1st company - he was a liaison between the British and the Americans. The Americans won the territory from the British, meaning that Nicolas and his family became Americans by default.^[6]
• By 1787 Nicolas had moved again, crossing the Mississippi into Spanish Louisiana and settling in Ste-Geneviève, the oldest European settlement. There were 19 people in his household. Now he was a Spanish citizen!^[7]
  

The house where he and his family lived is still standing in Ste-Geneviève. It is thought to be the oldest house in Missouri.^[8]

Sources

1. ↑ Baptism IGD
2. ↑ [1]
3. ↑ "Melissa Etheridge." Who Do You Think You Are (US) (Season 6 Episode 8). TLC. 26 April 2015. Note: Melissa is viewing the original document (and a translation) at the Randolph County Archives and Museum in Illinois.
4. ↑ [2]
5. ↑ "Melissa Etheridge." Who Do You Think You Are (US) (Season 6 Episode 8). TLC. 26 April 2015.
6. ↑ "Melissa Etheridge." Who Do You Think You Are (US) (Season 6 Episode 8). TLC. 26 April 2015.
7. ↑ "Melissa Etheridge." Who Do You Think You Are (US) (Season 6 Episode 8). TLC. 26 April 2015.
8. ↑ "Melissa Etheridge." Who Do You Think You Are (US) (Season 6 Episode 8). TLC. 26 April 2015.

• Daughters of the American Revolution, DAR Genealogical Research Databases, database online, (http://www.dar.org/ : accessed August 3, 2022), "Record of Nicolas Janis", Ancestor # A061745.
• Index to French Canadian Revolutionary War Patriots
• [3]

Listed in 1787 kaskaskia, Illinois census - entry #1.

• The Spanish regime in Missouri : a collection of papers and documents relating to upper Louisiana, principally within the present limits of Missouri during the dominion of Spain, from the Archives of the Indies at Seville, etc.. Chicago, Ill.: Donnelley & Sons Co., 1909, p. 377.
• Houck’s History of Missouri, Vol. 1, p. 353.

See Also:

• Tanguay, Cyprien. Dictionnaire généalogique des familles canadiennes depuis la fondation de la colonie jusqu'à nos jours. Québec, Canada: Eusèbe Senécal, 1871-1890. Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa, Canada
• Milbourn Family History, 2004, Researched and Compiled by Doris Nelson Sloan, Page 60 of 102. Ask Leila I Niemeth Tweed for a copy of Page 60.