Claude Joseph Andre Dubreuil (abt. 1693 - abt. 1757)

Born about 1693 in France

Husband of Marie Le Moyne (Payen) Payen de Noyan — married [date unknown] in France

Descendants

Died about 1757 at about age 64 in New Orleans, Louisiana, New France

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Biography

This profile is part of the Dubreuil Name Study.

Claude Joseph Dubreuil is Notable.

Claude Joseph Dubreuil, dit Villars, parents unknown, was born c.1690 in France.

In 1736, he was commissioned by King Louie XV as Captain of the militia. In 1752, he is noted as having erected the first cotton gin in the New France colony of Louisiana.^[1]

From Dictionary of Louisiana Biography of the Louisiana Historical Association:

Colonist, concessionaire; royal contractor. Sailed on the French Privateer Comte De Toulouse from La Rochelle and arrived at Biloxi, November 15, 1718 with wife and two sons, along with craftsmen and servants; settled, 1719, with a party of eighteen persons at his Tchopitoulas concession directly above the extensive east bank lands of Bienville. Later acquired additional property on both sides of the river and, eventually, beyond the lower edge of the Vieux Carré in New Orleans; a plantation owner at the time of death.

As royal contractor of public works, he provided New Orleans with her first effective levee. Also erected numerous buildings, one of which still stands: [the second building of the] Ursuline Convent on Chartres Street, in New Orleans. ^[2] Pioneered in planting and ginning cotton. Along with his Tchopitoulas neighbors, successfully raised indigo, experimented with tobacco, cultivated sugar cane. First colonist to build a sugar mill. Member of the Louisiana Superior Council during the French regime; a contributor of materials for building the first church of St. Louis (completed in 1727); and a parish trustee. ^[3]

"Marie Payen de Noyan eventually married Claude Joseph Dubreuil Villars, arguably the wealthiest landowner in early New Orleans." ^[4]

Death and Burial

Claude Joseph Andre duBreuil de Villars died November 1757, and is buried in Cathedral-Basilica of Saint Louis King of France, New Orleans, Louisiana. ^[5]

Posthumous

After his death, his ancestors were involved in a lengthy legal battle over land rights in Louisiana.^[6]

Sources

1. ↑ Family of Claude Joseph Dubreuil Villars, in "Louisiana Families: Part XXXII," The Times-Democrat, (New Orleans, Louisiana), Sunday, 02 Oct 1892, Page 14 https://www.newspapers.com/clip/22797685/claude-joseph-dubreuil-villars/
2. ↑ Wikipedia: Old Ursuline Convent, New Orleans
3. ↑ Dictionary of Louisiana Biography; Louisiana Historical Association.
4. ↑ REMEMBERING THE KING ON THE CRESCENT: LOUIS XIV’S CULTURAL ORDER AND THE FOUNDING OF NEW ORLEANS, 1699-1743, by Sue A. Marasco, (TN: Graduate School of Vanderbilt University, 2008) p. 52.
5. ↑ Claude-Joseph-Andre duBreuil de Villars Find A Grave: Memorial #168932612, Cathedral-Basilica of Saint Louis King of France, New Orleans, Orleans Parish, Louisiana, USA
6. ↑ "No. 1382. Land claims in Louisiana," in American State Papers, House of Representatives, 24th Congress, 1st Session Public Lands: Volume 8, Pages 343 through 376, http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llsp&fileName=035/llsp035.db&recNum=365, accessed via Memory.LOC.gov, see copy of record attached to record

See also:

• http://commonplace.online/article/view-parish-jail-new-orleans/
• https://digitallibrary.tulane.edu/islandora/object/tulane%3A12248
• http://jeffersonhistoricalsociety.com/Activities/history.pdf