Jean Baptiste Creely (?-1762) and Marie Françoise Ayete (abt. 1698-1776)

Jean Baptiste Creely Parents

Born: ? in St. Magdaleine parish, Besançon, Doubs, France.¹

Married: Marie Françoise Ayete, 27 October 1727 in New Orleans, Orleans, Louisiana.¹ Photos

Died: August 1762.²

Marie Françoise Ayete

Born: about 1698 in Sainte Colomban parish, Quimperlé, Finistère, France.¹

Died: 29 October 1776.³

Buried: 30 October 1776 in Kaskaskia, Randolph, Illinois.³

Children

1. Marie Francoise Creely (christened 20 April 1729 in New Orleans, Orleans, Louisiana).¹

2. Jean Baptiste Creely (d. before 19 February 1763).^4,5

3. Joseph Creely.⁵ (Second marriage)

Notes on Jean Baptiste Creely

His family lived in the Battant quarter of Besançon, Doubs, France,⁶ which was the winemakers' district.⁷
He left France from the port of Lorient on the ship "Seine" for Louisiana on 11 August 1720. He is recorded as a grape grower. He was to work on the land grant ("concession") of M. le Blanc and the Marquis Dasfeld.⁸
He was recorded as a charcoal maker working for the Louisiana Company for 150 livres (annually?) on 15 January 1723.⁹
He made a request for slaves to the Louisiana Company in October 1726.¹⁵
He was a cooper in New Orleans at the time of his marriage on 27 October 1727.¹
After marrying in New Orleans, he lived for a time in Point Coupée parish on what was then the Mississippi River (and is now called the False River and is actually an oxbow lake).¹⁰
He bought a tract of land from Etienne Dulongpre on 7 September 1730 for 100 livres, which could be paid in merchandise or barrels--10 livres per barrel.¹¹
He and his wife appear on the 1 January 1732 census of Kaskaskia without any children.¹²
He bought a house on 12 August 1739 in Kaskaskia for 50 livres from Pierre St. Ives. "The house, built of pickets, is covered with straw, has a clay chimney and floors above and below made of lumber split with an axe."¹³
I suspect that Jean Baptiste came to the Louisiana colony for economic reasons, although there is no documentation to back this up. He likely came to Kaskaskia in 1729 or 1730. I do not know if he sold his land in Point Coupée at that time or if he maintained a presence in both Point Coupée and Kaskaskia for a while.
I have not been able to find his christening. However, there is a "Jeanne Baptiste Cresly" who is the "fille" (daughter) of Pierre Francois Creely and Georgine Chevalier, Jean Baptiste's parents. This girl was christened 10 April 1697 in Besançon, Doubs, France.¹⁴ Some people believe that this is Jean Baptiste and that the record is in error. I am not quite so sure; I think there is no way to tell from the surviving records whether this christening is for Jean Baptiste or for a previously unknown sister. Please contact me if you would like a copy of this christening record.

Notes on Marie Françoise Ayete

She was the daughter of Francois Ayete and Jeanne Paulet.¹
Surname variants: Aiet, Ayette, Ayer, Eyet, and L'Oeille-Oeille. The name on this web site is chosen arbitrarily.
I do not know how, when, or why she came to the New World.

Sources

1. Archdiocese of New Orleans Sacramental Records, v. 1, p. 59.

2. Alvord, Clarence Walworth. Kaskaskia Records, 1778-1790, p. 496-467.

3. Beauregard, Marthe F. La population des forts fraçais d'Amérique, v. 2. In this record she is listed as "Francoise De L'Oeille-Oeille, widow of Jean Baptiste Crely."

4. Beuregard, v. 2, p. 85.

5. Kaskaskia Manuscripts (translated), 1714-1816, #497.

6. Parish register of Ste. Madeleine parish, Besançon, Doubs, France. The notations in the parish margin refer to the quarter of the city in which the family lived. The marginalia of Jean Baptiste siblings' christening records reads "Battant."

7. Lonely Planet, France [travel guide], p. 570.

8. Conrad, Glenn R. The First Families of Louisiana, v. 1, p. 107.

9. Conrad, Glenn R., v. 1, p. 220.

10. Louisiana Historical Quarterly, v. 18, p. 997. This is a record of the 1747 sale of a plantation at Point Coupée that Jean Baptiste Creely had earlier sold to Sr. Antoine Meuillion, a surgeon.

11. Raymond Hammes manuscripts, II, 127.

12. Maduell, Charles R., Jr. The Census Tables for the French Colony of Louisiana from 1699 Through 1732, p. 150-153.

13. Raymond Hammes manuscripts, II, 110.

14. Register of St. Jean Baptiste parish, Besançon, Doubs, France (christening record 10 April 1697).