Pierre Payan dit St. Onge (1775-1855) and Elizabeth Creely (1780-1872)

Pierre Payan dit St. Onge

Born: 18 January 1775 in Laprairie, Quebec, Canada.¹

Married: Elizabeth Creely, 25 July 1799 in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri.²

Died: ?

Buried: 17 October 1855 in Florissant, St. Louis, Missouri.³

Elizabeth Creely Parents

Born: 18 February 1780.⁴

Christened: 27 February 1780 in Kaskaskia, Randolph, Illinois.⁴

Died: ?

Buried: 16 October 1872 in Florissant, St. Louis, Missouri.⁵

Children

1. Pierre Payan dit St. Onge (christened July 1800 in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri; died 5 August 1801).⁶

2. Francis Piant

3. Adele Payan dit St. Onge (christened 14 June 1802 in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri;⁷ buried 21 June 1803⁸).

4. Jean Baptiste Payan dit St. Onge (buried 6 July 1806 in Florissant, St. Louis, Missouri).⁹

5. Payan dit St. Onge [unnamed child] (christened 20 July 1808).⁶

6. Catherine Payan dit St. Onge

7. Pascal Payant (christened 19 April 1813 in Florissant, St. Louis, Missouri;¹⁰ married first Pelagie Obuchon, 26 May 1835 in Florissant, St. Louis, Missouri;¹¹ married second Lucille Tourville, 27 July 1838 in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri;¹² married third Caroline Tassenote, 7 January 1849 in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri¹²).

8. Elizabeth Piant

9. Jean Baptiste Payan dit St. Onge (christened 4 January 1820 in Florissant, St. Louis, Missouri;¹³ married Louisa Watts, 11 April 1850 in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri;¹⁴ died 27 August 1898;¹⁵ buried 29 August 1898 in Florrisant, St. Louis, Missouri¹⁵).

Notes on Pierre Payan dit St. Onge

• Alternate surnames: St. Ange, Payant, Piant.
• Was the son of Jean Baptiste Payan dit St. Onge and Catherine Marie Francoise Leriger Laplante. He was a fifth generation French Canadian whose ancestors came mostly from Western France and Paris.
• Was not able to sign his name.¹⁶
• By 1795 he was living in New Madrid, Missouri as a partner in a lock and blacksmith business with Joseph Amoureaux.¹⁷
• In the 1830 Federal Census of St. Ferdinand [modern Florissant], St. Louis, Missouri, he is listed as "Peter Piant" and living with his wife and four of their children--most likely Pascal, Elizabeth, Jean Baptiste, and one other child. He also owned four slaves at the time: one female (age 10-21), and three males (one each in the 10-24, 24-36, and 36-55 age ranges).
• Listed as "Peter Piant" and as a farmer in the 1850 Federal Census of District 82, St. Louis, Missouri.
• Was appointed guardian of his grandchildren, Elizabeth and Thomas Withinton in November 1842.¹⁸

Notes on Elizabeth Creely

• Her godmother was Françoise Creely.⁴
• Was unable to sign her name.¹⁶
• In September 1793, at the age of 13 (erroneously reported as ten or twelve) Elizabeth and one other person survived an Indian attack that killed five other people in Florissant. Lyman Copeland Draper recorded the story from Elizabeth herself when she was 89-years-old.¹⁹

Sources

1. PRDH Database of French Canadians

2. Missouri Marriages, 1766-1983, available at ancestry.com

3. Register of St. Ferdinand parish, Florissant, St. Louis, Missouri (burial record 17 October 1855).

4. Beauregard, Marthe F. La population des forts fraçais d'Amérique, v. 2, p. 123.

5. Register of St. Ferdinand parish, Florissant, St. Louis, Missouri (burial record 16 October 1872).

6. Catholic Baptisms, Saint Louis, Missouri, 1765-1840 [microfiche, LDS Family History Catalog #6111225], p. 99.

7. Catholic Baptisms, Saint Louis, Missouri, 1765-1840 [microfiche, LDS Family History Catalog #6111225], p. 37.

8. Register of St. Ferdinand parish, Florissant, St. Louis, Missouri (burial record 21 June 1803).

9. Register of St. Ferdinand parish, Florissant, St. Louis, Missouri (burial record 6 July 1806).

10. Register of St. Ferdinand parish, Florissant, St. Louis, Missouri (christening record 19 April 1813).

11. Register of St. Ferdinand parish, Florissant, St. Louis, Missouri (marriage record 26 May 1835).

12. St. Louis, Missouri Marriages, 1804-76, available at ancestry.com

13. Register of St. Ferdinand parish, Florissant, St. Louis, Missouri (christening record 4 January 1820).

14. Register of Old Cathedral parish, St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri (marriage record 11 April 1850).

15. Register of St. Ferdinand parish, Florissant, St. Louis, Missouri (burial record 29 August 1898).

16. St. Louis Probate Court case #01058. This is the probate record of Jean Baptiste Creely.

17. Houck, Louis. A History of Missouri from the Earliest Explorations and Settlements Until the Admission of the State into the Union, v. II, p. 68, 150, 232, 245.

18. St. Louis Probate Court case #01373.

19. Garraghan, Gilbert Joseph, Saint Ferdinand de Florissant: The Story of an Ancient Parish. Chicago: Loyola University Press, 1923, p. 23-24. There is also a second-hand account of the massacre published in the St. Louis Post Despatch on April 10, 1892. This account is retold by her nephew, Judge Samuel James (son of John James and Julie Creely).

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