Wilmont Kreis

Detroit Leaders and Abolition:
In 1850, Detroit was a relative hotbed of the Abolition Movement. Slavery, even in the early days had been rare. The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 made Michigan a slave-free territory, and it was admitted to the Union as a slave-free state in 1837. Of course as with everything, the populace was not in unanimous agreement. However, the leaders of Detroit were historically vehement abolitionists, especially the women. Interestingly, its French-Canadian citizens were frequently in agreement, they had rarely owned slaves in the past and tended to obstruct anything that was or had been popular with the English-Americans. As a result the movers and shakers of early Detroit and its poorer French-Canadian farmer citizens became strange bedfellows. Read More 

The Blackburn Affair:
An early scene in Book Six is a famous piece of Detroit history from 1833, years before the Fugitive Slave Act. It seems a black couple, Thornton Blackburn and his wife, Ruthie had come to Detroit as runaway slaves a few years before. They had become members of the community and Thornton had a cart with which he did errands and odd jobs. Things were good until a southern sheriff arrived with a warrant for their arrest. You will need to read the book to get the wonderful details but suffice to say, the Blackburns make a daring escape to Canada aided by the abolitionists of Detroit. From there they went to Toronto where he formed the first taxi company in the Canadian city. I feel that with this event, a gauntlet was thrown down on the streets of Detroit where it would remain for years to come. Read More 

Abolition was a powerful movement in pre-Civil War Detroit, although it was not necessarily popular with the entire population. Among the proponents were a group of city leaders and their wives. As a result, Detroit was one of several northern cities that became places of refuge for runaway slaves. Initially, once a slave reached a slave-free state or territory, they were generally safe. But the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 changed everything. Now a slave could only be free by leaving the country, i.e. escaping to Canada. Detroit became one of several U.S. cities to play a major role in the Underground Railroad, both because of geography and a group of citizens faithful to the cause. Read More 

THE ALLARDS BOOK SIX: THE MEDALLION, covers the period 1833-1859, a very interesting time in the history of Detroit. The predominate thread is the abolition question and the underground railroad with its work smuggling runaway slaves across the border into Canada. As a boy I heard my Grandmother’s family tell stories of slaves hidden in barns, but my interest became acute during a special exhibit at the Detroit Historical Museum. Reading a collection of documents of the time, I happened upon a list of French-Canadian women, active in the movement. Scrolling down the list name hit me like lightning, Madame Balard (not to confuse with Allard). Elizabeth Balard was my Grandfather’s great-great grandmother. Born Elizabeth Thomas to a English man married to a French-Canadian Detroiter, she is “Mimi” Balard in the book and one of the most outrageous and loveable characters of the story.  Read More 

THE ALLARDS BOOK SIX: THE MEDALLION:
The trailer
In 1833 Therese Allard is twenty-seven years old. Recently widowed, she lives with eight children on her late husband’s farm. Following the second brutal cholera epidemic in three years, her outspoken mother sends Sean Logan, a rich Irish abolitionist, to turn Therese’s farm into a station on Detroit’s growing Underground Railroad and to turn Therese’s sad life into one of adventure and romance.
During this significant period of regional growth amid the conflict between pro-slavery forces of the South and the abolitionist sympathies of Detroit, a group of French-Swiss families leave their homes to join the hordes of European immigrants arriving in Detroit where they blend with the Allards and their neighbors.
All of Dr. Kreis’ books are available in print and Kindle format on Amazon.com. Read More 

Final question: Is the Medallion real?
This is the most common question I am asked. The Medallion provides a thread or fil conducteur, as the French would say, to all eight books of the Allards series as well as Fearful Passage North. I began blogging about the Allards series a few years ago. At the end of Book Five: The CITY IN THE WILDERNESS, I was sidetracked to my newer works, but now it is time to return to the Allards with Book Six: THE MEDALLION. So in short, stay tuned.
By the way, you can read the blogs on the earlier Allards series on my website: www.wilmontkreis.com. Go to Blog and scroll way down the left column past the photos to “tags” and find books 1-5 listed. Thanks for stopping by. Read More 

Does Elizabeth Price have many descendants?

Oh my, yes. Like many French Canadian couples, she and Jean were fertile, but only one of their six children who married was male, so Founeau is not enormously common. Their five girls were fruitful and their descendants are common in Canada. Their daughter, Marguerite, married Pierre Casse dit St. Aubin (the dit again) from Detroit. They had five children who reproduced actively but again only one was a male. So the genes were spread to many different surnames but Detroit and the U.S. are full of Lizzie’s tribe. GENEALOGY OF THE FRENCH FAMILIES OF THE DETROIT RIVER REGION 1701-1936 VOL. II by Christian Denisson can help you search for yours. Read More 

Why was Jean Fourneau also called Brindamour?
French names in the New World were subject to numerous variations. One is the “dit” name which basically means “called”. Like Jean Fourneau dit Brindamour. This was very common in the military. Other variations are spelling variations, Anglicizations, and Adulterations. For instance, Champagne in French became Champine in Detroit. As the English census takers encountered French Citizens in America Accents caused Allard to become Allor and Fréton to become Forton. The book FRENCH-CANADIAN SURNAMES ALIASES, ADULTERATIONS AND ANGLIZATIONS by Quinton Publications is helpful. However it does contain approximately 51,300 examples. YIKES! Read More 

The return of Reverend John Williams:
Following the English release of the Privateer, Pierre Maisonnat dit Baptiste, Williams was ransomed along with four of his five surviving children, and he, along with Esther age 15, Samuel age 17, Steven age 11 and Warham age 6 were returned to New England. Jerusa age 1 month at the time of the raid was killed along with John Jr. age 1 year. Their mother, Eunice was also killed during the march along with two Negro servants. Reverend Williams worked tirelessly along with Ensign John Sheldon and others to secure the release of other Deerfield citizens over the ensuing years. His son, Steven kept a diary and later wrote a book about the raid.
Eventually Williams remarried and returned to his pulpit in Deerfield. He died in 1729 just before the Great Awakening. His daughter, Eunice (same name as her mother), was taken to the Mohawk at Kahnawake. Lizzie met her there when she went to the camp with Pierre Roi looking for her niece. Like most of the captive children at Kahnawake, Eunice Williams refused to leave in spite of great efforts by her father and other parents from Deerfield. She married a Mohawk brave and had three children. She did return to visit Deerfield with her Indian family in 1741 and visited two more times, but never moved from Kahnawake. Read More 

Reverend John Williams during the march to Montreal:
Williams only traveled with his fellow captives for the first week. After this he was taken with a few others on a separate route. Probably because he was too feeble to continue the march and he was needed alive as a trading pawn for the pirate, Baptiste. For the most part he never saw the others until he and some of them returned to New England two and a half years later. He kept a diary and later wrote a narrative of the ordeal, THE REDEEMED CAPTIVE, in 1707. It is the most famous such work of its time and it is from it we have such a good description of the ordeal. Although most of it is during the time after his separation it still provides a good vision of the setting and the situation. It was said to serve as an inspiration for THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS by James Fenimore Cooper in the 19th century.
After Fort Chambly he was taken to Quebec where he served his captivity and met with various French officials until the prisoner exchange and his release in 1706. Read More