Benjamin Hendre Bertrand was born June 25, 1812 in Berrien Country, Michigan to Madeline Bourassa and Joseph Bertrand. Like his cousins Joseph and Jude Bourassa, Benjamin attended the school at Carey Mission at the age of 7. He later transferred to a private school in Detroit, Michigan and then reunited with his Bourassa family at the Choctaw Academy at White …
Daniel Bourassa was the son of French-Canadian fur trader Rene Bourassa and Anne Chevalier. He was born on October 8, 1752 on Mackinac Island, Canada. After the French and Indian War, Daniel and his family moved to Fort Detroit. With the British now controlling the fur trade in the region, more lucrative opportunities became available. At the age of 34, …
Born June 22, 1780, Daniel II was the son of Daniel Bourassa and Marguerite Bertrand. Descending from a family of fur traders, Daniel took after his father and became an agent for John Jacob Astor’s American Fur Company. On March 15, 1808, Daniel married a Nishnabe woman named Theotis Pisange. Theotis’ father was Ojibwe and her mother was Odawa, believed …
Born on June 25, 1842 at Sugar Creek, Kansas, Theodore Santa Anna was the son of Jude Bourassa and Catherine Charet. With the Bourassa’s closely associated with the Catholic Missionaries, church records indicate that Father Christiaan Hoeken christened Theodore on June 27, 1842 at two days old. During the Civil War, Theodore volunteered to fight for the north and was …
The Burnett family has a long, rich history with the Potawatomi people. French fur trader William Burnett settled on the St. Joseph River near Niles, Michigan, after the Revolutionary War. He established two successful trading posts and eventually married Kaukima, daughter of revered Potawatomi leader Nanaquiba and sister to Topinabee. Kaukima and William had seven children: James, Abraham, John, Isaac, …