Barbe Bonneau was born April 19, 1756 at Fort Vincennes to Charles Baptist Bonneau and Genevieve Charlotte Dudevoir.  She had at least seven siblings–Charles, Genevieve, Jean Baptiste, Marie Josephe, Pierre, Angelique, and Anne Jeannette.  The family name has taken on several different spellings including Bono and Bonneaux, with either one or two “n’s”.

Barbe married Michel Brouillette in the early 1770s at Fort Vincennes.  Michel was at least ten years older than Barbe and had established himself as a trader in the Wabash River Valley.  In 1773, as the story goes, he purchased an unfinished house on First Street in Vincennes from Barbe’s father and this is where they started their family.  Over the next twenty years, Barbe would give birth to at least eight children through the height of the Revolutionary War.  During this time, her husband was captured by the Indians working with the English and changed his allegiance between the English and the American cause more than once.  Barbe and Michel’s children included Michel Jr, Laurent, Barbe, Marie Louise, Pierre, Genevieve, Ursula (who died in infancy), and Lorant (who did not reach his majority).

After the War, Michel continued trading goods and headed up the local militia.  He passed away in 1797 at Vincennes.  Barbe continued to raise their children in Vincennes until her death in 1802.

While not a lot is known about Barbe, her family has made a definite impact on the history of Vincennes.  The “Old French House” is touted as the only French Creole style house left in Indiana.  Michel Jr built the house in 1809.  It was restored and opened as a museum in 1976.  It sits near the corner of First Street and Seminary Street.  Barbe’s great-grandson Thomas started TA Brouillette & Son in 1866, a family-owned and operated company that lasted 135 years serving the Vincennes area.

Barbe was my 2nd cousin 7x removed on my mother’s side.

REFERENCES

• Find-A-Grave website
• Terre Haute Tribune-Star – April 4, 2009
• Vincennes Sun-Commercial – October 28, 2001, August 2, 2015