PERRYVILLE – We know the greatest numbers of early Perry County migrants consisted of the Baptists from Pennsylvania, the great numbers of English Catholics from Maryland via Kentucky, the Methodists and Presbyterians from North Carolina, then the great surge of German immigration consisting of the Bavarian Lutherans, then the Saxon Lutherans and the Bavarian Catholics.
One important wave of Perry County immigration that is oftentimes overlooked, though, is the French. People in this group came from Doubs, France, in the area of Besançon starting c.1840, and their names include Besand, Bey, Callier, Chappuis, Courtois, Denizet, Descouviers, Dobbelare, DuBois, Favier, Gagnepain, Gremaud, Guyot, Janet, Jannin, L’Homme, L’Hote, LaRose, Manche, Michaud, Miget, Monier/Moonier/Munier, Moranville, Pannier, Pecaut, Pouyer, Pourney, Prevallet, Prost, Renaud, Richardet, Rollet, Rousseau and Valleroy (we are sure we have missed many more and offer humble apologies).
Join the Perry County Historical Society at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, July 10, 2023 as Steve Richardet will describe the town of Doubs and its region in France, the immigration process, including accommodations and travel routes, the travel conditions on their transatlantic voyage from LaHavre to New Orleans, and their journey up the Mississippi River in America to Perryville.
Steve Richardet was born and raised in Perryville and spent his entire life in Southeast Missouri devoted to education and history. He received three degrees from Southeast Missouri State University, Including Bachelor of Science in Education (1979), Master of Arts in Educational Administration (1990), and Master of Arts in History (2014). His teaching career spans nearly thirty years, having taught in St. Charles and Bollinger Counties for nearly ten years, and in Cape Girardeau Public Schools for twenty-five years. Since his retirement in 2015, Steve has focused on traveling and continuing his research and writing on family genealogy, Perry County history, and assisting in organizing the archive of his long-time mentor, Dr. Frank Nickell.
What: Discovering your French heritage in Perry County
Where: Perry County Historical Society, 108 S. Progress Drive in Perryville
When: Monday, July 10, 2023, 6:30 p.m.
Free and open to the general public.
Call (573)768-2470 for information