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Antoine Laumet de La Mothe, sieur de Cadillac
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Antoine Laumet de La Mothe, sieur de Cadillac (pronounced /kadijak/ in French, /kæd?læk/ in English) (1658-1730) was a prominent figure in the history of New France. He was christened Antoine Laumet but upon arriving in what is now Canada in 1683 at the age of 25, he changed his identity to sieur Antoine de Lamothe-Cadillac. An adventurer and, some say, "visionary," he rose to positions of importance in the colony.
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Antoine Laumet de La Mothe, sieur de Cadillac (pronounced /kadijak/ in French, /kæd?læk/ in English) (1658-1730) was a prominent figure in the history of New France. He was christened Antoine Laumet but upon arriving in what is now Canada in 1683 at the age of 25, he changed his identity to sieur Antoine de Lamothe-Cadillac. An adventurer and, some say, "visionary," he rose to positions of importance in the colony. He was the commander of Fort de Buade in 1694. In 1701, he founded Fort Pontchartrain du Détroit, the beginnings of modern Detroit, which he commanded until 1710. From 1710 - 1716 he was the governor of Louisiana although he did not arrive in the territory until 1713.
Founder in 1701 of the town of Detroit (Michigan), first governor of Louisiana from 1710 to 1716, and Mayor of the town of Castelsarrasin (France) from 1722 to 1730, Antoine de Lamothe-Cadillac (1658-1730) is an important but controversial figure of New France.
He landed in Acadia in 1683 and became in turn filibuster, explorer, trapper, and a trader in alcohol and furs. Cadillac was also a marine officer ("officier des Troupes de Marine") and his knowledge of the coasts of New England and of the Great Lakes area was appreciated by Frontenac, governor of New France, and Pontchartrain, Secretary of State for the Navy under the French king Louis XIV (there was, at the time, intense competition between France and England for the territories of Northern America). On their counsel, Louis XIV granted him various favors including the rank of officer, the seigniory (or lordship) of the Straits, the office of governor of Louisiana and decorated him with the Order of Saint Louis.
But very criticized by the Jesuits who reproached his perverting the "Amerindians," North America's indiginous people, with his trafficking of alcohol and furs, as well as by the notables of Quebec and Montreal, who worried about the possible expansion of Detroit, Antoine de Lamothe-Cadillac also was disgraced on occasion and even spent a few months in jail in Quebec, in 1704, and again in the Bastille on his return to France in 1717. In order to be able to avail himself of his inheritance, on the death of his father, in 1718, he admitted to having changed his identity when he settled in America; he returned to his true identity of Antoine Laumet (this change of identity was never held against him by his contemporaries). On the other hand, the reasons for his changing his identity and his departure to America still remain clouded.
His visionary spirit is however undeniable and his projects grew on after him. Detroit thus became the world center of automobile production in the 20th century; William H. Murphy and Henry M. Leland paid homage to him by naming their automobile firm after him and by adopting his armorial bearings as its emblem in 1902.
Various places bear his name in America, in particular Cadillac Mountain, Maine, and the town of Cadillac, Michigan. However, there is no relationship between Laumet-Cadillac and the French cities of Cadillac and Cadillac-en-Fronsadais, which is a widespread name in Gascony, where it is sometimes spelled, "C-a-d-i-l-h-a-c." according to the Occitan writing.
The Cadillac automobile is named in his honor, the company having be founded during the bicentennial celebration of Detroit's founding.
The name of Cadillac derives from the Gallo-Roman place name Catilliacum; the latinized Gallic suffix '-acum' ( Old Celtic -ako-, Breton -euc / -ec, Welsh -og, Irish -agh) was added to the name of the owner Catillios when a village developed around that person's estate. The northern French equivalent place name is Chailly.
Biography
His unknown youth
Antoine Laumet was born on March 5, 1658, in the small town of St Nicolas-de-la-Grave, part of Gascony, north of Toulouse, which would later become the department of Tarn-et-Garonne during the French Revolution. He was the son of Jean Laumet and Jeanne Péchagut. His father, born in the village of Caumont-sur-Garonne, was a lawyer in the Parliament of Toulouse; he was appointed lieutenant to the judge of St Nicolas-de-la-Grave by Cardinal Mazarin in 1652, and then judge in 1664. Antoine's mother was the daughter of a merchant and landowner.
No documents are available regarding the youth of Antoine Laumet. But his later correspondence shows a cultivated spirit, and suggests rigorous study at an establishment run by Jesuits, where he learned about theology, the law, agriculture, botany and zoology.
In addition, in the record of service completed on his return from Louisiana, he asserted that in 1675 he had enlisted as a cadet at the age of 17 in the Dampierre regiment, in Charleroi. Two years later, his letters reported that he was an officer in Clairambault regiment in Thionville, and that in 1682, he joined the Albret regiment, in Thionville. However, this record of military service is not confirmed and appears more like that of his older brother, François. His academic level seems moreover to be at odds with such a military career.
However that may be, at the age of 25, it seems he was involved in quite an equivocal affair that compelled him to leave France and to create a new identity for himself. Four reasons have been put forward to try to explain this sudden departure:
- financial difficulties owing to his father having lost a lawsuit against a lawyer in Castelsarrasin;
- statutory forfeiture because of the loss of support of his father following the death of Cardinal Mazarin;
- intolerance against Protestants, compelling them to leave the country or to disavow their faith and become Catholics;
- an (unknown) fact which may have made Antoine a criminal or an outlaw.
It is certain, nevertheless, that Antoine Laumet embarked on the voyage by devious means; there is no official list indicating his presence on a ship departing from a French port.
New World, new identity
In 1683, Antoine Laumet arrived at Port Royal, the capital of Acadia. During the next four years, he explored his new country in all directions, extending his explorations to New England and New Holland, pushing on south to the Caroline [Carolinas] and familiarizing himself with the native Indian languages and habits. He probably entered into a business relationship with Denis Guyon, a merchant of Quebec. On June 25, 1687, he married Guyon’s daughter, Marie-Thérèse, 17, in Quebec.
The marriage certificate is the first document where his new identity appeared. He called himself "Antoine de Lamothe, écuyer, sieur de Cadillac", and signed as "De Lamothe Launay". In fact, like many immigrants, he took advantage of his arrival in the New World to create a new identity for himself, perhaps to conceal the reasons that drove him from France. This new identity "ne sort pas de son sac" ("I did not create this identity out of nowhere"), as he wrote later. Antoine Laumet undoubtedly remembered Sylvestre d'Esparbes de Lussan de Gout, baron of Lamothe-Bardigues, lord of Cadillac, Launay and Le Moutet, adviser to the Parliament of Toulouse. He knew him for at least two reasons ; Bardigues, Cadillac, Launay and Le Moutet all are villages and localities close to his birthplace, St Nicolas-de-la-Grave, and his father Jean Laumet was a lawyer in the Parliament of Toulouse.
It is probable that the sons knew each other during their studies. Second son in his family, Antoine thus identified himself with the second son of the baron while taking advantage of the phonic similarity brtween his own name and that of Launay : he could thus be called Antoine de Lamothe-Launay. He then took the title of « écuyer » (squire), the rank held by a family's second son, followed by the title « sieur » (sire) of Cadillac, in accordance with the Gascon habit whereby the junior family member succeeds the elder son upon the latter's death. He thus was able to create a new identity as well as a noble origin, while preserving himself from possible recognition by someone who knew him in the home country France.
In addition, he presented his own titles of nobility as illustrated by armorial bearings that he created by associating the shield with the three « merlettes » (birds with no legs nor bill) of the baron de Lamothe-Bardigues and that of the Virès family (of France's Languedoc region) .
The marriage prove to be a fertile one and the Lamothe-Cadillac couple had six daughters and seven sons : Judith (1689), Magdeleine (1690), Marie Anne (1701-1701)? (1702-1702), Marie-Thérèse (1704), Marie-Agathe (December 1707) and Joseph (1690), Antoine (1692), Jacques (1695), Pierre-Denis (1699-1700), Jean-Antoine (January 1707-1709), François (1709), René-Louis (1710-1714).
A lord in New France : Les Douacques
In 1688, he got from the governor Jacques-René de Brisay de Denonville the concession of the seigniory (estate) of Les Douacques (which later became the town of Bar Harbor, Maine, well-known fishing town reputed for its lobster and surmounted by Mount Desert, later known as Cadillac Mountain). His concession brought him no income, even from agriculture, and so he entered into partnership with officers of Port Royal and started trading, an activity facilitated by the possibility of using a ship belonging to the Guyon brothers. In 1689, he leaves in forwarding close to Boston (incomprehensble machine translation from French). On his return, he asked the governor of Acadia, Louis-Alexandre des Friches de Méneval, for a job as notary, to bring in a minimum income; his request was turned down. Then, Cadillac was introduced to the governor Louis de Buade de Frontenac in Quebec who sent him on an exploratory mission along the coasts of New England, aboard the frigate "L'Embuscade" (The Ambush); strong head winds forced the ship to return to France.
In 1690, Cadillac was in Paris. He was able to penetrate the circle of the secretary of State for the Navy, the marquis de Seignelay, then of his successor Louis II Phélypeaux, comte de Pontchartrain, who appointed him officer of the Marine troops. On his return to Port Royal, he learned that the English admiral William Phips had seized the city and that his wife, daughter and son were being held captives. They were released in exchange for some English prisoners. In 1691, Cadillac repatriated his family to Quebec, but their ship was attacked by a privateer out of Boston who took possession of all their goods.
Cadillac was promoted to lieutenant in 1692. He was sent with the cartographer Jean Baptiste Franquelin to draw up charts of the New England coastline in preparation of a French attack on the English colonies there. He set out again for France to hand over the charts, together with a report, to the Secretary of State Pontchartrain. In 1693, he got an allowance of 1500 pounds for his work and was sent back on a further mission to supplement his observations. Frontenac promoted him to captain then lieutenant commander in 1694.
Michilimackinac (1694-1696)
He was then appointed commander of all the stations of the « Pays d'En-Haut » (the upper countries) and left at the peak of his career to take up his command of Fort de Buade or Michilimackinac, which controlled all fur trading between Missouri, Mississippi, the Great Lakes and the Ohio valley. Cadillac gave his wife a power of attorney to sign contracts and notarized documents in his absence.
In 1695, Cadillac left to explore the area of the Great Lakes and to draw up charts. He discovered the strait connecting Lake Huron and Lake Erie and had the idea of implanting a new Fort there, particularly to compete with the English. In Michilimackinac, he got in conflict with the Jesuits fathers who accused him of supplying alcohol to the Indians; this was prohibited by a royal decree.
In 1696, to mitigate the difficulties of fur trading, the king ordered the closing of all trading posts, including Michilimackinac. Cadillac returned to Montreal. In 1697, he was authorized to return to France to present his project of a new fort on the strait, to the Secretary of State Pontchartrain; Frontenac requested on his behalf the rank of lieutenant commander. But Canadian notables strongly opposed the project which, they believed, would lead to the ruin of Quebec and Montreal. Only in 1699 did Cadillac get the support of Pontchartrain to implant the new fort; this was authorized by the king in 1700, who entrusted its command to Cadillac.
Le Détroit (1701-1710)
On July 26, 1701, Antoine de Lamothe-Cadillac founded Fort Pontchartrain and the parish of Sainte Anne on the straits (« le détroit » in French). He was helped by Alphonse de Tonti. Their wives joined them in October. In 1702, Cadillac went back to Quebec to request the monopoly of all fur-trading activities and the transfer of the Amerindian tribes to the area of the straits. He became a shareholder in the "Company of the Colony" and returned to the straits to help in welcoming and settling the native tribes formerly installed at Michillimakinac.
A fire devastated Fort Pontchartrain in 1703. This disaster destroyed all the registers and records. Cadillac was recalled to Quebec in 1704 to face charges of trafficking in alcohol and furs. Imprisoned as a preventive measure for a few months, his name was cleared in 1705 and the king guaranteed him all his titles and granted him the fur-trading monopoly he sought. Two years later, Cadillac was charged with multiple counts of abuse of authority; Pontchartrain appointed a representative, Daigremont, to investigate. He formulated a true indictment against Cadillac in 1708. In 1709, the troops stationed on the straits were given the order to recapture Montreal. In 1710, the king named Cadillac governor of Louisiana and ordered him to take up his duties immediately, via the Mississippi valley.
Louisiana (1710-1716)
Cadillac did not obey. He drew up a general inventory of the straits then, in 1711, boarded a ship, with his family, bound for France. In Paris, in 1712, he convinced the Toulouse-born financier Antoine Crozat to invest in Louisiana.
In June 1713, the Cadillac family arrived at Fort Louis, Louisiana, after a tiring crossing. In 1714, Crozat recommended the construction of forts along the Mississippi, whereas Cadillac wished to strengthen defenses at the mouth of the river and to develop trade with the close Spanish colonies. In 1715, Cadillac and his son Joseph prospected in Illinois, where they discovered a copper mine. After many arguments, Crozat withdrew any authority Cadillac had in the company. The following year, he had Cadillac removed from office.
Castelsarrasin (1722-1730)
The Cadillac family returned to France and, in 1717, settled in La Rochelle. Cadillac went to Paris with his son Joseph; immediately, they are arrested and imprisoned in the Bastille for five months. They were released in 1718 and Cadillac was decorated with the Cross of Saint Louis to reward his thirty years of loyal services. He settled then with his family in the paternal home where he dealt with his parents' estate. He also made many trips to Paris to have recognized his rights to the concession on the straits. He prolonged his stay in Paris in 1721, giving another general power of attorney to his wife to sign notarized documents in his absence. He was finally vindicated in 1722. He then sold his estate on the straits to Jacques Baudry de Lamarche, a Canadian, and was appointed governor and major of Castelsarrasin, close to his birthplace.
Antoine de Lamothe-Cadillac died on October 16, 1730 in Castelsarrasin, "around the midnight hour", at the age of 72. He was buried in a vault of Carmelite Fathers' church. Marie-Thérèse, his wife, died in 1746, at the age of 76.
A visionary
The visions and predictions of Antoine de Lamothe-Cadillac became reality after his departure from New France. Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville founded the city of New Orleans, near the mouth of Mississippi, in 1718. The straits became a strategic location. To defend its access, Fort Niagara was built in 1725 on the right bank of the river between lakes Erie and Ontario and, in 1726, Fort Oswego was fortified even more on Lake Ontario. Later renamed "Detroit", Fort Pontchartrain enjoyed an ideal location between the Great Lakes and the river basins.
See also
External links
Bibliography
- René Toujas, Le Destin extraordinaire du Gascon Lamothe-Cadillac de Saint-Nicolas-de-la-Grave fondateur de Detroit, 1974
- Robert Pico, Cadillac, l'homme qui fonda Detroit, Editions Denoël, 1995, ISBN 2-207-24288-9
- Annick Hivert-Carthew, Antoine de Lamothe Cadillac Le fondateur de Detroit, XYZ éditeur, 1996, ISBN 2-89261-178-4
- Jean Boutonnet, LAMOTHE-CADILLAC Le gascon qui fonda Détroit (1658 / 1730), Edition Guénégaud, 2001, ISBN 2-85023-108-8
- Jean Maumy, Moi, Cadillac, gascon et fondateur de Détroit, Editions Privat, 2002, ISBN 2-7089-5806-2
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