François Picquet (; 4 December 1708 – 15 July 1781) was a French

Sulpician The Society of Priests of Saint-Sulpice (french: Compagnie des Prêtres de Saint-Sulpice), abbreviated PSS also known as the Sulpicians is a society of apostolic life of Pontifical Right for men, named after the Church of Saint-Sulpice, Paris, ...

priest who emigrated to

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

, Canada, in 1734.

Early life

Picquet was born in

Bourg-en-Bresse Bourg-en-Bresse (; frp, Bôrg) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Ain Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region in Eastern France. Located northeast of Lyon, it is the capital of the ...

, France, on 4 December 1708, the son of André Picquet and Marie-Philippe Berthet. In 1728 he entered the seminary of Lyons, where he was ordained deacon in 1731. At the

Saint-Sulpice Seminary (Issy-les-Moulineaux) The Saint-Sulpice Seminary () is a Catholic seminary run by the Society of the Priests of Saint Sulpice, located in Issy-les-Moulineaux, France. History The Saint-Sulpice Seminary was established in 1641 in the village of Vaugirard (now par ...

in Paris, after winning his doctorate at the Sorbonne, he was ordained to the priesthood in 1734, and became a Sulpician.Fournet, Pierre Auguste. "François Picquet." The Catholic Encyclopedia
Vol. 12. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911. 15 January 2018

Canada

Picquet arrived in Montreal in 1734. He served the local parish for five years while studying Indian languages and customs. He became proficient in the

Algonquin Algonquin or Algonquian—and the variation Algonki(a)n—may refer to: Languages and peoples *Algonquian languages, a large subfamily of Native American languages in a wide swath of eastern North America from Canada to Virginia **Algonquin la ...

and Iroquois languages. From 1739 to 1749, he served at

Lac des Deux Montagnes Lake of Two Mountains (French: ''Lac des Deux Montagnes'') is part of the river delta widening of the Ottawa River in Quebec, Canada, at its confluence with the St. Lawrence River. Lake of Two Mountains has four outflows: Rivière des Mille Île ...

, where there was a Sulpician mission. During

King George's War King George's War (1744–1748) is the name given to the military operations in North America that formed part of the War of the Austrian Succession (1740–1748). It was the third of the four French and Indian Wars. It took place primarily in t ...

(1744–1748) between France and Britain, the Indian allies of these two powers came to arms. Due to Picquet's influence, the Five Nations, hitherto allies of the British, remained neutral, while the others carried out several raids in

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

or served as scouts for the French troops. It was during that period that Picquet made the decision to work with the Indians south of the Great Lakes for conversion and to ensure their loyalty to France. In 1748 a commitment was made by

Roland-Michel Barrin de La Galissonière Roland-Michel Barrin de La Galissonière, Marquis de La Galissonière, sometimes spelled Galissonnière (; 10 November 1693 – 6 October 1756), was the French governor of New France from 1747 to 1749 and the victor in the Battle of Minorca ...

, the

Governor General of New France Governor General of New France was the vice-regal post in New France from 1663 until 1760, and it was the last French vice-regal post. It was replaced by the British post of Governor of the Province of Quebec following the fall of New France. ...

, to send Picquet to the

Thousand Islands The Thousand Islands (french: Mille-Îles) constitute a North American archipelago of 1,864 islands that straddles the Canada–US border in the Saint Lawrence River as it emerges from the northeast corner of Lake Ontario. They stretch for abo ...

area for that purpose. In 1749, Picquet built a mission fort named

Fort de La Présentation The Fort de La Présentation (; "Fort of the Presentation"), a mission fort, was built in 1749 and so named by the French Sulpician priest, Abbé Picquet. It was also sometimes known as Fort La Galette (). It was built at the confluence of the Os ...

near the junction of the

Oswegatchie River The Oswegatchie River ( moh, Kaniatarahòn:tsi) is a river in northern New York that flows from the Adirondack Mountains north to the Saint Lawrence River. The Oswegatchie River begins at Partlow Lake in Hamilton County, New York. The river co ...

and the

St Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (french: Fleuve Saint-Laurent, ) is a large river in the middle latitudes of North America. Its headwaters begin flowing from Lake Ontario in a (roughly) northeasterly direction, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, connecting ...

. By 1755 it had a large population of

Iroquois The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian-speaking confederacy of First Nations peoples in northeast North America/ Turtle Island. They were known during the colonial years to ...

loyal to France. In 1758, with the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (1754� ...

intensifying, a military commander was put in charge of that new aspect of the fort. Picquet was displeased with this dilution of his authority and left the fort for

Lake of Two Mountains Lake of Two Mountains (French: ''Lac des Deux Montagnes'') is part of the river delta widening of the Ottawa River in Quebec, Canada, at its confluence with the St. Lawrence River. Lake of Two Mountains has four outflows: Rivière des Mille Île ...

. He was back in July, 1758, to lead his Indian troops in the

battle of Carillon The Battle of Carillon, also known as the 1758 Battle of Ticonderoga, Chartrand (2000), p. 57 was fought on July 8, 1758, during the French and Indian War (which was part of the global Seven Years' War). It was fought near Fort Carillon (now k ...

.Lahaise, Robert. “Picquet, François”, ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography'', vol. 4, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–
/ref> He also was part of Louis de la Corne's excursion to the Oswego area the following year. In 1759, the mission fort was abandoned in favour of

Fort Lévis Fort Lévis, a fortification on the St. Lawrence River, was built in 1759 by the French. They had decided that Fort de La Présentation was insufficient to defend their St. Lawrence River colonies against the British. Named for François Gaston d ...

and Picquet fled to

with his Indian troops. He left there for New Orleans where he stayed for a time.

Return to France

Picquet returned to France in 1772. He took up a ministry at

Verjon Verjon (; frp, Vrejon) is a commune in the Ain department in eastern France. Geography The Solnan has its source in the commune and forms part of its southwestern border. Population See also *Communes of the Ain department The following ...

and then as a chaplain to the nuns of the Visitation. A private audience with Pope

Pius VI Pope Pius VI ( it, Pio VI; born Count Giovanni Angelo Braschi, 25 December 171729 August 1799) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 15 February 1775 to his death in August 1799. Pius VI condemned the French Revoluti ...

occurred in 1777 and he retired in 1779. He died at Verjon, Ain, France, in 1781.

References

Sources

*Shea, John Gilmary. 1855. ''History of the Catholic missions among the Indian tribes of the United States: 1529-1854''. Dunigan. ee especially pp. 335–340. Available via Google Books.

External links

Biography at ''the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Picquet, Francois People from Bourg-en-Bresse 1708 births 1781 deaths Roman Catholic missionaries in Canada Roman Catholic missionaries in New France Immigrants to New France French Roman Catholic missionaries Sulpician missionaries