- Jean-Marie Ducharme
Jean-Marie Ducharme (
July 19 1723 –July 20 1807 ) was afur trade r and political figure inLower Canada .He was born in
Lachine, Quebec in 1723, the son of a farmer there who also was involved in the fur trade. He entered the fur trade in the southwest. He helped establish the French establishFort Duquesne near the current site ofPittsburgh . After the British took control of Quebec, Ducharme began operating near what is nowGreen Bay, Wisconsin , then known as La Baye. In 1763, he transported ammunition toMichilimackinac , contravening a British ban. He was later arrested and imprisoned atMontreal . In 1772, Ducharme was trading with the Little Osages on theMissouri River , leading to an attempt by the Spanish to capture him; his furs were confiscated, but Ducharme managed to escape to Montreal. He continued to trade in the La Baye area. He was arrested by the British after theAmerican Revolution for selling supplies to the Americans. Ducharme became a partner in a general store set up at Michilimackinac in 1779. In 1779-80, he helped lead a British expedition against the Spanish at St. Louis. After he retired from the fur trade, Ducharme represented Montreal County in theLegislative Assembly of Lower Canada from 1796 to 1800.He died at Lachine in 1807.
His son Dominique also entered the fur trade and later served with distinction during the War of 1812.
External links
* [http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?&id_nbr=2379 Biography at the "Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online"]
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