Francois Coulon de Villiers

     Francois Coulon de Villiers was born in 1712 at Vercheres, Vercheres, Quebec, Canada.¹ He was the son of Nicolas Antoine Coulon de Villiers and Angelique Jarret de Vercheres.¹ He may have been born at Montreal, Quebec, Canada.³ He began military service before 1733 in Canada when he enlisted in the Canadian Army.¹ On 13 September 1733, Francois Coulon de Villiers, "while holding the non-commissioned rank of brevet cadet... was severly wounded in an encounter with a Fox war party." His brother Nicolas Antoine Coulon de Villiers took charge of the troups and withdrew after the commander, their father, Nicolas Antoine Coulon de Villiers, brother, Damonville Coulon de Villiers, and their brother-in-law, Francois Antoine Lefebvre du Plessis Faber were killed near Baie-des-Puants (Green Bay, WI), Canada.¹ He was commissioned Ensign on 15 August 1736.¹ He married Elizabeth Groston de Saint-Ange de Bellerive, daughter of Robert Groston de Saint-Ange and Elisabeth Chorel de Saint-Romain, on 25 April 1740 at Fort de Chartres, Illinois Territory, French Louisiana.¹ In 1746, Francois Coulon de Villiers was promoted to Lieutenant and transferred to the Illinois Territory, French Louisiana.¹ On 1 February 1754 Francois Coulon de Villiers "... was commissioned Captain. The same year, while England and France were still at peace, a detachment of Virginia militia led by George Washington ambushed a French emissary party commanded by François’s brother, Joseph Coulon* de Villiers de Jumonville, who was killed in the affray. During the ensuing hostilities François lost no opportunity to avenge his brother’s death. In 1756 he led a force of 23 colonial regulars and 32 Indians in an assault on Fort Granville (near Lewiston, Pa), some 60 miles from Philadelphia, captured it, took about 30 prisoners, burned the fort with its six months of supplies, and safely retired. The following year he was acting adjutant of Fort de Chartres and continued to lead war parties that ravaged the frontiers of Virginia. In September 1758 he was with the force that inflicted a defeat on Brigadier-General John Forbes*’s advance guard near Fort Duquesne (Pittsburgh, Pa). The tables were turned in 1759 when the Anglo-Americans laid siege to Fort Niagara (near Youngstown, N.Y.) A relief force from the Ohio garrison rushed to its aid and was cut to ribbons in an ambush. Among those taken prisoner was Coulon de Villiers. After being exchanged at New York for an English officer held by the French he made his way to New Orleans where he was awarded the Cross of Saint-Louis on 1 Aug. 1759."¹ He became a widower upon the death of his wife, Elizabeth Groston de Saint-Ange de Bellerive, on 6 March 1755 at Fort de Chartres, Illinois Territory, French Louisiana.^4,1 He married Magdeleine Marin, daughter of Captain Paul Marin, circa 1756.⁵ He "In 1759 Indian allies of the English captured him when his military unit in Illnois rushed to the aid of Fort Niagara. He spent eighteen months as a prisoner of war in" New York.^6,7 He became a widower upon the death of his wife, Magdeleine Marin, before January 1762 at Illinois.³ In 1762 when the French ceded Louisiana to Spain, Francois Coulon de Villiers "... resigned his commission in the French regulars, entered the Spanish service, and was appointed to the command at... " Natchitoches, Spanish Louisiana.¹ He married Marie Genevieve De Livaudis on 28 June 1762 at New Orleans, Spanish Louisiana.⁵ In 1769,Francois Coulon de Villiers was appointed an alcalde, "... an important administrative and judicial post in the local government. He now took up residence in his wife’s commodious New Orleans house, tended by eight domestic slaves." in New Orleans, Spanish Louisiana.¹ He died on 22 May 1794 at New Orleans, Spanish Louisiana, at age 82 years.¹ He was buried at Saint Louis Cemetery, Number 2, New Orleans, Orleans Parish, Louisiana.⁸