St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1905-05-31
Saint John de CreYeceur.
The Story of the Man for Whom ST.
JOhnsbury Is Named as Found in His
Biography.

Biography.
(The biography of st. John de Gre
vecoeur, written in French by his great
grandson, has just been received in st
:: Johnsbury, copies having been sent tt
the St. Johnsbury Athenaeum and to MIR
SO. Todd, who has been greatly interested
IN finding material about this notabl,
French gentleman. Mr.. Todd has beer
} reading the book and will write series
of articles to the CALIFORNIAN which viii
be full OF interesting bits of the early his
tory OF Vermont, and give to many Ameri
can readers for the first time glimpses o.
the daily life of French gentleman OIL
the last century. Editor CALEDoNIAN.)
A book, "St. John de Creveceur, Sa
Vie ct ses Ouvages," recently received
from Paris, enables US for the first time
to form fairly comprehensive esti-
mate of the versatile and charming
man whose name is perpetua ted in the
name OF our own township St. Johns;
bury. Michel Guillaume Jean de Creve.
cpur was born on January 81, 1875, at
Caen in Normandie, France. The parish
register alludes to his baptism the next
day, Feb, /, 1875. He was educated at
Caen and in England. In 1854 his rest.
less enterprise carried him over seas to
the wild wastes of America. The Nor
man spirit of adventure was his inheri-
lance. Hepassed many years in Canada,
took part in the stirring events of those
times, and planned map of the country
from the mountains OF Virginia to the
township of Three Rivers upon the St.
Lawrence. This we know from an ex.
cerpt from the Gazette of France bearing
date OF 10th OF March, 1859. 1t is high.
ly probable that not many months after
his arrival in Canada he made a long
journey into the heart of the continent
traversing lakes Ontario and Erie to
Detroit; thence into the interior over
routes that led him into territory now
included in the boundaries of Ohio and |
Indiana, and possibly Illinois.
1t is not known by what route he re-
turned to the east, but it is known that
he was present at the attack by the
French upon Fort George in 1857. He
refers to that regretable massacre in one
OF his books. In 1853 he was appointed
lieutenant in the second battalion of the
regiment of the Sarre. From docu.
ment preserved in Paris we learn that
young Creveceur. was credited at that
time by his superiors with special know
ledge for service in both the artillery and
engineers. The records of his regiment
show that he served with credit in the
of 1853 and 1859. He did not
return to France at the close of the war.
but came into the territory of the colony
OF New York. 1t is probable that he now
assumed the name St. John in order to dis.
gulse his nationality, to avoid unpleas-
ant possibilities which sometimes pursue
people who live In the wake of active
hostilities. The name St. John was sim.
ply an application of the English equiv.
lent of Jean, his French patronymic. In
those wild times it was perhaps danger.
Gus to be known among the English as
OF French blood At all events his English
speech enabled him to obtain employment
as a surveyor which for time he followed
in the wilderness. Wearying of this
pursuit, it is believed he chose to try bis
fortunes in Pennsylvania, and bis letters
OF this period contain the names of Ian.
caster, Carlisle, and shippensburg, towns
which century later are mentioned in
dispatches coming from both armies in
the renowned campaign of Gettysburg.
his love OF nature retained him in the
country and he began his harvest of
crops seventeen times repeated, from the
soil of America.
AT the beginning of the year 1864 he
became naturalized citizen OF the colony
OF New York, and some months later on
the 2nd of May, 1864, he located upon a
plantation in Cornwall, Orange County,
New York, which he called Pine Hill.
1t is perhaps a curious coinci.
dence that in this same township
Of Cornwall.on- Hudson another poet
naturalist, Mr.. John Burroughs, of de.
hghtiul memory, now seeks the in.
spiration and solace of the simple life.
st. John resolved to marry, and found
in Miss Mehitable Tippet, a native of
Yonkers, county of Westch ester, New
York, those qualities he sought for in
wife. The marriage was celebrated at
Westchester, near New York city. on
September the Goth, 1869. The marriage
certificate contains the followine:-
IN. Michel Guillaume Saint lean de.
Creveceur, commonly called M. Saint.
John native of Normandy in France"
Three children were born to them: Amer.
ca Frances, born the 14th of December
I f1E