The LeBlanc Family of Ecorse

Pioneers Of the Downriver Area

by Frank Rathbun, 1952

Courtesy of The News Herald (originally published in The Mellus Newspapers)

In 1801, four years before Michigan was separated from the Northwest Territory, a hardy French-Canadian named Pierre LeBlanc brought his family to a log-cabin on a site which is now White and Jefferson, in the present city of Ecorse.

Probably a descendant of Daniel LeBlanc, who migrated to Nova Scotia from Normandy, France, in 1650, LeBlanc was the son of another Pierre who married an Indian girl of the Fox tribe, according to family records. 

The LeBlancs were among many French Catholic families who fled Canada in the mid 1700s after British authorities passed laws stifling religious freedom.

Pierre LeBlanc, junior, married Thorise [add: Teresa] Bourassa, daughter of another early Downriver pioneer, and settled down to the task of raising a family, clearing his wooded acres and trapping along the river banks.

Little is known of this sturdy pioneer, who died in the middle of the last century leaving sons named Dennis, George, Thomas, Louis, Pierre and Abraham, and four daughters.

OLD HOMESTEAD 
Abraham, born October 17, 1820, married Phyllis Perry [add: Pare'] about 1850 and built a home which still stands in Ecorse on Webster street, near Mill.

The two-story frame dwelling was a center of social life in the community for many years, serving as church, meeting hall and frequently as an overnight inn for distinguished visitors.

A highly-respected member of the community, Abraham LeBlanc served on the first school board in Ecorse Township. He died in 1905, having given each of his six sons a farm in the Downriver area. His living descendants number almost 150.

LINCOLN PARK 
His eldest son, Samuel, now deceased, farmed land in Lincoln Park, near Champaign and Fort. [add: The Samuel LeBlanc home still stands at 2884 Fort Street]. Samuel's 34 living descendants include three sons, Joseph, of, Lincoln Park; Victor, of River Rouge, and Samuel, junior, of Detroit, and two daughters, Mrs. Lillie Montie, of Lincoln Park and Mrs. Florence Bodary, of Taylor Township. Two of Samuel's children William and Eva, are dead.

Abraham's second son, Richard, still residing in Lincoln Park on a small lot that is a part of his original, farm, will celebrate his ninety-ninth birthday this fall. His daughter, Alma, resides with her father, while two sons, John and Columbus, live in Wyandotte, and another son, Levi, resides in Ecorse.

Eli, the third son, died on the land in Ecorse where his grandfather settled in 1801. His sons, Eli, junior, and Sylvester, still live on the same property. Eli has more than 60 living progeny.

VILLAGE ATTORNEY 
Abraham's daughter, Josephine, now deceased, married John Seavitt. Her 26 living descendants include Carl Seavitt, village attorney of Allen Park. Abraham's fourth son, Philip is deceased, as is Philip's only son, Herbert.

Frank, 89, and Alfred, 85, the youngest sons of Abraham, reside in Ecorse near the site of their grandfather's first log cabin on West Jefferson, near White.

The surname of this pioneer family has been given to a school and a street in Lincoln Park, while White Street, which runs from Pierre's home site in Ecorse through Lincoln Park into Allen Park, was also named for LeBlanc, which means "white" in French.