Census Page
Sources for the Detroit River Region:
1710 Census of Fort Pontchartrain:
Antoine de Lamothe, sieur de Cadillac’s 1710 Census of Fort Pontchartrain : See Le Détroit du Lac Érié – Volume 1, by Gail Moreau-DesHarnais and Diane Wolford Sheppard, and Volume 2, by Suzanne Boivin Sommerville. The Census Chapter in Vol. 1, pp. 450-454 provides the reader with images of the census pages and annotations which identify the individuals and families enumerated in the census.
Transcriptions of the 1710 Census: The transcription of the 1710 census that appears in Michigan Pioneer and Historical Society, Historical Collections (Lansing: Robert Smith Printing Company, 1904), Vol. 33, pp. 492-495 and Russell, Donna Valley, ed., Michigan Censuses 1710-1830: Under French, British, and Americans. (Detroit: Detroit Society for Genealogical Research, Inc., 1982), p. 5 are incomplete. Russell’s annotations on pp. 6-7 contain a number of errors.
1749 Census / Survey of Détroit: On 26 May 1749, Roland Michel Barrin, Marquis de La Galissonière, Governor of New France, 1747-1749, commissioned military engineer, Joseph Gaspard Chaussegros de Léry, to make recommendations on the refortification and settlement of Détroit. While he was in Detroit, Chaussegros de Léry mapped the area and took a census or survey of the habitants living outside the fort between points G and H on the map which follows. The Census recorded the following information regarding each habitant: # of arpents on the river; Contrats [those who had been granted a concession to their property]; Maisons [Houses]; Grange [Barn]; and Moullin [Mill]. This census has not been transcribed or annotated. The original census can be downloaded from Library and Archives Canada. Enter Mikan 3074901 in the advanced search form: Collection Search - Library and Archives Canada (bac-lac.gc.ca)
Cropped portion of the following map
Gaspard Joseph Chaussegros de Léry’s 1749 map of The Detroit River – courtesy of the New France Archives:
The map appears on p. 42 of Brian Leigh Dunnigan, Frontier Metropolis Picturing Early Detroit, 1701-1838 (Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 2001).
1750 Census of the Detroit River Region: The 1750 census was taken 1 September 1750. The following information was recorded for each habitant: 1. Name of the head of the household; 2. Number of Women; Number of Boys 15 years and older; 3. Number of Girls 15 years and older; 4. Number of Boys under 15 years; 5. Number of girls under 15 years; 6. Number of slaves; 7. Arpents under cultivation; 8. Sheaves of wheat; 9. Sheaves of oats; 10. Arpents of land in corn; 11. Number of Horses; 12. Number of Oxen; 13. Number of Cows; 14. Number of Hogs; 15. Number of Poultry.
Transcriptions of the 1750 Census: The most accurate transcription can be found in Lajeunesse, Ernest J., The Windsor Border Region: Canada’s Southernmost Frontier (Toronto: Champlain Society, University of Toronto Press, 1960), pp. 54-56, A PDF of Lajeunesse is available from Archive Org at the following link:
British Lieutenant Diedrich Brehm's Map or Plan of Detroit in 1760 courtesy of the Burton Collection at the Detroit Public Library
See Part 3 of the 1762 Census for a list of those who lived in the Fort
1762 Census of the Detroit River Region: Robert Navarre took the 1762 Census during the fall of that year. Diane Wolford Sheppard and Gail Moreau-DesHarnais annotated the census and published it in Michigan’s Habitant Heritage (MHH) from April to October 2013. FCHSM Members, log in to download these records from MHH.
Sources for the St. Lawrence Settlements
The 1666 Census: Jean Talon ordered that a census be taken in 1666. The Images of the census can be downloaded from Library and Archives Canada. Click on the link to download the images. Following is the description and index summary that appears on the Library and Archives site: “Recensement du Canada. Nominatif: noms, surnoms, âges, qualités et métiers des habitants des gouvernements de Québec, de Trois-Rivières et de Montréal. Québec, pp. 1-28. Beaupré, pp. 29-54. Beauport, pp. 55-62. Ile d'Orléans, pp. 65-87. Saint-Jean, Saint-François et Saint-Michel, pp. 88-95. Sillery, pp. 97-103. Notre-Dame-des-Anges, la Rivière Saint-Charles et Charlesbourg, pp. 105-110. Côte de Lauson, p. 111. Montréal, pp. 115-140. Trois-Rivières, pp. 143-163. Etat abrégé des familles de la Nouvelle-France fait par l'intendant Talon, pp. 165-166.”
Transcription of the 1666 Census: A transcription of the 1666 Census was published in Rapport de l’Archiviste de la province de Québec, 1935, 1935-1936, This volume can be downloaded from the followiing sources:
The 1667 Census: Click on the link for the images of the 1667 Census.
Transcription of the 1666 and 1667 Census: Sulte, Benjamin, Histoire des Canadiens-Français 1608-1880: origine, histoire, religion, guerres, découvertes, colonisation, coutumes, vie domestique, sociale et politique, développement, avenir (Montréal: Montréal: Wilson et Cie, 1882-1884), Volume 4, Sulte transcribed the 1666 Census on pp. 52-63 and presented summary tables on pp. 80-81. He transcribed the 1667 Census which appears on pp. 64-78 and presented summary tables on pp. 82-83. The volume is available from the Hathi Trust at the following link: https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/000150768
The 1681 Census: Click on the link to download the images of the 1681 Census. The 1681 Census also includes the French Canadians employed by the Jesuits at the Ottawa Mission (Michilimackinac).
Transcription of the 1681 census: Sulte, Benjamin, Histoire des Canadiens-Français 1608-1880: origine, histoire, religion, guerres, découvertes, colonisation, coutumes, vie domestique, sociale et politique, développement, avenir (Montréal: Montréal: Wilson et Cie, 1882-1884), Volume V. Sulte transcribed the 1681 Census starting on p. 53 / 89. The 1681 Census is the first census which designates wherher the residents lived in the lower town (p. 54 / 90) or upper town (p. 56 / 92). The volume is available from the Hathi Trust at the following link: Catalog Record: Histoire des Canadiens-Français 1608-1880:... | HathiTrust Digital Library.
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