Book Reconstructing an Eighteenth Century Village
Reconstructing an Eighteenth Century Village Chartres in the Illinois Margaret Kimball Brown It is August 1719 in the Illinois Country ... Commandant Pierre Dugue de Boisbriant lands his troops on the eastern bank of the Mississippi River seven leagues above Kaskaskia. Here, the commandant will build the first Fort de Chartres. And here, Margaret Kimball Brown begins to reconstruct the village of Chartres, lot by lot. Not only does Dr. Brown map Chartres—the four forts, the church, the residential and agricultural lots—but she populates the village with vivid, authentic portrayals of its residents—the habitants and soldiers, the slaves and voyageurs, the tradesmen and government officials. People with whom you would enjoy une pinte d’eau de vie (brandy) on a mild summer evening. Praise from Carl Ekberg Author of French Roots in the Illinois Country: The Mississippi Frontier in Colonial Times “Magisterial! Margaret Kimball Brown’s book is a distillation of intense research conducted during half a century, both in archives and in the ground. Only Dr. Brown, historian and archaeologist, could have accomplished so daunting a task. “This foundational study solves many outstanding riddles about the several Chartres—the various forts and the village: where they were located, who resided there, and what their importance was during the period 1719–1765, when Chartres was the command center for the entire French Illinois Country. ‘Indispensable’ is le mot propre for this book—indispensable for students, for scholars, and, yes, for tourists as well.”