Individual Details
Isidore CHAMPOUX
(10 Aug 1811 - )
I believe that Theodore/Isidore Champeau was the same person as Heliodore Champeau. His marriage to Marguerite Hamel would have been shortly after his return to Quebec. Theodore Champeau did come to Wisconsin with his brothers and sisters, but later returned to Canada. While here in Wisconsin, he was involved in the land-clearing enterprise near Two Rivers for Judge Lawe, along with his brother, Oliver, and his brother-in-law, Henry Verboncoeur. A copy of the following affadavit is included on page 41 of Reunion: A Beno-Champeau Genealogy by Mary Ann Defnet and Dorothy Lutomski, who found it in the Grignon-Porlier-Lawe papers:
Wisconsin Territory
Manitowoc County
Affadavit of Theodore Champau:
Theodore Champau of Two Rivers in said County, being duly sworn, saith:
That in the month of May A.D. One thousand Eight hundred and forty, he rafted for Henry Verboncouer of the said County Forty-Eight Pine Saw Logs from the Farm which the said Verboncoeur occupies, to the Steam Saw Mill at Two Rivers owned by Judge Lawe of Green Bay and left the said Logs in the boom belonging to the said Saw Mill.
As there was no one at the said mill to receive the said Logs, and as the said Theodore Champau intends soon to leave this Country and return to Canada, he now makes this deposition to secure the said Verboncoeur the payment for the said Saw Logs from Judge Lawe if there should arise any doubt in regard to the delivery of them.
Sworn and subscribed before me this twenty fifth day of August, AD 1842,
Frederick Borcherdt, Justice of the Peace for Manitowoc county
(Theodore Champau made his mark)
Every family needs a rich uncle, whether in fact or fantasy, and apparently, Theodore Champeau filled that role. There was a tradition in family folklore that Theodore amassed a fortune somewhere. The following verse was written by Norman Shampo in 1952 (from Reunion, p. 42):
The Legend of the Champoux Fortune
On the banks of Three Rivers
In the province of Montreal,
stood the chateau of the Champeaux
Mid the forest dark and tall.
Great was the family of Champeaux
and of noble line,
Come to settle in Three Rivers
From a foreign clime.
Strong and husky were the Champeaux.
Strong and prone to boast;
Sturdy sons of Frenchmen
From the Norman coast.
Then the family became divided,
Many came to the U.S.A.
Theodore alone decided
In Three Rivers he would stay.
Sharp and Slick was Theodore
Of the Champeaux clan,
A clever chap who knew the score
And how to lay a plan.
Fate was kind to Theodore;
Money came in fast.
Gold and silver poured on him
In that distant past.
Theodore lived long and old
Adding to his hoard.
But at last we are told,
He was called unto his Lord.
Called to make his report
On how he'd spent his gold.
A good report, no doubt,
Would let him in the fold.
But Theodore had made amends,
May peace be on his soul.
To saintly monks he'd left his lands
And also all his roll.
Seventy years have since passed,
His descendents have multiplied.
Most are poor and harassed
Since Theodore has died.
The fortune in Canada
Is now but Champeaux lore.
A thing which maybe was,
But is, I'm sure, no more.
So, let Champeaux, DesChanes,
LaPlants, and Landries, too,
Forget the man
Who has forgotten you.
Thus, is answered for all to see, the
Dramatic question, "To be or not to be."
No, there'll "Be no" gold for you or me,
On that by now we all agree.
Wisconsin Territory
Manitowoc County
Affadavit of Theodore Champau:
Theodore Champau of Two Rivers in said County, being duly sworn, saith:
That in the month of May A.D. One thousand Eight hundred and forty, he rafted for Henry Verboncouer of the said County Forty-Eight Pine Saw Logs from the Farm which the said Verboncoeur occupies, to the Steam Saw Mill at Two Rivers owned by Judge Lawe of Green Bay and left the said Logs in the boom belonging to the said Saw Mill.
As there was no one at the said mill to receive the said Logs, and as the said Theodore Champau intends soon to leave this Country and return to Canada, he now makes this deposition to secure the said Verboncoeur the payment for the said Saw Logs from Judge Lawe if there should arise any doubt in regard to the delivery of them.
Sworn and subscribed before me this twenty fifth day of August, AD 1842,
Frederick Borcherdt, Justice of the Peace for Manitowoc county
(Theodore Champau made his mark)
Every family needs a rich uncle, whether in fact or fantasy, and apparently, Theodore Champeau filled that role. There was a tradition in family folklore that Theodore amassed a fortune somewhere. The following verse was written by Norman Shampo in 1952 (from Reunion, p. 42):
The Legend of the Champoux Fortune
On the banks of Three Rivers
In the province of Montreal,
stood the chateau of the Champeaux
Mid the forest dark and tall.
Great was the family of Champeaux
and of noble line,
Come to settle in Three Rivers
From a foreign clime.
Strong and husky were the Champeaux.
Strong and prone to boast;
Sturdy sons of Frenchmen
From the Norman coast.
Then the family became divided,
Many came to the U.S.A.
Theodore alone decided
In Three Rivers he would stay.
Sharp and Slick was Theodore
Of the Champeaux clan,
A clever chap who knew the score
And how to lay a plan.
Fate was kind to Theodore;
Money came in fast.
Gold and silver poured on him
In that distant past.
Theodore lived long and old
Adding to his hoard.
But at last we are told,
He was called unto his Lord.
Called to make his report
On how he'd spent his gold.
A good report, no doubt,
Would let him in the fold.
But Theodore had made amends,
May peace be on his soul.
To saintly monks he'd left his lands
And also all his roll.
Seventy years have since passed,
His descendents have multiplied.
Most are poor and harassed
Since Theodore has died.
The fortune in Canada
Is now but Champeaux lore.
A thing which maybe was,
But is, I'm sure, no more.
So, let Champeaux, DesChanes,
LaPlants, and Landries, too,
Forget the man
Who has forgotten you.
Thus, is answered for all to see, the
Dramatic question, "To be or not to be."
No, there'll "Be no" gold for you or me,
On that by now we all agree.
Events
| Birth | 10 Aug 1811 | Yamachiche, Saint-Maurice, Québec, Canada |  | ||
| Christen | 10 Aug 1811 | Yamachiche, Saint-Maurice, Québec, Canada |  | | |
| Marriage | 20 Feb 1844 | Saint-Antoine, Baie-du-Febvre, Yamaska, Québec, Canada - Marguerite HAMEL | | | |
| Alt name | Theodore CHAMPOUX | ||||
| Alt name | Héliodore CHAMPOUX |
Families
| Spouse | Marguerite HAMEL ( - ) |
| Father | Louis CHAMPOUX (1774 - 1828) |
| Mother | Théotiste RIVARD dit LAGLANDERIE (1780 - 1857) |
| Sibling | Théotiste CHAMPOUX (1798 - 1843) |
| Sibling | Marie Ursule CHAMPOUX (1800 - 1826) |
| Sibling | Marie Magdeleine CHAMPOUX (1802 - ) |
| Sibling | Joseph Felix CHAMPOUX (1804 - 1880) |
| Sibling | Olivier CHAMPOUX (1806 - 1806) |
| Sibling | Marie CHAMPOUX (1807 - ) |
| Sibling | Oliver CHAMPEAU (1809 - 1896) |
| Sibling | Elmire "Amelia" CHAMPOUX (1813 - 1897) |
| Sibling | Appoline "Polly" CHAMPEAU (1815 - 1897) |
| Sibling | Félicité (Felicity) CHAMPOUX (1816 - 1904) |
| Sibling | Margaret Mary CHAMPOUX (1818 - 1891) |
| Sibling | Emanuel "Manuel" CHAMPEAU (1819 - 1892) |
| Sibling | Louis CHAMPOUX (1821 - 1822) |
Notes
Christen
Godparents were François Bellemard and Marguerite Lacerte.https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1971-28003-2027-21?cc=1321742&wc=MMY5-C9N:2020118545
Marriage
https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1961-27975-2436-97?cc=1321742&wc=9RLH-DPD:18754401,18754402,13682901Endnotes
1. Parish Registers: Sainte-Anne-d'Yamachiche (Yamachiche, Saint-Maurice, Québec), 1771-1812, folio 203, image 607, baptism of Isidore Champoux; digital images online, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1321742 : accessed ).
2. Parish Registers: Sainte-Anne-d'Yamachiche (Yamachiche, Saint-Maurice, Québec), 1771-1812, folio 203, image 607, baptism of Isidore Champoux; digital images online, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1321742 : accessed ).
3. "Parish Registers: Sainte-Anne-d'Yamachiche, Saint-Maurice, Québec," digital images, Ancestry.com ( : accessed 11 November 2014), baptism of Isidore Champoux; Québec, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection); 1811, image 15.
4. Parish Registers: Saint-Antoine-de-la-Baie-du-Febvre (Baie-du-Fêbvre, Yamaska, Québec), Baptêmes, mariages, sépultures 1812-1844, image 735, marriage 7, Héliodore Champoux and Marguerite Hamel; digital images, Familysearch.org (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1321742 : accessed 17 January 2015).