Toussaint Dubois


Toussaint Dubois was a Montreal born Frenchman and American soldier who joined with Lafayette to fight for American independence in the American Revolutionary War.

Biography

Toussaint DuBois was born Oct. 8 1762 to Charles Quintin dit Dubois and Cecile in St-Laurent, near Montreal, his parents having married there on Oct. 26 1753. Early reports stated that DuBois fought alongside Lafayette in 1777 but more recent research seems to indicate that he only arrived in Vincennes after the war of Independence. Settling near Vincennes, Indiana, he became a fur trader. He married twice: first to Jeanne Bonneau, by whom he had four sons and a daughter. Jeanne Bonneau was born in 1770 in Vincennes, Indiana, and died in 1800. Their four children were: Suzanne, Charles, Francois and Henry. They were married on October 6, 1788, in Indiana. After the early death of Jeannette, Toussaint DuBois married Jane Baird in 1805. Jane Baird was born in 1781 in Pennsylvania. The three sons born to Jane Baird Dubois and Toussaint Dubois were: Thomas Baird, Jesse Kilgore and James.
As a captain, DuBois commanded the Company of Spies and Guides of the Indiana militia at the 1811 Battle of Tippecanoe. He also served as a Major in the War of 1812, commanding the Kentucky Mounted Spies.
DuBois drowned in 1816 while crossing the Little Wabash River in Illinois, when he was returning from business in St. Louis, Missouri. He was buried in Vincennes.
Toussaint Dubois's residence in Lawrenceville, Illinois, served as the seat of government after the formation of Lawrence County, Illinois in 1821.

Legacy

Toussaint Dubois is the namesake of Dubois County, Indiana.