This painting of our great great grandmother, Felicite Constant Motier (1780-1873), crossed the Mississippi River from Illinois and returned to Missouri on March 27, 2024. This painting is now part of the permanent collection of the Missouri History Museum and Research Library. Here is a summary of Felicite Constant Motier's life, as we know it from historical records. Some facts are easy to find and verify, others are not. I assume and hope that facts are corrected and updated by future family historians. Felicite was born in the St. Louis area in 1780* to French-speaking parents Gabriel Constant and Marie Duplanty. Marie was born in Quebec; Gabriel in Strasbourg, France. Gabriel and Marie married in Quebec and made their way through New France, first to Fort Pontchartrain du Detroit; then to Cahokia, Illinois; and finally to farm in St. Louis/Carondolet, Missouri. (*Felicite may have been born in 1786, JoAnn Brennan found Felicite's baptismal record in St. Louis from 17
This blog will discuss my family genealogical research