Charles Rochon facts for kids
Charles Rochon (1673–1733) was an important French colonist. He was one of the four people who helped start the modern-day city of Mobile, Alabama.
Life and career
Charles Rochon was born in 1673 in Quebec, which is now part of Canada. When he was younger, he became a fur trapper. This meant he hunted animals for their fur, which was then sold. He often went on long trips with another famous explorer named Henri de Tonti.
In 1701, Rochon came to a French settlement called colonial Louisiana. He lived at a place called Fort Louis De Mobile, near what is now Axis, Alabama. This was an early settlement before the city of Mobile moved to its current spot.
In 1706, Charles Rochon and three other colonists—Pierre LeBouef, Gilbert Dardenne, and Claude Parent—moved from the settlement at Axis. They went to a new spot at the mouth of the Mobile River. This new location is where the city of Mobile is today. Their success at this new site helped convince everyone to move the main settlement there in 1711.
After Mobile moved to the Mobile River, Charles Rochon moved again. This time, he went to a place at the mouth of the Dog River. There, he started a large farm called a plantation. This plantation stayed in his family until 1848. It covered most of what is now known as Hollinger's Island. Rochon lived on this plantation until he passed away in 1733.
Family
Charles Rochon married Henriette Colon. She was the daughter of another early Mobile settler, Jean Baptiste Colon. Henriette was also the goddaughter of Henri de Tonti, the explorer Rochon traveled with.
Charles and Henriette had several children. However, only two of them lived past 1733. Their son, Louis Augustin, also started a plantation. His plantation was on the eastern side of Mobile Bay. This area later became the modern-day city of Spanish Fort.
Many of Charles Rochon's family members became notable people in the Gulf Coast region. Some of them include:
- Hale Boggs, a U.S. Congressman from Louisiana and a House Majority Leader.
- Cokie Roberts, a well-known television journalist.
- Barbara Boggs Sigmund, who was the mayor of Princeton, New Jersey in the 1980s.
- Judge Roy Hofheinz, who built the Astrodome in 1965. He also owned the Houston Astros baseball team and was the Mayor of Houston.
- Connie Bea Hope, a cook, television host, and socialite from Mobile, Alabama.
- Rosette Rochon, a successful businesswoman and free person of color in New Orleans before the Civil War.
- Valerie Jarrett, a Senior Adviser to U.S. President Barack Obama.
- John Hainkel, a former Speaker of the Louisiana House of Representatives. He was also president of the Louisiana Senate.
- Suzanne Malveaux, an American television news journalist.
