To be inserted are photos of Chenehutte: Church, River, Plaque, Chateau
>> Heritage Trip – France – 2023
Much of the following information was developed by Karen Acteson Sharpe Schlichte who I thank profusely for providing it to me from her genealogy database. Other contributors are mentioned throughout the text. Material from Karen’s database has been lightly edited for readability on these pages and provide consistent spellings. This information has been verified and expanded based on what has been learned during trips to France and Quebec in 2023.
Note: During our family trip to France in 2023 we stayed a couple of days in Angers, home of the Bayeux Tapestry depicting the Battle of Hastings during the Norman Conquest of England. The nearby Archives assured me there is but one village of Chenehutte in the area, though they know of several different spellings.
Chenehutte in 2023 is a small, one road town, with some side streets, stretched along the Loire on one side and below a bluff on the other. In the picture of the church, the town is further down the road to the left. Down the road to the right is the site of the old town square on the wall of which is the plaque indicating that Michel left town for New France in 1653. Across the street from the square the Loire seems to be a shallow, peaceful stream dotted with several sand bars. It is accessible via an apparently little used cobblestone boat ramp.
Below the genealogical information are photos of various areas around town, including the church which would have been in existence at the time Michel left Chenehutte, at the age of 22, for Quebec in New France in 1653. In 2023 the church is in disrepair and closed to the public.
Looking at the information above we see that Michel left town around the same time his father passed away. Based on his mother’s death record she was still alive when Michel departed and at some later date she moved about 20 miles up river to Saumur, a larger city also on the Loire river. Another piece of information is that Michel may have left to escape the conflict at that time between Catholics and Protestants.
More details about Michel can be found here
More information on Saumur and the religious conflict may be found here
Below is a view from the rear of the church that would have been in existence in 1653 when Michel left, at the age of 22, for Quebec in New France. Just out of sight down the road at the bottom of the image is the town park on the wall of which is a placard proclaiming that Michele left town in 1653.
When Claudia, Alexx and I were in town, hoping to get some local information we talked with a lady walking her dog down the street. But, she was only there because walking the dog in Chenehutte was safer than walking on the streets of Saumer. Just before leaving town we stopped in the patisserie for a cookie. The proprietress who conversed with Alexx in French, and Pete with a little english and even less french, tried to reach the Mayor for us to speak to. That didn’t work (it was a Sunday afternoon), but she gave us eMails which have not yet elicited a response. This woman also told us the Mayor and a local historian were trying to arrange a 370th anniversary celebration with Chenehutte’s sister city Trois Riviers in Quebec. When Lee and I were in Trois Riviers I was told that Trois Riviers sister city was Lyon, not Chenehutte. In any event we never found out anything further about a 370th anniversary celebration.
