User:TSventon/sandbox/Madam La Compt

Madam La Compt is a legendary figure in the Pioneer History of Illinois written by John Reynolds (1788–1865). The book tells the stories of the early settlers of Illinois, based on Reynolds' own memories. Reynolds claims to have known La Compt for 30 years. However, La Compt is a composite of the lives of three women — a daughter, mother, and grandmother — one of whom was "Mme. Le Comte".

The three generations of women who inspired Reynold's Madam La Compt include Mme. Marie Joseph Le Compte, her daughter, Marie Josette, and mother, Marie Josephte, and perhaps her grandmother, Marie Magdeleine. Although much of these women's lives are centered in Fort St. Joseph, Fort Michilimackinac, and Cahokia, it began in the late 17th century in the frontier of New France with Symphorosa Ouaouaboukoue, a Native American woman, likely a Menominee, and Jean Baptiste Réaume, parents of Marie Magdeleine. French government in Quebec operated forts throughout the territory for fur trading. This family engaged in the fur trade and supplied food and goods to fur traders and the forts. As they navigated through their lives, many indigenous people were their friends, some were enemies of the forts, where more people lived with families. Later generations lived in Cahokia, a settlement on the Mississippi River, across from what is now St. Louis, Missouri. It was an important fur trading center and along the fur trade river network within New France.

Legend of Madam La Compt
"Madam La Compt" appears in the Pioneer History of Illinois written by the former Governor of Illinois, John Reynolds (1788–1865). The book is based on Reynolds' memories and contains many factual errors. According to Reynolds, the woman who became "Madam La Compt" was born in 1734 at Fort St. Joseph, New France of Canada. She married three times to LaFlamme married Pelate or Pilette de Sainte Ange in Mackinac. and they lived there until they moved to the Chicago area. In 1780, she married Monsier La Compt, a Canadian, at Cahokia. They had a lot of children. After M. La Compt's death, she married Thomas (Tom) Brady, and Irish-American.

Her neighbors, living along the lakes, included Potawatomi, Kickapoo people, and other neighboring Native American tribes. She became influential among the tribes, by learning their languages, requesting their opinions, and looking out for their interests. When warned multiple times of impending attacks on white settlements, she went to the tribe's encampment and stayed there while she mediated for the ending of the planned attack during the Revolutionary War (1775 to 1783) and until 1795.

On one night she met several hundred warriors near the French village at Quentin Mound, where they had camped. At times like these, she might stay with them several days as they talked through their grievances. More than once fearful villagers of Cahokia, armed and ready for an attack, saw a strange procession coming out of the woods—a band of warriors their warpaint freshly washed away and humbly obeying the orders given them by the tall white woman marching ahead of them! They walked back with peace and sorrow and were fed feasts by the townspeople, according to Osborne. Madam La Compt died in Cahokia in 1843.

Ulrich Danckers wrote that John Reynolds created a legend of "Madam La Compt" that was actually about her daughter, Marie Joseph La Marche, who lived with her husband Louis Le Compte from about 1772 to 1808. All three women — Marie Joseph, Marie Josephte, and Marie Josette — died by the time he published the book in 1859. Governor John Reynolds, who knew her 30 years, wrote about the woman he considered a "statesman" of "cosmopolitan character" in Pioneer History of Illinois.

John Francis McDermott wrote in 1949 that he believed "Madam La Compt" is based upon Marie Joseph and Marie Josephte. In his book, he states that the surnames "Comte, LeComte, LeCompt, etc. are interchangeable."