A French-Canadian Enclave in the Twin Cities Minnesota

September 4 2025 at this space, I published a post about a new book about over 100 French-Canadian families who settled in what is now Dayton MN, about 25 miles upriver from St. Anthony Falls, bordered on one side by the Mississippi River.

Ruins 14620 Dayton River Road Dayton MN September 2025.  This ruin of some building is about a mile east of the Blondeau farm, also along the Mississippi River.

The book particularly interested me because a branch of my family tree, the Collette’s, arrived there about 1875, via Old St. Anthony, where they settled 1864 to 1875.  They came from  St. Lambert de Luzon QC, on the Chaudiere River about 20 miles south of Quebec City.

(Franco-American history is truly ancient, beginning in the 1500s, more or less marked as officially starting with the founding of Quebec City in 1608, and thence existing as a autonomous entity until the British defeated the French at the Plains of Abraham in 1759 – 28 years before the newly minted United States of America arrived on the scene.  The phrase, ‘lots of water under that old bridge’ comes to mind.  There is lots and lots of not always comfortable history between English, French, French-Canadian and “Americans” over the last 400 years – and that’s just in North America.)

The book, expertly compiled by Caroline Meilleur over a three year period, includes morsels of the histories of likely well over 1,000 French-Canadian families.  It is a feast for those interested in genealogy, particularly if part of that genealogy is French-Canadian, and involves some connection with the Dayton community.  You’ll want it part of your family history resource.

Below is part of a single page from the book, (in pdf pp 83-84 Blondeau page 83-84 Dayton French) and jpeg form (below).  Simon and Adelaide were my great-great grandparents.

Portion of p. 83 from Dayton With a French Accent

TO ORDER the book: here.  (For the moment, my review is this writing.  I didn’t purchase the book through Amazon, and apparently this disqualifies me from posting a review there.)

A BONUS: Another family in the book, Daniel Louis LaVallee and Basilisse Elizabeth Beaudreau site Graveline had a Catholic Nun and Historian descendant Sr. Ann Thomasine Sampson, who wrote about her own venture into her own family history.  Her writing, from the publication Sep-Oct 1997 Chez Nous can be read here: Sampson Sr Ann Thomasine Fam Hist.  Chez Nous in its entirety can be accessed at https://fahfminn.org, click Library, click chez nous.  This newsletter is indexed and near 1000 pages.