Charles Rochon (4 or 5 July 16731733) was a French

colonist A settler or a colonist is a person who establishes or joins a permanent presence that is separate to existing communities. The entity that a settler establishes is a settlement. A settler is called a pioneer if they are among the first settli ...

and was one of the four founders of modern-day

Mobile, Alabama Mobile ( , ) is a city and the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama, United States. The population was 187,041 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. After a successful vote to annex areas west of the city limits in July 2023, Mobil ...

Life and career

Rochon was born in 1673 in

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

to Simon Rochon and Mathurine Buisson in

Boucherville Boucherville () is a city in the Montérégie region in Quebec, Canada. It is a suburb of Montreal on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River. Boucherville is part of both the urban agglomeration of Longueuil and the Montreal Metropolitan ...

. His mother was the sister of the missionary

Jean-François Buisson de Saint-Cosme Jean-François Buisson de Saint-Cosme (1667–1706) was a Canadian missionary, born in Quebec, ordained in 1690, and murdered while on a missionary trip. Jean-François came from a family with a high level of devotion to the Catholic Church. His ...

. He became a fur trapper and was associated with

Henri de Tonti Henri de Tonti (born Enrico Tonti; – September 1704) was an Italian-born French military officer and explorer who assisted René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle during the French colonization of the Americas from 1678 to 1686."A tour of M ...

, accompanying him on many of his expeditions. In 1701 he came to colonial

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

, and he was a colonist at the settlement of Fort Louis De Mobile located at modern-day

Axis, Alabama Axis is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Mobile County, Alabama, United States. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 561, down from 757 at the 2010 census. It has a post office with the 36505 ZIP code. ...

, an area of habitation that preceded the modern-day city of Mobile. In 1706, along with Pierre LeBouef, Gilbert Dardenne and Claude Parent, Rochon left the settlement at Axis, moving down to a site at the mouth of the

Mobile River The Mobile River is located in southern Alabama in the United States. Formed out of the confluence of the Tombigbee and Alabama rivers, the approximately river drains an area of of Alabama, with a watershed extending into Mississippi, Georg ...

, the site of present-day Mobile. The success that the four had at this site was a contributing factor to the relocation of Mobile from the site at Axis to its present site in 1711. After the city was moved to the Mobile River site, Charles Rochon again moved, this time to a site at the mouth of the

Dog River Dog River may refer to: Canada * Dog River (Ontario), a river in Thunder Bay District, Ontario * Dog River (Manitoba), a river in Northern Region, Manitoba * Dog River, Saskatchewan, a fictional setting for the television series ''Corner Gas'' Un ...

, where he established a

plantation Plantations are farms specializing in cash crops, usually mainly planting a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Plantations, centered on a plantation house, grow crops including cotton, cannabis, tob ...

that remained in the hands of his descendants until 1848. The plantation encompassed the majority of what is today known as Hollinger's Island. Rochon remained at this plantation until his death in 1733

Family

Charles Rochon was married to Henriette Colon, the half-Indian (

Kaskaskia The Kaskaskia were a historical Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands. They were one of about a dozen cognate tribes that made up the Illiniwek Confederation, also called the Illinois Confederation. Their longstanding homeland was in ...

) daughter of Old Mobile settler Jean Baptiste (dit "LaViolette") Colon, as well as being the goddaughter of

. They had several children, but only two survived past 1733. Their son, Louis Augustin, established a plantation on the eastern shore of Mobile Bay that became the modern-day Spanish Fort. Rochon has had a number of notable descendants in the Gulf Coast region including, but not limited to: *

Hale Boggs Thomas Hale Boggs Sr. (February 15, 1914 – disappeared October 16, 1972; declared dead December 29, 1972) was an American Democratic Party politician and a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New Orleans, Louisiana. He was the H ...

, U.S. Congressman from Louisiana, House Majority Leader, 5th great-grandson *

Cokie Roberts Mary Martha Corinne Morrison Claiborne "Cokie" Roberts (née Boggs; December 27, 1943 – September 17, 2019) was an American journalist and author. Her career included decades as a political reporter and analyst for National Public Radio, PBS, ...

, Television journalist, 6th great-granddaughter *

Barbara Boggs Sigmund Barbara Boggs Sigmund (May 27, 1939 – October 10, 1990) was an American writer, Democratic politician, and civic leader. She served as a Mercer County Freeholder and mayor of the Borough of Princeton, New Jersey from 1983 to 1990. She finish ...

, 1980's mayor of

Princeton, New Jersey The Municipality of Princeton is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton, New Jersey, Borough of Princeton and Pri ...

, 6th great-granddaughter *

Judge Roy Hofheinz A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a judicial panel. In an adversarial system, the judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, ass ...

, 1965 builder of the Astrodome, Owner of Houston Astros, Mayor of Houston, 5th Great-Grandson *

Connie Bea Hope ''Woman's World'' was a lifestyle program that ran for more than two decades on WKRG-TV channel 5 in Mobile, Alabama. It was hosted by Connie Bea Hope and Estella Payton. It aired at noontime and lasted for 30 minutes. The show included guest ...

, Mobile, Alabama cook, television host and socialite, 5th great-granddaughter *

Rosette Rochon Rosette Rochon (1767–1863) was an American placée and businesswoman, who was an important figure in the ''Gens de couleur libres'' society of New Orleans. She belonged to the most famous of the placées of New Orleans alongside Eulalie de Ma ...

, noted placée, businesswoman, and free person of color in antebellum New Orleans, granddaughter *

Valerie Jarrett Valerie June Jarrett ( Bowman; born November 14, 1956) is an American businesswoman and former government official, who has been the chief executive officer of the Obama Foundation since 2021. She was the longest-serving senior advisor to U.S. Pr ...

, a Senior Adviser on Public Information and Intergovernmental Affairs to U.S. President Barack Obama, is a great-granddaughter of Victor Rochon *

John Hainkel John Joseph Hainkel Jr. (March 24, 1938 – April 15, 2005), was a legislator from New Orleans, Louisiana, who died in office after thirty-seven years of service. He was the first person in his state and the second in United States history t ...

, former Speaker of Louisiana House of Representatives and president of the Louisiana Senate *

Suzanne Malveaux Suzanne Maria Malveaux (; born December 4, 1966) is an American broadcast journalist. After joining CNN from NBC News in 2002, she co-anchored the CNN international news program ''Around the World'' and editions of ''CNN Newsroom'' and also se ...

, American television news journalist, 7th great-granddaughter

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rochon, Charles 1673 births 1733 deaths Pre-statehood history of Alabama History of Mobile, Alabama People of New France 18th-century American people