Notes for Charles Benjamin\Benedict Chandonnet

Notes for Charles Benjamin\Benedict Chandonnet

[Brøderbund WFT Vol. 25, Ed. 1, Tree #0369, Date of Import: Jun 20, 1999]
Charles Benedict was born in Detroit, Michigan on July 24, 1816. His father was John Baptist Chandonia and his mother was Mary Louisa Chapoton. Charles was the brother to Mary Louisa Chandonia. Charles and his sister Mary were brought to South Bend, Indiana by their mother in the early 1830's. Charles married Lucille Pellitier of Frenchtown, Michigan. Together they had 5 children. During the Civil War, Charles joined the 48th Regiment and was enlisted as a Captain. See James Edward Bresette's biography for movement of the 48th Regiment. Charles was the Deputy Sheriff of South Bend, Indiana. On January 27th, 1849, Lewis and Mary Bresette sold their property to Charles B. Chandonia. The paperwork on this transaction was messed up as the commissioner listed the wrong section. It was listed as 2 and should have been listed as Section 10. In 1852, after Lewis Bresette's death, Charles had to petition the court to make the necessary corrections to the records. Charles died in South Bend, Indiana on February 20, 1863. He is buried at Cedar Grove Cemetery.

The following appeared in the St. Joseph Valley Register on Feb. 26, 1863 on pg. 3 and the South Bend Forum on Feb. 21, 1863: "Thursday Morn. Feb 19th of Typhoid and Erysipelas (skin disease caused by Strep infection which devastates the blood), Chas. B. Chandonai, Esq. a life long citzen of this place."

1850 Census - Lived in St. Joseph County, age 32
Charles Chandane. Occupation: constable.
Also Lucy, age 32, Charles, age 7, Daughter Nancy M. age 10, daughter Alice 3 1/2, son Francis age 3 1/2

1860 Census: Lived in St. Joseph County

From the Surnames Abstracted from St. Joseph County Probate Before 1850:
Chadnai Chas. Esr of Rush, Leonard
Book 2 Pg. 11 Probate # 2,7,8,13

Chadonaii Charles
Mary L. Estate of Bray, Tyra 3, 93, 4 and 9

James (grandson of Charles) was born on May 6, 1846 in South Bend, Indiana. He was the first male Bresette to be born in the United States. His father was Lewis Bresette who emigrated to the U.S. from Canada. His mother was Mary Louisa Chandonia from Detroit, Michigan. In 1861 the Civil War broke and James volunteered and joined the 48th Regiment on December 6, 1841. He was listed as a Private. James' cousin Charles Theodore also joined the 48th with him. His uncle Charles (his mother's brother) was the Marshall of South Bend at the time, also joined and was a Captain.

The Forty-Eighth Regiment was organized at Goshen on the 6th of December, 1861, with Norman Eddy as Colonel, and left for Fort Donelson by way of Cairo, February 1, 1862, where it arrived the day after the surrender. It then moved to Paducah, where it remained until May, when it moved up the Tennessee river and engaged in the siege of Corinth. After the evacuation of Corinth it was assigned to the First Brigade, Second Division of the Army of the Mississippi, and took part in marches and countermarches in pursuit of General Price. On the 19th of September it participated in the battle of Iuka, losing 116 men in killed and wounded, out of 420 engaged. October 3rd and 4th it was engaged in the second battle of Corinth, un Rosecrans, and lost 26 killed and wounded. The regiment next moved down the Mississippi Central Railroad as far as Oxford, Mississippi, and on its return marched to Memphis, where, in January, 1863, it was assigned to the First Brigade, Seventh Division of the Seventeenth Army Corps. After remaining here two months it was transported down the Mississippi, and joining the army of General Grant, marched with it to the rear of Vicksburg. During this campaign the regiment participated in the skirmish of Forth Hills, May 3; the battle of Raymond, May 13; the battle of Jackson on the 14th, and the engagement at Champion Hills on the 16th, losing in the latter battle 33 killed and wounded. It was actively engaged in the trenches during the long siege of the rebel works at Vicksburg, and took part in the assault May 22, losing 38 in killed and wounded.

At the surrender of Vicksburg it remained in that vicinity until August, and then moved up the river to Memphis, and from thence marched across the country to Chattanooga, and while in that vicinity engaged the enemy at Tunnel Hill. From the latter place it marched back to Huntsville, Alabama, and while stationed there in January, 1864, the regiment re-enlisted as a veteran organization, and returned home on veteran furlough, reaching Indianapolis February 6, with 369 veterans, and on the 8th were publicly received in welcoming speeches by Governor Morton and others. After the expiration of its furlough it proceeded to Huntsville, Alabama, where it remained until June.

The Forty-Eighth then moved to Cartersville, Georgia, and was kept on duty in that vicinity, looking after the guerrillas and protecting General Sherman's railroad communications during the campaign against Atlanta. It was continued on this duty until Hood's invasion, when it joined Sherman's army, and marched with the First Brigade, Third Division of the Fifteenth Army Corps, in its campagn from Atlanta to Savannah. From Savannah it first moved to Beaufort, and then on the campaign through the Carolinas, going through Columbia, Cheraw, Fayetteville and Goldsboro to Raleigh. From Raleigh it moved northward, after the surrender of Johnson's army, making the distance from Raleigh to Petersburg, 165 miles in six days. From Petersburg it march to Washington, and soon after its arrival was transferred to Louisville, Kentucky, where it was mustered out of service July 15, 1865. Returning to Indianapolis it was present at a public reception given to a large number of returned troops in the capitol grounds, on the 18th, on which occasion addresses were made by Governor Morton, General Hovey and others. During its term of service the regiment lost in battle 213 men, in killed and wounded.

James was listed as one of the men who were severely wounded, however, I do not know what battle it was. Shortly after the war was over, James married a local South Bend girl by the name of Sarah Elizabeth Schooks. Her father was Joseph Schooks and her mother Sarah Schooks. The Schooks were from Ohio. In 1867 James and Sarah had a daughter and named her Emma. In 1870 they had a son and named him James Lewis. In 1871 another son was born and they named him Edward. On December 10, 1873, Sarah died. James was left with 3 children a widower. Over the next year, he fell in love with a girl named Mary Francis Johnson. James married her in 1874. James and Mary had their first child in 1875 and named her Mary Francis. Four years later they had another daughter and named her Sarah Elizabeth after James' late wife. In 1880, James and Mary moved from South Bend, Indiana to Topeka, Kansas. One year later in May of 1881 they had another child and named her Julia Elenor.

On July 18, 1882, James and his cousin Charles Theodore Chandonia submitted a claim the government relative to their rights to occupy certain unoccupied lands on the Potawattomi Reservation in Jackson County, Kansas, and to participate in the annuties of the tribe. The claim was denied on March 16, 1883 on the grounds that their names did not appear on the 1861 census roll of Potawattomi Indians. In 1883 James and Mary had yet another child and named him Robert Burton (Burt). Two years later in 1885 Alice Louise was born. In 1887, James and Mary had their next to the last child and named her Veronica. Their last child was born in February of 1892 and was named Louis Lafayette. Mary Francis Bresette died and once again James was left a widower. However, the children had a tutor by the name of Anna May Byers. James ended up marrying Anna May Byers. James died on March 30, 1935 after living 88 years 10 months and 23 days. He is buried in Mt. Calvary cemetery in Topeka, Kansas.

From the History of St. Joseph County, Indiana, page 856 by Charles C. Chapman 1880.
The following is a list of elected and appointed officers to the town (South Bend) from 1845 to 1865, inclusive, except 1852 to 1857, the records of which are either lost or destroyed. 1848: J.A. Henricks, President; John Hooper, A.M. Lapierre, Benjamin Wall, John Becroft, Trustees; Charles M. Heaton, Clerk; John Brownfield, Treasurer; Daniel Dayton, Assessor; Charles B. Chaudonis, Marshal. Charles Benedict Chandonnet married Lucy Pellitier of Frenchtown, Michigan, now Monrose. Came with mother to grant of land near LaPorte, then to South Bend. First children were baptized at Bertrand. He engaged in land selling and was a deputy sherriff in early South Bend. His name appears often in early South Bend Records.

[AncestryTree887646.FTW]
Brought to the South Bend, Indiana area by their mother in the early 1830's after their father's Indian wife Kesis died. Charles Benjamin {Benedict} married Lucille Pellitier of Frenchtown, Michigan and together they had 5 children. During the Civil War, Charles joined the 48th regiment and was enlisted a s a Captain. Charles was also the Deputy Sheriff of South Bend, Indiana. He died of Typhoid and Erysipelas. During the Civil War, Charles joined the 48 th Regiment and was enlisted as a Captain. Charles was also a Deputy Sheriff of South Bend, Indiana.