More Information on Joseph Marie Papin:

Joseph Marie Papin dit LaForce, son (and only surviving child) of Joseph Alexandre Papin and Marguerite Papin, was in the third generation of his family to be born in America, and was baptized in Montreal on November 6, 1741. He was educated in France, returned to Canada and later emigrated to St. Louis, where he became involved in the fur trade and owned 3,300 arpents (an arpent was equal to .85 English acres) of land. He married Marie Louise Chouteau in 1779, a sister of Auguste and Pierre Chouteau (see Blocks 33 and 34), and had 13 children. Unlike most of his relatives, Papin was not a good businessman and lost most of his fortune in the fur trade. He died September 18, 1811, at a country home on the site of what is now St. Louis' Forest Park, and is buried in St. Louis' Calvary Cemetery.