Continuation of tree (4th child of Francois Pitre/Veronique Rivard); all known surname descendants:
6 Lambert Pitre b: 24 April 1823 Ste. Anne, Detroit, Wayne, MI; d: 31 October 1915 Detroit, Wayne, MI
+Mary Cicotte b: 28 March 1826 Ste. Anne, Detroit, Wayne, MI; m: 26 September 1848 Ste. Anne, Detroit, Wayne, MI [Jacques/Marie Anne Beaubien]; d: 2 May 1911 Detroit, Wayne, MI
7 Mary Veronica Pitre b: 1 February 1850 Ste. Anne, Detroit, Wayne, MI; d: 20 November 1919 Grosse Pointe, Wayne, MI
+Peter Gouin b: 7 April 1845 Detroit, Wayne, MI; m: 1 July 1879 Connors Creek, Wayne, MI [Francis/Julia Greffard]; d: 3 April 1929 Center Line, Macomb, MI
7 Jacques Francois Pitre b: 3 September 1851 Ste. Anne, Detroit, Wayne, MI; d: 15 August 1852 Ste. Anne, Detroit, Wayne, MI
7 Louise Rose Pitre b: 21 March 1853 Ste. Anne, Detroit, Wayne, MI; d: 8 March 1854 Ste. Anne, Detroit, Wayne, MI
7 Alfred Alexander 'Richard' Pitre b: 29 December 1854 Ste. Anne, Detroit, Wayne, MI; d: 22 October 1929 Center Line, Macomb, MI
+Mary Anne Sunderland b: 3 December 1862 Detroit, Wayne, MI; m: Abt. 1879 [George/Anastasia Zyger]; d: 18 May 1941 Center Line, Macomb, MI
7 Bernard 'Barney' Peters b: 3 June 1858 Detroit, Wayne, MI; d: 21 June 1938 Detroit, Wayne, MI
+Anna Edinger b: 6 February 1866 Detroit, Wayne, MI; m: 10 April 1888 Detroit, Wayne, MI [John/---]; d: 3 April 1946 Detroit, Wayne, MI
7 Zoe Helena 'Celina' Pitre b: 3 October 1859 Greinerville, Wayne, MI; d: 20 March 1861 Ste. Anne, Detroit, Wayne, MI
7 Genevieve Pitre b: 12 July 1863 Leesville, Wayne, MI; d: 27 February 1939 Detroit, Wayne, MI
+Richard Johnson b: 4 June 1860 Saline, Washtenaw, MI; m: 25 June 1890 Detroit, Wayne, MI [George Richard/Jane Lane]; d: 17 June 1922 Detroit, Wayne, MI
*2nd Husband of Genevieve Pitre:
+Louis Schmidt b: 25 September 1868 Germany; m: 5 August 1924 Detroit, Wayne, MI [Andrew/---]; d: 15 December 1946 Detroit, Wayne, MI
7 Emily Virginia Pitre b: 4 March 1865 Grosse Pointe, Wayne, MI; d: 14 June 1922 Detroit, Wayne, MI
7 Richard Lambert Pitre b: 3 March 1866 Grosse Pointe, Wayne, MI; d: 19 February 1867 Ste. Anne, Detroit, Wayne, MI
7 Francis Cleophas Peters b: 19 December 1867 Grosse Pointe, Wayne, MI; d: 19 November 1928 Detroit, Wayne, MI
+Prudence Rebecca Cressy b: 10 December 1866 Erin, Macomb, MI; m: 22 April 1903 Connors Creek, Wayne, MI [Alfred/Caroline Middleton]; d: 25 May 1958 Roseville, Macomb, MI
7 Emma Louisa Pitre b: 3 November 1871 Detroit, Wayne, MI; d: 3 April 1872 Detroit, Wayne, MI
7 Rosy Pitre b: 31 March 1872 Grosse Pointe, Wayne, MI; d: 5 April 1872 Grosse Pointe, Wayne, MI
Notes for Lambert Pitre:
Census
- 1850 Detroit, Wayne, Michigan: Lamuel Peters 26 mason, Mary Ann 23, Mary Ann 6 months.
- 1860 Grosse Pointe, Wayne, Michigan: Lambert Petre 34
(mason), wife Mary 33, Mary 10, Alfred 5, Barnabas 2, Selima 5 months.
- 1870 Connors Creek, Wayne, MI: Lambert Peters 48 (brick mason), wife
Mary 43, Mary 20, Alfred 15, Barney 12, Tenevira 9, Virgenia 7, Cleophus 2.
- 1880 Grosse Pointe, Wayne, MI: Lambert Peters 57 (farmer), wife Mary 53,
Barnaby 22, Gineva 19, Virginia 17, Cleo 12.
- 1900 Gratiot, Wayne, MI: Lambert Peters 77 (farmer), wife of 52 years
Mary 73 (6 of 11 children still living), Vergenie 35, Cluvious 32 (farm laborer).
- 1910 Detroit, Wayne, MI: Lambert Peters 87, wife of 61 years Mary 82,
Virginia 40.
Misc.: Detroit Free Press (Detroit, MI), Sunday, 16 March 1913: Detroit Settler's son to celebrate 90 happy years - Lambert Peters says long life is due to simple living - Drinking, Cigarets and Woman Suffrage Tabooed - Was born on Jefferson Avenue farm when present metropolis was a hamlet - Some people may consider him old fashioned, with his mind filled with antiquated conceptions of life, but the homely, simple rules of living, the legacy of an old French family, are responsible for the long and happy life of Lambert Peters, 1039 Concord avenue, who will celebrate his ninetieth birthday on March 28. Drinking, cigarette smoking, fast living, and women's suffrage, have no place in the daily mental calculations of Lambert Peters, and never had. His hair is just beginning to grow thin, but there is very little trace of gray in it. His jolly face is wrinkled but fleshy. His teeth are solid and his body firm. There are two things he enjoys more than anything else and these are a good joke and a game of pedro. Lambert Peters was born on a farm on Jefferson avenue, near the site where the water works is located. His entire life has been spent in Detroit and he has seen the city grow from a quiet hamlet with Indians living in the adjoining woods, to its present position. Until two years ago he enjoyed the companionship of his wife, who died a few days before the sixty-second anniversary of their marriage. Every morning Lambert Peters arises at 6:30 and walks 10 blocks to St. Anthony's church to attend mass at 7:30. Returning from church he has his breakfast and a smoke, then enjoys a morning nap. In the evening he retires at 9 o'clock and sleeps sound. His appetite is good and there is every indication that he will surpass his father who lived to be more than 100 years old. Saturday afternoon Mr. Peters showed a reporter a relic brought from France, which is looked upon as the most sacred article in the household. It is a miniature altar, called a grotto, built inside a glass bottle. It forms the basis of a superstition that has lived for more than two centuries. Around that little altar there is a peculiar story that stimulated the belief that wherever that relic was, sickness would never come. A family by the name of Jocie, living on a farm in France, had a daughter whose life hung by a thread. Medical aid did not encourage hope of recovery in the little home, and the father, beside himself with grief, sought spiritual assistance. The grotto, which soon became as sacred as the shrine of Lourdes, was bought from one of the monks at a monastery nearby by the father and taken home. The child grew well and strong again and thus the superstition was established. Descendants of the Jocie family came to America with early settlers bringing with them the shrine. It was given to Mrs. Lambert Peters on the death of the possessor. Mr. Peters's father was one of the first three white men to settle in Detroit. He fought in the war of 1812 under General Hull. "My first recollections of Detroit," Mr. Peters said, "was a little town in a forest. There was only one dry goods store, kept by a man named Watson, at the corner of Griswold and Jefferson avenues, and three grocery stores. The town began to grow and some people started a car service between Detroit and Utica. They laid tracks along the Gratiot road, turning at the church. It was a pretty poor affair. The rickety old car was drawn by a yoke of oxen, and they didn't travel fast. The farmers around got so mad at the car company that one night they tore up the tracks and we were without a railway service for nearly 20 years. Why the trees were so close to that track that if you stuck your head out of the window you would get an awful bump." Mr. Peters remembers when Captain James Cicotte, Mrs. Peters's father, was the police force of Detroit. He was also the fire chief and ran a grocery store. When a fire broke out the alarm was "Injin the bucket," and immediately the bucket brigade centered for action. Captain Cicotte had the distinction of being a passenger on the first steam train that pulled out of Detroit for Lansing. Before Mrs. Peters was married she lived with her parents at Ecorse. There was only an Indian trail leading from the Peters farm to the Cicotte homestead. Over this Lambert Peters used to plod night after night when the day's work was through. The couple were married in St. Anne's church on September 26, 1848. They had 11 children six of whom are still living. They are Mrs. R. Johnson, 1031 Concord avenue; Mrs. Peter Gouin, 187 Kanter avenue; Genevieve, Alfred, Barnard and Cleophis Peters, 1039 Concord avenue. After their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Peters settled down on a farm. Desiring something better, Lambert Peters learned the bricklaying and plastering trade at which he worked for 40 years. He helped to build the old Russell house, on the site where the Pontchartrain now stands, and with four others, assisted in plastering the walls of that bygone hostelry. Just before the outbreak of the civil war Peter's arm was broken and imperfectly set. When the war broke out he was not permitted to go to the front on this account. During the struggle, prices in Detroit became so high, he said, that the family moved to the farm again. In politics Lambert Peters is a Democrat and voted for President Wilson at the last election. "We don't have any more hot political fights like we had in the old days," he said. "When an election came around the Irish and the French had some pretty warm meetings." Woman's suffrage will never have the support of Lambert Peters. "This talk of giving women the vote is all new and will soon die out," he said. "Why when I was a boy the women were too busy looking after their families to bother about politics. They took an interest in what was going on but the vote was cast by the men in the interest of their families, so the women had just as much weight as the voters." Lambert Peters believes he will live to be more than one hundred years old, and also thinks that any man who wants to, can attain old age. "This cigaret smoking," he said, "kills most young men before they get a chance to live. Long life means regular habits and careful living. I think a man should get at least three hours sleep before midnight. The darkness was made for rest and the day for work. Some people turn this around the other way. Work will never hurt any man that lives carefully. I have worked for 40+ years at my trades and before that on a farm. Look at me. I will live to be more than 100." Mr. Peters has been a subscriber to The Free Press for 40 or more years. In fact no other newspaper has ever entered his home regularly.
- Detroit Free Press (Detroit, MI), Sunday, 27 December 1914:
photo of 4 generations of the family: Lambert Peters 91, Bernard A. Peters
56, Edgar J. Peters 25, Thomas Lynn Peters 7 months.
Obituary: Detroit Times (Detroit, MI), Thursday, 4 November 1915: Deaths - Lambert Peters, 1039 Concord, 92 years, old age.
Tombstone Inscription: Assumption Grotto Cemetery, Detroit: PETERS / Lambert Peters / born March 18, 1822 / died Oct. 31, 1915 / Mary Ann Peters / born March 15, 1827 / died May 2, 1911
Notes for Mary Cicotte:
Obituary: Detroit Evening Times (Detroit, MI), Friday, 5 May 1911: Peters - May 2, Mary Ann, aged 84 years, beloved wife of Lambert Peters and mother of Mrs. Peter Guoin, Albert Peters, Bernhart Peters, Mrs. Richard Johnson, Virginia Peters and Leo Peters. Funeral from 1039 Concord-ave., Saturday, May 6, at 8:30, to St. Anthony church at 9 a.m. Interment at Grotto cemetery. Please omit flowers.
Obituaries for the children:
Mary Veronica Pitre: Tombstone Inscription, Assumption Grotto Cemetery, Detroit: Mother / at / rest / Mary V. / Gouin / 1850 - 1919
Genevieve Pitre: Detroit Free Press (Detroit, MI), Thursday, 2 March 1939: Mrs. Genevieve Johnson Schmidt. Great-granddaughter of Lambert Beaubien, who came to Detroit in 1701 with Cadillac, Mrs. Schmidt was born July 12, 1863, near the site of the present City Airport. Her parents were James Cicotte and Marie Ann Beaubien. She died Monday evening at her home, 5800 Frontenac Blvd. In 1925, three years after the death of her first husband, Richard Johnson, she married Schmidt. She is survived by her husband; her daughters, Mrs. Albert Glass and Mrs. James Juif; her sons, Joseph, Louis, Anthony and Edmund Schmidt, and 17 grandchildren. Prayers at the residence at 9:30 a.m. Thursday and services at 10 a.m. in St. Anthony's Church. Burial in Mt. Elliott Cemetery.
[My clarification: James (Jacques) Cicotte & Marie Anne Beaubien were Genevieve's maternal grandparents.]
Back one generation to parents of Lambert Pitre
Items in RED have been verified against parish register entries.
- Births/Marriages/Deaths in RED without a church have come from the Michigan Return of Births/Marriages/Deaths (Family Search online - actual pages viewable).
- While births & marriages name parents, deaths list only age & marital status. Michigan deaths between 1897-1920 in RED taken from death certificates (online), which may also include birthdate.
Last updated: 24 April 2023.