Huron County MI Archives Obituaries.....Verd, Toussaint January 12, 1909 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/mi/mifiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Penny Starr pstarr20@mchsi.com May 25, 2010, 7:58 pm Harbor Beach Times, February 1909 Obituary: Harbor Beach Times Teusaint (sometimes spelled "Tuesaint") Verd's Obituary: Died at the home of his son John Charles Verd in Gore Township, Huron County, Michigan, January 12, 1909. Teusaint Verd, the oldest white man in the state of Michigan, and one of the oldest in the country passed away at the home of his son, John Verd, in Gore township, Wednesday of last week and was buried in the Roman Catholic cemetery at Rock Falls, the funeral being held from the Roman Catholic Church at this place, Rev. Fr. Hennigan officiating. Teusaint Verd first saw the light of day, seven miles below the city of Montreal in Lower Canada on the first day of November, in the year 1803, being in his 106th year at the time of his death. In nationality he was French, having descended for the earliest French settlers of that region. At the time of this centenarian's birth, and for many years afterward, there were no means of communication except those furnished by slow sailing vessels on water, and horses and runners on land. The United States was then but an infant Republic, a few years old, with John Adams, its second President, occupying the White House. Upper Canada, or Ontario, now thickly sprinkled with large cities and towns, was then a wilderness with a couple of forts along the shores guarding the frontier, their garrisons, together with a few fur traders comprising the white population of the province. Michigan was then a land of swamps and fevers, with a fort at Detroit and another at Mackinac sheltering the white population. At the time of the war of 1812, Mr. Verd was nine years of age, and, so slowly did the news travel in those days, that nine months had passed before the inhabitants of Montreal, heard of Hull's surrender of Detroit, or Perry's victory over the English fleet on Lake Erie. When a young man, Mr. Verd emigrated to Upper Canada, then a new country and remained there a number of years. Owing to the great age of the deceased, the dates and events of his life were so obscure and the date of his marriage was not obtainable, nor was that of his wife who died many years ago, leaving four children, two daughters and two sons, one son, John Verd and a daughter Mrs. S. W McNellis, residing in Gore. The remaining two younger children are living in Dakota. The eldest child in his son John who is 66 years old. Several of his great grandchildren are young men and women. About thirty years ago, Mr. Verd came to this country, settling in Gore, and remained for several years, but finally returned to his birthplace. He remained there until eight years ago, when his son made a journey to that place and brought his father to his home in Gore, in order that the old man might be given the attention his enfeebled condition demanded, he having been blind and helpless for the past ten years. A Times representative drove up to the Verd Home, Tuesday in order to secure a photograph for publication, but found the only known photo of the remarkable old man is one that was taken many years ago, and is in the possession of one of the children living in Dakota. For this reason we are unable to publish his picture. Additional Comments: [Researcher note: The obituary wrongly notes that John (aka Charles) Verd owns property in Gore Twp at the time of Toussaint's death. Toussaint's second son, Thomas, owned the property and cared for Toussaint in his later years. Charles moved to Washington State in 1888 and remained there until his death in 1914.] File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/mi/huron/obits/v/verd5422gob.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/mifiles/ File size: 4.1 Kb