A selection from "Illinois in the 18th Century" "And Renault, on a portion of his grant above the Fort, established the village of St. Philip, which became a thriving place. These were laid out after the French manner, with Commons and Common Fields, still marked upon the local maps, and in some cases held and used to this day under the provisions of these early grants. In each of the villages was a chapel, under the jurisdiction of the parent church of Ste. Anne of Fort Chartres.* To the colony came scions of noble families of France, seeking fame and adventure in that distant land, and their names and titles appear at length in the old records and parish registers.* Among them was Benoist St. Claire, captain of a company detached from the marine service, who followed La Buissonie're in the chief command, and held it for a year or more. He found little to do in those piping times of peace, made an occasional grant of land, and sought other service early in 1742." ------------ Note from Renee: Here are my comments from an entry I've just posted on our website in the "History" section, categories: Degruys in Print and Our History in Illinois. Note that I have posted the Entire Book in pdf format! .............. This is a pdf version of the book. I do not think you can search this version, but if you go to Google books, http://books.google.com/books?id=MzAUAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA17&dq=%22 The+Illinois+Country%22&hl=en&ei=JpVdTJTEIML68AbJyanEDQ&sa=X &oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CDYQ6AEwAzge#v=onepa ge&q=%22The%20Illinois%20Country%22&f=false <http://books.google.com/books?id=MzAUAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA17&dq=%22,The+Illinois+Country%22&hl=en&ei=JpVdTJTEIML68AbJyanEDQ&sa=X,&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CDYQ6AEwAzge#v=onepa,ge&q=%22The%20Illinois%20Country%22&f=false> you can search from there, get a page number and then go to that page number in the book I've uploaded. Sneaky, eh? Check out page 16 where it mentions Dussault de la Croix and Antoine de Gruye I have posted items from this book before. I used to have to go to the Missouri Archives and sit there and hand write notes and pay for photocopies in order to get material. Very time-consuming. Now it's all available on line, for complete download through Google Books. Amazing! Enjoy! R