The Detroit Shoemaker

At the age of eleven, shoemaker apprentice Hyacinthe Reaume dreamed of working in the vibrant fur trade like his father and uncles. He longed to join his voyageur father on one of his trips, despite its grueling labour and the dangers of traveling across frigid waters for long periods of time.

An opportune pair of blue shoes led to his courtship and marriage to Agatha LaCelle.

Years later, in 1733, Hyacinthe and Agatha, along with their two children, made the long, arduous trip from Montreal to Fort Pontchartrain in sparsely populated Detroit, where he would combine his two passions of shoemaking and fur trading. Their life would be forever changed. They experienced daily hardships and tragic losses, having survived the French and Indian War, the British takeover of the fort, and Chief Pontiac’s Uprising.

Living through the most tense and critical days in Detroit’s history, theirs is a story of courage, perseverance, acceptance, and enduring love.