Philippe François Renault
| Philippe François Renault | |
|---|---|
| Born | c. 1686 Picardy (present-day Hauts-de-France), Kingdom of France |
| Died | April 24, 1755 Prieuré de Sankin Commune d'Estrées, Kingdom of France |
| Nationality | French |
| Occupation | Politician, businessman, explorer, metallurgist, landowner, mine owner, city planner |
| Employer | Company of the Indies, French government, self-employed |
| Known for | Developing early lead mines in the Illinois Country in French North America for King Louis XV, as well as founding St. Philippe, an early agricultural community, on the Mississippi River |
| Spouse(s) | Celestine Pochez |
| Children | 5 |
| Parent(s) | Philippe Renault and Marie Jeane Baillet |
Philippe François Renault (c. 1686 – April 24, 1755) was a French politician, businessman, explorer, metallurgist, and favorite courtier of King Louis XV of France, who left his native Picardy in 1719 for the Illinois Country, Upper Louisiana, in French North America.
Renault was an important contributor to early efforts at mining, especially for lead, in the French colonies, which began in earnest when he transported African slaves from Saint-Domingue to settlements on the Mississippi River. More successful than his lead mines was his concession of land on the east bank of the river, on which he founded St. Philippe, an early agricultural community. The village quickly became prosperous by exporting surpluses to other settlements on the river.
Renault was born in Picardy, in northern France. His father, Philippe Renault, was a wealthy iron founder at Consobre, near Maubeuge, and a stockholder in the Royal Company of the Indies.
Renault was appointed director-general of mining operations by the Company of the West, which had been formed by the French for the exploitation of their American possessions. It acquired the French East India Company and became the Company of the Indies in 1719.
In the early 1720s, Renault purchased 200 (some sources say 500) African slaves in the French colony of Saint-Domingue (now the Dominican Republic) for labor in the mines he planned to develop. These men were the first enslaved Africans brought to the Illinois and Missouri regions. In 1723, Renault was granted "in freehold, in order to make his establishment upon the mines" a tract of land a league and a half in a width by six in depth on the Little Marameig in Missouri; another tract of two leagues "at the mine called the mine of Lamothe"; another of one league in front of Pimeteau on the Illinois River; and "one league fronting on the Mississippi, at the place called the Great Marsh, adjoining on one side to the Illinois Indians, settled near Fort de Chartres, with a depth of two leagues, this place being the situation which has been granted to him for the raising of provisions, and to enable him to furnish then to all the settlements he shall make upon the mines." Upon the latter land grant in the Illinois Country, Renault expected to grow food for his mining operations, taking advantage of the rich, black soil of what would later become known as the "American Bottom".
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