Chaison, Jean Baptiste

(August 7, 1745 - July 20, 1854) Jean Baptiste ("Jonas") Chaison was born in Nova Scotia, of French parents. After imprisonment by the British during the French and Indian War, he and his parents fled in 1763 to France, where he was soon orphaned. He returned to North America, and joined the Colonial Army in 1775 at Quebec, to take revenge against the British. Continuing in the Continental Army, he served with Lafayette at Brandywine, 1777; fought at Germantown, 1777; was wounded serving under Greene and Marion at Eutaw Springs, 1781; and found under Lafayette's command at Yorktown, 1781. Coming to western Louisiana as a cattleraiser and farmer about 1785, he married Marie LeBlanc and had eight children. About 1840 he moved to Beaumont to live with his son McGuire Chaison (1809-1859). He was strong and healthy of mind and body as long as he lived, and farmed here until 1854. Dying at a few days under 109 years of age, he was buried in Jirou Cemetery (3 mi. N). He was one of the few men of the American Revolution involved in Texas history. The Daughters of the American Revolution marked his grave site in 1944. The DAR marker was moved here to Pipkin Park when a church was built in 1969 in the extinct Jirou Cemetery.

Chaison, Jean Baptiste is a historical marker in Beaumont, Jefferson County, dedicated in 1976. It is one of 109 historical markers documented in Jefferson County in the Texas Historical Commission Atlas, among 137 historic sites cataloged across the county.

The site sits at 30.0740, -94.0920 near Beaumont. The nearest cataloged historic site is Hinchee House (historic place), about 0.3 miles away. Others within a short drive include Jefferson County Courthouse, Port of Beaumont, and Millard, Henry.

This record corresponds to Texas Historical Commission Atlas #5245010499. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.