page_title: Virginia Sarpy Peugnet
section_title: Family
hierarchical_section_title: Virginia Sarpy Peugnet / Family
caption_attribution_description: English: Virginia Sarpy Berthold Peugnet Artist Matthew DeRoche Sitter Virginia Sarpy Berthold Peugnet Date c. 1878 Type Painting Medium Watercolor on ivory Dimensions Sight: 7.4cm x 5.6cm (2 15/16" x 2 3/16"), Accurate Credit Line Current Owner: Missouri Historical Society Website: www.mohistory.org Object number 1973.76.21 Data Source Catalog of American Portraits See more items in Catalog of American Portraits Place France\Île-de-France\Ville de Paris, Départment de\Paris
context_page_description: Virginia Sarpy Peugnet was one of the three original grand dames of St. Louis, Missouri.
context_section_description: By the union of Marie-Thérèse Bourgeois Chouteau with Pierre Laclède four children were born. Pierre Chouteau was born in New Orleans in 1758, and died July 9, 1849. There were three daughters, Marie Louise, who married Marie Joseph Papin; Victoire, who married Charles Gratiot, and Pelagic, Mrs. Sylvestre Labaddie. Pierre Chouteau was married first to Pelagie Kiersereau, and secondly to Brigite Saucier. Victoire married Charles Gratiot, a Canadian, and their daughter, Julia Gratiot, born 1782, died 1852, married John Pierre Cabanne, and their daughter, Jeanne Victorare Adele Cabanne (1803-1832), married John Baptiste Sarpy (1798-1857), whose daughter was Virginia Sarpy.
  Virginia Sarpy was born on July 4, 1827. Adele, the first wife of John Sarpy died when their only child, Virginia, was four years old. Later he married a second time, to Martha Jane Russell (1817-1844), of the Irish family of O'Bannon, by whom he had two children, one the wife of James L. D. Morrison, who figured in the political and land-dealing history of Illinois. After the death of Sarpy's second wife, Virginia brought up the family of stepsister and stepbrother, assisted by her Grandmother Cabanne, who was her own mother's mother, but the children were never taken out of their own home which was then where later the Carleton Building stood, on Sixth and Olive Streets. Virginia's first schooling was with Mme. Vitalis, who undertook the education of a limited number of girls, followed by a year in the Sacred Heart Convent; and, later, a short course at a female academy at Steubenville, Ohio, from which she was called on account of the last illness of her stepmother. Just before her death Virginia's father was induced to take the family to Ste. Genevieve, where his wife could have the benefit of treatment by Father Celeni, a venerable priest, who was noted for his skill in making cures with herbs and nature's remedies. However, after remaining there for some time it was found to be futile; she died of consumption very soon after.
  The journey to the oldest settlement in the State was a delightful childish remembrance to Virginia Sarpy Peugnet. At that time relatives of the family were living in Ste. Genevieve, engaged in the milling business under the name of Chouteau, Harrison & Valle. The old Chouteau mansion was still standing two miles above the town on the river bank, where the mill also stood, but which was later destroyed by fire.
  Virginia Sarpy Peugnet's father was a member of the American Fur Trading Co., the other members being relatives of Virginia Sarpy Peugnet's father's first wife — Mr. Sire and Mr. Chouteau. Their dealings were with the Native Americans, trading goods for furs.
  Virginia Sarpy married first Frederick A. Berthold (1821-1868), son of Bertholomew Berthold, and Pelagie Chouteau, who was the daughter of Pierre Chouteau and his second wife, Brigite Saucier.
  Her second marriage was to Armand Bernard Peugnet (1833-1894), a member of the French diplomatic corps. She had one son, Maurice Bernard Peugnet (1871-1914), a widower with seven children, and two daughters, Claire Pelagie Berthold (1866-1950) and Eugenie Berthold (1868-1962), who never married. Other two children are: Amedee Bartholomew Berthold (1849-1864) and Louisa Berthold Weinmann (1850-1910). 
  After her second marriage, Virginia Sarpy Peugnet traveled abroad considerably during her husband's office of Consul in Germany, Spain and France.
  Virginia Sarpy Peugnet died on August 11, 1917. She is buried at Calvary Cemetery (St. Louis).
caption: Virginia Sarpy Berthold Peugnet by Matthew DeRoche
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