Jean François Hamtramck

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Jean François Hamtramck (or John Francis Hamtramck) was a French-Canadian from Quebec who joined the American Army and became a decorated officer. Hamtramck joined the Continental Army and served in the American Revolutionary War.

After the war he continued in the service and, in 1787, he was made commander of Vincennes in Illinois Country where he negotiated a peace treaty with local Native American tribes.

In 1793, Hamtramck was named lieutenant colonel in the Legion of the United States led by General Anthony Wayne to secure the Northwest Territory. Hamtramck was cited for bravery at the Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794. Hamtramck, now a full colonel, took possession of the British Fort Lernoult and the settlement of Detroit for the United States on July 11, 1796. Fort Lernoult was later renamed Fort Shelby. He remained in Detroit until his death in 1803, living in a house on land that is now Gabriel Richard Park near the present bridge to Belle Isle. He was buried at Saint Anne de Detroit Catholic Church, his body being moved in 1817 to the new Saint Anne's, then, in 1866, to Mount Elliot Cemetery.

In 1827, one of the four townships in Wayne County was named for him and, later, a portion of which later became the city of Hamtramck, Michigan.