He was born in
Montreal in 1731. He worked as a fur trader and
Indian agent at
Logstown, near the current location of
Ambridge, Pennsylvania. After the fall of
New France to the British in 1760, as part of the
Seven Years' War, Bâby initially refused to swear allegiance to King
George III. He considered leaving the country. But after he learned that his brother
François was transferring his operations from
France to
London, Bâby swore the oath of allegiance and resumed trading. He moved to the
Fort Shelby (
Detroit) area in present-day Michigan. In 1777, during the American Revolutionary War, Bâby was appointed by the British as a captain and interpreter in the Indian Department. Bâby acquired large amounts of land on both the
American and
British sides of the
Detroit River, as well as to the north along the
St. Clair River. In 1787, after the United States gained independence, Bâby was appointed by the Americans as lieutenant-colonel of the Detroit militia. In 1788, he was named to the land board of the
Hesse District in western Ontario. He died at Fort Shelby in 1789. His son
James Bâby later became a judge and a member of the
Executive Council and
Legislative Council of Upper Canada. His sons
François,
James (Jacques) and
Jean Baptiste were elected as members of the
Legislative Assembly in Upper Canada (now Ontario). His daughter Suzanne married
William Caldwell, a Loyalist soldier of the
American Revolutionary War, an Indian agent, and founder of
Amherstburg,
Ontario. ==Legacy==