ABLON, CLAUDE. - Jesuit, missionary among the North American Indians, b. at Dieppe, 21 Jan. 1619; d. at Québec, 3 May 1697. Landing at Québec in 1655, he took part in several expeditions among the Hurons and Iroquois; explored Hudson Bay to establish mission centres there and to find a western passage to the sea then called the China Sea; he was the first to report the rich copper mines in the region of Lake Superior; he assigned Fr. J. Marquette to the expedition which led to the discovery of the upper Mississippi. He also drew up the first plan to connect Lake Erie with the Illinois River by a canal. Having founded the mission at Sault Ste. Marie, he was appointed superior of all the Canadian missions (1686–93). His numerous letters, still of great historical value, are clear and comprehensive.
DABLON, CLAUDE
BIBL.: Sommervogel, II, cols. 1773–75; R. G. Thwaites, *Jesuit Relations*, 72 vols., Cleveland 1896–1901 (see index); C. da Rochemonteix, *Les Jésuites et la Nouvelle France au XVIIe siècle*, II, Paris 1896; III, 1896, passim; T. J. Campbell, *Pioneer Priests of North America*, I, 2nd ed., New York 1913, pp. 110–33.