Career
He was born in Paris, ca. 1659, to Lorenzo de Tonti who was a financier and former governor of Gaeta who was in France in exile. Lorenzo de Tonti was the inventor of the form of life insurance known as the tontine.
Tonty was commanding the fort in Detroit by 1717, but by 1727 numerous complaints, including those by the Huron led to his dismissal.
Tonty was involved in numerous scandals and disreputable activities before he was eventually dismissed from his post as commandant of Fort Pontchartrain. He died before he could obtain another appointment or return to France.
Tonty was married twice. She was the daughter of Pierre Picoté de Belestre.