QUEEN MARINETTE
Spirit of survival on the Great Lakes Frontier
By Beverly Hayward Johnson
QUEEN MARINETTE Spirit of survival on the Great Lakes Frontier
QUEEN MARINETTE
Spirit of Survival on the Great Lakes Frontier
By Beverly Hayward Johnson
White Water Associates, Inc. Amasa, Michigan 1995 Copyright © 1995 Beverly Hayward Johnson, All rights reserved.
Published by \.Yhite Water Associates, Inc. 429 River Lane P.O. Box 27 Amasa, Michigan 49903
Permissions for photographs, drawings, and other exhibits as indicated.
Cite as: Johnson, Beverly Hayward. 1995. Queen Marinette-Spirit of Survival on the Great Lalies Frontier. \!Vhite Water Associates, Inc., Amasa, Michigan. 92 pages.
Cover: Portrait of Marinette-the only likeness of her known to exist-from a copy of a "carte de visite." See page 73 for a complete description and source. Wild rice motif by Harley Ragan, Amasa, Michigan.
ISBN 0-9648524-0-3 Table of Contents
1 Marinette's Ancest1y 1644 - 1795 ...... 1
2 Early Years at La Baie (Old Green Bay) 1795 - 1822 ...... 9
3 Early Years at "The Menominee" 1822 - 1823 ...... 19
4 Mackinac Island - Wilderness Capitol 1823 - 1824 ...... 25
5 Long Arm of the Law 1824 - 1825 ...... 29
6 Lumbering on Menominee Land 1825 - 1834 ...... 35
7 Frontier Matriarch and Businesswoman 1834 - 1848 ...... 45
8 Reluctant Departures from "Th e Menominee" 1848 - 1854 ...... 55
9 Emergence of a New Generation 1854 ...... 63
10 Queen Marinette After 1860 ...... 69
Appendix: Descendants of Marinette ...... 77
Index ...... 87 Sidebars
Big Marten, 3 Fort Michilimackinac, 5 Baptismal Record-Mackinac Island, 6 Menominee River Post, 20 Pipe of High Wine, 22 First Mill on Menominee River, 38 Marinette's Supply Source, 4 7 William Farnsworth, 50-51 Tribal Relationships, 56-57 Marinette's House and Patrick's Map, 64-65 Queen City Steamer, 72
Exhibits
Marinette's French and Native American Ancestors (cha11), 2 Youn g Marin ette h arvesting wild rice (drawing), 8 Letter closures of Jean Baptiste Jacobs, Sr. (handwriting), 10 1818 Map of the Fox River (sketch), 14-15 Marinette's post (drawing), 18 Mackinac to Prairie du Chien Water Trail (map), 24 Judge James Doty (photo), 30 Maple sugar cam p (drawing), 44 Wistar meeting Menominee chiefs at Fort Howard (drawing), 54 Dancing at trading post on the Menominee River (drawing), 62 Queen City and post on the Menominee River (drawing), 68 Jacobs' House in Green Bay (photo), 70 Marinette and Her Home (souvenir postcard), 73 Marinette's Crypt at Forest Home Cemetery (phot o), 74 Elizabeth Jacobs McLeod (photo), 81 John Jacobs, Jr. (photo), 83 George P. Farnsworth (charcoal drawing), 85 In Appreciation
In addition to my husband, Bruce, and my daughters in-law, Debbie and Gail, I would also like to extend special thanks to Sue Harrison, Mary June, Marcel Pichot, Sue Schacher, Edeltraute Vialpando, and others at Lake Superior State University for their help and encouragement. Two archivists at the State Historical Society of \IVisconsin, Debra Anderson (Green Bay) and Harold L. Miller (Madison), were indispensable. They both provided patient and helpful access to important records, 'vithout which this biography of Marinette could not have been written.
1 Marinette's Ancestry
1644 - 1795
he city and county of Marinette in Northeastern vVisconsin derived their names from a personable and highly Tcompetent Native American and French woman. She was born in the 1790s during the thriving fur trade era in the Old Northwest, and before her death in 1865, she had witnessed the demise of the fur trade and the birth of the commercial fishing and lumbering industries. For Marinette, this transition required astute flexibility which allowed her, a single parent, to adapt and provide for a large extended family in a manner that brought admiration and love from ·the surrounding Native American community and eventually captured the respect of the white population. Her life was a saga of sur vival and renewal and is a continuing source of pride for the region in which she lived. Marinette was born in Northeastern Wisconsin during the period when this area was part of the Old Northwest Territory and was occupied b y Native Americans and a small number of white persons, most of them French. Her ancestry stemmed from a combination of Native American and French roots. 1
Note on bibliographic sources: Tiie superscript numbers appearing in the text (such as the number "1" used above) refer to bibliographic source notes listed at the end of each chapter. In addition, some chapters contain boxed sidebars that provide detailed information beyond the scope of the narrative. These sidebars can and often do have bibliogra:phic source notes of their own listed at the end of each sidebar. Numbering of sidebar soiirce notes is uni.qite to each sidebar.
1 QUEEN MARINETTE-Spirit of Survival on the Great Lakes Frontier
Marinette's French and Native American Ancestors
2 Marinette's Ancestry
BIG MARTEN Over fifty years after Ke-che-waub-ish-ashe (Big Marten) died at Elk River, the Americans negotiated a boundary treaty with the Chippewas, Menominees and Winnebagos at Butte des Mortes on the Fox River in August 1827. One of several Chippewa chiefs who signed the treaty with his "x" mark was Gitshee \1Vaubeshass (also called Big Marten), a descendan t of Ke-che-waub-ish-ashe. Gitshee \i\Taubeshass was a contemporary of Marinette's, and it is likely they both were descendants of the original warchief who had died at Elk River in approximately 177'3. Another chief who signed the 1827 treaty for the Menominees was Marinette's good friend, Joset Caron. Source: Kappler, C. (Ed.). (1975). In Indian Treaties, 1778- 1883. New York: Interland Publishing, Inc.
Marinette's mother was a Chippewa woman, and although her Native American name is not known, old records written in French indicate she was called Louise. Several historians have noted that Louise was a descendant of the renowned warrior, Ke-che-waub-ish-ashe, whom the English called Big Marten.2 Big Marten died in approximately 1 773 3 leading an unsuccessful war party against the Sioux at Elk River. This attempt was one of several made by the Chippewa in a long process of warfare to gain control over prime wild rice and fur trade areas in present day \i\Testern \i\Tisconsin and Eastern Minnesota.4 (See opposite, Marinette's ancestry chart, and sidebar above, "Big Marten.") Marinetle's paternal ancestors were members of the Chevalier family, early French traders. They had left Montrea1 during the first half of the eighteenth century to pursue the fur trade at Old Fort Michilimackinac located on the south shore of the Straits of Macldnac.5 Her great grandfather married a Menominee woman and some of th eir descendants (including Marinette's grandfather, Jean Baptiste) moved westward from Fort Michilimacldnac near the end of the eighteenth century.6 They settled on the Fox River
3 QUEEN MARINETTE- Spirit of Survival on the Great Lakes Frontier at La Baie de Verte (Green Bay) wher e they maintained friendly trading relationships with Menominee and Chippewa tribal bands. (See sidebar "Fort Michilimackinac," ne.>..1: page.) Like his father before him, Marinette's father , Barthelemy Ch evalier , also settled along the Fox River w hich was then a section of the old Montre al to Mississippi water route. Barthelem y lived just above the Rapids of the Fathers (now called DePere) five miles upriver from the mouth of the Fox. Here, he and his Chippewa wife raised four children: Louise II, Marie (who was called Marinette), Angelique, and Barthelemy II.7 (See sidebar "Baptismal Record-Mackinac Island," at end of chapter, for further information on this family.) At t his time, the area's population consisted of Native Americans, several French traders and their engages (hired workers), a few British t raders, and numerous mixed Native American/French families. The latter included th e Ch evalier children wh o lived with th eir parents in on e of the typical, small, Fren ch -style houses covered with high-pealced bark roofs and spaced at intervals along the Fox River. During th e 1700s, these dwellings were usually built with upright logs and caulked with clay and cob in the traditional French-Canadian poteau:x; en terre (posts in gTou nd) style.8 Later, around the turn of th e cenlury, some h omes began to be constru cted of horizontal timbers in ·the French-Canadian Style called piece-sur-piece.9 Near the dwellings, the lots contained fenced enclosures for gardens which wer e carefully tended by the women of the households. 10 A surprisingly large variety of vegetables were grown in those early days. Indian corn, peas, potatoes, cabbages, melons, onions, and squash w er e harvested to supplement the traditional diet of wild game, fish, wild rice, berries, and maple sugar. 11 Dried peas and corn w ere stored for use during the fur-gath ering months o l' th e year when the men took some of these p roducts with them on the long w ater trails to their remote winter trading p osts. Thanks to ·the efforts of an early Green Bay priest, Father Theodore VandenBroek, and to resear ch done in Green Bay records by Jeanne and Les Rentmeester, kinship relationships among the residents of Old La Baie have been established. During his tenure as pastor in the 1830s at St. John the
4 Marinette's Ancestry
FORT MICHILIMACKINAC Marinette's ancestors, the Chevaliers, lived at Fort Michilimackinac on the south side of the straits between Lakes Huron and Michigan. Tii.is site (now in present-day Mackinaw City, Michigan) was located strategically on the old Montreal to Mississippi Canoe Route used extensively by the early fur traders and Native Americans. Ste. Ann e's Church, with its adjoining priest's house, occupied a prominent location on the west side of the foti and was a central influence in the lives of the fort occupants. During the 1740s and 1 750s, Fort Michilimackinac housed a French military garrison as well as several French and mixed Native American/ French families who lived in row-house dwellings. The large extended family of Chevaliers ov.rned four houses, and at least two more w ere occupied by daughters who had married and taken the names of their French husbands. 1 In 1 761, the British arrived to take control of Fort Michilimackinac and gradually acquired the dwellings of the French traders to house British soldiers. The French families then built small houses outside the walls of the fort where they carried on their trading activities. Many of them, including several of the Chevaliers, eventually moved farther up the old canoe route to La Baie (present-day Green Bay, Wisconsin) where they continued to trade fo r furs with Nat ive Americans. 1. Gerin-Lajoi.e, M. (Trans. and Ed.). (1976). Fort Michilimack.inac in 1749: Lotbiniere's Plan and Description. In Mackinac History, an Informal Series of Illu.strated Vi.gnettes, Volume II, Leaflet Number 5. Mackinac Island State Park Commission.
Evangelist Catholic Church, Father VandenBroek wTote a list of the persons who had been buried in the old St. John's Church Cemetery and were later moved to the new Allouez Cemetery. His list names four members of the Chevalier family: Joseph, Liset, Jean Baptiste and Marinet. 12 Comprehensive research done in the 1980s by the Rentmeesters has resolved that Joseph and
5 QUEEN MARINETTE-Spirit of Survival on the Great Lakes Frontier
Liset w ere Marinette's aunt and uncle, and Jean Baptiste and Marin.et (VandenBroek's spelling) were her paternal g1·andparents.13 It is highly probable that Marinette was named after h er grandmother whose full name had been Marie Antoinette, which through popular usage had been shortened to Marinette.
BAPTISMAL RECORD-MACKINAC ISLAl'.TD The entry below exists in the old Mission of St. Ignace de Michilimackinac's record of baptisms. On a summer visit to Mackinac Island in 1786, Barthelemy Chevalier and his Native American wife presented their young child Marguerite to Reverend Father Payet for baptism at Ste. Anne's Church. This event took place well before the birth of Marinette, and it is likely Marguerite was an older full or half sister of Marinette. Both the child's uncle and her grandfather had the name Jean Baptiste Chevalier, and it appears that one of them assumed the responsibilities of godfather. ''July 22, 1786, I, the unclersigned Priest, baptized Marguerite, two years, four months, six days, natural daughter of Barthelmi Chevalier and of a savage mother. The godfather was Mr. Jean Bapti,ste Chevalier, and the godmother, Madame Bourassa, who cleclared that she coilld not si,gn her name, as did also the father." Signed : Payet, :Missionary Priest Witnessed and Signed: J. Baptiste Chevalier
Source: Register of Baptism s of the Mission of St. Ignace de Michilimackinak, 1695-1821, p. 85. Collecti.ons of the State Historical Soci-ety of Wisconsin, Vol, XIX. Madison: Democrat Printing Company.
6 Marinette's Ancestry
SOURCES FOR CHAPTER 1 1. Reaume, C. In Grignon, Lawe and Parlier Papers, Vols. 1-65, 1712- 1884, v. 55, p. 19, (Microfilm edition, 1984). Madison: State Historical Society of ·wisconsin. 2. Morton, W. (1929). Notables in Early History of Marinette, p. 17. Green Bay Historical Bulletin, 1Vu.mber 3, Volume 5. Green Bay: Green Bay Historical Society, 1925- 1934. 3. Robinson, D. (1967). A. History of the Dalwta or Sioi1..-r Indians, p. 64. Minneapolis: Ross and Haines, Inc. 4. Warren, vV. (1957). History of the Ojibway Na"lion, pp. 50, 240- 241. Minneapolis: Ross and Haines, Inc. 5. Register of Baptisms (1910). Register of Baptisms of the Mission of St. Ignace de Michilimackinak, 1695-1821, pp. 1-4.Collections of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, Vol. XIX. Madison: Democrat Printing Company. 6. Rentmeester, L. and J. (1987). T7ie Wisconsin Creoles, p . 282. Melbourne, Florida: Rentmeesters. 7. Reaume. 8. Peterson, E. (1968). France at Mackinac, A Pictorial Record of French Life and Culture, 1715-1760, p. 11. Mackinac Island State Park Commission. 9. Gardner, M. (Ed.). (1990). In Heritage I-IW State Parh, p. 5. Green Bay: Heritage Hill Foundation. 10. Martin, M. (1909). Lawe and Grignon Papers. Collections of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, Vol. X, p. 139. Madison: Democrat Printing Company. 11. Kellogg, L. (1925). The French Regime in Wisconsin and the Northwest, pp. 387-405. Madison: State Historical Society of Wisconsin (George Banta Publishing). 12. VandenBroek, T. (1830s). In Burial Records, St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church, Green Bay. Area Research Center at U\i\T-Green Bay, State Historical Society of \1\Tisconsin. 13. Rentmeesters, pp. 224- 225.
7 I --
'\1 . ~ ' '~ ~ ~~
Throughout her l~fe, Marinette harvested wild rice. She is depicted here by arti.st Donald Chosa as a young w oman winnowing rice. Behind her, another woman parches rice over a w ood fire. 2 Early Years at La Baie (Old Green Bay)
1795 - 1822
or the Chevalier family, the pattexn of existence before the War of 1812 was seasonal. Barthelemy, like many of the Fvillage traders and engages, wintered away from home, sometimes taking his family with him into the northern wilderness. A family legend indicates that at least one of the children, Marinette, was born at Chevalier's winter quarters at Post Lake on the upper reaches of the \Nolf River in present-day Northern Wisconsin. 1 The warm months always brought the family back to La Baie where the community was closely knit and people depended upon one another for mutual companionship and aid.2 Sometime between 1807 and 1810, a drama began to unfold in the Chevalier household when Marinette was approximately fourteen, the age at which m ost young women in her culture married. A fur tr ader named Jean Baptiste Samuel Jacobs, of British, French, and Jewish heritage,3 left Montreal and made ·the long canoe journey up the Ottawa and across the northern Great Lakes to La Baie. He was related to Jacob Franks" who, together with Franks' neph ew, John Lawe, had large property holdings and an established mercantile and fur-trading business at La Baie. Jean Baptiste could read and speak both French and English impressive capabilities in the Old Northwest. (See writing examples, n ext page.) His father had died, and under the old system of primogenitur e had left a major portion of his estate to his eldest son, Samuel.5 Jean Baptiste, a younger son, believed himself to be in lin e to receive a sizable inheritance when Samu el died.
9 .•
QUEEN MARINETTE- Spirit of Survival on the Great Lakes Frontier
\A/hen Jean Baptiste Jacobs met Marinette, she was a striking young lady who had classic Native American features with long black h air, dark skin, and brown eyes that flashed the perceptive intelligence for which she became noted in later life.6 Jacobs lost little time gaining the favor of Barthelemy Chevalier and arranging a contractual relationship with his daughter in the presence of the local French magistTate. The vVar of 1812, however, intruded upon the couple's happiness for it temporarily halted the fur trade and took Jacobs back to Canada. For many years he seemed to return only sporadically into Marinette's life. It is likely their three children were born during the winters of his absence in the Chevalier family home wher e Marinette's Chippewa mother kept a benevolent eye on h er young daughter and grandchildren. Throu ghout the war, the French and the Natives, in support of their long-standing economic and social relationships with the British, fought wherever needed on the frontier against th e Al.nericans. Many times durin g the vvinters of this p eriod , the village residents and surrounding tribes faced severe food shortages. Because the Menominees needed to b e away to h elp with the fighting, their women, children, and elderly were without m eat from the hunt as well as staples normally bartered from the traders. \l\lh en the men returned late in 1814 and found
French (1831)
English (1840)
Com:plim.entary clos'Ures to letters wri.tten by Jean Baptiste Jacobs, Sr., who could read and write both French and English. (In Grign on, Lawe, and Porlier Papers, SJ-ISW, Madison.)
10 Early Years at La Baie (Old Green Bay) their people without food, they resorted in desperation to killing the villagers' farm animals in an effort to prevent starvation.7 The British, even though they lost the war, still desired to keep a foothold in the region. As a result, they later reimbursed the villagers, including the households of Barthelemy Chevalier and Jean Baptiste Jacobs, for these losses.8 Following the vVar, the fur trade resumed in earnest, but the years of profit-taking once enjoyed by the French and British were essentially over. The American Fur Company began to usurp control of the industry, and the wilderness of the Old Northwest experienced serious depletion of its fur-bearing animals. The easy-going, well-mannered villagers of Old La Baie were startled by the hard-driving nature of upwardly mobile American businessmen who put profits above maintaining the niceties of inteTpersonal relationships.9 The Menominees, who claimed vast forested areas in present-day Wisconsin and the northern peninsula of Michigan, also had adjustments to make. In 1816 their wise and highly esteemed leader, Chief Tomah (called Thomas Caron by the Americans), told the newly arriving U.S. commander who had come to build Fort Howard at Green Bay (La Baie): My Brother! How can we oppose your locating a council fire among us? You are too strong for us. Even if we wanted to oppose yoiL, we have scarcely got powder and shot to make the attempt. One favor we ask is that Ollr French brothers shall not be disturbed or in any way molested. You can choose any plcice you please for your fort, and we shall not object. 10 The Menominees had two hundred years of post-contact history wherein they had proven they were survivors. Always a small tribe, they had often been subjected to the intrusions of other peoples-both native and white. They usually responded with hospitality and good will but fought bravely when wisdom dictated there was no alternative short of capitulation. The villagers living in La Baie had great respect for the Menominees, which was bonded by the strong ties of intermarriage. Both the tribe and the villagers learned to rely on one another during times of n eed. As a result Menominee tribal boundaries in the
11 QUEEN MARINETTE- Spirit of Survival on the Great Lakes Frontier area were secured and even eA.rpanded during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Two years after the building of Fort Howard, Marinette gave birth on March 31, 1818, to her third child, Jean (John) Baptiste Jacobs, Jr. 11 Two daughters, Mary Polly and Elizabeth, had preceded him. At this time the villagers were petitioning the Americans with the hope that their French I British land claims would be honored. In the process of listing the names of claimants, Jacobs p roudly noted next to his name: "father of Jean Baptiste Jacobs, Jr." He also wrote that n e.>..1: door to him lived the "Widow Chevalier, mother of Mrs. Jacobs," an indication that Marinette's father, Ba1thelemy Chevalier, had recently died.12 The two properties were located just above the Rap ids of DePere, and Jacobs reported his lot was approximately five acres V\ride, contained two "logue" houses, and had access to "a good maney duckes at the rappids."15 (See folloV\ring pages for a map of the Fox River and Old Fort Howard sketched by a soldier in 1818.) Late that year, in the typical fashion of an Upper Canada trader, Jacobs left his family, this time to serve a three-year contract V\rith the Northwest Company in British territory where he still retained citizenship. He worked in a small isolated tTading community as a clerk at the forks of the Assiniboine and Reel Rivers near present-clay 'W"innipeg. Finally, in the spring of 1820, h e b egan th e long canoe journey back to Old La Baie de Verte which was by now beginning to become known by its American name, Green Bay. On his way he stopped at Fort William (at present-day Thunder Bay, Ontario) before traversing the northern shore of Lake Superior to Sault Ste. Marie, then south to Mackinac and eventually home. 14 The unrelenting hardships of winters in the frozen north w ere fresh on Jacobs' mind and the reunion with Marinette and his young family was joyous. That fall he announced to the leading merchants he had decided to V\rinter at Green Bay and would keep a French school, "being the onley means for a livileyhood. I shaJl," he said, "concider it a great obligation if you will favour me in obtaining scholars, which I promise to ... act faithfully my duty as a schoolmaster toward them." 15 What many had suspected about Jacobs, however, was soon confirmed that
12 Early Years at La Baie (Old Green Bay) same year. He was a man of great potential who had advantages surpassing those of many others, but was, much to the disappointment of his family and friends, sadly afflicted with alcoholism. A proud person, for many years he n ever admitted he had this problem and blamed his difficulties on the actions of others. In faltering English he wrote to John Lawe: I got drunh to drop the school as I could not make a livelywood on one gallon pease, fifteen pounds porh per month, and could not get wood from Mr. Gorbut. For the sake of your [families] do not treat their schoolmaster this year the sam.e, in case he drops school as I did. 16 The following summer Jacobs learned his older brother was ill and prevailed on John Lawe to loan him money to travel to Montreal. Lawe not only loaned him the money, but as h e had many times in the past, kept a paternal eye on Marinette and the children during Jacobs' absence.17 Late in the fall, Jacobs returned from Montreal, and John Lawe made an effort to employ him as a clerk in the fur trade. Lawe sent him with Stanislas Chaput, an experienced trader who had orders to leave him with a man and supplies at the Red River n ear the place where it joins the Wolf River in Northern Wisconsin.'8 Unwilling to wait for the winter freeze-up, Jacobs claimed his location was too marshy for habitation and paid two Menominees a considerable amount of Lawe's goods to paddle him up the river to higher ground. The few Natives who did visit his new site did not bring him furs or meat and informed him the place never had been good for hunting. As a result, Jacobs sent his hired man a long distance up the Wisconsin River for venison, spending more of Lawe's goods in the process. To make matters worse, Lawe had asked Chaput to leave three kegs of trade whiskey \vi.th Jacobs which were to be transported by Jacobs' m an to Pierre Grignon's winter post several miles away. Jacobs, however, did not do as he had been bid and kept the whiskey. Later that winter when a runner from Grignon's post took a letter to Lawe asking why the whiskey had not been delivered, Lawe sadly realized it was costing far too much to continue to employ Jacobs. 19
13 QUEEN MARINETTE-Spirit of Survival on the Great Lakes Frontier
-3,' · :.· "'
Upper portion of a map of the Fox Rivet· shetched lnJ a. soldier stati.oned at Old Fort Howard in 1818. The homes of Barthelemy Chevalier and Jean Baptiste Jacobs, Sr., were located just above the jive-mile mark on the east side (left side of map) of the river at present day DePere, Wisconsin. State Historical Society of Wisconsin ['WHi (X3) 49518. MS GX 9028 F 79 1818].
14 Early Years at La Baie (Old Green Bay)
1818 Map ... cont:inned. Lower portion of the map shows the Fox River from its nwuth to above the three-mile mark. Sites along the river include Old Fort Howard and numerous properties of the Grignon and Lawe families. State Hi.stori.cal Society of Wisconsin [WHi (X3) 49519. MS GX 9028 F 79 1818).
15 QUEEN MARINETTE-Spirit of Survival on the Great Lakes Frontier
During the spring of 1822, Lawe balked at Jacobs' request for another loan to again visit Montreal. Miffed by the rejection, Jacobs convinced Marinette to accompany him to Mackinac where he was sure he could find financing. \!\lhile there, he discussed his needs with John Dousman, who lived on the island, and the Grignon brothers, who were there on business. These gentlemen, all of whom were related to Marinette through the Chevalier family,20 made it possible for Jacobs to travel to Montreal. He returned confidently to Mackinac in the fall and disclosed that his ailing brother had made a will naming him a substantial beneficiary of his father's estate. TI1is rosy picture prompted Robert Stuart of the American Fur Company to advance him an outfit of goods and Major \!\lhistler, Acting Indian Agent at Mackinac, to license him to trade at the mouth of the Menominee River on Green Bay's west shore.21
SOURCES FOR CHAPTER 2 l. Sherman, J. (1876), p. 3. In Lewis Patrick Papers. State Historical Society of 'Wisconsin in Madison. (Original work published by Marinette and Peshtigo Eagle, July 15, 1876.) 2. Biddle, J. (1903). Biddle's Recollections. Collections of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, Vol. I, p. 58. Madison: Democrat Printing Company. 3. Vaugeois, D. (1966-1968). InDicti.onary of Canadian Biograph:y, Vol. rv; 1771-1800, p. 384. Buffalo, New York: University of Toronto Press. 4. Fox, B. (1929). In Queen Marinette Pamphlet File, October 31 letter to D. Martin. Local History and Genealogy Department, Brown County Public Library, Green Bay. 5. Vaugeois. p. 385. 6. Worth, J. (1940). "Menominee in 1853 Described by James F. Lyon." In J\!Ienominee Herald Leader, September 4, 1940. (Reprinted by Schuyler, E., ed., 1941, inMenominee County Boolifor Schools, p.204. Menominee, Michigan: Office of County School Commissioner.)
7. Bulger, A. (1895). TI~e Bulger Papers. Collections of the Sta.te Histori.cal Society of Wisconsin, Vol. XIII, pp. 20-22. Madison: Democrat Printing Company.
16 Early Years at La Baie (Old Green Bay)
8. Bulger, A. (1892). Court of Inquiry at Green Bay. Collections of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, Vol. XII, pp. 126-131. Madison: Democrat Pr inting Company. 9. Lawe, J. (1911). Letter to J. Franks, August 26, 1822. Collections of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, Vol. XX, pp. 2 77-2 78. Madison: Democrat Printing Company. 10. Grignon, A. (1904). Seventy-two Years' Recollections of Wisconsin. Collections of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, VoL III, p. 282. Madison: Democrat Printing Company. 11. Richard, G. (1823). In Registre des Baptemes Saits dan LaParroisse de Michilimackinac, commance le 23 ]ulliet 1823. St. Anne's Church Register, Mackinac Island. 12. Jacobs, J. (1909). Inhabitants at Green Bay, 18 18. Collections of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, Vol. X, pp. 136-138. Madison: Democrat Pr inting Company. 13. Jacobs, J. (n.d.). In Grignon, Lawe and Parlier Papers, Vols. 1-65, 1712-1884 (microfilm edition, 1984), v. 53, p. 14. Madison: State Hist orical Society of Wisconsin. 14. Patrick, L. (n.d.). In Lewis Patrich Papers, unpublish ed file informat ion attributed to Reverend J. Morse, 1820. State Historical Society of ·wisconsin in Madison. 15. Jacobs, J. (1892). Early Sch ools in Green Bay. Collections of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, Vol. XII, p. 455. Madison: Democrat Printing Company. 16. Jacobs, J. (1892). Letter to John Lawe, January 1823. Collections of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, Vol. XII, p. 459. Madison: Democrat Printing Company. 17. Jacobs, J. (1826). Letter to Joh n Lawe, July 1826. In Jo hn Lawe Papers. State Historical Society of Wisconsin in Madison. 18. Ibid. 19. Jacobs. (n.d.). p. 15. 20. Rentmeester, L. and J. (1987). 77te Wisconsin Creoles, p. 258. Melbourne, Florida: Rentmeesters. 21. Jacobs. Letter to John Lawe, January 1823. p. 458.
17 Furs were the most important commodity brought to Marinette 's post. She also took wilcl ri.ce, maple sugar, fish, cranberries, and currency for tracle goods. Honesty and fairness were the hallmarks of her business. 3 Early Years at "The Menominee"
1822 - 1823
he journey of Marinette and Jacobs from Mackinac Island to the Menominee River brought them to the primary ancestral Tvillage of the tribe from which the area took its name. At that time in history the mouth of "The Menominee" was still filled with aquatic grasses, reeds, vvild rice, fish, and waterfowl. It was a veritable paradise for Native residents who utilized the cattail stalks for building materials, the reeds in woven floor mats, and the rice to supplement their fishing, hunting, and gathe ring economy. A few miles upriver near the Native village, the ground was carpeted with the needles of towering pines and the leaves of oak and other mature hardwoods. 1 When first seen by Marinette, the area was knmvn to traders and Native Americans alike simply as "The Menominee." The American Fur Company had a sizable, long-established trading p ost on the south side of "The Menominee," and across the river their competitor, William Farnsworth, had recently built a smaller, jack-knife post (one that could easily be opened and closed for variable p eriods of time). Much to the chagrin of the Gr een Bay Company, which was an affiliate of the American Fur Company, Jacobs moved into the company post on the south side which the Green Bay traders had traditionally occupied.2 (See sidebar "Menominee River Post," n ext page.) Marinette now found herself handling all the tasks of a busy trading establishment. Native Americans, needing supplies before their departure to winter hunting grounds, were stopping daily. Jacobs' contribution to the operation was minimal, and Marinette understood h er need to fill the gap. She had been
19 QUEEN MARINETTE-Spirit of Survival on the Great Lakes Frontier
MENOMINEE RIVER POST The Green Bay Company, made up of merchants from the Grignon, Lawe, and Parlier families, operated as an affiliate of the American Fur Company from which they purchased their trade goods on credit. In payment, they sent all the furs they procured to the American Fur Company warehouse on Mackinac Island. The trading post at "The Menominee" was built in the late 1700s, welJ before the existence of the American Fur Company. The Green Bay traders utilized the buildings of this old post and annually sent someone to winter at "The Menominee." These winterers lived for the season on Menominee-held land and did so at the will of the tribe. After Jean Baptiste Jacobs brought Marinette to the Menominee River, the local tribal band made it clear to the Green Bay traders that they preferred to have her occupy the old post and provide them with trade goods.
raised among the Menominees at Green Bay and instinctively conducted business with them in an atmosphere of mutual respect, cordiality, and fairness. Even though she could not read or write, Marinette adroitly handled groups of up to forty Native Americans who came to trade and was not lmown to have made mistakes.3 As she had lived in the family of an unlearned fur trader during her childhood, she was acquainted with pictographs which the early French utilized to record quantities of outgoing goods and incoming furs.4 Use of these "he pictures" as they were called by the Native Alnericans, in addition to the Native habit of choosing and settling for one purchase at a time, helps to explain Marinette's remarkable bookkeeping prowess.5 During the v.rinter of 1822-23, lhe Indian Agent at Mackinac suspected that Marinette's neighbor, William Farnsworth, an aggressive opponent of t h e American Fur Company, was stashing trade whiskey on Green Island near the Menominee River mouth and selling it illegally to Native Americans.6 The agent,
20 Early Years at "The Menominee"
George Boyd, was a friend of the American Fur Company, as well as the Green Bay traders, and would have liked to revoke Fainsworth's license to remove him from the field. Though Boyd couldn't prove it in court, Farnsworth (like most traders) did in fact have an abundant supply of whiskey-more than he was legally allowed for his own use. Seeing an opportunity he chose not to ignore, Farnsworth befriended Jacobs, and during the ensuing winter, many of the furs for which Marinette bartered with trade goods disappeared one by one to Farnsworth's post in exchange for whiskey.7 \!\lord of these incidents quickly spread among the Menorninees and soon reached Green Bay. An angry John Lawe sent a message to Jacobs warning him to stop the fl.ow of furs to Farnsworth, or he would order his stalwart trader, Stanislas Chaput, to have Jacobs tied by the Natives and brought to Green Bay.8 Jacobs wrote back excusing his improvidence by telling Lawe that Farnsworth had prevented him from starving that winter and had clothed his "poor children that was naked." He refused to admit he had a problem. To the contrary, h e indicated his actions would continue: lviy life is in clainger with the Indians, as I know yoil have injliience [with them], however I keep sober ancl on my gaird, it will cost a good deal to put my life or my familey safe... yoii know I miLst get in debt to Mr. Farnsworth has I have no goods to put a stop otherwise. 9 It was now mid January. Two cold winter months on "The Menominee" were still to pass before the spring breakup. Farnsworth watched the scene unfold from across the river, and ' 'vhen opportunities arose, he was carefully solicitous to Marinette.10 Since early fall he had noted, vvith admiration, ·the ability of Jacobs' attractive Native American wife to carry on the trade. Jacobs, however, did not seem to sense the dynamics that were taking place, for shortly after receiving Lawe's threat to have him removed. he invited Farnsworth to come and live with them at the post. 11 Farnsworth, who lmew a good thing when he saw it, was now in a position to appeal strongly to Marinette's emotional and material needs and was able to persuade her, that of the two men, he was her better choice.
21 QUEEN MARINETTE- Spirit of Survival on the Great Lakes Frontier
Marinette and Jacobs' marital contract, like others made in Green Bay near the turn of the nineteenth century, did not bind them to a legal or moral long-term commitment. To be sure, many of these marriages did last a lifetime, but as often as not, one or both parties made knovvn their desire to end their relationship, and in doing so, suffered none of the ramifications of societal recrimination. James H. Lockwood, an early resident of Michigan Territory, described the nature of contracts made between French traders and Native American women: " ... persons wishin g to dissolve a marriage simply went together before a magistrate and made known their wishes, and he, in their presence, tore up the marriage contract, and according to the custom o:f the country, they were then divorced."12 Both Farnsworth and Jacobs were well aware of the prevailing custom, and befor e the end of the season, they worked out an amicable understanding. To cement their assurances of good will toward one another, Farnsworth shared a "pipe of high wine" with Jacobs before the latter departed from "The Menominee" and eventually returned to Montreal. 15
PIPE OF HIGH WINE The descriptive phrase, "pipe of high wine," had its origins in the fur trade. Canoe brigades, when they gTew weary from long hours of paddling, stopped for brief periods along the way to stretch their limbs and smoke their pipes. These times of rest became known as "taking a pipe." Eventually, this phrase became associated with any social period when friends took time to sit down, converse, and smoke their pipes. Thus Farnsworth and Jacobs shared a "pipe of high wine" (high, meaning the best wine available) before Jacobs left the Menominee River.
22 Early Years at '"l11e Menominee"
SOURCES FOR CHAPTER 3 1. Johnson, B. (1993). Marinette: Saga of Survival and Renewal. Native American Values: Survival and Renewal, p. 442. Sault Ste. Marie, MI: Lake Superior State University Press. 2. Morse, J. (1908). Report on Indian Affairs. Collections of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, Vol. VII, pp. 284-285. Madison: Democrat Printing Company. 3. Morton, W. (1929). Notables in Early History of Marinette. Green Bay Hi.storical Bulletin, Number 3, Volume 5, pp. 13-18. Green Bay Historical Society, 1925- 1934. 4. Densmore, F. (1929). Chippewa Customs, Smithsonian Institution Bureau of Ameri.can Ethnology, Billletin 86, p. 141. Washington: United States Government Printing Office. 5. Morton. pp. 13-18. 6. Boyd, G., (1911). Letter to Lewis Cass, August 23, 1824.Collections of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, Vol. XX, pp. 346-347. Madison: Democrat Printing Company. 7. Childs, E. (1906). Recollections of Wisconsin Since 1820. Collections of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, Vol. IV, pp. 157-158. Madison: Democrat Printing Company. 8. Jacobs, J. (1892). Letter to John Lawe, January 1823. Collections of the State Histori.cal Society of Wisconsi.n, Vol. XII, p. 458. Madison: Democrat Printing Company. 9. Jacobs. p. 459. 10. Childs. p. 157. 12. Lockwood, J. (1903). Early Times and Events in vVisconsin. Collecti.ons of the State Hi.storical Society of Wisconsin, Vol. II, p. 121. Madison: Democrat Printing Company. 13. Stephenson, I. (1915). Recollections of a Long Life, 1829-1915, p. 42. Chicago: R.R. Donnelley & Sons.
23 SUPERIOR
Q~ ... -··--...... ,.,._.""",.I ~--~M~~L~ ...... ·-·' ···..- 0 .....iaeV."J-" C l~ L ~ ~- ~ g o':r.v,/~ at~L. l ~ Mackinac lo Prairie du Chien Water Tr ail ------ Native Amorican Villages within Green Bay Agoncy in 1624: 1. Bay de Noc (Chippews) 2. Menominee River (Menomini/Chlppowal 3. Peshtigo River (Menominl/Chippewal 4 . Oconto River (Menominl) 5. Pensaukee River (Menominl/Chlppewa l 6. long Tait Point (Menominl/Chippewal 7. Sandy Poinl, Little Kakalin and Sig Katalin Villages (Menomini/Chippewal 6. Winnebago Rapids (Winnebago) ~ 9. Garlic Island CWinneba9ol q:- 10. WolfVillage (l;/innebagol UJ 11. fond du lac (Menomlnf/Wionebagol 12. Calumet (Menomloil .:i: <..J 13. Wolf RiVt?r (Menomini/ Chippewa) 14. Shaw a.no Lake (Menomini/Chipoewa l ~ 15. The Portage CWinneba90) 16. Waucon's Great Village (Winnebago) UJ 17. Upper Wisconsin River (Menomlnl/Winnebago) ~ 18. Manitowoc River Cottawa) "' q: ... -1 19. Milwaukee River (Ottawa/Chippewa/PotawatomiJ ~UCf £. JOl l>1 .!>0 N G ~"' 4 Mackinac Island Wilderness Capitol
1823 - 1824
h at summer, Marinette and h er two youngest children accompanied Farnsworth to Mackinac Island. The eldest Tchild, Mary Polly, remained at Green Bay where she now lived with her grandmother, the widow Chevalier. At the time, the John Dousman family was living on Mackinac and it is likely that Marinette, Farnsworth, and the children stayed with them at their island home. Mrs. Dousman was the former Rosalie LaBorde, daughter of Jean Baptiste LaBorde dit Sans Reg1·et and Marguerite Machard Chevalier. Rosalie LaBorde Dousman was closely related to Marinette through the latter's father, Barthelemy Chevalier. 1 While at Mackinac, Marinette saw Father Gabriel Richard and requested a church baptism for her daughter Elizabeth, age eight, and h er son Jean Baptiste, Jr., age five. As was the practice throughout the Old Northwest among the French, Marinette's children had all been conditionally baptized shortly after birth by laymen of Catholic heritage; nevertheless, the Church encouraged its people to seek formal baptism, when possible, by an ordained priest. On August 12, 1823 Father Richard baptized Elizabeth and Jean Baptiste at St. Anne's Church.2 It is probable that Marinette herself h ad been conditionally baptized sho1tly
Mackinac to Prairie chl Chien Water Trail (opposite page) including Native American Villages within Green Bay Agency in 1824. Location of village sites noted by H.B. Brevoort, Indian Agent at Green Bay, September 1, 1824. In Collections of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, Volume XX. (Map drawn by Bruce E. Johnson.)
25 QUEEN MARINETTE- Spirit of Survival on the Great Lakes Frontier after her own birth in the 1790s; however, she did not seek a church baptism in 1823, perhaps because her contractual marriage with William Farnsworth was not a Church-sanctioned relationship. Life with Farnsworth was to become a series of unnerving episodes that shocked Marinette's sensitivities, but gTadually helped her adjust to the harsh realities of business on the American frontier. Their personality traits were very different. She was a generous, hospitable, and spontaneous person strongly infused with gentle Native American and French manners which never brought offense.5 Farnsworth, on the other hand, had a bold, impetuous disposition and had difficulty tolerating constraints. The American Fur Company had hired him in 1818 as a clerk-trainee, but when he questioned their autocratic demands, they dismissed him before the end of his contract for non-compliance with company rules.4 In anger, he had defied the company and had become an independent trader. In the fall of 1823, Farnsworth approached Indian Agent Boyd at Mackinac for a license to again trade at the mouth of "The Menominee," but Boyd, a friend of the American Fur Company, refused him, stating he believed Farnsworth had violated the liquor law of 1822 which prevented the introduction of ardent spirits into the Indian country. Always resourceful, Farnswmth immediately journeyed up the St. Mary's River to Sault Ste. Marie where Agent Henry Schoolcraft, unaware of his alleged offenses, gTanted him a license. 5 The following year, 1824, the same scenario was repeated when Farnsworth received a second rejection from Boyd. This time, however, Schoolcraft had been w arned, and when approached, he likewise refused to issue a license. Farnsworth returned to Mackinac and hired two Native Americans from Grand River (present-day Grand Haven, Michigan) to transport him and his goods to St. Ignace where several Menominees waited to take him to Green Bay to secure a license. Boyd hastily concluded Farnsworth was headed for "TI1e Men01ninee" to trade without a license and sent a band of Ottawas to bring hi1n back. Upon his forced return to Mackinac, Farnsworth's goods, baggage, and canoe were immediately confiscated while he flamboyantly strode up the hill to seek
26 Mackinac Island-Wilderness Capitol
protection from the village authorities. Not so fortunate, the Natives from Grand River were detained. Boyd had them brought ·without delay into Fort Mackinac where each were given tv.relve lashes and confined to the guard house.6 That evening an irate Mackinac village court, presided over by Justice John Dousman, brought Boyd, the Ottawa Band, and the Fmt Commandant, Major Whistler, before it to answer charges. The Ottawas were discharged on the ground that "th eir only crime arose from obeying the illegal orders of their agent."7 Boyd, on the other hand, was found guilty for aiding and abetting the robbery of Farnsworth's person and property, and Whistler, for having the Grand River Indians flogged at Boyd's request. Both were required to provide bail before their release. Boyd appealed, but was again found guilty by a county court four months later. He staunchly protested the legality of the findings and VlTote to Governor Cass stating, "It is intended that the internal police and concerns of the Indians ·within the limits of the respective agencies, should be under the exclusive management and control of the proper agents. "8 Based on that assertion, be appealed to the District Court where it seems a stalemate and out-of-court settlement were eventually reached. \!\Then Farnsworth left Macldnac a second time in the fall of 1824, it appears Marinette and her children, who now included Farnsworth.'s first child, Joseph, stayed behind on the island. There they waited to sail by schooner as far as "The Menominee" with the John Dousman family who wer e planning to move later that season to Green Bay.9 Farnsworth had gained the respect of the Dousmans, and they and many of the islanders sided wholeheartedly \A.Tith hi1n when h e had challenged the agent's harsh autocratic infringement upon his freedom and that of the Grand River Natives. Indian Agent Boyd was a friend of the American Fur Company, and his actions had its powerful, behind-the-scenes approval. Farnsworth, an easterner who was strongly im.bued with the principle of individual freedom, left Mackinac knowing he had won an important round in his ongoing conflict with the American Fur C01npany.
27 QUEEN MARINETTE-Spirit of Survival on the Great Lakes Frontier
SOURCES FOR CHAPTER 4 1. Rentmeester, L. and J. (1987). 11ie Wisconsin Creoles, pp. 224-225. Melbourne, Florida: Rentmeesters. 2. Richard, G. (1823). In Registre des Baptemes Saits dan LaPan·oisse de Michilimachinac, commance le 23 ]ulliet 1823. (St. Anne's Church Register, Mackinac Island.) 3. Rentmeesters, pp. 169 and 173. 4. Thwaites, R. (Ed.). (1911). Collections of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, Vo l. XX, p. 176. Madison: Democrat Printing Company. 5. Childs, E. (1906). Recollections of Wisconsin Since 1820. Collections of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, Vol. IV, p. 157. Madison: Democrat Printing Company. 6. Baird, H. (1903). Early History and Condition of Wisconsin. Collections of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, Vol. II, p. 85. Madison: Democrat Printing Company. 7. Boyd, G. (1911). Letter to Lewis Cass, August 23, 1824.Collections of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, Vol. XX, pp. 345-346. Madison: Democrat Printing Company. 8. Boyd. pp. 34 7-348. 9. Baird, E. (1827- 1888). In Elizabeth Baird Papers. Area Research Center at Green Bay, State Historical Society of Wisconsin. (Originally published in Green Bay State Gazette.)
28 5 Long Arm of the Law
1824 - 1825
arnsworth arrived in Green Bay well ahead of the Dousman schooner and found the old village alive with rumors and Fexcitement. Judge James Doty's District Court was scheduled to meet in October to determine the outcome of several pending litigations, not the least of which concerned a thorny dispute involving Farnsworth and the Green Bay traders' long-time employee, Stanislas Chaput. The disgruntled Green Bay men had been frustrated first by Jacobs' and then Farnsworth's occupation of their productive post at "The Menominee." Both had been able to occupy that post due to Marinette's popularity with the Menominee Tribe who still technically held the land. Without success, the Green Bay traders had tried to get Farnsworth into their fold, 1 but h e continued to prefer his independent status. Finally they had sent Chaput, their no-nonsense winterer, to move into the old post early in 1823 and try to hold his ground. The local band of Menominees, however, believed they had the right to choose who would come among them to trade on their land, and two of their leaders, \!Vaushayguauny and Spaniol, had challenged Chaput. In the bloody head-on fracas that followed. Waushayguauny bit off Chaput's thumb, whereupon the veteran trader had backed off and retreated to Green Bay.2 The traders moved quickly to prefer charges against \!Vaushayguauny and Spaniol, and the two were brought to Green Bay to be indicted for maiming Chaput. Fear spread among the Menominees that their tribesmen would be grossly mistreated at Fort Howard>' and Farnsworth, who championed the right of the two Menominees to defend ·their 0\"'11 territory,
29 QUEEN MARINETTE- Spirit of Survival on the Great Lakes Frontier
30 Long Arm of the Law
shrewdly obtained their r elease on bail until a trial before Judge Doty could be held at the next sitting of the circuit court. 4 When Doty's long-awaited court session finally convened in October 1824, Henry Baird, an astute attorney, got Spaniol cleared of assault, but a jury found Waushayguauny guilty. 5 Baird then skillfully moved for an arrest of judgment on grounds that v\Taushayguauny's act had occurred in Indian Territory not yet under the jurisdiction of the United States. Judge Doty, endeavoring in a difficult situation to render a verdict, ruled that the act for punishment of crimes did not extend to the Indian Territory and ordered release of the prisoner.6 Not to be outdone, within two weeks after Doty's ruling, the Green Bay men sent the undaunted Chaput in the company of several other traders back to "The Menominee" to install Paul Grignon at the post with goods for the season. Their plan was clever. Grignon, of mixed French and Native American heritage, was well-known to the Native Americans living at Green Bay and at "The Menominee." He also had blood ties with the Chevalier family frmn which Marinette descended,7 and it was hoped the local Menominee band would allow him to stay. On October 16, Chaput left Grignon in charge and continued on his way to man and supply the other posts located within the Green Bay Company's territory. That same evening Farnsworth arrived at the contested post where several Menominees met his loaded canoe. Despite Grignon's protests, the Menominees took his goods out of the house and installed Farnsworth's. During this confrontation, Grignon was unharmed and allowed to remain in one corner of the house.6 When Chaput returned to check on Grignon's well-being, he found it painfully clear that the local Menominees were strongly committed to Farnsworth and Marinette. \Nithout further conflict, Chaput and Grignon wisely gathered the company's trade goods and paddled back to Green Bay. The following year, 1825, Chaput returned and built
Opposite: fudge James Duane Doty (1769-1865), c. 1858-59. Photo by John S. Fuller. State Historical Society of Wisconsin [WHi (X3) 35112, Lot (2)4482).
31 QUEEN MARINETTE-Spirit of Survival on the Great Lakes Frontier
a substantial log post a few miles up the river.9 Throughout the next thirty years h e and Marinette were destined to be rival competitors for fur s at "The Menominee." Farnsworth's independent status assured him good returns from his business. He was not , of course, free of harassment from the American Fur Company, but because Marinette handled the transactions at the post and m aintained her popularity with the Native Americans, h e had time and the required funds to fight the company when necessary. It was apparent to everyon e that Farnsworth's success as a trader was directly related to the managem ent skills of h is wife. 1° For her part, Marinette had no reason to doubt Farnsworth's regard for h er, save one, which had evolved from Judge James Doty's 1824 court sessions and may have troubled her mind from time to time. One of the first duties Judge Doty's court had been obligated to fulfill was the en forcement of marriage regulations required by the laws of the United States. The judge's proceedings filled an old cou rt log with the names of all those who had a contractual inarriage relationship. Of course, this comprised nearly every male who spent his summers or lived year-round in Old Green Bay. Most of the men, including Stanislas Chaput,11 immediately complied with the judge's ruling and married their contractual partners before a clergyman or justice of the peace. When Farnsworth came before Doty, the judge was accompanied by a grand jury of prominent Green Bay traders who presented the following charge:
William Farnsworth... at Green Bay aforesaid, within said county, unlawfully and scandalously and openly and notoriously did live and cohabit together with Mary [Anglicized version of Marie] Chevalier, as man and w ife, he the said William Farnsworth and the said Mary Chevalier never having been married. .. which said actings and doings of the said William Farnsworth are contrary to the statute law in such case made and provided, a.nd against the peace and dignity of the United States of America. 12
32 Long Al:m of the Law
Unlike most of the others who had been indicted, Farnsworth chose not to mitigate the charge by legalizing his relationship with Marinette. His reply was recorded for the record: William Farnsworth in his proper person... having heard the said indictment read, says that he is guilty of the premises in the i.ndictment afore said.... 71wrefore it is considered by the court that the said William Farnsworth pay a fine of fifty dollars to the County of Brown and also the costs of prosecution. 13 Marinette undoubtedly learned of Farnsworth's refusal to legalize their marriage relationship but may have believed Farnsworth w as standing firmly on principle, for when Doty's court had met in October 1824, John Lawe, as w ell as Farnsworth, had resisted compliance. Lawe declined on principle, maintaining his contractual relationship with Therese Rankin was acceptable and should have been recognized without question by the government. Nevertheless, in 1830 Lawe did submit to the mandate of the United States and married his wife of long standing to protect her legal status. 14 Farnsworth never chose to exercise this option with Marinette.
SOURCES FOR CHAPTER 5 1. Stuart, R. (19 11). Letter to John Lawe, 1820. Collections of the State Historical SocietlJ of Wisconsin, Vol. XX, p. 176. Madison: Democrat Print ing Company. 2. Doty, J. (1824). Trials and Decisions in the Several Courts Held in the Counties of Michilimackinac, Brown and Crawford. In James Duane Doty Papers, p. 72. State Historical Society of Wisconsin in Madison. 3. Sawyer, A (1911). A History of the Northern Peninsula of Michigan, Volume 1, p. 556. Chicago: Lewis Publishing Company. (Reprinted in 1974 by Mid-Peninsula Library Federation, Iron Mountain, MI.) 4. Discharge from Hecognizance (1824). Records of the U.S. Circuit Court for Brown County, Michigan Territory, 1822- 1838. In]arnes Duane Doty Papers (unpublished). State Historical Society of Wisconsin in Madison.
33 QUEEN MARINETTE- Spirit of Survival on the Great Lakes Frontier
5. Irwin, R. (1824). Records of the U.S. Circuit Court for Brown County, Michigan Territory, 1822-1838. In]ames Duane Doty Papers (unpublished). State Historical Society of Wisconsin in Madison. 6. Doty. p. 83. 7. Rentmeester, L. and J. (1987). The Wisconsin Creoles, p. 258. Melbourne, Florida: Rentmeesters. 8. Grignon, Paul (1824). In Grignon, Lawe and Parlier Papers, Vols. 1- 65, 1712-1884 (microfilm edition, 1984), v. 58, p. 143. Madison: State Historical Society of Wisconsin. 9. Lawe, G. (1895). Letter from George Lawe. InLewis Patrick Papers (unpublished). State Historical Society of Wisconsin in Madison. 10. Thwaites, R. (Ed.). (1911). Collections of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, Vol. XX, p. 176. Madison: Democrat Printing Company. 11. Parlier, L. ( 1824). Certificate of Matrimony. Copy in Local History Files. Menominee County Historical Society Library, Menominee Michigan. 12. Irwin, R. ( 1824). In Criminal Cases, Brown County Circui.t Court, 1824-1844, Series 73 (unpublished). Area Research Center at UW Green Bay, State Historical Society of Wisconsin. 13. Ibid. 14. Grignon, P. (1830). In Register of Deeds for Brown County Wisconsin Marriages, Volume II, p. 24. Area Research Center at U\l\T-Green Bay, State Historical Society of Wisconsin.
34 6 Lumbering on Menominee Land
1825 - 1834
ack on "The Menominee," Marinette's busy life continued in an endless round of managing her household, the Btrading post, and her family, which was soon to include Farnsworth's second son, George. She and the children were now staying year-round at the post where Farnsworth had begun to lay up stocks of goods and produce for summer trade. 1 The doors of Marinette's trading post were always open to the local band of Menominees, some of whom during their recent history, had intermarried with their neighboring winter hunting partners, the Southwestern Chippewas.2 Following the example of John and Therese Rankin Lawe, whose Green Bay post had always been open to Marinette during her early years with Jacobs, she likev,rise, in matriarchal style, shared h er resources to provide practical help to the Native American c01nmunity. During this time, \Nilliam Farnsworth epitomized th e upwardly mobile, optimistic American entrepreneur, ever willing to tal 35 QUEEN :NIARINETTE-Spirit of Survival on the Great Lakes Frontier for the Department, apparently not a friend of Governor Lewis Cass of Michigan Territory, refused the application because it had been signed by Cass. Three years later when the political scene changed, Farnsworth revived his application. Governor Cass again promised his support, but only if Charles R. Brush, a member of the Brush family of Detroit, were included in the permit. Accordingly, Farnsworth complied and took Brush into partner ship in the sawmill operation and fur trade at "The Menominee."3 To complete the process, Farnsworth and Brush approached the Menominee chiefs to assure them continuing fair treatment and to receive their approval for erection of the mills on their land. Indian Agent Samuel C. Stambaugh, himself a friend of Farnsworth,4 had misgivings and wrote confid entially to then Secretary of vVar, Jonathan H. Eaton: ... there will be forwarded to yoii. .. an application from William Farnsworth and Charles R. Brush for permission to erect a grist and saw mill on Menominee River.... Some of the chiefs residing in that vi.cini.ty have signed a paper... givi.ng the privilege to these gentlemen to erect s1.tch mi.lls .... It appears to me that it would be wrong to grant perrnission to make any improvement by which claims can afterwards be made by individuals on Indian lands at this time. The door is wide enough opened to speculators already, and if things progress as they have lately done under high sanction, there will not be much good land left either for the government or the poor Indians. 5 Cass, of course, had far more clout than Stambaugh, and construction of the mill got underway. The paper signed by Farnsworth and Brush did, however, stipulate some requirem ents to be met. For a space of eight years they were to make an annual payment of powder, lead, flints, tobacco, pipes, and ten bushels of corn to the Menominees.6 It is likely the chiefs obtained these supplies directly from Marinette at the post. The provision of corn was h er full responsibility since tending and harvesting of crops traditionally fell to Native American women. 36 Lumbering on Menominee Land Farnsworth and Brush believed they had made a good bargain. Their mill privilege began at the mouth of "The Menominee," extended up both sides of the river four miles, and was one mile in width on both sides. Upon signing the document, they were obligated to saw all the lumber required for the proper use of the Menominee Tribe at a reasonable expense, and when a grist mill "shall have been erected," to grind all the g1·ain required.; On the surface this sounded like a hefty commitment to the tribal band, especially since the document outlined the consequences of noncompliance and required them to, at any time, yield peaceable possession of the land and premises when requested by an authorized officer of the U.S. Government. In reality, this was a "no sweat" clause. These two shrewd gentlemen, who never did get around to constructing a grist mill, were well aware the Menominees did not require lumber for building purposes. (See sidebar, "First Mill on Menominee River," next page.) The mill brought another dimension to Marinette's busy life-a reputation for the provision of excellent accommodations and food for guests at the post.8 Among the early visitors was Farnsworth's good friend and confidant from Green Bay, Morgan L. Martin, who came to see "the raising of Farnsworth's mill-the first one on the river."9 Small, but impressive in those early times, the mill was equipped ·vvith a single saw driven by water power, and was reputed to be capable of cutting from six to eight thousand feet of lumber in a day. 10 Sta1nbaugh also made a return visit and reported in glowing terms, "This river has water power equal to Fox River and it is a still more handsome stream... .Messrs. Farnsworth and Brush, the traders, are erecting a sawmill on the premises they occupy, one of the finest sites I have ever seen."11 \Nithin a short time, it was discovered that the power dam for the mill partially blocked spawning fish from going up the river. Never known to miss an opportunity to maximize his earnings, Farnsworth fixed a large basket (weir) under the clam from which he was able to take and export between three to eight hundred barrels of whitefish every season. 12 37 QUEEN MARINETTE- Spirit of Survival on the Great Lakes Frontier FIRST M ILL O N M ENOMINEE RIVER The fir st mill o n the Menominee River w as owned b y William Farnsworth and Charles Brush . It had a single vertical sash saw dr iven by a water w h eel powered by a wing dani. 1 It is likely th is m ill was h oused within rough framed-in walls which were roofed over to p r ovide protection from the weath er. Huge pine logs, on e at a time, were b rou ght with a bull chain an d win dlass to the carr iage wh ere t hey w ere slowly sawed int o boards. It has been said that this mill w as capable of cutting from six to eight thousand feet of lumber in a d ay; h owever , it is doubtful ac tual production was eve r this great. If th e river level w er e too low, or t oo high, forw ard motion of the carriage was slowed. Under favorable circumstances it is probable th at a n ormal two-m an crew , consistin g of a h ead sai."'J'er and a tail sawyer, could have sawed 2,500 feet of boar ds in a long working day.2 1. Sher man, J. (1876), p . 2. In Lewis Patrich Papers. State Historical Society of Wisconsin in Madison. (Original work publish ed by Marinerte and Peshtigo Eagle, July 15, 1876.) 2. Hall, R. (1876). 77ie Centennial History of Oconto County, pp . 18- 19. Oconto, Wisconsin: R.L. Hall Abstract Company. (Reprinted in 1976 by Franciscan Publishe rs, Pulaski, \!\Tl.) Far n sw orth's atten tion , now fu lly d irected to the mill operation , drifted away from the faltering fur t rade and those who continued to tr ek the wilderness to support that trade. From Marinette's p ersp ective, this shift of focus was disturbing, for sh e cou ld see his interest in the Men om inees, who were no longer essential to h is su ccess, was beginning to wane. Marin ette, always sen sitive to h u m an relationships and obligations, realized th eir occupation of the t rading post an d utilization of exten sive lan ds for the mill operation w ere the direct r esult of con fidence and trust that had been b estowed upon th em b y the Menominees. Tragedy struck the Menom inee band, when at the end of May 183 1, th eir chief and head speaker , Joset Caron, b ecam e 38 Lumbering on Menominee Land fatally ill. He was a son of Chief Tomah, an orator whose capabilities had been celebrated by whites and Native Americans alike prior to and during the \Nar of 1812. The Carons were mixed blood descendants of a French fur trader who had wintered "\lvith the Menominees. For several generations· the sons and grandsons of Caron lived among the tribe and served in leadership capacities.13 \Nb.en Joset died, Stanislas Chaput asked his American clerk at their rival post up the river to write to John Lawe with the news: Sir, I let you no that Joseph Caron, he has died. He was sich only five days and the sL-r;th day he died. Sir, 1Vlr. Frundsworth, he never went to see [Caron] while he was live. After he was died, he went only but ones, and the ...Indien went to tell hi.rn that our friend he has gone. Well, he says, let hirn go, and they went to ask hi:rn for sorne clothing to beurer hirn. He says I ant got nothing to give him. At last he give one cloth blanhet. ... 14 Marinette was devastated by Farnsworth's attitude toward the death of her countryman. A person's departure from life a1nong the Menominees and Southwestern Chippewas was attended by elaborate ceremonies for the purpose of assuring a successful arrival in the afterworld. The d eceased was dressed in his best clothes and wore a new pair of moccasins. The body, carefully wrapped in a new blanket, was carried by the nearest relatives to the grave site where it received a further wrapping of birch bark.15 In his capacity as a trader who lived and worked among them, Farnsworth's hesitation to provide a new blanket was a severe insult to the Menominee band-one which Marinette undoubtedly did her best to mitigate . A postscript added to the back of Chaput's letter indicates the depth of trauma she experienced at this time: NI addarn Fru:ndsworth, she his always crying, and her dauter, avary day. I thinh Mr. Frundsworth he his glad because their man [Caron] he his died, on account for his rni.ll. His mill going avary day now. 16 39 QUEEN MARINETTE-Spirit of Survival on the Great Lakes Fr ontier Despite Farnsworth's actions, the local Menom inees remained loyal to Marinette, and she to them. Three weeks after Caron's death, Chaput sent another letter to John Lawe praising the Ch ip pewas from Lac Vieux Desert for bringing him 30 p ou nds of beaver, 50 martens, 7 otters, 3 b ears, and 200 muskrats. He lamented , h owever, his failu re to get the Menomin ees to stop at his post. "AB for ·the Indians of about," h e said, "I have done all I could to stop them. They would not mind me." 17 Farnsworth's differences with Chaput and the Gr een Bay t raders were ongoing. They viewed him as a bold American upstart and closely observed his business activities for improprieties. Often operating on the edge of the law, he overstepped his limits on n umerous occasions and quickly found himself served with subpoenas to ap pear at court in Green Bay. He immediately initiated countersuits against h is opponents, whether they w er e t raders or Indian agents, and challenged them to prove their allegations. \!\Tith sharp legal advice from attorney friends, Farnsworth usually got off the hook.18 One of Farnsworth's legal skirmishes intimately involved Marinette and appears to h ave precipitated the termination of their now p recarious relationship. Early in the spring of 1833, word trickled to Green Bay from "The Menominee" that Marinette was to have her sixth ch ild . Still smarting from their inability to p rosecute Farnsworth and make it stick, the Green Bay trader s now recalled their slippery competitor had never legalized his m arital relationship. Records nearly ten years old were consulted, and facts wer e confirmed. '9 It appeared the evidence would be solid enough to secure a conviction. Witnesses were called to attend a United States Circuit Court proceeding at Green Bay wh ere a jury found on March 1 of 1833 that: William Farnsworth... did ... wickedly and unlawfully live ancl cohabit together with one Mary Jacobs as man and w ife, [they] being unmarried persons, against the statutes in such case m ade and prov ided.... 20 Farnsworth's attorney maneu vered cleverly, and the case was bound over to the next session of court. 40 Lumbering on Menominee Land During the year following this timely reprieve, Farnsworth assessed his mill operation at "The Menominee" and realized that new immigrants from Europe and the Eastern United States were beginning to populate the areas of Milwaukee and Chicago far more quickly ·than nearby Old Green Bay. It became apparent he would have difficulty taking advantage of this new market for it was cost prohibitive at that time to transport lumber by sailing schooner or steamer from "The Menominee" way around the Door Peninsula and then southward to the growing settlements at the head of Lake Michigan. Farnsworth now recalled an earlier experience that was to serve him well in the years to follow. Back in 1818 during his short-lived employment as a clerk with the American Fur Company, he had traveled the west shore of Lake Michigan in a large birch-bark Montreal canoe in the c01npany of his boss, Ramsay Crooks, and several hired voyagetlrs. On July 1, 1818, the group had entered the mouth of the Sheboygan River and paddled a few miles upstream where they had met a large number of Native Americans. As a result, Farnsworth decided to establish a jack-knife post at the Sheboygan River where, during ·the ensuing years, h e had annually sent men with trade goods for the natives.21 \t\Thile there, his men had to compete for furs with nearby winterers from the Alnerican Fur Company. Over the years, however, his investments in goods for Sheboygan paid off, for according to Sheboygan historian, Gustave \/\/. Buchen, Farnsworth periodically sent men and supplies to that region up until 1834.22 Be cause he knew this early outpost was in a prime location to supply lumber to the growing settlements of Milwaukee and Chicago, Farnsw01th left Green Bay on horseback in 1834 to confirm the existence of available timber and water power resources in the Sheboygan area. He liked what he found, and made the decision to make Sheboygan his permanent home. Accordingly, he sought the help of Morgan L. Martin and other entrepreneurs to purchase lands and a partially completed mill and dam on the Sheboygan River.25 These were exciting times for Farnsworth, surpassing by far his earlier dreams when he had entered the fur trade. 41 QUEEN MARINETTE-Spirit of Survival on the Gr eat Lakes Frontier SOURCES FOR CHAPTER 6 1. Stambaugh, S. (1900). Report on the Quality and Condition of Wisconsin Territory, 1831. Collections of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, Vol. XV, p. 435. Madison: Democrat Printing Company. 2. Keesing, F. (1939). The 1'\t!enominee Indians of Wisconsin-A Study of 17iree Centuries of Cultural Contact and Change, pp. 76-77. Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society. 3. Stambaugh, S. (1830). Letter to Eaton. In Lewis Patr ick Papers (u npublished). State Historical Society of Wisconsin in Madison. 4. Bushnell, D. (1831). In Grignon, Lawe and Parlier Papers, Vols. 1- 65, 1712-1884 (microfilm edition, 1984), v. 63, p. 90. Madison: State Historical Society of Wisconsin. 5. Stambaugh. Letter to Eaton. 6. Irwin, A. (1832). W. Farnsworth and C. Brush, Mill Privilege. In Oconto County Mortgages, Volume A, p. 1. Oconto County Courthouse, Oconto, Wisconsin. 7. fbid. 8. Morton, W. (1929). "Notables in Early History of Marinette." Green Bay Hi.storical Bulletin, Number 3, Volume 5, p. 18. Green Bay Historical Society, 1925-1934. 9. Martin, M. (1909). "Sketch of William Farnsworth." Collections of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, Vol. IX, p. 400. Madison: Democrat Printing Company. 10. Morton. p. 14. 11. Stambaugh (1900). p. 485. 12. Stambaugh (1900). p. 435. 13. Sawyer, A. (1911). A History of the Northern Peninsula of Michigan, Volume 1, pp. 4 7- 50. Chicago: Lewis Publishing Company. (Reprinted 1974 by Mid-Peninsula Library Federation, Iron Mountain, MI.) 14. Chaput, S. In Grignon, Lawe and Parlier Papers, Vols. 1-65, 1712-1884 (microfilm edition, 1984), v. 29, p. 53. Madison: State Historical Society of Wisconsin. 15. Kinietz, W. (1949). Chippewa Village, Story of Katikitegon, pp. 142- 143. Bloomfield Hills, Michigan: Cranbrook Institute of Science. 42 Lumbering on Menominee Land 16. Chaput. p. 53. 17. Chaput. p. 57. 18. Civil Cases, Brown County Circuit Court (1825-1843). In Brown County Series 73, Volume II, pp. 91- 94. Area Research Center at U\iV Green Bay, State Historical Society of Wisconsin. Criminal Cases, Brown County Circuit Court (1824-1844). In Brown County Series 73, Volume I, June Term, 1828. Area Research Center at UW-Green Bay, State Historical Society of \1Visconsin. United States Circuit Court Cases (1827-1828). In Brown County Court Cases, Box 15, Case File 1480. Area Research Center at UW Gre en Bay, State Historical Society of Wisconsin. 19. Baird, H. (1834). In Morgan L. Martin Papers, July 1831 to June 1835, Box 3b. State Historical Society of Wisconsin in Madison. 20. Criminal Cases, Brown County Circuit Court (1824-1844). pp. 208- 209. 21. Smith, W. (Ed.). (1854). History of Wisconsi.n in Three Parts I-Iistorical, Documentary and Descriptive, Compiled by Direction of the Legislature of the State, Volume III, pp. 337-339. Madison: Beriah Brown, Printer. 22. Buchen, G. (1944). Historic Sheboygan Count'y, pp 69-70. Sheboygan: Buchen. 23. Thomas, J. (1909). Pioneer Settlement of Sheboygan County. Collections of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, Vol. IX, p. 391. Madison: Democrat Printing Company. Cole, C. (1909). Pioneer Settlement of Sheboygan County. Collections of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, Vol. IX, p. 392. Madison: Democrat Printing Company. Martin. p. 400. 43 In early spring, Marinette equipped the Natives to produce maple sugar. With lodges set in the sugar bush, they stayed day and night while sap was running, storing the final product in birch-bark "m.akuk.s." 7 Frontier Matriarch and Businesswoman 1834 - 1848 hough Farnsworth's life had taken a new turn, the past could not be erased, at least not yet. Morgan L. Martin, Tresponding to his duty as specially deputed United States Attorney, issued a plea for a bench ·warrant to have Farnsworth brought to trial in Green Bay on the pending charge of fornication. It was deemed best to handle this obligation as expeditiously as possible. vVithout delay, on August 27, 1834, the sh eriff of Brown County brought him before the Circuit Court where a new jury was chosen to hear new evidence. To the disappointment of his rivals, Farnsworth again slipped off the hook, for it could not be proven to the jurors' satisfaction that he had lived with Marinette on the date of March 1, 1833. The court ordered "that the said vVilliam Farnsworth do go thereof without delay, requited and discharged ·therefrom." 1 Marinette was n ot caught by surprise when news came of Farnsworth's third courtroom denouncem ent of their marriage. Their relationship had lacked real substance since before the death of Joset Caron, and the growing gulf between them could not be bridged, even with the birth of their young·est child, Mary Jane.2 The sting of rejection no doubt hurt, but actual desertion was a g1·adual process, for Farnsworth, in addition to supplying posts at Green Bay and Sheboygan, continued for a few years to supply the post on "The Men01ninee."5 To Marinette, whose Native American culture instilled an acute sensitivity to shame, this was helpful for it appeared the deserter held some concern for the deserted ones left behind.4 45 QUEEN MARINETTE- Spirit of Survival on the Great Lakes Frontier Fortunately, Marinette had many personal assets which enabled her to successfully survive. Among them were h er children who always held her in high regard. John Jacobs, Jr., was now sixteen and already familiar with the upper reaches of the Menominee, Peshtigo, and Wolf Rivers where he actively procured furs for Marinette's post.5 Undoubtedly however, her greatest resource-the major one which assured her an influential position of leadership throughout her life at "The Menominee"-was her daily practice of the highest virtues of her French and Native American heritage. This value system inculcated a belief that persons should act as brothers and sisters to one another, which included offering help in time of illness or hardship, refraining from gossip, generous sharing of material possessions, and curbing of jealous feelings.6 As a result, when the numerous difficulties associated with cultural change and the devastating small pox epidemics of the 1830s occurred, the community placed great confidence in Marinette and sought her consolation and aid. One of her contemporaries stated she "was an excellent neighbor, kind and skillful in cases of siclmess and ready to help the distressed." 7 There is evidence that she, too, suffered great personal losses, for h er mother (Louise), her sister (An.gelique Hardwick), and her daughter (Mary Polly Provencal dit Carbonneau) all died during this p eriod.8 In what seemed an almost instinctive process, Marinette had learned the techniques of the male business world extremely well and ranks foremost among pioneer women in Michigan and Wisconsin Territories as a businesswoman "par excellence." After Farnsworth's departure from her life, it appears she never gave a thought to abandoning her post on "The Menominee." Isaac Stephenson, himself an early self-made lumber baron, met h er when he arrived in the region more than twenty years later after both Michigan and Wisconsin had achieved statehood. He noted Marinette still retained many of the '"traits of her Indian origin," and "managed her business affairs with exceptionally good judgment."9 (See sidebar "Marinette's Supply Source," opposite.) Marinette's first husband, Jean Baptiste Jacobs, never returned to the region. Although Jacobs wrote from Montreal several times to Green Bay inquiring about the well-being of 46 Frontier Matriarch and Businesswoman MARINETTE'S SUPPLY SOURCE William Farnsworth supplied Marinette's post with goods he procured from Daniel v\Thitney, a Yankee merchant located in Green Bay who outfitted American traders. Americans seldom operated under the old credit system used by the early French and British traders to outfit Native American hunters. Instead, when Natives purchased supplies for the winter hunt, American traders required them to pay up front in products such as furs, fish, and maple sugar, or in cash they had received from land annuity payments. In contrast, the established French and British trading families obtained their trade goods on credit from the American Fur Company on Mackinac Island and then extended these goods to Native hunters on credit. TI1e financial hazards and high interest payments endemic in the traditional credit system required them to charge the Natives higher prices for goods than the Americans charged. 1 Marinette, who was supplied by an American merchant, wisely extended credit only on limited occasions. As a result, she could often undersell her major competitor, the French trader Stanislas Chaput' who worked for John Lawe. Lawe was a merchant who had been established in Green Bay since the late 1 700s, and in traditional fashion he acquired his supplies (including those he issued to Chaput) from the American Fur Company on credit. *Americanized spelling: Chappee or Shappy. 1. Kay, Jeanne (1977). The Land of LaBaye: 11te Ecological Impact of the Green Bay Fur Trade, 1634-1836, pp. 227-231. Ann Arbor (1994): U-M-I Dissertation Services. Marinette and his children, there were indications in h is letters that his personal problems continued to plague him. He never actually received his expected large inheritance, and unable to provide for himself, for many years h e lived solely on a small stipend received from his brother's will. "You know I get only thirty pounds a year," he wrote to John Lawe. "[I] give twenty five pounds for my board and only five pounds remain for 47 QUEEN MARINETTE-Spirit of Survival on the Great Lakes Frontier clothing. Was I at Green Bay, I could save a few dollars, but [I] cannot here." 10 Life for Marinette and everyone on "The Menominee" at this time was extremely difficult because the regional fur trade industry was nearly dead. On the national scene, John Jacob Astor, in a wise move during 1834, had sold his interest in the American Fur Company, 11 just a few years before the worldwide depression of 183 7 caused European merchants to close their doors for a time to American traders. 12 Nevertheless, out of long standing habit, the frontier tTade continued lo limp along throughout the ne.>..'t decade. John Lawe was now dependent on Marinette's competitor, Stanislas Chaput, to comb the northern wilderness of the young State of Michigan and the newly organized Territory of \!Visconsin for remaining furs to support his faltering business at Green Bay. 13 Farnsworth and Brush bid complete farewell to "The Menominee" when they sold a substantial interest in their mill privilege to Samuel Farnsworth, whom th ey left at the site to manage the business. 14 Brush then made his primary residence in Green Bay, 15 and Willia1n Farnsworth settled in Sheboygan where he was legaJly married to Lydia Anne Ryan on January 6, 1842.16 (For more on this man, see sidebar titled "\l\Tilliam Farnsworth" at the conclusion of this chapter.) Marinette continued to meet the challenges of her struggling business with ample resources of intelligence and strength. 111e local band of Menominees supported her wholeh eartedly and brought in furs, but in greatly diminished numbers. To supplement the needs of fue post, she and h er son-in-law, Charles McLeod, on at least one occasion, journeyed north several days with a pony and sleigh over the ice to reach the Chippewas at Bay de Noc. The trip was arduous and they were without cover, even at night. Neve1theless, they arrived successfully in advance of Chaput's trader, John Kittson, and returned with large numbers of furs. li To diversify her business, Marinette equipped the Natives v.rith black iron kettles and other necessary articles lo maintain sugar camps several miles up th e river. 18 Many years later, Louis Bernard Kakatosh , Jr., an elderly Menominee and godchild of 48 Frontier Matriarch and Businesswoman Marinette, remembered those sugar camps from his early childhood. His family had joined other Native families on the annual spring sugar-malting trips to a place n ear Porterfield on the \IVisconsin side of the river. There in the maple forests, the sap was gathered and boiled doV\rn.. The d elicious sugar was packed in birch-bark makuks for storage and then exchanged for supply goods at Marinette's post.19 In addition to maple sugar, she sold cranberries, wild rice, and fish, all products of Native enterprise, to \-\rhite immigrants who had begun arriving at "The Menominee. "20 Occasionally, Marine tte made summer voyages back to Old Green Bay where she attended the village church. In August of 1836 sh e requested and received a personal church baptism from Father Sanderl,21 an act of piety which acknowledged respect for h er French Catholic h eritage. She found this entirely consistent with her Native American values of service to others and r everence for the spiritual dimension inherent throughout all creation. In the years to come, the home of h er daughter, Elizabeth McLeod, on the north side of "The Menominee"22 and Marinette's home on the south side23 both occasionally served the area as mission chapels for services. Marinette's personal beliefs and practical talents were recalled by local historians many years later. \l\Triting in 1911, Alvah L. Sawyer stated that she "is remembered by those of our early settlers who still remain, as an exemplary woman and a very brilliant and extrem ely shrewd busin ess manager." 24 In 1876, Eleazar Ingalls noted she had won the respect of the entire community, which had included many white inhabitants. Marinette, he said, was "highly honored by all the r esidents about the I'iver... and had been looked to as a mother by all the early settlers and Indians, for she had always been ready to assist the needy and comfort the distressed." 25 49 QUEEN MARINETTE-Spirit of Survival on the Great Lakes Frontier 'i\TILLIAl\11 F ARNSWORTH After he left "The Menominee," William Farnsworth became a leading businessman at Sheboygan, Wisconsin (then located in Michigan Territo1y) where in 1835 he acquired a partially completed mill, finished its construction and made it a flourishing enterprise.1 Always industrious, he utilized the proceeds of his mill operations to expand his store and acquire a warehouse and pier on the north side of the river. 2 From this base he became a forwarding agent on the Great Lakes and part owner of two sailing vessels, the Jefferson and the Traveler. 3 During Farnsworth's lifetime, lake travel was the most economical means of transportation throughout the Great Lakes Basin, and his frontier location at the Sheboygan River was advantageous for exporting lumber and fish. For a short period of time (1847-1852), he accepted the honor of becoming a commissioner of the original Sheboygan and Fond du Lac Railroad,4 but lake shipping continued to occupy his business efforts. In 1842, Farnsworth married Lydia Anne Ryan, 5 who in 1844, died at the young age of twenty-six. In 1847, he married Martha Farnsworth, the widow of his cousin, James. One child, a daughter Arlile, was born to this last marriage, but died when she was only six months old. 6 Farnsworth himself died tragically on September 8, 1860 while traveling between Chicago and Milwaukee on the excursion steamer, Lady Elgin. At 2:00 a.m. a lumber schooner accidentally rammed the Elgin and caused extensive flooding on board. Her boiler fires were eAiinguish ed and she sank in the darkness within half an hour. Most of her passengers drowned. 7 Farnsworth's body was returned to Sheboygan wher e he was given one of the largest funerals the city had ever seen. Free Masons conducted r ites and marched to 'Wildwood Cemetery followed by two uniformed rifle companies, a procession of citizens, and thirty-two horse-drawn carriages.8 Today, historians view William Farnsworth as the founding father of the city of Sheboygan. To his credit, h e was a forceful, independent and enterprising individual, who possessed typical American-held values of self-reliance and resourcefulness.9 continued... 50 Frontier Matriarch and Businesswoman SOURCES FOR SIDEBAR 1. Martin, M. (1909). "Sketch of William Farnsworth (1860)." In Collections of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, Volume IX, p. 400. Madison: Democrat Printing Company. 2. Buchen, G. (1944). Historic Sheboygan County, p. 199. Sheboygan: Buchen. 3. "\i\Tilliam Farnsworth, Founder of City of Sheboygan," (n.d.). In files of Sheboygan County Historical Research Center, Inc., 518 Water Street, Sheboygan Falls, \VI. 4. Buchen, p. 180. 5. Trowbridge, W. (1842). In Brown County Marriages, Volume II, p. 142. Area Research Center at UW- Green Bay, State Historical Society of Wisconsin. 6. "William Farnsworth, Founder of City of Sheboygan." 7. Mount, C. (1981). "Happy Excursion that Turned to Tragedy" (April, 1981). Milwauhee Sentinel. 8. "Farnsworth was Real Founder of Sheboygan," (n.d.), and "Farnswo1ih, Sheboygan Founder Led an Exciting, Colorful Career," (1953). In files of Sheboygan County Historical Research Center, Inc. 9. Buchen, p. 70. SOURCES FOR CHAPTER 7 1. Criminal Cases, Brown County Circuit Court (1824-1844). In Brown County Series 73, Volume I, pp. 208-209. Area Research Center at UW-Green Bay, State Historical Society of Wisconsin. 2. Eighth Census of th e United States, Roll 1400, Town of Marinette. In Federal Population Schedules, 1860, RG 29, M653 (microfilm edition, 1979), Roll 1400. \tVashington: National Archives Trust Fund Board. 3. Thomas, J. (1909). Pioneer Settlement of Sheboygan County. Collections of the State Historical Soci.ety of Wisconsin, Vol. IX, p. 393. Madison: Democrat Printing Company. 5 1 QUEEN MARINETTE-Spirit of S .irvival on the Great Lakes Frontier 4. Landes, R. (1939). The Ojil •wa.y Woman, p. 86. New York: Columbia University Press. 5. Quiner, E. (1904). Resom·, :es of Northeastern ·wisconsin. Collections of the State Historical Soci1 !ty of Wisconsin, Vol. III, p. 494. Madison: Democrat Printing Company. 6. Spindler, G. (1955). The Conditions of Life. Publications in Culture ancl Society, Volume 5, p. ~ '1. University of California Press. 7. Hall, R. ( 1876). The Cer tennial History of Oconto County. U.S. Bicentennial Recollections q c Oconto County, p. 12. Oconto, Wisconsin: R.L. Hall Abstract Comr: any. (Reprinted in 1976 by Franciscan Publishers, Pulaski, Wiscc ·nsin.) 8. Jacobs, J. (1840). Letter tc · John Lawe, July 27, 1840. In]ohn Lawe Papers. State Historical S< •Ciety of Wisconsin. 9. Stephenson, I. (1915). Rec,,llections of a Long Life, 1829-1915, p. 142. Chicago: R.R. Donnelley ri. Sons. 10. Jacobs. Letter to John La'\.re, July 27, 1840. 11. Memorandum of Agreeir ent, May 10, 1834. In Morgan L. Martin Papers, July 1831 to June 1835, Box 3b. State Historical Society of ·wisconsin, Madison. 12. Abbott, S. In Gri.gnon, Laue and Parlier Papers, Vols. 1-65,. 1712-1884 (microfilm edition, 1984:, v. 39, p. 82. Madison: State Historical Society of Wisconsin. 13. Chaput, S. In Grignon, Lawe and Parlier Papers, Vols. 1-65, 1712-1884 (microfilm edition, 1984:, v. 39, p . 14. Madison: State Historical Society of Wisconsin. 14. Fisk, J. (1839). Quit Clairr. Deed. In Oconto County Deeds, Volume A, Book K, p. 458. Oconto C)tmty Courthouse, Oconto, ·wisconsin. 15. Brush, C. (18;54). In Morgen L. Martin Papers, July 1831 to June 1835, Box 3b. State Historical S )ciety of \l\Tisconsin in Madison. 16. Trowbridge, W. (1842). 11 Brown County Marriages, Volume JI, p. 142. Area Research Cer ter at U\l\T-Green Bay, State Historical Society of v\Tisconsin. 1 7. Patrick, L. (n.d.). In Li-wis Patrick Papers, (file notes). State Historical Society of Wisconsin in Madison. 52 Frontier Matriarch and Businesswoman 18. Will of Jan e Farnsworth Dunette (1866). Copy inLocal History Files. Marinette County Historical Society Logging Museum, Marinette, Wisconsin. 19. Louie, Last of Kakatosh Indian Days (March 28, 1936 edition). The Herald Leader, Menominee, Michigan. 20. Trading Post Ledger (1834- 1837). At Marinette County Historical Society Logging Museum, Marinette, Wisconsin. 21. Sanderl {1836). In Baptismal Records, St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church, Green Bay. Area Research Center at U\N'-Green Bay, State Historical Society of Wisconsin. 22. Growth of Catholicity in This Live Lake Superior Tnwn (June 14, 1894 edition). Tiie Michigan Catholic. In Local Hi.s tory Files. Marinette County Historical Society Logging Museum, Marinette, Wisconsin. 23. Scudella, M. (n.d.). Letter to Earle S. Holman. In Local History Files. Marinette County Historical Society Logging Museum, Marinette, 'Wisconsin. 24. Sawyer, A. (1911). A History of the Northern Peninsula of Michigan, Volume I, p. 559. Chicag·o: Lewis Publishing Company. (Reprinted in 1974 by Mid-Peninsula Library Federation, Iron Mountain, MI.) 25. Ingalls, E. {1876). Centennial History of Menominee County, pp. 14- 15. Menominee, Michigan: Herald Power Presses. 53 / I' _ll 'l ] - l---- Quaker minister 17wmas Wistar met with the Menominee chiefs at Fort Howard in 1849. He was instrumental. in helping the Menominees initiate petitions to the United States Government for permission to permanently remain in the new state of Wisconsin. 8 Reluctant Departures from "The Menominee" 1848 - 1854 ith every passing year of her life, Marinette sadly vvi:tnessed an alarming decline in the cultural strength W of the Menominees. Prior to the Viar of 1812, they had been sought-after, necessary participants whose provision of valuable furs enabled the existence of a wealthy, thriving industry. As the numbers of furs and fur markets dwindled, they, and their lifestyle, became less valued by the encroaching white community. In fact, it became apparent that utilization of natural resources to provide profits for an expanding national economy did not leave room for the fur trade, which required retention of the wilderness in its natural state. Transition to a new lifestyle was difficult for the Menominees whose traditions predisposed them to perceive sanctity and harmony in Mother Earth. To change their way of life and take up the pick and shovel, the plow, or the cross-cut saw, was extremely difficult and required an inner denial of their old way of life and value system. Throughout the mid 1800s, they struggled with all the debilitating effects of cultur al upheaval: loss of prestige, self respect and occupational validation. In addition, they suffered the associated heartbreaking losses of affectional ties and stable gToup relationships. 1 In 1836 the Menominee Tribe was led by United States agents to give up title to vast acres of land including t hose on the Menominee River.2 The band occupying the river mouth was encouraged to join other tribal bands in Wisconsin Territory who were living on lands not yet deeded by tr eaty to the government. The local Menominees, however, wanted to remain as long as 55 QUEEN MARINETTE-Spirit of Survival on the Great Lakes Frontier TIUBAL RELATIONSHIPS Marinette was a descendant of both the Chippewa and Menominee Tribes, but sh e spent most of h er life with the latter group. By this time in history, there had been considerable intermarriage between th e l\llenominees and their Chippewa neighbors to t he north. Tribal distinctions had become somewhat blurred and no longer w ere the primary source of identity among Native Am ericans in the region. 1 In h is book, Ojibway Heritage, Basil Johnston states that the Chipp ewa/ Ojibwa language had been the common language of the fur trade, and by the early nineteenth century had becom e t he primary means of communication among all of th e tribes located throughout the region. Although the M enominees retained most of the unique characte ristics of their O\.Vn language, and readily spoke their language within their own villages,2 they had also learned to communicat e with other Native Americans through their understanding and utilization of Ojibwa. Ojibwa-speaking peoples, at the time, included the Algonquin, Chippewa/Ojibwa, Menominee, Misissauga, Ottawa, Potawatomi, and Sauk, who conversed with a common language and shared a similar cultural heritage. In their informal relationships among themselves, totemic and band affiliations conti.nuecl.. .next page possible near their ancestral home site, and through the influence and resourcefulness of Marinette and her children, this desire was made a reality. Twelve years later when \IVisconsin became a state, the tribe again underwent extreme pressure from the government and developers to give u p all their remaining lands. This time they w ere induced to sign a treaty ag1·eeing they would leave the state and r elocate on the Crow Wing River in present-day Minnesota.3 Almost immediately, however, tribal leaders began malting appeals on behalf of the tribe to remain in Northern Wisconsin ainong their familiar forests, wetlands, lakes, and rivers. Fear also gripped them for they learned they would be placed as a buffer 56 Reluctant Departures from "The Menominee" Tribal Relationships. .. continued were of primary importance, and tribal affiliations had become secondary. 3 Formal tribal affiliations with the U.S. Government, ho-wever, were more defined. With the advent of government land treaties and associated annuity payments, Native Alnericans were required to identify themselves on registers or rolls as members of one of the tribes that owned vast amounts of land with defined borders. This action formally cemented the identity of Native individuals as members of specific tribes and thus enabled the U.S. Government to purchase their lands and sell them to white settlers and developers. 1. Johnston, B. (1976). Ojibway Heritage, pp. 59- 60. New York: Columbia University Press. 2. Porter, G. (1960). Journal of George B. Porter, Governor of the Territory of Michigan and Superintendent of Indian Affairs, on a visit to Green Bay in pursuance of Letter of Instructions from the Honorable Lewis Cass, Secretary of War." In Documents Relating to the Negotiation of Ratified and Unratifiecl Treaties with Various Indian Tribes, 1801-1869. Microcopy T-494, reel 2, frame 602. Washington: National Archives and Research Center. 3. Johnston, B. pp. 59-60. between the Sioux and Chippewa/Ojibwa at Crow Wing in an attempt to curb animosities b etween these two tribes which had resulted from early years of tenacious territorial wars.4 One of the require1nents of the Departure Treaty of 1848 stipulated that all mixed-blood Menominees must make a decision to either go with the tribe to Crow \IVing or formally give up their own and their descendants' tribal affiliation. (See sidebar "Tribal Relationships," facing page and above, for more on Marinette's affiliations.) Due in part to the uncertainties of tribal relocat ion, over three hundred mixed-bloods decided to stay in Wisconsin where they would attempt to acquire property and settle among the white population. Forty thousand dollars 57 QUEEN MARINETTE-Spirit of Survival on the Great Lakes Frontier were earmarked to be divided among them and acceptance of payment constituted revocation of their share of any future governmental annuity payments which would have been paid to them or their descendants had they remained with the tribe.5 Marinette and her family were among the mixed-blood Menominees who elected to stay in Wisconsin. An interesting written account describes the distribution of the forty thousand dollars to these persons by the Menominee chiefs. In a rare moment of consideration for the tribe, the U.S. Government sent Thomas Wistar, a Quaker leader, to oversee the payment. Wistar, a man of principle, opened the conference at Fort Howard in Green Bay with a statement to the assembled chiefs: Brothers ... the President of the United States .. .linows that the Indians and Quakers have always been good friends and... there had never been any difficulty between them.... He asked me if I would come and meet the Menominees in Council and help you make out a roll of mixed-blood Menominees so that the $40,000 provided... might be paid.... He offered to pay me money if I would come. I told him... that I did not go for the sahe of the money, for I woilld not take any pay except my expenses ... because our old chief, William Penn, had commanded all his children to be kind to the Indians as their forefathers had been kind to him when he first came over the great water.... 7 Oshkosh told Wistar he "feared that men who had never done anything for their people were going to claim an equal share with those who had been helpful to them. "8 Wistar assured him that all names on the list of mixed-blood recipients would be approved by the chiefs before being paid. When the chiefs implied that some mixed-bloods had been far more helpful than others and should therefore receive more money, Wistar proposed that every mixed-blood person (man, woman, and child) should receive fifty dollars; this, he said, would not deplete the forty thousand dollars. He further proposed that the remainder of the amount be equally distributed to those mixed bloods on the roll who had been especially helpful to the tribe.9 58 Reluctant Departures from "The Menominee" Chief LaMote, himself a mixed-blood descendant who had elected to go with the tribe, then spoke on behalf of all the chiefs saying: This was the very thing they had desired, but they had not seen how to get at it. There were some who had been their very good friends, whom they had desired to consider in the distribution as it would be the last opportunity they would ever have of rewarding them for the good they had done. 10 Wistar then granted a request from the chiefs to move their Council outside into the yard where in the open air they could sit, as they were used to doing, on soft ground instead of the hard wooden benches of the fort. u Because they could not vvrite, fifty small sticks were prepared, every one of which represented a person the chiefs wished to reward. In succession each of the chiefs threw down a stick when he gave a mixed-blood name until the entire fifty were gone. 12 The additional amount eventually received by each chosen person was not large, only twenty-five dollars, but the gesture was immeasurable. Among the fifty special recipients thus favored were: Names given by Chee-chee-quan-o-way, Menominee River Band: Marinette Jacobs Jean Baptiste Jacobs, Jr., Marinette's son George Jacobs, Marinette's grandson Names given by Shaw-wan-no-pen-esse, Peshtigo River Band: Bart Chevalier, Marinette's brother Elizabeth McLeod, Marinette's daughtert3 The Menominees persisted over the next five years to pursue governmental consideration of their request to remain in Wisconsin, and finally in 1854 Congress approved a new treaty allowing them to live on Wisconsin land located on the Upper Wolf River approximately fifty miles to the west of their ancestral home on "The Menominee." 14 In anticipation, most of the tribal members had already traveled there in 1852 when it had become apparent that Washington legislators would favor their request. 15 The Menominee River Band, however, held out 59 QUEEN MARINETTE-Spirit of Survival on the Great Lakes Frontier until 1856 when at last they left their ancestral home to comply with the treaty. 16 They settled on the reservation at Keshena Falls, which was named in honor of Keshi-niu, grandson of the celebrated Tomah and son of Joset Caron who had died at "The Menominee" in 1831. Keshi-niu owed his name, Swift Flying, to a prophetic glimpse his father had once received while fasting. In that vision, J oset had seen large numbers of eagles and hawks, representatives of the Thunderers, fly swiftly past "The Menominee" toward the setting sun.17 During the same year that the Menominee Tribe solidified its right to remain in vVisconsin, Marinette's competitor, Stanislas Chaput, who by then had reached the age of eighty-three, died at Chappee Rapids which was the Anglicized name by which his post had become lmown. 18 As early as 1850, the federal census taker had indicated Chaput was ninety, and indeed it seemed to everyone that the intrepid old trader had been a fixture forever on the river. He lingered for some time on his death bed, and Marinette, laying aside their differences, went up to see him, also bringing comfort to his young Menominee wife and three children.19 Although keen competition for furs had constantly strained their relationship, nevertheless Marinette and Chaput had always addressed each other with the polite propriety customary among the early French, he calling her Mrs. Jacobs (even during the Farnsworth years) and she calling him Mr. Chaput (pronounced "shap-PEE").20 They spoke to each other in French and Chippewa, languages both of them !mew well.2 1 \!\Then the end came in May of 1854, Marinette, along with Chaput's family and friends, mourned his passing. SOURCES FOR CHAPTER 8 1. Spindler, G. (1955). The Conditions of Life. P'Ublications in Culture ancl Society, Volume 5, p. 202. University of California Press. 2. Menominee Treaty, 1836. In G.E. Fay (Ed.),Journal of the Wisconsin Indians Research Insti.tute, Vol. 1. (1965). Oshkosh: Wisconsin State University. 3. Menominee Treaty, 1848. In G.E. Fay (Ed.).]ournal of the Wisconsin Indians Research Institute, Vol. 1. (1965). Oshkosh: \i\Tisconsin State University. 60 Reluctant Departures from "TI1e Menominee" 4. Keesing, F. (1939). 11ie Menominee Indians of Wisconsin-A Study of Three Centuries of Cultural Contact ancl Change, p. 146. Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society. 5. Keesing. p. 104. 6. Johnston, B. (1976). Ojibway Heritage, pp. 59- 60. New York: Columbia University Press. 7. Cope, A. (1849). Minute Booh of the 1849 Payment to the Menominee at Green Bay, p. 11. Quaker Collection, Haverford College. (Copy available at State Historical Society of Wisconsin, Madison.) 8. Cope. p. 12. 9. Cope. p. 17. 10. Ibid. 1 1. Cope. p. 19. 12. Cope. p. 20. 13. Cope. pp. 20-22. 14. Menominee Treaty, 1854. In G.E. Fay (Ed.),]ournal of the Wisconsin Indians Research Institute, Vol. 1. (1965). Oshkosh: Wisconsin State University. 15. Keesing. p. 149. 16. Stephenson, I. (1915). Recollections of a Long Life, 1829-1915, p. 141. Chicago: R.R. Donnelley & Sons. 17. Sawyer, A. (1911). A History of the Northern Peninsula of Michigan, Volume I, p. 50. 01icago: Lewis Publishing Company. (Reprinted in 1974 by Mid-Peninsula Library Federation, Iron Mountain, MI.) 18. Kittson, J. (1854). Obituary of Stanislas Chaput (May 24, 1854 edition). Green Bay Advocate. 19. Letter to Mary, March 24, 1854, Menominee. In Lewis Patricli Papers (unpublished). Madison: State Historical Society of Wisconsin. (Signature page is lost.) 20. Vieau, P. (1895). Letter from Peter J. Vieau, p. 2. InLewis Patrick Papers State Historical Society of Wisconsin in Madison. 21. Ryan, S. (1841). U.S. vs. Samuel H. Farnsworth. In Brown County Court Cases, Box 208. Area Research Center at UW-Green Bay, State Historical Society of Wisconsin. 61 ,. -... .. "" ...... --.... ,.,.,_ In the 1850s, Marinette's eldest son, John Jacobs, Jr. , built a new two-story trading post on the bank of the Menomi.nee River. The upper floor quickly became the hub of business and social life in the community. 9 Emergence of a New Generation 1854 y the time of Chaput's death, the settlement on the south side of "The Menominee" had already been known for Bseveral years throughout the region as the Town of Marinette. Persons traveling to the river mouth during the early half of the nineteenth century, whether they were tr aders or Native Americans, went there to visit Marinette's post on the south side, the principal Menominee tribal village on the north side, or Chaput's post a few miles up river at Chappee Rapids. After the Menominee Treaty of 1836 opened the area to white immigrants looking for settlement opportunities, each of these locations retained their names. In 1853, th e population on both sides of the river was r eported to contain about one hundred fifty white persons. Unlike a few years earlier, the whites now outnumbered the Native Americans who were scattered throughout the area, some of them still living in bowl-shaped lodges of pole frames made weather tight with coverings of birch bark and mats woven of long grasses from the wetland regions along the river. 1 Only three cut-lumber buildings existed on the south side of the river; one was the building of the former Methodist Mission, now owned by Dr. J.C. Hall who had m oved it a short distance upriver from its original site. The other two housed the young family of John Jacobs, Jr., and Marinette's extended household of several children, grandchildren, and immigrant boarders. (See sidebar "Marinette's House and Patrick Map," n ext two pages.) While still r etaining a strong leadership role in the business, Marinette by this time had transferred it to her son, John, whose 63 QUEEN 111IARINETTE- Spirit of Survival on the Great Lakes Frontier MARINETT E'S HOUSE and PATRICK'S MAP Marinette's house, the first frame dwelling on the Menominee River, was built in 1838 near the original trading post by the McLeod brothers, 1 most likely with sawed lumber from the Farnsworth mill. During the early 1900s, Lewis Patrick made a successful effort to identify locations of the first log and fram e buildings on th e lower river. Utilizing information from the maps of two early surveyors, B.H. Edgarton (1839-40) and John Mullett (184 7-1848), Mr. Patrick drew a third map showing both sides of the river. For orientation purposes, he included three bridges, none of which existed when the two early survey maps had been drawn. These three bridges (Hattie Street, C&NW Railroad, and Interstate Highway 41) all cross the river between \l\Tisconsin and Michigan. According to Mr. Patrick's map, Marinette's house, a new frame dwelling at the time of Edgarton's survey in 1840, was located a short distance downstream from the present location of the Hattie Street Bridge, probably at the site of the Fred Carney home built in 1895 during the height of the lumbering industry. Mr. Patrick's map confirms that by 1840, William Farnsworth h ad departed "The Menominee" leaving h is mill to be operated by Samuel H. Farnsworth. Samuel and h is family lived at the mill site a short distance upstream from the Hattie Street Bridge location. 111e cooper shop located at the mill site was needed to produce large numbers of barrels for shipm ent of fish which Farnsworth procured from a weir placed under the mill dam. 2 new two-story building on the river bank had now become the trading post. The lower Door was a boat house wher e Nat ive Americans from many miles around left their canoes before going upstairs to shop.2 Farming was listed by the 1850 and 1860 federal census takers as Marinette's occupation, and it is likely she continued, with the help of family and laborers, to supply the post with corn and other produce for sale.s It is also known that she planted the first apple orchard in the tov.rn of Marinette and st ored the sur plus in her cellar for use throughout the long winters by h er family and visitors.4 64 Emergence of a New Generation Patrich.'s Map. (Adapted by Bruce E. Johnson) Brld9ts: I . ., Hatt~ Strfft 2. = C & NII' Raflr~d Pine plains. Some white ond red oak. 3. • lnttrStat. us 41 ------__ ,,_ ---- - ~ - ~ 91!1rter notion Ownersh1e. Town of M1r!ntttt M=Mm H::o House SH • Stort Houn S • Stort> NH • Nt"" Houst C ,. Cooper Shop S. Farnsworth J . Jacobs, Jr. B • Bl&oksm!th Shop MM "' Old Methodist Mission SOURCES FOR SIDEBAR 1. Patrick. L. (n.d.). In Lewis Patrich Papers (file notes). State Historical Society of 'Wisconsin in Madison. 2. Patrick, L. (n.d.). 1vlaps of Lower Menomi.nee River, 1840 & 1848. GX9018, M55, copies 1&2. Madison: State Historical Society of Wisconsin. (Donated to SHSW by Mrs. Lewis Patrick, Marinette, November 1915.) The effervescence of Marinette's French and Native American culture flowed through the lives of h er family. John Jr.'s home on the river was the center of social life for several years, and many parties there were attended by Marinette and the people who lived in the surrounding· communities. It was said they often "tripped the light fantastic toe" in the "giddy maze of the French four or quadrille" to the music of the fiddle. Future gene rations remembered those good old times of boundless hospitality "when beaded moccasins, doeskin pants, and an ornamented red flannel shirt constituted full dress ... .''5 65 QUEEN MARINETTE-Spirit of Survival on the Great Lakes Frontier John Jacobs, Jr., was a man of aristocratic bearing who accomplish ed a number of "firsts" in the Town of Marinette.6 In 1855, h e became the town's first chair of the Board of Supervisor s. 7 Three years later, in anticipation of the approaching economic boom of the local lumber industry, h e obtained a patent and laid out the first city plat on forty acres of valuable land that today encompass Dunlap Square and the entire downtown area of Marinette.0 In 1857, h e purchased the steamer, Queen City, from Neff and Company9 and started, during the decade before his mother 's death, to transport passengers, freight, and barrels of sa;tted fish 10 between Marinette and Green Bay. Stops were made along the way at Peshtigo, Oconto, and Pensaukee, all newly developing ports that had b een the recent sites of Native villages. Every week the Queen also steamed eastward across the Bay to the port of Sturgeon Bay on Wisconsin's Door Peninsula. 11 SOURCES FOR CHAPTER 9 1. Worth, J. (1940). "Menominee in 1853 Described by James F. Lyon." In Menominee Herald Leader, September 4, 1940. (Reprinted in 1941 by Ethel Schuyler in Menominee County Book for Schools, p. 204. Menominee, Mich igan: Office of County School Commissioner.) 2. Ibid. 3. Seventh Census of the United States, Roll 994, Town of Marinette. In Federal Population Schedules, 1850, RG 29, M432 (microfilm edition, 1979). Washington: National Archives Trust Fund Board. 4. Louie, Last of Kakatosh Indian Days (March 28, 1936 edition). The Herald Leader, Menominee, Michigan. Ingalls, E. (1876). Centennial History of Menominee County, p. 15. Menominee, Michigan: Herald Power Presses. 5. Sherman, J. (1876), p. 5. In Lewis Patrick Papers. State Historical Society of Wisconsin in Madison. (Original work published by Marinette and Peshtigo Eagle, July 15, 1876.) 6. Stephenson, I. (1915). Recollections of a Long Life, 1829-1915, p. 142. Chicago: R.R. Donnelley & Sons. 7. Sherman. p. 5. 66 Emergence of a New Generation 8. General Land Office Patent ( 1858). In Deeds, Marinette County. Number 22804, Volume 61, pp. 102-103. Courthouse: Marinette, Wisconsin. 9. "Steamer, Queen City" (August 1, 1857 edition), p. 3. The Milwaukee Sentinel. 10. Worth. 11. Advertisement for Q-ueen City (May 14, 1863 edition). Green Bay Advocate. 67 ·····-- - -~~~-:-;.- -_,_....: ....~-::-.~~;~~ ...... --- :i.·- ~"'" .:-· ~---.:...... -. .~. The steamer, Queen City, ·was owned by Marinette's son, John Jacobs, Jr., and carried passengers ancl freight between ports on Green Bay. It regularly doched at the trading post on the 1\tlenominee River. 10 Queen Marinette After 1860 !though historians are puzzled by the apparent lack of any newspaper accounts which document the circumstances of A Marinette's d eath, most cite the probable date as June 3, 1865. At th e time of h er death, Marinette's sons, John Jacobs, Jr., and George P. Farnsworth, both lived in the city of Green Bay with their wives and children. It is probable that Marinette died while visiting these families, for Richard L. Hall when writing The Centennial History of Oconto County in 1876 stated that "she died ... at Green Bay; h er remains were carried [back] to her home on the steamer Queen City and laid vvith others of her family and children." 1 Historian John Shermcm, also writing in 1876 on the occasion of the nation's centennial, gave another brief, but helpful, account: The old residence of Marinette is still standing and is the property of our chief officer, F[red] Carney, Esq. Marinette lived there with her children, devoting the latter part of her life to deeds of benevolence and devotion imtil she arrived at the ripe age of three score and twelve when she quietly passed away on the third of June, 1865. Her remains were first interred i.n the enclosure near the hou.se ... over whi.ch was erected a bui.iding composed of cedar logs. 2 It is possible to surmise from Hall's and Sherman's writing that her children had Marinette's remains taken from the Queen City and placed in her home which once again served as a chapel for services. TI1e local community quietly buried h er in 69 QUEEN MARINETTE-Spirit of Survival on the Great Lakes Frontier the garden behind her house following the fashion of the Native Americans who traditionally placed small log buildings over the graves of their deceased:3 Analysis of the will of her youngest child, Jane Farnsworth Dunette, who died at age 32 on Christmas Day, 1865, indicates Marinette had preceded Jane in death.4 Marinette's garden and burial plot had b ecome the property of Jane, who just prior to her own impending death, willed it to h er sister, Elizabeth Jacobs McLeod, and stipulated it was to be used as a place of burial for the descendants of Marinette and their wives and husbands. Jane concurrently willed to Elizabeth all the personal property which had descended to her as one of the heirs of Marinette, including all of Marinette's kettles and sugar camp equipage. 5 Jacobs' House in Green Bay. Plwtograph taken in the 1890s of John Jacobs, Jr. 's home on the corner of Lawe and Adams Streets in Green Bay. Slwwn left to right are his son-in-law, Joseph Masse; granddaughter, Regina Masse; grandson, Clarence Masse; daughter, Mrs. Mary (Mollie) Masse; and grandson, Grover Masse. Photograph: couTtesy of Claude Premo, descendant of Marinette. 70 Queen Marinette During the following decade, the emerging lumbering industry began to change the local landscape dramatically, and the river in front of Marinette's house and garden quicldy deteriorated from pristine beauty to miles of floating logs edged by eroded banks of slabs and sawdust debris. VVhen it became an unsuitable grave site, Elizabeth sold the garden property, and with the help of her brothers moved Marinette' s body (and those of other family members also buried at the site) to the Allouez Cemetery in Green Bay.6 Unfortunately, there is no existing church record of Marinette's death. The local Catholics had been served at that time by Father AM. Mazeaud who traveled to the village on the old trail from Peshtigo, Wisconsin. In 1868, three years after Marinette's death, he was succeeded by Father Peter Pernin who oversaw erection in 1870 of Our Lady of Lourdes, the first Catholic church built in the growing town of Marinette. Father Pernin also over saw the building of a priest's house and a school near the church. A devoted pastor, he continued to travel back to Peshtigo during this time to offer services on a regular basis, and in addition, he occasionally traveled northward along the Bay to a mission congregation in the lumbering town of Cedar River, Michigan. 7 During Father Pernin's tenure, loss of life and destruction on an incredible scale swept through a large portion of Northeastern Wisconsin and adjacent areas in Michigan. Accounts of the tragic conflagration, lmown today as the Peshtigo Fire, make clear what happened to the existing church records, which include d Marinette's death record. Following is a qu ote from the city of Marinette's centennial book that was published in 1987: To the horror of [Father Pernin] and his parishioners, the new church buildings and virtually all records in Marinette and the missi,on at Peshtigo were destroyed by the Gr eat Fire of October 8, 1871. Father Pernin was in Peshtigo that terrible night and took refuge with hundreds of others in the Peshtigo River. 8 71 QUEEN MARINETTE-Spirit of Survival on the Great Lakes Frontier QUEEN CITY STEAMER Area newspapers often carried accounts of the small passenger and freight steamer, Queen City, during the years she traveled between ports on the waters of Green Bay. On August 1, 1857, the Green Bay Advocate reported: "We are informed that Messrs, J.B. Jacobs and George P. Farnsworth [Marinette's sons], have purchased of Neff and Company the steamer, Queen City, now plying between Green Bay and the Bay ports, and that she may now be looked upon as a fb1:ure.. here or as another valuable addition to the Green Bay fleet .. .. " Four years later on April 25, 1861 the Green Bay Press stated, "This morning, [a] fine pleasant morning of the spring, the 'Queen City,' first boat of the season, came down from Oshkosh looking as fresh and handsome as a school marm. In a day or two she will be able to go on to Oconto, etc., commencing her regular trips between this city and Bay de Noquette and intermediate po1is." During the short span of years between Marinette's passing and the Peshtigo Fire, the principal sawn1ill owners on the Menominee River acquired the Queen City from Marinette's son, John Jacobs, Jr., when he moved to Green Bay.9 (See sidebar above.) They kept the little side-paddle steamer in good repair and she continued to make regular runs up and down the Bay until they sold her in 1871. 10 Throughout the period of its operation, the townspeople fondly associated Marinette's m emory -vvith the familiar sight of "The Queen" as it plied its way up to the old trading post dock. u Because Marinette is often referred to today as "Queen Marinette," some people speculate that word association triumphed when the name of the steamer, Queen City, became associated, through connected thought processes, with "Queen City of Marinette" and finally, after several decades, was shortened to "Queen Marinette." In actuality, the title "Queen Marinette" was a term of veneration bestowed upon Marinette by the Native American and French population of the area who used it spontaneously 72 Mari:nette and Her Home. The 7Jortrai.t on the left Originally taken during the early 1860s, this often comes from a copy of a "carte de visite," a type of copied portrait is the only likeness known to exist of photograph comm.on during the Civil War era. It this reniarhable woman. Her home, also pictured, was shows Marinette at approximately seventy years of torn down at th.. e height of the lumbering industry. age wearing an ordinary dro7Jped-sleeve day dress. 12 Courtesy of Claude Premo, descendant of Marinette. QUEEN MARINETTE-Spirit of Survival on the Great Lakes Frontier during h er lifetime as an honorary designation befitting Marinette's respected position in the community. Father Pernin confirmed this in his wTitten eye-witness account of the Peshtigo Fire: I had the charge of [a] parish sitiiated on the River Menominee, at the point where it empties into Green Bay. It is called Marinette, from a female half breed looked on as their queen by the Indians inhabiting that district. This woman received in bcqJtism the name of Mary (Marie), which subsequently was [changed] into that of 1'vlarinette, or Little Marie. Hence the name of Marinette bestowed on the place. 13 Marinette's Crypt at Forest Home Cemetery. Courtesy of Claude Premo. 74 Queen Marinette Father Pernin's account helps to dispel the m ystery surrounding the source of the title "Queen Marinette," which p ersistently lives on today even after the elapse of well over a century of time. Today's residents of the city and surrounding area still refer with a great deal of justifiable pride to the life of "Queen Marinette." In the year 1987, which marked the centennial anniversary of their city's charter, the residents had Marinette's body returned from Allouez Cemetery in Green Bay and placed in the mausoleum at the local For est Home Cemetery where the name "Queen Marinette" was appropriately inscribed. This title, born out of affection and high regard, demonstrates the important role Marinette played in the founding of her community. She came into it a product of the old established culture and survived inevitable clashes with new American social values. Her active practice of servanthood, a legacy from French and Chippewa/ Menominee traditions, invigorated h er life and helped h er attain a sense of per sonal renewal and strength. The record of Marinette's worthy achievements on "The Menominee" assures her a prominent and respected place in the early history of the entire region once known as the Old Northwest. SOURCES FOR CHAPTER 10 1. Hall, G. (Ed.). (1976). The Centennial History of Oconto County. In U.S. Bicentennial Recollections of Oconto County, 1876, p. 12. Oconto, W1: R.L. Hall Abstract Company. Reprinted 1976 by Franciscan Publishers, Pulaski, WI. 2. Sherman, J. (1876), p. 4. In Lewis Patrich Papers. State Historical Society of Wisconsin in Madison. (Original work published by Marinette and Peshtigo Eagle, July 15, 1876.) 3. Skinner, A. (1911). In American Anthropologist, Volume 13, numbe r 4. Cambridge: Harvard University. 4. Death Notice for Jane Farns'\-vorth Dunette (December 28, 1865 edition). Green Bay Advocate. 5. Will of Jane Farnsworth Dunnette (1866). Copy in Local History Files. Marinette County Historical Society Logging Museum, Marinette, vVisconsin. 75 QUEEN MARINETTE- Spirit of Survival on the Great Lakes Frontier 6. Death Notice for Elizabeth Jacobs McLeod (August 16, 1890 edition). The Eagle, Marinette, Wisconsin. 7. Emich, H. (1987) City of Marinette Centennial Program, p. 24. Marinette Centennial Committee. 8. Ibid. 9. Queen City Ship Information and Data H.ecord. In 17ie Herman G. Runge Collection, number 20519. Milwaukee Public Library, Milwaukee, \IVI. 10. Ingalls, E. (1876). Centennial History of Menominee County, p. 60. Menominee, Michigan: Herald Power Presses. 11. \IVorth, J. (1940). "Menominee in 1853 Described by James F. Lyon." In Menominee Herald Leader, September 4, 1940. (Reprinted in 1941 by Ethel Schuyler in Menominee County Booh for Schools, p. 204. Menominee, Michigan: Office of County School Commissioner.) 12. Adams-Graf, John, Curator of History. Neville Public Museum, Green Bay. 13. Pernin, P. (1971). 'TI-1e Great Peshtigo Fire: An Eyewitness Account. In Wisconsin Stories: 17ie Great Peshtigo Fire. Madison: State Historical Society of Wisconsin. 76 Appendix Descendants of Marinette 77 QUEEN l\llARINETTE- Spirit of Survival on the Great Lakes Frontier CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN OF MARINETTE CHEVALIER AND JEAN BAPTISTE JACOBS 1. Mary Polly Jacobs Born approximately 1811. Died before 1840. Married: Antoine Provencal dit Carbonneau. Children: Mary (Marie) Born 1826. Elizabeth Born 1829. Marianne Born 1833. 2. Elizabeth Jacobs Born in 1815. Died in 1890. Married: Charles McLeod, born 1812, at Williamsburg, Ontario (near Ogdensburg, New York). Children: Genevieve Born 1841. Mary Born 1843. John Born 1848; died 1925. Charles H. Born 1851; died 1906. Alexander Born 1857. 3. Jean (John) Baptiste Jacobs, Jr. Born in 1818. Died in 1892. Married first: Kiznakry, Native American w oman. Children: George Born 1841. Sophia Born 1843; died 1864. Married second in 1844 at St. John ' s Catholic Church in Green Bay: Margaret Durocher (born 1827; died 1898). Children: Mary (Mollie) Born 1845; died 1903. Ellen (Nellie) Born 184 7; married John Masse in 1867. John III Born 1849. Pauline (Polly) Born 1851; died 18 71. Alexander Born 1853; died 1897. Margaret Born 1856; died 1863. Charles Born 1858; died 1862. Jane (Jennie) Born 1860; married Wm. Clough in 1884. 78 APPENDIX: Descendants of Marinette CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN OF l\!lARINE'ITE CHEVALIER AND WILLIAM FARNSWORTH 1 1. Joseph Farnsworth (called "Indian Joe" ) Born approximately 1824. Children: No known record of marriage or children. 2. George P. Farnsworth Born 1828. Died 1884. Married: Susan Clarke Tompkins, born 1829 in Ireland. Children: George II Born 1852. William J. Born 1856. Joseph Born 1860. Mary Born 1861. 3. Jane Farnsworth Born 1833. Died 1865. Married in 1860: George Dunette, born at Hudson Bay. Was a bookkeeper for the North Ludington Lumber Company in the town of Marinette. Children: James H. Born 1863. 1. Buchen, G. (1944). Historic Sheboygan Cou.nty, p. 76. Sheboygan: Buchen. (Also based on a Farnsworth family legend.) 79 QUEEN MARINETTE- Spirit of Survival on the Great Lakes Frontier ELIZABETH JACOBS McLEOD Marinette's daugh ter, Elizabeth Jacobs, married Charles McLeod, a millwright from New York.i In 1841, Charles built the second sawmill on the Menominee, several miles upstream from the river's m ou th.2 Ch arles' and Elizabeth's home, built in 1852,3 was the first frame h ouse on the Michigan side of the river. It was located just west of the town of Menominee where they owned 46 acres with extensive river frontage. In 1878, they sold this property to the Menominee River Manu facturing Compan y,4 and the family then moved to the west end of Ogden Avenue where they owned considerable property in the area known as "French Town. "5 They had at least five children: Genevieve, Mary, John, Ch arles, and Alexan der, but only John and Charles ou tlived their parents.6 John, ·the eldest, moved to Marinette wher e he worked until his death in 1925 for the Friedstein family as a clerk in their Bell Store and Boston Store retail clothing businesses.7 The McLeod's second son, Ch ar les, became a patrolman, deputy sh eriff,8 and Chief of Policen in the city of Menominee where he died in 1906. 10 1. Federal Census, 1850. Town of Marinette, County of Brown. National Archives micr ofilm. 2. Emich, H. (1987). City of Marinette Centennial Program, p. 5. Marinette Centennial Committee. 3. Ingalls, E. (1876). Centennial History of Menominee County, pp. 20-21. 4. Deed, July 24, 1878, for Government Lot 1, Township 31, Range 27, Section 4. Liber H, p. 268. Menominee County Court House. 5. Menominee City Directories, 1893/94 and 1897/98 (available at Spies Public Library, Menominee, Michigan). 6. Obituary (Saturday, Au gust 16, 1890 edition). 77te Eagle, Marinette. 7. Marinette City Dir ectories. 1903/04 throu gh 1924 (Spies Public Library). 8. Menominee City Directories, 1897/98, 1903/04, and 1905 (Spies Public Library). 9. News Article (May 8, 1899 edition ). 'the Daily Eagle, Marinette. 10. Menominee City Dir ectory, 1907 (Spies Public Library). 80 APPENDIX: Descendants of Marinette Photo reprodu ced courtesy of Claude Premo, descendant of Nlarinette. 81 QUEEN I\.fARINETTE-Spirit of Survival on the Great Lakes Frontier JOHN JACOBS, JR. Jean (John) Baptiste Jacobs, Jr., was born at Green Bay in March 18181 and moved with his parents to "The Menominee" in 1822 where he lived for approximately forty years. During the 1850s he acquired a small steamboat, Queen Ciiy,2 and built a dock and two-story frame dwelling on the Menominee River. This building then became the new site of Marinette's trading post where most of the social and business life of the community took place.3 During the mid 1860s, John Jr. moved back to Green Bay along with his wife, Margaret Durocher Jacobs, and their children.4 He purchased property on the corner of Lawe and Adams Streets and opened Jacobs House, a mercantile business dealing in furs. Possessed with a jovial personality, John Jr. was a likeable man who was known to have been "a friend to all. "5 A note, handwritten many years ago on the back of this family photograph of John Jr., indicates that his mother, Marinette, was sometimes lmown as "Hummingbird." This was an appropriate description for Marinette who was small in stature and very agile. Her busy, lively nature was reminiscent of the tireless hummingbird. 1. Richard, G. (1823). In Registre des Baptemes Saits dan LaParroisse de Michilimachinac, commance le 23 ]ulliet, 1823. In Ste. Anne's Church Register, Mackinac Island. (Microfilm available at Public Library, Ste. Ignace, Michigan.) 2. "Steamer, Queen City" (August l, 1857 edition), p.3. The Milwaukee Sentinel. 3. Sherman, J. (1876), p. 2. In Lewis Patrick Papers. State Historical Society of Wisconsin in Madison. (Original work published by Marinette and Peshtigo Eagle, July 15, 1876.) 4. Federal Census, 1870. First Ward, City of Green Bay, County of Brown, p . 2. (Available at State Historical Society of Wisconsin, Area Research Center, UW-Green Bay.) 5. "Pioneer Passes Away" (June 16, 1892 edition). The Green Bay Advocate, Green Bay, Wisconsin. 82 APPENDIX: Descendants of Marinette Photo reproduced courtesy of john Wormwood, descendant of Marinette. 83 QUEEN MARINETTE-Spirit of Survival on the Great Lakes Frontier GEORGE P. FARNSWORTH Marinette's son, George P. Farnsworth, was born in 1828 and became a businessman in Oconto and Green Bay, \Nisconsin. The 1860 federal census for the east ward of the village of Oconto indicates George h eld the position of sheriff and was also a hotel keeper for fifteen residents.1 From September 1862 through November 1864, h e served in the Civil War as Quartermaster in the Thirty-second Regiment, \l\Tiscon sin Infantry.2 Unfortunately, h e was thrown from a horse while serving on duty in Georgia and returned home chronically disabled from an internal injury.5 George married an Irish immigrant, Susan Clarke Tompkins, and they had four children: George, Jr., William J., Joseph, and Mary.4 Historical accounts report that Marinette died at the home of George and Susan Farnsworth in Green Bay during the spring of 1865.5 l. Federal Census, 1860. East Ward, Village of Oconto, Wisconsin. 2. Wisconsin State Legislature (1886). Roster of Wisconsi.n Volunteers, War of the Rebellion, 1861-1865, Volume II, p. 471. 3. Soldier's Certificate # 191-361 for George P. Farnsworth. ·washington, D.C.: National Archives Trust Fund Board. 4. Federal Census, 1870. Second Ward, City of Green Bay, County of Brown. (Available at Area Research Center UW-Green Bay, State Historical Society of Wisconsin.) 5. Morton, W. (1929). "Notables in Early History of Marinette." In Green Bay Historical Bulletin, Volume 5, Number 3, pp. 13-18. Green Bay: Brown County Historical Society. 84 APPENDIX: Descendants of Marinette Original charcoal drawing from photogra·ph, reprocliLced courtesy of Wallace B'l.ierschinger, clescenclant of Marinette. 85 INDEX A Censusof 1850, Federal,60 Algonquin Tribe, 56 Census of 1860, Federal, 84 Allouez Cemetery, Green Bay, 5, Chappee Rapids, 60, 63 71, 75 Chaput. Stanislas (Chappee), 13, American culture, frontier, 11, 50, 65 21, 29~2.39, 40 , 47,48 , 60, 63 American Fur Company, 11, 16, Chee-chee-quan-o-way, 19-21, 26-27, 32, 41, 47-48 Menominee chief, 59 Annuity payments, 4 7, 5 7-58 Chevalier, Angelique, 4, 46 Assiniboine River, 12 Chevalier, Barthelemy I, 2, 4, 6, Astor, John Jacob, 48 9-12, 14, 25 Chevalier, Barthelemy II, 4, 59 B Chevalier, Elizabeth (Liset), 5 Baird, Henry, 31 Chevalier, Jean Baptiste, 2, 3, 5, 6 Baptisms, Marinette's family,6, 25 Chevalier, Joseph, 5 Bay de Noc, 48, 72 Chevalier, Louise, 2-3, 10, 46. See Big Marten. See \1Vaub-ish-ashe also Chevalier, Widow Bourassa, Madame, 6 Chevalier, Louise II, 4 Boyd, George, Ind ian Agent, 21, Chevalier, Marguerite, 6 26-27 Chevalier, Marguerite Machard, 25 Bridges, Menominee River, 64-65 Ch evalier, Marie. See Marinette British Military, 5, 11 Chevalier, Marinette I, 2, 5-6 Brown County, Wisconsin, 33, 45 Chevalier, Widow, 12, 25 Brush, Charles R. , 36-38, 48 Chicago, I1linois, 41 Buchen, Gustave, W., 41 Chippewa/Ojibwa Tribe,3, 4, 35, 40, Burial customs, Menominee and 48, 56-5 7.See also Waub-ish -ashe Ch ippewa, 39, 69-70 Civil War, 84 Butte des Mertes, 3 Cooper Shop, Menominee River, 64-65 c Court cases, 27, 29-31, 32-33, 40, 45 Carney, Fred, home site, 64, 69 Cranberries, 49 Caron, ChiefJoset(Joseph), 3, 38-40, Credit system, 20, 4 7 45, 60 Crooks, Ramsay, 41 Caron, Chief Tomah (Thomas}, 11, Crow-Wing River, Minnesota, 56-57 39, 60 Cass, Governor Lewis, 27, 36 D Catholic Church, 25-26, 49, 69. See Dam, Menominee River, 64 also Cedar River, Michigan; Our DePere, Wisconsin, 4, 12, 14 Lady of Lourdes, Marinette Depression of 183 7, 48 Cedar River, Michigan, 71 Door Peninsula, 41, 66 87 QUEEN MARINETTE-Spirit of Survival on the Great Lakes Frontier Doty, Judge James Duane, 29-33 Fort Howard, 14-15, 29, 54, 58-59 Dousman, John, 16, 25, 27. 29 Fort Mackinac, 2 7 Dousman, Rosalie LaBorcle, 25 Fort Michilimackinac, 3, 5 Dunette, George, 79 Fort William, 12 Dunette, James H., 79 Fox River, 4, 14-15, 24, 37 Dunette, Jane. See Farnsworth, Jane Franks, Joseph, 9 Dunlap Square, Marinette, 66 Free Masons, 50 Dwellings, early frame, 63-65. 73, French manners, 11, 26, 60 80, 82 French quadrille, 65 Dwellings, French, 4 French Town, Menominee, 80 Dwellings, Native American, 19, 63 Friedstein family, Marinette, 80 Fur trade, 3, 22, 4 7-48, 55. See also E credit system Eaton, Jonathan H., Secretary of \!Var, 36 G Grand River Native Americans, F 26-27 Farming, 4, 36, 64 Green Bay Advocate, 72 Farnsworth, Arlile, 50 Green Bay Company, 19-21, 29, Farnsworth, George II, 79, 84 31,40 Farnsworth, George P., 35, 69, 72, Green Bay Indian Agency, 24-25 79, 84-85 Green Bay ports, 66, 68, 72 Farnsworth, James, 50 Green Bay Press, 72 Farnsworth, Jane (Mary Jane Green Bay, 'Wisconsin, 14-15, 21, 24, Dunette), 45, 70, 79 26, 27, 29, 31, 32, 40-41, 45, 46, Farnsworth, Joseph, 79 , 84 48,49, 58, 66, 69, 70, 72, 82,84 Farnsworth, Joseph (Indian Joe ), Green Island, 20 27, 79 Grignon, Paul, 31 Farnsworth, Martha, 50 Grignon, Pierre, 13 FarnsworU1, Mary, 79-84 Grignon family, 16, 31 Farnsworth, Samuel H., 48, 64-65 Grist mill. 35-3 7 Farnsworth, Susan Clarke Tompkins. 79, 84 H Farnsworth, William, 19-22, 25-27, Hall, Dr. J.C., 63 29-33, 35-41, 45, 47, 50-51, 64 Hall, Richard L. , 69 Farnswo1th, William J .. 79, 84 Hardwick, Angelique, 46 Fishing industry, early. 37, 47. 49. 50, 64-65, 66 Forest Home Cemetery, Marinette, Immigrants, white, 41, 49, 63 74-75 Indian Territory, 31 Fornication, charge of, 32-33, 40, 45 Ingalls, Eleazar, 49 88 Index J Land sales, 36, 5 7 Jack-knife trading post, 19, 41 Language, Chippewa/Ojibwa, 56, 60 Jacobs, Alexander, 78 Language, Menominee, 56 Jacobs, Charles, 78 Lawe, John, 9, 13, 21, 33, 35, 39, Jacobs, Elizabeth (McLeod), 12, 25, 47-48 49, 59, 70-71, 78, 80-81 Lawe, Therese Rankin, 33, 35 Jacobs, Ellen, 78 Liquor Law of 1822, 26 Jacobs, George, 59, 78 Lockwood, James H., 22 Jacobs, Jane, 78 Lumbering industry, early, 35, 41, Jacobs, Jean (John) Baptiste Jr., 12, 50, 64,66, 71, 73 25, 46, 59, 63-66, 68-70, 72, 78, 82-83 M Jacobs, Jean Baptiste Samuel, 9-13, Mackinaw City, 5 14, 16, 19-22, 29, 46-48 Mackinac Island, 6, 16, 19, 20, Jacobs, John III, 78 24-27, 47 Jacobs, Kiznakry, 78 Mackinac to Prairie du Chien Jacobs, Margaret, 78 ·water Trail, 24-25 Jacobs, Margaret Durocher , 78, 82 Mahuks, birchbark, 49 Jacobs, Mary, 78 Maple sugar, 44, 4 7, 48-49, 70 Jacobs, Mary Polly (Provencal dit Marie Antoinette. See Chevalier, Carbonneau), 12, 25, 46, 78 Marinette I Jacobs, Pauline, 78 Marinette : ancestry, 1-6, 9; apple Jacobs, Samuel, 9 orchard, 64; baptism, 25-26, Jacobs, Sophia, 78 49, 74; birth, 1, 9; business, 9- Jacobs' House, Green Bay, 70, 82 20, 35, 46, 4 7, 48-49, 63; Johnston, Basil, 56 childhood home, Fox River, 12, 14; crypt, Forest Home K Cemetery, 74; death, 69-72, 84; Kakatosh, Louis Bernard, Jr., 48 descendants, 78-85; house, Keshena Falls, Wolf River, 60 Menominee River, 64-65, 69, Keshi-niu (Swift Flying), 60 71, 73; guest accommodations, Kittson, John, 48 37, 64; household occupants, 63; "Hummingbird," 82; L "Little Marie," 74; marriage La Baie de Verte (Green Bay), 4-5, contracts, 10, 21-22, 26, 32-33, 12, 14-15 40; photograph, 73; "Queen LaBorde, Jean Baptiste, 25 Marinette," 72-75; Lac Vieux Desert, 40 servanthood, practice of, 35, Lady Elgin steamer, 50 46, 49, 60, 69, 75; trading post, Lake Michigan, 41 18-21, 1-32, 35, 38, 45-49, 62-65, LaMote, Chief, 59 68, 72, 82 89 QUEEN MARINETTE- Spirit of Survival on the Great Lakes Frontier Marinette, city of, 1, 63-66; Methodist Mission, 63, 65 centennial, 71, 75 Michigan, statehood, 48 Marinette, county of, 1 Michigan Territory, 22, 36, 50 Martin, Morgan L., 3 7, 41, 45 Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 41, 50 Masse, Joseph, family, 70 Misissauga Tribe, 56 Mazeaud, Reverend Father AM., 71 Mixed-Blood Payment of 1849, McLeod, Alexander, 78, 80 57-59 McLeod, Charles, 48, 78, 80 Mixed-bloods, French and Native McLeod, Charles H., 78, 80 American, 1-6 McLeod, Elizabeth. See Jacobs, Montreal, 16, 46 Elizabeth Montreal canoe, 41 McLeod, Gen evieve, 78, 80 Montreal to Mississippi Canoe McLeod, John, 78, 80 Route, 4-5 McLeod, Mary, 78, 80 McLeod home, Menominee River, 80 N Menominee Reservation, Wolf Native American culture, 26, River, 59 45-46, 49, 55, 56-57, 60, 65, 75. Menominee River, 16, 46, 55, 64- See also burial customs 65, 68, 71, 74, 82. See also "The Native American tribes. See Menominee" Algonquin; Chippewa/ Ojibwa; Menominee River Manufacturing· Menominee; Misissaug·a; Company, 80 Ottawa; Potawatomi; Menominee Hiver trading post, Sauk/Fox; Sioux 19-20, 29, 31 Neff and Company, 66, 72 Menominee Tribe, 4, 10-12, 20, 21, Northwest Company, 12 35-40, 54-5 7, 63. See also Northwest Territory (Old), 1, 11, annuity payments; Caron, 35, 75 Chief Joset; Caron, Chief Tomah; Chee-chee-quan-o-way, 0 Chief; Keshena Falls; Keshi-niu; Oconto, Wisconsin, 66, 72, 84 LaMote, Chief; language, Oshkosh, Chief, 58 Menominee; maple sugar; Oshkosh, Wisconsin , 72 Menominee River trading· Ottawa River, 9 post; Mixed-Blood Payment of Ottawa Tribe, 26-27, 56 1849; mixed-bloods; Oshkosh, Our Lady of Lourdes, Marinette, 71 Chief; reservation; Shaw-wan-no-pen-esse, Chief; p Spaniel; Thunderers; Treaties, Patrick, Lewis, 64-65 1827, 1836, 1848, 1854; village Payet, Reverend Father, 6 sites; Waushayguauny; wild Pensaukee, Wisconsin, 66 rice; ·wolf River Pernin, Rev. Father Peter, 71, 74-75 90 Index Peshtigo, Wisconsin, 66, 71 Sander!, Reverend Father, 49 Peshtig·o Fire, 71, 74 Sauk/ Fox Tribe, 56 Peshtigo River, 46, 59, 71 Sault Ste. Marie, 12, 26 Pictog1·aphs ("he pictures"}, 20 Sawmill, first on Menominee Pipe of high wine, 22 River, 35-38, 64-65 Porterfield, vVisconsin, 49 Sawmill, second on Menominee Post Lake, Wisconsin, 9 River, 80 Potawatomi Tribe, 56 Sawmill, Sheboygan River, 50 Provencal dit Carbonneau, Sawyer, Alvah L., 49 Antoine, 78 School, French, 12 Provencal dit Carbonneau, Schoolcraft, Henry, Indian Agent, Elizabeth, 78 26 Provencal dit Carbonneau, Schooners, sailing, 27, 29, 50 Marianne, 78 Shaw-wan-no-pen-esse, Chief, 59 Provencal dit Carbonneau, Mary, Sheboygan, \l\!isconsin, 48, 50 78 Sheboygan and Fond du Lac Provencal dit Carbonneau, Mary Railroad, 50 Polly. See Jacobs, Mary Polly Sheboygan River, 41, 45, 50 Sherman, John, 69 Q Shipping, Great Lakes, 50, 72 Quakers, 58 Sioux Tribe, 3, 5 7 Queen Ci,ty steamer, 66, 68, 69, 72, Social life, Menominee River, 62, 65 82 Spaniel, Menominee Indian, 29, 31 Stambaugh, Samuel C., Indian R Agent, 36-37 Reel River, Manitoba, 12 Steamers. See Lacly Elgin; Queen Red River, Wisconsin, 13 City Rentmeester, Jeanne and Les, 2, 4 Stephenson, Isaac, 46 Reservation, Menominee, 59-60 Stuart, Robert, 16 Richard, Father Gabriel, 25 Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, 66 Rolls, registers, Native American, Surveyors, 64-65 57 Ryan, Lydia Anne, 48, 50 T "The Menominee," 19-20, 22, 24, s 26-27, 29, 31, 35-3 7, 40-41, St. Anne's Church, Mackinac, 5, 6, 25 45-46, 48-49, 50, 59, 63-65, 75 St. Ignace, Michigan, 26 Thunder Bay, Ontario, 12 St. Ignace de Michilimackinac, Thunderers, 60 Mission of, 6 Tomah, Chief. See Caron, Chief St. John's Church, Green Bay, 4 Tomah St. Mary's River, 26 91 QUEEN MARINETTE-Spirit of Survival on the Great Lakes Frontier Treaty of 182 7, 3 w Treaty of 1836, 55, 63 War of 1812, 10, 39, 55 Treaty of 1848, 56-58 Waub-ish-ashe, Chippewa chief, Treaty of 1854, 59 2-3 Waushayguauny, Menominee u Indian, 29, 31 United States, Department of Whiskey, trade, 13, 20-21, 26 War, 35 Whistler, Major William, 16, 27 United States Government, 36-37, Whitney, Daniel, 4 7 55, 57-59 Wild rice, 3, 8, 49 United States Milita1y, 11, 50 Wisconsin Hiver, 13 \i\Tisconsin Territory, 48, 55 v Wfatar, Thomas, Quaker leader, VandenBroek, Heverend T., 4-5 54, 58-59 Villag·e sites, Native American, 24 Wolf River, 9, 13, 46, 59 92 About the author This biographical sketch of Marinette Chevalier is based on several years of extensive research by the author, Beverly Hayward Johnson. In the fall of 1991, she presented an overview of h er research to a Native American Studies Conference at Lake Superior State University in Sault Ste. Marie. An abstract of this work was published in Native American Values, Survival and Renewal (Schirer and Branstner, eds., LSSU Press, 1993). In 1994, the author retired from her position as Secretary to the President at Lake State and moved with her husband Bruce to Hayward Bay in central Menominee County, Michigan. Here they currently live on several acres of land that have been in the Hayward family since 1868. Both the author and her husband have a deep continuing interest in the regional history of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and Northeastern Wisconsin. About the artist Six artistic interpretations specially commissioned for this project were rendered by Donald L. Chosa, Jr. He trained in art at Grayson County College in Texas and Suomi College in Michigan and has won awards. Mr. Chosa currently serves as Ojibwa language instructor for Suomi College, Michigan Technological University, and Northern Michigan University. A member of the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community, he resides in L'Anse with his wife Karlene and four children. His family's activities include crafting birch bark baskets and dreamcatchers and harvesting wild rice by traditional methods. About the project, the artist expressed his admiration of Marinette as a positive role model, especially for Native American women. Additional Information White Water Associates, Inc., is a diverse environmental business based in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Composed of a full-service analytical laboratory and a team of scientists specializing in ecological analysis and consulting, \i\Thite \!\Tater Associates helps clients m eet their environm ental stewardship goals and cmnpliance responsibilities. In addition, th e firm offers specialty publishing services and products. White Water is an old-time family stringband comprising business owners Dean and Bette Premo and their two children, Evan and Laurel. The quartet features Dean on guitar, Bette on hammer dulcimer and fiddle, Laurel on mandolin and fiddle, and Evan on upright and electric basses- and all four on vocals. The group's 1995 recording, All Strings Attached., reflects this northwoods family's traditions and showcases the burgeoning talents of ten -year-old Evan and seven-year-old Laurel. Clearcu t Recordings, the couple's distributing firm, specializes in \i\Thite \Nater tapes and CDs, and handles the book Marinette: Spirit of Survival on the Great Lakes Frontier. Additional copies of this book, and \t\Thite Water's recordings, can b e ordered through Clearcut Recordings by \vriting P.O. Box 27, Arnasa, MI 49903 or calling (906) 822-7373. \Ne welcom e inquiries by book d ealers and gift store owners. QUEEN MARINETTE Spirit of survival on the Great Lakes Frontier by Beverly Hayward Johnson Here is a well-documented historical biography about the remarkable life of Marinette Chevalier, a French and Native American woman who lived during the early half of the 1800s. Marinette ran a trading post located near the mouth of the Menominee River and gained a reputation far and wide as an intelligent, competent, and respected businesswoman. The manner in which she handled the extraordinary challenges in her life, helps to explain how she became a legend in her own time and why contemporaries called her Queen Marinette. White Water Associates, Inc. ISBN 0-9648524-0-3 Queen City at Mar inette·s Trading Post along the Menominee River, 1860s, by Bruce E. Johnson