Excerpt from: NARRATIVE OF ANDREW J. VIEAU, SR.
http://www.uwgb.edu/wisfrench/library/history/andrew-v.htm
The following is the fascinating narration of an interview with Andrew Vieau, Sr. by Reuben Thwaites. It appeared in the Wisconsin Historical Collections vol 11, 1888. This copy was made available through the courtesy of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin Library.
I was born in Green Bay in 1818, on the west shore of the Fox river, on private claim No. 14, - in the present town of Ashwaubenon. I went to the French school kept by John B. Jacobs24 about the year 1826 or 1827. Mr. Jacobs having abandoned the undertaking a year or two after, J. B. Dupré, originally of Detroit, and a soldier discharged from the first troops that came here under Col. John Miller in 1816, became his successor. Dupré's French school was on claim No. 10, on the west side. After some time with Dupre, I was instructed at home by my father s old clerk, Pettéel. My next teacher was Captain Dinwiddie, who taught on the east side of the river, at the foot of Judge Morgan L. Martin's present garden. Gen. Albert G. Ellis then instructed me for a year or two; he kept his school on the south side of Astor, on the Louis Grignon claim. Father Fauvel was also my teacher for a time, his chapel and school being within four or five rods east of where the Green Bay water-works pumping station now is. Rev. R. F. Cadle, the Episcopalian missionary, came in 1830; he was a very fine gentleman, and I went to his excellent mission school in company with my brothers, Nicholas and Peter.
There I remained until 1832, when I went to clerk for R. And A. J. Irwin, at their general store and postoffice in Shanty Town. Robert Irwin was the postmaster and I served as his deputy. This was during the Black Hawk war, and I well remember the soldiers coming down the Fox river with Black Hawk in 1833, and his tour to the east. The Irwins failed in 1834, and I went on to Milwaukee to clerk for my brother-in-law, Solomon Juneau, who was agent for the American Fur Company. There was nobody there at the time, except the Juneau family,25 which was established at what is now the junction of Wisconsin street and East Water street, - the warehouse being on the northeast corner and the log dwelling on the northwest. Juneau s family then consisted of his wife, Narcisse, Therese, Paul, Harriet and Frank. Eugene was born afterward. Juneau was doing a fine business in those days. I think that the company allowed him one-half the profits as a commission.
My father was Jacques Vieau, the first man to engage in the Indian trade on the ground now occupied by the city of Milwaukee.2 The family name was originally De Veau; but as that meant calf or veal, other children would annoy my ancestors in their youth, by bleating in their presence; so the name was changed to Vieau in self-defense. My father's paternal grandfather was somehow mixed up with the Huguenots and came to New France during the oppression of those people in the old country. I have heard that my father's great-uncle was governor of Marseilles at that time. Father, who was a full-blooded Frenchman, was born in lower Canada, - in Cour de Neige (or Snow-Court) in the suburbs of Montreal, May 5, 1757; and died on private land claim No. 14 (west side of Fox river) at Fort Howard, in what is now the town of Ashwaubenon, July 1, 1852. His remains lie buried in the French Catholic cemetery at Shanty Town.
My mother was married to my father in 1786, at Green Bay. Her name was Angeline, daughter of Joseph le Roy, then a trader at the Bay. She was the niece of Anaugesa, a Pottawattomie chief, her mother s brother. 3 Their children, in order of birth, were as follows: Madeleine,4 Josette,5 Paul,6 Jacques,7 Louis,8 Joseph,9 Amable,10 Charles,11 Andrew (myself), Nicholas, 12 Peter,13 and Mary, - a round dozen in all. Mother died at the home of my brother Joseph, in the town of Lawrence, Brown county, January 7, 1862, aged about 105 years.14
On the 7th day of February, 1837, I married, in Green Bay, Rebecca R. Lawe, second daughter of John Lawe, by whom I have had nine children; eight of whom are living. My wife was born in Green Bay in 1815, at the old lawe trading post, and is still living with me. Our bridal trip was made across the country to Milwaukee, on what was called a French train. The sleigh was a deep box, six feet long by thirty-five inches broad, which slipped easily on the surface of the snow, when drawn by two horses tandem. There were, of course, no wagon raods in those days, but there were two regularly-traveled trails to Milwaukee. The one we took, lead first on a short cut southeast from Green Bay to Manitowoc. At Maitowoc rapids, two and a half miles from the lake shore, the path turned almost due south, striking the mouth of Sheboygan river. Thence, we would proceed up the lake, sometimes on the beach and again on the high land, for fifteen or sixteen miles; thence, west southwest to Saukville,30 a small Chippewa village, whose chief at theat time was Wahmeteegoosh (Little Frenchman); thence directly southeast to Milwaukke, striking the Kilbourn - now the Waukesha - road. This path between Green Bay and Milwaukee was originally an Indian trail, and very crooked; but the whites would straighten it by cutting across lots each winter with their jumpers, wearing bare streaks through the thin covering, to be followed in the summer by foot and horseback travel along the shortened path. The other trail was by way of Fond du Lac, taking advantage of the military road along the east shore of Lake Winnebago; thence, south-southwest to Watertown; thence, east to Waukesha, and coming into Milwaukee on the Kilbourn road. The time occupied in traveling from Green Bay to Milwaukee was four days, either by foot or by French train, - the distance being estimated at 125 miles.
My establishment in Milwaukee consisted of two sections, - one, a miscellaneous store for the use of the general public and the other a room where Indians could be separately waited on. In June, 1837, I sold out to James Russell, of Danville, Ill., and spent the summer in Green Bay and Mackinaw.31
I ought to mention, here, that just before the time I opened my place in Milwaukee, in the fall of 1836, I became interested in the first store in Waukesha county, - on the old Kilbourn road. The firm name was McDonald, Maliby and Vieau, and our store was on the Nathaniel Walton farm, near Prairieville, - afterwards the village of Waukesha. We had a good stock of goods of a general character, amounting, I should say, to some $5,000 or $6,000. In the summer of 1837 we sold out to Solomon Junearu, who I think, brought the goods back to Milwaukee and disposed of them. Thus I am entitled to the credit of helping establish the first store in that section.32
http://www.uwgb.edu/wisfrench/library/history/andrew-v.htm
The following is the fascinating narration of an interview with Andrew Vieau, Sr. by Reuben Thwaites. It appeared in the Wisconsin Historical Collections vol 11, 1888. This copy was made available through the courtesy of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin Library.
I was born in Green Bay in 1818, on the west shore of the Fox river, on private claim No. 14, - in the present town of Ashwaubenon. I went to the French school kept by John B. Jacobs24 about the year 1826 or 1827. Mr. Jacobs having abandoned the undertaking a year or two after, J. B. Dupré, originally of Detroit, and a soldier discharged from the first troops that came here under Col. John Miller in 1816, became his successor. Dupré's French school was on claim No. 10, on the west side. After some time with Dupre, I was instructed at home by my father s old clerk, Pettéel. My next teacher was Captain Dinwiddie, who taught on the east side of the river, at the foot of Judge Morgan L. Martin's present garden. Gen. Albert G. Ellis then instructed me for a year or two; he kept his school on the south side of Astor, on the Louis Grignon claim. Father Fauvel was also my teacher for a time, his chapel and school being within four or five rods east of where the Green Bay water-works pumping station now is. Rev. R. F. Cadle, the Episcopalian missionary, came in 1830; he was a very fine gentleman, and I went to his excellent mission school in company with my brothers, Nicholas and Peter.
There I remained until 1832, when I went to clerk for R. And A. J. Irwin, at their general store and postoffice in Shanty Town. Robert Irwin was the postmaster and I served as his deputy. This was during the Black Hawk war, and I well remember the soldiers coming down the Fox river with Black Hawk in 1833, and his tour to the east. The Irwins failed in 1834, and I went on to Milwaukee to clerk for my brother-in-law, Solomon Juneau, who was agent for the American Fur Company. There was nobody there at the time, except the Juneau family,25 which was established at what is now the junction of Wisconsin street and East Water street, - the warehouse being on the northeast corner and the log dwelling on the northwest. Juneau s family then consisted of his wife, Narcisse, Therese, Paul, Harriet and Frank. Eugene was born afterward. Juneau was doing a fine business in those days. I think that the company allowed him one-half the profits as a commission.
My father was Jacques Vieau, the first man to engage in the Indian trade on the ground now occupied by the city of Milwaukee.2 The family name was originally De Veau; but as that meant calf or veal, other children would annoy my ancestors in their youth, by bleating in their presence; so the name was changed to Vieau in self-defense. My father's paternal grandfather was somehow mixed up with the Huguenots and came to New France during the oppression of those people in the old country. I have heard that my father's great-uncle was governor of Marseilles at that time. Father, who was a full-blooded Frenchman, was born in lower Canada, - in Cour de Neige (or Snow-Court) in the suburbs of Montreal, May 5, 1757; and died on private land claim No. 14 (west side of Fox river) at Fort Howard, in what is now the town of Ashwaubenon, July 1, 1852. His remains lie buried in the French Catholic cemetery at Shanty Town.
My mother was married to my father in 1786, at Green Bay. Her name was Angeline, daughter of Joseph le Roy, then a trader at the Bay. She was the niece of Anaugesa, a Pottawattomie chief, her mother s brother. 3 Their children, in order of birth, were as follows: Madeleine,4 Josette,5 Paul,6 Jacques,7 Louis,8 Joseph,9 Amable,10 Charles,11 Andrew (myself), Nicholas, 12 Peter,13 and Mary, - a round dozen in all. Mother died at the home of my brother Joseph, in the town of Lawrence, Brown county, January 7, 1862, aged about 105 years.14
On the 7th day of February, 1837, I married, in Green Bay, Rebecca R. Lawe, second daughter of John Lawe, by whom I have had nine children; eight of whom are living. My wife was born in Green Bay in 1815, at the old lawe trading post, and is still living with me. Our bridal trip was made across the country to Milwaukee, on what was called a French train. The sleigh was a deep box, six feet long by thirty-five inches broad, which slipped easily on the surface of the snow, when drawn by two horses tandem. There were, of course, no wagon raods in those days, but there were two regularly-traveled trails to Milwaukee. The one we took, lead first on a short cut southeast from Green Bay to Manitowoc. At Maitowoc rapids, two and a half miles from the lake shore, the path turned almost due south, striking the mouth of Sheboygan river. Thence, we would proceed up the lake, sometimes on the beach and again on the high land, for fifteen or sixteen miles; thence, west southwest to Saukville,30 a small Chippewa village, whose chief at theat time was Wahmeteegoosh (Little Frenchman); thence directly southeast to Milwaukke, striking the Kilbourn - now the Waukesha - road. This path between Green Bay and Milwaukee was originally an Indian trail, and very crooked; but the whites would straighten it by cutting across lots each winter with their jumpers, wearing bare streaks through the thin covering, to be followed in the summer by foot and horseback travel along the shortened path. The other trail was by way of Fond du Lac, taking advantage of the military road along the east shore of Lake Winnebago; thence, south-southwest to Watertown; thence, east to Waukesha, and coming into Milwaukee on the Kilbourn road. The time occupied in traveling from Green Bay to Milwaukee was four days, either by foot or by French train, - the distance being estimated at 125 miles.
My establishment in Milwaukee consisted of two sections, - one, a miscellaneous store for the use of the general public and the other a room where Indians could be separately waited on. In June, 1837, I sold out to James Russell, of Danville, Ill., and spent the summer in Green Bay and Mackinaw.31
I ought to mention, here, that just before the time I opened my place in Milwaukee, in the fall of 1836, I became interested in the first store in Waukesha county, - on the old Kilbourn road. The firm name was McDonald, Maliby and Vieau, and our store was on the Nathaniel Walton farm, near Prairieville, - afterwards the village of Waukesha. We had a good stock of goods of a general character, amounting, I should say, to some $5,000 or $6,000. In the summer of 1837 we sold out to Solomon Junearu, who I think, brought the goods back to Milwaukee and disposed of them. Thus I am entitled to the credit of helping establish the first store in that section.32
Excerpt from: NARRATIVE OF ANDREW J. VIEAU, SR.
http://www.uwgb.edu/wisfrench/library/history/andrew-v.htm
The following is the fascinating narration of an interview with Andrew Vieau, Sr. by Reuben Thwaites. It appeared in the Wisconsin Historical Collections vol 11, 1888. This copy was made available through the courtesy of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin Library.
I was born in Green Bay in 1818, on the west shore of the Fox river, on private claim No. 14, - in the present town of Ashwaubenon. I went to the French school kept by John B. Jacobs24 about the year 1826 or 1827. Mr. Jacobs having abandoned the undertaking a year or two after, J. B. Dupré, originally of Detroit, and a soldier discharged from the first troops that came here under Col. John Miller in 1816, became his successor. Dupré's French school was on claim No. 10, on the west side. After some time with Dupre, I was instructed at home by my father s old clerk, Pettéel. My next teacher was Captain Dinwiddie, who taught on the east side of the river, at the foot of Judge Morgan L. Martin's present garden. Gen. Albert G. Ellis then instructed me for a year or two; he kept his school on the south side of Astor, on the Louis Grignon claim. Father Fauvel was also my teacher for a time, his chapel and school being within four or five rods east of where the Green Bay water-works pumping station now is. Rev. R. F. Cadle, the Episcopalian missionary, came in 1830; he was a very fine gentleman, and I went to his excellent mission school in company with my brothers, Nicholas and Peter.
There I remained until 1832, when I went to clerk for R. And A. J. Irwin, at their general store and postoffice in Shanty Town. Robert Irwin was the postmaster and I served as his deputy. This was during the Black Hawk war, and I well remember the soldiers coming down the Fox river with Black Hawk in 1833, and his tour to the east. The Irwins failed in 1834, and I went on to Milwaukee to clerk for my brother-in-law, Solomon Juneau, who was agent for the American Fur Company. There was nobody there at the time, except the Juneau family,25 which was established at what is now the junction of Wisconsin street and East Water street, - the warehouse being on the northeast corner and the log dwelling on the northwest. Juneau s family then consisted of his wife, Narcisse, Therese, Paul, Harriet and Frank. Eugene was born afterward. Juneau was doing a fine business in those days. I think that the company allowed him one-half the profits as a commission.
My father was Jacques Vieau, the first man to engage in the Indian trade on the ground now occupied by the city of Milwaukee.2 The family name was originally De Veau; but as that meant calf or veal, other children would annoy my ancestors in their youth, by bleating in their presence; so the name was changed to Vieau in self-defense. My father's paternal grandfather was somehow mixed up with the Huguenots and came to New France during the oppression of those people in the old country. I have heard that my father's great-uncle was governor of Marseilles at that time. Father, who was a full-blooded Frenchman, was born in lower Canada, - in Cour de Neige (or Snow-Court) in the suburbs of Montreal, May 5, 1757; and died on private land claim No. 14 (west side of Fox river) at Fort Howard, in what is now the town of Ashwaubenon, July 1, 1852. His remains lie buried in the French Catholic cemetery at Shanty Town.
My mother was married to my father in 1786, at Green Bay. Her name was Angeline, daughter of Joseph le Roy, then a trader at the Bay. She was the niece of Anaugesa, a Pottawattomie chief, her mother s brother. 3 Their children, in order of birth, were as follows: Madeleine,4 Josette,5 Paul,6 Jacques,7 Louis,8 Joseph,9 Amable,10 Charles,11 Andrew (myself), Nicholas, 12 Peter,13 and Mary, - a round dozen in all. Mother died at the home of my brother Joseph, in the town of Lawrence, Brown county, January 7, 1862, aged about 105 years.14
On the 7th day of February, 1837, I married, in Green Bay, Rebecca R. Lawe, second daughter of John Lawe, by whom I have had nine children; eight of whom are living. My wife was born in Green Bay in 1815, at the old lawe trading post, and is still living with me. Our bridal trip was made across the country to Milwaukee, on what was called a French train. The sleigh was a deep box, six feet long by thirty-five inches broad, which slipped easily on the surface of the snow, when drawn by two horses tandem. There were, of course, no wagon raods in those days, but there were two regularly-traveled trails to Milwaukee. The one we took, lead first on a short cut southeast from Green Bay to Manitowoc. At Maitowoc rapids, two and a half miles from the lake shore, the path turned almost due south, striking the mouth of Sheboygan river. Thence, we would proceed up the lake, sometimes on the beach and again on the high land, for fifteen or sixteen miles; thence, west southwest to Saukville,30 a small Chippewa village, whose chief at theat time was Wahmeteegoosh (Little Frenchman); thence directly southeast to Milwaukke, striking the Kilbourn - now the Waukesha - road. This path between Green Bay and Milwaukee was originally an Indian trail, and very crooked; but the whites would straighten it by cutting across lots each winter with their jumpers, wearing bare streaks through the thin covering, to be followed in the summer by foot and horseback travel along the shortened path. The other trail was by way of Fond du Lac, taking advantage of the military road along the east shore of Lake Winnebago; thence, south-southwest to Watertown; thence, east to Waukesha, and coming into Milwaukee on the Kilbourn road. The time occupied in traveling from Green Bay to Milwaukee was four days, either by foot or by French train, - the distance being estimated at 125 miles.
My establishment in Milwaukee consisted of two sections, - one, a miscellaneous store for the use of the general public and the other a room where Indians could be separately waited on. In June, 1837, I sold out to James Russell, of Danville, Ill., and spent the summer in Green Bay and Mackinaw.31
I ought to mention, here, that just before the time I opened my place in Milwaukee, in the fall of 1836, I became interested in the first store in Waukesha county, - on the old Kilbourn road. The firm name was McDonald, Maliby and Vieau, and our store was on the Nathaniel Walton farm, near Prairieville, - afterwards the village of Waukesha. We had a good stock of goods of a general character, amounting, I should say, to some $5,000 or $6,000. In the summer of 1837 we sold out to Solomon Junearu, who I think, brought the goods back to Milwaukee and disposed of them. Thus I am entitled to the credit of helping establish the first store in that section.32
http://www.uwgb.edu/wisfrench/library/history/andrew-v.htm
The following is the fascinating narration of an interview with Andrew Vieau, Sr. by Reuben Thwaites. It appeared in the Wisconsin Historical Collections vol 11, 1888. This copy was made available through the courtesy of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin Library.
I was born in Green Bay in 1818, on the west shore of the Fox river, on private claim No. 14, - in the present town of Ashwaubenon. I went to the French school kept by John B. Jacobs24 about the year 1826 or 1827. Mr. Jacobs having abandoned the undertaking a year or two after, J. B. Dupré, originally of Detroit, and a soldier discharged from the first troops that came here under Col. John Miller in 1816, became his successor. Dupré's French school was on claim No. 10, on the west side. After some time with Dupre, I was instructed at home by my father s old clerk, Pettéel. My next teacher was Captain Dinwiddie, who taught on the east side of the river, at the foot of Judge Morgan L. Martin's present garden. Gen. Albert G. Ellis then instructed me for a year or two; he kept his school on the south side of Astor, on the Louis Grignon claim. Father Fauvel was also my teacher for a time, his chapel and school being within four or five rods east of where the Green Bay water-works pumping station now is. Rev. R. F. Cadle, the Episcopalian missionary, came in 1830; he was a very fine gentleman, and I went to his excellent mission school in company with my brothers, Nicholas and Peter.
There I remained until 1832, when I went to clerk for R. And A. J. Irwin, at their general store and postoffice in Shanty Town. Robert Irwin was the postmaster and I served as his deputy. This was during the Black Hawk war, and I well remember the soldiers coming down the Fox river with Black Hawk in 1833, and his tour to the east. The Irwins failed in 1834, and I went on to Milwaukee to clerk for my brother-in-law, Solomon Juneau, who was agent for the American Fur Company. There was nobody there at the time, except the Juneau family,25 which was established at what is now the junction of Wisconsin street and East Water street, - the warehouse being on the northeast corner and the log dwelling on the northwest. Juneau s family then consisted of his wife, Narcisse, Therese, Paul, Harriet and Frank. Eugene was born afterward. Juneau was doing a fine business in those days. I think that the company allowed him one-half the profits as a commission.
My father was Jacques Vieau, the first man to engage in the Indian trade on the ground now occupied by the city of Milwaukee.2 The family name was originally De Veau; but as that meant calf or veal, other children would annoy my ancestors in their youth, by bleating in their presence; so the name was changed to Vieau in self-defense. My father's paternal grandfather was somehow mixed up with the Huguenots and came to New France during the oppression of those people in the old country. I have heard that my father's great-uncle was governor of Marseilles at that time. Father, who was a full-blooded Frenchman, was born in lower Canada, - in Cour de Neige (or Snow-Court) in the suburbs of Montreal, May 5, 1757; and died on private land claim No. 14 (west side of Fox river) at Fort Howard, in what is now the town of Ashwaubenon, July 1, 1852. His remains lie buried in the French Catholic cemetery at Shanty Town.
My mother was married to my father in 1786, at Green Bay. Her name was Angeline, daughter of Joseph le Roy, then a trader at the Bay. She was the niece of Anaugesa, a Pottawattomie chief, her mother s brother. 3 Their children, in order of birth, were as follows: Madeleine,4 Josette,5 Paul,6 Jacques,7 Louis,8 Joseph,9 Amable,10 Charles,11 Andrew (myself), Nicholas, 12 Peter,13 and Mary, - a round dozen in all. Mother died at the home of my brother Joseph, in the town of Lawrence, Brown county, January 7, 1862, aged about 105 years.14
On the 7th day of February, 1837, I married, in Green Bay, Rebecca R. Lawe, second daughter of John Lawe, by whom I have had nine children; eight of whom are living. My wife was born in Green Bay in 1815, at the old lawe trading post, and is still living with me. Our bridal trip was made across the country to Milwaukee, on what was called a French train. The sleigh was a deep box, six feet long by thirty-five inches broad, which slipped easily on the surface of the snow, when drawn by two horses tandem. There were, of course, no wagon raods in those days, but there were two regularly-traveled trails to Milwaukee. The one we took, lead first on a short cut southeast from Green Bay to Manitowoc. At Maitowoc rapids, two and a half miles from the lake shore, the path turned almost due south, striking the mouth of Sheboygan river. Thence, we would proceed up the lake, sometimes on the beach and again on the high land, for fifteen or sixteen miles; thence, west southwest to Saukville,30 a small Chippewa village, whose chief at theat time was Wahmeteegoosh (Little Frenchman); thence directly southeast to Milwaukke, striking the Kilbourn - now the Waukesha - road. This path between Green Bay and Milwaukee was originally an Indian trail, and very crooked; but the whites would straighten it by cutting across lots each winter with their jumpers, wearing bare streaks through the thin covering, to be followed in the summer by foot and horseback travel along the shortened path. The other trail was by way of Fond du Lac, taking advantage of the military road along the east shore of Lake Winnebago; thence, south-southwest to Watertown; thence, east to Waukesha, and coming into Milwaukee on the Kilbourn road. The time occupied in traveling from Green Bay to Milwaukee was four days, either by foot or by French train, - the distance being estimated at 125 miles.
My establishment in Milwaukee consisted of two sections, - one, a miscellaneous store for the use of the general public and the other a room where Indians could be separately waited on. In June, 1837, I sold out to James Russell, of Danville, Ill., and spent the summer in Green Bay and Mackinaw.31
I ought to mention, here, that just before the time I opened my place in Milwaukee, in the fall of 1836, I became interested in the first store in Waukesha county, - on the old Kilbourn road. The firm name was McDonald, Maliby and Vieau, and our store was on the Nathaniel Walton farm, near Prairieville, - afterwards the village of Waukesha. We had a good stock of goods of a general character, amounting, I should say, to some $5,000 or $6,000. In the summer of 1837 we sold out to Solomon Junearu, who I think, brought the goods back to Milwaukee and disposed of them. Thus I am entitled to the credit of helping establish the first store in that section.32
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Family Stone - Includes Rebecca Vieau
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