USA > Wisconsin > Milwaukee County > Milwaukee > History of Milwaukee, city and county, Volume I > Part 9
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In 1820, at the age of seventeen years, Miss Vienx was married at the old Mission Church in Green Bay to Solomon Laurent Juneau. Their wedding journey from Green Bay to Milwaukee was made in a bark canoe, paddled by Indians. She received from her parents the customary wedding presents of those pioneer times, consisting of feather beds, pillows, quilts, blankets, etc. Although young in years at the time of her marriage, she was an adept in the art of housekeeping.
The country at the time Mr. Junean brought his young bride to Milwaukee was destitute of roads; nothing but the Indian trail traversed the wide expanse of prairie and forest between Milwaukee and Green Bay, and travel was made on foot or on horseback. There was little to break the monotony during the first few years aside from an occasional vessel bringing goods and taking away Inrs, or the Indian traders passing through that section from Green Bay to Chicago.
Mrs. Junean exercised great inthenee over the Indians and was of mmeh assistance to her husband in carrying on his business in the fur trade with the Indians, speaking several Indian dialects. She dressed in Indian costume, which style of dress she wore for many years. Of a retiring nature, she mingled little with the incoming white population and rarely spoke English, French being the language used in the home cirele.
Jas. S. Bnek, in his "Pioneer History of Milwaukee, " pays the following tribute to Mrs. Jumean: "She was among women what her husband was among men, one of the noblest works of God. Honest and true, a fitting wife for the noble-hearted man with whom she lived so long.
"Many of the first settlers were indebted to this brave-hearted woman for their personal safety, more than once, in 1836, when the Indians were anxious to destroy them, which they certainly would have done upon one occasion, had she not interfered to protect them, upon which occasion she stood gnard over the whites all the night long during her husband's absence."
Mrs. Juneau possessed many noble traits of character. Aside from her many duties to her family, she was every ready to minister to the wants of the sick and the needy. The poor she had always with her. Her home was a stopping place for ministers of all denominations who passed through the trading post. She made them all welcome. She might be called the guardian angel of the unfortunate. Many a poor girl who had started life wrong was
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HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
taken into her home, given religious instruction, taught to do housework and sew, and positions secured for them.
As years passed, and the tide of immigration continued to flow into the infant metropolis, the inhabitants numbering thousands, where a few short years before the country was but a wilderness. Mrs. Junean longed for the quiet of the country, and persuaded her husband to remove to their summer home at Theresa. There, surrounded by every comfort a loving and indul- gent husband could provide. she settled down to enjoy the declining years of her life.
After removing to Theresa she became ill and gradually failing, Mr. Junean took her to Milwaukee to consult their family physician. Dr. E. B. Wolcott. It was found her malady was of a more serions nature than was at first sup- posed. Doctor Wolcott, assisted by Doctor Hewitt and a specialist from Chi- eago, held a consultation and it was found necessary to perform an opera- tion, which proved unsnecessful. At the time of her death Mrs. JJuneau was fifty-two years, seven months and three days. Thus closed in perfeet peace, a life of love and service to God, November 19, 1855.
The funeral was held from the residence of her daughter. Mrs. Il. K. White. Services were conducted by Reverend Riordan at St. John's Cathedral, of which church she was a devont member during her residenee in Milwaukee. Burial was in the Catholic Cemetery at the head of Spring Street.
Uriel B. Smith pays the following tribute to Mrs. Juneau: "I was in- timately acquainted with Mrs. Solomon Junean. My child, Milwaukee Smith, was born October 10, 1835. She was. the first white child boru in Milwaukee, and Mrs. Juneau was present at her birth, and attended upon my wife in such a kind and motherly manner as to win the love and esteem of my wife as well as myself.
"Mrs. Junean was also an attendant and watcher at the death bed of my wife some two years after, and during the whole period of our acquaintance We were on the most intimate terms.
"For such services rendered to my wife during her sickness, I offered ample remuneration, which was immediately declined-she saying to me. 'Such services were dne all, and that. too, without consideration.' Such inci- dents cannot be forgotten. I trust that Milwaukee today has her equal-1 know it has not her superior."
Martin's Estimate of Solomon Juneau .- In the narrative of Morgan L. Martin, printed in the Wisconsin Historical Collections, Volume XI, extended mention is made of JJuneau and others contemporaneons with him. "I first visited Milwaukee in July, 1833." he says, "on a tour of exploration. With me were Daniel Le Roy and P. B. Grignon, and we were mounted on horses. As far as Fond du Lac our course lay on the same trail that Judge Doty and I had made in 1829. After that we strnek southeast to the shore of Lake Michigan, following it closely until Milwaukee was reached.
"Jacques Viean and Solomon Junean traded at this point. I had known them and their families since 1827, for their homes were really in Green Bay at which place they obtained all their supplies. Both Viean, senior, and Juneau were in Chicago with the greater part of their families at the time
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of our arrival, but young Jacques Vieau, son of the elder, officiated under the parental roof.
"When we set out on our tour, we agreed to eat everything we saw, and one time we were compelled to thus dispose of a hawk. At Milwaukee there were no provisions for us, but there were several Indians loafing around and we engaged one of them to go out and get us some ducks. These Jaeques cooked for us and we ate them cold upon our return trip which was made by way of the lake shore. On Sheboygan River, four miles above its month, there was an Indian village. We found a net spread near the mouth of the river, and in it two fine fish which we appropriated without ceremony.
En Route to Green Bay .- "Next morning an Indian from the village over- took us and supplied us with dried and smoked whitefish which we found quite palatable. Manitowoc was out of our line of travel so we did not see the native village said to be there. We reached Green Bay after a delight- ful trip, in which the eager search for provisions only served to strengthen our appetites. Both Solomon Juneau and Jacques Viean were intelligent and worthy men, Mr. Juneau having the polished manners and airs of the French gentleman. In a certain 'llistory of Milwaukee,' published by the Western Historical Company, in 1881, Junean has been described as being on a par with the Indians, as to intelligence and manners. That they and their fami- lies were far removed above the savage tribes by which they were surrounded, is proven by the fact that they were enabled to procure goods and supplies to a large amount on the usual credit from the American Fur Company.
"Neither of them did at that time regard themselves as permanent settlers of Milwaukee, but were temporary residents there for the purposes of trade with the Indians. Their homes were in Green Bay. When I first visited Milwaukee in the summer of 1833, on the tour of exploration before nar- rated, they and their families were not there, the premises being in charge of employees and one of Vieau's sons. A further evidence that all were mere sojourners was found in the fact that no land was cleared, fenced, or even under cultivation, except a small patch of ground used by a brother of Juneau, in which he cultivated a few vegetables. Subsequent events, how- ever, proved Solomon Juneau to be the first permanent settler, when the land he occupied was ceded by the Indians and subjected to sale as Govern- ment land.
Martin a Frequent Visitor .- "From 1833 forward, I was a frequent and always welcome visitor to the house of Solomon Junean. His home was the 'old trading house,' and so far from being the filthy, disgusting home repre- sented in the 'History of Milwaukee,' was in all respects neat and comfort- able: for the proverbially neat and tidy French women know how to make their habitations attractive. In the fall of 1834, the late Governor Doty, Byron Kilbourn and myself were at Milwaukee and spent a few days, being entertained at the hospitable old trading house, the only habitation there. In April previous, on my way home from Detroit, Mr. Juneau's house was my only stopping place between Chicago and Green Bay; my business relations with him compelled my sojourn there for several days. At none of my visits did the partially eured skins or the odors given off by fresh meats and fish
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ـسالـ
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SOLOMON HUNEAU, FIRST MAYOR OF MILWAUKEE AND HIS CITY COUNCIL Bas-relief on pedestal of Solomon Juneau Monument
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SOLOMON JUNEAU AND IHIS FAMILY
which had become rank prodnee an unsavory smell. If there were any such they never invaded the comfortable dwelling in which we were entertained, but were confined to the storehouse, the usual adjunet of all Indian trading posts.
"As a man, Solomon Jumeau needs no encomimis from me. He was always the same unselfish, confiding, open-hearted, genial, honest and polite gentleman. Our business relations commenced in October. 1833, and con- tinued For several years. His first hint of the prospective value of his loca- tion at Milwaukee came from me, and he was so incredulous that it was some- times difficult to prevent his sacrificing his interest to the sharks who soon gathered about him. Himself the soul of honor, and unaccustomed to the wiles of speculators, without a friend to caution him he would have been an easy prey of designing individuals. Green Bay was his home as well as that of the Vieans, and it was not until 1835 or 1836 that Junean first thought of permanently residing in Milwaukee, after it came to be seen that the place was going to become a village.
Martin and Juneau Original Plat Owners .- "Junean and I were joint owners of the original plat of Milwaukee. We never made any written memorandum of the terms of our partnership, and on account of his residence on the spot he took the principal management of our joint interest for more than three years. At the close, accounts were adjusted between us and property valued at hundreds of thousands divided, with as little difficulty as one would settle a trifling store bill.
"It would take a volime to enumerate the many admirable traits of char- acter which distinguished my friend, Solomon Juneau. The intimate rela- tions existing between us made me well acquainted with his family, and their every day social relations. Mrs. Junean, instead of the pure French of her husband, had a slight tineture of Indian blood. Her native tongue was French, and that language was used in their Family intercourse, though both spoke English. They both probably had also acquired a knowledge of the languages of several Indian tribes, with whom Mr. Junean was acens- tomed to do business; but that they ' dressed and ate like Indians, and in their domestic conversation spoke in the Indian tongue,' is far from the truth. Mrs. Juneau was an amiable and excellent woman, and many of the first settlers around Milwaukee will no doubt bear ample testimony to the deeds of charity by which she was distinguished."
The Dawn of a Better Day .- "But in the year 1818," says the historian, "the first grey streaks of the coming dawn in Milwaukee were visible. So faint were they that the wily chief. O-nan-ge-sa, with all his natural watch- fulness, did not perceive them. They were to gradually brighten into the rosy tints of civilization, as the night of barbarism sank away in the west." Up and down the river Solomon Junean porsnes his search for a suitable place for settlement. Finally he finds "a green spot at the foot of a long, wood-covered hill that rises to the east, and here he builds his own cabin with the river between him and the opposite swamp."
But wandering traders have already appeared and for a brief time have lent an appearance of activity to the scene. "Mr. Hypolite Grignon is already
lavigne 6 my Dollars for
Retotrung the Mail from Meturandie to Green Bay last year
I have changed to you
/ Dollars him
Con the Same Which Grave fund
COPY OF A LETTER WRITTEN BY SOLOMON JUNEAU IN 1838
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SOLOMON JUNEAU TRADING WITH THE INDIANS Bas-relief on pedestal of Solomon Juneau Monument
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SOLOMON JUNEAU AND HIS FAMILY
here," says the chronicle, "and James Kinzie (the half-brother of John Kinzie of Chicago) is expected with a large stock of goods from the American Fur Company at Mackinac. There are three other white men in the settlement, and this constitutes the entire white population. Chicago, or 'Eschieagou' (as Col. Arend De Peyster ealled it), contains two white inhabitants living outside of Fort Dearborn. Detroit is composed of French half-breeds, and has one brick house which had been built by Governor Hull many years before. There is one little steamboat on the Upper Lakes called the 'Walk in the Water,' which makes the round trip from Buffalo to Detroit once in two weeks, but never ventures into the unknown waters past Maekinae."
About this time Jacques Viean built a trading post up the Menomonee two miles where the Green Bay trail erosses that river. "The sand heaps at the mouth of the Milwaukee River, " says historian Wheeler, "with the one or two bark wigwams and the searcely better tenements that had been erected under the supervision of French wanderers, offered no attraction to him; and so we find the first trading post which was destined to be permanently located away off to the west. Here Vieau, who. coming from Green Bay, a place already somewhat advanced in civilization and Christianity, had more refined ideas, perhaps, than his neighbors, built a log house, a magazine and repository for furs. All three of these structures were standing in 1836."
From the time when Jacques Vieau first settled here up to 1818, there was very little of historie interest transpired, says Wheeler: "the Indians fitted about the bluffs, and when a companion died they lighted their funeral fires on the burial ground at the foot of Michigan Street, and danced their wild orgies between the lurid flames and the dark midnight on the lake."
Juneau as a Young Man .- " A few years later than 1818," we read in Wheeler's "Chronicles," "there might have been seen, leaning against the floor of Jacques Vieau's log house, a young man attired in a calico hunting shirt and corduroy pantaloons. His countenance is rather pleasing, not from any beauty in its outline, but on account of an open, frank expression, which is at onee indicative of a generous nature and a steady will. This is Solomon Junean, elerk for Jacques Vieau, his father-in-law. He stands in the doorway of the cabin, and looks listlessly across the great marsh to the east, and up to the oak-crowned bluffs beyond ; nor does it oeeur to him that in the short space of a few years the bayou beneath his eyes will be swarming with vessels, and that a populous city will be crowning the eminences with wealth and magnificence.
"Young Juneau does not for a moment allow his youthful enthusiasm to soar into even improbabilities; not being a visionary young man his fancy sees no Utopia in the green banks of the Mahn-a-waukie. The outlines of a few duties to be carefully performed are enough for his contemplation at present."
Juneau's Claim as "First Settler."-But lest the foregoing account might seem inconsistent with the statement frequently made that Juneau was the first settler and founder of Milwaukee in 1818, it is proper to add some explanation. In Isabella Fox's biography of Solomon Junean, published in 1916, it is stated that "as agent of the American Fur Company he settled
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in Milwaukee in 1818, and continued to live there until 1852." Isabella Fox was a grand-daughter of Solomon Jumean, and in the biography mentioned she says that "white men had visited Milwaukee, trading with the Indians prior to the advent of Solomon Juneau, but their stay was of short duration. To Mr. Juneau must be conceded the honor of being the first permanent white settler as well as first landowner, be having acquired title to a large traet of land."
Jacques Viean who has been mentioned as having built a trading post two miles up the Menomonee River, was a resident of Green Bay and his trading post here was a branch of his Green Bay establishment. Hemy E. Legler, in his book, "Leading Events of Wisconsin History," says of Juneau. "It was as Viean's clerk that he came to Milwaukee in 1818; he was the first landowner here, for the others exercised . squatter sovereignty' merely. This fact has probably had some influence in erediting Juneau with having been Milwaukee's first permanent settler."
Many years later (in 1887) Andrew Vieau, in an interview with the editor of the Wiseonsin Historical Collections related to him that he was a son of Jacques Viean, and that his father had for many years previous to Isls "considered Green Bay his home; he had a farm there and I and several other members of the family were born upon the homestead." As to the form of the name which is variously spelled, Andrew said : "The family name was originally De Veau ; but as that meant call or veal in French. other children would annoy my ancestors in their youth by bleating in their presence, so the name was changed to Viean in self-defense."
In Andrew J. Vieau's narrative, printed in the "Collections of the Wiscon- sin State Historical Society," Volume Xl, it is stated that Solomon JJuneau was appointed clerk to Jacques Viean in 1818 at Mackinaw. "Thus it was." says the son, "that Juneau arrived at the Milwaukee River in August of that year in my father's company. The next year father withdrew as agent of what had by that time become the American Fur Company, and procured the agency for Juneau, who had in the meantime married my half sister. Josette. He had a farm there and I and several other members of the family were My father had for many years before this considered Green Bay his home. born upon the homestead on the west bank of the Fox River.
"Green Bay also beeame JJunean's home and remained such until about 1834 or 1835, when Milwaukee began to grow and JJuinean platted the village and settled there permanently. Junean was one of the last to recognize that Milwaukee was destined to become a permanent settlement, and had to be persuaded by his friends into taking advantage of the fact. Green Bay re- mained as his home and that of my father despite their business interests at Milwaukee. From about 1810 forward the family would frequently remain at the Bay during the winters while father was off among the Indians."
Description of Mackinaw Boats. - A description is given of these boats by Mrs. Elizabeth Therese Baird in a chapter of reminiscences, printed in the Wisconsin Historical Society's collections, Volume XIV, p. 17. In 1825, she made a journey from Green Bay to Mackinac Island, accompanied by her husband. Their route lay along the eastern shore of Green Bay and the
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northern shore of Lake Michigan. They took passage in a Mackinaw boat, one of a fleet of six which were laden with furs.
"In each of the boats," she writes, "there were seven men, six to row and one a steersman, all being Frenehmen. There was, in addition, in each boat a clerk of the American Fur Company to act as commander or bourgeois. The furnishing of these boats, each thirty feet long, was quite complete. The cargo being furs a snug-fitting tarpaulin was fastened down and over the sides to protect the pelts from the rain. The cargo was placed in the center of the boat. A most important part of the cargo was the mess basket, one of the great comforts in the past days, well filled with everything to satisfy both hunger and thirst. Rolette, who was in charge of the fleet, was a gen- erous provider, sending to St. Louis for all that this part of the world could not supply.
"It seemed strange that such faithful workers as the men were, should have been fed so poorly. They had nothing but salt pork, 'lyed' corn, and bread or biscuit. This was the general food for workmen in the fur trade."" The boats are usually unloaded from the time they leave port until they reach their destination, which in this case ocenpied six days. "This fleet of boats," she continues, "was originally loaded at Prairie du Chien, and then unloaded at the portage between the Wisconsin and Fox rivers, where the men carried first the packs of furs on their backs, then returned for the boats, and after reloading them would run down to the Big Chute, now Appleton. Here the boats again had to be unloaded and the furs portaged around by the men.
"The boats made the journey down the swift water which was called jumping the rapids.' The unloading was repeated at Grand Kaukauna, but at the rapids below the loads were carried through, all of the men walking in the water to guide the boats and their valuable loads. Our boats it will be seen were loaded for the last time at Kaukauna. not to be unloaded until they reached Mackinac."
Vol. 1 -7
BYRON KILBOURN Founder of Kilbourn Town, now known as the West Side
CHAPTER IX
BYRON KILBOURN AND GEORGE H. WALKER
Byron Kilbourn .- " Byron Kilbonrn came to Milwaukee in 1835, from the State of Ohio. He was by profession a civil engineer, and as such, held a high rank in his profession," says James S. Buek in his "Pioneer History of Mil- waukee. "
"In person he was tall and commanding, sharp features, keen, expressive eye; looked you square in the face when speaking, and was in every respect one who would command attention from all with whom he came in contact.
"Ile was possessed of a will of iron, good judgment, excellent exeentive abilities, great brain power, saw far away into the future, and possessed a magnetism that would both attract and attach to himself and his plans all who came under its influence. He was a born leader.
"Ile knew the value of money, and how to use it; conld tell at a glance the competeney of every man, and the right place for him. lle was the originator of our railroad system, and it was mainly due to his great exeentive abilities that they were so soon completed.
"His positive character often made him enemies, but for that he cared very little. The more he was opposed the stronger became his will, and the result would be the accomplishment of whatever he undertook.
"He took a deep interest in polities and was a democrat. He was twice mayor, and to his liberality is the city indebted for the ground upon which stands the Kilbonrn Park Reservoir. Such was Byron Kilbonen. He has left a record, both in city and state, that shall never die. He died and was buried at Jacksonville, Florida, December 16, 1870."
Juneau and Kilbourn .- In Wheeler's history it is said that Juneau and Kilbonrn were rivals, but the two men were friendly to each other and cooperated in procuring legislation, in 1839, to consolidate the two towns known at the time as "Juneautown" on the east side and "Kilbourntown" on the west, in the Town of Milwaukee, with two wards, the East and the West.
In commenting upon the rivalry which existed between the two towns the historian remarks: "The Milwaukee River was the dividing line with our settlers. Not only the nation but states, communities, seets and families, all have a Mason and Dixon's line." The very harmony of our system, observes our historian in a curious strain of reasoning, its "discords, antagonisms and ·wars,' afforded a healthy recrimination essential to the stimulation and pros- perity of the contending opinions. " Whether the reader will agree with such
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OLD BYRON KILBOURN RESIDENCE Corner Grand Avenue and Fourth Street after same had been converted into stores Originally built in 1855
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BYRON KILBOURN AND GEORGE II. WALKER
a view or not the faet remains that whatever virtue there may have been in that doctrine it was thoroughly tested in the early days of Milwaukee.
In a paper by James Seville, printed by the Old Settlers' Club of M.1- waukee, in 1916, it is said that there were but few men of his time "whose opinions had more influence in the state at large than those of Mr. Kilbourn. IIe could do more with the Legislature, governor, etc., than any other man, and that, too, without any seeming effort on his part. He was a man of large build, a large head and brain, a skilful engineer, and just sneh a man as is required to manage large enterprises; sociable, communieative, benevolent and always ready to engage in anything to help his adopted city."
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