Noel Le Vasseur

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Noel Le Vasseur (December 25, 1798 - December 12, 1879) was a trader and merchant born in St. Michel d`Yamaska, Canada and died in Bourbonnais Grove, Illinois.

In 1816, he became a voyageur, eventually moving to Bunkum, Illinois in 1818, where he established a trading post for the American Fur Company. The post was placed under the supervision of Gurdon Saltonstall Hubbard, and when Hubbard left in 1827, Le Vasseur took over as his replacement. Le Vasseur also married Hubbard's ex-wife, Watseka, and had three children with her. In 1832, she left to go west when the Indians were removed from the area. He remained at the Bunkum post until 1835. In 1837, he married Ruth Bull of Danville, Illinois. Following her death in 1859, he married Elenor Franchere of Chicago, Illinois in 1861.

When the Potawatomi left the area of Bourbonnais in 1838, La Vasseur persuaded many Quebecois to migrate to the region. These efforts have given him the epithet "Father of Kankakee."

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