Solomon Juneau
Solomon Laurent Juneau | |
---|---|
Statue of Juneau in Juneau Park, Milwaukee | |
Born |
August 9, 1793 Repentigny, Lower Canada |
Died |
November 14, 1856 63) Keshena, Wisconsin | (aged
Nationality | Canadian |
Other names | Laurent-Salomon Juneau |
Occupation | Politician, fur trader, land agent |
Known for | Helped found the city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. |
Title | 1st Mayor of Milwaukee |
Term | 1846-1847 |
Predecessor | Office Established |
Successor | Horatio N. Wells |
Spouse(s) | Josette (m. 1820-1855) |
Parent(s) | François and Thérèse Galerneau Juneau |
Relatives | Joseph Juneau (nephew), founder of the city of Juneau, Alaska |
Solomon Laurent Juneau, or Laurent-Salomon Juneau, (August 9, 1793 – November 14, 1856) was a fur trader, land speculator, and politician who helped found the city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.[1][2][3] He was born in Repentigny, Quebec, Canada to François and (Marie-)Thérèse Galarneau Juneau.,[4][5] His cousin was Joseph Juneau, who founded the city of Juneau, Alaska.[6]
Biography
After landing at Fort Michilimackinac in 1816, Juneau worked as a clerk in the fur trade before becoming an agent for the American Fur Company in Milwaukee. Juneau settled an area east of the Milwaukee River called Juneautown (present day East Town) in 1818, which later joined with George H. Walker's Walker's Point and Byron Kilbourn's Kilbourntown (present day Westown) to incorporate the City of Milwaukee. In 1831, Juneau began learning English and set in motion the naturalization and citizenship process. By 1835, he was selling plots of land in Juneautown. He built Milwaukee's first store, first inn, and was recognized for his leadership among newcomers to Milwaukee. In 1837 he started the Milwaukee Sentinel, which would become the oldest continuously operating business in Wisconsin. He was the first mayor of Milwaukee from 1846 until 1847 and its first Postmaster.
Personal
In 1820 Solomon Juneau married Josette, the Metis daughter of Jacques Vieau, a fur trader who had built a trading post overlooking the Menomonee Valley years before. Josette was the oldest of 12 children, and she was Menominee and French by ancestry.[7] Through her alliances to the tribe, and the relationships fostered through Juneau's business in fur trading, it is reported that he was popular with the Menominee.[8] After the treaty of 1848 between the United States and the Menominee, Juneau registered his wife and children as half-breeds of the Menominee Nation. In his later life, Juneau and family relocated to Dodge County, Wisconsin, where they founded the village of Therese, named after Juneau's French-Canadian mother. Josette Juneau died there in 1855; Solomon died one year later in Keshena, Wisconsin, on a visit to the Menominee tribe. He died in the arms of Benjamin Hunkins, his "faithful friend and constant nurse."[9] Six Menominee chiefs served as pallbearers at his funeral. He is buried at Calvary Cemetery, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Juneau's grandson, Paul O. Husting, would become a member of the United States Senate.[10] The property that is believed to have once been the site of Juneau's residence is now the site of the Mitchell Building, listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
See also
References
- ↑ University of Wisconsin - Green Bay
- ↑ Solomon Juneau, Milwaukee’s Founding Father
- ↑ Dictionary of Canadian Biography
- ↑ Marshall, Bill. (2005). France and the Americas: Culture, Politics, and History. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, p. 635.
- ↑ Connerton, Eugene J. & Léo-Paul Landry. (1971). Genealogy of the Juneau family 1600–1965. Author, p. 306.
- ↑ Alaska Mining Hall of Fame
- ↑ Gurda, J. (1999). "Josette and Solomon Juneau, Frontier valentines: Living proof that love can and did abide." Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Sunday, February 7, 1999.
- ↑ Kellogg, L.P. (1961). "Juneau, Solomon Laurent." Dictionary of American Biography. Malone, Dumas, ed. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons.
- ↑ Wisconsin magazine of history: Volume 41, number 2, winter, 1957-1958. Wisconsin Historical Society. Retrieved 31 August 2014.
- ↑ "Laurent Solomon Juneau". Political Graveyard. Retrieved 2011-10-27.
Further reading
- Mack, Edwin S. (1907). The Founding of Milwaukee. Madison: State Historical Society of Wisconsin.
- Fox, Isabella (1916). Solomon Juneau: a biography with sketches of the Juneau family. Milwaukee, Wis.: Evening Wisconsin Printing Co.
- Obituary. Milwaukee Sentinel. 28 January 1858.
External links
- Solomon Laurent Juneau at Find-A-Grave
- Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online
- Wisconsin Historical Society
- Josette and Solomon Juneau
- Urban spelunking: Solomon Juneau's cabin
Preceded by — |
Mayor of Milwaukee 1846 |
Succeeded by Horatio N. Wells |
|