[ G ] - Pig's Eye's Notepad - [ G ]
GABOTT, LOUIS - A resident in St. Paul in 1850. [WM268]
GAILLARD [JAILLARD], Noel - Born in 1809 in Canada. A blacksmith in St. Paul in 1850. He and his wife Fortiste (1809 Canada) had at least 2 children: Francois (1834 Canada) a laborer in 1850, and Mary J. (1845 Canada). [MN50]
GALBRAITH, NANCY - In 1831, she was married to John Irvine. She emigrated west with him in 1837, settled in Prairie du Chien in 1840, then moving to St. Paul in 1843. Because of her insistance that her four children have a proper education, she and her husband were instrumental in the recruitment and hiring of Harriett Bishop as the first public schoolteacher in Minnesota. She was a charter member of the Women's Christian Temperence Union founded in St. Paul in 1848 by Miss Bishop. [WM126, 129, 178]
GALLAGHER, JOHN - Born in 1834 in Illinois. He was a printer in St. Paul in 1850. [MN50]
GALTIER, LUCIAN - Galtier was born in Ardeches, France in 1811. He was a student of theology in the seminary in his native diocese under then Bishop Loras, who persuaded him along with Joseph Cretin, Augustin Ravoux, and Joseph Pelamourgues to follow him into the wilds of western America. They landed in New York in 1838. Galtier and Ravoux, who had not completed their studies, proceeded to Emmetsburg College in Maryland, and were ordained Catholic Priests in 1840.
On the 26th of April, 1840, he was dispatched to St. Paul, where he soon was looking for a site on which to build a church. He was offered land in Point LeClaire, but objected because the land was at the extreme end of the new settlement, and because it was subject to flooding. Looking at the extreme southern end of the Dayton's Bluff, he noted a property that was ideal to his purposes, located on the border between the properties of Vital Guerin and Benjamin Gervais, both good and generous citizens. They agreed to jointly donate the land for the establishment of the church, which was erected in 1841, and dedicated to St. Paul.
Fr. Galtier was not actually ever assigned to pastor the new church, but continued missionary activities throughout the Iowa, Wisconsin, and Minnesota area over the years. He died in 1866 at Prairie du Chien, WI. [WM109ff]
GAMMELL, FRANCIS - He came to MN in 1829 as a voyageur and had settled at Mendota. He married a Dakota woman and had one child: David. They moved to Pig's Eye in 1839. Mrs. Gammell died during the battle of Kaposia in 1842. It is thought that following this event Francis and his son returned to Mendota where Francis died in 1871. [WM86, 123,124]
GARDNER, W. B. - Born in 1824 in New York. A teamster in St. Paul in 1850. [MN50]
GARGETER [GAYETTA], P. C. - A St. Paul resident in 1849. Living in his household are listed 14 males & 3 females. [MN49]
GARKINS, ALVIRA N. - Born in 1820 in Maine. A St. Paul resident in 1850. [MN50]
GARNIOT, LEANDER - Born in 1827 in Canada. A St. Paul carpenter in 1850. [MN50]
GAUTIER, NAPOLEON - A resident in St. Paul in 1850. [WM268]
GEORGE, ELIZABETH - Born in 1822 in England. A St. Paul resident in 1850. [MN50]
GEROU, "OLD" - St. Paul's first butcher. He lived near Louis Denoyer, and first offered fresh meat in the village in 1843. He was still a resident of St. Paul in 1845. [WM138]
GIBBS, HEMAN - Heman Gibbs met and married Jane DeBow in Illinois. In 1849, the year that Minnesota became a territory, the newlyweds came up the Mississippi and bought the land on which the Gibbs farm house still stands in what is now Falcon Heights, MN. At first, Jane and Heman lived in a tiny (10 feet by 12 feet) dugout sod house. The remains of this "soddy" have been excavated and visitors to the farm can see the excavation site, as well as a drawing of what the sod house looked like when occupied. In 1854, Jane and Heman built a cabin above ground, which became one of the rooms in the existing farm house. [See the Gibbs Farm Museum website]
GIROUT, JULIE - Born in 1825 in Minnesota. A St. Paul resident in 1850. [MN50]
GIROUT, PAUL - Born in 1815 in Canada. A laborer in St. Paul in 1850. [MN50]
GERRYICK, PHOENIX [THOMAS] - Born in 1824 in Germany. A farmer in St. Paul in 1850. [MN50]
GERVAIS, BENJAMIN - Born at Riviere-du-Loup, Quebec, in 1786, Benjamin travelled in 1803 with several Canadian families to the Red River. He did not settle there until 1812, but instead established trading routes back and forth to Canada, and ultimately was employed by the Hudson's Bay Company. In 1823, he married Genevieve Larans, of Berthier, Quebec, then settled at LaPointe, located near Ft. Garry. Forced off his land by the harsh conditions and failing crops, Benjamin, his family, and his brother, Pierre Gervais, were among the Red River refugees who settled near Ft. Snelling.
When that property was vacated by the Fort authorities, he took up a claim near that of Abraham Perry. After losing that property, he moved to what is now the downtown area, purchasing the claim of Pierre Parrant, finishing the cabin Parrant had begun about where Robert and Bench streets came together, where Gervais lived for several years. Over those years, he sold many small parcels of land to early St. Paul settlers, and finally, in 1844, sold the remainder of his property to Louis Robert, and moved his family about 8 miles to the north of St. Paul, where he established the area that was to become Little Canada, MN.
Benjamin and Genevieve had children: Alphonse (1825), David (1829), Severe (1830), Isaie (1831), Jean Baptiste (1834), Benjamin (1835), Basile (1839), Marie (1845), and Julie (1847). [WM69,100ff, HB25ff]
GERVAIS, MARTHA - Daughter of Louis Pierre Gervais of Champlain, NY, Martha married in 1852 at Little Canada, MN, to St. Paul and St. Anthony pioneer, Pierre Bottineau. [LR1174]
GERVAIS, PIERRE - 17 years younger than his brother, Benjamin Gervais, Pierre, too, had lived at Red River for several years, and came from there to Mendota in 1826, where he entered the service of the American Fur Company. He made a claim near that of his brother which occupied what is now known as "Leech's Addition", and in 1845, moved to Little Canada
with his brother.
Pierre married Sophie Leblanc in Mendota in 1841, and they had children: Sophie (1853), Helene (1855), Marie Pauline (1857), Benjamin (1859), Jean Baptiste (1842), Pierre (1844), David (1846), Louis (1847), Charles (1848), and Eloise (1837). Pierre died in Little Canada in 1872. [WM69, LR1173]
GERVILLE, SOPHIE - Born in 1810 in Canada. A St. Paul resident in 1850. [MN50]
GIBSON, REUBEN B. - Born in 1805 in New Hampshire. He was a millwright in St. Paul in 1850. [MN50]
GILBERT, S. - Moved to St. Paul for a short period in 1849, he was a charter member of the Sons of Temperence Lodge. [WM215]
GILPATRICK, NATHEN - A resident in St. Paul in 1850. [WM268]
GINGRAS, FRANCOIS - Born in 1828 in Canada. A laborer in St. Paul in 1850. [MN50]
GINGRAS, JOSEPH - A resident in St. Paul in 1850. [WM268]
GLADDEN, A. - Born in 1825 in Kentucky. A sportsman in St. Paul in 1850. [MN50]
GLADDEN [GLADEN, GLAD'N], E. - He died at St. Paul on July 19 1850, formerly of St. Joseph, MO, aged 28 years. [MPv2#16]
GLADU, CUTHBERT - Cuthbert was the husband of Rachel Cavalier. His parents were Louis Gladu & Suzanne Desjarlais. [Jan Hintz woundedwing@email.msn.com]
GLASS, HARLOW - Born in 1811 in New York. A St. Paul carpenter in 1849-50. He and his wife Emily (1814 VT) had at least four children: a daughter (ca.1841-14 Feb 1850) who died after being badly burnt after her clothing caught fire in the absence of her parents, at their home on Third Street; Hazel (1844 IL), Jane L. (1848 IA), and John S. (1849 IA). On Feb 12 1851, Harlow was married to Emily Kazadd by Orlando Simons, jp. [WM267, MN50]
GLENN, HUGH - Born in 1818 in Pennsylvania. He was a shoemaker in St. Paul. He arrived in 1848, and was still living there in 1850. [WM200, 268, MN50]
GLENN, JOHN - Born in 1829 in Pennsylvania. He was a shoemaker in St. Paul in 1849-50. His real estate holdings were valued at $600 in 1850. [WM268, MN49, MN50]
GLENN, MARY - Born in 1829 in Ohio. She was a resident in St. Paul in 1850, with two children living in her household: Daniel P. (1847 OH), and Ellen (1849 OH). [MN50]
GLISON, MARGARET - Born in 1822 in Pennsylvania. A resident in St. Paul in 1850. [MN50]
GOBIN [GABEN], B. - A St. Paul resident in 1849. Living in his household are listed 2 males & 2 females. [MN49]
GOBIN, JOSEPH - A resident of St. Paul in 1843. [WM137]
GODFREY, ANDRE - Godfrey came to St. Paul in 1848, and was a delegate to the Stillwater Convention. He was appointed by the Legislature as a Ramsey County Commissioner in 1849, but was unsuccessful in the election for that position later that same year, and also the next year. He served on the first grand jury in Ramsey County in 1850. He was married in 1848, at Mendota, to Marguerite Metivier. [WM242-4, LR1207]
GONYA [GAGNE, CUNYA], BAPTISTE - A St. Paul resident in 1849. Living in his household are listed 2 males & 3 females. [MN49]
GONYA [GAGNE, CUNYA], GEORGE - A St. Paul resident in 1849. Living in his household are listed 1 male & 4 females. [MN49]
GOODE, EMANUEL - Born in 1826 in Germany. He was a laborer in St. Paul in 1850. [MN50]
GOODHUE, GEORGE - Born in 1829 in New York. He was a carpenter in St. Paul in 1850. [MN50]
GOODHUE, ISAAC N. - Brother of James Goodhue, he was a land agent who came with his brother to St. Paul in 1849. He immediately applied for a charter to operate a ferry across the Mississippi River opposite Lambert's Landing. That bill was not granted, but in 1852, the Goodhue brothers applied to the Ramsey County Commissioners for a ferry charter at that location, and it was granted, along with a similar one granted to John Irvine for the Upper Landing. The ferries ran until the St. Paul Bridge was built in 1858. [237, 246]
GOODHUE, JAMES M. - Boren in 1811 in New York. Trained from childhood to become a lawyer, Goodhue, in 1849, was living in Lancaster, WI, and pursuing the profession of his real choosing, as editor of the Wisconsin Herald. When the news came of the organization of the Minnesota Territory, he resolved to remove to St. Paul and establish a newspaper. He immediately purchased a press and type, and was on his way as
soon as the shipping channels opened that year. He arrived on April 18th, and on the 28th of that month, had published the first issue of the Minnesota Pioneer.
Goodhue was a fearless reporter, and was a prototype of the energetic journalists who would make Minnesota's newspapers a force to be reckoned with in future years. Sadly, Goodhue's serious illness was reported in his own paper on August 5th, 1852, and he died on the 27th of that month. His real estate holdings were valued at $6,000 in 1850. He and his wife Henrietta (1822 NY) had at least three children: James (1847 WI), Mary (1847 WI), and Edward (d.29 Oct 1849 age 1 year & 4 months).[WM210, 327, MPv1#28, MN50]
GOODRICH, AARON P. - Born on 6 July 1807 at Sempronius, New York. He had been a member of Congress in 1847/8 from Tennessee. The first Chief Justice of the new territory in St. Paul in 1850. He died 23 June 1887 in St. Paul. [WM219, MN50]
GORDON, WILLIAM B. - Died in St. Paul as a result of a blow or blows struck with the fist of one Alexander McLeod. [published 27 Feb 1850] [MPv1#45]
GOULD, AARON - Born in 1804 in New York. A mechanic in St. Paul in 1850. His real estate holdings were valued at $300 in 1850. [MN50]
GOULETTE, GABRIEL - Born in 1795 in Canada. A laborer in St. Paul in 1850. [MN50]
GRADY, MICHAEL - Born in 1830 in Ireland. A laborer in St. Paul in 1850. [MN50]
GRAND MARAIS - An area southeast of St. Paul along the river at what is now called Pig's Eye Lake. In its earliest days, it was known as "Pointe LeClaire" after Michel LeClaire, the first settler in that area. It also became known as "Pig's Eye" in the late 1840's, after St. Paul had been formally named. Today, it is the site of the Twin Cities' largest Sewage Treatment plant.
GRAVELIN, JOSEPH BOUDREAU - Born in 1826 in Canada. A resident in St. Paul in 1850. His real estate holdings were valued at $300 in 1850. He and his wife Lenore had at least three children: Merance (1844 Canada), Joseph (1846 MN), and Helen (1848 MN). [WM268, MN50]
GREENE, JAMES - Died on Friday evening 12 July 1850, at the Central House in St Paul, aged about 42 yrs. [MPv2#13]
GREENWOOD, EDWARD - A resident in St. Paul in 1850. [WM268]
GROFF, MATHEW - Born in 1822 in New York. A farmer in St. Paul in 1850. He was married to Maria (1827 NY). [MN50]
GUERIN, APPOLINE - She was a sister of Vital Guerin. She was married to William Beaumette. [LR152, WM76]
GUERIN, VITAL - Born in St. Remi, Quebec, in 1812, Vital followed his father's voyageur trade, and at age 20, enlisted in the service of the American Fur Company under Gabriel Franchere. After completing his 3-year enlistment, he worked at odd jobs for the company, and for other traders at Mendota and Traverse de Sioux for 3 or 4 years longer.
Deciding to settle down, he purchased Pierre Parrant's property at Fountain Cave, but a claim jumper robbed him of his property. In 1839, looking about for a property, he squatted on the property of the late John Hays in what is now downtown St. Paul, property that was still claimed by Edward Phelan, who was then in prison for Hays' murder.
He married Adele Perry (1826 Switzerland), daughter of Abraham Perry. Although called a fool for doing so, he held onto his claim while his neighbors were selling out, and it ultimately jumped in value, enabling him to built a finer house, in 1849, on the property that is now Wabasha and 7th Streets, where he resided until his death in 1870. He was a particularly honorable and generous person, and not quick to understand that others did not share those values, and he was defrauded of most of his fortune by unscrupulous neighbors. In 1847, he contributed land worth millions today for the building of the St. Paul Court House, several lots to the church, and for other civic purposes. He was a carpenter in 1850. His real estate holdings were valued at $1,000 in 1850. Vital and Adele had at least five children: David (1842 MN), Emily (1843 MN), Lucy (1844 MN), Alfred (1845 MN), and William (1847 MN).[WM96-7,105-7, MN50]
GUERTIN, PIERRE [RENE] - Born in 1826 in Canada. A cook in St. Paul in 1850. [MN50]
GEHON [GUYON], NAPOLEON - A resident in St. Paul in 1850. [WM268]
GUTCHT, EMANUEL - Born in 1825 in Pennsylvania. A farmer in St. Paul in 1850. [MN50]
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