The Acton Potawatomi family connection begins with Chief Ashkum (More and More) — Christian name James Acton Sr. — and his two marriages to first wife Madeline Oscum and second, Angeline Bellaire, Azhnick. He had six children with Madeline: Mary Ann, Susan, Harrison, Cassie, John J. and Joseph Acton; and four children with Angeline: Helen, Zoa, and twins, Mary Louise …
Ashkem was considered a traditional headman and distinguished speaker among the Indiana Potawatomi. He was the principle orator and leading voice of the Wabash Potawatomi, always lecturing on the rights of his people. Ashkem was one of many who resisted the United States’ encroachment into the Great Lakes as well as the Christian conversion of the Potawatomi. Due to his …
David Joe Barrett is a native of Tecumseh, Oklahoma, and descendant of Marguerite Bourassa, Mnitoqua “Spirit Woman,” a full blood Potawatomi who married Leon Bourassa who was a boatman for American Fur Co. and clerked for his uncle Joseph Bertrand. His Potawatomi name is Mnedobe, meaning, “Sits with Spirit.” He has served as the legislator for District 10 since June …
John A. Barrett, Jr. is a native of Shawnee, Oklahoma, and a graduate of Shawnee High School. His Potawatomi name is Kiweoge, meaning, “He Leads Them Home.” Chairman Barrett has served as an elected official for the Citizen Potawatomi Nation since 1973 when he was first elected as Vice-Chairman. Tribal Chairman since 1985, Barrett is the eighth generation of his …
With the U.S. Navy gaining control of Lake Erie and cutting of British supply lines from Canada, British Major General Henry Proctor was forced to abandon Detroit and flee north to Amherstburg, Ontario in an attempt defend Fort Malden. Camped near Fort Malden were hundreds of allied Native warriors and their families. Outnumbered three to one, Shawnee leader Tecumseh, Potawatomi …
The Beaubien family’s roots in North America begin with fur trader Bertrand Farfard Suier de La Frambois. He married Marie Sedilot in Three Rivers, Canada, on Dec. 20, 1640. Together, they had a son named Jean Baptiste. The family moved from Quebec to Vermont and New York. Jean wed Francois Marchand, and their son Jean Baptiste LaFrombois III married Genevieve …
Born in Detroit, Michigan, Jean Baptiste Beaubien was a well-known trader in the country around Lake Michigan. He gained experienced in trading and an education from noted Michigan trader William Bailly. By 1800, Jean had established his own lucrative trading house in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. This would be the first of many around the Milwaukee and Green Bay regions. It was …
Madore Beaubien was the son of Jean Baptiste Beaubien who moved the Chicago area in 1816, after the Battle of Fort Dearborn. Jean Baptiste was a well-known fur trader, learning the business from Joseph Bailly. He married Mahnawbunokwe, the daughter of respected warrior and leader Shabbone, and had two children: Charles Henry and Madore. He then married Josette LaFromboise, daughter …
Benjamin Hendre Bertrand was born June 25, 1812 in Berrien Country, Michigan to Madeline Bourassa and Joseph Bertrand. Like his cousins Joseph and Jude Bourassa, Benjamin attended the school at Carey Mission at the age of 7. He later transferred to a private school in Detroit, Michigan and then reunited with his Bourassa family at the Choctaw Academy at White …
Joseph Napoleon Bourassa was born March 19, 1810 in Michigan, the eldest child of Daniel Bourassa II and Theotis Pisange. As a youth, Joseph and his brother Jude were enrolled at the school at Carey Mission, under the guidance of Baptist missionaries Reverend Isaac McCoy and Dr. Johnston Lykins. Excellent students, both were invited to attend the Hamilton Literary & …