Genevieve (Manaigre) Waggoner (1825 - 1900)

Born 20 Mar 1825 in Green Bay, Brown, Wisconsin, United States

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 25 May 1900 at age 75 in Mankato, Blue Earth, Minnesota, United States

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Biography

Name

Her father was born in French Canada and spoke French as his native language, so he gave his daughter the French name "Genevieve" (apparently also spelled "Jenevieve"). The front formation shortening is Gen, which sounds similar to the English name "Jane," and is probably the reason that this was settled upon as her American name.

The name "Manaigre" has a bewildering array of variants: "Monagre, Managre, Manage, Menaige, Menagre."

Birth

Jane was born in Green Bay, Brown, Wisconsin, United States in 1825.^[1]

Residence

In the year of her birth, 1825, she lived with her parents in Green Bay, Wisconsin, then part of Michigan Territory.

In 1832, the Manaigres were living at Fort Winnebago, and Jane was being schooled briefly by Juliette Kinzie, wife of the Indian sub-agent, and famous author of Wau Bun. However, this experiment in schooling the local kids fell through, and she and her sister were sent back to Green Bay for their education.^[2]

In 1839, when depositions were taken with respect to the settlement of the 1837 treaty with the Winnebago, the Manaigre family was living in Green Bay again.^[3]

Since 1865, she had resided in Alton, Waseca, Minnesota, United States.^[4]

In 1896, she moved to Mankato, Minnesota.^[5]

Life

Her early life was spent on the frontier, first in Green Bay, then for a time at Ft. Winnebago at the Portage in Wisconsin. It appears that she spoke only French, but an attempt was made by Mrs. Juliette Kinzie to set up an informal school at the fort which she attended, as it says in her book:

A very short time after we were settled in our new

home at the Agency, we attempted the commencement

of a little Sunday School. Edwin, Harry and Josette,

were our most reliable scholars, but besides them, there

were the two little Manaigres, Therese Paquette, and her

mother's half sister, Florence Courville, a pretty young

girl of fifteen. None of these girls had even learned their

letters. They spoke only French, or rather, the Canadian

patois and it was exceedingly difficult to give them

at once the sound of the words, and their signification,

which they were careful to inquire. Besides this, there

was the task of correcting the false ideas, and remedying

the ignorance and superstition which presented so formid-

able an obstacle to rational improvement. We did our

best, however, and had the satisfaction of seeing them,

after a time, making really respectable progress with their

spelling-book, and what was still more encouraging,

acquiring a degree of light and knowledge in regard

to better things. ... After a time Manaigre was induced to

send his children to Mr. Cadle's mission-school at Green Bay.^[6]

As to her experiences in Mr. Cadle's school or how long she continued on there, it's clear from Rueben Gold Thwaites' observations, that it may not have been pleasant:

"The Indians were either indifferent to the scheme or bitterly

opposed to it, objecting to rigid discipline being applied to their

children. The French also disliked the enterprise, both because it was

a Protestant mission and because it did not accord with their notions

of the fitness of things."^[7]

Since her mother was Winnebago, they followed the tribe for a time, including their exile to Minnesota, but when that nation was forced to move to Nebraska, the Manaigres stayed behind in Minnesota, living in Alton from 1865.

Children

She had three daughters and six sons.^[8]

Death

"Mrs. Jane Wag[g]oner, mother of Mrs. Nettleton, of this city, and of Mr. John Wagoner, of Alton, died last Friday, at the home of her daughter, Mrs. C. Lawrence, in Mankato. Her death was due to neuralgia of the heart from which she had been more or less a sufferer. She had been visiting in Waseca, but returned to Mankato, Wednesday, on account of illness. Mrs. Wagoner was 75 years of age, and leaves three daughters and six sons. She had resided in Alton since 1865, up to four years ago, when she went to Mankato. She was respected and esteemed by all who knew her. She was also one of the very earliest settlers of the state."^[9]

She is buried at Alma City Cemetery, Janesville, Waseca County, Minnesota, USA, Block 3, Row 6, Lot 20.^[10]

Sources

Footnotes

1. ↑ 1880 Census, p. 152.
2. ↑ Kinzie, 274-275.
3. ↑ Waggoner, 44-45.
4. ↑ Waseca County Herald; 1880 Census, p. 152.
5. ↑ Waseca County Herald.
6. ↑ Kinzie, 274-275.
7. ↑ Kinzie, 398 nt. 20.
8. ↑ Waseca County Herald.
9. ↑ Waseca County Herald.
10. ↑ Find a Grave.

Bibliography

• 1880 Federal Census for Alton, Waseca, Minnesota; Roll: T9_636; Family History Film: 1254636; Page: 152.3000; Enumeration District: 262; Image: 0617.
• Juliette Augusta McGill Kinzie, Wau-Bun, The "Early Day" in the North-west (Chicago & New York: Rand, McNally & Company, 1873 [1856]).
• Linda M. Waggoner (ed.), “Neither White Men Nor Indians: Affidavits from the Winnebago Mixed-blood Claim Commissions, Prairie Du Chien, Wisconsin, 1838-1839” (Roseville, Minnesota: Park Genealogical Books, 2002). Extracted from Territorial Papers of the United States, Wisconsin, 1836-1848. M236. “Special Files of the Office of Indian Affairs,” 1836- 46. “Special File 161” (Roll 41). “Special File 190” (Roll 42). National Archives, Washington D.C., Documents on Microfilm, Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (Record Group 75).
• Waseca County Herald, 1 June 1900.
• Find a Grave, database and images (accessed 31 January 2022), memorial page for Jane Waggoner (1825–25 May 1900), Find a Grave Memorial ID 102812761, citing Alma City Cemetery, Janesville, Waseca County, Minnesota, USA; Maintained by S R Allen (contributor 46907343).
• WikiTree profile Manaigre-13 (formerly Menagre-1) was originally created through the import of The Sammons Family Tree.ged on Jun 9, 2011 by Steve Sammons. See the Changes page for the details of edits by Steve and others.
• Source: S2852711167 Repository: #R2852704208 Title: Public Member Trees Author: Ancestry.com Publication: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2006. This information originally comes from one or more individual Ancestry Family Tree files submitted by Ancestry members. This source citation points you to a current version of those files. Note: The owners of these tree files may have removed or changed information since this source citation was created. Text: http://trees.ancestry.com/pt/AMTCitationRedir.aspx?tid=5111977&pid=7693