Josette (Manaigre) Londroche (1823 - abt. 1854)

Born 1823 in Green Bay, Brown, Michigan Territory, United States [uncertain]

Ancestors

Wife of John-Baptiste Hilaire (Londroche) Londrosh — married 7 Feb 1839 in Little Chute, Outagamie, Wisconsin, United States

Descendants

Died about 1854 at about age 31 in Wisconsin, United States [uncertain]

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Melissa Londroche [send private message]

Josette was Ho-Chunk.

Biography

Said to be 16 years old in 1839, making her date of birth 1823. (Waggoner, 44b)

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 Jane were sent back to Green Bay for their education. (Kinzie, 274-275)

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.

(Kinzie, 274-275)

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." (Kinzie, 398 nt. 20)

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. (Waggoner, 44-45) By 1839, Josette had married John Baptiste Benway. (Waggoner, 45a) In 1850, she and her family were living at Ft. Winnebago, in Columbia County, Wisconsin. (1850 Census)

I am unable to add children to this union so I am documenting here that Josette and John Baptiste Benway Landroche had four children:

Marie Louise Londrosh (1839 - 1920) Louis Alvin Londrosh (1839 - 1880) Margaret Landrosh (1848 - 1893) Alexander Bernard Londrosh (Londroche) (1850 - 1920) (Londrosh FT)

Sources

• 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).
• Juliette Augusta McGill Kinzie, Wau-Bun, The "Early Day" in the North-west (Chicago & New York: Rand, McNally & Company, 1873 [1856]).
• Londroche Family Tree, Ancestry.com, Louis Fromme dit Manaigre,
• 1850 United States Federal Census, Fort Winnebago, Columbia, Wisconsin, p. 197, line 22.