Frenchtown Chronicles of Prairie du Chien by Antoine Mary Elise;Eldersveld Murphy Lucy;

Author:Antoine, Mary Elise;Eldersveld Murphy, Lucy;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Wisconsin Historical Society
Published: 2016-08-15T00:00:00+00:00

PART 3

A VOYAGEUR’S WORLD

After retiring from forty-five years of living on the family farm, Albert began a habit of telling his niece and nephew the stories of his grandfathers that he had heard as a boy. At the urging of family members, he wrote down the stories he remembered about Julian Carriere and Thaddeus Langford to preserve them for future generations. He called the collection “The Grandson of Two Runaway Granddads.” He recorded the stories in a 1931 daily memorandum book that had been given out as a form of advertising by the Otto Insurance Agency in Prairie du Chien. The stories revealed that both of Albert’s grandfathers had left home at an early age. While Julian had many adventures as a voyageur and employee in the fur trade, Thaddeus worked on farms, moving west from New York to the Midwest.

Several years later, Albert rewrote the stories about Julian Carriere, filling over one hundred pages of loose-leaf paper. He placed the narrative in a three-ring binder and gave it to Florence Bittner, the former curator of the Villa Louis historic site. Lacking a title, Albert wrote, “This is a short sketch of the truthful incidents of the life of Julian Coryer written by his grandson Albert Coryer.” Mrs. Bittner’s questions for Albert indicate that she probably had read these stories before her interview with Albert.

The stories Albert recorded for his family began with a very personal anecdote in which Albert compares himself to his two grandfathers. In all of Albert’s writings and in the interview with Mrs. Bittner, this is the only comment Albert made about his own life. Like his two grandfathers, as a young man Albert had sometimes wished to leave home for an adventure. Referring to himself in the third person, Albert wrote:

The writer or grandson was inclined to leave home and desired going for himself; but because his father lost his health and could not provide as he should, Albert stayed at home and helped his parents up to their death. The parent[s] were kind to him and tried to do all they could for him; this convinced him that he should stay by his parents. For instance when the Spanish-American war was declared, Albert desired to enlist; but on mentioning this to his parents, his mother said, “Don’t you think we need you here at home more than Uncle Sam does?” Therefore Albert stayed at home and worked to keep up the home.

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