Jacques Vieau

Jacques Vieau (or Vieaux) (May 5, 1757 – July 1, 1852) was a French-Canadian fur trader and the first permanent white settler in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He was born near Montreal, Quebec, Canada and died in Howard, Wisconsin.

Monument in Mitchell Park

Biography

In 1786 (1786), Vieau came to Green Bay,[1] where he married Angelique Roy that same year. She was the granddaughter of Potawatomi Indian chief Anaugesa. They had at least twelve children together.

In 1795, Vieau settled at Jambo Creek in Manitowoc County.[2] While employed by the North West Company, Vieau established a fur trading post in the area that would become Milwaukee in 1795, along with outposts at Kewaunee, Manitowoc, and Sheboygan. His Milwaukee cabin was built on top of a bluff overlooking the Menomonee Valley and became his winter residence away from Green Bay. A historical monument marks this location in Mitchell Park as the first house in Milwaukee.

In 1818, Vieau hired another French-Canadian named Solomon Juneau, who later married his daughter Josette and went on to found what was to become the City of Milwaukee.

In 2016, a tombstone for his grave was placed.[3]

Legacy

The town of Louisville, Kansas is named after Vieau's son, Louis Amable Vieau, Sr.

Vieau is the eponym of Vieau Elementary School and also a street found in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

The living descendants of Vieau are centered on Green Bay.

Notes
  1. "Death of a Pioneer of Wisconsin". Watertown Chronicle. July 28, 1852. p. 2. Retrieved May 1, 2015 – via Newspapers.com. open access
  2. "Descendants of Vieau to Unveil Marker". Manitowoc Herald-Times. June 9, 1922. p. 4. Retrieved May 1, 2015 – via Newspapers.com. open access
  3. Srubas, Paul (September 17, 2016). "Early settler finally gets his due". Green Bay Press Gazette.
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