Other Events and Attributes:

• Reference Number: 842
• Reference Number: GRA-CRAT
• Baptism: 23 Oct 1859, Wabasha, Wabasha, Minnesota, USA

Other Events and Attributes:

• Reference Number: 819
• Reference Number: GRA-CRAT

Notes:

was a claimant for Land Certificates in the Lake Pepin Half-Breed Land Reserve

Theophilus married Isabelle Elizabeth Cratte on 11 Aug 1855 in Wabasha, Wabasha, Minnesota, USA. Isabelle (daughter of Etienne Olivier "Oliver" Crête, (Cratte) Sr. and Sarah Marie Graham) was born on 05 Feb 1838 in Mendota, Dakota, Minnesota, USA; died on 24 Jul 1885 in Wabasha, Wabasha, Minnesota, USA; was buried on 26 Jul 1885 in St Felix Cemetery, Wabasha, Wabasha, Minnesota, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Reference Number: 31
• Reference Number: GRA-CRAT
• Baptism: 28 Jun 1839, St Peter's Church, Mendota, Dakota, Minnesota, USA
• Name: 11 Aug 1855; Isabelle Elizabeth Lachapelle
• Name: 23 Mar 1865; Isabelle Elizabeth Déchanet

Notes:

Name:
Name on her baptism record is "Isabelle" but marriage record shows a name of "Elizabeth". The name of the Mother on the baptism records of her children (in Latin) was "Isabella".
1870 Census: Name: Elizabeth

Other Events and Attributes:

• Reference Number: 5819
• Reference Number: GRA-CRAT

Pierre married Mary Louise Brisbois. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Reference Number: 3496
• Reference Number: GRA-CRAT

Other Events and Attributes:

• Reference Number: 63
• Reference Number: GRA-CRAT
• Baptism: 20 Nov 1801, Pointe-du-Lac, Quebec, Canada
• Living: 1805, Trois Rivieres, Quebec, Canada
• Occupation: 1824, Prairie du Chien, Crawford, Wisconsin, USA
• Occupation: 1829, Mendota, Dakota, Minnesota, USA
• Occupation: 10 Jul 1839
• Living: Between 1850 and 1880
• Occupation: 11 Oct 1853; was elected to the first Board of Commissioners for the County of Wabasha.
• Occupation: Between 1854 and 1855; served as Chairman of the Board of Commissioners for the Wabasha County.
• Residence: 02 Feb 1855, Wabasha, Wabasha, Minnesota, USA
• Census: 27 Jul 1870, Wabasha, Wabasha, Minnisota, USA

Notes:

was a signatory to a petition sent to the president of the USA for restitution for lands they had settled between the falls of St Anthony and the mouth of the Minnesota River, which were to be taken for military reserve.

Name:
He was born "Etienne Olivier Crête"

Most of his life was known as Oliver Cratte and his children used the name Cratte.

Living:
He was raised by his uncle.

Occupation:


At the age of 23 he left Quebec to go west and was hired by the American Fur Co. for $700/yr (excluding board and room), to build traps and other tools

Occupation:
In capacity of Blacksmith he was officially transferred to the Wabasha area where he built a shop and a house on the banks of the Mississippi River. This place was known as 'Cratte's Landing' and retained that name until the town of Wabasha was officially named some four years later in 1843.

Living:
he lived in Wabasha where he worked and raised his family and during that time owned a great deal of land in the area. However he placed all his land in a Land Association and was far too honest to enjoy the profits of this association and ended with nothing. In his later years his eyes failed and died poor and nearly blind. He was always very active in the Catholic Church and Father Trobec on introducing Oliver, said 'this is one of the best Catholics in my perish'.

Residence:
along with Joseph Buisson laid out the streets and lots and created the original town plat for the town of Wabasha, MN.

Etienne married Sarah Marie Graham on 04 Oct 1831 in Mendota, Dakota, Minnesota, USA. Sarah (daughter of Captain Duncan Graham and Susanne Istagiwin Hazahotawin Pennishon) was born in 1811 in Minnesota, USA; died about 1841 in Wabasha, Wabasha, Minnesota, USA; was buried in 1841 in St Felix Cemetery, Wabasha, Wabasha, Minnesota, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Reference Number: 64
• Reference Number: GRA-CRAT
• Name: 04 Oct 1831; Sarah Marie Crête [Cratte]
• Baptism: 05 Jul 1839, St Peter's Catholic Church, Mendota, Dakota, Minnesota, USA

Notes:

Married:
This union resulted in the birth of three girls and one boy

Other Events and Attributes:

• Reference Number: 125
• Reference Number: GRA-CRAT2

Etienne married Brigitte Labbe on 09 Feb 1801 in Notre Dame De La Visitation, Pointe-du-Lac, Quebec, Canada. Brigitte (daughter of Michel Labbe and Marie-Rose Blanchard) was born est 1784 in Quebec, Canada; died on 22 Nov 1805 in Pointe-du-Lac, Quebec, Canada. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Reference Number: 126
• Reference Number: GRA-CRAT2
• Name: 09 Feb 1801; Brigitte Crête

Notes:

Died:
parish records.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Reference Number: 127
• Reference Number: GRA-GRA
• Residence: British Territory
• Retired: Wabasha, Wabasha, Minnesota, USA
• Immigration: Abt 1794, York Facotry, On Hudson's Bay, Prince Ruper's Land
• Occupation: 1802, St Peter's River, Dakota, Minnesota, USA; A fur trader.
• Occupation: Abt 1810, A fur Trader, Graham's Island, Benson, North Dakota, USA
• Milit-Beg: 1813
• Milit-End: 06 Sep 1814
• Occupation: Between 1815 and 1820, A fur trader; After the war we know that he worked as a trader for the Hudson's Bay Company.
• Residence: 1816, On the Red River
• Occupation: 01 Feb 1817, A fur trader
• Occupation: 1818, A Fur Trader
• Occupation: 1820, A Fur Trader
• Residence: 26 Jun 1827, Prairie du Chien, Crawford, Wisconsin, USA
• Residence: 1835, A Fur Trader, Mendota, Dakota, Minnesota, USA
• Occupation: 15 Aug 1835, Mendota, Dakota, Minnesota, USA; He was a Trader.
• Residence: 16 Aug 1837, Mississippi River, Mendota, Dakota, Minnesota, USA
• Residence: 05 Jul 1839, Mendota, Dakota, Minnesota, USA
• Reference Number: 1843, Wabasha, Wabasha, Minnesota, USA; He named the town of Wabasha MN (originally Wabashaw), after his wife's grandfather, Chief Wapashaw I.
• Occupation: 09 Feb 1843, Wabasha, Wabasha, Minnesota, USA; acting postmaster

Notes:

Birth:
in the Highlands, (according to the source)

Education:
He was well educated as demonstrated by his letters written while employed by the Hudson's Bay Company in Canada. It has also been reported that his parents were members of the Scottish nobility and that his emigration was a protest against society of the day.

Residence:
Afterthe 1812 war he was initially barred from entering the USA.

Retired:
In 1834 he retired to the Wabasha, MN where his three youngest daughters lived and for a number of years was engaged in carrying the mail between Prairie du Chien and points as far north as the Red River of the North.

Occupation:
He built a trading post on Graham's Island in Devils Lake, North Dakota and the whole island is a State Park named after him. The historical documents are contradictory as to the exact time he lived on the island and built his trading post. Most history references indicate that he lived in this area after 1815, however some say that it was much earlier. His granddaughter (Marie McLaughlin) said that, at the time, he was an independent trader and not associated with any company, which would mean it was about 1809/11 because later fur traders were required a license and were governed by trading companies. However a grandson said that his mother (who was born in 1805) was 12 at the time they left the island which would mean that he left the island in 1817. It is possible that he was on the island about 1810 and then again after 1815. One history book written in 1884 said that remnants of his old post were still visible on the island. The Indians called him 'Big Foot' and the island 'Big Foot's Island'.

Milit-Beg:
During the 1812-1815 war Graham fought on the side of the British and in 1813 as a lieutenant was part of a force that was defeated by the American army lead by Col. Croghan at Lower Sandusky, Ohio.

Milit-End:
forced Major Zachary Taylor to retreat during his attempt to recapture the fort at Prairie du Chein Wis. In recognition of his role in this action he was promoted to a Captain.

Residence:
He operated a trading post along the Red River at a place known as Graham's Point, which later became the site of Fort Abercrombie.

Occupation:
Lord Selkirk wrote a letter to Graham acknowledging Graham's letters of Oct 11 and Dec 7 [1816] where he discussed the success Graham had in trading to date and gives specific instructions on what he wanted Graham to do in the future. Selkirk felt that Graham should remain at the trading post over the winter to ensure there was no conflict between the various bands of Indians.

Occupation:
His work later took him to the upper Red River near Traverse Lake where he operated a trading post for the HBC which at some point, as a Canadian company, was barred from doing business in the USA.

Occupation:
The letters show there was friction between the company and Graham because furs were not as plentiful as they expected. About 1820, Graham left the HBC and joined the Northwest Company to set up a trading post near Traverse Lake.

Residence:
Their only son, Alexander, was born in Prairie du Chein, Wisconsin in 1821 and we know that he || which was quoted in a short narrative of Graham's life in a Minnesota History book.

Residence:
"Duncan Graham was one of the most remarkable persons on the list of Bishop Loras, who refers to him as Dom. Etienne Graham."

Residence:
In 1839 he was present at the baptisms of his daughter Sarah and son Alexander at St Peter's Church at Mendota.

Buried:
Originally, on 6 Dec. 1847 his body was placed in the Jean Baptist Faribault family vault at Mendota joined by his wife in 1848. In what must have been a huge operation, the remains of all relatives and near relatives were moved to the family plot at the Calvary Cemetery, Faribault, MN in the winter of 1865 because the new railway line needed the land occupied by the vault. His grave marker read "Duncan Graham, Born in Scotland". That grave marker no longer existed in 2008, as it may have been made of wood.

Duncan married Susanne Istagiwin Hazahotawin Pennishon between 1796 and 1802 in Minnesota, USA. Susanne (daughter of Jean Pennishon and Winona Wapasha) was born about 1785 in Rum River, Mille Lacs, Minnesota, USA; died on 02 Mar 1848 in Mendota, Dakota, Minnesota, USA; was buried in 1865 in Calvary Cemetery, Faribault, Rice, Minnesota, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Reference Number: 128
• Reference Number: GRA-GRA
• Name: Between 1796 and 1802; Susanne Graham

Notes:

Birth:
She was adopted by Winona Wapasha and Jean Pennishon and therefore has the last name of 'Pennishon'.

Buried:
Originally, she was buried on 2 March 1848 in the Faribault Cript in Mendota along with her husband and was among the group of family members moved to the Calvary Cemetery in Faribault, MN, in 1865 when railway construction forced their removal.