ARRIVAL OF A. F. BEAUBIEN’S KIN

FETED BY INDIANS

Great Uncle of Waukegan

attorney leaders [sic] in settlement of Chicago

IS IN FIRST BAPTISMAL

Sunday’s issue of The Chicago Tribune contained a half page write-up of the late Alexander Beaubien, in connection with a historical account of Chicago since 1829. Mr. Beaubien was one of the first male children born in that town and was the great uncle of Atty. Alexander F. Beaubien of Waukegan.

Concerning this ancestor the pioneer writer of this account says:

One hundred years ago this month on an. [sic] 28, 1822, to be exact, Potawatami Indians, who still made Fort Dearborn their habit [sic], celebrated the arrival of a male child, who according to all accounts, was the first born on the site of Chicago, in whose veins mingled the blood of the white and the red men.

His father, Jean Baptiste Beaubien, was a Frenchman, and his mother, Josette La Framboise, was a half-breed Indian.

Five or six times had the stock[?] visited Fort Dearborn before it brought little Alexander Beaubien, but on all previous visits it had left behind a full blooded white child. The Indians manifested no interest in these children.

Indians Celebrate Arrival.

But the Beaubien case was different. Word of the event passed from one tepee to another along the banks of the river, and the braves and squaws came trooping over to the fort wrapped in blankets and wearing their prettiest feathers. They brought presents fashioned from leather and beads for the mother and child.

That night bonfires were kindled on both banks of the river and the Potawatamies danced as they never danced before in honor of the first wihte [sic] and red papoose born in Chicago.

Alexander Beaubien lived to a good old age. In his latter years it was his custom to give a party on each anniversary of his birth and it was my privilege to be an invited guest at several of these gatherings.

Stories of Early Chicago.

We would have a bite to eat, something to drink, and then “Uncle Alec” would play the fiddle and call off the figures of the quadrille. When the guests tired of dancing, “Uncle Alec” would entertain with stories of early Chicago.

In 1804, the year the United States built its first fort at Chicago, there was only one white family here, that of John Kinzie. Jean Baptiste Beaubien, father of Alexander, visited Chicago the same year as a trader, but did not remain. Subsequently Beaubien married an Ottawa squaw named Mah-naw-hun-no-quah.

Soon after the Fort Dearborn massacre of 1812 Mr. Beaubien purchased a log house from the widow of Charles Lee, who was slain by the Indians. This cabin was a short distance south-east of the ruins of the fort. Close to it was another house occupied by Francis La Framboise. His wife was the daughter of a Potawatamie [sic] chief.

Weds Trader’s Daughter.

At the death of his Indian wife in the latter part of 1811 Mr. Beaubien was left with two children. He was tall and good looking, just the sort an Indian maid would admire. Josette La Framboise, daughter of the French trader mentioned previously, lost her heart to the widower, and they were married by Father Rechere, a missionary priest.

Miss Josette was a nurse in the family of John Kinzie at the time of the massacre, and she accompanied Mrs. Kinzie and her children from Chicago to a place of safety across the lake. Mrs. Kinzie had been appraised [sic] of the contemplated attack by a friendly Indian.

Fort Dearborn was rebuilt in 1816. At the same time a warehouse or factory, as it was called, for the storage of goods belonging to the government designed for distribution among the Indians, also was re-established. This warehouse, a two-story structure, was not molested at the time the fort was destroyed. In 1823, when the government abandoned the factory, it became the property of the American Fur company and was later sold to Jean Baptiste, who occupied it as a dwelling until 1839.

First Baptism in Chicago.

A few weeks after the birth of Alexander Beaubien, Father Stephen Badin, a Roman Catholic priest, visited Fort Dearborn. Father Badin was ordained at Baltimore in 1793, and it is said he was the first Catholic clergyman ordained in the United States. He was sent out as a missionary to the Indians, and he visited the site of Chicago as early as 1796. That was eight years before the first white settler took up his abode here.

Father Badin was hospitably received by Jean Baptiste Beaubien and his wife, both of whom were Catholics. Mass was celebrated the following Sunday at the Beaubien home, and in the afternoon little Alexander was baptized. This was the first ceremony of its kind in Chicago.

Chicago was not much of a place when Alexander Beaubien first opened his eyes. There were only five or six log houses here besides the fort, which was garrisoned by about thirty soldiers. Michigan avenue was an Indian trail. Wild animals roamed the woods where now stands fifteen and sixteen story buildings. Probably no other man in the world’s history could say with him:

“I saw my birthplace grow from a settlement of half a hundred persons to a metropolis of more than 2,000,000,000 [sic] people.”

From copious notes which I made at the birthday parties given by my venerable friend Ihave [sic] transcribed those incidents which “Uncle Alec” regarded as the most interesting of his early life. The matter is arranged chronologically.” [sic]

Indians His Playmates.

“My earliest recollection of Fort Dearborn are [sic] of the soldiers stationed here and of my playmeates [sic] who were Indian boys. When I was about 7 years old I began going to school. My brother Charles, who was several years older than me, was the teacher. He taught only one term.

“My grandmother, La Framboise [sic], a full blooded Ottawa, was taught to read and write English by her husband. She in turn taught her own children. Consequently she was the first school teacher in Chicago.

“The first drawbridge across the Chicago river was built in 1824. It was located at ‘Old Point,’ now known as Dearborn street. Everybody in town turned out to see the new bridge the day it was completed. Two or three years before this bridge was built the first ferry across the Chicago river was established by my Uncle Mark. He was ferryman and tavern-keeper at the same time.

“Another matter of importance took place in 1835. In that year my father purchased sixty-six acres of land which now is the retail district of Chicago, at $1.25 an acre. The conveyance was made to him by the government land agent. Later the transfer of the tract was contested and the United States Supreme court decided against him. The citizens held an indignation meeting and a protest signed by al [sic] the early settlers was sent to Washington, but to no avail. That land today, which rightfully belongs to the eBaubien [sic] heirs, is worth hundreds of millions. [sic]

Mr. Beaubien joined the police force in 1863, but resigned five years later to engage in private detective work. He returned to the police department in 1882 and was retired on a pension in 1903. He died March 25, 1907.

Beaubien court, a short, narrow street, east of Michigan avenue and extending from Randolph to East South Water street, was named in honor of Alexander Beaubien by the city council a few years before his death. The site marks the vicinity where he spent his boyhood.

[Retrieved and transcribed by Nanci Headley Kotowski from

The Waukegan Daily Sun of January 9, 1922, Waukegan, IL.]