Life In Hogansburg, New York

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Link to Nelson Jesmer documents     Biographical letter by Jesse Johnson   How the Jesmers came to Minnesota Link to Joseph A. Jesmer (Nelson’s Dad)

_____________________________Boyhood Years_______________________________________

1857-1867       He worked on the farm and he rode on his father’s boat along the Raquette river

to the St Lawrence River, as his father Joseph was the captain of a boat. (possibly

of a ferry that operated out of St Regis). He was surrounded by extended family

and cousins, who all had farms. He was part of St Patrick’s Catholic church. He

might have learned some native Chippewa Indian as his grandparents were said

to have spoken Chippewa. There were also Mohawk Indians on a nearby

reservation.

10/12/1857       Nelson born in Hogansburg New York, to a French speaking family. The family

farm was part of Bombay township NY, a few miles south east of Hogansburg.

11/7/1857       Nelson, baptized in Roman Catholic Church

Thoughts:         Nelson was born into a religious, Francophone, Catholic family. .  This is a very, positive and supportive environment. The Catholic church created a sense of stability and a sense of community. He was surrounded by a huge extended family. He did not see divorce around him. But all around him were large, stable, hard working religious families. He celebrated many marriages and births. He enjoyed the benefits of a huge support network, where he would receive seemingly endless praise and affirmation while growing up.

The land he was growing up was filled with adventure. There were forests, rivers, wildlife and even Native American tribes. He would have had innumerable cousins to romp through the woods. Life seemed filled excitement around every river bend.

He was growing up in a time of pioneering where those who worked hard were rewarded well for their hard work. People around him worked hard on their farms. His own father farmed and was the captain of a boat, a very hard working man.

He was also the oldest son, who would have received the most discipline and given the most responsibility. (see birth order def.) For these reasons, Nelson must have been a very able person, even from a young age becoming self confident in himself.

He was surrounded by people who struggled and worked hard and overcame. His grandparents struggled with persecution from English Canada and overcame. They were immigrants to the USA and overcame. He saw a country struggling in the throws of civil war and overcome. (Though his family did not seem affected by the Civil War.) He saw pioneering families carve out farms from virgin wilderness and become prosperous. He had relatives who founded new businesses. He had relatives who were actively involved in local politics of young communities. He saw heard news of relatives moving our west and prospering in MN and WI.

He was culturally sensitive. Around him were Irish immigrants, Mohawk Indians, from a nearby reserve, English speaking Canadians from Cornwall Ontario and French Canadians and French Americans. His own grandmother may have been part Chippewa Indian. The Irish majority and the French were united through the St Patrick’s Catholic Church. He learned several languages. Jessie Johnson, Nelson’s daughter-in-law once wrote that Nelson knew five languages. This cultural sensitivity will help him in his later years as a business man and local politician.

There were endless possibilities around him. He was filled with news of families, prospering while pioneering the west. Railways were being built. Steamboats plied distant waterways, carrying hopeful immigrants. Commodities such as wheat, lumber and furs streamed in form the west along the St Lawrence River. News of endless possibilities poured into the Irish/Francophone communities. The Indians in the Midwest were no longer a great threat. America was taking shape and growing strong. It was all out there for someone willing to reach out and take it. All of these factors would have contributed to creating a very self confident and progressive minded, self-initiating person. He could have been a modernist thinker. (see modernist thinking def.)

1858       Newspaper promotion of the Minnesota Territory prompts over one thousand

steamboat arrivals in St. Paul, filled with settlers. On May 11 Minnesota becomes

the thirty-second state admitted to the Union of the United States of America.

State seal adopted by the Minnesota Legislature.

3/27/1858       1^st cousin Peter Sidney Robideau born in Franklin Co. NY. (parents: Peter & Julia)

Nov/1859       1^st cousin, Julia Robideau (daughter of Peter and Julia) born in Franklin Co.

12/29/1858       Jenny Soquet, Nelson’s future wife, was born in Peble WI.

April 1859       Brother, Sydney Joseph born

“Agricultural settlement first began in the grassland areas near Princeton MI about 1855. In 1859 there were six farms in the county, with a total of 86 improved acres. Most early farming was merely incident to the lumber industry. Settlers opening farms left their families in their little breakings while they spent winters and spring in the woods and on log drives. When fall came, the remaining hardwoods could be cut for railway ties and for cordwood. The lumber camps served as a ready market for produce grown on these farms.”

1860      1^st cousin, John Robideau, son of Peter and Julia Robideau is born.

1860      Three year old Nelson’s family were included in the Bombay NY census.

10/14/1860     Sister, Mary Jane born

March 4, 1861 – Abraham Lincoln is sworn in as 16^th President of the United States of America.

April 12, 1861 – At 4:30 a.m. Confederates under Gen. Pierre Beauregard open fire with 50

cannons upon Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina. The Civil War begins.

10/12/1861  Nelson turns 4 years old. There is no indication that any close relatives were

fighting in the Civil War.

April 15, 1861 – President Lincoln issues a Proclamation calling for 75,000 militiamen, and

summoning a special session of Congress for July 4.

http://www.historyplace.com/civilwar/index.html

3/2/1862  1^st cousin, Mary Robideau (daughter of Peter and Julia) born in NY.

July 1862 Brother, Lewis is born.

1862 Kate Jane (Jesmer), daughter of John and Rose Jesmer, Nelson’s great uncle,

married William Wallace and had her first child in Ripon, WI.

http://www.angelfire.com/me3/families/pinney/gen8.htm#8wil7  This is

significant because it means that there were Jesmer’s moving west, five years

before Joseph A. Jesmer decided to move west, to MN.

1862 “Under the Federal Homestead Act of 1862 such settlers were entitled to a maximum of eighty acres within ten miles of a land-grant railroad or 160 acres beyond the limit. Public lands could also be acquired by settlers under timber-culture claims or pre-emptive claims. The former allowed settlers to acquire title to public lands, not to exceed 160 acres, on condition that within two years of claiming the land ten acres of trees would be planted for every 160 acres claimed; whereas pre-emptive claims allowed settlers to purchase public lands other than homesteads, not to exceed 160 acres for a price of $2.50 per acre within ten miles of a land grant railroad, or for $1.25 per acre beyond this limit.” (A Catholic Plan For Minnesota)

“Railroad fare to Minnesota (even with the reduction offered by the railroad to incoming land buyers) a 10 percent down payment on the land, and a four hundred dollar cash reserve fund were beyond the wildest dreams of these people…it became apparent that the incoming settlers were person’s ‘possessing some means.'” (A Catholic Plan For Minnesota)

1862   Sioux Indian uprising in southern Minnesota. Fear of Chippewa uprising near

Princeton Minnesota.

1862   Minnesota’s first railroad is completed, connecting Minneapolis and Saint Paul.

Sept 17, 1862 -The bloodiest day in U.S. military history as Gen. Robert E. Lee and the

Confederate Armies are stopped at Antietam in Maryland by McClellan and

numerically superior Union forces. By nightfall 26,000 men are dead, wounded,

or missing. Lee then withdraws to Virginia.

Sept 22, 1862 -Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation freeing slaves issued by President

Lincoln. http://www.historyplace.com/civilwar/index.html

March 3, 1863 – The U.S. Congress enacts a draft, affecting male citizens aged 20 to 45, but also

exempts those who pay $300 or provide a substitute. “The blood of a poor man is

as precious as that of the wealthy,” poor Northerners complain.

June 3, 1863 – Gen. Lee with 75,000 Confederates launches his second invasion of the North,

heading into Pennsylvania in a campaign that will soon lead to Gettysburg.

July 13-16, 1863 – Antidraft riots in New York City include arson and the murder of blacks by

poor immigrant whites. At least 120 persons, including children, are killed and

$2 million in damage caused, until Union soldiers returning from Gettysburg

restore order. http://www.historyplace.com/civilwar/index.html

1863    Nelson’s uncle, Joseph Robideaux, husband of Catherine Jesmer came to

Minnesota and operated a saw mill until 1866. His family was in New York.

(HOTUMV p. 679) This is significant because it meant that close family members

had already moved west, to MN, before Joseph A. Jesmer decided to move west.

7/23/1863   Nelson’s aunt, Rosa Jesmer married John Campbell, in Hogansburg.

Nov 19, 1863 – President Lincoln delivers a two minute Gettysburg Address at a ceremony

dedicating the Battlefield as a National Cemetery.

http://www.historyplace.com/civilwar/index.html

May 1864     Brother, William E. is born.

7/3/1864    Nelson’s aunt, Adeline Mae married Nelson A. Grow, in Hogansburg. They had a

200 acres farm. Nelson Grow served as town supervisor for three years and also

as treasurer. (HOTUMV p. 678)

1864    Minnesota state legislature authorized the construction of a road from St. Cloud

to lake Superior. By the summer of 1864 this road was complete into Mille Lacs
County. (Where Greenbush Township is located.) The construction of this road

meant that supplies could be regularly shipped and delivered to the lumbering

camps and the few settlements that existed in the county. The road was an

immense improvement over the frequently impassible Federally built road which
had been constructed in the mid 1850’s. One effect of this road was to give St.

Cloud merchants a virtual monopoly on supplies for the Rum River lumbering

areas.

Nov 8, 1864 – Abraham Lincoln is re-elected president, defeating Democrat George B.

McClellan. Lincoln carries all but three states with 55 percent of the popular vote

and 212 of 233 electoral votes. “I earnestly believe that the consequences of this

day’s work will be to the lasting advantage, if not the very salvation, of the

country,” Lincoln tells supporters. http://www.historyplace.com/civilwar/index.html

Jan 31, 1865 – The U.S. Congress approves the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States

Constitution, to abolish slavery. The amendment is then submitted to the states

for ratification. http://www.historyplace.com/civilwar/index.html

March 4, 1865 – Inauguration ceremonies for President Lincoln in Washington. “With malice

toward none; with charity for all…let us strive on to finish the work we are in…to

do all which may achieve and cherish a just, and a lasting peace, among

ourselves, and with all nations,” Lincoln3333333 says.

http://www.historyplace.com/civilwar/index.html

April 9, 1865 – Gen. Robert E. Lee surrenders his Confederate Army to Gen. Ulysses S. Grant at

the village of Appomattox Court House in Virginia.

April 15, 1865 – President Abraham Lincoln dies at 7:22 in the morning. Vice President Andrew   

                            Johnson assumes the presidency. http://www.historyplace.com/civilwar/index.html

      10/12/1865  Nelson turns 8 years old.

2/10/1866  Grandmother, Felicite “Sophie” Robideau, died.

1866  Nelson’s uncle, Joseph Robideaux, husband of Catherine Jesmer, bought land

and started to farm. Family is still in New York. (HOTUMV p, 679)

11/24/1866   First train came through Princeton MN, coming from the twin cities and going

on to Duluth.

1866    Uncle, Adulphus Jesmer, at the age of 20 left home and began to work in the

lumbering business in Franklin co. N.Y. (HOTUMV p. 678)

March 1867   Brother, Joseph lll is born.

Spring 1867    Nelson’s uncle, Joseph Robideaux, husband of Catherine Jesmer, brings his

children and his wife to Minnesota. (HOTUMV p. 678)

Nelson’s father, Joseph A. Jesmer was not the first wave of Jesmer’s to move out west, towards MN. His brother in law, Joseph Robideau was already near Princeton MN working in the logginh industry. John  Baptiste Jesmer, Nelson’s great uncle was already living out towards WI. There were many factors that could have influenced the family to move, government and railway promotions to settle out west. Catholic church promotions to get Catholic pioneers in the western territories, and the good news from other family members who had gone one before them.