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Gauthier (Joseph) Store Ledgers
mssGauthier
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Table of contents
Contributing Institution:
The Huntington Library
Title: Joseph Gauthier store ledgers
Creator:
Gauthier, Joseph, 1818-approximately 1899
Identifier/Call Number: mssGauthier
Physical Description:
0.42 Linear Feet
(1 box)
Date (inclusive): 1859-1871
Abstract: A collection of four store ledger books
from the Keshena, Wisconsin, general store of Joseph Gauthier.
Language of Material: Materials are in
English.
Open for use by qualified researchers and by appointment. Please contact Reader Services at
the Huntington Library for more information.
The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from
or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such activities. The
responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining
necessary permissions rests with the researcher.
[Identification of item]. Joseph Gauthier store ledgers, The Huntington Library, San
Marino, California.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Purchased from Primary Sources, Uncharted Americana, December 2022.
Joseph Gauthier (Joe Gokie in its Menominee rendering) was born on August 18, 1818, at Rock
Island, Illinois. He was nearly full-blood Menominee; his father was Shaw-nah-quah-hah and
his mother Sho-Sha-Quaer, who was a daughter of sub-chief Kanote and niece of the head-chief
Tomah. Gauthier's Menominee father died when he was eight years old, and sometime after his
mother married an employee of the American Fur Company named Antoine Gauthier, from whom he
took his surname. The frontier schools at Rock Island provided Joseph with a rudimentary
education, which he supplemented through his work among U. S. Army officers at Fort
Armstrong during the Black Hawk War. In 1850, he left Illinois and rejoined the Menominee,
who at the time, were situated at Poygan Lake just west of present-day Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
Gauthier found work in a government-operated blacksmith shop and eventually was promoted to
shop boss; the Menominee moved to Keshena, Wisconsin in 1852, and the shop was
re-established in the new location. In 1857, Gauthier received his first appointment as an
official interpreter for the tribe and tribal court, a position he kept for most of the rest
of his life. In 1860 or 1861, he went into partnership with Charles Upham and opened a
general store and trading post, though Gauthier soon took over the everyday operations of
running the store until 1866 when he gained reappointment as tribal interpreter. In 1852,
Gauthier married Mary Ann Mo-sha-quah-toe-kiew. They had one child, Frank, who died in
infancy; the couple then adopted a small boy, Joseph F. Gauthier, and brought him up as
their son. Mary Ann Gauthier died on July 12, 1892, and Joseph Gauthier died in
approximately 1899.
A collection of four bound ledgers, with manuscript entries in various hands; the ledgers
are associated with Joseph Gauthier's mercantile business, with the entries dating from 1859
to 1871, with a concentration in the years 1860 to 1861. Together they contain hundreds of
records for dozens of customers, the great majority of whom were tribal members and are
listed by their Menominee names. Among the range of recorded perishable goods are sugar,
molasses, flour, cranberries, pork, tobacco, coffee, and tea; the household merchandise
includes fabrics, sewing materials, goods for hunting and fishing, and general items such as
smoking pipes, looking glasses, blankets, hats, shoes, copper pans, utensils, bowls, and
soap. Besides the purchaser and items purchased, the price and quantity are listed for each
purchase. The four volumes are all different styles and bindings, which suggests that
Gauthier may have used whatever materials were available for his records.
Processed by Gayle M. Richardson in January 2023.
Arranged chronologically.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Businessmen -- Wisconsin -- 19th century
General stores -- Wisconsin -- 19th century
Indians of North America -- Commerce -- History -- 19th
century
Indians of North America -- Wisconsin -- History -- 19th
century
Indians of North America -- Wisconsin -- Social life and
customs
Menominee Indians -- History -- 19th century
Keshena (Wis.)
Menominee County (Wis.)
Menominee Indian Tribe of
Wisconsin
Business papers -- Wisconsin -- 19th century
Ledgers (account books) -- Wisconsin -- 19th century
Letters (correspondence) -- Wisconsin -- 19th century