Joseph Gauthier Store Ledgers: Finding Aid mssGauthier
Gayle M. Richardson
The Huntington Library
January 2023
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Business Number: (626) 405-2191
reference@huntington.org
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.
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[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
Box 1, Volume 1
Ledger book 1859-1862
A store ledger used as a day book; the volume records specific purchases by Native
customers at Gauthier's store, including lists of items purchased, price, and quantity.
The beginning of the volume contains an index of accounts, the great majority with
Menominee tribal names. The volume is bound in original quarter calf over drab marbled
boards, the spine is partially detached and the binding is very warn and fragile but the
interior pages are intact and legible.
Box 1, Volume 2
Ledger book 1861-1863
A store ledger used as a general ledger for customer accounts; this volume was kept in
association with volume 1 and contains general customer information concerning purchases
and amounts owed. The volume is bound in original calf over marbled boards, with scuffed
leather covers and worn spine; the interior pages are intact and legible.
Box 1, Volume 3
Ledger book 1861
A repurposed school teacher's grade and attendance record book used as a store ledger;
an alphabetically arranged ledger recording the total debts of all individuals with
numbers in the general ledger. The back of the volume contains draft business letters
copied out on the final pages. Original green printed wraps, the spine and covers are
damaged, with bits missing; some staining to covers and interior pages, with a small
number of pages missing.
Box 1, Volume 4
Ledger book 1862-1871
A store ledger used as a day book; the volume contains a small number of day book
entries, with the majority of the ledger being blank. The volume is bound in full
reverse calf with tooled boards, the spine with four raised bands and black morocco
labels; the spine and covers are scuffed with some edge wear and the pages are intact
and legible.