Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1883-11-29
An Interesting Letter from Gen. Jones,
OF Dubuque, Iowa.
RecolIee,ions Of a Long Life.
DUBuqpE, Iowa, Nov. 10Th, 1888.

DUBUQUE, Iowa, NOV. 18TH, 1858.
DEAR DocToR:-I thank you sim
cerely for sending me the GRANT COUNTY
HERALD, of the 18th inst, containing
the article, which you marked, noticing
the decease of old '.Aunt Rachel" the
wife of Alexis Godaire, and the allusion
TO myself so kindly made by the editor.
/ feel deep sympathy for my old friend
Alexis, because of his irreparable loss.
He was an honest, brave and faithful
man, and served with and under me
with his three brothers, Henry, julie
and BAIL, the latter of whom died in
this city some two years since. Their
mother, Mary Godaire, was squadron,
and one of the best and purest of Gods
creation. She married a Canadian
Frenchman, at village, Prairie du Ro-
cheers, few miles north of Kaskaskia,
H., by whom she had the above named
children and two daughters, Mary and
Nancy. The latter two and their
brother Henry she bought, as / think
she did herself, from their master, a Mr..
Micheau, from whom l also bought,
at her instance and that of her
brother Paul, PAIL and julie, as | also
did Paul and his sister Charlotte of their
master, Mr.. lie Compile, of Ste Geneva
eve, Missouri, in the spring of
$780, Paul, whom you knew at
Potosi, often importuned me in
the winter of 1S29-30 to buy him and
his Charlotte. |, for some time, re-
sisted his opportunities, telling him that
slavery was not permitted at Sinsinawa
Mound, where | then lived, and that the
abolitionists would perhaps persuade
him to sue me for his and his sisters
freedom, if | should buy them. But he
hooted at the idea, and so l yielded to
his wishes, and bought them and brought
them with me to Sinsinawa Mound
In 1888, | think it was, Paul was in
duced by two lawyers to bring suit
against me at Lancaster, Grant county,
Wis, for his own freedom and that of
his sister Charlotte. He was then a
hired roustabout on q steamboat at Po-
tosi, by my permission, to make money
to reimburse me for what had paid Mr.
lie Compile for HIM. His sister Char
lotte utterly allowed the suit to proceed
in her name, and employed the late Col
Hampstead, then an attorney at Galena,
ILL.,, to enter nolle prosequi for her.
Paul had three lawyers, and | as many,
as the records at Lancaster show. The
records will also show that the jury in
the case decided the suit in my favor.
without leaving their box. Paul then
came over to Dubuque, and importuned
my wife and myself to take him back,
saying that he had never been well fed
or clothed since he left our service.
Charlotte, who married William Proc
tor, who died two years since, and whom
| brought from Washington city as a
hired servant, in the spring of 1886, |
being then the delegate in Congress
from Michigan Territory, had three or
four children by Proctor, all of whom !
liberated as | did her, giving her and
Proctor eighty acres of my claim at Sim
sinawa Mound. upon which they settled
when | went to Mineral Point as Clerk
under Chief Justice Dunn, in Dec, 1912,
whom, at my instance, the President OF
the United States appointed to that of
flee. In March, 1915, President Polk,
then my warm personal and political
friend, restored me to the Office of Sur.
yeyor General, which created in July,
1888, at this place, when | returned
here, where have resided, (for the sec
ond time) ever since. Your friend,
GEO. w. JONES.
DIR. j. S. Lewis, Present.
p. 81 manmitted BAIL and julie al
| did Paul, Charlotte and her children
Two of the lawyers who first advised
Paul to bring the suit against me, were
guests in my house at Sinsinawa Mound
at the time.