The Marinette Story by Fred C. Burke, 75th Installment, Marinette Eagle Star Newspaper, April 22, 1950

A little over three-quarters of a century ago, the territory in the vicinity of what is now that Village of Coleman, in Marinette county, was a heavily timbered wilderness, in what was then a part of Oconto county.

The first white man to locate in the area was a Frenchman by the name of Joseph Brault, who came there in the summer of 1871. Shortly after arriving, he began constructing a shelter for himself and family, which he completed but a short time before the Peshtigo fire on the night of October 8, 1871. The fire reached his holdings that evening, but he and his family, with the aid of a few men who were working in a nearby logging camp, were able to save Brault's home by several hours of hard work.

This memorable fire took a toll of 500 lives in what was known as the three Sugar Bushes in the vicinity of Peshtigo, and left but seven farm homes in the area.

Mr. Brault later built a small sawmill on his property which was located on the Little Peshtigo river, about two and a half miles east of the present Village of Coleman, on what is now county trunk highway B. This mill aided greatly in the development of the farming country now surrounding the Village of Coleman. Without cash, those pioneer farmers would bring their logs to this mill and have them sawed into lumber, and Mr. Brault would accept lumber in payment of their saw bill.

Mr. Brault's (Odilon Brault) parents, Joseph and Euphemia (Bourgeois) Brault, were natives of Joliette county, Province of Quebec, Canada, where the father (Joseph) was engaged in business for years, both as a lumberman and merchant. In the course of his business life there he erected three sawmills and a gristmill. In 1868 he came to Wisconsin, locating in Marinette county in 1869, in March of the same year going to Menominee. In 1870 he homesteaded 160 acres in Coleman township (which, like the entire surrounding region, was then all in the woods), and here erected a good two story house, which stood until 1895, when it was destroyed by fire. On this land the family made a permanent settlement, and Mr. Brault spent the rest of his life in its cultivation and improvement. In 1883 he put up a sawmill and gristmill, 80x44 feet in dimensions, and two stories in height, and in addition to h9is farming and milling operations conducted a store, becoming a prosperous man. ...the town of Braultville was named in honor. (Commemorative Biographical Record, p. 645)

The trip (from Canada to Wisconsin) was made from Lake Superior to Green Bay, thence to Peshtigo, Marinette Co. in 1869. (Commemorative Biographical Record, p. 645)

The United States Government, under Lincoln, was giving away homesteads in the West through the Homestead Act of 1862. By act of Congress, anyone could get a claim of 160 acres of land free, provided he tilled and improved it for five years of which the Brault's took advantage. Heretofore, they had to pay $1.25 to $2.00 per acre.

Mr. Brault and his son (Eugene) originally of Canada, each took a quarter section and came here alone in June of 1870 from Peshtigo where they had been working in a lumber mill for the past six months. For 3 weeks they cleared a small spot of land to raise a few vegetables for use during the winter. With the timbers they had cut they built a temporary home. It was a rough constructed hut, 12 X 14 feet. The roof of lean-to-style was strange in appearance. It was of split hollowed cedar logs. The first layer was lain hollow side up while the second was put hollow downward over the cracks, thus making a waterproof covering.

Their furniture too was crudely made. Blocks of wood and rough benches were poor substitutes for comfortable chairs. For beds they built bunks, two tiers high of cedar saplings along one side of the walls. To keep out the cold, the cracks between the logs were filled with moss.

When the house was in readiness the remainder of the family, consisting of the mother and seven children, came from Peshtigo. Throughout the summer they gathered berries to eat and preserve for winter use. They cultivated their crops on the small clearing they had.

Much of the land adjoining the Brault Homestead was owned by Mr. Ogden who built a lumber camp across the river from the Brault's new cabin. This changed the solitary life of the family, furnishing a means of support, a source of enjoyment as well a bringing new settlers.

When spring came, the loggers made preparations to leave the camp for the summer, and the Braults were to inhabit the camp in exchange for the caring of the buildings. The men from camp volunteered to build Brault a new log house which was 30 feet square and during the summer the family did the finishing work on the new house.

The summer (of 1871) was unusually dry and after living in their new home 3 weeks, the infamous Peshtigo fire broke out (October 8, 1871) and swept over an area of about 2,000 sq. miles. Over a thousand people lost their lives.

Where the Braults lived, the fire started at 8 o'clock in the morning. Along with Ben Wood, a surveyor with the Braults, they tried to save sleighs and valuable camp tools by putting them in the river. Only the iron of the tools remained. It was a terrible night. Everything imaginable was done to save themselves and their property. They hauled water from the creek nearby and poured it over their house continually while the fire raged. The oxen caught fire several times while hauling water.

The root crops were baked in the ground, while the corn and other leaf crops were burned to a crisp. They fell and at night the burning stumps and stubs looked like thousands of huge candles. At 4 o'clock in the morning, when they were exhausted and lost most hopes of saving themselves, a heavy rain set in, which soon checked the fire.

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