Person:Francois Grimard (1)

Francois Bazil Grimard, was born Sept. 19, 1819 in or near Vincennes, Knox County, Indiana. He was baptized the same day at the Cathedral of St. Francis Xavier in Vincennes, Knox County, Indiana. Bazil had eight brothers and sisters baptized at the Old Cathedral. Because of an earlier child of Charles and Rose having been given the name of Basile, there has been confusion concerning which one was the husband of Catherine Welch and Catherine Charet (Jarret) Bourassa. The records of Old Cathedral indicated no marriages or descendants of the Basile of 1809 and I find no further references to him. This might indicate that the first child may have died at an early age. I did find a Basil and a Bassel Gremore on a 1855 Kansas Territorial Census but I found no record of a second Basile or Bassel on the 1860 or later U. S. Censuses. After reading the 1850 Census of Buchanan County, Washington Township, Missouri and the 1863 Potawatomi Tribal Roll, even though the age on the Census is off somewhat (4 years), I must conclude that the Bazil of 1819 was the husband of Catherine Welch and Catherine Charet ( Jarret) Bourassa. Bazil's first wife was Catherine Welch, who was on the Tribal Rolls as 1/4 blood Potawatomi Indian. She was the daughter of Elizabeth Wilmette and Michael P. Welch, who were married in Chicago, Cook County, Illinois in 1830. Catherine was born in 1831 in Chicago and her brother, Joseph, was born in 1834 in Cook County, Illinois. Catherine's mother filed for divorce, in Peoria County, Illinois, in December of 1834 when Catherine was 3 years old. Her mother then married Lucius R. Darling but I do not have the exact date or place. It was likely about 1835 or 36 in Illinois. Beginning in 1837, the Potawatomi Indian families were gathered up by the soldiers and agents of the government and forced to leave their homes in Indiana, southern Michigan, and northern Illinois and marched to a new Reserve west of the Mississippi River over what is now known as the "Trail of Death". Catherine Welch's family seemed to have moved with Billy Caldwell (Chief Sagaunash) and the Chicago Potawatomi to the West. They first settled along the Missouri River, in what is now Buchanan County, Missouri, but were allowed to stay only a short time before a part of the Tribe was moved on to the Council Bluffs, Iowa Reserve and another part of the Band was moved to the Osage Reserve in eastern Kansas, near the Marais des Cygnes River and Sugar Creek where they lived until they were again uprooted in the late 1840s and all were moved to the Kansas Reserve along the Kaw River. Catherine's grandmother, Archange Wilmette, died on the Reserve at Council Bluffs, in Nov. of 1840. Her grandfather, Antoine, passed away at the same place in December of 1841. Her mother, Elizabeth, died in Kansas in 1876 but the 1863 Potawatomi Roll shows Lucius Darling, Elizabeth's second husband, living along on the Kansas Reserve with 4 of their children, the eldest being 12 and the youngest age 4. In May of 1873, Lucius was living on thr Oklahoma Reserve. Catherine was a small child during the removal period so she must have grew up with her mother, Elizabeth, and her step-father, Lucius Darling. She and Bazil must have became acquainted on the Kansas Reserve but the reason for being in Buchanan County, Missouri at the time of the 1850 Census, where Bazil was recorded as being a laborer, is unknown to me. It is written in the book "The Jesuits of the Middle United States", page 36, Vol.3, by Gilbert Garraghan, printed by Newman Press, as follows: "Together, with the Indians, the few white Catholics settled here and there on the Potawatomi Reserve, most of them government employees, shared the spiritual ministry of the Jesuits of St. Marys. White settlers who arrived prior to 1853 include Dr. Luther R. Palmer, Alexander Peltier, Basil Grimore, William Martell, Antoine Tascier, Mrs. E.A. Bertrand---". Bazil and Catherine's first child, Joseph, was born July 11, 1850, in Buchanan County, Mo. but the second eldest , Clarissa Eleanor, was born July 4, 1854, on the Kansas Reserve. This indicates that Bazil and Catherine came or returned to the Reserve sometime between August, 1850 and 1853. Whether he worked for the government or not is not known but his granddaughter, Martha Evelyn Greemore Springer, said she had always understood that he was an employee on the Reserve. Charles Augustus, the youngest child of Bazil and Catherine, was born September 26, 1857 and was christened Dec. 6, 1857 at St. Marys, Kansas. This was the last mention of Catherine in the Kansas records and she passed away and was buried Nov. 6, 1858 at the Cathedral of St. Francis Xavier Church cemetery in Vincennes, Knox County, Indiana. Her age was given as 30 on the Church records. Why she returned to Vincennes and whether Bazil returned with her is not known to me. Bazil married the second time, November 21, 1859, to Catherine Charet (Jarret), the widow of Jude Bourassa. The 4 children of Catherine Welch were living with their father and step-mother at the time of the 1863 Tribal Roll. Catherine Charet (Jarret) Bourassa, recorded as a 1/2 blood Potawatomi, was the daughter of Bartholomew Charet (Jarret), Charette, Javret) and Amoble Beatrice Poissant. Since Catherine Charet is on the Potawatomi Roll as 1/2 blood, one of her parents would have to have been a full blood. This is not the case since Church records prove that both parents were of French blood. It is also possible that Catherine's father or mother may have been adopted into the tribe but it is much more likely that since her husband, Jude Bourassa, who was 1/2 Indian blood and was an important member of the Pottawatomi tribe, that Catherine was adopted into the tribe. It was a common occurrance for the Pottawatomi to adopt whites into their tribe. Jude died of smallpox in 1858 and Catherine married Bazil on November 21 1859 at St. Mary's, Kansas. The only child of Catherine Charet (Jarret) Bourassa and Bazil Grimard (Gremore, Grimore, Greemore) was Peter Bazil Greemore. He was born Jan. 5, 1862 and baptized Feb.2, 1862, by Fr. Maurice Gailland, S.J., at St. Mary's. The christening vessel was on display in the archives room, at St. Mary's College and was shown to me by Fr. Augustine C. Wand when I visited there several years ago. Bazil died July 4, 1863, shortly after the 1863 land allotments were made. He was only 43 years old. I would guess he died of a heart attack as many of his descendants seem to be afflicted with the disease. Catherine was only 55 when she died March 17, 1872 and was buried in Wabaunsee Co., Ks. SOURCE: Research of Jim & Mary Prine

1. ↑ Research of Jim & Mary Prine.