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William J. Brunquest Jr. (1819 - 1902)

William J. Brunquest Jr. aka Brunquist, Brunquert
Born in Saint George, Charlotte, New Brunswick, Canadamap
Ancestors ancestors
Son of and
Brother of [half], [half], [half] and [half]
Husband of — married [date unknown] [location unknown]
Husband of — married about 1862 in Oconto, Oconto, Wisconsin, United Statesmap
Descendants descendants
Father of , and
Died at age 83 in Menominee, Menominee, Michigan, United Statesmap
Problems/Questions Profile managers: David James private message [send private message] and Anonymous Modschiedler private message [send private message]
Profile last modified | Created 28 Mar 2022
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Biography

William J. Brunquest, Jr., was born at Saint George, New Brunswick, 19 Mar 1819, the son of William Brunquest and Elizabeth Hibbard. He moved to what would become Oconto County, Wisconsin, United States in 1849 and worked in the lumber industry. [1] He quickly became successful in Oconto. Once Oconto County was formed, the first officials were elected and he became Oconto County's first Register of Deeds in April of 1852. In addition to being the Register of Deeds, he also ran a general store in the new town of Oconto. He ran that store from 1852 to 1862. In 1861, he became the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors of Oconto County, followed the next year by becoming the President of the Village of Oconto. He bought one of the first lumber mills in the area and operated it from 1862 to 1874.

Around 1874, he lost almost everything and petitioned for bankruptcy. From 1876 to 1878, he reopened his store. In 1880, he was farming in Oconto. [2] By 1900, he had moved to Menominee, Michigan, [3] where he would spend the remainder of his days. On 27 Nov 1902 he died from pneumonia and was buried in Riverside Cemetery in Menominee, MI. He was survived by his wife Julia, sons Frank & William, and his half-sister Mary Ellen Adams (née Barnard)

Parents & Half-Siblings

Per William's death certificate, his father was also named William, and he was born in New Brunswick, Canada. William's mother, Eliza Hibbard, remarried twice, which gave him four half-siblings:

  1. Thomas Millidge (1828-1895)
  2. Mary Ellen Adams née Barnard (1833-1914)
  3. Charlotte Arabella Smith née Barnard (1834-1874),
  4. Eliza Letitia Lawrence, née Barnard (1841-1875).

Through his siblings, he was well connected with influential people in Oconto, including George Smith, first mayor of Oconto (and husband of his half-sister), and William H. Young, another mayor of Oconto and husband of his cousin, Ellen Hibbard, and Lovina Lindsay, one of the women that brought Christian Science to Oconto and wife of his half-brother, Thomas Millidge.

Wife & Children

During his life he married twice, first to Mary Ellen Messenett (1831-1853) [1] and then to Julia Hanscom (1841-1929). [4]

He had a total of five children, according to his death certificate. Only three are known at this time: they are May Eliza Brunquest (1853-1863), Frank H. Brunquest (1866-1944), and William N. Brunquest (1870-1945). It is suspected that May is the daughter of his first wife. His sons are from his second marriage, as they were born after his first wife died. There is no known information at this time about the other two children.

Other Facts

  • Burial: Riverside Cemetery, Menominee, Menominee, Michigan, United States on 27 November 1902[5]
  • Occupations: Lumberman, Mill Owner, first Register of Deeds for Oconto County, Grocery Store Owner
  • Built the residence that was later owned by Wisconsin Governor Edward Scofield

Research Notes

His surname on his death certificate is "Brunquist" but almost all other records record his surname as "Brunquest", As Brunquest is what he used for most of his life and is what is on his grave that is the surname that will be used for this profile.

Sources

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "United States Census, 1850," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M4D6-GZV : 23 December 2020), William Brunquest in household of Besley Cristi, Suamico, Brown, Wisconsin, United States; citing family , NARA microfilm publication (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
  2. ↑ "United States Census, 1880," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MNH4-4L3 : 15 January 2022), William Brunquest, Oconto, Oconto, Wisconsin, United States; citing enumeration district , sheet , NARA microfilm publication T9 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), FHL microfilm.
  3. ↑ "United States Census, 1900," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MS9D-FD1 : accessed 28 March 2022), Wm J Brunquist, Menominee city Ward 6, Menominee, Michigan, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 142, sheet 10B, family 170, NARA microfilm publication T623 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1972.); FHL microfilm 1,240,731.
  4. ↑ "United States Census, 1870," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MN91-5RS : 12 April 2016), Julia Brunguest in household of Wm Brunguest, Wisconsin, United States; citing p. 7, family 49, NARA microfilm publication M593 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 553,229.
  5. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images (accessed 05 April 2022), memorial page for William Brunquest (1819–1902), Find A Grave: Memorial #85839038, citing Riverside Cemetery, Menominee, Menominee County, Michigan, USA ; Maintained by Caroline (contributor 47637929).

Other sources:





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Comments: 2

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Anonymous (D.) Modschiedler
Brunquist-2 and Brunquest-3 appear to represent the same person because: The wife of William, Julia Hanscom, matches and the location matches, Oconto County, WI as well as his birth date. Also, see the obituary of William on page 9 here under "deaths": http://ocnews.co.oconto.wi.us/jsp/RcWebImageViewer.jsp?doc_id=6a53abdd-c4ba-4da3-8089-2ff47aa857c0/wiotdoc0/20151228/00000063.

For the spelling of his surname he used "Brunquest" in almost all records I can find of him (this includes many mentions of him in newspapers namely the Oconto County Reporter). "Brunquest" is also how his name is spelled in all of the obituaries of his relatives and in his advertisements for his store in Oconto. While on his death certificate it does say "Brunquist" on his grave it is spelled "Brunquest" see here for an image of his grave: https://images.findagrave.com/photos/2021/288/85839038_ed73a63c-d5f3-48cc-ab0b-4df5f78039d8.jpeg and here for the image of his wife's grave: https://images.findagrave.com/photos/2012/264/97540410_134827100599.jpg. "Brunquest" is also how he is remembered in Oconto; see the Brunquest Home here: http://www.ocontoctyhistsoc.org/historic-and-archaeological-sites-of-oconto-county. "Brunquest is also how it is spelled in his biography written in 1881 during his life time, see The History of Northern Wisconsin (1881) sub. by D. Morse, Page 659.

To review further sources of information on William Brunquest and family see the attached sources on his FamilySearch profile here: https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/sources/G79H-FMJ

If you have and further questions about William Brunquest or his family just let me know. I am a descendant of his aunt Charlotte Hibbard Pauley and am currently doing research on the Hibbard family and many other family members that come from Oconto County.

posted by Anonymous (D.) Modschiedler
James-134 David James
Merge completed. Thank you for spotting the duplication. William's second wife, Julia Hanscom, is my first cousin, four times removed.
posted by David James

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Categories: Riverside Cemetery, Menominee, Michigan | Menominee, Michigan | Oconto, Wisconsin