Henry Buisson

Name: Henry Buisson Company: G Veteran
Birth Date: March 6, 1839 Place: Wabasha County, Minnesota	Mustered In Date: January 5, 1862 Rank: Private Age: 23 Residence prior to military service: Wabasha, Wabasha County, Minnesota
Death Date: June 26, 1905 Place: Wabasha County, Minnesota Burial: St. Felix Cemetery, Pepin Township, Wabasha County, Minnesota	Mustered Out Date: September 6, 1865 Rank: Private Age: about 26 Residence following military service: Wabasha, Wabasha County, Minnesota; LaCrosse, LaCrosse County, Wisconsin Vocation following military service: Raft Pilot (1870), Captain on Boat (1880), River Pilot (1900)

Henry Buisson Biography and Civil War Narrative

Henry Buisson was born March 6, 1839, in Wabasha County, Minnesota, the second child of seven (and oldest son) born to Joseph and Mary (Nancy Lucy) Graham Buisson. Joseph was an Indian trader born in Prairie Madeline near Montreal, Canada, who came to Minnesota at age 17 as an employee of the America Fur Company. He conducted a trading post at Wabasha, Minnesota, after 1839 and was one of the original proprietors of the town. Mary was the daughter of Duncan Alexander Graham and Suzanne Istagi Ha-za-ho-ta-win. Lieutenant Duncan Graham commanded a small detachment of British troops that with their Indian allies, defeated the United States force under Colonel Zachary Taylor at the battle of Credit Island near Davenport, Iowa, on September 5, 1814. Suzanne (1772-1847)(1785-1848) was from the Medawakanton Band of the Sioux Tribe of Indians. Children in the Joseph Buisson household were:

Harriet, born October 16, 1836 and died March 24, 1878; married Peter Henry La Riviere in 1854
Henry
Antoine, born 1840; married Rachel
Marie Louise, born December 8, 1842 and died September 5, 1924; married Major James McLaughlin
Joseph, Jr., born February 17, 1846 and died October 29, 1918; married Mary Louise Stevens
Cyprian, born September 25, 1849 and died November 24, 1920; married Libbie (Elizabeth) Stone of Wabasha and, after her death, Lillian Enber of St. Paul
Marie Jeanne, born December 9, 1851 and died March 11, 1915; married John W. Cramsie

About 1858-1859, Henry married Emily (Emma) L. La Riviere, born January 1842 in Wisconsin. The 1860 U.S. census shows Henry and Emily living in Wabasha, Wabasha County, Minnesota, with their 2-year-old daughter Hattie (born in Minnesota). Although no occupation was listed in the census, it is very possible that Henry had begun his career as a raftsman on the Mississippi River.

Henry Buisson enlisted as a Private in Company G of the 5th Minnesota Volunteer Infantry Regiment on January 5, 1862, at age 23. He remained with the regiment throughout their service in the Civil War and re-enlisted as a veteran in February 1864. Major engagements of the 5th Minnesota that Private Buisson most likely experienced included the Battle of Corinth (October 3-4, 1862), the Siege of Vicksburg (May 18 - July 4, 1863), the Battle of Nashville (December 15-16, 1864), and the Campaign against Mobile, Alabama, and its Defenses (March 7 - April 12, 1865). Henry Buisson was mustered out with the regiment on September 6, 1865.

After the war, Henry returned to his family in Wabasha, Minnesota. The 1870 census lists 31-year-old Henry as a Raft Pilot living in Wabasha with his 30-year-old wife Emily and his 11-year-old daughter Hattie. In 1880 the Henry Buisson family was living in LaCrosse, LaCrosse County, Wisconsin. Henry's occupation is listed as "Captain on Boat." Daughter Hattie, now 24 years old, continues to live with her parents. Also living in the household are adoptive son Louis "Lariviere" (age 4, born in Wisconsin) and cousin Agnes "Lariviere" (age 21, born in Minnesota). Agnes is probably actually the niece of Henry and Emily, the daughter of Henry's sister, Harriet, who married Peter LaRiviere (probably a relative of Emily as well).

By 1900, Henry and Emma had returned to Wabasha, Minnesota. That year's census shows 61-year-old Henry continuing to work as a River Pilot. Adoptive son Loui (age 24, born October 1875 in Wisconsin) lives with them and works as a "River Employe[e]."

Henry Buisson died on June 26, 1905, in Wabasha County, Minnesota. He was buried in St. Felix Cemetery, Pepin Township, Wabasha County, Minnesota. "Emmaly" Buisson lived on Pembroke St. in Wabasha at the time of the 1910 census. Emma Buisson died January 30, 1914, in Wabasha County, Minnesota.

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This page is maintained by Tim Bode (timbode@juno.com ). Page created on 9/13/2009. Last modified on 9/13/2009.