MEDARD DUPUIS - On Monday morning October 27th died at his residence in this city Medard Dupuis, aged 79 years, 11 months and 24(?) days. In the death of Mr. Dupuis, Savanna loses one of her oldest and most highly respected citizens, and this section of the west one of its most widely known pioneers. A man of the most genial disposition and the strictest integrity he possessed in a marked degree those traits of character that won for him the respect and esteem of all classes with whom in his long and busy life he came in contact.

His early life was in many respects a most romantic and adventurous one. He was born near La Prairie, Canada, in 1810, the eldest of Fabien and Marie Dupuis. Shortly after his birth his parents removed to La Prairie where and in Montreal he received his education. He had partially prepared himself for the practice of law, when finding his health impaired by confinement, he left his home for the United States at the early age of nineteen. In 1831 he came to Fort Mackinaw, Mich., where Mr. John Kenzie, son of the Chicago pioneer, then U.S. Indian agent to the Winnebago tribe, engaged him to transport the annuity of $15,000 in silver from Fort Mackinaw to Green Bay, and thence to Fort Winnebago now Portage, Wis., where he remained with Mr. Kenzie for some months after the payment. The breaking out of the Black Hawk war in 1831 found Mr. Dupuis engaged in trading with the Indians for the American Fur Co., in the Four Lakes region, now Madison, Wis. The Indians with whom he traded manifested special liking for him and exercised a kindly protection over him. An incident connected with this period of his live may perhaps be well worth recording here, both as demonstrating the nobler traits of the Indian character and affording ____ly an insight into that of the subject of our sketch. Mr. Dupuis had dispatched his interpreter to the Fort on matters of business and to gather news as well of the Indian warfare raging about them, himself remaining alone at his trading post. On rising the next morning he found the door of his cabin barricaded with stumps, branches of trees and dry goods boxes. He recognized in this the work of the Indians, and thinking it perhaps a jest promptly tore away the rubbish; when, what was his surprise on returning from a spring near by where he had been for water to find his doorway again obstructed. Again he tore away the obstructions. This was repeated from time to time during the day, Mr. Dupuis being quite at a loss to understand such conduct, while the Indians lingering near, ______dly proceeded at ______ to rebuild the barricade, which he as promptly removed. Toward nightfall his interpreter returned, and similarly after another band of Indians. It was then soon learned that the Indians had come to acquaint Mr. Dupuis with his danger, as Black Hawk with his band of Sacs and Fox Indians were on the war path and intended passing there the next day. The interpreter being absent they had taken the course above described to warn him of the danger of remaining. Mr. Dupuis and his interpreter spend the night in storing the goods, and hiding them in a place of safety. A few of the Indians remained to assist them and it was one of these who after the war was over, recovered the goods whose hiding place had become scarcely recognizable after the ravages the vicinity sustained at the hands of the warring Indians. In the morning Mr. Dupuis with his interpreter departed for the Fort, which they succeeded in reaching in safety. Black Hawk and his band passed the deserted trading post and burned the buildings to the ground, on the afternoon of the same day.

Mr. Dupuis then enlisted in Captain Berry's Company of Michigan Volunteers, was made corporal, served until the close of the ware, and was ______ed ____ of service. He was next in the company of Mr. Henry Grath(?), and the ___ ____ found him in Galena, IL. ___ ___ center of the lead mining industry, and the goal of fortune seekers from all parts of this country, and indeed of the world. Here he formed many fast friends, particularly ____ing the French settlers many of whom were regents? from the French court, and the kindness here bestowed on the lonely young foreigner was always remembered by him with gratitude. From Galena he went in 1833? to St. Louis for the purpose of improving his knowledge of the English language. He remained there several years in connection with the American Fur Co. His former acquaintance and chance meeting here with the late Henry Hart of New Orleans, a leader among the Canadian voyageurs of the Missouri and Northwestern hunting grounds, on the one hand, and his many friends among the French émigrés on the other render this one of the most interesting periods of his life. He returned to Galena in the later 30's where several years passed in trade in Galena, in partnership with Mr. St. Cyr. and in mining in the adjacent country. In 1845 he was called to a position of trust and responsibility in settling ___ affairs of the firm of Emmert and Halderman of Mt. Carroll, assigned. The failure of this firm that had done an extensive business through its numerous branches one of which was at this place, throughout this entire region, was for the times a somewhat gigantic affair, and its settlement was slow and difficult. Mr. Dupuis succeeded in completing the settlement to the satisfaction of all parties in 1847, a period of two years, during which time he resided at Mt. Carroll, In the same year 1947 he established himself in the lumber business at Savanna, which place became the distributing point for lumber through a region extending as far eastward as Freeport and Rockford, and almost as far westward into Iowa. He continued in the same business until the close of his life, and was one of the oldest lumbermen on the Mississippi. In 1851 he married Miss Sarah A. Woodruff. In 1852 he erected the sawmill, one of the first upon the river, which was so long a prominent feature of the town and continued it in operation until 1877. It will be of interest to the lumbermen to know that the first raft of logs run down the river by the Hon. D.A. McDonald of LaCrosse, who now controls the largest line of steamers on the Mississippi, was for Mr. Dupuis at this place. He endeared himself to his townspeople during the civil war, by his active civilian services, by which Savanna's volunteer quota was maintained in excess, and the town exempted from the draft. He was active in having this town of Savanna incorporated as a city, and was elected its first mayor, and re-elected for a second term. During the later years of his life his health declined, and he was an invalid for several years prior to his decease, and his familiar, erect figure has for a long time been missed from our streets. Always greatly interested in educational and kindred matters, Mr. Dupuis, gave freely of both time and money to further every good cause. Intensely patriotic, he was a devoted son of the country of his adoption. A man of a high sense of honor, loyal in his friendship, an open heart, a generous hand, his friends were legion, and though the frost of years is gathering over many of these old friends that yet remain, a undimmed memory grows warm at the thought of these eighty eventful years; while the younger generation, recalling the courtly old gentleman who has gone from us, can realize with difficulty the progress that has been made in this lifetime of four score years, in our won country and in the world.
Contribued by Susan Husk from the Savanna Journal 6 November 1890