Wisconsin Historical Collections, Volume XII (1892)

              4oo wisconsin historical collections vol.xil the beach on the wisconsin river was very near where at a later period the carpenter house was built.1 the inter vening marsh was in those days often a mere quagmire the transportation of heavily-laden mackinaw boats across it being a task involving much expenditure of time and patience it took four and five yoke of oxen to haul one of these craft which would be slung upon a huge reach cut out of a tree and mounted on broad wheels.3 my mother who was a daughter of joseph crelie was married at prairie du chien to one lupient,3 before she married my father by lupient she had one child theo dore who was run over and killed by a railway train in chicago in 1860 the elder lupient died soon after the marriage and his widow became united with my father in prairie du chien in 1818 the first fruits of this union were xavier and jean baptiste who died within a day or two of each other before my birth both of them were buried in the catholic cemetery at prairie du chien my sister therese j , was born in portage in 1826 two years before my birth in 1864 she married thomas prescott a farmer of irish birth the prescotts now live in the town of caledonia colum bia county on section 28 town 12 range 8 east i remem ber my maternal grandfather crelie quite well but am certain that he was not as old — one hundred and thirty years — as many have made him out to be in 1845 he told me that he was then eighty years of age and as he died at caledonia in i860,4 he was by his own showing not over a hundred as the years went on having no fixed knowledge of his age he doubtless innocently fell into the habit com in 1837 hist columbia co p 588 — ed 2 wis hist coll vii p 371 ed 3 probably theodore lupin mentioned as an early settler at prairie du chien " before the year 1820 hist crawford co west hist co 1884 p 281 — ed 4 january 27 1866 see wis hist coll ix p 293 where it is com puted that crelie was about ninety four years of age at the time of his death he contended that he was one hundred and thirty but it is abun dantly stfown in various volumes of wis hist coll that such was not the case ed