Outagamie County, WI - Biography of David LECLAIR of Seymour 1871-

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Contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives
SUBJECT: Biography of David LECLAIR of Seymour 1871-
SUBMITTER: Janice Marasch
EMAIL: jmmarasch@aol.com
DATE SUBMITTED: Apr 16, 1999
SURNAMES: LECLAIR, LAFOND, GAGNON
SOURCE: History of Manitowoc County Wisconsin, by Dr. L. Falge, v.2, p. 627-628., 1911-1912


BIOGRAPHY:
David LECLAIR
born: 19 Feb. 1871, in Two Rivers, WI.
parents: Charles and Angeline (LaFond) LeClair
married: 1891, to Eugenie Gagnon
Children: George, Francis, Elizabeth and Grace.

David LeClair, senior member of the well known firm of LeClair Brothers, agriculturists and fishermen of Two
Rivers, Wisconsin, was born February 19, 1871, in a log house in Two Rivers, near the present site of the Life Saving
Station, a son of Charles and Angeline (LaFond) LeClair. Charles LeClair was born at St. Francis, Canada, a son of
Louis LeClair, and at the age of nineteen years accompanied his parents to New York state. During his twentieth
summer in 1846, he went to Chicago, at that time only a small settlement, and the family then came to Two Rivers,
Wisconsin, where Louis LeClair worked in the shingle mills, later going to Mishicot, where he secured employment
with Daniel Smith and died there aged fifty-two years.
Charles LeClair was married at the age of twenty-three years, and settled on sixty acres of wild land in Mishicot,
where he built a log cabin and log barn, starting to clear his land with an ox team. Not long thereafter, he sold his
property and came to Two Rivers, engaging in fishing which was then carried on in sail and row boats, but in 1873 he
went to Seymour township, Outagamie county, and commenced farming on a tract situated three miles north and one
mile west of Seymour village. He first erected a log cabin and later built a frame house there, but after eleven years
moved back to Two Rivers, and again engaged in fishing, living on a forty-acre farm situated near the river, which is
now located inside of the city limits, and on which his sons, David and Nelson, now reside. He died in May, 1900,
aged seventy-five years, ten months, and his wife passed away in July, 1898, aged sixty-four years.
He was a faithful member and active worker in the Catholic church, and assisted in building the churches at Mishicot
and Two Rivers and the old church at Seymour. By a former marriage he had a family of five children, and his union
with Angeline LaFond resulted in the birth of twelve children, as follows: two infants, deceased; Charles; Mary;
Olive; Jane, who died aged three years; Delia; an infant, deceased; David, of this sketch; two infants, deceased; and
Nelson. David LeClair received his education in the schools of Seymour, and first followed fishing with his father,
later forming a partnership with his brother, Charles, and eventually engaging in the fishing business with his brother,
Nelson, under the firm name of LeClair Brothers. He was married in 1891, to Eugenie Gagnon, and they have four
children: George, Francis, Elizabeth and Grace. Mr. LeClair is a member of the Catholic church, and belongs to the
Catholic Knights, St. Joseph's Athletic Club and St. Peter's Society.