Elizabeth Baird (writer)

Elizabeth Thérèse Baird (April 24, 1810 – November 5, 1890) was an early resident of Wisconsin and one of the first writers to describe pioneer life in the state.

Elizabeth Baird
BornElizabeth Thérèse Fisher
(1810-04-24)April 24, 1810
Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin
DiedNovember 5, 1890(1890-11-05) (aged 80)
Green Bay, Wisconsin
Occupationwriter
NationalityAmerican

Early life

Baird, born Elizabeth Thérèse Fisher, was born in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin[1] but moved to Mackinac Island with her mother two years later. Her father, Henry Monroe Fisher, was a fur trader and her mother, Marie Ann Lasaliere, had Odawa ancestry.[1] Her mother ran a school for the children of fur traders; Baird met her future husband, Henry S. Baird, while he was teaching at the school.[1]

Career

The couple married while Elizabeth was only 14 years old and moved to Green Bay, Wisconsin shortly thereafter.[1][2][3]

The Bairds were among the early settlers of the growing settlement of Green Bay, and Henry soon became the territory's first practicing attorney. Elizabeth spoke French and Odawa due to her family's connections to the fur trade, and she learned English shortly after moving to Green Bay. Her language skills allowed her both to translate for her husband's clients and interact in the British, French, and Native American communities in Green Bay, making her a prominent socialite in the settlement. The couple moved to a farm in 1832; Elizabeth managed the farm while also raising the couple's four daughters.[3][4]

Later in her life, Baird wrote several accounts of her travels and experiences as an early Wisconsin pioneer. She initially published her works in the Green Bay State Gazette;[1] they were later republished in the Wisconsin Historical Collections as the Reminiscences of Life in Territorial Wisconsin. Her writings were among the first to describe pioneer life in Wisconsin and became a valuable source of information on the period for later scholars.[4][5]

She lived in Green Bay for the rest of her life, where she died in 1890.[2]

References
  1. "Elizabeth Baird a Frontier Charmer". Green Bay Press-Gazette. January 18, 1964. p. 4. Retrieved October 13, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. "In Memory of Mrs. Elizabeth T. Baird". Green Bay Press-Gazette. November 11, 1890. p. 3. Retrieved October 12, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. "Henry S. Baird (1800-1875), Elizabeth Baird (1810-1890)". Wisconsin Historical Society. Retrieved March 5, 2016.
  4. "Elizabeth Baird". Wisconsin Women Making History. Retrieved March 5, 2016.
  5. Wisconsin Historical Collections, Volume XIV. Wisconsin Historical Society. 1898. pp. 17–18. Retrieved March 5, 2016.
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