Varnum, Jacob Butler, 1788-1874.

Born in Dracutt, Mass., June 13,1788, son of Joseph B. Varnum; 1811 appointed agent of U.S. Trading House, Sandusky, 0., where he was befriended by The Crane and given name Wab-ache-chock. During War of 1812 Varnum returned to Mass. In 1815 was appointed factor at Chicago where he served until 1822. He was twice married: to Mary Ann Aiken at Mackinac in 1817; and to Catherine Dodemead in Detroit in 1819. From Chicago Varnum went to Washington, and in 1828 to Petersburg, Va., where he remained until close of Civil War. He died in Washington in 1874. (MB/Varnum, Jacob B. ; Quaife, Checagou, 165-66.) (blue index cards)

From the description of Jacob B. Varnum papers, 1813-1864 (Detroit Public Library). WorldCat record id: 663112153

Jacob Butler Varnum (1788-1874) was born in Dracut, Massachusetts, to Mary Butler and Joseph Bradley Varnum (c.1751-1821), senator from Massachusetts. Between 1811 and 1812, Varnum served as a factor (trade agent) at the United States Indian trading post at Sandusky, Ohio. After the outbreak of the War of 1812, Varnum returned east, and was appointed captain of the 40th Massachusetts regiment (1813-1814). Captain Bradley appointed Varnum as Matthew Irwin's replacement as factor for the Chicago Trading House in the North Western Territory, an office he held from 1816 to 1822. While in Chicago, Varnum witnessed the 1821 Treaty of Chicago signed by Lewis Cass and Solomon Sibley representing the United States, and the Ottawa, Ojibwe, and Pottawattamie tribes. In 1816, Varnum married Mary Ann Aiken of Detroit. She died during childbirth in 1817, while living with her husband in Chicago. Next he married Detroit native Catherine Dodemead (b.1800) in 1819. Varnum left government service in 1822, and moved to Washington D.C. where he made a living as a merchant. By 1833, he and his wife had moved to Petersburg, Virginia. At the time of his death in 1874, only his son, George W. Varnum, survived him.

From the guide to the Jacob Butler Varnum papers, Varnum, Jacob Butler papers, 1811-1888, 1811-1833, (William L. Clements Library, University of Michigan)