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27-442: Dousman can refer to: People [ edit ] Hercules L. Dousman , 19th century American trader and real estate investor; so of Michael Dousman and father of H. Louis Dousman H. Louis Dousman , son of Hercules L. Dousman Michael Dousman , father of Hercules L. Dousman and grandfather of H. Louis Dousman Places [ edit ] United States Dousman, Wisconsin ,

54-531: A clerk in a New York City store. After Dousman returned to Mackinac Island, he was employed by the American Fur Company , which his father had served as an agent following the War of 1812. In 1826, the company sent Dousman to the frontier settlement of Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin , where he worked as an assistant to Joseph Rolette , the company's local agent. In Prairie du Chien, Dousman proved his abilities as

81-538: A historical museum operated by the Wisconsin Historical Society . The site has been restored to its appearance during the late 19th century, when it was the estate of the prominent H. Louis Dousman family, descendants of a fur trader and entrepreneur. The site was inhabited by Native American tribes, especially the Mound Builders , as is evidenced by the large mound upon which later structures at

108-538: A house for her.) Together the couple moved into the large two-story brick house that Dousman had constructed a year earlier. Hercules and Jane Dousman had one son, Hercules Louis Dousman II , who was born on April 3, 1848, the year that Wisconsin became a state. In the 1870s the Dousman house at this site was replaced with what is known as Villa Louis . This was also called the "House on the Mound", because of its location on what

135-436: A joint venture with Rolette, Sibley, and Pierre Chouteau (of St. Louis, Missouri ) to organize a new company to replace it on upper Mississippi. A few months later, Rolette died in debt to the new company, and most of his estate was seized by the remaining partners, including Dousman. With this and other revenue, Dousman acquired more wealth. He began to invest in lumber mills in northern Wisconsin and real estate in some of

162-454: A stock farm to breed Standardbred horses . Stables and paddocks were constructed on the estate, along with a half mile racetrack so Dousman could begin holding an annual carriage race on the property. Because the estate had an artesian well, Louis decided to call his new venture the "Artesian Stock Farm". In 1885, Louis moved back to the Prairie du Chien estate with his family. In the process,

189-546: A thousand Americans could claim to possess such a figure. Dousman died of heart failure on September 12, 1868. By this time he was regarded as one of Wisconsin's wealthiest and most influential men. His wife Jane and son Louis inherited his estate. Dousman is buried at Calvary Cemetery in Prairie du Chien. Villa Louis The Villa Louis is a National Historic Landmark located on St. Feriole Island, in Prairie du Chien , southwestern Wisconsin . The villa and estate are

216-575: A trader, quickly rising in the company's ranks. By 1834 he had acquired an interest in the company's Western Outfit, and in 1840 he became an equal partner in the business together with Joseph Rolette and Henry Hastings Sibley . In 1842 the American Fur Company declared bankruptcy, as the European market had declined, and furs were harder to find in the West. To continue in the trade, Dousman entered into

243-624: A village in Waukesha County Dousman Hotel , a hotel in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin named for Hercules L. Dousman Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Dousman . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dousman&oldid=707255237 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description

270-677: Is believed to be a prehistoric Indian earthwork mound. As Wisconsin and the region attracted more European Americans, the fur trade declined. The European demand had declined with changes of fashion and the Native Americans, who provided the pelts and were important customers for manufactured goods, were being pushed west by new settlers. Dousman withdrew from the fur trade in the late 1840s and focused on his investments. In addition to having numerous holdings in real estate, grain, and lumber, Dousman became involved in transportation companies. He invested in packet companies and steamboats that ran on

297-472: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Hercules L. Dousman Dousman was born in 1800 on Mackinac Island , Michigan , the son of Michael Dousman , a prominent local fur trader , and his wife. His father was highly successful and sent the son to the eastern United States to be educated in Elizabethtown, New Jersey . For a period he worked as

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324-640: The Mississippi River . In 1852, Dousman became a principal investor in the Madison & Prairie du Chien Railroad, a company formed to ensure that the larger Milwaukee & Mississippi Railroad would meet its goal of connecting Lake Michigan with the Mississippi River. The two companies combined a few years later, and eventually developed as the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad . Dousman

351-511: The "House on the Mound". This name was also used as the title of an August Derleth novel that featured Dousman as a principal character. Hercules Dousman lived in the House on the Mound until his death in 1868. At the time of his death, he was one of the wealthiest men in Wisconsin, and his fortune passed to his wife Jane and his son Louis. Upon coming into his father's estate, Louis decided to demolish

378-579: The 1871 mansion was substantially remodeled and the house was redecorated in the style of the British Arts and Crafts Movement . This remodel included not only the house, but also the adjacent office. The remodeling was done by a Chicago designer from the William Morris Company of London. Louis's plans for the estate came to an abrupt halt the following year, on his sudden death in January, 1886. He

405-507: The Dousmans as part of the Villa Louis estate. In the 1990s, the discovery of numerous photographs of Villa Louis from the late 19th century allowed the historical society to undertake a major restoration of the mansion and surrounding buildings. Using the collection of photographs and the estate's original furnishings, many of which were given to the site by the Dousman family heirs, the society

432-467: The House on the Mound and replace it with a more contemporary Victorian Italianate style house that included modern indoor plumbing and central heating, both considered luxuries at the time. Louis Dousman contracted with Milwaukee architect E. Townsend Mix in 1870 to have the new house designed and built, and construction was finished in 1871. The new mansion was built with some parts of the old demolished one. The two-story Cream City brick house became

459-469: The Midwest. Villa Louis was then used as the family's summer home into the early 20th century. Louis de Vierville Dousman, the only son of Louis and Nina, was the last family member to occupy the estate, leaving for Billings, Montana in 1913 with his wife Sarah Easton. Although the Dousman family had left the Villa Louis estate by 1913, they continued to own the property. Over the following decades, they rented

486-511: The Victorian Italianate style . The estate now known as Villa Louis began when Prairie du Chien trader and investor Hercules Dousman purchased land previously occupied by Fort Crawford. Dousman had the remains of the fort cleared away. In 1843, he built a large, brick Greek Revival house atop an Indian mound, which had been the site of the old fort's southeastern blockhouse . Because of this, Hercules Dousman's home has come to be called

513-406: The mansion for use as a boarding school, among other things. In the 1930s, two of Louis Dousman's children, Violet and Virginia, began to restore the estate to its 19th-century appearance. They then transferred the property to the city of Prairie du Chien, so that the mansion could be operated as a historic house museum . In 1952, the site was acquired by the Wisconsin Historical Society , and became

540-760: The organization's first historic site. Since then, the Villa Louis historic site has expanded to encompass two other nearby National Historic Landmarks : the Brisbois House , and the Astor Fur Warehouse . The warehouse now functions as a museum of the fur trade , while the Brisbois house has remained closed to the public. The site also contains the Rolette House, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places , and numerous outbuildings constructed by

567-411: The residence of Louis's mother, Jane, while Louis himself moved to Saint Paul, Minnesota not long after construction was finished. In St. Paul, Louis married Nina Sturgis, and later the couple moved to St. Louis, Missouri , eventually having five children. However, following the death of his mother Jane Dousman in 1882, Louis made plans to return to Prairie du Chien and transform the family estate into

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594-526: The site ( Fort Shelby , Fort Crawford , and the homes of Hercules and of Louis Dousman) have all stood. In 1814, the Siege of Prairie du Chien was fought in the area by American and British troops hoping to control Fort Shelby during the War of 1812 . Later the land was occupied by Fort Crawford. After white settlers drove Indigenous communities from their homelands, the land was purchased by Hercules L. Dousman , who

621-591: The state's growing population centers. Timber was in high demand in the developing settlements of the upper Midwest. As Dousman began building his investments during the 1830s, he began a long affair with Margaret Campbell, a local Prairie du Chien woman, who may have been of mixed-race . Together they had three children: Emily, George, and a third unnamed child who died at birth in 1838. Campbell also died of complications at this birth. In 1844, two years after Joseph Rolette's death, Dousman married his widow, Jane. (She and Rolette had legally separated in 1836, and he built

648-405: Was 37 years old when he died, leaving behind a widow and five children. After Louis's death, the stock farm was disbanded and the horses sold, and Nina Dousman renamed the estate "Villa Louis" in memory of her late husband. Later, in 1888, Nina remarried and moved to New York City , leaving the estate vacant. Her new marriage did not last, and in 1893 she returned with the five Dousman children to

675-437: Was a man of many trades: a fur trader, a lumberman, a land sculptor, and a frontier entrepreneur. In the mid-1840s, he began construction on the estate from which Villa Louis would be born. The location he chose was perfect due to its proximity to the Mississippi River. Later Dousman's son, Louis, established the present estate, at the center of which is an elegant Villa Louis mansion designed by E. Townsend Mix built in 1871 in

702-538: Was able to authentically restore the home to its appearance from 1893 to 1898. The use of photographs and original furniture to so accurately restore the home brought national attention to the site in 1999, including a feature article in Victorian Decorating & Lifestyle magazine and an exhibit at the New York School of Interior Design . The historical society hosts several events at Villa Louis, including

729-479: Was very influential in bringing the railroad to Prairie du Chien by 1857, and the Milwaukee & Mississippi was the first railroad to lay track all the way across Wisconsin. Prairie du Chien's new rail connection caused a small boom in the city's population and business. Since Dousman owned much of the land in the city, he made a large profit from this . His net worth was estimated at one million dollars, when fewer than

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