12 1st Avenue Northeast
Faribault, MN, USA

Alexander Faribault House

Description:
The Alexander Faribault house is located at 12 N.E, First Avenue on the west bank of the Straight River in Faribault, Minnesota. It is one of the oldest frame houses in the state. The house was built in two sections although the sections were built at the same time. The back section had to be rebuilt when the Rice County Historical Society acquired the house in 1945.

The outside of the Faribault house is white with green shutters, and is 30 feet wide,74 feet long, and 30 feet high. At the front of the house there is a porch the width of the house and about 10 feet high. On the north end of the porch is the front door, which has two windows to the left of it. Above the porch is the upstairs portion of the house. Two windows face the street with a door between them which leads to the porch roof. Above this door is an additional window.

The first floor of the Faribault house originally contained an entrance hall, a parlor and sitting room, and office and music room, a kitchen and a summer kitchen. Upstairs there were six bedrooms, a sewing room, and a large hall. The interior has been restored to its original appearance except for one of the kitchens, which is now the custodian's quarters; and three of the bedrooms, which are now used for storage.

Most of the furniture in the house was not owned by Faribault, but all of it is from the period during which his house was built. The parlor, for example, contains a braided wool rug, a Bay Statie Franklin stove, a sofa and two chairs, a settee, crystal chandeliers, a square Steinway piano, a comb Windsor chair, a center table, several small pedestal tables, wall sconces, and a portrait of Faribault.

One of the most unique features of the house are the wood-panel paintings done by Faribault's father, Jean Baptiste Faribault. Another important feature of the house is the method of pouring sand between the studdings of the walls to serve as insulation.

12 1st Avenue Northeast, Faribault, MN, USA

Alexander Faribault House, 12 Northeast First Avenue, Faribault

Content: Approximately 1965

Who was Alexander Faribault

Portrait of Alexander Faribault from 1900

Alexander Faribault, the future founder of the city of Faribault, Minnesota, was born on 22 June 1806 at Prairie du Chien, now in Wisconsin territory. His father, Jean-Baptiste Faribault, was a French-Canadian fur trader who had been with the Northwest and American Fur Companies since June 1796. His mother was Elizabeth Pelagie Kinzie Haines, daughter of a French voyageur and Dakota mother. Alexander was the oldest of eight siblings. He had four brothers and three sisters whose names were Lucie-Anne, Olivier, David-Frederick, Emilie, Marie-Louise, Philippe and Frederick-Daniel.

In 1819, the Faribault family moved to Pike Island, near Fort Snelling, at the invitation of Colonel Henry Leavenworth, who knew that Jean-Baptiste Faribault’s knowledge of the Dakota who lived in the area could help develop the fur trade in Minnesota. The family later moved to Mendota in 1822, by which time Alexander had become a licensed fur trader.

In the same year, Alexander was granted a license to set up a trading post on the St. Peters (Minnesota) River. After his marriage to Mary Elizabeth Graham in 1825, he made a trip to the Cannon Valley area with the company of Joseph Dashner, a guide, long-time friend and colleague. Something about the site attracted Faribault and he resolved to settle there permanently as soon as he was able. He set up a trading post at Traverse des Sioux, a few miles north of St Peter, and operated another on Lake Elysian in Waseca County where he traded with the Wahpekute Indians. Faribault and his companions established three to four trading posts in this general area between 1828 to the mid-1830s and, in 1834, set up a post at the confluence of the Cannon and Straight Rivers. In 1844, he moved the post to the site of present-day Faribault and there, with his earnings from the fur trade, built the first frame house in the area in 1853

Although he died in poverty, he was once a wealthy man, owning much of the property in Faribault. Many schools and churches—both Protestant and Catholic—were started with his financial support, including the Shattuck and Seabury Divinity schools. He played an important role in translating government treaties, which were later violated by the European settlers. Despite this, many Dakota considered Faribault an ally and protector. After most Dakota was ordered into exile from their Minnesota homelands in 1863, Faribault sheltered a number of Wahpekute and Mdewakanton people on his farm. For this and other reasons, Faribault is remembered as a generous and compassionate man.