Michel Branamour Menard

Michel Branamour Menard (1805–1856) was a Canadian-born trader and merchant, first active on the upper Mississippi River and later in Texas. He co-founded Galveston, Texas and represented Galveston County in the Congress of the Republic of Texas.

His Galveston home is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Early life Michel Brindamour dit Ménard was born on December 5, 1804, at La Prairie, Quebec, Canada, to Michel Brindamour dit Ménard and Marguerite Desnoyers dit Desmarais. The young Ménard received a francophone education. Later he learned English, but spoke with his native French accent throughout his life. Still working for his uncle, he moved to the Ste. Genevieve area, where he traded and lived with a local band of Shawnee. He followed the Shawnee south to the White River, and in 1828, crossed with them into Mexican Texas along the Red River. who were petitioning the Texas government to recognize the 1833 conveyance of the Galveston Island land from Mexico to Seguín. On December 9, 1836, the Republic of Texas agreed to confirm the conveyance in exchange for $50,000 in cash or merchandise. The next day, McKinney sold the land to Ménard. David White acted as an agent to receive payments from Ménard on behalf of the Republic of Texas. White claimed that Ménard made the payments, but it is not clear about the form of the payments and how much, if any, was forwarded to the Republic of Texas.

Personal life Ménard was married briefly after 1832 to Marie Diana Leclerc of Ste Genevieve, who died of cholera on May 14, 1833. Late in 1837 he married again, this time to Adeline Catherine Maxwell. She died in Galveston in July 1838, probably of yellow fever. He wedded two more times, first to Mary Jane Riddle in 1843, and she died in 1847. His fourth and final marriage was to Rebecca Mary Bass. They had one son, and he also adopted her two children from a previous union.

1838 Michel B. Ménard House

Ménard commissioned the construction of a two-story, Greek Revival house, then broken down and shipped as parts from Maine. The Michel B. Menard House still stands at 1605 Thirty-Third Street in Galveston. The building is on the National Register of Historic Places. As of 2018, this is the oldest house still standing in Galveston.