The Citizen Potawatomi Nation’s Cultural Heritage Center provides resources to keep the Tribe’s history safe and accessible for generations to come. One key way the Nation does this is through the CHC’s archives and video interviews. To highlight some of the archive’s holdings, the Hownikan is featuring photographs and family history of every founding Citizen Potawatomi family. If interested in assisting preservation efforts by providing copies of Citizen Potawatomi family photographs, documents and more, or to schedule family interviews, please contact the CHC at 405-878-5830.
Family beginnings
Like many Potawatomi, the origins of the Bruno family stretch back to the fur trading and trapping industry. French-Canadian settlers in the Great Lakes region frequently married into prominent Potawatomi families.
Anthony Bruneau (Bruno) was one of these early settlers. His son, John Baptiste, married Mary Rhodd, the daughter of Charles H. Rhodd.
Mary’s father, Charles, grew up in the Saginaw area of Michigan, northwest of present-day Detroit. Charles was an ally of Ojibwa chief Naw-Qwa-Chic-A-Ming. Charles accompanied a contingent of Ojibway to Washington, D.C., serving as an interpreter during land sale negotiations in 1830. His name appears on several treaties, including the 1837 Treaty with the Chippewa signed on Jan. 14, 1837.
In 1840, Charles married a Potawatomi woman named Was-cho-win. She was born in Illinois and was among the Potawatomi forcibly removed to present-day Iowa as a child.
While living near Council Bluffs, Iowa, Charles and Mary had David (born in 1841) and Alexander (born in 1843). After the Treaty of 1848 and removal to Kansas, they had Mary, Charles Richard and Elizabeth.
David married Julia Guilet in 1863. They were the parents of Rolly, Henry, Edward, Josephine, Israel and Charles.
Alexander married Mary Vieux and they had Ellen, Tom and Mary Ann. Later, Alexander married Zoa Bourbonnais and they had Peter Albert, Inez, Elizabeth, John and Enos.
Mary Rhodd married John Baptiste Bruno on June 20, 1864. Together, they had eight children: Samuel William, John Anthony, Julia, Joseph Oliver, Mose, Josephine, Bella and David. Mary’s younger sister, Elizabeth, would later come to live with her sister’s family following the deaths of Was-cho-win and Charles.
Charles Richard, the youngest son, married Helen Acton. They had seven children: Viola Alice, Ida Florence, Noah J., David C., Unice Mae Margaret, Thomas and Charles Daniel.
The youngest daughter, Elizabeth, would later marry Thomas Hardin. The couple had no children.
The Bruno/Rhodd family
John Baptiste drove mules for the U.S. Army and served as a member of the Citizen Potawatomi business committee in 1891.
John and Mary’s son, John Anthony, married Mary Ann Vieux in 1891. They were the parents of Ethel, Jessie, Mary, Ozie, Nora, Johnny and Eveline.
Their daughter Julia married Peter Wano. The couple had Isaac, Frank, Stell and Benjamin.
Joseph Oliver married Ellen Vieux in 1895. They were the parents of Jacob, Charlotte, Elizabeth, Willy, Luther, Lewis, Julia, Joseph Charles and August James.
Josephine married Henry Tarter in 1900. They were the parents of George Lawrence, John Ivy, Emily and Vernie.
Belle married George Lehman in 1900. Their children were: George Jr., Grace Catherine and William Edgar.
Mose married Francis Shopwetuck in 1901. Their children were: Mose Jr., Johnnie Baptiste, Mike, Robert, Zoa, Beatrice, Markie, Patrick and Celeste.
Due to space limitations, it is not possible to list the names of every descendant in the family histories. More comprehensive information is available on Ancestors.
If interested in assisting preservation efforts by providing copies of Citizen Potawatomi family photographs, documents and more, or to schedule family interviews, please contact the CHC at 405-878-5830. Schedule interviews online at portal.potawatomi.org. Learn more about the Family Reunion Festival at cpn.news/festival, and find research resources online at potawatomiheritage.com.