Joe Buckwheat

July 28, 2016

Joseph Sarrazin "Buckwheat"

Known most of his life as “Joe Buckwheat”, he was born Joseph Sarrazin on October 30, 1860 to Louis Sarrazin and Marie-Christian Brien dit Desrochers in St-Hermas, Quebec.

(Note: There are many variants of the family name, to include Sarin, Sarrin, Sarasin, Sarrazen, etc., although Sarrazin seems to be what has become standardized. His actual place of death was the hospital at Park Falls in Price County, Wisconsin, he lived and was buried in Sawyer County.)

Joe and two brothers, Jean-Baptiste “Bat” and William, came to the United States as ‘Coureurs de Bois’—Canadian adventurers who made a living trapping and logging in the remote forests of Michigan and Wisconsin. Many stayed, settled the land and raised a family, and this seems the case with the Buckwheat boys who arrived in Sawyer County around 1880. They also Anglicized their last name, as “Sarrasin” in French means buckwheat.

Joe and red-haired Margaret “Maggie” Raynor were married by James W. Hayward on January 8, 1896 in Hayward, Sawyer County, Wisconsin in a Congregational ceremony. Their marriage license lists his occupation as ‘logger’.

Eventually, Joe and Maggie had many children: Bae, Percy, Hattie, Tessie, Donald, Roy, Duane, and Luella, and Sawyer County provided a school for them and their neighbors known as The Buckwheat School.

Joe logged and farmed during his life, and also served the town of Hayward in many capacities. According to a newspaper article dated April 8, 1909:

“In the election of Mr. Buckwheat last Tuesday, the citizens of this town have again said by their votes that they approve of his official acts. Since the town was organized five years ago he has been twice elected as supervisor and three times as chairman and he now is known as “Honest Joe.” There is probably no man in the country who labors more zealously for his constituent’s interests than he, and judging from the increased majorities given him at each election, he can have office as long as he desires.”

That he was well-loved is evident in his funeral notice, published in the Sawyer County Gazette on October 20, 1919:

The funeral of JOSEPH BUCKWHEAT was held last Thursday morning from St. Peter’s Church. Services being conducted by Rev. Father Fassbender of Park Falls who came here through the inability of Rev. Father Tenwisse being able to come. Practically the entire populace of a large surrounding territory was present to render their last measures of devotion to one of our citizens who has been a leader in the trend of progress in this section for so many years. Large members came from other nearby places, old friends and neighbors of the deceased. The remains were laid to rest in the local cemetery north of the town.

There are several articles and books written by Eldon Marple and Malcolm Rosholt which mention Joseph Buckwheat. In the book, ‘A History of the Hayward Lakes Region’ there is a picture of the Buckwheat family. Another, ‘The Visitor Who Came to Stay’, gives information about Joe and his father-in-law, Alfred Raynor. There are several pictures of Joe Buckwheat in a book published by the Sawyer County Historical Society called ‘Sawyer County Register…Hayward, Wisconsin’.