From Ryan's History of Outagamie County, Part 18. Quoted from the Appleton Post, March 29, 1900:
"BEYOND any reasonable doubt Hippolitus Grignon built the first house on the present site of Appleton, in 1835, having come here that year from Green Bay. His log house was a trading post and for awhile his family were the only white residents. The next year two others arrived -- Ranger and Lan de Rush. Two or three years later came an Englishman, whose name is forgotten, Patrick Shields, Louis Heintz, Adam Mertes and a few others. There was no village nor attempt at a village, the families living at a considerable distance apart, though all on the present city site. Mr. Grignon died in 1850, leaving his widow and seven children, of whom Simon P. was one. They were compelled to leave and were soon lost to sight. -- (Post, March 29, 1900.)"
Before St. Mary's Catholic Church was built, mass was celebrated in private homes, such as Hippolyte "Paul" Grignon's home, White Heron.
