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HISTORY OF MADISON AND DANE COUNTY.

WHAT THE PEOPLE SAY OP THE BOOK.
Madison, Wis., February 18, 1878.
Messrs. W. J. Pabk & Co- : Gentlemen : I have received and read your
History of Madison and Bane Connty with deep interest and pleasure, hav
ing myself been an eye witness of many things related therein. I regard
it as a valuable collection of incidents and transactions peculiar to the first
settlement of a new country, which, but for your efforts and energy, would
have soon passed to that oblivion from which there is no resurrection. Your
book is valuable in proportion as the preservation of the principal events of
pioneer life is desirable. Yours truly, Simeon Mills.
Madison, Wis., February 22, 1878.
W. J. Paek: My dear sir: I have carefully read your History of Madi
son, Bane County and Surroundings. It is certainly a very interesting and
valuable contribution to history, and you are entitled to the thanks and con
fidence of the people of Dane county for rescuing from oblivion so many
interesting facts and incidents touching our early settlement.
I read the book with a peculiar interest, for I know personally nearly every
one of the old settlers in every town named by you in the book. There are
a few inaccuracies, which can readily be corrected. I mention only one:
In the history of the town of Medina, where for a time I lived, the name
of N. J. Thompkins is not mentioned. He was one of its first and most
trusty settlers. This error, and some others, which you have doubtless dis
covered, should be corrected in subsequent editions, and thUB it will be a
book which ought to be in every house in this county.
Yours truly, Geo. E. Sjettb.
A Histokt op Madison, Bake County, and Subhoundinss, from the
presB of Bavid Atwood, Madison, W. J. Paek & Co., publishers, has just
appeared. It is a neat book of nearly 700 pages, printed upon good paper
and clear type. It is a compilation of previous histories of Madison, with
many important links supplied, and a review of the early Settlement of each
of our Bane county townships. This publication possesses more than local
interest. la its scope it embraces much of the history of the state at large.
The historical events connected with the location of the capital at this place
reach far back into territorial timeB, and references are often made to the
public proceedings, and to the acts of early pioneers, who laid the founda
tion upon which the history of Wisconsin is constructed. The enterprising
publishers have performed a good work, and are richly entitled to the thanks
and encouragement of the public. Every household in the city and country
ought to obtain a copy. Time will increase its value.— Some Diary.
The Histobt of Madison and townships of Bane county, recently pub
lished by W. J. Pabk & Co., is by far the most accurate and complete work
of its kind yet issued from the press. With some defects and omissions, it
yet embodies in admirable form the main substance of our local annals, ar
ranged in natural order, instead of yearly incidents, which, to my mind, is a
defective plan, since the life of the times is forgotten in the mere recital of
facts, which, in themselves/by no means constitute history. The ground
work is indeed laid for a perfect record, which comparison and discussion
will no doubt speedily complete.
Nothing is more difficult in this class of works, than to make the present
generations really comprehend the pioneer life of even thirty years ago. In
vain we heap up facts and experiences. The later comers lack all data for
comparison. When we say that scarce a score of dwellings or improvements
were to be found along the entire old road to Milwaukee ; that but two or
three farms were opened between Madison and Janesville : as many more be
tween the same place and Monroe; but one or two to the Blue Mounds ; but
one to Prairie du Sac and what is now Portage City, and Columbus ; and but
three or four to "Johnson's Mills"— now watcrtown — the recital of the
fact is but a tame statement of the reality. So of pioneer hunting days.
That we rode freely and without obstruction all about the lakes, over prairies
and through woodland, as yet undisturbed by improvements ; without roads,
bridges or artificial land-marks — where, indeed, a settler was a conspicuous
notoriety — and a "breaking " a novelty, is not comprehensible to the pres
ent, when every foot of soil has come into actual possession or cultivation.

Testimonials — History of Madison'and Dane County.
With mails now received from all points at least twice daily, who but the
pioneer remembers the old stage coach, taking three days to make trips to
Milwaukee and as many more to Galena, then our commercial emporium —
Chicago being unknown to us as a place of traffic; that our latest news from
New York was never less than two, and in winter often four or more weeks
old, when received. That, to be brief, a population of about 50,000 in 1840
has increased tonearly 1,500,000 in 1877. Yet such are the changes that have
passed like a dream before the eyes of the first comers to this goodly land,
within a single generation. It was an experience never to be repeated, and
therefore is worthy of record in its minutest detail for the instruction of a
people who will live under conditions in nearly every sense utterly changed.
Both to the old settlers, and to the present and future, this enterprise is in
deed invaluable. Its benefits will be more and more prized, as centuries
advance. H. A. TENNEY.
University ov Wisconsin, December 14, 1877.
W. J. Park & Co. — Dear Sirs: Permit me to congratulate you upon the
publication of your "Madison, Dane County and Surroundings." In typo
graphical execution and binding, it reflects great credit on Madison and on
the northwest. The paper, type, illustrations, etc., are all very neat and
perfect; in short, it is decidedly a neat book. I also want to thank you for
the pains you have taken in collecting so much pioneer history. The idea
of finding in each township the historian of Jhe town, was a very happy one,
and so far as I am acquainted, you have been uniformly successful in the
choice of your men, — no easy task- Every county in the state should have
a history like this, and it is a work that will increase in value with every
year henceforth. I consider my volume a solid addition to my library as
well as an ornament. Again thanking you for the genuine Bervice you have
thus rendered to the preservation of our local history, I am, dear sirs,
Yours faithfully, E. B. Anderson.
Madison, December 87, 1877.
Messrs. Wm. J. Park & Co. : Gentlemen. — I have received your History
of Madison, Dane County, and its surroundings, and have read it through
with much interest. Written as it has been by so many different hands, the
style of its composition is much varied, but sparkles with gems, though the
settings are sometimes a little rough.
Local history and .the geography of our immediate vicinity are receiving
more attention than ever before. It is well ; for the study of geography and
history, like charity, should begin at home ; and having so begun, should,
like charity, not stop at home, but go out into all the world. The influence
of your book will be to remind its readers that each one is making history
every day, and that as the pioneers of this vicinity have made the desert to
bod and blossom as the rose, so we " should leave behind us foot-prints on
the sands of time."
Would it not be a good idea for every farmer to keep a history of his farm!
Let him give the date of its purchase, the price paid, the history of the im
provements made, embracing the size and plan of the,buildings, the year in
which they were erected, their cost, and every incident of any considerable
note connected therewith. If the farm is sold, let the history go with it, and
be continued by the purchaser. The like history of a city lot would in time
become to the owner of the property a matter of great interest.
Yours, etc., John C. Clark.
W. J. Park & CO, Dear Sirs: I have read with much interest your His
tory of Madison, Dane County and Surroundings. The conception of such
a work was a happy thought, and its execution is a great credit both to the
author and publishers. The early settlers are rapidly passing away, and with
them the possibility of recovering many of these early incidents which form
the basis of history. The publication of these sketches at so early a date
will afford every opportunity of correcting such errors as the imperfection
of memory may suffer to pass. Truly yours, Stephen H. Carpenter.
Milwaukee, Nov. 28, 1877.
W. J. Park & Co., Madison, Wis.: Gents: I have to acknowledge
your kindness in sending me a copy of your History of Madison and Dane
county. It is a very attractive book, and besides its interest to "old
settlers," whose recollection will be pleasantly revived by its narratives, I
think it will be an acceptable book to all who, for any reason, are inter
ested in the county or its people. I trust that somebody may find as
much pleasure in reading my record as I have had in reading several of
the accounts of others. (Yours truly, J. K. Brigham.

Testimonials — History of Madison and Dane County.
Madison, December 13, 1877.
W, J. Park, Dear Sir: I have read your book, "The History of Mad
ison and Bane County," with a great deal of pleasure ; and I can certify to its
correctness, so far as I am acquainted. I congratulate you upon getting out
a work of so much interest to the people of Dane county, and so valuable
in preserving the history of early times. It is a book that will be very in
teresting to the old settlers, recalling to them the scenes of early days, and
to others, in giving a true history of pioneer life in Dane county in those
early times. It is a valuable book and should be in every family in Dane
county. Yours truly, Wm. Vroman.
Kankakee, 111., November 12, 1877.
Friend Park: Please accept my thanks for the History of Madison.
You have got out a book which is a credit to you, and will perpetuate a great
deal of early history, especially interesting just now, because you will have
so many readers who have had a personal participation in much of what you
describe, and a personal knowledge of what you narrate. I hope you will
receive a rich reward for your labor and the money expended on the book.
Madison yet seems to me like home, and I am glad you have done so well in
contributing to her good name and fame. Yours truly, Chas. Holt.
Cottage'Grove, Wis., Dec. 10, 1877.
Mb. W. J. Park: After a careful and somewhat critical perusal of your
History of Madison, Bane County and Surroundings, I am pleased to say it
is a work that fully and fairly fills a space in the history of our county and
state that has heretofore been unfilled. The History is ably and truth
fully written ; and the " git up " of the work shows that Madison is capa
ble of doing work that can well be called " first-class," in paper, typography
and binding. I hupe you will succeed in placing a copy in every home in
both county and state. Respectfully, James Bell.
Springfield, November, 1877.
W. J. Park & Co. — Gents: Having read most and examined all of your
book entitled " The History of Madison, Bane County and Surroundings,"
1 congratulate you in bringing out so large and interesting a book for the
price. The illustrations are good andmusthave cost alarge sum to engrave.
The book is both instructing and amusing, printed on clear paper, and in
large type, making it eaBy for the old settlers to read ; indeed, it is gotten
up and bound in good style, making it an ornamental as well as useful book.
I have no doubt but your very gentlemanly agent, Mr. Barnes, will find a
ready sale for it in every family in Dane county —many out of it ought to
purchase a copy. Yours truly, ' E. Harding.
Pittshubg, October 31, 1878.
Mr. W. J. Park— Dear Sir: Your kind favor of the History of Dane
County came to hand during the week, and in returning the acknowledg
ment, I beg you to accept my sincere thanks. The first time I visit home I
shall want to get four to [six copies of the work as presents to friendB —

and presume f can get them of you. I expect to have my boat ready to bring
out early in the spring, and shall come out with her, at which time you will
hear from me. In. the delay I have experienced in building I expect some

gain in model and a new screw,whlch is expected to be of considerable value
as to speed and power. But of this, more anon. With hopes for a wide cir
culation for your book, and financial success, I am,
Very truly yours, J. L. Williams.
History of Dane County.— This new work issued by Wm. J. Park &
Co., has long been looked forward to by the public of Dane county, with
eager anticipation. In its completion, however, it meets the most sanguine
expectation and is creditable in every particular to its indefatigable pub
lishers and to the many gentlemen throughout the county whose aid has
been enlisted in its preparation.
The volume now lies before us, bound in a picturesque yet substantial
manner, printed in the highest perfection of the art preservative, and
abounding in valuable information relative to Bane county and itB surround
ings, presented in most attractive and readable form. There are voluminous
chapters upon the earlier history of Wisconsin, the location of the Capital,
the pioneers, the State University and churches, the newspapers, the sum
mer resorts, the houses of Madison, the scholastic features, the mounds and
the Historical Society. Following these, are general and analytical histories
of the county as a whole, of the several towns therein, and of the adjacent
towns of Brooklyn, Edgerton, Evansville, Lake Koshkonong and Loco-
There is an entertaining chapter on personal recollections, being interesting

Testimonials — History of Madison and Dane County
anecdotes written up for the occasion by Gen. Geo. B. Smith, Elisha Bur-
diok, Esq., Hon. Wm. Welch, Adam Smith of Sun Prairie, and others ; while
an extended list of county, village, city and state officers is very useful for
future reference, and greatly adds to the intrinsic value of the large volume.
In short, this history will fill a void in the annals of the state, and prove
highly acceptable to the reading public of Bane county ; old settlers will find
it an epitome of the trials and triumphs of their pioneer life, while new
comers will esteem it as a valuable record of the past, in which all alike are
interested.— State Journal.
History of Madison, Bane County, and Surroundings. —We have
received a copy from the publishers, W. J. Park & Co., and after looking
over the same with some care, we can say truthfully that it is worthy a place
in every Madison home. It is the best history of the kind ever published.
Its compilation haB been attended to with great care. The history of our
fair city, like the good book, begins : "In the beginning." The reader will
soon come to the " locating of the capital." Follow on and you will find
interesting matter, and many familiar names. Of course the first house in
Madison (1837) will interest you. The first engraving, after the frontispiece,
represents Mrs. Eben Peck, the firBt female settler in Madison, in 1837. A
fine s.teel engraving presents an excellent likeness of Gen. Simeon Mills.
It could not be bettered. Then comes a wood cut representing Hon. Lyman
C Braper, an old citizen, and a reliable historian, long connected with the
State Historical Society.
A number of the most prominent towns in the county are mentioned in the
volume. Their histories were written by men well posted.
Lists of county, village and city offices, prepared with care, appear. The
same will be read with interest.
The book is worth a place in your library. Its typography Is excellent.
David Atwood is the stereotyper and printer.— Madison Democrat.
Madison Dane County and Surrounding Towns ; Park & Co. Pnbl.
This book comes to us in neat and durable binding. It is well arranged
and written, being the first work of the kind ever published, and so worthy
that it should be found among the books of every library in Dane county.
The leading idea of the publishers — to carefully collect facts and incidents
of the early history of this section— has been well carried out. We find
great pleasure in reviewing the many interesting exploits of our forefathers
as they came to this wilderness and hewed out homes among the wild woods,
or as they wandered forth over the trackless prairies in pursuit of wild game' '
until they were many miles from home and friends, without compass or land
mark to aid them in retracing their steps. They were often dependent solely
on the heavenly bodies — God's own land-marks.— University Press.
History of Dane County. — We have received a copy of the "History of
Madison, Dane County and Surrounding Villages," and have realized a large
fund of enjoyment and information while perusing its pages. We, of the
present day, but little realize the many hardships endured by the early set
tlers in old Dane, and, but for the energy of Messrs. Park & Co. (the pub
lishers of this History), would, in all probability, never have heard even of
the " Smoky Mountains," the battle of " Wisconsin Heights," and many
other incidents that bear an important part in the early settlement of the
county. If you are not already a subscriber to the work, order a copy of the
publishers. Every one of our readers who have at some time resided in this
county should have a copy. — Black Earth Advertiser.
History of Dane County. — A new *ook of over 650 pages has just been
issued in Madison, entitled " History of Madison, Bane County, and Sur
rounding Towns." We have carefully examined a copy of the work, and
find that it is replete with matter of interest to every resident of the county.
The chapter devoted to Mazomanie is written by Henry Howarth and Henry
Z. Moulton, and next to Madison, our [town receives the fullest and ablest
consideration. The authors of this part of the work evidently spent a great
deal of time on the historical sketch; * * * * nothing seems to have
been left undone that could be done to make the work ahousehold necessity
in Mazomanie. Black Earth, Berry, Eoxbury and towns in this vicinity aro
presented with a history hardly less interesting to us than that of our own
town, and in fact the reader will be pleased with every page of this history
of old Dane. The book is handsomely bound, the mechanical part Is of the
first order. The publishers are W. J. Park & Co., Madison. —Mazomania
Sickle.
PUBLISHED BY WM. J. PARK & CO.,

MADISON,

DANE COUNTY

SURROUNDING TOWNS;

HISTORY AND GUIDE
TO PLACES OF SCENIC BEAUTY AND HISTORICAL NOTE FOUND IN THE TOWNS
OF DANE OOUNTY AND SURROUNDINGS, INCLUDING THE ORGANIZATION
OF THE TOWNS, AND EARLY INTERCOURSE OF THE SET'J'LERS
WITH THE INDIANS, THEIR CAMPS, TRAILS, MOUNDS, ETC.
WITH A COMPLETE LIST OF
COUNTY SUPERVISORS AND OFFICERS,
AND
LEGISLATIVE MEMBERS, MADISON VILLAGE AND CITY COUNCIL.

ILLUSTRATED.

MADISON, WIS.:

PUBLISHED BY WM. J. PARK & CO.,
ATIONEE G STE
I877.

BOOKSELLERS, STATIONERS AND BINDERS,
11 KING STREET.

COPYBISKT.
WM. J. PABK * CO.
1877.

DAVID ATWOOD, STEBEOTYPEB AND PBLKTBE,
MADISON, WIS.

PREFACE.

In presenting to our readers the History of Madison, Dane Coun
ty and Surrounding Towns, we do it with some degree of gratifi
cation; — not because we have the presumption to conceive that
we have issued a complete work, or that it is free from errors; but
simply because we have had so many kind helps rendered us in
bringing the work up to its present condition, and without flat
tering ourselves that we have composed some grand strain, or even
been in full harmony with all our parts, we have, at least, struck
the key-note from which we have built up good, if not square work.
To show that our work was needed, it is only necessary for us to
call the reader's attention to the many chapters so freely contributed
by many of our citizens, who, making no pretensions to any great
literary acumen, have related the facts and incidents of their towns
in terms sometimes unfinished, but never lacking power and sim
plicity to express what they knew, thus commending to our admir
ation the free and unvarnished manner with which the story of
pioneer life, trials and sufferings is related, and the evident delight
taken in looking back on those difficulties, to enact them over again.
We thinlr our work has been instrumental in saving from oblivi
on much that would have passed unheeded in the annals of the
early settlement and development of our county. Our citizens, in
their early pioneer life, forgetting that they were makers of history,
saved comparatively little' of the past dates or records.
History by towns has not, we believe, been published in this
state before, and we feel certain that no surer way could be de
vised for reaching facts than the plan we have adopted, as there are
none better able to write a family history than one of its members.
To the writers of the ensuing chapters we suggested the following
subjects, which our readers will see have been conscientiously ad
hered to: The early settlement and organization of each town;
pioneer trials and difficulties; scenic beauty and hygiene; industri
al pursuits and markets; schools and churches; early intercourse
with the Indians; camps, trails, graves or mounds, etc.
The work has exceeded, by several hundred pages, our agree
ment with subscribers, but having been assured of remuneration
therefor by an increase of names on our subscription list, we have
decided to make no advance in price.
The adjacent towns have been added to our book at the suggestion
of citizens of those places, and it is proper that they should be, as
socially and commercially there are no boundary lines between us;
and with all the cordiality of neighbors, it affords us pleasure to
invite the attention of the reader to these chapters not only as a

6 PREFACE.
partial exhibit of their industrial pursuits and business tact, but
also as evidence that we are linked together by a stronger tie than
sectional lines.
The chapter on Lake Koshkonong is from the pen of Prof. Kum-
lien, a scientist of no mean mark either in this country or Europe.
Although he has devoted a life time to the study of natural history,
and his labors been heralded abroad, there are but few of our citizens
that even know that this seer is living at our very doors. Forty
long years has he quietly and unobtrusively spent m studying the
botanical life of many of our plants, as well as giving us a clearer
insight into the ornithology of this continent, and we feel our duty
but begun in our meager effort to make these facts known.
The "Historical Introduction" will be found full of interesting
dates and facts, as also the chapter on " Personal Recollections, '
while the list of County Officers, obtained at considerable labor, and
the only list published, will be used as a useful reference.
Our county is the largest in population and wealth of any other
in our state, except Milwaukee, and is largely on the increase. The
healthful character of our climate, together with our rich and varied
displays of scenic beauty beheld every where around us, is bringing
hundreds to our doors who are not only invigorated by our pure
and bracing atmosphere, but enchanted with the landscape grand
eur that foreign lands but tamely mimic. Historical places point
to ages as yet comparatively unknown, and if a people, /whom we
designate as Mound Builders, lived here, it is but right to infer that
they were neither ignorant of our climate or our scenery, but as is
shown, left larger evidences of their labors here than in any other
section of this country.
We have been much gratified at the cordiality with which our
citizens have entered into the enterprise, and take this opportunity
of offering them our grateful acknowledgments, and especially to
the writers of the different chapters, for_ their kind and unselfish
interest in collecting the many facts and'pleasing incidents there
in related. Such men are, as a rule, the bone and sinew of a com
munity, and never weary in well doing. We are also indebted to
the following gentlemen, who have made it a matter of interest
and labor to aid us in our undertaking: Hon. Simeon Mills, Wm.
A. Wheeler, E. M. Williamson, E. Burdick, Geo. B. Smith, Wm.
Vroman, N. T. Parkinson, Wm. Welch, S. W. Botkin, Hon. Ly
man C. Draper, Prof. S. H. Carpenter, Prof. R. B. Anderson, D. S.
Durrie (who aided us materially, by the use of several of his MSS.),
Phillip Barry, (for the use of county records,) Gabriel Bjornson, P.
B. Parsons, 0. S. Holum, Hon. J. A. Johnson, Gen. S. Cadwalla-
der, Judge N. F. Hyer, Judge J. T. Clark, Capt. John Nader, Jas.
R. Stuart, (for draught of design on back of the volume), N. P.
Jones, (for photographs to the engraver), N. T. Hawes, John Cors-
cot (for city records), and others. W. J. P.

CONTENTS,

Chapter. I — In the beginning, . . 9
II — Locating the Capital, 20
III — Pioneers, .... 40
IV— State University, . . 67
V — Historical Society . 83
VI — Churches and Pastors, 95

CITY OF MADISON.
Page. Chapter

Page.
VII — Newspaper History, 109
VIII — Merchants & Bankers, 124
X — Schools, Literature,etc. 146
XI— Madison Homes, . . .167
XII— Visitors and Resorts . 176
XIII— Mounds and Relics, . 184

DANE COUNTY TOWNS.
Historical Introduction: — Characteristics of the county
—Naming of the Lakes— County before its settlement— Streams-
Population— Chuiches— Schools— Property value— Railroads, .
Dates and Facts: — First justice, election and judges; first
hooks and stationery, juries, indictment, chancery suit, wolf bounty,
licenses and treasurer; first jail, circuB, metal casting and post-
office box; first woolen mill, blacksmith and auctioneer— Naming
of Aztalan— Early assessment of lands and tax— Completion of pub
lic bnildings^-Mineral waters, etc , 
Albion — Prof A. R. Cornwall, ,
Berry— Hon. Otto Kerl and Wm. S. Crowther, Esq.,
Black Earth — Clarence Burnett and A. J. Fullerton,
Blooming Grove — James Kavanaugh, Esq 
Blue Mounds— John C. Ward and Ira Isnam, Esqrs.,
Bristol — J. R. Davis, Esq., . . .
Burke — John Douglas, Esq., 
Cambridge— Hon. Geo. Dow and A. B. Carpenter, Esq.,
Christiana — Chas. N. Brown and others,
Cottage Grove — James Bell, Esq., ....
Cross Plains— Henry Winkle, Esq 
Dane— Hon. Robert Steele and Mansfield Arries,
Deerfield— Hon. K. 0. Heimdal 
Dunn— William E. Colladay, Esq,  488
Dunkirk— Prof . Geo. W. Currier,  347
Fitchburg — Dr. Wm. H. Fox and Wm. Vroman, Esq., 448
Madison— Hon. H. A. Tenney,  539
Mazomanie— Henry Howarth and Henry Z. Moulton, Esqrs., 592
Medina— Frank L. Morrill, Esq.,  217
Middleton— A. B. Parmenter, Esq., .... 589
Montrose— H. E. Story, Esq., Paoli— H. S. Utley, Esq., 474
Mount Vernon— Dr. W. J. Donald  312

203

210
283266519532
236
380 393
366351 276
440
463 432

8

CONTENTS AND ILLUSTRATIONS.

Oregon— Dr. I. Howe and T. E. Thompson,
Perry — Gabriel Bjornson, ....
Pleasant Springs — Prof. A. R. Ames,
Primrose— Hon. G. Tollefson,
Roxbury — Hon. John T. Clark, .
Rutland — Hon. S. W. Graves,
Springdale — James P. McPherson, Esq., .
Springfield — E. Harding, Esq., .
Stoughton — Prof. Geo. W. Currier,
Sun Prairie — Dr. C. G. Cross, .
Vermont — .......
Verona — Donald McDonald and J. T. Hawes,
Vienna — Hon. A. A. Boyce, ....
West Blue Mounds— Dr. R. W. Jones, .
Westport and Village of Waunakee — E.L.
Windsor — Sherman Brothers and H. A. Lewis,
York — 

Noyes, Esq

505
291 371 526
495 387
306
328 338313
588571563
244 298
249 570

TOWNS ADJACENT.
Brooklyn — J. W. Haseltine, Esq.  632
Edgerton — E. A. Burdick, Esq.,  650
Evansvtlle, Rock County — D. Johnson, L. Leonard, J. West, 617
Lake Koshkonong — Prof. T. L. Kumlien, . . . 628
Lodi— Hon. J. T. Clark  636

Personal Recollections,
County Supervisors and Officers, .
Legislative Members,
Madison Village and City Council,

559655
660662

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

Birdseye View or Madison, - 2
Mrs. Eben Peck, - - - - £5
Lake Monona, ... 31
Kino Street,  35
First House in Madison, 43
Hon. Simeon Mills, - - 49
State University, - - 75
Hon. Lyman C. Draper, - - 87
congregational church, - 104
Hon. David Atwood, - - - 107
State Journal Block, - - 113
D. K. Tenney. Esq., - - 119
Wisconsin State Capitol, - 131
City Hall and U.S. Postoffice 141
Madison City High School, - 151
Elm Side, Dr. Bowen's residence 169

Rosebank Cottage, - . 173
Yatch on Lake Monona, - 177
Angleworm Station, - - 181
Marietta, -------- 185
Knives, Awls and Bracelets, 189
Porphyry and Greenstone, - 196
Drinking Cup,  197
Sepulchral Urns, - . 199
Map op Dane County, - - 201
Old Court House, - - - - 215
Indian Camp,  271
Albion Academy, ----- 285
Opera House, Stoughton, - 341
Stoughton Wagon Works, - 345
Early Agricultural Scene, 359
Lake Keoonsa and Steamer, 377

HISTOEY OF MADISON.

CHAPTER I.
IN THE BEGINNING.
Soon after Pere Marquette made his way to the
Mississippi, from the Lakes, this Western country
was overrun by Canadian French voyageurs, whose
country, language and religion, were considerable aids
to trade among the tribes of Indians, recently gath
ered into the fold of the Catholic church. There is
no positive evidence that they were on this identical
spot, but a probability, all but overwhelming, suggests
their presence in the Lake country, because the In
dians were here, and, moreover, because the conform
ation of the country, the large and beautiful lakes,
and other well known features, specially adapted this
particular locality for the , supply of peltry. There
was a mission house at or near Green Bay before
Marquette's world-famous canoe voyage by the Pox
and "Wisconsin rivers; but there is no mention by
which our topography is identified until more than a
century later, in the records of Capt. Carver, as pub
lished after 1768. His " Travels through the interior

10 HISTORY OF MADISON.
parts of North America " make unmistakable refer
ences to the Blue Mounds, which he knew, probably
from the Indians, were supposed to be rich in lead.
The captain shrewdly suspected the trappers of hav
ing purposely misrepresented the territory for their
better security as to ulterior designs of their own.
The Jesuit maps of the Lake Superior country, pre
pared a century earlier in Paris, were very good, con
sidering the limited facilities of the priests by whom
the information was supplied, but the operations of
the Canadian voyageurs, jealously defending their
trading privileges after their old home had passed
under the rule of strangers, would be subject to very
different rules.
The Sacs and Foxes held this territory from time
immemorial, so far as we have any positive knowl
edge, until the year 1825, when the Nations sold their
rights to all lands east of the Mississippi. Unfortu
nately, for the red men, they were persuaded by
some of their leaders to play fast and loose with their
treaty, and after the first removal, there were almost
continuous returns, and on many occasions marauding
parties inflicted damage on property and life by way
of asserting a right to their old hunting grounds.
In the year 1831 things had become unendurable, and
it was found necessary to drive the Indians back
across the newly agreed upon barrier, the Mississippi.
The "Winnebago outbreak and the Black Hawk war,
the first named in 1831-2, and the latter concurrent
with or immediately following, were parts of the same

HISTORY OF MADISON. 11
scheme of aggression, intended to recover for the
tribes the lands already sold and delivered by their
chiefs and themselves. Eventually the Indians were
repressed and forced back with a firm hand.
The first attempt at settlement in this county was
made in 1827-8, by Col. Ebenezer Brigham, who died
in this city at the advanced age of seventy-two, in the
year 1861. He visited "Wisconsin in 1822, but it was
not until five years later that he came hither to make a
permanent abode. The lead mines were the chief at
traction, but after a brief sojourn at Platte river, on
what is known as the Block House branch, he and his
party retired to Galena, not being strong enough to
hold their own in a country possessed by hostile In
dians. Early in 1828, Col. Brigham and his asso
ciates took up a position in the Blue Mounds, still
mining for lead. Food supplies, at first procured
from Galena, were afterwards obtained from Fort
Winnebago, and it was while returning from Fort
Winnebago that the beauties of the Lake country
were first discovered by Col. Brigham. The Indians
had told him about the lakes, but the beautiful real?
ity vastly exceeded their description. The pioneer is
not always capable of appreciating the picturesque,
but the colonel predicted the greatness of the village
that would be built where Madison now stands, being
impressed by the charms of the scene, and he even
assumed that the capital of the Territory and State
would be here located.
The first comers to this county were widely severed

12 HISTORY OF MADISON.
from their nearest friends. Dodgeville was the resi
dence of their next door neighbor, and to the south
east they could call upon somewhat distant acquaint
ances on the O'Plaine river, hardly twelve miles from
Chicago. Col. Juneau was located near the junction
of the Milwaukee and Menomonee rivers, laying the
foundations of the beautiful Cream City, which is
now the commercial metropolis of Wisconsin. It
will be seen at once that every settlement in those
days had to rely mainly upon its own means of de
fense against the Indians, who were established in
populous villages in every direction. As a rule there
was a good understanding, and from time to time
treaties were made defining the boundaries of the
new comers, but the stipulations of the natives were
extended and broken repeatedly. So slowly did the
people migrate hitherwards, that Col. Brigham was
still the nearest settler when the capital was located,
and his residence was distant twenty-five miles.
Gov. Lewis Cass, the chief executive of Michigan
Territory, had jurisdiction from the earliest set
tlement, and he made Col. Brigham the first justice
ever appointed here, but his office was almost a sine
cure during the four years that he retained the honor.
The difficulties under which these hardy miners
opened up their lucrative calling cannot readily be
made to appear to the modern reader. The traveler
of to-day is transported in a few hours from Madison to
Chicago, can dispatch the business of the day in the
metropolis of the northwest and return, without a

HISTORY OF MADISON. 13
sense of fatigue or a stain of travel, to his home at
night, but there was no such luxury possible to the
adventurous colonel and his companions who sent
their product to Green Bay, Galena or Chicago, and
who had not a wagon track to guide them toward the
village which has now expanded to the colossal pro
portions of Chicago. That mighty Babylon was then
an insignificant village, in which there seemed to be
no probability that the people would master the diffi
culties incident to the position and render it habita
ble in the better sense. The old colonel was natu
rally and fitly included in the earliest attempts to or
ganize a government in this territory, when the sev
erance from Michigan was effected in 1836, and for
very many years he was identified with the succeed
ing forms of administration.
A trip from Green Bay to Prairie du Chien, on
horseback, was undertaken for the first time in May,
1829, by Judge Doty, afterwards Governor, and two
attorneys of the first named settlement, Henry S.
Baird and Morgan L. Martin, guided by a Menomo
nee Indian whose acquaintance with the country was
by no means perfect; but their seven days pilgrimage
made them conversant with the topographical features
of Lake Winnebago, Fond du Lac, Green Lake, our
own Four Lakes, the site of our city, the Blue Mounds
and Dodgeville, besides the vast range of country in
cluded in their interesting detour. There had been
many transits by the Fox and Wisconsin to the Miss
issippi, since the days of Pere Marquette and his voy-

14 HISTORY OF MADISON.
ageurs, but this, so far as can be known, was the first
journey made by white men overland. Three years
later Judge Doty again visited this spot, having been
much impressed by its beauty, and being desirous to
see a town started in the midst of so much natural
grandeur. The ambitious designs of Black Hawk, who had
obtained an ascendency over the braves of his own
and of neighboring tribes, led to a disastrous war
with the Indians in 1832, as already indicated, and
the settlers of this portion of Wisconsin were not
backward during that eventful period. There was an
actual alliance between the deceitful Winnebagoes
and the more immediate followers of Black Hawk,
the Sacs and Foxes, some time before hostilities were
openly commenced; but the savages were full of pro
testations as to their peaceful and friendly disposition.
Col. Brigham could not be hoodwinked by their flat
teries, and he, with the cooperation of his little army
of industry, built a block house fort, on the prairie,
near Blue Mounds, as part of their system of defense.
When hostile demonstrations were anticipated, the
whole of the settlers near at hand, with their families,
congregated within the palisade that surrounded the
main buildings. The Winnebagoes were still per
sistent as to their friendship and alliance, until the
beginning of June, 1832, although there is good rea
son for believing that they were supplying informa
tion and help to their more warlike neighbors, long
before that date. Preparations for war were made,

HISTORY OF MADISON. 15
regardless of the Winnebago promises, as it was
well known that Black Hawk's followers would cause
trouble without much delay. The commanding officer
at Mound Fort, Capt. John Sherman, saw the proba
bility of war to be so imminent that he communicated
his apprehensions to Col. Dodge, afterwards governor,
and the colonel marched to the reinforcement of Sher
man with two hundred men, collected from other and
less exposed positions in the mining districts. Shortly
after this timely aid arrived, James Aubrey, the first
commander at the fort, was killed near the residence
of Col. Brigham, while procuring water from a
spring. The Sac Indians killed him, being guided to
their ambush by the treacherous Winnebagoes, within
a few days of the time when they were most lavish
in expressions of friendship. Their part in the mur
der was surmised, but not known, at the time of Au
brey's death. A second ambush was planned, and
succeeded on the 20th of the month, fourteen days
after the death of Aubrey. The savages' having made
their dispositions for the purpose, caused some few of
their body to reveal themselves to the occupants of
the fort. Lieut. Force, accompanied by a comrade
named Green, the latter leaving his wife and children
in the stockade, made a reconnoisance, in the course
of which they were decoyed by the retiring Indians
into a trap laid for the destruction of a much larger
body. Force and Green fought and maneuvered with
bravery and skill, but they were so completely en
meshed that there was no possibility of escape. The

16 HISTORY OF MADISON.
savages mutilated their victims in a shameful manner
after death. The watch worn by Lieut. Force was
subsequently recovered from the body of a dead In
dian, by a trader named Wallis Eowan. The red
man, overtaken by fatigue, had apparently lain down
to rest, and in that way was destroyed by a prairie
fire. The efforts and the deaths of Force and Green
were seen from Mound Fort.
Notwithstanding these cruel and purposeless suc
cesses, the Indians were pursued by the main body of
settlers and troops, under the command of Col. Dodge,
over the Crawfish, near Aztalan, across the site of this
city, to the north end of Monona, and at Catfish Ford,
a brisk engagement with the rear guard of the flying
foe, taught the Indians what they might expect in the
way of punishment. One Indian was shot sitting
upon the newly-made grave of his squaw, having
calmly taken that position apparently with the hope
that he would thus readily join her in the Happy
Hunting Grounds. Eventually the Black Hawk war
was ended by decisive battles, the only kind of argu
ment that can be conclusive with savages, and nearly
the whole of the red skins that had been in arms were
killed, captured or dispersed. Black Hawk and his
accomplice, the Prophet, who had buoyed up the tribes
with delusive promises, were surrendered to General
Street, at Prairie du Chien, on the 27th of August,
1832, by the chiefs of their own people, One-Eyed
Decorra and Cha-E. Tar. The treaty with the Sacs
and Foxes, made at Eock Island in September of that

HISTORY OF MADISON. 17
year, happily terminated the Indian difficulties of
Wisconsin. Shortly after the Black Hawk war had been crushed
out, the attractions of this site brought settlers here,
and on the 15th of October, 1832, an encampment
was made by Capt. Low, James Halpin and Archi
bald Crisman, on Mendota Lake ridge. There were
numerous Indians then located on the city site, hav
ing been concentrated here by the facilities offered by
a French trader, whose abode was on the ground now
crossed by Johnson street. Eowan, the Indian trader
into whose hands the watch of Lieut. Force fell as
lawful spoil, had long before taken up his location in
this neighborhood. Mr. Abel Easdall, a native of
Kentucky, another early resident, commenced his
Wisconsin experiences as a lead miner, and thence
diverging into the avocation of an Indian trader, was
connected by marriage with a Winnebago woman.
After her death, he married another of the same tribe,
but she eventually migrated west with her own peo
pie, and her husband was not entirely inconsolable.
Easdall had been for a considerable time a prosper
ous trader among the Indians before the war com
menced, but during the continuance of hostilities
with Black Hawk, Abel Easdall was one of the
readiest and most daring of our volunteers. He con
tinued a resident in Dane county until his death at
Token Creek, in 1857, when he was fifty-two years old.
After the conclusion of his Indian engagements, Mr.
Easdall took to himself a wife of his own race in this

18 HISTORY OF MADISON.
city, and raised a family as the result of that mar
riage. He had traded in Dane county, and more
especially around the Four Lakes, since the year
before the Black Hawk war.
From the time of the first colony planted in Illi
nois by La Salle, in 1678-9, the Canadian voyagers
and colonists had customarily intermarried with the
Indians with, as a rule, no other result than that the
more civilized race was absorbed by the other, and
the result did not exhibit a corresponding increase
of capacity to appropriate the advantages of civ
ilization. Some of the half breeds were sharp and
dangerous, but few are known as estimable men.
One of the earliest traders here seems to have been an
exception to that rule. His name was Michel St.
Cyr, son of a Canadian Frenchman, by a Winnebago.
Living always on the frontier and among the Indians,
he had not participated in the advantages of schools,
but he bore an excellent character as a man of verac
ity, a virtue not always found associated with civili
zation, although certainly a part of the highest. St.
Cyr was one of the traders in the Four Lake country,
dividing his attention between the traffic by which he
made money and a small garden, that gave him and
his Winnebago children a subsistence. His cabin
served occasionally as a caravanserai and something
more, when travelers visited the lakes. Eventually
St. Cyr sold out his improvements to Col. Slaughter,
and retired to the Winnebago reservation in Iowa.
His sons were considered worthless, even by the In-

HISTORY OF MADISON. 19
dians, and that atom of civilization was utterly erased.
The F. F. Y.'s would not trace their lineage to Poca
hontas, if the husband of that lady had been domi
ciliated among the tribes, and if the result of that
marriage had been given over to Indian customs and
general training.
Preliminary steps for the survey of the lands in
this locality were taken by the general government
in 1834, and before the end of the year, that duty had
been completed. The survey and plat of this city
were made under special directions from Judge Doty,
who had long before that time been impressed by the
beauty of this site and its surroundings. The fur
ther proceedings of the early settlers must be dealt
with in a future chapter.

20 HISTORY OF MADISON.

CHAPTEE II.
LOCATING THE CAPITAL.
Settlement had made little progress when the ques
tion arose, " where shall we fix our capital? " Suddenly,
from all parts of the territory, arose the voice of in
domitable advocates, and when the first legislature
was convened at Belmont, there was a display of log
rolling such as could hardly be excelled. Judge Doty,
who had traversed nearly the whole territory on
horseback or in his canoe, accoutred " with his green
blanket and shot gun," might have been trusted to
make the selection, but for the fact, that he had
long since decided in his own mind, and had joined
with Gov. Mason of Michigan, in purchasing the site
occupied by this city for $1,500. Fond du Lac,
Dubuque, in Iowa, which was part of our territory,
Portage, Belmont, Helena, Eacine, Milwaukee, Platte
viUe, Mineral Point, Cassville, Green Bay, Kosh-
konong, Belleview)(] Wisconsinapolis, Wisconsin City
and Peru, were all advocated with unscrupulous zeal,
and every one of the rival cities, many of which, like
Madison, lived only on paper, had anxious friends
who were ready to abandon their own chances for the
time, to unite on any of the others, only to defeat the
most dangerous competitor. Madison was, perhaps,

HISTORY OF MADISON. 21
championed in the same way as most of the other
cities of the brain, but with more success. Corner
lots were much in request, among the men whose
votes could make or unmake a capital at Belmont,
and lobbying was the rule. It is tacitly admitted by
many, and openly stated by some, that Madison
might not have been selected as the site, had not
Judge Doty permitted many legislators and their
bosom friends, a pecuniary interest in the venture
which Gov. Mason and he had made. The majority
in the legislative council, as it was, proved to be only
one in an aggregate of thirteen, and in the house of
representatives, only four in an aggregate of twenty-
eix. The margin was too small for comfort, but it
was sufficient. Thus it happened, that after an
exciting contest, the peninsula between the third and
fourth of the Four Lakes was chosen as the home of
our territorial government, and became the site of the
handsome city which we claim has become the admired
of all observers.
The time in which this lively conflict occurred
was especially full of land speculators. The public
domain had enriched hundreds, and millions were
hoping that the same process might cover all their
needs forever. It was being realized in 1836 that
there were blanks as well as prizes in the lottery, and
a collapse was felt to be imminent. The founders of
paper cities were snatching a new eloquence from
despair, and this location of the capital was one of
many schemes on which fortunes depended. The

22 HISTORY OF MADISON.
elegance of some of the maps, the fervor of some of
their expounders, might have charmed an impartial
legislator, could a phenomenon 60 rare have been
found in the territory of Wisconsin, to record his
vote for either of the projects. Happily, the proposi
tion of Judge Doty won a controlling interest, and
three commissioners, chosen by joint ballot, were en
trusted with the task of selecting plans, making con
tracts and superintending the erection of the capitol.
The sparse settlement of the territory generally,
and of this section more particularly, cannot be better
illustrated than by recording a few of the experiences
of travelers, about the time of, and soon after the
passage of the act which determined the seat of gov
ernment. The sessions of the legislative assembly
were appointed to be held at Burlington, in Des
Moines county, now Iowa, until March 4, 1839, unless
the government buildings here should be completed
earlier; and it was necessary to bring from a dis
tance every man that was wanted to assist in the
work of preparation. The commissioners chosen for
the task before named were Augustus A. Bird,
acting commissioner, James Duane Doty, treasurer,
and John F. O'Neill. The sum appropriated for the
erection was $20,000, a very small amount, considering
the difficulties under which the work was to be under
taken, but help was expected from congress.
In the month following the choice of commission
ers, that is to say in January, 1837, Madison was vis
ited from Milwaukee, by a young lawyer and land

HISTORY OF MADISON. 23
surveyor, since known to fame as the Hon. Moses M.
Strong, of Mineral Point, who from that time has
been associated with the progress of Wisconsin by his
identification with railroads, river improvements, and
other public works, as well as by repeated terms of
service in various offices, and in the legislature of the
territory, as member and president in the constitu
tional convention to form a state constitution, and in
the house of representatives of the state, for some
time speaker. Mr. Strong, accompanied by Mr. Marsh
and Mr. Potter, explored this section of country, and
after much trouble, found the locality on which the
capitol now stands; but they were not quite so fortu
nate in discovering Michel St. Cyr's cabin, where
they hoped to obtain quarters, so i:hat they were com
pelled to pass the night without shelter or food for
their horses or themselves, on the spot where Ashton
post office now stands, in the town of Springfield.
From that bivouac, the party made their course by the
Blue Mounds to Mineral Point. Mr. Strong was em
ployed, in February of the same year, by Judge Doty,
to survey and stake off capitol square, and some of the
adjoining lots in this city, and the haste with which
the work must needs be pushed through would not
allow time to be lost in waiting for genial weather.
Mr. John Catlin and Mr. George Messersmith accom
panied the surveyor on this expedition, and Mr. Josiah
A. Noonan joined the party on the way. The com
missariat department was much better cared for than
it had been in the preceding month, as Mr. Strong

24 HISTORY OF MADISON.
and his party stayed with St. Cyr, and were probably
regaled with the half-breed's standing dish, musk rat
pie, while the actual survey was progressing. The
several days journey to and from this city were thus
recorded: The first day out from Mineral Point, the
party reached Mr. John Messersmith's, just twelve
miles east. On the 18th of February, they called at
Brigham's, where they procured provisions, and then
pushed on to Haney's Creek, near the Cross Plains
station on Black Earth Creek, spending that night at
Steel's. The following day the party arrived at St.
Cyr's, early enough to permit of the work being com
menced. St. Cyr's place was so far from the scene of
their labors, that the party camped out part of the
time, despite the inclemency of the season, but heavy
and incessant falls of snow compelled them to desist
from their labors for many days, making the half-
breed's cabin their headquarters. After completing
their survey for the time, Mr. Strong and his party
returned by way of Wallis Eowan's, who lived where
Poynette now stands, about twelve miles south from
Fort Winnebago. Going by the Wisconsin river, the
party reached Helena, and thence struck across to
Mineral Point. The scanty narrative indicates the
nakedness of the land; but the work just accomplished
led the way to the building of numerous habitations.
Other travelers passing over various routes toward the
mines, or with this city as their objective point, reveal
the existence of Prairie Tillage where Waukesha now
stands, and also the intermediate halting place at Fort

Mrs. Eben Fboe.

HISTORY OF MADISON. 27
Atkinson, en route to the Catfish river. Mr. Alex. F.
Pratt and Mr. Augustus Story made that route in
February, 1837, shortly after the survey party had set
out on their return to Mineral Point, and the new
comers had been twenty-four hours without food,
when they left their camp near the present site of
Dunkirk. The men who went exploring in those
days had no reason to expect luxurious living. A few
cold roast potatoes, unceremoniously found in a wig
wam from which the owners were absent, were con
sumed with abundant relish at noon after their long
fast, and no other food was obtained until the next
day, when they discovered St. Cyr's cabin on Fourth
lake. The travelers had camped without supper, in a
ravine near where the State University now stands.
The savory musk rat was a treat, by comparison with
such short commons, and the party started for Blue
Mounds well prepared for a journey. Similar lodg
ings and fare would not now be considered tempting,
but pioneer life does not encourage a too critical
taste. More spacious and comfortable quarters were to be
made ready on the site of Madison by Mr. Eben
Peck and his wife, Eosaline. Two months only had
elapsed since the second visit of the surveying party,
when the Peck family started from Blue Mounds to
open a pioneer boarding house here. The snow had
not gone when Mr. Peck commenced the erection of
his premises, on land bought immediately after the
location of the capitol; but Mr. Catlin had already

28 HISTORY OF MADISON.
caused a log house to be erected where the post office
now stands. Owing to an accident, the interior of
Mr. Catlin's house was destroyed by fire before it
could be occupied; thus it happened that the Peck
hostelry was the first residence in Madison.
There were some rough and ready specimens of
humanity then on hand in this region. Two French
men, who had associated with a party of Winnebago
Indians in the Blue Mounds during the winter, were
employed to build the house, the work being superin
tended by Abraham Wood, who subsequently put up
a saw mill at Baraboo. Wood was at that time liv
ing at Winnequah, then known as Strawberry Point,
where he enjoyed the distinction of being the son-in-
law of De Kaury, son of a Frenchman, a Winnebago
chief. Wood bore an excellent reputation, but some
of his surroundings were very hard cases. One of
the Frenchmen was shot, in a dispute about land,
by Berry Haney, a rival claimant, and generally, life
was but cheaply held in those troubled times.
Snow and the howling of wolves awakened Mrs.
Peck from her slumbers in a tent, three miles from
Madison, on Saturday, April 15, 1837, and she pushed
on through the storm to the site of her more substan
tial dwelling, where she sat down under a tree in her
wagon, twenty-five miles from the nearest white resi
dents at Blue Mounds, and nearly one hundred miles
from the settlers at Milwaukee. The building was
not far enough advanced to satisfy the demands of the
hostess, and a temporary habitation was constructed,

HISTORY OF MADISON. 29
to serve until the larger place could be comfortably
floored and plastered. The little hotel was speedily
crowded with guests. Milwaukee and far away New
York were represented by visitors, and even England
had contributed its quota to the roll of occupants.
The comforts of the establishment were substantial
from the first, although necessarily the bill of fare
consisted of such articles, as could be transported from
considerable distances; but very soon the table was a
marvel to beholders, and cleanliness, the first requisite
towards elegance, was a welcome feature from the
beginning. The grand dining room was as well ven
tilated as the winds of heaven could make it, the hos
pitable board being spread in the open air to meet the
requirements of some fifteen new arrivals. Judge
Doty, Col. Brigham and Commissioner Bird, with
others whose names are historical, were frequent visi
tors, and the unfinished building was tapestried with
bed sheets to furnish sleeping accommodations. The
troubles incidental to pioneer housekeeping are always
of interest to people living in the west, and, with few
exceptions, the men who sought accommodation then
in Madison made themselves completely at home,
hunting, fishing and otherwise during their leisure,
increasing the variety of the table. Judge, after
wards Governor, Doty gave an excellent example of
helpfulness by assisting a party of amateur plasterers
to make the kitchen habitable, and one day's work
under his direction effected much. The cheery spirit
thus indicated was worth more than all the material

30 HISTORY OF MADISON.
aid, as it nerved the sturdy matron to master the sit
uation. Before long the sounds of gayety within that
building would have been a surprise to the languid
pleasure seekers in much more costly mansions.
Eeally, at all times, the pleasure that can be found in
palace or cottage depends upon glad hearts, and not
upon the presence of luxurious viands.
Madison was then so great on various maps that it
might well have been matter for surprise that th&
legislative assembly had been convened for its first ses
sion at Belmont, and for its subsequent sessions, until
1839, at Burlington, now in Iowa; but, as will readily
be understood, it is far more easy to construct a city
on paper than to build one on the solid earth. Castles
in the air are very often erected before breakfast, but
there is just one drawback, that nobody ever dines in
such structures. Madison city was then, vide pros
pectuses, the metropolitan center of cities, corres
ponding to the seven hills of Eome, when, in fact,
it was only a village m futuro.
The beauty of the surrounding country, with its
twelve lakes, might well have concentrated attention
upon Dane county, and the four lakes in Yahara, or
Catfish valley, lying almost in a direct line from
northwest to southeast, could not fail to be recognized
as the regal crown of all this natural loveliness. Ke-
gonsa, or First Lake, lowest of the four bodies of
water, covers five square miles, having a circumfer
ence of nine miles and a half, its longest diameter
being over three miles, and its shortest fully two.

Lake Monona, or Third Lake — Looking toward Lake Side.

HISTORY OF MADISON. 33
Waubesa, the Second Lake, is three miles and a half
above Kegonsa, in the towns of Dunn and Blooming
Grove. This lake has an average depth of twelve
feet of crystal clear water, through which the pebbly
bottom can be seen as if through glass. This beauti
ful sheet of crystal is three and a half miles long by
about two miles across. Monona, the lovely Third
Lake, is only seven-eighths of a mile above Waubesa,
covering an area of six square miles, being six and a
half miles long by two broad, and the strip of land
which divides this lake from Mendota, the Fourth
#Lake, is the site of the capital of Wisconsin. The
painter's pencil can alone do justice to the scene;
words fail to convey an adequate conception of the
picturesque effect which is mirrored to the brain, when
an artist looks from the high ground, or still better,
from the cupola of the capitol, upon the hills and
lakes which 6eem to rival the loveliness of the moon
and stars in the azure firmament under which they
are now lying silvered before us. Mendota is by far
the largest of the lakes, as it covers an area of more
than twenty square miles. Its longest diameter is
six miles, and its breadth is fully four. Could the
whole of the legislature have been brought to this
spot in the spring or summer of 1836, it may be hoped
that there would have been less scope for the log
rolling process at Belmont, in the succeeding winter,
which came within one vote of negativing the propo
sition to make Madison the capital of the territory;
but perhaps even then it would br.~e been difficult.
3

34 HISTORY OF MADISON.
The commissioners charged with the erection of the
capitol building, in which the functions of govern
ment were to be undertaken, were not dilatory in
commencing their duties, and by the tenth of June
there were thirty-six workmen upon the ground, under
the direction of Commissioner Augustus A. Bird. The
party had traveled with their teams from Milwaukee,
making their roads as they came, fording streams, and
threading their devious way through occasional
swamps, much of the time under a drenching rain, for
just ten days, to effect a transit which is now daily
accomplished in little more than four hours. The sun,
gleamed out once upon the travelers, and the spot,
made glorious by that welcome illumination, has ever
since been known as Sun Prairie. Other workmen
speedily followed, and it is interesting to note, in their
several narratives, the progress in settlement along
the traveled route, as the summer wore on. Early in
August there was a log house and an Indian camping
ground at Prairieville, formerly Prairie Tillage, now
Waukesha, and five miles beyond that location, a log
house occupied by a family named Pratt, which had
settled on 160 acres. Half a day's journey further
on, some settlers of the name of Brown had taken up
a quarter section, and about eight miles from the iap-
ids of Eock river, near the site of Watertown, were
three brothers named Setchell, preparing homes for
their families. A dam and sawmill were in course of
erection at Watertown, by Mr. Goodhue, and at Lake
Mills the Atwoods had made a comfortable abode

BfeP

)M@ STOUT,
(Between Webster and Plnokney Streets)
LOOKING WEST.

HISTORY OF MADISON. 37
just twenty-eight miles from the capital. Settlement
had made no nearer approach to Madison onjthat line of
road, but the trail was well defined, and there was no
difficulty in traveling where so many had already
passed. The clear air of the capital, and the bustle
of preparation, must have made the appetites of the
workmen keen, as the records of the time continually
mention expeditions to Galena and elsewhere, to re
plenish an often exhausted commissariat. Such crea
ture comforts as pork, flour, and some few luxuries,
were dealt out with no sparing hand, as all testimo
nies go to show.
The corner-stone was laid at the southeast corner of
the capitol, on the 4th of July, 1837, and there was no
lack of eloquence to celebrate the event; but the press
was not represented on the occasion, hence the speeches
are not recorded. There was another celebration in
November, when the foundation was completed and
the stone work ceased for the season. The money to
pay the hands had to be brought from Green Bay;
and Mr. Peck, who acted as courier in that emergency,
swam several of the rivers, so that his wallet of
paper money was somewhat dilapidated when he
reached home. By November, 1838, the assembly
and senate chambers were finished, but the plaster
ing was not dry, so that the sessions of the legisla
ture were held for a time in a new building, the
American Hotel, erected at the corner of Pinck-
ney street and' Washington avenue, where the Park
Savings Bank now stands, by Mr. A. A. Bird, the

38 HISTORY OF MADISON.
contractor for the capitol, and his partner, Mr. Mor
rison. Most of the workmen erected their own rude dwell
ings in the vicinity of King street, near the Third
lake, immediately after their arrival ; but none of the
buildings remain at this time. There was a very
hearty and unanimous celebration on the 4th of July,
1837, and Mrs. Peck claims that there were from two
to three hundred persons present, including the In
dian chief, Little Dandy and his party; but Gen. Mills
and Mr. Catlin believe there must have been a misap
prehension as to the extent of the gathering. The
glorification lasted several days, and Madison has
never entered with more general gusto upon the na
tional celebration than was realized on that occasion
by the little handful of white men and their Indian
allies. Probably some of the confusion that was
subsequently found in the accounts of the commis
sioners was due to the spirit that pervaded the first
and many subsequent convivialities.
Under the act which provided for the building of
the capitol, and appointed commissioners for the pur
pose, there was an appropriation of $20,000, to which
congress added a like sum, making $40,000 in all.
The first meeting of the legislature in the city of
Madison was held in the American Hotel on the 26th
of February, 1838, and Governor Dodge delivered his
first message to the legislature in Madison in that
building. A committee reported that the hall and
council chamber would be ready for the representa
tives and for the senate on the first day of March,

HISTORY OF MADISON. 39
and after some little further delay the rooms were ac
tually occupied, but it was an act of hardihood to at
tempt the transaction of business under such diffi
culties. Col. Childs, one of the members who was.
entrusted with the task of carpeting the rooms and
rendering them habitable, has left a record of the
sad condition of affairs, in which Contractor Morri
son's hogs were better sheltered than the law makers
for Wisconsin. If under such circumstances there
were some efforts at log rolling, it may have been
merely to maintain animal heat, by such exercise.
The legislature adjourned for twenty days, to permit
of the hall and chamber being rendered, in some de
gree, warm and comfortable. There was a difficulty
in procuring hotel accommodation also, although
there were now three houses where guests could be
received. The Madison Hotel had two rooms that
would lodge four persons each; the Madison House
also two rooms that would lodge six altogether, and
the American Hotel had eight rooms, in which twen
ty-six members could find accommodation. The
prices charged were high enough to satisfy the most
fastidious, but in every other respect, there was abun
dant room for complaint. Happily the pioneers were
inclined to make the best of things as they were, al
though Judge J. G. Knapp asserts that six men were
placed in a room, only sixteen feet square, in the
Madison Hotel, and that the floors all over that pop
ulous establishment were nightly covered with shake
downs, for transient visitors.

40 HISTORY OF MADISON.

CHAPTEE III.
PIONEERS AND CELEBRITIES.
The pioneers of our city were not the first settlers
in the territory, now known as Wisconsin, and there
fore we shall look outside our own borders to con
struct a sketch of the early days, which will connect
the house of Eben Peck and his wife Eosaline, with
the remote past, as well as with the present. The
chief whose name is spelt by different writers in so
many differing ways, De Kaury, Day-Kau-Eay, De-
corrah, Decori, and otherwise, in every manner that
will give even an approximation to the original sound,
is said to' have been the son of a French voyageur, or
trapper, who had made his home among the Indians,
giving rise to a succession of able men, who were in
fluential in the affairs of the tribes. One of that
family, a Winnebago, surrendered Black Hawk to
Gen. Street, the Indian Agent, at Prairie du Chien,
after the close of the Black Hawk war in 1832. The
Frenchman Pellkie — whose name is undoubtedly a
corruption from the original, who assisted to build
the first log house for Eben Peck — was officered by
another resident among the Indians, named Wood,
afterwards a mill owner, who had married into the
family of a De Kaury. Some exquisite stories could

HISTORY OF MADISON. 41
be written of the Four Lake country, connecting In
dians with white men, in the days before the city of
Madison was even imagined. One of the De Kaurys
exercised the powers of a chief in this immediate lo
cality. Gray-headed Day-Kau-Eay or De Kaury,
with a considerable force, met Gen. Atkinson at
Portage, while Gen. Dodge was in the field during
the troubles preliminary to the war, which was ended
at the Bad Ax. They were various in their character
istics, as well as numerous and widely diffused, these
Franco-Indian warriors and sachems. One-eyed De
Kaury of La Crosse bore a good reputation, but an
other of the family was suggestively described as
Eascal De Kaury. Mrs. Kinzie says that the mother
of the race, a Winnebago, was alive in 1831, and sup
posed to be more than a century old. There were
four or five brothers, of whom the Winnebago chief
was one, and Washington — or Wau-kon — De Kaury
another. One sister married a French trader named
Lecuyer, another was twice married to Canadian
French traders, named De Eiviere and Grignon, and
three married Indians. But enough about the De
Kaurys. They were pioneers in this territory, busily
engaged in the war of 1812 on the side of the British,
and the advent of white settlers was the prelude to
their removal by death or transfer. Descendants from
the Lecuyer marriage were united in wedlock with
white settlers at Green Bay, and elsewhere, and pros
pered according to the customs of civilized life.
Eben Peck and his wife came to the Blue Mounds,

42 , HISTORY OF MADISON.
where they rented the tavern stand owned by Col.
Brigham, and boarded the old colonel and the hands
employed by him. While so engaged, Mrs. Peck en
tertained Judge and Mrs. Doty on one occasion, and
the conversation turning upon Madison, where the
location of the capital was yet recent, the judge and
his good lady made a promise, which was afterwards
forgotten, apparently, that if Mrs. Peck was the first
to commence housekeeping on the village site, she
should have the best lot in the township, and also a
present. Mrs. Peck was the first housekeeper, but it
is probable that she did not care to recall the promise,
which in the hurry of affairs, at that time, might
easily have been forgotten by Judge Doty. Boarding
houses must have been expensive and troublesome
institutions to run, in the early days, as we find that
flour fetched $17 a barrel in Milwaukee in 1838, irre
spective of the cost of freight, in the days when trav
elers made their own routes, and carried axes along to
cut down the timber that blocked their course. Pork
cost as high as $33 per barrel, and potatoes $3 per
bushel; add thereto the cost of transfer, and the profits
incidental to boarders must have been whittled down
considerably. Some courage was wanted then to open
an establishment, such as the Peck family meant to
run, when Indian villages were the only habitations
near, and deserted wigwams along the borders of the
lakes and streams told of the red men who had flour
ished and faded in this locality. Until now the cabin
of Michel St. Cyr had served all the purposes of a

s*^

FtBST HOBSt IN MR©»S©M.
1837.

HISTORY OF MADISON. 45
hostelry, and the old man had not grown rich by en
tertaining his few and scattering guests.
There was certain to be a much greater demand for
hotel accommodation, because the capitol had to be
soon erected, and visitors were sure to become more
numerous as the works advanced, but the workmen,
as the event proved, would build their own lodgings
before long, and make arrangements among them
selves about cooking provisions. Travelers who came
to see the country, to visit the mines, or to see the
spots made famous by engagements during the Black
Hawk war of five years before, seldom failed to visit
Madison, which had charms of its own sufficient to
justify a detour. Before long there were numerous
hotels doing a prosperous business on the ground
which had at first been exclusively possessed by Eben
Peck's log house; and hundreds occupied their leisure
in exploring the sparkling lakes, skirted with every
kind of scenic beauty. Groves and meadows, sugges
tive of love in a cottage, capes, bluffs, ravines and
prairies, the peninsula itself with its elevation seventy
feet above the lakes, on which the capitol stands, now
in the center of a lovely park, the undulating lines
descending thence to rise again in numerous ridges,
and most beautiful of all, in the grounds now occu
pied by thev university, offered variety enough to grat
ify themost persistent searcher after loveliness. Mrs.
Peck became the owner of a canoe which had been
the property of an Indian chief, and Cleopatra never
enjoyed her famous voyages, celebrated by the poets,

46 HISTORY OF MADISON.
more than did the few who were privileged to glide
over the lakes of crystal in that vessel. Only to see
that boat freighted with pleasure seekers was a delight
equal to all that is realized by the average looker on
in contemplating a regatta. The joy of the rowers,
and the charms of the scene could not be surpassed.
A picture painted by C. A. Johnson, a fine and truth
ful representation of the first residence in Madison,
with the canoe in the distance, is one of the most val
ued properties of the Historical Society, and an en
graving of that scene accompanies this sketch. The
primitive looking dwelling was at one time quite a
luxurious abode, on Butler street, near the Lake House,
lately destroyed by fire, not far from the Third Lake.
The picture is a perfect reproduction of the reality,
in almost every detail.
Professor Chapman has recorded one fact which
should long since have been tested by experience, in
the natural desire of the early settlers to vary the sup
plies on their table. He states on the authority of
Mr. Easdall that the Indians used a root which grew
in the marshes, as a substitute for potatoes, called by
the red men no-ah-how-in. It was bulbous, but did
not resemble arrow root. Mr. Easdall said that hav
ing been cast ashore, without provisions, from Men-.
dota Lake, in 1835, while arranging a trading estab
lishment near the First Lake, he had subsisted on the
root in question for ten days. The early settlers were
not very speculative, as it appears that water for daily
consumption was brought from the lakes until 1839,

HISTORY OF MADISON. 47
when the first well upon the plat was excavated on
the American House lot, the labor being performed
by two soldiers, James Nevil and an Italian named
Whildean. Mr. Darwin Clark, our fellow citizen,
gives a vivid idea of the state of society in the sum
mer of 1837, and while glancing thereat, we can un
derstand that a fully employed population, engaged
upon a task which must be finished in a hurry, and
surrounded by hot blooded Indians, had little oppor
tunity for making permanent improvements, which
others would probably enjoy. That summer a party
of Winnebagoes camped on the shore of the Third
Lake, on the flat just below the old Lake House.
During the continuance of the encampment, a quarrel
occurred between two young Indians, one of whom
stabbed the other, and from different sources we learn
that the murderer sat on the body of his victim with
perfect unconcern, smoking his pipe, as though mod
estly disclaiming special merit in a very creditable
transaction. The white workmen, who were unaccus
tomed to look upon murder with satisfaction, were
much incensed, and by way of warning that the knives
of the red men must not be too freely brought in as
umpires, they carried their rifles and shot guns to and
from their work. The Winnebagoes took the hint in
a proper spirit, and soon after left for parts unknown.
The Indian stabbed as above described, was the brother-
in-law of Pellkie's partner, another French Canadian,
and, as stated elsewhere, Pellkie was himself shot on
a subsequent occasion. There were consequently other

48 HISTORY OF MADISON.
matters deserving attention besides digging wells,
and seeking roots as substitutes for the potato. The
vigorous action of the volunteers, who provided their
own rifles and ammunition, may have prevented worse
trouble. Public opinion, speaking through the rifle
barrel, was a power which the red skins did not wish
to provoke.
About two weeks after the arrival of Mrs. Peck in
Madison, a party of fifteen men came on from Mil
waukee via Janesville, and the work of the hostess be
gan in earnest. Commissioner Bird was one of the ar
rivals, and he was accompanied by hired hands whose
work had consisted in blazing and preparing a road by
which other workmen and supplies would follow. It
was important that proper tracks should be defined
where so much traffic must shortly occur and the act
ing commissioner was provident. The American
Hotel, already mentioned, was built in 1838, and cir
cumstances gave that establishment an advantage over
all competitors, for a time. It continued to be a place
of considerable note, until it was destroyed by fire in
1868. The Madison Hotel also dated from 1838, but
the structure was at first quite small. The territor
ial supreme court was organized in this building, in
June, 1838, and held its first session here when the
legislature assembled in the American Hotel. Gov.
Dodge and many of the leading members of both
houses made the Madison Hotel their headquarters.
The structure belonged to Commissioner Bird, and was
at first kept by his brother. The long continued efforts

'/yfyttuvty

HISTORY OF MADISON. 49
of the other side to remove the seat of government from
Madison found in this building an unceasing watch
fulness which could not be evaded. There were nu
merous hosts, after the hotel passed out of the hands
of the Bird family, and the name was changed several
times, but it was known by the old name at the last,
in March, 1863. It was situated on King street on the
present site of Dean's block. The establishment kept
by Mr. and Mrs. Peck, has already been mentioned.
The new comers, whose names and influence have
been beneficially associated with Madison since that
date, would defy enumeration, but there are some who
cannot be omitted, from a record, however brief, which
aims at any measure of completeness. The scene en
acted in plastering the kitchen of the Peck boarding
house, in which Judge Doty, Col. Brigham, and all
the available masculinity of Madison, took part, is
historical. The pioneers of Wisconsin were well
represented and well occupied on that occasion.
One of the earliest visitors from abroad, was an Eng
lish geologist named Featherstonehaugh, afterwards a
British consul until his death in 1866, and he pro
voked the ire of his hostess at a later date, by some
ill-mannered jokes and very unnecessary criticisms,
about Mrs. Peck and the accommodations obtained in
her pioneer restaurant, which were published by
him in London. There is unexceptional testimony,
from a witness no less reliable than Gen. Mills, that
Mrs. Eosaline Peck made excellent coffee, a point
expressly denied by the earliest writer whose lucu-
4

50 HISTORY OF MADISON.
brations concerning Madison, were published in
Europe. The somewhat vulgar and untrustworthy
book served its purpose'in procuring him a govern
ment appointment under the British crown, so that
Madison helped at least one man to fortune.
Before the days of Featherstonehaugh, there had
been celebrities in Wisconsin, and not a few of them
had stood where the capitol has since been erected.
Capt. Jonathan Carver may have been a visitor to this
precise locality, certainly he was for some time in the
lake country. Gen. Dodge, who came occasionally
to the capital, in discharging his official duties as
governor, was in that way a Madisonian, and it is no
small matter that we should be identified with the
man whose conduct of the war did most toward
effecting the defeat of Black Hawk in 1832. Col.
Zachary Taylor was for some time in command of the
troops in Prairie du Chien, and while there, a young
lieutenant, Jefferson Davis, was sparking the daughter
of the commandant, so that there were two celebrities
in Wisconsin; the one destined to become president of
the United States, after serving the country for many
years in the field with " rough and ready " effective
ness, and to die of the turmoil of political life ; the
other, to lose by ill-directed ambition, the repute won
as a soldier, and to find the grave of his success in
the presidency of the confederation whose ruin it was
his fortune to survive. Both officers rendered good ser
vice in the Black Hawk war until the end was reached
in the battle of the Bad Axe on the second of August,

HISTORY OF MADISON. 51
1832. But for the vigor with which the United States
troops and volunteers fought then, in vindication of
the faith to be placed in treaties, and in defense of
property and life, there might have been no Madi
son on this peninsula. In that sense the men named
were pioneers.
The Hon. John Catlin was essentially among the
first comers. He was one of the party that accom
panied the surveyor, Moses M. Strong, to survey and
plat the town, and a lot purchased by himself, near
the present post office, was utilized by him by the
erection thereon of a log house, to be used as the po6t
office store. That building was the first erected in
Madison, as it was commenced some time before Eben
Peck began his structure; but an accident destroyed
the interior of the building, a fire having been by
some means originated, and in consequence the prime
val log house was not the first residence. Mr. Catlin
was the pioneer par excellence. He was a Green
Mountain boy, as he came from Orwell, Yermont.
He'was a partner with Mr. Strong in the law business
at Mineral Point in 1836, and clerk of the supreme
court. He became postmaster in this city in 1837. Ee-
moved from office by Gen. Harrison, he was reappoint
ed by President Tyler. Subsequently he served as
chief clerk of the house of representatives ; was district
attorney for Dane county, and judge at a later date; in
1846, he became secretary of the territory. Mr. Catlin
was a good citizen and an able man of business. He
died in 1874.

52 HISTORY OF MADISON.
Hon. Simeon Mills ranks in the same category,
with this difference, that he still remains in our com
munity. Born in Norfolk, Litchfield county, Conn., in
February, 1810, he is now in his sixty-seventh year, and
he has spent his lifetime in Wisconsin since attaining
the age of twenty-five. Mineral Point was his first
abode in this territory, but immediately after the loca
tion of the capital, he moved to this city when there
was only one house upon the ground, and on the 10th
of June, 1837, he commenced a small building of hewed
logs, in which to begin business as a storekeeper.
For five years from 1837, Mr. Mills carried the mails
to and from this city for the government, and about
the same time the responsible duties of a justice of
the peace were imposed upon him by Gov. Dodge.
Numerous offices of honor and emolument have since
that date been conferred on Mr. Mills. He was one
of the commissioners for Dane county upon its organ
ization in 1839; clerk of the United States district
court; territorial treasurer; first senator for Dane
county; one of the regents engaged in the organiza
tion of the state university, and subsequently pay
master general of the state during the war, from 1861.
The reeord left by Gen. Mills, in every relation bf his
well spent life, reflects credit on one of the oldest
pioneer families in Dane county, and his industry has
contributed, in no small degree, to the prosperity and
growth of the city.
Darwin Clark came to this city with acting com
missioner Bird, in the spring of 1837, to commence

HISTORY OF MADISON. 53
T
work as a cabinet maker on the capitol, and since that
time he has been a resident in Madison, holding many
offices of trust with honor to himself, and conducting
for many years a very extensive business. He was
born in Otsego county, N. Y., in May, 1812, in which
state he also married his first wife. He set out foi
the west when twenty-five years of age, to make a
home where there would be better opportunities than
in the crowded east. The pioneers had among them
few more estimable men. A young mechanic of mark
in the early days, when there was only one family in
Madison, and growing up with the place, figuring in
its gayeties in the first New Year's festivities, which'
lasted two days, a guest at the first wedding when a
young woman in Mrs. Peck's household became the
wife of Jairus S. Potter, his name is interwoven with
most of the early celebrations, as well as with many
later responsibilities.
The community was very limited when that mar
riage occurred, on the 1st of April, 1838, and the bet
ter half was held in high esteem. Gen. Simeon Mills,
not then holding military rank, but a prosperous store
keeper, and in office, rose betimes to gather an early
bouquet of wild flowers to grace the occasion. The
spring, in honor of the event of course, came early, or
that feature would have been wanting from the festi
val. The wedding ceremony was performed by Mr.
Eben Peck, in his capacity as justice of the peace, and
when the dance followed, the better half of the Peck
family played on the violin, assisted by Luther, her

54 HISTORY OF MADISON.
husband's brother, according as the exigencies of the
time demanded. Mrs. Peck played well, but she
danced well also, and there were so few ladies to take
the floor that one could hardly be spared to form the
orchestra. The disparity of the sexes was happily ex
pressed by Mrs. Peck: "You cannot call it succotash;
there was too much corn for the beans." Both bride
and bridegroom have since passed away, but the mem
ory of the event is part of the domestic history of the
city. Mrs. Prosper B. Bird was present, and she yet
remains to honor and grace our community, a living
memento of a time from which sad memories, mingled
with few delights, yield a gentle perfume as of bruised
but never dying flowers. Mr. Potter died in Madi
son, somewhere about the year 1841. His wife's
maiden name was Elizabeth Allen. There were two
Potters then in the village, Jairus, known as " Long
Potter," for he was a man of great altitude, and Hor
ace, whose more stunted proportions caused him to be
known as " Short Potter." Miss Allen, after consid
ering " the long and the short of it," did not follow
the maxim "of two evils choose the least," conse
quently there was more husband in her home than in
any other household near the capitol. Darwin Clark
was good for many things, besides, being good com
pany, in the early days, as thank goodness, he still re
mains. In the summer of 1837, when Wm. A.
Wheeler came here to erect a steam saw mill west of
the foot of Butler street, on the bank of lake Mendota,
the young cabinet maker was able to give valuable

HISTORY OF MADISON. 55
assistance toward the erection of the works; and
although owing to the fact that the engine and ma
chinery had to be brought from Detroit, operations
were not commenced until nearly the end of the year;
much of the timber used in the old capitol was sawed
in Wheeler's mill. The McDonalds, the Smiths, and
others whose names have escaped us, who mingled in
the throng when Commissioner Bird and his wife led
off in the " Virginia reel " or " Hunt the squirrel,"
will never have for us more than a phantom existence,
as they "come like shadows, so depart;" but friend
Clark is a reality.
The days in which Judge Doty, treasurer of the
board of commissioners, came in from Green Bay
with specie and currency to pay the men, guarded by
Capt. John Symington and a squad of soldiers from
Fort Howard, were not without their charm ; more
especially when we see the commissioner laying aside
the pomp of office to stand sponsor at the informal
christening of the first white child born in Madison;
and editor Sholes, who was then in his company, must
have been favorably impressed by our band of pio
neers. Some four years later we find the Hon. C. C.
Sholes identified with the publication of the Enquirer
newspaper, the material of which journal was eventu
ally removed to Milwaukee from this city. Mr.
Sholes was more actively identified with Kenosha.
The name most intimately associated with our early
press is that of the Hon. George Hyer; but his work
in that capacity will appear in reviewing our news-

56 HISTORY OF MADISON.
paper history. He was one of our pioneers, and be
fore Madison was platted, he had accustomed himself
to thread his devious track through the woods, having
on one occasion made his way from Milwaukee to
Green Bay, and on another in 1837, from the same
starting point to Eock river settlement, when he was
specially sworn in by old Solomon Juneau to carry
the mail.
In the earliest apportionment of offices for Dane
county, the name of John Stoner occurs as treasurer,
and that of E. L. Eeam, father of the famous Yinnie
Eeam, a Madisonian, as register of deeds. Eeam
succeeded to the old log house erected by Eben Peck,
after another residence had been built for that family.
Geo. P. Delaplaine was surveyor, N. T. Parkinson,
the first sheriff, William A. Wheeler, assessor, Adam
Smith, collector, and the three commissioners were,
Simeon Mills, Eben Peck and Jeremiah Lycan, with
LaFayette Kellogg for clerk. The father of Yinnie
Eeam assumed the management of the pioneer
" Tavern Stand," as Mrs. Peck phrases it, when Eben
and his wife gave their attention to farming, unfor
tunately for themselves, cultivating a piece of land
which had been deeded to them by mistake. The
change was made in the spring of 1838, and the birth
place of the sculptress was torn down in 1857, after
twenty years of peculiarly eventful service. The old
Madison House, the picture of which we preserve, was,
under the presidency named, the resort of the aristo
cracy of Wisconsin, and it long continued to be the

HISTORY OF MADISON. 57
stage house. According to Judge Knapp, the charges
were not very moderate, as " two feet by six of floor
could be had for the night," only upon payment of
" two pence per square foot," and "the weary traveler
might spread his own blanket, using his saddle or
portmanteau for a pillow, rejoicing that he had so
good a bed." The other hotels were no more sump
tuous than Eeam's, as in all of them, the lakes, the
woods and the slow coming " prairie schooner," were
drawn upon liberally to supply the table. Sleeping
accommodation was at a premium everywhere, even
after the American Hotel, the largest on the ground,
was raised.
The first treasurer of Dane county, John Stoner,
was born in Washington county, Maryland, in 1791,
consequently, when he died in this city, in 1872, he
was in his eighty-first year. He served in the war of
1812, and was one of the early arrivals in Madison
village. His pioneer log cabin was in the second
ward, abutting on the lot now occupied by the church
of Norwegian Lutherans. The old landmarks are
nearly all effaced, so far as they were raised by men
in the springs and summers of 1837-$. The log house
on the marsh is gone, the first frame house built in
the city at the southwest corner of Wilson and Pinck-
ney street, for J. S. Schermerhorn, has given place to
a large two story brick dwelling. The old steam mill
on the bank of the lake is so entirely gone that it is
not easy to find even a trace of its foundations. A
grey sandstone slab, erected to mark the spot where a

58 HISTORY OF MADISON.
carpenter named S. Warren was buried in 1838, hav
ing been killed by lightning in that summer, cannot
be found.
" Chief Justice of the Peace, Seymour," who is
mentioned in a very pleasant and appreciative way
in " Eeminiscences of Madison," by Judge Knapp,
loomed large in our early days, at once a pioneer and
a celebrity. Mrs. Peck mentions him as possessed of
a feather bed, once her property, and containing
" over thirty pounds of fresh geese feathers," so that
he had ideas of luxury. Judge Pratt says, that " his
pipe was part of the man; with that in his mouth, he
was clerk in the commissioners' store, kept books,
dealt out silks and dry goods, tea and powder; was
surveyor of the town plat, only he read the degrees
and minutes at the wrong end of the needle.; tried
causes, civil and criminal, administered justice, min
gled largely with equity and common sense  All
knew he was the Gazette, the very latest edition, and
he had under his special care all the affairs of town,
state and church  A dreadful sickness came
upon him and Seymour lost his pipe, the city losing
its best guardian." Gov. Dodge appointed Seymour
justice of the peace, upon the recommendation of Eben
Peck, when Dane county was organized, and the com
missioners set about bridging the Catfish, and erect
ing the jail, reducing " the bounty on wolves' scalps,"
to render their funds available for such works as have
been suggested. Wm. N. Seymour published a direc
tory of Madison, a copy of which is in the hands of

HISTORY OF MADISON. 59
the Historical Society. He has lived to see several
other works of a similar character, but none of them
more interesting than his own. The stroke of paraly
sis under which he fell in November, 1859, has not
deprived him of the satisfaction of witnessing the
steady growth of the city, the infant steps of whose
village days were in part guided by himself. His
form is well known on the streets, and most of the
old pioneers can tell of some good deed in his career,
which retains for him a pleasant place in their mem
ories. The Masonic fraternity stood by the " Chief
Justice of the Peace " in his affliction, and by their
aid he is comfortably circumstanced.
Gen. Geo. P. Delaplaine was county surveyor. We
find him on the Fourth of July, 1839, reading the
Jeffersonian Declaration, when William T. Sterling
was orator of the day, and the music on the occasion
was anything but first class. The dinner that day
consisted of bacon and fish, with the addition of much
whisky. Customarily the dinner comprised fish and
bacon with less whisky. The1 celebration lasted
three days. The pioneer Geo. P. Delaplaine came
from Milwaukee to clerk in Jas. Morrison's store, and
his ability no less than his high character soon made
him master of the situation. His name stands
honorably identified with most of the movements in
early days for the advantage of Madison. Another
of the early pioneers whose life has been honorable to
the community, although there are no brilliant deeds
to be pointed to in his career, is Mr. E. M. Williamson,

60 ' HISTORY OF MADISON.
of Pinckney street, one of our earliest school teachers,
and identified with the establishment of the Episco
pal church, which will be found more particularly
mentioned elsewhere. Many names that should have
had notice have been omitted, but that is inevitable
because of our limitations. The position and labors
of Mr. and Mrs. Peck have already been briefly indi
cated. Eben Peck started overland to California
when the gold fever spread over this western country,
and it is supposed that he was slain by the Indians on
the plains, but there is no record of his death, and it
is claimed that he was heard from at a later date.
His wife, a brave and able woman, has written many
-piquant papers, descriptive of pioneer life, in which
her own experiences made her proficient. In her
house the earliest visitors to Madison found a home,
in her dining room the gayeties of several seasons
found their earliest expression. Her husband as jus
tice of the peace united in the bonds of wedlock the
first couple lawfully married in this city, and after
the irrevocable knot had been tied, as we have seen,
the violin of the justice's lady gladdened the hearts
of the assembled throng while they threaded the
mazes of the dance. In the old log house was born
Miss Wisconsiana Victoria Peck, the first child that
saw the light in this city, concerning whose christen
ing some particulars are given. Mrs. Peck and her
husband were the pioneer settlers, and subsequently
the lady became the first settler in Baraboo, where
she still resides.

HISTORY OF MADISON. 61
Mrs. Prosper Burgoyne Bird, formerly Miss
Hewitt, another of our pioneers, came of good revolu
tionary stock, and was one of the most valued of our
early residents. Her husband built a house for her
in this city, while she remained in Milwaukee. There
was only one house in Janesville when the lady came
through to her destination. The party had seen
enough of pioneer life to have discouraged most
people, before they left Milwaukee. While they
were neighbors of " Old Solomo," as the Indians al
ways called Col. Juneau, they witnessed an election,
in which the principal argument used in favor of the
successful ticket was a dipper placed in a barrel of
whisky, by the founder of the Cream City. The po
tency of such logic was manifested in the fact that a
sober man could hardly be found in the settlement at
the close of the day. The first boat launched on Lake
Michigan, "The Juneau," kissed the water while
Mrs. Bird was remaining in Milwaukee. The party
set out on their road altogether, but at the last mo
ment Mr. Bird, having business to transact on account
of the capitol, for the building of which his brother was
acting commissioner, returned to the village, leaving
his courageous wife to prosecute the journey without
his guidance, until sundown the following day. The
ferryman at Janesville was not at home, so the little
band went round by Beloit, where there were two
log houses, one on each side of the river. The home
provided for their accommodation was an uninclosed
frame building, on the street now known as Webster

62 - HISTORY OF MADISON.
street, on lot eight, and the building was not com
pleted until April, 1838. During part of the inter
val, Mrs. Bird resided in a log house on the site
where Kentzler's livery stable now stands, and after
wards moved into the old log boarding house near
Mr. Pyncheon's residence. There were, when Mrs.
Bird arrived in the village, only four log houses;
that built for Mr. Catlin, and partly consumed
by fire; that occupied by Mrs. Peck, and. known
long after as the Madison House; the residence of
Mr. Stoner, already mentioned; and one other of
less note. Such an addition to the village was im
portant. The workmen engaged upon the capitol boarded
with the newly arrived housekeeper, and there were
rough times and hard work for all hands when she
began her pioneer experience in this locality. In
Mrs. Bird's mother's home the first death in the new
settlement occurred from typhoid fever, and the second
happened from her own house having been struck by
lightning. The cemetery then in use forms now a
part of the university grounds. The Bird family
was one of the most numerous and energetic among
the pioneers, but a volume would be required to re
cord their several fortunes and adventures.
Col. Wm. B. Slaughter, whose eloquence is still the
pride of his fellow townsmen, was born in 1797, in
Culpepper county, Virginia, and came to reside in
Green Bay in 1835, where he was appointed register
of the land office. While serving as a member of the

HISTORY OF MADISON. 63
legislative council of Michigan, which assembled at
Green Bay in the winter of that year, he initiated the
memorial for the organization of Wisconsin. About
the same date, he entered the lot held by St. Cyr, near
this city, and gave the half-breed $200 for his im
provements. When the capital was located, he made
his residence where the City of the Four Lakes was
platted by M. L. Martin, Judge Doty and himself,
and continued a resident until 1845, when Virginia
attracted him to his old home. On the commence
ment of the war, the colonel was appointed commis
sary and quarter-master by the president; and now,
nearly eighty years of age, he is one of the most
active and intellectual of the residents in this city.
There are but few men to be found who, from their
personal experience, know more about Madison from
the beginning. Soon after the capitol was commenced,
and when Commissioner Bird's residence was small
and cold, Sheriff Childs from Green Bay mentions a
visit to Col. Wm. B. Slaughter's, on the west bank of
the Fourth Lake, near Pheasant Branch. Long before
this time, all the land business of the territory had
passed through the colonel's hands at Green Bay.
When the location of the capital was under debate,
and long before it came to the vote, Col. Slaughter
made arrangements with St. Cyr, under which the
half-breed enabled the colonel to enter the tract in
the summer or autumn of 1835, and he subsequently
conveyed an interest to Judge Doty, with the hope
that the capital would be there located. The arrange-

64 HISTORY OF MADISON.
ment with Gov. Mason of Michigan, and the purchase
of the peninsula for $1,500, wrecked Col. Slaughter's
project, seeing that he was absent in the south while
the session was being held at Belmont, upon which
the location turned. Sheriff Childs, already men
tioned, says that the votes which determined the mat
ter were those cast by representatives who knew that
their several localities would be erected into a distinct
territory soon afterwards. Iowa had six councilmen
and representatives, so that the influence of the out
siders really determined the issue, and the country
west of the Mississippi was separately organized with
little delay. Childs says that the town plat of Madi
son was divided into twenty shares, and that he was
offered one share for $200, apparently with the hope
that he would in that way be induced to vote for the
location. His Eoman virtue was equal to the emer
gency, and Green Bay was pleased with the course
taken by him. Col. Slaughter's site had been very
wisely chosen, upon the historical ground where Gen.
Dodge held his " talk" with the Winnebagoes, when
the Black Hawk war had begun, and after Stillman
had sustained his defeat.
Josiah A. Noonan did not come to our territory
until the year 1837, and in 1840, removed to Milwau
kee, whence, still later, he migrated to Chicago to
take charge of the Industrial Age; but as the
founder of the first newspaper issued in this city, the
Wisconsin Enquirer, he must have a place among
our pioneers. The first press and printing materials

The Old Capitol.

HISTORY OF MADISON. 67
bought for this enterprise, were thrown overboard, off
Mackinaw, in Lake Huron, in a storm, on the voyage
from Buffalo to Green Bay, and in consequence the
Raeme Argus, with its material, was purchased
and removed, to do duty in the capital. The paper
was published on King street, in a room over the
commissioners' store, and eventually some of the
ablest journalists in the state were identified with its
career. C. C. Sholes became a partner in the paper
in 1839, as is elsewhere mentioned, and it lived until
June, 1843, taking an active part in all public affairs
until its death. Judge Knapp was for some time its
editor. That gentleman has left on record a brief
description of the Fourth of July celebration in 1839,
and according to his winged words, there was no lack
of spirit among the celebrants. There was an oration,
and the declaration in proper order, but a liberal sup
ply of "Pecatonica" and "Eock Eiver," the latter a
peculiarly strong water, with an orchestra consisting
of two violins and a flute, filled every soul with mar
tial music. A fat steer which had been brought to
grace the tables of the citizens on the Fourth, was
forgotten until three days later, when the keg was
empty, and there was then but little superfluous fat
upon the bones of the delayed sacrifice. It must not
be supposed that all the citizens were affected by " old
rye," but the carrier, who had brought the steer, had
kept the secret of its whereabouts, until his senses
were sobered by the emptying of the keg.
Abel Easdall cannot be utterly omitted from a

,00 HISTORY OF MADISON.
record of our pioneers ; his bravery during the troubles
and his good faith at all times, entitle him to be men
tioned, but he has been referred to at large in the first
chapter, as will be remembered.
The schoolmaster was in request, but the number
of pupils was not great. Mr. Edgar S. Searle taught
school in the summer of 1839, and was followed by
Mr. E. M. Williamson, mentioned among our pio
neers, who had six pupils. Mr. Williamson taught
at the corner of Pinckney and Dayton streets, one
term, in a very primitive building. In the winter of
1842-3, Mr. Theodore Conkey also taught. Miss
Pierce was at the same time engaged in the tui
tion of girls in an old building near the spot where
Dean's block is now standing. Another step in the
same direction, aiming at the improvement of adults,
was an association for church purposes, entered into
in July, 1839. The instrument of association indi
cated the establishment of a parish of the Protestant
Episcopal Church as the object of the members.
There were sixteen signatures to the document. The
first Sunday school was also started about this time
and conducted by Eev. Mr. Clark, Presbyterian
clergyman. It was held in the capitol.

HISTORY OF MADISON. 69

CHAPTEE IV.
THE STATE UNIVERSITY.
The example set by the Pilgrim Fathers in 1636,
in preparing for the foundation of Harvard, less than
sixteen years after their landing on this continent, has
been fruitful in suggesting like works all over the
Union. An endowment of public lands for a sem
inary in Wisconsin was provided by an act of con
gress which was approved on the the 12th of June,
1838. The land thus given amounted to 46,080 acres.
Prior to the passage of the congressional act, and an
ticipating its provisions, the territorial legislature, in
January, 1838, prepared to incorporate the University
with all the powers and limitations common to such
institutions. The first quorum of the board of visitors stands on
record as having met pursuant to adjournment, Decem
ber 1, 1838, when Henry L. Dodge and John Catlin
were chosen treasurer and secretary. Col. Slaughter
was one of the most active members, and the requisite
steps devolving upon the board were fulfilled. Be-
gents were appointed, and an act was passed specifi
cally incorporating the University, immediately after
the inauguration of the state government, in 1848.
The first board consisted of John Bannister, Hiram

70 HISTORY OF MADISON.
Barber, Alex. L. Collins, Julius T. Clark, Henry
Bryan, Edw. V. Whiton, John H. Eountree, Eleazer
Eoot, Simeon Mills, Eufus King, Thos. W. Suther
land and Cyrus Woodman. Four of the members
were nominated for six years, and the others were ap
pointed, four for four years and four for two only;
their successors thereafter to hold office for six years.
Part of the land of the University was purchased from
Mr. Aaron Vanderpool of New York, on the 17th of
October, 1848, subject to the approval of the legisla
ture; and a building in the village of Madison, erected
as a private venture for the purposes of an academy,
having been tendered to the regents, rent free, by the
citizens, it was determined to open the " department
of science, literature, and the arts," by means of a
preparatory school, on the first Monday in February,
1849, under the superintendence of Prof. John W.
Sterling. The next step was the election of John H.
Lathrop, LL. D., as chancellor of the University, at a
salary not to exceed $2,000. The preparatory school
was opened at the time named, with twenty pupils
under Professor Sterling and Chancellor Lathrop.
The cabinet of natural history was formed by Horace
A. Tenney, who rendered his services as agent free of
cost, and gave excellent aid to the institution at all
times. The formal inauguration of the chancellor took
place on the 16th of January, 1850, and buildings
were erected, the north dormitory in the following
year and the south dormitory in 1854, from the in-

HISTORY OF MADISON. 71
come of the University fund. In the same year the
first class, consisting of Levi M. Booth and Chas. T.
Wakeley, graduated.
The intention of congress in granting a liberal en
dowment of public lands to the University was to a
great extent defeated by manipulations in the legis
lature, under which the lands were appraised at very
inadequate prices, and so passed into the hands of
speculators and others, who became the recipients of
advantages which should permanently have assisted
the intellectual culture of the community. Under
such injurious action on the part of honorable mem
bers, some of the best lands in the state were pre
empted, or otherwise obtained, at less than one-fourth
of their actual value, and the authorities of the Uni
versity were powerless to defend the interests entrust
ed to their charge. The fund necessary for Univer
sity purposes being thus rendered inadequate, con
gress was once more approached, and mainly in con
sequence of the exertions of Gen. Simeon Mills,. a
further grant of seventy-two sections was obtained. Mr.
Tenney, already favorably known by his services, se
lected the lands thus given for the purposes of learn
ing. The selections made by Mr. Tenney were among
the choicest lands in the state, and although there was
some delay in reporting them at Washington, in con
sequence of which private parties procured many of
the best, other lands fully equal were eventually pro
cured. Once more the legislature using its powers
defeated the express design of the endowment, by ap-

72 HISTORY OF MADISON.
praising the picked lands of the state at $3.00 per
acre, reducing a property which was well worth
$500,000 to a selling value of only $138,240. Even
then the designs of the manipulators were not ex
hausted, as it was found that by pushing the lands into
sale by auction, away from the centers of population,
still lower prices could be made to rule, and yet the
representations made by the institution were without
avail. Even worse, during the summer session of 1854
a bill was hurried through one house, and came very
near passing the other, under which all the lands
sold, and to be sold', in the interests of the State Uni
versity, some of which ranged as high as $30.00 per
acre in value in open market, should be subject to
patent at $1.25, and that all moneys already paid in
excess of that amount should be refunded. A propo
sition more shameful was never submitted to a legis
lature; but Mr. Tenney, then reporting in the house,
and a number of members acting with him, by whom
he was called upon for a. statement, only succeeded in
defeating the nefarious project by two votes. Two
purposes were served by the members who voted for
the despoilment of the University: one, the enrich
ment of individual speculators, and the other and
more justifiable design was the encouragement of
immigration. Precisely similar tactics were pursued
when the Agricultural College act was passed by
congress in 1862; but no good purpose can be served
by recapitulating discreditable details. The Eegents
of the University faithfully discharged their duties

HISTORY OF MADISON. 73
in the premises, and at length, in 1872, procured the
passage of an act granting from the state a sum of
$10,000 per annum, as compensation to the Univer
sity. That amount was not an equivalent for the loss,
but it was something to have .procured a recognition
of the principle, that the lands granted by the federal
government for purposes of education, should not have
been sacrificed in pursuance of personal gain, or in
carrying out schemes to promote immigration, in the
lower interests of the territory and state.
The legislature acted for some considerable time
as though the funds accruing from the sales of land
granted for the University by congress were, in fact,
taxes levied upon the state, and in consequence there
were dark days and great causes for discontent among
the promoters of learning in this city; but thanks to
a more enlightened spirit which now prevails among
the directors of the press of the state, and in the main,
among the people at large, a better understanding has
been reached. The fact that the University was doing
its best under the disadvantages incidental to want
of funds, during the dark and troubled times, is now
admitted on all hands; and it is too apparent to re
quire comment, that the cause of that poverty con
sisted in the breach of trust of which legislators were
guilty. A bill aiming at the reorganization of the
University was introduced, and came near passing
both houses of the legislature in 1858. The chan
cellor of the institution, taking up the leading ideas
of that measure, oarried out most of the proposed al-

74 HISTORY OF MADISON.
terations during the same year, with the concurrence
of the board of regents. Chancellor Lathrop sug
gested the several changes apparently demanded by
the public, and in pursuance of the change, resigned
his position as chancellor, which was afterwards filled
by Henry Barnard, LL. D., who united therewith the
duties of professor of normal instruction. Chancellor
Lathrop was elected professor of ethical and political
science, but he subsequently resigned his office, and
was reelected to the position he had previously filled
as president of the University of Missouri. Beyond
doubt, that gentleman fell a sacrifice to circum
stances not properly chargeable to himself; but his
retirement, and the change of administration conse
quent thereupon, permitted the complete establish
ment of a good understanding between the people
and their most valuable institution. The new scheme
originated by the retiring chancellor was, in effect, a
full recognition of the right of the people to control
the University, and it devolved upon them the fullest
share of responsibility.
Chancellor Barnard was unable to attend to the
duties to which he had been called, thus the scheme
which was to have united the University with the
normal school system of the state failed completely.
Eventually, in consequence of continued ill health, his
resignation was accepted in January, 1861. The civil
war, and the stress upon every department of the state,
joined to the diminution of the number of students,
rendered a reduction of expenditures inevitable. Prof.

HISTORY OF MADISON. 75
John W. Sterling was made dean of the faculty, with
the powers of chancellor, and schemes of retrenchment
were adopted which enabled the University to continue
its operations, without asking aid from the legislature,
during the war. The University was largely repre
sented in the army, and a military company was
formed among the students, which has eventuated in
the establishment of a military department, giving
effect to an excellent suggestion made to the re
gents by the faculty. The drill undertaken to secure
military efficiency has conferred mental as well as
physical vigor. In the year 1864, all the class was in
the field, and for the first time during ten years, there
was no commencement.
A normal department was opened in 1863, under
the care of Prof. C. H. Allen, and the result was in every
way satisfactory. The apprehension commonly ex
pressed, that the introduction of ladies would lower the
standard of culture, has been proved groundless. Prof.
Pickard succeeded to the control of that department
in 1866, when the "female college" was established,
which continued until 1873, since which time all de
partments of the University have very properly been
thrown open to both sexes, without those invidious
distinctions, which too long have evidenced the want
of genuine culture among men.
Gifts made to the institution by generous citizens,
have done much to increase its efficiency. Gov. Jas.
T. Lewis made a donation to enable the board of
regents to bestow an annual prize. The amount was

76 HISTORY OF MADISON.
only $200, but the regents having invested the fund,
were enabled in June, 1874, to offer a prize of $20,
which sum is to be awarded every year, under the
name of " the Lewis prize," to the writer of the best
essay, received in the competition of that year. The
Scandinavian library, known as " Mimers library,"
was a contribution from private individuals in 1868,
through the agency of Prof. E. B. Anderson. The col
lection now aggregates about one thousand volumes of
Scandinavian literature, and its value can hardly be
stated. The world-famous Ole Bull was induced by
Mr. Anderson to increase the library fund by giving
a concert in the assembly chamber, and the sum thus
obtained was very advantageously expended in Nor
way by the professor, who made a voyage thither in
1872 for the purpose, and procured at the same time
valuable contributions from some of the ablest pro
fessors and most distinguished Norwegian scholars.
The books obtained by the several means indicated
render the Scandinavian library one of the best in the
United States. The " Johnson student's aid fund "
was in part due to the same agency. The sum given
by the Hon. John A. Johnson, some time senator for
this district, is $5,000, the interest of which is to be
applied from the time of the donation, 1876, until the
end of the present century, to assist indigent Scandi
navian students, with sums not to exceed $50 per an
num in any individual case, nor to aggregate more
than $200 in the aid afforded to one person; with this
further proviso, that in every case the student assisted

HISTORY OF MADISON. 79
shall understand that the advance is a loan, and not a
gift, and that whenever it may be in his power, he
shall be expected to repay the sum to the fund, to in
crease its efficiency for future operations. On and
after the end of this century the fund will be available
for all students, irrespective of nationality, on pre
cisely similar terms. Clearly, the object of the donor
is to break down whatever barriers may at present ex
ist, to the complete unification of the Norse element
in our population with the great body of the people,
made up of all the nations of the world. It would be
difficult to imagine a form in which enlightened mu
nificence can more elegantly express itself, than by
such contributions to the improvement of the State
University, and it is gratifying to observe that other
persons are preparing to follow in the path thus nobly
indicated. Most of the universities and scholastic in
stitutions in Europe have been enriched by just such
acts of individual munificence, generally by way of
bequests, taking effect upon the death of the donor.
The state bestowed upon the University the building
which had been occupied as the soldiers' orphans
home, with the intention that it should be used as the
location for a medical school or department; but for
many reasons it was found inexpedient to carry out
that design, and the regents having memorialized
the legislature to that effect, have been permitted to
sell the structure and grounds for $18,000. The Nor
wegians, who have made the purchase, will establish
an academy and theological seminary in the building,

80 HISTORY OF MADISON.
which will thus become a considerable addition to the
educational facilities in Madison.
Eeturning now from a prolonged digression on the
subject of gifts, to resume the narrative temporarily
broken, we may say, that in June, 1865, the war
having come to an end, it was thought advisable to
reorganize the State University, but in consequence
of an offer of the chancellorship having been declined,
Prof. Sterling continued in his position until the
following year. The increase of students and the
improving aspect of affairs generally, so far as the
University was concerned, led to a reconstruction,
which was aided by a vacation of all the chairs in
1866, whereupon Pres. Paul A. Chadbourne was called
to the management of the University from the agricul
tural college of Massachusetts. Prof. Sterling alone,
of all the old faculty, was retained and reelected.
The change made in 1866 entitled the University
to the advantages accruing under the act of congress,
which granted lands for agricultural colleges. The
alterations necessary were embodied in an act, which
was approved on the 12th of April, 1866, and there
upon the county of Dane issued bonds to the amouut of
$40,000 for the purchase of lands for an experimental
farm contiguous to the university grounds. The
requisite funds were provided and the farm procured,
but two professors in turn declined the nomination
as president, and the members of the old faculty were
recalled for another year. After certain amendments
had been made in the regulations, as to the several

HISTORY OF MADISON. 81
departments being open to both sexes on precisely
similar terms, Prof. Chadbourne accepted the presi
dency in 1867, and the work of reconstruction pro
ceeded. Since that time, the state has pursued a more liberal
and enlightened policy towards the University. The
educational power of the institution has been felt in
the community, in the presence and force of men
trained therein, or in kindred establishments, and now
editing the leading journals of the state, or filling
other responsible representative positions. The sec
retary of state, in his report for 1866, recognized the
fact, that Wisconsin had not appropriated one dollar
toward the support of the University, but had absorbed
from the endowment given by the general govern
ment, sums aggregating more than $10,000, in the
form of charges for taking care of the lands, besides
reducing the value of the property in question, so
that the fund arising from the interest had decreased
$7,000 per annum in less than two years. The action
of Dane county in affording substantial help was
speedily followed by compensatory measures in the
legislature. In the year 1867, an appropriation of
$7,303.76 per annum was made for a term of ten
years, and it was supposed that a like amount would
be granted in perpetuity as an act of simple justice;
but, as will be seen, a much more generous arrange
ment has been effected. The charge unwisely levied
by the state upon the University, property for taking
care of its lands, was at the same time abandoned.
6

82 HISTORY OF MADISON.
Three years later, in 1870, a sum of $50,000 was
appropriated to erect a female college, that being the
first sum actually granted by Wisconsin in aid of her
own University. In the year 1875, upon proper repre
sentations as to the necessity for additional buildings,
the legislature appropriated $80,000 to enable the
regents to proceed with the erection of Science Hall,
which is now fully complete; and still later, in the
winter of 1876, an act has been passed repealing
all other measures of appropriation touching the
revenues of the institution, and giving, by way of
liberal, acquittance for every error in the past, an
annual tax of one-tenth of a mill on the dollar, on the
valuation of the state, upon the condition, that from
and after July, 1876, all tuition shall be free to every
citizen of Wisconsin. The line of policy thus indi
cated, places the State University on a sound basis,
and will not fail to establish the character of our
people thoughout the union. The struggle for life
has ended, and the munificence of the legislature,
expressing the will of the community, will materially
aid in developing the resources of the state. The line
of conduct pursued in the beginning was an aberra
tion, such as we are not likely to see repeated.
A desire to narrate in the proper order, and in a
connected way, the several items of financial policy
which, since 1866, have characterized the legislature,
has led to a deviation from the straight course in de
scribing the steps by which the regents and the faculty
have discharged their duties; but allowances can be

HISTORY OF MADISON. 83
made for that offense in the presence of such ad
mirable provocation. There will be no further need
to break the continuity of the narrative.
The University has now a department of engineer
ing and military tactics, to which has been added a
department of civil and mechanical engineering and
military science. Mining, metallurgy and engineer
ing as connected with mines, have also received atten
tion; and the department of agriculture, a branch
of training second to none in importance, is very
slowly advancing in appreciation as well among the
people as in the minds of the regents. Efforts have
been made to render this branch of education effective,
but up to the present time there have been no agricul
tural students. The Law Department, under the able
Dean of the Faculty, Prof. J. H. Carpenter, aided by
the best authorities in the state, deserves the very
highest encomiums.
President Chadbourne's labors, under the recon
structed board, and the better tone of public opinion,
gave an impetus to educational effort. The University
became more worthy of support, a better exponent of
scientific culture; and the leading minds in the com
munity recognized its higher usefulness. The in
crease of students consequent upon those improve
ments, rendered additional buildings necessary, and
the want has been in part supplied, but the require
ments of the institution will continue to increase
with the growing importance of the community.
There cannot be finality in supplying the wants of an

84 HISTORY OF MADISON.
intellectual people whose numbers and demands in
the realm of knowledge are daily expanding. Already
there are murmurs because of the want of an ob
servatory and astronomical instruments. There can
be no question that these requirements will be sup
plied. President Chadbourne was obliged to retire in con
sequence of ill health in 1870, and his place was tem
porarily supplied by Vice President Sterling, during
whose incumbency, at first as a matter of necessity,
and afterwards as a matter of principle, young women
were admitted to recite with any of the classes. The
change has proved beneficial. President Twombly,
D. D., was elected in 1871, and continued in office
until 1874, when President Bascom, LL. D., D. D.,
was called to the work. Under the two officers last
named in succession, but more especially under Presi
dent Bascom, the institution has grown in usefulness
and in public favor, and there is no reason to doubt
that the good understanding, fully established, will
be maintained.
The income of the University from all sources, now
amounts to about $80,000 per annum, and with the
growth of the state generally, the prosperity of the
institution will steadily keep pace. Henceforth there
will be no reason why every young man and young
woman in Wisconsin, having an ambition to possess
the advantages of complete training, should not culti
vate the powers with which God has blessed them, in
the development of their intellectual faculties.

HISTORY OF MADISON. 85

CHAPTEE V.
STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
The state library dates from the earliest days of our
existence as a territorial government, the first pur
chase of books having been made in 1837, since
which time the collection has been largely increased.
The State Historical Society was organized on the
30th of January, 1849, and its treasures now com
prise by far the best collection of materials for north
western history that can be found anywhere in this
western country. There was at one time a superior
collection in Chicago, but the great fire unfortunately
destroyed that, among other priceless treasures. The
organizatiqn of the society was suggested in the
Mineral Point Democrat of October 22, 1845, by
Chauncy C. Britt, but notwithstanding the support
given to the project by the whole of the press, it was
not found possible to carry it into effect until the
date mentioned, more than three years later. Even
then it was not a vigorous existence, upon which the
association entered. Events called off the attention
of some, sickness and misfortune impeded others,
and the act of incorporation was not procured until
March, 1853, when there were not fifty volumes in the
library. In the month of January following, a com-

86 HISTORY OF MADISON.
plete reorganization having been effected, a vote of
$500 per annum was subsequently, procured from the
legislature to assist in attaining the objects aimed at
by the promoters; and the first annual report for the
year 1854 showed very considerable progress. There
were already more than one thousand volumes in the
library and promises of assistance and cooperation
had been received from numerous societies on this
continent and in Europe, as well as from American
authors whose names are to-day more honorable to
the nation than our material riches. Collections of
autographs, portraits, and life sized pictures had al
ready been commenced, including mementoes of our
worthiest men, and those lines of effort have been
persevered in with great success to the present time,
until the gallery of the Historical Society has become
singularly complete. With the report for 1854 were
presented many valuable and interesting documents
forming parts of the contemporary and more remote
history of the northwest, in a striking way illus
trating the importance of the society. One paper was
a translation from the French, setting forth the policy
which the soldiery of that nation should pursue to
ward the Chippewas and Foxes; another an English
record of the days when the British forces had taken
possession of Green Bay and other frontier posts,
soon after the reduction of Canada by the English,
and a very interesting appendix consisted of Jas. W.
Biddle's recollections of Green Bay in 1816-17, about
the time that this country really passed under Amer-

HISTORY OF MADISON. 87
ican rule. The discriminating reader is of course
aware that although the British should have surren
dered this country in 1783, there were excuses made
for the retention of Detroit and other posts until
Jay's treaty was made, and that even after that date
it was not until the end of the war of 1812 that the
English authorities abandoned their manipulations
with the Indians in this territory. The conduct of
the Chippewas in hoisting the English flag at Sault
Ste Marie in 1820, and defying Gov. Cass, was an
event of still later occurrence, and the courage with
which the old General tore down the insolent bunting,
in the face of the Indians, won for him honest ad
miration. James Duane Doty, who was then travel
ing in the suite of Gov. Cass, assisted in hoisting the
Union colors, and thereby increased his favor with
the governor of Michigan. The drain on the material
resources of England, caused by long continued wars
against Napoleon, ended by the banishment of that
ruler to St. Helena in 1815-16, made it inexpedient
for the nation to continue its system of annuities to
Tomah and the Menomonees, as well as to other In
dian allies. The change was announced in 1817, and
Mr. Biddle's recollections embrace that period and
event, as well as much other matter that deserves re
capitulation. The customs of Green Bay as to lim
ited marriages, and transfers of marital engagements,
among the voyageurs, fur traders and their semi In
dian squaws, read likje the records of South Sea
Island life, with a few business like variations. There

8b HISTORY OF MADISON.
had not been a priest in Green Bay for some time,
and Judge Eeaume, whose commission was said to
have been given by Gen. Harrison, or earlier by the
British, was for many years the only justice. Nobody
could say when his authority first claimed recognition,
but on the other hand nobody presumed to question
its potency. "The Judge's old jack knife," sent by
the constable, was a sufficient summons for any real
or assumed offender, and the judgment of the bench
could, be influenced by a present, so that in one respect
he resembled Lord Chancellor Bacon; but like the
more celebrated man last mentioned, he was not with
out many excellent points, and his usefulness was be
yond question. Gov. Cass recognized the substantial
worth of Judge Eeaume and gave him an appoint
ment as associate justice, toward the end of his
career, after the organization of the territory of Mich
igan. The state will not readily comprehend how much is
due to the labors of the Historical Society, and to its
corresponding secretary, Lyman C. Draper, in the
procurement and preservation of the treasures amassed
by the society ; but the Union and the reading world
will some day recognize their worth, and this city can
not fail to reap honor in having been the birthplace
of the institution.
Col. Whittlesey's "Tour Through Wisconsin in
1832," written in 1838, gives a vivid and life-like
description of the Black Hawk War, but our space
will not allow of such extracts as might be desired,

Hon. Lyman C. Draper.

HISTORY OF MADISON. 91
and it is to be hoped that some person favored by the
society, will embody in a few volumes the choicer mat
ter in its priceless collection. For the present it is
impossible even to enumerate the contributions that
lie before us, and it is necessary to confine ourselves
to a bare mention of only a few of the chief items of
interest. Major H. A. Tenney, whose services to the
community in many ways have been beyond praise,
has given an admirable precis of "Early Times in
Wisconsin," written in this city in 1849, after he had
succeeded in buttonholing Col. Brigham, and had
collated the information thus obtained, with knowl
edge from innumerable other sources. The first settler
in Dane county was not inclined to write his recollec
tions, but in his manly and genial way he was
induced to talk of his early experiences, and currente
calamo, Major Tenney converted his veracious words
into history, which must always be the foundation of
Wisconsin's records.
The second annual report showed that the Histori
cal Society had increased its store by 1,065 volumes
during the year 1855, and that in every other respect
it was growing in usefulness, with experience. The
picture gallery then consisted of twenty-five paintings,
besides which the likenesses of numbers of local and
national celebrities had been promised as additions to
the collection. No less than forty-seven portraits,
chiefly of pioneers and friends of Wisconsin, had then
been engaged, nearly all of which were afterwards
supplied. We are almost entirely at a loss in general

92

HISTORY OF MADISON.

history, when we attempt to recall the features of
thousands of men and women with, whose deeds the
world may be said to be familiar, yet " the counter
feit presentment " is often the best commentary upon
the actual career of a person. Could we only be sure
as to which of the several pictures, busts and casts,
said to have been made at various times and places,
of the player and poet, William Shakspere, was really
taken from his features, in life or in death, it would
be much easier to pronounce upon the question
whether the wool-comber's son, who married Anne
Hathaway, was truly the writer of the plays and son
nets that bear his name, or only the stalking horse of
a still greater personage, the founder of our modern
system of investigation. The pictures then in the gal
lery of the society were particularized, and where pos
sible and necessary, as in the case of Black Hawk, the
prophet, and in other such, certified to by the then
librarian, Prof. S. H. Carpenter, in an excellent report
on his particular branch of the society's possessions.
The library has gone on increasing in every feature
with accelerating rapidity every year, so that in 1857
the volumes aggregated 3,122, exclusive of pamphlets
and unbound newspapers ; in the year following, 4,146 ;
in 1862 there were 14,400 volumes ; in 1866, when the
change was made from the basement of the Baptist
Church to the suite of rooms in the capitol now occu
pied, there were 21,000 volumes and documents; in
1868, the Tank Library donation added 4,812 volumes,
and the number of books, bound and unbound, had

HISTORY OF MADISON. 93
increased to 31,505, which in 1872, when the last pub
lication appeared, showed a total of 50,530. The sup
plementary catalogue, in August, 1875, showed a fur
ther expansion to 65,000, and the gratifying increment
goes on with continuous energy.
There are now in the galleries more than one hun
dred oil paintings of noteworthy men, a feature of
surpassing value. The cabinet of pre-historic relics
contains nearly ten thousand specimens of the tools,
ornaments and weapons of the stone age, in many re
spects second to none in the world. The copper era
is illustrated by even a still more valuable collection,
which has latterly been transferred to the Centennial
Exposition in Philadelphia, an assemblage of celts,
spearheads and knives, in unalloyed copper, such as all
Europe cannot equal. The maps and other valuables
which are preserved in this institution would alone
repay all the outlay that the state has incurred in sup
porting the invaluable movement, with which it is an
honor to have been associated, as even the humblest
pains-taking assistant.
The Tank collection above mentioned deserves more
detailed notice. One of the earliest pioneers in Wis
consin was Otto Tank, whose widow, the daughter of
a clergyman in Zeist, in Holland, inherited from her
father his exceedingly choice collection of works,
amounting to more than 5,000, inclusive of pamphlets,
and this great treasure was by Mrs. Tank freely given
to the State Historical Society, the cost of removal
from Holland to this country being covered by a legis-

94 HISTORY OF MADISON.
lative appropriation. In the next year a full set of
Patent Office Eeports, which cost the donors no less
than $12,500 gold, and which covers the whole range
of invention since the year 1617, the year following
the deaths of Shakspere and Cervantes, were presented
to the Historical Society by the British government,
through the intervention of the Hon. Charles Francis
Adams, late minister to the court of St. James. The
favor thus conferred does not end with the donation
named, as the society will continue to receive the
series of publications from the Patent Office in Lon
don, at the rate of about one hundred volumes per
year, and thus the inventive genius of this state will
continue to be stimulated by the opportunity at all
times to inspect what has been accomplished and at
tempted, and what is still within the range of tenta
tive effort among our brethren on the other side of
the Atlantic. Like donations may be expected from
every other European government, when the purposes
of the institution are made known in the proper
quarters. To continue such an enumeration would prove tedi
ous to the average reader, and in consequence, we refer
our friends for more complete details to the reports
and catalogues of the society, and the rooms in the
state capitol, which already are too small to do justice
to an always increasing literary, archaic and artistic
treasure. Mr. Draper has proved himself, in an excep
tional degree, " the right man in the right place," one
of those whose deeds will live after them, and to him

HISTORY OF MADISON. 95
more than to any other individual, the state and this
city owe the wonderful growth which we have utterly
failed to chronicle according to its merits. Those who
have been associated with him best know his peculiar
fitness for the task to which his life has been devoted,
and none of them will grudge the patient and modest
worker the credit to which he is honestly entitled.
His name has been the open sesame to numerous col
lections, and to innumerable pockets, from which the
resources of the society have been enriched, and his
* zeal has contributed to induce the legislature to assist
the movement by appropriations which, without great
economy, must still have been wholly inadequate,
while his example has induced hundreds to become
willing laborers in the good cause.
Before us, on the desk, lie the volumes of Halli-
well's Shakspere, a costly and rare luxury, originally
published at $800 per copy, beyond our reach in any
other way. The Historical Society enables us to see
all that is known about the man with whom the
greatest treasure of poetry on this earth is associated.
Here are fao similes of his writing, and of his fath
er's mark. The deeds and acquittances, and unhap
pily, also the writs, which tell of the poverty that
fell upon the poet's home. Here are figured, as
though in very fact, the original documents as they
were presented to his eyes, letters and memoranda in
which Shakspere and his immediate surroundings
moved, in their daily lives.

96 HISTORY OF MADISON.
The state library has been already named, as its
chronological right demanded, seeing that it came
into being before the capitol was planned. Apart
from that feature, it is of great merit as a law library,
hardly second to any in the west, and the complete
ness of the collection long since suggested to the
managers the transfer of all its miscellaneous works
to the shelves of the Historical Society. The cour
tesy of the librarian, the perfect order prevailing in
the department, and the extensive as well as excellent
assortment of works, combine to render the state
library, in every sense, an honor to its promoters and
to this city. The location occupied by this depart
ment in the capitol, adjoining the supreme court and
the chambers of the legislature, renders it easy of
access to all who are concerned in its advantages.
The city library, in City Hall, and the library at
the University, deserve more lengthened notice than
our space will permit, seeing that the witchery of
books would infallibly cause an overrunning of our
limits, " contrary to the statute thereunto made and
provided." Before ending this chapter, it becomes
our imperative, as well as our pleasant duty, to ac
knowledge the manifold kindnesses of Librarian D.
S. Durrie, whose own labors as a writer have made
him apt to render aid to every one toiling with pen
or pencil. His merits need no eulogy, but this word
of recognition is due to ourselves.

HISTORY OF MADISON. 97

CHAPTEE VII.
CHURCHES AND PASTORS.
The supposed first attempt at church organization
was named in our pioneer sketches. Many similar
works followed. Any preacher was welcomed in Mr.
Beam's, Madison House. Bishop Kemper was a
visitor there, and Father Quaw, from Canada. Col.
Slaughter and Mr. Eeam were vestrymen. The last
named gentleman was in request as a singer, when
services were held by any denomination. Eev. W.
Philo was the minister of the " Apostolic Church "
for twelve months. " Dominie Philo " was senti
mental in his references to the other sex, and that fact
provoked laughter, but, on the whole, he was much
respected. When Mr. Toots in " Dombey and Son,"
was crossed in love, he told Miss Dombey, " It's not of
the slightest consequence." It was otherwise with
Mr. Philo. There was no Susan Nipper to give him
consolation. He took to it kindly, and became senti
mental. Probably some eastern belle had declined to
share his missionary privations, and he knew that
" the course of true love never did run smooth."
There was a donation party for the good man on
Christmas Eve, 1840, and he was made rich in crea
ture comforts; but he was suspected of shedding
7

98 HISTORY OF MADISON.
tears, as he reflected on the happiness that Dulcmea
had lost. Eeady to take part in any ameliorating
effort, we find him conducting the religious exercises
of the celebration, July 4th, 1841, when Mr. Slinger-
land of the Dutch Eeformed Church was the orator.
He, however, ultimately found him a helpmate, and
lived to be the father of a family.
Eev. Eichard F. Cadle, his successor, had lived
fourteen years in the territory. He came to Green
Bay as a missionary to the Indians. One hundred
and twenty-nine children, Indian and mixed, at one
time were taught by him and his assistants, industri
al habits and the elements of a good English Chris
tian training; but the effort died out after sixteen
years. Mr. Cadle was chaplain of the fort at Green
Bay and taught school. Many of the early teachers
were men and women of good standing. He removed
to Fort Crawford, Prairie du Chien, in 1836, being
chaplain and teacher there for five years, until he
came as pastor of the Apostolic Church, to this vil
lage. Eev. Albert Slingerland's Dutch Eeformed Church
was a heterogeneous combination. There was an un
derstanding among the nine members, that name and
creed should remain subject to the will of the major
ity. The congregation was organized in 1840. The
preacher officiated twelve months from the preceding
June. He was indefatigable, lecturing on temperance
as well as preaching, from Sun Prairie to Prairie du
Sac. Col. Brigham was the ruling elder. Eventu-

HISTORY OF MADISON. »9
i
ally his followers came under the pastorate of Eev. J.
M. Clarke, having joined the Presbyterian and Congre
gational convention. Eev. S. E. Miner, now a prosper
ous business man in Kansas, next preached under the
auspices of the Home Missionary Society. Eben Peck's
log house was their temporary church until a commodi
ous barn had been erected. A better edifice was raised
in 1846 on Webster street, block 108, lot 10, that seated
250. Eev. Chas. Lord came in 1846, and continued
until 1854, when, his eyesight failing, he resigned.
Eev. H. N. Eggleston, his successor, was very popular.
When he left, there came near being a permanent
split in the congregation.
There is a general impression that whisky drinking
was very common among the pioneers. Mr. Slinger-
land, in 1840, said that intemperance was not so pre
valent as in New York, but Sabbath breaking and pro
fanity impressed him strongly. Some preachers have
preserved the best chronicles of the time. Eev. Dr.
Brunson gives a lively picture of the various uses of
the capitol for " courts, plays, shows, and worship," as
well as legislation. Faro banks and the " Tiger "
were excluded, but there were signs of the credit mo-
bilier. The murder of C. C. P. Arndt on the eleventh
of February, 1842, gave a terrible completeness to the
catalogue of deeds possible in the capitol. J. E.
Vineyard, from Grant county, terminated a dispute
of his own beginning by shooting his fellow member
through the heart, in the council chamber. The
council refused Vineyard's resignation and expelled

100 HISTORY OF MADISON.
him from the legislature, but the courts acquitted
him of manslaughter. The funeral services in the
chamber were very impressive, and Arndt was in
terred at Green Bay. Vineyard went to California.
Considering the excitment, it is a wonder that he was
not lynched. C. C. P. Arndt's father was in the as
sembly when his son was shot, having been invited
from Green Bay to a social gathering which had been
enjoyed the night before. The Arndts, father and
son, were beloved, and the murder was unprovoked.
The erection of a Catholic church was resolved on
in 1845, and commenced in the following spring. ,
The church on Morris street was built in 1850, and
three years later the foundation stone of the Catholic
cathedral on Main street was laid by Bishop Henni.
The consecration of St. Eaphaels, in 1866, was a grand
ceremonial, as was also the dedication of " The Church
of the Holy Eedeemer " in 1869. The storm of 1874
injured the steeple of the cathedral, so that it was
taken down, but the structure will be improved greatly
in consequence.
The first sermon was preached in Madison by the
Eev. Salmon Stebbins, M. E., as presiding elder of
the Milwaukee district, in the Illinois conference.
He came on the 28th of November, 1837, and upon
the invitaton of Col. Bird, converted the bar room of
his brother's house into a tabernacle. The elder, a
vigorous preacher at Kenosha, says: " I preached to
an interested and interesting congregation." There
was no collection, but the men made up a purse of

HISTORY OF MADISON. 101
$11. There were, few inhabitants between Madison
and Jefferson. He came through Kenosha — then
Southport — and by way of Milwaukee, through the
counties of Washington, Manitowoc and Sheboygan,
to Green Bay and Fond du Lac — a formidable
journey over such roads. Milwaukee was the first
location made in this territory. Solomon Juneau
was in his prime, a prosperous Indian trader, found
ing a city. Boot Eiver Mission was formed with
Eev. Samuel Pillsbury in charge. He was our second
preacher, and is now editing a paper. Col. Bird
thought that Elder Stebbins' sermon was preached in
September, but the money entry in the diary of the
Elder fixes the date of the service. The foundation
of the capitol was completed in November, and the
men waited for Eben Peck to return from Green
Bay. Mr. Woolcox of Jefferson says : " Peck had to
swim the rivers and the money was wet, so we waited
until it was dry to get our pay. About the end of
November we started." Mrs. Marion Starkweather,
Col. Bird's daughter, says that Mr. Pillsbury came in
March, 1838, and held services afterwards once every
month. Col. Bird provided a barn for him, where
Kentzler's stables are now standing. There were few
white settlers; Col. Bird, with four children, Chas.
and Wm. Bird, and Dr. Almon Lull were present
when he first preached, but the outside attendance
was large. About four hundred Indians surrounded
the building, but would not enter. Mr. Pillsbury
was a frequent visitor. He assisted in opening the

102 HISTORY OF MADISON.
capitol when the first session was held in the un
finished building. Mr. Hyer mentions the habits of
the Indians in his notice of " Covalle the trapper."
His Indian wife and her children would gather to
observe the Sunday meetings, and the proceedings of
settlers in their homes, but would rarely enter. Dr.
Joseph Hobbins says, that an Indian and his squaw
dined with him and his family, behaving with ex
emplary decorum during the repast; but after leaving
the table they asked for every article that caught
their fancy; considering that fact, their backwardness
was a blessing.
The Methodists did not recruit rapidly. In Sep
tember, 1838, Eev. John Hodges was appointed here
and to Fort Winnebago, now Portage. The first three
members in Madison were Euth Starks, Benjamin
Holt and his wife. Dr. Brunson was a member of the
legislature in 1840, and he rallied the Methodists,
assisting the chaplain, Jas. Mitchell, in occasional
services. He thinks that Mr. Fullerton was here in
1841. S. P. Keyes was here next year; then Jesse L.
Bennet in 1843, and Mr. Stebbins afterwards. The
several preachers cannot be mentioned, but Jonathan
Snow is a piece of our history. He became eccentric
and nearly killed the church by harsh discipline in
1851. He was summarily removed and is remem
bered as " The Snow Storm." Gen. Samuel Fallows
was the junior preacher in 1858-9, and in 1864 the
chaplain of the 3d Wisconsin supplied the pulpit.
Eev. E. D. Huntly is now the pastor and is working

HISTORY OF MADISON. 103
strenously to complete the edifice almost ready
for dedication. The little church was once a great
improvement on former experiences, but the new
building will be an ornament to the city. When the
" Little Brick " school house, on Washington avenue,
became too 'small, Damon Y. Kilgore removed his
pupils to the basement of the Methodist church.
Even there 250 pupils in one room must have re
quired good stowage and little fuel in winter.
" Chief Justice " Seymour was reflected upon in a
public meeting during the pastorate of Mr. Philo,
because, he being a justice of the peace, did not " kill
the tiger " that was being " fought " by many citi
zens. The respected " dominie," never suspecting a
joke, drew up a resolution exculpating the squire as a
" good and sufficient justice," and the audience, which
had assembled in indignation, broke up in laughter.
There were hard cases in the settlement, compared
with whom Covalle was a marvel of civilization.
Pinneo, a " shingle weaver," attended church one day
when Mr. Philo was preaching, and he astounded the
congregation by saying very seriously, " That's so, Mr.
Philo, that's so, Butterfield's got to be saved; just
hold on 'till I bring him in." Pinneo did not return.
His absence was, in an olfactory sense, a pleasure.
He claimed to be a down east Yankee, but that was
the only sign of good lineage. He was indispensable
as a maker of shingles, and when sober, had a laugh
and a joke for everybody, but people kept to wind
ward of the unwashed man. He was summoned to

104 HISTORY OF MADISON.
serve on a jury in Judge Irvin's court, and the judge
was scrupulously clean, while Pinneo was dirty as was
possible to a life divorced from soap and water. The
court was adjourned to enable Pinneo to wash and
procure clean clothes, after listening to a diatribe
against filth; but he survived the affliction, and was
burned to death at last in a drunken orgie.
Covalle conformed to the usages of civilization,
attended church, was orderly, took physic with praise
worthy resolution, gave it to his half-breed children,
made them wear the garments of white folks, and
attend the ceremony of his marriage to their mother,
before a justice. He had been married according to
the usages of the country. He traced his line to the
trappers on Hudson's Bay, and when Col. Bird came
here, Covalle was the only white man on the site. He
led a blameless .life, being cleanly, sober and obliging.
Better conditions supervened. Eev. Stephen McHugh
was called by the Episcopal church in 1845, having
become known during attendance to deliver a Masonic
oration on the anniversary of St. John. He organ
ized Grace Church parish, and the ladies raised funds
to purchase the land occupied by the church. A
brick parsonage, commenced in 1850, was occupied on
Christmas day when the Eev. W. H. Woodward was
pastor. The next rector was the Eev. Hugh M. Thomp
son, followed by Mr. Powers. The sound of the
church-going bell in the village was due to Squire
Seymour. Meetings, social, political and religious,
were repeatedly delayed because no two clocks or

HISTORY OF. MADISON. 105
watches agreed, and the variations extended over two
hours. Somebody suggested a bell; Seymour drew
up a subscription paper, ordered the instrument, and
on its arrival procured the first peal from its clapper,
utilizing the astonishment of the audience by carrying
round the hat. The bell was the common property
of all the churches and every organization.
Eev. J. B. Brittan came in 1855, and funds were
raised to build a church, which was not finished when
Mr. Brittan became chaplain of a regiment. There
had been an outlay of $22,000, but the tower was in
complete and the basement was not ready for occu
pancy. Eev. Jas. L. Maxwell came next, remaining
until 1867. Before he resigned, a very handsome
organ had been built at a cost of $2,500. Under the
rectorship of the Eev. H. W. Spaulding, the building
was completed in 1872. When the Eev. Dr. Spauld
ing removed to Pittsburg, the Eev. John Wilkinson,
of Chicago, the present incumbent, succeeded him,
winning the good opinion of all classes. A chime of
nine bells was placed in the tower in April, 1874.
The bishop's bell, in memory of Bishops Kemper and
Armitage, the largest in the chime, was purchased by
general contributions, as also was the seventh, the
rest being donated in memoriam of the departed,
whose names they bear.
The Congregational Church eventuated from Mr.
Slingerland's labors, and we have followed the organ
ization to Mr. Eggleston's ministry. The people were
attracted by Mr. Eggleston, and Bacon's Commercial

106 HISTORY OF MADISON.
College was used while a brick chapel was building
on Washington avenue. Mr. Eggleston was succeeded
by Eev. James Caldwell in 1858, and in the following
January a church was specially organized to receive
Mr. Eggleston as pastor, to be known as " The Union
Congregational Church and Society of Madison."
Eventually all reunited. Eevs. L. Taylor and Lewis
E. Matson bring us to the present incumbent, Eev.

Chas. H. Eichards, whose talents and good qualities
have made him a gain to the community. Arriving
in March, 1867, he has assisted in the later develop
ments of the church, among which must be noted the
elegant edifice, capable of seating one thousand per
sons. The bell in the tower was given by Mrs. L. A.
Eichards, and was at that time the heaviest in the
city; but the "Bishops' Bell," in Grace Church chime
is five hundred pounds heavier.

HISTORY OF MADISON. 107
The Presbyterian Church was at first identified with
other organizations. Eev. H. B. Gardiner was re
tained by the congregation in 1851 at Lewis Hall,
The building since used as a bakery by Mr. Miner, at
the corner of Mifflin and Carroll streets, was next
occupied, and in 1853, the church moved into the
frame building, corner of Wisconsin avenue and
Johnson street. The several pastors have been the
Eevs. Wm. L. Green, Edward G. Eead and Eichard
V. Dodge, until we reach the pastorate of the Eev.
L. Y. Hays, who has served since 1873, maintaining
unabated popularity and usefulness, and taking a
praiseworthy part in many movements outside the
church. The First Baptist Church was organized in Decem
ber, 1847, by the Eev. H. W. Eead, his successors be
ing the Eevs. John Williams, S. S. Whitman, M. D.
Miller, James Cooper and Wm. E. Brooks, whose
pastorate ended in 1858. There were many preachers
for brief terms. In the summer of 1860, Eev. W. H.
Brisbane became pastor, but resigned to become chap
lain of the first Wisconsin cavalry regiment. Eev.
J. E. Johnson assumed pastoral charge in 1863, and
he was followed in succession by Eevs. J. C. C. Clarke,
Mr. Paige and Thomas Bright, who came to the city
in 1873, and rendered acceptable service until his
lamentable sudden death in the pulpit, in September,
1876. The German Evangelical Association commenced
operations in 1844, when the missionary, Eev. J. G.

108 HISTORY OF MADISON.
Miller, having found German families in Madison,
held service in their houses. The whole of Wiscon
sin was his parish, and his salary was $41 in 1845,
increasing to $47 the second year. His successors
were the Eevs. J. Eply and M. Howard, but Mr.
Miller was still a frequent visitor. Eevs. C. Schnake
and W. Strasberger commenced a church building
between Broome and Bassett streets, which was fin
ished by Mr. Miller in 1856. The church on Pinck
ney street, corner of Mifflin, was built in 1865, under
the pastoral charge of the Eev. W. F. Schneider, suc
ceeded by the Eevs. C. F. Finger and Chas. Schneider.
The German Lutheran Church has erected two
buildings, the first on Main street, in 1858, near jthe
railroad depot, on block forty-four; the second, ten
years later, on Washington avenue and West Canal
street. The organization dates from 1856. Eev. H.
Vogel, was pastor until 1872, when he was succeeded
by Eev. Christian Wilke.
The German Methodist Church, Eev. Mr. Walker,
pastor, was built in 1864, on the corner of Mifflin and
Webster streets.
The Norwegian Lutheran Church, on the corner of
Hamilton and Butler streets, was erected in 1862.
Eev. H. A. Preuss is pastor.
The Hebrew Congregation Schaare Schoymayn, of
which the Eev. J M. Thuringer is Eabbi, hold services
every Saturday at 10 A. M., in the Synagogue on
Washington avenue, between Henry and Fairchild
streets.

HISTORY OF MADISON. 109

CHAPTEE VIII.
NEWSPAPER HISTORY.
A Scotchman who had seen the Stuart dynasty
sung from a throne', said: "Let me make a nation's
ballads, and who will, may make its laws." Newspa
pers have superseded ballads. Journalism, the popu
lar voice in type, is the foe of usurpation. The
growth of our press has been wonderful. While
Captain Carver diplomatized among the Indians here,
the newspaper advanced from an advertising sheet to
a political power. Before King George rewarded
Carver with a grant, the press had defeated the mon
arch. The stamp act might have been fought in
vain, but for our journals. Henry would have roused
a small circle, but there would have been no national
soul. Journalism was the bond of union that saved
the colonies. Charles Carroll, in the Maryland Ga
zette, indorsed Patrick Henry, and every liberal sheet
responded. The Gazette, in Pennsylvania; the New
port Mercury, E. I., answered the call, and the Mer
cury was suppressed in vain. Charleston papers took
up the strain; New York sons of liberty shouted for
freedom. The Boston Gazette echoed the words of
Henry, backed by Adams, and a pamphlet in London
disseminated that utterance, in spite of the British
government. Within one year the king was discom-

110 HISTORY OF MADISON.
fited, the stamp act repealed. That was the begin
ning, and the end was near. " I am the State," said
Louis XIV. With greater truth the press could have
said, "I am the Eevolution." The newspaper was
the weapon, without which there had been no Bunker
Hill, no world renowned Declaration.
The Enquirer, published by Noonan, was small,
but it had power. His share in the transaction ap
pears elsewhere. George Hyer, who set the first type,
has been mentioned with honor. The partnerships
of Sholes, Noonan, Hyer and Judge Knapp, are sto
ries often told. Eeed changed the sheet from Demo
cratic to Whig, and in 1844, the changeling died.
Politics, in the early settlement, were for and against
the commissioners. When the capitol ceased to sup
ply pabulum, a Democratic pioneer says, " we went
where we belonged."
Party lines were observed when the Wisconsin
Express appeared, in 1839. Wyman sold the paper
to D. Atwood and Eoyal Buck, who afterwards con
solidated with the Statesman. Its politics were
Whig. Wyman was a hard hitter. When Eeam and
Clark were candidates for the office of register, the
former winning by two votes, Wyman made affidavit
and published, that the canvassers had suppressed
returns. Eeam confirms that statement, saying: "I
found myself elected by two votes, which much sur
prised me .... until .... a friend explained  after
exacting secrecy .... that the extra vote was obtained
by strategy, to make my election sure." Wyman is

HISTORY OF MADISON. Ill
fortified, but the canvasser says: "Save me from my
friends." Knapp and Delaney brought out the Wisconsin
Democrat in 1842, which died eighteen months later,
in the hands of J. P. Sheldon and Geo. Hyer. The
same- name was used for a paper in 1846, by Beriah
Brown. That organ combined with the Wisconsin
Argus. While two papers were running, both offices
wanted the government printing. The Argus, some
months older than the Democrat, rested on its anti
quity. Beriah Brown relied on shell fish, and the
wire puller won. A caucus being called to settle the
question, a member unseared by corruption, said:
" We have eat Brown's oysters and drinked his liquor.
We can't go back on Brown." Beriah succeeded in
taking the Argus, as well as the patronage.
The Wisconsin Argus was published by S. Mills &
Co., with John Y. Smith, editor. H. A. Tenney
joined, when the firm of Tenney, Smith & Holt was
established. Two of the firm sold to S. D. Carpen
ter, and Mr. Tenney remained until 1852, when the
consolidation followed. " Old Hunkers " and " Tad
poles," the divisions of the Democratic party, took
their "feast of reason" in one sheet. Mr. Carpen
ter retired, and Beriah " played it alone " until July,
1854, when E. A. Calkins, since of the Milwaukee
News, joined the staff. Calkins & Proudfit became
proprietors. Two years later, J. K. Proudfit sold to
Mr. Webb. The paper suffered from tightness of the
chest, and Beriah Brown was called in, but after three

112 HISTORY OF MADISON.
months vigorous treatment there were no signs of in
creasing vitality. Brown left Webb & Calkins, and
the paper breathed its last. There was a resurrection,
but Calkins & Cullaton could not make it go. Calk
ins sold out, other editors gave vigorous support to
the war policy of Lincoln, but the paper would not
live. Wyman brought out the Statesman in 1850. Wil
liam Welch was one of its editors. Wyman & Bugh
assumed the management in 1851, and at last consol
idated with the Express. The Wisconsin State Pal
ladium resulted. Atwood, Wyman & Buck did not
harmonize, and the paper was suspended. The State
Journal made its appearance, with David Atwood as
editor and proprietor, in September, 1852, the Bepub-
lican party accepting the Journal as its organ. Sev
eral additions and alterations have worked no change
in the politics of the paper. Mr. Eublee, Mr. Gary,
Mr. Eeed and Mr. Culver have supported the ven
ture, making it one of the best journalistic proper
ties in the state; with one of the most complete
printing offices west of Chicago.
Earlier phases of newspaper activity are illustrated
by a sketch from the State Journal. Mr. D. K.
Tenney is identified with this city, and the phrases of
Col. Bird are true to life:
" Twenty-six years ago, Dan. K. Tenney put up at
the " United States Hotel," with two " bits " in his
pocket. Col. A. A. Bird was landlord. Said Dan,
" Two bits sizes my pile; but I'd like to stay here

Wisconsin State Journal Block, Washington Avenue.

/

HISTORY OF MADISON.

115

over night and see what I can do to-morrow." The
Colonel (good old soul as ever lived) looked at his
new guest, and replied: " O Gad, yes; stay as long
as you like, boy! Have some supper? O, Gad, yes;
come in. Stay as long as you please." Dan had
supper and a night's lodging, and in the morning
struck a printing office, and secured a " sit." Getting
a little money, Dan next turned up in the University.
He got as much as they could spare in that institu
tion and returned to the printing office (the Journal,
a wee bit of a paper then), working along, until toil
and no fortune seemed foolishness. One day, all hands
were "jeffing"on the stone to see who should get a
pail full of whisky, when Dan. spoke up: " Who the
d — I'sgot any money in this crowd?" Nobody, of
course; and the "devil ""had to go down and "stand
off" old "Jackknife" Eobinson for a couple of
quarts. After this amount had been disposed of, it
struck Dan that printers were fools to be pulling
hand press and sticking small pica, so he remarked:
" Good bye, boys ; you are all condemned fools if you
stay here? I'm going to study law and make some
thing." Dan started for Portage, where he met his
brother H. W. " I've come up to study law with
you, by thunder." H. W. replied sharply, "You
have? You are a darned fool; you'd better stick to
printing. You'll cut a hog in two studying law?
But if you are bound to stick to law, you can see what
you can do turning those eighty acres of mine into
city lots, and selling them." This was Dan's first

116 HISTORY OF MADISON.
job. He succeeded, stuck to the law and kept out of
a printing office, except when briefs and other jobs
were required. We don't know how Dan counts his
thousands in Chicago, but he has just erected a hand
some block, on the spot where Col. Bird, twenty-six
years ago, took him in, with only two " bits," in his
pocket. ,
There were wild jokers in the printing offices, men
for whom a hen-roost had no sacredness; fellows as
full of deviltry as Falstaff on Gad's Hill, but more
courage. One of the Tenney's possessed a choice
assortment of poultry. One night, when the devil
failed to scare up copy, that power of darkness found
occupation for idle hands, purloining capons from the
foreman to make a feast for the father of the chapel.
There were two Tenneys in the business, but H. A.,
to whom the poultry belonged, warmly approved the
banquet. He said the foragers should revisit the hen
roost, and they did so. There may be no truth, but
there is poetical justice in the fowl invention. D. K.
Tenney says: " Have not all my happy days for twen
ty-six years been spent in Madison?" Was the hap
piest day that night? The boys cleared his brother's
hen-roosts like the grasshoppers scooped Kansas?
The Wisconsin Patriot has more than one eventful
history. Gathered to " the tomb of the Capulets," it
is still a power. The first number appeared twenty-
two years ago. The proprietors and editors were J.
T. Marston and H. A. Tenney. Tenney sold to S. D.
Carpenter, who subsequently bought out Marston.

HISTORY OF MADISON. 117
The firm of S. D. and S. H. Carpenter ran for some
time, but after many changes, S. H. Carpenter, our
much respected " Professor of Logic and Literature,"
sold to Mr. Law, who was associated with S. D. Car
penter about a year. The Patriot saw many changes
which would be tedious to narrate. The management
at the present time is in the hands of H. A. Tenney
and S. D. Carpenter, but their business arrangements
are not matters of history. Two men so intimately
identified with the press of this city, deserve a notice
embracing more than their Madison engagements.
Major Tenney, from whose sketches we have freely
quoted, came in 1845, but went to Galena, and did
not buy into the Wisconsin Argus until 1846. He
was government printer in 1847 and the following
year. When the constitutional convention assembled,
he was reporter, and again in 1848. Directly and in
directly he was state printer until 1852, when ill
health compelled his retirement from the Argus.
The Major, one of the founders of the Patriot, sold
out to his old partner. Mr. Tenney's services to the
University are matters of history. His position as
assistant state geologist, enabled him to aid the Uni
versity collections largely. In 1857, he was a mem
ber of the legislature, and introduced the bill for the
new capitol. In the following year he was comptrol
ler of state, and one of the regents of the university.
His services at Camp Eandall need not be enumer
ated, nor his appointments in the U. S. A. He was
special agent of the P. O. department until 1864. In

118 < HISTORY OF MADISON.
1869-70, he was associate editor of the Chicago lie-
publican, moving to similar duties on the Post, and
on the St. Paul Pioneer in 1872. He became clerk
of the railroad commission in 1874, is the oldest Mad
ison editor surviving in Wisconsin, and not yet tired
of the drudgery of the press. When he began there
were but nine exchanges, few of which have survived.
Mr. S. D. Carpenter settled in Madison in 1850,
and was identified in succession with the Argus, and
the Argus and Democrat, from which having retired
he devoted his genius for mechanics, to invention.
The pump, to which he is indebted for a pseudonym,
was invented in 1853, and he sold rights to the extent
of nearly $35,000. Once more in newspaper life, Mr.
Carpenter became editor and proprietor of the Pat
riot. Its politics were eventually war democratic.
The well known claim for damages against the state,
dates from 1864. During that year Mr. Carpenter
devised a power press, on the model now largely used,
feeding from paper in the roll, and he claims to have
originated that plan. The invention of an automatic
grain binder employed nine years, and about $40,000.
It is claimed that every device now operating for that
purpose, took its rise in Mr. Carpenter's ingenuity.
His inventions were sold to McCormick & Co., because
a fortune was wanted to establish his rights, and fur
nish machines. His veneer cutting and other inven
tions cannot be glanced at; suffice it to say that few
men have excelled him in variety and originality of
design for labor-saving machinery.

,"' ¦¦" plfpflfpf ;:,N^l|!i[!!i[I!j:Ni'Vi|ivn: / if"ll;'.if I'lJi' f;!:; ¦!' ijTf !" ¦!'' !' V ! ¦' ? '; t. :; ;' " j: ; ¦¦¦ ¦' .r ¦!¦ ¦

Dan. K. Tenney, Esq.

HISTORY OF MADISON. 121
The Daily Capitol, published by W. J. Park &
Co., with Col. Calkins as editor, appeared on the day
on which President Lincoln was shot. It was a racy,
nonpartizan daily, eventually incorporated with the
Democrat, which was established in 1865, by Hyer
& Fernandez, and bought by A. E. Gordon. The
title was then changed from Wisconsin, to Madison
Democrat. Mr. Eaymer is now editor and proprietor,
having succeeded the firm of J. B. Parkinson & Co.,
which purchased from Gordon.
The Journal of Education originated in Janesville,
but was transferred to this city. Col. J. G. McMynn,
afterwards state superintendent, was its editor, suc
ceeded by A. J. Craig, also state superintendent.
Eev. J. B. Pradt is now one of the editors. Discon
tinued in 1865, in consequence of a withdrawal of
state support, it was resumed when partial aid was
afforded. Several substitutes started elsewhere, but
they do not come within our limits. When Gen,
Fallows succeeded as state superintendent, upon the
death of Mr. Craig, he revived the Journal, and
Superintendent Searing continues the publication.
The Wisconsin Farmer, commenced under another
name in Janesville, was removed to this city in 1855,
the interest of one proprietor being purchased by E.
W. Skinner and D. J. Powers. The paper was con
ducted with great energy by Dr. J. W. Hoyt, assisted
by the skillful pen of his wife. The paper died after
twenty years of struggle, beaten by extensive capital
in such enterprises in eastern cities. The Norse press

122

HISTORY OF MADISON.

has had severe vicissitudes. Many courageous efforts
have failed; none conducted with first class talent,
nearly all have been respectable. The names of some
failures are given, but some may have escaped notice:
De Norshes Ven, Friend of the Norseman; Den
Norshe Amerikaner, American Norseman; the
Nordstjernen, Northern Star; Immigranten; Billed
(or illustrated) Magazine; Imigranten; Den IAber-
ale Demohrat, and Wisconsin Banner, have all per
ished. There remains only to-day the Nord/oesten, a
liberal democratic weekly, edited and published by L.
J. Grinde. The Nordvesten deserves success. Ole
Torgerson's De Norshes Yen was the first paper in a
foreign tongue in this county. It was whig in poli
tics, and appeared in 1850, but a few months ended
its career. Den Norshe Amerikaner appeared in
December 1854, and died in May, 1857. "The Scan
dinavian Democratic Press Association " brought out
the Nordstjernen in 1857. Their effort was not suc
cessful, although changes of management were tried.
The Errtigranten was brought - to this city from
Immansville, Bock county, but after years of partial
'isliccess, that also was gathered to its fathers. There
have been several fugitive periodicals of a religious
character. The German population supports the Wisconsin
Botschqfter, started by Porsch and Sitzman in 1869.
There have been several German papers, but none
have prospered. The Stoats Zietung, democratic,
edited by August Kruer, continued two years. The

HISTORY OF MADISON. 123;
Madison Zietung, republican, hardly lived two years.
The Madison Demohrat, published in 1858, perished
in 1860.
The Madison Capitol was started in 1855 by J.
Nolan. The True American, edited by an association,
appeared during the same year. The Western Fire
side, by S. H. Carpenter in 1857. The Higher Law,
by Herbert Eeed, in 1861 ; and the Soldiers Record,
by S. W. Martin in 1864. Our educational interests
were served by the Northwestexn Journal of Edu
cation, Science and Literature, in 1850, under the
editorship of Prof. O. M. Conover, and by the Free
School Journal, edited by J. L. Enos. Of Dr. Hunt's
ephemeral, the " Old Oahen Bucket," a temperance
paper, we can only say, Bequiescat in pace. The Stu
dent's Miscellany was commenced during the session
of 1857, and its tone reflects credit on the manage
ment. The Home Diary is a sparkling occasional paper
edited by V. J. Welch, which deals vigorously with
every topic that is touched. A paragraph, denounc
ing the shortcomings of Park & Co., in selling a copy
of Burns' poems without " Holy Willie's Prayer," is
a favorable specimen of the style, which we subjoin:
"Friends! be cautious in buying Burns' poems.
We were saddled with a copy recently in which
" Holy Willie's Prayer" was omitted. Park sold it
to us. He is a Scotchman. He is one of the " pres-
byt'ry of Ayr."
" Lord, hear my earnest cry and pray'r,
Against the presbyt'ry of Ayrj
Thy strong right hand, Lord, make it bare."

L24 HISTORY OF MADISON.

CHAPTEE IX.
MERCHANTS AND BANKERS.
Great changes have come since Madison was set
tled by four housekeepers, who procured supplies from
the peddler's cart and the post office store. There
were bright fellows in the settlement, but they dis
pensed with much that we deem essential. Tom Jack
son, the Scotchman, whose whip-saw cut lumber for the
capitol, before Wheeler was ready, was almost a man
ufactory. Tom illustrated the possibility of doing
without indispensables, but not as they do in some
parts of Scotland. His old log house was on fire, and
the last glass had dulled his wits. Tumbling out of
bed, Tom, who was called Jack for brevity, pushed
his lower limbs through the sleeves of his jacket, and
with many an adjective declared that " some fellow
had cut off the legs of his pantaloons." The better
appliances of life were more remote than the seedy
unmentionables of Tom Jackson. Everything was in
the rough. The park was the forest primeval. Prai
rie fires annually crossed from marsh to marsh. Game
was abundant. Prairie chickens and quail were shot
in the village, where bears, wolves and deer were not
strangers. Many years later Col. Bird's hotel stood
in an unbroken forest, and trees that now ornament

HISTORY OF MADISON. 125
the park were planted at the instance of Judge Knapp,
who risked having to pay for the improvements. The
woods abounded with game, and deer were particu
larly plentiful until 1849, when the Winnebagoes
killed 500 near the Asylum. They would have cleared
the country, but the settlers interfered. The supply
was important, when any man might depend on his
skill for a dinner. The commissioners' store was not
the pioneer. Simeon Mills was deputy postmaster
and storekeeper before July, 1837. Mr. Catlin, his
partner, says that barrels of salt and flour, hauled from
Galena, were then worth $30 and $20 each. " Wild
cat currency " was the circulating medium, and the
notes of Judge Doty were at a premium. The legis
lature, during the session of 1838-9, passed a " stay
law" against recovering debts. The predominant
sentiment of the community was hatred of banks.
'Squire Seymour says that in 1839 there were two
stores, three groceries, a steam mill, three public
houses, and in all thirty-five buildings. Dr. Chap
man mentions, in 1846, Shields & Sneden, Finch &
Blanchard, and E. B. Dean & Co., as the storekeepers
of the village. Fairchild's store came next. The
population had increased from 62 to 283. The doctor
was told there were 400 inhabitants, but many farm
ers were looked on as village residents. Messersmith's
house, on Pinckney street, was in full blast, with a
" wet grocery " down stairs and " the tiger " above.
The first help to Madison was the location of the
capitol. The next, the arrival of Mr. Farwell, who

126 HISTORY OF MADISON.
invested money and energies in permanent improve
ments. His fortune was not large, and part was in
vested elsewhere, but he brought the reputation of
wealth, and turned it to excellent account. He sys
tematically made known the beauties and excellences
of the locality, and induced others to invest. His
coming gave an impetus, labor acquired value, real
estate changed hands, roads were opened and cleared;
the press all over the union had paragraphs about
Madison. We were no longer out of the world. The
marks left by Farwell can be seen in our growth.
Until the capital was permanently located there was
little progress. Lobbyists hoped that another site
would be chosen when the constitution was adopted,
and Milwaukee wooed the legislature. Fixity of
tenure could alone justify expenditure on property.
Hence the slowness observable in every branch of en
terprise. That period of doubt had passed when Mr.
Farwell came and invested in real estate in 1848.
The business advantages and beauty of Madison were
his constant themes, and he spared no expense in giv
ing them publicity. Eemunerative works on a large
scale were undertaken. Mendota was dammed at its
outlet, increasing the fall two feet, and Monona, low
ered by the removal of an old obstruction, made a
further improvement. Farwell became more benefi
cially associated with the growth of Madison than
any of its pioneers. The inexhaustible reservoir, thus
turned to account for industrial enterprise, created a
demand for workmen. The lakes unfolded a promise

HISTORY OF MADISON. "127
of wealth. When H. A. Tenney came, he was intro
duced by J. A. Noonan to all the celebrities in a few
minutes. The little coterie in 1845 numbered few
besides Governor Dodge, Secretary Floyd, Judges
Dunn, Irvin and Miller, George P. Delaplaine and
Mr. Mills. Manufactures and enterprise changed the
aspect of society. Until Mr Farwell came, the place
had never been thought worthy of a circus. When
that distinction was attained the legislature adjourned
to see the show. The villagers had depended on each
other for amusements, but there had been ample
leisure. Improvements were made rapidly, and golden vis
ions were common. The circuitous Yahara was su
perseded by a straight canal. At the outlet of Men
dota a long building contained a saw and grist mill.
Tibbits and Gordon built their brewery below the
mill, and the court house was commenced in 1849.
The old jail, once let as a shoemakers' shop, no longer
met the wants of the community. Farwell started
his grist and flouring mill in 1850, and opened two
roads across the Yahara. The first dormitory at the
university was erected in 1850, in a thicket remote
from the village, hardly approachable. Prominent
citizens began more beautiful homes and other im
provements. Men became speculative. Ditching,
planking and planting Washington Avenue, by Mr.
Farwell, was an act that found no competitors, but in
other ways his conduct provoked a spirit of emula
tion.

128 HISTORY OF MADISON.
The years 1851-2 were prolific in the erection of
business blocks. Public houses were found inadequate
and the Capital House was commenced by associated
effort. Messrs. Vilas, Fairchild and Farwell bought
the venture in 1853, and the hotel was completed be
fore the fall. Madison was a paradise for builders.
The best positions were rapidly occupied for business.
The Presbyterian church was finished, the founda
tions of the Catholic church laid, and the Milwau
kee and Mississippi railroad company commenced
building their depot in a growth of cojppice wood on
the spot occupied by the successors of that company.
Early in 1854 the depot was ready, the bridge con
structed and the first train of passenger cars arrived.
The celebration took place on Tuesday, May 23, 1854.
That was a great day for Madison and the surrounding
country. Other works were undertaken during the
year, including a fire-proof structure for the safe
keeping of the state registry, a new bridge across the
Yahara, a brick church for the Baptists, the second
dormitory of the university, the extension of Wash
ington Avenue, specially due to the liberality of Ex-
Governor Farwell, and the commencement of the asy
lum for the insane. Men assumed that there would
be a population of ten thousand here within two
years. There was a woolen factory, a flouring mill, a
grist mill, two saw mills, an oil mill, a mill for saw
ing stone, foundry and machine shops, two steam
planing mills, besides other extensive undertakings,
three daily papers and five weeklies, and a sale of

HISTORY OF MADISON. 129
more than $500,000 worth of produce during 1854-5.
Seymour's Madison Directory, in 1855, gave excellent
grounds for anticipating rapid growth. The popula
tion was nearly seven thousand. Ex-Governor Far-
well was offering desirable lots, with credit, extending
ten years if required, provided that purchasers should
occupy and improve. Telegraph lines connected Mad
ison with the whole circle of civilization. Goods
could be purchased at little advance on the charges in
any metropolitan city, and some storekeepers said
much cheaper. The American Express Company had
an office, the Madison Mutual Ins. Co. had entered upon
its successful career, and other companies had opened
agencies. The State Agricultural Society had rooms
in Bruen's Block, and there was every facility for
coming into the world with the aid of science, re
maining, with all the graces that art and dry goods
could afford, and at the last being undertaken for, in
a style replete with grace and finish, so that the end
crowned the work. There were banks, a water cure,
and it is difficult to imagine a want which Madison
had not appliances for immediately satisfying. Over
three hundred'and fifty houses were built in 1854.
The Madison Hydraulic Company, to supply water
from Lake Mendota, was a failure; there was a dif
ficulty in procuring capital. The Gas Company
seemed to be in danger, but the secretary, B. F. Hop
kins, leased the works, and made the enterprise a suc
cess. In the same year, Ex-Governor Farwell com
menced the residence, which was purchased as a
9

130 HISTORY OF MADISON.
" Hospital for wounded Soldiers," next occupied by
the "Soldiers' Orphans," then given to the State
University, and since sold to be used as a Theological
Seminary and College, by the Norwegians. Eapidly
as the building mania spread, every new comer was
forced to build, if his means would permit, so con
tinuous was the demand. Trade prospects grew
more encouraging, school houses were required, and
churches well sustained. Madison became a city on
the fourth of March, 1856, and Colonel Fairchild was
its first mayor. The necessity for school houses was
recognized by the city council, and $24,000 appropri
ated to erect schools. The City Hall was commenced
in 1857, and the main building of the University
was awarded to contractors, to be finished before
November, 1858. The log house erected for Eben
Peck was saved from falling by being torn down,
after twenty years' service. About the same time, as
if the old "tavern stand" must be identified with
the capital, there was a new proposition to remove.
The capitol was dilapidated, and rivals said that as a
new structure must be raised, the time was favorable
for a transfer. The city authorities met the difficulty
by donating $50,000 in bonds, towards erecting the
present edifice. That settled the question. While
affairs were thus progressing, came the financial crisis
of 1857. The crash was disastrous to Madison. Mil
waukee availed itself of the confusion, to renew the
attempt to remove the seat of government. Upon
the third reading of the bill, there was a tie vote; but

HISTORY OF MADISON.

131

by an adroit movement, the measure was killed for
the session; delay, meant death. Many associations
of public value date from this time, among which,
we note: "The Capitol Hook and Ladder Company,
No. 1; " "Mendota Fire Engine Company, No. 1; "
"Madison Engine Company, No. 2; " the " Govern
or's Guards;" the "Madison Guards;" and the

Wisconsin State Capitol.

"Dane Cavalry." Already, the excitement arising
from the troubles in Kansas, was producing an effect
in military and other organizations.
The postoffice had long been established, and well
served, but railroads had given greater completeness.
Pioneers remember when the nearest postoffice was
at the City of the Four Lakes, from which village
there was a road partly cleared to Fort Winnebago.

132 HISTORY OF MADISON.
When John Catlin and his deputy got into working
order, things were better. Darwin Clark remembers
the mail for the village being brought in a handker
chief. Newspapers increased the bulk, but for some
months there was only an occasional copy of the
Cooperstown Freeman's Journal, which had a won
derful circulation from hand to hand. There would
have been more newspapers, as there were few books,
and whisky drinking was not universal; but there
was a strike among the hands. The men that came
with Colonel Bird signed articles, with the under
standing that their pay, $2.25 per day, would com
mence with the journey, but a proviso, that if they
left within three months, there were to be deductions.
The transit from Milwaukee commencing on Wednes
day, ended eleven days later, on Saturday, so that
there would be a large drawback on every man's pay,
if he should quit the work prematurely. The trouble
arose on the questions that still agitate the Union —
paper money and resumption. The commissioners
were said to have been paid the amount of the con
gressional vote, in specie, which they had deposited
in the bank at Green Bay, the bills of which estab
lishment were used for wages. The notes could be
used with little loss in the territory, but every re
moval cost a " shave " of from ten to fifteen per
cent., and even then the exchange might be made in
" wild cat " paper, that would speedily lose all value.
Hence the workmen demanded specie payments, and
the commissioners deferred that operation. Many

HISTORY OF MADISON. 133
i
would have left at once, but for the three months' pro
viso. A large proportion did leave as soon as that
time had expired. There was little difficulty in sup
plying their places. There was not much employ
ment in Wisconsin. Several strikes occurred. The
stone cutters, at Stone Quarry Point, now McBride's,
combined to get higher wages.
The prices charged for everything were enormous,
and there was little margin, unless men limited them
selves to bare necessaries. A man could get board for
$5.00 per week, and lodge in the dormitory near the
east gate of the park — the club house, sleeping apart
ment and literary assembly. But as soon as ambi
tion suggested the desirability of personal adornment,
or outlay for any other purpose, money took wings.
Would the workman build a log house to prepare for
matrimony? The barrier was not only that better
halves were scarce and that the cost of calico was pro
digious. Pinneo and Butterfield would have their
own price for shingles, and the customer must wait
until there was no whisky to be had on credit.
Nails cost three shillings per pound; the brownest of
brown sugar fetched a like price; a pound of sperm
candles cost one dollar, and every article was propor
tionately dear. No wonder men struck for higher
wages. Speaking of prices, we may revert to the
charges preferred against the old commissioners and
their contractor-partner, " Uncle Jim " Morrison. The
amount of the two votes from congress — not from
the territorial legislature, for that body had no money

134 HISTORY OF MADISON.
to appropriate — was $40,000; and when the terri
torial authorities brought suit against Morrison, it
was proved by measurements and vouchers that the
basement alone cost $13,000. Moses M. Strong was
the attorney for the territory, and Mr. Fields con
ducted the case for Morrison, so that there was no
lack of zeal or ability on the side of the government,
but the action was a failure. When the population
had settled down to industrial pursuits, upon the re
turn of the citizen soldiers, a directory was published,
in 1866, by B. W. Suckow. John Y. Smith was the
historian. Many prominent business men, in the
record of 1855, did not survive the crash of 1857.
Those who had invested in real estate, found that item
the least real among their assets. Ex-Gov. Farwell
had specially devoted himself to that branch. It
would be an endless task to name the failures, there
fore one instance may suffice for many. Tibbits and
Gordon, a short time before the crisis, could have
realized $60,000 beyond paying every cent; and when
the storm burst, so hopeless was every effort, they
could not pay fifty cents on the dollar. Gov. Far-
well's ruin called forth much sympathy. He had
built up the community, spending his own money in
a liberal spirit and inducing others to invest. Men
thrown out of their customary labor could remember
the generous employer who had given work to hun
dreds. A policy less open handed might have en
abled him to tide over the panic, but the village
would have been much slower in becoming a city.

HISTORY OF MADISON. 135
The crisis destroyed the value of real estate, closed up
stores, factories, workshops and offices, threw men
out of their gainful avocations, and brought gaunt
famine near to many doors which had been fondly
thought secure from its dread approach.
After the crisis, some mills were resumed, and in
1866, the manufactories of the city included the flour
ing mill built by the ex-governor, owned by Mr.
Briggs ; a woolen factory, the steam flouring mill of
Manning and Merrill, and the iron foundry com
menced by E. W. Skinner in 1851, on the corner of
State and Gorham streets, sold in succession to W. S.
Huntington in 1859, and to Andrews & Co. in 1864.
The foundry of E. W. Skinner & Co. occupied the
building raised by Gorham for a steam saw mill.
The mill changed hands, and was made into a foundry
by I. E. Brown. P. H. Turner bought the property
in 1859, when the country was recovering from the
crash, and Mr. Skinner became the proprietor, adding
to his firm O. S. Willey and S. D. Hastings. That
establishment, in 1865-'6, employed fifty men, be
sides canvassers all over the northwest. Beginning
with one sorghum mill in 1861, it extended its opera
tions to eleven in 1862, one hundred in the following
year, and in 1865 more than five hundred. The Cap
ital Iron Works, owned by J. E. Baker and operated
by Mr. Stillman, had been entered upon in 1865
There were, besides, two planing mills, three cabinet
ware manufactories, and great hopes that the peat
beds would become factors of immense prosperity.

136 HISTORY OF MADISON.
The Agricultural Society, a young institution when
Mr. Seymour published his directory, had grown
strong, and the old rooms were to be given up for the
better location in the capitol. The patriotism of the
society in vacating its grounds for military use ren
dered it impossible to hold exhibitions from 1861 to
1863; but in September, 1864, Camp Eandall having
well nigh completed its military avocation, was avail
able for the arts of peace. The value of the institu
tion is beyond praise. It has stimulated agricul
tural and inventive industry and skill, largely to the
advantage of our city and state. Abraham Lincoln,
then not dreaming of the presidency, honored the
society on one occasion by delivering the annual ad
dress. Other orators, well worthy of being particu
larized, are omitted for want of space.
The State Hospital for the Insane was commenced
under an act passed by the legislature when Gov.
Barstow was in office, in 1854, but in consequence of
a misunderstanding, the contractor, Andrew Proudfit,
did not proceed. There was no blame attaching to
him, and he recovered damages. Two years later the
scheme was revived, but the original name of Lunatic
Asylum was changed to the title now in use. The
contractor, in 1857, was compelled to abandon the
enterprise, but the building was made ready in 1860.
Col. S. V. Shipman was the architect; additions were
made in 1861. Dr. Clement was medical superinten
dent in 1860, and Dr. Favill assistant. In 1864, Dr.
Van Norstrand became medical superintendent, and

HISTORY OF MADISON. 137
Dr. Sawyer assistant. There was no change in the
office of matron, which continues to be filled by Mrs.
M. C. Halliday.
The fact that the capitol graces Madison is due to
the business tact of the citizens. The grant of $50,000
in city bonds has been mentioned. The east wing
was undertaken in 1857, and the legislature occupied
the building in 1859. The west wing was com
menced in 1861, amid the discouragements and
financial pressure incident to civil war, and that wing
was finished in 1863. The north wing, the south
wing, and the rotunda followed in the order named,
the dome being completed before the commencement
of this decade. The material is not so good as the
beauty of the structure demanded, but the commis
sioners did the best possible under the circumstances.
The internal finish is admirable, and the conveniences
afforded for the several departments are all that can
be desired. Few persons visit Madison without mount
ing the wide iron stairs that lead from the upper floor
to the second, in which are found the chambers of the
senate and assembly, the supreme court, the state
library, and the still more attractive collections of the
state historical society.
The State Bank, on Pinckney St., between Tenney's
and Bruen'sblocks,was opened in January, 1853, with
a capital of $50,000* under the direction of President
Samuel Marshall and Cashier J. A. Ellis. The Bank
of the West began on the second floor of Bruen's
Block, in March, 1854, with a capital of $100,000,

138 HISTORY OF MADISON.
and the officers were Samuel A. Lowe, President, and
Wm. L. Hinsdale, Cashier. The Dane County Bank,
in the same block, began its operations in October,
with a capital of $50,000, the officers being Levi B.
Vilas, President, Leonard J. Farwell, Vice President,
and N. B. Van Slyke, Cashier. There was, in addi
tion, in 1855, a bank of discount and brokerage on
Morris street, of which J. M. Dickinson was man
ager and owner. Catlin, Williamson & Barwise ad
vertised as bankers and land agents, dating their
establishment from 1836, just a little before Madison
came into existence. The Merchants Bank of Madi
son was organized in 1856, and commenced business
in July. A. A. Bliss, of Ohio, and C. T. Flowers
were president and cashier. The Wisconsin Bank of
Madison, with M. D. Miller, President, and Noah
Lee, Cashier, was also organized in 1856. The Bank
of Madison began in April, 1860, with a capital of
$25,000. The president was Simeon Mills, and the
cashier, J. L. Hill. The First National started into
vigorous existence in December, 1863. The board of
directors consisted of L. B. Vilas, S. D. Hastings, N.
B. Van Slyke, George A. Mason and Timothy Brown.
The directory of 1866 only showed four banks in op
eration: The Farmers' Bank, the First National, the
Madison, and the State Bank. Many of the leaders
had entered into new combinations ; some had disap
peared altogether; N. B. Van Slyke had become pres
ident of the First National. The State Bank retained
its first president, but procured a new cashier, L. S.

HISTORY OF MADISON. 139
i
Hanks, who still remains. The Farmers' Bank had
offices next door west of the State Bank, and J. H.
Slavan was its cashier. Brainard's city directory for
1875 showed a total of five banks, comprising in addi
tion to two of the four last named, the German Bank,
on King street, near Main, the Park Savings Bank,
and the State Savings Institution, the last of which
has since ended in disaster. The Bank of Madison
failed for a considerable amount. The loss fell heav
ily upon all classes because of the faith reposed in the
financial strength of some few names. The banks
now operating in the city are, The First National,
with a capital of $150,000 ; the president, N. B. Van
Slyke, deserves mention for the care- with which he
has presided over the finances of the State University;
The State Bank, with President Marshall and Cashier
L. S. Hanks; The German Bank of J. J. Suhr, on
King street, and The Park Savings Bank, which com
menced in November, 1871, and has transacted a busi
ness quite as large as circumstances warranted the
proprietary in anticipating. Capital, $50,000. The
president is Dr. J. B. Bowen, and the cashier, Dr. Jas.
E. Baker, the offices being at the corner of Washing
ton avenue and Pinckney street, in a handsome block,
the property of Dr. Baker.
The time in which banks were dreaded by the poorer
class and distrusted by the leaders of public opinion
has, we may hope, passed for ever. Failures are inev
itable; misfortune will overtake individuals; but the
banker per se is one of the most useful citizens. He

140

HISTORY OF MADISON.

is the medium by which wealth, which would other
wise be wastefuUy hoarded, can be brought from its
hiding places to multiply the riches of a nation.
The post-office', once a small log house, is- now one
of our handsomest buildings. The United States
courts are held in the same elegant structure, on the
third floor. Business keeps pace with increased ac
commodation. There are 2,400 boxes in the post-office.
The offices of the United States marshal; the asses
sor and collector of internal revenue; the pension
agent; as well as those of the clerks of courts, the
judges and the postmaster, are conveniently grouped
under one roof. The structure forms one of our il
lustrations. Postmaster E. W. Keyes has marked
individuality. For eight years he has served as
chairman of the Etepublican State Central Committee
with such good fortune, that, when recently assailed,
his vindication was welcomed by men of every class.
Upon his return from Washington, his welcome home
was an ovation in which judges and others, dissevered
from him in political life, bore a conspicuous share.
Mr. Keyes studied law under George B. Smith, and
is a member of one of our most respected legal firms.
His father was a pioneer of note in the early days of
Wisconsin. Madison must feel pleased that the ex
ecutive ability of the party which has so long con
trolled the state has, from the beginning, been vested
in a prominent Madisonian.
The factories and business houses can only be briefly
mentioned. Breckheimer, Fauerbach, Eodermund,

H

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m^mSm^~ywSam-S.' Ms. ' !

HISTORY OF MADISON. 143
Hausmann and Hess are the brewers; there are five
carriage and wagon building firms; two bookbind-
eries ; four book and job printers, English, and one
German; seven carpenters and builders ; one distiller
and rectifier; thirteen dry goods houses; two express
agencies; five furniture warehouses and factories; two
founders and three machinists; three grain dealers;
thirty-three grocers; six dealers in hardware; twen
ty-six hotels, including the Park, the Vilas, the Cap
itol and the Easdall, which are the principal in the
order in which they are named ; the Madison Mutual
and the Hekla are home insurance companies, and
there are many agencies ; there are four livery stables
well appointed; manufacturers of and dealers in to
bacco are six in number; there are fifteen merchant
tailors; two omnibus lines; three daily papers, five
weekly, one tri-weekly, one semi-monthly, and four
monthly; we have one plow manufactory; two mak
ers of pumps and windmills; one reaper factory; two
sash, door and blind factories; two restaurants and
thirty-one saloons; a soap and candle factory; a ste
reotype foundry; a soda water factory, and the Madi
son Woolen Mills. We have in all 450 business
houses. The city has not reached the limits of its
prosperity. Our agricultural resources are boundless,
and the water powers have not been utilized to more
. than a tithe of their capacity. One man, whose name
carries weight, says that we must not look to manu
factures for a success, which will come much more
surely and speedily to Madison as a watering place.

144 HISTORY OF MADISON.
With proper deference, we look to both sources for a
great prosperity in the future. The beauty of Madi
son is unsurpassed, but she must also grow rich by
her factories.
The railroads in operation are, the Chicago, Mil
waukee and St. Paul, and the Chicago and North
western. The traffic is extensive. The demand for
hotel accommodation is so large that years since that
fact was advanced as a reason why the government
should be located elsewhere. Several prominent citi
zens procured the incorporation of a company to
erect and furnish the elegant building which is now
our leading hotel. The enterprise was completed in
1871, being opened in August. The Park Hotel ar
rangements for the comfort of visitors have not been
surpassed in the west, and for the number and varie
ty of beautiful views from every window, the whole
world hardly contains its superior. The first lessee,
Mark H. Irish, commenced his tenancy in August,
1871, ending in the corresponding month of this
year. He has been succeeded by Mr. A. H. West.
The extensive frontage on Main street is ninety-five
and on Carroll street one hundred and sixteen feet.
The building consists of four stories above the base
ment, and is seventy feet high, built of Milwaukee
pressed brick, containing one hundred and eighteen
sleeping rooms, twelve private parlors, one reception
room for ladies only and one for ladies and gentle
men, a general dining room and a ladies ordinary,
general and private offices, bathrooms and suites of

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HISTORY OF MADISON. 145
apartments with bathrooms attached. It is no dis
paragement to the other hotels in the city to say that
the Park is the best. Capital, sufficient for such a
building, could only be obtained by cooperative effort,
and the support afforded from the beginning has
been quite satisfactory. Mr. D. K. Tenney says,
very wisely, as to the charms of this locality:
" Madison and its surroundings are the handsomest
on the face of God's green earth. This is our capi
tal and should be turned to profitable account. No
other place in the west possesses it. For all the pur
poses of pleasure seekers, for rest and recreation, for
quiet, beauty and delight, for sporting and fishing,
for sailing and swimming, for the intoxication and
relief of all the higher senses, Madison has no equal ;
none to approach her west of the sea side. Madison,
says a writer, ' rises between her beautiful lakes, like
a gem pillowed on the bosom of a queen.' But
thousands who ought to know our attractions are ig
norant of them. Twenty years' ago, Madison was
written up, and people were acquainted with its
charms but could not get here. A dozen fresh crops
of tourists have sprung up since who have never
heard of us; a new crop is on the road every year.
Thousands would come to us for recreation, and
spend their money here to the reviving of every chan
nel of trade and prosperity."
10

146 HISTORY OF MADISON.

CHAPTEE X.
SCHOOLS, LITERATURE AND ART.
Those who came to build the capitol and make
homes in its vicinity were mainly from eastern states
where they had enjoyed the advantages of school
training. Many had taught school, and it was a pri
vation to be removed from books and other intellect
ual delights. Schools for the young were provided in
due time, but the first want was an association for
adult culture. Whist, euchre and " old sledge," were
diligently pursued by skillful amatuers, who straddled
a fallen tree all Sunday, engaged in that absorbing oc
cupation; but the pasteboard ministers of pleasure
would not supply all demands. The pioneers estab
lished a debating society with stated meetings, chosen
subjects formally announced, and a regular organiza
tion, that afforded better employment for leisure. The
log shanty sleeping room in the park, already named,
thirty feet by twenty, was the hall in which the week
ly tournaments of wit and wisdom were provided.
The club house athenaeum was a popular rallying
place, and few lyceum courses have proved more inter
esting. There were no attractions elsewhere to mil
itate against the popularity of the movement. The
summer of 1837 saw the debates in full swing, and

HISTORY OF MADISON. 147
they continued until November, when all the work
men except Darwin Clark were paid off. During
the winter there were no meetings, because the de
baters and audience had gone to Milwaukee, and the
understandings of the minority were exercised in a
dancing academy, the members of which celebrated
Madison's first New Year, with two days devotion to
Terpsichore. The zeal of the devotees may be gathered
from the fact, that on the second day, shoes were die
pensed with. Mr. Turveydrop would perhaps have
found fault with such freedom of deportment.
There was a renewal of the debating society in the
spring of 1838, and many new members joined.
Work did not absolutely cease the next winter, and
the meetings continued. When the legislature held
its first session in the village, home talent in the log
shanty was pitted against imported eloquence, in the
frozen capitol, and the more dignified assemblages
were not always the winners. Sheriff Childs stirred
up Morrison's pigs in the basement of the capitol, to
drown the voices of some of his associates, but in the
little athenaeum, there was choicer music, as well as
more courtesy. The leaders in literary debate were not
called on to compete with vivacious porkers. There
was an idle time in the summer of '39, work was
scarce, and the weekly meetings tended to become per
manent clubs, for retailing stories. Some of the mas
ter spirits of the " Thousand and one " were on hand.
One of the latest efforts under the old auspices was
George Stoner's interesting lecture on phrenology, il-

148 HISTORY OF MADrSON.
lustrated by phenomena. The lecture was published.
The lecturer may again be heard from. His younger
brother, James Madison Stoner, was the first white
boy born in the village. The Madison Institute was
an outgrowth of the minds that originated the debat
ing society, an intellectual successor. Incorporated
in 1853, its rooms were in Bruen's block, now
Brown's ; and the leading papers and magazines with
some few books were procured for members and visi
tors. The winter of '54-5, was signalized by a course
of lectures in which Horace Greeley, James E. Lowell,
Bayard Taylor, Parke Godwin and John G. Saxe ap
peared. The library had then one hundred volumes,
and other collections made up a total of about 13,000
in the hands of the state, the executive, the univers
ity, the state superintendent, the historical society,
the agricultural society, the natural history associ
ation, the district school, and Mr. Draper, the inval
uable collector and corresponding secretary of the
historical society. The library of the Institute has
largely increased, and is now located in the city hall,
where it is open every afternoon, and on Saturday
evenings. Some years have elapsed since the last
course of lectures was undertaken by the society, and
it is time to fix a date for resumption.
The first schools have been named elsewhere. Miss
Pierce taught the girls in a building near the site of
Dean's Block in 1840. There were then only thirteen
pupils in the village. Mr. Searle opened his school
for boys in 1839, and was succeeded by Mr. William-

HISTORY OF MADISON.

149

son. David Brigham, Jas. Morrison and Burk Fair-
child, as school commissioners in December, 1841, set
off school district No. 1, which was subsequently en
larged, including a wide area besides the village of
Madison. In the next year, Mrs. Gay opened a select
school for young ladies. Two years later, the public
schools were so crowded that tuition was kept up all
the year to meet the demand. Four months had been
the maximum. David H. Wright was the first teacher
to carry out the extended term. The school room had
a kind of shelf, called a gallery, on which the smaller
pupils were placed when the more advanced scholars
required the floor, and ventilation, on any principle,
was neglected as an extravagance. Miss Smedley
taught during 1845, and a larger building was found
indispensable. The " Little Brick," school house on
Butler street was a palatial structure in its day, but
that also became too small. Jerome E. Brigham and
Eoyal Buck taught there in succession for three years.
Madison Academy had been incorporated, the village
made a school district, and soon afterwards the pre
paratory department of the state university was opened
by Prof. Sterling. The first graded school dates from
1850, with Jas. L. Enos, principal, at a salary of $30
per month, and Mrs. Church had control of the
primary. Damon Y. Kilgore, superintendent, urged
an increase and improvement of school accommoda
tion in 1855. There were 1,600 persons of school age
in the district, less than half of whom were attending
school. Three grades were established by the board,

150 HISTORY OF MADISON.
and there has been no material change since. The
school board and trustees could not agree as to an
authorized outlay of $10,000, and plans for new
schools languished; but two years afterwards, Mr.
Kilgore reported eleven schools employing fifteen
teachers, the number eligible for tuition being nearly
two thousand. School houses in the First and Third
wards were finished and others sanctioned, but the
money difficulty stood in the way. High school was
taught in the old Congregational church, employing
eight teachers for 133 pupils. That institution was in
better quarters in 1860, but was then discontinued for
want of funds, and for the same reason the summer
term of the ward schools was abandoned. Miss
Cones procured the use of the building and furniture
from the board, and, at her own risk for a time, con
ducted a high school for young ladies. When Prof.
C. H. Allen asked the city to provide better school
training in 1863, there were nearly 2,000 of school
age in the district beyond the number in average
attendance. High school was reopened with about
one-third of its former total, and soon afterwards the
Fourth ward school house was commenced. State
Supt. McMynn pronounced that building " the best
in the state," and the Second ward was supplied with
a like structure on the same plan. The school house
in the university addition was finished in 1870.
Three years later the high school on Wisconsin
avenue was erected on the old site, and is much
praised ; but modern science suggests the desirability

MS.Bt§OM CCTY HtQH SCHCCt.

HISTORY OF MADISON. 153
of more floor space and less stair climbing for all
pupils, but more especially for girls, as more im
portant than architectural beauty. Widely extended
buildings of only one story, would not be so orna
mental as the average of our school buildings, but
they would be easier warmed and ventilated, and the
results, in a physiological sense, would far outweigh
every other consideration, among the best informed.
The High School is at present under the direction
of Professor Shaw, whose efficiency as Superintendent
of the city schools is a matter for the school board as
well as our citizens to be specially proud of. The
denominational schools connected with the churches
of St. Eaphaels, St. Eegina and the Holy Eedeemer,
deserve special mention. There are excellent private
schools, whose merits can only be glanced at. E. F.
George is the principal of the Commercial School on
Wisconsin Avenue and Johnson Street, and the North
western Business College in Ellsworth's block, of
which Messrs. Wilmot, Demming & Boyd are propri
etors, are schools of high standing. Add to these
•several institutions the college just opened by the
Norwegian church in the old Farwell residence, and
it will be seen that the sum total of facility for tui
tion in this city is scarcely excelled by any other
place of its size in the Union.
The Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Let
ters was originated by a convention in the state agri
cultural rooms in February, 1870. The purposes
aimed at are explained by the title, and the spirit in

154 HISTORY OF MADISON.
which the work has been prosecuted, justifies the as
sumption that " the foundations may be laid for an
institution that shall be of practical utility, and a last
ing honor to the state." The transactions of the acad
emy have been published by votes of the legislature,
and among the many valuable papers are some that
would do honor to any institution of the kind; but
which would hardly commend themselves to the di
rectors of the daily press as popular reading, from the
recondite matter introduced. Madison has given a
large proportion of the officers of the academy for the
current year. Professor Davies of the State Univer
sity is General Secretary; Prof. S. H. Carpenter,
Vice President for Department of Speculative Philos
ophy; Dr. J. W. Hoyt, Vice President for Depart
ment of Fine Arts; Gen. Geo. P. Delaplaine, Treas
urer; C. N. Gregory, A. M., Librarian; and E. T.
Sweet, M. S., Director of Museum.
The State University has added largely to the ag
gregate of literary culture, for which our city stands
preeminent. It is our purpose to name some of the
more prominent among our men and women of letters,.
briefly noting their contributions, and it is due to the
University that we begin with a sketch of its accom-
lished president. John Bascom was born in Genoa,
N. Y., on the first day of May, 1827, as we learn from
" Durfee's Biographical Annals of Williams College."
He is consequently now in his fiftieth year. Having
fitted for college at Homer Academy, N. Y., he en
tered " Williams " in 1845, and graduated four years

HISTORY OF MADISON. 155
later. Severe study, and the necessity to teach while
pursuing his course as a student, weakened his visual
organs, as in 1853 he partially lost the use of his eyes
so that he was dependent on others for his reading,
and for five years sight was not fully restored. Stead
fastly pursuing his studies, Mr. Bascom graduated at
Andover Theological Seminary in 1855, and was
called to the professorship of rhetoric in Williams
College. In the year 1858, he published a work on
" Political Economy," to which his mind had been
specially directed, while serving as tutor at Williams
College in 1852-3. Four years later his second book
appeared, a treatise on "^Esthetics," followed in 1865
by a volume on "Ehetoric," and in 1869 by "Psy
chology," a work treating one of the most engrossing
subjects of modern thought. " Science, Philosophy
and Eeligion" in 1871, the " Philosophy of English
Literature" in 1874, and the "Philosophy of Ee
ligion" in 1876, may be taken as evidences that the
lesson of five years in semi-darkness has not been
construed into an excuse for taking things easily.
The university duties devolving upon President Bas
com are onerous, but they do not exhaust his mental
force, and the superfluous energy of the scholar finds
expression in additions to our literature, such as will
cause the name of the writer to be remembered in
future years. President Bascom is a diligent con
tributor to some of our leading quarterlies.
Prof. E. B. Anderson has long been a successful
author. His graphic work, amplified from a lecture,

156 HISTORY OF MADISON.
"America not discovered by Columbus," won recog
nition on both sides of the Atlantic. It is now out of
print, but a new edition is demanded, and may be
looked for shortly. " Norse Mythology " has gone
through its second edition, and a third is in'the press.
" Viking Tales of the North " is just out, and the de
mand attests the author's reputation. Besides these
works, by which Mr. Anderson is best known in this
country, he has produced many pamphlets and larger
works in the Norwegian tongue, including " Jule-
gave," or " Yule Gift," and " Den Norske Maal-sag,"
or "The Norse Language-Question." His transla
tion from the Swedish of the " Handbook for Char
coal Burners," a combination of prize essays on the
subject, has attracted much attention. Mr. Anderson
is professor of the Scandinavian languages, and libra
rian of the State University, in which capacity he has
twice visited Europe, and will repeat the tour shortly,
as a member of the Congres des Americanistes, which
will assemble in the Duchy of Luxembourg. The
professor is a lecturer of considerable merit, hon
orary member of the Iceland Literary Society, partici
pating in all the publications of that association, Scan
dinavian editor of McClintock & Strong's Cyclopedia,
and of Kiddle & Schem's Educational Cyclopedia;
and has been appointed to deliver a course of lec
tures on Norse literature, at the Peabody Institute,
Baltimore, in December, 1877. Circumstances have
brought the professor in contact with many of
the world's most renowned scholars and poets,

HISTORY OF MADISON. 157
such as Max Miiller and Whitney, Bjornson and Long
fellow, and his collection of autographs is most inter
esting. Prof. W. F. Allen was associated with T. P. Allen
in producing the " Handbook of Classical Geography,"
in 1862, and with Chas: P. Ware and Lucy McK. Gar
rison in a volume of "Slave Songs," in 1867. In
1870, Mr. Allen produced an " Introduction to Latin
Composition." Joined with Jos. H. Allen, in 1868
and 1869, he wrote a " Manual of Latin Grammar,"
" Latin Lessons " and a " Latin Eeader," and during
the current decade, associated with Jos. H. Allen and
Jas. B. Greenough, has added to our literature six
works on Cicero's Select Orations, De Senectute, Sal-
lust's Catiline, Virgil, Ovid and Csesar. Prof. Allen
ranks among the most prominent Latin scholars in
America, and is a constant contributor to The Nation,
North American Review, and other such publications."
Prof. S. H. Carpenter was born at Little Falls, Her
kimer County, N. Y., and at the age of twenty-one
graduated in Eochester University, receiving from
that institution in 1855 and 1871, the degrees of A.
M. and LL. D. The professor commenced his career
in our State University as a tutor in 1852, and has
been identified with the interests of education ever
since. His publications can only be glanced at, but
their titles are descriptive: "Education a Mental
Possession," "The Moral Element in Education,"
" Education a Necessity in a Free Government," " The
Evidences of Christianity," " University Education,"

158 HISTORY OF MADISON.
"The Drama," "An Address to the State Teachers'
Association," " The Eelations of Skepticism to Schol
arship," " Conflict between the Old and the New Ed
ucation," "Metaphysical Basis of Science," "Eelation
of Educational Institutions," " Philosophy of Evolu
tion," "Industrial Education," "The Educational
Problem," "Historical Sketch of the University,"
" Our National Growth," and still unpublished an
address on " The Duty and Difficulty of Independent
Thinking." Prof. Carpenter's " English of the Four
teenth Century," and " Introduction to the Study of
Anglo Saxon," cannot fail to live as standard works;
and he has translated from the French of Emile de La-
veleye, " The Future of Catholic Nations" and " Po
litical Economy and Socialism," besides contributing
largely to periodicals of the highest type.
Dr. James Davie Butler, LL. D., was born in Eut-
land, Vt., and graduated at Middlebury College at
twenty-one. Having studied theology in Yale and
Andover, he next became a traveler in Europe, Asia
and Africa, extending his researches into Polynesia
by visiting the Sandwich Islands. Eeturning to his
alma mater, he became a tutor in Middlebury College,
and, in succession, professor in Norwich University,
Wabash College, and in our University, in all, about
eighteen years. He officiated as a Congregational pas
tor at Wells Eiver, Vt., Peabody, Mass., and at Cincin
nati, 0. He has published " Armsmear," a memorial
of Col. Colt; " Letters From Abroad," which appeared
in Boston, New York, Cincinnati, Chicago and Mad-

HISTORY OF MADISON. 159
ison, and valuable papers in Kind's Cyclopedia Bibli-
otheca Sacra, Quarterly Register, and in connection
with the American Institute and our State Historical
Society. The professor is well known as a lecturer,
and his occasional sermons are always listened to with
profound interest.
Lyman C. Draper, A. M., LL. D., has rather aimed
at preparing material for future historians, than at
becoming a writer of books; but he has won for him
self the title of " The Western Plutarch." His atten
tion was early directed to the want of efficient collec
tion, which prevented masses of facts, once well known,
from being authenticated for historical use, and much
of his life has been devoted to the rectification of that
class of errors. Circumstances have aided him in
some degree in becoming acquainted with notabilities,
and his personal reminiscences of La Fayette, De
Witt Clinton, Gov. Cass, Chas. Carroll, Daniel Boone,
and others equally celebrated in their several spheres,
would make one of the most readable volumes of the
day. His collection of MSS. is certainly the most
valuable in the west, and in the hands of a skillful
writer, might be wrought into works of engrossing
interest and great literary value. Mr. Draper has
seen service in the field; has been justice of the peace
in Northern Mississippi, editor of a newspaper, farmer,
and since his removal to this state, has been identified
with the State Historical Society, as we have else
where recorded. As state superintendent of public
instruction, his labors deserve honorable mention.

160 HISTORY OF MADISON.
His published works consist of pamphlets and school
reports, evincing much research, the seven volumes of
collections of the Historical Society with valuable
notes, " The Helping Hand," a work in which Mr.
Croffut assisted, and two works are now ready for the
press ; one, in which Mr. Butterfield was his colaborer,
entitled " Border Forays," and, though last, not least,
" The Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence," a
book fall of careful compilations on the daring asser
tion of independence enunciated at Mecklenburg, N.
O, more than twelve months prior to the time from
which we date our centennial.
Dr. J. W. Hoyt, A. M., M. D., LL. D., is already
known to our readers as editor of " The Wisconsin
Farmer''' but he has served the state in numerous
other capacities. Worthington, Ohio, was his place
of nativity, and in that state he was Professor of
Chemistry and Medical Jurisprudence in the Cincin
nati College of Medicine, as also, at a later date, Pro
fessor of Chemistry and Natural History in Antioch
College. The doctor was Secretary of the Wisconsin
State Agricultural Society; was founder and President
of the Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters, besides
holding many other appointments of honor and use
fulness, which defy enumeration. His services to the
State University alone would require more space than
we have at our disposal for this brief notice. His
works consist of thirteen annual reports of the State
Agricultural Society, and other reports on the re
sources and progress of Wisconsin; on the London

HISTORY OF MADISON. 161
International Exhibition; on the Paris Exposition
TJnifoerselle; on the Eailroad Commission; as chair
man of the National University Committee; a work
on "University Progress;" and numerous mono
graphs, industrial, educational and scientific. The
doctor has a well stored mind, and its resources are
ever at his fullest command for the work of the hour
and the age.
Mr. H. A. Tenney has figured in many other chap
ters of our history, and he must not be forgotten
among our authors. To him are due the earliest
sketches extant of Dane and Pierce counties, and in
numerable contributions preserved by the State His
torical Society. He has been a Wisconsin man from
a very early date. He has now almost ready for the
press, a volume on " Early Humor in Wisconsin,"
which should have a good sale.
D. S. Durrie, whose unobtrusive labors in the
State Historical Library have been too little noticed,
deserves more than a passing mention. He has long
filled the position of Librarian. His works consist
of the "Bibliography of Wisconsin;" "Early Out
posts of Wisconsin;" "Bibliographic Genealogy of
America;" "The Steele Family;" "Holt Geneal
ogy; " " Utility of the Study of Genealogy; " " His
tory of the Four Lake Country;" and parts of the
"History of Wisconsin;" of Iowa and Missouri.
Mr. Durrie compiles with faithfulness, and has a con
science in his literary labors.
C. W. Butterfield was born in July, 1824, and has
11

162 HISTORY OF MADISON.
prosecuted his literary labors with much good for
tune. His principal works are the " History of Sen
eca County," Ohio; " A System of Grammatical and
Ehetorical Punctuation;" "Crawford's Expedition
against Sandusky, in 1782;" and in conjunction
with Mr. Draper, Mr. Butterfield has produced "Bor
der Forays." A new edition of Crawford's Expedi
tion may be expected shortly. His "Washington
Crawford Letters," have just appeared.
Eev. J. B. Pradt has long been a resident in this
state. He has issued ten volumes of the Wisconsin
Journal of Education, from 1860 to 1865, as editor
and publisher, and from 1871 to the present time, as
co-editor and publisher. Mr. Pradt i has also assisted
in issuing eight annual reports of the Department of
Public Instruction; and an edition of the Constitu
tions of the United States and Wisconsin, with his
torical notes, questions and glossary.
Eev. Ames C. Pennock came to Wisconsin in 1844,
and four years later, joined the M. E. Conference,
preaching in this state and in Minnesota until 1862,
when in consequence of impaired health, it became
necessary to abate his labors. Mr. Pennock has had
experience as a farmer, merchant, agent, author,
editor and newspaper correspondent. He is now a
publisher of books as well as a writer. His mind
revels alike in poetry and prose, and those who have
encountered him in theological controversy will long
remember the event. He has published a brief, but
very exhaustive work, on " The Fall and the Eescue

HISTORY OF MADISON. 163
of Man; " also recently issued " The Problem of Evil,
or Theory and Theology," and has written a volume
of poetry.
Professor Nicodemus has now ready for the press a
translation of "Weisbach's Engineer," a work of
admitted value, which, cannot fail to be recognized as
a standard production. The translation from the
Swedish, by Professor Anderson, of Svedelius'
"Handbook for Charcoal Burners," was edited by
Mr. Nicodemus, who contributed copious notes from
the writings of acknowledged authorities. Many
articles in the published proceedings of the Academy
of Sciences, Arts and Letters are due to his industry,
and other additions to our current literature might
be given, were it necessary to complete the catalogue.
Prof. Searing, superintendent of public instruction,
was one of the faculty of Milton College, in this state,
prior to his election to the office now worthily filled
by him. His published works consist of an address
on the " Character of Abraham Lincoln," delivered
shortly after the assassination of the martyred presi
dent, and a school edition of Virgil's Eneid. The
great success of the book last named, led to the pre
paration of an edition of Homer's Iliad, which was
nearly ready for publication when Mr. Searing was
elected. In consequence of his call to the unsought
honor, the book has not yet seen the light, but its ap
pearance may be anticipated shortly, and its success
looked upon as assured, so great and well applied has
been the labor, and so exceptionally elegant will be the

164 HISTORY OF MADISON.
illustrations. Prof. Searing deserves high honor for
the strenuous personal efforts by which he has earned
his own advancement in the department of letters.
His official services have been properly noticed else
where. His career has been highly meritorious, and
substantially successful; he is yet only on the thresh-
hold of his literary eminence.
Mr. John Y. Smith, who wrote a history of Madi
son, in brief, for one of the earlier Directories, was a
writer of great force, and fineness of intellect; but
want of space precludes a becoming notice of his
merits. Col. Slaughter has been frequently mentioned in
our pages, and it remains only to say that as a writer,
he is a gentleman of high repute. He is now engaged
on a series of Wisconsin Biographies, which will
widely extend his fame.
Jas. E. Stuart is, a native of South Carolina, where
his forefathers settled in the first half of the eighteenth
century, hence probably his adhesion to the " lost
cause " for which he fought. His scientific training
was procured in Harvard, his first instruction in art
in the studio of Joseph Ames of Boston. After some
years of school teaching in Savannah, he was enabled
to prosecute his art studies in the academies of Mu
nich and Carlsruhe. Mr. Stuart came to Madison in
1872, and many of his pictures have commanded ad
miration. Judges Dunn and Paine, in the supreme
court rooms, are from his studio, and he has also
painted Gen. Allen, of Oshkosh, Judges Miller,

HISTORY OF MADISON. 165
Smith and Jonathan E. Arnold, of Milwaukee, besides
aiany others. The fineness of touch for which Mr.
Stuart is justly praised does not detract in any degree
from the faithfulness of his presentations.
Judge Arthur B. Braley, one of the oldest and most
respected members of the Dane County Bar, and who
for many years has held the responsible office of muni
cipal judge, in which position he has discharged the du
ties with impartiality and a strict regard to law and jus
tice that has won for him the esteem of all lovers of
law and order. The Judge has delighted the readers of
one of our public journals, with a very clear and analy
tical commentary on some of the leading characters in
Shakespere's plays. That on Hamlet cannot be excelled
in the completeness of its portraiture of the King,
Queen and Prince. We trust the Judge will favor his
many friends by publishing the articles in book form.
Miss Ella A. Giles, authoress of " Bachelor Ben," and
"Out from the Shadows," has been honored with copious
notices in metropolitan journals accustomed to wield
the scalpel of criticism with little mercy. Her books
survive such scrutiny, and further contributions from
her pen may be anticipated.
Mrs. Sara C. Bull has recently entered the field of
literature, and has already established for herself a bril
liant record by her excellent translation of Jonas Lie's
"The Pilot and his Wife/'' The leading periodicals
on both sides of the Atlantic are loud in their praises
of Mrs. Bull's book, and, indeed, she has chosen for
translation a novelist whose pictures of Norse life can
not be surpassed. They are like the music of Ole
Bull played by Ole Bull himself, or like sky rockets
that burst in the zenith and fall in gentle showers of
fiery rain. " The Pilot and his Wife " is already in its

166 HISTORY OF MADISON.
second edition, and more books may soon be looked
for from Mrs. Bull's pen.
Miss Ella Wheeler has won triumphs as an author
ess in this city, and her residence in Dane county ena
bles us to include her name among the Litterateurs
that adorn the history of Madison. The young poet
ess came before the public first in New York in 1873,
when " Drops of Water " was the significant title of
her work. During the same year, and almost at the
same time, her second book " Shells" was being pub
lished in Milwaukee, so that east and west were alike
doing homage to her genius. " Maurine," her third
production, has evoked much friendly criticism, but
we believe that " The Messenger," a piece published
by Harper and Brothers, New York, will hardly be
excelled by any of her later productions, bright and
telling as they prove.
Miss Wilhelmina Fillans, an artist of considerable
merit, has been already referred to as occupying a
suite of rooms in the capitol; but since that mention
was made, Miss Fillans has removed to other quarters.
The lady comes of a family of artists, and her skill is
beyond question. Many of her paintings grace the
homes of Madison, and her modelings are no less fine.
Among which are a life-sized bust of Judge L. S.
Dixon, and Chief Justice E. G. Eyan of the Supreme
Court room, and also a crayon portrait of Gov. Taylor
for the Agricultural rooms.

HISTORY OF MADISON. 167
CHAPTEE XI.
MADISON HOMES.
Qur title would justify a long chapter, but the limits
allotted to our lucubrations have been reached, and we
deny ourselves the pleasure of communicating to our
readers many interesting details compiled with care.
It would be strange if the charms of scenery, which
have been praised by all observers from every part of
the Union; which determined the location of the Cap
ital and its retention here; and which won the ad
miration of the Antocthonous mound builders so com
pletely, that they abode here for several centuries
until war drove them out; had not induced many of
our private citizens to erect elegant residences and
almost palatial homes. ELM SIDE.
A little removed from the business portion of the
city, about one mile southwesterly from the State
Capitol, is located what is known as "Elm Side."' In
location it possesses a most charming view of both
lake and city, and is the splendid residence of Dr. J.
B. Bowen. The house is accurately represented by
an engraving on another page. It is built of the
light colored Madison stone, and is a substantial and

168 HISTORY OF MADISON.
elegant structure, being finished in modern style, and
supplied with modern conveniences. Connected with
this charming residence, is a choice farm of sixty
acres of excellent land — forty acres of which are un
der a high state of cultivation, and the remaining
twenty acres constitute an extremely fine meadow.
Much care has been bestowed upon this place, with a
view to making it a most charming and inviting
home. Many of the native oaks have been permitted
to stand in all their sturdy grandeur; and over one
hundred elm trees were planted on the premises six
teen years ago ; they have grown luxuriantly, and now
possess extreme grace and beauty. The elms — al
ways handsome — on this place, have been so care
fully trimmed, as to add special dignity and grace to
their natural beauty. Taking everything into con
sideration — the native charms and the adornments
added by man — this is one of the most delightful of
the many elegant Madison homes, to persons desir
ous of living a little out of the city. It is such a
home as cannot fail to give rest to its occupants, as
they return to it, after the weary business hours of
the day have passed. And who is better entitled to
such a home, than are Dr. Bowen and his estimable
family? It is now over twenty-five years since he
located in Madison, without means and a stranger.
He has acquired a fine property and hosts of friends.
He was the pioneer in the practice of homoeopathy in
Dane county; has labored incessantly and successfully
in building up a reputation and in accumulating a

Ilk

MS

HISTORY OF MADISON. 171
fortune; has served ably and faithfully as mayor of
Madison; and the numerous patrons who have re
ceived benefits from his treatment will rejoice in his
complete success, and in the fact that, in his palatial
residence, he enjoys, in a high degree, the pleasures
and sweets of substantial home comforts. He de
serves them all.
The old prejudices have been well nigh removed
in this vast caravanserai of nations and peoples, and
every man who comes well vouched for, finds a home
that may be made as happy as his first.
Society in Madison has been largely made up of
men who have represented other parts of the state in
some capacity, and coming here, have been tempted
to prolong a temporary sojourn into a life residence.
Men who can command the suffrage of their fellows
must, as a rule, possess some excellence. The congre
gation of such minds makes a city a metropolis. The
state officers make their homes in Madison and are, as
a rule, handsomely lodged. The city officials include
not a few who began adult life in this settlement, and
have grown up with their surroundings, accumulating
wealth with sound ideas as to life's enjoyment. The
same may be said to a large extent of other officials,
and it is still more true of our professional classes.
The development of elegant tastes has resulted in
beautifying this city until it challenges comparison
with others of like dimensions and wealth, certain
of victory.

172 HISTORY OF MADISON.
The masonic fraternity dating its claim on human
regard from Solomon's temple, and the fidelity of the
Grand Master, Hiram Abiff, has three blue lodges,
Dne Eoyal Arch Chapter, one Council, and one Com-
mandery in this city. Brethren of the mystic tie
make the five points of fellowship a sober reality in
this region, and where the hailing sign becomes neces
sary, there is never a lack of response to the call.
Labor and refreshment are alike regarded as sacred
duties, and free and accepted Masons who understand
the golden rule of life make the society which they
tincture a desirable place of abode. Masonic Lodges,
and the celebrations arising therefrom, were among
the earliest social gatherings in this community, and
they retain preeminence. Other organizations founded
on the same general idea of brotherhood have a large
aggregate of members. The Temple of Honor is also
represented. Sons of Temperance abound in good
works; and Good Templars are more numerous than,
and as well organized, as the Templars of old time.
The Odd Fellows have two Lodges and one En
campment ; the Druids have a Grove ; the Germans have
a Scheutzen Club, a Masnnerchor, a Dramatic Society,
a Turn Verein, a Literary Society and other associa
tions. There are also a Grand Army of the Eepublic;
a County Bible Society and other affiliations so num
erous in connection with the several churches, that no
person desiring fellowship can long remain a stranger.
The city has innumerable attractions for every variety
of taste. That must be a strange intellect that would

ftar-ca-riiv.

RQ3E3ANK 6©T?A©e.

HISTORY OF MADISON. 175
find nothing congenial in the numberless societies
that open their circle to the worthy; nor any objects
of interest in the vast collections in the rooms of the
Historical Society, the Agricultural Association, and
the Academy. The schools and churches have been
named in their order, but their social value as organ
izations would deserve whole pages of comment and
laudation. Our illustrations must .afford some faint
idea of the architectural beauty of this city, and the
discreet reader will argue from the less to the greater.
The University overlooking Lake Mendota tells its
own story. Lake Monona, and the vessels of the
Yacht Club furnish a handsome picture. One church
must stand as the representative of many. The streets
and principal stores are not entirely wanting in our
illustrations. The view of Lakeside over Monona is
beautiful as a scene in dreamland. The old house of
Eben Peck, long since torn down, reappears as it
stood in 1837. The view of the Post Office and City
Hall, with Lake Mendota in the distance, is a charm
ing representation which, in a general way, will give
the distant observer an idea of the capital of Wis
consin. The presentation of the Capitol itself comes
as near as the circumstances will permit to a repro
duction of the original; and but that the expense
would have been such as to have largely increased the
selling price of the work, it would have been a pleasure
to have completed the pictorial circle, so that the
artist's pencil and graver might have done justice to
beauties which the skill of the writer fails to present
in adequate language.

176 HISTORY OF MADISON.

CHAPTEE XII.
VISITORS AND THEIR PLEASURES.
Pursuit of health has brought thousands to this
city, who have found hygienic conditions not often
combined. Beauty is a large element in relieving the
pressure of nervous complaints by calling attention
from real and assumed disorders. That charm is
here in the superlative degree, and, in addition, a
mild and salubrious atmosphere. There are exquisite
nooks for bathing, and enclosures in which art has
assisted nature in making the pellucid waters attract
ive, so that swimmer and nonswimmer can enjoy the
health giving plunge. The amateur fisherman could
hardly find better sport than here, and while patiently
waiting for a bite, his eyes can feast on beautiful im
pressions, which can never be effaced. The lakes in
vite rowing and sailing; the shores unfold new at
tractions with every change, and steamboats make ex
cursions with modest speed, lest visitors should not
enjoy the landscape inclosing the crystal gem. Citi
zens propose to improve the drives which girdle the
city and lakes. One suggests a road round Fourth
Lake, following the shore, which would give "a
drive of twenty-five miles, absolutely unrivaled for
beauty." A second proposition contemplates a new

tftKE St © M © N) & .
(Or Third Lake)
LOOKING IOWA5D MADISOf.

12

history of Madison. 179
lake shore drive of five miles, to the charming site of
the State Hospital for the Insane, and there is good
hope that the idea will be realized. The beautiful
university drive is likely to be extended to Picnic
Point. There are rural retreats, easy of access from
this capital, which shut out the city, yet within an
hour's transit, all the advantages of social science
and material advancement can be reached. Visitors
are attracted by our university and pleased with our
graded schools. The church spires pointing to the
stars challenge admiring notice. The railroads and
postoffice, with always increasing facilities, and the
telegraph wires by which the world is girdled, bespeak
the obedient spirit of science, more apt than the fabled
Ariel. The Capitol, whose form of beauty compels
admiration as soon as the eye lights on Madison,
offers substantial evidences of civilization connecting
us with the great world which we daily miniature.
Here, in the several libraries, are choice books, news
papers and periodicals; the best works of juriscon
sults; the treasures of common and civil law, ex- ,
pressed essences of knowledge from the days of
Justinian to our own; and by their side the liveliest
essays of magazine contributors, separating them from
works of profound historians and scientists. On the
desks are our best newspapers, in many respects the
foremost in the world, filled with vigorous assaults of
partisan editors, who anticipate the final cataclysm
unless their measures and their men are sustained;
yet reassuring us by the news flashed along the wires,

180 HISTORY OF MADISON.
through mid air and under the sea, which, in reveal
ing the condition of every country on the earth, from
New York and London to Japan and "Far Cathay,"
unfold the fact that a thousand such jeremiads daily
reach the limbo of nonfulfillment.
It has been objected that our population of ten
thousand has not originated a line of steamboats that
will compare, for beauty, power and convenience, with
the Atlantic glories of Cunard or White Star; but the
Scutanawbequon and the new screw steamer Men
dota, possess names that rival the finest on the sea,
and our boats, if not numerous and large as the Span
ish armada, are equal to the occasion.
The names of celebrities who have visited us, as
revealed by the books of the Park, the Vilas House,
and the Capitol, would fill a volume, but few would
peruse the record. Prince Napoleon, who passed
through our city to Saint Paul, accompanied by his
beautiful wife, the daughter of Victor Emanuel, Tl Re
Galantuomo, as Garibaldi named him, could hardly
be considered our visitor, for he and his suite were
closely cooped within locked doors, during the stay,
but that could not prevent a cheer of welcome before
the distinguished Prince parvenu moved on. It is
more to our purpose that such men as Secretary Sew
ard and Charles Francis Adams have been our guests,
and raised their eloquent voices to infuse their spirit
into the people. The balcony of the Vilas House,
and the eastern steps of the capitol had on that day
immense assemblies. Frederika Bremer was for

AMQtEW©

HISTORY OF MADISON. 183
months a delighted visitor to our city and lakes.
Louis J. D. Agassiz, the eminent Swiss naturalist, of
whom Whipple says: "He is not merely a scientific
thinker, he is a scientific force  The immense
influence he exerts is due to the energy and geniality
which distinguished the nature of the man. He in
spires as well as performs; communicates not only
knowledge, but the love of knowledge." He was an
appreciated and appreciative visitor, and many in this
city can testify to those truths from personal experi
ence, who grieved as for a dear friend when Agassiz
died. The magician Ole Bull, whose wand is the
wonder working bow, has on the shores of those lakes
a home, to which the demands of a music loving
world make him a rare visitor; but when leisure on
this side of the Atlantic permits, he can forget Ole-
ana in the witcheries of this region. The praise be
stowed upon Ole Bull by Longfellow in his " Tales of
a Wayside Inn," beggar any tribute that we could
render. We content ourselves with claiming the dis
tinction that belongs to Madison. Horace Greeley
and Bayard Taylor visited us as lecturers ; during the
same season Jas. Eussel Lowell, Parke Godwin, John
G. Saxe, and other national celebrities were with us,
and their appreciative words are treasured. Sumner
lectured here on the question, "Are We a Nation?"
Gen. Sherman was with us as the guest of Col. Eey-
nolds, when the famous "March to the Sea" was the
topic of all talkers; and Philip Sheridan, not less
famous for his dashing exploits with cavalry,

184 HISTORY OF MADISON.

CHAPTEE XIII.
MOUNDS, MONUMENTS, CAVES AND RELICS.
We live surrounded by monuments which point to
the almost forgotten past, telling of our remote prede
cessors, the mound builders. The site occupied by
our city was for a prolonged term, thousands of years
ago, the abode of a people whose semi-architectural
remains connect them with the civilizations of Aztecs
and Toltecs, in Mexico and Central America. The
Teocallis or temples, and the Pueblos or village
houses, preserved by the more enduring character of
their materials, in some cases, as at Palenque, Copan,
Uxmal, long buried in impassable forests, are the
wonder of the explorer ; our monuments are only less
complete. Where the central building of our State
University stands, was a large mound crowning the
eminence, but necessity compelled its removal. In
other supremely beautiful positions, such mounds, all
that remain of more extensive erections, bespeak
identity in taste and judgment between the aboriginal
occupants and ourselves. St. Louis was once called
Mound City, because of the large number of emi
nences standing where that city unfolds her vast pro
portions. There are mound cities in many of the
states. Cincinnati, Chicago, Milwaukee, among oth'

HHHH

Si

HISTORY OF MADISON. 187
er cities indicate like agreement with the building
of this city upon a spot on which the mound builders
congregated. That fact is repeated in almost every
large town in the Mississippi valley. Napoleon told
his soldiery that from the pyramids, four thousand
years looked down upon them; and not forgetting the
words of Fuller, that those structures, " doting with
age, have forgotten the names of their founders," it
seems probable that this continent had an older civili
zation than that of the Ptolemies. Possibly this was
the first habitable land then connected with Europe and
Asia, and the home of a people who never dreamed of
submergence by the barbarism, which has omitted to
preserve, where it has not expunged their records.
There are strange agreements, and variations no less
curious, between some of the Egyptian structures and
our mounds. Should the sands that flow on that land as
the sea once rolled over Sahara, ebb back from the
works which they partially cover, more significant
resemblances might appear. We find no traces to
determine the relationship between the people, unless
the Ethiopians from Arabia Felix were the founders
of both civilizations; but the likeness and unlike-
ness of their works afford evidences that similar ideas
prevailed in the same or succeeding cycles in widely
distant quarters. The discovery of America by Co
lumbus, and by his predecessors, the Norsemen, are
affairs of yesterday, compared with the primitive oc
cupation to which the mounds bear testimony, dat
ing from thousands of years before the Christian era.

188 HISTORY OF MADISON.
Settlements in this region must have been large, so
great were the remains that had defied " the tooth and
razure of oblivion," until our civilization, with build
ings and cultivation of the soil, made demolition
rapid. Animal shaped mounds were here first noted.
Dr. Lapham wrote on this subject to the papers in
1836 ; subsequently, Mr. Taylor communicated to the
American Journal of Science, describing eminences
with outlines of man and the lower animals, at dis
tances ranging six, ten and twelve miles from the
four lakes. So marked were the differences between
our mounds and those in other states, that many con
cluded they were relics of a distinct race; but inves
tigation showed agreements between the structures
that dot the country from the great lakes to Mexico
and Central America. Some of the curious mounds
in this region that were in existence at recent dates,
or are now, may be mentioned; but a complete record
will not be attempted. Visitors coming to explore,
will find no lack of indications to put them on the
track of discovery. Dr. Lapham, assisted by the re
sources of the Antiquarian Society and the Smith
sonian Institution, omitted surveys which would have
been as interesting as any in his "Antiquities of
Wisconsin," and Messrs. Squier and Davis, in the
" Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley,"
were similarly unable to complete the catalogue.
A great mound on State street was used grading
the hollows in that locality. Near Lake Monona, ad
joining Ex-Governor Fairchild's residence, was a liz-

KNIVES. &WK.8 &MB BRACELETS.

HISTORY OF MADISON. 191
ard 318 feet long. The figure was rude, but not more
so than was inevitable, considering that the mound
was formed of surface soil, nobody knows how many
centuries ago. It was removed in grading Wilson
street and Wisconsin avenue. The mounds near the
Hospital for the Insane are too well known to require
description, and moreover, too numerous. North of
Lake Wingra there were many mounds, embodying
specimens of almost every variety, except works for
defense. Five of them were oblong, twenty seven
circular, one circular with lateral projections, one a
bird, and two quadrupeds. Every writer on this sub
ject is indebted to the surveys made by Dr. Lapham,
whose work adorns the shelves of the Historical
Society, with those of other authors who have made
mounds their specialty. The south angle of Third
Lake has extensive and regular works, in rows paral
lel with the ridges, occupying ground that slopes
from the lake, like the seats in an amphitheatre.
Back of these mounds is another, uniting the forms
of a bird and a cross. At the foot is a sandy ridge
having twenty- four elevations, on some of which ad
ditional eminences appear, representing animals. The
twenty-four elevations may have been accidental, but
they do not bear that appearance. The animal-shaped
mounds upon them are clearly artificial. Dr. Lap
ham noticed a modern grave on one of the eminences,
and on another the poles of an Indian wigwam, but
no Indian can give an idea as to the origin of the
mounds. The third volume of Bancroft's " United

192 HISTORY OF MADISON.
States " contains a suggestion from Prof. Hitchcock
that accident and natural action would account for
many supposed antique works. There are earthworks
that will not admit of any such explanation, and numer
ous circumstances connected with the majority are con
clusive as to human ingenuity aiding their construc
tion. Probably some of the twenty-four mounds
were natural elevations, others having been added.
All of them were covered with soil, and forest trees
were growing on some of them when Dr. Lapham
wrote. A ridge of land near the margin of a lake
might be ascribed to the frosts of succeeding
winters, but no such action could produce a series of
mounds. The First, Second and Fourth Lakes have
eminences that will repay inspection.
The world-famous " ancient city of Aztalan " de
mands greater space for description than can be afford
ed. The visitor cannot do better than spend a portion
of his time in the rooms of our Historical Society, con
sulting the volumes mentioned and others yet to be
specified, after which he will undertake inspection more
intelligently, with much increased pleasure. Nothing
short of actual examination can give an adequate idea
of those earth-works. Between Williams' Bay, on
Lake Geneva, and the head of Duck Lake, overlook
ing both waters, is a mound representing a bow and
arrow, aimed at Lake Geneva. The span of the bow
is fifty feet, the work, finely outlined, is in proportion.
Lake Koshkonong skirts Dane county, miscalled
Dade, in the " Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi

HISTORY OF MADISON. 193
Valley," and the mounds in that locality have been
visited by President W. C. Whitford, of Milton Col
lege, and Mr. W. P. Clarke. The party cut through
some mounds, and were repaid by relics of great ar-
chiac value. A skull of excellent type was removed
by them, and many fragments of pottery similar to the
debris in the remains of the Pueblo Indians, besides
tools, ornaments and weapons, which will reward a
visit to the college. Some of the mounds have been
used for sacrificial purposes, and others for burial,
but whether originally constructed for those purposes
must be matter of conjecture. Eesidence, fortifica
tion, burial and worship have been served by the
mounds in varying proportions.
Assume a common origin for Mound builders,
Aztecs and Toltecs, an affiliation which becomes easy
now that the mounds have been traced to Mexico, and
we can comprehend the purposes for which many of
those elevations were prepared. In Mexico, and along
the line by which the Mississippi valley mound builders
must have migrated if they reached or departed from
the magnificent cities of Palenque and Uxmal, there
are wrecks of dwellings in advanced stages of decay,
which illustrate the service rendered by the founda
tion mound. The earthworks were floors on which
were erected the pueblos, supposed by the Spaniards
to be palaces of nobles, attended on by armies of de
pendents; but in reality, common abodes, in which
whole cities, towns or villages found lodgment, pur
suing customary avocations, living together in com-
13

194 HISTORY OF MADISON.
munistic equality. Some of those buildings would
accommodate five hundred, in others five thousand
could find room. The mound, sometimes faced and
covered with stone, was itself a fortification, difficult
of access, unless the visitor was aided from within.
The platform being reached, the assailant, supposing
war to be his object, found himself confronted on
three sides by buildings, each story receding from the
building line beneath, so that a stage remained avail
able for defense. The edifice could not be battered
down, the enemy possessed no artillery; could not be
set on fire, it was faced, and to a great extent con
structed with stone; could not be stormed, there
were no doorways and stairs, the upper floors being
reached by ladders and window entrances, which could
be made unapproachable. Within that fortification
the Pueblo Indians found safety against aboriginal
war; and from windows and stages, as well as from
occasional apertures for defense, missiles could be pro
pelled with deadly effect. We find the floors of such
buildings scattered through the valley of the Missis
sippi, but the vast deltas not being prodigal of stone,
wooden buildings or mud walls were substituted.
These materials decaying, the mounds alone remain.
The Natchez Indians lived in houses of wood erected
on mounds, which may have been their own handi
work, or that of long forgotten predecessors, when
Tonti and La Salle observed their worship of the sun,
and other indications of Mexican fellowship. The long
house of the Iroquois, in which the tribe lived in com-

HISTORY OF MADISON. 195
mon, with a fireplace for each family, shows that
there may have been a time when nearly all were one
brotherhood, acquiring customs since modified by cir
cumstances, never wholly changed. The Teocallis or
Temple mounds, of which there are many examples,
had also crowning edifices. Features of resemblance
remain where compatible with the partial use of per
ishing materials. The truncated pyramids approached
by graded ways, and the final stages upon which sac
rifices were offered, continue, because their constitu
ents are little subject to decay. Professor C. G.
Forshey followed those works with minute annotation
through the Mississippi valley, and the reader can
find the results in "Foster's Pre-Historic Eaces."
Many of the mounds support trees estimated at from
four hundred to a thousand years old. Capt. Jona
than Carver was first to invite attention to the mounds
in the great valley, having examined works of defense
near Mount Trempealeau. He also discovered the
cave of Wakan Tebee, since destroyed by railroads,
which had hieroglyphs or pictographs on its walls.
Much that pertains to this subject is omitted. Our
book can be little other than a fingerpost, pointing to
localities and monuments that will not permit of
enumeration. The undeciphered hieroglyphs on
Gales Bluffs, near La Crosse, are monuments that
will not serve their purpose until the signs have de
livered up their meaning. Sun dried bricks, bearing
impressions of the hands of workmen; clay that
served as a casing for a great man defunct, bearing

196

HISTORY OF MADISON.

similar impressions of hands that shaped it over the
corpse, preparatory to the burning which gave the
consistency of brick; the burnt clay that is found
mixed with charred straw, in the works at Aztalan ;
the ornaments of copper, silver, obsidian, porphyry
and green stone, the tools and weapons by which men
sustained themselves and little ones, are of the high
est interest. The telescopic tube of stone, with which
the mound builders examined the heavenly bodies, as

P@ffiE»HV(W.

©RgEMSTOME.

appears on a Peruvian relic, showing a figure carved
on silver, bespeaks high civilization. The stone bat
tle axes found- at Kenosha; stone hatchets from Cot
tage Grove, from Green Bay, and from our immedi
ate surroundings, are replete with human interest, be
cause full of mystery from an age unknown. Some
day we may master the problem which, sphynx like,
demands solution, as to the tumuli systematically
raised, enclosed in mathematical figures and lines of

HISTORY OF MADISON. 197
circumvallation, builded by men who were conversant
with mining operations, who could procure their own
copper from the matrix, as Well as shape it into artis
tic forms; who wove cloth probably when the lake
villages of Switzerland were first settled; who could
prepare designs in stone and clay, expressing thoughts
that approach the sublime, and evince a comprehen
sion of the beautiful; yet have fallen below the realm
of history, leaving to generations now remotely fol
lowing them, the task to discover "Whence came
they? " " Whither did they go? "

By the kindness of S. C. Griggs & Co., the well
known publishers, we present engravings of earth
works and other relics of the Mound Builders from
" Foster's Pre-Historic Paces," a book which should
be in the hands of every thoughtful reader. The
Mound Builders could not be omitted from our rec
ord, but a complete statement within our limits is im-

198 HISTORY OF MADISON.
possible, and it affords us pleasure to refer the stu
dent to the fascinating pages of Foster. The works
at Marietta were examined by Lyell in 1842. On
that spot Dr. Hildreth saw a tree which showed eight
hundred rings of annual growth. Prior to that time
President Harrison had written a memoir, which
went to show, that thousands of years must have
elapsed from the first formation of the mound before
such growths were possible. Every circumstance con
nected with the mounds points to a remote antiquity.
Illustrations of utensils, weapons, tools and orna
ments, might have been indefinitely extended, but
enough has been given to suggest the degrees of civ
ilization attained by the builders and occupants of the
mounds in the Mississippi valley. The times in
which they flourished cannot be safely computed, but
Dr. Dowler found a skeleton at New Orleans, for
which he claims an antiquity of fifty thousand years ;
and Agassiz gives an estimate of ten thousand years,
at the least, as the age of human remains in Florida.
The wondrous transmutations witnessed by this con
tinent cannot be better illustrated than by the fact
that the fossils of our rocks alone, reveal the form of
the ancestors of the horse and ass; although there
were no horses on this continent when the Spaniards
landed in South America, save those which were
brought by the invading soldiery.
Enough as to our predecessors, although enough
has never yet been said. We turn to other features
of interest. Eleven miles a little to the south of

HISTORY OF MADISON.

199

west of Madison, in the ridge dividing the valley of
Sugar river from the lake country, is a wonderful
cave, which unlike the " cave of the Great Spirit,"
discovered by Captain Carver, has not been destroyed

t©MRftk UlftMS.

by railroads. The basin of a lake covering an area
of four thousand acres, discharged its volume ages
since into the bluff by which it was bounded, and has
worn the channel into a series of chambers and pas
sages, which have been penetrated two thousand feet

200 HISTORY OF MADISON.
by explorers, who do not know the extent of the cav
ern. There is no lake to fill the basin, nor has it
been ascertained where the waters found egress
below. The Four Lakes are five hundred feet be
neath the level of the basin, and Sugar river flows at
a distance of about a mile and a half; but nothing
indicates that the riparian current is augmented from
the old lake level. Explorers, with proper appli
ances, will find within the cavern a field for romantic
adventure and curious observation. The grotto opens
in the upper magnesian limestone, beneath which a
stratum of sandstone has been reached, and the action
of the water cannot have failed to shape vast halls,
which imagination may people with gnomes, fairies
and dwarfs, sufficient for unnumbered nursery sto
ries. The entrance is obstructed by debris, but four
narrow passages remain; within, is a succession of
chambers, ornamented by stalactite and stalagmite,
that glisten in fantastic shapes when torches are in
troduced. Voices of visitors can be heard distinctly
on the ground overhead, the roof is in some parts
much attenuated. After a storm, when the waters
have been dammed back from underground fissures,
the air escaping, roars like a steam whistle. It is
probable that fossil remains may be found in the
many storied cavern, sufficient to fill our museums.

HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION.

Dane county is situated about the center of the state running
east and west, or midway between Lake Michigan and the Missis
sippi river, about twenty-four miles north of the southern line of this
state and Illinois. In the north it is bounded by Columbia and Sauk
counties, on the south by Rock and Green, on the east by Dodge
and Jefferson, and on the west by Iowa, the Wisconsin river cross
ing the northwest corner, dividing it from Sauk. This river has
its source in the Lac Vieux Desert, on the Michigan state boundary,
runs south to Portage, thence west to the Mississippi river, almost
equally dividing our state, and draining in its course an area of
11,900 square miles. The county is forty-two miles from east to
west, thirty miles from north to south, with an area of 1,235 square
miles, thirty-five of which is covered with water of the lakes. There
are thirty-five townships of thirty-six square miles each, except the
townships of Black Earth and Mazomanie. The latter has eigh
teen square miles, and the former thirty. Its latitude is 43 degrees
north, and longitude 89 degrees west, from Greenwich. The State
University is one mile due west from the State House, and its geo
graphical position is latitude, 43° 04' 33" 1-10 north; longitude, 89°
24° 03' 3-10 west of Greenwich. The State House is located on
sections }3, 14, 23 and 24, town 7 north, range 9 east. The normal
condition of the barometer is twenty-nine inches, as compared with
the sea level, where it is thirty inches.
The county is famed for its pre-historic collections, there being
few of its towns that are not able to exhibit some evidences of the
people who long ago made our county a favorite resort for the build-'
ing of their mounds, which whether intended as places of inter
ment or as fortifications for protection, is as yet comparatively un
certain, though evidences are strong in favor of both hypotheses.
The county was the home of a branch of the Winnebago Indians.
and considerable trading was carried on between them and several
Indian traders, among whom were Michael St. Cyr (a Canadian
half-breed), Joe Pelkie, Oliver Armell (Canadian French), Abel Ras-

204 HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION.
dall, Wallis Rowan,* and Albert Wood (Americans), as well as sev
eral others. Rowan was the only one who had a white wife.
In 1836 it was set off from the west part of Milwaukee and east
part of Iowa county; it received the name of Dane county from Gov.
Doty, in honor of Nathaniel Dane, who, in 1787,introduced the cele
brated ordinance for the government of the northwest territory. In
1839 it was organized as a separate county.
The principal lakes in the county are First — Kegonsa; Second —
Waubesa; Third — Monona; Fourth — Mendota; and Dead Lake or
lake Wingra. They are about 210 feet above the level of Lake
Michigan, and about 797 feet above the Atlantic ocean.
The origin of the above names cannot be better explained,
especially as there exists a slight difference of opinion on the subject,
than by presenting to our readers the following communication
from Hon. Simeon Mills, one of our early settlers, whose mtimate
connection with the civil history of Madison will be deemed good
authority, while the interesting facts supplied by Hon. Lyman C.
Dbaper, of the State Historical Society, will be read with an ap
proved evidence of the steady research he gives all such subjects:
THE FOUR LAKES — HOW THEY WERE NAMED — BY SIMEON MILLS.
These beautiful sheets of water, the pride of Wisconsin, centrally
located in Dane county, occupying part of five different townships,
and stretching out, from northwest to southeast, a distance of about
twenty miles, were probably called ' ' The Four Lakes ' ' for the same
reason that the principal divisions of the year are called the " four
seasons," because they are four in number. Just when or by
whom the southeasterly one was named First Lake, and the
northwesterly one Fourth Lake, does not at this day seem quite so
apparent. In Mr. Tanner's map of this part of the northwestern territory,
which was probably the first map ever published showing these
lakes, they are neither named or numbered, but the stream connect
ing them is called the "Gooshcahon."
When I located in Madison, in 1837, the lakes were then known
as First, Second, Third and Fourth lakes, and the outlet the Cat
fish, and were not known or called by any other names for more
than ten years thereafter. I was informed by Mr. Abel Rasdall, an
Indian trader then living on the east side of First Lake, that the
Winnebago Indians had-no other names for the lakes but numbers,
* This was the Wallis Rowan who found Lieut. Force's watch. Pass
ing across the prairie between Poynette and the City of the Four Lakes,
where he formerly resided, he found the remains of an Indian, whose bones
the wolves had picked clean, and giving the debris a kick, turned up the
watch. Having no use for it he sometime afterwards offered to sell it to B.
M. Williamson, Esq.. who declined purchasing until satisfactory proof was
obtained that none of Force's'relatives existed. The fact, however, reaching
the ears of the friends, application was made and the watch obtained.

HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. 205
just as we called them, and gave me the Indian names for one, two,
three and four, but which I remember only as harsh, gutteral
sounds, that I cannot now repeat; and his idea was that they were
so numbered and named by the Indians. I was afterwards informed,
upon what appeared to be good authority, that the lakes were first
named by numbers by the surveyors who ran the township lines
in this portion of the territory, and the way in which it was done,
being given at the time, was conclusive evidence to my mind that
the statement was correct. As the survey was commenced on the
south line of the territory and carried north, the southeasterly or
lower lake was reached first, which thus became No. 1, and as the
survey advanced the second, third and fourth were reached and
numbered in their regular order. In this view of the case, it seems
to me probable that the Indians learned these numbers or names
for the lakes from the surveyors, which Mr. Rasdall found in use
when he came among them, and that this numbering was not, as
he supposed, of Indian origin, the location of Mr. R., on First Lake,
being some time after the survey was made.
In 1849, I employed a young man from Philadelphia by the name
of Frank Hudson, to survey and plat what is known as the Univer
sity Addition to Madison. Mr. Hudson was very fond of reading,
devoting much time to such works as gave accounts of the habits
and customs of the natives, and while thus engaged, he found in
some Indian legends the names of Monona and Mendota (perhaps
having an origin akin to Winona and Hiawatha), and he at once
suggested that the lakes each side of Madison be christened with
those charming names. This suggestion was generally approved,
and a bill was prepared for the purpose of giving these names to
the Third and Fourth lakes the sanction of law; but inasmuch as
we did not readily find any names suitable or acceptable to give the
First and Second lakes, the matter was dropped at that time, but
Monona and Mendota were adopted by general use.
Some years later the subject of giving Indian names to all the
lakes was again renewed, and the names of Kegonsa and Waubesa
were found and adopted by Gov. Farwell and others then taking an
interest in the matter, as very pretty and appropriate names for the
First and Second lakes. To make the christening in such a public
and formal manner as to give it dignity and command respect, a
bill devoting an entire section to each lake, the more firmly to attach
its chosen name, was prepared, introduced into the legislature, and
became a law on the 14th day of February, 1855; and by the 5th
section of the same act, " Catfish " was blotted out, and Yahara le
galized as the name of the small river upon which these lakelets are
strung like jewels on a cord of silver.
These names have now become familiar to all, and I can see no
reason why they were not as well selected, as appropriately applied,
and may not be as enduring, as if the christening had been done by
the wildest savage that ever shouted his war whoop or raised a lodge
pole upon their varied borders.
Gen. Mills' explanation of the application of the names of Mo
nona and Mendota to Third and Fourth lakes, needs only to be

206 HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION.
supplemented with the origin of those of Kegonsa and Waubesa
applied to First and Second lakes, together with their significations.
Some time in 1854, Governor Farwell, when preparing a map of
Madison and the Four Lake Country, subsequently published, ap
plied to Lyman C. Draper to aid him in determining appropriate
names for each of these beautiful sheets of water. The Indians de
nominated them collectively Ty-cho-be-rah, or the Four Lakes;* to
which it is reasonable to suppose they applied numerical names;
else, as in all other instances, they would have given some other
specific appellation, which would have been handed down to the
first settlers.
Mr. Draper examined such Indian vocabularies as he had in his
library, and ascertained that Mendota, which had been applied to
Fourth lake, was a Chippewa word, sigmfying large or greatjf and
being a pretty name, and appropriately significant, was rightly
judged most proper to remain. The signification of Monona., ap
plied to Third lake, does not seem to have been found in any of the
limited Indian vocabularies consulted; but Gov. Farwell, or perhaps
Col. A. A. Bird, had understood that it substantially meant "Fairy"
or "Beautiful Water;" so that also remained unchanged.
As no special Indian names were known for First and Second
Lakes, it was deemed advisable to select appropriate designations.
First Lake, as the outlet of the others, was regarded as good fishing
ground, 'on the southeastern bay of which, the Winnebagoes, in
early times, had a small village;}: so it was concluded to call it "Fish
Lake," if some euphonious Indian name could be found having that
signification — Kegonsa was found to have that meaning.] Gov.
Farwell remarked that the only thing for which Second Lake was
noted, was that an unusually large swan had formerly been killed
there; and the word Wau-be-sa was found to signify "Swan,"* and
was accordingly adopted as a fitting designation.
» Featherstonhangh's Oanoe Voyage up the Minnay Sotor (Minnesota),
and Account of the Lead Mines of Wisconsin, in 1837.
t Long's Voyages and Travels of an Indian Interpreter and Trader, Lon
don, 1791, p. 267. S. R. Riggs' Dakota Dictionary gives the meaning of Men
dota &s the outlet of a lake.
X Map of the Lead Mines, by R. W. Ohandler, of Galena, 1829.
I Mr. Draper, after a lapse of twenty-three years, does not recall the fall
authority for this ; but Schoolcraft's Indian Tribes, ii, 468, shows that Ke-
go-e was the Chippewa word signifying fish; and it is sufficiently apparent
that Kegonsa had Its origin in Ke-go-e.
*In Col. De Peyster's Miscellanies, published in 1811, this word is twice
given as the Indian signification for swan, p. 83, and p. 278, probably Chip
pewa or Ottawa, as he had long public Intercourse with those tribes during
nls command at Mackinaw, from 1774 to 1779.

HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. 207
Thus were placed upon this map of the Four Lake country in
1806, of which not less than ten thousand copies were circulated by
the Uberal hearted projector, the names of Ke-gon-sa, or Fish Lake,
Wau-be-sa, or Swan Lake; Mo-no-na, or Fairy Lake; and Men-do -
ta or Great Lake. Let these euphonious and appropriate Indian
names be perpetuated forever!*
Wingra, or Dead Lake, lies southwest of Lake Monona, into which
it dischargee its waters. It was known by the name of Wingra at
the first settlement of the country, but its signification is un-
certain.f Before the county became settled by the whites, the whole section
of this country was deemed scarcely inhabitable. In a little book
written by John A. Wakefield, Esq., who accompanied the troops
that pursued Black Hawk in 1832, we quote the following as a
sample of what was the opinion then entertained of this beautiful
Four Lake country by those troops who accompanied Gen. Henry.
After describing the thickets and swamps through which they
passed from Rock river to the lakes, he says:
" We were close to the four lakes, and we wished to come up with
them (the Sacs) before they reached that place, as it was known to
be a stronghold for the Indians. * * * We reached the first of
the lakes about sundown, when Gen. Henry here called, a halt, and
consulted with Poquette, our pilot, as to the country we were ap
proaching. Poquette,who was well acquainted with the country, told
him he could not get through it after night; that we had to march
close to the margin of the lake for some distance, as the underwood
stood so thick one man could not see another ten steps. * * *
We soon discovered that the pilot had told no he, for we found the
country that the enemy was leading us into worse, if possible, than
what he had told us. We could turn neither to the right hand nor
the left, but were compelled to follow the trail the Indians had made,
and that, too, for a great distance at the edge of the water of the
lake. * * * From a description of the country, a person would
very naturally suppose that these lakes were as little pleasing to the
eye of the traveler as the country is; but not so. I think they are
the most beautiful bodies of water I ever saw. The first one that
* An effort was made by Col. A. A. Bird, when a member of Assembly in
1851, to call the lakes "Doty, Catlin, O'Neal and Bird," in honor of some of
the early settlers, but not meeting with encouragement from the member in
the Senate, Hon. E. B. Dean, jr., the subject dropped.
t Hon. Josiah A. Noonan, when he visited the site of Madison, in Febru
ary, 1837, learned from Joe Pelkie, the Indian trader, that Wingra meant
Dnck. This, however, is doubtful ; for the Winnebagoes, who lived in this
region, were a family of the Dakota group, and the Dakota Dictionary shows
no such word: and the words for both duck and dead, have no resemblance
whatever to Wingra, nor do the Chippewa or Ottawa vocabularies serve to
throw any light on the subject.

208 HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION.
we came to was about ten miles in circumference, and the water as
clear as crystal. The earth sloped back in a gradual rise, and the
bottom of the lake appeared to be entirely covered with white peb
bles. * * * The second one must have been about twenty miles
in circumference; the ground rose very high all around, and the
heaviest kind of timber grew close to the water's edge. If those
lakes were anywhere else except in the country they are, they would
be considered among the wonders of the world. But the country
they are situated in is not fit for any civilized nation of people to in
habit. It appears the Almighty intended it for the children of the
forest." After reading the above we are forcibly reminded of the famous
Morse telegram, "What hath God wrought!" We can now look
around on the city in its beauty and the many villages and hamlets
scattered throughout this very land, once deemed so uninhabitable.
The principal streams in the county are the Yahara, or Catfish;
Koshkonong, signifying The lake we live on, is a lake, or "spread"
of Rock river, and Koshkonong creek a small stream rising in Sun
Prairie and emptying into lake Koshkonong; Black Earth, named
so from the color of the water ; and Sugar river, from the number
of sugar maple trees found in the vicinity of its mouth* These
streams furnish good water power for a large number of ^flouring
mills and manufactures.
A large amount of good stone, for building purposes, is obtained
throughout the county. The cream colored stone used in the body •
of the United States' Postoffice, was obtained in the town of West-
port, where the government purchased, and still retains possession,
we believe, of the quarry from which the stones were taken.
The highest point of land is one^f the Blue Mounds, two conical
hills about twenty-five miles west of Madison, and through which
the county lines of Dane and Iowa run north and south, leaving the
highest peak of the two cones in Dane, which is about 1,000 feet
above the level of the Wisconsin river. The Indians called the
mounds " Smoky Mountains," an account of a blue smoke or fog
usually seen on the top, and which has given rise to the term Blue
Mounds. The view from the top of these mounds is most mag
nificent. A distance of twenty-five to thirty miles can be seen from
* It is supposed by some that this stream received its name from the gov
ernment surveyors in 1833, who were so delighted with the change from the
bitter marsh water they had been drinking that they named it Sugar river."
but as some of the maps published in 1829 designates one location on the
edge of the stream, in Green county, "Sugar Furnice," the inference is, as
well as the testimony of the early settlers there, that the Indians called it
"Su-ga," from the above fact.

HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. 209
their tops, and the diversity of landscape is such as neither pen nor
pencil can describe.
The country is diversified by hills and valleys of the most pleasing
character for beauty of landscape, and the soil is composed of black
deposits of decayed vegetation, except in some few localities where
there are clay and sand. The deposits in the valleys are often sev
eral feet deep, while on the tops and edges of hills it is several inches
thick, being thus adapted to all kinds of agricultural purposes.
In 1840, the population of the county was 314A-1850, 16,654—1855,
37,714—1860, 43,992—1865, 50,192—1870, 58,096—1875, 52,798,
which shows it to be the largest in population of any county outside
of Milwaukee, as also being the largest tax-payer, with the above
exception. The assessed value of property in 1846 was $50,319, and
the tax $2,526, while in 1875 it was $19,546,438, and the tax $54,-
705. The tax being more than the assessment of 1846. The
bonded indebtedness of the county for 1876, was $22,000.
There are 123 churches, with a property valuation of $360,701.00.
The school-fund apportionment for the county was, in 1876, $8,490.-
69, and the number of 'children, 20,709. There are 206 school dis
tricts outside of Madison, which has eight school buildings.
There are three railways that pass through the county, the first
of which, the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul (formerly the Mil
waukee and Prairie du Chien), enters on section 32, in the south
east comer of the town of Albion, and then through the center of
the county in a northwestern direction, leaving on section 18, town
of Mazomanie — completed to Madison in 1854. One of the branches
of this road, called the Madison, Sun Prairie and Watertown road,
leaves Madison in a northeast direction, and the county on section
12, in town of Medina — completed to Madison in 1868?
The Madison and Portage road leaves Madison, and passes di
rectly north, leaving the county on section 1, town of Vienna — com
pleted to Madison in 1871.
The Chicago and Northwestern road (formerly the Beloit and
Madison) enters the county in the south, on section 81, town of
Rutland, and passes directly north into the city of Madison, after
which it runs in a northwestern direction, leaving at the junction of
sections two and three, town of Dane— completed to Madison in
1866. That portion of this road between Madison and Baraboo,
before its completion to St. Paul, was known as the Baraboo Air Line.
The county is an agricultural one (with limited mining in Blue
Mounds), and as such, as well as in wealth and population, is not
14

210 HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION.
surpassed by any other, but Milwaukee, in the state. Its rich lands
and beautiful scenery are not echpsed by any county of its size either
east or west, and its future prosperity will be equal to its past, as its
resources, hygiene and loveliness of landescape become known.
On August 12, 1837, Simeon Mills was appointed the first justice
of the peace in the county, and for sometime was the only
one. The early pioneers had but few cases requiring legal prosecu
tion, and when anyone broke any of the requirements of law he was
taken to the jail, which was the grocery and bakery of a French
Canadian named. Frank W. Shaw (over which the sheriff, Nathan
iel T. Parkinson had his office), who was ordered to feed and treat
him well, and then release him on parole. It is needless to add
that there were none who violated their parole.
In May; 1839, the first election for board of commissioners for the
county of Dane was held at the American House, in Madison, which
at that time was the only voting place in the county. P. B. Bird,
I. H. Palmer and Simeon Mills were judges of election, Geo. P.
Delaplaine and La Fayette Kellogg, clerk, when the following officers
were elected:
Simeon Mills, Eben Peck and Jeremiah Lycan, board of commis
sioners, and at their first meeting they elected LaFayette Kellogg,
clerk; John Stoner, treasurer; Wm. A. Wheeler, assessor; R. L.
Ream, register of deeds; David Hyer, coroner; Adam Smith and J.
Ubeldine, constables; and ten days afterwards Gov. Dodge made
the following appointments : John Catlin, district attorney; Isaac
H. Palmer, judge of probate, N. T. Parkinson, sheriff; Isaac At
wood, public administrator; Geo. P. Delaplaine, district surveyor;
W. N. Seymour, justice of the peace (in place of Simeon Mills, re
signed); JohnT. Wilson, auctioneer.
In this same year the county was organized for judicial purposes,
Judge Irvin presiding as Judge of the Supreme Court of the Terri
tory of Wisconsin, with Simeon Mills as clerk. Mr. Mills held the
office for nine years. He was also the last territorial treasurer, and
the first state senator for Dane county.
The first judges of election appointed by the board of commis
sioners were: Prosper B. Bird, Darwin Clark, James S. Patten,
Prescott Brigham, John C. Kellogg and Sidney Carman.
The first books and stationery for the county were purchased from
S. L. Rood & Co., booksellers, stationers, publishers and binders, 70
Jefferson avenue, Detroit, Michigan, and an order was passed to

HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. 211
have the treasnrer reimburse Simeon Mills for the amount paid by
him for the same,*
The first grand jury for the county and United States courts in
Wisconsin territory, David Irvin, of the 3d judicial district, presid
ing, was impaneled on the 7th day of October, 1839, and consisted
of the following persons :
George H. Slaughter, foreman, J. Lyman, Jr., W. T. Sterling,
H. Lawrence, George Vroman, R. L. Ream, I. H. Palmer, W. W.
Wyman, H. Fake, J. A. Noonan, P. P. Bird, I. Atwood, A. Lull,
D. Hyer, J. Stoner.
The following were on the list given, but were not impaneled:
M. Blaker, J. C. Kelley, W. B. Long, B. Haney, andE. Brigham.
They served two days and were allowed one dollar and fifty cents
a day. Mileage was allowed only to two, and that only one way,
as follows: George H. Slaughter, 14 miles, and H. Lawrence, 16
miles. The distance traveled is recorded so honestly that the coun
ty was gainer then of nearly a mile.
The first petit jurors were summoned on the 8th day of October,
1839, but were discharged for want of a case. Their names are as
follows: W. D. Spaulding, R. H. Palmer, P. W. Matts, H. C. Fellows, J.
T. Wilson, W. Hoadley, C. H. Bird, Z. Bird, C. Lawrence, Darwin
Clark, J. S. Patten, W. A. Webb, J. A. Hill, C. S. Peaslee, W. G.
Van Bergen, J. Taylor, T. Jackson, J. Butterfield, W. N. Seymour,
T. Perry and A. Smith.
The sheriff, N. T. Parkinson, was allowed ten dollars for his ser
vices in summoning the jury, and six dollars for three days' attend-
dance. The first indictment in the county was the United States against
one Scoville, a fisherman, for obstructing a stream to prevent the
•passage of fish, dated October 9, 1839.
The first in chancery, for foreclosure of mortgage, was A. A. Bird
against Wm. Bevard.
P * Sydney L. Rood, the senior member of the above firm, a few years after
wards removed to Milwatfkee, where for many years he carried on the same
business. Mr. Mills, recalling the conversation he had with him while pur
chasing the books, says he believes he was instrumental in inducing him to
come to Wisconsin. He died in Milwaukee only two or three years ago.
A memorable incident is connected with the purchase. Before concluding
the sale, a cry of "fire" was raised, and passing out of the store to where the
alarm came from, Mr. Mills saw one of the splendid lake steamers in flames,
and which burned to the water's edge.

212 HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION.
On September 30, 1839, a bounty of three dollars was allowed on
every wolf's scalp that had been killed, but no legal charges al
lowed for making affidavit or certificate of the same, and again, on
October 3d of the same year the order was amended so as to allow
only one dollar for each scalp, while for the year 1841 no bounty
was allowed, and only for six months of 1842, dated January 4th.
On the 1st of July, 1839, in order to allay some contentment
m regard to the assessments, the clerk of the board was authorized
to alter the assessment roll so that first rate lands be valued at six
dollars an acre, and second rate at four dollars, and town lots in ac
cordance with such changes as the commissioners deemed necessary.
The first license issued in the county was granted to Berry Haney
and H. F. Crossman to keep a ferry across Wisconsin river, and
dates August 5th, 1839.
The tavern license in 1839 was, for Madison, $20, and for other
parts of the county, $12, while groceries were not allowed to sell
less than one quart in quantities, and pay $30 for license. On De
cember 14, 1839, a license was granted to Wm. T. Sterling to keep
a tavern for one year, and also to Lloyd and Nichols to keep a gro
cery for one year from December 1st to May 14, 1841. The board
ordered peddler's license to be issued at $10 per year, and on 25th
of June, Arabut Ludlow took out the first peddler's license for
goods, wares and merchandise, for three months, and had the same
renewed September 29th for six months longer.
On the first settlement with the county treasurer, John Stoner,
January 5, 1840, the books showed the county indebted to him for
$55.96, and a final payment was not made to him until Jan. 8, 1841.
The rate of county tax for 1839 was one mill on the dollar, for
the year 1840, five mills and a half for county purposes, and one mill
for school purposes.
The first jail was built in 1839 by Nath. T. Parkinson, the first
and then sheriff of the county. It was built of square logs and
was twenty-four feet long, eighteen feet wide, walls eight inches
thick, one story high, divided into two equal apartments, and cost
$1,348. It was located on lot number one, block one hundred and
thirteen, near the site of the httle brick school house, on Butler
street. The lots were donated for county purposes by Messrs. Prit-
chette and Mason, and the jail was the receptacle for insane persons
as well as prisoners.

HISTORICAL. INTRODUCTION. 213
When the first circus came to Madison in 1844, people came in
ox-teams from Sauk and surrounding counties, and brought with
them their provisions, also feed and hay for their cattle, and camp
ed in a grove of burr oaks between the city and the university.
The first castings made in our city were by Wm. A. Wheeler in
the first blacksmith's shop on the corner of Butler and Johnson
streets, block 111, and lot 18. Col. A. A. Bird assisted by blowing
the bellows, and the casting was intended for some part of the new
capitol then building in 1837.
The pigeon-holes used by John Catlin as first postmaster in Madi
son, were for a number of years in possession of E. M. Williamson,
but who has recently donated them to the State Historical Society.
The present State Capitol was completed in 1869; the City Hall
in 1857; Insane Asylum built in 1860; the United States Court
House and Post Office, 1870; the northern dormitory of the Uni
versity in 1851; the southern in 1855; the main building in 1859;
the ladies hall in 1870; and science hall in 1877.
The present court house was built in 1850, the jail in 1853, the
Register of Deeds and Clerk of the Court building in 1855; the
county poor house in 1856.
Judge N. F. Hyer, for many years a resident in our county, was
the first to discover and make known the interesting remains of the
ancients found at Aztalan, and named the place after the Aztec
race, who were supposed at one time to have lived there, as well as
around that whole section of country. After the discovery, the
judge wrote an article giving the plan and description of what ap
peared to him an ancient fortification, and so great was the interest
created on the subject, that the article from first appearing in a
Milwaukee paper, was copied throughout the United States and
France. In the latter place, it was a subject of considerable discus
sion among the savans of Paris. The judge also for some years held
the office of probate judge in Milwaukee, under the territorial
legislature. He came to Milwaukee in the spring of 1836, and as
chief magistrate was called upon to preside as judge of election in
the following fall, and though a young man at the time, he never
theless observed that of the six hundred votes cast, nine-tenths of
them were by men younger than himself, which showed the class
of immigration that was then coming into the Territory. He could
count but forty roofs in the then infant city of Milwaukee, including
barns and dwelling houses.

214

HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION.

Justices of the peace were permitted to assess the county with all
the fees and costs connected with all criminal prosecutions, until
1843, when the Board of Commissioners ordered that no fees would
be allowed by the county, except such as the statutes provided for.
The first woolen mill in the city was conducted by Allan Dawson
and sons, Scotchmen, and was situated at the end of Williamson
street, on the edge of the Catfish, block 237. It was burned to the
ground about 1859.
The first blacksmith in the city and county, excepting Blue
Mounds, was J. T. Wilson, who was also the first auctioneer.
Wisconsin is becoming famous for its mineral springs, that are
becoming much frequented by those suffering from chronic diseases,
for which mineral waters are found to be an excellent specific. The
artesian well in our capitol park is 1,080 feet deep, and the mineral
water obtained from it stands high for its curative properties. We
give the following comparison as analyzed by Prof. Gustave Bode,
analytical chemist in Milwaukee, Wis., between Waukesha, Prairie
du Chien, Sparta and Madison :

GRAINS PEB QALLON.

Madison.

Prairie
du Ohien.

Wauke sha.

Sparta.

Bicarbonate of Lime ....
Bicarbonate of Magnesia
Chloride of Sodium 
Sulpbate of Soda 
Bicarbonate of Iron 
Silica 
Bicarbonate of Soda 
Total grains 

8.120 6.937
0.671 1.638
0.555 1.456 1.956

0.6322
10. 9739
90.2007 12.7978 0.2318 3 8430
trace.

17.022 12.3*8 1.1600.042 0 042
0.741 1.206

21.233

118.7694

32.603

0.40204. 03 10
0.14302.2143
14. 3350
0.2800
0.2108
21.6166

Old Dane County Court House.

DANE COUNTY TOWNS.

MEDINA.
BY FRANK L. MORRILL, Esq.
The brief space allotted to us in this work will
admit of but a meagre sketch of the general outlines
of the township, together with a hasty review of some
of the most important incidents which have trans
pired within its borders. At its close we shall en
deavor to take a glance at its present condition and
prospects, and the inducements here offered by na
ture, as utilized and developed by enterprise.
Location. — Medina is one of the eastern tier of
towns in Dane county. It is designated by govern
ment survey as town eight (8), range twelve (12) east.
It is bounded on the north by the town of York, on
the east by the town of Waterloo, on the south by
the town of Deerfield, and on the west by the town
of Sun Prairie. The town is abundantly supplied
with water, a small stream, the Indian name of which
is " Maunesha," now called Waterloo creek, passing
entirely through it. It enters the township at the

218 DANE OOUNTY TOWNS  MEDINA.
northwest corner and runs nearly parallel with, and
in no place more than two miles distant from the
north boundary line. All of the opening lands were
formerly covered with a moderate growth of the dif
ferent varieties of oak natural to this clime, inter
spersed with hickory, ash and basswood. The general
surface of the township is level. The western part
contains about one thousand acres of handsome, roll
ing prairie, while near the center of the town, the
site of the present thriving village of Marshall, there
are about five hundred acres of beautiful "prairie
openings." The remainder of the township consists
of " burr oak openings," interspersed with some of
the finest marsh lands in the state; a large portion of
which, by means of draining and seeding, have been
converted into highly valuable hay land. With the
¦exception of a very small portion of poor marsh in
the southern part, there is scarcely an acre of waste
land in the town.
The soil, with the exception of the prairie, is
mostly a red clay loam, and equals any part of the
state in the production of wheat and other cereals.
It was here that the celebrated "Judkins wheat"
was introduced into the county, by B. F. Judkins,
the yield of which, during the last year (1876), ranged
from twelve to twenty-six bushels per acre. Among
other important products of the town, we might men
tion hops, tobacco and onions, which have all been
successfully raised to considerable extent. The pres
ent population of the township numbers about fifteen

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  MEDINA. 219
hundred; the most populous township, with one ex
ception, in the county. The town was first settled,
principally, by Americans from the states of New
York, Yermont and Pennsylvania, together with
quite a number of English families, who located in
the southwestern part. In 1846, the Norwegians
began to locate in the town, and at present there is a
large settlement of them. Of those who came in
that year, but two families now remain^ those of Ole
and Halver Aspinson, About 1864-65, the Germans
also began to immigrate and settle in the eastern
part of the town, and now constitute about one-fourth
of the inhabitants of the entire township. Scattered
throughout the town are a few Protestant Irish.
The religious character of the town is one of its
commending virtues. Nearly one-half of the whole
population of the town are members of some reli
gious denomination. Among these are the Episcopal
Methodists, who are a strong and prosperous body;
the Close Communion Baptists, of whom there are a
goodly number; a large number cf Free Methodists;
a strong church of German Methodists; while the
majority of the Norwegians are connected with the
Lutheran Church.
But while the morals of the people are thus care
fully guarded, the educational interests of the town
have not been neglected. There is probably not a
town in the state which can boast of better educa
tional advantages than Medina, with her far famed
academy, her fine public school buildings, her effi-

220 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  MEDINA.
cient corps of teachers, and the excellent attendance
of her children at school. The town is divided into
ten districts, two of them joint, in each of which
there is a comfortable school house, amply supplied
with all the modern appliances and conveniences.
The town contains two villages; Marshall, the oldest
and principal one, which is beautifully situated near
the center of the town, on a level plateau, on the
south bank of Waterloo creek; it contains over three
hundred inhabitants, and is compactly and neatly
built, containing many tasty white brick residences, a
fine academy building, three stories high, built of
white Watertown brick; two churches, Methodist and
Baptist; one of the largest town halls in the coun
ty; an excellent school house, built of white brick;
a large brick hotel; a first class flouring mill; two
wagon and carriage shops; several stores; two harness
shops; two boot and shoe shops; together with ware
houses and depot buildings, lumber yard, cheese fac
tory, livery stables, and the customary saloon accom
paniments. Deanville, situated one and a half miles
west of Marshall, is a neat little prairie town of about
one hundred inhabitants, and is an excellent grain mar
ket, being the center of a large and fertile wheat pro
ducing district. It contains some very tasty resi
dences, warehouses, lumber yards, one store, a black
smith shop, boot and shoe shop, etc.
Early History. — The first land entered within the
limits of what is now "Medina Township," was by

DANE COUNTY TOWNS — MEDINA. 221
A. A. Bird, Zenas Bird, and a man by the name of
Petrie, all of whom were from Little Falls, New York.
These men entered into the following mutual con
tract: Zenas H. Bird, the younger brother, bought
eighty acres of land, where the village of Marshall
now stands, upon which he was to erect a " frame
building " of suitable dimensions for a public house.
In consideration of his erecting this house, A. A.
Bird and Petrie were to improve the water power in
the Maunesha creek, which flowed close by, and build
thereon a saw mill, "which they were to have com
pleted and running within one year. This was in
June, 1837. Zenas Bird went on and erected the
public house according to contract. Meanwhile the
other parties had got out the lumber for building
the mill, and had drawn the most of it upon the
ground where it was to be used. Zenas Bird and his
" hands " went to the city of Madison for supplies,
and while gone, the prairie caught fire and burned
house, lumber and all. This occurred about the last of
October, 1839. The frame of the house was not en
tirely consumed, but remained standing until 1845,
when it fell to the ground, from which event the
place derived the name or Bird's Kuins.
The first permanent settlement in the town was in
the month of June, 1839, on section seven. Thfs was
by Yolney Moore, Eleazer Moore and Henry S. Clark.
They immediately began the erection of a dwelling
house, and on the 3d of April, 1840, they moved their
families from Milwaukee county to their new home.

222 DANE OOUNTY TOWNS — MEDINA.
Although so early in the season, Mr. Moore says the
grass was then " knee high to a man." Here, in their
rude dwelling, they lived for nearly two years before
another family came into the town. Mrs. Moore has
been heard to say, that " for one year and a half aftei
coming here, I never saw the face of a white woman
except my own daughter." The nearest house east
was at Aztalan; the nearest one west was at Madison.
It was here, in 1840, the first child was born in the
town, William Moore, son of Yolney Moore and wife;
and on the 28th day of December, 1842, the first
marriage was consummated in Medina, at the house of
Yolney Moore, at which time he celebrated the wed
ding of both his daughters, the eldest to Mr. Charles
Lawrence, of Token Creek, and Sarah, the youngest,
to Mr. H. S. Clark. Some years later Mr. Moore
moved to Baraboo, Sauk county, where he now re
sides. In 1845, H. S. Clark and wife were baptized,
and united with the " Free Will Baptist Church," and
in 1849 he went to California, but returned in 1852.
His wife died in 1855, leaving four children. In 1857,
he married a second time, to Miss Maria Lane. He
died January 5, 1875, having always been a prominent
man in the town, and having occupied many positions
of trust and honor. Eleazer Moore started for Cali-
fornia'in 1852, but while crossing the plains, was ac
cidentally shot by a brother-in-law. In the years of
1842-3, seven other families moved into the town,
three of them settling in the eastern and four in the
western part, in the vicinity of Yolney Moore's resi-

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  MEDINA. 223
dence, one of which was Charles Wakeman. Thus,
in the spring of 1844, the town contained but eight
families — three in the east and five in the west part.
There was but one road established, known as the Sun
Prairie and Lake Mills road. Among the more
prominent ones who moved to Medina this year were
Moses Page, Martin Bostwick, Daniel S. Cross, Judge
Keuben Smith, Sardine Muzzy, Willard Cole, Peter
Sifort and Asa Cross. The first attempt at political
organization occurred during this year. It consisted
of the uniting of three towns in what was called the
Waterloo Precinct, and on the 22d of September,
1844, the people held a town meeting at the house of
Reuben Smich, at which election forty-one votes were
cast, George B. Smith, of Madison, acting as one of
the clerks. The second election was by four towns,
under the name of Sun Prairie Precinct. This was
held in the western part of Medina, at the house of
Mr. Peckham, and a third meeting (special) called at
Moore's school house, on section eight, a log building
which had been erected in 1844, and at which place
the precinct elections were held for a numher of years.
The first religions society of Medina was organ
ized by Elder Moffat, of the Free Will Baptists, in the
log school-house, on section eight, in 1845. The pro
perty of Mr. Zenas Bird, consisting of six eighties of
land, passed into the hands of John Douglas, who
began what is now the flourishing village of Marshall,
by setting up the old tumbled-down frame, and con
structing a dwelling house containing two rooms.

224 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  MEDINA.;
During this year he also commenced building a saw
mill, which was not completed, however, until 1847,
when it was finished by a Mr. Seely, the first phy
sician who settled in Medina. The town settled up
rapidly during 1845. Among others who came during
this year were, Louis Stone, John T. White, from
London, England, and Charles Lum; A. J. Allen,
John Tracy, M. D. Currier, Thomas Hart, Jr., and
others from Medina, Ohio.
The first religious meeting held at Bird's Ruins,
was in 1845, at the house of John Douglas. The ser
mon (one of Whitfield's) was read by George B.
Smith, now of Madison, from a book loaned by Thos.
Hart. In the spring of 1845, G. W. Day established
a store in one room of John Douglas' house, and
brought the first barrel of whisky into the town, and
it is reported that as he drew one gallon of whisky
from the faucet, the stock was replenished by turning
in a gallon of water at the bung; and the result was,
that when cold weather came, the contents of the
barrel froze up solid, and whisky drinking was sus
pended during the winter. Judge Reuben Smith, an
active temperance worker, taking advantage of this
circumstance, organized a Washingtonian Society;
but when the barrel thawed out in the spring, many
of the members violated their pledge, and the lodge
soon went down.
The first school at Bird's Ruins was taught during
the summer by Susan Tracy, in Judge Smith's house.
Some time in the spring, Martin Mead buried his

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  MEDINA. 225
wife, the first death which occurred in the township
in 1846. Among other incidents of note, during this
year, we might mention the construction of the first
mill dam. The first church organization in the village
was established under the auspices of the Close Com
munion Baptists. During the winter of 1846 and
1847, they held their first protracted meeting, con
ducted by Elder Green, at the house of William Par
sons, in Bird's Ruins. A large revival followed, and
the excitement being so great, they baptized at mid
night by moonlight. Immediately following this, the
Methodists organized, and held a protracted meeting
at the house of Judge Smith, at that time occupied by
a Mr. Shepherd. Their efforts, however, met with
poor success.
The first wedding in the village occurred in January
of 1847: Mr. Dorman Mead to Mrs. Catharine Doug
las; and both are still living in Jefferson county, about
eight miles from where they were married, a hale and
genial old couple, loved and respected by all who
know them.
Among others who settled in Medina, in the year
of 1846, were, Louis Morrill, Jesse M. Smith, Silas
Mory, Thomas Hart, Sen., Joseph Hart, C. T. Weeks,
George Lewellen, and others. Among those who came
in 1847 were W. E. Persons, A. M. Hanchett, and
Urbane Parsons. Mr. Hanchett purchased the pro
perty of John Douglas, and established a store at
Bird's Ruins. Up to this time, the nearest accessible
postofiice was at Lake Mills, about ten miles distant,
15

226 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  MEDINA.
from which place the mail was occasionally carried by
passing teams, but usually on foot, by Mr. Urbane
Parsons, this being the swiftest mode of conveyance,
as the only teams possessed by the settlers were oxen.
Being thus brought to realize the necessities of the
times, Mr. Parsons personally circulated a petition,
which eventually resulted in the establishment of a
post office at Bird's Ruins, and A. M. Hanchett
was made the first postmaster.
Early in the year of 1848, the legislature of the
state of Wisconsin passed a resolution, that the town
ship be organized into a separate town, by the name
of "Medina;" the first town meeting to be held at
Bird's Ruins. The first meeting was accordingly
held on the 4th day of April, of the same year, in the
house of Louis Morrill, at which time, the following
officers were elected (Louis Stone, William H. Mun-
ger, and Gideon Ormsby, acting as judges): Charles
Lum, William C. Rood, and H. S. Clark, supervisors
of the town; Urbane Parsons, town clerk; Aaron H.
Pinney, treasurer; Martin King, W. E. Persons, and
D. K. Munger, commissioners of highways; S. Y. R.
Shepherd, tax collector; O. W. Thornton, M. D. Cur
rier, Charles Rickerson, school commissioners ; 0. W.
Thornton, W. E. Persons, and D. S. Cross, justices of
the peace; S. Y. R. Shepherd, and Nathaniel Lar-
rabee, constables; Sardine Muzzy, Yolney Moore,
Aaron Pinney, assessors; Jacob Miller, Moses Page,
W. H. Munger, fence viewers; A. M. Hanchett,
Nathan Brown, C. T. Weeks, John Luke, and David

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  MEDINA. 227
Ormsby, overseers of roads in their respective dis
tricts. At said meeting, the pay of town officers was
fixed at one dollar per day, for actual service rendered.
There is no record of the number of votes cast at this
election; but at the next one, there were eighty- three.
In 1849, there was a good, substantial school house
erected at Bird's Ruins. It was built of red brick,
and comfortably seated for the accommodation of
about seventy scholars, and paid for by a tax on the
district, which at that time comprised about one-half
of the township. About this time the village received
the name of Hanchettville.
In 1847, a lodge of Sons of Temperance was organ
ized by Geo. B. Smith and Judge Knapp, from Mad
ison. It remained in existence for about one-and-a-
half years, with variable success, and then passed
away. In 1849, an Odd Fellows' lodge was organized
in the brick school house at Hanchettville, but for
some reason was sustained but a short time. It
might, perhaps, be interesting to the reader to men
tion some of the inconveniences which were experi
enced by the early settlers in this locality. There
were no roads in the town, with the exception of a
wagon track cleared through the timber. And when
we say " cleared," we do not use the term with its
modern significance, for the road still bristled with
stumps, and the wagons, as they rolled slowly along,
tumbled over huge rocks, which had never been
moved from their resting places. There were no
bridges over the streams, and the routes were often

228 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  MEDINA.
lengthened in reaching a practicable fording place,
while over some of the low and otherwise impassible
places, they had constructed the time honored " cor
duroy," so well known and much used in all new
timber districts. Over such roads, by means of ox
teams, the settlers were obliged to draw their pro
ducts to Milwaukee to market, some seventy miles
distant, while their groceries and other necessary arti
cles of merchandise had to be transported back by the
same tedious method. For many years there was no
blacksmith shop nearer than Lake Mills, ten miles
east of Bird's Ruins, and the settlers used to put their
log chains into a bag, and slinging it upon their back,
carry them over the rough and muddy roads to that
place to get them mended. H. S. Clark has been
known to take the " shear " of his breaking plow
upon his shoulders (and none but those who have seen
one of the primitive breaking plows used in those
times can appreciate this feat), and carry it to Madi
son, nearly twenty miles distant, get it sharpened,
and return with it the same day. The first anvil and
pair of bellows were brought into the town by Loui3
Stone, and the first blacksmith shop was opened by
his nephew, Jesse Stone and J. Thompson, under a
large burr oak in Bird's Ruins, where they held forth
for some time in the open air.
The nearest grist mill was at Lake Mills, and in the
muddy season, when the road was impassible for
teams, the settlers, in cases of necessity, would take
some corn in a bag, carry it on foot to the mill, get

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  MEDINA. 229
it ground, and bring back the meal. There are per
sons still living in the village of Marshall, who can
well remember when the unvarying bill of fare was
Johnny cake for breakfast, Johnny cake for dinner,
and Johnny cake for supper, with its usual concomi
tant, "Wisconsin gravy." This was manufactured
by taking a little flour or meal and stirring it in
water, making a thin paste, which they spread on the
corn bread. As civilization advanced, however, and
times became more prosperous, some enterprising
Yankee introduced sweetening into the locality in the
form of cheap molasses, and then the better classes in
dulged in sweet corn bread once a week (Sundays).
This was considered a luxury indeed, and was eaten
with great relish, without sauce or gravy, butter being
a "minus quantity" in those days.
As soon as the settlers could get a piece of land
broken up, and procure seed with which to sow it,
they raised excellent crops of winter wheat, rang
ing from thirty-five to forty bushels per acre; but
on account of their restricted market advantages for
a great many years, they realized only an insignifi
cant price for their produce, barely sufficient to pay
their taxes and purchase a few necessary articles of
wearing apparel, together with their indispensable
farming implements.
In 1852, Charles Wakeman purchased a wagon for
$90, and sold No. 1 winter wheat at thirty cents per
bushel to pay for it. In 1852, A. M. Hanchett
erected the first grist mill at Bird's Ruins. He also

230 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  MEDINA.
built a new mill dam, about twenty rods below the
old one, and moved the saw mill down along side of
the grist mill. The saw mill, after having accom
plished its mission of converting thousands of feet of
the primitive oaks into lumber, to the incalculable
benefit of the early settlers, at last rotted and fell to
the ground, the necessity for its labors being super
seded by the increasing facilities of transportation,
which enabled the people to procure pine lumber
from the northern part of the state. The grist
mill still stands upon its original site, and having
been repeatedly remodeled and improved, is now
known as the far famed flouring mill of Porter &
Marshall. In 1852 and '53, a plankroad was projected and
built from Watertown to Hanchettville. The opening
up of this great thoroughfare, connecting, as it were,
this seemingly isolated district with the great busi
ness world, resulted in untold benefit and advantage
to the settlers ; and for many years the little villages
which sprung up, as if by magic, along its line, were
the scenes of bustling activity and lively enterprise.
In 1853, the typhoid fever raged with great fatality
throughout the town. Dr. H. H. Beebe, who had
previously resided at Peckham's Corners, moved into
Hanchettville, and although a young man, distin
guished himself in treating this class of diseases, and
gaining a reputation which time has fully sustained.
He still continues to practice in the place, having by
years of assiduous toil won the confidence and esteem

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  ' MEDINA. 231
of the entire people, and an enviable reputation as a
physician. In 1856, the proposition of building a railroad from
Watertown to Madison was agitated; about one-half
of the inhabitants were in favor of saddling the town
with a debt of $25,000 for the purpose of assisting
the project, while the remainder were opposed. A
special town meeting was called, and the railroad ad
vocates were defeated by two votes. In 1859, how
ever, the Madison, Watertown and St. Paul Company
succeeded in acquiring the requisite amount of
"Pledges," and constructed what is known as the
" Madison Branch Road," locating a depot at Han
chettville and another at Deanville. Property holders
anticipated great results from the effect of this road,
in enhancing the value of property and building up
the village of Hanchettville, and the unpretending
name of Hanchettville gave way to the name of
Howard City, in honor of one of the railroad con
tractors. But these anticipations were not realized,
but on the contrary, actual adversity superseded the
expected prosperity, and Mr. Hanchett was obliged
to dispose of his vast property to Messrs. Porter and
Marshall, who again changed the name of the village,
this time christening it "Marshall," which title it
retains at the present day.
While passing along down through the course of
years, we would not forget to mention some of those
who immortalized their names in the great war of the
rebellion. Of the seventy or eighty from Medina

232 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  MEDINA.

who responded to our country's call for volunteers,
at least twenty-one never returned. The first com
pany organized in the town was by Capt. Brad
ford Hancock. Among the killed from the town we
mention: Aaron Twining, Silas Hatfield, Peter Lusk,
Daniel Norton, Edwin Hancock, Hiram Miller, Wil
liam Berge, A. Wilsey, Carl Kappin, Charles Mat
thews, Isaac Warren, John Cruger, Charles Wendt,
Hiram Smith, Lucius Gregg, Delbert Lee, Wm. King,
Charles Lintner, John Agnew, Charles Calkins, But
ler, Merrey, Kinney and Hays. The town also sus
tained one draft, by which fourteen were impressed.
Among the early pioneers of Medina, whose lives are
intimately connected with the history of the town,
but few now remain. A few have moved away, seek
ing to better their temporal condition by a change of
locality; some of whom are lost to the knowledge,
but not to the remembrance, of those who remain;
others we have succeeded in tracing to their present
places of abode, in different parts of our own and
other states. But the marble monuments in the
beautiful little cemetery just outside the village of
Marshall marks the resting place of the larger portion
of them. There are but two of the old settlers left in
Marshall — Urbane Parsons, aged 76, and his wife,
aged 82. Among those who still reside in the town
are, wife of Asa Cross, aged 90; Charles Wakeman,
75; Stephen Mory, 82; Mrs. Agnew, 83; Mrs. Knap-
ton, 76; Charles Lum, 70; Dean Chase, 80; Anson
Warner, 75; Geo. Bashford, 84, and his wife, 75.

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  MEDINA. 233
Among those whose ages are unknown to the writer
are, Sardine Muzzy, Geo. Lewellen, Willard Cole, C.
T. Weeks, Joseph Wilt, Willard Weeks, Asa Dewey,
D. S. Cross, O. W. Thornton, Joseph Hart, Andrew
Betts, Stephen Jones, Thos. Hart, H. H. Beebe, Silas
Morey, Jacob Miller, Jesse Smith, W. K. Parsons, T.
B. Wakeman, James Wakeman, Wm. Knapton, W.
E. Persons, Thomas Fallows, and Ole and Halver
Osbornson. Of those who are dead, we would men
tion, Moses Page, aged 87; Asa Cross, 90; Samuel
Smith, 84; Reuben Smith, 80; Louis Morrill, 73.
Coming down to the present time, we would call
attention to those, to whose enterprise and zeal the
village of Marshall is indebted for its present pros
perous condition. Among the live men of the place
we must mention William H. Porter, the proprietor
of the flouring mill, which he is having repaired and
remodeled at an expense of from five to six thousand
dollars; he is resolved to make it one of the first
mills in the country. To this end he is furnishing it
with steam power, in addition to the excellent natural
water power upon which he has hitherto depended,
and is now prepared to do all kinds of custom work
and manufacture all the modern brands of flour.
Samuel Blascoer, an old and respected merchant, sup
plies the surrounding community with goods, from
the largest and best assorted stock of merchandise to
be found between Watertown and Madison; his an
nual sales amountine to from thirty to forty thousand

234 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  MEDINA.
dollars. K. W. Jargo, druggist, keeps constantly on
hand a large assortment of drugs and medicines, toi
let and fancy articles, glass, paints, oils, and a general
stock of groceries. John Lindsay, dealer in boots,
shoes and harness, a large portion of which are home
manufactures. Herman Glagow, dealer in heavy and
shelf hardware and stoves, and manufacturer of all
kinds of tinware. Cramer & Co., dry goods and
groceries; location near the depot. Peter Yan Loan,
wagon and carriage shop. J. O. Nordell, harness
shop. John Sanders, boots and shoes. William
Pickard, grain buyer. C. E. Bell, furniture and re
pair shop. E. J. McPherson, blacksmith shop. Geo.
E. Allen, livery stable. Mr. Allen is also one of the
best veterinary surgeons in the state, and has a large
barn arranged into an infirmary, where he is prepared
to treat the worst of cases.
As before mentioned, Marshall contains one of the
finest academies in the state. It was erected in 1866,
at a cost of $14,000. It was built by a joint stock
company, but the credit of the successful and speedy
consummation of the project is due, in a great meas
ure, to the enterprise and energy of E. B. Bigelow.
The Methodist church erected in 1869, at a cost of
three thousand dollars, is a fine wooden building, and
was dedicated in February, 1869, by Rev. Samuel Fal
lows. The Baptist church, a fine brick edifice, was
built the same year, and was dedicated February 17,
1869, by Rev. O. G. Hoge; its cost being a trifle over
three thousand dollars. We would not forget the

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  MEDINA. 235
German Methodist church, about one and a half miles
south of Marshall, a neat little building, erected in
1876, at a cost of fifteen hundred dollars.
Marshall Academy was opened January 7, 1867,
with J. J. Mclntire, principal, and Mary A. Cuckoo,
preceptress, under the supervision of the following
board of directors: Joseph Hart, president; W. H.
Porter, treasurer; E. B. Bigelow, secretary; Louis
Morrill, Samuel Blascoer, Thomas Hart, Torga Ole-
son, Jacob Miller and Samuel Fields. In 1869, the
building was purchased by the Augustine Synod of
Lutherans, and formally dedicated to their use in No
vember of the same year, with J. J. Anderson as
principal of the Academic department, and Prof.
Weinass, of the Theological Seminary. It is now
under the supervision of Prof. Henry Dorman, with
F. W. Huntington, Teacher of Languages.
The town is now entirely out of debt, and prosper
ing under the management of the following officers:
Board of Supervisors — William H. Porter, Chair
man, R. W. Agnew and E. Zimbrich. Town Clerk —
Henry Dorman. Treasurer — David Hames. As
sessor — I. C. Knapton.
William H. Porter, Postmaster, has had the man
agement of the office for many years. George H.
Norton, resident attorney-at-law. H. H. Beebe, prac
ticing physician.

236 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  BLUE MOUNDS.

BLUE MOUNDS.
BY JOHN C WARD AND IRA ISHAM.
The town of Blue Mounds is situated in the south
western part of Dane county; is bounded on the
north by Yermont, east by Springdale, south by
Perry, and west by Ridgeway, in Iowa county. Two-
thirds of the town is rolling prairie, and the balance
good timber, with now and then a fine grove on the
prairie. The soil is rich, a good farming country,
and well watered.
This town was settled first by Ebenezer Brigham
in 1826, on section 6. In 1828 he struck what has
since been called the Brigham lead, on section 7, and
hundreds of thousands of pounds of lead ore have been
taken out of it. There are a great many other dig
gings in the town, but this one is the largest; and
though some of them are worked until this day, the
last mentioned has yielded about 10,000 tons.
A fort was erected here in 1832, on section 7, called
the Blue Mounds fort, for the protection of the min
ers and inhabitants of the surrounding country. In
1831 or 1832, Mr. Brigham had occasion to send two
men to his residence on section 6, to repair some
fences, when a number of Indians, who lay in ambush,
rose up and fired on them, killing one and then captur
ing both of their horses; the other man made his

3ANE BOUNTY TOWNS  BLUE MOUNDS. 237
escape to the fort, about a mile distant. It was also
about this time that Lieut. Force and Capt.
Green of the fort (the latter's family residing in the
fort), rode out about two miles in a northeast direc
tion on to the Madison and Mineral Point road,
on section 9, and were attacked by Indians that
lay in ambush among some hazel brush. Firing
on them, they killed Lieutenant Force dead and
wounded Captain Green in the arm, breaking it;
he undertook to make his escape to the fort on
horseback, but the Indians being also mounted, and
being in large numbers, succeeded in surrounding
him in a grove on section 16, where they killed and
scalped him. Their bodies lay on the ground for
about three days, until Gen. Dodge, from Dodgeville,
came out with the rangers or volunteers and buried
them just where they were killed. Their remains
were afterwards taken up and buried near the fort.
Nothing of importance occurred from this time till
1844 to 1845. The permanent settlers of the town
in the spring of 1845 were, Ebenezer Brigham,
Jeremiah Lycan, Edward Dale, Ira Isham, William
Rowe, and John Rowe. In 1846, two or three Nor
wegian families settled in the town, and quite a
number of Americans. John Rider and a number
of others came in 1847 and 1848. The first town
meeting was held at the house of Ira Isham, and the
following officers elected : Supervisors — Ebenezer
Brigham, chairman; Thomas Heaney and Thomas
Steele; Clerk — A. S. Needham; Assessor — John

238 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  BLUE MOUNDS.
Sample; Treasurer — Edward Dale; Collector — Jere
miah Lycan ; School Commissioners — Granville I.
Neale, Wm. Rowe, David Smith, Ebenezer Brigham,
Edward Dale and Thomas Steele.
Game, such as deer, wolves, bears, prairie chickens,
partridges, quails, etc., were abundant in those days.
In the spring of the year it was nothing uncommon to
see from twenty to thirty deer in a drove, and thou
sands of prairie chickens, partridges and quails, could
be shot quite easy from a wagon. The wolves were
also plenty, but very shy, seldom ever seen in the
day time, and did not attempt to attack any human
beings. Three-fourths of the population at the present
time are Norwegians, who are an industrious people
and good citizens; the others are Germans, Irish,
English and Americans. From 1845 till the railroad
passed through Madison going west, there was a daily
mail through here, and sometimes as many as four extra
stages, all four-horse. There was a post office in thi6
town as early as 1828, called the Blue Mounds post
office. There is no East Blue Mounds post office, a3
sometimes by mistake it is called. There is a West
Blue Mounds in Iowa county, and a post office in this
town called Monnt Horeb, making two post offices.
We have four whole, and two joint school districts,
and also good school houses. The first school district
number one was established in 1846, on section 10,
on the Madison and Mineral Point road. There are
four churches, one Methodist Episcopal, one Ger-

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  BLUE MOUNDS. 239
man Methodist, one Norwegian Lutheran, and one
German Lutheran ; they are all well attended. We
have no saloons in the town, and never granted
licenses but once or twice, and then the whole time
the saloon was kept was about three years.
At Blue Mounds F. Brackenwagon is postmoster,
and keeps a store with a general stock of merchan
dise suitable for a country trade. At Mount Horeb
0. C. Nubson is also engaged in the mercantile busi
ness and keeps a suitable stock of goods. F. J. Field
and Samuel Thompson are the blacksmiths; Paul
A. Sletto, shoemaker; Andrew E. Thompson, capen-
ter; while Dr. P. A. Flaten is the physician, with a
good practice.
[The following communication, sent us at our spe
cial request by J. R. Brigham, of Milwaukee, nephew
of the patriarch pioneer, Ebenezer Brigham, will be
read by our readers with unusual interest. We re
gret the brevity of it, but nevertheless feel deeply
obligated to him for his hasty sketch of the times
and events that surrounded historic " Smoky Mts.,"
and a just pride in reflecting that the history of Dane
county's first pioneer belongs to the whole State,
and every stone placed in the structure is tending to
the repleteness of the whole fabric]
Blue Mounds was created a political town by an act passed at the
last session of the territorial legislature, approved March 11, 1848,
the same year that Wisconsin became a state. The act provides
that " so much of range six as is embraced in towns six and seven,
in Dane county, is organized in a separate town, by the name of
Blue Mounds, and the first town meeting shall be held at the house
of Ira Isham." Mr. Isham, who is still living on his fine farm in

240 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  BLUE MOUNDS.
the same town, a hale and hearty farmer, lived at that time in
what was then and still is known as the "Brigham Place," where
he kept public house for the accommodation of travelers, who at
that day were numerous. In earlier times, and before the day of
railroads in Wisconsin, the Blue Mounds road was one of the chief
thoroughfares of the territory. The natural dividing ridge, which
extends from near Madison almost due west to the Mississippi river,
and separates the waters running northerly to the Wisconsin from
those running in the opposite direction, finding their way to the
Mississippi south of the Wisconsin boundary, passed close by the
house. Along the natural grade of this dividing ridge was estab
lished the military road from Fort Winnebago (now Portage) to
Fort Crawford (now Prairie du Chien). This was probably the first
wagon road maintained within the limits of Wisconsin. At the
date of the organization of the town, it was the stage route from
Lake Michigan to the Mississippi river. The four-horse coaches of
the United States mail, with nine passengers inside and more on
top, passed each way daily. The old stage coach, now almost for
gotten, was then in its glory. The driver's box was a throne, and
the stage driver was a monarch. Among the best known of the
good drivers of that day was Andrew Bishop, "The Elder," as he
was respectfully termed by his brethren of the four-in-hand. Since
that time, Mr. Bishop has acceptably filled the important offices of
sheriff of Dane county and chief of police of the city of Madison,
which last position he holds at the present time; but he can scarcely
be a more important character, or better or more widely known in
either of his later offices than he was in the days when he lustily
wound the sounding horn along the echoing sides of the Blue
Mounds, and, with a cheery flourish of his long silver-mounted
whip, brought his load of nappy passengers up to the door of the
house for dinner. There were no second-class seats in the coach of
those days, but it was a coveted privilege, and memorable to him
who secured it, to ride on the box with " The Elder."
The date of the political organization of the town is by no means
the beginning of the history of Blue Mounds. As long ago as when
the school maps designated all the country west of Lake Michigan
as Northwest Territory, a point about midway between the Missis
sippi and the lake, was marked "Smoky Mts." North of this the
Ouisconsin river (as the spelling was) was indicated, and nothing else
of all that makes our present state had name or place. The two
peaks so marked Smoky Mts, since called the Blue Mounds, are

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  BLUE MOUNDS. 241
conspicuous features in the landscape of western Wisconsin. Rising
abruptly from the long rolling prairie at their foot to the height of
1,100 feet above the level of the river, they are distinctly visible
more than fifty miles away, and -seen from a distance, across the
prairie on a summer day, the names Smoky and Blue Mounds
well characterize their appearance.
The settlement, which has always borne the name of Blue Mounds,
is worthy of special mention in a history of Dane county, because
it was, by several years, the earliest settlement in the county, being
among the earliest in Wisconsin.
Its first settler was Ebenezer Brigham, who established himself
there in the year 1828, having come up from near the mouth of the
Missouri river, first to what is now Galena, and from thence to the
Blue Mounds, in search of Mineral lands, that is, lands containing
lead ore. The discovery of lead in the upper Mississippi, in the re
gion of which Galena is now the heart, created an excitement
among the settlers of the Mississippi valley, farther down, and pro
duced a rush for the new mining district quite parallel to the Cali
fornia excitement of 1849. The last was more widely spread, but
in intensity and wild excitement among those whom it reached, in
those days before railroads and telegraphs, the lead fever in 1827
and 1828 was equal to the gold fever twenty-one years later. Both
brought sudden riches to a few, and untold hardships and misery to
the most.
Mr. Brigham was successful in making discovery of a valuable
body of mineral (as the lead ore was and still is called by the mi
ners) in some diggings on section seven, in the present town of
Blue Mounds, which had been, before, somewhat worked by Indi
ans and, perhaps, by wandering white men, but had been aban
doned before Mr. Brigham 's discoveryof the lode which still bears
his name. He built his cabin near a fine spring of cold clear water,
on the side of the. Mound, overlooking the prairie for many miles.
The spring still flows, but the original cabins, in which he and his
companions lived for several years, long since disappeared, and the
larger and more comfortable farm house afterward built, which old
settlers will remember pleasantly, as a welcome stopping place of the
olden time, and which had been maintained in its original form, until
it had become an interestiug antiquity in our new state, having en
dured more than forty years, was burned to the ground in January,
1877. As Mr. Brigham was not only the first settler of the town, but
16

242 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  BLUE MOUNDS.
was also a man well known in the early history of the territory and
state, it is proper to make a brief record of his pubhc service. On
the organization of Wisconsin Territory, in 1836, which then in
cluded what is now in Iowa and Minnesota, as well as the present state
of Wisconsin, Mr. Brigham was elected a member of the Territorial
council, from the county of Iowa, which then embraced all south of
the Wisconsin river and west of the Four Lakes. The council con
sisted of thirteen members, of whom seven were from districts with
in the present limits of Wisconsin, and six were from west of the
Mississippi. Mr. Brigham attended the first session of the Legisla
ture, held at Belmont in 1836, and the two sessions held at Burling
ton in 1837 and 1838. After the division of the territory by the line
of the Mississippi river, he was elected a member of the council for
the district composed of the counties of Dane, Dodge, Green and
Jefferson, and was present at the sessions of 1838, 1839, 1839-40,
1840-1, and 1841-2, which were held at Madison.
During this period, the question of continuing the seat of gov
ernment at Madison was frequently up and hotly contested.
During one session, the members of the council were so nearly
equally divided that the absence of one member, voting for Madi
son, would have deen fatal. Mr. Brigham was, naturally, a cham
pion of Madison. He was the only member of the council who had
ever seen the spot, when the act of 1836 was passed, locating the
seat of government at a point "between the Third and Fourth
Lakes," at the section corners where the capitol now stands. He
was also one of the three members of the assembly from Dane
county at the first session of the state legislature in 1848. He died
in 1862, and his remains He buried in the Forest Hill Cemetery of
Madison. During the Black Hawk war, in 1832, Blue Mounds was the site
of one of the neighborhood forts, for the protection of settlers
against the Indians. It was called the Mound Fort, and was the
home of about twenty-five people, including women and children,
until the war closed. The fort was situated on the high prairie,
somewhat more than a mile from the foot of the mound, and com
manded a view wholly unobstructed, in every other direction, for
many miles. The fort was sometimes threatened, to the serious
alarm of the inmates, but was never actually attacked by the In
dians, who were frequently seen in the near neighborhood, so that
it was never safe to be far outside the stockade. At different times,
they succeeded in killing three men of the httle garrison, outside of

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  BLUE MOUNDS. 243
the protection of the fort. Two of them were butchered, in plain
sight of the inmates of the fort, but too far away to be rescued.
The two Misses Hall, who had been taken captive, were brought in
to the Mound Fort by Winnebagoes and surrendered, on the pay
ment of ransom, and the young women were returned to civilized
life. Their story attracted a good deal of "attention and interest
throughout the country, and the Blue Mounds were brought into con
siderable notoriety, by the fact that the surrender was made there.
Blue Mounds was the point where Gen. Henry, with his command.
effected a junction with Gen. Atkinson and his forces, two days after
the battle of the Wisconsin Heights, where the Indians, under Black
Hawk, suffered terrible defeat. At the Mounds, fresh supplies of
amunition and provisions were procured, and the troops moved on
at once. Crossing the Wisconsin at Helena, they continued the
pursuit of the flying savages to the Mississippi, where the Indian
forces were completely destroyed, in what is known as the battle of
Bad Axe. Black Hawk escaped alive, but soon after surrendered
himself a prisoner, and the war was ended. The importance of Blue
Mounds as a point in these movements, lay in the fact that it afford
ed the shortest and almost the only feasible route to the Wisconsin
river, by way of a remarkable ridge, sometimes called the "Hog's
Back," just wide enough for a wagon, leading from the back of the
mound nearly to the river, crossing the deep ravines and avoiding
the marshes, and affording a natural and practicable road across a
country otherwise almost impassable. By taking this route, guided
by one well acquainted with the country, the army was enabled to
overtake the Indians in their retreat, and to put an end to the war
at a blow.
The records of the town show that the following were important
citizens in 1848, at the organization of the town government, viz.:
Thomas Haney, Thomas Steele, A. S. Needham, John Sample, Ed
ward Dale, Jeremiah Lycan, Granville Neal, William Rowe, David
Smith, William Skinner, N. Dryden and James Tennison, of whom
very few still survive.
At the present time the town is off the usual routes of travel, -and
but little known by the public. Its natural features remain, and
few, if any, more charming prospects are afforded any where, than
that gained from the summit of the high mound in a clear day.

244 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  BLUE MOUNDS.
WEST BLUE MOUNDS  DR. R. W. JONES.
The village of West Blue Mounds is situated at the
base of the "West Blue Mound," the highest and
most noted of all tne Blue Mounds. On the east, south
and west, we find rich, beautiful prairies — not an un
broken and level plain, but undulating, and in some
places quite broken. The West Blue Mound is 1,187
feet above Lake Michigan, and 490 feet above the vil
lage. We are told by reliable parties' and good au
thority that this mound is the highest point of land
in this or neighboring states. From the summit of
the mound one can see the capital city with the naked
eye, and with a good glass, farms and buildings can
be studied in every particular a distance of more than
forty miles. Here we find a signal station and an
observatory, constructed, we believe, by Profs. Davies
and Irving, and a corps from the State University, while
studying the topography of the country. Near the
summit we find several fine sulphur springs, pouring
forth large streams of their peculiar mineral water.
This mountain is the property of Mr. C. B. Arnold.
Persons desiring absolute quiet, pure air and water,
cannot find a more suitable spot wherein to pitch their
tent. As a resort for fatigued brain-workers, this
point is especially adapted. No one breathes this
pure air without feeling a sense of exhilaration that
is really astonishing.
About a mile southeast of the village is the site of
the old Blue Mound fort where the early settlers had

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  BLUE MOUNDS. 245
prepared a place of safety for their families in case of
trouble with the Indians. The stockade is gone, and
only the walls of earth remain to mark the spot where
the brave and hardy pioneers in years gone by were
wont to assemble for mutual assistance and protection.
In the immediate vicinity of the village are some of
the most noted lead mines in the state, such as " the
Brag Holler," Brigham, and old Dudley diggings.
The ore from these mines, I believe, is the richest in
the world, being more than 90 per cent, pure lead.
The business interests of the place have never
flagged. The Hon. John Adams, of Black Earth, was
the first business man of note in the village, and he
has done more than any other, perhaps, to establish
the commercial interests of the place. The magnet
(railroad iron) took him from this point many years
ago, and he is so enamored of the steam whistle, that
it is only once in a great while that his genial face is
seen among his old friends and associates. Mr. Adams
has an enviable reputation among the farmers of this
section for honesty and fair dealing; in fact, is known
as the farmer's friend.
Next among the men who helped greatly toward
building up the place, we note Mr. Richard Wade,
now of Adamsville. Mr. Wade was proprietor and
landlord of the then " Wade House." He also car
ried a large stock of goods, and made quite a fortune
by his strict business manners and hard work. An
other thing Mr. Wade did was to rechristen the
village. From a weakness the miners had for the

246 DANE OOUNTY TOWNS  BLUE MOUNDS.
game of "poker," he named the place " Pokerville,"
and by that name the village is best known hereabouts.
Mr. Ira Isham is said to be the originator of the name.
H. Isaacson, Esq., now of Black Earth, was for
merly of this burg, and "Ike " has handled many a
crisp bill and bright gold piece while a merchant of
this town.
At present the business interests of the place are in
a very flourishing condition. Mr. William H. Jones,
the leading merchant, is a strict and judicious business
man. He is doing a very large business, selling any
thing a man wants, from a cambric needle to a prai
rie farm. Mr. Jones' business amounts to upwards
of twenty-five thousand dollars a year, and by his
square dealing, genial manners, and an eye to trade,
it is constantly on the increase. Certainly no man
has the confidence of his customers more implicitly
than Mr. Jones, and from an intimate acquaintan6e
with his private life as well as his business principles,
no man is more deserving of such a trust. Aside
from his large store, Mr. Jones is proprietor of
the up-town hotel. The house has a reputation
among traveling men that speaks more forcibly than
any pen picture can advertise it. Let the readers of
your book stop once at this house, and they will be
satisfied that this is one of the best country hotels on
the continent.
Next we meet our old friend C. B. Arnold, who has
been here a quarter of a century. Mr. Arnold is a
strict business man, and owns many hundreds acres of

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  BLUE MOUNDS. 247
land, including the famed West Blue Mound. Aside
from this fine property, he is conducting a large and
excellent hotel, also a well ordered store. Mr. A.
has kept a hotel here for more than twenty years,
and certainly understands his business. Through all
this period the traveling public have eaten the good
things from his table, and all agree that the house is
hard to beat. I understand the firm name is soon to
be changed to C. B. Arnold & Son, Mr. A. taking his
son Ralph into full partnership.
Messrs. Smith & Racely are the leading wagon
makers and smiths of the place. They are young men
of skill, muscle and energy, and are bound to win.
They have a fine, commodious building, well stocked
with wood and iron, ready at all times to do work in
their line neatly and satisfactorily.
Mr. John Helmenstein is the " boss " boot and shoe
maker. John is an old settler, and has, aside from
an exceptionally large trade in the shop and shoe
store, one of the very best farms in Wisconsin, which
is manned from his own household, having six hardy
sons, who, by the way, are most excellent farmers.
John is one of the oldest settlers at present in town.
Mr. . James B. Quinn is doing a large business in
the harness trade. Being a first-class workman him
self, and having only good journeymen in' his shop,
the public cannot help but be satisfied with his work.
Mr. Quinn is also doing a good business in the liquor
trade. We recommend Mr. Q as a first-class man.
C. W. Miller, carpenter and joiner, is an old settler,

248 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  BLUE MOUNDS.
a first-class mechanic, and the best shot in Iowa
county. We might descant on his many virtues, but all
to no end, for every one within a hundred miles knows
" Old Tony the Scout." Mr. Miller is an old plains
man, Indian fighter, scout, and the best natured, big
gest hearted, and most contented man living; that is
" our opinion."
Dr. R. W. Jones, a Kentuckian bred and born, is
the only physician in the village. There are no law
yers nearer than Black Earth, Mazomanie or Dodge
ville. The general health of this place and the sur
rounding country is remarkably good, and free from
the results of malaria in less favored localities.
Black Earth, Mineral Point, Mazomanie and Madi
son, are the railroad points to and from which all our
wares come and go. So much for Pokerville.
Among others doing a good trade in general mer
chandise, is Mattheus Gratz, who is favorably known
through a large portion of this and adjoining towns.
Carl Morhrhenney and Son are also known as good
mechanics in the blacksmith business; while Ole
Olsen has a steady increasing custom in harness mak
ing and repairing.

DANE OOUNTY TOWNS  WINDSOR. 249

WINDSOR.
BY SHERMAN BROTHERS.
The town of Windsor is on the north tier of towns
in the county of Dane, lying N. N. E. from the city
of Madison about twelve miles. Bounded north by
the town of Leeds, Columbia county; east by the
town of Bristol; south by the town of Burke; and
west by the town of Yienna.
About three-fourths of the town is high, smooth,
rolling prairie; about one-fourth openings and grove"
timber, with a small portion of marsh lands.
Two creeks take their rise in Windsor, known as
Token and Catfish creeks; the most important of
which is Token creek, its prominent source being
three springs, from which a sufficient amount of water
gushes out of the earth at the foot of a small hill to
run a mill.
The soil of the town is very rich and productive,
easy to till, nearly all of which is under cultivation.
At the time of the Black Hawk war, the munitions
of war and soldiers on their way from Madison to Fort
Winnebago passed through the town of Windsor, and
the amount of travel made such a trail that some
traces of it may still be seen.
When Mr. Robert L. Ream, in 1839, made a jour
ney from Madison to Fort Winnebago, he started

250 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  WINDSOR.
on horse back, and took this trail. There were only
two houses between the fort and Madison, those of
William Lawrence, near Token Creek, and Wallis
Rowan, near Poynette, on the military road. Mr.
Ream put up at Rowan's, and after being bountifully
supplied with hoe cake and bacon by Mrs. Rowan, re
tired to rest. He was woke up early in the morning
by several cocks crowing in close proximity to -his
bed, and discovered that the rail of his bed was the
roost of Mr. Rowan's chickens. When he returned
from the fort, he put up at the same place, and slept
in the same bed, and says when he awoke, he thought
he had a flock of sheep for his bedfellows, but they
•afterwards proved to be a number of Indians with new
blankets, who had noiselessly taken possession of the
floor during his slumbers, and the new white blankets
were the results of a visit to some trading post.
The first actual settler was Wm. Lawrence. He
came from the state of Yermont, and settled in the
town in the year 1841, on section 5, on what is well
known as Eagle Point, or the Helden farm, now
owned by Hon. J. C.« Hopkins, of the city of Madison.
Mr. Lawrence was one of the patriots from this town
who enlisted in the Union Army during the late re
bellion. He was taken sick while in the service, came
home and died at his residence in Windsor.
Soon after the settlement of Mr. Eawrence, James
Morrison, a Scotchman, settled on Section 6, near
what is now known as Morrison Station. Mr. Mor
rison was a man of ability as a farmer; succeeded to

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  WINDSOR. 251
accumulate a good property; settled two of his sons
on fine large farms near his residence, and at his
death, about one year ago, left his other son in pos
session of the old homestead.
About cotemporary with Mr. Morrison's settlement
was that of Thos. Campbell, another Scotchman, who
settled on section 17, near what is now the village of
De Forest. Mr. C. has also been successful in tilling
the soil. Surrounded by many of the good things of
this life, he is still living to enjoy them.
Mr. Pellett soon after built a log house on sec. 36,
on the farm once known as the Turner farm, but now
as the Spencer farm. The same year Mr. Leland set
tled on Sec. 30,on what is now owned by S. H. Sabin.
Their log houses still stand, but they have had some
repairs. Messrs. P. and L. were both from the state
of Yermont.
Charles Lawrence came from the state of Yermont
in 1838 ; married a Miss Moore in the city of Madi
son ; built a house and commenced to improve a farm
in the year 1842, at Token Creek, in the town of
Windsor. Mr. Lawrence has three children — Henry,
James and Ellis. Henry was the first male child
born in Windsor. He married Miss Bertha Miller
in Windsor, and they are now living in the city of
Madison. Henry Lawrence is a mechanic of superior
skill as a painter.
In the same year of Mr. Lawrence's settlement
(1842), Randall Abner, a well educated Indian im
proved a piece of land on sec. 28, known for many

252 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  WINDSOR.
years as the "Old Abner 40;" now owned by Jeffer
son A. Pinney. Mr. Abner was a sweet singer, took
an active part in politics, and was a good man in
many respects. He emigrated to California some
twenty years ago, joined the United States Regular
Army as a scout, and was killed, in the discharge of
6uch duty, by an Indian.
In the year 1843, Mr. Nathan Spalding left his
native state (Yermont), and, after a long journey, a
part of the way traveling with an ox team, he halted
in the town of Windsor, himself, wife and three chil
dren much worn out by fatigue. He built a house
on section 34, and improved a fine piece of land. Mr.
S. was a good man. He held several offices in town
during life. He was commissioned by President
Polk as postmaster, which office he held for twenty-
five years. He died in December, 1874.
About cotemporary with the settlement of Mr.
Spalding was that of Mr. Toffelmire. He built a
house on the town line at Token Creek; made a dam
across the creek, and just below it put up a saw mill
in the town of Burke.
In 1844^5, N. N. Pike and James West, Sr., squatted
on section 5 ; Thomas Kewin, Thomas Cummings and
John Kershaw, on section 6 ; James West, Jr., and
Major Kinnison on section 8; Samuel Stephenson
was the fir3t settler on section 17. Kershaw and
Stephenson left to seek their fortunes in California
during the gold excitement of 1849. Kershaw re
turned, and is now a prosperous fanner in the adjoin-

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  WINDSOR. 253
ing town of Yienna. All of these early settlers have
removed, most of them in 1847, when a number of
Norwegian families located in the northwest part of
the town and purchased the former claims. Among
these were Ingebrecht Larson, Peter Linde, Stephen
Holum and Siur and Johannes Grinde. This year,
J. W. Helden, of the firm of Helden & Weston, pro
prietors of the "Fay" saw mill, in Wood county,
Wisconsin, sold his interest in the mill, and other ex
tensive lumbering interests, bought the place first
owned by Wm. Lawrence, added large tracts of land
to the original purchase, and introduced valuable
stock, having for many years conducted a stock farm.
The place was then known as "Eagle Point." He
kept hotel. The building, a log structure, one of the
earliest landmarks, is still standing, suggesting happy
recollections to travelers and early settlers.
From 1845 to 1846, there was a rush of immi
gration into the town from various parts of the world,
viz.: Daniel W. Stone, from Maine; Elias Combs,
Wm. Whitney, Samuel Burrington, Sylvester Ray
mond, James Dorman, Wm. Bartholomew, Morris
Goodrich, and many more, from the state of Ohio;
Christian O. Hatleberg, from Norway, the first Scan
dinavian settler; and Ferdinand Rekon, the first Ger
man settler, O. M. Cross, Josiah E. Carpenter, Rev.
Elisha R. Swain (a Baptist clergyman), Willard
Blanchar, James Farwell, Orrin Chamberlain, Leon
ard and Justin Fish, Isaac Porter, Warren Baird,
Nathan Rowley, S. H. Sabin, Justin C. Pinney, James

254 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  WINDSOR.
Patterson, Dr. Robert K. Bell, Nathan Dodge, and
others from different parts.
Samuel Stevenson was the first Englishman. He
settled this same year on section ] 7, and commenced to
improve the farm known as the " Durkee Farm," and
subsequently as the "De Forest Farm," which atone
time was the largest farm in Windsor.
In the fall of 1846, the town was organized with
the towns ofBurke, Westport and Yienna, and as many
of the early settlers were from Yermont, it was their
intention to name the town "Allen," in honor of Eth
an Allen, the eccentric representative of the Green
Mountain State, but on presentation of the name to
the legislature it was found that there was already a
town by the name of " Allen " in the state, and con
sequently another name must be adopted for the pro
posed new town. When the citizens had learned this
fact, the question of a name for the town was upon
every body's tongue. While this was being dis
cussed at a social gathering of a few neighbors, it
occurred to Mrs. J. E. Carpenter and Mrs. Wm. Whit
ney, who were present, that the town should be called
"Windsor," in commemoration of Windsor, Yt., the
native town of Mrs. Whitney. Windsor, said these
good matrons, is a pretty name, and old Windsor, in
the Green Mountain State is worthy of a namesake in
the Badger State, and why not call the new town
Windsor? " Windsor^ "Windsor," resounded from
all parts of the room, and " Windsor " was soon ech
oed from the surrounding neighborhood. Without

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  WINDSOR. 255
further formality the name " Windsor " was sent up
to the legislature and became the established name of
the new town. Thus it was that these two worthy
ladies gave the town a name. Mrs. Carpenter still
lives within its limits, enjoying a competency of the
good things of this life, the result of honest industry,
but Mrs. Whitney, some years ago, emigrated to the
state of Iowa.
The first election was held in the spring following,
at the house of Horace Lawrence, then known as the
Prairie House, in the township of Burke, and elected
Charles M. Nichols chairnan of the board of super
visors, who lived on section 36, in the township of
Burke; Eleazer Grover and Mr. Pettit were his asso
ciates; Ira Mead, town clerk; Selden Combs, treas
urer; and Elias Combs, justice of the peace.
' The first wedding party in Windsor was at the log
house of Wm. Whitney, about one mile north of
Token Creek. Josiah E. Carpenter, Esq., and Miss
Caroline M. Reynolds were joined in wedlock by Rev.
E. R. Swain. A large company were there on the
occasion. Joy, glee, mirth and happiness were un
bounded. Yenison, roast pig, and other good things
were placed on the table, and eaten with a relish not
often seen in these latter days. The Elder remarked
to the young married couple that " they must not be
surprised if they did not always have so good a meal;"
but we are happy to say that whenever we have dined
at Mr. G.'s house, which frequently we have done, we
invariably have found a well spread table.

256 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  WINDSOR.
The first female child born in Windsor was at the
same log house, the daughter of the before mentioned
Rev. E. R. Swain. The child was named Delia.
Although a delicate child, she grew up to be a strong
girl; received a fine education at the seminary at
Beaver Dam, Wis., married a Mr. Ringland, and they
are now living in Boone, Boone county, state of Iowa.
The old log house is still standing.
Our space will not allow us to record but little of
the characteristics of these early settlers, and perhaps
we shall weary the readers of this volume with our
lengthy history. We must beg indulgence simply to
say this much, that all of them had the true spirit of
pioneers. They enjoyed frontier life. It was " Hale
fellows well met," in those days. Neighbor received
neighbor at his cabin with cordiality, and travelers
were made welcome to their hospitality. The small log
cabin with already two or three families in it, would
be found large enough for another family when some
others came to make a home among them. There
was no ambition then to see who could wear the finest
clothes, drive the fastest horse, ride in the finest car
riage, or live in the highest style ; but they were am
bitious to see who could break the largest number of
acres of the prairie and opening lands. There was a
competition to see who could grow the most wheat
and other products of the soil. They were a moral
people. Quarrels, broils and disturbances seldom oc
curred, and law suits were exceedingly rare. They
were not unmindful in matters of religion. With

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  WINDSOR. 257
the Rev. E. R. Swain for their minister, preacher and
pastor, they were well instructed out of the word of
God. They listened, heard and obeyed. Few men who
preach the gospel of Christ will ever compare favora
bly with E. R. Swain. It is written, " Woe unto you
when all men speak well of you." It has often been
said, the Elder is free from the woe, one speaks evil
and one alone; his words can do the Elder no harm.
Elder Swain sold his farm in town, and removed to
Iowa about ten years ago, where he still lives with
one of his sons.
After the organization of the town, immigration
rapidly increased. English, Germans, Norwegians,
and people from different states settled on the fine
prairie lands of the town, built better houses than the
first settlers had done, and large portions of the rich,
black sod were annually cut and turned over by the
plow. The prairie was soon dotted all over with com
fortable homes, and nearly every acre was brought
under cultivation.
In this class of settlers, we beg leave to mention the
the names of Thomas Bewick, William G. Bartlett,
George Cole, English; William Walk, William Wer-
nick, John Binder and his sons John C, Frederick,
and Christian, and also his son-in-law Frederick Pev-
ion; Ernst Miller, Jas. Meixner and his sons Jas. I.,
John, Antone, and Frank; Ferdinand Gomalke, Flo-
rian Schambra, Henry A. Miller, Henry Brockmiller
and others, Germans; John Olsen, Shure Shureson,
John Knudtson, and others, Norwegians; John Bur-
17

258 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  WINDSOR.
rington and his sons Jonathan, Rial, Daniel, Calvin
and Charles; Franklin and Martin Hilliard, Austin
Freeman, Allison and Tertius Turner, James Cle
ments and E. P. Sherman, from different states.
About the year 1853, Hon. Charles Durkee left
his comfortable home in Kenosha, Wis., and pur
chased Mr. Stevenson's property, already well im
proved, and soon after 600 acres of section 16 (a school
section); put the whole of section 16 under the
plow in one year, purchased a large flock of sheep
and other stock, and commenced farming on a big
scale. Seven hundred sheep were shorn in one year;
4,000 bushels of buckwheat grown in another year,
and as high as 8,000 bushels of spring wheat sent to
market, one of the products of this farm for a single
year. Mr. Durkee soon made sale of his farm at $25
per acre, to Mr. Isaac N. DeForest; went to Utah,
was made governor of the territory, and died on his
way to visit his old home in Kenosha, about two years
ago. The Madison and Portage Railroad, connecting the
city of Madison with Portage City, is the only line of
railroad passing through the town of Windsor. Pre
vious to the location of this road, two other lines of
railroad had been surveyed, passing from corner to
corner through the town, and crossing each other on
section 26, E. P. Sherman's land; but neither of these
two lines were ever built.
The Madison & Portage Railroad is about 40 miles
in length, and would prove an important link in any
railroad line leading from north to south through the

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  WINDSOR. 259
central part of the state. In its incipient stages, this
road had a hard struggle for existence, lying almost
dormant for several years after being surveyed, and
the people of Windsor began to despair of ever hav
ing a railroad pass through their town. But about
the year 1869, a new impetus was given to the enter
prise through the indomitable courage and persever
ance of James Campbell, president of the company,
assisted by Robert Sanderson a6 secretary, and an
efficient board of directors. Through their influence
the towns along the line of the road, and at its ter
mini, were induced to purchase stock of the company,
either paying cash or giving bonds for the same ; and,
with the aid thus afforded, the road was completed
in the year 1870. In the matter of furnishing aid for
this enterprise, the town of Windsor generously fur
nished six thousand dollars in cash, and now holds
the company's stock certificates for that amount.
In the matter of schools and school houses, Wind
sor compares favorably with other towns in Dane
county. The rude log school houses of the early set
tlers have given place to neat and convenient edifices;
and many of the modern improvements in school
house furniture have been adopted. A striking con
trast between the school houses of the early settlers
and those of the present day is seen in District No. 1
near Token Creek village, where the first log school
house in town was built. A large and well propor
tioned white edifice, now crowns the summit of a
gentle eminence, within half a mile of the site of the

260 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  WINDSOR.
old log house. Other districts in town show equal
ly striking contrasts. But the log school houses had
their day of usefulness, and will be held in grate
ful remembrance by many intelligent men and wo
men of the present day, who received the first rudi
ments of education at these primitive edifices.
Three villages, Windsor, De Forest and Morrison,
are located on the line of the Madison and Portage
Railroad, within the limits of the town of Windsor.
Each village is favored with a railroad station; each
has an express office, and each is a market for grain
and other farm products. And although these villages
are only about two miles apart, and are within ten
miles of other competing markets, still quite an
amount of business is done at each; about 100,000
bushels of wheat, 15,000 bushels of barley, and
15,000 bushels of oats on the average, are annually
shipped from these three stations, besides consider
able quantities of corn, potatoes, wool, hides, poultry,
butter, eggs, live stock, etc. From the village of
Windsor alone, ten to fifteen thousand dollars worth
of live hogs are annually shipped. Each of the three
stations has its lumber yard, and large quantities of
lumber are annually sold at each.
Among the enterprising business men of Windsor
village, are Sherman Bros., proprietors of the Wind
sor cheese factory, and dealers in grain, lumber, flour,
feed, salt, live stock, etc., being the successors of E. P.
Sherman; Greenman Bros, are the leading merchants,
and have a large trade in their line of business. H.

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  WINDSOR. 261
B. Lake is the only druggist; R. F. Sherman runs a
tin and hardware shop. He is particularly noted for
his skill as a cheese-maker, and has charge of the
Windsor cheese factory. C. B. Wilsey runs a suc
cessful blacksmith shop, and C. E. Carlton does a
good business as carriage maker.
De Forest. — At De Forest is a substantial and
capacious grain elevator, owned and operated by
H. S. Grinde, Esq. Over 70,000 bushels of wheat,
besides other grain, have been shipped through this
elevator in one year. Dennis Crawley owns a ware
house, and buys grain, etc., and keeps a stock of lum
ber. Moldstad, Dahl & Durkee, general merchants.
K. Knud son's machine shops are located at this place.
The proprietor, a skilled and practical mechanic, does
an extensive business.
At Morrison Station, there is a grain warehouse
and general store, conducted by Mr. Watkins.
WINDSOR IN THE WAR  BY HERBERT A. LEWIS.
We have been kindly furnished the following war
history, together with news of the churches, by Mr.
Herbert A. Lewis, whose long and intimate acquaint
ance with the town is a sufficient guaranty for the ac
curacy of its interesting details :
During the war of the rebellion, the town did its full share. Ac
cording to the records, the town was required to furnish seventy-
three soldiers, as its part of the great armies summoned to the de
fense of the Union. It furnished eighty-six. No regular organization
was raised in the town, as the volunteers were scattered through
many different regiments. The town was largely represented in

262 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  WINDSOR.
the first cavalry, the thirty-third, thirty-sixth, fortieth, and other
Wisconsin regiments.
Among those who died in the service were, William Lawrence, in
the first cavalry; John T. Vincent, of the Berdan Sharpshooters;
Chester Porter, Abram Bartholomew, and Henry Goodrich, of the
thirty-third regiment; Adam Smith, of this regiment, was killed at
the battle of Tupelo, in Mississippi in the summer of 1864. Mar
shal Combs enlisted in the second Iowa regiment at the breaking
out of the war, and at the bloody battle of Fort Donaldson was
wounded, and came home to die. His cousin, Melvin Combs, also
died in the service. Col. Clement E. Warner, at present an influ
ential resident of the town, raised a company for the thirty-sixth
regiment. Being the first captain mustered in, he became the rank
ing captain. The thirty-sixth arrived at the front in Virginia about
the first of May, 1864, and engaged at once in the bloody battles of
that year in Virginia. In less than three weeks after its arrival, its
field officers had all been killed or wounded, and Capt. Warner
found himself in command of the regiment. He was commissioned
major, lieutenant colonel, and colonel, before the close of the war.
While holding the office of lieutenant colonel, and while in oom-
mand of his regiment at the battle of Deep Bottom, on the 14th of
August, 1864, he lost his left arm, by a minnie ball. As soon as he
had recovered from the amputation, he returned to his regiment and
remained in command until the close of the war. At the time of the
surrender of Gen. Lee to Gen. Grant, the thirty-sixth was stationed
just in front of the place where these distinguished officers arranged
the terms, and it was to Col. Warner that Gen. Mead announced the
fact that Lee had surrendered. Col. Warner has since represented
the eastern district of Dane county in the state senate. He is still a
substantial farmer in the town.
Samuel S. Brink was a member of the thirty-sixth, and lost a foot
in one of the early battles in which the regiment was engaged.
Anson D. Goodrich enlisted in the thirty- third regiment as a pri
vate, but was appointed orderly sergeant, and was afterwards com
missioned first lieutenant of his company. S. H. Sabin was first
lieutenant of company D. of the fortieth regiment. This was one
of the hundred days regiments, and the town had a large repre
sentation in its ranks.
Otis Remick, at one time a teacher in the Farwell school house,
near where the village of Windsor now stands, enlisted in the first

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  WINDSOR. 263
regiment of three months' men, and afterwards in the eleventh
regiment, in which he was an orderly sergeant, then first lieutenant,
then captain, and was finally commissioned as major. After the
war, Major Remick took up his residence in New Orleans, where he
still resides.
E. G. Miller, who at one time taught the school in the Token
Creek district, also enlisted in the first regiment of three months'
men, and was afterwards a captain in the twentieth regiment. He
has since been a member of the Iowa State Senate. Moulton De
Forest was a captain in the eighteenth regiment. Newton De For
est was first lieutenant and afterwards major in the second cavalry.
Both these officers were sons of I. N. De Forest, from whom the
village of De Forest takes its name.
From this it will be seen that the town was not behind its neigh
bors in doing its share in that great struggle which achieved the
grand result of proclaiming liberty in all the land.
The religious history of the town is interesting. The first preach
ing was by Rev. Philip Eveleth, a Congregational minister, who
preached in the old log school house at the foot of the north side of
Token Creek hill. CHURCHES.
The first church organized was the Baptist church, of which Rev.
E. R. Swain, heretofore referred to, was the pastor. This church
was organized in 1846, and was for a long time the leading church
in the town. Elder Swain was indefatigable in his labors to build
it up. In 1849, it was blessed with a revival which added largely
to its numbers. Circumstances being such, its pastor thought it
best to seek another home, the church having declined in numbers
until it has but a few left in its organization.
The Methodists, with their unconquerable will and their un
quenchable zeal, have also made the town one of their preaching
places, and at one time had an organization there. The different
preachers of that denomination, who will be well remembered, were
Father Fox, Rev. Geo. Delamatyr, Rev. Mr. Bunce, Rev. Mr. Bol
ton, Rev. Mr. Cobbin, and others. Father Fox was an old gentle
man with many eccentricities, and many an anecdote of his keen
witted retorts are remembered.
The Congregational church was organized in April, 1851, at the
Farwell school house, by Rev. C. W. Matthews, who for a long time
preached to them on alternate sabbaths, supplying also the church of

264 DANE COUNTY TOWNS — WINDSOR.
the same denomination at Sun Prairie. At its organization it had
but six members. Rev. Philip Eveleth, who had preached the first
sermon in the town, became a member of this church at that time.
Its members were so few that in its infancy it was seriously con
templated that it be disbanded; but, in 1853, it was encouraged by
the addition of a few new members, among whom were Deacon
Warner and his wife, who have since been closely identified with it,
and took courage and struggled on. In August, 1853, it became
connected with the Madison District Convention, and Newton Lewis
was its first delegate. In 1855, this church was farther strengthened
by the arrival of Hon. W. H. Chandler, who has since been one of
the prominent men of the state. Mr. Chandler and his wife were
for years among the most reliable working members of the church.
In the spring of 1858, a large revival took place in the town, in
which all the churches united. Rev. Almon Whitman, pastor of
the Baptist Church at Sun Prairie, was the preacher on this occas
ion. The spirit of unity at this time was so great that an attempt
was made to abandon all the church organizations, and to form a
union church. This was only partially successful, as some, from
conscientious reasons, were unwilling to abandon the churches they
had loved so long. A union church was formed, however, in which
every member of the Congregational Church joined, and many of
the other denominations. This continued till 1864, when, by con
sent of all its members, it was again united to the Madison District
Convention of Congregational Churches. In 1858, it enjoyed the
ministration of Rev. J. F. Smith, then just starting in his profes
sion, who is now a missionary in Turkey in Asia. Rev. George
Delamatyr, a Methodist, and Rev. 0. 0. Stearns, a Baptist, for
some years preached to the church. The first steps to erect a church
were taken in the fall of 1860, and Deacon Warner spent the elec
tion day of 1860 in asking subscriptions for the new enterprise of the
citizens as they came together to exercise their rights as voters. The
church was erected during the year 1861, and was dedicated in
March, 1862, Rev. Mr. Donaldson, then acting pastor, preaching
the sermon. The cost of the edifice was $1,500, and as church
debts were not fashionable then, it was all paid for. Mr. Donaldson
lived at Beaver Dam, and drove that long distance in order to meet
his appointments. Rev. Mr. Sedgwick preached to the church for
a time, in 1864. Rev. C. M. Morehouse preached in 1865 and 1866.
In the winter of 1866, a large and powerful revival took place,

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  WINDSOR. 265
»
under the preaching of Rev. P. C. Pettibone, of Beloit. In 1866
Rev. Richard Hassell became the pastor of the church, and con
tinued so for about three years. Mr. Hassell is now a resident of
Grinnell, Iowa. He was succeeded by Rev. S. B. Demarest, who
remained about four years.
After a short time in which Rev. Mr. Williamson preached, the
church called the present pastor, Rev. W. A. Lyman. Soon after
his coming there was a revival, succeeded by large accessions to the
church. There has recently been erected, at a spot about half-way
between the church and the village of Windsor, a neat parsonage
for the use of the pastor.
In the German settlement, in the northern part of the town a
church was erected and dedicated in the year 1876, by the German
Methodists. These good people have always been forward in good
works in the town. Mr. Frederick Pivian, a prominent member of.
this society, often officiates as pastor.
There is also in this part of the town a large society of Primitive
Lutherans, that have been organized as a church for about eight
years, Rev. 0. Hill, recently from Illinois, is the present pastor.
In 1876 a Moravian church (German) was organized by Rev.
William Slingle, and the site for a church edifice selected.
At DeForest there is a large society of Norwegian Lutherans, who
worship at Norway Grove church, in the town of Vienna. There is
a Norwegian school connected with the church, in charge of T.
Johnson. Among some of the business men not already men
tioned in the preceding pages are the following:
Windsor — E. P. Sherman, notary pubhc and agent for railroad
and express companies; T. O'Deir and J. W. Vincent, carpenters;
Elisha Lake, boot and shoemaker. Robt. Burrington, has recently
purchased the store occupied by H. B. Lake, and is adding consid
erable to its size and convenience. Mr. Lake is also engaged in
building a new store. J. W. Vincent has charge of the Windsor
Hotel, where guests will meet with courteous treatment and good
fare at reasonable rates.
DeForest— A. L. Dahl, artist; A. Nelson, sewing machine
agent and bookseller; K. Nelson and Bros., carpenters; C. Jah-
land and Bros., painters.

266 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  BERRY.

BERRY.
BY OTTO KERL, Es<J., AND WM. S. CR0WTHER, Esq.
The town of Berry is situated in the western part
of Dane county, and lies south of the town of Rox-
bury, west of the town of Springfield, north of the
town of Cross Plains, and east of the town of Black
Earth. The general character of the town is hilly,
although there are several rich valleys, the largest
being Halfway Prairie, which is sometimes called the
English settlement, and that portion of Black Earth
valley, which crosses the southwest corner of the town.
The bluffs are timbered with several kinds of oak,
cherry and poplar, the last being a recent growth, and
admirably adapted for fencing. The poplars grow in
groves, long and straight, and are cut when about six
inches in thickness, sawed into fencing, and consider
ed by many as superior to pine fencing. They seem
to be especially provided by Providence for such pur
poses, as the large oaks, formerly used in fencing, are
all gone. The town is abundantly supplied with wa
ter, there being a number of springs and creeks,
with several mill sites, one of which, on the Black
Earth creek, is being improved for a flouring mill.
The climate is very healthy, there being no stagnant
water or marshes.

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  BERRY. 267
The town was first settled in 1843, by James Mills,
Captain Amos Heald, Albert Skinner, Joseph Roger-
son and  Hood, on Black Earth valley, and a
year or two later by Mr. Barnes and Mr. Hyer, on
Halfway Prairie.
In 1845, a large number of English came out under
a colonization society, which was organized in the city
of Manchester, England, in 1842, called the " British
Temperance Emigration Society." They located sev
eral of their claims in this town, and the following
persons came out in 1845: John Whiteman, John
Mead, James and William Bowman, Geo. Draper,
Francis Wilson, John Ford, John Saville and James
Crowther. This last gentleman relinquished his
claim, giving it away, saying, " it was dear at a gift,"
and bought Albert Skinner's farm, on section 31,
which had the first frame house in the town. His
claim was situated on what was called " long break
ing," in the town of Mazomanie, a miserable sandy
prairie that would not grow white beans. This so
enraged the officers of the society that they sent
word to England that Mr. Crowther had left a
nice farm and gone and settled in a swamp (which,
by-the-way, was every foot dry and good land).
In after years, when they would come up to see
him, he would say, " let us go out and see my
swamp."' In 1847, several more English settled there, among
which were Thomas, Samuel and Edward Barber,
Thomas Haynes and George Bates.

268

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  BERRY.

Many amusing incidents are remembered of these
early settlers; most of the English coming from man
ufacturing towns in the old country, were, to use a
phrase, somewhat " green " respecting farms and
farming, which the following incident will illus
trate: Two parties (who afterwards became prominent
and thrifty farmers) came to Joseph Rogerson, anoth
er English settler, who came out in 1843 and settled
on section 32, to buy his claim. After partaking of
a frugal meal, which consisted of pork and corn bread,
the latter made into the remembered "johnny cake,"
they went out to see the farm, examine the soil, etc. ;
after they got out to the field, one of them commenced
to jump and spring on the ground, sayiug to Mr.
Rogerson "is this land sound?" The latter, in a
(feigned) terrified air said, " My G — d, friend, do
not do that or you will go down about twenty feet."
It is also related of another who, before he was "natu
ralized," commenced planting his corn, and had about
an acre planted before he found out his mistake; he
had planted an ear in each hill.
In 1847, the Germans first commenced to settle, the
first comers being Otto Kerl and Mr. Anhalt. They
rapidly settled in, till the whole town was taken up.
But very few of the old English settlers are now alive
to tell the tale of the trials and hardships of the early
settlement of the town ; most of them have gone to
" that bourne from whence no traveler returns." The
town now is almost entirely Germans, who, by-the-
way, make our very best citizens.

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  BERRY. 269
In 1849-50 a number of Germans settled here, ana
the town has continued to fill up from time to time
until it is now almost all cleared and broken up for
cultivation. The town was organized in 1850, and the first town
meeting held on the 2d day of April, 1850. Twenty-
four votes were cast, and sixty dollars raised for town
purposes. The names of the voters were Wm. Ses-
ton, Otto Kerl, John W. Ford, Thomas Barber, George
Stevens, Henry Carden, John Wightman, John Savelle,
George Draper, Edward Barber, Francis Wilson,
Thomas Hawley, John H. Roberts, Wm. Hawley,
John Gray, Thomas Haynes, Joseph Harrison, Ed
mund Ellis, Joseph Bowman, Samuel Hawley, Wil
liam Bowman, John Mead, Henry Paddelford, Abijah
Davis. And the following officers were elected: Su
pervisors — Joseph Bowman, chairman ; Thomas
Haynes and John Wightman. Town Clerk — Samuel
Hawley. Treasurer — Thomas Barber. Justices of
the Peace — Thomas Haynes and Joseph Harrison.
Superintendent of School — Edward Barber. Con
stables — Henry Carden and Aug. Barnes. Assessor —
George Draper.
In those early times there were plenty of deer, and
often as many as twenty-four head at a time were
seen feeding upon the fields of winter wheat sown by
the early settlers. The town was a favorite resort
with the Indians, because of the quantity of game
frequenting this section of country, and their camp
was about one-half mile from my house. In the fall

270 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  BERRY.
of 1848, about sixty-five of them and their families
remained near my land, on section 27, for about six
weeks, killing deer. When they prepared to depart,
they loaded each of their ponies with a fresh killed
deer, which they purposed carrying 4o Milwaukee to
sell. They made frequent visits to my house for
flour and salt, and the most friendly relationship ex
isted between them and my family, we passing in and
out of their camp as often as opportunity permitted
us. On one occasion, while I was making hay near
their camp, three squaws came with long sticks or
canes and helped turn the hay. When done, they
signified by signs that they had done so because I
had given them flour and salt.
The deer continued plentiful for a number of years,
but the constant settling up of the town, and the kill
ing of them,, made their appearance very scarce, so
that the last deer known to have been killed in the
town was by myself in 1856.
A frequent and very troublesome annoyance to the
settlers was the great number of wolves that made the
night hideous with howling, and would even attack the
stock if suitable care was not taken to keep the cattle
in places of safety. In the winter it was sometimes
unsafe, even in the day time, to be unarmed, as they
followed teams of horses or oxen, watching every
opportunity to attack them. One winter in 1847,
between Christmas and New Year, Conrad Scheele,
a young man living with me, started out with the ox
team and sleigh to go to Clark's Corners, in Spring-

INDIAN CAMP.
From Mitchell's New School Geography.

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  BERRY. 273
field, to get a few bushels of potatoes from Joseph
Knippschild, and after being gone about an hour,
came back to arm himself, because the wolve6 were so
numerous and savage he could not make any progress
on the road.
On Table Bluff, the highest bluff in the town, sec
tion 29, there are a number of Indian mounds that
are in the form of small hills, others long or oblong,
while some of them take the shape of animals, such
as bears, snakes, etc. On section 27, where my land
is, there are several long ones, also having the form of
animals. There is evidence on sections 21 and 29 that the
aborigines were engaged in mining or digging for
some valuable minerals or flints, before the white set
tlers came to this town. Large excavations are seen
showing where the soil has been thrown out for some
purpose that, we are not made aware of in our time.
Perhaps to obtain the copper masses, or boulders from
which they made their tools.
In those days the postal arrangements in the town
were not within the requirements of our modern
conveniences, and perhaps could not be better told
than to relate an incident that came under my own
observation. The nearest post-office was Madison,
and letters for the town of Berry had to come over
the Sauk road, by way of Mr. Dnnlap's, then some
time afterwards it would be carried from there to
Cross Plains, and then to Mr. Thomas, who was
postmaster, on section 10. A friend and myself
calling for letters at his house were informed by Mrs.
18

274 DANE COUNTY TOWNS — BEERY.
Thomas that her husband was in the meadow haying,
where we went and found him mowing with a sickle
one foot long After the compliments of the day were
passed, we asked if there were any letters for us. He
replied that he would see, and sitting down on his
haunches he very carefully with both hands took oft
his hat (which was a genuine stovepipe of no very
recent style), tumbled out a number of letters on
the ground, looked them over for us, and then re
placed the hat and its contents on his head. We were
Germans, but we had never seen a portable post-office
before, nor had any conceptions of the weighty corres
pondence of many heads being carried in one, and
then covered with a stovepipe hat; but that was the
post-office of Cross Plains.
The nearest mills that we had were Hickocks', in
Iowa county, Sugar River Mill, and the Lodi Mill;
and- the inconvenience of the early settlers in getting
their wheat gristed was sometimes scarcely possible
in our times to imagine. On one occasion, I carried
a grist to Hickocks' Mill and found the mill stopped
and undergoing repair; I then started for the mill at
Sugar River, but found that also broken down and
repairing, which ultimately compelled me to go to
Janesville, before I could get my wheat gristed;
occupying about six days going and returning. Mr.
John Cropper started a mill at Halfway Prairie creek
in 1863, but afterwards moved it to Mazomanie.
In 1852, I started a brewery, and continued in the
business until 1861. In 1862, George Esser also
started a brewery, and has built up a large business.

DANE COUNTY TOWNS — BERRY. 275
In the southeast part of the town there is a large
Catholic church, built of stone, and with a fine spire
that can be seen for miles around. The present
pastor is the Rev. John Friede, a well educated and
sociable gentleman. There is also a Catholic school
connected with the church. In the center of the
town there is a German Lutheran church, under the
pastoral charge of the Rev. Mr. Schenk, of Middleton.
The town has six school districts.
The first store in town was kept by Hartwig
Meyer, at Halfway Prairie, and for several years Mr.
Christian Henrichs also kept a store at the above
place. There is no store at present.
The town is well supplied with stone for building
purposes ; and Mr. Peter Rouls has a lime kiln, and
supplies the neighborhood with burned lime.
The Chicago,. Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad runs
through the southwestern part of the town. In Half
way Prairie there is a little village called Meyer's Cor
ners, where are two saloons, one kept by Aug. Rie-
ward, and the other by Herman Schneyer; two black
smith's shops, one by August Hagemann, and the
other by John Hagemann; one wagon shop, kept by
lacob Back; one shoe shop, kept by Carl Schuman;
and one tailor, Chris. Luetzow.
On sections two and eleven there is a lake known
as Indian Lake, that has no apparent outlet. It was
much frequented by the Indians for fishing and hunt
ing, but of late years, they soldom visit it, although
many of the citizens still continue to hunt here. From*
having dried up, it is not as large as formerly.

276 DANE COUNTY TOWNS — COTTAGE GROVE.

COTTAGE GROYE.
BY JAS. BELL, ESQ.
The town of Cottage Grove is situated eight miles
east of the city of Madison, in Dane county. It is
designated on the government surveys as town seven,
north, range eleven, east. The general face of the
country is somewhat rolling; the quality of the soil is
good and productive; partially prairie and some
oak openings, with considerable marsh or meadow
land, yielding excellent hay and pasturage; it is un
der a high state of cultivation. Fine farm houses
and bams meet the traveler at almost every turn of the
road, indicating thrift and social independence. The
first purchase of land from the goverment in the town
ship was in 1838, by Phillip Kerney, on sections eight
and ten. In 1840, Wm. C. Wells, Amos Harris and
Horatio Catlin entered their lands in sections seven,
eight and nine.
The first town meeting was held at the house of
Amos Beecher, April 6, 1847, when, on motion of Rev.
J. G. Kanouse, Horatio Catlin was chosen chairman,
S. H. Adsit and Orsamus McCray, judges of election,
and Rufus Howard clerk. The towns of Deerfield
and Cottage Grove were then together for political
purposes, and at that meeting there were seventy-one
votes cast, and the following town officers were de-

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  COTTAGE GROVE. 277

clared duly elected: Supervisors — Henry L. Bush,
chairman, A. E. Adsit, J. W. Butts. Clerk — Fred
erick A. Mitchell. Assessors — John Sunderman,
Lucius Loss and M. W. Adsit. Justices of the Peace
— Edmund P. Butts, J. H. Clyde, Charles Drakeley.
Commissioners of Highways — Molton J. Hammond,
Samuel Halawork, E. Sampson. School Commis
sioners — E. D. Kanouse, John Barker, Eli Sperry.
Collector — Isaac Beecher. Constables — Isaac Beech
er, E. A. Sperry, George S. Butler. Sealer of
Weights and Measures — John Deline. Fence View
ers — Amos Harris, Allen Kanouse, Orsamus McCray.
These men constituted the first town officers.
On the 20th day of April, 1849, the towns of Cot
tage Grove and Deerfield, by mutual agreement, sep
arated their political connection by the action of their
supervisors, who on the part of Cottage Grove were,
Charles Drakeley and Lewis Waldruff; on the part of
Deerfield, Allen Adsit and Emery Sampson. H. M.
Warner was town clerk.
Cottage Grove received its name from a burr oak
grove, in the midst of which a public house was built,
and where the post office was established in 1838, with
Wm. C. Wells as post master. There are now two
post offices in the town, the one at Cottage Grove, on
the road leading from Madison to Watertown, and the
other at Door Creek, on the west end of Liberty Prai
rie, eleven miles from the city of Madison, southeast,
on the road from Madison to Milwaukee, by way of
Cambridge and Fort Atkinson. Liberty Prairie cov-

278 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  COTTAGE GROVE.
ers about five sections in the south half of the town, and
called so by a number of citizens who assembled on
the highest eminence on the prairie to celebrate the
Fourth of July, and, from the exuberance of their
spirits, together, it is said, with something from a lit
tle brown jug, that on looking around on the beautiful
prairie, they became so enchanted with the sight,
they involuntarily cried out " Liberty Prairie." Thus
one of the richest and most beautiful prairies in the
state received its christening. There are three organ
ized churches in the town, each having a fine house
of worship, the Presbyterian, Methodist and German
Lutherans. The Presbyterian church was organized
by the Rev. John G. Kanouse, in 1845, at the house
of. Horatio Catlin, his wife being an active member
of the church, and his house the only "meeting house"
in the town. Mr. Kanouse was minister for nearly
twenty-five years, until his death on the 30th day of
May, 1870. Since his death the pulpit has been filled
by several eminent divines, such as Wm. Hendrick-
son, Lemuel Leonard, O. P. Thompson and others.
The Methodist church, in Cottage Grove village, was
organized at the house of Amos Beecher, in 1846, by
Rev. Matthew Fox and Rev. Mr. Montgomery with
Laura Robinson, Samuel G. Curtis and Thomas At
kins as "charter members." The Methodist church
on Liberty Prairie was organized shortly after by Sam
uel Dodge and L. D. Kelly. The former has long
since gone to his reward, the latter is still in active
life and engaged on his farm. The German Lutherans

DANE COUNTY TOWNS — COTTAGE GROVE. 279
\
organized since the other two; have a large and intel
ligent congregation, and a fine house of worship.
The Evangelical Association is strongly represented
in the town, though their church is situated just
across the line, in Blooming Grove. They purpose
at some early day building a new church in the town,
where three-fourths of the membership reside. The
church was first organized in 1853, in the house of C.
F. Uphoff, on section 19, and where services were held
for a number of years, with Rev. Henry Roggats as
pastor. They are now in a very prosperous condition.
Schools are well attended and well provided for;
the census of 1875, shows a population of 1,430 in
habitants, the foreign element being largely repre
sented. The village of Cottage Grove is located on
section seven; it consists of the post office, one store
of general merchandise, two blacksmith shops, one
harness shop, one wagon maker, two churches, a school
house and quite a cluster of dwelling houses.
In 1841, General Dodge passed through the village
and put up at the Beecher tavern. His military ca
reer was well known among the early settlers, and
with none more so than Mr. and Mrs. Beecher, who
resolved on setting a table worthy of their distin
guished guest. But the old general had endured too
many privations, and too many homely fares to be
disturbed in his usual method of dieting, and so re
galed himself with bread, potatoes and pork, leaving
all the "fixmgs " untouched. His room had been
prepared with extra care, and with an eye to modern

280 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  COTTAGE GROVE.
comfort and ease in the way of a good feather bed
and pillows. But the general had pillowed his head
on the soft side of a hard board many a time, and so
asked the good lady, to her utter amazement, to sup
ply him with some comfort by the removal of the
feather bed, and the substitution of one of straw,
which with him was deemed a luxury.
In old stage times, and before access by rail to
Madison had been accomplished, Cottage Grove was
one of the relay and resting places for the members of
the legislature going to and returning from Madi
son, and many a pleasant reminiscence is associated
with Cottage Grove and the many guests and mem
bers who made mine host Beecher's house their
abode, but which our space forbids enumerating at
present, further than to record one notable circum
stance. In 1841, a number of the early settlers agreed
to have a social dance at Amos Beecher's tavern, and
to show the extent and distance the guests came from,
it is stated that H. W. Wales, Mr. Brown, G. H.
Walker, were from Milwaukee; Mr. Rogan, from Wa
terloo; James Frau, from Fort Atkinson; Harris and
Charles Lawrence, from Token Creek, and a large
number from Madison. A noticeable event of the
evening was, that Mrs. Davis, who weighed about 200
pounds, and Mr. G. H. Walker, who weighed about
250 pounds, were the two leading dancers of the even
ing, displaying more ease and elegance of deportment
in the mazes of the ball room than those with less
corporeal incumbrance.

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  COTTAGE GROVE. 281
Through the energy of our Good Templar Lodge,
there is a pleasing feature throughout the township
that there is not a place where ardent spirits are sold,
nor has there been for a series of years, although this
was not always the case. Whisky, as in all new coun
tries, used to be plenty, and highly prized, so much
so, that at a town meeting the electors passed a " resolu
tion " that hereafter hogs should be restrained from
running at large, but "whisky was to run free," and
in those times it did run freely. There is a very fine
Grange Hall in the town, No. 97, Patrons of Hus
bandry. No streams of water of any great volume are in the
town,though Door and Koshkonong creeks run through
the town, but not of sufficient size for mill privileges.
The township is under a high state of cultivation, and
is extremely well located for markets. It is remark
ably healthy, having a pure atmosphere, good water
and plenty, and no miasmatic swamps to create fevers
and agues. There are no natural curiosities, such as
caves or large mounds, although there are plenty of
ancient indications. On section four, on the land of
Albert Gaston, there were some ancient Indian relics.
Politically, Cottage Grove has not been behind the
times in contributing her share of public men. She
has given the state a governor, state senators and
state legislators, and in the late civil war, Cottage
Grove sent 105 men to the field; twenty- two of them
left their bones on southern battle fields. Any per
son wishing to locate in this part of Wisconsin can-

282 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  COTTAGE GROVE.
not do better. Here we have the best of society, the
best of churches and school privileges, a good, healthy
climate, good water, good markets, good soil, and just
far enough from the capital city for a good, pleasant
drive, accessible to three or four depots in thirty
minutes drive. To the visitor the drive from Cottage
Grove Corners to the city of Madison is truly lovely
and enjoyable; for a greater part of the distance there
is a full view of the city and the beautiful lakes Wau
besa, Monona and Mendota, with their bays and
streamlets, and the Catfish river, with its many wind
ings through natural meadows. The road leads for
about two miles along the shore of Monona, where a
lovely white sand beach affords facilities for good
bathing or gathering of shell and pebbles. If a little
touch of the hand of art was added to what nature has
already done, it would cast Long Branch into the shade.
To the seeker after pleasure and health, we would say,
God has created few lovelier or more healthful spots
than Dane county, and the town of Cottage Grove,
for here will be found health and pleasures to overflow
ing.

DANE COUNTY TOWNS — ALBION. 2S3

ALBION.
BY PROF. A. R. CORNWALL.
The town of Albion received its name at the sug
gestion of Isaac Brown, in honor of his former place
of residence in the state of New York. Considerable
discussion arose as to which name, Albion or Salem,
should be given to the town, when some of the En
glish settlers came in and battled for Albion, the name
Caesar gave to their native island. Freeborn Sweet
was the first settler. He came from Oneida county,
N. Y., in August, 1841. In September of the same
year, Bjorn Anderson and Anrund Anderson, from
Norway, settled on section 2. The same fall, Samuel
T. Stewart, of Massachusetts, settled on section 14.
In September, 1842, Jesse Saunders and Duty J.
Greene, from Alleghany county, N. Y., settled on sec
tion 22, on what has since been called Saunders Creek,
where the village of Albion now stands. In June,
1843, Solomon Head, Adin Burdick, James Weed,
and Hiram Bently, settled in the same neighborhood.
On the 22d of June, 1843, a " Seventh Day Baptist
Church " was organized, Rev. O. P. Hull, first pastor.
Among the early settlers in the northern part of the
town were the Marsdens, Clarks, Halls, Busseys, Sla
ters, Humphreys, Rev. James Wileman, William
Short, John Bullis, and several families of Norths.

284 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  ALBION.
These settlers soon organized a Primitive Metho
dist Church, with Rev. Marsden as first minister.
Jesse Saunders opened the first store; Duty J. Greene
the first hotel. The first school was opened by
voluntary contribution in 1844. The Seventh Day
Baptist meeting house was built in 1861, while Rev.
T. E. Babcock was pastor.. In 1868, the Episcopal
Methodists erected a beautiful house of worship two
miles from the village of Albion. Since then, in the
same neighborhood of the Episcopal church, the Prim
itive Methodists have built a handsome brick church.
This church is near a beautiful lake, and altogether
this community has one of the pleasantest locations
in southern Wisconsin.
Albion Academy was founded in 1854. This in
stitution has become one of the foremost academies in
the northwest. There are three large brick blocks
situated in the center of a twelve acre park, which
constitutes the centre of the village. The corporate
property of the academy is valued at $75,000. The
courses of instruction embrace a six years' course in
Greek and Latin; four years' course in mathematics;
an extensive course in metaphysics; natural science;
Normal course — a regular professorship in instru
mental music, voeal music, elocution, bookkeeping,
penmanship, etc. A faculty of ten teachers constant
ly employed. Nothing whatever sectarian is con
nected with the school. There is an annual attend
ance reaching from 250 to 325. A large number of
Scandinavian young people have been educated here.

Albion Academy.

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  ALBION. 287
They are as a rule excellent scholars, and of indus
trious habits. Rev. T. R. Williams D.D., now of
Alfred University, was the first principal. He re
mained in the institution six years, from 1854 to 1860.
In 1856, he was joined by A. R. Cornwall, A.M., a
graduate of Union College, as associate principal.
Prof. Williams retired from the academy in 1860 ; since
that time Prof. Cornwall has been, at the head of the
institution. The academy has a fine cabinet in nat
ural history. The three literary societies have each a
fine hall. The recitatiou rooms are ample. The in
stitution receives no aid whatever, but relies entirely
on a small tuition from each student. A large num
ber of teachers are trained for the public schools, and
some of the foremost teachers in the state have been
educated here. Hon. C. R. Head, M.D., has been pres
ident of the trustees during the twenty-three years of
its existence. He has contributed largely and been
one of the foremost in building up the school. Jesse
Saunders has been a trustee from the beginning, and
one of the main supporters.
Albion is one of the pleasantest villages in the
northwest; healthy, and surrounded by a rich farm
ing country. No intoxicating liquors were ever sold
in the town. Expenses of students are less than any
where else in the country. For the education of
young men and women, few places offer equal advan
tages. A summer school of natural history will be
connected with the academy, managed by Prof. Thure
Kumlien.

288 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  ALBION.
Lakes. — On the borders of Koshkonong Prairie is
a beautiful lake called Rice Lake, a mile and one-half
in length and three-fourths of a mile wide. The town
of Albion also borders on Koshkonong lake, which is
nine miles in length and three to four miles in width.
Rock river flows through the entire length of the lake,
making its waters pure, and attracting to the lake im
mense quantities of migratory birds and of fishes.
This is one of the most noted lakes for game in the
northwest. Amateur hunters from London, Boston,
New York, St. Louis, Chicago and other cities, visit
this lake annually. Gen. Sheridan has often tried his
hand here, but rumor has it that he has better luck
in catching Indians with his " black charger," on the
fly, than wild ducks and geese on the wing.
A four thousand dollar steamer will be put on this
lake by the first of June. The steamer is nearly com
pleted — is being constructed by Messrs. Burdick <&;
Lanphere, for pleasure excursions on the lake and
river. It will have a 65 foot keel, 12 foot beam,
double deck and pilot house; first deck, 20x90 feet;
second deck, 20x60 feet, and a cabin 12x24 feet. The
boat will have a new 18-horse power engine, built
especially for steamers, and will be capable of carry
ing from 250 to 300 persons. It will be as strong
and perfectly safe in every respect as regular passen
ger steamers, and elegantly finished and furnished
complete. Koshkonong lake is the paradise of the
naturalist. On its bosom are wild ducks innumera
ble; also geese, cormorants, pelicans, swans, and all
the varieties of smaller birds found in the north-

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  ALBION. 289
west are on its margin. It is claimed that one
hundred tons of fish are taken from its waters in a
single season. This lake is known all over the globe,
chiefly through Prof. Kumlien, who has furnished
specimens in natural history taken from it for a good
many universities and museums, in the old world as
well as in this country. The specimens in our normal
schools are found here and prepared by him.
Business. — E. L. Burdick has a large dry goods
store, and keeps a large assortment of dry goods, gro
ceries, boots and shoes, hardware, drugs and medi
cines. Commercial agents call him one of their most
reliable customers. Miller & Gibson have a wagon
and blacksmith shop, and do a large amount of work.
Jesse Greene has a blacksmith shop, is a genial fellow
and does good work. Burdick & Lanphere have a
steam mill, and deal in bent. lumber; are manufac
turers of wagons and sleighs. They also deal largely
in picture frames. Collins & Spencer, dealers in
pictures and picture frames, are doing a lively busi
ness. A. B. Campbell, harness maker, has a fine
shop. He also has a shop at Middleton and one at
Alden, Minn., and does a thriving business. A. R.
Greene, general traveling salesman for the Fox River
Manufacturing Co., Dayton, 111., for the states of
Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota. G. B. Huntington
is a well known dealer in improved stock. Albion is
one of the best tobacco growing towns in southern
Wisconsin. In building up the village, Jesse Saunders
has done more, by way of selling lots at reasonable
19

290 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  ALBION.
prices, and erecting buildings, than any other one
man. Dr. C. R. Head has been a prominent and suc
cessful physician for more than twenty-five years, and
is well known throughout the state. The Burdick
Brothers, builders, do a large amount of work. Vis
itors to Albion will find a nice home at the Randall
House, and can visit the lake at will.

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  PERKY. 291
PERRY.
BY GABRIEL BJORNSON, Esq.
This town was named in honor of Commodore
Perry, and is the southwest township in Dane county,
adjoining Iowa county on the west, and Green county
on the south. The soil in this town consists mostly
of light openings, and partly of choice natural mead
ows, yielding the best kind of natural grasses for
stock. It is abundantly supplied with good, clear
water from beauiiful sparkling springs, and several
beautiful small streams, emptying into the Pecatonica
river, having their sources from springs of water in
the town. Its surface is what is usually termed un
dulating or rolling; but the soil (with the exception
of a few stony ridges) is mostly of a good quality,
and well adapted both for dairy and grain farms.
The first settler was one John Brown, a native of
Indiana, who in the spring of 1846 settled on section
27. Soon after, John, Hobart and Anton Keller,
three brothers, from Germany, came into the town
and settled on sections 3 and 10. The next settlers
were Shute Rudy and John Sears, from Kentucky ;
John Eastman, from Ohio, and S. H. Campbell, from
Yirginia, who, in the year 1847, settled in the south
ern part of the town. In the early part of the year
1848, B. F. Denson, a native of North Carolina, set-

292 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  PERRY.
tied on section 34. In the summer of the same year
several Norwegian families moved in, of whom Lars
Halvorson and T. Thompson settled on section 17;
Hans Johnson, on section 20, and Ole O. Bakken, on
section 4. The above named persons may properly
be considered the pioneers of the town; and of those,
only Ole O. Bakken now remain, the rest having
moved away. N. W. Denson was the first white
child born in the town, March 19, 1848, and a daugh
ter of John Eastman was born April 14th of the
same year.
This town has a serious drawback, on account of
its long distance from railroad communication, being
situated in the center, between several railroad sta
tions, none of which is nearer than twenty miles from
its center; but there now seem to be strong hopes of
a narrow guage railway at no very distant day, to
be built through the village of Blanchardville (from
Freeport, Illinois, to Lone Rock, Iowa county, Wis.).
Blanchardville is a thriving village, located about
three miles southwest from the southwest corner of
the town, in the town of Blanchard, La Fayette county.
There is also a village, named Moscow, located about
two miles southwest from the southwest corner of
the town of Perry. Both of these places have good
grist mills and other conveniences usually found in
villages — such as postoffice, churches, school houses,
traders, mechanics, etc. The village of Moscow is
located on the Blue Mounds' branch of the Pecaton
ica river, and the village of Blanchardville on the

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  PERRY. 293
Pecatonica river, where the Blue Mounds branch
empties into it.
The first church in the town was built in 1851, on
sec. 8, and belonged to the Norwegian Lutheran de
nomination. The style and size of this church struc
ture exhibits in a striking degree the simplicity of
pioneer life, and the modest pretensions of that day.
It was built of logs, and its size only twenty feet square.
It also served as a school house until the fall of 1852,
when the first one was built in the town. This school
house was of small dimensions, hastily constructed of
rude logs, and located about a quarter of a mile east
of where Daley's store now stands, on section 8.
Town of Perry was at first joined to town of Prim
rose for township system of government, but in the
winter of 1854 was organized as a separate town and
had its own government. At the first town election,
A. Sanderson, one of the early settlers, was elected
chairman, and O. B. Daley, town clerk. To exhibit
an instance as a remarkable contrast between early
pioneer life and the present day, in relation to
choosing officers, and to show that the offices sought
the men, instead of the men the offices, in those good
old times, may be mentioned the fact, that, at the first
town election, O. B. Daley, Esq., was elected town
clerk, justice of the peace, superintendent of schools
and town treasurer.
The nationalities settling in said town, since 1848,
have been mostly Norwegians and Germans, and
these are now the only remaining nationalities there-

294 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  PERRY.
in; about three-fourths of the population of said
town being Norwegian, and one-fourth German, the
other nationalities having all moved away.
The town, politically, is noted for its casting a large
republican vote, the Norweigian portion of its citizens
voting that ticket, while the Germans adhere to the
democratic party with equal distinctiveness.
The town, on account of its detached situation
from the rest of the business world, had, during the
first years of its existence, to suffer considerable in
convenience in relation to mail communications. The
nearest postoffice was at Blue Mounds, where Ebene
zer Brigham was postmaster; and to relieve the in
habitants of Perry and vicinity, somewhat, a sort of
private mail communication was established by the
citizens, by which they hired a person as mail carrier
who each week, brought the mail matter from Blue
Mounds postoffice, for all of those in the town of
Perry and vicinity, who had joined in paying the ex
penses for this private mail establishment. On this
occasion O. B. Daley, Esq., was selected postmaster,
to distribute and receive the mail. This mail service
was kept up until 1857, when a special mail route
was established through the town, with the appoint
ment of A. Sanderson as postmaster. He served as
postmaster until 1871, at which time a regular mail
route,with a semi-weekly mail,was established through
the town, and O. B. Daley, Esq., residing on section
8, was appointed postmaster. On section 23 there
was another postoffice established at Forward, with

DANE COUNTY TOWNS — PERRY. 295
Christian Evenston as postmaster. He is also en
gaged in the sale of merchandise.
The town has no village, but O. B. Daley, Esq., has
established a trading and general business place on
section 8, where he has kept a well furnished store
since 1853. In close proximity to him is a commo
dious church of the Norwegian Lutheran denomina
tion, erected in 1860, together «with the parsonage of
the pastor. Rev. P. M. Brodahl was the first regular
pastor of the church, and served as such from the
summer of 1856 till the summer of 1868, when he re
turned to Norway. Rev. A. Jacobson is the present
pastor, and has served since 1868. The church is in
a flourishing condition, and its pastor is well liked,
and faithfully attends to his pastoral duties.
There is also near Daley's store a beautiful and
commodious frame school house, which has the last
few years taken the place of the old log school house,
the first school house in the town. There is a wagon
and blacksmith shop conducted by Errick Henderick-
son and Ole E. Stam, while Dr. William McFarlane
has settled in this town, and is engaged in the practice
of his profession in the place of Dr. C. B. J. Hersch,
who for a number of years was the settled physician
in town, thus making the place contiguous to Daley's
store a lively place as a hamlet.
There are now three churches in the town, two be
longing to the Norwegian Lutheran denomination,
and one German Catholic. There are five organized
school districts, besides parts of districts adjoining
other towns.

296 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  PERRY.
For the growth and progress of Perry much credit
is due to A. Sanderson, the first chairman, and to O.
B. Daley, the first clerk. They were both indefati
gable in encouraging the settlement and contributing
largely to its growth and progress. To O. B. Daley,
Esq., is mainly due the honor of getting the Norwe
gian Lutheran congregation effectively organized, and
it may well be said, without exaggeration, that O. B
Daley, Esq., is justly deserving of the universal re
spect and esteem in which he is held by the commu
nity of which he is the honored member. A. Sander
son is no longer in the land of the living, having laid
down the struggles and warfare of life about four
years since. Many others of the early settlers have
also crossed the river of death. The present chair
man of the town is L. M. Anderson, Esq., who has
served the town faithfully in that capacity since 1870.
Mr. Anderson has well earned the confidence thus be
stowed, in sending him for so many successive terms
to represent the town in the county board of super
visors, as public interests will be well taken care of,
and never suffer in his hands. The town has once
been represented in the legislature by Hon. Ole Torg-
erson, now a resident of Madison.
Notwithstanding the inconvenience of long distance
from markets, Perry has made rapid strides towards
wealth and competency, and has now a population of
about one thousand souls, made up mostly of thrifty
tillers of the soil. Judging from facts, it may be safely
predicted that the town will contribute its full share

DANE COUNTY TOWNS — PERRY. 297
to the rapid increase of the population of old Dane;
peopled as it is by Norwegian and German branches
of the prolific Teutonic race. As an instance, it may
be mentioned that one of the early settlers, Michael
Gobel, who died about one year since, left surviving,
thirteen healthy children, and several other instan
ces, nearly approaching this can be shown in this town.
If we- may thus be allowed to judge by analogy, we
may safely claim that the town of Perry will, in the
near future, possess a numerous population of Amer
ican born descendants of the Norwegian and German
branches of the Teutonic race of men, proudly trac
ing their lineage from this great ancestral source.
Thus are made up the historic streams, forever min
gling their waters with the great and mighty flood
of the American Republic.

298 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  WESTPORT, ETC.

WESTPORT AND VILLAGE OF WAUNAKEE.
BY E. L. NOYES.
The town of Westport is situated northwest of the
city of Madison, and adjoining the town of Madison
on the north, or north side of lake Mendota (Fourth
Lake), a part of the lake being within the limits of
the town. The northern and western parts of the
town are principally prairie, beautiful and undulating
in hills, valleys and lowland, interspersed with groves
of timber, or oak openings, while the southern part
of the town is heavily timbered with oak, hickory
and maple, and is familiarly known as the " Sugar-
bush." The climate is notably healthy, and the soil
rich and adapted to the luxuriant growth of all kinds
of grain, green andlignuminous crops, as well as dairy
purposes. In the fall of 1845, Louis Montandon, a French
man, and Edward Boyles, an Irishman, built a log
cabin on section twenty, and during that winter en
gaged themselves in splitting rails. They endured
great privation during the first year or two, and were
necessitated to travel on foot about eighteen miles,
through creeks and swamps, to get their corn and
flour gristed, and on many occasions were obliged to
barricade the door of their cabin to keep out the
wolves, who would surround them in the night on all

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  WESTPORT, ETC. 299
occasions when they were provided with a good sup
ply of pork and flour, making the night hideous with
their howling and efforts to obtain an entrance.
Lecta, Louis' wife, was a helpmate to him in many
ways, and in none more so than when he was appoint
ed assessor; she did the business for him with a
promptness and energy better suited to the sterner
sex, and equally as well done.
In 1846, a few American families of the names of
Burdick, Tower, Bradbury and Rodgers came into the
town, and afterwards a number of families from
Westport, Ireland (from which the town took its
name), among whom were the O'Malleys. Collins,
Fitzgibbon and Ruddy, also came about this time.
For a number of years, there was some difficulty in
getting access from Madison to the eastern portion of
the township, in consequence of there being no
bridges across the Catfish, but on the building of Far-
well's grist mill and two bridges across the Yahara,
immigration started into the town, and in 1849 and
1850 a large number of settlers from Kilkenny, and
other parts of Ireland, purchased farms in the central
and western part of the town, among whom were the
late Hon. Mat. Roach, P. R. Tierney, J. Welsh, Wm.
and Lawrence O'Keefe, Martin Reed and a number
of others, and the Irish element has remained strong
and influential, some of its wealthiest farmers being
of that nationality. The present population, like
most western towns, is mixed with Irish, German,
English, American, Scotch and Norwegian, and agri
culture is the principal pursuit.

300

ETC.

Early settlers tell of the exquisite beauty of the
whole surroundings of Westport when they first set
tled in it, and it has never lost a single charm either
in its native landscapes or what art and the hand of
man has bestowed. Game, of all kinds, was abund
ant, and was consequently much resorted to by the
Indians. In the spring the settlers were accustomed
to turn their hogs out to run at large until fall, and
when in need of fresh pork would proceed with guns
and dogs in search of some fat pigs, shoot and carry
home for use. When the weather became colder the
hogs would return with their broods for winter quar
ters. There are some interesting mounds in the town, a
few of which may be seen on the hospital grounds;
the building itself is built where a number of Indian
graves and mounds stood, and visitors to the hospital
and vicinity will find the drives full of interest and
beauty, and will be still more so when the contem
plated carriage drive from Madison around the edge
of the lake shall be completed. In former years the
Indian wigwams might be seen on and near the hos
pital grounds, where the Indians would be hunting
muskrat or fishing. Before the United States govern
ment ordered their removal to Nebraska, they made
annual visits to what was then called the Indian vil
lage, on section thirty-three, on the land now belong
ing to John D. Clute. On section twenty, on the
farm of J. Fitzgibbon, there are a number of large
mounds of an oblong, or oval shape, overlooking
Fourth Lake, and also near the shore of the lake at a

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  WESTPORT, ETC. 301
place known as the Black Woods, near Foxes' bluff,
a name given to that locality from the frequency of
these little animals to be found there. Near here the
City of Four Lakes was first contemplated, and where
some log cabins were built and cellars excavated in
anticipation of that hope. One of the mounds on
Fitzgibbon's farm was opened by some of the citi
zens, but nothing of interest found but some stone
hammers or knives, and a few flint arrowheads.
The first town meeting was held in the house of
Michael O'Malley, in 1849, and the following offi
cers were elected: Supervisors — Michael O'Malley
(Chairman), John Collins and Louis Montanda.
Town Clerk — Thomas O'Malley (but who after
wards resigned, and Thomas R. Hill was appointed).
Treasurer — Thomas Butts. Sup't of Schools —
I. P. Tower. Justices of the Peace — Amos Rodgers,
Charles Clarkson, I. P. Tower and Azariah Fay.
Constables — Martin O'Malley and Milo Wells. As
sessor — John Bradbury. Fence Yiewers — Michael
O'Malley, Lawrence Rodgers and Edward Boyles.
Sealer of Weights — Thomas R. Hill.
Mr. Thomas Shillinglaw was the first postmaster in
the town, and his wife is known to have been the first
lady justice of the peace in Wisconsin, having been
appointed by the town board, subscribed to the oath
of office and filed her bonds in pursuance of law.
The present officers of the town are: Supervi
sors — James Hogan (Chairman), Michael Koldes, and
Raynerd Helt. Treasurer — William Wilson. Clerk

302 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  WESTPORT, ETC.
Jacob Buhlman. Asssessor — George Schumacher.
Dep. Sheriff — James Riley. Justice — I. P. Bacon.
In the central part of the town is a large Catholic
church, built in 1860, by the Rev. P. J. Lavans. It
is now under the pastoral charge of the Rev. Father
Miller, whose energy and christian character is doing
a good and lasting work among his parishioners. He
has, also, charge of the German Mission church, in
Waunakee, on section 8, built in 1874. The best of
harmony prevails among co-religionists, and in the
hiring of teachers religious persuasion has not been
deemed a qualification for bbtaining a school.
One of the state's hospitals for the insane is located
within the town, on the north bank of Lake Mendota,
and in plain view of Madison. The hospital is a large
and beautiful stone building (the stone being obtained
from quarries within the town), and is surrounded by
a beautiful farm of between three and four hundred
acres, the labor of cultivating being mostly performed
by the patients, and a large share of the vegetables
and fruits used in the building are raised on the farm.
There is, also, a large dairy of cows kept for supply
ing the institution with milk. Mr. Thos. Hill, an
early settler, at one time contracted to purchase eighty
acres of land near where the present site of the hos
pital is, and to pay for the same in cord wood. He
cut the wood and piled it, but before he was able to
consummate the bargain, a prairie fire came along and
burnt up all his labor and so disheartened him, that he
resolved to make no further efforts to regain the land,

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  WESTPORT, ETC. 303

which is now a portion of the beautiful grounds of the
hospital. For years, Westport was the residence of Ex-Gover
nor Farwell, on a large farm on the margin of Fourth
Lake, adjoining the hospital grounds, and part owned
by them. The peninsular island now used by the in
stitution as a vegetable garden received its name as
" Governor's " Island from the above fact.
It is also the home of Miss Ella Wheeler, whose
poems are becoming known, from their sweet and
tender heart strains, from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
John Kershaw, an Englishman, was one of the no
tables in his day, and lived for a number of years in
a shanty on section six. He was a man of remarka
ble memory and general information; indeed, was
known as the walking cyclopedia of Westport. He
knew the value of money just so far as it was capable
of being used in acquiring books, which he read to
know, and not only to possess. Kershaw's shanty
was one of those places where to lie in bed was to
command the entrance, and when blustering weather
unlatched the door, John would lie still and give it a
kick with his foot to again close it. It was an airy
house, when any one contemplates its roof, which was
shingled with eighteen-inch oak shingles, that year af
ter year's exposure had brought into a semi-circular
shape outward. John never lost his opportunities in
acquiring knowledge, and it is said his astronomical
cultnre was greatly heightened by the ethereal vision,
seen through the telescopic shingles of his home.

304 DANE TOUNTY TOWNS  WESTPORT, ETC.
His name, however, is a pleasing recollection to the
citizens of Westport, and few would receive a heartier
welcome than old John Kershaw should he again re
turn to Westport from his new home in the West.
On Six-Mile Creek there is a good grist mill, built
in 1860 by E. D. Churchill, who sold out to the late
Mr. Wm. Packham, who, together with his two sons,
Raymond and William, run it successfully for a num
ber of years, when they sold out, in 1876, to the pres
ent owner, Mr. John Bowerman, and who purposes
increasing his power and facilities by the aid of steam.
A short distance further up the creek there was for
merly a saw mill.
The town is well supplied with quarries, and the
Cream stone, or marble, used in the building of the
government court house and post-office, in Madison,
was obtained from the quarry on section 11, and which
the United States government purchased for that pur
pose. The stone was exhibited and much admired at
the Centennial, as were also some of the other products
of the town.
A branch of the Chicago & Northwestern Railway
passes through the town from northwest to southeast,
with Mendota station, on the the hospital farm, and
Waunakee, on sections five and eight, in the northwest.
Waunakee. is a pretty and thriving village, situated
on a beautiful prairie, from which it is said to have
derived its name. It was platted January 30, 1871,
by George C. Fish and Louis Baker, and has now
a population of two hundred, and a brisk trade is
carried on in all kinds of agricultural produce, live

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  WESTPORT, ETC. 305
stock, lumber, dry goods, clothing and general mer
chandise. The surrounding country is rich and pro
ductive, and well watered.
Waunakee Business Directory. — Packham Bros.,
lumber, grain and live stock; Buhlman Bros., dry
goods, groceries, clothing, &c; C. Hudson, drugs,
groceries and general merchandise; L. P. Goodchap,
boots, shoes, groceries and general merchandise; Tay
lor Bros., boots, shoes, groceries and general merchan
dise; E. L. Noyes, contractor and builder and dealer
in village lots, &c. ; E. L. Noyes, cheese factory ;
R. W. Towne, hotel keeper and meat market; I. P.
Bacon, justice of the peace; P. R. Tierney, attorney
at law; James Riley, deputy sheriff and dealer in farm
machinery; C. Gusman, carpenter; A. J. Yan Tassel,
carpenter; A. Peih, saloon keeper; M. Schuluck, sal
oon keeper; J. Hilgert, saloon keeper; J. Howard,
physician; J. Knipschild, shoemaker; T. R. Lutzow,
shoemaker; E. J. Foster, station and express agent;
J. T. Akers, blacksmith; Hilbert Bros., blacksmiths;
Mrs. Foster, milliner.
20

306 DANE COUNTY TOWNS — SPRINGDALE.

SPRINGDALE.
BY JAMES P. MorHERSON, Esq.
Springdale, town No. 6 north, of range No. 7
east, lies fifteen to twenty-one miles southwest of the
city of Madison, and is traversed by the Madison and
Mineral Point, and the Madison and Wiota state roads,
and the territorial road from the Badger Mills to Blue
Mounds. There are in this township some remarkable re
mains of that ancient people, who are supposed to
have inhabited this country prior to its occupancy by
the Indian races; the most noteworthy of which are
to be found on section fifteen. Here are three mounds
about fifty feet apart, and extending east and west;
they are uniform in size, being about six feet in
height above the surface of the adjacent land, and
circular at the base, where they are nearly forty feet
in diameter. Commencing at the distance of fifty
feet from the most eastern mound, and extending in
an unvarying direction to the east, there is a long low
ridge or bank of earth, one hundred feet in length;
the height of this ridge above the surface of the ground
on which it is situated is four feet, and measures six
feet through the base, north and south. A line drawn
due east and west would divide the three mounds and
ridge exactly in the center. Being upon elevated land,

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  SPRINGDALE. 307
the view from the site of these mounds would, were
it not for the luxuriant young trees by which they are
surrounded, be beautiful and commanding. In the
summer of 1870 one of these mounds was partially
explored by Mr. Charles H. Lewis, a resident of the
town, when a well preserved human skeleton was un
earthed, together with a stone pipe of curious work
manship, two stone knives, some highly polished and
perforated pieces of bone, and many stone imple
ments, the use of which is now unknown.
These mounds and their contents are objects of great
interest to the antiquarian, as they point to the stone
age of Wisconsin, and tend to the elucidation of the
great problem in regard to that extinct and mysteri
ous people, the Mound Builders of America.
The town was settled in 1844 or 1845, the first set
tler being Mr. John Harlow, who built the first house
within the limits of the town. That house is still
standing on the farm of Mr. Patrick Casey, on sec
tion one.
In 1845, Messrs. Michael Jacket, Wyatt Perkins,
Perry Munger, Thomas Bentley and others, settled in
the northeast part of the town and commenced the
improvement of their lands. Mr. Perkins built a dam
and saw mill on a small branch of Sugar river. These
were regarded by some of Mr. Perkins' neighbors, as
hindrances rather than improvements, and led to liti
gation, which resulted in the removal of the dam and
mill, and also Mr. Perkins, who sought a new location
for his mechanical industry.

308 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  SPRINGDALE.
In 1846 Messrs. Thomas B. Miles, Axium Malone,
Hawley Childs, N. H. Dryden, Thore T. Spaanem,
Morgan L. Curtis, John S. Berge, Henry Boland,
Martin Nash, Michael Johnson and others, moved in
and occupied land in other parts of town. In 1850
John Mitchell and James P. McPherson settled on
section 24 and 25.
The town was organized in 1848, the first election
for town officers being held on the second Tuesday of
April in that year. Twenty votes were cast, and
twenty-one offices were filled, and the following named
persons were elected, viz.: Chairman, Martin Nash;
Supervisors, Wyatt Perkins and Thomas Bentley;
Town Clerk, Robert N. Ashmore; Treasurer, Morgan
L. Curtis; Collector, Axium Malone; Justices, Mar
tin Nash and Morgan L. Curtis ; Commissioners of
Highways, Thomas Bentley, N. H. Dryden, and Rob
ert N. Ashmore; School Commissioners, Hawley
Childs, Thos. B. Miles and Wyatt Perkins; Assessors,
Perry Munger and Thos. B. Miles; Fence Yiewers,
Michael Jacket and Hawley Childs ; Constables, Axi
um Malone and John I. Berge; Sealer of Weights
and Measures, Wm. A. Dryden.
Of the twenty-one officers then elected, there are
four of them yet residents of the town, viz. : Messrs.
N. H. Dryden, Thos. B. Miles, Michael Jacket and
John I. Berge.
It was determined that no town tax should be lev
ied, and that the officers should receive no pay foi
their services for that year, but shortly after the elec-

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  SPRINGDALE. 309
tion, a special town meeting was quietly convened by
the incumbents interested, and a small town tax, suf
ficient to satisfy the office-holders of those early days,
was levied, and in due time collected.
From 1848 to 1852,' the population of the town was
largely increased by immigration, and nearly all the
land was then entered and occupied by settlers from
the Eastern and Middle States, and from England,
Scotland, Ireland, Germany and Norway, who have
devoted their attention and labor to the cultivation of
the soil. The natural facilities for manufactures of
any description are but limited, and agriculture has
therefore been the occupation of the people, and will
likely remain so.
The western branch of Sugar river runs through
the west and southwest part of the town, and the vil
lage of Mount Yernon. This village was platted in
1850-51, by Mr. George G. Britts, who then com
menced the improvement of the water-power and built
a saw mill. In 1852, Dr. P. Byam obtained posses
sion of the village site and much of the adjacent land,
enlarged the village plat, and built a small but well
arranged grist mill, which has been of great conven
ience to the citizens.
Near where the river enters the town, there is a
place familiarly known as the Mormon Baptismal
Pond, because at an early day several of the followers
of Joe Smith, having come from the South after the
government had ordered their removal to Utah, and
settled in several places in the west, among oth-

310 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  SPRINGDALE.
ers here, where they were accustomed to preach and
baptize converts. The excitement at these services
is said to have been equal to any fair, and perhaps
with but little difference, as Saint and Gentile, for
miles around, met more for the hilarity incident to
the occasion than for any great conversions that fol
lowed, although some of the preachers were powerful
orators. It is said that during the baptismal rites the
excitement would become so great that an occasional
mistake would occur as some poor unfortunate dog
was forced into the river by wicked Gentiles, and
then seized by an excited Saint and devoutly immersed.
These poor animals wei-e afterwards known as Mor
mon proselytes, put out on probation.
Religious discussions between the Mormons and
others were of common occurrence, and three of their
most eloquent preachers challenged a Mr Cameron,
a Scotch layman, to a public discussion of their doc
trines in the school house. Though a busy time
among the farmers, they nevertheless assembled ear
ly in the morning from far and near, to hear the
combatants. The discussion continued the whole day,
and though the layman had persuasive and subtile
orators to contend with, he came out the victor, and
not long afterwards, as well as by a number of inde-
screet acts of a moral character, the Mormon cause
began to wane, and finally to move out of the town.
The town is divided into five whole and three joint
school districts, with six school houses located in the
town, two of which are stone and four are frame build-

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  SPRINGDALE. 311
ings, all of which are in good condition. The citi
zens, at town and school district meetings, have always
evinced the interest they feel in the existence and
prosperity of our common schools, by providing lib
erally for their support.
There are but two church edifices in the town, the
Norwegian Lutheran, occupying an elevated position
on the prairie ridge, in section 8, and the Baptist
church, in Mount Yernon. A German Lutheran con
gregation meet for worship in the school house of
school district No. 3, on section 25, and a German
Methodist congregation meet at the houses of the
members, in the same neighborhood.
In 1859, Mr. George West opened a store on sec
tion 11, near what is now the Clontarf postoffice. He
continued in business about a year, and was succeeded
by Messers. Peter Quigley, John C. Thompson, Thos.
Managan, and Patrick Carr. Mr. Carr has continued
in business there for about fourteen years, has a large
stock of goods, suitable for the locality, and does an
extensive and increasing trade with the citizens of
Springdale, Yerona and Cross Plains.
The first postoffice in the town, Springdale, was es
tablished in 1850. Mr. Thos. B. Miles was appointed
postmaster, and retained the office until December,
1866, when he resigned.
There are now three postoffices in the town, Spring-
dale, on section 25, J. P. McPherson, postmaster;
Mount Yernon, I. G. Brader, Sr., postmaster; and
Clontarf, on section 12, P. Carr, postmaster.

312 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  SPRINGDALE.

MOUNT VERNON  BY DR. W. J. DONALD.
This village, of about one hundred inhabitants, is situated on the
middle branch of the Sugar river, nineteen miles southwest of
Madison. The bcationis a pleasant one, the greater part being on
the east bank of the river, while on the west side, some high rocks
and hills add to the picturesqueness of the scenery. On one of these
rocks grew an old pine tree that was an ancient landmark to the
early settlers, and a noted object of interest to visitors because of its
marked distinction from all surroundings. It was blown down by
a wind-storm on the evening of January 1, 1876.
The surrounding country, though rolling, is productive, and well
adapted to the raising of stock and dairy purposes, and inhabited
by a thrifty class of farmers, mostly of German and Norwegian
origin. The health of the place is excellent, with a remarkable exemption
from epidemics, particularly scarlet fever, and cases of ague are rare.
Two religious societies are here represented, Baptist and Method
ist. The Baptists have a good church edifice. The Methodists hold
service in the school-house, a good stone building.
The never-failing Sugar river affords two excellent water powers,
with only one, as yet, improved. Its distance from Madison and
other villages makes it a good point for business of all kinds; not
one, in truth, can be said to be overdone. Those in business here
have been, in most every instance, successful, and have continued
residents of the place for many years. Mr. John Jones, proprietor
of the flouring mill, learned his business here, and afterward became
partner, and again eight years ago, proprietor, while he now rents
the mill to C. W. Korn. Mr. I. G. Brader, Sr., who keeps an
excellent general store, has been in business, with a little exception,
for the past eighteen years, and has held the office of postmaster
continuously since 1856.* Mr. C. C. Allen furnishes a good hotel,
and lately erected new buildings for the better accommodation of
the traveling public.
Dr. William J . Donald, after a year's respite from business, is at
his post again, as in the past eleven years. Mr. W. W. Abbot,
blacksmith, and C. J. Lewis, builder and carpenter, have been re
sidents of the place for the past twenty-five years, and in active
business. Among others doing business and generally prospering
maybe mentioned: Foye and Kea, masons; W. W. Miner, boots
and shoes; M. F. Van Norman, live stock buyer; Andrew Peter
son, blacksmith; Erick Erickson, shoemaker; P. E. Call, saddler;
F. A. Fix, hotel and saloon; George, Wade, butcher; C. H. Lewis,
carpenter; A. C. Brader, clerk; I. G. and A. C. Brader were in the
mercantile business until two years ago. I. G. Brader, Jr., re
moved to Iowa,, but has recently returned, and built himself a re
sidence, and expects to resume business soon.
* Since the above was in type I. G. Brader, Sr., has sold to O. B. Daley, ol
tne town of Perry, and his son Herman will continue in charge of the busi
sees in Mount Vernon.

DANE COUNTY TOWNS — SUN PRAIRIE. 313

SUN PRAIRIE.
BY DR. C.G.CROSSE.
In pursuance of an act of the first, or Belmont,
legislative assembly, which located the seat of govern
ment at Madison, Mr. Augustus A. Bird had been
elected acting commissioner for the erection of suita
ble buildings for the accommodation of the assembly
and other officers of the territorial government. On
the 26th day of May, 1837, the acting commissioner,
accompanied by his brother, Mr. C. H. Bird, and a
company of forty-five men, started from Milwaukee
for the town of Madison. At that time nearly all of
Wisconsin westward from Milwaukee was an un
broken wilderness. One solitary settler at Summit,
about twenty miles west of the lake, three at Water-
town, on Rock river, one at Fort Atkinson, twenty
miles down the river, and one at Janesville. These
bold pioneers, with their wives and children, stood
sentinels upon the outmost borders^ of civilization.
With these exceptions, all was in the condition in
which it left the fashioning hand of the Creator.
Wild beasts roamed at will over its forests and prai
ries, and their dominion was disputed* only by the
scarcely less wild and savage Winnebagoes. On the
fifth day of June, the company above mentioned,
tired, foot-sore and depressed, plodded their weary

314 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  SUN PRAIRIE.
way through the wild scenery of this then unexplored
wilderness. Nine days had elapsed since they started
on their weary march, and they had been drenched
with rains and oppressed with continuous cloudy and
lowering weather — the sun had not once gladdened
them with its beams since the day on which they left
Milwaukee. At length, as they emerged upon the
borders of the beautiful prairie, about two miles east
of where the village of Sun Prairie now stands, the
sun shone forth in all its brightness, and illuminated
the scene before them as with a halo of glory. The
contrast which this beautiful vision presented to the
gloom with which they had been surrounded was so
great, that they greeted it with a shout, and almost
involuntarily bivouacked upon its borders, christening
the locality " Sun Prairie," which name they carved
into the bark of an oak tree which stood near by; and
for many years this tree bore upon its breast, in rude
letters, the inscription " Sun Prairie." Hence origi
nated the name of the locality which is the subject
of this sketch. The company above mentioned en
camped that night upon the spot, which some two
years afterwards was selected by Mr. C. H. Bird for
his future home, and upon which his residence now
stands. In the year 1839, Mr. B. became the first
white settler in the town of Sun Prairie, and dur
ing the first yfiar of his residence his only neighbors
consisted of a band of Winnebagoes, whose wigwams
were upon the present site of the Baptist Church,
and who hunted the game that abounded in the vicin-

DANE COUNTY TOWNS — SUN PRAIRIE. 315
ity. In 1840, Mr. Thomas Marks, and the next year
Messrs. Benj. Knight, Charles Peasley, Horace Potter,
W. Yan Bergen, John Winsled, John Ostrander and
Rev. Albert Slingerland, with their families, located at
this point. Col. W. H. Angell and several others came
within the next year or two, and thus was formed the
little hamlet which for several years, and until invaded
by the enemy of all sylvan beauty and quietude — the
railroad — constituted one of the most lovely rural
hamlets in the west. While settlers were thus slowly
arriving at the little village, others were locating in
the surrounding country; at Pierceville, some four
miles south, Messrs. Enoch and Bradford Churchill,
Ira Balch, John Taylor, W. A. Pierce, Tisdale Pierce,
Calvin Flower, Mark Haslett and John Phillips
formed a little settlement in 1840 ; at the Bailey set
tlement, two miles southwest from the village, Sam
uel, Asahel and Charles Bailey and R. T. Cameron
were the advance guard, and arrived in 1841; at other
points within the present limits of the township of
Sun Prairie, A. W. Dickinson, George Pine and Mr.
Brockway located in the year 1842. At Northumber
land, in the town of Bristol, at Deanville and other
points in the vicinity, little settlements were spring
ing into existence, and the country was beginning to
assume importance as an agricultural district.
That the pathway of these early pioneers was not
always strewn with flowers will be readily believed.
Their lot was no more exempt from toil, privation
and hardship than is that of all who brave the perils

316 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  SUN PRAIRIE.
of frontier life. The following incident, selected
from a large number of similar anecdotes, is men
tioned as illustrative of this : In the fall of 1837, C.
H. Bird, Zenas Bird, Norman Pratt and Mr. Parker
were sent to Milwaukee by their employer, the acting
commissioner above mentioned, and having accom
plished the object of their mission, were on their re
turn journey. In the act of crossing Rock river
their canoe capsized, and all their provisions and ac
coutrements were lost. During the remaining four
days of their homeward journey, their only food con
sisted of oak apples — little excrescences caused by
the sting of an insect upon the leaves of oak trees.
But for the timely meeting with two brave fellows,
sent from Madison, with food for their relief, they
must have perished from fatigue and hunger.
The township of Sun Prairie was organized in the
year 1839, and included all that district which now
constitutes the townships of York, Medina, Bristol
and Sun Prairie. The first election, or town meeting,
was held in the spring of 1840, at the house of Mr.
C. H. Bird, and it was presided over by John Cat
lin, Esq., from the town of Madison, who had been
deputed for that purpose. At that election nine votes
were cast.
In 1844, the township or precinct of Sun Prairie
was subdivided by the organization of the towns of
York and Bristol, from its northern half, and in 1848
the town of Medina was organized, leaving a town
ship of the usual dimensions, six miles square. Its

DANE COUNTY TOWNS — SUN PRAIRIE. 317
surface is slightly' undulating and is of the quality
usually known as " oak openings," interspersed with
small projections or indentations from the neighbor
ing prairie. It is traversed from northwest to south
east by the Koshkonong creek, along which are occa
sional bottom-lands or natural meadows of great fer
tility. The original settlers were almost exclusively
of New England origin, but in later years quite a
number of Germans and a few Irish have found homes
within its borders. Of the early settlers above enu
merated, nearly all remained as permanent residents,
and founded homes for themselves and posterity such
as are a recompense for the toils and privations which
they endured as pioneers. A#few only partook of the
restless spirit which so often haunts the frontiersman,
and moved farther on as civilization crowded upon
their footsteps. A. W. Dickinson transferred his
farm to John A. Peckham, who now resides upon it.
Horace Potter sold out his farm, which is now owned
by Pardee Peckham. Mr. Brockway was followed
by Moses Yervalen, and he by Joshua Boyles, the
present thrifty and enterprising owner. John Ostran
der early transferred his home to the present town of
Bristol and became one of the first settlers of the
Northumberland neighborhood. The township, ex
clusive of the village, has at present a population of
about sixteen hundred, who are devoted solely to ag
ricultural pursuits. The New England characteristics
of its early settlers have always exerted a decided in
fluence upon the social, political, religious and busi-

318 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  SUN PRAIRIE.
ness character of the people, hence morality, conscien
tiousness and zeal have always been prominent char
acteristics and have resulted in the establishment of
schools, church organizations and societies, especially
distinguished by these attributes, and honesty, integ
rity and strict economy in their business relations
have resulted in abundant prosperity.
The limits of this chapter preclude any biographi
cal sketches of individuals or even the briefest allu
sion to the part taken by the people of Sun Prairie in
its local history or in its relations with other commu
nities. Most especially do we regret the want of
space in which to rehearse their record in the war of
the rebellion. It must suffice to say that in unity of
sentiment, in support of the government, no people
were more loyal, and in the practical bestowal of men
and means to aid in that desperate struggle none did
their duty more fully.
Since the separation of the village from the town
ship by the incorporation of the former in 1868, the
citizens of the township have erected a neat and com
modious town-house, on section eighteen, in which is
transacted the business of the town government. It
is also the place of meeting of a large and flourishing
Grange of the Patrons of Husbandry, which em
braces a large proportion of the farmers of the town.
The present board of supervisors consists of F. L.
Warner, chairman, A. F. Persons and Robert Beecham.
In the year 1859, a line of railroad having been
projected from Milwaukee to the Baraboo valley,

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  SUN PRAIRIE. 319
had been completed as far as Watertown, and lo
cated and graded on a line about three miles south
of the village of Sun Prairie. The denizens of this
little hamlet, having for about twenty years enjoyed
the quietude and seclusion consequent upon their
great distance from any business centre, had appa
rently no aspirations for their village, nor even
dreamed that it was possible to convert the Sab
bath stillness and sylvan beauties of their streets into
a mart of busy trade — a market for the produce of
an extensive and productive tract of country. The
rapid progress in the construction of the railroad,
however, and the certainty that if completed upon its
projected route their little village would be forever
cut off from any hope of future greatness, seemed at
once to arouse them from their apparent lethargy to
a sense of the necessity for action. Meetings were
held, committees appointed and negotiations entered
into with S. L. Rose, president of the railroad com
pany, S. S. Merrill, general manager, D. C. Jackson
and other influential railroad men, with the object of
securing a change in the location of the road so as to
bring it to Sun Prairie. These men were soon won
over to the support of the project, but the change of
route could not be made without some special legisla
tion. A bill for this purpose was introduced into the
senate at the next session of the legislature, but not
withstanding a strong effort in its favor by railroad
officials and lobbyists from the village of Sun Prairie,
it was bitterly opposed by antagonistic interests and

320 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  SUN PRAIRIE.
defeated. It is said that the then member of assem
bly from that district regretted the fate of the bill in
the senate, because he thereby missed an opportunity
to deliver " a d — d spicy little speech," which he had
prepared in its favor. Strategy, however, which more
often than valor, wins victories, succeeded in procur
ing the necessary legislation under which the desired
change could be made. A clause was introduced into
a bill then pending, which provided that no valid in
junction could be served upon a railroad company to
restrain them from doing any act unless thirty days
previous notice had been served upon such company.
The bill to which this provision was attached passed
the legislature and became a law before those who were
opposed to the desired change of route were aware
that under it the change could be made. Thus pro
tected from restraint by injunction, the company hast
ened the laying of the track without unnecessary de
lay, in some places not even grading the road-bed,
and in less than thirty days the route was changed,
and the triumph of Sun Prairie secured. In No
vember, 1859, the railroad was completed to that
point. Then followed a period of active business
prosperity, and apparently a golden opportunity
for building up, on a permanent basis, a town of con
siderable importance and magnitude. For ten years,
Sun Prairie was the western terminus of the Milwau
kee and Baraboo Yalley Railroad, and was one of the
largest and most flourishing inland grain markets in
the state.

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  SUN PRAIRIE. 321
That this period of business activity and great
prosperity was not productive of more permanent re
sults as manifested in enlarged growth and increase
of population and wealth may perhaps be partially
explained by the fact that at about the time when the
attention of capitalists and enterprising business men
was being attracted to this point, the war of the re
bellion came with all its attendant horrors; enlist
ment and conscription were the order of the day; the
population was decimated and business of all kinds
except that of supplying men and means for the army
was depressed and languishing. As a market for the
produce of the country Sun Prairie was in no way
injured by this trying ordeal, but its prospects of be
ing permanently benefited thereby were materially
lessened. Capital became shy of investment in em
bryo cities, and enterprise was diverted into other
channels than that of building up rural towns, be
their prospects ever so inviting. In the meantime,
and before it was possible to recover from these and
other depressing influences, which the prescribed lim
its of this chapter preclude from mention, the rail
road had changed ownership, and been diverted from
its originally determined route and made to converge
toward and join the main line of the Milwaukee and
Prairie du Chien road at the city of Madison. This
deprived Sun Prairie of its advantages as an inland
railroad terminus, and made of it simply a way-sta
tion. Its inability to acquire strength, wealth and
influence rendered it powerless to prevent the build-
21

322 DANE COUNTY TOWNS — SUN PRAIRIE.
ing up of competing markets, and as a consequence it
has been shorn of a portion of its former business
prosperity. By an act of the legislature, passed in
1868, the village of Sun Prairie was incorporated.
Its government consists of a president and three
trustees, with such subordinate officers as are usual in
a village municipality, all of whom are elected an
nually. The first president, Mr. W. H. Angell, held
that office two terms, and his successors, Messrs. W.
H. Chandler, C. R. Babcock, C. G. Crosse, John Gib
bons, Geo. Maloney and C. C. La Bore, one term each, in
the order in which they are named — C. G. Crosse be
ing the present incumbent. The present trustees are
Messrs. Wm. Small, H. Dirnfeldt and H. Daniels.
The village is situated in the midst of one of the
most productive agricultural districts in the state —
about twelve miles northeast from the city of Madison
and seventy miles west from Milwaukee — and is the
natural outlet for the productions and the mart of
trade for quite a large extent of country. There were
shipped from this point, in the year 1876, about
120,000 bushels of wheat, 30,000 bushels of barley,
17,000 bushels of oats and other grain, 1,300 fat
swine, 1,000 head of fat cattle, and other produce in
proportion. There is at present a population of about
eight hundred, much the largest number of whom are
American born, and a large per cent, of whom are
from New England.. A few intelligent and liberal-
minded Germans, and a lesser number of Irish, serve
to enliven and give zest to the otherwise staid charac-

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  SUN PRAIRIE. 323
ter of the inhabitants. Many of the citizens are ag
riculturists from the surrounding country who have
retired from their farms to enjoy the school, church
and society privileges of the village. The mechanic
arts are quite fully represented; numerous workers in
metal and in wood ply their busy trades and earn lib
eral incomes by their skill as artisans. The profes
sion of the law has one representative, that of medi
cine four, and the -clergy six.
The mercantile history of the village dates from the
year ,1842, when one David C. Butterfield — a quaint
genius, a sort of "connecting link" between the In
dian and Caucasian — became proprietor of a few dry
goods, and commenced a traffic with the few white
settlers and more numerous Indians. He was super
seded in 1844, by Edwin Brayton, who continued the
business about one year, and sold out to Mr. Silas
Smith, a Methodist preacher, who for several years
eked out a precarious support from its profits. That
the occupation of a merchant in those early years was
not repaid with financial success, may be inferred
from the facts that seventy miles of ill-conditioned
roads intervened between it and any market for the
produce of the country; that no means of transporta
tion existed except by teams, and that the prices of
grain in Milwaukee were often so low as scarcely to
cover the cost of transportation. This preacher-mer
chant was of the muscular order of Christians, as well
as an honest and upright business man, and when, as
sometimes happened, a customer became rude and

324 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  SUN PRAIRIE.
boisterous in consequence of having indulged too
freely in the then rather common beverage, whisky,
the preacher's brawny arm soon " conquered a peace,"
and sent him on his way sobered by the lesson he had
received. Frederick Starr was successor to Mr. Smith,
and after a brief business career, he was followed by
Thomas White. In 1859, Mr. White, having failed
in business, was succeeded by Messrs. Williams &
Maloney, who, by their enterprise and business habits,
soon established a successful trade, of which* Mr. Geo.
Maloney is the present representative. The business
of Mr. Maloney consists of one of the most extensive
and successful dry goods and general merchandising
establishments in the village. Mr. C. R. Babcock is
proprietor of a flourishing business in dry goods, gro
ceries, etc. His stock is large and diversified, and his
business is vigorously and efficiently conducted. He
is the present representative of the firm of Babcock,
Clark & Co., which in 1861 succeeded to the firm of
Main & Marvin, which had been in existence but a
brief period. Messrs. Gilman, Weigan & Moak are
a new firm, which has recently opened up a fine stock
of general merchandise. They are successors to the
late firm of Chittenden & Woodward, which succeeded
to that of Gilman & Curtis. This last named firm
originated in 1870, and was the pioneer in the system
of " ready pay." The present firm will steadily ad
here to this principle, and are deserving of patronage
and encouragement in carrying out this necessary re
form in business. Mr. F. H. Rood is a young and

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  SUN PRAIRIE. 325
enterprising dealer in groceries, ready-made clothing,
etc. He keeps a full stock, is a courteous gentleman
and a successful business man. He is successor to
his father, Mr. H. Rood, who first established the
business in 1862. Mr. Benjamin Franks, a dealer in
ready-made clothing, notions, cigars, etc., has a well
selected stock, and is doing a good business. He first
established the business in 1860. Mr. Geo. Wheelan,
from a small beginning in 1862, has established a
flourishing business in variety goods in connection
with furniture and undertaking. Miss L. E. Stowe
and Mrs. L. Bird, have each a full and tastefully
selected stock of millinery goods, adapted to the wants
of a wide range' of customers. Mr. I. D. Hayden has
a stock of stoves and tinware, which, in connection
with his manufacturing and repairing shop, make a
very successful establishment. Messrs. Bowen &
Swanton, and also, Mr. E. A. Weigan, dealers in grain
and all kinds of farm produce, are each proprietors of
a large and spacious grain elevator, and are doing a
large and prosperous business. Col. W. H. Angell
is the proprietor of an extensive lumber establish
ment, which for many years he has conducted in an
eminently successful and business-like manner. J. D.
Bird is also a lumber merchant, doing quite an ex
tensive business. John Hecker and J. G. Egbertson
are severally engaged in the manufacture and sale of
harness and other wearing apparel for horses. Mr.
H. Dirnfeldt is proprietor of a well-kept and bounti
fully supplied meat market.
The American House, originally built in 1850 by

326 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  SUN PRAIRIE.
•W. F. Hardwick, is under the present proprietorship
of Mr. J. E. Mann, and is the largest hotel in the
village. The Sun Prairie House, erected by Mr. W.
H. Angell in 1850, and for many years conducted by
him, is now presided over by Mr. A. C. Miller, who
is a genial and obliging landlord. Mr. N. Mosell is
the gentlemanly proprietor of a large and commodi
ous hotel called the Germania House.
The trade in drugs and medicines is conducted by
Drs. Crosse and Lewis. The manufacture and sale of
boots and shoes by G. W. Bull, C. A. Sawyer, W. E.
Morehouse and E. Aschenburker. That of wagons
and carriages by C. C. La Bore, J. C. Kanouse and
Jacob Weicher; and blacksmithing, in' all its branches,
is carried on by John Ditmas, W. Small, J. Sweeney,
George Kanouse and W. D. B. Pincheon. The trade
in jewelry is represented by H. J. Bird.
Of societies, there are six church organizations, and
a lodge each of Masons, Odd Fellows, Good Temp
lars and Patrons of Husbandry. Preliminary steps
have been taken and a liberal fund subscribed for
the establishment of a free library and reading room,
and undoubtedly this valuable institution will soon
become an established feature in the village. A first
class cornet band of musicians regales the lovers of
music with its enlivening strains.
Considerable taste and refinement are manifested
by the citizens in the character of their private resi
dences, and much enterprise and liberality in their
public buildings and improvements. A liberally sup
ported and well conducted graded school, with a fine

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  SUN PRAIRIE. 327
building beautifully located on an eminence in the
western part of the village, attests the intelligence
and liberality of the people. There are five church
buildings — the Episcopal, Methodists, Baptists and
Congregationalists have each a large, commodious
and elegant house of worship, and the Catholics and
German Methodists have each a comfortable but more
unpretending building.
The absence of those causes of disease which so
constantly exist in the vicinity of towns located near
watercourses, renders Sun Prairie almost entirely ex
empt from all diseases of malarial origin, while the
purity of its water supply and of its atmosphere, the
cleanliness of its streets and public places, and the
wise supervision of its authorities, render the visits
of those frightful epidemics which so often decimate
the population of other localities, quite impossible.
To men of enterprise and business, seeking a loca
tion for manufactories or trade away from the disad
vantages which are to be contended against in cities,
Sun Prairie offers a peculiarly inviting prospect; and
the country in the immediate vicinity, by its fertility,
its facilities for market and the cheap prices of lands,
offers rare inducements to farmers and others who de
sire to invest in productive real estate, and to all who
are seeking pleasant, healthful homes, surrounded by
a moral, intelligent and refined community, few places
offer greater attractions. It is probable, therefore, that
in the not distant future, a season of renewed prosperi
ty will open upon the village, and it will become one
of the brightest little gems in the diadem of our state.

328 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  SPRINGFIELD.

SPRINGFIELD.

BY E. HARDING.

The town of Springfield, or town 8, north of range
8 east, is situated in the northwestern part of Dane
county, about ten miles northwest of Madison. The
dome of the capitol, and even parts of the' city of
Madison, are distinctly seen from several portions of
the town. The lands of the town consist of oak
openings and prairie; the surface, especially in the
western part, is diversified with high bluffs.
The only stream in the town rises in section 10,
and flows east, and enters the town of Westport, into
the six mile creek, thence into lake Mendota. Along
this stream are marsh lands that have become valu
able by drainage, and on either side of these are
woods and young timber, through which one of the
old Indian trails passed, and in which Indians still occa
sionally camp. About the year 1850 or '51, the
United States government sent west some five hun
dred Indians, and in passing through the town, they
camped over Sunday on section 10. They were under
the command or control of a government officer from
Indiana, popularly called Cutall, a Frenchman, and
whose name we are informed, was Couteau, in French,
signifying a knife. But, be this as it may, he did not,

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  SPRINGFIELD. 329
as his name indicates, cut them in pieces, as there was
a numerous return of them the following summer.
The town was once the scene of a bloody conflict,
which, as far as can be learned, must have occurred
between the Sac and Winnebago Indians, as they
had many and desperate feuds before the early pio
neers came into this part of the country. Sec
tion 7, on the line between Springfield and Berry,
gives evidence of what one of these contests was, as
Mr. G. Hochstesin, for a number of years, desisted
plowing his land, on account of the number of human
bones on this section. There is also at this place one,
and perhaps two, mounds or graves, where some of
the slain were buried, and up to a recent date, stones
were set, or piled up, to mark the place. Arrow heads,
and other Indian relics are found on this battle-field, as
also in other portions of the town.
During the Black Hawk war, it is probable that
Gen. Atkinson was chief in command, and that Zach.
Taylor, then a colonel, was in command of a part of
the regular troops. It appears from history that a
good deal of skirmishing and fighting occurred all
through the country from Prairie du Chien to Port
age. The road known as the Military road, from
Green Bay to Chicago, and west to Prairie du Chien,
crosses the town of Springfield, and the army march
ing along this road, at one time encamped for the
night on section 9. Jefferson Davis was then a
lieutenant, and was with the army at the time above
mentioned.

330 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  SPRINGFIELD.
It is related that Gen. Taylor left Lieut. Davis at
Prairie du Chien and went to Portage to look after
affairs, and that while away, Davis married his daugh
ter on the sly — perhaps he has done worse things
since. The town was first settled by Hawley Simons
and family, on section 10, in 1841. His house was
the first built in the town. The following year Geo.
Johnson and family settled on section 4. Mrs. Simons
and Mrs. Johnson were sisters. Also, about the same
time, Wm. B. Slaughter settled on section 35, and
Wm. Bullock on section 34. Mrs. Johnson and Mr.
Bullock are still living in the town, while Mr.
Slaughter is now living in Madison, the others being
all dead.
About this time the first post office in the town
was established at dark's Corners. Mr. Clark was
postmaster, and once a week the mail was carried
on horseback from Madison to Sauk. There are
now four mails a week by stage between Madison
and Sauk, and three post offices — Ashton, post
master, C. Dresen; Springfield Corners, postmaster,
Louis Martini; Hyer's Corners, postmaster, D. R.
Hyer. The first white ehild born in the town, was Eunice
Johnson, who was born September 4, 1845. She
married Mr. Robert Ford, and both are still (1877)
living here. The first marriage was Mr. Geo. How
ard to Miss Sarah M. Murray, in 1844.
The first physician was Dr. Winston. Since then

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  SPRINGFIELD. 331
Drs. S. L. F. Ward and A. A. Rowley have lived and
practiced medicine in the town. Rev. N. Martin of
the Baptist church was the first minister and pastor.
The first death was Mrs. Frances Gillett.
Several families in England formed a colony and
sent to this county three men by the names of Reeves,
Wilson and Goss, as agents to locate lands; these
men came into this town and located lands on sec
tions from 10 to 15 inclusive; and during the same
year, 1846, Messrs. Hillier, Gillett, Bardsley, Tinker,
Kay, Riley, Tymmes, Seston, Boyer and others ar
rived from England and settled here. Some of them
took possession of the lands and houses provided for
them, and others secured places for themselves.
Most, if not all of the families forming these settle
ments were poor. The county was a wilderness, with
out any of the comforts of civilization, and proved very
discouraging to these families who had come from
thickly settled communities, and was epecially so to
the women and children; but they nobly set their
faces to overcome these difficulties. The Indians gave
them some trouble and occasionally a good deal of
fright, entering their homes and demanding some
thing to eat, and seldom leaving until their wants were
well supplied, on which occasions they would eat
enormously, and then lay down and sleep, often for a
night and a day, and on getting up would give a
" ugh " and start off.
Bears and other wild beasts proved a great annoy
ance. The wolves would carry off their pigs, and

332 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  SPRINGFIELD.
frequently attack the larger animals. Mr. Tinker
relates that they would come at night in packs
around his house, howling so terribly that they were
unable to sleep, and he has often shot them from his
windows. The territory paid him a bounty of five
dollars for each one he killed.
The first bread used by these families was made
from Indian, or corn meal, which they prepared by
rasping on a tin grater, and the first wheat flour
used in the settlements was very tediously ground
in coffee mills. Several of the families brought these
coffee mills with them from England, and one would
borrow of the other until all had ground their grist.
They cleaned the wheat by spreading it on their rough
table, and then hand-picking it. The first fanning mill
was owned by J. Knipschild, at what was then called
Clark's Corners (now Springfield Corners); after that
the neighbors carried their grists to his place to be
cleaned. The first flouring mill accessible to the people
was Hicock's mill, in Iowa county, and as they went
with oxen, it was a long and tedious journey. On one
occasion, Mr. Bardsley relates that he was gone about
two weeks.
It is amusing, at this late day, to hear them tell of
some of their experiences in wood chopping. The
idea of chopping down large trees whose bark seemed
capable of resisting the strongest of axes, was some
thing entirely new to them, and on one occasion three
of them traveled all day trying to find soft trees,
but not finding any, returned at night wearied and

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  SPRINGFIELD. 333
disappointed with their day's toil. In one instance,
a man built a staging of old logs around a tree and
cut it off, leaving the stump four or five feet high-;
he did this for the reason that the tree was smaller at
that distance from the ground. For years the stump,
from its conspicuousness, was a wonder to many, as
they could not comprehend why it was thus cut, until
the above fact was learned. But as these men came
from factories in England, it is not matter of won
der that they were not very expert backwoodsmen.
Of those that came over in this colony, Geo. Gillett,
Wm. Bardsley, H. Tinker and Mrs. Hillier are still
living in the town. The others are either dead or
removed to other places.
The town of Springfield was organized in 1848.
and the election of officers was held at the house of
George Gillett, when about twenty votes were cast.
There were also about twenty- seven children in the
town between the ages of four and twenty.
Officers elected: J. M. Babcock, (chairman), R.
Winston, D. Coda, Supervisors; B. Downing, Clerk.
J. M. Babcock died before the close of the year, and
P. S. Rider was elected chairman to fill the vacancy.
At the election held April 3, 1877, 266 votes were
cast (there are about 300 voters in the town), and 637
children between four and twenty years. During the
twenty -nine years that the town has been organized,
nine different persons have served as chairmen.
Wm. Bardsley has served nine years ; R. Ford has
served four years; N Martin has served three years;

334 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  SPRINGFIELD.
D. Ford has served six years, and was reelected April
3, 1877. Julius Weisenbom (now of Black Earth),
was elected town clerk three years consecutively.
Thos. Binegal, three years consecutively; E. Harding,
twelve years consecutively; B. Esser, three years con
secutively; J. Esser, three years consecutively.
During the late war the town of Springfield fur
nished its entire quota of soldiers for the United
States army. Among those entering the army, there
were between fifty and 6ixty residents of the town.
The following are the names of those who went from
the town, so far as ascertained: Lieut. J. B. Hillier,
M. Palmer,1 Lieut. C. Northrop,1 G. Bealer,1 Sergt. J.
E. Bardsley, C. Ford, Corp. J. W. Hillier,2 St. Clair
Z. Jones, Corp. M. Queenen,* A. K. Pierce, H. Young,2
Sergt. C. Pierce, W. Young,8 J. Jones, D. Young,1
Coval Jones, R. Ford,3 J. Gunther, J. Ford, Wm.
Jones,1 R. Bonner,4 J. Camm, Wm. Gillett, — Faum-
burg, R. Gillett, T. A. Perry,1 S. Slack, Sergt. J.
Dinsmore, Wm. Klausman, D. Dinsmore, G. S. Mar
tin, G. S. Martin, Jr.,8 H. Martin, R. Lent, A. Goudy,1
A. Quest, Ferd. Pape, — Cameron, L. P. Flagler,1 J.
Halter,1 Abram Ackerson, Anton Brandt, J. Stone,
C. Howe, Wm. Howard, — Kline, — Wagner, J. Se-
breight, Wm. Marden, P. Shaffhausen, O. Hayes,
— Lifermon, W. Johnson, D. Perry.1
The Young family deserve especial mention. Mr.
Young sent three sons to the army. Wesley was
killed in battle, Daniel died in hospital, and Horton
¦Died. s Wounded. 'Killed. * Drowned.

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  SPRINGFIELD. 335
had both arms shot off, but recovering, returned home
and is still living.
Springfield raised during the years 1863-5, twenty-
three thousand five hundred dollars tax for soldiers'
bounty; this sum was considerably increased by pri
vate subscriptions, so that in all it probably amounted
to near thirty thousand dollars.
In the neighborhood known as Fordville, there is a
library containing four hundred volumes. This libra
ry was first started in 1858, at a cost of about five
hundred dollars; one hundred dollars of this amount
was donated in money and books by persons outside
of the neighborhood. The principal persons in or
ganizing this library were the Fords, Groves, Poyners
and Mr. Leitch. The officers at present are : D. Ford,
president; C. Poyner, secretary; C. R. Chipman,
treasurer; A. Ford, librarian. The Library Associa
tion holds weekly meetings, and has had a valuable in
fluence in the community.
Mr. David Ford has represented the 3d assembly
district in the state legislature two terms.
Mr. Bernard Esser was elected clerk of the circuit
court in 1874, and reelected in 1876.
The principal productions of the town for several
years have been wheat, corn and oats ; but during the
last few years more attention has been given to stock
raising, and a more general plan of farming has been
adopted. The soil compares favorably with the soil of any
town in Dane county.

336 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  SPRINGFIELD.
Mr. Geo. Kingsley built a cheese factory on section
12, and carries on its manufacture.
The first market for the early settlers was Mil
waukee, and the usual conveyance ox teams. The
price obtained for wheat was twenty-five cents, oats
ten cents per bushel, and the time occupied in making
a trip about two weeks, if they had good success. If
they brought back freight for the merchants in Madi
son they did pretty well; but if not, they frequently
came back in debt. The markets now are good. The
center of the town is about four and a half miles
from Middleton Station, on the Chicago, Milwaukee
and St. Paul Railroad, and about six miles from Wau
nakee, on the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad.
These are both good markets for produce of all kinds.
By the increase of wealth and comfort, log houses
have given place to good substantial frame, stone and
brick structures; and in many places during the last
few years, large and convenient barns have been built,
showing that a large number of citizens have been
successful in accumulating considerable property.
School and church privileges are abundant, so that
none need be ignorant for want of the one, nor wicked
for the lack of the other.
The first school house built in the town was a log
building, on sec. 12, known as Johnson's school
house. A good frame structure now stands in its
stead. There are now eleven school and joint school
districts, and nine school houses. There are also two
German schools.

DANE COUNTY. TOWNS  SPRINGFIELD. 337
There are three churches: St. Peter's, on sec. 7;
St. Martin's, on sec. 27; Springfield M. E. Church,
sec. 22. Rev. Mr. Hoyt preaches the first Sabbath in
each month in the school house, on sec. 12.
Ashton Lodge, No. 83, I. O. of G. T., has a good
convenient hall on the Sauk road near the centre of
the town. The lodge was instituted May 12, 1871,
and meets regularly on Friday evening of each week.
At Hyer's Corners is a good hotel, with D. R. Hyer
as proprietor, who cheerfully attends to the wants of
the traveling public. J. Stebbins keeps a store there,
and is also engaged in wagon making, while C. Yosen
has a blacksmith shop.
At Springfield Corners, Louis Martini keeps a good
store, and does a thriving business. H. Bohl has a
blacksmith shop. Jacob Gross keeps a store on the
road leading from Springfield Corners to Hyer's Cor
ners. F. La Fay has a smithey at Ashton P. O.
and is a good workman. There are four saloons in
the town: John Esser, on sec. 27; C. Dresen, Ashton
P. O.; Michel Karls, on section 7; and John Michels,
also on section 7.
22

338 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  STOUGHTON.

STOUGHTON.
BY GEORGE W. CURRIER.
Origin and Growth. — In surveying a new coun
try, members of the surveying party are ever on the
alert for mining lands, water privileges, and other
natural properties which may at some future time
tend to locate towns. It is said that during the sur
vey of this territory some of the men, high in official
position, made arrangements with the party to select
some of the best water powers, and that, in this wa_y
and for this reason, Daniel Webster obtained posses
sion of a large portion of the present site of Stough
ton. Mr. Luke Stoughton, one of the pioneers of
Wisconsin, in his travels over the country, had long
noted the water power here, and the advantages which
this section offered for the location of a village. In
1847, he concluded a purchase from Daniel Webster
of a large tract of land, including the site of the vil
lage. He immediately set to work to improve it,
erecting a sawmill that is now occupied by Mr.
Mandt, and a store upon the present site of Williams'
Block. The village was soon laid out, and induce
ments were offered for people to settle. Mr. Alvin
West was the first person who brought a family here.
He built a residence where the Higbee House now
stands, and by November, 1847, they were snugly en-

DANE COUNTY TOWNS — STOUGHTON, 339
sconced therein. Their house being opened to the
public, the genial, hospitable manner of the host and
hostess, together with the notableness of the latter as
housekeeper, soon made it a favorite with the travel
ing public. The winter of 1847 passed away, and the
spring opened hopefully. As early as was practicable,
other houses clustered around the nucleus formed the
year before. During this summer, Mr. Colten and
Mr. Westcott put up the brick building that still
stands by the upper bridge, and soon after purchased
a residence not far from it. This residence is associ
ated, in the minds of the first settlers, with many
social gatherings; the inspiration of such occasions
usually being a violin — the pioneers' inseparable
friend. In 1850, Mr. Stoughton put up a. small
gristmill to supply the needs of the people, and after
wards built a larger one. About this time a school
house was erected, and Miss Fannie Duncan, who had
already opened a school in a small building on the
east side of the river, moved into the new building
when completed. Another public house was opened
by Mr. H. Holley (the building having been erected
by Mr. C. Roby), under whose genial proprietorship
it figured as the Crockett House. It afterwards took
on the more euphonious name of Yahara Hotel, thus
rescuing the Indian name of the river, near whose
bank it stood, from oblivion. The prospect of a rail
road at this time (which was completed to this point
in 1856) gave an impetus to the growth of the little
village. Men of capital and business talent were at-

340 DANE COUNTY TOWNS — STOUGHTON.
tracted to the place, who, by their energy and enter
prise, materially added to the building up of the
town. Mr. West finding his accommodations for the
public too limited, in 1853, commenced and completed
a commodious brick hotel. In 1855, Dr. W. W.
Blackman and Mr. J. R. Boyce erected a brick build
ing, from whence they dispensed drugs for many
years. The doctor practiced medicine for a long
time, and was accounted very skillful. Both of these
gentlemen built fine residences, which are still orna
ments to the village. In the midst of this high tide
of progress, a disaster befell the little village which
materially injured its prosperity. The new gristmill
which Mr. S. had just completed was undermined by
water-rats and fell — a complete wreck. Mr. S., be
ing in feeble health, felt unequal to the task of re
building; consequently he sold the mill site to Mr.
Ray Jenkins, who immediately commenced the work
of reconstruction.
From that time until the present, the growth of
the village has been so rapid that our space forbids us
to mention only a few of the more notable features.
The Opera House, built by Mr. Nelson Williams, is a
fine structure and an ornament to the town. It con
tains one of the best halls in this section. In 1876,
Mr. O. M. Turner fenced and cleared a beautiful park
east of the depot, and built a fine race course. Many
of the oldest settlers of this section still live in and
around the village. Messrs. Nelson and Isham still
live in the town, Mr. Utter in Rutland, and Mr.

Opera House, Stoughton.

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  STOUGHTON. 343
Emerson in the village The future prospects for
the village are good, and more building is being done
this year than for some time previous. A grain ele
vator and tobacco warehouse are to be built this spring.
Scenery. — Stoughton is often called a New Eng
land village, and in many respects it resembles one.
Situated on high rolling ground, in the bend of the
Catfish, or Yahara river, it truly has a beautiful site.
The country around combines some of the natural
beauty of New England, with the fine prairies of
Southern Wisconsin.
First, or Kegonsa Lake, is situated north of the
village, and is a popular resort in warm weather. It
ia one of the prettiest sheets of water in the state.
Beautiful maple and oak groves line the banks, and
the waters abound in finny inhabitants. A large
steamer is now in proceess of building in Pittsburg,
Pa., and will be put upon the lake this season. The
owner is Mr. J. I. Williams, a wealthy citizen of that
place, who owns a fine farm by the lake. Summer
travelers will find here plenty of outdoor amusements,
a healthful climate, good accommodations and cheap
rates. Exports and Imports. — Stoughton is surrounded
by a fine farming country, and the exports from here
consist of ordinary farm produce, grain, stock, hay,
potatoes,, tobacco, and articles manufactured here.
Besides the common articles imported into western
towns, Messrs. Melaas, Steenerson & Co. have estab
lished here an agency for the famous Lofoten Cod

344 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  STOUGHTON.
Liver Oil. They import direct from Norway large
quantities of this medicine, and ship it to all parts of
the United States. It has a reputation unexcelled by
any oil of this kind in the world, and on account of
its freshness, purity and comparatively pleasant taste,
many physicians will use no other.
Manufactures. — At the head of the list of manu
facturers must be placed Mr. T. G. Mandt. About
twelve years ago, he commenced work here on an
anvil. By constant perseverance and unflagging en
ergy he is now proprietor of an extensive factory em
ploying about eighty men, and furnished with all the'
modern machinery for building carriages and farm
wagons, cutters and heavy sleighs of every descrip
tion. Messrs. Norris & Beattie are the present own
ers of the mill property, and annually manufacture
large quantities of flour for eastern markets. There
are two cigar factories, the more extensive run by Mr.
J. S. Hutson, and the other by Mr. J. W. P. Lusk. '
Messrs. Matthews and Kling manufacture thousands
of brooms yearly, which they ship to the northern
part of the state. Mr. Knute' Olson supplies this sec
tion with harnesses, and has sent several shipments to
Norway. In addition, we may say that this village
offers many inducements to manufacturers. There is
yet a large amount of water power not utilized; the
location is good; labor cheap, and opportunities for
transportation excellent.
Newspapers. — The first paper published in Stough
ton was the Independent, by Henry J. Walker, and

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  STOUGHTON. 345
was started early in the summer of 1857. He con
tinued the publication until the fall of the same year,
when he sold to W. A. Giles, who changed the name
to the Wisconsin Signal, and run it until the spring
of 1859, when he removed the press and printing ma
terial to Prairie du Chien. The same summer L. W.
Powell, who was publishing a paper at Brodhead,
moved his office to Stoughton and commenced issuing
the Stoughton Reporter. In 1863, I. A. Hoxie, now
of Evansville, entered into partnership with Mr.
Powell, but only continued six months. Soon after
Mr. Frank Allen bought a half interest. For over
ten years the name was not changed. Mr. Allen, Mr.
C. D. Wells, and finally Mr. A. C. Croft, owned the
office and published the paper. Mr. Croft sold the
press "and material in 1874, and Mr. Frank Allen
bought new stock and commenced printing the Sig
nal. Early in 1876, Geo. W. Currier purchased half
of the office and changed the name to the Stoughton
Courier, which was published by Kling & Currier
until May, 1877, when Mr. C. E. Parish purchased
the interest of Mr. Kling.
Dunkirk Township, of which Stoughton is situated
in the northwest corner, is in the southeastern part of
the county, and known as township 5 north, of range
11 east. It is one of the original towns in the organ
ization of the county in 1846. The first settler was
John Nelson, a Norwegian, in 1843, and afterwards
came John Wheeler, — Jaymes, Jesse Utter, Chan-
cey Isham, S. H. Roys, Richaid Palmer, Campbell

346 DANE OOUNTY TOWNS — STOUGHTON.
and William Saunders, John Estes, Levi Farnham,
Joseph Yroman, Joseph Cannon, and John Blake.
The first town meeting was held at the house of Mr.
Lyons, and Abner Barlow was elected first supervisor.
The Yahara, or Catfish, enters the town on section
4, in the north, and makes a circuitous bend through
eleven sections, in a south and southeasterly direction,
leaving the town on section 35 and passing into the
towns of Fulton and Porter, in Rock county, then
into Rock river. Its bank exhibits many beautiful
landscapes, and affords excellent opportunities for
hunting and fishing, while^it furnishes very superior
waterpower, some of which is yet unused.
The land is very rich and productive, consisting of
oak openings, prairie and marsh — the marsh land be
ing near the Catfish, in the northern part of the town.
The village of Dunkirk, three miles from Stough
ton, is a small place on the edge of the Catfish, on
section 21, and has a grist mill and blacksmith shop.
In 1837, Alex. F. Pratt, now of Waukesha, in com
pany with Augustus Story, started for the mining re
gions, and passing from Waukesha (then Prairie vil
lage), to Fort Atkinson, and thence to the Catfish, en
camped on the present site of the village, where they
were so beset with wolves till morning, that they were
necessitated to keep their fire replenished with wood
to prevent their being attacked, as they were both
numerous and savage, and kept close watch of them.
There is a large Norwegian settlement in the north
ern part of the town.
Churches. — In so limited space, we are unable to

DANE COUNTY TOWNS — STOUGHTON. 347
give much of the history of the seven churches now
standing in this place. For several years, meetings
were held in the old school-house. Father Sewell, as
he was familiarly called, who then resided in the town
of Porter, came very often, and ministers of other de
nominations assisted him in filling the pulpit. After
the schoolhouse became unfit for use, meetings were
held in a hall over Mr. J. R. Boyce's drug store; and
sometimes, when the key was missing, good Mrs.
Sewell heard the children recite their scripture les
sons on the stairs. In 1858 the Universalist church
was erected, and dedicated the summer following.
The Baptist church was built next in 1861. The de
dicatory sermon was preached by Rev. E. J. Good-
speed, then of Janesville. The Congregational church
was built in 1863, and dedicated on the last day of that
year; sermon by the Rev. M. P. Kinney of Janes
ville. The Methodist church, in 1867; sermon by Rev.
Col. Fallows. The first Norwegian Lutheran church
was built in 1867, Rev. M. Falch Gjertsen, pastor,
and the Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Christ
Church, in 1875, Rev. C. M. Hvistendahl, pastor; and
the Catholic church in 1868. Since the death of Father
Sewell, who, during his life and long residence in
Stoughton, did noble work for Christ and his religion
and for the advancement of all good causes, the Con
gregational church has been without a regular pastor.
Rev. Mr. Hendricks was the last pastor of the Baptist
church. Rev. Mr. Garfield of Jefferson, fills the Uni
versalist pulpit ; Rev. C. E. Goldthorpe, the Methodist;
Rev. M. F. Gjertsen, the Lutheran; Rev. 0. M.Hvis-

348 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  STOUGHTON.
tendahl, the Lutheran Christ. Services in the Catholic
church are conducted by Father Butler, of Edgerton.
Hotels. — There are several hotels. The Higbee
House, kept by A. T. Higbee, is really a first class
house ; and boarders and transient guests receive good
attention. The National is run and patronized largely
by Scandinavians.
Schools. — From the little old school-house on the
west side of the river, as a beginning, there now is a
fine three-story brick building, standing on an emi
nence east of the river, and commanding one of the
finest views to be found in this section. This building
was formally opened in December, 1862, with prayer
by Rev. R. Sewell; an address by the state superin
tendent, Hon. J. L. Pickard, and remarks by county
superintendent Barlow and others, interspersed with
band music and choir singing. This being found
inadequate to meet the demands of the fast increasing
population, a new building, even larger than the pres
ent one, is now in process of erection on the same
grounds. When finished, the two buildings will ac
commodate five hundred students. A free high school
has been established under the state law of 1875. The
teachers now in charge of the several departments are
as follows: George W. Currier, principal of High
School; Marilla Douglass, teacher, Grammar Depart
ment; Mary E. Yedder, teacher, Intermediate De
partment; Annie Wyman, teacher, Primary Depart
ment. The following named gentlemen constitute
the very efficient school board: W. D. Potter, clerk;
M. Johnson, treasurer; Dr. L. D. Clark, director.

BUSINESS INTERESTS OF STOUGHTON.

The Yillage of Stoughton is the second commercial
mart in the county, and as an index to the general busi
ness mterests, we publish the following list showing
the leading merchants and business men of the place :
Stoughton State Bank — 0. M. Turner, Pres., Prank Leland, Vice
Pres. Physicians and Surgeons — A. L. Hollo, T. W. Evans, and
L. D. Clark, homoepathic. Dentist — Dr. A. P. Lusk. Druggists —
0. 0. Melaas and 0. N. Falks. Attorney — L. K. Luse. Jeweler — D.
D. Camp. Wagons and Carriages — T. G. Mandt, Amos Plyte, and
J. Erickson. Wagons and Plows — C. Larson. Millinery — Mrs. J.
M. Hibbard. Ladies' Furnishings — Mrs. Cid. C. Isham. Dry
Goods— R. W. Hale. Barbers— H. J. Rhodes and T. A. Thoren-
son. Harness-makers — Sarbacker & Hurd and K. Olson & Co.
Hardware — Eothe & Gunderson and N. Swager. Lumbet — S. H.
Severson & Co. Hotelkeepers — A. T. Higbee, N. C. Nelson, Mrs.
Ella Brown. Livery — 0. F. Tipple and A. T. Higbee. Clothing —
Johnson &_Melaas. Millers — Norris & Beattie. Boots and Shoes
— Hans H. Swan and N. Jensen. Grocer — John Brickson. Gen
eral Merchandise— -W '. D. Potter, N. Anderson and G. W. Wood
& Co. Stoughton "Courier" — Currier & Parish. Restaurant — W.
H. Dumond. Variety Store — Hibbard & Camp. Photographer —
W. A. Ferman. Clerks — Wm. H. Leedle, S. A. Stenerson and A.
Nelson. Saloons — Osman Halverson, Gunder Anderson and F.
Frankton. Tailor— -K. Olson. Confectionery — A. E. McMannus.
Bakery — 0. Peterson. Cutter — P. Peterson. Broom-makers —
Matthews & Kling. Carpenter— E. E. Warner. Tobacco Dealer
— T. Carlsen. Telegraph Operator — J. H. Laughlin. Express
Agent-~W. M. Tusler. Boots and Shoes— W. H. Miller. Post-
master—i. M. Hibbard.

DANE COUNTY TOWNS — CHRISTIANA. 351

CHRISTIANA.
BY CHAS. N. BROWN AND OTHERS.
This town is the second from the southern, and im
mediately upon the eastern boundary of the county,
occupying the whole of township 6 north, range 12
east. It was named, we believe, at the suggestion' of
the early Norwegian settlers, in honor of the capital
of their native country, and was set off from Albion,
which bounds it on the south, and organized as a sep
arate town, May 6, 1847.
The town was at first attached to the town of
Albion for township system of government, and it was
organized as a separate town, and elected its own town
officers, only a short time before Wisconsin became a
state. The first annual town election held after Wis
consin had entered into the family of states, was in
the spring of 1849, and the town board then elected
were: Randolph Brown as chairman, with Nathan G.
Yan Horn and Daniel Davidson as assistant super
visors, and Gabriel Bjornson as town clerk. The
town has, since the above time, furnished four mem
bers for the legislature, and two county officers, as
follows: Gabriel Bjornson was elected member of as
sembly in the year 1850; Daniel B. Crandall was
next elected member of assembly in the year 1857;
William D. Potter was elected member of assembly

352 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  CHRISTIANA.
in 1805, and John E. Johnson in the year 1868. Ga
briel Bjornson was next elected clerk of the county
board of supervisors in the year 1852, and reelected
in 1854. And Charles Cornelinson was elected regis
ter of deeds in the year 1856. Of the above named
persons only John E. Johnson is now residing here;
Randolph Brown, Charles Cornelinson and Daniel B.
Crandall being dead. Daniel Davidson is residing
somewhere in California; William D. Potter residing
in" Stoughton, in this county, and Gabriel Bjornson
now a resident of Madison. The residence of Nathan
G. Yan Horn is unknown.
Of the early settlers at Utica, S. W. Coon and W.
H. H. Coon are yet residing there, both of whom, in
their honorable old age, enjoy the confidence and re
spect of the community of which they are members.
There are in this town three small villages, the
largest of which is Cambridge, situated in the north
eastern part upon Koshkonong creek, and described
in the next chapter. Clinton, the next in size, is sit
uated upon the same stream, in the eastern part, and
Utica, the smallest, which, in fact, is so small that it
hardly lays claim to the title of village, and is upon
no stream at all, lies in the western part. The popu
lation of the town in 1875, was nearly 1,700, the larger
proportion of which are foreigners, of whom nearly
all are Norwegians.
The surface, which is gently undulating, is diversi
fied with prairie and oak-openings, and to the eye of
a farmer, this is one of the most beautiful towns in

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  CHRISTIANA. 353
the county. These oak -openings were so named from
the fact that the annual burning over of the county
by Indian tribes kept the timber so entirely free from
underbrush, that a team could be easily driven through
it in any direction; it was this openness, contrasted
with the denseness of forests of other states, that sug
gested the name " openings." As soon, however, as
the annual fires ceased, and the original timber was
cut off, there sprang up the dense second-growth
which is familiar to all, and which is now, though we
think improperly, called oak-openings.
Koshkonong prairie is nearly all included within
its boundaries, lying in the southern, central, and
western portions of it. The surface of this prairie is
moderately rolling, and its soil, for fertility, is un
surpassed by any in the state, almost incredible sto
ries being told of the yields of wheat upon it, before
the success of that crop was sadly interfered with by
the chinch bug. This prairie is named after Koshko
nong lake, which touches the extreme southeastern
corner of the county, the banks of which were favor
ite hunting and camping grounds of the Sacs and
Foxes, as the remains of their cornfields, still faintly
visible, testify, and its name, in the Indian tongue, is
said to signify, " The lake we live on."
Koshkonong creek is the most important stream,
and enters the town somewhat south of the north
eastern corner, flows through the eastern tier of sec
tions, and leaves it very near the southeastern cor
ner. As this stream is quite rapid, it affords first
23

354 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  CHRISTIANA.
class facilities for milling purposes, there being two
grist mills in the town, one at Cambridge and an
other at Clinton, the latter having one of the finest
water powers in this part of the state, and doing a
large custom and flouring business.
The other streams are Mud creek in the north, and
Saunders' creek in the south, but they are of little .
importance. Along the banks of these streams the
surface is more broken and less favorable for agri
cultural purposes, and in some places there are large
marshes, some of which, in the days of the first set
tlers, were so wet as to be nearly valueless, but which
are now dry enough to furnish pasturage or excellent
hay. Previous to its settlement, this was a favorite hunt-s
ing ground with the settlers in adjoining towns. Deer
were then very plenty, and one of the favorite methods
of hunting them in winter, was to get what was called
a "drive" on them. Taking advantage of their curi
osity, and knowing they could be easily approached
with a team, several men in a sleigh followed their
trail until within rifle shot, when the team was turned
and driven around the deer, the men jumping out be
hind trees at convenient intervals. As soon as they
were well surrounded the firing commenced, and the
deer were driven from one side of the circle to the
other, a large number frequently being killed before
the herd succeeded in making its escape. This was
also a favorite hunting ground of the Indians, but the
trail which connected Koshkonong and First lakes,

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  CHRISTIANA. 355
only slight traces of which are now to be found, is
about the only trace of their occupancy which they
have left. This trail entered the limits of the town
near the southeastern corner, ran a little to the south
of the Lutheran church, crossed the farms of Thos.
Carpenter, Nils Torgerson, John E. Johnson and Rev.
J. A. Ottesen; thence bending slightly to the south,
it led to the large spring on Samuel Coon's farm,
which was one of their favorite stopping places. At
the time of the Black Hawk war there were no set
tlers in this town, and probably no fighting, although
Black Hawk and his warriors, in their retreat from
the Rock to the Wisconsin river, in the early part of
July, 1832, crossed the northern part of the town, and
encamped for some time near Koshkonong creek. An
account of his sufferings at this place will be found in
the succeeding chapter.
Wm. M. Mayhew was the first settler of the town,
and located on section 28, in 1837. He was a South
erner by birth, and, previous to the great financial
panic of that year, was a prominent merchant in Mil
waukee. Losing his property at this time, he came
to this town, and built a log house, on what is now
the land of Geo. Odell, at the foot of quite a steep bluff,
where for many years he kept a tavern. This was one
of the regular stopping places of the teamsters draw
ing lead from the mines near the Blue Mounds to
Milwaukee. Old settlers, entirely unaccustomed to
the handling of lead, tell us, that to them, their wagons
appeared almost empty. But, nevertheless, three or

356 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  CHRISTIANA.
four yoke of oxen were required to draw the wagons
over the rough roads, and the shouts and curses of the
teamsters as they urged their oxen up the steep as
cent the other side of Mayhew's, could be heard for
three-quarters of a mile around. For many years
Mayhew's was a center of interest, Christiana post-
office, the first, and for many years the only one in
the town, being kept here, and as the nearest office
was at Milton,, this was the place at which nearly all
the settlers in adjoining towns received their mail.
Here, also, was held the first town meeting and several
subsequent ones.
In 1842, a number of settlers arrived, most of them
being emigrants from Norway. Prominent among
these were Hellik Gunderson, Jul Gisleson, Nils
Olsen Smithback, and Thosten Levorson, all of whom
except the latter, are now living. This was almost
the beginning of Norwegian emigration to the United
States, and was induced by the glowing descriptions
of the mildness of the climate, the beauty of the prai
ries, and the fertility of the soil, given by members
of a small colony from Norway, which, a few years
before, had settled in Walworth county, near the state
line. This report was printed in pamphlet form, and
being quite extensively circulated in Norway, was
largely instrumental in giving an impetus to emigra
tion to this country. The arrivals spoken of were
only the beginning of a more extensive emigration of
Norwegians to this section, and in the five years follow
ing, the greater portion of the town was settled by them.

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  CHRISTIANA. 357
Accustomed, in their native country, only to tim
bered land, these early settlers shunned the prairie,
which seemed desolate and cheerless to them, but
which is now considered as the more desirable land,
and settled in the edges of the openings, and along the
marshes. In the fall of 1846, N. A. Perry arrived at the
present site of Clinton, and erected the first house, in
which he boarded the hands who were at work on the
mill-dam. In the following year, the mill itself was
built by Thos. and Nathan G.Yan Horn. In the fall
of 1848, the first store was opened by Wardner Earle,
and in the fall of 1849, Christiana postoffice was re
moved from Mayhew's to this place. Not many
years after its settlement a brewery was established
in this place by one Lewis, but after a few years its
place was taken by a distillery, built by Mr. Jacobson,
which, however, has not been in operation for some
years. The present proprietors of the Christiana mills
are O. H. Lee & Co., and the present merchant is C.
Tollefson, who is one of the most prominent citizens
of the place, and who is doing quite an extensive
business. The first settlers at Utica were Samuel Head and
S. H. Coon, who arrived in December, 1845, and who
immediately built the first house, which was a one-
story log affair (12x16) with a shed roof. In this
they wintered, and in the following spring built an
addition of equal size, making a gable roof. In 1846,
Hampton Crandall, W. H. H. Coon and Randolph

358 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  CHRISTIANA.
Brown arrived, and in a short time this portion of the
town was settled, principally by people from central
New York. These settlers, who, excepting Mr. May-
hew, were the first Americans in the town, instead of
locating, as most of the Norwegians had done, in the
openings, nearly all settled on the prairie. The first
store in Utica, which was of gravel, was opened in
1851 by Le Roy Crandall, now of Lawrence, Kansas,
and here soon after the removal of Christiana post-
office from Mayhew's to Clinton, Utica postoffice,
named in honor of Utica, New York, was established.
The old gravel store was taken down in 1872 and re
placed by a larger one of wood, now owned by W. H.
H. Coon. This made the second store in the place,
one having been erected by F. E. Olsen in 1869.
As has been before mentioned, to Clinton belongs
the distinction of being the place in which the first
and only distillery in the town was started, and to
Utica, we believe, belongs the honor of being the
starting point of temperance reform in this section.
Soon after the organization of the town, a town meet
ing was being held at this place, in the old gravel
school house, still standing but unused. Some of the
candidates from the eastern portion of the town had
furnished a keg of whisky, which was to serve the
double purpose of catching votes and enlivening the
occasion generally. The dispensers of this beverage
improvised a bar-room in the end of a shed belonging
to one of the neighboring settlers, and were having
an exceedingly jolly time, when the owner of the

AGRICULTURE.
From Mitchell's New School Geography.

DANE COUNTY TOWNS — CHRISTIANA 361
shed came in, and embracing a moment when all were
busily drinking, seized the keg, and, carrying it into
the middle of the road, put a heavy fence rail through
it, greatly to the damage of the whisky, and the dis
gust of the imbibers.
The early settlers endured many hardships, and
often carried on their agricultural operations in the
most primitive manner. The section of a large
round tree, usually shod with iron, often formed the
wheels of their carts or wagons, and until the intro
duction of threshing machines in 1848, the prevailing
mode of threshing was indentical with that which has
been practiced in Oriental countries for the last three
thousand years. A large dry spot of ground was
cleared off evenly, and packed as hard as possible.
Upon this the grain was placed to the depth of a foot
or more, with the heads in, and five or six yoke of
oxen were driven over it until the grain was all trod
den out. The straw was then thrown off with forks,
and the grain separated from the chaff with fanning
mills. The first threshing machines, introduced at
the date mentioned, were without separators, and
were an improvement upon the method described in
little else than speed and cleanliness. To sell their
grain, a trip to Milwaukee, which was then their only
market, was necessary, and which usually occupied a
week, the wheat bringing from thirty to fifty cents,
and in some instances even less.
The first church in the town was of the Norwegian
Lutheran denomination, and was organized in 1844,

362 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  CHRISTIANA.
with Rev. Mr. Dietrichsen as pastor. The same year
a log chnrch was built by this society on section 27,
which was superseded in 1858, by a neat and commodi
ous building of stone. During the first pastorate, one
of the members, who was under discipline, made his
appearance at church services one Sunday, and was
peremptorily ordered out. He declined to leave, when
the militant clergyman ordered some of the members
to throw him out of doors by main strength. Feel
ing himself seriously aggrieved, he sued the pastor
before Justice David Stillman, at Albion Center. His
attorney was Bjorn Anderson, father of Prof. R. B.
Anderson, of the University of Wisconsin. (By the
way, the Professor's mother was the first white wo
man in the town of Albion.) The pastor pleaded
his own case, but was beaten and fined five dol
lars. Not long after this, becoming disgusted with
this country, he returned to Norway, where we hope
that he conducted his pastoral" affairs so successfully,
that from a clergyman militant, he became a clergy
man triumphant. Mr. Dietrichsen was succeeded in
1850, by Rev. A. C. Preus, and he in 1860, by Rev. J.
A. Ottesen, the present pastor, who is widely and
favorably known among his countrymen in this and
adjoining states.
In addition to the church already mentioned, there
are three other church organizations ; the Methodist
and Presbyterian, located at Cambridge, and which are
mentioned in the chapter following, and the Seventh-
Day Baptists, which are located near Utica. This

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  CHRISTIANA. 363
church was organized in 1850, with Rev. Z. Camp
bell as pastor, and has a very neat and pleasantly
located house which was built in 1866. The pres
ent pastor, Rev. Geo. W. Burdick, is a young man of
much promise.
In the early days of the town, before newspapers
were so generally taken by farmers, it was necessary
for politicians and candidates for office to take greater
pains to look up their country friends, and enlist them
in their behalf, than at present. Intent upon looking
up their friends, Judge J. G. Knapp and Mr. Wilcox,
the former being candidate for district attorney, and
the latter for state senator, came into the town, and
after a meeting at which they spoke, put up for the
night with one of the most prominent citizens in the
vicinity. As the house was small, and pretty well
filled already, they occupied a bed belonging to a
young man who was expected to be absent for the
night. Rather late the next morning, a brother of
the gentleman with whom they went home, supposing
that the usual occupant of the bed had returned in
the night, and thinking it was high time he was
awake, went into the room, and seeing an empty meal
bag, took it and laid it over the heads of the candi
dates very smartly several times. We are told that
their astonishment at being thus suddenly and rudely
wakened from a sound sleep, was only equaled by his
consternation upon seeing that he was belaboring a
couple of strange gentlemen from Madison; indeed,
even now, though twenty-five years have elapsed, he

364 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  CHRISTIANA.
recalls very vividly his fright when he beheld Mr.
Wilcox's nightcap rising from among the bedclothes.
The first public school was kept by Mrs. Wm. May-
hew, at her husband's tavern, in the winter of 1845-6.
The first school house, which was a rough log struc
ture, was built very soon after on section 10, and
which remained standing until within a few years.
From these small beginnings in educational matters,
we have achieved very satisfactory results. We have
now ten school houses in the town, the majority be
ing almost new, those of districts No. 2, 5 and 7 be
ing more than usually elegant buildings of brick, well
furnished. District number 5 is in Cambridge, and
is a commodious two story house, and is kept as a
graded school.
In common with nearly all the towns in the vicin
ity, until within a few years, the principal crop has
been wheat, but since its yield has been so seriously
affected by the chinch-bug and other causes, many of
our best farmers have engaged more extensively in
the raising of live stock, and as a consequence, have
largely increased the area of their corn fields. In
1876, the acreage of the various crops was as follows:
Timothy or clover, 1,859; oats, 1,922: wheat, 2,155;
corn, 3,457; barley, 1,166.
Previous to 1871, but a small amount of tobacco
was grown in the town, but as those who had culti
vated it found the soil adapted to it, and as it was at
this time bringing a high price, many farmers en
gaged extensively in its culture. The subsequent de-

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  CHRISTIANA. 365
cline in prices, consequent upon over production,
drove many to abandon it, and though not now so ex
tensively grown as a few years previous, its culture is
still quite an important branch of agricultural indus
try, the area grown in 1876 being 328 acres.

366 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  CAMBRIDGE.

CAMBRIDGE.
BY HON. GEO. DOW AND A. B. CARPENTER.
Cambridge village is situated on the extreme east
ern part of the county, in the township of Christiana,
and about twenty-four miles southeast of Madison.
It is beautifully situated on both sides of the Kosko-
nong creek, with picturesque surrounding of oak
openings and prairie lands. Immediately south of
the village the country was very marshy, but now
sufficiently improved to be used for pasturage; though
in the early settlement of the town and before a road
was made through, it was almost impassible in wet
weather, and here it is said Black Hawk and his peo
ple took refuge in 1832, after passing through Fort
Atkinson, on his way to the Mississippi. On the dry
spots between Cambridge and Clinton, he and his
people could camp safe and dry, while the difficulty
of access precluded any possibility of his being mo
lested by the troops. Here, Black Hawk says, his
sufferings were very great, as there was but very little
game or fish to be had, and his people were obliged
to dig roots and bark the trees to satisfy their hunger,
many of the old people dying from actual want. The
marching and countermarching of the troops deceived
them so much that it deterred the young men from
separating to hunt or fish, although abundance of both

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  CAMBRIDGE. 367
game and fish were to be found immediately outside
of their surroundings. Since these times, considerable
change has taken place in the character of the land
in the vicinity of Cambridge, as also in other parts
of our county, the results of cultivation and the ex
tensive destruction of forest trees without supplying
their place with other timber. Many of the early
settlers can remember localities where were rapid
flowing streams, that are now highly cultivated fields.
In 1847, Joseph Keyes (father of E. W. Keyes, of
political fame), Abel Keyes, and A. B. Carpenter, now
of Beloit, purchased the water power and land forming
the village, and surveyed and laid it out in July of
the same year, and, early in the following fall, built
the first dwelling house. During the same year they
built the inevitable adjunct of an American village, a
saw and grist mill, together with a store for the sale
of merchandise.
The same year the Hon. Geo. Dow and Mr. Wheel
er built a hotel (the Cambridge House), and another
store, and there also were several trades establish
ments. In 1856 Mr. Dow brought a carding ma
chine into the village for the preparing of wool.
At the close of the first year, the village grew so
rapidly, and daily receiving additions, that it numbered
about 500 inhabitants, and celebrated its anniversary
with that of the nation's on July 4th, 1848, on which
occasion there were delegates from Madison, Lake
Mills, Jefferson, Fort Atkinson and other adjoining
towns, numbering about 3,000 persons. The proces-

368 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  CAMBRIDGE.
sion formed in front of the Cambridge House, and
was preceded to the stand by the Cambridge Rifle
Company and the Madison Brass Band. Prayer was
offered by Rev. Wm. Cargen, the Declaration read by
Wm. Welch, Esq., of Madison, and the oration by Dr.
L. Ravella Humphrey, of Beloit.
The first store in the village was kept by A. B. Car
penter and Norman Dutcher, under the firm name of
A. B. Carpenter & Co. The upper part of the store
was used as a dwelling house, and access obtained by
a ladder which, for better protection, was swung up
at night. For several years the Indians were rather
troublesome from their begging propensities, but were
never hostile except in some of their drunken carous
als, when it was then deemed unsafe to either encoun
ter or have them near the village.
When Cambridge was first laid out, the surround
ing land was still unentered, and could be purchased
at government figures, and Mr. A. B. Carpenter at
that time entered 1,000 acres, which has proved to be
among the richest and most fertile lands in the state.
The laying out of the village was done under an assur
ance from the Milwaukee and Prairie du Chien Rail
road that they would pass through there; a promise
which they never kept, but toward which the early
settlers spent large amounts of money in expectation
of their so doing. Wheat in those days brought 25
cents a bushel, and oats 10 cents, and had to be mar
keted in Milwaukee, where merchandise was brought
back in exchange, sometimes packed in flour barrels,

DANE COUNTY TOWNS — CAMBRIDGE. 369
that cost at that time 55 cents each, empty, and were
again returned full of flour.
In 1864, Hon. George Dow built a woolen mill,
and a large amount of superior woolen goods have
been manufactured there, and sold throughout both
the county and state. In 1874, a cheese factory was
also started by Mr. Dow, and has met with merited
success. The scenery around Cambridge is beautifully di
versified by prairie, woodlands, cultivated farms and
small lakes, the principal one of which is Ripley, or
Dow's Lake. It is of considerable depth, and embraces
a circuit of four miles in circumference ; its water pure
and clear as crystal, and, together with the other lakes
abounding in the numerous varieties of fish to be found
in the lakes around Madison, as also all kinds of game,
in fact, the country around Cambridge was noted at
one time as the hunter's paradise. Mr. Dow recoil
lects seeing as many as 200 deer in a drove, and often
75 to 100.
There are two churehes in the village, one Method-
'ist and one Presbyterian. In early times, the people
attended church in an old log cabin; and for want of
better, sat on fence boards laid across stakes of wood.
The Methodist church was organized in 1848, and the
present pastor is Rev. Mr. Hansen. The Presbyter
ian Church in 1847, and its present pastor, the Rev.
John Patterson.
The village is also the residence of the celebrated
surgeon, Dr. J. C. Dundas, whose reputation as one of
24

370 DANE COUNTY TOWNS — CAMBRIDGE.
the most skillful surgeons, is well and widely known
throughout all the northwest. He studied his profession
in Europe among the universities of England, Hol
land, Germany, Russia and Norway, and entered the
Holland service as a surgeon, was for over two years
in that capacity in the empires of China and Japan.
Dr. L. C. Clark is also a physician and surgeon in the
village, with a good wide practice throughout the
township and those adjoining, where he is highly
esteemed for his professional ability and courtesy.
The present population of Cambridge is about 400
inhabitants, and the business is principally confined
to supplying the wants of the surrounding country.
Among those engaged in business are the following:
S. H. Butler, cabinetmaker; Messrs. George Dow &
Son, commission merchants; Thomas Overson, hard
ware dealer; A. H. Krogh, manufacturer of artificial.
limbs; Thomas Slagg, drugs and groceries; James T.
Gilbert & Brother, hotel keepers ; Olson & Hodges,
merchants; J. C. Dundas, physician and surgeon;
L. C. Clark, physician and surgeon; Hans Anderson,
boot and shoe maker; John Johnson, tailor; P. A.
England,' and Samuel Irwin, blacksmiths ; T. N. Save,
boot and shoe maker, Hovey, Bros. & Co., merchants;
and David Schoe, manufacturer of agricultural mach
inery.

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  PLEASANT SPRINGS. 371

PLEASANT SPRINGS.
BY A. R. AMES, ESQ.
The town of Pleasant Springs, about twelve miles
southeast from Madison, is bounded on the north by
Cottage Grove; on the east by Christiana; on the
south by Dunkirk, and on the west by Dunn. In
the government surveys, it is designated as township
six north, range eleven east of the fourth principal
meridian. The first town meeting was held at the house of
John Patterson, April 4, 1848. Only twenty votes
were cast, and the following named were declared
duly elected : Supervisors — Daniel Wheeler, Chair
man, John Patterson, John Ketcham. Clerk — John
Sunderman. Justice of the Peace — Daniel Wheeler.
Commissioners of Highways — John S. Dailey, Peter
S. Markham, Archibald Griffith. School Commis
sioners — John Sunderman, Archibald Griffith, Jacob
Stombough. Assessors — John Patterson, Robert
McComb. Treasurer — Winard Dingman. Consta
ble — Ezra Hortan. Fence Viewers — Jacob Waldruf ,
Jacob Patterson. Among other early settlers were
K. H. Roe, A. Seaverson, K. Kittleson, K. A. Juve,
K. A. Joitel, Francis B. and John W. Ames, James
Bronte, Abraham Devoe and Zina Gilbert.
Pleasant Springs received its name from a large

372 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  PLEASANT SPRINGS.
spring on the land of Ole Evenson, on section twenty-
seven, and numerous smaller ones in different parts
of the town. The first church was built where the
Lutheran church now stands, on section fourteen.
The first sermon preached by Pastor W. Dietrichson,
under a large oak tree on A. K. Juve's farm, Septem
ber 2, 1844. The first school was taught in a private
house. The first school house was built on section
twenty-five. From a historical sketch of Dane county, in Harri
son & Warner's Atlas, we find the following: "Abel
Rasdall, one of the pioneers of the Four Lake region,
was born in Barren county, Kentucky, August 15,
1815. When a young man, he went to Wisconsin
and engaged in lead mining, and, in 1828, went to
Galena, and assisted awhile Col. James Morrison in
his mining operations at Porter's Grove, about nine
miles from Blue Mounds. He soon engaged in the
business of an Indian trader, locating his cabin on the
eastern shore of First Lake (now in Pleasant Springs),
about half a mile south of its outlet. He married
a Winnebago woman, who was a real helpmate to him
in the Indian trade. She sickened and died of small
pox, Mr. Rasdall alone attending her, and burying
her remains. He subsequently married another of
the same tribe,* but when her people migrated west,
she concluded to go with them, so Rasdall and his
[* This squaw had no nose, her former husband having inflicted
the Indian penalty for infidelity. She always covered her face with
her blanket. — Pub.]

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  PLEASANT SPRINGS. 373
Indian wife cut a blanket in two, each taking a part —
the Indian mode of divorce. * * Galena was the
point at which he obtained his goods, and where he
disposed of his furs and peltry. He did service in
the Black Hawk war, and was one of fourteen men
who were sent forward as a scout when Gen. Dodge
was pursuing the Indians from Rock river westward,
before the battle of Wisconsin Heights. The party,
which was commanded by Capt. Gentry, was sent
forward to reconnoitre and prevent a surprise by the
main body of Indians, which they were assured were
but little in advance, as was afterwards proven, for
this was the morning of the memorable 21st of July,
near the eve of which was fought the battle of Wis
consin Heights."
About the same time Joe Pelkie and Louis Ar-
mell, French Canadian traders, were located here.
They also had squaws for their wives. Josiah A.
Noonan, when appointed by Judge Doty to make ar
rangements for a surveying party to go to Madison
and meander the shores of Third and Dead Lakes,
with a view of platting out the western addition to
Madison, accompanied the party on horseback, and,
after staying with them four days, provisions being
very scarce, started for First Lake. The first night
he put up with Pelkie and Armell, where he found
good forage for his horse, and an abundance of pota
toes and salt for himself. The next morning, with a
couple of good, large potatoes in his overcoat pockets,
he started for Fort Atkinson. The country he found

374 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  PLEASANT SPRINGS.
poorly surveyed, being unable to make his lines or
courses, and was necessitated to take the wind for his
guide. The old Indian trail between Fort Atkinson
and First Lake crossed sections thirteen, twenty-three
and twenty-four, and is, where the ground has not been
disturbed, very plainly marked by a deep track on the
prairie. The surface of this town is gently undulating, con
sisting of prairies, oak openings, and marsh or mead
ow, well watered and particularly suited to grazing.
The inhabitants are chiefly engaged in agriculture,
the soil being remarkably fertile; wheat, oats, corn,
barley, rye, potatoes, hay and tobacco are produced in
abundance. In live stock it is one of the leading
towns, having fine breeds of horses, cattle, sheep and
hogs. Pleasant Springs finds market for its produce
in Madison, Stoughton, McFarland, Edgerton, Fort
Atkinson, Cambridge and Christiana, nearly all of
which have fine milling privileges. The town has
two fine churches, and six school houses, one of which
was built and furnished, with apparatus and a fine
large bell, at a cost of nearly $1,900. This is claimed
to be the best country school house in the state, till
"other counties are heard from."
From Liberty Mound, on section two (which is the
highest point of land in the county except Blue
Mounds), on a clear day, may be had a fine view of
the lakes, Madison, Blue Mounds, the country towards
Sun Prairie, Stoughton, Utica, Fort Atkinson and
Jefferson.

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  PLEASANT SPRINGS. 375
A peculiar feature about the political history of the
town is, that up to 1853, it was entirely democratic
in its elections, but from that date up to the present,
it has cast a decided republican vote. The change in
political views was so very sudden and almost unex
pected that, at the first election in the above year,
only one democratic vote was cast.
It was also about this time, says Hon. John A.
Johnson, or little after, that Hon. Wm. R. Taylor,
since governor, was elected to the state senate over
Hon. H. H. Giles. Mr. Giles was at that time rail
road station agent at Stoughton, and a fierce onslaught
was made upon him during the campaign by the
friends of Mr. Taylor, as being the agent and repre
sentative of a great monopoly, while Mr. Taylor was
the friend per se of the abused farmer. The demo
cratic stump orators showed very clearly that the rail
road was charging 12 cents per bushel freight on
wheat from Stoughton to Milwaukee, when six cents
was ample compensation, and intimated that if Taylor
was elected monopoly would be destroyed, and the
price of wheat would be raised at least six cents per
bushel. This was a pretty strong argument, and at
last one Pleasant Spring farmer determined that he
would vote for Taylor, though he was a little mixed
as to the position he was to be elected to, as his knowl
edge of English was not the most profound. The
farmer marketed his wheat at Stoughton, and he had
heard Taylor's name coupled with the six cents raise
in wheat. When he heard of Taylor's election he

376 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  PLEASANT SPRINGS.
joyfully loaded his wagon with wheat and wended
his way to Stoughton to realize the higher price,
supposing he would find Taylor duly installed as
station agent, the position which he with his vote
had helped to give him. Arriving at the depot
his first inquiry was as to the price of wheat, and
finding it had not advanced at all, demanded an
interview with Taylor. When informed that he
had been basely cheated into giving a democratic
vote and for such a reason, his feelings may be
better imagined than described. He went home su
premely disgusted with the corruptions and dishon
esty of the country.
On the farm of J. I. Williams, bordering on Ke
gonsa, or First Lake, are a number of Indian mounds.
Through the courtesy of the officials of the Milwaukee
& St. Paul Railroad, passengers are landed or taken
on 'at the " Sugar Bush," a large grove on Mr. Wil
liams' farm. The use of this grove is freely given
for camp meetings, picnics, hunting parties, etc. The
lake abounds in fish, while the woods and fields are
well supplied with game. The final outlet of the
Four Lakes, the Yahara, has its source at the eastern
point of the lake. This crosses sections twenty,
twenty-eight, twenty-nine, thirty-two and thirty-three.
Mr. Williams proposes to launch a beautiful little
steamer, now being built in Pittsburg, upon the lake
the present season, and by whose courtesy and liber
ality we are enabled to present to our readers, an
exquisite engraving of this elegant steamer as she

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  PLEASANT SPRINGS. 379
will appear on Lake Kegonsa. She is fifty-six feet
long, four feet six inches deep in hull, nine feet
broad, with a lower and upper deck, and is propelled
by a twenty horse-power engine. She is designed by
him as a pleasure craft, to be used for personal en
joyment, and to add to the interest of the place by
using it for pleasure parties, picnics, etc., if the prop
er encouragement is given, to meet expenses of run
ning it, and is designed to be the beginning of an
investment which will convert the Sugar Bush Grove
into one of the most enjoyable, as well as one of the
most complete places of rational pleasure in the state,
believing that Madison will wake up to a sense of
'' Its best Holt," and stretch its arm down to Ke
gonsa, so that while Madison may be the head source
of pleasure, the Sugar Bush Grove with its peculiar
charms will be indispensable to her pleasure-seekers.
It is hoped that some day soon, all obstacles to a
free access to all the four Lakes will be removed, and
the charms of these matchless bodies of water be
more fully brought forth by easy intercourse through
Yahara's inviting current.
The present town officers are : Supervisors, Wil
liam Seamonson, chairman, Elias Nichols, Ole Moe;
clerk, E. T. Cleven; assessor, Lewis Iverson; treasurer,
Gunder Edwards ; justices of peace, Oliver Johnson,
Ole A. Drotning.

380 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  BRISTOL.

BRISTOL.
BY J. R. DAVIS, Esq.
The town of Bristol is about thirteen miles from
Madison, the center being nearly midway between Mad
ison and Columbus. It lies on the northern boundary
of Dane county, which is separated by the town of
Hampden from Columbia county, and is known on
the government survey as township 9 north, of range
11 east. It was formerly a part of Sun Prairie.
The town was first settled by David Brazee, and
shortly afterwards by R. W. Davison, M. Sweet,
William W. Patrick, and William H. Clark. The
first town meeting was held at the house of George
C. Smith, in 1848, and W. W. Patrick was elected su
pervisor. The early history of the town does not abound in as
many incidents and occurrences as some of its adjoin
ing towns, having no place of public note or resort, in
consequence of its being somewhat off the usual beaten
road, and thus had few of those interesting way marks
which are known to enliven and amuse the traveler in
those early days. Still, it was by no means deserted,
commercially speaking, for one of the main traveled
roads went through the southeast part — being the old
state road running from Beaver Dam, through Colum
bus, to Madison. It was a common event in those

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  BRISTOL. 381
days to see the red man roving over its wild and
beautiful prairies, whose trail went through the town
leading from Horicon lake, the head waters of the
Rock river, to Madison lakes. The surface of the
land presents a picturesque landscape, being as a rule
quite level, and about equally divided between wood
and prairie. But like too many other towns in the
county, its beautiful forests are being cut down too
fast, and not enough of other trees set out to supply
the want which we will ultimately be compelled to
feel, if no proper provision is made for tree planting.
There are no rivers of any size in the town, although
a good stream, called Waterloo creek, which rises in
the northern part of the town, and then runs south
easterly into the town of Medina, gives an excellent
water power throughout most of the year, and the old
stone grist mill, formerly built by Mr. Aiken, having
been divested of its old fashioned water-wheel, and re
placed with one of the improved style, by Mr. Alex
ander Stevens, its present owner, is doing a good,
continuous business in the custom line, except dur-
ring very dry periods, when the old mill has a va
cation, and the humming of its machinery ceases
until nature causes the streams to rise, which again
furnishes the gratuitous motive power, and sends
the old mill to work
The red man of early days, who traveled his foot
beaten trail leading through the southeastern part
of the town, could no doubt give some graphic des
criptions of a lake generally known as "Brazee's

382 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  BRISTOL.
Lake," where he employed himself in trapping and
other amusements. But in this enlightened age this
same lake is a bone of contention, so to speak, and a
source of trouble for the white man, out of which
law suits have arisen. The difficulty arising from
it is somewhat of a complicated nature, so much so,
that a suit to determine the real owners of it has been
carried from one court to the other, and is now pend
ing in the U. S. court. A reference to the facts,
which seems to be as follows, will not be out of place
here. The lake, like some other bodies of water in this vi
cinity, has year by year been gradually drying up,
until at the present time the husbandman's plow
traverses it instead of the Indian's canoe, and which
covering over 200 acres, more or less, persons owning
land on its border, very naturally supposed that their
farms were getting larger in proportion, while a sec
ond party comforted themselves by supposing that
they were the lucky ones, and had bought the lake
(now a fertile piece of land) from the government,
having entered it at ten shillings per acre.
The two main traveled roads are what are known
as the Columbus and the Bristol roads; the first,
or the old state road, runs through the eastern part
of the town, while the other runs almost due north
and south from the north end of the town through to
Sun Prairie, its " twin sister," and for beautiful land
scapes and sightseeing, as well as the fertility of the
soil and number of improved farms and farm build-

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  BRISTOL. 383
ings which lie on either side of this road and others
which intersect it, is hard to beat in the county; in
fact, there is no waste land in the town, and the time
is not far distant when Bristol will be among the
foremost in wealth and population.
Its market is Sun Prairie, generally speaking, while
many draw their produce at times to Columbus.
The inhabitants of the town are chiefly Americans,
Germans and Norwegians. The former having set
tled on the prairies in the southern half of the town,
and the Germans in the timber land in the northeast
part, while the latter occupy the northwest portion,
which is about equally divided between prairie and
wood land.
In politics the town is about equally divided, and,
during the civil war, Bristol sent her regular number
of soldiers to defend the government, some of whom
never returned alive, but whose names will ever
be held in deep remembrance by our citizens. The
town has been represented in the legislature by Hon.
R. W. Davison, in its early history, and by Hon. J.
M. Flint in later years. Messrs. Hidden, Chipman,
Davison, and Haner have been chosen to represent the
town on the county board at various times.
The liquor traffic question has long since become a
mooted one, and although the intelligent voters of the
town have decided that those who sell liquor must pay
a high license, still there are plenty of them in the
northern part of the town licensed to keep saloons.
The town is well dotted with school houses, and ed-

384 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  BRISTOL.
ucational privileges are generally good. There are in
the town two churches. The M. E. church, generally
known as the "Bristol Church," is located on the
Bristol road about 2J miles from Sun Prairie, and is
a good edifice, containing an audience room, and a
basement which is used for lectures, donations, etc.
It is also occupied once a week by the "Grangers,"
who have an excellent Grange in good running order.
The other, a Catholic church, and one of the finest
edifices in the county, is in the northwest part of the
town, known as the "Settlement." The town cannot
boast of a "Town House," though repeated attempts
have been made at " Town Meetings " in that direc
tion, but thus far they have not yet been successful.
There are in the town two stores, the largest of
which is owned by John Arians, who also keeps the
post office. The town was formerly one of the prin
cipal wheat growing sections in the county, but of
late years the people are turning more attention to
raising of stock and to dairy pursuits. There are two
cheese factories that are producing an excellent qual
ity of cheese, and well patronized. One is owned by
Mr. Chipman, who keeps a large dairy himself, about
a mile from Sun Prairie, on the Bristol road; the
other is owned by Mr. John Arians, in the northern
part of the town, and who is, as mentioned above,
also proprietor of the store. There are in the town
several blacksmith and wagon shops.
The town ranks in wealth and general industry with
any in the county, although in common with other

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  BRISTOL. 385
places that have made wheat raising a,\ staple produc
tion, it has felt the hard times and the effects of the
"chinch bugs." But the fact that farmers are now
more scrupulous in preserving the prairie chickens
and other birds that have been wontonly killed off,
and also raising more hay than wheat, will, in a
great measure outflank this terrible pest. The farm
ers of Bristol are fully aware that they are the owners
of thep lands, and must use diligence and care to pre
serve their crops from injuries, and as a means toward
carrying out these facts, prohibit the trespass on their
lands for the hunting of prairie chicken, which they
deem their friend, and the enemy of thousands of in
sects that prey upon their crops. A very exhilarating
sport in the way of hunting, and one which would
meet with a hearty response from the farmers, can be
had by hunters coming in the winter and ridding the
town of the wolves (which are numerous in this
and adjoining towns since the " Peshtigo fire"), that
kill the sheep in large numbers.
The town, like all others, has had its share of law
suits, and we will relate an incident or two. A num
ber of years ago, one of the former town treasurers
deposited the town moneys in a Madison bank, which
failed, and the town supposed by some to have lost it,
while others thought the treasurer responsible for the
whole amount. During the unsettled condition of
the issue between the town and the treasurer, a bill
was introduced into the legislature for his release, and
which passed, and left the town to whistle for the
25

386 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  BRISTOL.
money. The town board were thus authorized to free
him from his bonds and indebtedness.
Notwithstanding the fact that the town is known to
have good, smooth level roads, and bridges, still, not
long since a $5,000 suit was commenced in court by
a party who complained to the supervisors of the shaky
condition of one of the town bridges, and had re
ceived injuries to his horse and vehicle therefrom,
so brought suit accordingly. But it puzzled both the
supervisors and the complainant to find out a few
days afterwards where the dangerous place was. They
had driven across into a neighboring town before they
discovered the offending bridge, and then only after
having been shown it by an individual who claimed he
thought he saw the accident. The joke was thought
too good for both the town and complainant, except
the unnecessary legal expense the town was put to.
Bristol without doubt has some of the best kept
roads in any town, being in a great number of places
shaded on both sides of the highways by beautiful
trees. Thrift and energy are visible among its citizens
as is witnessed by their comfortable homes, and the
high class of intelligence. Let the business man and
visitor see the town of Bristol before they pass judg
ment on Dane county, and they will be pleased with
its rich soil, beauty of landscapes and general appear
ance. From its elevated plain can be seen the Capitol
of the state, and on a clear day the far off " Blue
Mounds " in the distance.

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  RUTLAND. 387

RUTLAND.
BY S. W. GRAVES, ESQ.
This township lies on the southern boundary line
of the county, which separates it from Union in Rock
county. It is about fourteen miles southeast of Mad
ison, and is known as township 5 north, of range 10
east. The first permanent settlement commenced in the
summer of 1842, by three families, Joseph Dejean .
and family, John Prentis and his father and Dan
Pond. They settled in one corner of the town on the
old Janesville and Madison road. The next year two
other young men came in and took up claims in the
same neighborhood. There was no settlement made
in any other part of the town until 1844, when Squire
Jonathan Lawrence and son, and myself and family
came from Yermont, on the fifth day of July, and went
back into the woods, as it was termed then. We took
up a section of land and commenced a settlement by
clearing, breaking and building our cabins ready for
winter. During the fall four other cabins were built,
of which two in the northern part of town, were for
Jeremiah Douglass and Goodrich Cummings, and
one adjoining me for Gideon Cummings, while Rich
ard Priest, who came late in the fall, settled at a large
spring in the center of the town. He came from In-

388 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  RUTLAND.
diana, and had eleven children, most of whom were
grown to men and women.
In early spring of 1845, there came in a large num
ber of people from Yermont and settled in the south
part of the town, which took the name of the Yermont
settlement, while in the northern part there came
in quite a number from Maine, among whom were
the Douglasses, Dammons, and Cashes, and a few from
New York and Ohio, and settled there, and it was
known as the Maine settlement.
It was estimated that there were about 400 inhabit
ants in the town in 1845. We had the advantage
over many other towns in the first settlement, as there
were no speculators' lands that could be held in re
serve for the rise in value. The town had not those
peculiar attractions for them which other towns pos
sessed, with their large prairies and groves of tim
ber, as the entire town was almost all burr oak-open
ings, with considerable marsh and a small part prairie
in the north. The lands belonged to the general gov
ernment, and were open for entry at any time, but
most of the settlers that came here were poor and not
able to enter these lands; some could enter a 40 acres
and some an 80 acres, and so we organized claim soci
eties to protect one another in the settlement of our
homes. I must relate to you some incidents that oc
curred in 1 845-6, which will illustrate the method we
had of protecting each other. Our societies were thor
oughly organized by officers. If any one attempted
to enter any land that was already claimed by a settler,

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  RUTLAND. 389
he was immediately notified to appear before the exe
cutive board to give a reason why he entered the land;
if he persisted, he was immediately notified to settle
satisfactorily with the claimant, and if not, to leave
town immediately. There were a few cases where
they would not settle, and if they attempted to build
their cabins, the people would meet in mass and tear
down the same.
In the winter of 1846, the legislature passed a law
giving the people the right to organize into towns in
Dane county. The people of our town met soon after
the passage of the law, and organized themselves into a
town, and called it Rutland after the name of a town
in Yermont. On the first Tuesday in April, 1846,
we held our first election, and elected as Supervis
ors — Jonathan Lawrence, chairman, David West
and Henry Edmonds ; Town Clerk — S. W. Graves ;
Road Commissioners — David Tipple, S. W. Graves
and Goodrich Cummings.
Since the settlement of our town, we have progressed
slowly but steadily in agricultural pursuits, being all
farmers. There are no large streams or villages, no
manufactories, but a few mechanics. Our soil is
good and well adapted for farming purposes; and as
a farming community, we are very well located as to
markets. There are no railroads in town, but we have
the advantage of two, viz. : the Chicago, Milwaukee
aud Saint Paul, which runs along near the east
line of the town, and very convenient for the people
on the east side of the town to get their produce tc

390 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  RUTLAND.
market, while the Chicago & Northwestern road just
enters one corner of the town and runs along near the
west line, which gives us a good market with Chicago.
Our market towns are Stoughton and Edgerton on
the east, Oregon, Brooklyn and Evansville on the west.
Since we have changed our mode of farming (less
wheat for chinch bugs to devour), and gone to raising
clover, neat stock, wool and pork, butter and cheese,
we have done much better, getting rich slowly.
We have three churches, the Free-Will Baptist at
the north part of the town, with a good meeting house;
the United Brethren church at a little village on the
west, with a small meeting house; and a Methodist
church, with a good house of worship in the village
of Brooklyn, in the township of Rutland, the village
being on the line of two towns. There is quite a
church of regular Baptists in town, but they unite
with the chnrch in Union, and have a good house
of worship there.
Our town is organized into eight school districts
and some joint districts, with very good school houses,
and all maintain schools from six to eight months in
the year.
We have but few natural curiosities, and they are
some that used to attract our attention in an early
day. A small river rises in the northwest corner of
our town and runs southeast, and leaves the town at
the southeast corner, and along this river there are a
great number of springs ; there is one spring so large
that it runs a grist-mill within ten rods of its head

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  RUTLAND. 391
with two runs of stone. There is one mound spring
twenty-four feet in diameter, and so deep it is diffi
cult to find bottom. I have sounded it twenty feet
and found none. There is a lake, known as Island
Lake, which in early times was considered a curiosi
ty. It has an island near the center, of about three
acres, which was once thickly wooded with good rock
maple trees, with no others within twenty miles. They
were so fine, and all claimed them, that it led to a
series of troubles, which left no other alternative,
in order to settle the matter, but to go on the island
and cut them down. Our stone quarries, of which
we have quite a number, are full of interest to the
geologist in hunting out the fossil remains.
The health of our town, from its first settlement un
til the present, has ever been good, which is owing to
the numerous springs of pure water and the elevation
of the land, which is ever receiving pure air from the
surrounding hills, and no sunken places to engender

There are no Indian relics, no camps, trails, graves
or mounds. When I first came into town the Indians
were very numerous. They would often pitch their
tents near some spring, and hunt deer for weeks and
then move off.
In speaking of our town politically, perhaps this is
a delicate subject, but I will give you a little some
thing that has taken place in the political arena in the
settlement of our town. In the south part, in the
Yermont settlement, the Ohio people and part of

392 DANE OOUNTY TOWNS  RUTLAND.
the New York people were whigs. The Maine peo
ple in the north part of the town were democrats, but
the whigs had a majority. We used to have some
warm times in the first settlement, but in the organi
zation of the republican party in 1855, all of the Yer
mont settlement, all of the Ohio, and most of the New
York people joined the republican party, but the peo
ple of Maine, to a man, held to their old party, and
some of the old people were so disaffected that
they left the town. Since the organization we have
remained very strong republican, keeping a very
even tenure; no ups and downs ; there being two hun
dred republicans to twenty or thirty democrats. It
has ever been termed the banner town of the county.
Most of the first settlers of the town are not here
now; many have died, others have left. All of the
Maine people except one have left town. The present
inhabitants are a majority American people, some
Welch, some Scotch, a few English, and quite a set
tlement of Danes.

DANE COUNTY TOWNS — BURKE. 393

BURKE.
BY JOHN DOUGLAS.
This town is known as township 8 north, of range
10 east, and is equally divided into oak openings and
prairie, with a marsh in the westerly part. Two
branches of Token Creek enter the town. The east
ern branch on section 3, and the western on section 6.
then unite on section 7, run thence through the town
of Westport into Fourth lake, being the largest stream
that flows into the lake. The town received its name
after the Right Hon. Edmund Burke, one of Ireland's
illustrious orators and poets.
In 1847, it was made as one of the four towns of
Windsor; the first town meeting was held at the
house of Horace Lawrence, Charles M. Nichols
being elected chairman, and Ira Mead, clerk. In
1852, it was organized as a separate town, and its
first meeting held at the house of Adam Smith, when
he was elected chairman; and John Douglas, clerh.
The Indian trail from Koshkonong and Third
lakes, to Fort Winnebago (now Portagte City), passed
through the town, near the Indian Spring, on section
26. It was a* well beaten track, and is still seen,
where cultivation has not obliterated its traces, and
on which the early settlers frequently saw as many as
five hundred to one thousand Indians,with their wives
and little ones, pass and repass in a week.

394 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  BURKE.
On section 10, in Mr. McMarran's field, there are
two ancient circular mounds, and on H. P. Hall's
lands, section 28, there is a mound in the form of a
cross, while on section 30, on the farm of Henry
Satchjen, there is a large oblong mound, running in
a northwest and southeast direction, which was prob
ably used at one time as a fort. Those are all losing
their identity by frequent cultivation of the soil.
Horace and William Lawrence came here from Yer
mont, in 1837, and built the first house in the town,
on section 11, now owned and occupied by Washing
ton Woodward. Lawrence lived here in the year 1838,
and had a well known fame as a remarkably good
hunter. In the winter he has been known to kill a
score of deer, besides a great variety of other game.
He is still noted among hunters as a good shot.
Horace kept " bach " for some little time, but after
wards started a hotel, which for a number of years
was known as the " Prairie House." When he raised
his first barn it is said that nearly every white man in
Dane, and some from Columbia county were present.
The barn was afterwards destroyed by lightning.
The road to Fort Winnebago lay near the Prairie
House, and many notables, even in early times had
occasion to pass and repass through the town. Before
the Mexican war, Gen. Scott (then «nly a colonel),
together with Jefferson Davis and Zach. Taylor, being
appointed by the United States government as in
spectors of the military forts in the west, put up at
the Prairie House, where they were entertained with

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  BURKE. 395
the common fare of deer, prairie hens and pork. Gen.
Scott was the marked man among the others, not only
for his tall and manly bearing, but also for the pre
cise care he had of his person, performing his ablu
tions regularly and systematically. It is reported
that they held a council with the Indians here.
The Indians were quite numerous in those early
times, and were always peculiarly desirous of obtain
ing a little fire water, a privilege they then possessed,
and which extended as well to some of the whites —
indeed, the whites were known to be particularly
fond of " Pecatonica " and " Rock River," pet
names given for several kinds of whisky, and of a
very poor quality at that. The Indians traded back
and forward in the town for a number of years until
large game became scarce, when their visits were not
as frequent.
When Alex. Botkin settled on sections 27 and 28 (the
'76 farm), the Indians always camped near his house,
and in his dealings with them he at first had some
trouble, in consequence of their innate thieving pro
pensities and greed, but afterwards he became a
person of considerable importance among them, so
that on one occasion, when they had come in larg
er numbers than usual, he (in order that a proper
understanding might exist between them and him
self) assembled a council of all the chiefs in his
bouse. Sitting down on the floor in a circle,
while he stood in the center, he explained to them
that they might camp near his house if they wished,

396 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  BURKE.
but must not steal his corn or hay; in fact (as he
well knew the Indian character as being unsafe to
give a gift without some equivalent) he would give
them nothing; but if they had venison or anything
to sell, he would willingly purchase the same. The
council agreed to his request, and he had no trouble
with them afterwards.
The mail was carried from Madison to Fort Win
nebago, through this town, crossing the Creek a mile
above the village on the old Indian trail, in the town
of Windsor. There was no wagon road leading to
the fort at that time, and business required to be done
there had to be reached by passing across the creek
at the old Indian trail. The only two houses on the
road were the Lawrences', afterward called the " Pra
irie House," and Wallis Rowan's, near Poynette.
Chas.. S. Peaslee, now living in Sun Prairie village,
was an early settler on what is now known as Robert
Ogilvie and A. C. Cummings' farm, on sees. 27 and
28. The frequent changes occurring among the
settlers makes it difficult to trace up all occupants of
this lovely spot; but soon after we find Alexander
C. Botkin, Esq., lived here, near the beautiful rise of
ground close to the road, that is now so tastefully sur
rounded with evergreens and other trees. He put up
a sign, with the two large figures, '76, on it, in honor
of the year in which the Declaration of Independence
was made (1776), a term by which the farm is known
even up to the present time, although it is also known
as the "Courtney Place," because an English sea

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  BURKE. 397
captain of that name bought it, and there built a
stone castle. It was struck by lightning and burned
when the Hon. R. B. Sanderson owned and occupied
it in 1870. It has not been rebuilt since, the walls
still continuing to stand like some ancient ruins of
feudal times. One of the former owners of the place,
D. J. Powers, set out the poplar trees on the south
east side of the road, while Mr. Courtney planted
those on the northwest side. J. C. Plumb, the cele
brated nurseryman, now of Milton, Rock county, at
one time leased this place, and many of the evergreens
and fruit trees are of his planting. He was well
known for a new variety of plum he raised. But
the best were those in the house, and as good things
are often moving, so they were transplanted to another
place. There was also a sign board placed on the hill beyond
this farm, at the forks of the Portage and Columbus
roads, but it is reported that there were rival taverns
on each of these roads, and the sign board was fre
quently cut down by the landlords of these respective
taverns, in the hope that travelers getting the wrong
road, might patronize the house of the depredator.
Prairie fires were the dread of early settlers, and
were sometimes caused by the Indians setting fire to
the long grass for the purpose of driving the deer.
These fires burned with intense heat, and traveled with
great rapidity, making extraordinary leaps across
creeks or any barriers that the settlers might have
prepared to impede their progress and prevent the

398 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  BURKE.
burning of their fields of grain or stacks of hay.
Many a time, when the husband would be absent on
business or at the market, have the wife and children
been compelled to spend the whole night fighting
these fires from their homes, and when accomplished,
would fall exhausted and powerless at the last place
they extinguished the flames.
The late Alexander Botkin used to relate an inci
dent of a semi-comic character, that we must try to
repeat here. To be able to whip the prairie fires, re
quired a great deal of skill and tact, so that the ope
rator would put out the fire without scattering it or
allowing any sparks to attach themselves to the hazel
brush used as a whip, and thus avoid throwing fire
backward when swinging the brush. A live Yankee
from Yermont (visiting a neighbor of Mr. Botkin's),
and who exhibited no capacity for knowing less than
his western friends, whom, in fact, he rather con
ceived to be behind the times, and so was able
to show them a little, started out one day to burn the
grass round some stacks of hay, that had been put
up in a meadow close by, just as Mr. Botkin stood on
a knoll among some buckwheat. Looking for a mo
ment toward the man to see what his object was, he saw
him deliberately strike a match and light the grass
on the windward side, then, with his hazel brush,
commence whipping the flames. He had not pro
ceeded far before he found that it required consider
able alacrity to be able to control the fire, and, as
with Yankee energy, he strove to subdue the flames,

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  BURKE. 399
it was but faint as compared with the consternation
that afterwards seized him, when he felt an intense
warmth on his back and turned to see the cause. He
had whipped the fire into the stacks, and they were
in a blaze. It was but a moment' more and he was
next seen rushing at a frantic speed across the prai
rie, seeming to imagine that every step he took was
but one ahead of the devouring flames, while Mr. Bot
kin stood, the lone, but convulsed spectator of what he
thought was Yankee confidence with a great deal of
energy. Men in those times seemed to be able to endure a
greater amount of fatigue than they can at the present
time. To travel on foot between here and Milwaukee
was a very frequent occurrence, and was accomplished
in about twenty-four hours. Mr. Botkin had at one
time twelve acres of heavy oats' to cut, and engaged
four men to cut them. Two of them were men of about
six feet hight, while the others were ordinary size.
The tallest men cradled the oats, while the others
bound them. Starting about seven in the morning,
in the evening at sun down, the oats were all cut and
bound. They cut very large swarths, and the binders
kept up with each cut of the cradle.
Wolves were the scavengers of the prairie, and
were also great pests around the farm. When any
cattle died, they were removed to a convenient place
away from the house, when in the evening, and often
shortly after the carcass was left, the wolves would as
semble in packs, and the night be made, with their

400 , DANE COUNTY TOWNS — BURKE.
snarling howlings, the impersonation of the infernal
regions. About 1841, Abel Rasdall and Adam Smith settled
on section 14, on land now owned by Mr. Hepker.
They built a log cabin and broke up some of the land,
but shortly after, Mr. Smith concluded to build a
hotel, which he conducted for a number of years, and
which was known, far and near, as " Smith's tav
ern." The building is still standing, and many
pleasant and pleasing associations are connected with
this home and household. He kept the first post-
office in town, and has held that office for a number
of years, as well as others of trust and honor. Syl
vester Dunlap kept a store here for some years,
and built up an excellent business. In 1848, one
of the first school houses in town was built on the
present site of Mr. Smith's elegant brick residence,
but the school having been located in a more suitable
place the old building was moved back, and is used
by him as a granary. The new school house is
located on a triangular piece of land, surrounded by
6ome burr oaks, with the public highways on three
sides of it.
Simplicity of life was always a marked feature
among the early pioneers, and not less so was the im
plicit confidence they extended to each other and to
entire strangers, as the following incident will show.
When William Yroman, now of Madison, left New
York to come to Madison, he came by way of Mil
waukee. After waiting for some days, and finding

DANE COUNTY TOWNS — BURKE. 401
that he could not get through by stage, in conse
quence of the roads being in a bad condition from
recent rains, he resolved to walk the distance on foot.
After meeting with considerable difficulties (passing
over the newly-formed causeway in the town of Deer
field, knee- deep in water), he came near the town of
Burke, where he met a young man on horseback, who
inquired of him if he was going to Madison, and
if he was acquainted there. Answering in the
affirmative, that he had a brother there, the young
man looking at him a moment, and at the same time
dismounting from his horse, told Mr. Yroman that he
knew his brother, and as he seemed tired, he must
ride to Madison ; then directing him where to
stable the horse, that he might find it conveniently
when he again returned, left him in possession of
the animal, he being then on his way to Watertown.
The young man was then unknown to Mr. Yroman, but
he afterward found him to be the Hon. Adam Smith,
whose confidence in him, a stranger, was an astonish
ing phase of western life that he had never ex
perienced before, nor had even any .conception of.
The simple fact that Mr. Smith knew his brother,
George Yroman, was the measurement by which he
judged the new acquaintance by the old.
Rough exteriors often cover warm hearts, and we
are not guilty of flattery when we relate another
incident just as pleasing. A poor German, near
Mr. Smith's, had lost his horse just at the very
busiest season of seeding, and the man being unable
26

402 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  BURKE.
to purchase or hire another, was in the awkward pre
dicament of failing to get his seed in the ground.
Adam Smith, hearing of the circumstance, rode over
to the man's house, and, ascertaining the facts of the
case to be so, told him he might come over to his
barn and get one of his horses, which he could use
until he had completed his seeding. This act at
ordinary times might not have been deemed of much
importance, but all farmers know the preciousness of
such generosity, at a time when days are as months
to them.
In early times the roads across the prairies were
numerous, and often crossed each other in such a man
ner as to be perplexing to those unacquainted with
the different tracks, who were liable to lose their
way if not fortunate in striking the right one. On .
these roads emigrants' goods and lead from the mines
at Blue Mounds were hauled by ox teams and covered
wagons, popularly known as "prairie schooners."
The teamsters and occupants, when they halted for
the day, would usually select some suitable place that
was known to. provide shelter for themselves and
grass for their animals. On the farm of H. P. Hall,
section 28, there is a large burr oak that was a com
mon resort, and was well known among the pioneers
and immigrants as the "Traveler's Home." The
tree is about ten feet in circumference toward the
base, and about seven feet from the ground there are
five branches that spread out from the trunk nearly
forty feet. It occupies as much ground in Mr. Hall's

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  BURKE. 403
orchard as ten apple trees would, and stands in full
view of the road, strong and vigorous, spreading over
the ground like a great mammoth tent. Many a weary
traveler has eaten his frugal meal under its sheltering
branches, and it was a frequent occurrence to see as
many as a dozen of the " prairie schooners " either at
anchor or sailing in sight of this noble oak, where
hotel charges were as free as the air of the wide
spread prairie, accommodations being plenty and grass
and water near at hand.
Alexander Lamere, a Canadian Frenchman, was an
early settler. He owned a farm on section 10, which
he sold to Mr. McMurran and Martin Lewis. He
was at one time engaged in the service of the Hud
son Bay Company, and when residing here, usually
occupied himself hunting and trapping. He was well
known from the peculiarity of his costume, which
was a suit of buckskin, with a little hatchet belted
on behind him. He married a squaw, and removed
with her when her tribe went west, by order of the
United States Government.
Martin Lewis, who settled on section one, built his
house on the edge of the prairie, which was a visible
land mark for some distance round, and especially
serviceable as a lighthouse in the night for travelers
crossing the prairie, who took the lights in his win
dows to enable them to take their bearings.
In 1841, G. A. Spaulding, from Yermont, settled
on section 3, on the old Indian camping ground near
Token Creek. He built part of the house now occu-

404 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  BURKE.
pied by G. W. Loomis. He kept a hotel there for a
number of years, and by the aid of his worthy wife
and estimable daughters, it was a favorite resort in its
day. The bridge across the creek was built near the
house, about two years afterwards, 1843. He also
built the house now occupied by L. M. Fuller, who
is a very useful man among his neighbors, having an
intuitive ability to take hold of any mechanical work
for repair or construction which may be given him.
Messrs. Hanchett & Harris opened the first store
in town at Token Creek in 1848. It was a small
building, 14x18, with an upper chamber, and stood a
little north of the present store. They occupied the
ground floors, while Messrs. Davy & Robinson, two
Englishmen from London, used the upper room as
shoemakers, and were well known as good workmen.
Mr. Davy had at one time been a sailor, and the
constant custom of sleeping in a hammock had be
come so habitual to him, that he had one attached to
the rafters of the room in which he slept. He had a
taste for natural history, and for years had engaged
himself in the preserving of flies, bugs and birds, of
which he had large assorted specimens. Dr. R. K.
Bell was the first physician in the town. He first
lived at the Prairie House, but afterwards built a
house at Token Creek. He was a young man of noble
appearance, fine ability, and very successful in his
profession; but he died young.
In the south part of Windsor, near Token Creek,
there is a large hill that is familiarly known as " Big

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  BURKE. 405
Hill," and which in old times was looked upon as the
lighthouse of the prairie, by which travelers were able
to steer their course when crossing the open country.
It was for many years their only way-mark and guide
to find the harbor of Token Creek.
Mr. Goodrich and Mr. E. C. Bullis were the first
blacksmiths of any note, and were afterwards succeed
ed by M. C. Connor, who is still in Token Creek, but
has for some time back retired from the forge. Mr.
Bullis' house was moved from the south part of the
town of Bristol to its present site, a distance of five
miles, and is occupied by Mr. Connor.
Selden Combs and brother at one time had a brick
yard at the Creek, but it is not now in operation. When
the war broke out, Capt. William A. Fields, who kept
the hotel, raised a company for the war, and had them
drilled in the village. [The first store in the village
was built by John Douglas, who came here in the
year 1847. He is a part owner in the mill, and is also
engaged in surveying. It is related of him that at
one time, while engaged surveying for a Norwegian,
who could not speak or understand English, they
came to an Indian wigwam, and it was a matter of
astonishment to the Indians that Mr. Douglas and the
Norwegian were compelled to understand each other
by signs, as well as the Indians were them. Three
nationalities were here represented, but the red man
was as favorably situated as his more civilized bro
thers, since they could do no more than talk by signs.
The compass which Mr. Douglas carried was a subject

406 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  BURKE.
of great wonderment to them, as they kept turning it
over to examine it. When elected to the office of
superintendent of schools, he rode round the county
on a black pony, that was too lazy to run away, and
when he came to the school to be visited, if no con
venient hitching place was at hand, a rope carried in
his saddle bags, Jacob's staff, that he carried with
him, were made serviceable for the occasion, and the
pony was staked on the prairie until again required.
On one occasion, as justice, he married a couple
under the shade of an oak tree, and who sat in their
open buggy during the performance of the marriage
service. It is reasonable to suppose that the couple
were made happy, and though romantic like, yet in
those early times it was more difficult to catch a jus
tice than to be caught by onc.J
The road by way of Token Creek was in old times
very much traveled, as people passed through the vil
lage on their way to Fort Winnebago and the piner
ies. It was no uncommon thing to see five or six
four-horse coaches pass each way in a day, and equally
so to see a score of teams in sight. On one occasion,
in the winter, a company of twenty-five teams passed
through the village, and they enlivened the occasion
by one of the occupants of the sleighs playing a vio
lin with his hands delicately encased in gloves. There
were also, on another occasion, 200 head of cattle and
thirty-seven teams, loaded, and on their way to the
pineries. The manner of supplying the early settlers
with cattle and horses was, for parties from the south

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  BURKE. 407
to start in the spring, when the grass was getting up,
and drive before them droves of cattle and horses with
bells round their necks, which enabled the drivers to
hunt up any that strayed from the herd.
Ezra Gould was an early settler on section 32. A
painful incident is connected with his respected wife,
who became blind by accidentally running against
the sharp point of the spindle of a spinning wheel.
She is now living at Belleville, and is a diligent and
tidy housewife yet, even under her severe affliction.
The farmers hauled their wheat to Milwaukee to
market, and the small amount paid them for their
grain very often brought them, back in debt, unless
they were fortunate in bringing back merchandise or
immigrants. Deer were plenty, and seen in droves of from 25 to
100. But the Indians at one time went out on a big
hunt, and drove the deer toward Fourth Lake, in the'
town of Westport, and killed over 500, which, to
gether with the continued shooting of them by the
early settlers, has made their appearance scarce. Mr.
H. P. Hall, for a number of years, kept a small deer
park; but, four years ago, during a storm, his fence
was blown down, and seven of the deer escaped, and
are supposed to have bred in the woods, as three or
four have been shot in the neighborhood.
On the elevated prairie land owned by G. J. Mar-
gerum and S. A. Cummings, there was at one time a
remarkably good race course. From this position a
magnificent view is obtained of Madison and the sur-

408 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  BURKE.
rounding country. The sporting men from Madison,
as well as others in and out of the state, would
gather at this course in large numbers, and witness
many good horses try their speed and excellence in
in equestrian display, even to rivalling Hiram Wood
ruff. When Kittie Miles, from Canada, ran a race
here, she broke from the course and ran a dist
ance of two miles, to the barn of Adam Smith, and
gave the race to her competitor, " Little Flea," from
Long Island, New York. The celebrated trotter,
Tobby was trained on this course.
S. L. Sheldon, the well known agricultural machine
dealer, settled here about 1854, on sections 32 and 33.
He owned 150 acres — 70 on section 32 and 80 on 33.
There were only seventeen acres under the plow, forty
heavy timber, while the balance had been at one time
timbered like the forty, but was then thickly covered
with an underbrush of from ten to twenty feet high.
He afterwards added enough land to make his farm
540 acres, and set out an orchard of over one thou
sand trees, put out about two miles of shade trees, and
built about the same amount of fencing that year.
The farm originally belonged to an early pioneer by
the name of West, and who, as a type of all of that
class of persons, was unable to bear the inroads of civ
ilization, so, as his name indicates, he sold his farm
and went West.
Mr. S. taught school in the old log school house on
his farm, which was one of the first district schools,
but in 1855, having sold that part of it to Alex.
Lisk, in the winter he taught in his own log cabin,

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  BURKE. 409
where he kept "bach," superintended the work of
three hired men, did the housework, and sawed and
split fire wood in the evening. He built the barn
now owned by Samuel Drakely, on the southeast side
of the road. In 1857, he started the selling of agri
cultural machinery, being the third person in the
business in this county. The first was P. L. Car
man (of the firm of Gray and Carman), and the second
James H. Hill, (of the firm of Davis and Hill), now
engaged in the drug business on King street, Madi
son. His business, from this small beginning, has
kept steadily increasing until he is now the largest
individual dealer in agricultural machinery in the
United States. From this increase, he was obliged to
sell out his farm and confine himself entirely to busi
ness in the city and elsewhere, so that in 1 864 P. L.
Carman and T. S. Phillip bought each a part of the
540 acres. He expended about $10,000 in improve
ments and sold for $14,000, leaving 250 acres under
the plow. A small portion of that farm was after
wards sold by P. L. Carman for $450 an acre, with
out any buildings on it.
The first reaper trial in this section occurred on the
farm of H. P. Hall, and between Mr. Porter, the rep
resentative of the McCormick, and S. L. Sheldon, of
Seymour and Morgan, which last was the successful
machine. An incident connected with the above trial is re
corded in regard to one of the agents who was exhib
iting the McCormick machine. He, at one time, had
been engaged in business in the east, but suddenly

410 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  BURKE.
disappeared from his accustomed quarters, and was
never heard of again. As the trial went on, Mr.
Hall's father, who was visiting at that time, came
out of the house to witness its progress. As he ap
proached one of the agents, the old gentleman was
seen to be particularly scrutinizing of the personal ap
pearance of the man, and finally burst out with the
exclamation: "Halloa! is that you, Mr. -»  ?
When did you come out here?" No two men ever
looked at each other with greater astonishment than
they did, the one an extensive creditor of the absent
ing defaulter, and the other the veritable debit. It is
needless to add that he also went west; at least he
was mysteriously absent a second time.
An illustration of a conscientious regard for the
true meaning and intent of law is related of Mr. Shel
don. In 1857, he was elected assessor, and fulfilled
the requirements of the office to the satisfaction of all
concerned, and was again elected .to fill the office.
During this same year the legislature changed the old
law so as to require the assessor to put in the land at
its real value. He sacredly performed his duty, and
the result showed a larger increase of taxes and a very
large amount of dissatisfaction among the tax payers,
and, though a very popular man in the town, the feel
ing against him for the proper discharge of his duty
was such, that he could not have obtained a reelection
to office at any price or under any consideration.
Mr. Sheldon was one of the foremost men in every
thing pertaining to the interest of the town when he

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  BURKE. 411
was a resident of it, displaying the same zeal and
energy which he has in his business calling, and,
in his new home, is the leading incentive to all mod
ern improvements in agricultural machinery.
P. L. Carman came to Wisconsin in 1847. He first
located in Columbia county, while we were under the
territorial form of government. In 1853 he removed
to Madison, where, as dealer in grain and coal, and
agricultural implements, he was known for many
years, but for more than twenty years, and up to 1874,
he was best known in Wisconsin and Minnesota as
agent for the " Buffalo Pitts " Thresher. In August,
1864, he purchased that portion of the Sheldon farm,
in the town of Burke, on sections 32 and 33, which lay
on the west side of the Sun Prairie road, containing
about 260 acres. In the same month he di.vided the
land and sold to Wm. F. Fitch about 120 acres, com
prising all the buildings and improvements, reserving
the remaining 140 acres for a residence. He moved
into the Sheldon house at once, and thus became a
resident of the town of Burke, and commenced im-
proving his place by breaking ground for a new
dwelling on the first day of September, having
bought, resold and made building contracts, all be
tween the 16th of August and the 1st of September,
1874. A large and substantial brick dwelling house
was completed and occupied by himself and family on
the 10th day of December the same fall. The site
selected for improvements, adjoined the Grover farm,
and was covered with a thick growth of timber and

412 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  BURKE.
underbrush. The buildings were located with great
care, and the grounds laid out with a view of making
a beautiful wooded lawn. By having the grounds
laid out and plotted, and by working according to a
settled plan, together with the expenditure of not a
little persevering industry, he succeeded in making
one of the pleasantest and most beautiful homes on
the street. The one main feature of the place was the
cool green lawn, containing some six or eight acres,
surrounding the buildings shaded by its native trees,
and added evergreens and shrubbery, and well-kept
drives. This feature will be remembered by those who
were in the habit of passing on their way to the city,
some three miles distant.
In 1873 he sold the place to J. C. McKenney, Esq.,
and removed to Madison.
J. C. McKenney was the assistant United States
Attorney at the time of the breaking up of the whis
ky ring, and successfully prosecuted that portion of
the ring which was tried in Madison. As the result
of his success in the prosecution of these cases in
Madison, he was employed by the government as a
special attorney to conduct the prosecution of the
cases of the same nature in Milwaukee. After the
close of this engagement, he opened an office in Mil
waukee, for the general practice of law, where he is
still engaged. His family lives upon the farm, which
he still occupies as his home.
The portion of the Sheldon farm bought by Wm. F,

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  BURKE. 413
Fitch, stepson of the Hon. Judge Hood, was occupied
by him early in the spring of 1865, and extensive im
provements commenced on the buildings and farm
under the immediate supervision of N. B. Yan Slyke,
Esq. It was occupied as a home by Judge Hood and
family (together with that of Mr. Fitch), for a number
of years, until Judge Hood became a permanent resi
dent in Washington. Mr. Fitch is now connected in
an official capacity with the Chicago & Northwestern
Railway. Mr. H. N. Moulton has recently purchased the old
Isaac Smith farm, on section 33, and has added con
siderable to the general appearance of the place, both
internally and externally. Its proximity to the high
way makes it very observable, as also the addition of a
neat bay window, that during the winter Mrs. Moulton
had tastefully filled with house plants, whose blossoms
in the cold, bleak months of winter, have gladdened
both the eye and the heart, and made it a green spot
in the memory of every passer-by. Mr. Moulton is en
gaged in business in the city, and drives to and from
every morning and evening.
Where John Brigham lives, on section 32, there
was at one time a good hotel. It was built and kept
for a number of years by Eleazer Grover, and was a
well-known resort for travelers. Bennet Britton also
owned and kept a hotel on the farm at present owned
by Gen. Harnden, which was also a desirable resort in
old times. It now stands a little further back than
it did formerly. Gen. Henry Harnden is perhaps not

414 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  BURKE.
usually known to have been the person who captured
Jefferson Davis, when he appeared in his unmanly
suit toward the close of the late rebellion. He was
colonel of the First Wisconsin cavalry that pursued
and overtook Davis, near Irwinville, Georgia. The
facts of that remarkable capture are still fresh in the
memory of our citizens, but the indefatigable endur
ance of the general and his brave men will never be
fully known even from the lips of those who were
participants in the long night and day rides which
finally resulted in the capture of Davis. When taken
prisoner, he expressed a great deal of contempt for '
the United States government, who were employing
their troops, he said, to harass women and children,
and pacing backward and forward in front of Gen.
Harnden and his command, tried to assume an arrog
ance of speech which was significant of an effort to im
press persons with an idea of his importance, and also
that he was not receiving the respect due to him, be
ing simply acknowledged as Mr. Davis. A lady of the
party, said to be Mrs. Davis, sallied forth from one of
the tents, and in an imploring and disturbed manner,
expressed herself in the hearing of the soldiers that
they must be careful not to irritate the president, as
some of them might get hurt.
Gen. Harnden bought this farm of Maj. Meredith,
about four years ago, since, which, he has greatly im
proved it by rebuilding the fences, sinking a new well,
putting up a wind mill, and building a tenement
house. The farm is at present under a very high

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  BURKE. 415
state of cultivation and consists of 200 acres. He is
engaged in breeding short-horn cattle.
Maj. Meredith bought 80 acre6 of this farm from
Capt. Albert Pierson, in 1866, and, after tearing down
the old Britton barn, he built a large new one, and
afterwards added 120 acres more, which he bought of
Mrs. Carpenter, the widow of the former owner, who
lived in Ohio. He conducted a general farming
business, but being Superintendent of Public Prop
erty under Governors Fairchild and Washburne, did
not give the attention to the farm that he otherwise
would. The Major was among the first volunteers in
the Second Regiment, and was First Lieutenant in
Company H. He was wounded at the battle of Bull
Run of July 21, 1861, by which he lost the use of his
arm. He was commissariat of General Pope's com
mand. " Cincinnati Heights," formerly known as " Rock
Terrace," is the residence of J. M. Dickson, a retired
capitalist, who has 300 acres under cultivation. He
gave it the present name in honor of his former
place of residence, Cincinnati. Nature has made it a
lovely spot, and from here you have a grand view of
Madison, with the Lakes on each side. In the dis
tance is the far-famed Blue Mounds, where memory
recalls the place where the first settler lived, Ebenezer
Brigham, who in those pioneer days, when he dug
for lead, was obliged to carry it on his back to Min
eral Point, twenty miles distant, and return with his
supplies in the same manner. The surroundings of

416 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  BURKE.
this beautiful spot cannot be penned; they must be
seen. The first proprietors of the " Heights," were John
Tweed and J. Y. Bobbins, but shortly afterwards
Robbins bought out Tweed, arid became solo owner.
He took a great interest in the raising of stock of the
very best; buying only premium cattle wherever he
had an opportunity, and keeping nothing but the
best swine, cows, and horses. He was the occasion of
of the great impetus given to the surrounding country
in the raising of pure stock. An extensive nursery
was also carried on by him, under the able superin
tendence of the late L. P. Chandler, who was for
many years foreman with the Hon. Marshall P.
Wilder. An idea may be given of the extensiveness of Mr.
Robbins' farm, when it is stated that the Hons. J. J.
Crittenden and Thomas F. Marshall of Kentucky
(when in Madison during one of the political cam
paigns) were the guests of Mr. Robbins, and on
being escorted by the Governor's Guards out to his
residence, he received them with a greater number
of his employes than the whole military company,
besides the display of flags and emblems were larger
than had been made at Madison.
Being a great admirer of the late Hon. Stephen
A. Douglas, he made a cheese that weighed 1,620
pounds, that was exhibited at our State Fair in 1860,
but which he intended presenting to Douglas the
same year, if he became the successful candidate for

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  BURKE. 417
president of the United States. He did not get
elected, so the cheese was reluctantly cut up and
distributed among a number of Mr. Robbins friends,
who pronounced it a first class article. To make the
cheese Mr. Robbins had his teams scattered over the
town solicting milk from the other farmers, whose
contributions he paid for.
The farm now owned by H. P. Hall, on sections 20,
21, 28 and 33, embraces, with other purchases, the
farm once owned by Wm. F. Porter, Esq., who put
up many of the buildings. Mr. Hall has since made
extensive improvements, adding greatly to the num
ber and extent of the buildings. He has a large dairy
and furnishes milk to the citizens of Madison. The
farm is known as the " Orchard Farm " for the reason
that there were once 2,600 apple and fruit trees on the
land. There are now about 1,600 apple trees of hardy
varieties in thriving condition, many of the tender
varieties of apples, pears, plum and cherry trees hav
ing proved too tender for this climate. This is per
haps the largest orchard farm in the county.
This farm embraces some 668 acres of fine land, well
proportioned for profit and convenience, abundantly
supplied with wood and water, and has most likely,
the finest and most complete set of farm buildings in
this section of the country. There are five dwelling
houses, five large barns with stables, ice house, observ
atory, etc. The basement used for cows is of solid
masonry, 60 by 120 feet. Water is conducted from
tanks to parts of the buildings and adjacent fields,
27

418 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  BURKE.
with a constant supply for over 200 head of stock.
In the summer of 1858 Mr. H. made some seven miles
of ditch, the main one being 8 feet wide, 4 feet deep
and 3f miles in length, to improve a large meadow
which was unprofitable, the neighbors expressing
their pity for the waste of money, and folly of the
Yankee farmer. It may be interesting to know that
that portion of the farm, some 340 acres, has become
firm land, bearing heavy grass, and for years been
adapted to the use of machinery and suitable for
driving upon with horse and carriage at all seasons of
the year. The drainage has been followed up where
needed, till within a few years, and is now complete.
The main house stands off the road with a beau
tiful lawn of two acres in front, surrounded in part
by a magnificent circle of evergreens, which are some
thirty to forty feet high, and form a shaded drive
way, which for magnificence is hard to excel, even in
older or wealthier portions of our country. The views
from parts of the farm are extensive and charming,
embracing views of Madison, the lakes, asylum and
Blue Mounds. This farm was entered for premium
farm in 1860, and though then in a crude condition,
the committee of the Wisconsin State Agricultural
Society, made the following mention:
This farm has every variety of land necessary to make an ex
cellent grain and stock farm. These superior natural advantages
are being well improved by Mr. Hall  It is but four years since
this entire farm was in a state of nature. We find the buildings all
in excellent condition, comprising every convenience of an old New
England farm that has been improved a hundred years  He

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  BURKE. 419
depends upon no> one thing to make his farm profitable, but is de
veloping each branch of agriculture with zeal, system and apparent
suocess. His horses are good, substantial animals, without running
specially to fancy; his cattle are all good, and means are being
used for their improvement, .... and everything is kept in a man
ner that indicates good skill and economy in his operations  He
is doing a noble work in reclaiming a marsh on the back part of his
farm  There can be but little doubt but land that a year or two
ago was so wet that it was useless, will be made the most valuable
on his farm. W. S. A. T., pp. 146-7, 1860.
As high as 43^ bushels of wheat have been raised
on an acre of land, and 138 bushels of corn, under
most favorable seasons and circumstances. Mr. Hall
being one of the executive committee for a number
of years afterwards, was of course precluded from
making a contest for a premium a second time.
The amount of capital invested in this farni is an
exhibit, not only of the great confidence and faith
which Mr. Hall has had in the rich and prolific bearing
of the soil, but of that stability of aim which has had
the power and the will to make even the sterile lands
subservient to his purposes. There has been expend
ed in the way of improvements over $70,000, an
amount that would (in proportion to what is deemed
certain investments in commercial circles) startle and
amaze many. The tact of managing his farm and
hired help is well worth imitation by all who find that
their bane is poor help. He is particular in his first
agreement with his hands, so that no misunderstand
ing may occur by which either party may be disap
pointed in their expectations ; and then he is also in
sympathy with them because of a rule he has of not

420 DANE COUNTY TOWNS — BURKE.
asking too much, knowing that human endurance has
a limit both physically and morally. He requires no
extra labor, however trivial, that is not compensated
by its equivalent in pay. There are over thirty souls
that live and are dependent on, the labors of this farm.
When the bustle and hurry of spring, summer and
fall work have somewhat relieved the constant friction
of their bearing on the hired help, Mr. Hall gives
them a social entertainment, in which they have
music, together with a choice selection of the crea
ture comforts. On one occasion the Madison brass
band resolved to compliment Mr. H. and family by a
serenade, and engaged an express wagon to carry them
out to his house. After discoursing some of their
sweet strains, the hospitalities of the house were kind
ly proffered them. The teamster having delivered
his charge, tied his horses in a convenient place, and
prepared for a night's frolic. As the hours moved on,
the horses became restive and finally broke loose and
ran away. When informed by some one of the fact,
the driver, who was of Teutonic origin, came rushing
out in an excited state, addressed every one he met
with the exclamation: " Who tie my horse loose /
Who tie my horse loose ? " The horses were after
wards found tied loose, about two miles distant on
the Token Creek road.
Mr. Geo. J. Margerum, lately of Youngstown, Ohio,
has bought the farm, on section 22, formerly owned by
H. P. Hall, and now known as " Fairview Farm,"
and has made some very extensive changes there.

DANE COUNTY TOWNS — BURKE. 421
The improvements are of a superior character and he
seems to take advantage of his opportunities, as may
be seen by the neat and useful observatory he has
constructed; in putting his windmill to a double
purpose. The frame is boxed in with wood, and neatly
painted, while inside a stair is built with conveni
ent platforms at each alternate angle, which leads
to the top, and from which a commanding and pleas-
sing view is obtained of the rich and beautiful fields,
all over the country; the churches of Sun Prairie,
the Blue Mounds in the distance, towns of West-
port, Springfield, Dane, Yienna, Windsor, are all, set
out before the eye in panoramic beauty, while Madi
son, with its surroundings, lies in queenly grandeur in
the sunlight of her magn indent lakes. Mr. Margerum
. intends adding still further to the conveniences of the
tower inside and out. He has made some purchases
of choice horses, cattle and sheep, and purposes engag
ing in the raising of stock, having prepared his large
barn and other buildings for that object.
Mr. Robert Ogilvie, the present owner of the '76
farm on section — , is engaged in raising pure br,oed
Clydesdale horses. His farm is still kept under good
cultivation, although he is much occupied with his
business in the city of Madison. He has concen
trated a great deal of attention in the raising of pure
stock, but more especially horses. That our readers
may have some conception of the character of these
horses, we herewith submit a description of them,
showing their breeding and pedigree:

422 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  BURKE.
"Marquis of Lornb," two years old, and will now weigh
over 1,600 pounds, and from the time he was a foal by his mother's
side up to the present, he has never failed to carry away the first
honors in any ring wherever shown, at the many state and county
fairs he has attended.
" Robbie Bubns " is a powerful brown horse seven years old,
stands 16% hands high and weighs over 2,000 pounds, on remark
able good legs, great bone and substance, combined with superior
action and good temper. He is pronounced the most perfect model
of a Clydesdale horse in Scotland or America. He was bred by
Mr. Wilson Brittlebog, Kilburnie (Scotland) and sired by Eabbie
Burns, the property of Mr. Clark, Manswraes, Kilburchan. His
dam was also one of the successful mares that carried off the prizes
at several of the local fairs in her district. Bobbie Burns was first
exhibited at the great horse show in Milwaukee, and took second in
his class and second in sweepstakes, being beaten in both only by
the farfamed "Donald IHnnie." He took first prizes in Quincy,
111., and first at the great horse fair in St. Louis, which has ever
been regarded as the largest and most prominent agricultural fair
held on this continent.
" Duke of Buocleuch," one year old, a worthy Son of the fam
ous Donald Dinnie, who won the international medal at the Centen
nial Exhibition in Philadelphia last year.
" Princess," a pure bred imported Clylesdale mare, sixyears old,
weighing over 1,900 pounds, and has been a first prize winner at
every fair where she has been shown since^her importation to this
country. " Gxpsy Queen," five years old; another pure bred, imported
Clydesdale mare, who took first in her class two years ago at the
great horse show at St. Louis,
In addition to the above, Mr. Ogilvie has many
other valuable horses, which undoubtedly place his
entire stock superior to any other in this state. There
are other specialities here, apart from his horses; in
the way of good hogs and cattle. The hogs are par
ticularly good, being first prize and sweepstakes
winners at our state and county fairs; they are the

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  BURKE. 423
justly famous Berkshire breed, now so popular among
the first feeders and breeders of the present day. The
cattle are pure bred and graded short horns, and like
everything else on the farm, are not to be surpassed
anywhere. There is a spring on the farm that is known as the
head of the " Clyde Creek " which flows in a south
westerly direction, through the town of Blooming
Grove into Third lake. Philo Dunning for some
years had a saw mill on the stream, at a place which
was known by some as "Millwood."
Mr. Henry Gilman owns a fine large farm of 400
acres, on section 22, known as " Hill Side " farm.
It was at one time owned by J. Y. Robbins, who
put a very extensive and expensive lot of buildings
on it, and called them the "farm-house," but which
were accidentally destroyed by fire, when owned by
Dexter Curtis. The thorough and extensive improve
ments which Mr. Gilman has made, rank with the
leading farms in town. He has rebuilt a portion of
the barns, refitted the elegant white brick house, situa
ted a few rods from the road, beautifully surrounded
with evergreens, and is devoting himself entirely to
the raising of stock. He is at present engaged in
erecting a barn on the old site of the famous Robbins
barn, which was the most complete building for that
purpose in the state. The new barn will measure
fifty by one hundred feet, and is intended as a rival
to its predecessor. The well arranged conveniences
which surround his farm are not surpassed by any

424 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  BURKE.
other in the county, and he is making it his object
to spare neither labor nor money in making it a
model farm in every particular. There are two cis
terns, one of which holds 1,500 and the other ] ,000
barrels of water, that are in themselves sufficient to
house both flocks and herds. He has a convenient
platform scale in front of his farm, for the use of
himself and neighbors, in weighing hay and cattle.
His wells are thirty feet deep in the soil, and then
drilled through rock the same distance. While the
workmen were engaged drilling, they struck a vein
of water that precipitated the drill eighteen inches
down, and an endless flow of water at any season and
under all circumstances was the result.
Mr. Gilman is a son of Gen. John C. Gilman, of
Watertown, one of the oldest pioneer settlers of the
state. He and Tim. Johnson were the first to settle
in Watertown, having come in the winter of 1836.
In the spring of 1847 he was engaged to locate the
school lands in the Mineral Point district, and em
ployed John Douglas as surveyor, to assist him. On
the discovery of gold in California, the General im
migrated there, and remaining a few years returned
home, then started for Pike's- Peak, and afterwards to
Montana, where he died in 1869. Soon after the
selection of the land for school purposes, and imme
diately at the conclusion of the Mexican war, he, in
consequence of his acquaintance with the land, lo
cated a large number of pieces for those who held land
warrants, and at the same time located three quarter

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  BURKE. 425
sections for himself, in the town of Yienna, which
he afterwards bought and sold to his son Henry, who
broke up the land and farmed it for some years, but
selling out, went into the mercantile business in the
village of Sun Prairie, his chief object being to secure
better opportunities for educating his children. Hav
ing a good chance to dispose of this business, he sold
and bought his present location, the Robbins farm.
He has again entered business in Sun Prairie, being a
partner in the firm of Gilman, Moak and Weigan.
Near the back of his house there is a knoll that
is said to be the highest point of land in the town,
and which Mr. Robbins, when he owned the farm,
was undecided whether to build there or on " Cincin
nati Heights." The view from here is equally inten
sifying in grandeur to that of the others, and with
surrounding fields spread round the knoll, is sugges
tive of the times when chiefs assembled their follow
ers around some such eminence for the purpose of
harranguing them. A host could be gathered round
this, spot, and their leader's every gesture and word
seen and heard with distinctness. On the opposite
side of the highway, there is a portion of land that
looks like a twin sister to this knoll, and may at one
time have been part of it. It is on Mr. Margerum's
farm, and has been opened and excellent stone ob
tained for building purposes.
Doctor Wightman and Mr. Damon were the first
owners of the farm now owned by La Fayette Stow, on
section 23. Mr. Stow has moved the double house

426 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  BURKE.
farther from the road, to a more convenient and pleas-
anter place, and built a fine, large barn, with a stone
basement, and convenient scales for weighing.
On the road between sections 21 and 22, there is a hill
known as " Norwegian Hill " (named so because a num
ber of citizens of that nationality reside near there).
It has lately been graded and greatly improved. On
the top of this hill, N. B. Yan Slyke, Esq., has a fine
farm with a good view of the city in the distance.
Ensign hill, on section 10, is well known as one of
the places where a good view of the county can be
obtained. It is called Ensign hill, because a gentle
man of that name owned the farm on this section. It
is noted for its cold exposure in winter, so that a
common expression among the neighbors is to say,
" as cold as Ensign hill."
Some of the early settlers are, Mr. Dailey, on sec
tion 33, Gardner Cotrell on 23, A. D. Goodrich on 9,
F. H. Talcott on 15, James Sullivan and H. D. Good-
enow on 34, C. M. Nichols and George Nichols on 36,
Thomas Rathbun on 11, Thomas Sandon and J. P.
W. Hill on 5, Martin Lewis on 1, S. W. Thompson
on 12, Torkel Gulekson and Gunder Olson on 24.
The farm of Sidney H. Hall comprises one hun
dred and sixty acres of prairie and opening. It is
pleasantly situated, and affords a fine view of Madi
son and the lakes. Brought under cultivatian in 1857,
it was originally a grain farm, but at present is de
voted to market gardening, and is also the home of a
herd of Alderney cattle. An orchard of 500 trees and

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  BURKE. 427
a well 130 feet deep are the principal attractions of
the place. From the bottom of this well may always
be heard the rippling of an unseen spring. One of
the earliest windmills in the country was set up over
this well.
The farm of Adam Smith comprises 520 acres, on
sections 13 and 14, and is beautifully situated. It is
part prairie, oak openings and meadow lands, and the
house is acknowledged to be the most complete in the
county. He came west in 1837, and was one of those
who worked on the capitol, and afterward purchased
the interest of Pineo, the " shingle weaver," and made
shingles'for the capitol contractors. He kept tavern on
his present farm for twenty-eight years, and was the
first that staked out the road between Token Creek
road and Sun Prairie. He also assisted in laying
out the one between Cottage Grove and the Creek.
When he kept tavern, his house was much frequented,
and many social gatherings were held there that recall
pleasant recollections among many early settlers.
As justice of the peace, he sometimes made the law
subservient to the circumstances of the case. A thief
was once caused to pay the penalty of his crime by
walking through the slush roads back to the place he
committed the depredation, and after suitable apology
and a reprimand, was set at liberty ; while on another
occasion, he threatened to chastise two clients that
would not, at his suggestion, come to an amicable set
tlement. Many and singular samples of humanity
put up at his tavern, and if unable to pay, a candid

428 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  BURKE.
acknowledgment of the fact was sufficient for him, but
it sometimes happened that an impostor would try to
take advantage of the landlord's generous hospitality.
A man of considerable physical power once took
breakfast there, and refused to pay because he had no
money. Mr. Smith seemed to doubt him, when the
fellow, seemingly conscious of his physical superiority,
boldly walked off. He was pursued by Mr. Smith,
and after a desperate struggle brought back, when
$300 in gold was found tied securely round his waist.
He was made to pay for his breakfast, and also, as Mr.
Smith called it, the legal expenses of bringing him
back. Mr. Smith was considered a dead shot with the
rifle. The elk horns that were exhibited for so many
years at Rodermund's brewery were supposed to be
the results of his rifle.
The grist mill on section 5 was commenced in 1849
by David C. Butterfield, a peculiar and eccentric man,
that in early times did some trading with the Indians.
He did not complete the mill, but Rasdall and Loomis
bought and finished it, and it is still in operation and
a great convenience to the surrounding country. Ras
dall was an old pioneer settler and Indian trader, and
was one of the spy scouts in the Black Hawk war.
He was accidentally killed by getting into the gearing
of the mill.
Douglas and Parfey built and owned the grist mill
in the south part of Windsor, at Token Creek, and
soon after Mr. Douglas became sole proprietor. It

DANE COUNTY TOWNS — BURKE. 429
was badly constructed at first, so that new wheels and
gearing had to be put in and the dam thoroughly re
paired, making it an expensive investment to the then
owner. He now has a half interest it.
At Token Creek, in Windsor, near the line, there is
a number of springs which are now being success
fully used by Ellis Lawrence as a fish hatchery. He
has made two ponds, and has about fifteen hundred
trout in them. It promises to be an excellent spot
for the purpose he is now engaged in developing.
Abner Cady built the first brick house in the town,
on section 16, the brick of which he made himself.
It is now occupied by Hermon Olson.
David Grafton, a veterinary surgeon, who lives on
section 3, has a far-famed reputation for his profes
sional skill in , the treatment of the diseases of all
kinds of cattle and horses, the latter more especially,
and is much sought after among those needing his
attention. He is a man of remarkably generous im
pulses, and for which he is even more highly esteemed
than he is professionally. "Uncle David," as he is
familiarly and affectionately called, has a heart too
large to be measured by the world's narrow guage.
No neighbor ever feels the sharp shaft of sorrow, that
does not find in him a soothing and helpful friend in
need; and no wayfarer ever passes his house whose
wants are not bountifully supplied, and he set on his
way rejoicing. He is a man of upwards of seventy
years, but yet is so hale and hearty, that he bids fair
to outlive many of his juniors. It will be a dark day

430 DANE COUNTY TOWNS — BURKE.
to the town when it shall be known that the "golden
bowl is broken, and the silver cord loosed," and "Un
cle David" gone to his long home.
The first and only church is on section 15, with a
cemetery attached. It belongs to the Norwegian
Lutherans. There is a Grange Hall on section 23,
and nine public school houses and eleven school dis
tricts, including joint districts. The track of Madi
son and Portage Railroad passes through the western
part of the town, the Chicago, Milwaukee and St.
Paul on the southeast, and the Northwestern, the
southwest corner.
There are cemetery grounds on sections 14 and 26.
That part of the road leading out to the Insane
Asylum, from Madison, passes over a part of the west
ern line of the town, and is familiarly known as Sugar
Bush grove, from the number of maple trees growing
there. It is the leading road to the Asylum, and
also to several of the towns north of Burke.
The town is near the city of Madison, and one of
the principal thoroughfares from the city is a leading
artery through the town of Burke to several of the
towns in the county, and is known as the "Sun Prairie
road." It is directly in a line with the State capital
in a northeastern direction. It was at one time part
of the old military road to Green Bay. That portion
of the road lying nearest the city was for years a
source of trouble to the citizens, in consequence of
the marshy character of the ground leading over the
creek, and impassible in spring or wet weather. Mr.

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  BURKE. 431
H. P. Hall agreed with a number of the citizens to
fill up the marsh provided they would contribute to
ward the expense. The work was done, and is now
one of the best parts of the road.
Mr. S. A. Cummings is recently from Massachus-
sets, and has bought what is known as the "Floral
Hill" farm, and is engaged in general farming.
David Prindle was an early settler on section 26,
and was, before he died, the oldest man in town. He
died at about ninety years of age.
Washington Woodward, on sec. 11, has some fast
horses which lately carried off the prize at Stoughton.
C. G. Lewis, son of Martin Lewis, and brother of
H. M. Lewis, attorney, Madison, has a fine farm on
section one. The road here is beautifully situated for
a drive, and those having fast horses often use the
street as a place to try their speed. The old gentle
man is about eighty years of age, and drives the cows
to the pasture like a youngster.
Judge L. B. Yilas owns nearly all of section 36,
on which there are some springs that have mineral
properties of a medicinal character in them.
The soil is good for grain and stock raising, while
water is both good and plenty. Some of the best
farms, best buildings and modern improvements are
to be found in this town, and with its location and
numerous advantages will be ranked among the best
in the state. The people are of an enterprising, steady
character, made up of several nationalities, and noted
for a development of a thorough knowledge of agri
cultural pursuits in all its bearingB.

432 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  DEERFIELD.
DEERFIELD.
BY K. O. HEIMDAL.
This town is the third from the north and south, in
the eastern tier of towns in the county, occupying the
whole of township No. 7, range No. 12 east, and was
set off from Cottage Grove, which bounds it on the
west; and organized as a separate town in 1849. The
first town meeting was held April 3, the same year, at
the house of D. R. Hyer, and thirty-five votes were
polled, and the following officers were elected: Allan
E. Adsit, chairman; Emery Sampson and George
R. Fryer, supervisors; H. L. Foster, town clerk;
Benjamin Potter, treasurer; and Martin W. Adsit,
assessor. Previous to, and during the early settlement, deer
were very plenty, and when the sleighing was good,
it was a favorite method to hunt with teams, and
generally with good success, and so it was suggested
that the town should be called Deerfield.
The first house put up in this town was on section
18, on the road from Madison to Milwaukee, by
Philip Kearney. The work on the house was done by
Judge N. F. Hyer and others. It was intended for a
half-way house between Madison and Aztalan, and
is said to have been occupied only a short time; but
by whom, we have been unable to ascertain. The house
was built in the summer of 1839, soon after those long

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  DEERFIELD. 433
corduroy bridges were finished across the marshes, in
the eastern part of the town. The lumber for this
house was drawn from Lake Mills, by B. Ingraham,
who afterwards settled in the town; but not having a
permanent occupant, it was in a short time ruined,
and carried off piecemeal.
Judge Hyer, one of the oldest settlers, has cour
teously furnished the following exceedingly interest
ing letter, which we quote in full, and wish he had
given us a still further resume of his early Wiscon
sin history. He resided in Wisconsin from 1836 un
til 1849, when he left for the South, on account of ill
health, residing most of the time in New Orleans.
He still continues to cherish a deep interest in every
thing that relates to the settlement of Wisconsin, both
past and present. He writes:
In the fall of 1837, Capt. Stansbury, with Lieuts. J. D. Webster
and Charles Hagner, of the U. S. Engineer Department, came to
Milwaukee for the purpose of expending an appropriation by the
government in making a road from Milwaukee to Madison, on the
most direct and practicable route. They being unacquainted with
the country, Capt. Stansbury sent for me, then residing at Aztalan,
to come and pilot them through, which I did. On arriving at Az
talan and finding comfortable accommodations at the house of
Thomas Bray ton, Esq., who had recently arrived, and discovering
it to be very impracticable to ride through on the route to Madi
son, on account of the impassable marshes, I was employed to
make the survey through, which I did, but not without some
suffering, as there was some nine miles of the way so surrounded
with marsh that it was impossible to get on with team or pack
horse, so we had to take on our backs the tent, camp equipage, pro
visions, etc. The day was cold, and we had to wade streams and
marshes, and, before reaching the point selected for camping, my
pantaloons became frozen to my boots, my boots to my stockings, and
28

434 DANE COUNTY TOWN" —DEERFIELD.
stockings to my feet, and my feet, as a matter of course, became
somewhat cold, but the sensation was rather that of pain than cold.
We soon had a rousing fire; I cut the boots from my feet{ and
spent most of the night in making moccasins for use the next day.
My assistants did not appear to suffer so much. We soon found
ourselves tolerably comfortable, and, after partaking of a hearty
meal, hastily cooked, began to feel quite well again, and turned in
for the night, but soon the sensation of thirst came upon us, when
we realized the fact that we had not with us a pail or bucket to get
water from the stream (Koshkonong creek) which was near by. One
offered to go and get the water, if he had anything to bring it in;
another offered his boots for buckets;, this being the best we could
do under the circumstances, was adopted, and we were thus enabled
to quench our thirst. The next day we succeeded in reaching Madison.
Why the Half-way House was built:
The next season, in October, 1839, Philip Kearney, a gentleman
residing in the city of New York, father of Gen. Phil. Kearney, of
the U. S. army, who was killed in the rebellion, sent his nephew
P. J. Kearney with an introductory letter requesting me to assist in
locating some land in Wisconsin. I started with him for Madison,
on his way to Mineral Point, where the Land Office was then kept.
Our new road not being then opened, we went by way of Sun
Prairie, where lived three brothers, by the name of Lawrence, in a
small cabin, who entertained travelers as well as they could; there
we arrived about one o'clock, tired and hungry; we wanted our
horses fed and dinner for ourselves. We succeeded in getting feed
for our horses, but for ourselves they had nothing but one wild
goose; nothing to cook him with, and nothing to eat with him
when cooked. Mr. K. wanted him roasted; so a fire was made, and
the goose strung up for roasting. Those who have not watched the
slow roasting of a turkey or goose, when very hungry, cannot realize
our condition while watching and waiting for that goose. Mr. K.
at length becoming impatient, asked me if I would not select a
place on our new road about half way between Aztalan and Madi
son and have a double log house built where travelers could be ac
commodated. I told him I would, and did; and that is the way the
first house in Deerfield was built. Mr. Philip Kearney paid for the
land and the house.
It now occurs to me that of twenty men, including the three gov
ernment engineers, assisting in making that survey, none are left

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  DEERFIELD. 435
"save Levi. P. Drake and John Starkweather, of Madison, and your
humble servant, Nath. F. Hyer.
The bridges or causeways mentioned above were
built for the purpose of facilitating the travel across
the marshes by the several stages, whose route lay
through the town, and was done by the filling up of
the marsh with every kind of brush and waste ma
terial found near by, and then large logs felled and
laid across. In the wet season it frequently happened
that the stages would drive over these causeways,
with the water nearly up to the wheel hubs. The
changes incident to the cultivation of the soil have
materially affected these roads for the better, and they
are now dry and substantial.
The first settlers in this town were Norwegians, and
and the first Nels Siverson. He settled on section
35, and built a cabin in the spring of 1840. He is still
living, but resides in Minnesota. In 1842, his brother
Ole Siverson, settled on section 33, where he still con
tinues to live. Lars Davidson settled on section 28,
the same year, and is still in the town. In June, 1843,
Colben Olson and his brother, Stork Olson, settled on
section 30, and still continues to reside there; and
about the same time, B. Ingraham and David R.
Hyer, the first two Americans in the town, located
together on section 9, where the village of Deerfield
now is, built a tavern, which they conducted for some
years, and then dissolved partnership, Mr. Hyer be
coming the proprietor. For a number of years, it
was the relay house for the old Milwaukee, Janesville,

436 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  DEERFIELD.
Columbus and Madison four-horse stage, where fresh
horses were exchanged going or returning, until the
Chicago, Milwaukee and Prairie du Chien Railroad
supplied their more expeditious route. The supplies
for the stages were bought and kept here, the oats
and hay being obtained from the surrounding farm
ers, and purchased by Mr. Hyer. Many a jolly load
of passengers stopped at Hyer's for refreshments, and
during the session of the legislature extra coaches had
sometimes to be sent out, which made lively times for
the tavern keepers. Mr. Hyer was the first postmas
ter in the town, and held the office as long as he lived
here. He now resides in the town of Springfield, and
has furnished us the following facts, which we feel
certain are but as a drop, compared with the numer
ous incidents which he must have witnessed and
known when he was mine host of the Relay tavern:
About the 1st of August, 1842, 1 commenced with a force of ten
men to build a log house on Sec. 9, T. 7, R. 12 E. (now Deerfield),
for the purpose of keeping a tavern for the accommodation of trav
elers, who were daily increasing in numbers, and within tliree weeks
completed a substantial building, with six rooms. One night, du
ring our stay, we were much annoyed by wolves, who had caught a
deer and devoured it within a few rods from our encampment,
small remains of which were found scattered about in the morn
ing. At another time, they made an attack on our cattle, that were
feeding near by, and caused a great commotion among them; they
bellowed and ran together, the same as they do when they smell
the blood of any of their number slain. None were killed, but many
of them showed the marks of the teeth and claws of the wolves.
Soon after completing my log house I removed therein, and was
appointed postmaster, and the place was duly christened "Deer
field." I built my stables for the accommodation of forty or more
horses, and made additions to my house as occasion required, until

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  DEERFIELD. 437
the ground floor covered a space of 44 by 74 feet, and could conven
iently accommodate forty or more persons with lodging; and a
dancing hall 32 by 25 feet, where parties, often from a distance of
twenty-five miles, came for recreation.
In addition to the mail route from Milwaukee to Madison, a new
route was soon established from Janesville to Columbus, with two-
horse coaches, via Deerfield. The staging on the Milwaukee and
Madison line increased to two daily post coaches, and often two or
three extras, and the demand for oats to feed teams, purchased and
furnished by me, amounted to from 5,000 to 7,000 bushels annually
for five years. The oats were all raised within a radius of ten miles
of my house. This much was accomplished about fifteen years from
the first survey through the wilderness.
The settlers spoken of were only the beginning of
more extensive immigration. Lars Torgerson settled
here in 1842, and still remains. Charles and Martin
Adsits settled in 1845, while Allan E. Adsits and
family came in 1846. For four or five years after the
first settlement, the town increased in population very
rapidly, and has continued to do so up to the present.
In 1875, when the census was taken, the population in
the town was 906, the largest proportion of which
were of foreign birth, such as Norwegians, Germans
and Irish.
The only streams of any importance are Koshkonong
and Mud creeks. The first named enters the town on
section 19, and flows easterly into the large expanse
of water known as Krogh's Mill Pond, which covers
a portion of sections 13, 14, 15, 22, 23 and 24, leav
ing the town on the last section. The pond has been
the source of litigation between the mill-owner and
the property owners on the edge of the pond, in con
sequence of the large amount of land submerged. The

438 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  DEERFIELD.
current is very slow on this stream, so that it gives no
water-power in the town, though over the line in Jef
ferson county there is a mill privilege. Mud Creek
enters on section 34, and empties into the pond on
section 27.
The surface of this town is gently undulating. A
portion of Liberty Prairie, lying within the south
western part, is included within its boundaries. The
southeastern part of the town is prairie and openings.
the northwestern part, bare openings ; and the north
east part, heavy timber, with more or less marsh.
This timber land was entered by the early settlers in
the adjoining towns for timber lots; but as it is now cut
off, the land is cleared for agricultural purposes. We
have, in the southwestern part, excellent stone quar
ries, both limestone and sandstone.
Some years ago, there was a saw-mill built on sec
tion 20, by Mr. Thompson and Mr. Knudson; but just
as it was ready to run, the dam broke, and it was
never repaired, as the country being extremely level,
the damage caused by overflowing was very great.
Along these streams are excellent hay marshes, as
good as any in the county. In the northeastern part
of the town, some of the marshes will, in course of
time, be valuable for the cultivation of cranberries. In
this part of the town there is a large pond, which is
called " Goose Pond," from the great number of these
birds frequenting here. Hunters find abundance of
duck also, and in the fall of the year it is very much
patronized.

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  DEERFIELD. 439
In educational matters, we have achieved very satis
factory results. We have five good schoolhouses,
a number of joint-districts, and some private schools.
There are in the town three churches, one Lutheran,
Rev. J. A. Ottesen, pastor; one Evangelical Luth
eran, Rev. Rasmus O. Hill, pastor; and the other,
Roman Catholic, Rev. Father Maher. Each one have
regular service performed by their respective pastors.
There are two postoffices in town, one in the vil
lage of Deerfield, Henry Bennett, postmaster; and the
other at Nora, near the stone church, on Liberty
Prairie, Andrew A. Prescott, postmaster; mail tri
weekly. In the village there is one store kept by
Charles Mayer; two blacksmiths shops kept by H.
Bennett and Mr. Seeley ; and a good hotel kept by
Mr. Benj. Baldwin.
For years, wheat has been the principal crop raised,
but of late, our best farmers have engaged more in
what is called mixed farming, raising of stock, and
seeding down their land. In 1876, the acreage of
the different kinds of crops was as follows : Timothy
and clover, 227 acres; wheat, 2,710; oats, 1,078; corn,
1,045; barley, 1,387; rye, 94; hops, 21; tobacco, 30.
The facilities for marketing our produce in this
town are, on the whole, quite convenient. Marshall
and Waterloo are on the north, Jefferson and Fort At
kinson on the east; Stoughton and McFarland on the
Bouth and west, so that if we have no railroads, we
have the consolation that we have ready access to
market. The town has no bonded indebtedness.

440 DANE COUNTY TOWNS — CROSS PLAINS.

CROSS PLAINS.
BY HENRY WINKLE, Esq.
The town of Cross Plains, or town No. 7, north of
range No. 7 east, is situated just fifteen miles west
of Madison. The town was first settled in 1840, by
Edward, Hugh and John Campbell. They were soon
followed by John W. Thomas, Berry Haney, Francis
Wilson, Thomas Arland and Sylvester Bell, who set
tled in the northern part, and William and Samuel
Showers, Ripha Warden, Sidney Morgan, Jno. H.
Clark, George P. Thompson, William Howry and
David B. Carden, the last gentleman still a resident
of the town, in the southern part.
The organization and first town meeting was held
on the 6th day of April, 1847, and Ripha Warden, Ira
Campbell and Jno. H. Clark were elected supervisors;
Berry Haney, clerk; William Showers, treasurer;
William Howry, assessor. Four school districts were
organized. Shortly afterwards schools were opened
and teachers supplied.
The town received its name from two military
roads — one from Galena to Fort Winnebago, and
the other from Prairie du Chien to Green Bay —
crossing on a plain or piece of prairie land, about
the middle of the town, and hence the name " Cross
Plains."

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  CROSS PLAINS. 441
The town was a favorite hunting ground among the
Indians, and was also noted as the residence of Rob
ert Steele, a hunter and trapper, who, as the town
became settled, moved away to some other place more
suited for his business. In 1845, John Howry came
from Yirginia and settled on section 19, where he still
continues to reside.
A great deal of suffering was endured among the
early settlers, especially among those who came late
in the season. Some were obliged to hunt for roots
and herbs to sustain them until harvest brought them
their grain, which they carried to Madison to be sold,
or rather exchanged, for what was then called store
goods. Their grists were taken to Pokerville, in
Iowa county, about fifteen or twenty miles distant,
and sometimes a great deal farther, if they were un
fortunate in finding the mill undergoing repair.
The Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul railroad
crosses the town on the north, and the Madison, Min
eral Point, or Madison and Dodgeville stage road,
crosses on the south. The population of the town is
about 1,500.
The northern part of the town is laid out in three
villages, of which the first is Cross Plains. It was
platted by the Baer Brothers, who kept a general stock
of merchandise suitable for a country store. John,
one of the brothers,, is still doing an excellent busi
ness. Adrian Yirnig has a grocery and saloon; Engel
Uebersetzig, saloon and public hall; Joseph Marx,
blacksmith; and Peter Schut, wagon maker. Near-

442 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  CROSS PLAINS.
ly opposite John Baer's there is a neat Catholic
Church, built in the Gothic style, and with a parson
age attached for the use of the pastor, Rev. John
Friedl, and a large building for the use of the parish
and parochial school, which is taught by two of the
sisters. Toward the northeast part of the village
the Hon. Peter Zander, a wealthy and prosperous
farmer, and our ex-assemblyman of 1876, has his
farm. The next village is Christina, platted in 1856, by
P. L. Mohr, Esq., then living in Madison, who had
selected this spot for a village, on account of the love
liness of scenery it presented, and gave it its present
name in honor of his wife. The Indians, in early
times, had their wigwams raised there, and visited it
often for a number of years after the white faces had
taken possession of it. The three story stone grist
mill at this village was built in 1858, by Oscar Mohr
and Dr. Francis Fisher, who also erected a number of
dwelling houses, and carried on a farming and milling
business for eight years. A. Dederich and Charles
Herman kept hotel in the village in those times. Her
man Zinkeisen, who afterwards perished on the ill-
fated steamer " Schiller," carried on the first and
most extensive general store and produce business
in the village, which he afterwards sold out to R.
Pickhardt. In 1856 the mill was sold to A. Kim
ball, who ran it for three years, and then sold it to
Gustave Hering, who put in steam power. Besides
being in the milling business, he is largely engaged in

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  CROSS PLAINS. 443
the sale of agricultural implements of every descrip
tion, and adds to his extensive business both energy
and thrift. Herman J. Dahmen is located on the op
posite side from the mill, and has a general stock of
merchandise, with a saloon attached; then there is
Cross Plains postoffice and harness shop, kept and
owned by F. H. Fredericks, who is doing a lucrative
business, and whose handsome princely residence is a
short distance from the store. Next comes Michael
Strieker, hardware store and lumber yard; Edward
Lampman, general merchandise store; and two thrif
ty blacksmiths, Charles Brendler and Chr. Koch, with
Ph. Baerenklau, as wagon maker. There have recent
ly been erected two new district school houses two
stories high, where the higher and lower branches of
education will be taught.
The next village is Foxville, platted in 1857, by
Abijah Fox, one of the oldest settlers of the town,
then a farmer, on whose land the depot was located.
Mr. Fox bought and shipped the first bushel of wheat
from that station, in his block warehouse. Joseph
Yirnig and Louis Saemann each keep a saloon here,
while the Brendler Hotel, owned and kept by Mich
ael Brendler, is widely known among commercial
travelers as a first class hotel, and where mine host,
Michael, seeks to make his guests comfortable and at
home. William Marxs keeps the blacksmith shop;
and Carl Jacobi, a first class store of general mer
chandise. Looking from the depot toward the northern bor-

444 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  CROSS PLAINS.
der of the town, in the vicinity of Black Earth vil
lage, is a large rift of bare rocks, and going south
about four miles, you find yourself on a small hill in
the center of the town, on the farm of John Laufen-
bery, an old settler and wealthy farmer ; and still far
ther on you behold the valley of Pine Bluff, one of
the richest valleys in the town, about three miles
square, and a perfect picture in beauty of landscape.
It is called the " Ridge."
Pine Bluff is a solid ledge of high rocks, on the top
of which grow quite a number of fine pine trees, a
scarcity in this part of the country, which gives
the valley quite a romantic aspect, and from which it
takes its name.
The Sugar river rises in the southwest corner of
of the town, on section 32, and passes through sec
tions 33, 34 and 35, in an eastern direction, into the
town of Springdale, in the northeast corner. There
is a branch or spring that rises on section 27 and
unites on section 35. Near where it enters the town
of Springdale is the Mormon Baptismal Pond. In
the early history of the town several Mormons settled
here, and the whole neighborhood for years were
kept in a fevered excitement by the Sunday carnivals
they often held George P. Thompson, T. S. Lloyd
and George Harlow were some of the leaders among
them. George was a son of old Isaiah Harlow, whose
grave is in the beautiful burying ground on the hill
that is overshadowed with the grove of trees, on Jere
miah Murphy's farm, section 31. There are several

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  CROSS PLAINS. 445
of this family buried here, as seen by the neat gray
slabs or headstones that mark their last resting place.
These graves are designated by some of the neigh
bors (but by mistake) as those of the Mormons. The
only member of the family who became a Mormon
was the son George, but who afterwards renounced
and would have nothing to do with them. Near this
same spot is the grave of Mrs. Odell, whose sudden
and mysterious death filled the neighborhood with
amazement. In approaching the town of Cross Plains from the
east, on the Madison and Mineral Point road, we
come to the dividing ridge or ancient beach, so well
defined and preserved as to be observed by every stu
dent of geology. This beach, or ancient sea shore on
this road, comes within ten rods of the east line of the
town of Cross Plains. On its summit there is yet
to be seen an old log, behind which Ebenezer Brig
ham (the first white settler of Dane county) and
Zach. Taylor (ex-President of United States), slept all
night. From the highest part of this ridge, on the Mineral
Point road, we have one of the finest landscapes pre
sented to our view that can perhaps be found any
where in our state, taking in the beautiful valley in
which the head waters of Sugar river rise. This val
ley is surrounded on all sides by the dividing ridge and
its spurs, except an opening of about forty rods on
the southeast, through which Sugar river flows.
There is a painting now in the land office at Wash-

446 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  CROSS PLAINS.
ington, D. C, taken from a point on this ridge near
where the Mineral Point road descends into the val
ley, which is pronounced by good judges as being the
finest landscape painting in that department. It was
made by a celebrated English artist, and takes in the
valley with its undulating prairie, the surrounding
hills, and the Blue Mounds in the distance.
Any one approaching this valley from the east dur
ing one of our beautiful summer evening sunsets, and
who may have paused to view this landscape, present
ing miles of the most gorgeous and grand scenery,
must have been convinced, as the English artist was,
that here was a view worthy to be transferred to can
vas by any artist.
Politically the town is democratic. During the
late rebellion, on the first call for men, it sent twenty-
two, of whom Hubert Kremer died in the hospital,
while most of the others served through the war. It
furnished its full quota of men, so that no draft ever
occurred with us.
St. Mary's Catholic Church is built on a small hill
near the bluff, and attached to it, is a parsonage
and the sisters' house. There is also a new district
school, where John Loehrer keeps store and saloon;
William Cullen, of the Pine Bluff tavern and black
smith shop, and well known as a veterinary surgeon.
Henry Winkle is postmaster, and the mail is distrib
uted about four times a week. [Mr. Winkle has filled
the office of postmaster very acceptably for over seven
years. He keeps store and has a general stock of

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  CROSS PLAINS. 447
merchandise. Besides being engaged in business, he
has also a farm.]
Mr. James Bonner lives in the first house built in
the town, and known as the old stage house, and which
for many years was occupied by Edward Campbell as
the relay house for the stages between Madison and
Mineral Point.
The Hon. Matt. M. Anderson is one of the leading
farmers in our town, owning about 350 acres of the
best land in the valley. His farm is known by the
name of " Anderson's Willow Grove Stock Farm."
He is largely engaged in the raising of stock, and
has also a large dairy, from which he manufactures a
very choice butter, and ships direct to the Philadel
phia market. In 1871 he was member of Assembly
for our district. James Farrell, Richard Farrell, M.
Casey, Henry J. Bollig, Jacob Kalscheuer, Joseph
Wallraff, Jeremiah and Ed. Murphy are some of the
leading farmers and stock raisers in the southwestern
part of the town.
The present town officers are: Henry J. Bollig,
chairman, Jerry Murphy and Joseph Schaefer, as
Supervisors; Henry Winkle, Clerk; Bernard Bollig,
Treasurer; J. A. Mueller, Assessor.
The town has seven substantially built school
houses.

448 DANE COUNTY TOWNS — FITCHBURG.

FITCHBURG.
BY DR. WILLIAM H. FOX AND WILLIAM VROMAN.
Fitchburg postoffice and election precinct were
established and named about 1841, at the suggestion
of that respected and esteemed pioneer patriarch, Eben
ezer Brigham, of Blue Mounds. The precinct in
cluded the townships of land that now constitute the
towns of Oregon, Fitchburg, Dunn, and, I think, Rut
land; the place for holding elections and postoffice, at
Wm. Quivey's, half a mile south of what 'is now called
Oak Hall, in the town of Fitchburg. There were only
ten or twelve voters in the precinct at that time, and no
laid-out road except the old territorial road to Hume's
Ferry and Janesville, which went by what is now
ex-Governor Washburne's place, and round the head
of Lake Wingra or Dead Lake, and then through
Stoner's Prairie and southeast to Fitchburg postoffice,
continuing southeast on the ridge dividing the waters
running to the Catfish from those of Sugar river.
The old Daniel Baxter road, so called at that time, ran
from the south part of Green county to Madison
via where the village of Albany on Sugar river now
stands, intersecting the former a little south-east of
Fitchburg postoffice, and the lead teamster's road from
Mineral Point to Milwaukee intersecting it on Stoner's
Prairie, east of these roads to Catfish or Yahara

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  FITCHBURG. 449
river, and west to Sugar river. The country was then
uninhabited. An Indian trail which ran from their
village, at the head of lake Kegonsa, crossed Sugar
river, where the village of Bcllville now stands, and
went on, I think, to Prairie du Chien. This trail
crossed the territorial road a little south of Fitch
burg Postoffice, and was the principal guide east to
the Catfish or west to Sugar river. Towards that
river the country was then all oak openings, some
hilly, clear of undergrowth, so that it was easy to
drive in any direction. Towards Catfish the country
was more level, small prairies and oak openings clear
of underbrush, the land undulating and mostly a good
soil. In the fall of 1842, Geo. Fox and I, when look
ing land to locate on, left the trail near where the
Cemetery now stands, on the prairie north of the
present village of Oregon. We switched off to the
north through the woods, to see what we could find,
and pretty soon the woods began to look all the
same. We were lost, and as the day wore on and
we drove pretty fast we began to have a regular
frontier appetite. After several houi% we brought
up at a hunters' camp, where a great many deer and
wild duck were hanging on the trees close by. The
hunters were absent, but we soon made ourselves at
home, and, finding a little bread in a bag, fried some
venison steak, and had a delicious dinner, with a drink
from the spring near at hand. That spring is the Mr.
Murphy spring, close by the road at Lake Yiew, and
29

450 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  FITCHBURG.
only about two miles from where we left the trail.
We got back to the prairie by following the Lake
Yiew stream on the south side, to the pass through
the hills where the railroad now runs, and soon
made our way to the Fitchburg Postoffice, which
was also a hotel, kept by Wm. Quivey, where we met
the hunters, Messrs. Hume and Postle, from Hume's
Ferry, on Rock river, at whose camp we dined. They
invited us to call again, and all had a good laugh at
our getting lost in the woods.
There were then, I think, but Jos. Yroman's and
three other families, in what is the present town of
Fitchburg. In the spring of 1843, Geo. Fox and myself com
menced to break up and improve the lands on which
we still reside. John and Geo. Keenan also commen
ced to improve farms close by us, and Messrs. Wm.
True, Pritchard and Nott purchased lands to locate on.
That summer, many eastern people came out here view
ing lands. They liked the climate, soil and general
face of the country; but thought it very far to a mill
or blacksmith shop. We had no church or school,
and few roads" so they could not stand it. Our nearest
mills were Mr. Hickcox's, in Ridgeway, Iowa county,
Beloit, and Columbus, either one about forty miles
distant. The nearest blacksmith shop was at Mad
ison, a long road round the head of Lake Wingra, and
and the smith not always in a working mood, so that
we often had to improvise a shop to sharpen our
breaking plows, by heating the share in a fire made

DANE COUNTY TOWNS — FITCHBURG. 451
of chips, and beating it out on the heads of iron
wedges driven in a log.
In the fall of 1844, Badger Mill was built by Joseph
Yroman, with his brothers George and William, the
first settlers of Fitchburg, and William A. Wheeler,
of Yerona. They gave a large party to celebrate
the occasion, and the people for many miles around
assembled. The Scotch settlement on Sugar river
was largely , represented, and Billy Ray played the
Highland bagpipes, and the " Highland Fling " was
danced to perfection by many a lad and lassie, who
are now grandfathers and grandmothers. The mill
was a great convenience to the surrounding country,
until the stream dried up (it has now been dry for
several years). Joseph Yroman owned the first reap
ing machine used in the town, about 1847. What
the early settlers lacked in many of the conveniences,
of life, they made up in self reliance and that kind of
genial good neighborship that is usually found among
the pioneers. They were hospitable, cordial, ready
to do each other a good turn, and were not much
troubled with those kind of cast iron conventionalities
which take the heart out of social intercourse. They
had few elements of discord among them; no pimps;
no whiners ; and had not the fostering care of that
self-sacrificing class of people, whose principal occu
pation is attending to other people's business, and re
penting for other people's sins. In the summer and fall
of '44r-5, settlers began to come in and buy up lands
pretty fast. Some were very poor and could not buy,

452 PANE COUNTY TOWNS  FITCHBURG.
but would claim or " squat," as we called it, on a
piece of land, and the earlier settlers to a man stood
up for those poor fellows to protect them in their
claims, and keep new comers from buying the lands,,
or "jumping their claims," as it was called. The
Fitchburg Mutual Protection Society was organized
for that purpose; had a regular book for each claimer
to come and register his claim in, and any person
jumping such claim would be called to account by the
society, which, in this neighborhood, always resulted
in having the land restored to the first claimant. Some
of our most thrifty, honest and respected citizens got
their present homes in that way.
Deer were still very plenty here in fall of '44. One
of our neighbors had a dog that caught a large buck
by the hind leg, and by some means worried him to
wards the house; the woman of the house, on seeing
the deer approach, sallied out with an axe and suc
ceeded in dispatching him. Joseph Fox, now of Ore
gon, happening to be pass by at the time, assisted the
woman in taking care of the carcass. That same fall
there were a great many bears prowling about.
Mrs. Geo. Keenan was spending the day at Geo.
Fox's; in the afternoon she started for home, about
one and a half miles distant, carrying an infant in her
arms ; about half a mile from her house she met a full
grown bear on the path. She would not turn out of
the path into the tall prairie grass, lest she
might trip and fall; neither would the bear turn out,
but raised himself up for the usual mode of saluta-

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  FITCHBURG. 453
tion, and as they met, placed his paws over Mrs. K.'s
neck. Mustering all possible strength, she held the
baby tight with her left arm, with her right dealt
the bear a blow on the side of the head, and spring
ing back at the same time, got clear from him; she
then took off her sun bonnet and flung it on the path,
which he stopped to smell and shake in his mouth,
and thus enabled her to get some distance ahead. But
soon the bear caught up again and raised for a charge.
Mrs. K. turned and faced him, when with an angry
growl he caught her, and put one paw on the baby,
causing it to cry. She struck him as before, and
sprang back, pulling the baby, while the bear also
pulled, tearing off its cloak, and then began shaking
it in his mouth, while Mrs. K. again ran for the
house, which she gained just in time to save another
attack. The next morning the neighborhood turned
out to hunt for the bear; did not find the old one,
but found two cubs in a thicket not far from the
house. The Fitchburg election precinct was merged in the
organization of the town of Rome, A. D. 1845 or 6,
which included the present towns of Oregon, Dunn
and Fitchburg, and was named Rome by some of the
settlers from New York state. A road having been
laid out from Rooney's on the old territorial road,
running north to Madison, also one from near Rock
county line running northwest to Fitchburg Post-
office, these roads crossed where the present village of
Oregon now stands, and it being not far from the

454 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  FITCHBURG.
corners of said towns, it was called Rome Corners,
and is yet known by that name.
The town managed its own local affairs; three com
missioners the county business. At that time the
settlers were mostly unacquainted with the luxury of
a county training school for legislative aspirants and
other tax-eating systems; consequently their taxes
were light — about $1,600 in the town of Rome for all
purposes — although roads had to be laid out and
bridges and court house had to be built. I was the
first treasurer of the town, and as both myself and the
town supervisors were a little muddy on the law, I
concluded to strike out of my bond the word " law "
and insert "justice," according to the best of my
judgment. The supervisors did not like to accept
that bond, but one of them, Mr. Boise, father of
the present Mr. Reuben, of Oregon, said although
it was a sort of a Hibernian pioneer bond, yet he
thought it would be all right, and they finally ac
cepted it. At that time it was the duty of town
school supervisors to meet on a certain Tuesday in
April to apportion the school money to the several
districts. They met on the wrong day and concluded
they could not legally apportion the money. Several
young ladies had taught school and they wanted their
pay. The money was in the treasury, but there seemed
to be no legal way to get it out; then the bond came
to the relief of the girls. I suggested that if any
school trustee would state in writing that the girls
had taught school and were justly entitled to their

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  FITCHBURG. 455
pay, that I would pay them on receipt of such state
ment. It was procured, and the girls were paid, to
their great joy and satisfaction.
About that time an amusing incident occurred,
showing the vague and erroneous ideas which pre
vailed to some extent in the eastern states regarding
the western frontiersmen. A man from Massachu
setts came out to see the country and some land in
this town that he had bought without previously see
ing. He came to my house to pay some tax due on
his land, and asked to see my books to learn the
amount. I took from a bureau drawer a large shot
bag containing the town money and papers, untied
the string and took out a copy of the tax list. With
an astonished look he asked if that was the only
book, and if I was in truth the town treasurer. I
replied that the settlers were mostly poor and did
not care to buy anything that they could just as
well do without, and showed him how I kept the
account. I put the whole amount of money received
into the bag, and when it was paid out I put the
voucher into the bag, so the account always balanced.
He appeared confused and frightened ; said it might
be all right, but he never- saw business done in that
way; would prefer to go to Madison before paying
his taxes. My house was a log one, and located
in the woods, in a lonely place, and he evidently
thought that he had got into a trap, for after leaving
my house he tried to hire an escort to Madison for
fear of being followed and robbed. At Madison he

456 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  FITCHBURG.
found it was all right, then returned and paid his
tax. In 1847 or 8, the town of Rome was divided, and
the present town of Fitchburg organized as the town
of Greenfield, which name collided with Greenfield in
Milwaukee county, and caused some mistakes in mail
matters, so it was proposed to change the name of
Greenfield, in Dane county, to Fitchburg, the name
of the post-office, and which it still retains. The first
town meeting was held at the house of Mr. William
Quivey, near Fitchburg Corners.
There are nine district schools in town, and two
churches. The one on section 35 is Roman Catholic,
Rev. Father Butler, pastor; the other, on Syene Pra
irie, Methodist Episcopal.
FITCHBURG  BY WILLIAM VROMAN.
Town 6, range 9, town of Fitchburg, is situated in
the central and southern part of Dane county, bound
ed north by the town of Madison, west by the town
of Yerona, south by the town of Oregon, and east by
the town of Dunn. It is one of the best agricultural
towns in the county, with very little or no waste
lands, about equally divided between prairie and oak
openings. The soil is very rich and climate healthy.
There are several creeks and springs, of which the
Nine Springs, situated in the northeast part of the
town, are justly celebrated. In a distance of some
sixty rods, nine springs start out of the highlands on
the edge of the marsh, and form a creek which

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  FITCHBURG. 457
empties into Third lake, giving sufficient water to
carry a mill. Upon this site the State Fish Hatchery
House is now located, and a splendid location it is
for the purpose designed, having plenty of pure
spring water, and a fall of some fifteen or twenty feet
to the marsh, and no danger from overflow or freshets.
It seems designed by nature for the purpose now used.
The state has erected elegant buildings, and the insti
tution is in successful operation.
In 1837 the first farm was opened in the town by
John Stoner, on section 17. Stoner's Prairie was
named after him. He never lived upon the farm, but
resided in the then village of Madison. He went out
to the farm on Monday mornings and took his rations
with him for the week. He erected a shanty, open
on three sides, covered with oak shakes, which turned
most of the rain ; a fire in front on the ground for
cooking purposes; a bundle of straw and blankets; a
few camp stools, constituted the furniture in this cabin,
in which he managed to keep open house. Many a
weary traveler and visitor has partaken of his hospi
tality, and many a night has the writer of this slept
with him in this improvised house, open upon three
sides, and nothing but the broad canopy of shakes.
The first settlers in the town were George Yroman,
Joseph Yroman and William Yroman, in 1839. They
opened a farm on sections 17 and 20, south of and
adjoining the Stoner farm, and in the fall of that year
built a log house and moved there. This was the
first house built between Madison and New Mexico,

458 DANE COUNTY TOWNS — FITCHBURG.
now Monroe. They were quickly followed by Dr.
William H. Fox, George Fox, Joseph Fox, James Fox,
Rev. Matthew Fox, and the Rev. Wm. Fox, their
father, (from County Westmeatte, Ireland), William
.Quivey, Willam True, George and John Keenan,
P. Pritchard,  Postle, Frank Nott, the Salis-
burys, Charles and John Watkins. These were
the pioneers of the town of Fitchburg; good, gene
rous, true hearted men, just the men to open up a
new country; men that you could tie to; that believed
in the golden rule; men of whom you never asked a
favor in vain ; you were welcome to their homes, and
their latch strings always hung out.
The times were hard, the people were poor, and they
voted to pay their officers fifty cents per day. The
writer of this [Wm. Yroman, Esq.] was elected road
commissioner (an office now consolidated with the su
pervisor), and has now a realizing sense of the labor per
formed for the money received. Three towns to travel
over, to lay out into road districts, appoint path mas
ters, make out warrants, and lay out roads. I spent
twenty days in the service of the town, for which I
brought in a bill of seven dollars, and the town board
cut me down to four dollars. Four dollars for twenty
days' work! Well, the people were poor, and they said
we must take turns in holding office. If the politi
cians of the present day were paid as liberally, they
would not be as anxious for office. The next year the
town was separately organized as the town of Green
field, so named on account of its green grasses and

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  FITCHBURG. 459
fields. It retained this name for two or three years,
when it was found that there was a town in Milwaukee
county of the same name, which had prior claim to
the name, and as two towns of the same name in the.
state made some confusion in postal matters, the name
was altered to Fitchburg. Our nearest grist mill, in
1839, was at Hickox, on Wisconsin river, now Helena,
some thirty miles distant. But mills soon sprung up
all around us, so that at Fulton, Rock county, Cook-
ville, Dayton and Badger Mills, four miles west of
us in Yerona, we had them somewhat nearer. The
commerce of the country at this early day was mostly
carried on by Sucker team, a large Pennsylvania wagon
with from four to six yoke of oxen to haul it. We
called them prairie schooners, and they used to go in
fleets, sometimes as many as eight or ten wagons to
gether. These covered wagons going over the prairie
at a distance, resembled very much a fleet of schooners,
hence the name. Their principal loading on the jour
ney to Lake Michigan was lead, and the back freight
sundry goods for our merchants. They carried with
them long goad poles, some ten feet long, and a
lash to correspond; you could hear the crack of their
whip for a mile away. They were the kings of the
roads. Everything had to give way for them, until
stage coaches were put upon the road, when the driv
ers got long stretches with knives in the end, and
raked their teams, sending them bellowing from the
road, which caused them to give the stage coaches a
wide berth.

460 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  FITCHBURG.
In those early days, before the preemption laws
were passed, the settlers formed claim clubs for the
protection of those that were not able to enter their
lands. In the fall of 1844, I attended a meeting of
one of their clubs, near where George Fox now lives.
The circumstances were as follows: Two men claimed
the same forty of land, one belonged to the club while
the other did not; the man that did not belong to the
club having obtained the money first, entered the land.
A committee of the club waited upon him and in
sisted on his deeding the land over to the first claim
ant; refusing to do so, they then called a meeting of
the club, and notified him that they would meet at his
house on a certain night, and use such persuasive
arguments as would induce him to deed over the land.
He remained stubborn, so the club met at his house
in the evening, some fifty strong, with axes and guns.
They surrounded his house in a rather noisy manner,
and a committee, sufficient to fill his house, entered
with a justice of the peace, the money, deed and all
made out; he finally came down gracefully, by sign
ing the deed, and taking the money, and then ac
knowledging that he signed the deed of his own free
will and accord, without fear, favor, or intimidation,
although surrounded by some fifty noisy men, threat
ening all manner of things. I do not think the deed
was worth much, but it was never contested, and I
think in the end justice was done. Some societies
were organized on the principle of letting those that
came in and entered claims, severely alone, agreeing to

.DANE COUNTY TOWNS — FIPCHBURG. 461
neither borrow, lend, or associate with them, which
soon brought them to terms.
I think that Dr. Wm. H. Fox was the first practic
ing physician in Dane county outside of Madison,
and had a most extensive practice of thirty or forty
miles ride, which was done on horseback. I have
heard him say that he has ridden many a rainy day,
Until his boots were filled with water. He was ready
at all times to render assistance, either as doctor or
friend, and one of our most valuable citizens.
Some of the early settlers came into the county in
large wagons drawn by oxen. The wagons were
covered, and whole families with their household
goods would travel in this way until they located.
They had along rope attached to the oxen, and their
stock tied on each side of the rope, with a yoke of
cattle or horses hitched to the end of the rope to
keep them straight. There were also what we called
emigrants who came by land. Others would come in
wagons, move upon their land, turn their wagon-
box upside down, and sleep under it; while others
would set boards around a tree and move in and
cook their meals outside in true camping style, and
live in this way with no rent or hotel bills to pay,
until they could build their log houses. Others
would join in with their friends until they could
make provision for themselves. Log houses were
very elastic in those days — they were like an omni
bus, never full, but always room for one more.
The settlers in these early times were very friendly

462 DANE COUNTY TOWNS — FITCHBURG.
helping each other in all things requiring assistance,
and would go almost any distance to help. I recol
lect being at the raising of a large barn, in 1839, in
the town of Cross Plains, on what was known as the
Campbell Farm, near where Mr. Anderson now
resides. I think it was the first frame barn raised
on a farm in Dane county. It was a large barn and
required a good many men to help in raising it.
They came from a distance of twenty-five or thirty
miles around, from Madison, Sauk, Blue Mounds, and
Ridgeway, Iowa county, and a right jolly set of men
they were, when they got together on such an occasion.
There were but very few settlers then. I think
there were only six farms opened in Dane county at
this time. In the fall of 1839, there was an election
held in the county, for county officers, and only
about eighty votes polled, which also included Sauk
county. I remember attending a Fourth of July
celebration, in 1845, in the Scotch settlement in the
town of Yerona; the attendance was from the towns
around. The programme was for fun generally, and
we had it. Rifle shooting for sheep, home-made
Scotch whisky and beer, playing base ball, dancing
the " Highland fling " on the green, with Billy Ray
and his bagpipes for music. We had more real en
joyment than can be had at any celebration at the
present day. But as the mixing of Scotch whisky
and beer did not agree with all, some went home
with a brick in their hat. ¦

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  DANE. 463

DANE.
BY ROBERT STEELE AND MANSFIELD ARRIES.
The town of Dane is situated in the northwestern
part of Dane county, being town No. 9 north, range
No. 8 east.
The town of Dane derived its name from the old
Dane postoffice.
The surface of the town is quite rolling, and in a
few places there are precipitous bluffs. When in its
natural state, the town was about equally divided be
tween prairie and timber land, the principal part of
the prairie being in the eastern and the timber in the
western. The greater part of the town is quite des
titute of water. The only stream of water has its
source on section eight, and running in a northeast
erly direction, crosses the county line near the north
east corner of section four, being the stream on which
the Lodi Mills are situated. In some respects this
is a remarkable stream, and it is doubtful if any oth
er stream in the county can equal it. Its principal
source is what is known as the " big spring," and this
alone furnishes fully one-half of the water that drives
Mr. Andrews' mill at Lodi, only three miles distant,
the stream being fed entirely by springs, from which
it derives its name, " Spring Creek," and is not affec
ted by the severest drought, but furnishes a uniform

464 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  DANE.
supply of water the year round. The bottom lands
along this stream are of the best quality for growing
various kinds of grasses, very little being marshy or
too wet to be drained with trifling expense, and thus
be made the best meadow, land in the state. These
bottom lands along this creek and a small portion of
sections 34 and 35 are the only wet lands in the town.
The scarcity of water and the great depth at which
wells had to be sunk, was a drawback to the early set
tlement of the town. Many of the wells are from
one to two hundred feet deep, and dug through a hard
sandstone rock, but the method of drilling, and the
use of windmills have almost entirely overcome what
at one time seemed to be an insurmountable difficul
ty. Now almost every farmer has an abundant
supply of pure cold water, which is brought to the
Burface with but little expense.
The quality of the soil is of the very best for agri
cultural purposes, being a dark brown loam, from two
to twelve feet in depth. In the timbered portion of the
town the soil is a heavy clay loam, and very produc
tive. About seventy-five per cent, of the land is
now under cultivation. The remaining twenty-five
is the rough or hilly portion of the town, which
is covered with a dense second growth of tim
ber, that, if not wantonly destroyed, will furnish an
abundant supply of timber for the future. These
rough and bluffy lands present to the casual observer
an aspect not the most pleasing, and it must be ad
mitted they are a drawback to the town, yet they are

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  DANE. 465
not an entire waste, for had they all been tillable they
would doubtless have all been brought under cultiva
tion, and left the town destitute of timber, and per
haps made water scarcer than heretofore. There is
another advantage derived from them, that is the
abundance of limestone they contain. A good quarry
can be found on almost any section in the town con
taining an inexhaustable quantity of stone of the very
best quality for building purposes.
Wheat was the staple product of the town for the
first twenty years, covering a period of time from
1850 to 1870. During this time there were but few
failures of the crop, and all that was requried of the
husbandman was to break up the virgin soil, sow the
seed, and a bountiful harvest was insured. For seven
or eight years this crop has been less cultivated, and
it is doubtful if the wheat crop of the town for three
years back has paid expenses. As the continual drop-
ing wears the rock, so the continual cropping of wheat
has so exhausted the soil, or those properties of it which
are necessary to its growth, that a paying crop was
very uncertain. The system of farming has under
gone a great change in the last few years, mixed hus
bandry being adopted by nearly all. The raising of
stock and the dairy products are the leading features
of farming at the present time, and promise to be
very successful. The soil is well adapted to the
growth of clover and other grasses, never failing to
produce a bountiful crop, except in cases of severe
drouths. Corn, oats and barley produce good crops
30

466 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  DANE.
under ordinary circumstances. A large portion of
the grain is fed out on the farm, and the farmers are
beginning to realize that by keeping stock their lands
are rapidly increasing in the productiveness of such
crops as are required for stock raisers, and which, du
ring the past eight years have done much toward the
improvement of cattle, hogs and sheep.
A cheese factory has been in successful operation
at Dane station, for three years, manufacturing the
milk of 250 cows, and averaging 65,000 to 70,000
pounds of cheese annually. There is also another,
more recently started, adjoining the Wm. T. Leitch
farm, by George R. Hoisington, which is being very
favorably patronized.
Fruit has received considerable attention, but not
with the most flattering results. A few of the hardy
varieties do well and pay for cultivation. Small fruits
are cultivated to some extent, and with a fair degree
of success, doing much better than the apple or pear.
It is always interesting to recall the scenes of early
life, although it may have been one of toil, privation
and hardship. We like to think of the past and talk of
the thrilling events connected with it. The old sol
dier likes to dwell on the past, and repeat the incidents
connected with his life, while the sailor loves to
recall the perils of the deep. But in no department
of life can we find anything of more interest than we
find in the pioneers of our country. We like to see
the man that built the first cabin in any town, county
or state; that struck the first blow in opening up our

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  DANE. 467
country to civilization ; that took the first step in the
organization of civil government.
This honor must be accredited to Freedom Simons,
the first settler of the town of Dane. He, with his
family, consisting of his wife and children, immigrat
ed from Cayuga county, N. Y., landing in Milwaukee
on the 6th day of September, 1842. To give the
reader something of an idea of the privations and
hardships which the early settlers endured, we will
give a few incidents in the life of this pioneer family.
Arriving at Milwaukee on board a steamer which
came to anchor at a considerable distance from shore
(there being no docks or piers), they were taken on
board a lighter and landed safely where the city of
Milwaukee now stands. One small warehouse accom
modated all the freight business of the state at that
point. After landing, Mr. Simons set to work to find
means of conveyance from Milwaukee to Prairie du
Sac, the place of his destination. At that time there
were no public means of conveyance; no horse teams
to be had, so he chartered what was known in those
days as a "Sucker team," which consisted of five yoke
of oxen. After six days travel, he reached the place
of his destination.
In the spring of 1843, he settled in what is now the
town of Springfield, near where Hyer's hotel stands,
which was the only house between Fourth lake and
Prairie du Sac, and took part in the organization of
the voting precinct, consisting of all the territory be
tween Fourth lake and the Wisconsin river. At the

468 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  DANE.
first election seven votes were polled, and Mr. Simons
elected justice of the peace; he also received the ap
pointment of post master, and the office was named
Dane, after Dane county, through the influence of Mr.
John Catlin of Madison.
In 1845, he moved and settled on section 32, in the
town of Dane. Mr. Simons was not only the first set
tler in the town, but one of the pioneers of western
Dane county.
In November, Mrs. Simons gave birth to a son,
the first white child born in the town. He is now liv
ing in Minnesota, bearing the name of his grand
father, Sardis Dudley.
Mr. Simons took part in the organization of the
town of Dane, and was elected to the office of assessor.
He is a man of great energy and force of character,
never neutral on any question, and always taking an
active part in town affairs. He is now living in the
village of Lodi, enjoying a green old age.
In the autumn of 1845, Patrick Malone settled in
the town and engaged in farming and lumbering. He
died of cholera in September, 1850.
Early in the spring of 1846, Mr. Joshua E. Abbott
settled on section 6. He was one of the pioneers of
Wisconsin, a native of Canada, and came to Wisconsin
in 1836. He was married at Mineral Point in 1840,
to Miss Elizabeth Skinner.
The tide of immigration having fairly set in, G. O.
Babcock and J. R. Waterbury, from St. Lawrence Co.,
N. Y., and what was known as the Ohio settlement,

DANE COUNTY TOWNS — DANE. 469
from Ohio, came in during the summer. This was a
valuable acquisition to the town, and it is seldom that
a settlement is made up of men and women as well
qualified for pioneer life; all, men of a high moral
character, and in possession of a liberal education.
They wielded a powerful influence in shaping the
moral Bentiment of the community. Prominent
among them were Dr. Eben Blachly, his brother Bell,
A. J. Luce, Wm. Dunlap and Samuel Bell.
In this settlement the first school district was or
ganized, and the first school house in the town was
built in 1847; Miss Sarah Blachly teaching the first
term. Miss Blachly was married to Rev. Dr. Bradley,
of Siam, in the fall of 1848 (the first couple married
in the town), and immediately left for their distant
field of labor, and are still engaged in missionary
work. A Congregational church was organized in
1848, with Rev. Mr. Blachly as pastor.
The sketch of this settlement would be incomplete
if particular mention was not made of Mr. Luce.
He was a man of strong convictions, a fine public
speaker and an admirable debater. He was an active
politician, thoroughly devoted to the cause of free
dom. Many of the politicians of Dane county will
remember him from the heavy blows they received at
his hands in the discussion of some of the issues of
the day. He died in the spring of 1863.
.Among the early settlers were Mr. Otto and Peter
Rapp and family. In the summer of 1848 a large
number of settlers came in, among whom were the

470 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  DANE.
Steeles, Riddles and Strangeway. A large majority
of the early settlers were from New York and Ohio,
and of the best class of society.
The following, taken from the records of the town,
will show the steady increase of the voting popula
tion, and the men elected to the respective town
offices: The first town meeting was held at the house of
William Dunlap on the 4th day of April, 1848.
George O. Babcock was elected moderator, and Bell
Blachly and Josiah Fitch, inspectors. D. C. Miller
was elected chairman, Alfred Newman and J. R.
Waterbury, supervisors. Alfred Newman, town clerk.
Nathaniel Martin, John Miller and W. G. Winters,
school commissioners. Sperry Tinker, treasurer and
collector. John Miller, Freedom Simons and Nathan
Martin, justices of the peace. At this time there
were twenty-seven votes in the town; in 1860, two
hundred; while in 1876 there were two hundred and
eighty. It will not be out of place to notice some of the
privations and hardships incident to pioneer life. A
large majority of the early settlers were men of lim
ited means ; all were engaged in opening new farms ;
houses of the rudest bearing were built to shelter them
from the pelting storms and the biting frosts.; fire
places in one end of the cabin and the old tin oven
answered for all the purposes of stoves. Economy of
the strictest sort was practiced to procure the necessa
ries of life. The wool was shorn from the sheep,

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  DANE. 471
carded, spun and woven by our good wives and moth
ers to make clothing for the family. Threshing was
done by means of oxen treading out the wheat upon
the ground. The wheat was taken to mill with ox-
teams, taking three or four days to get a grist to" mill
and home again, Badger Mills being the nearest.
Wheat could seldom be sold for money or traded
for groceries without hauling it to Milwaukee by
team, and not unf requently the expenses ate up the
load. What would the farmers of Dane think if they
had to haul their wheat one hundred miles by wagon
and sell it for forty cents per bushel ? And
yet the universal cry of 1877 is "hard times." The
common method of traveling was on foot or with ox-
teams. Traveling with a horse-team and lumber
wagon was a luxury seldom enjoyed. What a change
has taken place in less than one-third of a century.
The old pioneer, when he looks around, pauses in
breathless silence and wonders if this can be a reality.
Then he could stand on our prairies and see no trace
of civilization. The Indian and the wild beast roamed
at will over this beautiful country.
From the time the first blow was struck, the work
of civilization has gone steadily and rapidly on, and
now the waving fields of wheat and corn greet the
eye in every direction. The log cabin has given place
to the stately farm mansion, the hovel to the large
and commodious barns, and the old rude implements
of husbandry to the latest and most improved farm
machinery, so that as much can now be accomplished

472 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  DANE.
in one day, with the same motive power, as could in
three days, twenty-five years ago.
The farmers are now no longer obliged to spend a
large portion of their time in marketing the products
of their farms, being well accommodated with railroad
facilities. The Northwestern railroad runs nearly
through the town, crossing the town line on the east
side, about half a mile from the southeast corner,
running in a northwesterly direction, crossing the
north line at the corner of sections two and three.
The action of the town in aiding the Northwestern
Railroad Company in building the road shows that
the people of the town are awake to everything that
pertains to their interest. The town was asked to
subscribe ten thousand dollars stock to the Baraboo
Air Line Railroad, which was virtually a bonus of
that amount to the Northwestern Railroad Company.
The amount was promptly voted, and the bonds of
the town given for the stock. About the time the
bonds of the town were given, the raiload company
made the town the following proposition: That they
would buy the stock at thirty per cent, if the town
would pay the balance due on the bonds in cash. Un
der the able and judicious management of the town
board of supervisors, Mr. H. H. Brearton being chair
man, the seven thousand dollars was paid in two in
stallments, with seven per cent, interest. Thus the
entire indebtedness of the town was wiped out, and
its financial condition is good. Town expenses are
generally light, but little being required except for
the salaries of town officers and school expenses.

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  DANE. 473
Dane Station is situated on the Northwestern Rail
road, and is a flourishing little village. The princi
pal business men of the place are: M. Arries, dealer
in farm produce; O'Dwyer & Arries, druggists and dry
goods merchants; M. Roland, dry goods merchant,
who is also building a new warehouse for the pur
chase of produce; Knuteson & Bro., blacksmiths and
wagon makers; Theodore Stuchen, wagon maker;
F. Anhalt, harness maker; A. Ballwey, shoemaker;
M. O'Dwyer, postmaster; N. Opdahl, meat market;
N. Little, blacksmith; John Hochstine, Joseph Cla-
mes, Nich. Little, saloon keepers.
About one-half of the population are of German
nationality, Americans, Norwegians, Scotch and Irish
making up the balance.
The climate is very healthy. No maliarial diseases
were ever known to originate in this town.
For healthfulness of climate, fertility of soil, rail
road facilities, etc., Dane compares favorably with the
best towns in Dane county.
A large German Catholic church was built in 1875.
There are four school districts and eight joint in
town. The present town officers are as follows:
Supervisors — Thomas Leitch, chairman, William
Rapp and Seth Benjamin. Town Clerk — William
T. Leitch, Jr. Treasurer — Peter B. Doane. As
sessor — Frank X. Endres. Justices of the Peace —
William T. Leitch, Jr;, G. W. Bell, and Richard
Ferrill.

474 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  MONTROSE.

MONTROSE.
BY H. E. STORY.
This township lies on the southern line of the coun
ty, which separates it from the towu of Exeter, Green
county, and consists of township 5 north, of range 8
east. It is fifteen miles southwest of Madison.
The soil of the town is quite varied. The north
half is a heavy, clayey soil, mostly oak opening; the
southeast part is rather light, warm and sandy; the
southern part is mostly timber and prairie, and is ex
cellent soil. The whole town is well watered, Sugar
river running through it, entering on section three
and passing into Green county on section thirty-five,
and also by the west branch of Sugar river, which
enters the town on the western boundary at section
eighteen and empties into Sugar river at section twen
ty-eight. A number of large springs are also well
distributed over the whole town. The surface is roll
ing, timber well distributed. The whole is well adapt
ed to stock raising and the dairy business. There" are
good marsh lands on the streams.
The early settlers were Daniel M. Holt, John Webb,
J. M. and P. W. Matts and Geo. McFadden.
The town was organized February 11, 1847.
In 1838, when Mr. Robert Ream (the father of
Wisconsin's sculptress, Minnie Ream, proprietor for

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  MONTROSE. 475
a number of years of the Madison House, or first
honse built in Madison, at one time owned by Eben
Peck), in company with W. C. Wells, traveled from
Monroe, then known as New Mexico, and passing
through this town towards Madison, which was the
only market for produce from Green county in those
days, camped the first night at Grand Springs, or
on the land that was afterward entered by Mr. Mc
Fadden, but which was not at that time known as
the Springs. After cooking their supper, and hav
ing a little fear of the wolves troubling them, they kept
a good log fire burning, but did not remain long
in the pleasant enjoyment of their frugal meal before
they were completely surrounded with droves of
of snarling, barking, prairie wolves, but keeping
a rousing fire all night and singing negro melo
dies and camp meeting songs to help the general con
cert of the roaring, crackling fire and the infernal
howling of the wolves, they very early next morning
took leave of their new friends. Finding the old
road very crooked and uncertain, they were the first
that blazed the road between here and Madison by
way of Stoner's Prairie, and which for a number of
years was used as the public highway. Mr. Ream
says that when he returned from Madison he made
the journey to Monroe on foot in one day, a distance
of forty miles by the road, and was obliged to wade
the Sugar river and a number of its tributaries, to
gether with several large marshes, which resulted in
bringing on a severe attack of rheumatism.

476 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  MONTROSE.
Mr. Ream was brother-in-law of Mrs. McFadden,
of Grand Springs, and in speaking of the trouble of
wolves he relates that on one occasion when returning
with a load of provisions from Green county, his sis
ter put him up a good tin can of butter to carry home
to Madison. The possessor of a good bucket of dairy
butter was in those days a matter of envy by all who
knew of it, and while passing over the rough roads
and anticipating the pleasure he would have on reach
ing home and showing his prize, he unconsciously tip
ped out the basket and traveled four or five miles
before he missed his treasure. Taking one of his
horses out of the wagon, which he mounted, he started
back, but only reached the place where his loss occur
red in time to scare off a pack of wolves that had not
only devoured the butter, but had gnawed the bucket
in pieces.
Mr. W. W. Willoughby, one of the old pioneer set
tlers, speaking of the condition of things when he
came, says:
Myself and family arrived in the town of Montrose at noon on the
16th day of May, 1846. Starting from Chautauque county, New
York, we were twenty-two days on the road. We put up at the
house of Mr. Geo. McFadden, where we relished, with a keen appe
tite, the pork and beans set out before us for dinner. We encoun
tered a great number of hardships in consequence of the rainy
weather, the muddy roads being such as to very much impede our
progress. Vegetation was pretty far advanced, and the whole
country looked beautiful, but we had become so mystified in our
continued traveling, that the sun would persist in setting in the
north and rising in the south. Go where we liked, it would remain
so until time wore it out.
Religious services were always held in summer in Mr. McFad-

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  MONTROSE. 477
den's barn, and in winter, in the house. The day after our arrival
being the Sabbath, the Rev. Mr. Bunting preached from the text:
"Are not the waters of Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus,
better than all the waters of Israel? may I not wash in them
and be clean?" In two or three weeks after my arrival, I
raised a balloon-frame house, the first in the town. There being
but one sawmill in the county near at hand, I had to take my turn
in getting lumber from the mill, which was about once in two weeks,
and then I would get a small load of clapboards to nail on. In the
meantime we had no roof over our heads, only a carpet, which did
very well except when it rained, and it seemed as though that was
every night. The only way we kept dry was for my wife and
child to sleep under the umbrella, while I hung my camlet cloak
slanting on some chains. With all these inconveniences I enjoyed
myself hugely, but my wife would get homesick once in a while,
and would often make tea five times a day to get rid of it. Tea
is a good medicine for homesick people, and I can recommend it
from experience. About three months after we came, we were able
to keep dry in our own house, and, though small in size, we often
had as many as eighteen living with us. Sometimes as many as
three families of our friends would stay with us from five to six
weeks, until they got located.
The first school kept in this township was taught in my grain
barn, Miss Kate Kfllroy, teacher. All the children for two miles
each way made a school of over twenty scholars. We were good
friends and neighbors in those days, when we lived five and six
miles apart. It was in these times that we drove ox teams to Mil
waukee, got forty cents a bushel for wheat, and took eight days to
make the trip.
Deer were very plenty then. I remember inviting my wife to go
hunting with me (I never was much of a hunter, but I killed a deer
once in a while). Starting with my team, I had not gone over half
a mile from home before I came broadside upon a big buck. Leav
ing the reins to my wife I drew up my gun, but it shook so I missed
the deer, and my wife teased me so much about it that I never
asked her to go hunting again.
The time of my first visit to Madison was in June of the same
year I moved here, and I went with Mr. and Mrs. McFadden. We
were entertained at the, house of W. W. Wyman, who printed the
whig paper, and politics ran very high then. His daughter Emily

478 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  MONTROSE.
invited my wife to go into the printing office, and her introduction
of my wife to her father was, " Father, give this lady a paper; she
is a whig." She had made the discovery that my wife was a whig,
which in after acquaintance was the cause of many a laugh with
Miss Emily, who is now no more. I still live on the farm I entered
from the government, and but few of my old neighbors are left here
with me.
The year 1846 was a very sickly season; almost everybody in our
part of the country had the ague, and before I had been here three
months I was taken down with a sickness the nature of which I
did not know. There was no doctor except Dr. Fox, and he lived
fifteen miles away. I found it necessary to consult some one,
so Mr. McFadden showed me the Indian trail, and told me to fol
low it and it would take me to the doctor's house. I obeyed in
structions and found him. He was sitting in his chair, prop
ped up with pillows and bed quilts, and his wife trying to make
him comfortable. It seemed he had had the misfortune to
fall into a half dug well, having been called up the night before,
and had broken some of his ribs and sprained an ankle, and was
smashed up in general. But all of that did not prevent him from
administering to his patients. He told me I had the ague, and
gave me some medicine. I continued after that to have it about
one year off and on.
I had but little means left after my farm was paid for; in fact,
nothing but my hands, and I truly thought it looked like a sorry day
for me. But there was a good deal of teaming at that time from
Illinois with flour into the pineries, and one man being too heavily
loaded, sold me a barrel of flour for twelve shillings. None knew
how thankful I was for that good fortune. My wife and Mary Kill-
roy were the only women in this part of the town that escaped the
ague. A family from "Vermont, named Rogers, who lived about one
mile from me, with a family of seven children, were all down with
it, and my wife and Mary used to take turns in baking bread
for them. I being sick, my wife would have to hunt the cows at
night, and as we had heard awful stories about snakes in Wiscon
sin (she was terribly afraid of them), she would put on my high
topped boots, and when she came to high grass (it was pretty high
in those days), she says she ran through it for dear life.
Prairie chickens were more plenty in my dooryard than tame
ones. The first one I ever saw was on the other side of Beloit. I

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  MONTROSE. 479
heard a strange noise in the marsh, so I took my gun, tliinking
of wolves all the time, and started to see. When I came in the
vicinity of the groaning, to my astonishment it was nothing but a
bird, stamping around with its feathers all in a rumple, and while I
was contemplating and wondering what the d — 1 ailed it, it took
wing and left.
The first postoffice established was called Grand Spring, and re
mained so until Belleville grew up a village, when it was changed
to that place and name. I think our town was first named Grand
Spring by Mr. McFadden, after his spring, but there were so many
townships that had a spring in their name that the legislature did
not grant their request. I think it was named Montrose by P. W.
Matts, Esq.
For thirty-one years I have enjoyed Wisconsin life. Whether I
live thirty-one years longer or not, I know they will not be any hap
pier. W. W. WlLLOUGHBT.
BELLEVILLE.
The village of Belleville is situated on the west
bank of Sugar River, on the south line of the county,
twenty miles southwest of Madison. It is surrounded
by an excellent farming country, well adapted to
stock raising and dairy purposes, which is now be
coming the most profitable business in the county.
A large portion of the farms are stocked with sheep.
The splendid stock farm of William Lysaght's of
twelve hundred acres is near the village ; he is the
largest and most successful stock raiser in the state,
and bases his plans on practical and scientific prin
ciples. His influence among the farmers, by his
knowledge of stock raising, has been a great benefit
to the town. He is a gentleman of superior educa
tional attainments, high minded, reliable and honora
ble, having resided here since the first settlement of
the town.

480 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  MONTROSE.
The raising of stock on small farms is now very ex
tensive, and is daily increasing, resulting from the
continued failure of the wheat crop for the last fifteen
years. Farmers having thus been forced into the
stock business have given their land rest, and en
riched it, where otherwise it was becoming impover
ished by the raising of wheat.
John Frederick located here in 1847, and built a
grist mill the next year; he was the first settler on
land now occupied by the village, and built the first
dwelling house. In 1848, the village was laid out by
John Frederick and John Mitchell, owning one-half,
or twenty acres each. The village was nameJ after
Frederick's native place, Belleville, Canada West.
The first marriage solemnized in the village, was by
the Rev. Matthew Fox., and in Mr. Frederick's house.
The first store was built in 1847, by John Sylvester,
and occupied by him till 1857, when he removed to
Kentucky, his native place.
The first district school was organized in 1846, now
district No. 3. A meeting was called for all the legal
voters in the town, and the attendance was quite large
for that time. The especial object, aside from the
organization, was the location of the school. After
quite a discussion upon the subject, it was found on
examination that there were but two legal voters, Geo.
McFadden and Wm. Morehead, and they located the
school. However, the remainder retired quietly, and
were afterwards well satisfied with the location, it be
ing near the center of the town. There are now sev-

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  MONTROSE. 481
en school districts in the town which comDare favor
ably with any in the county.
The first school house was built in 1847, an octagon
• building, one story, and intended at that time to ac
commodate about forty scholars. The present school
house was built in 1869, 28 by 36 feet, two stories
high, and will bear comparison with any village
school house in the county.
The first religious society formed, or organized
in the township, was Presbyterian, in 1847, Rev.
Matthew Fox, pastor. The meetings were held from
that time until the village was laid out, and the
school house built, in Geo. MacFadden's barn, at the
Grand Spring Farm. Mr. Fox continued to preach
once in two weeks, for some time, with great satisfac
tion, till about 1861. He was honored and respected
by all who knew him, for his energy, manliness, and
the honesty with which he gave expression to his
opinions and sentiments. The church is still in a
prosperous condition, and is composed of some of the
wealthiest citizens.
Rev. Matthew Fox speaking of his early ministerial
work among the pioneer settlers, says :
Geo. McFadden was one of the early settlers in the section of
country now known as the town of Montrose; he established him
self near the Sugar river some 18 miles S. and E. from Madison.
There was a large spring, and on that he built his log house.
At that time there •'was considerable teaming to the pinery of Wis
consin from Northern Illinois. Mr. McFadden's residence was in
the line of travel, and teamsters used to put up there attracted by
the spring, his comfortable barn and ample board. The place
31

482 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  MONTROSE.
was known as Grand Spring. Shortly after my arrival in Wiscon
sin, in 1845, I was invited to preach here, and after some time
established regular services. For a while I preached in Mr. McFad-
den's barn, afterwards in his house and at a later day in a
school house. I organized the Presbyterian church (now known
as the Presbyterian Church of Belleville) in that barn, and there
administered the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper. The place where
Belleville now stands was then a wilderness.
There was an Indian trail from Second Lake to Sugar river, and
that trail was my guide in those early days. I also preached at the
Badger mills before the town of Verona was established, and at the
residence of Mr. George Robinson held regular services. There I or
ganized the Presbyterian church, now known as the Presbyterian
Church of Verona.
I commenced my ministerial work in the place now known as Ore
gon in August, 1845. The bar-room of the Rome house was my
church. After a year's labor I organized a Presbyterian church.
Caleb Spooner and Charles P. Moseley were the Elders. The amount
of salary raised for me during the second year of my ministry at
Oregon was twenty-seven dollars and fifty cents. But few of the first
members of the church are now living. In a pastorate of so many
years, I have witnessed great changes; have had experience of
great hardships; have received many signal blessings and have had
many precious evidences of affectionate regard; here I have spent
the vigor of my life, and here, as the shadows of life's evening are
gathering, I am waiting for the voice of my Redeemer to call me
Home. In 1856, our house of worship was built; our membership as per
session record is some 90.
In 1853, a Free Will Baptist society and church
was organized here, Rev. Benjamin Davis, pastor. It
continued but a few years and then died out.
About 1847, the Methodists began to hold meetings
here, and have continued to do so with varying suc
cess, up to the present.
In 1856, a Baptist society and church was organ
ized, Rev. Mr. Whitman, pastor, and prospered well

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  MONTROSE. 483
under his ministration. In 1858, the society, with
the assistance of each of the other religious bodies,
built the first church, which was also used by the
other denominations until 1875. The house at this
time being badly out of repair, in consequence of a
number of those who had taken an active interest in
the church having died, or removed from here, so
that there were not enough left to interest themselves
in the necessary repairs, when it was leased to the Sec
ond Advent Church and society for ninety-nine years.
This society was formed about 1858, the Rev. Mr.
Hitchcock, pastor, and has continued prosperous up
to the present time. Since the leasing of the church
to them they have repaired it in a very tasteful man
ner, and it is now quite an ornament to the village.
The Baptist, Presbyterian and Methodist still possess
the right to use it.
The first physician that settled here was Dr. E. H.
Osborne, who came in 1847, and has earned a reputa
tion as one of the most successful in Dane county;
his practice extending over several townships. He re
tired from practice in 1874 (on account of failing.
health), with an ample fortune — a large hearted man,
ever ready to help all enterprises that would be for
the benefit of his fellow man, and respected by all who ¦
knew him.
The cemetery was laid out in 1855, on land bought
of Wellington Willoughby. Until a few years back
but little interest was taken in keeping the ground in
proper repair, but now there is quite a taste awakened
to suitably ornament the grounds.

484 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  MONTROSE.
The first blacksmith shop was built in 1848, by
Mr. Fuller. He continued in business until 1851,
when he returned to Ohio.
The first hotel was built by John Wood in 1851,
and to-day will compare favorably with any village
hotel. It is in excellent condition, and kept in grand
style by the present owner, S. A. Barker, who has the
tact and the means to keep a good hotel.
The first mill built here was by John Frederick in
1844, a large stone building, but was taken down in
1870. The present mill was built in 1867, by Wm.
B. Norris, who sold to J. W. Norton in 1870, who
now owns and operates it.
This is one of the best water powers on Sugar riv
er. There is scarcely one-half the power utillized.
It is also one of the safest and least expensive, not
being liable to damage by floods, which speaks well
for it as one of the best locations for manufacturing
purposes in Dane county. The business of the vil
lage at present is two good general stores, H. E.
Story and William B. Norris, both doing a good
business; J. D. Oliver, harness shop, doing a pros
perous business; D. S. Smith, wagon shop, doing a
gopd paying business; T. B. Withers, blacksmith;
Geo. Dyson, shoe shop; C. C. Pease, cheese fac
tory; Miss A. H. Gassett, millinery goods, and doing
an excellent business; Miss Kate Sullivan, dressmak
er; J. M. Williams, cabinet maker.
The growth of Belleville has been shown from the
start, but being located between two railroads forty

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  MONTROSE. 485
miles apart, about equal distance between them, it
very naturally has a tendency to carry immigration
by to newer places, with better prospects for rail
road comforts and conveniences. A route for a rail
road was surveyed from Brodhead to the Wisconsin
river in 1856, and another about the same time from
Brodhead to Madison. But owing to bad management
and local jealousy, it was never completed. The
present spring another has been surveyed from Brook
lyn to Belleville, a branch of the Northwestern, and
it is hoped may be built. Should we get a road to
this place, we would in a very few years have the
largest town in Dane county, judging from the beau
tiful location, ease of access, water power, and well
cultivated lands.
There are several mounds on the banks of the river,
some of them have been opened, but nothing new dis
covered to give any light on their origin.
PAOLI  BY H. S. UTLEY.
Paoli village is situated on the east branch of Sugar
river, in the town of Montrose, five miles north of
the county line between Green and Dane counties,
the river here having an average width of about
twenty-five feet and the valley of about two miles.
Fine farming lands surround the village on every
side, and within a few years good and substantial
farm houses and barns have been erected.
The village was laid out and named by Hon. P. W.
Matts, in 1849, and a saw-mill put up by him the

486 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  MONTROSE.
next year. The water power is gained by a race one-
fourth of a mile long, cutting across a bow in the
river. The fall is about eight feet.
The first store was opened by John Mitchell in
1851. In 1864 the mill property was bought by the broth
ers, B. M. and F. H. Minch, who put up a substan
tial stone grist-mill, using the saw-mill as a storage
room. They now do business under the firm name of
B. M. Minch & Co.
Others, doing business at present, are the following:
WilUiam Fischer, Postmaster, dealer in dry goods
and groceries, and proprietor of the Paoli Cheese
Factory. William Minch & Co., dry goods, grocer
ies and notions. Henry Goodnow, general black
smith, light and heavy forging. Solon J. Smith,
harnessmaker. 0. J. Keve, blacksmith. John Mey
er, wagonmaker. Milo Sanders, carpenter and joiner.
Miss Mary J. Ulerich, dressmaker. Miss Lucy San
ders, milliner. Mr. Hangartner, shoemaker. Dr.
George Pickett, physician and surgeon. Frank
Meng, proprietor and keeper of the hotel.
Paoli cemetery, one-half a mile, south of the vil
lage, is regularly laid out with a central park and
pleasantly situated.
The St. Raphael (Catholic) church and parsonage
are located in a thriving German settlement two and
one-half miles west of the village.
The Methodist church was organized about the year
1850 in the log school house, and one of the principal

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  MONTROSE. 487
preachers of that day was known as Father Fox, a
very earnest advocate of the gospel, and father of
Dr. and Rev. Matthew Fox, of Oregon. They now
have a neat and commodious church building in the
village. The present pastor is Rev. Mr. Burnip.
The Paoli school house is pleasantly situated on the
east bank of Sugar river, and consists of two commo
dious rooms well furnished, the school being graded
into two departments during the winter term. The
assessed valuation of the district is $131,500, and it
has 108 children.
Paoli Lodge, No. 177, 1. O. G. T, meets every
Tuesday evening, in M. E. Church.
Paoli Grange, No. 476, meets Saturday evenings,
every two weeks, in Solon J. Smith's hall.
During the winter, the large hall in William Fisch
er's Cheese Factory makes a very pleasant place for
social gatherings.

488 DANE COUNTY TOWNS — DUNN.

DUNN.
BY WILLIAM E. COLLADAY, Esq.
Dunn, or township 6 north, range 10 east of the
4th principal meridian, lies south of Blooming Grove,
and Lake Waubesa, or Second Lake, and north of
Rutland, between Pleasant Springs and Lake Ke
gonsa, or First Lake on the east, and the towns of
Oregon and Fitchburg on the west.
The original name of this town was Rome, com
prising what is now Oregon, Fitchburg and Dunn.
When set apart from the other towns, Dover was the
name that was intended to have been given it; but
in 1848, by mistake of the engrossing clerk of the
Assembly, it received its present name.
The surface of this town is somewhat undulated,
yet not marked by any steep ascents or sterile bluffs ;
but consists of prairie, oak openings and meadow land.
The soil on the prairie and a portion of the lower
lands is rich black loam, with limy clay and sandy sub
soil in the openings. Madison, the University and In
sane Asylum can be seen from several points in town.
The largest stream is the Yahara, or Catfish river,
which is the outlet of Lake Waubesa, or Second
Lake, and runs in a southeasterly direction through
sections 4, 10, 11, and 14, into First Lake, and then
winds its way into Rock river.
On section 10, the river widens and covers an area
of nearly half a section, or about a mile long and

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  DUNN. 489
half a mile wide, and is called the " Wide Spread," or
" Mud Lake." This stream is well wooded on either
bank with heavy timbers, and a greater portion of the
way, the banks being high and dry, afford splendid
facilities for milling purposes.
The second largest stream is Door Creek, which
rises on section 7, in the town of Cottage Grove,
winds its way from the north, through sections 1, 12,
and 13 of this town, and empties into First Lake,
Hook Lake covers an area of several hundred acres on
sections 28, 29, and 32, and is stagnant water, fed by
small springs and surface water; has no outlet but
almost evaporates as fast as fed by springs. High
water occurs only in times of rainy seasons. During
dry seasons, cranberries are gathered on the marshes.
These lakes, with the exception of Hook Lake,
teem with fishes of most every species adapted to fresh
water, and during the early settlement of this town,
were so abundant that they could be taken from the
Smaller streams by pitchforks. On the lakes, swans,
pelicans, geese and ducks were numerous, and the
woods abounded with bears, wolves, foxes and deer.
On the west bank of First Lake, on sec. 14 and 23,
there was at one time a village of Winnebago Indians,
and numerous trails and relics are still found, as well
as a number of Indian mounds, or cemeteries, where
they buried their dead. .These mounds are numerous
on sec. 23, and also on the point that projects into the
lake from the west. Here they have been opened, and
remains of Indians found therein, two, three and four
having been buried in the same grave. Lead ore is
frequently found on sections 14 and 23, in bulks con-

490 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  DUNN.
taining from three to fifteen pounds each. Where it
came from, or whether mines of this valuable mineral
exist undiscovered by civilization, we are unable to
say. Abel Rasdall, an Indian fur trader, was told by
the Indians that ore did exist in quantities near the
lake. A few years since we discovered, on the south
bank of the Catfish river, near the lake, a kiln, or
place made of stone and clay under ground, where
lead ore was smelted by the aborigines, and in the im
mediate vicinity seemed to be a great resort for tribes
of savages, as Indian relics are frequently found, such
as arrow heads, stone axes, etc.
One of the detachments of the army in pursuit of
Black Hawk, on his retreat to Prairie du Chien,
camped for several days on section 27, where they
felled trees to form a strong corral for their horses.
The town was first settled by Alvah W. Wetherby
and family, on section 21, in 1843. The following
year, Dr. Levi Pritchard settled on section 18; A.
Witcomb on section 28; Dexter brothers on section
27 ; Root brothers, one on section 27, and one on sec
tion 7; Richard Palmer on section 18; O. B. Moore
on section 1 ; and William M. Colladay on section 27.
In three or four years after the first settlement, the
inhabitants seemed to be quite numerous, and in 1848
there were about twenty-five families settled in what
is now the town of Dunn. Wetherby having accum
ulated property, emigrated in 1858 to California.
Dr. Pritchard practiced as a homoeopathic physician
with great success, and gained the respect and esteem
of the whole country, and against the real wishes of
the people he emigrated to Missouri, where he died

DANE COUNTY TOWNS — DUNN. 491
about the year 1870. The Root brothers emigrated
from here to Oregon. A. Witcomb and the Dexter
brothers (Witcomb's nephews) emigrated to Ne
braska. O. B. Moore still resides on his old home
stead. He has held the office of chairman of the
town board of supervisors for several different terms,
besides various other town offices ; is an energetic Re
publican, and strong supporter of education.
Wm. M. Colladay immigrated from Philadelphia
. to this town and first settled on section 27, where he
lived for several years. In 1853 he moved on to sec
tion 23, bordering on First Lake, where he still re
sides; this being one of the finest locations in the
country. These commodious grounds and pleasant
scenery make it a pleasant summer resort. Picnics,
fishing parties, etc., are almost an every day occur
rence; at this writing, July, 1877, there are encamped
on these grounds several parties, in all forty- two, with
nine tents. To give an idea of the natural beauty of
this place and lake, we here insert a card verbatim,
from a young man, dated London, England: Makch 10, 1877.
Hon. W. M. Colladay and Family. — While here my thoughts
often revert to my many friends in Wisconsin, and especially to your
self and family, and the pleasant occasions spent with you. In all
my travels in America and this country, I've not seen a place that,
for natural beauty, equaled yours. If 1 ever reach home again in
Wisconsin, be assured you will find me again at Colladay's Point.
My regards to all the family. Yours respectfully, W. J. P.
The first town meeting was held at the residence of
A. W. Wetherby, April 4, 1848; the spring election of
the territory at which the state constitution was
adopted. Only twenty-three votes were cast, and the
following were the first elective officers : R. T. Raw-

492 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  DUNN.
son, chairman, Wm. Freeman and Eli Root, super
visors; Wm. M. Colladay, clerk; Norman Farwell,
Henry Farnsworth and Joseph C. Swain, school com
missioners; Wm. M. Colladay and R. G. Spaulding,
justices of the peace; A. W. Wetherby, treasurer;
Calvin Farnsworth, assessor. At the last presiden
tial election there were 229 votes cast, and at the last
local election 216.
During the early history of the town, there were no
party lines drawn at local elections, but as the Dem
ocratic party grew strong, they took matters in their
own hands. Within the last few years the young
men have taken an active part in political affairs, and
the Republican party have gained control.
The first public school was taught at the residence
of Asa Dexter, by Miss Amanda Soul, now the es
teemed wife of Asher G. Greene of this town. The
district then comprised nearly the whole township. The
first school district organized was what is now Dis
trict No. 4. There are in town six school houses, in
cluding two joint districts. The amount expended
annually for educational purposes is about $1,500.
The fiist sermon preached was at the residence of
Wm. Slater, about 1847, by the Rev. Wm. Fox, an
old pioneer Methodist from Ireland.
There is one church, erected in 1873, at McFarland,
by the Norwegian Lutherans. The Methodist Epis
copal society hold services every other Sunday, alter
nately, at Hoffman's Hall and the school house in dis
trict No. 4. The present pastor is Rev. W. J. Wilson.
In 1855, the Milwaukee and Prairie du Chien Rail
road Company erected a depot on the northeast quar-

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  DUNN. 493
ter of the southeast quarter of section two. The vil
lage of McFarland was laid out on section three, by
Wm. H. McFarland in 1857, and the depot removed,
and the spacious residence of Mr. McFarland erected.
The following season he moved his family from Mil
waukee to his new home, where he still resides. He
is a hearty supporter of education, and offers to do
nate a site for the erection of a suitable building for
a public graded school,- of which we arc in much need.
In 1856, Eugene Eighmy bought grain at the old
depot, and continued to buy after the erection of the
new depot until the spring of 1859, when Freeman
Eighmy assumed the business and continues to buy,
always paying the highest market price for all pro
duce, and every man is sure to get full weight.
All in all, we have the best market in the country,
and a buyer in whom all place the utmost confi
dence; and he in return is worthy of their trust.
he is also proprietor of a lumber yard, where he
keeps a large stock of first class lumber. In 1868,
Mr. Eighmy erected a commodious and substantial
warehouse, in which the capacity for storage is ten
thousand bushels. Lawrence Eighmy and Philetus
Hurd, stock buyers, courteous, gentlemen, are always
ready to pay the highest market price for live stock.
Eugene Eighmy, a social business man, has a large trade
in the mercantile business. O. O. Forton also has a
good trade and large stock of general merchandise.
H. H. Hoffman has a large convenient store with a
small stock of clothing and crockery, and a fair trade.
Lloyd Hurd, an energetic young- man, has a good
business in the harness trade. Lamp, our village

494 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  DUNN.
smithy, has all the work he can attend to. Shelter
& Reid also have a blacksmith shop. Nelson & Han
son are proprietors of a boot and shoe firm. Ed.
Johnson, dealer in confectionery, boots and shoes.
Among our most prominent farmers and stock rais
ers are Geo. Keenan (the owner of the largest real
estate and most spacious farm residence in the county),
Wm. E. Sherlock, Michael Lally, Wm. M. Colladay,
Robt. Henry, Knute Daley, Timothy Cusic, James
Tusler, Egbert Bennett, Tollif Olson, Morris Brown,
Geo. Leitch and Calvin Farnsworth. In common with
other parts of this county, until within a few years,
the principal crop was wheat; but since, the yield has
been so seriously affected by the chinch bug and
other unknown causes, the greater portion of the
farmers have engaged in raising live stock, and as a
consequence, have largely increased the acreage of
coarser grain. Through the courtesy of James Tus
ler, the present assessor, we are able to give the offi
cial statistics of the acreage of the different agricul
tural products of the present year (1877): Wheat,
1,449; corn, 3,140; oats, 2,542; barley, 718; rye, 117;
tobacco, 149; potatoes, 107; cultivated grasses, 1,740.
The following are the names of the present town
officers : John M. Sampson, chairman, Knute H. Dally,
and Josiah Douglass, supervisors; Osman T. Olson,
clerk; James Tusler, assessor; Shure Johnson,
treasurer; Amos Prentiss, justice of the peace.

DANE COUNTY TOWNS — EOXBURY. 495

ROXBURY.
BY HON. JOHN T. CLARK.
Location. — This town is situated in the northwest
corner of this county; is bounded on the north by the
town of West Point, in Columbia county, on the east
by the town of Dane, on the south by the town of
Berry, and on the west by the town of Mazomanie
and the town of Prairie du Sac, in Sauk county. It
is not quite a full township, the Wisconsin river cut
ting off the northwest corner of section six.
The territory which now forms this town was taken
from the town of Dane, and the name Roxbury was
given to it on a vote of the residents, at the suggestion
of James Steele, Esq., who still resides there. At
the time of its formation, which was in the year 1849,
all the land lying west of the present town and east
of the Wisconsin river was attached to Roxbury; but
in 1863, the strip of land last described was, by an act
of the legislature, attached to the town of Mazomanie.
The first officers of the town were: Burke Fairchild,
chairman; Lorenzo Farr and Lorenzo D. Miller,
supervisors; James Crowder, town clerk; Lorenzo
Farr, assessor; James Steele, treasurer; Z. Bowers,
J. Crowder, George Richards and B. Fairchilds, jus
tices of the peace. Not a German in the list, while
now none of the town officer is of any other nation
ality, unless he be American born of German parents.
Surface and Soil. — The surface is much diversi-

496 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  ROYBURY.
fied. The hills frequently rise to a great height, and
are mostly filled with fine building stone, some of
which is made into lime of the best quality. Between
these hills or "bluffs," as they are called, when of con
siderable height, the lands are very fertile. Some of
the best wheat lands are on the top of high hills.
The land is what is called openings, with here and
there a few acres which might be termed " prairie."
On sections one and two is a beautiful sheet of
water, from its transparency called " Crystal Lake."
The water of this lake is shallow, extending into West
Point, and covers about a section of land.
On sections three and four is another smaller lake,
covering about a half section of land. This is called
" Fish Lake," or " Clark's Lake," from the name of
the owner of the land on which it is situated. It is
not known how deep this lake is. It has been sounded
to the depth of eighty feet and no bottom found.
These lakes are well stocked with fish. There is also
another small lake on sections fourteen and fifteen,
called " Crane Lake," and in many parts of the town
there are ponds which, with springs here and there,
and the Wisconsin river, supply the stock with water.
The people, who are almost exclusively Germans,
are engaged in general farming and grape raising.
There is no manufacturing carried on, unless under
that term wine making can be included. It is be
lieved that there are more grapes raised in this town
than in the rest of the county, and perhaps than in
the whole state besides. Jacob Kehl, who resides near
Prairie du Sac, has the largest vineyard. All over
the town may be found sunny slopes where, in the pro
per season, hang thousands of r.ch clusters.

DANE COUNTY TOWNS — ROXBURY. 497
There is no large village or market place in town.
Clifton, situated on the Wisconsin river opposite
Prairie du Sac, and in the very northwest corner of
the town, was once a promising village, but it has not
kept pace with the growth of the country about it.
In the southeast corner of the town is a small village
called "Alden's Corners." Superior City, on the
Wisconsin river, was one of the earliest laid out towns
in the state, and will be hereafter noticed. The only
stores in town are those of B. Reuter, near the church
and the center of the town, and of P. J. Schleck, near
the Sauk City bridge.
The produce raised in this town is marketed at
Madison, Middleton, Black Earth, Mazomanie, Sauk
City, Prairie du Sac (which is connected with Portage
by steam navigation on the Wisconsin river), Lodi,
Dane station and Waunakee. All points of the com
pass compete for what the town can raise.
On the 21st day of July, 1832, the battle called
" the battle of Wisconsin Heights," in what is known
as the Black Hawk war, was fought here, principally
upon sections 19 and 24, and near the present resi
dences of George Richards, Esq., and Richard Taylor.
A painting of this battle ground, executed by Brooks,
may be seen at the rooms of the State Historical So
ciety at Madison. The thrashing machine represented
on this painting was on the farm of Mr. Richards.
The Indians and their pursuers appear to have come
over the bluff from the southeast. A sort of running
fight was kept up while the savages were driven
through the valley, across the lowlands and the Wis
consin river, and so on to Bad Axe. Many human
bones, as well as arrow heads and other paraphernalia
32

498 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  ROXBURY.
of Indian warfare have been dug up beneath, or found
on the surface of the earth in this vicinity.
Superior City. — One of the earliest, largest, and
most successful paper towns ever laid out in the west,
was located in this territory, now called Roxbury.
It was principally upon section nineteen ; beginning
near the present residence of P. J. Schleck, Esq., ex
tending southward and down the Wisconsin river, cov
ering the farm owned by T. M. Warren, Esq., and now
occupied by John Steinfelder, and embracing the Yar-
nell place, spreading over more than three hundred
acres of land.
It appears from all accounts that in the year 1837
or 1838, a company was formed in the eastern states,
of which company one Floyd seems to have been the
principal manager, to lay out a town on the Wiscon
sin river, either with the honest expectation that such
town would be built, and legitimate gain be made
thereby to the proprietors, or with the hope that a
speculation might be made out of such parties resid
ing at the east as had more money and credulity than
sound judgment.
This, be it remembered, was at a time when such
device was new, and no bubble of the kind had ever
burst in the land.
The town was christened " Superior City," and a
most elegant map was made of it, showing the streets,
the public buildings and parks, the Wisconsin river
on which steamboats were plying up and down, and
also navigating the smaller stream, a tributary com
ing down from Crane Lake by Father Inama's house,
on which stream splendid mills were represented
(which stream, by the way, is dry ten months in the

DANE COUNTY TOWNS — ROXBURY. 499
year), and in general setting out every convenience,
elegance and attraction which could be placed on paper
by the most ingenious Yankee.
All in fact, which had ever been done towards build
ing a town, was to stake out the streets, lots, blocks,
and squares, and to fell some trees and hew them, ap
parently with the intention of using the timber in
building. This was all that was ever done in this
direction, unless perhaps a shanty was built for the
laborers who cut and hewed the timber.
The map was taken to Chicago, New York, and
Boston, accompanied with the most glowing descrip
tions of the beauty, salubrity and commercial advan
tages of the city, and large numbers of the lots were
sold, some at as high figures as $800 each. >They were
sold, too, to persons who had been considered as of
sound mind. Daniel Webster, " the Godlike Daniel,"
is said to have had about $13,000 in the great city.
After making the maps and selling the lots, neither
the proprietors, their agents, " nor any other man,"
came to build the city; the timber was sold by the
laborers to whom the company was indebted for work,
or appropriated by such persons as thought they
needed it. The stakes have long since fallen, and the
place which knew Superior City " shall know it no
more forever."
Early Settlement. — In 1840, Augustine Harasz-
thy, commonly known as Count Haraszthy, with his
cousin Charles Hallasz, the latter of whom has ever
since resided and now resides at what is now called
Sauk City, Hungarians by birth, immigrated to and
located at the place last named. Haraszthy appears
to have been a man of great energy and of considera-

500 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  ROXBURY.
ble means, and very enthusiastic about the future of
this country. He invested at once in lands in the
neighborhood, and set about improvement. So far as
can now be ascertained, in the fall of 1840, he erected
the first building in this town, not for a residence, but
as a sort of hunting lodge. This was a log building,
and was set upon a point of the bluff above and near
the Wisconsin river, and nearly opposite the lumber
office of Mr. Hallasz, as it now stands in Sauk City.
During the year 1841, Haraszthy established a ferry
across the Wisconsin river near or a little below
where the Sauk City bridge now stands, and the house
now owned and occupied by P. J. Schleck, Esq., as a
store, saloon, and post office, was built by Mr. Har
aszthy in that year, and used as a ferry house. Rob
ert Richards and Jacob Fraelich operated the ferry,
and resided in this house. This is supposed to have
been "the first dwelling erected in town, and they the
first residents. At this point two or three Indian trails
met, and for several years this was the usual crossing
place. From this date there was little improvement
in the town for four years.
The year 1845 determined in a great degree the
nationality and religion of the population of the town.
In that year came Father Adelbert Inama, a German
catholic priest. He had been two years from his na
tive land, and those two years had been passed in New
York. He had come to seek a home in the wilder
ness, and to plant and uphold here the standard of the
cross. He selected for his residence a most romantic
spot; a little ravine surrounded by hills except where
at certain seasons of the year, a stream, sometimes
swelling into a torrent, passes through. Here he still

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  ROXBURY. 501
lives, with no house in sight except his own, and with
no clearing except a good sized garden. His cows
pasture through the woods, and he keeps no horse,
preferring to walk wherever his duty has called him.
Here in 1845, he built his log cabin, which looks out
toward the midday sun. Directly in the rear rises a
steep bluff covered with timber. You approach the
dwelling across a foot bridge over the ravine down
which heavy rains and melting snows hurl their floods
to the river. After a time he adds at the west end of
his cabin a kitchen, using his room first built for all
the purposes of his priestly office. His work grew
upon his hands, and he joined to the east end of his
original building an audience room and an altar, the
two forming his chapel, which, surmounted by a cross,,
is still standing, and in which chapel, till 1853, mass
was said every day.
When Father Inama came, there was but one cath
olic in what is now Roxbury ; that was one Matthias
Schmidt, and he soon left. The lone priest made great
efforts to induce immigration. He entered a consid
erable amount of land near the center of the town,
and allowed those coming in to take it at government
price. As a matter of course the new comers were
catholic Germans, and the diligent pastor soon found
a flock gathering about him. His little chapel in the
ravine was visited by those of his faith from all the
country round. All nationalities, and even some In
dians who had been converted through the labors of
the early missionaries, were glad to find this lonely
spot where they could receive the rites and enjoy the
privileges of their mother church.
So one family after another came, either directly

502 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  ROXBURY.
from Fatherland or from the states, until in the year
1853, the society was able to complete, near the center
of the town, the little red brick church, 24 by 30 feet
in size, which now stands in the rear of the stone
building, and is occupied by the altar. The growth
of the society continued until in 1860 it embraced
from sixty to seventy families, and the little brick
church having become quite too small, they enclosed
the present stone front, 44 by 50 feet in size. This,
with the old church, was used but not finished within,
till 1866. This society has continued to increase un
til now it embraces over one hundred families. They
have commenced a second addition to the church, the
foundations of which are already laid, and when com
plete they will have a magnificent edifice. The plan
provides for the removal of the little old brick church
in the rear, extending the stone building until its
length shall be 110 feet, and adding wings so that
when finished the building will stand on the ground
in the form of a cross.
Mention should be made of the fact that this
church has above its altar what is considered one of
the finest paintings in America. It is large; there
are five figures upon it. Above are the Yirgin and
Child, two beautiful forms ; below, on the left, is St.
Jerome, and on the right are St. James and St. Nor-
bert, after the latter of whom the church is named,
and who is represented with the features of Louis I,
king of Bavaria. This choice painting was executed
by an artist in Munich, in 1859, and was sent by said
king, as a present to this church, in 1860.
This is the only church edifice in town, though
there are a few members of other church organizations.

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  ROXBURY. 503
Connected with the church just described, in a com
modious stone building, is a school, taught by " sis
ters," where the children and youth are instructed in
the doctrines and faith of their fathers. The town
has no other school except the common district
schools, for which there are several fine buildings.
Father Inama is now in his 80th year. He has
served this church and the country round about since
1845, assisted only for a time by Father Max Gard
ner, until 1872, when he was relieved by Father Mat
thias Heigl, a young man of fine talents and educa
tion, of preposessing personal appearance and cultiva
ted manners, who now performs the duties of pastor
to this large congregation.
Father Inama born in Tyrol in 1798, having
spent five years in Botzen, devoted to the study of
the classics, four years in Innspruch, given to litera
ture and philosophy ; to theology one year in Yienna,
two years in Innspruch and one in Trent, speak
ing with fluency several languages, at the age of
seventy-five years, having ministered in the same
town for thirty years, and having' been largely instru
mental in settling that town, and in promoting its
prosperity, respected and honored by men of all class
es and religions, and of no religion, retires to spend
the remnant of his days in his vine covered cottage,
surrounded by flowers; in his little chapel daily offer
ing prayers for his beloved congregation, with- eyes
scarcely dimmed or strength abated, calmly awaits
the summons of his Maker.
The same year in which Father Inama settled in
Roxbury, also came George Richards, Adolph Fas-
binder, Carl Schugart, Richard Taylor, — Weber,

504 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  ROXBURY.
— Campbell, James Crowder and Burke Fairchilds.
In 1846 came Anton Ganser, T. M. Warren, George
Baltis, Nicholas Breckendorf, Michel Michel, Michael
Loeser, Conrad Jordan, and perhaps others.
From that time the population increased rapidly,
until from almost every valley and hilltop rose the
smoke of a log cabin. The few Americans who were
among the early settlers have mostly disposed of their
property to the Germans, until so far as the language
spoken and heard in this town is concerned, one might
as well be in Deutchland. The population at the
census taken in 1875, was 1,151.
The inhabitants are generally industrious, econom
ical and thrifty. There is almost no litigation in the
town. There is scarcely any crime to be punished,
and the public peace is not often disturbed. On spec
ial occasions, King Lager in some cases prevails over
sobriety, and black eyes and bloody noses abound ; but
the next day all are at work, some, perhaps, with aching
heads, but such trifles are never brought into court.
The next Sunday all are at church and in peace.
The town is rapidly improving; the waste places
are being cleared out and brought under cultivation ;
the log cabins are fast disappearing, and in their
places are rising good, substantial buildings, mostly
of stone, and on every side are found the evidences of
permanent prosperity.
Thanks are due for information touching the early
history and settlement of the town to Charles Hal-
lasz, Esq., of Sauk City, James Crowder, now of
Lodi, to Father Inama, and to George Richards,
Anton Ganser and Horace Miller, Esqrs., of Roxbury.

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  OREGON. 505

OREGON.
BY DR. I. HOWE.
Township No. 5 north, range 9 east of the 4th
principal meridian, is situated in the center of the
southern tier of townships in the county of Dane.
The surface is undulating, and was, in the state of
nature, covered with burr and white oak openings,
with a few small prairies and marshes. The soil is
good for most agricultural products, but is not rated
first class in the county. There are four small creeks,
outlets to the same number of springs, two of which
are on section 12, forming the head waters of the Bad-
fish, and one each on sections 18 and 20.
Bartley Runey built the first cabin in the township,
in the fall of 1841, and moved his family, consisting
of his wife, three boys and four girls, into it in the
spring of 1842, and opened a tavern. It was located
on section 24, near the junction of the mail route
from Madison to Janesville and the road from Min
eral Point to Milwaukee, known as the " old lead
route." It was a favorite stopping place for the
teamsters hauling that mineral, and many an old pi
oneer has seen from ten to fourteen yoke of oxen pull
ing one stalled wagon out of the mud near the pioneer
tavern. His nearest neighbor was Wm. Quivey, in
town 6, range 9. Mr. Runey was a man of great en
ergy, but lived only two or three years after settling
here. His son Garrett now occupies the old home
stead, and few landmarks remain to mark the site of
the once famous tavern.

506 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  OREGON.
The next settler was Robert Thompson, who locat
ed, and, with the assistance of Mr. Runey and boys,
built a cabin on section 12, near a beautiful spring
which bears his name. The log house is there in good
preservation, and the spring, as if in mockery of the
decrepitude that has overtaken the young and robust
pioneer, still bubbles and sparkles in perennial youth.
At the close of 1842, Mr. Runey and family and Mr.
Thompson were the only residents in the township.
In 1843, the number was increased by the settle
ment of Stephen Hook, who located on section 27,
and Thomas Hook, his brother; also, C. Sargeant, on
section 34, where he still resides, Abram Kierstead
and family, consisting of his wife, two sons and three
daughters who in a few years were married respect
ively to three prominent young pioneers, viz.: Hon.
S. G. Abbott, Hon. I. M. Bennett and Wm. S. Bed
ford, Esq. C. P. Moseley settled that year on the
present site of the village of Oregon, built a cabin —
partly frame and partly logs — and opened a tavern.
This log tavern was the nucleus of the present thriv
ing village. Horace Watrous settled on section 1,
and built a log house. Eli Root made a claim on the
same section, but soon left. Thus ended the pion
eer settlement for 1843.
This number was enlarged in the year 1844 by the
arrival of Reuben Boyce and family, who settled on
section 36, where his son Reuben still resides. In a
few days after his arrival, several members of his fam
ily were prostrated by ship fever, of which two of his
children died — the first deaths in the township.
Mr. Boyce was highly respected by the early set
tlers. His influence was large and always exerted for

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  OREGON. 507
their best interests. Wm. S. Bedford located about
the same time, on section 35, Stoddard Johnson on
section 1, and Wm. Cummings on section 10, who
built a cabin. Mrs. Cummings killed a large deer
which had been driven into the door yard and caught
by the dogs. She achieved a victory, but rumor hath
it that in the struggle she lost nearly all the drapery
with which woman delights to adorn herself. At any
rate, she beat a hasty retreat on the approach of the
young and blushing Joseph G. Fox, and would only
speak to him through a chink in the door.
W. F. Lee and Schuyler Gilbert came in this year.
Mr. Gilbert located on section 10, and still owns un
der his patent. S. J. Pratt came in September, the
same year. Landing in Milwaukee, he started on foot
and alone across lots, and crying, "to find a home."
Arriving at Runey's in a few days, he located his
present homestead, and now four generations fre
quently gather under his roof -tree.
About the same time, John S. Frary arrived in
Milwaukee. Hardly had he stepped on shore when
he was accosted by a stranger: " Do you want to go
west, young man?" "West!" cried the weary and
homesick John; "west! for eighteen long days and
nights have I sought the west on the fastest convey
ances the country affords, and if you have anything
further west, commend me to the first boat going
east." But he changed his mind, came with the
stranger, and in a short time was building his cabin
on section 24. 1844 closed with less than a dozen
structures to shelter a civilized man in the township.
In 1845, the township rapidly settled up. R. Un
derwood, wife and two sons — John and Henry — lo-

508 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  OREGON.
cated on section 3. John still holds his parchment
title; Ira Hays and two sons — Enos and Plympton
— on section 5; R. P. Main on section 24, and six
brothers, by the name of Devine, on section 23. They
deserve a far more extended notice than the space al
lotted the writer will permit. Joseph Algard and
family settled on section 17; Harry Brown and John
Ellsworth on section 9, and Wm. De Boise on section
8; Amasa Salisbury on section 1; Rufus Rawson on
section 12, where he built the first blacksmith shop.
Dick Castleman has the credit also of building this
first shop.
In 1845, Nathaniel Ames, three sons and one grand
son — J. N. Ames — settled in the township. Mr.
Ames was born in 1761, joined the revolutionary
army, saw Washington when he visited the winter
quarters of his army near Morristown, N. J., witnessed
the execution of Major Andre, and died in Oregon
August 27, 1863, at the great age of one hundred and
two years and four months. When asked by one of
his neighbors to what he ascribed his long life, he
quietly and philosophically replied: " I have always
slept well."
Rev. Matthew A. Fox came in August, 1845, and
a few days after, held his first service in the log cabin
of Mrs. Kellogg, the occasion being the funeral of
her husband. His next service was in the bar room
of C. P. Moseley's tavern. In 1856, the first church
was built, and he was installed as pastor, which posi
tion he has acceptably and usefully filled to the pres
ent time. The church stands within a few rods of the
cabin in which he performed his first sorrowful ser
vice. Many of his early pioneer friends have been

DANE OOUNTY TOWNS — OREGON. 509
carried through its portals to their last resting place,
for whom he has performed a like sad service, and it
seems as though his labors might end almost on the
spot where they commenced.
J. W. Scovill opened the first store in the township,
in the fall of 1845, on section 21, or the "Hollow."
He chopped the logs, split the puncheons for the floor
and rived the shakes himself. After it was raised and
completed, he went to Racine for his stock. During
his absence, Mrs. Scovill papered it throughout with
Albany Evening Journals. How the heart of the ven
erable "T. W." would swell to know his paper had
served so good a purpose! The enterprising young
merchant, by thus surrounding his customers with
sound Whig doctrine, insensibly led them to vote that
ticket, and from its organization the town has been
Whig or Republican by large and uninterrupted ma
jorities. What might have been the result had the
good lady used the Albany Argus ?
Rosel Babbitt and Seba T. Lewis opened farms this
year on sections 14 and 15. Mr. Lewis was accident
ally killed in his well by the fall of a bucket. Eph-
raim Newton and perhaps two or three others located
in 1845.
Joseph G. Fox returned from Ireland with his young
bride in the fall of 1845 and commenced housekeeping
in the first frame house in the township. He had it
erected during his absence. His brother James set
tled near him about the same time. At the close of
1845, pioneer life in the township was about closed.
Mills were being erected on the Catfish and Sugar
rivers, post offices conveniently established, merchants
and mechanics commencing business, roads laid out

510 DANE COUNTY TOWNS — OREGON.
and bridges built, and'the gospel preached by numer
ous missionaries who heard with delight the crowing
of the unwary spring chicken.
The glowing descriptions of the salubrious climate,
fertile soil and abundance of game, sent .through the
mail or carried by those returning for their families
or sweethearts, produced its effect in 1846 and 7, and
friends, relatives and neighbors hastened to possess
the remaining unoccupied lands. All the conveniences
of older settlements were here, or in the near future,
except a market, and they cared little for that in com
parison with the prosperity that surely awaited them.
With strong hearts and willing hands they toiled on,
and are to-day reaping the rewards of their enterprise
and self-denial. During these years, among those who
came to stay, are L. M. Storey, T. Storey, Samuel
Shepard, Smith Patchin and Daniel McKeeby. They
settled near together, and the settlement was called
Storeytown. E. W. Dwight, Phineas Baldwin, father
and three brothers, came still later. In 1846, I. M.
Bennett opened a store in " Rome Corners," and laid
the foundations of his large fortune, and a few years
later Wm. S. Bedford engaged in the same business.
The first marriage solemnized in the township was
in the first log house built therein ; the happy parties
being David Anthony and Jane Runey. A Rev. Mr.
Miner, of Madison, performed the ceremony. On his
way to Mr. Runey's, his horse got mired in the Nine
Spring creek. Unable to extricate him, he started on
foot to fulfill his agreement. At Lake Yiew he sent
assistance to his horse, which was found dead. Wearily
walking on,' he reached Mr. Runey's about 11 o'clock
at night, wet, muddy and exhausted. He performed

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  OREGON. 511
his work so well, however, that David and Jane to-day
enjoy a well earned competence in peace and content
ment. The first piece of cloth was woven by Mrs.
Sophia Underwood, who now lives with her son Hen
ry, on a loom made by Enos Hays, the first of its kind
in the township. The first public religious service
was held in Runey's bar room, by a Methodist mis
sionary by the name of Hawks ; and the first parties
to a law suit were J. S. Frary vs. B. Runey.
In this narative, the writer has found no place to
speak of the real pioneers of the present town of Or
egon — the noble band of women who came with or
followed their husbands and lovers to this wilderness.
They suffered the real hardships and privations of
pioneer life. They, unmindful of storms without or
minor distress within, gathered little delicacies and
needful articles, and visited and assisted the sick and
suffering, though frequently miles away. Every old
settler's memory is filled with recollections of their
gentleness, their kindness, their charity. Many of
them have found the repose of death, but those who
live are thrice blessed by those who received and now
live to testify to their noble and unselfish labor.
The political history of the township is short. To
gratify the young and enthusiastic pioneers' longing
for ballot-boxing, towns 5 and 6 of range 9, and town
6 of range 10, were formed into an election precinct
in 1846, and at the suggestion of J. N. Ames, was
called Rome, from which fact the present village of
Oregon' was then called " Rome Corners." In 1847,
Rosel Babbitt circulated a petition for separate town
ship organization under the name of Oregon, which was
adopted at the town meeting held in April, and Reu-

512 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  OREGON.
ben Boyce elected chairman. Then " local self gov
ernment" became fairly established, and as it consists
mainly in electing officers and paying taxes, the ballot-
boxing pioneer has no reason to regret his work, if its
success is measured by the numbers of the one or the
magnitude of the other.
OREGON  BY T. E. THOMPSON.
This pleasant little village of about 500 inhabitants
is situated in the midst of a fertile' agricultural region,
in the southern part of the county, ten miles from the
capital city, and is the second station on the Madison
division of the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad.
A drive on the highway through Lake Yiew to the
City of the Lakes in summer is most delightful. Green
meadows and waving fields of grain are seen on every
side, and neat white farm houses dot the landscape in
every direction; and here and there are to be seen a
few of the ancient landmarks of the mound builders,
some still intact, while others have lost their distinct
ness by being put to useful purposes by the husband
man, to which occasional glimpses of the glistening
waters of the lakes Waubesa, Monona and Mendota,
and the city in the distance with its Capitol, Univer
sity, Churches and other public buildings are brought
into view, presenting to the traveler a scene of pastoral
beauty unsurpassed in the state.
The first settlement of this town begun in about the
year 1842, thirty-six years ago. Prominent among
the first settlers may be mentioned C. P. Moseley,
Robert Thompson, J. S. Frary, S. J. Pratt, Abraham
Kiersterd, W. S. Bedford, Roswell Babbitt, Phineas

DANE COUNTY TOWNS — OREGON. 513
Baldwin, R. P. Main and E. W. Dwight. The
Boyces, Tipples, Johnsons, Hooks and Foxes were all
pioneers and early identified with its history, having
witnessed its gradual development and improvement
up to the present time.
The surface of the country is slightly undulating,
with a good soil of sandy loam, specially adapted for
agricultural purposes, consisting chiefly of oak open
ings, diversified by small prairies and marshes.
The little settlement first took the name of Rome
Corners, being a central point of the surrounding
towns, which were known only by numbers, as town
No. 4, 6, etc.
I. M. Bennett, now of the banking firm of Bennett
& Pullen, of Evansville, Wisconsin, kept the first
country store in a little log building where now stands
the Oregon Exchange, and which was the objective
point of trade for the scattered settlers. J. B. Runey,
one of the oldest pioneers, settled near the center of
the township in the spring of 1842, and built the first
log house on the old territorial road running from
the lead regions near Dodgeville to Milwaukee, and
which was a stopping place for teamsters drawing lead
to market. The nearest house was five miles distant,
in what is now known as the town of Fitchburg, and
was also kept as a tavern by a man by the name of
Quivey. Mr. Runey was killed a few years later
while returning home from Madison, by the overturn
ing of his wagon near the Nine Spring marsh, on
what was afterwards called Break Neck Hill. The
33

514 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  OREGON.
Devines, a family of six brothers, emigrated from
Pennsylvania about the year 1845, and settled together
near the center of the town, and are now thrifty and
prosperous farmers. Mr. Joseph Devine at one time
traveled with an ox team as far as Delavan to mill,
sixty miles distant, and frequently to Janesville, at a
later period. There were no other mills in that sec
tion, with the exception of the Badger Mills, where a
small business was done. The nearest market was at
Milwaukee, ninety miles distant, a trip with an ox
team consuming ten to twelve days, the teamsters
often camping by the roadside. Wheat only brought
from 20 to 25 cents per bushel. Dressed pork, $1.25
per hundred pounds, and frequently the proceeds of
the sale would not amount to more than the expenses
of transportation. A story is told of a man who hired
a load of wheat taken to market, agreeing to pay
twenty cents per bushel transportation. When the
teamster returned he asked his employer if he had a
quarter of a dollar, remarking as he received it, " Now
that makes you and me square." The load of grain
did not pay the expense of transportation. Almost
the only way that anything could be realized from a
trip, was to bring back emigrants or a little merchan
dise for the country stores along the route.
Nathaniel Ames, for two years and a half a soldier
of the Revolution, and present at Tarrytown at the
execution of Major Andre, and whose portrait adorns
the State Historical rooms, settled here at an early
period, and also many of his descendants. He died

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  OREGON. 515
August 27, 1863, at the advanced age of 102 years,
and was buried with Masonic honors.
The business transacted in this town is quite large,
it being the nucleus of trade for a considerable sec
tion of country around, and is an extensive ship
ping point for live stock to the Chicago market, the
shipments exceeding those of any other station be
tween there and Chicago. During the shipping sea
son twenty-seven car loads of stock have been shipped
in one day, but the usual number is about fifteen per
week. It was at one time a great market for wheat,
as many as 100 car loads being shipped monthly.
The grain shipments are now confined mostly to oats,
of which a great many are received at this station.
A fine brickyard, owned by J. B. Munger, is in suc
cessful operation, and where are manufactured a supe
rior quality of white brick, said to be equal to the
famous Milwaukee brick, large shipments being made
annually to all parts of the country. There are two
hotels, the Oregon Exchange being the principal one,
kept by Richard Chandler, familiarly and widely
known by his friends as " Dick," is one of the best
country hotels in the state, and travelers find here a
comfortable and home-like stopping place, with a
genial host ever ready to minister to the wants and
comfort of his guests. The religious element is rep
resented by two churches, one of the Presbyterian
and the other of the Methodist denomination, presided
over by able pastors. There is also a fine school build
ing consisting of four departments, in charge of capa-

516 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  OREGON.
ble and efficient teachers, and a Masonic and Good
Templars Lodge, both in a flourishing condition.
The pioneer meeting and pic nic here in July, 1875,
was a gratifying success in every particular, it being
the first assemblage of the kind ever held in this sec
tion. Fully four thousand people were in attendance
from the surrounding towns and villages. The gov
ernor of the state and other distinguished personages
arrived on the morning train from Madison, and
were welcomed by a large concourse of the tillers of
the soil, with music and banners. At about ten
o'clock, a large procession was formed with a detach
ment of horsemen in front, followed by every con
ceivable kind and description of vehicle, loaded with
sturdy yeomanry, taking up its line of march to a
beautiful grove near the village, where appropriate
exercises were held, consisting of music, and short
speeches commemorative of the early settlement of
the country.
A prominent feature of the procession were the ox
teams drawing full loads of pioneers, with their wives
and blooming daughters. To one was attached a sled,
used by one of the oldest settlers when he first came
into the country, upon which were seated the wife
and two grandchildren. In one of the wagons drawn
by oxen, was the governor and other invited guests.
The weather was most auspicious, and every one
seemed happy and determined to make happy all
those around them. At the close of the day, the ex
pression was universal that it was the most social and

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  OREGON. 517
enjoyable gathering ever brought together, and an
event long to be remembered in the history of Oregon.
Among the business establishments may be enu
merated the following: Shepherd & Tracy, dealers in
dry goods, groceries and general merchandise; C. W.
Netherwood, postmaster, and proprietor of Nether-
wood's Hall, a commodious hall used for lectures, the
atrical entertainments and balls ; Isaac Howe, groceries,
drugs and medicines ; J. T. Hayes, harness maker, has
an extensive establishment, and does a large business
in his various lines; Mrs. A. P. Johnson, milliner; C.
H. Cronk, station agent* J. W. Scoville, dealer in dry
goods, groceries, crockery and glassware; M. C. Sal
mon, furniture; F. W. Coward, boot and shoemaker;
T. Boyd Cowdry, merchant tailor and dealer in gen
tlemen's furnishing goods; J. M. Doolittle, meat
market; C. E. Powers, restaurant and confectionery;
A. B. Marvin, grain and poultry dealer; G. W. Getz,
wagon and carriage maker; Lindsay & Terwilliger,
dealers in dry goods, groceries, yankee notions, etc. ;
F. D. Powers, attorney; E. L. Booth, boot and shoe
maker; Miss O. M. Postle, milliner and dress maker;
H. B. Richards, grain dealer; Wm. H. Myers, car
riage maker; J. H. Coward, boot and shoe maker; A.
W. Herbert, spring bed factory; Johnson & Beckley,
milliners and dressmakers; Isaac Johnson, confection
ery, flour and feed; H. H. Marvin, dealer in hard
ware, tin ware and agricultural implements ; Tipple
& Emmons, stock buyers ; Lovejoy & Richards, lum
ber dealers; Algard & Chandler, stock buyers; P.

518 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  OREGON.
Hayes, proprietor of the Oregon Hotel, opposite the
depot. There are also two physicians, an insurance
agent, three blacksmith shops, and a livery establish
ment. The hardy pioneers who suffered all the privations
and hardships attending the settlement of a new coun
try, and who have witnessed its gradual growth and
development, now enjoy the fruits of their labor, as
the well cultivated farms and comfortable homes
attest their growing prosperity and happiness.

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  BLACK EARTH. 519

BLACK EARTH.
BY CLARENCE BURNETT AND A. J. FULLERTON.
Not a very remarkable village; yet, from its pic
turesque appearance, nestling between huge chains of
bluffs, its cosy dwellings, its excellent water power,
and its sprightly business aspect, is one to excite in the
mind of the visitor a desire to know something of its
history. Hence this sketch.
The ground it now occupies was formerly the home
of the Winnebago Indians. They were a peaceable
tribe, and gave very little annoyance, save by their
incessant begging, and their propensity for " borrow
ing." Many amusing anecdotes are told of them by
early settlers, but our limited space forbids their men
tion. The region abounds in Indian mounds; but
perhaps the most remarkable among them is that just
south of the village, which represents the prostrate
form of a human being, and is several rods in length.
It is supposed to mark the last resting place of one of
their numerous chiefs.
About 1842 Solomon Hayden made his appearance
upon the site which is now known as Black Earth.
With him he brought one Charles Turk, and they
commenced the toilsome work of rearing a home and
clearing ground upon which to raise such articles as
are necessary to existence. Mr. H. has the credit of

520 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  BLACK EARTH.,
building the first house within the present township
limits. It was a primitive structure, such as all of
us are more or less familiar with, and such as to-day
would seem impossible to class among what are
known as residences. But in those days a house was
valued more for the shelter it gave than for its comely
appearance. It occupied a spot of ground just
south of the present residence of Mr. John Hill.
Just previous to the building of Mr. Hayden's
house — about October, 1843 — Mr. Henry Wilson
arrived from New York, together with his family.
He found himself in a strange country, almost unin
habited, and without any means of sheltering himself
from the storms of the coming winter. Something
must be done, and Mr. W. at once set about building a
temporary abiding place. When completed it was more
a wigwam than anything else, being built of such
loose material as could be readily found, and covered
with the dry grass of the marshes, close at hand.
Here he wintered his family, cooking in the open air,
and getting along with inconveniences as only pioneers
can. This will explain the allusions often made to
Mr. Wilson's spending his first Wisconsin winter in
a hay stack. In the spring following, on the comple
tion of Mr. Hayden's house spoken of, the family
were moved to it, and there remained until Mr. Wil
son's return from Milwaukee and other points, where
he had gone to purchase such articles as were needed
in clearing the land which he had settled upon.
A start once made, the valley was rapidly settled.

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  BLACK EARTH.

521

A few years later Mr. O. B. Haseltine came here from
Yermont, and took up land ; and to him attaches great
importance in Black Earth's history. Under his di
rection, in August, 1850, the original village plat was
made. It was surveyed by David B. Jarvis, then
county surveyor, and was composed of six blocks,
comprising the southeast quarter of the southeast
quarter of section twenty-six, township eight north,
of range six east. The village took its name from a
creek, which passed through it, but was afterwards
changed to Ray, and then again to Black Earth, un
der which, in 1857, it was incorporated, with George
High as president. The incorporation act was for
some reason done away with, and it has since remained
as it now is. The several additions were made in
subsequent years, but no particular importance attaches
to them.
The next stride city-ward was a grist mill. Seeing
the need of such a branch of industry, Mr. John B.
Sweat purchased of Mr. Haseltine the site and privi
leges of the present mill company, and built the mill.
This he conducted for some length of time, when he
sold it to Mr. John Wall, who after building a small
addition, transferred it to its present owners, Messrs.
Stanford, Logan & Co. The mill as it now is has a
reputation well to be envied, and is doing a very ex
tensive business, not only doing the custom milling
for a large scope of country, but shipping large
quantities of fine quality of flour to the eastern
markets.

522 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  BLACK EARTH.
Then followed a business venture in the form of a
" country store," Elias Pound being the proprietor.
His place of business was where now stands the resi
dence of Mr. M. H. Myers. Old settlers tell what
are to us marvelous stories of the sale of eggs at three
cents per dozen, butter at three cents per pound, and
other things proportionately. Success attending Mr.
Pound, others were not slow to see it, and soon after
ward Messrs. High & Barber established themselves
in business.
Our first hotel was the building which, with sundry
additions, is now the residence of Mr. J. Q. Stuart. It
was kept by Mr. Jared Peck. The next was the hotel
which now stands and is known as the Yalley House.
This we believe was first kept by Mr. Thomas Barber.
Perhaps none of our " old timers " have acquired a
stronger hold upon the affections of the people than
Mr. B. This gentleman came over from England in
1848, arriving just in time to vote on the admission
of our state into the union. For eight years he tilled
the soil, marketing his products in Milwaukee, and
frequently not getting enough for the load to pay the
expenses of the trip. In 1854, he moved to the vil
lage and engaged in the hotel business, and afterward
established the hardware establishment, in which he
has since remained.
In the year 1845, the first school house was built.
It was a modest looking structure, and in keeping
with the other buildings of that day. It was situ
ated between the present farm residences of James

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  BLACK EARTH. 523
and John Turk. For several years, the building
served as a temple of learning and as a house of wor
ship. With the increase of population came a de
mand for more commodious quarters, which were
provided about 1853. This was a frame building,
within the village limits, upon the present school lot.
This in turn became as inadequate to the demands as
had the old one in its day, and in 1859 an excellent
two story brick building was made in its place, and
the old building sold to the people of Peter C. Paul
son's district, town of Yermont, where it was re
moved early in the following year. Dr. S. L. Hooker
and his estimable lady were the first to take charge
of affairs in the new building, and right well did they
perform their duties. In 1874, a wing was added and
the school divided into four departments, in which
form it now remains, a pride to every citizen.
In the year 1856, the Milwaukee & Mississippi
Railroad, now Chicago, Milwaukee'& St. Paul Rail
road, reached Black Earth. It was the original in
tention of the managers to put up a large depot,
round house, etc., provided the land could be pro
cured at reasonable figures. The owner of the land,
in his cupidity, demanded an exorbitant sum for the
ground desired, which so enraged the company's man
agement that they refused to do more than put in a
side track, and the citizens were compelled to erect
the first depot building. For many years this bitter
feeling existed toward the village, and but little was
done by the company in way of improvements until

524

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  BLACK EARTH.

the extent of the patronage compelled the company
to look more favorably upon the village. Until
within the past five or six years, during which time
the chinch bug has almost entirely destroyed .the
wheat crop in this vicinity, Black Earth has ranked
among the greatest shipping stations on the line. At
present, live stock is its chief export. During the
year 1876, there were shipped 91 cars of hogs and 85
cars of cattle, while only about 38,000 bushels of
wheat were shipped. The total freight shipments
amounted to 6,373,740 pounds. The receipts for the
same period were 2,700,295 pounds.
At the time this sketch is penned, the popula
tion of the town is about 1,000 ; the village claiming
a little over one-half of the number. The population
is mixed, being made up principally of Americans,
Norwegians, Germans and, English. But little man
ufacturing is carried on, except in those branches de
pendent upon the agricultural people for support.
The business of the village at the time of this writ
ing may be summed up as follows: Isaacson & Nord-
rum, J. Bjornstad & Co., K. Erickson, Julius Weis-
senborn, dry goods and groceries; T. Barber & Son,
hardware; J. Holden, drugs; A. P. Winden, merchant
tailor; A. H. Anderson, confectioner and barber.;
J. Schanel, furniture; Mrs. E. S. Parker, Mrs. H. Pi
per, millinery; Miss E. H. Richards, Miss Mary Se-
verson, dress making; George Zeller, hotel; Burnett
& Son, publishers Advertiser and general steam print
ing; C. Lange, Ed. Kirst, harnessmakers ; K. J.

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  BLACK EARTH. 525
Mjelde, Gilbert Anderson, R. Lutzow, shoemakers; C.
Peters, photographer; Ole Rustebakke, jeweler; Peter
Johnson, general machine shop ; F. Yoss, O. J. Wick,
M. Hanson, blacksmiths; U. D. Wood, P.Johnson,
planing mills; M. H. Myers, Ole Jordet, wagonmakers;
John Peterson, carpenter; John Muskat, A. A. Steens-
rud, Paul Copley, Meltzer & Peterson, saloons; Stan
ford & Logan, Ward Brothers, Isaacson & Nordrum,
grain buyers; John Adams, Isaacson & Nordrum,
Stanford & Logan, stock buyers; Ward Brothers,
George Bate, lumber; Stanford, Logan. & Co., flour
mill; E. H. Sackett, saw and carding mill; U. P.
Stair, W. H. Robbins, physicians ; S. Charlesworth,
lawyer and insurance agent; Man waring, Beatty &
Wilson, proprietors Black Earth cheese factory; F.
Hickstine, butcher; S. Barker, drayman; William
Showers, cooper.
Its public edifices are, three churches — Methodist,
Congregational and Episcopal — a fine school build
ing, with four separate departments, and a two-story
town hall, situated in the center of a beautiful park.
With a good location, a splendid surrounding coun
try, excellent water power, and all advantages given
by nature, the subject of this meagre sketch can well
claim a place in the front rank of Dane county vil
lages.

526 DANE COUNTY TOWNS — PRIMROSE.

PRIMROSE.
BY HON. G. TOLLEFSON.
This township lies in the southwestern part of the
county, on its south boundary line, which separates
it from the town of New Glarus, Green county, about
eighteen miles southwest of Madison, and known as
township 5 north, of range 8 east. The town is well
watered in the northern part, by the west branch of
the Sugar river, and also by two tributaries of the
same, furnishing the" town with an abundance of
water and good marsh land. The face of the country
is undulating, agreeably diversified with oak open
ings and prairie. There is considerable highland or
small ridges, in which there is excellent stone for
building purposes.
On section eleven there is a large rock that stands
out in strong contrast with its surroundings, and is
composed of several blocks of stone, raised one above
the other to the height of about fifty feet, the lower
one of which measures nearly twenty-five feet in di
ameter, while the top block is about fifty feet. It is
familiarly called the " Devil's Chimney," because of
its supposed resemblance to the form of a chimney. In
1850 a man named Joel Blitz, said to be an old sailor,
climbed to the top by means of ropes which were
thrown over it and fastened on the ground on the
opposite side. He planted a flag on the top, the staff
of which is still remaining. The feat was never
known to have been done before or since. The base

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  PRIMROSE. 527
of this chimney is, like many other noted places of
historical interest, covered with a profusion of names
and dates from all over the United States.
Mount Julia, another of the curiosities of the town,
is an oblong ridge of rock, surmounted with trees,
about 200 feet high, 250 feet broad, and about 1,600
to 1,700 feet long. It is, in some places, somewhat
precipitous, indeed it indicates as if it had at a very
recent date been entirely so, but from the wash by
rains from the top, it is now quite accessible.
The first settlers in the town of Primrose were Da
vid Thomas and family, Robert Speers and family,
W. Speers, Edmund Speers, W. Underhill, Robert
Harrington, Mr. Scoville, Mr. Phillips, Mr. Peck and
Hall C. Chandler. Mr. R. Speers gave the town its
name. Of the Norsemen, who now constitute a large ma
jority of the population of Primrose, Christian Hen-
drickson from Lier, Norway, was the first settler.
He came here in 1846, and still lives on his old farm.
Two years later — 1848, more Norsemen arrived,
among whom were Niels Evenson, Salve Jorgenson,
Niels N. Skogen, who were followed in 1849 by Gu-
nolf Tollefson and Peter Haslerud. When Mr. Tol-
lefson bought his land, only 80 acres had been pur
chased in the town, the other settlers having only
preempted the pieces of land on which they were liv
ing. The first school house was built on section 17, in
1847, but the town now has seven school houses.
The first teacher was Gunnuld Jackson.
The first church in Primrose was built by the Norse
Lutherans. The name of the congregation was : " The

528 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  PRIMROSE.
Primrose Norse Evangelical Lutheran Congregation ;"
it was connected with the Norse Evangelical Luther
an Church of North America, and the church edifice
here referred to, was erected in 1856 on section 21.
The first minister who preached to an organized con
gregation was Elling Eielson. The second pastor of
this congregation was Arne Boyum. The third was
Ole Torgerson, and its present minister is P. Solberg.
A few years after the organization of the above
named congregation, another Norse Lutheran Church
was organized in this town by the Rev. A. C. Preus.
This one joined the so-called Norse Synod. Its sec
ond pastor was P. M. Brodahl, and its present preach
er is John Field, of the Norse Synod. This congre
gation erected in 1866 a church, which was consumed
by fire in 1873, and has not been rebuilt.
Finally, there is a third Norse Lutheran congrega
tion, which was organized in 1869, by Rev. C. L. Clau
sen; its second pastor was Prof. A. Weenaas, and its
present preacher is M. F. Gjertsen of Stoughton.
From the above it appears that the statement in the
Dane County Atlas " that Rev. A. C. Preus was the
first Lutheran pastor in Primrose " is incorrect.
There has always existed the best of feeling between
the different nationalities in Primrose. To this there
is but one exception. In the small village of Mt. Yer
non, whereof a part is situated within the limits of
the town, there lived in the early days of Primrose a
man called Dr. Byam, and with him his two brothers
and their families, all Americans. Dr. Byam and his
brothers had, by their tricky and dishonest practices,
and by repeated acts of rascality toward the citizens
of the town, made themselves odious to such an ex-

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  PRIMROSE* 529
tent that the farmers decided to get rid of them. So
they got together, about seventy in number, with
Dick Chandler as their chosen leader. On the even
ing agreed upon they proceeded to Dr. Byam's house,
armed with axes, crow-bars and other weapons, and
asked to speak with him. The rascal, who suspected
what was in store for him, sent his wife to the party
outside with the answer that he was not at home.
But the farmers were not to be bluffed off in this
manner, and when he refused to come out they began
to tear down the house, and were about throwing it
into the stream near by. Fear now seized the doctor,
and he came out, upon the pledge of three farmers
that no harm should be done to him before they had
properly discussed the matter. He had to go with
them into the flour mill near by. Here he was tried
and found guilty of several grossly dishonest transac
tions, among which it was proved that he, with a
patent churn, had defrauded several farmers of their
lands. The sentence was that Dr. Byam, his brothers
and their families must leave Mt. Yernon and Primrose
within twenty-four hours, and the rascal was prudent
enough to obey this decision. One of Dr. Byam's
brothers was tarred and feathered, and the other, who
also defied the will of the farmers and came back to
town after a load of hay, was also made to feel that
the farmers were in earnest when they forbade any of
the Byams returning to Primrose. As soon as he
had gotten the hay into his wagon, the farmers set
fire to it. The horses ran away, as a matter of course,
when the hay-load got to burning, and the man had
to save his life as best he could by taking to his legs.
Since that time none of the brothers Byam have made
34

530 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  PRIMROSE.
any attempt to settle in Primrose. Of course the
Byam brothers brought suit against the seventy farm
ers, but the latter employed George B. Smith, of Mad
ison, as their lawyer, and the ca6e ended in an almost
complete acquittal of the farmers. They simply had
to pay the costs of the suit. Although the action
taken against Mr. Byam and his brothers doubtless
was perfectly just, the citizens of Primrose of to-day
have changed their opinion in reference to ways and
means, and would not again take the law into their
own hands to protect themselves against vagabonds
and rascals.
Another circumstance that took place in the pioneer
days of our town, was a conflict between Primrose
and the adjoining town of Montrose. An old man,
by name Mr. Jackson, in Primrose, owned a claim
covered with good oak timber. This timber some of
the settlers in the town of Montrose tried to get pos
session of, and so they came up in tolerable large
numbers, having Mr. L  for their leader, and
equipped with teams, sleds, axes, etc., so as to be
able to take all the logs down to Montrose. As soon
as the people of Primrose found this out, the mes
sage of " war," was sent from neighbor to neighbor
throughout the town, and an army was soon brought
together. The end of the war was that the Montrose
party had to go home with their sleds empty, while
the Primrose people took the logs home to Mr. Jack
son's house.
Politically, we have had many interesting incidents
but none quite as rich as the following, told from
Blue Mounds, our neighboring town.
It was the day before election. Mr. Dean and Mr.

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  PRIMROSE. 531
Burdick of Madison, both candidates for office, came
to Blue Mounds to naturalize a number of Nor
wegians. The Norwegians, thirty or forty in number,
were placed in a row and all sworn in at once, upon
which Mr. Dean passed up the line, handing to each
man his certificate of naturalization, and the ticket he
wanted them to vote the next day, urging them to be
6ure to vote the ticket he gave them and no other.
The new-fledged citizens being very conscientious and
anxious to keep their pledges, appeared at the polls
the next day; but the returning board were the ones
who were surprised when they came to count the
votes in the evening, and found that some of them
had voted their naturalization certificates instead of
tickets. The Norwegians in Primrose never were
quite as conscientious as that.
In Primrose no one has ever had license to sell any
kind of intoxicating drink.
All the factories we have is a flour mill on section
seven, built in 1858.
The Hon. Gnnolf Toleffson was the first member of
the legislature.
S. Julie is a practicing physician in this and ad
jacent towns.

532 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  BLOOMING GROVE.
BLOOMING GROYE.
BY JAMES KAVANAUGH,
This township is one of the most interesting por
tions of Dane county, which, from its early occupation
by the natives and the unmistakable evidences of
their rude productions that have been found from
time to time, render it full of studious contemplation
and instruction. Its proximity to the beautiful city
of Madison, whose light shines upon a hill that can
not be hid, makes it at once desirable for all agricul
tural and remunerative purposes; its location and
soil being well adapted to all industrial pursuits.
Abram Wood, the man who superintended the
building of Mrs. Eben Peck's house, the first house in
Madison, was the first settler; he lived at Winnequah,
and had a squaw wife,, a daughter of the chief De
Kaury. When Simeon Mills came to Madison, by
way of Janesville, he crossed the Catfish, three times,
and finally landed at Winnequah. Here he found
Wood, and through him was able to bargain with two
Indian boys, for fifty cents each, to carry him across
the lake to Madison, a favor which he was unable to
persuade the boys to do before.
Robert L. Ream (in Durrie's History of the Four
Lakes) says that on a small estuary or spring on Third
Lake, he saw a red fox fishing for pickerel, which he
caught by springing suddenly into the water and

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  BLOOMING GROVE. 533
bringing the fish out, and then sitting down, quietly
devoured the fruit of his labor.
The town of Blooming Grove is known as town 7
north, of range 10, and situated in the center of the
county, about four miles east of Madison. It was
originally a part of Madison, but was organized a sep
arate town April 2, 1850, at a meeting held for that
purpose at the house of R. W. Lansing. N. J. Tomp
kins was elected chairman; Wm. J. Reese and John
L. Lewis, associate supervisors; Dr. H. A. Tiffany,
town clerk; Ben. W. Caswell, treasurer; Josephus
Lansing, assessor; Rev. John G. Miller, superintend
ent of schools. Mr. Miller having to leave for the
east, R. W. Lansing was appointed to serve in his
place. Mr. Miller, from 1845 to 1850, served in the
capacity of a missionary among the Germans in Wis
consin, and recalls a very striking contrast between
the homes of the citizens of to-day and those of
former times. The Germans were very few then,
but there were large settlements of Norwegians, a
great number of whom preferred building their
houses in excavations made in a hill or bluff, where
they boarded up the sides with lumber.
Elder Miller purchased some land in Blooming
Grove, next to Doctor Tiffany, and others who were
among the first settlers. About this time Doctor
Tiffany came to Elder Miller, stating that they had
better organize a town of their own and be separated
from Madison, so as to manage their own affairs and
save expense. Accordingly a petition was made to the
board of supervisors and the request granted, and on

534 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  BLOOMING GROVE.
the 2d of April, 1850, town officers were elected.
Some time after the organization the Doctor spoke of
naming the town, but had not as yet found a suitable
name for it. Elder Miller asked the privilege of
naming the town. The Doctor said, "Yery well,
Elder, if you have a suitable name, let us have it."
Having been privileged to travel through this country
for several years he readily recognized the beauties of
nature which surrounded him, as he behold at a short
short distance, the burr and black oak, resembling an
Ohio and Pennsylvania orchard, and the prairies full
of wild flowers in great abundance, of the most beau
tiful colors imaginable, so that no florist could have
arranged his plants more artistically than was visible
all around. With this scene before him, the Elder
said, " I think the town names itself — Blooming
Grove." " You have hit it, Elder," said the Doctor,
"it is a Blooming Grove; " and so as its name was
given, so does it continue in reality a Blooming Grove.
The first German church and congregation was or
ganized and built in the southeast corner of Bloom
ing Grove, in the year 1853, under the inspection and
care of Rev. J. H. Ragatz, of the Evangelical Asso
ciation. The present pastor is Rev. T. Umbrecht.
The Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad, and the
Watertown division of the same road, pass through
various sections of the town.
The earlier inhabitants found this township in a
wild, unimproved condition, and in possession of the
Indians, who had rudely cultivated a large portion of

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  BLOOMING GROVE. 535
the lands on the west bank of Monona, directly oppo
site Madison. The evidences of their rough culture
have not entirely disappeared at this time. There are
three mounds along the west bank of said lake still
apparent. Many of the Indian relics have been found
in and about these mounds ; but they have never beer.
thoroughly opened and explored. The Indians, in
greater or less numbers, have habitually and annually
revisited this delightful resort, to engage in fishing
and hunting; the lake at all times affording abund
ant supplies of fish and game. About twenty years
ago, during a quarrel the Indians had among them
selves, an Indian chief shot one of his braves and then
threw him in the lake ; the body was taken out sub
sequently and buried on the lake shore, on the land
now owned by Robt. McComb, where the mound is
still to be seen.* The following day after the murder,
about twenty-five Indians, among whom was the wife
of the murdered man, passed the residence of Mr. Geo.
Zinck all riding on ponies, with the exception of this
woman, who walked alongside leading her pony,
which the Indians said it was necessary for her to do
for a number of months, as evidence of her mourning
for her husband.
When the Hon. Moses M. Strong, Levi R. Marsh
and Mr. Potter left Milwaukee on the 16th day of
January, 1837, and traveling on horeback through
Prairie village (now Waukesha), Fort Atkinson and
* A statement is also made in reference to the above fact, that the
Indian committed suicide while suffering from the effect of a fever.

536 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  BLOOMING GROVE.
First Lake, for the purpose of visiting the newly lo
cated seat of government, they took the Indian trail
from Second Lake to Third, and arrived on the south
east side in the town of Blooming Grove near Winne
quah, where Mr. Strong taking his field glass fixed
upon a bay on the opposite shore in a northwesterly
direction as the most probable direction of the sec
tion line, and crossing the lake on the ice, struck the
meander post of the government surveyor at the foot
of King street, and through the center of which the
section line runs.
The early settlement of the town was greatly retard
ed for want of ready facilities for obtaining the neces
saries of life, Madison affording but small amounts
and at enormous prices, and Milwaukee being the
nearest market (95 miles) where even the smallest
demands of the citizens could be occasionally sup
plied. However, by economy, patience and perse
verance, the forests were subdued and cleared, and the
richest productions of the soil soon produced an
abundance for home consumption, and the people be
came happy and hopeful; and now think they have
the richest and most productive soil, the most beauti
ful farms, and enchanting scenery of any other town
in the county. Its healthful condition has ever been
proverbial, and from some of its eminences may be
seen, and at once, the 2d, 3d, and 4th lakes, also the
city of Madison and the historic Blue Mounds, twen
ty-five miles west of Madison, a sight full of grandeur
and magnificence. Bounded on the west by Lake

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  BLOOMING GROVE. 537
Monona, the best and most placid sheet of water of
the four lakes, its shores are easily accessible over a
bed of white gravel, looking like brilliants set in the
diadem of nature. Here bathing may be freely in
dulged in, our town having no prohibitory law; and
for aquatic sports, in boating and fishing, it cannot
be excelled. Part of sections seven and eight, all of
section eighteen, and nearly all of nineteen, lie be
neath the waters of Lake Monona, while sections
twenty-eight and thirty -three are mostly covered by
Lake Waubesa. The Catfish river connects the two,
running through sections 28 and 29. There are some
smaller streams in the town, upon one, Mr. Dunning
erected a sawmill in the year 1841. Dr. Tiffany was
the first physician in the town. Dr. Pelton came
shortly afterwards.
There are a number of genial resorts on this side of
the lake, where sumptuous repasts may be had in good
order and at moderate rates. Steamboats ply the
lake at all reasonable hours, and pleasure seekers have
the freest and fullest rational enjoyments. The citi
zens are all farmers and hard workers, as the delight
ful and growing condition of their farms will show,
and are proverbial for genial hospitality and high in
telligence. The soil is of the very best quality that
could be desired. The town has twelve school dis
tricts, and contains a population of 1,500 inhabitants.
Blooming Grove Grange, No. 250, was organized
in 1874, and meets weekly at the Town Hall.
Monona Lodge, No. 285, I. O. of G. T., meets ev
ery Wednesday evening at the Town Hall.

538 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  BLOOMING GROVE.
The Cottage Grove Fire Insurance Company, com
prising the towns of Cottage Grove and Blooming
Grove, and adjoining towns, was organized March
24th, 1875, with the following incorporators:
James Bell, Daniel Bechtel, John S. Daily, Henry Peters, G.
Timmerman, John S. Gallagher, G. M. Nichols, Wm. F. Uphoff,
Richard Gallagher, John Sprecher, Jacob Baringer, John Wolf, C.
Gousmann, Fred Pepper, Casper Storcks, H. Witte, Francis Zink,
Chas. Jorks, C. Rodefeld, Wm. M. Townsend, Francis Good, Rob
ert Gallagher, C. Uphoff, H. Hippe, M. E. Emerson, Mrs. C. H.
Pellage, C. Horfmacher, C. Kanmier, H. Drakley, E. Steinhaur,
George Pellage, John Maeder, A. B. Emerson, Fred Schultz, C.
Drakley. The following officers were elected at first meeting:
Wm. F. Uphoff. president; Daniel Bechtel, secretary; John S.
Daily, treasurer; M. E. Emerson, Henry Peters, G. Timmerman,
James Bell and J. S. Gallagher, directors.
The company commenced business on the 8th day
of June, in the same year, with a capital of one hun
dred thousand dollars. The company insures all
kinds of farm property, and is in a prosperous con
dition, and has up to this date, August 20, 1877, only
sustained two small losses, amounting to $92, and has
increased its capital to $270,000. Its present officers are :
James Bell, president; Daniel Bechtel, secretary; John S. Daily,
treasurer; Philetus Hurd, Henry Kleinefelter, G. Timmerman, H.
M. Harriman and Wm. F. Uphoff, directors.
The town officers of 1877 are : Supervisors — Dan
iel Bechtel, chairman, Matthew Conlan, William M.
Townsend; town clerk — James Kavanaugh; assess
or — Wm. H. Pauli; treasurer — Holmes Halverson.
In 1870 a town hall was built; previously town
business was transacted in different houses of the
town.

DANE COUNTY TOWNS — MADISON. 539
MADISON.
BY H. A. TENNEY.
Owing to the wide area of the original town, the cre
ation of villages and a city, and great municipal changes,
it is difficult to make a satisfactory sketch of the town
of Madison, since the shifting scene of forty .years of
ten leaves one in doubt what to include and what to
reject, either as to boundaries, or as to early settlers.
Strictly speaking the pioneer citizens of the village and
city are a part of, and belong to, the town, and no sketch
could be considered complete which did not include
them, as many of them were the most prominent actors
in early times. From the material at command I have
made the best classification in my power. It is not en
tirely satisfactory to myself, and doubtless will not be
to many who may read these pages and whose names
have been necessarily omitted. I beg all to look upon
this production with charity and a kindly eye to the dif
ficulties of the undertaking.
Who first Yisited the Lake Country. — Ebenezer
Brigham, the first settler within the limits of Dane
county,was probably the first white American who visited
the site of Madison. In repeated conversations with
the writer, many years since, he stated that, in company
with a few other prospectors, he erected a cabin at Blue
Mounds in 1828, and, having done so, accompanied by
three others, a few days later, made a trip to Fort Win
nebago, then a new frontier outpost, to ascertain wheth
er supplies could be obtained there, and what facilities
existed for the shipment of lead. He had heard of the
Lake Country from the Indians, and, on his return,

540 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  MADISON.
struck south at a venture, and the same night camped
on the hill on which Madison is now located, eight
years before the site was entered by Doty and Mason.
Impressed with the beauty of the spot, in a moment of
enthusiasm, he predicted that a city would in time grow
up there, and that it might become the future capital of
a state. He was a warm, personal friend of Doty, and
it was probably through him that knowledge of the
place was first communicated. It is not probable that
Doty and his party, who visited the region in 1829 for
the purpose of examination with reference to entering
land, did so at random, and without previous informa
tion as to the existence of the lakes, or that they were
the first comers here. The government surveys were
not completed until 1834. At any rate, I record the
statement of Mr. Brigham, made to me on several occa
sions, and place it in opposition to such historical works
as give Doty and his party the credit of " discovery."
No one who personally knew Brigham would for a mo
ment question his veracity on this or any other subject.
He was a pure type of western pioneer manhood, mod
est, quiet, unassuming, and never given to boasting. I
ought to add, that he gave me the names of the com
panions who made the trip with him, but they have un
fortunately been lost. He spoke of the excursion sim
ply as a mere incident of his early experience in the
country, and repeated to me what is above recorded the
last time I met him, but a few weeks before his death.
A Pioneer Scene. — The first comers found every
thing in a primitive condition. The hand of man had
not as yet made what, in modern terms, is called an
"improvement." The waters tossed idly upon their
pebbly beaches, unfurrowed by a keel. The rivers ran
lazily through channels winding and crooked to such a
degree as to prevent any rapidity of current. The

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  MADISON. 541
marshes and low grounds were dank in oozy slime, un
chained, and with scarcely defined boundaries. Forests
spread out on all sides over hill and dale. The prairies
at rare intervals came down to the shores. Birds of
passage in innumerable flocks swarmed upon all the
waters and low grounds. The stately swan came fear
lessly to feed or make his nest; the pelican and crane,
seen standing in long lines about the shores, gave
strange animation to the scene, as they sought their
finny prey. Ducks, geese, all varieties of water-fowl,
in multitudes beyond computation, everywhere dotted
the waters, while fish in great variety of species filled
the pellucid depths.
Nor was the land less densely peopled with wild ani
mal life. The elk, deer, bear, wolf, fox, with many
other species, found here a home and natural supplies
for every want. The eagle and hawk were lords of the
air. Songsters filled the woods with melody. The
prairie hen, grouse, sand-hill crane, quail and other
species abounded in the openings and prairies. And
to this may be added the beaver, not as yet exterminated,
the otter, mink, muskrat, etc., some individuals of which
even yet survive. Add to these things Indian encamp
ments about the shores, with their rude wigwams, their
light canoes, their toil-worn squaws, their elfish pap-
pooses and lazy warriors, and we shall have in brief ret
rospect the scene that greeted the pioneers of the Lake
Country in the seasons of verdure and sunshine. It
was a land without roads, bridges, or artificial land
marks, other than recent surveys, in which the only re
liable guide to the traveler was his compass, and his
successful journeying depended almost wholly upon his
endurance, fortitude and practical good sense.
Almost every prominent point Was, in the pioneer
time, covered with the embossed works of races classed

542 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  MADISON.
now under the meaningless name of " Mound Builders."
The ages were marked here with the symbols of this
mysterious people, with a richness and profusion that
proved long residence, and keen appreciation of all that
was most beautiful in nature. About every variety of
form of structure known in the north were to be met
with — beasts, birds, reptiles and men. That any mem
ory of them has been preserved, is due to the labors of a
Lapham and one or two others. The plow has been as
great a leveler as death — one removing the race, and
the other eradicating its monuments. Our fields, in
deed, are little else than the cemeteries of a people
whose origin was doubtless cotemporaneous with the
mammoth, the mastodon and the elephant. Nearly all
their great works have now disappeared from the scene.
Their unhonored dust scarce survives as a memory.
Modern civilization has triumphed over the graves of a
mighty past. Unless speedily surveyed, what still re
main of these works — and they are still numerous in
the woodlands — will soon meet the common fate. ¦ Is
there no one, in this eleventh hour, to re-map the out
lines of what still remain?
From, 1836 to 1846. — Madison was the parent town
of Dane county, the first named, the first organized,
and, with the exception of a single individual, the first
settled. As its original boundaries probably coincided
with those of the county, it is doubtful whether Eben
ezer Brigham, the pioneer of all this section of country,
ought not to be classed as its first settler, though living
at Blue Mounds, as the township is now named. If he
may not properly he thus classified, then Eben Peck
and family are entitled to that distinction, by arriving
a few weeks in advance of others who have remained per
manently located from the beginning, while his stay was
not of many years duration.

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  MADISON. 543
The first entry of land in the town was made April
6, 1836, by James D. Doty and Stevens T. Mason, cov
ering most of the present city site; and although the
place then had no name, as other tracts about were soon
taken, that date may be considered as the origin of all
improvements and changes that have since followed.
Anything like a correct history of the town requires
a classification into three parts, according to municipal
changes, which may be thus stated:
1. From 1836 to 1846, during most of which period
the town and county were substantially the same, geo
graphically, and had substantially the same officials.
2. The charter of the village in 1846, without inter
ference with the town government, except as to purely
municipal matters, which incorporation continued for
ten years.
3. The chartering of the city in 1856, which ousted
the village and town authority, and severed the two
forms of government previously existing.
The first election precincts into which the town was
divided were ordered by the county commissioners May
15, 1839, viz.: Madison and Mound ville (Blue Mounds).
These were then the only points of settlement. The
total population was estimated at three hundred. The
county was still attached to Iowa for taxable and judi
cial purposes, and as yet no courts had been held. At
the election held for delegate to congress, August 10,
1839, the total vote cast for all candidates was seventy-
three. County officers, justices of the peace, etc., were
at this time appointed by the governor. Officers of
election were appointed by the county commissioners.
Township government, in the sense we now understand
it, can scarcely be said, during these ten years, to have
had an existence. A quarrel between Gov. Doty and
the legislature, in 1842-3, finally changed the whole

544 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  MADISON.
system by taking the appointing power from the execu
tive and conferring upon the people the right to elect
their own local officers.
The population, too, of this decade, was much too
small and diffused either to support or to bear much
civil control. There was little occasion for government
where there were none to govern; and the pioneers of
the wilderness were too poor in worldly goods to assume
unnecessary burthens. The worst victims of the time
were such speculators as had loaded heavily with wild
lands, and lots in the village plat. They were naturally
regarded as fair game, and whenever anything of a pub
lic nature was undertaken, it was almost always at "their
expense. The financial crash of 1836-7 had carried
every enterprise down, and anything like renewed pros
perity was not felt in the interior of Wisconsin until
about 1845. The products of the farm literally had no
commercial value. Wheat sold, when there was any
market, at twenty-five cents per bushel, and when it
reached fifty cents, farmers considered themselves on the
high road to wealth, as they were, for lands could be
bought at less than government price, and wants were
much fewer than at the present time. It is economy
and general cheapness, and not high prices and extrava
gant notions, that makes communities rich. Poverty and
industry are the saving power of states.
From 1846 to 1856. — In 1846, the town was for the
first time practically organized, and the village of Mad
ison incorporated. The corporation did not conflict
with the town government, and citizens participated
equally in both elections, as if no internal municipal or
ganization existed. The town, indeed, was for several
years the controlling local authority.
Owing to the effects of the panic of 1836-7, the settle
ment of the territory had been extremely slow. Madi-

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  MADISON. 545
son was far isolated from all neighborhood, and the gain
in population from year to year was scarcely appreciable.
To show more clearly the exact location of population
in 1846, 1 have copied two extracts from the town rec
ords: one creating new voting precincts in the town,
which then embraced twenty-four townships (Albion,
Dunkirk and Fitchburg having previously been desig
nated as voting places, in addition to Madison and
MoundviUe), and the order of the commissioners of
common schools dividing the town into school districts
in accordance with law, to wit:
New Pbecittcts. — June 29, 1846. — At a meeting of the board
of supervisors, held at the county room this day, the following pre
cincts were ordered to be established for holding general elections :
Ordered, " That a precinct be established at the house of George
McFadden [now town of Montrose] in the town of Madison and
county of Dane, to be known by the name of " Grand Springs
Precinct, ' ' and that Geo. McFadden, Daniel M. Holt and Russell Tif
fany be, and hereby are, appointed judges of election for said precinct.
That a precmct be established at the house of John Clark, in the
town of Madison [now probably town of Dane], to be known by the
name of '"Dane Precmct," and that John Clark, Arnold Downing
and Freedom Simons be, and they hereby are, appointed judges of
election for said precinct.
That a precinct be established at the house of John M. Thomas,
in the town of Madison and county of Dane [now Cross Plains], to
be known by the name of " Cross Plains Precmct," and that John
M. Thomas, Ripha Worden and John S. Mann be, and hereby are,
appointed judges of election for said precmct.
That a precinct be established at the house of Amos Beecher, in
the town of Madison and county of Dane [now Cottage Grove], to
be known by the name of " Cottage Grove Precinct," and that
Horatio Catlin, Roswell Brown and Charles M. Nichols be, and are
hereby appointed judges of election of said precinct."
The erection of these precincts gave a total of nine
voting places in the county, and the names then given
were, with an exception or two, adopted by the towns
when afterwards organized. The then town of Madi
son, by the change, had six places established for voting
within its limits.
Naming the Towns. — Up to this time but two or
three townships had received names, and many were as
35

546 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  MADISON.
yet without their first settler. They were known only
by number and range; and nothing was more puzzling
for a time to " old settlers" than to recognize towns by
the names given them by successive boards of supervis
ors in subsequent years. Even now the writer confesses
himself often in doubt as to the location of some of the
towns from their names, long as they have been estab
lished, without reference to a map — having learned in the
"old way." There is quite a difference between remem
bering thirty-six names and two or three, as in the early
time, while the plats of survey were extremely simple.
Schools and School Districts. — The first school
district in either town or county was created December
25, 1841, on the formal application, by petition, of Al-
mon Lull, I. W. Bird, E. Irving, P. W. Matts and
Nicholas Smith. David Brigham, James Morrison and
Bush Fairchild were commissioners of schools. The
district was numbered 1, and comprised the whole town
ship of Madison as at present organized, including most
of the city site. In February, 1844, the district was en
larged by adding to it town 8, range 9 — now Westport.
Up to 1846, seventeen districts had been designated in
different portions of the county, to meet the wants of
new settlement, but they were entirely disconnected,
and without union or uniform plan. Upon the formal
beginning of town government by popular vote, the
town of Madison, as then organized, was formally di
vided into districts, by the order following, given in full:
Town School Districts in 1846. — The official di
vision of the town of Madison into school districts will,
perhaps, better illustrate the meagerness of population
in 1846, than anything I might say on the subject. It
was as follows:
"Be it known that on this 29th day of June, A. D. 1846, we, the
undersigned commissioners of common sdiools for the town of
Madison, county of Dane and territory of Wisconsin, have divided

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  MADISON. 547
the said town of Madison into districts, and have numbered them
as follows, to- wit:
No. 1.— Sections 1, 12, 13, 14, 15, 22 and 23 of town 7, range 9
(now plat of Madison), and all of town 8, range 9 (now Westport).
No 2. — The west half of town 7, range 9 (now Madison).
No. 3. — Sections 25, 26, 27, 34, 35 and 36 in town 7, range 9
(now Madison).
No. 4. — All of town 6, range 11 (now Pleasant Springs).
No. 5. — Sections 7, 8, 9, 10, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22 and
the west half of sections 11, 14 and 23, in town 8, range 10 (now
Burke). No. 6. — Sections 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6, in town 8, range 10
(Burke), and sees. 25 to 36 in town 9, range 10 (now Windsor).
No. 7. — Sections from 1 to 24, in town 9, range 10 (now Windsor).
No. 8. — All of town 6, range 8 (now Verona).
No. 9. — All of town 5, range 8 (now Montrose).
No. 10. — The south half of town 7, range 11 (now Cottage Grove).
No. 11. — All of town 9, range 8 (now Dane).
No. 12. — Sections 13, 14, 15 and the south half of town 8, range
6 (now Black Earth).
No. 13. — The north half of town 8, range 6, excepting sections
13, 14 and 15 (now Mazomanie).
No. 14. — Sections 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 of town 8, range 7
(now Berry).
No. 15. — All of town 9, range 9 (now Vienna).
No. 16. — The north half of town 7, range 11 (Cottage Grove),
and all of town 7, range 10 (now Blooming Grove), and sections 12,
13, 23, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36 and the east half
of sections 11, 14 and 23 of town 8, range 10 (Burke).
No. 17. — All of town 8, range 8 (now Springfield).
No. 18. — All of town 7, range 8 (now Middleton).
No. 19. — All of town 8, range 7, excepting sec. 3 to 10 (now Berry).
No. 20. — All of town 7, range 7 (now Cross Plains).
No. 21. — All of town 6, rango 7 (now Springdale).
No. 22. — All of town 5, range 7 (now Primrose).
No. 23. — All of town 7, range 6 (now Vermont).
No. 24. — All of town 6, range 6 (now Blue Mounds).
No. 25. — All of town 5, range 6 (now Perry).
No. 26. — All of town 7, range 12 (now Deerfield)."
This order is signed by J. Gillett Knapp, Benjamin
Holt, and F. H. Talcott, school commissioners. It is
doubtful if there were a dozen schools actually kept in
the entire county. It will be seen that the commis
sioners divided the then town of Madison into districts,
incorporating whole townships where there were no, or
few inhabitants, and making them of lesser size only
when actual colonies had been begun. Yiewed in the

548 DANE COUNTY TOWNS — MADISON.
light of the present, this order is a very significant indi
cation of the then isolated location of settlements and
population. The vote for state government at the spring election,
1846, was 200 for, and 47 against. A great many set
tlers deemed it too early to establish a state, as the gen
eral government relieved them of all burthens by paying
the territorial expenses. The proposition was barely
carried, mainly by the vote cast in villages and cities,
through the activity of politicians desirous of place and
distinction. Yote for Town Officers in 1846. — The population
of the town at this time may he inferred from the vote
cast at the election held April 7, for town officers. Po
litical division ran very high at this period, and as the
settlers were all young or middle aged, it is presumed
that few or none failed to attend the polls. The result
as to supervisors was as follows:
Democratic. Whig.
James R. Larkin  134 Ebenezer Brigham  110
Edward Campbell  119 Benj. Dodge  100
Wm.C. Wells  126 Samuel G. Abbott  98
If the 232 votes cast indicated an average of four non-
voters to each, the total population of the town would
have been 928, and it did not probably much exceed this,
including, of course, the village.
Among the number voted for at this election, but few
remain citizens of the present town, or now survive.
J. D. Ruggles was elected clerk over E. M. Williamson
by one majority. For treasurer, Darwin Clark was
elected over Henry C. Parker. For collector, Andrus
Yiall was elected over Benjamin W. Wilcox and Abel
Rasdall. For assessors, George Vroman, J. W. Thomas
and William Larkin were elected over Wm. A. Webb,
W. D. Bird and Michael M. McCord. For fence view
ers, Eliab B. Dean, Jr., Thos. W. Sutherland and John

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  MADISON. 549
T. Smith triumphantly defeated S. F. Blanchard, R. F.
Lowdon and Samuel Parkhurst. Justices, Wm. N. Sey
mour,' Nathaniel Wheeler and Alonzo Wilcox were
chosen over Adam Smith, Barlow Shackleford and Na
than Spaulding. Of these and the lesser candidates, it
is painful to note how many have disappeared from the
scene of their labors.
The following items, extracted from the record of a
few years, will give some idea of the doings and policy
of the period:
The clerk, at a meeting in April, was ordered to pro
cure a printed form for town orders, suitable books for a
town record, and a proper seal. The total taxes voted
for all purposes amounted to about seven mills. The
English settlement in the lower part of Black Earth
valley, just commenced, owing to the poverty of some of
its members, cost the town quite a heavy sum for poor
purposes, and was a subject of much controversy. Cat
tle of all kinds, except bulls and stallions, were per
mitted, by official action, to run at large in all high
ways, the owners not being liable for damages to any
one whose premises were not enclosed by a legal fence.
At an election held April 6, 1847, the vote for state
constitution "Yes" was 175; "No," 154. For license
to sell liquors, "Yes," 27 votes; "No," 13. Equal suf
frage to colored persons, "Yes," 18 votes; "No," 176.
As yet the place had achieved but one colored "man
and brother," and his voting enfranchisement was not
popularly relished; and yet Titus Kirkpatrick was
highly distinguished by the attentions received, both
in prose and verse, as old settlers will all no doubt re
member. A genial kindness pervaded communities at this time,
unknown to the present. How often a score of able
bodied men left their own work to go out ten or twenty

550 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  MADISON.
miles to help a new settler raise his cabin, whose name
even was scarcely known; and all without fee or reward.
It was equally so with the sick, needy and destitute.
The shams of modern society had no place here. The
impulses of benevolence were sincere and genuine. Hy
pocrisy and selfishness had not as yet found a foothold.
Degrees of wealth were not recognized as degrees in the
scale of humanity. Piety was scarce; but practical
good deeds were too common to attract notice. They
were looked upon as matters of course.
A vein of waggery tinged the whole social order.
Every one was joker or jokist — made victims of others,
or was himself victimized. Humor and fun were stand
ard coin. Their circulation reached every one. But it
is almost impossible to record in words the spirit that
escaped in its essence, and overflowed on all occasions.
Mirth, indeed, flowed like a river with full hanks, and
there was no such' thing as strangers to the flood.
Hardships and trouble were alike forgotten in its pres
ence. This mercurial impulse made a " smiling land "
of a wide waste of fertile but unoccupied desert.
Nothing in the " show line " could at that time make
its appearance without universal patronage. It did not
matter whether good or bad, sport was bound to come
out of it. Even the gravity of courts and legislatures
were no barriers to the popular tendency. How vividly
I recall the advent of a circus, in the summer of
1848.* The legislature was at the moment in dull and
heavy session, myself reporting for the press. Suddenly
strains of music floated into the Assembly Chamber.
* Mr. N. T. Hawes, of Fitchburg, states that the first circus exhibited in
Madison was in the summer of 1844, and exhibited on the corner of the
block now occupied by J. E. Fisher as a furniture warehouse. In the Dane
county minutes there is a record made of one Geo. K. Spaulding as being
licensed to exhibit the "North American Circus," in Dane countv, for ninety
days, dating July 5th, 1844. Also on July 16th, 1845, and July 11th, 1846, the
firm of June & Turner were licensed for the same purpose, and for about the
the same number of days each time.

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  MADISON. 551
A moment more, there was a rush of members for the
windows over seats and desks, and then a stampede for
the doors. The speaker stopped with a " motion " on
his lips, his gavel dropped, and, with one or two jumps,
he landed on the stairway, and thence to the floor be
low, and out into the park with the crowd, and was
among the first to reach the street. The clerks, aston
ished for a moment, joined in pursuit; and the reporter
stood in an empty house in the space of about a minute,
which no one had adjourned, and so he adjourned himself.
But to dwell on these memories would take a volume.
Events of General Importance. — The first event
of local consequence was the location of the territorial
capitol. At the time there was but one settler in the
county. Next to it was the building of a steam saw
mill on Fourth lake, near the present steamboat land
ing, whereby some oak lumber was obtainable for the
floors of dwellings. Previous to this, the most " aristo
cratic " houses were covered with siding split by hand.
Log houses were of course largely in excess. As this
mill soon ceased work, owing to a quarrel over the own
ership (having been built with territorial funds), Sime
on Mills and William A. Wheeler, erected another in
1841, on a creek which empties into the northerly
end of Third lake; and this small affair, which turned
out 2,000 feet daily, of hard wood, was for a long time
the sole reliance for a supply of lumber for the county.
This mill was soon after sold to Philo Dunning, who
run it for some years. Subsequently Mr. Mills built a
steam mill on the edge of the marsh, between Main
street and Washington avenue, in the year 1849.
To his enterprise at this period and afterwards, the town
and county owe far more than they have ever repaid.
All these mills have, of course, long since disappeared.
The crop of " prairie saw logs " is a thing of the past,

552 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  MADISON.
but one whose memory is even yet a fragrance to the
old settlers.
In 1844 the first flouring mill was erected in the town
by William A. Wheeler and Joseph Yroman, on a small
branch of Sugar River in town 6, of range 8 (now Yer-
ona), and known as Badger Mill, which was the only
grist mill for several years, and consequently the inhab
itants were largely dependent upon Janesville and other
towns in Rock river valley for their bread, until L. J.
Farwell built a large flouring mill at the outlet of Lake
Mendota, in 1851.*
The Era of Canal Projects. — Among events of
these early times, the survey of a canal route from Rock
river to the Wisconsin, by way of the Four Lakes, ought
not to be omitted, as the " canal fever " preceded the
" railroad mania." In 1838-9, Capt. Cram made a canal
survey from Rock river to Madison, under instructions
from the general government, and in the latter year,
Capt. Alex. M. Mitchell continued it from the head of
Fourth Lake to " Mud Lake," and down Black Earth
valley to the Wisconsin, and pronounced the project
"perfectly feasible!'" Here, then, was a scheme worth
* To illustrate the dilemma of a community thus situated, let me give a
brief example. On my first visit to Madison, in 1845, I was invited by Dan
iel M. Holt, an old acquaintance, to take tea with his family. On accom
panying him to his house I soon discovered that his wife, from a whispered
conversation, was in a "peck of trouble." Finally, Holt, turning to me, said,
'•It is no use to conceal any thing. We have to depend on Janesville for
flour, and the 'flour man' is four days behind time. I bought an extra stock
on his last visit, but the taverns and neighbors are all out, and we have lent
until we have not an ounce for ourselves. I think the man must get along
yet to-night. At any rate let us go out and watch the road for him. If he
rails, we can't give you either bread or biscuit, for there is no such thing iu
town. You win have to fill up with potatoes and fish." We accordingly
took up a position in the woods, near where the court house now stands,
and eagerly scanned the "Janesville road." In about an hour a team was
seen winding round the head of Third Lake, which proved to be the "flour
man's." Some biscuit was speedily prepared, much to the relief of the wife,
who persisted in feeling "mortified" at being caught in so common a pre
dicament at that time in all families. The rule seemed to be that the "tav
erns" must be supplied in'any event, for the good repute of the place, how
ever short the citizens. Such a deprivation at the time, with me, as with
others, would have simply excited a hearty laugh. But feminine hospitality
was often put to a severe test in those days.

DANE COUNTY TOWNS — MADISON. 553
talking about — a water route both east and west from
Madison, and our lakes, in imagination, all to be turned
into reservoirs for steamers and canal boats! The ideas of
the time were far ahead of present or possible reality.
There was no such word as "visionary" to the new
comer. A canal carried over a two hundred-feet crest,
with no body of water as a feeder, did not seem an ex
travagant enterprise during this era of wild real estate
speculation. Scandinavian Immigration. — Norwegian settlement
was commenced around Lake Koshkonong about 1840.
It soon pressed into the southeast corner towns of Dane
county. Dressed in the costume of their native land,
with customs and manners wholly un-American, the
Scandinavian was at first regarded with great curiosity
by the native element. As a rule, they selected the
hilly lands out of the government domain, and built
their dwellings mainly in excavations, often invisible at
a distance. When a census was taken in midwinter in
1847, as a prehminary to the convention to frame a state
constitution, Joel P. Mann, who was making the enu
meration, had great trouble in finding this class of the
population. In this emergency, Mr. Burdick (Elisha,
for short,) suggested a plan that was eminently success
ful. It was to gain a high hill in early morning, count
the smokes, and multiply the number by ten! The cen
sus was soon after satisfactorily completed.
In the absence of polling places, the Norwegian set
tlers, in 1846, had to come to Cottage Grove (Beecher's
place) to vote. There was much strife between political
parties to gain this accession in strength, and the cus
tom was, to send out a team on election day, with a
deputy clerk to naturalize, together with a plethoric keg
of whisky, and an agent to see that a supply of the right
kind of tickets were given out and put into the ballot

554 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  MADISON.
box. The following was said at the time to be the form
of proceeding in making citizens of the newly arrived:
Officer to applicant — "Hold up your hand. You swear." Ap
plicant — "Yaw." Officer — "By Jesus Christ." Applicant — "Yaw."
Officer — " You vote the democratic ticket!" Applicant — "Yaw."
Officer — "Here is the straight vote. Go up to that window where
you see those three men, and put it in the box, then come back and
take a square drink. You are now invested with the whole dignity
and every right of a free American citizen."
The Norwegians were all democrats at that time.
At present, democratic votes are conspicuously absent
among them when they go to the polls.
The wondrous career of the race in material wealth
and mental improvement, under favorable and improv
ing conditions, is, to the early American settlers, a
marked phase in race development, conspicuous among
all others witnessed in western life.
There were few German settlers then, one I recollect
by the name of Xavier Jordan. I can only remember
the names of three Irishmen, Thomas and Matthew
Dunn and Peter Kavanaugh and their families. A
dozen English families located, near what is now Mazo
manie and towns of Springfield and Berry, and a few
Scotchmen in this town and Yerona, comprised the
" foreign element." The American type was gen
erally predominant.
Population, however, commenced flowing in very rap
idly about this period, and but a short time elapsed be
fore nearly every European nation had representatives
among us. Owing to the rivalry between different
counties, the census returns of the period are, on the
score of exact accuracy, at least open to suspicion.
The railroad, also, which first reached us in 1854, was
another event whose impulse is scarcely yet over. For
the first time our people were tied to the outer world

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  MADISON. 555
by an enduring band — a tie whose cost many of them
are not likely to forget. Its advent was regarded as a
decidedly "big thing." Hundreds came from miles
distant to see the first gravel train!
The Town as now Organized. — The present area
of the township of Madison is about 11,400 acres .of
land — the balance water. It stands like a sheep that
has passed through the hands of the shearer. Years
of steady clipping had shrunk it to square boundaries,
when the legislative shears made a final clip about
1859, and set off a few sections to the town of Burke.
As a result, its parts are no longer " contiguous terri
tory." The two northern corners, " McBride's Point"
and "Livesey's Woods," are isolations — the voters from
one side having to pass through Springfield and Middle-
ton to get into their own town, and on the other, to trav
erse some five miles of city site to attend the polls.
Except these breaks, the town encloses the city as the
shell does the kernel, or the setting the gem, and em
braces about all the beauties of location and landscape
that the city is so boastful over. The promontories and
peninsulas, headlands, bluffs and bays are nearly all in
the town, which probably has no counterpart in out
line elsewhere upon the globe.
Geologically, the valleys and lowlands lie at the junc
tion of the Lower or Potsdam sandstone with the Low
er Magnesian limestone, so that the wash from the hills
is a perpetual source of fertility. In addition to this,
the town is in the very focus of ancient glacial activity,
which not only scooped out the lake basins, but piled
the debris, mixed with transported material, along the
skirts of our hills and into nearly all our valleys. The
surface may be said to be nearly all rolling, and without
levels, other than marsh grounds. The soil is gener
ally good, and its fertilizing qualities likely to endure.

556 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  MADISON.
There are no waste lands, or too little to make a note of
in a general description. On the whole, our half a town
has capabilities exceeding many whole ones elsewhere.
Our population numbers now about 1,000. The farms
lead all other pursuits. We have six or seven school
districts, no churches, one or two saloons, as many ho
tels, and little of mechanic arts, manufacturing or mer
chandising, and no debt! A more intelligent, quiet,
orderly and harmonious people cannot be found in the
whole state. For more than twenty years past it has
been difficult to get any one to qualify as a justice of
the peace, and during part of the time we have rarely
had such an official; and the same is equally true of
constables. With few exceptions our criminals have all
been imported, and were not " to the manor born."
Eben Peck, the first person who located on the site of
the city, is also credited with being the first who
¦' broke the glebe " and turned the first furrow in the
present town of Madison; and, for that matter, in the
county of Dane. He broke about three acres, a little
west of William Larkin's present homestead, in 1838,
probably under the impression that it was government
land; but, finding out his mistake, abandoned the work,
and did not attempt cultivation. William Lawrence
made a settlement near the north line of the town of
Windsor, in 1838; but to what extent he broke the soil,
if at all, is doubtful. In 1839, Abel Dunning and Wil
liam D. Bird made breakings within the present town.
and " Esq. Peaslee " did the same on the " 76 farm," in
Burke, which has passed through so many proprietors
since. Wm. B. and G. H. Slaughter also settled in Mid
dleton in the same year. Dunning sowed crops on his
breaking in 1839, but Bird and others, it is reported, not
until the next year. These two worthy gentlemen and
pioneers are the fathers of agriculture in Dane county,

DANE COUNTY TOWNS — MADISON. 557
preceding in date all others now remaining or living,
and have continued in their chosen profession from the
beginning. Both have filled many public stations of
great usefulness to the county, but none as conspicuous
as their merits deserved. Neither have ever had leisure
to run after office; and when they have accepted trusts
of the kind, it has been done as a duty owed to com
munity, rather than from any desire for place. The
beginners of our farms are certainly worthy of having
their names commemorated, and of every honorable dis
tinction in the power of the community to confer.
Among others of our pioneers, the names of James
R. Larkin, Jonathan Larkin, Daniel Larkin, William
Larkin and B. F. Larkin, stand prominently and con
spicuous as a family. To these should be added Har
mon J. Hill, Andrus Viall, Russell and Daniel Sheldon,
and many others not easily enumerated from memory —
all good men — citizens to be proud of — worthy in all
senses to have assisted in founding not alone a town
and county, but the state as well. As all the old set
tlers in the city belonged to the town, their career, in a
historical sense, is a part of our heritage.
XAat of Principal Town Officers from 1846 to 1877.
1846. Supervisors — James R. Larkin, ch'n, Edward Campbell, Wm. C
Wells. It oad Commissioners — John M. Griffin, Thos. Rathbone, Abiram
Drakely. Clerk — J. Duane Buggies. Collector — Andrus Viall. Treas
urer — Darwin Clark. Assessors — Geo. Vroman, John W. Thomas, Wil
liam Larkin. School Commissioners— 3. G. Knapp, Benjamin Holt, F. H.
Talcott. Justices — Wm. N. Seymour, Nathaniel Wheeler, Alonzo Wil-
oox. Constables — John Cottrill, Jas. Moore, Albert Skinner.
1847. Supervisors — Wm. C. Wells, ch'n, Chester Bushnell, Abel Rasdall.
Road Commissioners — J. M. Griffln, Lucius M. Palmer, Daniel Larkin.
Clerk — J. Ripley Brigham. Collector— Squire Lamb. Treasurer — Dar
win Clark. Assessors— Harmon J. Hill, D. A. Barnard, Nicholas Smith.
School Commissioners— David H. Wright, Benjamin Holt, A. L. Collins.
Justices — Charter Bushnell, Allen Hams, Geo. M. Oakley. Constables —
John D.Welch, Wm. Rasdall, Joseph Pettin.
1848. Supervisors — Wm. C Wells, ch'n, Casper M. Rouse, N. S. Emmons.
Boact Commissioners*— Clerk — Robert L. Ream. Collector— B. F. Lar
kin. Treasurer— Daniel B. Sneeden. Assessors— Arch. Tredway, Alfred
Main, S. M. Van Bergen. School Commissioners — Benj. Holt, John Nel
son, D. H. Wright. Justices — H. J. Hill, Abram Ogden, B. M. Caswell.
Constables — Andrew Bishop, Alfred Main, John D. welch.
Fence viewers and sealers of weights and measures omitted.
* This office seems to have been abolished by the legislature of 1847.

558 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  MADISON.

1849. Supervisors— John Nelson, ch'n, Andrus , Viall, R. F. Davis.
Clerk— Robert L. Ream. Collector— Office abolished. Treasurer— M.
G. Van Bergen. Assessor— Newton Emmons (but one elected). Supt.of
Schools — D. H. Wright (but one elected). Justices — Abram Ogden,
David H. Wright, William Welch. Constables— Alfred Main, A. M. Ras
dall, Henry Carman.
1850.* Supervisors — Wm. N. Seymour, ch'n, Joel P. Mann, David A.
Barnard. Clerk — Julius T. Clark.
1851. Supervisors — Leonard J. Farwell, t Joel P. Mann, Richard T. Davis.
Clerk — Johnson J. Starks. Collector — T$. S. Emmons. Assessor— John
T.Wilson. Supt. of Schools — D. N. Johnson. Justices — Geo. C Albee,
Wm. N. Seymour. Constables— Thos. Heeran, Squire Lamb, Wm. H.
Foot.
1852. Supervisors — Philo Dunning, ch'n, Jas. R. Larkin, Xavier Jordan.
Clerk — James Donnellon. Treasurer — Casper Zwickey. Assessor —
Robt. L. Ream. Supt. of Schools — Darwin Clark. Justices — Abram
Ogden, William Welch. Constables — Thos. Heeran, Job, Williams, Isaac
Robertson.
1853. Supervisors— J. T. Marston, ch'n, D. A. Barnard, Wm. D. Bird.
Clerk — James Donnellon. Treasurer — Carl Uabich. Asssessor — CM.
Rouse. Supt. of Schools — John W. Hunt. Justices — Wm. N. Seymour,
James R. Larkin. Constables — Michael Joyce, Daniel Cleghan, F. Guild.
1854. Supervisors — Jehu H. Lewis, ch'n, Earnest Somers, H. J. Hill.
Clerk — James Donnellon. Treasurer — Ernest Doerschlag. Assessor —
C.G.Mayers. Supt. of Schools — David Holt. Justices — Abram Ogden,
A. B. Braley. Constables ~~ J. L. Roundy, J. P. Howard, C. Cleghan.
1855. Supervisors — H. J. Hill, ch'n, S. M. VanBergen, Richard T. Davis.
Clerk — Willett S. Mam. Treasurer — Geo. C. Albee. Assessor — (No
record made). Supt. of Schools — Darwin Clark. Justices— Wm. N. Sey
mour, Wm. Welch. Constables — I. E. Brown, Henry Rouse, Wm. Mc-
Pyncheon. The legislature of 1856 chartered the city of Madison, and the
town, in area nearly as now organized, held its election in April.
The following were the first officers chosen:
Supervisors — H.J. Hill, ch'n, B. F. Larkin, Philo Dunning. Clerk — H. A.
Tenney. Treasurer — Daniel Larkin. Supt. of Schools — Joseph Chan
dler. Justices — Abel Dunning, Charles E. Morgan, Caleb Jewett. As
sessor — Benjamin Piper. Constables — Chancellor Hill, R. G. Sheldon,
Frank Mahew.
* I And no entry of record of a town election having been held in 1850.
The above officers, however,, are recorded as having served.
t Leonard J. Farwell purchased most of the northeast part of the Village
in 1847, visited Europe in 1848, and commenced improving his estate in 1849.
Among the work he projected in 1851, was a large amount of ditching, etc.
While absent, the whigs nominated him for chairman of the board of super
visors, and it was at once seen by the democrats that it was a formidable
name to run against. To incite the needed opposition, Andrew Bishop, bet
ter known as " Elder," harrangned a crowd, Baying, in substance, " that if
Farwell was elected he would put the town into 810,000 expense for ditching
his marsh, while his opponent, Barnard, would be eminently a safe man."
Upon this, an Irishman on the outside of the crowd, nudging another, thus
expressed himself: "Pat, do yes mind that now? If Farwell's elected he
will spind tin thousand dollars a ditchin' the marsh, and Barnard niver a
cint. Bishsaysso. Farwell's the man for us, be jabers. Divil a ha'p'orth
do we give Barnard a vote." The result of Bish's effort was to give Farwell
the whole Irish strength — a whig victory for the first time in many years.
The notoriety given to the event made Farwell a year later, governor of Wis
consin. Simeon Mills and Gov. Farwell were the real founders of about
every early enterprise to improve the country, and make Madison what it
has since become. " Bish's^' speech was the prime inspiration of Farwell's
political advancement, aided by Col. Botkin and others.

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  MADISON. 559
The whole number of votes cast at this election was 124, as
against 1,425 the year previous, when connected with the city.
The vote of the town during the past twenty years has rarely
reached above 300, and then only in very exciting elections.
The following named gentlemen, in the order given, have served
the town in the offices named since 1846 :
Chairmen of Board of Supervisors — H. J. Hill, two terms, W. D. Bird,
Thomas Reynolds, two terms, H. A. Tenney, Andrus Viall. Chancellor
Hill, two terms, Abel Dunning, two terms, Henry Turvill, Ed. E. Bryant,
George C. Russell, Henry A. Draper, William Windsor.
Clerks — Charles E. Morgan, Charles L. Ferris, James Kavanangh, three
years, Sinclair W. Botkin, two years, George W. Horton, George H. Mer
cer, William J. Petherick, Myron S. Piper, George W. Horton in 1866, 1867,
1868, 1870, 1871, 1872, 1873, 1874, 1875, 1876, 1877.
Treasurers — Earnest Somers, Edward Newcomb, Michael Dunning, Benja
min Piper, two years, A. Phillips, C. H. French, H. J. Hill, Joseph Chan
dler, S. Williams, Samuel S. Chase, George A. Cary, Chancellor Hill, E.
Hammersly, Charles Nelson, li. W. Rowe.
Supt. of Schools — H. A. Tenney, two years, Caleb Jewett and Henry Tur
vill, two years. By change in the school system, this office was abolished
at the close of Mr. Turvill's term.

PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS.
In compiling a history in which events of a general
character are recorded, many interesting anecdotes and
pleasing personal recollections are frequently uninten
tionally omitted. We purposed giving our readers a
chapter on "Personal Incidents of Pioneer Life," but
our space forbids recording more than the following,
the first of which, furnished us by the Hon. Geo. B.
Smith, is a simple narative of an act, so genuinely un
selfish, that it will be rare to find its equal any where.
A good many years ago an incident occurred here in Madison,
illustrating high mtegrity, great generosity and singular unselfish
ness, which I think should be preserved. # ,
Among the early settlers of Madison were two single men, Robert
Moore, an Englishman, and James Dow, a Scotchman. Robert
was always called "Bob," and James "Jimmie." Jimmie Dow
lived always, when I knew him, all alone in a sort of hole in the
ground on the Sauk road, about two miles west of Madison.
" Bob " lived in town with old Uncle John Mallow, a brickmaker,
with a large family. ' ' Bob ' ' often visited ' ' Jimmie " at his cabin,
in fact, I think he made "Jimmie's" house his headquarters.
They were both genial, jolly good fellows, and both excessively

560 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  MADISON.
fond of their toddy. "Bob" was famous as a whistler. Every
year, for many years, he used to whitewash the old Capitol fence,
when he would always draw crowds by his remarkable whistling.
" Jimmie " was a well digger, and often worked at day's work with
Iris team of mules, which he always owned whilo I knew him. He
could repeat Burns' poems by the hour, and always, to use his own
expression, as ".dry as afesh." One afternoon "Bob " went out to
" Jimmie's " and in the evening feeling quite unwell, he startled
his friend " Jimmie " by telling him he was sure he should not live
until morning. "Jimmie" protested that he was only fidgety
and frightened. "Bob," was deeply impressed that he should
die that night, and he said: "'Jimmie,' I owe you for bor
rowed money thirty or forty dollars, and I owe Uncle John Mal
low more than that for board. Now, Jimmie, I am sure I shall die
before morning, and if I do, I want you to take my gun and a note
I have against a man in Columbus for $30, all I have in the world,
and give them to Uncle John, for he is poor and has a large family
to support, and you must lose your debt. If I live, I willlpav you
both. "Jimmie'' said he would. Sure enough, "Bob" did die
that night. When the funeral was over " Jimmie " took the gun
and the note to Uncle John Mallow, and that very morning he
brought the note to me at my house for collection, and told me this
story. I collected the note, Mallow got his pay — "Jimmie" lost
his debt. " Jimmie " remained here for a few years after the death
of Bob, but finally left; where he went to I do not know. Two or
three years ago he returned to visit his old friends, but this was no
place for "Jimmie." I did not see him, but those who did, said he
was still as " dry as a fesh."
Mb. E. M. Williamson says that Berry Haney and Pelkie, the
Frenchman referred to on page 26, had the dispute about a claim
of land in Cross Plains, and Haney shot the Frenchman through the
thigh, the ball entering the folding leaf of a cherry table, and which
for years afterwards was shown by Haney to his friends as a curi
osity. Haney, however, took care of Pelkie until his final recovery.
Mr. E. Bukdiok relates that Haney at one time borrowed $50 of
him and tendered hnn his note, which he, Burdick, refused, remark
ing that it was £ matter of honor between Haney and himself, and
all he wished was that the money should be returned at a given
date. Haney was never known to honor Iris note, but this matter
of verbal promise to pay was the highest form of integrity to him,
and on the appointed day Haney passed over the lawful amount
with a nervous earnestness that he never was known to experience,
at any other time when his note of hand fell due.
Adam Smith, of Sun Prairie, who was at one time a partner of
Abel Rasdall, relates an incident which, we believe, has never been
recorded before. Rasdell kept a trading store on the east side of
King and Webster streets, and on one occasion a young Indian
entered his store and attacked him with an open knife. Rasdell
was unarmed, but after guarding the blows, was finally able
to wrench the knife from the hands of the Indian, and though

DANE COUNTY TOWNS — MADISON. 561

wounded across the back of his fingers, pursued him out into the
street, where he caught and threw him down, and then struck at
with the knife, while he held him down with one hand. The knife
each time struck a heavy buckskin belt the Indian wore, and thus
failed to injure him. The father of the young man coming up at
the time, rushed up to Rasdall and besought him to spare the life
of his son and take his, as he was an old man and had few moons
to live. The appeal touched the heart of Rasdall, and though
naturally rash and vindictive, he allowed the young man to get up
and go off with his father without further molestation. •
Wm. Welch, Esq., speaking of the good sayings and good
things that are left slumbering in obscurity, for want of proper care
in the preserving of them, and which would go far to the exclusion
of so many trashy books that are palmed off on the public, relates
the following in his Home Diary: " In 1857, the law firm of Welch
& Lamb was established, and with their extensive acquaintance in
the county, clients multiplied apace, and among them Mr. John
Foreman, late of Deerfield. In 1860, the State Fair was ap
pointed to be held in Madison; and Mr. Welch, making Mr. Fore
man a friendly visit at his farm, bargained for a dozen spring
chickens for home consumption, and a crock of good butter, which
John and his wife were to bring to Madison when they made a visit
to the Fair, and to stay over night at Mr. Welch's. John and his
wife came according to agreement, with chickens and butter, and
passing on through town stopped at the house of Mr. Lamb, who,
eyeing the chickens, eloquently persuaded the couple to leave tlieir
merchandise with him, as it would be all right, it making no par
ticular difference which of the partners were made happy by the
possession of the fowls, and so quietly passed them from John
into a convenient smoke house that served as a preservative by
smoke or otherwise. John and his wife, after satisfying them
selves with sight seeing at the Fair, returned to Welch's for night
quarters, and after supper related their adventure with Mr. Lamb;
and unwilling to disconcert the sunshine and joy on the honest face
of the two good souls, Welch admitted it would be all right. But
eo foul a deed rankled in the breast of Welch, and he mentally
shouted revenge. Peter Parkinson, Jr., Mr. Welch's respected
brother-in-law, driving up to the house at the time, Welch opened
to him his budget of grief, and both agreed to carry the war out
that very night. Proceeding to the house of Lamb, and satisfying
themselves that everything was quiet in the house, they stealthily
crept up to the smoke house, and carefully removing a temporary
door, commenced wringing the necks of the chickens, and had nearly
completed tlieir operations when, to their horror and consternation,
a large dog rushed out at them, but which proving to be a six months
old Newfoundland, they readily made friends with him, and finishing
their work of blood, took with, them both the dog and chickens.
The following morning the girl prepared the chickens for breakfast,
and was assisted by Mrs. Foreman, who declared that the chickens
"looked for all the world just like those John and her had
brought to Deacon Lamb's." When Lamb reached the office in the
36

562 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  MADISON.
morning, Welch observed some perturbation of feeling on his coun
tenance, but supposing his own imagination was working equally
strong, said nothing until asked by Lamb if Foreman and wife
had stayed with him over night, which being answered in the af
firmative, he again asked if they had come up town again the same
evening, and being answered in the negative, was asked why he
made these inquiries, when he proceeded to relate the night's theft,
and how he had traced the foot prints of both a man and a woman
in his lot, and had them measured by stick and rule. At this junc
ture, Welch involuntarily withdrew his protruding foot and sub
limely disclaimed against all hen roost thieves, until Lamb, thor
oughly satisfied that he had no clue to the robber, quietly charged
himself with the chickens, and for fifteen long years remained
ignorant of the above facts, although brother Parkinson with some
twinge of conscience, tried to make reparation by presenting Lamb
with the half of a hog."
Madison has been long noted for her excellent staff of house and
sign painters, and sometimes in the display of the latter their
patience and good sense have been strongly imposed on. In one of
the wards of our city lying between here and Cottage Grove, one of
our good, quiet and honest Germans had started a small grocery
store, and desired the aid of an artist of the brush to prepare him a
suitable sign for the proper announcement of his merchandise. The
terms and price not being satisfactory, our good neighbor bargained
for the use of paint and brush, as he had once some knowledge of
the art himself, and could do a "leetle dat vay." After a labored
effort he produced the following: " Lager Beer and So — me Gro
ceries." Another equally as good might be seen in the First ward of
our city, and reads: " Going out doing whitewashing taken in here."
Education is a great helper if it is not always a great elevator;
but which it is, we are not prepared to say, after reading the follow
ing, prepared and held by one of our painters for years for the ex
pense incurred in its execution for a practicing physician in a
neighboring village, and which was tastefully lettered : "Dr.
Wither B. Dodge, M. D., Physician and Surgeon." In the making
of books, says the wise man, there is no end, and so might it be
added with regaid to professional titles. They are weightier than
the pretended owners of them.
When Pinneo, the shingle weaver, was in want of a drink, he
was accustomed to go to Squire Seymour, who kept store for the
Deans, and run his credit until the shingles he had wove were sold.
On one occasion, having reached the utmost limit of his financial
standing with the Squire, he endeavored by persuasive argument to
have him give him one drink more. The Squire, however, was in
exorable, so Pinneo returned to his shingle establishment, where he
found Adam Smith, from whom he borrowed an empty pistol, and
with a bottle in his pocket started for Deans' store. On entering
he held the pistol in one hand and the bottle in the other and de
manded that the Squire should fill his bottle. The fierce attitude
of the belligerent brought the Squire to terms, and, after filling the
bottle, Pinneo coolly showed him the pistol was unloaded.

DANE COUNTY TOWNS — VlENNA.. 563

VIENNA.

BY HON. A. A. BOYCE.

The town of Vienna is situated on the north line of
Dane county, and is midway between the east and west
lines of the county. The town is bounded on the north
by the town of Arlington, in Columbia county, on the
east by Windsor, on the south by Westport, and on the
west by the town of Dane. It occupies the township of
land known as town 9 north, range 9 east. This town
ship of land was set off from the northwest corner of
Windsor, and organized as a separate town by an act of
the second state -legislature, in 1849. The name of the
town was derived from the town of Vienna in the state
of New York, from whence came some of the early set
tlers. It occupies a part of the high lands that di
vide the waters of the Wisconsin from those of Rock
river. From the northwest part of the town the waters
fall into Lodi creek, a small tributary of the Wisconsin,
from the east, and south the waters find their way into
Lake Mendota through two small creeks, one on the east,
the other on the southwest border of the town. The land
is sufficiently undulating to afford complete drainage.
There are no marshes of any considerable extent. The
soil is principally a deep, rich, dark loam of great fertility.
In many of the hills and ridges, limestone of good qual
ity for building purposes is found. It is said that every
quarter section of land would make a good farm. Beau
tiful prairies, interspersed with groves, form pleasing
landscapes of great beauty.
The principal groves are called Robertson's Grove, in

564 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  VIENNA.
the north, Norway Grove, in the center, and Hundred
Mile Grove, in the northwest part of the town, the grove
was so called by the military engineers who placed the
stake in the grove that marked the one hundredth mile
on the military road from old Fort Crawford, at Prairie
du Chien. This road extended from Fort Crawford, on
the Mississippi, by way of Fort Winnebago, at the port
age between the Wisconsin and Fox rivers, to Fort How
ard at Green Bay, and in early days was the principal
thoroughfare from the southwest to the pineries of the
north. It passed through the northwest corner of the
town. In the year 1838, William G. Simons (now of Lodi)
entered the first land, the southeast quarter of section
21, and plowed the first land. The next year he built
the first house, with the intention of keeping a tavern
on the projected road from Madison to Fort Winnebago,
but the projected road taking another route by the way
of Token Creek, he left, and sold the land to Louis Mon-
tonda, who and his wife Electa, were the only inhabit
ants for two years within the present limits of the town.
In 1842, Montonda moved away and the town was left
without an inhabitant until 1845, when David Robert
son and Thomas Lindsay located on section 4, where
they now reside. S. Nicholson settled on section 22.
The next year (1846), Willard Fisher and Joseph Dem-
ing, with their families, settled on section 21, and Ira
Simons and Harvey P. Wheaton moved on to section 6;
in this year also members of a colony from and near the
city of Leicester, England, settled on section 31, being
mostly mechanics, unused to farm labor and the hard
ships of pioneer life, a majority of them left and sought
homes elsewhere. Among those who remained and im
proved their farms were William Plackett, Jonah Poy-
nor, William Crow, and Jabez Weston. In the spring

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  VIENNA. 565
of 1847, Adam Paton settled on sectioii 4, A. A. Boyce
on section 6, Whiting D. Stanley and Aaron Lamb on
section 7, and Benjamin Nesmith on section 32. A
number of families from Norway settled in the central
and eastern part of the town. Among the first that
came were Erick and Michael Johnson, with their fam
ilies, who still reside on their farms. During this and
the following years, many more settlers arrived. Robert
Mann and Isaac Mann located on section 7. Among the
early settlers who still occupy the farms on which they
settled, are Samuel Pashley, R. McChesney, Alexander
and Thos. Paton, M. O'Dwyer, W. 0. and Wm. Fisher,
R. B. Kellogg, Ole Hemundson, Henry Nelson, T. E.
Farness, Lars Sampson, T. Errickson, John Ollis, J. and
W. Howie, Aaron Cooledge, J. Farwell, S. Raymond,
H. Cramer, Jas. Taylor, R. J. Poynor, Wm. Plackett,
J. C. Hustleby, A. J. Damp, S. M. Lester and A. Rankin.
The first town meeting for the election of town offi
cers was held at the house of Willard Fisher, on the 16th
day of April, 1849, and the following officers were chosen:
Supervisors, A. A. Boyce, chairman, Willard Fisher,
and Benjamin Nesmith; town clerk, Isaac Mann;
assessor, Thomas Lindsay ; treasurer, Jabez Wes
ton; justices of the peace, A. A. Boyce, Jonah Poy
nor, Willard Fisher, and Hubbell Fuller.
The first school house was built at Hundred Mile
Grove, on section 7, in 1851. There are five churches
in the town, the first church erected was the Norwegian
Lutheran Church, in 1854, on section 24; then followed
the Methodist Church on section 31; the Seventh Day
Adventists and the Catholic Churches both on section
9, and the Episcopal church on section 32.
The inhabitants of this town have been peculiarly ex
empt from sickness. The high and dry location of the
lands gives them a pure and healthful atmosphere.

566 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  VIENNA.
While the people are of so many different nationalities
and religions, yet greater harmony does not prevail in
any town. Few crimes have been committed, and pau
perism is almost unknown. Schools and churches are
liberally supported. Many of the young people avail
themselves of the educational advantages afforded by
the State University, the Normal and High Schools.
Two railroads come within the limits of the town.
The Chicago and Northwestern Railway crosses the
southwest part of the town, the Madison and Portage
road the northeast. The stations on these roads afford
good and convenient .markets for the products of the
farms — Morrison, DeForest and Windsor on the Mad
ison, and Portage road ; Waunakee, Dane and Lodi, on
the Northwestern road.
The pioneer settlers underwent many privations.
Among those most severely felt was the want of a good
and near market. Milwaukee, almost the only cash
market for wheat, was nearly one hundred miles dis
tant, over new, and at times, almost impassable roads.
Frequently the expenses of marketing a load of wheat
at Milwaukee were greater than the money received for
the load. W. D. Stanley used to relate his experience
in marketing his first load of wheat at Milwaukee; it
was in the fall of the year, the roads were bad and muddy,
the weather rainy most of the time; it took nearly eight
days to accomplish the trip; no extraordinary expenses
were incurred, and yet so little did he receive for forty
bushels of wheat that when he returned home all he
had to show for his load and eight days' work for him
self and team, was three yards of sheep's grey cloth and
a pound of tea.
The experience of another neighbor — John Overton,
of Dane — was even worse than that of neighbor Stan-
lev. He hired a yoke of oxen at twenty-five cents per

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  VIENNA. 567
day, his own oxen not being sufficient to haul forty
bushels of wheat to Milwaukee over the bad roads; he
hired a wagon at twenty-five cents per day; he paid only
ordinary expenses. After paying for the use of the oxen
and wagon, he found that the forty bushels of wheat did
not pay expenses, and that he was fifty cents in debt.
I remember marketing a load of wheat in those early
days at Madison, selling it to " 'Squire " Seymour (then
of the firm of Seymour & Varney), for forty cents per
bushel, in " store pay." Wheat was the staple farm
crop; in fact about the only thing raised on the farm
that could be converted into money. The yield of
wheat on the new rich lands was enormous; forty bush
els to the acre was not an uncommon crop. Now such
yields of grain are rarely, if at all obtained — not even
from virgin soil. There are several reasons for this:
first, insect enemies of the wheat plant, then unknown,
have come in and so multiplied as to completely destroy
the crop in places, year after year; second, the success
ive crops of wheat taken from the same lands, without
any system of judicious rotation with other crops, have
taken from the soil the elements of plant food necessary
to the production of large crops of wheat; and lastly,
the comparatively few acres of land that were plowed
by the early settlers drew from the atmosphere (nature's
great storehouse) the plant food that now would be di
vided among many times the number of plowed acres.
Many of the first settlers entered upon the lands
without first purchasing the lands from the government
or even pre-empting them, simply claiming them, using
all of their means in building fences and other improve
ments, and farm stock, intending to make from the
farm, or borrow, money sufficient to pay the govern
ment for the land. The right of the settlers to the
lands they claimed was generally recognized and held

568 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  VIENNA.
sacred by the settlers, who protected each other in their
rights, and cases were rare where claims were " jumped"
by settlers. Occasionally some land speculator would
" enter" (or buy of the government) the lands claimed
by settlers, and whenever one of that class appeared, his
movements were watched with a good deal of anxiety.
In the summer of 1846 a settler was informed that a
stranger on horseback had been in the neighborhood
looking land, and that he had obtained the numbers of
the lands he claimed, and had left in the direction of
Milwaukee that forenoon. The settler had not money
enough to buy the land of the government, but he had
a friend living on Rowan's creek, eight or nine miles
away, who could lend him money sufficient with what
he had, to enter his land at the land office at Milwau
kee; so he determined to borrow the money and reach
the land office before the stranger. He had no horse (I
think there was no horse owned in the town at that
time); it was nearly noon when he started for his
friend's; he was fortunate in finding him at home and
in getting the money; when he returned home and com
menced his journey on foot to the land office, the after
noon was well advanced. He reached Cottage Grove
late in the evening. He dare not enter a house to sleep
for fear he should sleep too long, but lay down by the
tavern stable door where he knew he would be awaken
ed early in the morning. Before sunrise he was up and
on the road; he reached Milwaukee that night. In the
morning he entered the land office as soon as it was
opened, and found to his great relief that he was in time
to enter the land. Before leaving the office a stranger
entered to buy lands, and among the numbers were his
own lands that he had just paid for.
Some of the old settlers will call to mind an occasion
when the settlers of this and the adjoining town of

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  VIENNA. 569
Dane were called together to right the wrongs of a
brother settler whose claim had been " jumped'" The
case was an aggravated one, and was briefly this: A
settler was living on a claim where he had built a house,
broken and fenced a field. He was visited by a former
acquaintance from an eastern state, who came to buy
lands. The settler entertained the man for several days,
accompanied him a day or two in looking up lands, and
assisted him in getting correct descriptions. With
these the man left for the land office and entered the
lands claimed by his entertainer, and returned to the
neighborhood and demanded possession of the land. The
news of the outrage soon spread among the settlers.
They met on a cold December day at the house of the
injured settler, and caused the " claim jumper " to be
brought in. A justice of the peace was conveniently
near, to act as the occasion might require — to take the
acknowledgment of a deed or hold an inquest. The
man was stubborn; he refused to receive the money he
paid for the land and sign a deed made ready for his
signature. Threats and entreaties were alike unavail
ing. At last it was determined to try the " water cure."
He was taken to a neighboring pond, a hole was cut in
the ice, and he was plunged in. In his case the cold
water cure was instantaneous and complete; he express
ed himself not only willing but anxious to sign that
deed. He took the money, signed the deed, and depart
ed, a sadder and wetter, if not a wiser man. Few per
sons except early settlers fully understand the inconven
iences and hardships of pioneer life in those days. Liv
ing for years without a reliable market for their pro
ducts, without railroad or telegraph, schools or churches.
The post office, store, physician and mechanic miles
away, and perhaps a day's drive to the nearest grist mill.
Those early pioneers were persons of robust health, and

570 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  YOKE.
inured to toil; they were buoyed up with hope and ex
pectation of gain; their lives were not devoid of happi
ness; they were kind and hospitable, ever ready to assist
one another. Many, even now, recall with pleasure and
regret the days of pioneer life in old " territorial times."

YORK.

The township of York lies in the northeast corner of
Dane county, 18 miles northeast of Madison, and is
known as town 9 north, of range 12 east. The land in
this town is oak openings with occasionally marsh or
meadow land, there being no prairie within its borders.
It is watered in the southwest part by Waterloo creek,
which is the only stream in the town. The land is of
good quality and produces excellent crops. There are
a number of living springs that afford an abundant sup
ply of water in the town.
It is divided into eight school districts and two church
organizations. The town raised $18,454.66 for bounties
during the rebellion.
York Center is the name of a small village at the
junction of sections 15, 16, 22 and 24. It has a store,
blacksmith shop and a few buildings.
York is the name of the post office.
The town of York was organized April 1, 1848. B.
B. Freeman was chosen chairman; D. E. Emery and
Walter Brown, supervisors; Martin Mead, justice of the
peace; Otis B. Lapham, town clerk.

DANE COUKTY TOWNS  VEEONA. 571

VERONA.
BY DONALD MacDONALD AND J. T. HAWES.
This township lies in the southwestern portion of the
county, nine miles southwest of Madison, and is known
as town six north, of range eight east. The town is
well watered by Sugar river, which rises in the town of
Cross Plains, and has also two branches rising on section
7 in this town, flowing southeast and passing out on
section thirty-four; there is also a tributary, called
Badger Mill creek, rising on section thirteen and emp
tying into Sugar river on section twenty-eight. On the
banks of the streams there are excellent marsh and
meadow lands. The land is oak opening interspersed
with prairie.
The town was organized on February 17, 1847.
The first settlers were two Scotchmen, named James
Young and Thomas Stewart, who came to the town in
1837. They were engaged in the butcher business in
Galena, and afterward were employed by Edward Camp
bell, of Cross Plains, who formerly kept the relay house
for the stages between Madison and Mineral Point.
Early one Sunday morning, in the summer of 1840, a
party of ten or twelve, among whom were George and
William Vroman, James Young, Thomas Stewart and
Wakefield Brothers, started out in a wagon from Ed
ward Campbell's house (now James Bonner's) to explore
the upper valley of the Sugar river. After wending
their way down the valley for about three miles they came
suddenly upon the north end of an elevated prairie, and
following the dividing ridge about a mile, came to ten
mounds, nine of which were circular, while one had the

572 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  VEEONA.
form of a mammoth.* From this place they had a splen
did view of the surrounding country, the mounds being
quite prominent and about the center of the prairie.
After agreeing to call this beautiful spot Nine Mound
Prairie, (section 8), they continued their journey in a
southeast direction, and came to what is now called the
Badger Mill creek, which they crossed. On either side
of the creek they found a beautiful flat or level piece of
land, containing several hundred acres without stones
or obstructions of any land, and covered with a luxu
riant growth of grass, while the soil was of the richest.
This tract is divided by Badger Mill creek, with Sugar
river coursing the west side, and nearly surrounded by
groves of hard wood suitable for building and fencing
purposes. "What more," they exclaimed, "could be
desired as a building site — here we have it?"
On the left bank of the creek a promontory with an
elevation of from thirty to forty feet extending out about
one-fourth of a mile, covered with timber, and com
manding an extensive view of the flats, was the spot
where the two hardy Scots resolved to make their future
home. The party, proceeding toward the southern extremity
of the prairie, found a number of prominent mounds
which they examined; christened the place " Mound
Prairie," and crossing to the west side of Sugar River,
made their way back to their starting point.
A week afterwards, the two Scots, James Young and
Thos. Stewart, returned to take possession of their home,
and after locating on the south side of the creek, on
sees. 27 and 28, they made an excavation into the side of
the ridge six by eight feet, and then roofed it with poles
* One of these mounds was opened by Dr. Waterbury and others.
in 1847, when a portion of a human skeleton was found that must
have belonged to a person not less than six feet six inches in height.

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  VEEONA. 573
and grass. Thus prepared — being both bachelors — they
stored away such cooking utensils and household goods
as they had brought with them, and returned to bring
the remainder of their goods and chattels, with the in
tention of keeping " batch, " in their new and first habi
tation built by white men in the township of Verona.
During their absence, a heavy thunderstorm came on
during the night, and on their return the following day
from Edward Campbell's, they found the creek had be
come swollen into a river, whose waters they did not
dare to cross. Waiting until it subsided, they passed
over without difficulty, but only to find the contents of
their new abode washed away by the flood. After some
searching they found the most of the missing articles
where the water had left them. With even this experi
ence, they concluded to build again, but -this time above
high water mark. Moving to- the top of the. promontory,
from which they had the commanding view of the flats,
on their first visit, they commenced digging in a hori
zontal position into an Indian mound, making an exca
vation ten by fourteen feet. During the digging, they
came across the skull and bones of a human being, which
they supposed must belong to one of the race of the
mound builders; but dreading more the dangers of floods
than the dry bones of past mortality, they continued
their work, and then roofed the excavation with logs,
and poles, thatching it with grass from the creek, leaving
a suitable place for a chimney at the end of the domicile,
and supplying the entrance with a door, the panels of
which were of grass, while the frame was made with an
axe and augur, as lumber and nails were a luxury they
could not then dream of possessing. This hastily con
structed home, made out of a tomb, was a comfortable
abode against wind and rain. But while supposing
themselves to be the peaceful possessors of their home,

574 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  VEEONA.
it was matter of astonishment to them to find that they
were not the only occupants of the knoll. A large and
full grown lynx was occupying an adjacent portion of
the tomb, and was concealed from them by the under
brush, within a few paces of their door. For a time
they concluded not to disturb him, and so passed and
repassed him every day, until they discovered that he
liked domestic fowl better than the wild, so they deter
mined to make him move his quarters elsewhere. Thom
as armed himself with a club, while James brought forth
" Nicodemus " and discharged its contents into his lynx-
ship. Wounded, but not disabled, the ferocious brute
sprang from his lair and gave them battle. Thomas
charged on him with his club, and by a well directed
blow " extinguished the varmint," and thus gave them
peaceful possession of their home and the riddance of a
bad tenant.
By the way, "Nicodemus" was a favorite fowling
piece upon which the owner had bestowed the above so
briquet, and was a musket of no ordinary capacity. It
had a barrel something less than six feet and a bore that
could swallow a Springfield rifle. When fully loaded
and discharged the report would shake the ground and
reverberate among the hills and woods for miles around.
Game that once heard its thunder never cared to come
within its range again. In after years, the writer had
ample opportunity of testing its good qualities, but it
was always a matter of doubt with him whether it was
the load or the concussion that brought down the game.
One thing he has a convincing recollection of, however,
that its recoil often brought him to terra jirma.
Trusting the reader will pardon our digression, we
will now return to where we left our pioneers fairly lo
cated in their new home. After breaking some land,
planting corn and potatoes, they found their provisions

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  VEEONA. 575
had given out, and they had eaten their last morsel for
breakfast. A supply could not be had nearer than Ga
lena, about ninety miles distant, so Thomas hitched the
team to the wagon and started for that place. While
the horses stood drinking in the stream it occurred to him
that long absence from civilization had not improved
his toilet, or personal appearance, and that the old say
ing of blackened boots and a clean shirt was the twin
sister of " cleanliness and next to Godliness," so to ap
pear before the fair maids of Galena in commendable
style he pulled the shirt from his back and washed it
in the creek, then returned it to its legitimate place
on his back and drove on, trusting to an iron constitu
tion and his team to carry him to where he could get
something to eat, though there was no road to follow,
and still less no bridges to cross, but a wild, uninhabited
country to pass through.
In the meantime, James, more accustomed to work
than hunt, started as usual to the fields, accompanied
by "Nicodemus,". and trusting to Providence for his
dinner. Noon came, but no game had crossed his path,
and as it was useless to return home, there' being noth
ing to eat, he kept on working in hopes of driving hun
ger away, and so continued in the field until the sun
was disappearing in the west and it was time to re
turn. On arriving at the house a flock of black birds flew
past and lighting in a large burr oak tree, within a few
rods of the door, " Nicodemus " was instantly brought
to its proper elevation and immediately the ground
shook as by an earthquake, the hills and woods gave
back the echo, while the denizens of the field and forest
fled in dismay. Of the blackbirds, nine were the muti
lated victims, but speedily gathering them up James
plucked and prepared them for a supper and breakfast,
feeling, however, it was but a scant supply for a robust

576 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  VEEONA.
man. The following day a prairie hen, hatching in the
vicinity, and appearing to be the only living bird
that had not been frightened out of reach or existence
made its appearance, when " Nicodemus " was once more
brought to the horizontal, and the luckless hen fell dead
bereft of both life and most of her feathers. Thankful
to a bountiful Providence for even this scanty supply,
he was thus able to eke out enough until his partner
returned from Galena with plenty of provisions.
This coveted spot of earth, where the ancient mound
builders laid their noted dead, and heaped the earth up
on them for an everlasting monument; where the fero
cious lynx made his den and the pioneers their abode,
is now occupied by the modern and comfortable resi
dence of Donald Stewart, brother to the pioneer. Thos.
went to California many years ago, where he acquired
a fortune, but very mysteriously and suddenly dying,
while his partner in business equally suddenly disap
pearing, nothing satisfactory was ever known about
his estate. James Young is at present a resident of
Madison, but in feeble health, though still delighting
to recount all the privations of his early pioneer life.
Samuel Taylor was the next settler. He built the
first log house in the town, and which still does good
service on the farm now owned by William Ogilvie.
Afterwards came Patrick Davidson, and in September,
1841, Wm. Reoch, Peter White, Peter Martin and fam
ily. Mrs. Martin was here two years before she saw the
face of another woman. Among the next settlers were
Matthew Hawes, Andrew Patton, William Collins, and
Magnus Leslie, with their families. Settlers now be
gan to come in quick succession.
Badger Mills was built by Wm. A. Wheeler and Geo.
Vroman, in 1843-4, and sold to Taylor & Weston. On
the completion of the mill a grand ball was given in

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  VEKONA. 577
honor of the first grist mill in the county, and the mu
sic for the occasion was furnished by Pritchard's band.
A few years afterwards, the mill became the property of
Samuel Taylor.
The first threshing machine brought into the county
was imported from Scotland by Patrick Davidson, liv
ing on section 33; but being stationary it was used only,
for a few years, when it gave place to the portable ma
chines, of American make.
Whisky was first made from malt by John, a younger
brother of Thos. Stewart, in 1843-4, on section 28, out of
an imported copper still, the size of a tea kettle. It was
used for many years hi distilling a good quality of Scotch
whisky, whose praise, as well as the liberality of the
manufacturer, was lauded far and near over the sparsely
settled country. The days that brewing was going on, it
was surprising to see with what instinct the wounded
bucks would head for the still; at least the hunters al
ways claimed they had lost the trail at this spot or very
near it, and would give up the chase for the day. Tired
and thirsty, these hunters would drop in to see how
Scotch whisky was made, when John would refresh
them with draughts of the double strong, fresh from
the still, which he freely dealt out in a quaigh,* and
many a hunter started home fully convinced that the
" Scotch " was all it was said to be, and perhaps a little
more. The kiln for drying the malt was made after the
pattern of a hundred years ago, and was a circular pit
dug in the ground, covered with a conical shaped roof
and a hole in the center to allow the smoke to pass out.
The drying floor was made of poles laid close together
* Pronounced Kw&, a small drinking cup, made either of wood, the
horn of an animal, or silver*. The horn was used by hunters for
convenience against breaking, but on festival occasions in Scot
land, during fuedal times, the silver cup was used.
37

578 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  VEEONA.
and covered with straw. On this the malt was spread
to dry, with a fire underneath. The process needed
constant attention night and day.
An incident connected with the drying is related of
three young Scotchmen who volunteered to sit up all
night and dry the malt. The generous freedom granted
to all who came to visit the still did not prevent the
young men from smuggling a " stoup " of Scotch to
keep up their spirits. Not aware of this fact, John fur
nished them with a liberal supply, that the weary hours
might pass more eheerie. Weary hours, forsooth!
Three blither hearts that lee-lang night
Te wad na find in Christendie,
and along thro' the " wee sma' hours " these " drouthy
neebors " would pass around the stoup, until one of the
party was often heard to say: " I dinna like the toddy;
I like my whisky dry." The supply giving out, and
concluding that the malt was as dry as themselves
now were,, they resolved to start for home; but to make
sure that the work was complete, made up one more
fire and then left for the house, half a mile distant.
Arriving there they turned round, and looking in the
direction from which they had come, beheld a bright
glow in the southeast. While they stood wondering
at the sight, one of them involuntarily sang —
" It is the moon, I ken her horn,
That's blinking in the lift sae hie,
She shines sae bright to wyle us hame,
But by my sooth she'll wait a wee.''
Morning, however, revealed to them the fact that the
mysterious glow in the southeast was the flames of the
malt and kiln, that having caught fire, had burned to
ashes. The first public house in town was kept by Cheney Luce,

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  VEEONA. 579
and called the " Traveler's Home." Joseph Flick was
the first blacksmith and postmaster; Dr. Spencer the
first physician, who was followed by Dr. Waterbury. R.
Dunlap opened the first store, on section 21; and the
first school house was built on the west side of what is
now the Dane County Poor Farm, and was known as
the Badger Prairie school house, and the first teacher
Amy Thornton.
The town received its name from Geo. and Wm. Vro-
man, after their native township in New York. The
first post office also retained the name of the town. In
1854, the county purchased of Wm. A. Wheeler, his
farm on section 14, for county poor purposes, and built
a brick house 40 by 60 feet, with basement, and two sto
ries and a half high, since which other buildings have
been added.
The physical character of the town is something well
worthy df note. The outline is distinctly marked by a
ridge of boulders and gravel, which, during the glacial
period on our planet, had been pushed forward by a dense
body of ice. This ridge intersects the north line of the
township on sec. 5, and extends diagonally across the
south line on sec. 36. Nowhere south or west of the
foot of this ridge are there any boulders or gravel to be
found, except where the water may have forced pass
ages through. This can be seen best on sections 5,
16 and 22. On the first section, where the waters have
forced a passage through the ridge, immense boulders
have been carried down the water-course a distance of
half a mile; on sec. 16 an opposing bluff crowds the wa
ter close to the foot of the ridge, forming a deep and
narrow gulch, where the lime rock can be seen project
ing from the bluff on the right, and boulders and gravel
on the left. Here, also, large boulders have been car
ried along half a mile or more. Again, on sec. 22, at

580 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  VEEONA.
Badger Mills, we find another gap in the ridge. Here
the water has strewn boulders down the creek three-
fourths of a mile, the smaller ones being carried farthest
down. Among the other curiosities to be seen are the " sink
holes •" on sees. 17 and 18, as well as other places in the
west part of the township. The holes are pits or de
pressions in the ground, some of which are twenty-five
feet deep and thirty-five feet across the mouth. Al
though there is no apparent opening at the bottom, all
the water that flows into them is drained off as fast as it
runs in. These holes have evidently been formed by
the action of the water, percolating through into sub
terranean channels, and washing the loose soil along
with it.
Many of the early settlers recollect seeing the " blue
rings " on the prairies; but the plow has now obliterated
most of them. Two, however, are still to be seen on the
southeast quarter of the southeast quarter of sec. 17,
where the husbandman has not yet intruded. These
O circles are about forty-two feet in diameter,
with an opening at one side of about three
feet, reminding one of a circus ring. The
belt itself is about two feet wide, and as near
a circle as can be. There is nothing to show that there
had ever been an elevation or depression of the soil; but
it shows a darker color. The grass does not differ
from that on either side, except that it starts earlier in
spring; grows faster and shows a deep blue color, hence
the name given to the ring. Stock of all kind crop this
grass close to the ground, while that on either side will
remain untouched. We have seen many of those circles,
and they all look alike, but can give no explanation.
Who can?
Game, in the way of bears, wild turkeys, etc., were

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  VEEONA. 581
very plenty for a number of years after the first settlers
came, but neither of the former are now to be found.
The curlew was also a frequenter of this section, but has
disappeared for many years.
There are six district and joint district schools; three
churches, one Presbyterian, one Baptist, and one Meth
odist. There is also a large number of Indian mounds
scattered throughout the town. Patrick Davidson lived
for many years in one of these mounds, on his land on
section 33, and it was remarkable for its warmth in
winter and general comfort in summer.
There are now but few of the old settlers remaining,
but, nevertheless, many of the youths of those times,
now grown to maturity can recall the glad glee with
which they hailed the social gatherings that came year
after year, when Willie Reoch would "skirl his pipes,"
or "scrape his fiddle,'" and they could dance the "hieland
fling." William is still as nimble in the heel or hand
as ever, and bids fair to play either pipe or violin, at
many gatherings yet to come. Patrick Davidson is also
still among us, and whose reputation as the best pibroch
player in the county still remains undisputed.
On section 5, in the northern part of the town, on the
farm of D. Richardson, there is a cave that has not yet
received the proper attention of either the savans of
science or the local interest of the citizens, and it is
hoped that at some day near at hand, an effort will be
made to open the mouth of this singular natural curi
osity.* We cannot better describe this cave than to
*A mystery hangs round the cave, which has perhaps been inten
sified by the recollection of an adventure that occurred to two of our
citizens when in it, and though it might have proved fatal, it could
not possibly have occurred had a little more care been taken in pro
viding enough lights to carry with them. The mouth of the cave
is under a ledge of rocks that hangs over a small valley of which it
is the terminus. Before the rains had washed so much debris as
now exists around its entrance, there was a large enough opening

582 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  VEKONA.
quote from the article by Maj. H. A. Tenney, in Dur-
rie's " Four Lake Country."
" About 11 miles distant, and a liftle southwest of Madison, near
the crest of the dividing ridge which separates the lake region from
the valley of Sugar river, there exists the basin of an ancient pond
for any person to pass in and out conveniently. Mr. Jas. Waddell
and a Mr. Goodrich, started one morning on horseback to examine
the cave, providing themselves with candles, entered and pro
ceeded to investigate the interior, previously tying their horses out
side. The fascination of desiring to continue their search farther
than they had provided lights for, led them so far that their last
candle was nearly exhausted ere they thought it prudent to return.
Unable to retrace their steps, however, before it gave out entirely,
one of them, taking off his shirt, tore it into strips, and lighting
them, made some progress in the direction from which they had
come. The cotton strips becoming exhausted, they were left in the
solitude of the unknown cave, and sitting down, felt themselves
worse than lost — buried alive. Meanwhile, one of the animals
that had been tied to the trees broke loose, and coming home, cre
ated considerable anxiety to the wife and brothers of Mr. Waddell.
The two brothers, John and Walter, knowing that James had gone
to the cave, immediately supplied themselves with a rope and can
dle, and proceeded in search of him, dreading that some choke damp
had destroyed his life. Arriving at the cave they cautiously entered,
and lighting their candle, one stood near the mouth and held the
rope, while the other took one end of it, and with the light started
further in, calling his brother by name. 'Repeated shouting brought
no answer, until mental anxiety getting the better of both, they
dispensed with the rope and proceeded together further in, repeated
ly calling as they went. At length a f aint response was heard in
a distant part .of the cave, and as each hurried to the other, the
sound grew more distinct, and finally brought the two lost men to
their side, overjoyed at their fortunate escape from a living tomb.
The four, men now endeavored to return, but it seemed evident for
some time that it was impossible. The intricate passages on every
side of them seemed to baffle every effort to retrace their steps, while
their nearly exhausted candle gave them but little hope. Seeking
for the outlet, Walter discovered on a number of the pillars support
ing the arches, a portion of the rock assuming the shape of a
spear > or arrow head, and always pointing one way. Conclud
ing to follow these marks, they finally found them point toward the
mouth of the cave, where they soon arrived in safety about twelve
o'clock in the evening. With deep gratitude for their fortunate
deliverance and second escape, they made all possible haste to re
lieve the anxiety of those at home, feeling satisfied that the deep
and intricate passages of the cave were no longer a myth to them.
It is supposed by some that the marks on the pillars were
caused by the action of the water as it rushes through the passages
during the heavy rain-falls; but these men were of the impression

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  VERONA. 583
or lake covering about four thousand acres, whose waters have long
since departed, and whose drainage is directly into the face of a
bluff. This inlet, a quarter of a century ago, was penetrated to a
depth of nearly two thousand feet, and yet has never been fully ex
plored, or its mysterious depths examined by mortal eye. It is
about five hundred feet above the level of the four Lakes, and the
openings apparently tend to the west. Sugar river is about one and
a half miles distant, but no evidence has ever been discovered to
warrant the belief that these waters anywhere enter or make a part
of that stream. All indications, indeed, point to the certainty that
it is an entrance to thai, vast subterranean river system known to
permeate the lead region at a great depth, and whose unknown
outlet may be hundreds of miles away. Early explorers always
halted from fatigue or lack of adequate preparation to proceed, and
not because the way was not open; but nothing like an end has
ever been reached.
" The deposit in which this immense grotto exists, is the cliff or
upper niagnesian limestone, which at this point is known to be un
derlaid by a\ sandstone formation, whose thickness is probably forty
or fifty feet. That the channel has been cut down to this more fria
ble material, at some point of its course, is not doubted, and hence
it is naturally concluded that, if followed to the line of junction, the
dimensions of the cave would swell to collossal proportions. As it
exists at present, there are four narrow entrances, badly choked by
the debris fallen at the mouth, or material carried in by currents.
The two most southern openings unite at the distance of some
fifty or sixty feet, from whence cavern succeeds cavern, so far as
known, for thousands of feet. Once within this rocky chamber,
there was formerly no serious obstacles to progress; but the present
that they gave evidence of having been cut by human hands, per
haps by Indians, and that at one time the cave was known to them
in all its intricate windings by these marks.
The first white man known to have entered the_ cave, was John
MacDonald, jr., who in ,1845 went in about eight in the morning
and losing his way, was unable to make his escape until far on
in the afternoon of the same day. His intention was to go no far
ther than he couid observe the rays of light reflected from the
mouth, and which he endeavored to keep steadily watching, by
walking in a half-turned position from the mouth to the interior.
Finally thinking he had lost the light, he started back, and was only
able to extricate himself as above stated. His case would have
been a hopeless one, had he been unable to find his way out, as none
of his friends knew of his intention; indeed, it was only a thought
of the moment with himself.

584 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  VEEONA.
difficulty of entrance has kept thousands from the spot. It has also
had the effect of keeping the walls of the interior openings in a
much damper condition than they otherwise would be, by prevent
ing the draft of outer air, which passes steadily through the whole
lmown extent of the cavern. The far inner rooms have all the usual
characteristics of the most noted caves in the country. Pendent
stalactite has its corresponding stalagmite, at present much discol
ored by the newly added sediment. The walls are worn into strange
and fantastic shapes, and everywhere exhibit the erosive power of
rushing water. Long corridors and halls, whose smooth, rocky
sides would seem to bid defiance to any power, connect the numer
ous vestibules and chambers, some of which are from twenty to
thirty feet in height, and of great and almost unknown depth.
" That the cave consists of several stories is evident from numer
ous indications, both exterior and interior. It is proved by the
sound of voices when large parties are exploring the numerous ram
ifications; by variations in level; and more particularly by a whirl
pool in seasons of flood, outside the entrance, which proves that the
ancient channel has been choked by fallen rocks, and underlies the
whole cavern thus far examined. It is still further proved by the
clean cut bank of the outside water course, whose bottom is several
feet below the present entrance — an impossible achievement if they
were the natural inlet. Still further, no pond or water ever remains
in front of the cave, in the basin below the existing entrance level,
which would be impossible if it did not have a subterranean escape.
Once cleared of accumulated debris, and instead of one or more,
there would probably be found a cave of several stories, the lower
of which would amply suffice to drain the region, leaving the oth
ers ordinarily dry and intact. Until this is done, the full extent
and beauty of this mighty freak of nature will never be fully known
or appreciated. Parties living close at hand give wonderful accounts
of the phenomena witnessed after great and sudden floods, when
the waters, dammed back by the choked entrance, rise ten or fifteen
feet against the face of the cavern, compressing the inner air, which
escapes through small fissures, to the crest of the hill, with a hiss and
a roar somewhat akin to the shriek of a steam whistle. At one
spot, indeed, the conversation of parties deep in the cave can be
heard directly overhead, showing that if extra ventilation was ever
needed it could he easily provided for. Anything like floods, in
this elevated basin, however, are extremely rare, and could only oc
cur after long continued rains, or the sudden melting of great and
heavy bodies of snow. No rainfall from May to November has

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  VEEONA. 585
ever been known large enough to send any water into the opening,
nor does any enter during the months of winter.
Rev. Matthew Fox, for many years in the early set
tlement of the town, preached with great zeal and
earnestness to attentive audiences, and though ministe
rial labors were but poorly compensated, says he was
gratified to know that the poor had the gospel preached
to them. He says:
Mr. George Robinson opened his house at the Badger Mills for
religious services, and early on Sunday mornings would arrange
seats for the congregation, which two rooms generally accommoda
ted. Not having a pulpit or substitute for one, I took position as
convenience dictated. On one occasion I was in one room and the
gentleman who undertook to lead the singing in the other, and
out of my view.' After my reading a hymn, the precentor for the
time being, raised his voice to start the tune, but made a failure;
he made another effort — it was desperate — but, alas, it also proved
a failure. Then the cry of despondency came, " I can't make it go."
So it remained for me to remove the difficulty the best way I could.
After some time a log school house was built on the west side of
Sugar river, near the residence of Andrew Patton. This served as
our place of worship for years.
Mr. Peter Martin was the first elder of the church. In him I found
a wise counselor, apleasant companion, a warm friend and a sincere
Christian. He and his excellentwife have long since passed to their
heavenly home. I gave place to the Rev. Jas. M'Donald, from Scot
land, who labored there with much success. He, also, is deceased.
The congregation have now a neat church and manse, quite in con
trast with the old school house, where, after riding ten miles on cold
winter mornings, I would find the people gathered round the stove.
Despairing of getting warm from it, I used to proceed with the
services, hoping by speaking to become warm, having first taken
the precaution to place my hat against a broken pane of the win
dow at my back. Yet in that wretched cabin I had precious hours,
as I told the old, old, story, or administered the Sacrament of the
Lord's Supper, or engaged m the sweet old psalms that are so rich
in precious memories to the children of the covenanters, that lead
one back to the days of Oargill and Cameron, and to the triumphs
of truth and freedom in that noble land where God's testimony haa
never wanted a confessor since their witness for Jesus.

586 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  VEEONA.
ADDITIONS BY J. T. HAWES.
My father and mother and three children moved into
the town of Verona on the 7th day of March, 1843. It
was a very cold day, with deep snow, which lay on the
ground until April, when men went to the town meeting
in sleighs. It was a remarkably long and hard winter,
and many cattle starved to death. I well remember in
stances of men coming fifteen miles to get a load of
straw, when we would give them the load and keep
them over night. We had moved on to Mr. Samuel
Taylor's farm, so had plenty of feed. At this time
there was only one other family in the town, Peter Mar
tin's, one mile from us. The next nearest was Joseph
Vroman, five miles east, Ed. Campbell seven miles
north, and McFadden, seven miles south. We living on
the road from Janesville to Mineral Point, and as it was
the only house for a long distance each way, having a
good barn, something very scarce in those days, it was
a regular stopping place for all travelers. Among
the notables who used to frequent our house was Judge
Irvin, Hons. Moses M and Marshal M. Strong, Ebenezer
Brigham, of Blue Mounds, George Delaplaine, etc. J. G.
Knapp and E. M. Williamson, of Madison, used to make
it their home while acting as surveyors in that part of
the county. Judge Irvin was always accompanied by
his famous horse Pedro, and dog York. My father
one winter boarded old Pedro for the judge. If my
memory serves me right, the first child born in the town
was Ebenezer Collins. He was born in the evening.
My mother was present, and early the next morning she
was called to attend the birth of Olive Wheeler, a daugh
ter of William A. Wheeler, who lived at the Badger
Mills. The first religious services in the town were held at our

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  VEEONA. 587
house, by the Rev. Salmon Stebbins. He was followed
soon after by a Methodist missionary by the name of
Bennett, who afterwards took up the less honorable
calling of office seeking. About this time we had occa
sional preaching by the Rev. Matthew Fox, of Fitch
burg, a Presbyterian minister; also by his father, who
was a Methodist preacher. He was known all over the
country as Father Fox, or, as he sometimes styled him
self in his jocular way, "Ould Daddy Fox."
In the summer of 1845 the settlers built a log school
house on the northwest quarter of section 22, but when
they had got the body up, they decided it was not
located in the proper place, and so sold it to my father,
who took it down and moved it on his farm, on section
13, which he was just beginning to open. The next
year they erected a log school house on the west edge of
what is now known as the Dane county poor farm.
The first school was taught by Amy Thornton, in the
winter of 1846-7, and I was one of her scholars. It was
the custom in those days for the teacher to board around,
and the big boys to take turns in building the fires.
My turn came every Monday morning, and I remember
getting a frozen ear on one of those occasions. The first
summer school was taught by Miss Noyes, and the sec
ond winter term by Dr. Waterbury. He being the only
physician in that part of the country, was frequently
called away on professional duties, and at such times he
placed the school in charge of some one of the big boys,
quite a number of whom were men grown. One of the
number, an Englishman by the name of Baker, who
was sometimes called upon to preside, caused a good deal
of merriment one day by telling some one in a class of
spelling, who had left out the letter n in a word, that
"there was a hen in there somewheres."
In 1843 my father was elected the first justice of the

588 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  VEEMONT.
peace in the town, and my brother, Harvey L. Hawes,
the first constable. The same year my father was elect
ed a supervisor of the town. Among his duties were the
laying out and repairing of roads. This office he held
for many years. In 1846 we moved on our own farm,
and entertained many travelers in our little log house.
A sign over our door with the word BEER in large let
ters, caused considerable attraction, as it was, for many
miles around, the only thing of the kind outside of
Madison. As the town has filled up fast with settlers, it
will be difficult to follow its history further.

VERMONT.
The town of Vermont lies in the western part of the
county between the towns of Black Earth and Blue
Mounds, and known as town 7 north, of range 6 east.
The town is well watered by Black Earth and Blue
Mounds creeks, with their tributaries. The surface is
very uneven, and along all the streams are bluffs or
ridges; indeed, the face of the country is rough and hilly,
yet there is very much desirable land suitable for all ag
ricultural purposes. The land is covered with oak open
ings and no prairie. There are no villages in the town.
The town of Vermont was named by one of the set
tlers after his native state. The first settler was a Ger
man, named Joshua Harmony, who located here in 1846.
I. C. Steele, who located on section 7, and S. Batty, on
section 6, were among the early settlers. The town was
organized in 1855. The first officers were Whalen Has-
brook, Isaac C. Steele and Jno. Caldwell; Aaron Dana,
clerk. The first sermon was preached in 1849, by H.
Mainard, of the Methodist church. The first school dis
trict was organized in 1850; A. Campbell first teacher.

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  MIDDLETON. 589

MIDDLETON.
BY A. B. PAKMENTEE, Es<j.
This township is situated near the center of Dane
county, adjoining the township of Madison on the west,
and is known in the government survey as township 7
north, of range 8 east. It is watered in the northeast
part by Pheasant Branch creek, which flows easterly
through the village of the same name into Lake Mendo
ta. It is also watered in the northwest portion by Black
Earth creek, where on sections eight and nine there is a
wide expansion known as Mud Lake, and adjoining which
are large and now very valuable marsh land, that affords
excellent yields of hay. This creek rises in what was
formerly known as the big marsh, which contains a rich
and extensive deposit of peat. These peat beds have
been tested and found to be of a pure vegetable deposit,
and at no distant day, will be utilized as fuel.
In the year 1838, the Hon. Thomas T. Whittlesey,
from Connecticut, became the purchaser from the gov
ernment of a large tract of land at the head of Lake
Mendota, where he laid out the village of Pheasant
Branch, and erected a steam saw mill in the year 1849,
which at that early day furnished large quantities of
hard lumber, which was used for building purposes in
Madison as well as at the Branch and surrounding coun
try, until the completion of the railroad, when a more
desirable article could be obtained.
The surface of the township is diversified by hills and
valleys, prairie and oak openings; a little of it broken
with limestone ridges. The land altogether is rich and
productive, and is under excellent cultivation.
There are three villages in this town — East Middle-

590 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  MIDDLETON.
ton, Pheasant Branch and Middleton Station. The C,
M. & St. P. R. R. runs through the latter village, enter
ing on section 13, in the east, and passing out on section
7, in a western direction. East Middleton has one
store and a post office, and two organized churches.
The cemetery is also in this village. Pheasant Branch
at one time bid fair to exceed Middleton Station, if the
railroad had only diverted its course and passed through
the former instead of the latter. A good grist mill was
built in Pheasant Branch by Wheeler & Gault in the
years 1853-4, and was in successful operation for many
years. Before railroad communication, this was the cen
tral mart for a large circle of trade. The village still
continues to be a place of considerable trade.
The town has a population of over 1,700, and the vil
lage of Middleton Station about 300. There are four
post-offices in the town, viz.: Pheasant 'Branch, East
Middleton, West Middleton and Middleton Station. The
latter village has two church edifices, which are oc
cupied by five religious denominations; two organized
temperance societies, the Good Templars and Mendotas;
six secret societies, six saloons, two doctors, but no lawyer.
As an evidence of the amount of business done in Mid
dleton, it is recorded that for two successive months
there was shipped every day from the station a full train
of freight cars loaded with grain, while there were taken
in at the several warehouses, and shipped in one day,
fifty-two car loads. The same fall there were shipped to
Milwaukee 10,070 bushels of wheat, which, from the sta^
tistics of that year, showed that it was more than Mad
ison, or any other station in the state, or even in five
states, except Milwaukee and Prairie du Chien.
The town received its name from Harry Barnes, after
a place in Vermont. It was organized in 1847, and at
its meeting in April, 1848, elected the following officers:

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  MIDDLETON. 591
Thomas Whittlesey, chairman, Orson Cook, Linus M.
Palmer, supervisors; F. J. Starr, town clerk; Andrew
Starr, assessor; John B. Colton, collector; La Fayette
Cleveland, George Taylor, constables; Hawley Cook,
Andrew Starr, John B. Colton, school commissioners ;
Benj. Cleveland, Geo. Taylor, Enoch Noyes, road com
missioners; Benj. Cleveland, Sen., treasurer; Benj.
Cleveland, Jr., Orson Cook, Linus M. Palmer, justices
of the peace; Orson Cook, sealer of weights and measures;
Thomas T. Whittlesey, James D. Sanford, Linus M. Pal
mer, fence viewers. They polled nearly twenty votes.
The following firms are engaged in the purchase of
cattle and hogs, and have convenient yards and build
ings erected for successfully carrying on their business:
Messrs. Dufrenne, Lyle & Richardson; Messrs. Richard
Green & Daniel Vernon; Mr. Fritz Elver.
Mr. Richard Green has a large elevator, run by steam,
and does an extensive business in the buying of grain.
Dufrenne & Lyle conduct a general merchandise store,
with a large and increasing trade. Drs. A._ A. Rowley
and S. C. Coolridge have well selected stocks of drugs.
The Washington Hotel is kept by Daniel Maul; Amer
ican House, by Gerhard Aussem; Mendota House, by
Wm. Hoffman; blacksmith and wagon shops, by John
Prien, Herman Sass, H. Gerds, and G. H. Wolf; fur
niture shop, by Geo. Schneider; undertaker, L. Good
man. There is also a large lumber business carried on
by Green & Kingsley, and a planing mill by A. B. King-
sley. House builders, H. P. Rider, Thomas Fleming
and John Sander; masons, E. Page, John Eventhal and
John Eggars; boot and shoe manfacturers, C. Lammert,
F. Plath; gardener and fruit grower, Henry Schuster;
bee and honey dealer, John Elver. This business is be
coming quite general throughout the town.

592 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  MAZOMANIE.

MAZOMANIE.
BY HENRY HOWARTH AND HENRY Z, MOULTON.
This township, located in the northwest corner of the
county, was formerly a part of the town of Black Earth,
and comprises the north half of township 8 north, of
range 6 east, and fractional part of town 9, range 6,
lying south and east of the Wisconsin river. The
northern portion of this town bordering on the river,
was at one time low and marshy; but now, extensive
tracts have been drained and brought under cultivation,
and in time, will no doubt become very valuable and im
portant lands. Other portions consist of prairie and
oak openings, with a rich and productive soil, watered
by the Black Earth creek and its tributaries, and is un
der excellent cultivation, while portions in the eastern
and southern parts of the town are bluffy and much less
valuable. This place may be said to be entitled to the distinction
of having been "discovered," as the early explorers
passed down the Wisconsin over two hundred years
since, and viewed the lands of which the town is com
posed, with its extensive marshes bordering upon the
river, and its forests and bluffs in the background; the
first authentic account of which is that of Father James
Marquette, a Jesuit missionary, who, in company with
Joliet and five other Frenchmen, passed down the river
in June, 1673, on their celebrated voyage of discovery to
the Mississippi. At this time, Wisconsin, then unknown
as a separate political division, was under the govern
ment of France, and so remained until 1759, when it
passed into the hands of the British. During the war

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  MAZOMANIE. 593
of the Revolution (in 1780), a force of Canadians and
Indians passed down the river to secure a quantity of
furs, deposited by Indian traders at Prairie du Chien,
from falling into the hands of the Americans. In the
" war of 1812," another force of about five hundred and
fifty men, under the command of Col. Wm. McKay, of
the British army, consisting of Regulars, Canadians and
Indians, passed down the river for the purpose of re
ducing the fort at Prairie du Chien, and after a desper
ate resistance on the part of the American troops sta
tioned there, the fort was compelled to surrender. This
was in 1814.
In the Black Hawk war, Mazomanie was the theater
of one of the' most decisive battles of the campaign,
known as the " Battle of Wisconsin Heights." The In
dians having left the Four Lakes, retreated towards the
Wisconsin, and the troops under Gen. Henry and Cols.
Dodge and Ewing, numbering about six hundred men,
having struck their trail, pursued them, until at five
o'clock p. m. on the 21st day of July, 1832, they over
took them in a ravine, about three miles south of the
present site of Sauk city. The battle was commenced
by the Indians trying to gain possession of the bluffs or
heights (located on section 24 in this township) for a
better position, but were defeated in their designs, and
driven with great loss into the marshes and low grounds,
and during the following night they crossed the river.
The troops remained during the following day scouring
the country for the enemy, and preparing litters for the
wounded, camping at night on the farm now owned by
J. V. Cairns, on section 15. The next morning they
returned to the fort at Blue Mounds.
In the year 1843, the first settlement was made in
this township, and large quantities of government lands
were entered by the " British Temperance Emigration
38

594 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  MAZOMANIE.
Society." Charles Wilson, the agent of this society,
accompanied by Joshua Rhodes and Alfred Senier, were
the first settlers. They arrived at this place on Christ
mas day, in 1843, and for shelter and protection against
the inclemencies of this season of the year, took posses
sion of an old, deserted Indian wigwam. They were
soon after joined by John Holmes and James Ray.
They at once commenced the erection of log houses for
the accommodation of emigrants that were expected the
following season, under the supervision of Mr. Wilson,
upon whom devolved the duty of purchasing and locat
ing the lands of the society, dividing them into farms of
the proper size, and making such improvements as its
rules required.
In the spring of 1844, they commenced breaking up
the soil and putting in crops; five acres to each farm of
eighty acres was to be prepared in this manner, and a
log house erected thereon 14 by 20 feet, and one and a
half stories in height.
In the latter part of June of the same year, the first
of the expected emigrants arrived, among whom were
George Robbins, John and Wm. Wrigglesworth, Fran
cis Wilson. Robert North, John Royston, Wm. Thomp
son, Christopher Bennett, John Kerr, Charles Reeve,
Robert Leach, John Linley and Robert Liman, with
their families. Wm. Summerville was also among the
number, and was the first to sicken and die, and the first
to be buried in the cemetery, on the grounds now occu
pied for that purpose.
It may not be uninteresting to give a short account
of the society, under whose auspices these first settle
ments were made. The " British Temperance Emigra
tion Society " was organized in Liverpool, in 1842, with
branches in many of the important cities and towns in
England. The officers of which were Lawrence Hey-

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  MAZOMANIE. 595
worth, Robert Gorst, Charles Wilson, Charles Reeve and
George Cutler. Each member paid one shilling per
week per share, and a 'share costing £25, when full paid,
entitled the holder to a farm of eighty acres, to be
selected by the agent of the society. When a sufficient
amount of funds would accumulate, they were sent to
the agent here for the purchase of lands from the gov
ernment; an election would then be had for the purpose
of selecting members to emigrate and occupy the farms.
Those that were thus selected would immediately pre
pare for emigration. But should any member desire, he
could sell his right to another member, taking his
chances at the next election. Each member, upon his
arrival, would be conducted to the farm selected for him
and which would be conveyed to him in legal form upon
the full payment of his share. The lands of the society
extended from Mill Creek, in Iowa county, through
Mazomanie, Berry, Springfield and Westport, and about
seventy families settled in the vicinity under its auspices.
After a year or two, however, there began to be com
plaints, and a great deal of discontent was manifested
among its members; so much so, that soon after, the
society was entirely broken up.
The first marriage that occurred among the settlers
was that of Robert Leach to Miss Emma Reeve, daugh
ter of Charles Reeve, Esq. They were married on the
25th day of September, 1844, by Wm. Welch, Esq., then
a magistrate residing in Madison. Melville Wriggles
worth was the first male child born in the settlement;
this event occurring in the fall of 1844. He was the
son of John and Elizabeth Wrigglesworth, and lived to
reach manhood, but his health, always feeble, gave out,
and he died some years since. The first physician of
the settlement was W. B. Bishop, who came from Liver
pool in 1846, where he had practiced medicine for forty

596 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  MAZOMANIE.
years. He was not strictly a resident of the township,
but lived a few rods across the line in Iowa county.
Charles Wilson, who came in 1844, was the first lawyer,
and William Powell, a few years after, commenced
the practice of law. His sign may now be seen on the
little office adjoining his residence on Hudson street,
although his health will not permit of active work in
his profession.
The first school house, a log building, was built in
1849, on the "school section;" these lands were soon
after sold, but the owner would not sell any portion for
the school house to remain upon, nor would he allow it
to be removed; but on one pleasant, moonlight night, it
took a " change of venue," and stood next morning on
lands owned by Henry' Howarth, on section 15. The
first public school was taught here by Mrs. Mary Wil
liams, in the same year. This school house was also
used for many years as a place of worship. Services
were usually conducted by lay brethren of the Primitive
Methodist church, residing in the town. Every fourth
Sabbath they were conducted by circuit preachers from
Mineral Point who, although having to travel winter
and summer, over rough roads and through all kinds of
weather, a distance of forty-five miles, were ever faith
ful and punctual in the discharge of their laborious du
ties. George Cutler, then a local preacher, also con
ducted services here, and in 1850, organized a small
independent society, called the United Methodists, which
organization was maintained for about ten years. Upon
a division of the town into school districts, this school
house became the property of "District No. 2," now
comprising the entire village and a large portion of the
town, the first officers of which were Henry Howarth,
John Kerr and T. S. North. Further reference will be
made to this district in treating of the growth and busi
ness statistics of the village.

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  MAZOMANIE. 597
" School District No. 3 " is located in the eastern por
tion of the town; has a fine frame school house suffi
ciently large to aceommqdate the number of pupils in
attendance. The present officers are Thos. H. Ward,
Walter A. Johnson and Lewis Blynn.
There are at the present time three joint school dis
tricts, in addition to the districts mentioned, and the
entire amount now expended for educational purposes,
is about $3,500.
In concluding this sketch of the early pioneers of the
settlement, it will not be out of place to notice some of
the privations and hardships necessarily endured in their
efforts to make for themselves homes in the distant wil
derness. As will be inferred from.the manner in which
they secured their homesteads, being by weekly install
ments of about twenty-five cents, they were generally
men of limited means, understood but little of agricul
ture — having principally been mechanics, tradesmen
and professional men in their native land — and in
opening up and improving their farms the strictest
economy was required to procure the necessaries of life.
When short of provisions it was the usual custom to
borrow from each other until such times as the larder
could again be replenished. In some instances resort
was had to the coffee mill to grind " flour " enough for
bread. One such mill, owned by Dr. Wallace, of Iowa
county, and brought by him from " the old country,"
was kept running for days together for this purpose.
In one instance a settler by the name of Joseph Roger-
son " backed " fifty pounds of flour from " Badger State
mills" on Sugar river. Francis Wilson, during the
summer of 1844, accompanied by another settler, went
to the old "Hickox mill" in Iowa county for flour, a
distance of eighteen miles. They took two yoke of
oxen, and, after an absence of four days, returned with

598 DANE COUNTY TOWNS — MAZOMANIE.
only one hundred pounds; this amount, when divided
among the entire settlers, furnished a very small allow
ance for each family. Only by waiting for the toll from
grists brought to the mill during their stay were they
enabled to procure even this small amount. For a long
time this was the nearest flour mill, and settlers were
obliged to make two, and sometimes three, trips before
getting their grists. At one time, while this mill was
being repaired, Mr. Wrigglesworth and Reuben Royston
started in search of some other mill, and were gone over
a week before they could find one to grind their wheat.
The manner of threshing and cleaning wheat in those
days was somewhat primitive; they would clear off a
large space of ground, put on about four yoke of oxen
and tramp it out; the cleaning was performed by throw
ing the grain in the air and allowing the wind to
blow out the chaff.
In 1848, there began to be a surplus of wheat, a por
tion of which was traded off for groceries and other
necessaries. About this time they commenced hauling
to Milwaukee. The manner of making trips to this
city was, for three or four farmers to start together, each
having not less than two pair of oxen — horses then be
ing almost unknown in the settlement — they would
take their supplies from home and, camping out nights,
would cook their provisions by the heat of their camp
fires. Thirty bushels was considered a fair load, for
which they obtained from forty to fifty cents per bushel.
On their return they would sometimes load up with salt
or merchandise for Madison and other places, as they
could find the opportunity. The round trip was usually
made in about two weeks. Many times, from delays
caused by bad weather and roads, or some accident to
team or wagon, their expenses would use up nearly the
entire proceeds of their wheat.

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  MAZOMANIE. 599
The settlers procured what few necessaries they re
quired or could afford, from Sauk City — a town of
"one stores;" from Dover, in Iowa county; from Poker-
ville (West Blue Mounds), twelve miles distant, or from
Madison, a distance of twenty-three miles. When any
one went to the latter place, he would procure such
necessaries as were required by his neighbors, and
would also get the entire mail for the settlement.
The times were very hard for several years after the
first settlements, and very little money was to be had.
Fifty cents per day was considered a good price for a
day's work; usually paid for in flour, meat or other pro
visions. The usual price paid for harvest help was one
bushel of wheat per day.
The early settlers had but little dealings with the
Indians, although for many years they were passing up
and down the Wisconsin for the purpose of hunting
and trapping, and occasionally would camp in the near
vicinity. They were always friendly and peaceably dis
posed. In 1851, a procession of from six to seVen hun
dred of the folldwing tribes, Chippewas, Pottawattamies,
Winnebagoes, Stockbridges and Hurons, passed along,
marshaled by the United States authorities, with a band
of music and several banners of the stars and stripes
floating to the breeze. They were being conducted to
their several reservations west of the Mississippi, but be
fore their arrival at their respective destinations, it was
found that at least one-half of their numbers were miss
ing, they having dropped off in the night time, prefer
ring their Wisconsin homes to the comparatively un
known territory to which they were being removed.
The town was first called Gorstville; this was subse
quently changed to Pleasant Valley, then to Farmers-
ville, and then to Black Earth. The southern portion,
being the south half of town eight, still retains this

600 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  MAZOMANIE.
name, but the northern portion was set off in 1858, un
der the name of Mazomanie, a name given to it by the
first proprietors of the village, signifying, in the Indian
language,. w The iron that walks," or " Walking iron,"
and should be written with one capital, not as a com
pound word, as is sometimes done.
The first officers for the new town of Mazomanie were :
Supervisors — John Greening, chairman, James Craney,
Philip Wagner; town clerk — Wm. L. Freeman; treas
urer — S. E. Waterhouse; assessor — James Hayes;
town superintendent — Dr. E. D. Bishop; justices — John
Greening, Barney Campbell, John Huntington, Thomas
S. North; constables — Joseph Bennett, Wm. Brink.
The present officers are : Supervisors — Luther Clark,
chairman, Joseph Bennett, H. B. Catlin; town clerk —
H. Z. Moulton; treasurer — B. R. Cowdery; assessor —
Ed. Pratt; justices — George Cutler, S. Moulton, H.
Z. Moulton; constable — John Wilcox.
The population of the township at the present time
is about eighteen hundred. The value of real and per
sonal property of the town and village for the year 1877,
as appears from the assessment roll of the town, is
$457,000. Village. — While the Milwaukee and Mississippi rail
road was in process of construction through our state,
and the line was being surveyed through this town, the
directors of the road noticed that a fine location pre
sented itself for a village, north and west of the bluff on
section 16. They observed that by maintaining a proper
grade in building their road, a fine water power could
be developed by making the grade serve the purpose of
confining the waters of Black Earth Creek upon one
side for a distance of about three-fourths of a mile, and
determined to take advantage of the circumstances thus
presented, to lay the foundation of a thriving village.

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  MAZOMANIE. 601
Accordingly, after purchasing a portion of the north
west quarter of said section 16, Messrs. E. H. Brodhead,
Eliphalet Cramer, Anson Eldred and Moses Scott, as
proprietors, joined with Abram Ogden, a previous owner,
laid out what is known as the original plat of the vil
lage. This was in the early part of the year 1855.
During the same year, John Hudson and William Rob
inson platted a portion of section 9, under the respective
titles of Hudson's, Robinson's and University additions,
and, subsequently, Henry Walker and Alfred Senier
platted portions of sections 8 and 16, under the respect
ive names of Walker's and Senier's additions. The
proprietors of Prairie addition were A. W. Curtis, John
Catlin and Edward Barber.
During this year the first buildings were erected, and
before the close of the season, quite a village presented
itself to the gaze of those old settlers who had toiled and
endured so much, and with a near prospect of a railroad
upon which they could send away their surplus produce,
and through its influence, could once more enjoy the
benefits of social intercourse with the outside world, be
gan to feel that they were indeed " about to receive
that for which they had so long wrought,"
The first arrivals were D. W. Bronson and family,
David and W. H. Whitney. Mr. Bronson and the
Whitneys immediately commenced work on the first
store building erected in the village, the entire party
living in the meantime in a shanty situated in the rear
of the site upon which the " Carlisle House " now
stands. The first store was opened by S. Holbrook and John
Martin, followed soon after by that of S. E. Water-
house and D. W. Bronson. George Butler built and
opened the first hotel under the name of the " American
House." This was the first frame building erected in

602 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  MAZOMANIE.
the village. It was rebuilt and improved in 1869, and
the name changed to the ." Carlisle House."
Soon after, the " Mazomanie Hotel," now known as
the " Freeman House," was built by H. A. Cowdery. The
first blacksmith shop was established by John and
Joseph Wilson.
Among those that came here in 1855, not already
mentioned, were Saulsbury Bros., Mr. Parsons, John
Robinson, C. D. Haven, G. T. Whitney, Allen and
Angus Macdonald, W. U. Hover, L. D. Brooks, A. S.
Sanborn, William Allen, and S. H. Vedder.
G. T. Whitney was the first postmaster, but the busi
ness of the postoffice was transacted by Messrs. Bronson
and Waterhouse. He was appointed under the ad
ministration of Franklin Pierce, and was succeeded by
William L. Freeman. D. W. Bronson, the present
postmaster, was appointed in 1861, and has held the
office ever since.
In June, 1856, the railroad first reached this village,
and gave at once a fresh impetus to its growth and
prosperity. The first passenger cars arrived, and the
first time-table was established on the 7th of that month,
and on the 10th there was a rousing " Railroad Cele
bration " in honor of the event, said to be among the
greatest gatherings ever had in Mazomanie. People
were here from the surrounding country for a great dis
tance, and it was no doubt a day of general rejoicing.
The depot, a very fine structure, was built the preced
ing year. This building, however, was ¦ destroyed by
fire and rebuilt in 1857. A large and commodious eat
ing house was built adjoining the depot, and for several
years, trains stopped for refreshments at Mazomanie in
place of Madison. In 1862, the building was taken
down and removed, thus becoming one of the institu
tions of the past.

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  MAZOMANIE. 603
John B. Stickney was the first depot agent, and is
now the oldest acting station agent in the state of Wis
consin. He came on the advent of the cars, and has
ever since retained the position, which fact is sufficient
evidence that he has the confidence, not only of the
managers of the road, but of the community of which
he has so long been a prominent and active member.
Mr. Hutchins was the first wheat-buyer, but the first
grain warehouse was erected by L. A. Lincoln in 1856.
Manufacturing Interests. — In 1857, Lynch &
Walker, of Milwaukee, became the owners of the water
power before referred to, and erected thereon a large and
commodious flouring mill. A few years after this the
mill was purchased by William Thompson, who became
a permanent resident of the place, and for many years
transacted a large and profitable milling business, giv
ing employment to a great number of operatives. Mr.
T. spent large sums of money in improvements on the
mill. He was an active business man and a good citi
zen; generous, open hearted, and took great interest in
all public improvements. The mill is now operated by
Messrs. E. Sanderson & Co., of Milwaukee — under the
charge of J. T. Vought — who have made extensive al
terations and improvements, involving an outlay of
about $15,000. Considering the strength and perma
nency of its water power, its close proximity to the rail
road, its capacity for work and thorough state of repair,
and its ready access to the markets and to the large
grain growing districts of Iowa and Minnesota, it must
be placed among the very best flouring mills of the state.
The frame flouring mill, now standing on section 8,
was moved to its present location in 1864, by John Crop
per and Ch. L. Jacobi, and was operated by Mr. Cropper
until 1876, when he sold his interest to Robert Patter
son. This is a much smaller mill, and is intended prin-

604 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  MAZOMANIE.
cipally for custom work, although it has the requisite
machinery for manufacturing what is termed " patent "
flour. The next important business enterprise established in
the place was the manufacture of fanning mills, and out
of its introduction important branches of industry have
been built up, in giving employment to a great number
of mechanics, and support to many families. In 1860,
John Warren, Nathaniel and Stillman Moulton, built a
large three story brick and stone building for this pur
pose, with steam power and machinery for planing, match
ing, sawing, etc. A large business was established,
which steadily increased from year to year; but on the
2d day of May, 1865, a great calamity befel them, in the
loss by fire of their building and entire stock, prepared
during the preceding winter ready for " setting up "
into mills. N. Moulton having withdrawn in 1863, the
loss fell upon the other members of the firm, and was
very severe, there being no insurance. A circumstance
worthy of note in this connection is the fact that the
machine shop of N. T. Davies, situated on the exact lo
cation, was destroyed by fire on the lOthday of May,
1877, exactly twelve years after.
George and N. T. Davies, the successors of J. War
ren & Co., rebuilt the premises and made extensive addi
tions and improvements, both in buildings and machine
ry, including the establishment of a foundry and ma
chine shop. N. T. Davies, now the sole proprietor, is
doing a large business in the manufacture of fanning
mills, wagons, milk safes and other farm machinery,
having with commendable pluck and perseverance re
built the portion recently destroyed by fire.
Pritchard and Davies are also extensive manufactur
ers of mills and safes.
Fanning mills are also manufactured by D. N. Smith
and George Davies.

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  MAZOMANIE. 605
John Parman and Charles J. Trager are each the own
er and proprietor of a large establishment, for the man
ufacture of wagons and carriages; and for strength, du
rability, style and finish, their work will compare favor
ably, if not excel, that of any other establishments of
their kind in the country. As evidence of this fact, they
are receiving orders not only from the city of Milwau
kee, but from places in the northwest and southwest
portions of our state, as well as from Iowa and Minne
sota. ' The Mazomanie cheese factory, owned and operated
by Messrs. Humphrey & Sherwin, ranks among the im
portant business enterprises of the town. This factory
was built early in 1875, and under the efficient manage
ment of Mr. Daniel Humphrey, with Theo. J. Elmer as
cheese maker, has been very successful, thus proving the
wisdom of the merchants and business men who con
tributed so liberally to its establishment.
Jphn Darlington is the manufacturer and patentee of
a washing machine called the " Darlington Washer,"
which is said to be an excellent machine.
Churches. — The First Congregational Society was
organized at the log school house before mentioned, in
1853, by Rev. David M. Jones, of Arena. Through his
labors a church was erected in 1855, of which he was the
first pastor. Subsequently this church building became
the property of the Evangelical Association, by whom
it was used until 1874, when it became private property.
In 1871 the society built a very fine frame church on
Hudson street, under the labors of the Rev. M. M. Mar
tin, who is the present pastor.
The First Baptist Society of Mazomanie and Black
Earth was organized April 11, 1857, with Rev. Moses
Rowley its first pastor. For many years they occupied
the seminary. In 1865, the society was reorganized as

606 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  MAZOMANIE.
the First Baptist Society of Mazomanie. In 1866; un
der the labors of Rev. Moses Pickett, they built a
large frame church on Hudson street, and services
are now conducted therein by Rev. Joseph Bowman, of
Lodi. In 1847, the Primitive Methodist Society was organ
ized by Rev. George Stevens, a local preacher, and ser
vices held in private dwelling-houses. In 1850, the
society was reorganized by Rev. James Alderson, and
attached to the Mineral Point circuit, and in 1857, they
built a small frame church. Although this society is
small, they have never failed in keeping up regular ser
vices. The present year (1877) they have erected a fine
parsonage near the church. The present pastor is Rev.
John Ralph.
The Methodist Episcopal Society was organized No
vember 7, 1856, with a membership of eighteen. Rev.
Robert Rowbotham was the first regular pastor. The
church now owned by this society — the largest and
most commodious church building in the village — was
erected under the labors of the Rev. J. D. Searles. The
corner-stone was laid by Gen. Fallows, with due form
ality, in June, 1865, and in September, 1867, it was de
dicated. Bishop Simpson preached the dedicatory ser
mon; Dr. Raymond, of Evanston College, assisted in the
services. The present pastor is Rev. E. T. Briggs.
St. Luke's Mission (Episcopal) was organized Jan
uary 8, 1868, and Rev. J. B. Pradt called as missionary.
For about two years, services were held in the Town
Hall. In December, 1869, they held their first service
in St. Luke's Church, a fine brick edifice erected prin
cipally through the liberality of William Thompson and
Richard Black. The present missionary in charge is
Rev. Henry M. Green.
The first regular preacher of the Evangelical Associa-

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  MAZOMANIE. 607
tion, so far as can be ascertained, was Rev. Henry Ra-
gartz, who preached here in 1853.
Services were usually held at the residence of differ
ent members, until 1864, when they purchased the
church building formerly owned by the Congregational
Society. This they occupied until 1874, when they
found, from the growth of the society, that they needed
more room. They built a very pretty and substanial
stone church on Hudson Street, which was dedicated
on the 29th of October of the same year, by Bishop
Jacob Escher. Rev. Peter Held is the present pastor.
Catholic— In 1856, this church erected a frame edifice
of which Father Stroker was the first regular priest. In
the year 1863, finding their church building too small
for the congregation, a new building was erected under
the labors of Father McGinty. They now have a fine
frame edifice, with a dwelling near for the residence of
the priest? Father Mazeaud is the present priest.
Secret Societies.; — A dispensation was granted De
cember 5, 1857, for the organization of a Masonic lodge,
and on the 9th day of June of the following year, a
charter was granted to Crescent Lodge, No. 97, A. F.
& A. M.; with Alden S. Sanborn, its first master, and
John B. Stickney, its first secretary. The membership
of this lodge has increased gradually until it now num
bers sixty-eight members. Illustrative of changes con
stantly going on in society is the fact that upwards of
one hundred and fifty names have been enrolled as mem
bers of this Lodge since its organization.
The most serious drawback that this society has en
countered was, in the loss of their lodge-room and en
tire furniture and records, destroyed by fire, May 2,
1865. They had bought and paid for the third story
of the building erected by J. Warren & Co. This gave
them a large and commodious hall, and was well fur-

608 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  MAZOMANIE.
nished. The last payment on the hall was made but a
few weeks previous to the fire. They now hold their
meetings in the third story of Turck's block. B. R. Cow
dery is the present master, and H. Z. Moulton, secretary.
Good Templars. — Mazomanie Lodge, No. 65, 1. 0. G.
T. (afterwards changed to No. 14), was instituted Jan
uary 15, 1858, with William Robinson, W. C. T., and
John Howarth, W. R. S. This lodge has met with
varying success since its organization. Like all other
institutions having for tlieir object the advancement of
moral and social reform, it has its seasons of depression
as well as ot prosperity ; but there is little question that
this order, aside from its direct effect upon individuals,
has exerted a great influence in building up a healthy
temperance sentiment in the community. The mem
bership of this lodge is about one hundred and thirty.
Samuel Murrish is its present W. C. T., and T. F. Stair
its present W. R. S. They have a hall in Turck's
block, and meet on Friday evening of each week.
Mendotas. — Montezuma Council, No. 8, 1. 0. M., was
organized February 22, 1876. This is a social order,
having temperance as one of its prominent objects.
The membership is seventy-eight. The present officers
are L. C. Oulmann, Sachem, and W. Y. Ridell, Writer
They meet in Good Templar's hall every Monday eve
ning. The Patrons of Husbandry, No. 318, was organized
January 10, 1874, and meet on Saturday evenings in
" Butz " hall. Their membership is forty-six. Present
officers are Henry Powell, Master, and 0. B. Haseltine,
Secretary. Public Schools. — Mazomanie has for many years
been justly celebrated for the efficiency of her public
school, which has been the principal means of attract
ing many families to our place for the educational ad-

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  MAZOMANIE. 609
vantages it offered. This is mainly attributable to the
liberality of its citizens in providing suitable buildings,
and in the employment of teachers of undoubted capa
bilities as principals, among whom may be mentioned
Lyman Hutchinson, N. E. Goldthwaite, W. A. De La
Matyr, M. E. Wadsworth, L. D. Harvey and Miss Inez
C. Childs, all of whom have materially contributed to its
success. The present principal is Charles F. Harding,
of Springfield in this county.
In 1857, a frame school house was built to take the
place of the log house before referred to, of ample size,
as was supposed, to accommodate the increase of pupils
consequent upon the growth of the village; but it was
barely finished, before a portion had to be sent to the
seminary building. In 1861, was commenced the erec
tion of a brick edifice, 50 by 50 feet, two stories in height.
This was occupied the following year, when the school
was first organized under the graded system. In 1868,
an addition was built, 30 by 50 feet, of the same height,
making a building 50 by 80 feet, which was arranged for
five departments. In 1876, however, it was again found
necessary to occupy the former building, now known as
the Town Hall, and to establish a primary school near
the Wisconsin river.
In 1876, a free high school was established in the dis
trict, receiving state aid as provided by law. The grade,
however, was already sufficient to enable pupils to enter
the freshman class at the State University without fur
ther preparation; as an instance, at the last commence
ment, the following pupils passing direct from our
school, graduated from this institution, namely : Misses
Alice Stickney, Florence E. Mitchell, Hattie M. Hover,
Tillie Reul, and Mr. W. A. Hover.
The district contains about five hundred and fifty
pupils of school age, and upwards of four hundred were
39

610 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  MAZOMANIE.
in attendance the past year. Number of teachers em
ployed, eight; cost of instruction, about $3,000 annu
ally. Value of school building and site is over $10,000.
The site contains eight lots, and is one of the prettiest
locations for the purpose to be found. Good sidewalks
are provided not only about the building and across the
grounds, but reach to nearly all portions of the village,
except on the higher grounds where they are not so
much needed.
The present officers of the district are, Jonathan
Jones, J. C. Cowdery and H. Z. Moulton, the latter hav
ing served in the capacity of clerk without interruption
since 1862.
The business and other interests, not previously men
tioned, are represented by J. C. Cowdery & Son, bank
ers; W. U. Hover, J. Murrish & Sons, C. M. Howe,
L. A. Lincoln, J. A. Sehmitz, Charles Butz, W. W.
Whalon, and S. V. Wyckoff and Co., general dealers;
Smith & Moulton, general hardware; J. Jones and
Smith & Campbell, druggists; Whitney & Clark, boots
and shoes; J. W. Robson, books and stationery, fruits
and confectionery; C. A. Pierson and Hiram Lyford,
groceries; L. C. Oulmann, butter and eggs; George
Elliott, furniture and paper hangings; Fred Reinow, fur
niture and coffins; Fred. W. Giese and Otto Giese, jew
elers; D. W. Bronson & Son and Richard Black, lumber
dealers; L. A. Lincoln, A. Lange and J. T. Vaught, grain
buyers; Ed. Pratt and Maj. A. B. Piatt, agricultural
implements; Harrop & Cork, tailors; Fred. Heydecke and
John Denu, harnesses; C. E. Whelan, blacksmith and
wagons; A. Preston & Sons, blacksmith and cultivators;
/John Askew, blacksmith and plows; A. P. Peck and
Simeon Jones, shoemakers; Woolrich & Dame, meat
market; Mrs. Charles Peters, market and confectionery;
Mrs. John Schuesler, photographs; Mrs, S. A. Berry,

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  MAZOMANIE. 611
Mrs. E. H. Hart, Mrs. C. M. Howe, and Miss M. E. Kerr,
millinery and dress making; Edward Huggins, restau
rant; N. Kirch, bakery; Sutcliffe Bros., cigars; Tinker
& Schlewch, brewers; S. F. Buck, barber; P. B. Learnard,
repairing watches; J. A. J. Shower, undertaker; Isaac
Thompson and Lawrence Wolf, coopers; J. F. Carlisle
and H. G. Brunleib, liveries; T. T. Huntington and
John Cammack, draymen; Thos. W. Wilson, builder;
W. W. Whitney, millwright; L. W. Needham, Robert
Sutcliffe, E. H. Haseltine, J. H. Richards and Ferd.
Hader, carpenters; C. F. Moulton, Adam Gerner and M.
Morrow, masons; Wm. Finlayson and A. N. Seymour
are the proprietors 'of the extensive nurseries. The
medical fraternity are represented by Wm. H. Gleason,
T. F. Stair, C. A. Lyman and T. S. North; dentistry by
J. G. Mawney; insurance by H. Z. Moulton.
The place is supplied with excellent hotels, all of
which are well kept, and sufficiently large and roomy
for the accommodation of the traveling public, who may
feel assured of receiving the utmost attention from the
genial proprietors. The "Carlisle House," kept by
James Carlisle, is the largest; next in size and preten
sions is the " Freeman House," kept by Theo. Freeman,
while the " Commercial Hotel " is under the charge of
John Westhauser, proprietor. Mr. N. Kirch has recent
ly erected large and commodious buildings, and, in con
nection with other business, proposes to provide for the
entertainment of the traveling public.
The Weekly Sickle, a newspaper published by D. W.
Bronson & Son, with S. E. Bronson as editor, is among
the important enterprises of the place, and is of great
value and convenience to the citizens and business men.
The first issue was dated March 9, 1874, and the circu
lation has increased gradually until it now numbers five
hundred subscribers.

612 DANE COUNTY TOWNS  MAZOMANIE.
The village of Mazomanie is what may be termed a
" railroad town," as it was directly through its influence
that the place was first started, and through its business
employment is given to a great number of persons. The
construction train of the western division of the railway
from Milwauke to Prairie du Chien makes its headquar
ters here. The train is under the charge of E. J. Whit
ney, conductor, with Frank Robinson as engineer, Mr. R.
having held this position since 1865. This station ranks
the fifth on the line (Pra. du C. division) as to amount of
business. There is paid out to its different employees
not less than $2,000 monthly, giving direct support to
about fifty families, and indirectly Idding largely to the
general business interests of the town.
The Fire Department of Mazomanie is well deserving
of attention in this sketch. It has been organized and
worked up under exceeding difficulties, and several years
have elapsed since its first conception, but through the
persistent efforts of a few of her citizens — among whom
may with propriety be mentioned the names of C. J.
Trager, T. W. Wilson and R. Black — and the liberali
ty of the business men of the place, it has now a well
organized fire company, with an " A 1 " hand power en
gine, hose cart and hook and ladder outfit, including
truck, ladders, buckets, etc., costing upwards of twelve
hundred dollars. The present officers are, C. J. Trager,
foreman; J. A. J. Shower, first assistant, andT. T.Hun
tington, second assistant.
The population of the village is now about twelve
hundred, mostly of American and English extraction.
Of the foreign element, the German largely predomi
nates, although the " Emerald Isle " furnishes a large
representation. And while it is but slowly increasing
in wealth and population, there seems to be an air of

DANE COUNTY TOWNS  MAZOMANIE. 613
permanency about the village and its improvements,
that surely denotes a prosperous future.
The resources of the place are much the same as con
tribute to the support of nearly all of our western towns,
being principally from grain growing districts around,
making this a common center, although the peculiar
adaptation of the surrounding country to grazing pur
poses will, at no distant future, make of it one of the
most important dairying districts in the southern por
tion of the state. Even now it is estimated that more
butter and eggs are shipped from this station than any
other on the road west of Milwaukee.
Location and Scenery. — A sketch of Mazomanie
would be incomplete that did not refer to its advantages
as a place of residence, for such as desire a more quiet
and retired life than the city affords, and yet enjoy most
of its conveniences. The village is pleasantly located
on both sides of Black Earth creek, where it opens out
into the valley of the Wisconsin. South of the rail
road, which passes through the place, a little south of
the center, is a sharp rise of ground for a few rods,
where we find a large plateau, where are many beautiful
locations for residences not yet occupied. Still south
of this, and adjoining the village, is a range of very
pretty bluffs, skirted with forests of oak, making a fine
background, and giving to the scenery a very pictur
esque appearance.
A magnificent view of the place and of the surround
ing country may be had from the " school section " bluff
on the southeast, which rises abruptly to the height of
about three hundred feet above the level of the Wiscon
sin river. From this elevation the observer may look
down upon the village, nestled among the maples and
elms, with which every street is lined, and which have

614 DANE COUNTY TOWNS — MAZOMANIE.
become the pride of its citizens. Glancing to the north
ward, he will see the Wisconsin skirting the bluffs on
the opposite side, many of which her currents have
hewn squarely down to the water's edge; towards the
northeast, he sees in the distance, across an alternating
landscape of forest and field, the prairies of Sauk county,
dotted here and there with farm-houses, and extending
back to the Baraboo bluffs. On the east and southeast,
Black Earth creek and her tributaries may be seen wind
ing their serpentine courses through pleasant valleys and
rich meadows, with the constantly varying scenery of
forest, bluff, and cultivated field. On the south, at a
distance of twelve miles, he distinctly sees the lofty
summits of the Blue Mounds, towering like sentinels
above the intervening elevations of land, while turning
to the westward, the view opens upon a magnificent per
spective of the broad valley of the Wisconsin, which
may be seen for a distance of forty miles, an almost un
broken landscape of field and meadow, diversified with
constantly receding patches of forest, while at intervals
in the distance the abrupt faces of the bluffs upon either
side of the river seem to approach each other, until at
nearly the utmost range of vision they appear to meet,
thus closing up the further view of the course of this
magnificent river, on its way, through narrow defiles
and shifting sands, to join the Father of Waters on his
course to the Gulf of Mexico.
Although this village is not noted for its magnificent
edifices, yet she has many pretty residences, public build
ings, and places of business, no less than thirty of which
are substantial, first-class brick and stone buildings. It
has been the pride of her citizens to not only supply the
lack of a natural growth of forest trees, by planting out
large quantities of the rapidly growing maple and elm

DANE COUNTY TOWNS — MAZOMANIE. 615
on the streets, and with various kinds of evergreens and
deciduous trees of different species, in private yards and
grounds, but in beautifying them with flowers and
shrubs, and adorning their dwellings with choice pic
tures and rare curiosities, as well as in providing for the
literary and musical culture and entertainment of the
household. Society. — A noticeable feature in the social elements
of which Mazomanie is composed is, that while it boasts
of as good society as is furnished by any town of its size
and pretensions, there is but little inclination to divide
into " sets," as is too often the case, but with remarka
ble unanimity, her citizens are disposed to treat each
other with the consideration to which they are entitled,
without regard to "worldly wealth or honors." In soci
eties and other organizations, a certain degree of exclu-
siveness is necessarily required.
In summing up the many desirable features possessed
by Mazomanie, we must not overlook that of health,
which is paramount to all other considerations in se
lecting a place for permanent location. It has long
been known as one of the most healthful places in the
country, as has often been remarked by those who have
been acquainted with it for many years. Adding to this
its beauty of location, its business capacities and re
sources, its convenience to leading places of the north
west, such as Milwaukee, Chicago, the capital of the
state, etc., ready access to all points in Iowa and Min
nesota, its society, churches and schools, make it one of
the most desirable places of residence to be found among
the smaller towns of the state.

TOWNS ADJACENT.

EVANSVILLE, ROCK CO.
BY D. JOHNSON, LEVI LEONARD AND JACOB WEST, Esq.
The township of Union, of which the village of
Evansville is at the present time the principal and
leading market town, was first settled in the fall of
1839. The first settlers were Chas. McMillan, Sam
uel Lewis, Stephen Jones, Erastus Quivey, John
Rhinehart and Boyd Phelps. In the spring of 1840,
there was a large immigration from the east and south
to this part of the state, and among those making
their homes in this town were Rev. John Griffith,
Hiram Griffith, John A. Griffith, Ira Jones, Jacob
West, John T. Baker, J. W. Haseltine, Levi Leonard,
David Johnson, Daniel Johnson, John Cook, John
Adams, Washington Higday and John Sale, and the
population was further increased by a large immi
gration in the fall of the same year.
The first school house in the settlement was built
in 1841, about a mile and a half west of the present
6ite of Evansville, and the first teacher, Miss Mary
Jane True. The next was built at or near the now
village of Union, between Janesville and Madison,
where the first post office was established. The third

618 TOWNS ADJACENT — EVANSVILLE.
school house in the town was built on the present site
of Evansville, and was built of logs, and used both as
church and school house, and the first teacher our now
worthy citizen, Levi Leonard. The first settler on the
land now embraced in the village plat was Amos
Kirkpatrick, in 1842. About the same time Wilbur
Potter settled here and built a chair factory, and then
Henry and Lewis Spencer, whose residence is still
here, they having built the first frame dwellings in the
town. In the summer of 1845, J. M. Evans, from
Laporte, Indiana, settled here and commenced the
practice of medicine.
Up to 1848, the principal centers of business for
the whole country between Janesville and Madison
were at the village of Union, a post town on the terri
torial road three miles north of the present site of
Evansville; or Cooksville, on the Badfish creek, four
miles northeast of Union, and in that year William
Winston and C. R. Bent built and filled the first store
in the place, which up to this date had neither name
nor post office, the citizens having to go to Union for
their mail. Upon the establishing of a post office in
1849, the name of Evansville was chosen. In 1855, the
ground was surveyed and platted, and the name of the
post office was selected as the future name of the vil
lage, from which tinte to the present the growth of
the place has been steady and healthy. In 1863, the
Beloit and Madison railroad was completed, which
gave the place a new impetus, and in 1865, Evansville
became a chartered village, officered by a president

TOWNS ADJACENT  EVANSVILLE. 619
and board of trustees, clerk and treasurer, and under
the healthy working of our charter and good manage
ment of its officers, our streets have been improved,
sidewalks made and repaired, shade trees planted, until
we now have as handsome and thrifty a village as there
is in the west, and what with its water and steam
power in the hands of our enterprising business men,
bids fair for a prosperous future.
To the person seeking a pleasant home, or as a place
of summer resort, there is no place in the west that
offers better inducements than Evansville. Society
is of the best, manifesting refinement, intelligence and
good taste; not only in the well kept and nicely
graded streets, good sidewalks, and the beautiful gar
dens and pleasant homes, with the absence of any
saloons for the sale of intoxicating drinks, but with
the prevailing influences of Christian privileges and
blessings, is every thing that goes to make a home
pleasant and desirable. The village is located in one
of the best farming and grazing sections of Wiscon
sin, and is skirted on the north by a beautiful grove
of oak timber, while in every other direction farms
and farm houses abound in beautifying effect. The
country, when in its natural state, was about one-half
timber and the rest prairie; but since the stumps
have been removed on the timber farms, and artificial
groves planted on the prairie, a person unacquainted
with the locality in former times would hardly dis
tinguish the difference; with good roads, and pleasant
drives in every direction, the seeker after pleasure or

620 TOWNS ADJACENT  EVANSVILLE.
pleasant homes can find no better place than Evans
ville. In the first settlement of this town, the religious
and moral tone of the people had much to do in the
forming and regulating society, and in after years,
through this influence, the sale of intoxicating drinks
publicly, has always been prohibited; so that up to
the present time, no license has ever been granted to
a liquor saloon. The first church was organized in
the summer of 1840 by the Episcopal Methodists, with
a membership of twenty-seven ; and the first church
edifice was erected by them in 1846-47, being a plain
but comfortable frame building. In the year 1866,
the old church was sold to give place for a business
block, and a new and more commodious one (built of
white brick) was erected. The membership now
numbers about 178, and the present pastor is the Rev.
J. D. Cole.
The next church organization was the Freewill
Baptist, in 1854, with a membership of 30, and the
same year they erected a very neat frame church edi
fice, and furnished it with the first church bell. They
have increased until they now number about 67 mem
bers. Their present pastor is the Rev. B. F. Mc
Kenney. The next church was organized by the Congrega-
tionalists in the same year, 1854, with a member
ship of eleven, and in 1857 they erected a very neat
red brick church edifice. Their numbers have in
creased, so that they have now a membership of sev

TOWNS ADJACENT  EVANSVILLE. 621
enty-five. The Rev. James W. Harris is their present
pastor. The regular Baptists next organized a church in 1856,
with thirty-four members, and reorganized in 1867,
and in this year they erected a very commodious
white brick church edifice, and furnished it with a
bell. Their numbers have increased to seventy-one.
The Rev. C. N. Lathrop is their present pastor.
The Episcopalians next organized a society in 1869,
with a membership of twenty-five, and in 1870, they
erected a very neat frame edifice, and furnished it with
the best bell in the place. Their numbers have in
creased to forty-six members, and their present rector
is the Rev. Henry Green.
The early settlers were not unmindful of the neces
sity of providing for the education of their children,
knowing well that the prosperity of our country and
its civil liberties depended on the education of the
rising generation. Our common schools under the
township organization were in a flourishing condition,
but the rapid growth of our village demanded higher
branches of education; consequently an organization
was formed for the purpose of erecting a seminary of
learning, August 10, 1855, and a charter was obtained
the winter following; at the same time a select or
high school was commenced in the Methodist Episco
pal Church building, it being the most suitable place
for a high school, under the supervision of R. O. Kel
logg, and was continued under the supervision of
competent teachers till the spring of 1859, when D.

622 TOWNS ADJACENT  EVANSVILLE.
Y. Kilgore opened a school in the seminary building,
and continued prosperously under the patronage of
the different Christian denominations until the spring
of 1874. In 1868-9 the citizens of Evansville, in ac
cordance with the state laws, organized and built a
large graded school building, and opened under the
supervision of S. S. Gard. Of the many graduates
from the Evansville Seminary, quite a number have
arisen to eminence and distinction, among which we
might mention the Rev. W. H. Spencer, now of
Haverhill, Mass.; Rev. Mr. Marshall, now a mis
sionary at the East Indies; J. W. Sale, now district
attorney of Rock county; B. W. Jones, ex-district
attorney of Dane county; L. B. Sale, attorney, Green
Bay; Hon. R. F. Pettigrew, Sioux Falls, Dakota;
Geo. R. Mitchell, M. D., Richland Center; D. B.
Bennett, M. D., Colorado. The graded school, as
now changed to a high school, seemed to supersede
the necessity of the seminary, as has been the case
with many of the institutions of this kind, it only be
ing a step from this to the State University. The
high school department is now under the supervision
of A. R. Sprague, principal, with an able assistant,
and also four graded departments with an able corps
of teachers, which are now in a very prosperous and
flourishing condition.
Among the business enterprises of the place, the
foundry and machine shop of A. S. Baker & Co. de
serves special mention. The company started in
business in April, 1873; commencing at first in a

TOWNS ADJACENT  EVANSVILLE. 623
i
small way, but procuring the best of machinery, their
busines has been steadily on the increase until at the
present time they are doing a flourishing business,
employing ten or twelve men, and have a reputation
of doing first class work, having in the past year
manufactured 1,800 iron pumps, 100 windmills, be
sides doing a large amount of jobbing work and re
pairing. Also the manufactory of Lehman Brothers,
wholesale and retail manufacturers and dealers in
household furniture, commenced business in August,
1870; they too, commencing small and enlarging as
the wants of the trade demanded, until they have
built up a business that is an honor to the place, and
doing a business at the present time amounting to
over twenty thousand dollars a year. Both the above
mentioned factories use steam for power.
The First National Bank of Evansville was estab
lished in November, 1874, and continued as such till
January, 1875 ; it then changed to the state system,
under the name of the Bank of Evansville, with a
paid up capital of $25,000, and the stock is now
owned by L. T. Pullen and J. C. Sharp, who are its
officers; and the average deposits amount to about
$50,000, which shows the prosperity of the business
men here, as well as the confidence they have in the
bank. In the dry goods and grocery department are
five well filled stores. The firm of N. Winston &
Sons commenced business in 1855, under the firm
name of J. Winston & Sons; although there have been
some changes, the present senior partner has been a

624 TOWNS ADJACENT  EVANSVILLE.
continuous member during the whole time, and is
now doing a large and profitable business. Smith &
Eager commenced business in the building now occu
pied by them, in 1868, and have had an extensive
trade, and at present are classed among our successful
business men. Winston & Woodbury are successors
of J. Winston & Son, established in 1863. Some
changes have been made, but the present R. Winston
has been a continuous member of the firm from the
start; it is an old reliable house. Evansville Mer
cantile Association do a dry goods, groceries and gen
eral mercantile business; said association was estab
lished in 1874, under the auspices of the Patrons of
Husbandry. The association has the past year built a
large and commodious store, with a fine hall above
for the use of the Evansville Grange. They are hav
ing an extensive trade, and must be doing a satis
factory business; their present agent and business
manager is T. C. Richardson. Pullen & Wilder
commenced business in 1874; although they are both
young men, they are not young in business, having
both been raised to handle the tape; they have already
built up a large and prosperous trade, and, in the end,
must win. Our business in the groceries and con
fectionery goods are represented by three well stocked
stores. Ransom Griffin commenced business in 1871 ;
Richardson Brothers commenced in 1874, and Bevier
& Hall in 1876 ; all doing a good business in their line.
There are two well filled drug stores in the place
where can always be found drugs, paints, oils, window

TOWNS ADJACENT — EVANSVILLE. 625
glass, and everything usually found in first-class drug
6tores. The old pioneer drug store is run by Doctors
Dewitt Griswold and J. M. Evans — the other by C.
M. Smith, M. D. The hardware trade of the place i&
now controlled by Snashall & Mygatt, an enterprising
firm ; they carry a large stock of the best goods. F. A.
Baker, practical tinner, keeps a large stock of tinware
on sale. Two clothing stores, E. Robinson, established
in 1870, and Spencer & Pullen, in 1876 ; both doing
a good business. The retail trade of boots and shoes
is in the hands of Geo. E. Shaw and C. K. Landon,
two well filled stores. Two boot and shoe shops, one
run by Plaisted & Bargewell, the other by Chas. Clif
ford. Three milliners' stores, one by Mrs. Gunn, one
by Mrs. Morrow, and the other by Misses Gilman &
Spencer. Evansville has long been noted for its har
ness manufacture, and there are at the present time
four harness shops ; E. W. Stearns, established in 1855,
E. Blakeley in 1864, H. Monshau in 1870, and George
Taggart in 1877. In each and all can be found the
goods usually kept in first-class harness shops. Blake
ley and Stearns carry on carriage trimming in connec
tion with their business. In butchers' meats we are
bountifully supplied; three first-class markets —
Campbell & Springer, established in 1871, Joslin &
Budlong in 1875, and Hayward Brother in 1876. We
have two well stocked lumber yards — one by Fifield
& Co. (K. F. Randolph, agent), established in 1864,
the other by R. Winston & Co., 1873 — both doing a
good business. Have an extensive country, as well as
40

626

TOWNS ADJACENT  EVANSVILLE.

village trade. Four wagon and carriage shops — John
H. Winston, established in 1861; John Evans, 1870;
Allen & Holman, 1876, and Baker & Garfield, 1876.
Three blacksmith shops — Baker & Garfield, Allen &
Holman, and Clifford & Gratasinger. Baker & Gar
field also carry on the manufacture of plows, in connec
tion with their other business. There is one well filled
jewelery store, with a large stock for the size of the
place. F. R. Rossitter carries on an extensive business
in marble and monumental work.
The mechanics and artisans of the place are second
to no other. Our list of carpenters and joiners com
prises the well known names of N. Libby, Wm. Libby,
Daniel Doolittle, Wm. H. Morgan, L. Walker, A.
Snashall, A. Hoskins and William Wilcox. Masons
and plasterers, D. B. Huckins, T. F. Shurrum and
James Brown. House and carriage painters, M. E.
Hanover, Chas. Pows and Geo Backenstose.
The best index to the intelligence of any people can
be found at the post office, and printing office. As
the room allotted will not admit of a detailed state
ment of the business of our office, we will mention
the business for one quarter, ending December 31,
1876, of the Evansville post office:
Received for money orders and fees on same  $4,710 38
Beceived for stamps and envelops  521 09
Received for box rents  45 20
$5,276 67
Paid money orders drawn on this office  3 , 284 99
Total for the quarter  $8, 561 66
The Evansville Review, a weekly newspaper, was

TOWNS ADJACENT — EVANSVILLE. 627
established here in 1866, by I. A. Hoxie, its present
owner and editor. For ten long years it has covered
up our faults, exalted our virtues, received our abuse,
and not unfrequently abused us in return, and yet it
still lives.
The morals of the place can be judged by the large
number of ministers, and but one lawyer. Of min
isters, we have Reverends E. Robinson, C. H. Wilder,
C. N. Lathrop, J. W. Harris, B. F. McKinney, Henry
Green and J. D. Cole. The law has been expounded
to us for the last twenty-two years by the Hon. D. L.
Mills, who pleads our causes, makes our conveyances,
and, in addition, does a large amount of insurance
business, he having always represented some of the
best companies in the United States. Of physicians,
we have Doctors J. M. Evans, M. C. Smith, E. W.
Beebe, and" A. H. Robinson, dentist and surgeon.
Among the institutions that should have been men
tioned, but was almost forgotten, is that of West &
Potter, dealers in chromos, engravings, stereoscopic
views, cords, tassels, picture frames, school books, sta
tionery, and news depot, rooms at the post office.
Strangers stopping here can find two good hotels,
and take their choice. The Spencer House is located
in the center of the business portion of town, and is
kept by Col. Beebe. The Evansville House, kept by
Daniel Wadsworth, near the depot. Both no license
houses, as there never has been a license to sell intox
icating drinks granted, since the first organization of
the town, and if the morals of its inhabitants can be
kept up to the present standard, there never will be.

628 TOWNS ADJACENT — LAKE KOSHKONONG.

LAKE KOSHKONONG.
BY AN OLD SETTLER.
Lake Koshkonong is principally situated in Jeffer
son county, Wisconsin, but its southwest end touches
Dane county, and its southern part, Rock county.
Its main length is about nine miles, in the direction of
northeast and southwest; its broadest part about four
miles. Its shape is somewhat irregular, and it has
its bays and promontories, and which are known as
Buffalo and Bingham's bays, and Lee's, Taylor's and
Bingham's "points." Rock river enters the lake at
the northeast end, at Blackhawk Island, and leaves it
at the southwest end, at Newville. On the northwest
side, Koshkonong creek and Alpeter's creek, and on
the southeast side, Otter creek, add to the volume of
its water, as also do innumerable springs all around
and in many places even in the lake, which is rather
a shallow sheet of water, with mostly muddy bottom.
What is called " Blackhawk Island " is an island
only at high water, and is formed by having the Rock
river on the east, and the lake on the south and west
side, being connected with the main land only by a
narrow strip of low land on the north.
The land surrounding the lake consists to a great
extent of low and very extensive marshes, on which
thousand of toils of hay are annually cut; but lime
stone bluffs exist in many places all around the lake,
\ viz. : at C. Lee's, R. Bingham's, Taylor's point, New
ville, E. Bingham's, and the place of Mr. Langhoff.
The lake, with its, in many places, marshy shores
and hundreds of acres of wild rice, and the grass-like

TOWNS ADJACENT — LAKE KOSHKONONG. 629
plant, known to botanists as Vallisneria spiralis,
growing in it in the greatest abundance, used to be a
great favorite place for ducks, and especially the far-
famed Canvassback {Ay thy a vallisneria), which, with
the Redhead, is particularly fond of the Vallisneria
spiralis. Geese, cormorants and white pelicans were
also very numerous, and fifty to one hundred of those
latter birds could be seen at one time in the latter
part of April or first of May.
In the marshes and on the shores were a great
variety of waders, viz.: the great blue heron, the
large white heron, the snowy heron, the night heron,
and the least heron, six species of the plover family
and Wilson's Phalarope, the most beautiful of all our
waders, was in abundance. Of the snipe family,
twenty species, besides curlews and godwits. Three
species of rails, and gallinules and coats, very plenty.
But owing to a continued sporting kept up every
spring and fall for years, the birds have either groatly
diminished in number or found other places where
they are less disturbed, a6 now-a-days but few visit
the lake compared with what they did only ten years
ago. Ducks, even such as shelldrakes, whistlers and
butterballs, bring something in the markets of the
large cities, and hence they must be killed and sold
for the little they bring. Coots are yet numerous,
though not so numerous as formerly; but though
they don't sell as well as shelldrakes and butterballs,
yet, if nothing else can be had, the fun of shooting
them is all the same.
As for the fish in the lake, the time is past when
twenty-eight to thirty-five pound pickerels can be
found, or twenty-five pound catfish. Bullheads and

630 TOWNS ADJACENT  LAKE KOSHKONONG.
perch, sunfish, garpikes and dogfish are common yet;
but the pike, pickerel, bass, redhorse, sucker and cat
fish are not near as plentiful as formerly. Perhaps
the dams across the Rock river, below the lake, are
too powerful hindrances for the fish of the Mississippi
river to go up to our waters to spawn ; if so, we are
effectually prevented from ever having shad success
fully planted in this part of Rock river.
Having been more interested' in the ornithology
and botany of the lake and its vicinity than in the
archaeology, I am not able to give such information in
regard to the latter as I should wish, and will only
mention a few facts that have come under my observa
tion, mostly on the west side of the lake, where I have
lived nearly 34 years, facts proving that this lake and
vicinity have been a great resort of the Indians.
On the land of Mr. R. Bingham are patches of
ground where yet can be seen what is supposed to be
cornhills worked by the Indians. While plowing or
hoeing, Indian arrows, stone implements and pieces
of pottery are frequently found; these relics are es
pecially numerous on the farms of Mr. R. Bingham
and Mr. Charles Lee, who has an extensive and in
teresting collection, picked up on his farms.
Indian mounds of different sizes and shapes were
numerous on the west side of the lake, but many of
them are now leveled by the plows. Of the large
mound " at the foot of the lake " lately opened and
investigated, and where interesting relics were found,
I can say nothing, as I have never visited the place.
At Busseyville, near the creek, there used to grow a
very large oak which, thirty-four years ago, and at
that time considered old, had a very plain and good

TOWNS ADJACENT  LAKE KOSHKONONG. 631
figure of a mud turtle cut on the side, towards the
creek, and on the hill north of it, were several mounds,
some of which had the shape of mud turtles. These
mounds are now leveled, and the land cultivated.
About thirty years ago, while botanizing near the
lake, I found tobacco {nicotiana rustica lin) growing
in a wild state among the grass on Mr. R. Bingham's
land, and I understood that tobacco was found grow
ing even on the other side of the lake at about the
same time. This was at a time when the first settlers
never had heard of raising tobacco in the state. Since
which there is scarcely a farmer for miles around that
is not engaged in raising tobacco.
In 1844, there was a steamboat going through the
lake, said to have come up from St. Louis. The new
settlers hailed this occurrence with great pleasure and
hopes, expecting to have a communication by water
opened with the cities on the Mississippi river, and
having no railroad nearer than Buffalo, N. Y., and
sixty to seventy miles to haul their grain to Milwau
kee, it is no wonder that they considered the coming
up of this' steamboat as a Godsend. The idea never
occurred to them that this big Rock river, on which
with their own eyes they had seen a steamboat from
St. Louis, ever could be, by any authority, pronounced
an unnavigable stream, and dams allowed to be built
across it.
There is, after all, a steamboat on the lake now,
built and moored at Taylor's point, where there is alo
a good hotel for visitors, but this boat will probably
have to confine its trips between Taylor's point, Fort
Atkinson and Newville, or to making excursions
around the lake.

632 TOWNS ADJACENT  BROOKLYN.

BROOKLYN.
BY J. W. HASELTINE, Esq.
The town of Brooklyn is situated in the northeast
corner of Green county, and borders on the towns of
Rutland and Oregon in Dane county. In the northeast
part of the town there is some very good land, partly
of burr oak opening and good prairie, with some fine
groves of timber, while on the east side of the town
there are a few sections of good prairie land. The bal
ance of the town is oak openings, much of it quite high
and rolling, and not of the best quality.
The first land bought for actual settlement was by the
writer, on the 26th day of December, 1839, on the north
half of section three, and which he still occupies. The
first house in the town was built by W. W. McLaughlin
in the fall of 1842, on the south half of section three,
and who occupied the same farm up to the time of his
death, April 2, 1877. The names of the early' settlers of
the town are J. W. Haseltine, W. W. McLaughlin,
Charles Sutherland, Elder John Sawin and his three
sons, Alvin, Ethan and Lorenzo, Stephen Smith and
three sons, Jonathan, Charles and Emery, Leonard and
Ezra Doolittle, Amos D. and William Kirpatrick, Syl
vester Gray, C. D. W. and Arab Leonard, Jeremiah
Anderson and son Amos (the father now occupying the
farm first selected, aged eighty-two), Nelson J. and
Franklin Patterson, William B. Patterson, William R.
Smith, Sr., and William R- Smith, Jr., and John Pace.
Henry Montgomery and his three sons, Cyrus A., Tracy
and John, were early settlers in the town. Cyrus A.

TOWNS ADJACENT — BROOKLYN. 633
and John still reside here. The father died in 1846,
and was the first death in the town.
Of the above list of persons, those who have died are
W. W. McLaughlin, John Sawin, Stephen Smith, Wm.
Kirkpatrick, Sylvester Gray, Amos Anderson, Wm. R.
Smith, Sr., and John Pace. Others have moved away,
so that few of the very early settlers remain.
Alonzo Melvin with a large family settled on a farm
on section one, about the year 1850. Five sons of the
family enlisted in the army of the late war of the re
bellion, and suffered terribly by disease and death.
Shepard and Taylor died suddenly of disease contracted
while in the army. Fordice R. was shot through the
wrists and disabled for life. He holds the office of
treasurer of Green county, and has done so for three
terms or six years, ending January 1, 1877, and as such
has proved himself an honest and capable officer. Oli
ver was also brought home from the army terribly dis
eased, but has finally recovered and is now a resident of
the town. Austin A. was the only one of the five who
came back unharmed. Alonzo, the father, died two
years since, full of years, honored and respected by all
who knew him, one of nature's noble, honest men.
The town was organized and the first town meeting
held in the house of Nelson J. Patterson, on the 7th day
of April, 1849, the writer acting as clerk and making
the first election returns from the town to Monroe, the
county seat. The following officers were elected : Chair
man of the Town Board — Amos D. Kirkpatrick. Town
Clerk — 0. P. Stowell. Assessor — W. W. McLaughlin.
Treasurer — Martin Flood. Superintendent of Schools —
G. G. Godfrey.
Names that have been prominent among the town
officers are W. W. McLaughlin, who was chairman of
the town board many years, and assessed the town

634 TOWNS ADJACENT  BROOKLYN.
twelve or thirteen times, and has twice been a membei
of the legislature. Amos D. Kirkpatrick was chairman
several years, also a member of the legislature once 01
twice. C. D. W. Leonard has also been chairman many
times, and twice a member of the legislature from the
north assembly district in Green county. Town clerks
have been, 0. P. Stowell, James McCoy, for eleven suc
cessive years, J. W. Haseltine, Ed. Netherwood, M. F.
Ross, and others.
The town is well provided with school houses and has
two Methodist churches, one in Attica and one in Brook
lyn. At an early day the village of Attica was laid out
on Sugar river, in the southwest corner of the town, and
at one time contained a flouring and saw mill, a carding
machine, a fulling and cloth dressing machine, and also
distillery. The village is situated on Sugar river, and
has an excellent water power, but now has only a good
flouring mill, owned by Joseph Bartlett.
The village of Brooklyn is situated in the northeast
corner of the town, on the railroad, midway between
Evansville and Oregon, six miles from either. It con
tains four stores, a cheese factory, a good lumber yard,
a livery stable, two hotels, a postoffice, two blacksmith
shops, two harness shops, and does a large produce and
stock business, conducted by E. J. Andrew & Sons.
B. S. Axtell is the oldest merchant and is postmas
ter. He commenced business here soon after. the rail
road was built, and does a safe business. L. J. Wilder
keeps a good store and is an excellent business man.
The Marvin brothers manage the hardware, and honest
Charles S. Gray runs the " Grange Store." E. J. An
drew & Sons have an elevator with large storage ca
pacity, and conduct a good business in produce and
stock. They maintain an excellent market, and are
ever ready to deal honorably with their customer*.

TOWNS ADJACENT  BROOKLYN. 635
They have done much to make Brooklyn a good market
for a large section of country. Lovejoy & Richards sell
the lumber. Frank Lane does a lively livery business.
Conradson, in wood and iron is " a workman that need
not be ashamed." Melvins & Blair own the cheese fac
tory, and have a reputation for making good cheese.
J. A. Leonard, blacksmith; W. A. Morrow, harness
maker; J. R. Richards, harness maker; E. H. Graves,
railroad agent; E. D. King, confectionery and restau
rant; D. H. Glidden, hotel; Miss Mattie Wallace and
Mrs. Addie Murray, milliners.
Brooklyn is gradually improving, a few buildings go
ing up every year, and is a great convenience and help
to this section of the country.

636 TOWNS ADJACENT  LODI.

LODI.
BY Hon. JOHN T. CLARK.
Location. — The town joins the town of Dane, in
Dane county, on the north, and is situated in the south
west part of Columbia county. It is formed of township
No. 10 north, of range 8 east, according to government
survey, except sections 6, 7, 18, 19, 30 and 31, which
form the west tier of sections of said township, and be
long to the town of West Point. The territory of which
the town is formed was at first a part of Brown county,
then of Portage county, and in 1846, when Columbia
county was organized, it was made a part of the last
named county. The town of Lodi was organized in 1849,
previous to which time the territory described as town
10, ranges 7, 8 and the west half of range 9, consti
tuted, for voting purposes, a precinct called " Pleasant
Valley precinct." As at first organized, the town em
braced all the territory belonging to said precinct. The
name of the town was suggested by Judge Palmer.
In the year 1850, the town of West Point was taken
from the western part of said territory, embracing all of
township 10, range 7 (the same being made fractional
by the course of the Wisconsin river), also the west tier
and a half of sections in township 10, range 8.
In the year 1855, the town of Arlington was formed
on the east of Lodi, taking therefrom the west half of
town 10, range 9, except the west tier of sections in said
west half, which west tier of sections remained a part of
Lodi, until the year 1871, when the county board of su
pervisors of Columbia county, to whom the matter had

TOWNS ADJACENT — LODI. 637
been committed by an act of the legislature, attached
the same to the town of Arlington.
A.t the time of the organization of Arlington, the half
tier of sections on the west, which had been made a part
of West Point, was returned to Lodi.
Soil. — The soil is mostly what is called " openings;"
a small part is prairie. The surface is quite undulating,
sometimes rising into bluffs of considerable height. The
soil is fertile, especially along the streams, except in the
northern and northeastern parts, where it degenerates
'into sand, and is nearly worthless. The town is watered
by one of the finest and most reliable streams in the
state. About four miles southwest of the village, in the
town of Dane, you find a marsh, nearly circular, cover
ing from a section and a half to two sections of land.
Around this marsh, in almost every direction, the land
rises, and in some places to great heights. At the foot
of these hills and about the borders of this marsh crop
out springs innumerable, which, uniting in a single
stream, flow in a northeasterly direction and form the
west branch of Spring creek. Some of these springs are
very small, while others are ten or twelve feet in diam
eter, from which wells up the purest water.
This stream enters Lodi on the south line of section
33, and continues its northeasterly course through sec
tions 33 and 34, and into section 27, where it receives,
from the' southeast, a tributary of the same character,
which is called the east branch of Spring creek. At this
point the stream takes a northwesterly course and flows
out of the town through the west line of section 8, into
the town of West Point. About half a mile from the
west line of Lodi, it receives a large tributary, known as
Rowan's creek; thence, flowing out on about a mile
and a half, it discharges its waters into the Wisconsin
river, opposite the village of Merrimac, in Sauk county.

638 TOWNS ADIACENT  LODI.
The value of this stream to the town can hardly be esti
mated. It determined the first point of settlement, and
fixed the location of the village, and of the railroad. It
furnishes one of the best water powers in southern Wis
consin. This pure spring water cannot be surpassed for
the propogation and raising of fish. The east branch
only as yet has been used in fish culture.
About a half mile southeast of the village, on the east
branch of Spring creek, may be found the fish ponds of
James McCloud, Nathaniel Goodall and  Nelson, of
which McCloud's are by far the most extensive. From
the last named gentleman the following information
concerning his doings in fish culture has been- derived:
He has in his park, of about two acres, six ponds
stocked with fish, which are all doing well. Within this
park are about a dozen springs, out of which gushes the
purest spring water, which maintains almost an even
temperature throughout the year. In April, 1875, he
made two ponds, in one of which he put 1,000 young
brook trout or fry, and in the other, 5,000 fry of the
Atlantic salmon. In the fall of the same year, he made
four more ponds, one of which he stocked with brook
trout one year old, one with black and white bass; and
with the bass he also put in four sturgeon, which appear
to do well. One pond he stocked with catfish. In
November, 1875, he put into his hatching house 10,000
spawn of the California salmon, which hatched out dur
ing the winter. The bass, catfish and two years old
trout spawned last spring.
Three ponds are now filled with young fish which
are growing rapidly. The writer of this chapter visited
these ponds last week and saw the fish fed. It is a
sight worth many miles' travel. A thousand speckled
trout, from six to ten inches long, within a space of
about twenty feet square, leaping and gliding over each

TOWNS ADJACENT  LODI. 639
other and out of the water for their food (water clear as
crystal), turning up their beautiful sides in the sunlight,
would strengthen the weak eyes of an old fisherman.
This creek had evidently been a favorite resort for the
aborigines, as is proven by the great number of mound"
along its banks.
This stream is unfailing. When all the water powers
for miles around have given out, parties can here get
their grinding done. They have come here, in time of
drought, even from beyond Madison, and " blessed is the
man " who can get Lodi flour.
Early Settlement. — In the month of April, 1845,
two brothers, M. C. Bartholomew and G. M. Bartholo
mew, came from McLean county, Illinois, and settled on
section 22, in this town. In May following came Rev.
H. Maynard, a Methodist minister, and planted himself
on section 21. In the fall of the same year came James
McCloud, and stuck his stakes on section 27 and built
his preemption house, which was a log house, near his
present residence. This has been his home ever since,
though in the spring of 1846 he was employed in running
lumber on the Wisconsin river. On the last of October
in this year came W. G. Simons and settled on section
33, where he still resides. These were all the settlers
who came that year.
In 1846, came I. H. Palmer and settled on section 27,
and in the spring of that year built his house, and dur
ing the year built a saw mill on the west branch of
Spring creek. The building is still standing at the east
end of Andrews' mill dam, and near the law office of R.
Lindsay, Esq. In the same year came Adam Bowman,
Nathan Bowman, Joseph Brown and Jacob Hurley, all
of whom settled upon section 26; Aaron Chalfant and
Johnson Sowards, on section 21; Amos and Jehu
Strowd, on sections 25 and 36, and John Chance, on

640 TOWNS ADJACENT  LODI.
section 19. In 1847, came T. S. Wells and settled on
section 9; Nathaniel Goodall, upon section 26, and Peter
Froland, upon sections 25 and 36. Others came in this
year, and from this time the settlement progressed rap
idly. Indians. — When the first settlers came in 1845, they
found about two hundred Indians encamped on the creek,
near where the village now stands. These were mostly
Winnebagoes; a few were Brothertowns. During that
season they were very peaceable and friendly. In the
fall of that year they all disappeared. In the year 1847,
they came back, to the number of about eighty, with
their chief, and camped on the creek below where the
Bartholomews had settled. They soon began to show
their natural propensities, and the property of the set
tlers occasionally disappeared. One of the settlers, G.
M. Bartholomew, returning to his home from an absence,
found the Indians had stolen a part of his hogs. He
went to the chief and complained. The chief " denied
the soft impeachment," but the complainant insisted,
and resolutely told Mr. Chief that he could have till the
next morning when the sun was " so high," telling him
how high by pointing, to be off. The chief promised to be
off at once, and to go to the " Milwaukee Woods." There
upon Bartholomew roused the settlers, to the number
of 20 to 25, and the next morning, when the sun was
" so high," they appeared at the spot " with horse and
gun," but the Indians had left. Fearing they might
camp again near enough to enable them to continue
their depredations, our cavalry followed their trail, and
found them just striking their tents on Rowan's creek,
in what is now the town of Dekorra, near the old tavern
stand of James Wilson. As the settlers approached the
camping ground, they were discovered by two hunters
who were apparently going out to bring in some game,

TOWNS ADJACENT  LODI. 641
either tame or wild, and the hunters seeing the fearful
array, and doubtless fearing " more to follow," wheeled
on their ponies, and rapidly returned. The pursuers
halted, and Bartholomew went forward to the camping
ground (their tents were not yet raised), and inquired
of the chief if this were " Milwaukee Woods." The chief
answered "No;" whereupon he was informed that he
could have just five minutes in which to take his depart
ure. At the expiration of the time named, the red skins
were on the move. The pursuers followed at a respect
ful and effective distance as far as what is now the vil
lage of Poynette, and then returned to their homes.
The Indians never reappeared nor made further trouble.
The first dwelling erected in town was a shanty by
M. C. Bartholomew, in building which, he was assisted
by two Brothertown Indians. This stood on section 22,
near the spot where the barn of W. M. Bartholomew
now stands.
The second house was that of Rev. H. Maynard, on
section 21, near the present residence of Jonas Narra-
cong, and the third house was that of G. M. Bartholo
mew, on section 22, near the house now owned by Mil
ler Warren.
Mills. The first mill erected in town was the saw
mill by I. H. Palmer, as before stated; the next was a
grist mill just below the junctiou of the two branches
of Spring creek, on section 27, by Samuel Eing, in 1848,
since owned by Freedom Simons, Adam Schoneberger,
James H. Hill, and now owned and lately improved by
Peter Kehl. Next, in 1849, came the grist mill of I. H.
Palmer on the west branch of Spring creek, for a long
time owned and run by him, and now owned and run
by E. Andrews.
Next came, in 1853, the grist mill on section 16, built
and for a long time owned and run by Jonas Narracong,
41

6i2

TOWNS ADJACENT  LODI.

since owned by Clark & Parr, afterwards owned again by
Narracong, and now owned and run by Voss Brothers.
In the same year, 1853, Dunlap & Blatchley erected a
building on section 17, intended for a pail factory, which
in 1858 was converted into a flouring mill, and for sev
eral years was run as such by various parties. It was
burned in 1874, and has not been rebuilt.
In or about the year 1855, Samuel Ring built a saw
mill on section 8, at a point since known as Okee; this
he afterwards sold to T. S. Wells, who added a feed mill,
owned and run the mills for some time, and sold out to
John Brownrig, who, in 1875, erected a large grist mill,
and carding mill at the same place, which he still owns
and runs. E. Andrews is now preparing to build a new
flouring mill on section 27.
All these mills are on Spring creek, which furnishes
the only water power in town.
The early settlers of this town were a sagacious and
remarkably enterprising class of men. They saw that
this water power, and the shape of the country surround
ing it, pointed to the valley of Spring creek as a
business center, and that about the junction of these
two branches of the creek, must be collected large man
ufacturing and business interests. They, accordingly,
took off their coats and went resolutely and hopefully
at the work of building up a town.
I. H. Palmer, who has long been known in all the
country round as Judge Palmer, he having been, in
early times, county judge for a very large district about
here, felt impressed with the idea that this place waa
related to the whole world, and in order to grow, the
people must know what was going on abroad, and they
must have " the papers." Therefore he applied to the
government for a, post office. The government, not
knowing the promise of the location as well as the set-

TOWNS ADJACENT  LODI. I 643
tiers, and regarding it as a small affair in an out of the
way place, denied the application. Judge Palmer, noth
ing daunted, then proposed to the government, that if
a post office could be located here, government should be
at no expense for a year, either for the office or for carry
ing the mail. The nearest post office was Clark's Cor
ners, in the town of Springfield, Dane county, a distance
of nine miles, and the the mail must be brought from that
point. The government accepted the proposition, and
the Judge was appointed the first post master of Lodi,
in July, 1848. Until April, 1849, he carried and brought,
or caused to be carried and brought, and distributed the
mail to and from Clark's Corners. The receipts of the
office for the first quarter were $2.28. Unlike most
offices, though it had a name, it had no local habitation.
or rather, it had a portable habitation, being carried
about in the judge's hat.
As in the late war the military service became effi
cient when headquarters were in Gen. Grant's saddle, so
in this young town the mail service was efficient when
its headquarters were in Judge Palmer's hat, for it ap
peared that when the year had expired, the Government
found that Lodi was something, or was going to be, and,
in 1849, established a mail route here, with James 0.
Eaton, as P. M. He held the office till 1853, when H. M.
Ayer was appointed. James 0. Eaton succeeded him in
1861. In 1867, Robert Travis succeeded Eaton, and
held the office till January, 1875, when H. R. Eaton,
the present incumbent, was appointed.
It is said that when Judge Palmer kept the postoffice
in his hat, sometimes a sudden gust of wind would come,
blow his hat off and scatter the mail. So it appears this
town had its news literally " borne on the wings of the
wind." Satisfied that Lodi gave promise of rapid increase of

644 TOWNS ADJACENT  LODI.
population and of becoming a good business point, in
the summer of 1848, Judge Palmer platted a part of sec
tion 27 as a village, to which he afterwards made two
additions. James McCloud has also made three addi
tions, and John Foote, one. The village was called Lodi,
and incorporated in 1872, embracing section 27, and
naught else.
Its first officers were: Horatio N. Cowen, president;
E. Andrews, Alex. Woods, James McCloud, H. C. Brad
ley, William Dunlap and Leonard F. Wanner, trustees;
Carlos Bacon, clerk; John Foote, supervisor; J. M
Pruyn, treasurer; H. M. Ayer, police justice.
VILLAGE OFFICERS.
1873. E. W. Gardner, president: E. Andrews, Wm. Dunlap,
I. V. N\ Walker, Wm. Goldspohn, Thos. Albiston, Fred. Hanson,
trustees; H. M. Ayer, clerk; J. M. Pruyn, treasurer; H. M. Ayer,
assessor; John Foote, supt. of schools; A. Woods, police justice.
1874. E. W. Gardner, president; E. Andrews, Wm. Dunlap,
I. V. N. Walker, Wm. Goldspohn, Thos. Albiston, Fred. Hanson,
trustees; H. M. Ayer, clerk; H. L. Bancroft, treasurer ; John Foote,
supt. of schools; G. T. Simons, constable; G. M. Bartholomew, jus
tice of the peace ; James Seville, police justice.
1875. E. W. Gardner, president; E. Andrews, Wm. Dunlap,
I. V. N. Walker, Wm. Goldspohn, Thos. Albiston, Fred. Hanson,
trustees; H. M. Ayer, clerk; John Yule, treasurer; John" Foote,
supt. of schools; G. T. Simons, constable; G. M. Bartholomew,
justice ofthepeace; H. M. Ayer, police justice.
1876. E. W. Gardner, president; E. Andrews, J. 0. Eaton, G. E.
McKeehe, Wm. Goldspohn, Thos. Albiston, Peter Kehl, trustees;
J. M. Bartholomew, clerk; John Yule, treasurer; Addison Eaton,
supt. of schools; Alfred Clements, constable; S. S. Dunning, justice
ofthepeace; H. M. Ayer, police justice.
1877. Thos. Albiston, president; E. Enuteson, E. Andrews,
Peter Kehl, W. M. Bartholomew, Henry B. Bancroft, J. 0. Eaton,
trustees; J. M. Bartholomew, clerk; Orrin Rice, treasurer; G. M.
Bartholomew, police justice; E. W. Gardner, justice of the peace;
Addison Eaton, supervisor; J. U. Ray, constable.
The first store was built in 1848, by I. H. Palmer, and
occupied by James 0. Eaton, in December, of that year,
which business was continued by said Eaton until 1859.
The second store was opened by Thomas & Pinney,

TOWNS ADJACENT  LODI. 645
Dece'mber, 1848, who afterwards sold out to Samuel
Ring. The third store was opened by L. D. Barnes, in
the fall of 1850, who during the same year took in as a
partner, James McCloud, who in various forms has con
tinued in the business ever since. At present there are
in business in the village of Lodi : General merchan
dise: Pruyn & Son, McCloud & Son, J. Seville, Eaton &
Co wen and E. Knutesen. Drugs and medicines: Bar
tholomew and Wanner, and J. McCloud & Son. Hard
ware: E.B. Waite & Co., J. F. Collins & Bro. Harness:
Chase & Harris and John Collins. Shoes: Chase & Co.
Meat markets: J. M. Pruyn and C.Dearborn. Jeweler:
Henry Haggard. Millinery: Mrs. G. T. Simons, Mrs.
Richards. Tailor: T. Watson. Livery: G. T. Simons,
P.Watson. Furniture: C. Odell, M. Wickern. Black
smiths: Chrisler & Co., S. Holdridge, A. Ferguson, Hans
Kleber. Wagons : Quiggle & Terrill, John Buchanan,
Henry Schlosser. Shoemakers: M. Cain, Ole Logan.
Hotels: Briggs House, by P. Watson; Northwestern, by
J. T. Hidden. Restaurants: S.H.Hinds, Thos. Sparks.
Groceries and provisions: Otto H. Hinrichs. Baker: L.
Buerger. Lumber: Vanderpool & Goldspohn, J. Mc
Cloud. Dairy supplies: Vaughan & Brookman. Flour
ing mills; E. Andrews, P. Kehl. Cheese factory: Lodi
Valley Cheese Co. Lawyers: R. Lindsay, S. H. Watson.
Printer: Peter Richards, publisher of Lodi Valley News.
Physicians: E. Howard Irvin, G. E. McKeebe, S. M.
Blake. Dentist: E. B. Meeteer. Card printer and bar
ber: 0. F. Modler.
On section 8, and near the west line of the same, on
Spring creek, in 1855, Messrs. Matthews and Blatchley
platted a small village. It was surveyed by G. M. Bar
tholomew, and named by him Okee, that being the In
dian name given to the creek near that point, which is
now called Rowan's creek, from the name of Wallace

646 TOWNS ADJACENT  LODI.
Rowan, the first settler upon it. At Okee are Brown-
rig's Mills, already described.
Over twenty years since, Lodi felt deeply the want of
a market. Situated about midway between Portage and
Madison, surrounded on three sides by a most excellent
farming country, the land descending to the village in
all directions except where Spring creek passes out, the
weighty products gravitated to this point. But no one
could buy them, because twenty miles lay between the
village and a railroad. Hence, the proprietors of the
town, the business men, and the population as well,
looked in all directions for an iron road. After many
schemes, which for a time gave hope, had failed, at last
the Chicago and Northwestern Company were induced,
by the very liberal offer of $40,000 from Lodi, with con
siderable sums from other towns on the line, to build
their road between Chicago and St. Paul through this
town and village. The road was opened in the month
of August, 1871. Thereupon, Lodi became at once a
market town, and it is said that more grain and stock
of all kinds are shipped from here than from any other
station on the road. Lodi is no longer out of the world.
Churches. — Methodist. The four settlers who came
in 1845 were all Methodists; one of them a minister.
In that year Rev. L. Harvey established a church, con
sisting of Rev. H. Maynard, his wife and daughter, M.
C Bartholomew, wife and daughter, and G. M. Barthol
omew and wife — eight. Class leader, G. M. Bartholo
mew. The ministers who have served this church their
time and order of service, are as follows: Wm. Smith, one
year; J. Tasker, preached one year; Adams, six months;
Rev. H. Maynard finished the year; S. P. Walden.
one year; Jas. Holmes, six months; removed by Presid
ing Elder, and Matthias Woodley, finished the year; E.
Bunce two years; Nelson Butler Cochran, two years;

TOWNS ADJACENT  LODI. 647
S. Dodge, two years; J. B. Bachman, two years; R.
Delap, one year; N. Butler, one year; J. S. Hurd, two
years; J. D. Searles, two years; B. C. Hammond, one
year; J. B. Bachman, one year; J. T. Prior, two years;
E. Tasker, two years; T. M. Fuller ton, one year; W.
H. Kellogg, two years; J. C. Aspinwall, two years. The
church edifice was erected in 1853, at a cost of
$4,500. Present number of members, one hundred and
seventy. The Baptist Church was organized May 26, 1852, by
the following elders: Moses Rowley, of Sun Prairie;
Joseph Bowman, of Perry; Peter Conrad, of Baraboo;
and Charles Perry, of Springfield. Pastors, in their
order, have been, Joseph Bowman, 0. 0. Stearns, H. C.
Fuller, and N. E. Chapin, who is at present pastor.
This church worshipped in a school house till 1867. In .
1866, they built their present house of worship, at a
cost of over $4,000 and dedicated it March 13, 1867.
Its deacons, in their order, have been Peter VanNess,
Alpheus King, William Grow and Freedom Simons.
When formed, this church numbered seventeen mem
bers. It now numbers nearly one hundred.
The First Presbyterian Church was organized by Rev.
John N. Lewis, June 20, 1852. The corporate members
were James O. Eaton, Mary M. Eaton, Augustus P.
Smith, Ann Eliza Smith, Robert Mann, Harriet N.
Mann, Esther S. Lewis, Eliza Steele, Sophia Partridge
and Sarah Strangeway — ten. Its ministers have been
Rev. John N. Lewis, stated supply 1852-1857; Rev. B.
G. Riley, stated supply 1857-1863; Rev. D. A. Bassett,
1863-1866; Rev. Warren Mayo, pastor 1866-1872; Rev.
J. W. Knott, pastor 1872, and present pastor. Church
edifice built in 1857-1871, at a cost of $5,000. Present
number of members, two hundred and forty-nine.
A Universalist Church was enclosed in 1874, but

648 TOWNS ADJACENT  LODI.
has not been completed. There is also a small Catholie
Church on section 1.
Schools. — The first school was taught in a house
erected in 1846, on section 27. The building was a small
log house; the school opened in the fall of that year, and
was taught by Miss Mary Yockey. The next school
house was a frame building erected in 1851, also on sec
tion 27. After this time the ordinary common school
of the state was organized in different districts through
out the town and served the people till the year 1857.
In this year five districts, in and about the village, were
consolidated, and a graded school established therefrom.
A large and commodious brick building was erected
therefor on one of the most commanding sites in the
village, at a cost of $10,000; James McCloud, contractor.
The first principal of said school, was A. G. Riley; sec
ond, L. B. Everdell; third, J. C. Yocum; fourth, A. A.
Miller; sixth, the present principal, W. E. Todd.
This school has been, and still is, in a prosperous con
dition. It is maintained at an annual expense of about
$3,000. The population of the town, at the last census, was
1.448. Nearly all the people residing out of the village, and
some within it, are engaged in farming. They are
mostly American born. The adopted citizens are of
almost all nationalities.
The buildings of the village are mostly of wood; a
few are built of stone and some of brick. By far the most
substantial and noticeable business structure is Eaton's
block, which is built of stone, and towers above all. It
is a fit testimonial of the enterprise of its projector and
of his interest and confidence in the town to which he
has given the best energies of his life.
With a first class water power, with a railroad and

TOWNS ADJACENT  LODI. 649
market, with a population intelligent, enterprising and
moral — as shown by its buildings, its schools and its
churches — and surrounded by such a country, what
shall hinder Lodi from making progress in the future
equal to that made in the past?
The writer of this chapter is under great obligations
for the information contained in it to Hon. G. M. Bar
tholomew, Hon. I. H. Palmer, J. 0. Eaton, R. Lindsay,
Esq., James McCloud, W. M. Bartholomew, Freedom
Simons and Rev. J. W. Knott.
Secret Societies. — Lodi Valley Lodge, No. 99, Free
and Accepted Masons: Jonas Narracong, W. M.; J. E.
Parke, S. W.; W. L. Wells, J. W.; J. S. Gardner, S.D.;
W. D. Pratt, J. D.; A. Eaton, Treasurer; J. M. Pruyn,
Secretary; J. E. Mandeville, Tyler.
Perseverance Lodge, No. 272, 1. 0. G. T: M. M. Mit
chell, W.C.T.; Flora L. Dean,W.V.T.; Wm. Slightam,
P. W. C.T.; Rev. J. W. Knott, W. C; Mary L. Tabor,
R.S.; Ida Merryman, A.R.S; W. E. Collins, F. S.; Ida
Kimball, W.T.; Wilber Blake, W.M.; Ella Bartholo
mew, D.M.; Harry Irwin,W.G.; Albert Patterson, W.S,;
Susie Ayer, R.H.S.; Emma Rathbun,L.H.S.; W. M.
Dunlap, L.D.
Temple of Honor: J. M. Pruyn, W.C.T.; John Foote,
W.V.T.; G.W.Fenno,W.R.; Chas. Goodall, F.R.; W.
M. Bartholomew, W. T.; G. M. Bartholomew, W. U.;
William Dunlap D.U.; Peter Richards,W.G.; E. Knute-
sen, W.S.; L. F. Wanner, D.S; L. E. Harris, P.W.C.T.

650 TOWNS ADJACENT  EDGERTON.

EDGERTON.
BY E. A. BURDICK, Es<j.
The village of Edgerton is located on the Chicago,
Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway, 71 miles west from Mil
waukee, li miles from Rock river, 26 miles east of Mad
ison, and one mile south of the south line of Dane
county, in Town 4, Range 12, on the corners of sections
3 and 4 and 9 and 10. The town site was laid out in the
summer of 1853, by Adin Burdick and L.H. Page. The
same season H. S. Swift and Dr. C. R. Head also became
interested in the town site. The depot was built the
same season near the spot where the railroad crossed the
Indian trail leading from old Fort Winnebago via Kosh
konong lake to Chicago, traces of which can now be
seen near here. The first store was opened by P. F.
Davis, who was soon followed by. others, among whom
were Stiles Hakes, H. H. Coleman, Charles Clark, S. S.
Williams, H. S. Swift, C. C. Root and others. A post-
office was established in the fall, with 0. D. Peck as P. M.
The first freight shipped here by railroad was on No
vember 25th, 1853. From this date, both freight and
passenger traffic by railroad has been good and con
stantly increasing. For the past ten or twelve years
large amounts of leaf tobacco have been shipped from
this station, this being the head of the tobacco growing i
region of Wisconsin; in fact more of this commodity has
been bought and shipped from here than from all other
points in the state combined. The average amount for
several years past has been something over ten thousand
cases per year, requiring from two to five hundred thou
sand dollars each year to handle the crop thus market
ed. This, together with the usual products of an ex-

TOWNS ADJACENT — EDGERTON. 651
tensive and rich farming country, finds a good market
here, and gives this place a high position among the
inland business towns of Wisconsin. We have six
large tobacco warehouses, which are receiving and hand
ling the article daily, frequently employing quite an
army of laborers at remunerative wages.
For grain weiave two elevators, besides several small
warehouses, and quite an extensive business in the live
stock trade. The amount bought and shipped from
here will compare favorably with many larger towns.
Our beople believe in liberal education, and we have
a splendid graded school, managed by an able and com
petent board, who have spared no pains to obtain thor
ough and experienced teachers, who are doing a great
and good work for the coming generation.
The best interests of the people hereabouts, and the
tobacco interest in particular, are carefully watched and
championed by the " Wisconsin Tobacco Reporter," a
newspaper started here some three years ago by W. F.
Tousley, which is well patronized by the public in this
vicinity, as its long list of subscribers fully attests. Its
present circulation is nearly six hundred. Great pains
is taken by the proprietor to give all market reports
relating to tobacco throughout the United States, and
Wisconsin in particular.
Business Directory. — Hotels: American House, W.
Clatworthy; United States, H. H. Dickinson. Pysicians
and Surgeons: B. Burdick, H. H. Judd, S. L. Lord. At
torney: J. P. Towne. Carpenters: J. Gazlay, T. War
ren. Tobacco dealers: W. P. Bentley, W.W. and H.W.
Child, N. Taylor, Rowe & Taylor, T. Hutson, E. H.
Wheeler, Andrew Jensen. Hardware: J. D. Hain, G.W
Howard. Blacksmiths: J. Walter, Hal ver 0. Lintvedt,
Burdick & Co., D. B. Springer, D. Green. Drugs and,
merchandise: Dr. Stillman, J. Copley, J. C. Croft & Co.

652 TOWNS ADJACENT  EDGERTON.
Crockery and merchandise : Mary Riley. Lumber: J. I.
Lusk, R. R. Brown. Insurance: Geo. B.Leonard, E. C.
Hopkins. Merchant Tailor: J. Mcintosh. Furniture:
W. H. Clark. Livery: C. L. Brown, S. C. Humphrey,
N. Taylor, H. H. Dickinson. Wagons aud Carriages:
T. L. Stillman, Nelson Loe. Burdick & Co., Halver 0.
Lintvedt. Dressmaking: Mrs. J. A. Johnson. Mil
linery: Wilson & Taylor. Dry Goods, Clothing and
merchandise: E. W. Babcock, Mabbett & Perry, Jas.
Croft. Boot and Shoemakers: Jacob Johnson, P. 0.
Burdick. Barber: J. Johnson. Harness: J. A. Heri
tage. Butchers: Cordner & Attlesey. Watchmaker:
John Spencer. Bakery: J.N. Moulthrop. Stock dealer:
P. B. Huntington. Feed and Flour: J. McChesney.
Fulton Flour Mills: White Bros.
Churches. — Methodist Episcopal, Rev. W. D. Ames,
pastor. Episcopal Church, Rev. H. Green, pastor. Prim
itive Methodist, Rev. C. Hendra, pastor. German Lu
theran, Rev. John Koerner, pastor. St. Joseph Catholic
Church, Rev. Father C. T. Devine.
Secret Societies. — A. F. and A. M.; regular com
munications of Fulton Lodge, No. 69, Free and Accepted
Masons, meet in Masonic Hall; C. H. Dickinson, W.M.,
G.W. Price, Sec'y. 1. 0. 0. F.— Edgerton Lodge, No.
133, meet in their hall over Methodist church; Byron
Long, N.G., G.W. Price, R.S. I.O.G.T.— Edgerton Un
ion Lodge, No. 145, meet in Croft's Hall; W. D. Ames,
W.C.T., H. H. Judd, W.R.S. P. of H.— Fulton Grange,
No. 195, meet at Croft's Hall; R. T. Powell, Master, W.
P. Bentley, Sec'y. T. of H. and T.— Guiding Star Tem
ple, No. 109, meets at Croft's Hall; H. H. Judd,W.C.T.,
H. R. Gwalter, W.R.
E. A. Burdick, merchant and postmaster.
W. F. Tousley, editor and proprietor Edgerton To
bacco Reporter

COUNTY OFFICERS.

DANE COUNTY OFFICERS.
1839 to 1877.

In pursuance of an act entitled "An act to organize the counties of Dane
and Fond duLac," approved Mar. 11, 1839, an election was held at the Amer
ican Hotel, Madison, on the first Monday of May, 1839, and the following offi
cers elected for Dane county: Hoard, of Commissioners.
1839-40. Eben Peck, chairman, Simeon Mills, Jeremiah Lycan, commis
sioners ; La Payette Kellogg, clerk (resigned, R. L. Ream appointed) ; John
Stoner, treasurer ; Robert L. Ream, register of deeds ; George P. Dela
plaine, county surveyor (resigned, Wm. N. Seymour, appointed): Wm. A.
Wheeler, assessor; N.T.Parkinson, sheriff; John Catlin, district attorney;
David Hyer, coroner ; Isaac Atwood, public administrator ; John T. Wil
son, auctioneer; Adam Smith, constable.
August 7, 1839-40. Adam Smith, collector; Mahlan Blaker (resigned,
La Payette Kellogg appointed), Wm. N. Seymour, George Vroman, assess
ors; Ed. Campbell, school inspector ; Wm.N. Seymour, district surveyor;
Abel Rasdall, constable.
October 5, 1840-41. Simeon Mills, chairman, Eben Peck, Prescott Brig
ham, commissioners ; R. L. Ream, clerk; I. H. Palmer, treasurer; H. P.
Crossman, collector (to fill vacancy by resignation of A. Smith); E. M.
Williamson, H. W. Porter, David Hyer, assessors ; A. Rasdall, constable.
January 3, 1843. Prescott Brigham, chairman, Horace W. Potter, P. W.
Matts, commissioners; E. M.Williamson, clerk; Erastus Quivey, treas
urer; Ira W. Bird, register of deeds; Calvin Prink, collector; Wm. A.
Webb (resigned, George P. Delaplaine appointed), Volney Moore, Nathan
Kellogg, assessors; T. M. Wilcox, county surveyor (resigned. E. M. Wil
liamson appointed); A. A. Bird, sheriff; H. C. Parker, constable (app'd).
1843. Wm. D. Daggett, chairman, Wm, A. Wheeler, Solomon Shafer, com
missioners; E.M.Williamson, clerk; Erastus Quivey, treasurer (resigned,
Darwin Clark appointed); Ira W. Bird, register of deeds ; A. A. Bird, sher
iff; Calvin Prink, collector; Alex. L. Collins, district attorney.
1844. W. A.Wheeler, chairman, A.W. Dickinson, W. H. Hubbard (resigned,
B. P. Collins appointed) ; S. Catlin, clerk; P. W. Matts, treasurer ; Jas. Sul
livan, assessor; E. M. Williamson, surveyor; Geo. P. Delaplaine, collect
or; I. W. Bird, register of deeds; A. A. Bird, sheriff; A. L. Collins, dis
trict attorney; Andrus Viall and J. E. Abbott, constables.
1845. E. Brigham, chairman, L. S. Augur, Wm. A. Webb, commissioners;
E. M. Williamson, clerk; P. W. Matts, treasurer; E. Burdick, county sur
veyor; G. T. Long, register of deeds ; I.W. Bird, sheriff; T. Daily, W. Ras
dall, J. W. Thomas, ass'rs; C. Abbott, dist. att'y; A. B. Catlin, collector.
January 5, 1846. Wm. A. Wheeler, chairman, J. R. Larkin, L. Stone,
commissioners; E. Burdick, clerk (appointed in place of E, M. William
son, resigned); M. S. Van Bergen, treasurer: J. G. Knapp, register of
deeds; E. M. Williamson, county surveyor; G B. Smith, district attorney;
G.Vroman, J.Meyers, assessors; E.G. Carpenter, N.H. Smith, constables.
The Board of Commissioners having been changed by law to the Board of
Supervisors, represented by the chairman from each town in the county, the
first session of said board was held on Monday, the 14th day of September,
1846, when the following gentleman appeared as members:
Hoard of Supervisors.
1846-47. Wm. C Wells, chairman, Ed. Campbell, Jas. R. Larkin, S.
Head, A. Barlow, J. Lawrence, R. Boyce (Wm. Quivey acted as substitute
for Mr. Boyce, during his sickness, until January 4, 1847).
1847-48. W. C Wells, chairman H. L. Bush, W. H. H. Coon (deputy for
Wm. Mayhew till January 3, 1848), R. Warden, L. Parnum, D. M. Holt, R,

656

DANE COUNTY OFFICERS.

Boyce, D. Tipple, W. A. Pierce, R. Atwood, C. M. Nichols, J. Vroman, J.
Sanders, W. M. Mayhew, W. Boyce.
1848-49. Geo. Anderson, chairman, C. Maxon, W. W. Patrick, E. Brig
ham, A. Keyes, B. Haney, A. Harris, G. O. Cowen, D. C. Miller, R. P.
Rawson (resigned, O. B. Moore elected), J. Vroman, W. C. Wells, C. Lum,
T. P. Whittlesey, J. Webb, A. Salsbury, D. Wheeler, J. Lawrence, S. R.
Ayers J. M. Babcock, (deceased, P. Rider appointed); M. Nash, S. Taylor,
C. Ji. Nichols, B. B. Preeman,
1849-50. Berry Haney, chairman, J. J. Clark, Wm. H. Clark, E. Brigham,
Chas. Drakeley, Geo. O. Babcock, O. B. Moore, S. R. Ayres, L. S. Argur, J.
M. Matts, A. Salsbury, J. Lawrence. B. Fairchild, D. Cody, Wm. Barms,
A. A. Boyce, N.P. Spaulding, M. Mallory, W. Brown, D. Thomas, G. E.
Cowen (resigned, J. Blake appointed), R. Brown, A. E. Adsitt, J. Nelson,
William C. Rood, O. Cook, D. Wheeler, J. Harlow, Charles Bird.
1850-51. Wm. M. Colladay, chairman, I. S. Brown, J. Bowman, G. D.
Neal (resigned, D. M. Stillman appointed), J. T. Lewis (substitute for
N. H. Dryden during his sickness), W. W. Patrick, R. Brown, M. S. Fos
ter, J. W. Thomas, G. 0. Babcock, H. L. Poster, S. Oziah, C. Reeves, H,
W. Yager, W. NvSeymour. L. Parmer, C. Linn, J. M. Matts (resigned, N.
J. Tompkins appointed), Wm. Dudley, J. Phillips, Z. Gilbert, T.M. War
ren, E. Isham, R. Winston, P. Munger, C. Bird, A. A. Boyce, W. Barrus,
T. R. Hill, N. P. Spaulding, D. E. Emery.
1851-52. C. Lum, chairman, A. Burdick, T. Haney, M. Ripley, J. Bow
man, N. J. Tompkins, C. Reeve, D. Davidson, H. Van Orman, T. Arland,
D. C. Miller, A. E. Adsit, O. B. Moore, J. Glott, J. Keenan. L. J. Farwell,
(R. T. Davis to fill vacancy), W. Gammon, J. W. Thornton, W. Dudley,
(J. Devine to fill vacancy), H. C. Chandler, Z. Gilbert, T. M. Warren, E.
Isham, W. Beardsley, R. N. Ashmore, A. Bailey, A. Henry, I. Mann, J.
Collins, E. Grover, D. E. Emery.
1853-53. E. Isham, chairman, J. H. Potter, R. W. Denison, T. Steele, R.
D. Frost, J. Bowman, J. R. Butler, A. E. Adsit, J. Keenan, J. Webb, W.
Gammon, I. M. Bennett, H. C. Chandler, J. Bronte, W. Beardsley, H.
Childs, C. Flower, W. Barrus, I. Mann, O. M. Cross, J. Collins, D. E. Em
ery, A. Smith, R. Brown, H. Van Orman, J. Steele, O. E. Mclntyre, C. Bar
nard, P. Dunning (Mr. Warren to fill vacancy), H. J. Jackson, R. Rich
ards, Mr. Thompson.
1853-54. Calvin Barnard, chairman; J. J. Clark, Thomas Barber, Richard
D. Frost, Thos. Steele, Daniel Pickett, John Vroman, Orien B. Hazeitine,
Nathan G. Van Horn, W. R. Taylor, Wm. P. Baker, Jas. Steele, A. E. Adsit,
Wm. M. Colladaj, John Keenan, J. T. Marston, Sardine Muzzy, Elisha
Bailey, O. H. Mullette, C. P. Moseley, D. Wheeler, J. C, B. Richards, E.
Isham, J.P. McPherson, G.O. Babcock, W. A. Pierce. A. White, D.K. Butler,
M. Read, O. M. Cross, D. E. Emery, J. Mosher.
1854-55. Wm. R. Taylor, chairman; J. M. Wood, Thos. Barber, Levi E.
Thompson, R. D. Frost, E. Brigham, Daniel Pickett, E. Grover, Jr., G.
Dow, J. Read, J. Steele, A. E. Adsit, J. Moeher, Wm. M. Colladay, S. W.
Field, J. H. Lewis, L. Hatch. E. Bailey, O. H. Mullette, O. P. Moseley, B.
P. Denson, Z. Gilbert, J. Chandler, C. W. Waterbury, H. Bigelow, R. Black-
burn, Wm. Beardsley, C. Flowers, J. Beath, J. Poyner, J. Collins, J. C.
Pinney, G. Van Gaasbeck.
1855-56. Wm. M. Colladay, chairman; E. Sherman, J. W. Ford, L. E,
Thompson, J. R. Hiestand, T. Steele, Wm. A. Field, N. G. Van Horn, H.
Catlin, J. Read, A. G. Hadder, L. Knudson, C. Barnard, S. W. Field, H. J.
Hill, M. D. Currier, W.' Gammons, O. H. Mullette, I. M. Bennett, ~B. P.
Denson, J. A. Johnson, J. La Follette, C. W. Waterbury, S. W. Graves,
A. Malone, Geo. Johnson, B. T. Cameron, J. Beath, J. Poyner, L. Ryan, E.
Combs, G. H. Van Gaasbeck, E. Grover, Jr., 0. M. Palmer.
1856-57. W.M. Colladay, chairman, E. Sherman, C. Laughlin, J. B. Sweat,
J.R. Hiestand, T. Steele, W.A. Fields, D.B. Crandall, A. Norman, J. Bryan,
A. G. Hadder, A. E. Adsit, J. Allen, S. Nye, H. J. Hill, A. E. Brooks, N. B.
Van Slyke, A. S. Wood, S. M. Van Bergen, H. S. Clark, W. Gammons, P.
W. Matts, E. W. Dwight, A. Sanderson, J. L. Lewis, Z. Gilbert, I. M.War
ren, S. W. Graves, J. P. McPherson, W. Beardsley, C. Bailey, J. Caldwell,
S. B. Coryell, M. O'Malley, J. W. Helden, A. A.-Huntington, C. G. Lewis,
G. Bjornson, H, Jones.

DANE COUNTY OFFICERS.

65.7

1857-58. P. W. Matts, chairman, G. W. McDougal, Chas. Laughlin, S. H.
Vedder, R. D. Frost, T. Steele, W. A. Field, C. G. Lewis, I. Brown, W. R.
Taylor, J. Bryan, W. J. Welch, W. H. Miller, E. H. Lacy, O. B. Moore, J.
Keenan, H. J. Hill, A. E. Brooks, N. B. Van Slyke, C. G. Mayers, S. M.
Van Bergen, O. Lum, E. Bailey, R. Boyce, B. F. Denson, J. Chandler, J. A.
Johnson, J. Pauly, S. Axtell, J. P. McPherson, Wm. Beardsley, L.H. Pear
sons, J. H. Steele, W. D. Stanley, J. Beath, J. Kershaw, J. W. Helden, A.
A. Huntington, H. M. Warner.
1858-59. J. Beath, chairman, G. W. McDougal, C. Laughlin, J. Greening,
R. S. Frost, E. Dale, W. A. Field, C. G. Lewis, N. G. Van Horn, W. R.
Taylor, J. M. Hawley, R. Bower, W. H. Miller, E. E. Roberts, O. E. Mcln-
tire, J. Keenan, W. D. Bird, T. Heeran, D. J. Powers (resigned, E. S. Oak
ley appointed), J. G. Griffin. T. Kcnney, C. Lum, J. B. Colton, P. W.
Matts, M. Wolf, B. P. Denson, N. Randall, J. A. Johnson, S. W. Graves,
C. W. Waterbury, O. B. Hazeitine, J. P. McPherson, J. Wiessenborn, L. H.
Pearsons, J.C. Steele, D.K. Britton, CH. Arnold, S.H. Sabine, A. Sawyer.
1859-60. A. M. Hanchett, chairman, G. P. Lawton, O. Kerl, W. A. Webb,
S. P. Lighthizier, N. H. Dryden, E. Crowell, E. Grover, Jr., J. T. CrandaH,
E. E. Emerson, J. M*. Haney, W. Dunlap. A. E. Adsit, E. E. Roberts, A. L.
Beebe, J. E. Mann, T. Reynolds, A. Sherwin. E. S. Oakley, D. Clark, C.
Fairchild, L. A. Lincoln, J. B. Colton, P. W. Matts, M. Colby, O. B. Daley,
H. M. La Follette, T. B. Ames, C. E. Loveland, F. Ritchie, R. Blackburn,
R. Ford, C. Flowers, G. Beatty, J. Beath, H. Cramer, W. Keefe, A. H. Pin
ney, A. Sawyer.
1860-61. T. Reynolds, chairman, L. O. Humphrey, J. W. Ford, H. M.
Warner, S. P. Lighthizier, E. Dale, Mr. Adams, Mr. Lewis, W. D. Potter,
C. Drakeley, J. Haney, W. Dunlap, L. Torgerson, B. Barnard, A. L. Beebe,
J. Keenan, Mr. Zehnpfenning, J. Byer, J. Byrne, Mr. Stickney (O. Park
rabstitute during sickness of Mr. Stickney), A. M. Hanchett, E. Bailey, J.
M. Matts. E. W. Dwight, Mr. Sanderson, G. Tollefson, P. B. Ames, S. W.
Graves, F. Ritchie, H. Stevens, S. T. F. Ward, C. Flower, G. Beatty, W.
Carlton, H. Cramer, J. Tiernes, I. N. DeForest, L. G. Shephard, J. M.
GUe, P. C. Pestner.
1861-69. J. P. McPherson, chairman, L. O. Humphrey, J. Bunnagel, O. B.
Hazeitine, J. L. Davison, T. Haney, R. W. Davison, A. D. Goodrich, D.
B. Crandall, W. R. Taylor, T. Murphy, A. J. Luce, L. Torgerson, H. H.
Giles (resigned ; W. M. Key appointed), W. M. Colladay, J. Keenan, H. A.
Tenney, F. O'Bryan, J. W Sumner, D. Clark, T. Kinney, G. T. Whitney,
E. Bailey, P. W. Matts, J. D. Tipple, J. Jones, G. Bjornson, W. Chandler,
Z. Gilbert, H. A. Colburn, P. Ritchie, R. Ford, 0. Flower, G Beatty, W.
Charleton (resigned, J. Beath appointed), H. Cramer, H. J. Benson, I. N.
DeForest (resigned, J. M. Miller appointed), W. H. Slater, Mr. McBride.
The Board having met under the law providing for the government of the
county by district representation, the following gentlemen appeared on the
13th day of January, 1862, and took their seats :
District Representatives.
1863-63. 1st district, W. M. Colladay ; 2d, J. Douglas ; 3d, Otto Kerl ; 4th,
E.Dale; 5th, P. H. Turner. Mr. Colladay, chairman.
1864-65. 1st district, P. B. Ames; 2d, J. E. Hidden; 3d, Otto Kerl; 4th, M.
Colbv 5th H J Hill. Mr. Colby, chairman.
1866^67. 1st 'district, F. B. Ames; 2d. O. W. Thornton; 3d, Mansfield Ar
ries; 4th, M. Colby; 5thNeely Gray, (deceased, Timothy Brown appointed),
J^rfATs?districtrpnB. Ames; Sd,O.V. Thornton; 3d, D. Schafer; 4th,
iw Pnihv f»th Timothv Brown. Mr. Amee, chairman.
1868 lsyt'disrr\ct,TByAmes; 2d, O. W. Thornton; 3d, D. Schafer; 4th,
n t! Tlalev 5th Timothy Brown. Mr. Ames, chairman.
1869! m &stri2t, W M F Colladay; 2d, O. W Thornton- 3d M Arries; 4th,
D. L. Daley (resigned, W. C. B. Weltzin substituted) ; 5th, H. J. Hill. Mr.
i iHTTdinT^^ w- v* $*P* w- M- -SS^T ^-m";0^
now; 3d, O. B. Hazeitine; 4th L. M. Anderson; 5th, H. J. Hill. Mr. Hill,
chairman. 43

658 DANE COUNTY OFFICERS.
1870-71. Commencing May 23d, when Board met nnder the township
system of representatives, and the following chairmen of towns and repre
sentatives from the wards of Madison, took their seats :
County Supervisors by Towns and City Wards.
J. P. McPherson, chairman, L. O. Humphrey, J.C. Fischer, J. Adams, R. D.
Front, J. Mitchell, R. D. Freeman, S. 11. Hall, J. E. Johnson, T. Black, T.
Jiurphy, H. H. Brereton, K. O. Heimdall, W. H. Watson, W.T. McConnell,
W. D. Bird, H. J. Hill, T. C Bourke,W. T. Leitch, J.M.Bowman, C.G.Ma
yers, S. Moulton,W.H. Porter, E. Bailey, J. Lyle, J.S. Jackson, L.M. Ander
son, S. Halland (resg'd, Mr. Glenhus appfd), W. Seamonson, J. Brosmer,
¦C. E. Loveland, W. Beardsley, F. Allen, C. Pond, W. H. Chandler, J. Ollis,
3. H. Steaman, G. Beatty, W.Woodward, E.A. Spencer, J. Phillips.
1871-73. W. H. Chandler, chairman; O. S. Head, H. Keller, J. McKenzie,
A. Morton, O. Hanson, I. W. Haner, S. H. Hall, W. B. West, W. R. Tay
lor, T. Murphy, H. H. Brereton, A. E. Adsit, R. S. Allen, O. B. Moore, J.
Travis, E. E. Bryant, T. C. Bourke, C. H. Billings, A. Herfurth, J. Miller,
S. Moulton, W. H. Porter, W. Ankitell, J. W. Norton, P. Baldwin, L. M.
Anderson, W. C. B. Weltzin, W. Seamonson, J. Brosmer, S. Divall, J. P.
McPherson, N. Martin, J. Norris, O. Pond, J. Ollis, J. Stewart, S. Cald
well, J. H. Tierney, E. A. Spencer, G. Weeks.
1873-73. E. A. Spencer, chairman; W. Short, P. Schuman, J. McKenzie,
S. F. Lighthizier, O. Hanson, A. Chipman, T. S. Phillips, J. E. Johnson,
W. R. Taylor, R. Burns, O. Chipman, P. B. Grinde, G. B. Moore, R. S. Al
len, Abel Dunning, P. Barry, M. B.French, C. H.Billings, H. Christof-
fers, L. D. Stone, S. Moulton (resigned, Mr. Clifford appointed), W. H.
Porter, W. Gammon, J. Seeley, P. Baldwin, L. M. Anderson, W. C. B.
Weltzin, W. Seamonson, M. Theisen, M. Johnson, N. Martin, J. Norris. C.
Pond, J. Gibbons, J. Ollis, J. Stewart, S. Caldwell, J. H. Tierney, J. John
son, S. Divall.
1873-74. W. R. Taylor, chairman (resigned, P. Baldwin elected): G. B.
Huntington, P. Schuman, J. McKenzie, D. Bechtel, O. Hanson, J. M. Han
er, A. Smith, S. H. Butler, P. Zander, R. Steele, P. B. Grinde, J. Allen, W.
T. McConnell, P. Barry, G. C. Russell, B. M. Minch, J. Rodermnnd, J. G.
Ott, L. D. Stone, G. F. Clifford, J. Hart, W. Gammons, J. Seeley, P. Bald
win, L. M. Anderson, C. Dixon (resigned, Mr. Seamonson appointed), G.
T. Mandt, M. Theisen, S. Tusler, M. Johnson (resigned, Mr. Malone ap
pointed,) N. Martin, R. S. Allen, F. L. Warner, W. H. Angell, J. Ollis, H.
H. Cornwell, S. J. Caldwell, J. H. Tierney, W. Blanchard, J. Phillips.
1874-75. G. C. Russell, chairman; J. H. Palmiter, W. Stumpf, W. Man-
waring, D. Betchel, O. Hanson, A. Chipman, A. Smith, J. E. Johnson, I.
Adams, P. Zander, T. Leitch, P. B. Grinde, W. H. Watson, W. Lalor, J.
Travis, Thos. C. Bourke, George A. Mason, John Geo. Ott, L. D. Stone,
L. Clark, W. H. Porter, W. Gammons (resigned, E. Bailey appointed), J.
Lyle, P. Baldwin, L. M. Anderson, E. Pederson, W. Seam onson, P. M.
Pabing i resigned, M. Theison appointed) S. Tusler, M. Johnson, D. Ford
F. Allen, W. H. blatter, W. H. Angell, R. J. Poyner, J. Stewart, O. M. Hel-
land (resig'd, Mr. Blake appointed), J.H. Tierney, D. Crowley, J. Phillip.
1875-76. G. C.Russell, chairman; J. H. Palmiter, W. Stumpf, W.Man-
warring, D. Bechtel, O. Hanson, J. E. Hidden, F. Ritchie, S. E. Billsted,
C. Drakeley, H. J. Boiling, T. Leitch, P. B. Grinde, J. E. Wright, J. Samp
son, J. McWilliams, William Vallender, John N. Jones, Stephen D. Car
penter, A. Sexton, L. Clark, W. H. Porter (W. Knapton, substitute) F.
Elvei, J. Lyle, P. Baldwin, L. M. Anderson, W. 0. B. Weltzin, A. B. De-
voe, P. M Pabing, C. E. Loveland, M. Johnson, D. Ford, J. Norris, T. C.
Hayden, C. G. Cross, R. J. Poyner, J. Stewart,, A. B. Erbe, J. H. Tierney
D. Crowley (resigned, O. S. Holum appointed), J. Phillips.
1876-77. G. C. Russell, chairman; J. H. Palmiter, J. C. Fischer, D. D.
Logan, D. Bechtel, O. Hanson, J. E. Hidden, F. Ritchie, P. N. Johnson,
C. Drakeley, H. J. Boiling, M. L. Boyce, K. O. Himdall, J. E. Wright, J.
M. Sampson, D. L. Van Hoesen, J. Hess, Robert Wootton, Stephen D.
Carpenter, J. Nader, J. D. Bradford, L. Clark, W. H. Porter, F. Elver. J.
Lyle, P. Baldwin, L. M. Anderson, W. C. B. Weltzin (resigned, O. O. Bar-
tonap '* "" " '""  ™ " *'r'-'--~ '' '¦' ! ¦ '  a'! '->--.--. ->->
Ford, .
Poyner,

DANE COUNTY OFFICERS.

659

County Clerks from the date of their election to each successor.

1847— Elisha Burdick 1 1*53— Gabr. Bjornson
1848— Roval Buck 1 1857— E. J. Renter
1849— Syslvester Giles 1859— J. P. M'Pherson

1860—3. A. Johnson
1869— H. Borchsenius
IS73— W. C. B. Weltzin

1875— Phillip Barry, present incumbent
County Treasurers from date of election up to their successors.

1847—3. R. Larkin I 1853— Wm. D. Bird
1848— Chas. Holt I i8.ff<5r—Wm. A. Wheeler
1849— Wm. W. Wyman 1857— E. H. Gleason
1850— Ezra L. Varney | 1859— Frank Gault
1875— B. M. Minch, present incumbent
[* Deceased, Wm. McConnell elected to fill vacancy.]

1860— Wm. Vroman
1S6\5T— L. W. Hoyt
1867— Wm. Charleton
JS71— Frank B. Ames*

Register of needs from, date of election up to their successors.

1847— lis. W. Bird
1848— J. D. Ruggles
1849— Gabriel T. Long
1851— James G. Fox

1853— John B. Sweet
1855— James G. Fox
1S57 — C. Corneliusen
1859— Fred. Mohr

I 1860— Andw. Pickarts
| 1867— John Gibbon
I J«71— John H Clark.
1S73-L. J. Grinde

1877— O. S. Holum, present incumbent.
County Surveyors from date of election, up to their successors.
1849— 1). P. Travis I 1860— T. D. Coryell I ISCS— L. P. Drake
1853-R. Babbitt | ZS6»— P. W. McCabe | 1S7J-S. W. Graves
1855— Wm. H. Hough j 1865— H. A. Warner | 1875— John Douglas
1859— John Douglas | 1867— C. H. Barton | 1.S77— Jas. Melvile
IHstrict Attorneys from date of election up to their successors.
1849— Chaun. Abbott 1859— E. W. Keyes
1851— Geo. B. Smith I860— Henry M. Lewis
1853— Samuel R. Roys 18 63— C. T. Wakeley
1855— Myron H. Orton 1865— Sidney Foot*
" "" 1867— Farlin Q. Ball

1857—3. W. Johnson

1869— R. J. Chase
1871—3. C. McKenney
iS73— Burr W. Jones
i*77— W. H. RogerB

Sheriffs from date of election tip to their successors.

1849— P. W. Matts
1851— A. Main
1853-Willet S. Main
1855 — Andrew Bishop
1857— John D.Welch

1859— Andrew Bishop
1861— Albert Sherwin
1863— Willett S. Main
1865— Geo. McDougal
1«67-Willett S. Main

1869 -B. Hancock
1871 — Andrew Sexton
i* 73— John Adams
1875— J. -C.Kiser
2S77— Wm. Charleton

Coroners— 1851, Chas. Wilson 1853-4, Andew Bishop. 1855-6, O.W.Thorn
ton. 1857-8, B. N. Caswell. 1859-60, Alex. Norman. 1860-61, Alex. Still-
well. 1862-5, D. D. Carpenter. 1865-6, William M. Colladay. 1867 to 1872,
P. R. Tierney. 187*4, P. Bacon. 1875-7, John Arians.
County Superintendents of Poor.
At a meeting of the board of supervisors, held January 18, 1854, a resolu
tion was offered by Mr. O. H. Mallette, from town of Montrose, that three
superintendents of county poor be appointed; one to hold office for three
years, one for two years, and one for one year, which was adopted, and on the
19th the board proceeded to ballot for candidates with the following result:
1854-6— Wm. R. Taylor. 1854-5— James P. McPherson. 1854— Elijah Isham.
Each election thereafter being for three years, commencing in January and
ending December, the following gentlemen have been elected to the office:
1855-7— Geo. Dow 1856-8— J. P. McPherson 1857-9- W. R. Taylor 1858-60—
H. M. Warner 1859-61— Peter W. Matts 1860-2— W. R. Taylor 1861-3—
H. M. Warner 1862-4— P. W. Matts 1863-5— W. R. Taylor 1864-6— H. M.
Warner. 1865-7— P. W. Matts 1866-8— W. R. Taylor 1867-9— H . M. War
ner 1868-70— W. W. Tredway. 1869-71— Wm. R. Taylor, (resigned, O. W.
Thornton elected to fill vacancy) • 1870-S—H. M. Warner 1871-3— T. E.
Bird 1872-4— O.W.Thornton 1873-5— H. M. Warner (deceased, J. McKen
zie elected to fill vacancy) 1874-6— T. E Bird 1875-7— J.E. Mann 1876-8
—John McKenzie 1877-9. *

660

DANE COUNTY OFFICERS.

The following named persons have been the successive judges of the'coun-
ty court of the county of Dane, from its organization up the present time,
which has been kindly furnished us by the Hon. Gabriel Bjornsor..
County Judges.
Hon. I. H. Palmer, of Lodi, Columbia county, was the first acting county
judge; but only signed one order as such, dated June 80th, 1840.
Hon A. Botkin was next judge, dating from Nov. 28, 1842, to May 1, 1843.
William W. Wyman became county judge from June 1, 1843, to Jan, 4. 1845.
Jesse A. Clark, from April 12, 1845, to December 81, 1846.
E. B. Dean, Jr., from January 1, 1847 to December 31, 1848
Daniel B. Snedden, from January 1849 to end of December of the same year
Hon. Johu Catlin, from January, 1850 to October 28th of the same year
Hon. N. B. Eddy from November 4th, 1850, to July 3d. 1854
Hon. Julius P. Atwood, from July 6th, 1854, to December 31st, 1856
J. G. Knapp, from January 5th, 1857, to April 20th of the same year
D. C. Bush, from April 23d, 1857, to April 13th, 1858
Hon. S. R. Roys, elected April, 1857 for term of 1858. but died in fall of 1857
Hon. Thos. Hood, to fill the above vacancy, from April 16, 1858, to Dec. 31, 1865
Hou. Geo. E. Bryan*, from Jan. 1, 1866, to December 31, 1877, when his suc
cessor, Hon. Alden S. Sanborn, will commence his term, January 1, 1878
Clerks of County Court.
The clerks successively employed in said court were: Daniel Noble John
son, Chas. Reese. T. J. Widvey, Benton McConnell, Richard Randolph,
Gabriel Bjornson, Miss Hattie Bryant (now Mrs. Loomis), sister of Judge
Geo. E. Bryant; and M. B. French. Of those, Mrs. Loomis served the
longest time, to wit, six years, and Gabriel Bjornson, the present clerk
under Judge Bryant, the next longest time, five years, he having served
from 1864 to the 31st day of December, 1865, under Hon. Thos. Hood, and
commenced service under Judge Bryant, April 1st, 1874.
The following list of clerks of the circuit court, has been kindly furnished
us by the Hon. Wm. A. Wheeler, deputy clerk.
Clerks of Circuit Court.
Oct. 7th, 1839.— Simeon Mills, appointed by Judge Irvin.
Nov. 10th, 1847— Elisha Burdick, appointed by Judge Irvin.
1853— Charles Lum. 1 1861—3. 3. Starks. I 1869— Geo. W. Stoner.
1855— Frank H. Firman 1863— Carl Habich. | 1871— L. D. Frost.
1857— Myron T. Bailey. 1865— H. A. Lewis. I 1873— L. D. Frost.
1859— Lucius Fairchild 1867— H. A. Lewis. | 1875-7— Bernard Esser.
County Superintendents of Schools.

11th Senate District
1862— B. A. Barlow
26th District.
1862— E. Kelly (except
Madison)

2d District.
1863— S. L.Hookerr
1868— S. H. Carpenter
1869— Isaac Kierstad
1870— S. C. Cooledge

lit District.  1872-4— W. H. Chandler

1872—0. J. Taylor
1874-6— M. S. Frawley.
1st District
1868— J. Q. Emery
1870-Theo. D. Kanouse
1876— A. R. Ames

MEMBERS OF LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLIES.
Council from 1838 to 1848.
1338-42— E. Brigham I 1843^1— Lucius I. Barber 1 1845-6— John Catlin
1847-8— A. L. Collins
Representatives from 1838 to 1S48.

183840— D.S.Sutherland
1840-2— Lucius I. Barber
Jas. Sutherland
184M— 1. H. Palmer
L. Crossman
Robert Masters

1845— Chas. S. Bristol
Noah Phelps
Geo. H. Slaughter
1846— Mark R. Clapp
Wm. M. Dennis
Noah Phelps •

1847— Wm. A. Wheeler
Chas. Lum
John W. Stewart
1847-8-E. T. Gardner
Alex. Botkin
JohnW.Stcwart

DANE COUNTY OFFICERS. 661
Constitutional Conventions.
The following were members, for Dane county, of the first constitutional
convention, assembled at Madison, October 6th, 1846, and adjourned in De
cember, of the same year, after having framed a constitution. This consti
tution was rejected by the people at the election in April, 1847:
John Y. Smith, Abel Dunning, Benjamin Fuller, Geo. B. Smith, Nathaniel
P. Hyer, John Babcock. SECOND CONVENTION.
On the 15th of December, 1847, a second convention met, and framed a con
stitution that was adopted by the people in March, 1848. The following gen
tlemen were members for Dane :
Chas. M. Nichols, Wm. A. Wheeler, Wm. H. Pox.

Senate from 1848 to 1877.

9th District.
1848— Simeon Mills.
1849-50— Alex. Botkin.
1851-2— E. B. Dean, Jr.
llth District.
1853-4— T. T.Whittlesey.
1855-8— Hirani H. Giles.
1859-60— Wm. R. Taylor.
1861-2— Sam'l C. Bean.

1863-6— W. H. Chandler.
1867-8— C. E. Warner.
1869-70-N. Williams.
1871— Wm. M. Colladay.
2Uh District.
1857— Hiram C. Bull.
1858-9— And. Proudfit.
1860-1— John B. Sweat.
1862-3— B. P. Hopkins.

1864-5— Thos. Hood.
1866-7— Jas. K. Proudfit.
1868-9— Carl Habich,
1870-7— R. E. Davis.
1th District.
1872— Wm.M. Colladay.
187*4— J. A. Johnson.
1875-6— Geo. E. Bryant.
1877-8— Geo.B. Burrows

Members of Assembly, from 1848 to 1877.
1848. — Henry M. Warner, Ebenezer Brigham, Samuel R. Roys.
1849. — Charles Rickerson, Ira W. Bird, Samuel R. Roys.
1850. — John Hasey, Chauncey Abbott, Oliver B. Bryant.
1851. —Abram A. Boyce, Augustus A. Bird, Gabriel Bjornson.
1852. — Alex Botkin, Hiram H. Giles, William A. Pierce.
1853. — M. Roache, H. Barnes, StorerW. Fields, P. C Burdick, H. L. Foster.
1854.— Samuel H. Baker, H. Barnes, H. S. Orton, P. W. Matts. C. R. Head.
1S55. — L B. Vilas, J. Mosher, S. G. Abbott, G. P. Thompson, W. R. Taylor.
1856. — Augustus A. Bird, Geo. A. P. Thompson, Augustus A. Huntington,
Wm. M. Colladay, Chas. R. Head
1857. — John A. Johnson, Robert W. Davison, Robt. P. Maine, John B.
Sweat, Horace A. Tenney, Natl. W. Dean.
1858. — Daniel B. Crandall, John W. Sharp, Storer W. Field, Henry K. Beld-
ing. Prank Gault, Alex. A. McDonell.
1859. — Wm. M. Blackman, Adam Smith, John Keenan, Chest. N. Waterbury,
Harlow S. Orton, Geo. B. Smith.
1880. — Wm. M. Blackman, Eleazer Grover, Jr., John Beath, Francis Fischer,
Leonard J. Farwell, Cassius Fairchild.
1861. — Sereno W. Graves, W. H. Chandler, Edward W. Dwight, Fred. A.
Pfaff, Dominick O'Malley, David Atwood.
1862 — B P. Adams, W.H. Chandler, A. S. Sanborn, N. M. Matts, E. Jussen.
1863. — Chas. R. Head,W. H. Miller, A.S. Sanborn, Geo. Wright, Geo. Hyer.
1864 —W.M. Blackman, W.H. Miller, A.S. Sanborn, G.Wright, Geo.B.Smith.
1865 — Wm. M. Colladay, A. A. Boyce, DavidFord, John S. Frary, Jas. Ross.
1666 — W.D. Potter, J.M. Flint, G.H. Slaughter,W.Charleton. B.F. Hopkins.
1867 —Isaac Adams, J. M. Flint, Frank Gualt, Hugh Cathcart, E. Wakeley.
1868 — N Williams, Knute Nelson, Frank Gault, G. Tollefson, L. B. Vilas.
1869 —J E. Johnson, Knute Nelson, J.Adams, Andw Henry, Geo.B. Smith.
1870' — C E Loveland.W.H. Chandler, J.Adams, J.R. Crocker, A.S. Sanborn
187l' — L O. Humphrey,K.O. Heimdal, M.Anderson, O.Torgerson, H.S. Orton
1872- _ Benjamin F. Adams, John D. Gurnee, John Adams, Phineas Baldwin.
1873' — Oliver W. Thornton, LeviB. Vilas, Otto Kerl, Hiram H. Cornwell.
1874— John Johnson, Philo Dunning, John B Kehl, Michael Johnson.
1875.— Isaac Adams, S. U, Pinney, David Ford, Michael Johnson.
1876.— Wm. Seamonson, Wm. Charleton, Peter Zander, Michael Johnson.
1877. — Michael Johnson, Phineas Baldwin, Geo. Weeks.

662 DANE COUNTY OFFICERS.

TILLAGE AND CITY OF MADISON.
Village of Madison from 1846 to 1856.
1846. Thomas W. Sutherland, president; Eliab B. Dean, Jr., Peter W.
Matts, Barlow Shackleford, Alonzo Wilcox, Wm. N. Seymour, and James
Morrison, trustees: J.T.Clark, clerk; D. Clark, treasurer; A. Vial, marshal.
1847. A.L. Collins, president; D.B. Snedden, Benj. Holt, Wm. Pyncheon,
Wm. Welch, Chester Bushnell, and N. H. Smith, trustees; 3. R. Brigham,
clerk; N. S. Emmons, assessor.
1848. A. L. Collins, president; 3. C. Fairchild, J. P. Mann, Chauncey
Abbott, William Pyncheon, Henry C. Parker, Daniel Mallo, trustees; J. R.
Brigham, clerk; 1. W. Bird, treasurer; A. Main, assessor.
1849. A. L. Collins, president; 3. T. Clark, N. S. Emmons, J. D. Rug-
gles, D. H. Wright, trustees; A. Vial, treasurer; T. Reynolds, marshal.
1850. W. N. Seymour, president; B. Holt, S. Mills, D. H. Wright, A. A.
Bird, trustees; G. M. Oakley, treasurer; W. O. Wells, marshal; E. M.
Williamson, assessor. [Mr. Stoner appears as a trustee in May 6, 1850.]
1851. Simeon Mills, president; L. J. Farwell, A. A. Bird, Wm. Welch, H.
A. Tenney, David H. Wright, trustees; E. Burdick, clerk: Darwin Clark,
treasurer; Jas. Richardson, assessor; A. Bishop, marshal.
1853. Chauncey Ab bott, president ; H. A. Tenney, F. G. Tibbets, E. L. Var-
ney, P. H. Van Bergen, M. Friend, trustees ; Robt. L. Ream, clerk; 3. 3.
Starks, treasurer; 3. D. Welch, marshal; A. Bishop, assessor.
1853. H. A. Tenney, president; P. G. Tibbets, L. Cannon, Casper Zwickey,
A. Wilcox, D. Atwood, B. F. O'Brien, trustees; W. Welch, clerk; 3. 3.
Starks, treasurer: L. W. Hoyt, assessor; A. Manning, marshal.
1854. Simeon Mills, president; P. H. Van Bergen, Geo. C. Albee, G. M.
Oakley (C. Weed to fill vacancy of Oakley), M. Friend, Jas. Livesey, A.
Bishop, trustees: D. N. Johnson, clerk; M. Cleary, treasurer; D. C. Bush
assessor; I. E. Brown, marshal.
1855. P. H. Van Bergen, president ; L. J. Farwell, L. W. Hoyt, Wm. Car
roll, John G. Griffin, H. A. Tenney, J. Sumner, trustees; D. N. Johnson
(Wm. N. Seymour, unexpired term), clerk; Alonzo Wilcox, treasurer; D.
C. Bush, assessor; I. E. Brown, marshal.
City of Madison, 1856 to date.
1856. Jairus C. Fairchild, mayor; Wm. N. Seymour, clerk; Johnson J.
Starks, treasurer ; Arthur B. Braley, police justice; street superintendent
(senior alderman); Fred Mohr, marshal; Daniel R. Coit. city attorney; P.
W. McOabe, city surveyor. Aldermen — 1st w., A. E, Brooks, T. Heeran,
A.Kraez; 2dw.,N.B. Van Slyke, J. N. Jones, D. J. Powers; 3d w., C.G.
Mayers, P H.Van Bergen, (resigned, W. F. Baker elected), A. S.Wood; 4th
w., S. M.Van Bergen, Joseph Hobbins, Timothy Kinney.
1857-8. A. A. Bird, mayor; W.N. Seymour, cteri,(disabledbya stroke of
paralysis, S.H. Carpenter elected 1857, resigned 1858) ; F. Sauthoff, treasur
er; Arthur B. Braley, police justice; street superintendent (senior alder
man) ; Andrew Bishop, chief of police ; Abbott, Clark & Coit, city attor
neys; William M. Hough, •city surveyor. Aldermen — 1st w., Abiel E.
Brooks, Thomas Heeran, Casper Zwickey ; 2d w.. Napoleon B. Van Slyke,
D. J. Powers, J. T. Clark, (resigned) ; 3d w., C. G. Mayers, J. G. Griffin, D.
R. Hyer; 4th w., S. M. Van Bergen, T. Kinney, Jos. Hobbins.
1858-9. Geo. B. Smith, mayor; Henry Wright, clerk; James K. Proudfit,
treasurer; Arthur B. Braley, police justice; Simeon Mills, street superin
tendent; S. U. Pinney, city atto'y; W, M. Hough, city survyor, (deceased,
L. P. Drake elected); H. K. Edgerton, city assessor. Aldermen — 1st w.
Thomas Heeran, A. Sherwin, Simeon Seckles ; 2d w., David J. Powers-
Eri S. Oakley, James Jack; 3d w., John G. Griffin, Darwin Clark, Chris
tian Henrichs; 4th w., T. Kinney, C. Fairchild, P. L. Dowling.
1859-60. Geo. B. Smith, mayor; Chas. Geo. Mayers, clerk; Andrew Sex
ton, treasurer; Aithnr B. Braley, police justice ; John Shealey, chief of
police: Simeon Mills, street superintendent, (resigned, W. Knight elected):
John R. Baltzell, city attorney; 3. A. Ligowiski, city surveyor; H .Wright,
city assessor. Aldermen — 1st w., A. Sherwin, John Zehnpfonning, Wil
liam Dudley; 2d w., Eri S. Oakley, Joseph Bayer, William Hawley; 3d w.,
Darwin Clark, Fred. C. Festner, Ezra C. Squires; 4th w., Cassius Fair*
child, John A. Byrne, Joseph Hobbins.

DANE COUNTY OFFICERS. 663
1860-1. G. B. Smith, mayor; C.G. Mayers, clerk; J.C. Schette, treasurer;
A. B. Braley, police justice ; J. A. Slavfn, street superintendent (resigned,
F. S. Van Bergen, elected to fill office of chief of police and street superin
tendent;) C. Amsworth, city attorney; P.W. McCabe, city surveyor; David
H. Wright, city assessor. Aldermen— 1st w., J. Zehnpfenning, F. O'Bryan,
P.H.Turner; 2d w., J. Bayer, J.W. Sumner, D.K. Tenney; ad w., F.C. Fest
ner, D. Clark, K. Tierney; 4th w., 3 . A. Byrne, T. Kinney, J. Y. Smith.
1861-3. L, B. Vilas, mayor; C. G. Mayers, clerk, (resigned, Wm. A. Hayes
elected): F. C. Festner, treasurer; A. B. Braley, police justice; P. S. Van
Bergen, street superintendent and chief of police : Lovi P. Drake, city sur
veyor; George II. Barwise, city assessor. Aldermen — 1st w., Farrel
O'Bryan, G. E. Bryant, (resigned), Peter H. Turner; 2dw., J.W. Sumner,
Daniel K. Tenney, J. Adler Ellis; 3d w., Darwin Clark, Kyron Tierney,
John George Ott; 4th w., Timothy Kinney, Geo. B. Seekles, J. Y. Smith.
1863-3. Wm.T. Leitch, mayor; Wm. A. Hayes, clerk ; Fred. B. Hutching,
treasurer; C. Ainsworth, police justice : Andrew Bishop, street superintena-
ent and chief of police: Wakeley & Vilas, city attorneys; Levi P. Drake,
city surveyor; Peter H.Turner, city assessor. Aldermen — 1st w., John
Kavanaugh, (resigned, E. B. Dean, Jr., appointed), G. Grimm ; 2d w., D. K.
Tenney, (resigned, J. H. Carpenter elected), T. E. Bird, A.C. Davis; 3d w.,
K. Tierney, C. W. Heyl, W. M. Rasdall, Jas. Ross; 4th w., G. B. Seekles,
(resigned, John Dunn elected), Ed. C. Kavanaugh, Chas. H. Luce,
1863-4. W. T. Leitch, mayor; W.A. Hayes, clerk; C. W. Heyl, treasurer;
P. W. McCabe, city surveyor; C. Ainsworth, police justice; Chas. T.
Wakeley, city attorney; A. Bishop, street superintendent and chiqf of po
lice; P. H Turner, city assessor, (resigned, F. Mohr appointed). Aldermen
—1st w., E. B. Dean, Jr., J. Monaghan, J. Zehnpfenning; 2d w., T.E. Bird,
J. H. Carpenter, H. M. Lewis; 3d w., C. W. Heyl, (resigned, K. Tierney
elected), J. Ross, J. T. Stevens (resigned, H. Winkler elected) ; 4th w., E.
C. Kavanaugh, H. N. Moulton, (resigned, T. Kinney elected), J. Hobbins,
(resigned, J. M. Dickinson elected)
1864-5. Wm. T. Leitch, mayor; Wm. A. Hayes, city clerk, (resigned, S.H.
Carpenter elected); C. W. Heyl, treasurer; 3. M. Flower, police justice;
J. B. Hyland, street superintendent and chief of police; 3. R. Baltzell, city
attorney; P. McCabe, city surveyor: 3. Reynolds, city assessor. Aldermen
— 1st w., J. Monaghan, A. Wald, E. Sprague, (resigned, A.B. Braley elec
ted); 2dw.,J.H. Carpenter, H.M. Lewis, T.Brown; 3d w., J. Ross, K. Tier
ney, E.Doerschlag; 4th w., T.Kinney, J. M. Dickinson, G. D. Lincoln.
1865-6. Elisha W. Keyes, mayor;, S. H. Carpenter, clerk; John Reynolds,
treasurer; James M. Flower, police justice ; H. W. Tenney, city attorney;
Ira W. Bird, street superintendent and chief of police: P. W. McCabe, city
surveyor, (resigned, L. P. Drake elected) ; Wm. T. Leitch, city assessor.
Aldermen — 1st w., A. Wald, A. B. Braley, J. Heeran; 2d w., H. M. Lewis,
L. S. Ingman, J. Corscot; 3d w., K. Tierney, E. Sprague, A. Herfurth; 4th
w., J. M. Dickinson, (resig'd, S.U. Pinney elected), T.W.Gibbs, J.J. Starks
.1866-7. Elisha W. Keyes, mayor; S.H. Carpenter, clerk; S.V. Shipman,
treasurer; JohnR. Baltzell, police justice; C. G. Mayers, city assessor; I.
W. Bird, street superintendent; Benj. F. Larkin, chief of police; C. T.
Wakeley, city attorney; Levi P.Drake, city surveyor. Aldermen — lstw.,
Arthur B. Braley, James Conklin, Hannibal Lacher; 2d w., L. S. Ingman,
Henry M. Lewis, John Corscot; 8d w., Ebenezer Sprague, Kyron Tierney,
B. M. Nienaber; 4th w., T. W. Gibbs, G. W. McDougal, (did not qualify,
W. Abeel, elected), L. D. Stone, (resigned, J. C. McKinney elected).
1867-8. Alden S. Sanborn, mayor; S. H. Carpenter, clerk; G. Memhard,
treasurer: John R. Baltzell, police justice; A. Bishop, street superinten
dent; W. Hickey, chief o/BOto, (resigned, J. Shealey appointed) ; C. T.
Waseley, city attorney; P. W. McCabe, city surveyor; T. C. Bourke, city
assessor. Aldermen — 1st w., J Conklin, Robt. Nichols, S. Engel; 2dw.
Henry M. Lewis, Myron T. Bailey, A. Riley Jones ; 3d w., Kyron Tierney,
H. Christoffers, P.B. Kissam; 4th w., L.D. Stone, H.N. Moulton, S. Foren.
1868-9. D.Atwood, mayor; S.H. Carpenter,c^erA, (resig'd, J. Oorscot elect
ed) ; 3. Conklin, treasurer; 3. R. Baltzell, police justice; A. Bishop, street
superintendent; J.W. Tolford, chief of police; A. B. Braley, city attorney;
P. W. McCabe, city surveyor ; T. C. Bourke, city assessor. Aldermen — 1st
w., R. Nichols, S. Engel,(resigned, F. Daubner elected), A. McGovern; 2d.
w., M. T. Bailey, R. Wootton, H. Steensland; 3d. w., H. Christoffers, P. B.
Kissam, Ole Thompson ; 4th. w., H. N. Moulton, L.D. Stone, A.S. Frank.

664 DANE COUNTY OFFICERS.
1869-70. Andw.Proudfit, mayor ; John Corscot, clerk; W. Habich, Jr.,
treasurer; 3. R. Baltzell, police. justice; Andrew Bishop, street superin
tendent: T. C Botsford, chief of police; A. S. Sanborn, city attorney ;P.
W. McCabe, city surveyor; N. L. Andrews, assessor; A. Kcenig, pound
master. Aldermen: 1st. w., G. Anderson. D. K. Tenney, P. Daubner;
2d w., A. R. Jones, (resigned, W. Deards elected), M. T. Bailey, R. Woot-
ton; 3d w., H.Winckler, J^ M. Bowman, P. B. Kissam; 4th w., S. Poran. P.
Young, L. D. Stone.
1870-1. Andw.Proudfit, mayor: John Corscot, clerk: Andrew Pickarts,
treasurer: John R. Baltzell, police justice ; Andrew Bishop, street superin
tendent ; 3 . Shealey, chief of police; A. S. Sanborn, city attorney ; P. W.
McCabe, city surveyor: N.L. Andrews, assessor. Aldermen — 1st w., P.
Daubner, P. O'Brien, G. Anderson ; 2d w., Walter Deards, A. Daubner, M.
T. Bailey; 3d w., J. M. Bowman, W. H. Karnes, H. Winckler; 4th w., J.
Ross, H. N. Moulton, S. Foren.
1871-3. Jas. B. Bowen, mayor; John Corscot, clerk; John Lewis, treas
urer; 3. R. Baltzell, police justice; And. Bishop, street superintendent;
Chas. C. Hammer,* chief ot police ; Jos. C. Ford, city attorney : P. W. Mc
Cabe, city surveyor; N. L. Andrews, assessor; W. J. Manning, pound
master. Aldermen — 1st w., James Conklin, Henry Vilas, Fred Daubner ;
2d w., A. Daubner, C. P. Chapman, Walter Deards ; 3d w., J. G. Ott, W. H.
Karnes; J. M. Bowman; 4th w., Thos. Dean, Estes Wilson, James Rosb.
1813-3. Jas. H. Hill, mayor; John Corscot, clerk; Chas. G. Mayers, treas
urer; A. B. Braley, police justice; Levi P. Drake, street superintendent and
surveyor, ( resigned, A. Bishop appointed); J. C. Ford, city attorney; W.
T. Leitch, assessor; W, J. Manning, pound master. Aldermen — 1st w., E.
Cook, G. Bunker, J. Conklin; 2d w., R. Wootton, C.P. Chapman, A. Daub
ner; 3d w., P. M. Dorn, J. Lewis, J. G. Ott; 4th w., A. Webster, E. Wilson,
Thos. Dean.
1873-4. 3. C. Gregory, mayor; John Corscot, clerk; W. Farrell, treasurer;
A. B. Braley, police justice; Andrew Bishop, street superintendent; Chas.
K. Tenney, city attorney; Wm. T. Leitch, assessor; Isaac Smith, pound
mastez. Aldermen — 1st w., George Bunker, John Heeran, E.Cook; 2d
w., C. P. Chapman, A. Daubner, R. Wootton ; 3d w., H. Kleuter, Darwin
Clark, F. M. Dorn; 4th w., Andrew Sexton, Thos. Dean, Estes Wilson.
1874-5. Silas U. Pinney, mayor; John Corscot, clerk; Gottlieb Grimm,
treasurer; A. B. Braley, municipal judge; Jas. Quirk, city surveyor : A.
Bishop, street superintendent and chief of police; C. K. Tenney, city attor
ney; W. T. Leitch, assessor; E. Squires, pound master. Aldermen — 1st
w., Geo. Bunker, Geo. Memhard, Thos. Hayden; 2d w., C. P. Chapman,
W. K. Barney, T. B. Worthington ; 3d w., Darwin Clark, Frank M. Dorn,
H. Kleuter; 4th w., A. Sexton, P. L. Spooner, Jr., M. P. Walsh.
1875-6. S. U. Pinney, mayor; John Corscot, clerk; Thos. P. Coyne, treas
urer; A. B. Braley, municipal judge; James Quirk, city surveyor; A.
Bishop, street superintendent and chief of police ; Chas. K. Tenney, city at
torney; W. T. Leitch, assessor; Ezra Squires, pound master. Aldermen—
1st w., Henry Oakey, Thos. Hayden, Geo. Memhard; 2d w., A. S. Sanborn,
A. Frederickson, T. B. Worthington; 3d w., C. P. Bicderstaedt, Darwin
Clark, Wm. Welch; 4th w., P. L. Spooner, Jr., M. P. Walsh, Peter Young.
1876-7. John N. Jones, mayor; John Corscot, clerk; R. J. McConnell,
treasurer; A. B. Braiey, municipal judge ; John Nader, surveyor and street
superintendent; Frank M. Dorn, chief of police;  , city attorney; Theo.
Herfurth, assessor; 3. McEvily, pound master. Aldermen — 1st w., W. T.
Fish, Geo. Memhard, Alex. Gill;2d w., A. S. Sanborn, S. A. Hale, J. E.
Rhodes :3d w., C. P. itierstaedt, Ernst Mueller, Wm. Welch; 4th w., M. P.
Walsh, Dan. Campbell, W. J. L. Nicodemus; 5th w., Jas. Conklin, Jacob
Silbemagel, H. Oakey.
1877-8. H. S. Orton, mayor; John Corscot, clerk; Ii. 3. Cantwell, treas
urer; A. B. Braley, municipal judge ; John Nader, surveyor; Andrew Bish
op, street superintendent and chief of police ; Charles K. Tenney, city attor
ney :C. G. Mayers, assessor,- J. McEvily, pound master. Aldermen — 1st
w., W. A. Booth, W. T. Pish, Jos. Schweinem ; 2d w,, John L anion t, Wm.
Habich, Jas. E. Rhodes ; 3d w., W. H. Lansing, Ernst Mueller, Aug. Ram.
thun: 4th w., John Hayes, W. J. L. Nicodemus, A.M. Daggett; 5th w., Ja
cob Silbemagel, James Conklin, N. H. Dodge.

HIE AM G-. DODGE
DEALER IN
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BITUMINOUS COAL.
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CHARCOAL.

MAPLE WOOD,
OAK WOOD.

FINE SALT. COARSE SALT.
DAIRY SALT.
NEW YORK STUCCO.
MICHIGAN STUCCO.
ROSENDALE CEMENT. AKRON CEMENT.
THE CELEBRATED PEWAUKEE WHITE LIME.

FIRE BRICK. FIRE CLAY.
WHITE AND RED BRICK.
Land Plaster and Plastering Hair.
EAST MADISON.

GRAIN, STORAGE AND COMMISSION.
WEST MADISON.

ELEVATOR AND GRAIN OFFICE,
On Washington Avenue, near Chicago, Milwaukee and Saint
Paul Depot.
COAL YARD OFFICE,
Comer of Main and Blount Streets, near the Gas Works.

WILLIAM J. PARK & CO.
Booksellers, Stationers, Binders, Rulers, and Blank Book Manufacturers,
AND DEALERS IN
WALL PAPER, CORNICE,
WINDOW SHADES, CORD,
PICTURES, PICTURE FRAMES. TASSELS,
FANCY GOODS. ARTISTS' MATERIALS,
SHEET MUSIC, VIOLINS, ACCORDEONS. GUITARS,
AND ALL OTHER MUSICAL MERCHANDISE.

Pianos and Organs for Rent by the Month; also old ones taken in Exchange for new.

Organs Repaired on short notice. Agents for WILSON SEWING MACHINE; also for the DAVIS SEWING MACHINE.
Full Stock always on hand of
SCHOOL BOOKS, STANDARD WORKS.
Miscellaneous Books, Bibles, Prayer Books, Chromos, Engravings, and everything kept by a first-class Book and Music Store.
WM. J. PARK & CO.
1 1 King Street, Madison, Wisconsin.

SLATER & BALL,
FOUNDERS AND MACHINISTS,
MADISON, WISCONSIN, MANUFACTURE
Well Drilling
MACHINERY AND
Agricultural Goods.
The Slater Cultivator.

COMBINED FURNACE AND KETTLE.

MADISON MUSEUM.

A RARE COLLECTION OF LIVING AND STUFFED SPECI
MENS OF ANIMATED NATURE.

NEW ADDITIONS FREQUENTLY MADE.

Entrance through the bird store, opposite north corner of the
Park, on Mifflin and Pinckney streets. Customers Free.

D. CLARK,

MANUFACTURER AND DEALER IN

FURNITURE, 215 MAIN STREET, MADISON, WIS.

THE OLDEST, MOST RELIABLE
Haying sold more Goods than any other establishment of the
kind in the City, anil now offers the
LARGEST AND MOST COMPLETE ASSORTMENT
Comprising everything possible for a family to want, in his
line of goods, to be found in Madison.

CHAMBER SUITS, PARLOR SUITS,
Dining Room, Office and Library Furniture,
WOVEN WIRE MATTRESSES, BED SPRINGS,
KITCHEN FURNITURE, ETC.,
At Prices Lower than any other House in the City.
UPHOLSTERING AND REPAIRING FURNITURE,
Done in Good and Substantial manner.
LIVE GEESE FEATHERS ALWAYS ON HAND.

ARTISTIC PHOTOGRAPHY.

TTze ~Very JBest 2£ade.
Comparison as to Work Challenged,

2sT. IF. CTOnsriES,
MILLS' BLOCK, MAIN ST., - MADISON. WIS.

J. A. JOHNSON, HALLE STEENSLAND,
President. Secretary

HEKLA
FIRE INSURANCE COMPANY
OF MADISON, WISCONSIN.

CASH PAID UP CAPITAL, - §160,000.00
ASSETS OCTOBER J, 1877, - - 220,000.00

This Company ha? a re-insurance fund of $50,000 00
deposited with the State Treasurer, for the protection of the
insured. Ugp^The funds of this Company are not sent out of the State »
but are kept at horn? aad loaned to the patrons of the Company
on Beal Estate Security, at legal rate of interest.

THE PERFECTION OF MOWING MACHINES.

Meadow King
1M0WER
Improved for 1.878.
The Meadow King has no side Draft, no weight on the horses' necks,
no cogs in the drive Wheels, IT IS A FRONT CUT, and therefore there
is no danger of accident by falling in front of the finger-bar. In short,
while the Meadow King does not Belong to what are called cheap mow
ers, still, it is cheaper in the long run, even though it cost a trifle more
than some other mowers at first, because it will do more work, last longer,
run lighter, and cost less for repairs. Thus proving that
"THE BEST IS THE CHEAPEST."

The Old Reliable

60,000 Now in ¦
Use. ;3

THE

LEADER No. 1,
AS A REAPER.

A Wrought Iron Frame, both Tiltinc and Lifting Levers.
It has a Wrought lion Frame, and is Guaranteed to do Better Work
with less power than any other Reaper.
The Leader cuts six feet wide, has a Steel Finger Guard, with Steel
Plated Malleable Guards, with, one Knife and one Sickle.
S. L. SHELDON,
Madison, Wis.

WISCONSIN
STATE JOURNAL,
ESTABLISHED IN 1849,
DAILY, TRI-WEEKLY AND WEEKLY.

OFFICIAL STATE PAPER.

REPRESENTATIVE OF THE REPUBLICAN
• PAKTY AT THE CAPITAL.

TEBH§ a
Daily, per annum, in advance, - - $10 00
Tki- Weekly, per annum, in advance, - - 5 00
Weekly,, per annum, in advance, - . 1 50
Any person -who Will send five subscribers to either the Daily,
Tri-Weekly or Weekly, with the cash, at regular subscription
rates, will receive a sixth copy gratis.
We propose to make the State Journal the best Family and
Political Paper in the State. We have the rarest facilities for
giving interesting matter pertaining to State affairs, and every
opportunity will be improved to make the paper valuable to its
subscribers. SUBSCRIBE FOR THE STATE JOURNAL.

Connected with the Journal office, we have the most complete
JOB OFFICE AND STEREOTYPE FOUNDRY
in the Northwest, and are always prepared to turn out the very
best Book and Job Printing that can be done in this country.
David Atwood,
Madison, Wis.

EXLIST
PLOWS.

1HE CAPITAL CUT CLIPPERS,

MANUFACTURED BY

FIEMIN, BILLINGS & NOE

AT

MADISON PLOW WORKS.

We Challenge Comparison of our
Improved Clippers,
Light or Heavy Styles, Wood or Steel Beams,
Single or Double Shins, High, Low or Me
dium Landsides, with any and all other
Plows brought to this market, both as to
Quality and Price. We call particular at
tention to our Splendid
STEEL BEAM PLOWS,
Which cannot le beaten. Also to our
LIGHT PRAIRIE PLOWS,
Which are Good and Cheap. And to our
"OLD RELIABLE"
FULL CLIPPER PLOWS,
With Extra High and Thick Steel Landsides.
Which excel all other makes or kinds for Strength, Dura-
ility and Variety of Work. Our Breaking Plows, Sod Plows,
Corn and Hop Plows, cannot be surpassed for Wisconsin soils.
Call at the Factory and Examine our Plows for Yourselves,
before Buying. We are selling first-class Plows at Bargains to
Dane County Farmers, and Repair all kinds of Plows in the most
skillful and workmanlike manner, at FAIR RATES.
T H Y IT SS .

YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

3 9002 01297 3906

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