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OUTLINE OF GREEN COUNTY
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SPRING GROVE
HISTORY
ーバー
GREEN COUNTY,
WISCONSIN.
By HELEN M. BINGHAM. .
11
10918 272
MILWAUKEE: BURDICK & ARMITAGE, PRINTERS. 100 MICHIGAN STREET. 1877-
PREFACE.
Before the days of newspapers in a new country, the county and family records are almost the only means by which the dates of important occurrences are pre- served. Nevertheless, when a county has been settled fifty years, each man, by reference to the dates set down in his family Bible, and to the year in which he came, is able to fix a great many other dates, thus: "Barber and Newcomb had been here a year when I came, in
37.
Holland came the next spring. Smith came the
vear our baby died, and that was '38. Brown must have come in '37, for it was the description of the country, in his letters, that induced the Smiths to leave Illinois. Jones came the toth of Sept. '39. That was the day Tom was born, and I remember Jones was camped right in front of my house, because some of his cattle had given out."
vi.
Alas, that the good mother of the house must shake our faith in her husband's chronology in this way! "No, Pa, that was the day Mary was born. I know, because Mrs. Jones said 'twas a pity she wasn't a boy, she had such a good head." There is always a possi- bility that dates arrived at by the course just illustrated may be wrong; but usually there is also a great proba- bility that they are right, and when the same dates are obtained in two or more families, the probability be- comes almost a certainty. In proportion to their num- ber. their correctness is disputed not nearly so often as the correctness of later dates which are verified by the newspapers of their time.
In the effort to make this history correct, a great many letters have been written. and a great many visits have been made in the several towns. Assistance has been received from over two hundred persons, more than one-fourth of whom came to the county before 1840, some of them before 1830. With all the avidity of Dryden's reaper, who
fills his greedy hands.
And binds the golden sheaves in brittle bands."
I have seized upon these individual gleanings from memory's field, and bound them together. The result
vii.
of this labor has recently been submitted to a number of old settlers, in the hope that a comparative view of the recollections of many persons might lead to the detection of errors which escaped those who had fewer data to guide them.
One of the main objects of the following pages is a faithful delineation of life and manners in the early days of the county. With this object in view, record has been made of some incidents which are, in themselves. so trivial that one who knew of them said he supposed they were put in to fill up.
I cannot sufficiently express my gratitude for the kind assistance which has been rendered me both by old friends and by those to whom I was hitherto a stranger. It has made my task one to be remembered only for its pleasures. I am under special obligations to the town clerks and to the county officers for information con- tained in the records under their care, and to Col. Edwin E. Bryant, Adjutant General of Wisconsin, who allowed me to examine all the muster rolls in his office.
With the greatest diffidence as to their judgment upon it, and with just one plea in its behalf, the history is now submitted to the people of Green County. The plea is this: It is often said, though whether the saying orig-
viii.
inated with an" unsuccessful historian cannot now be ascertained, that that people is most fortunate whose history is most wearisome to read. Will those to whom this history is the dullest and most monotonous of books have the charity to infer that Green is the most fortunate of counties:
MONROE, June 18, 1877.
H. M. B.
HISTORY OF GREEN COUNTY.
GREEN COUNTY is a square of sixteen townships. It is one of the six counties in Wisconsin that border upon Illinois. Eighty miles from its eastern boundary is Lake Michigan; forty miles from its south-western, and sixty miles from its north-western boundary line, is the Miss- issippi. The counties bounding it in its own state are Dane on the north, Rock on the east, and La Fayette and Iowa on the west.
Geologically, Green County is in the limestone dis- trict of southern Wisconsin, and nearly all of its western half is included in what is called the lead region of the state, which is, as is well-known, a driftless region. The eastern half of the county, in which the marks of drift currents are everywhere discernable, is remarkable for including at Exeter the only lead mines found in the three states of Illinois, Iowa, and Wisconsin outside of the driftless region.
The surface of the county is undulating. Prof. J. D. Whitney, in the State Geological Report for 1862, has called attention to the fact, that while the whole-
2
10
History of Green County.
north-west is characterized by three divisions of surface, -the bottom land, the bluffs that shut it in, and the up- land or prairie,-the surface of the lead region has cer- tain peculiarities of its own, which are principally due to the erosion of its streams. There is, in this region, a rapid alternation of bluffs and valleys. The valleys branch again and again in every direction, and their width is usually in proportion to the size of the streams that wander through them. The conformations of sur- face in south-western Wisconsin present, therefore, a marked contrast to the comparatively unbroken level of the south-eastern part of the state. Green County partakes of the peculiarities of both regions, and may be regarded as the connecting link between them. Near its western boundary the hills are many, and the valleys are narrow; but in the interior of the county the valleys along the small streams grow so much wider than those in the lead region, that the bottom land of Sugar River is as wide as that of the Mississippi, and the undulations of surface gradually grow longer and gentler, until, a little before the eastern border of the county is reached, the surface becomes a level prairie.
The soil is varied, like the surface. In a few places where the sandstone comes to the surface it is a sandy loam. The usual surface rock is the Galena limestone, which underlies the soil at a depth varying from a few inches to eight or ten feet, and, with the exception of the deep clay loam in some parts of the northern and west- ern towns, the usual soil is a rich black loam, with a large admixture of vegetable mould, and a subsoil of
II
History of Green County.
clay. Good crops of all kinds are raised in every town, and even in the hilliest towns the undulations are so gradual that there is very little land which can not be cultivated. Hence, the good drainage and all the other desirable results of a rolling country are enjoyed here without the disadvantages of a too broken surface.
The Pecatonica and Sugar rivers and their larger tributaries afford excellent water power for manufac- tures, while the innumerable streams that start from the springs on the hillsides complete the natural fitness of the county for becoming one of the leading live stock counties in the United States.
Good timber is abundant. It is especially heavy in the north and west, and every town has its groves of ash, elm, maple, hickory, walnut, basswood, poplar, and various kinds of oak. The healthfulness of the county, which is unsurpassed, is probably due, in great measure, to the elevation of the land. The elevation of the fol- lowing places was determined by the surveys of the Southern Wisconsin Railroad Company :
ELEVATION ABOVE Lake Mich. Sea I.evel.
Brodhead,
221
So4
Juda,
353
936
High land south of Monroe,
500
1,083
Pecatonica River Crossing, Town 1, Range 6,
196
779
Juda is shown by these surveys to be 348 feet higher than Milwaukee, 113 feet higher than Janesville, 79 feet higher than Madison, and 312 feet higher than Prairie du Chien.
The territory included in the State of Wisconsin was first claimed by the French, by whom it was ceded to
12
History of Green County.
Great Britain. At the close of the revolution it was claimed by Virginia, and ceded by that state to the United States, after which it was under the territorial government of Ohio until ISoo. From that time until ISog it was a part of Indiana territory. It was then included in Illinois territory until ISIS, when it was attached to Michigan territory. On the 4th of July, 1836, it was organized as the territory of Wisconsin. When Michigan territory extended as far west as the Mississippi, that part of the territory lying between Lake Michigan and the Mississippi was divided into two counties, Brown and Crawford. The division was such that that part of Green County which is comprised in the four towns, Brooklyn, Albany, Decatur, and Spring Grove, was in Brown County, whose county seat was Green Bay, while the remainder was in Crawford Coun- ty, of which Prairie du Chien was the county seat. So far as this county is concerned, the memory of man goeth back only to 1826-7. In IS26 there began to be a great deal of talk about the lead mines of south-western Wisconsin. In IS27 the interest in them was as general as the interest in the California gold mines in '49, and there was such a rush to them from all parts of the country that sometimes the boats that came up the Mississippi from St. Louis could not carry half of those who wanted to come. Probably the first white men who saw what is now Green County passed this way in 1826, on their way to the mines near the river. The first who remained came in '28, to trade with the Indians. Their names were McNut and Boner. They
13
History of. Green County.
stopped at the old Indian, or Sugar River diggings, near the present village of Exeter, where they were soon joined by an interpreter named Van Sickles, and by miners. Some time prior to 1829, John B. Skinner and Thomas Neal began to work at the Skinner dig- gings, in the township since called Monroe. In 1830 Andrew Clarno built the first house in Clarno town- ship, and two years later William Wallace and Joseph Paine, who had been working at the mines, settled near him. New miners came occasionally, but the number of settlers did not increase until after the Black Hawk war, which broke out in the spring of 1832. Although this war lasted only three months, it must not, on that account, be passed by as unimportant. It cost about three hundred lives, whites and Indians, and even the great rebellion was not a greater source of anxiety, in its time, than was the Black Hawk war to the early settlers. Prior to the war, in October, 1829, the south- ern part of Crawford County, including, of course, the greater part of the future county of Green, was orga- nized as Iowa County, of which Mineral Point was the county seat. Most of the depredations of the Indians during the war were committed in the mining districts of Iowa County. Hundreds of miners left the country and never returned. The movements of the Indians were so stealthy and so rapid that the settlers, separated by long distances from each other, were in the wildest alarm. Their thoughts when awake, their dreams when asleep, were all of the Indians. Finally they sought refuge in the forts, of which the more important were
2*
14
History of Green County.
Fort Union, near Dodgeville; Fort Jackson, at Mineral Point; Fort Defiance, five miles south-east of Mineral Point; Mound Fort, at Blue Mounds; Funk's Fort, near Gratiot's Grove; and Fort Hamilton, at Wiota. Other forts were at Platteville and White Oak Springs. Most of the forts were simply yards, with close fences made of upright, ten-foot slabs. There were houses in the yards to which settlers removed their families and house- hold goods. It is the opinion of Mr. O. H. P. Clarno that the worst of the war was inside the forts. The children of the various families were soon arrayed against each other in a struggle in which an armistice was a thing unknown, and the mothers not only assisted them, but also engaged in such hostilities on their own account that a dispute as to the ownership of a frying- pan has sometimes been known to lead to the conversion of that pacific utensil into a weapon of war.
This is not the place for a detailed account of the war, for none of its battles were fought within the limits of Green County; and the departures of the settlers of Exeter and Clarno to places of safety are elsewhere described. Galena and all the villages of Iowa County furnished volunteers; and, after a few engagements, Black Hawk's forces were overpowered, and he himself was taken prisoner before the arrival of Gen. Scott, who, in eighteen days (a rapidity of travel that was thought remarkable), had transported nine companies of artillery from the seaboard around the lakes to Chicago. But the soldiers escaped the tomahawk of the Indians only to become the victims of that equally relentless foe,
15
History of Green County.
the Asiatic cholera. Of 2So men commanded by one Col. Twiggs, it is said not twenty survived. Doubtless many were buried alive. At one time, writes one who was in Chicago while the troops were there, when several were placed beside the hole in which they were to be buried, one of the number moved, and asked for water. He lived to rejoice in good health.
After the war, immigration increased. To the new comers, as to the earliest settlers, those who had partici- pated in the war ever appeared as heroes. For years the one unfailing subject of conversation, the subject which never grew old and never was out of place, was the war. Every incident was told over and over again. There was a man named Bennett Million, who used to play the fiddle at the dances in Monroe. He, with a num- ber of others, had been surprised by the Indians, some- where near the Pecatonica, and chased by them. The fright made one of his companions insane, and several others were killed. Mr. Million saved himself by roll- ing in the mud until so covered by it that he could hide on the ground. His experience was interesting and ex- citing, and many a time, in later years, the gay company for whom he played bade him lay by the fiddle and the bow, and tell them his story of the war.
Iowa County was partially surveyed before the war, much earlier than would have been necessary had not the lead mines brought it into notice. In 1835 the land was brought into market, and many settlers came to the county in '35-6. Probably nine-tenths of those who came now or any time before 1840 came from
16
History of Green County.
Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, or Virginia. It is difficult to ascertain the states of their nativity. A very large proportion of them came from Illinois, but they had gone there a few years before, when "Eelinoise " was the boundary of the civilized world. The Indiana immigrants were, many of them, born in Ohio, and many who came from Ohio had spent their earlier years in Pennsylvania or Virginia. At this time hardly any one came directly from New England, but some who were by birth the children of New England came from New York state. The settlers of 1835-6-7 endured privations of all kinds. The nearest markets were Mineral Point, Galena, and Fort Winnebago. The dif- ficulties of going to market were increased by the fact that the streams, which a few years later were shallow enough to be forded, were now so deep that teams were obliged to swim across them, and the banks were so steep that travelers carried shovels with which to cut them down. One might travel days at a time, in south- ern Wisconsin, without seeing a house, and dismal prophets had foretold that this state of things must con- tinue. A history of the Black Hawk war, published in IS34 by J. A. Wakefield, after remarking that if the four lakes " were anywhere else except in the country they are, they would be considered among the wonders of the world," added this discouraging conclusion : " But the country they are situated in is not fit for any civilized nation of people to inhabit. It appears that the Almighty intended it for the children of the forest." Janesville was then in its infancy, and for two or three years Mr.
17
History of Green County.
Janes came to Green County to buy provisions of the farmers. Madison was thought of; but when the seat of government was located there in 1837 there were but three white men in Dane County.
About the same time that Wisconsin was separated from Michigan, Iowa County constituted her portion of the future little Green one election precinct. Henry Dodge, the first governor of the new territory, appor- tioned to each county its number of councilors and rep- resentatives, and the number allotted to Iowa County entitled her eastern election precinct to one representa- tive. The election was held where Monroe has since grown up, at the blacksmith shop of a Mr. Brown (familiarly known, from the material of his clothes, as Buckskin Brown), and resulted in the election of Wm. Boyles, of Cadiz. Other things than political affiliations determined a candidate's success in those days. There were very few young women in the country, and it is said that every single man in the precinct favored the election of Mr. Boyles because he had eight unmarried daughters. At the first session of the first Wisconsin legislature, which convened at Belmont, Iowa County, in the fall of 1836, Mr. Boyles presented a petition (which had been drawn up and circulated by Mr. Daniel S. Sutherland), asking for the organization of a county which should have the limits of the present county of Green, and be called Richland. The petition was grant- ed, so far as setting off a new county was concerned, but some one objected to the name because it was "too matter-of-fact," and Mr. Boyles was invited to select
IS
History of Green County.
another. According to one account he selected Green, as indicative of the bright color of the vegetation, and refused to change it to Greene in honor of Gen. Greene. Another account says he selected Greene, and when the act of the legislature was printed the final e was omit- ted by mistake. Be this as it may, for some years the name was usually written Greene.
To the act which detached this county from Iowa, was proposed an amendment attaching it to that county for judicial purposes. Action on the amendment was deferred until the next session, so that when the legisla- ture adjourned in December, 1836, Green County was left detached from Iowa County, without any authority to organize, and without being attached to any county for judicial purposes. In this state of affairs, Iowa County claimed jurisdiction over Green, and, having appointed Daniel S. Sutherland and Wm. Bowen jus- tices of the peace, directed them to hold an election for county officers; but when the people assembled election day, Mr. Sutherland urged them not to do anything which might be understood as an acknowledgment of Iowa's authority over Green, and it was unanimously resolved that no election should be held. There fol- lowed nearly a year in which Green County had no. government or legal organization. By an act of the legislature, which was approved January 15th, 1838, Green County was fully organized; but while the bill was before the legislature some one said that Green was indebted to Iowa County for a portion of all the in- debtedness of the mother county incurred prior to
19
History of Green County.
March 4th, 1837. From this unfortunate statement arose a claim of Iowa County against Green for $537.73. But, though the claim was urged as late as IS50, and though the lawsuits to which it gave rise cost the people of little Green as much as the amount claimed, yet they always insisted that, as they had derived no benefit from the expenditures for which they were charged, the claim was unjust and should not be paid, and it never was paid.
The following table shows the population of Wis- consin from IS20 to the organization of Green County in 1838:
COUNTIES.
IS20.
IS30.
1834.
IS36.
IS3S.
Brown
952
964
1,957
2,766
3,048
Crawford
492
692
SIO
1,220
S50
Iowa ..
1,589
2,633
3,218
5,234
Milwaukee
2,892
3,13I
Dane.
172
Dodge
IS
Grant.
2,763
Green
494
The first election in the new county was held March 5th, 1838, at the house of Jacob LyBrand, in Monroe, or New Mexico. Two hundred and thirty-one votes were cast, and Daniel S. Sutherland, Wm. Bowen, and Daniel Harcourt were elected county commissioners. What was called the annual election was held in August, at which time the following officers were elected: Daniel Harcourt and James Reily, commissioners; Jehu Chad- wick, treasurer; Jarvis Rattan, coroner; Jabez Johnson, assessor; Hiram Rust, register of deeds, and Jabez John-
20
History of Green County.
son, collector. Soon after this election, a copy of the newly published laws of the state was received, and it was found that the 10th of September was the day ap- pointed by law for holding the annual election. Con- sequently no certificates were issued to the officers elect- ed in August, and another election was held in Septem- ber, the result of which is given in the course of this sketch. The commissioners had for clerks, this first year of the county's existence, Hiram Rust, Mortimer Bainbridge, and Wm. Rittenhouse, successively. The commissioners' work was as follows: They appointed judges of elections, ordered that Green County consti- tute one election precinct, that elections be held at the house of Jacob Ly Brand, and that the district court be held at Jacob Andrick's. They charged Joseph Paine $1.50 for tavern license for three months, and Jacob Ly- Brand $20.00 for license to retail merchandise for one year. They established the boundaries of road districts one and two, received and granted several petitions for roads, and issued orders to the amount of $129.67.
The first court held in Green County, was the United States district court, Hon. Chas. Dunn presiding. It was held in April, 1838, at Mr. Andrick's house, now known as the Niles place, south of the village of Mon- roe. The first grand jury, Hiram Rust foreman, met in the blacksmith shop of Buckskin Brown. Once, when Judge Dunn was here, the grand jury found an indictment against a woman. Before the hour for the trial, and before the grand jurors had come out of their room, which opened into the court room, the Judge
2I
History of Green County.
opened a door and said to the woman, " the best thing for you to do is to run," and she speedily disappeared.
The first person tried by a jury was Daniel Harcourt, who was charged " with removing and destroying the boundaries of a lot of land." Road viewers had been appointed to lay out a road to which Dr. Harcourt was opposed. The projected road was described by its prox- imity to certain marks of the government surveys; namely, the stake on the corner of the section, and the trees called witness trees, upon the bark of which had been cut letters and figures showing the quarter section and the number of the section. The road viewers met to perform their duty, but they found that Dr. Har- court and his son-in-law had removed the stake, and that the marks on the witness trees had been so nicely filled with moss and lichens that no one unacquainted with their position could tell where they had been. The case turned on the removal of the stake. Dr. Harcourt claimed that the original stake had been destroyed by a fire, that he and his son-in-law had put another in its place, and that, having put it there themselves, they had a right to take it away again. The jury returned a verdict of not guilty. In October, 1839, Frederick Bedt- ner made the first declaration of intention to become a citizen. John Thorp, the first naturalized citizen of Green County, took the oath April 14th, 1841. The first divorce was granted in 1842, and there were eight divorce cases before '50.
Lawsuits occupied some of the commissioners' time. Their journal's first mention of a suit is the following :
3
22
History of Green County.
" April 2d, 1839. Whereas Jacob LyBrand obtained an order to take out license to vend merchandise in the county of Green, at the July term of this court in '38, and has failed to comply with the law in that case made and provided, therefore, ordered, that suit be insti- tuted against said Jacob Ly Brand in the district court of said county, in an action of debt to the damage of said county of $100."
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