USA > Wisconsin > Racine County > Racine > Racine, belle city of the lakes, and Racine County, Wisconsin : a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Vol. I > Part 1
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IVK (RACINE CON STONE
GILBERT KNAPP The Founder of Racine
RACINE BELLE CITY OF THE LAKES
AND
RACINE COUNTY
WISCONSIN
A Record of Settlement, Organization, Progress and Achievement
FANNY S. STONE Supervising Editor
ILLUSTRATED
VOLUME I
CHICAGO: THE S. J. CLARKE PUBLISHING COMPANY 1916
THE NEW YORK PICHIC LIBRARY 99225B
R
Table of Contents
CHAPTER I
PHYSICAL FEATURES
LOCATION AND BOUNDARIES - AREA - WATERCOURSES - GEOLOGICAL SURVEY -THE GLACIAL EPOCH -THE GLACIAL DRIFT - MORAINES - ARTESIAN WELLS - EROSION - ECONOMIC GEOLOGY - ALTITUDES SURFACE AND SOIL 17
CHAPTER II ABORIGINAL INHABITANTS
THE MOUND BUILDERS-CHARACTER OF THEIR RELICS - WHO WERE THEY ?- WORK OF THE UNITED STATES BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY - DISTRICTS IN THE UNITED STATES- RECENT THEORIES - MOUNDS IN RACINE COUNTY - THE INDIANS -TRIBAL DISTRIBUTION AT THE CLOSE OF THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY - WISCONSIN TRIBES - CHIPPE- PEWA-MENOMINEE-SAC-FOX -OTTAWA - POTAWATOMI - WIN- NEBAGO - INDIAN TREATIES - INDIAN TRAILS -REFLECTIONS .. 27
CHAPTER HII
THE PERIOD OF PREPARATION
EARLY EXPLORATIONS IN AMERICA - SPAIN, ENGLAND AND FRANCE - LAND GRANTS TO THE LONDON AND PLYMOUTH COMPANIES - THE JESUITS - MARQUETTE AND JOLIET -LA SALLE -OTHER EARLY FRENCH EXPLORERS-CONFLICT OF CLAIMS-THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR-PONTIAC'S CONSPIRACY -THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR -THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY - WISCONSIN UNDER VARIOUS JURISDICTIONS - WISCONSIN TERRITORY - WISCONSIN AS A STATE RECAPITULATION 49
CHAPTER IV SETTLEMENT OF THE COUNTY
THE FIRST WHITE MEN IN RACINE COUNTY - ST. COSME'S ACCOUNT OF THE ROOT RIVER -JAMBEAU'S TRADING POST - CAPTAIN GILBERT KNAPP-THE FIRST DWELLING-LIST OF EARLY SETTLERS - PIONEER LIFE AND CUSTOMS -THE HOUSE-RAISING - THE FURNI- TURE - SWAPPING WORK - OBTAINING SUPPLIES - PASTIMES - CHARACTER OF THE PIONEER -THE OLD TRAPPER'S SOLILOQUY .. 65
CHAPTER V
RACINE COUNTY ORGANIZED
CONDITIONS PRIOR TO THE ORGANIZATION OF THE COUNTY - HOW CLAIMS WERE MADE -CLAIM ASSOCIATIONS- CONSTITUTION OF THE MILWAUKEE UNION - ENFORCING THE LAW -ORGANIZATION OF THE COUNTY - ELECTION OF CAPTAIN KNAPP TO THE LEGISLA- TURE - THE ORGANIC ACT-KENOSHA CUT OFF FROM RACINE - THE FIRST ELECTION - INAUGURATION OF GOVERNMENT - ELEC- TION PRECINCTS AND JUDGES -EARLY FINANCES -THE LAND SALE - THE COURT-HOUSE - THE COUNTY JAIL. 81
CHAPTER VI TOWNSHIP HISTORY
TOWNSHIPS OF TWO CLASSES-ORIGIN OF THE CIVIL TOWNSHIP - ITS PLACE IN HISTORY -TIIE NINE CIVIL TOWNSHIPS OF RACINE COUNTY - BURLINGTON -CALEDONIA - DOVER - MOUNT PLEAS- ANT - NORWAY - RAYMOND - ROCHESTER - WATERFORD - YORK- VILLE - HISTORICAL SKETCH OF EACH -EARLY SETTLEMENTS - PERSONAL MENTION OF PIONEERS -DATE OF ORGANIZATION - MISCELLANEOUS INCIDENTS - POPULATION AND WEALTH - A RETROSPECT 101
CHAPTER VIL THE CITY OF RACINE
LOCATION -ORIGIN OF THE NAME-EARLY SETTLEMENT - PLATTING THE TOWN - STREET AND PROPERTY LINES - POSTOFFICE - EARLY MAIL ROUTES -THE VILLAGE INCORPORATED -THE CITY GOVERN- MENT -LIST OF MAYORS-FIRE DEPARTMENT - POLICE DEPART- MENT - PUBLIC PARKS - WATERWORKS - GAS AND ELECTRIC LIGIIT - MISCELLANEOUS. 133
8
CHAPTER VIII
CITIES, TOWNS AND VILLAGES
TOWNS LAID OFF BY SPECULATORS IN EARLY DAYS-WHY SOME SUC- CEEDED AND OTHERS FAILED - LIST OF TOWNS AND VILLAGES IN RACINE COUNTY - THE CITY OF BURLINGTON - ITS HISTORY - HISTORICAL SKETCH OF EACH VILLAGE - POSTOFFICE OF 1916. . .. 157
CHAPTER IX
EDUCATIONAL PROGRESS
THE FIRST TEACHER - FIRST SCHOOL HOUSE-FIRST SCHOOL DISTRICTS -FIRST PUBLIC SCHOOL BUILDING -GROWTH OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM - LOOKING BACKWARD -OLD THIRD WARD SCHOOL THE WINSLOW SCHOOL -HIGH SCHOOL OF 1854-SIXTH WARD SCHOOL -RACINE FEMALE SEMINARY -ITS SUCCESSOR, RACINE COLLEGE - RACINE ACADEMY - AN EDUCATIONAL ACRE - MRS. M'MYNN'S SCRAP-BOOK - HIGH SCHOOL EXAMINATIONS - BOW- MAN'S ACADEMY - LUCRETIA MAY'S SCHOOL - THE HOME SCHOOL - INDUSTRIAL AND CONTINUATION SCHOOLS - WISCONSIN BUSINESS COLLEGE 177
CHAPTER X
RACINE PUBLIC LIBRARY
M'MYNN'S COLLECTION OF BOOKS- RACINE JUNCTION LIBRARY - RACINE PUBLIC LIBRARY - ITS EARLY HISTORY -NEED OF A HOME -CAR- NEGIE'S DONATION - DESCRIPTION OF THE BUILDING - BRANCH LIBRARIES - TRIBUTE TO CHARLES H. LEE. .205
CHAPTER XI
THE NEWSPAPERS
THE FIRST NEWSPAPER -- THE RACINE ADVOCATE - RACINE COUNTY ARGUS - SLOVAN AMERIKANSKY - MISCELLANEOUS EARLY NEWS- PAPERS -THE JOURNAL-NEWS-THE TIMES-CALL - THE WISCON- SIN AGRICULTURIST - FOLKETS AVIS - RACINE CORRESPONDENT - RACINE NORDEN - BURLINGTON STANDARD-DEMOCRAT - BURLING- TON FREE PRESS- BURLINGTON GAZETTE - WATERFORD POST - UNION GROVE ENTERPRISE 215
CHAPTER XII
FINANCIAL HISTORY
COUNTY FINANCES - BONDED DEBT - FINANCIAL CONDITION IN 1915 - PRINCIPAL ITEMS OF EXPENSE-RACINE CITY FINANCES - OUT- STANDING BONDS -CONDITIONS COMPARED WITH THOSE OF 1848 - INCOME AND EXPENDITURES - VALUE OF THE SECURITIES - BANK- ING INSTITUTIONS - EVOLUTION OF THE BANKING BUSINESS - BANKS IN RACINE COUNTY - RURAL BANKS -TOTAL DEPOSITS - AGRICULTURE -STATISTICS RELATING TO CROPS AND FARM VAL- UES -THE FARMER'S PLACE AS A CITIZEN . 227
CHAPTER XIII
COMMERCE AND MANUFACTURING
FIRST MANUFACTURING -J. I. CASE THRESHING MACHINE CO. - J. I. CASE PLOW WORKS - HORLICK'S MALTED MILK CO. - MITCHELL-LEWIS MOTOR CO. - RACINE WOOLEN MILLS CO. - S. FREEMAN & SONS- J. MILLER CO. - T. DRIVER & SONS - RACINE IRON & WIRE WORKS- S. C. JOHNSON & SON - HIGGINS SPRING & AXLE CO. - RACINE TRUNK CO. - CHICAGO RUBBER CLOTHING CO .- GOLD MEDAL CAMP FURNI- TURE MANUFACTURING CO .- F. J. GREENE ENGINEERING WORKS - RACINE PAPER GOODS CO. - AMERICAN SEATING CO. - AMERICAN SKEIN & FOUNDRY CO. - RACINE SHOE MANUFACTURING CO .- ARNOLD ELECTRIC CO. - RACINE MANUFACTURING CO. - RACINE RUBBER CO .- WALLIS TRACTOR CO. - RACINE MALLEABLE & WROUGHT IRON CO. - LAKESIDE MALLEABLE CASTINGS CO. - HART- MANN TRUNK CO .- INDUSTRIES OF 1879-MANUFACTURERS OF 1910- OTHER RACINE COUNTY INDUSTRIES- INCUBATOR COMPANIES - BELLE CITY MALLEABLE IRON CO. - BELLE CITY BASKET CO. - HAMILTON-BEACH CO. - HILKER-WIECHER CO. - EISENDRATH TAN- NING CO. - BELLE CITY MANUFACTURING CO. - M. M. SECOR TRUNK CO. - GEORGE GORTON MACHINE CO. - F. W. GUNTHER CO. - ALUMI- NUM SHOES .241
CHAPTER XIV
TRANSPORTATION
EARLY HIGHWAYS-RAILROADS - RACINE, JANESVILLE & MISSISSIPPI - PASSENGER AND FREIGIIT DEPOTS -CHICAGO & NORTHWESTERN - CHICAGO & MILWAUKEE ELECTRIC RAILWAY - MARINE HISTORY - EARLY LAKE COMMERCE-FIRST DOCKS AND PIERS - RECOLLEC- TIONS OF A. P. DUTTON - MOOT MARINE COURT - LIGHT HOUSES - NEW PIERS AND WAREHOUSES 269
10
CHAPTER XV
THE BENCH AND BAR
THE FIRST JUDICIAL DISTRICT -SKETCHES OF EARLY JUDGES - FIRST COURT IN RACINE COUNTY - THE FIRST LAW SUIT - MARSHALL M. STRONG - OTHER PROMINENT MEMBERS OF THE RACINE BAR - NO DEARTH OF LAWYERS - PERSONAL MENTION - PERSONNEL OF THE 283 PRESENT BAR
CHAPTER XVI
THE MEDICAL PROFESSION
EVOLUTION OF THE MEDICAL PROFESSION - HOME-MADE REMEDIES OF EARLY DAYS-CHARACTER OF THE PIONEER DOCTOR - HARDSHIPS OF FRONTIER PRACTICE - EARLY PHYSICIANS OF RACINE COUNTY - MEDICAL SOCIETIES - MEDICAL LEGISLATION - PRESENT DAY PHY- SICIANS 307
CHAPTER XVII
MUSICAL ORGANIZATIONS
THE OLD TIME SINGING SCHOOL - MUSIC IN CHURCHES - AMERICAN BUGLE BAND- THE GERMAN BAND -OTHER BANDS AND ORCHES- TRAS-J. P. WEBSTER AS A COMPOSER-A CITY OF MUSICAL CULTURE 323
CHAPTER XVIII
SOCIETIES AND FRATERNITIES
OLD SETTLERS' SOCIETY - TEMPERANCE SOCIETIES - MASONIC FRATER- NITY -ORDER OF THE EASTERN STAR -INDEPENDENT ORDER OF ODD FELLOWS- DAUGIITERS OF REBEKAH - KNIGHTS OF PYTIIIAS -THE ELKS-GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC - WOMEN'S RELIEF CORPS -LADIES OF THE GRAND ARMY - OTHER PATRIOTIC SOCIE- TIES -CATHOLIC SOCIETIES - TRADES UNIONS-COMMERCIAL CLUB - YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION - YOUNG WOMEN'S CHRIS- TIAN ASSOCIATION - MISCELLANEOUS SOCIETIES -THE LEADING CLUBS 329
11
CHAPTER XIX
CHURCH HISTORY
BAPTIST - CATHOLIC - CONGREGATIONAL - EPISCOPAL - EVANGELICAL -JEWISH-LUTHERAN-METHODIST EPISCOPAL-PRESBYTERIAN- UNIVERSALIST - MISCELLANEOUS .. .359
CHAPTER XX
CHARITABLE INSTITUTIONS
THE POOR FARM -COUNTY INSANE ASYLUM - SUNNY REST SANATORIUM -HOME FOR FEEBLE-MINDED - SAINT LUKE'S HOSPITAL -SAINT MARY'S HOSPITAL - TAYLOR ORPHAN ASYLUM - OLD LADIES' HOME -CENTRAL ASSOCIATION .377
CHAPTER XXI
NOTABLE PIONEER HOMES
CAPTAIN KNAPP'S CABIN -JOEL SAGE- A. P. DICKEY - THE FLEMMING HOUSE -CAPTAIN GUILBERT - CHARLES HERRICK -THE TERBUSH HOUSE - TIMOTHY WELLS -THE PENNSYLVANIA HOUSE - THE BRYAN HOUSE-TIIE CLANCY HOUSE-L. S. BLAKE-DR. B. B. CARY - WILLIAM H. LATIIROP - MOSES VILAS - ELDAD SMITH - THOMAS J. EMERSON-HOTELS OF EARLY DAYS-THE BAKER IIOME- STEAD - OTHER OLD TIME HOUSES. 391
CHAPTER XXII
LETTERS FROM GUERNSEY PIONEERS
PURPOSE OF THIS CHAPTER-N. LE PREVOST - JOHN COLE - PREVOST'S SECOND LETTER - ALEXANDER BURCH -THEIR DESCRIPTIONS OF TIIE COUNTRY .407
CHAPTER XXIII
MILITARY HISTORY
SLAVERY IN WISCONSIN - FIRST UNDERGROUND PASSENGER - THE GLOVER CASE -FIRST LINCOLN CAMPAIGN - RACINE WAKES UP- RACINE'S FIRST COMPANY -FLAG RAISINGS -FIRST MEETINGS -
1)
WAR PREPARATIONS- IN THE COUNTY -CAMP UTLEY - FOURTH OF JULY, '61 - UTLEY GUARDS LEAVE FOR THE FRONT -SOLDIERS' AID SOCIETIES- BEN BUTLER'S CONTRABAND OF WAR -COLONEL UTLEY AND RUNAWAY SLAVES - TESTING THEIR METTLE - YOUNG- EST SOLDIER IN THE UNION ARMY - RACINE SOLDIERS' MONUMENT - SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR -COMPANY F OFF FOR THE WAR - HOME AGAIN - IN THE PHILIPPINES - RACINE COUNTY'S FIRST MILITIA - FIRST STATE MILITIA - BELLE CITY GUARD - RACINE LIGHT GUARDS-GARFIELD GUARDS-SPANISH WAR MONUMENT.425
CHAPTER XXIV
MISCELLANEOUS HISTORY
SOME FIRST EVENTS- WOLF HUNTS - UNLOADING A VESSEL - MORE HARD TIMES- PASSENGER PIGEONS-TOM O'SPRIG'S OXEN -CAR- ROLL'S MASS MEETING -FRUITION OF A HOPE-AN OLD LAND MARK - A DISASTROUS FIRE-A SLIGHT CORRECTION - FAMOUS RACE HORSES - SOME HISTORIC STORMS - A RACINE MUSE. .481
CHAPTER XXV
STATISTICAL REVIEW
STATISTICS RELATING TO POPULATION AND WEALTH - OFFICIAL ROSTER - MEMBERS OF THE LEGISLATURE-CHRONOLOGY -SUMMARY OF EVENTS - POSTSCRIPT. .499
13
History of Racine City and County
History of Racine County Wisconsin
CHAPTER I
PHYSICAL FEATURES
LOCATION AND BOUNDARIES- AREA - WATER COURSES - GEOLOGICAL SURVEY -THE GLACIAL EPOCH - THE GLACIAL DRIFT - MORAINES - ARTESIAN WELLS - EROSION - ECONOMIC GEOLOGY - ALTITUDES - SURFACE AND SOIL.
Racine County is located in the southeastern part of the state, in what is known as the Great Lake Basin. It is bounded on the north by Milwaukee and Waukesha Counties, on the east by Lake Michigan, on the south by Kenosha County, and on the west by the County of Walworth. Its greatest length from east to west is about twenty-eight miles, and its greatest width from north to south sixteen miles. The area of the county is 323 square miles.
WATERCOURSES
The largest stream in the county is the Fox River, which flows in a southerly direction through the western part. It crosses the northern boundary about four miles from the northwest corner. passes through the towns of Waterford, Rochester and Burlington, and enters Kenosha County near the southwest corner of Section 23, Township 2, Range 19. Its principal tributary in Racine County is the Muskego Creek, which falls into it near the village of Rochester. Sugar Creek, a smaller tributary, comes from the northwest and empties into the Fox near the City of Burlington.
The Root River enters from Milwaukee County, about five miles west of the northeast corner, and flows southwardly through the towns of Caledonia and Mount Pleasant until it empties its waters into Lake Michigan within the corporate limits of the City of Racine.
The South Fork of the Root River rises in the northern part of Kenosha County and flows in a northerly direction through the Towns of Yorkville and Raymond, entering Milwaukee County
18
HISTORY OF RACINE COUNTY
near the center of the north line of Section 3, Township 4, Range 21. These streams, with their minor confluents, afford good nat- ural drainage to all parts of the county. The Root River is navi- gable for lake steamers, which make frequent calls at the port of Racine, bringing in or taking out goods.
GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
On March 19, 1873, Gov. C. C. Washburn approved an aet of the Wisconsin Legislature "to provide for a complete geological survey of Wisconsin," and Dr. I. A. Lapham was placed in charge of the survey. In February, 1875, Dr. Lapham was succeeded as chief geologist by Dr. O. W. Wight, who served but one year, when he was succeeded by T. C. Chamberlin. Mr. Chamberlin made some investigations in Eastern Wisconsin and published the results of his observations in connection with the reports of Lap- ham and Wight, in Volume II of the Reports of the State Geolog- ical Survey, from which most of the facts relating to the geology of Racine County, as given in this chapter, have been adapted.
THE GLACIAL EPOCH
What is called by geologists the Glacial or Pleistocene period - sometimes designated as the "Ice Age" - includes the latter part of the Tertiary and the earliest portion of the Quarternary period. During the closing years of the Tertiary period there was a gradual lowering of temperatures throughout the greater por- tion of the north temperate zone. These falling temperatures were caused by the heavy snowfall of one season not all melting before another winter came and added to the great mass of snow already upon the earth's surface. The weight of each successive snowfall being added to the huge mass below, compressed it into a body of solid ice, called a glacier. During the warmer portion of each year the water from the melting ice found its way to the bottom of the glacier and formed a smooth or slippery surface upon the bed rocks, so that in time the entire glacier began to move slowly toward a lower altitude. As it moved along it dislodged soil, bowlders, etc., and carried them far away from the place where they were first laid by the hand of Nature. Through their greater weight and solidity, these dislodged materials worked their way to the bottom of the glacier and became the agents of erosion. The surfaces of the bed rocks, where exposed to this glacial action, were smoothed and marked with scratches (called striæ), hills
19
HISTORY OF RACINE COUNTY
were made to assume a more rounded form, and valleys were widened and deepened. Through these valleys the water from the melting glacier ran in streams, thus forming creeks and rivers. From the striæ left upon the bed rock, geologists have been able to determine the course of the glacier's movement. In Eastern Wisconsin striæ have been found trending to the southeast, south and southwest.
One of the greatest glaciers in North America covered the entire region from the Rocky Mountains to the Great Lakes and extended as far southward as the central portions of Illinois and Indiana. It included the whole State of Wisconsin and left abun- dant evidences of its presence in the numerous small lakes, depos- its of glacial drift, etc. The Glacial Epoch or invasion was the last important geologie event to precede the present age and leave a wide influence upon the physical features of the earth. Just how long ago that invasion occurred is not certain, but from data obtained by geological research, the investigators think that the ice retreated from the northern part of the United States at least 25,000 years ago. Equally uncertain is the length of time the glacial ice covered the surface of that region before it all melted away, some geologists placing the duration of the Ice Age at 500,000 years. As the ice disappeared the temperatures rose again, but the surface of the glacier was a barren plain, without either animal or vegetable life. The action of the winds and rain leveled down the rough places and the heat of the sun warmed the surface until plants made their appearance, and in time the great glacial plain became habitable for animals and men. It was by this process that the surface of the eastern part of Wisconsin was formed.
THE GLACIAL DRIFT
As the ice of the glacier gradually dissolved under the influ- ence of the slowly rising temperatures, the solid matter, such as soils, disintegrated rocks and bowlders, was deposited upon the bed rocks of the region in the form of drift. till or older diluvium, generally included in the term "glacial drift." which forms the soil of the present age and varies in depth and fertility. Along the eastern border of Racine County, extending back from Lake Michigan an average distance of about one mile, the surface shows sand and gravel, mixed with clays and marly material. The gravel is usually fine and much waterworn, and is rarely over
20
HISTORY OF RACINE COUNTY
twenty feet in depth, the average being about ten feet. At the base of this deposit, along the lake shore, numerous springs issue, the clay below being impervious to water. Some of these springs are strongly tinctured with iron. In the neighborhood of "The Point," just north of the City of Racine, the drift rests directly upon the bowlder clay. In excavating the laminated, compact clay at the base of the gravelly deposit separates easily from the hardpan or impervious clay below. The western limit of this drift deposit is marked by a low ridge, beyond which the drift is deeper and of a somewhat different character. Most of the small lakes in North America owe their existence to glacial action. As the ice melted, the water that was unable to find its way to the run- ning streams settled in the low places and formed lakes. Several of these glacial lakes are to be seen in Racine County, viz .: Wind Lake, the largest body of water in the county, is situated in the northern part of Norway Township; Brown's Lake, about a mile northeast of the City of Burlington, is the next largest; Bonner's Lake, in the southwest corner of Burlington Township; Eagle Lake, just south of the center of Dover Township; Long Lake, a short distance north of Burlington; Waubeesee, a small lake just west of Wind Lake; Tishigan Lake, in the eastern part of Water- ford Township, and Starkey Lake, a small body of water in Sec- tion 23, Township 4, Range 19.
?
MORAINES
The rocks and other inorganic substances dislodged and carried along by the glacier were deposited, as the ice melted, in ridges called moraines. Along the edge of the glacier the ridge thus formed is known as a "lateral moraine"; where two bodies of ice met the ridge is usually distinguished by being larger and con- taining a greater diversity of minerals and is called a "medial moraine, " and where the last deposit was made, that is, where the glacier came to an end, the ridge is called a "terminal mo- raine." In these moraines the character of the bowlders indicates that they have been brought there from a distance. This is espe- cially true of the granitoid bowlders, commonly called "nigger heads," which are entirely different in structure from any rocks found in the natural deposits where they occur.
One of the largest and best defined moraines in the State of Wisconsin is the ridge known as the "Potash Kettle Range," the
RACINE IN 1850
-
-
21
HISTORY OF RACINE COUNTY
northern terminus of which is in Kewaunee County, not far from the little town of Caseo. From this point the range trends south- westward, through the Counties of Manitowoc, Sheboygan, Fond du Lac, Waukesha, and the northern part of Walworth. There it divides, one branch running southward through Richmond and Darien, thence eastward to Lake Geneva, then via Burlington southward into Kenosha County, and traces of it have been noted beyond the state line in Northern Illinois.
There is no potash to be found anywhere in the ridge, the name having been applied on account of the numerous "sinks," "potholes," or funnel-shaped depressions resembling the kettles used in the extraction or evaporation of potash from waters sur- charged with that substance. Some of these depressions are quite shallow, appearing as though they had been formed by pressing a great saucer into the soft earth, and others are sixty feet or more in depth. The elevations or knolls along the moraine corre- spond in shape to the depressions, resembling inverted saucers or kettles. The composition of the ridge is chiefly clay, sand, coarse gravel and bowlders. A few bowlders of Archæan rock, irregular in shape, have been found and have been recognized by geologists as belonging to the Paleozoic Period. The fact that there are no known Archæan formations near is regarded as con- elusive evidence that the Kettle Range is of glacial origin and morainic in character. Near Burlington Mr. Chamberlin noted an exposure of a thin-bedded, argillaceous dolomite, not found elsewhere in the range, containing considerable numbers of the Trilobite and a few other fossils. Pure dolomite consists almost entirely of carbonate of calcium and magnesium, while argillace- ous dolomite contains clay in greater or less quantities, which renders it unfit for or inferior as a building stone. Native copper has also been found at various places in this range, but in small quantities. At Smith's quarry, near Burlington, Mr. Chamberlin looked for striæ, but found none sufficiently pronounced to deter- mine the course of the glacier. At other places they were well defined and showed that the direction was south in some places and in others southwest, indicating that the range is a medial moraine.
ARTESIAN WELLS
The geological formation of Racine County, below the glacial drift, is pretty clearly shown by sections of artesian wells, of
22
HISTORY OF RACINE COUNTY
which several have been drilled in the county. Chamberlin, in his Report on the Geology of Eastern Wisconsin, mentions a well of this character at the Western Union (Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul) Junetion (now Corliss), about five miles west of the City of Racine, where the following data were obtained:
Glacial drift 147 feet
Niagara limestone 233
Cincinnati shale 200
Trenton and Galena limestones. 285
St. Peter's sandstone.
100
Lower magnesian limestones.
141
Potsdam sandstones
157
Total depth of well. 1,263 feet
The surface of this well is 144 feet above Lake Michigan, hence the bottom is 541 feet below the sea level. A small flow of water was struck in St. Peter sandstone and a much stronger flow in the sandstones of the Potsdam group, where the drilling was stopped. When the drill was withdrawn the water rose to a height of forty feet above the surface, or 184 feet above the level of Lake Michigan. Says Chamberlin: "As only a few points in the east- ern part of Racine and Kenosha Counties exceed that elevation, this well has demonstrated the possibility of obtaining fountains over a considerable area."
Another artesian well is that known as the "First Ward Well," on Momument Square in the City of Racine. Dr. P. R. Hoy reported a section of this well to the State Geological Survey, showing the geological structure at this point to be as follows:
Glacial drift 115 feet
Niagara limestone 305
Cincinnati shale
185
Galena and Trenton limestones 283
St. Peter's sandstone .. 48
Lower magnesian limestones.
100
Madison sandstone
47
Mendota limestone
31
Red sandstone
110
Hard sandstone 10
Soft sandstone
6
Total depth of well 1,240 feet
In this well the strata from the Madison sandstone downward belong to the Potsdam group. As in the former well, the first flow of water came while the drill was in the St. Peter sandstone.
23
HISTORY OF RACINE COUNTY
It was increased in the Madison sandstone and still further aug- mented in the soft Potsdam sandstone, where work was sus- pended. The record of this well was regarded as peculiarly valuable by Mr. Chamberlin, in that it shows the existence of three water-bearing strata above the middle Potsdam.
What is known as the Stephen Bull well is located on the lake shore, not far from Eleventh Street, in the City of Racine, and there is also an artesian well at the woolen mills. Some years ago a deep well was bored at Union Grove. At a depth of about one thousand feet the water rose almost to the surface. Drilling was continued in the hope of making it a flowing well, but appar- ently the drill pierced an underground outlet, the water disap- peared and the well was abandoned. No sectional data concerning these wells are obtainable.
The deepest artesian well in the county is the one bored for the county insane asylum. It was first bored in 1891, but was deepened to over fourteen hundred feet in 1901. A section of this well for the first eight hundred feet shows:
Glacial drift
180 feet
Niagara limestone 300
160
Cincinnati shale Trenton and Galena limestones. 160
800 feet
Below this depth it seems that no detailed record of the strata was kept, the drillers reporting that they passed through sand- stone and limestone formations until the well was completed. From the sections of the wells given it may be seen that the geo- logical structure of the county is about the same in all parts where borings have been made, the only variations being in the thickness of the different strata. The depth of the glacial drift varies from 115 feet in the First Ward well to 180 feet in the well at the insane asylinn, while the Trenton and Galena limestones vary from 160 feet in the asylum well to 285 feet in the well at the Western Union Junction, or Corliss.
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