USA > Wisconsin > Columbia County > The history of Columbia county, Wisconsin, containing an account of its settlement > Part 1
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1800
Class F587 Book CZHO
1
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·
THE
HISTORY /
OF
COLUMBIA COUNTY,
WISCONSIN,
CONTAINING
AN ACCOUNT OF ITS SETTLEMENT, GROWTH, DEVELOPMENT AND RESOURCES; AN EXTENSIVE AND MINUTE SKETCH OF ITS CITIES, TOWNS AND VILLAGES-THEIR IMPROVEMENTS, INDUSTRIES, MANUFACTORIES, CHURCHES, SCHOOLS AND SOCIETIES; ITS WAR RECORD, BIOGRAPH- ICAL SKETCHES, PORTRAITS OF PROMINENT MEN AND EARLY SETTLERS; THE THE WHOLE PRECEDED BY A HISTORY OF WISCONSIN, STATISTICS OF THE STATE, AND AN ABSTRACT OF ITS LAWS AND CON- STITUTION AND OF THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES.
ILLUSTRATED.
BRARY OF CONGRESS 1884
c
TY OF WASH
WESTERN
CHICAGO: HISTORICAL COMPANY.
MDCCCLXXX.
PREFACE.
ITTHE object of this work is to place upon record in a reliable manner and in a permanent form. whatever incidents of importance have transpired within the limits of Columbia County since its first settlement. As preliminary to this, a brief history of Wisconsin is given, including, respectively, the Antiquities of the State; an account of its Indian tribes : a sketch of pre-Territorial times ; an outline of Wisconsin when a Territory ; and a narrative of cach Administration since the admission of the State into the Union. This is followed by arti- cles on the Topography and. Geology of the State ; on its Climatology ; on its Trees, Shrubs, and Vines : on the Fauna of Wisconsin; on the Educational Interests of the State; on its Agriculture, Mineral Resources, and Railroads; on Lumber Manufacture, Banking, Commerce and Manufactures ; and on the Public Domain and Health. These are from the pens of able and well-known Wisconsin writers. Following these articles, are Statistics of the State, and an Abstract of its Laws and Constitution, alld of the Constitution of the United States.
In the history of the county, facts and figures, Incidents and reminiscences, anecdotes and sketches are given, with a variety and completeness, it is thought, commensurate with their importance. This has necessitated. on the part of the editor-in-chief and his assistants, a per- severing effort : but their labor has been cheered by the cordial assistance and good will of many friends to the enterprise within the county, to all of whom grateful acknowledgements are tendered. They have enabled us to give to the present generation a valuable reflex, it is believed, of the times and deeds of pioncer days, and to erect to pioneer men and women of Columbia County a lasting monument. We desire, also, to express our sincere thanks to Prof. R. D. IRVING, of the University of Wisconsin, for assistance rendered in furnishing articles upon the geology of the county and its various towns 3 and to the officers of the State Historical Society for numerous favors received at their hands.
JULY, 1880.
W. H. CO.
31
CONTENTS.
HISTORY OF WISCONSIN.
PAGE.
Antiquities 19
Indian Tribes .. 21
Pre-Territorial Annals. 29
Wisconsin Territory. 11
Wisconsin as a State ... 52
First Administration Õ2
Second Administration 57
Third Administration 59
Fourth Administration.
62
Fifth Administration ... 64 Female Colleges 150.
Sixth Administration 66
Seventh Administration
67
War of Secession Commenced. 69 Eighth Administration. 76
Ninth Administration ... 85
Statistics of Volunteers 90
Tenth Administration .. 92
Eleventh Administration 93 Gold and Silver 168
Twelfth. Administration. 91
Thirteenth Administration 97 Fourteenth Administration. 99
Fifteenth Administration. 104 Sixteenth Administration. 109
Topography and Geology 110
The Archaan Age. 112
Paleozoic Time- Silurian Age. 115
Devonian Age .. 119
Glacial Period. 120
Climatology. 121
Milwaukee, Lake Shore & Western. 180
Education of the Blind .. 241
Green Bay & Minnesota. 181 Institute of Deaf and Dumb. 241
Wisconsin Valley .. ISI Industrisl School for Loys .. 212
Sheboygan & Fond du Lac. 181 State Prison 212
State Hospital for the Insane. 242
Northern Hospital for the Insane. .243
Peculiarities of the Bird Fauna .139 North Wisconsin .183
Educational 140
Original School Code. 140
Chippewa Falls & Western. 183
Change of Diseases.
240
Pulmonary Diseases. 24.
Conclusion. 184 Statistics .249
Population, 1875, of Townships, Alpha- 249 betically Arranged by Counties.
Commerce and Manufactures. .198 Population by Counties .. .. 25.5
School Fund Income. 142 State University. 143 Agricultural College 144
Furs
.199
Nativity by Counties
.......
.259
Normal Schools ..
144
Lead and Zinc-Iron .. 200 Valuation of Property. ..... .. 260
Teachers' Institutes.
146
Lumber
201
Acreage of Principal Crops
.261, 262
L
ABSTRACT OF WISCONSIN STATE LAW'S.
PAGE.
PAGE.
PAGF.
Actions. 283
Elections and General Elections 263
Landlord and Tenant
Limitation of Actions. 285
Arrest .. .283 Attachment. .284
Exemptions. 284
Marks and Brands .. 281 Adoption of Children. 276 Fences ..
280 Married Women. 25 % Assignment of Mortgage. 274
Surveyors and Surveys. 29%
Bills of Exchange or Promissory Notes.
Highways and Bridges
Hours of Labor .273
270 Suggestions to Persons Purchasing Books hy Subscription .285
Capital Punishment. 278 Interest. .277 Title of Real Property by Descent. 275
Collection of Taxes. .270 Intoxicating Liquors. .. 271 Weights and Measures. 278
Commercial Terms .285
Judgments.
284 .
Wills.
270
Jurisdiction of Courts 277 Common Schools 266
Wolf Scalps .278
PORTRAITS.
PAGE.
W'm. Armstrong.
397 J. J. Guppey .... 379
505 - Jos. Hartman. 703 Josiah Arnold
469 | M. C. Hobart .... 919 1. Bryce. 559 | Carl Haertel .. 661
W. IL. Proctor.
H. W. Roblier. 865
· F. C. Curtis.
793 | Ilugh Jamieson.
775 L. A. Squire. 820
w. W. Corning.
613 / T. L. Kennan. 649 S. M. Smith .. 541
C. Collipp.
415J R. O. Lvomis 901
Jeremiah Drake 523 J. T. Lewis 487
Rees Evans 721 Jas. McCloud. 577
Wm. E. Field 73V Hugh McFarlane 433
W. Meacher. 6:1
John Q. Adams ....
G. H. Merrell 32.7
II. L. Merrell 307
S. M. Carr.
$47 | Geo. W. Jenkins .. 811
Commerce and Manufactures :
Dairy Products .. 203
Pork and Beef .. 203
School Offices .. 147 Ilops. 204
State Teachers' Certificates. 147
Tobacco-Cranberries. 205
Teachers' Associations. 148
Liquors ...
.205
Miscellaneous. 2016
Water Powers.
206
Manufactures .. 20%
Conclusion. .205
The Public Domain. .210
Health .230
Geographical Position .230
I'bysical Features. 230
162
Geology
231
165
Drainage
.232
('limatology. .232
Rain Character. 233 Isotherms 234
Brick Clays ..
Cement Rock 170 Barometrical .234
Limestone-Glass Sand 171
Peat-Building Stones ...... 172
Railroads 173
Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul 173
Chicago & Northwestern .... 176
Wisconsin Central 178
Western Union .. 179
West Wisconsin 180
Ratio of Sickness, Ft. Howard and Win- nebago. 239
Fsuna.
134
Fish and Fish Culture .. 131 Mineral Point. 182
Large Animals-Time of their Disap- pearanco ...
138 Madison & Portage. 189
City of Milwaukee. 243
Prairie du Chien & McGregor. 183 Health Resorts. 244
Agitation for Free Schools
141
Narrow Gauge
.183.
School. System under State Govern- Il-nt ... 141 Lumber IS5
Graded Schools
14G
Grain
2(12 :
PAGE. |
PAGE.
Educational :
Township System ... 146
Free High Schools ... 147
Libraries 118
State Superintendents. 148
College Sketches. 149
Academies and Seminaries. .151
Commercial Schools 151
Agriculture 151
Mineral Resources 162
Lead and Zinc
Iron
Copper.
168
Winds
.235
Climatological Changes from Settling in the State. .235 Influence of Nationalities. 23. Occupations-Food-Education, etc ...... 23> History of Disease. 238
Banking.
191
Forms of Conveyances. 273 Stay Law .. 284
Assessment and Collection of Taxes. 267 Assessment of Taxes. 268
Forms of Mortgages .27-1
Garnishment .... 284 Support of l'oor ..
.. 272 Borrowed Money .267
Damages for Trespass. 279 Jurors 278
PAGE.
PAGE.
A. J. Turner 151
R. B. Wentworth 595
Estrays 279
Trees, Shrubs and Vines. 128
iv
CONTENTS.
HISTORY OF COLUMBIA COUNTY.
CHAPTER VII. PAGE.
The Dells.
468
Post Office.
651
Hotels 652
County Map and Atlas 482 Public Halls 653
483
Local Militia 654
Cemeteries.
Portage of To-day ..
662
CHAPTER XI .- CITY OF COLUMBUS.
First Settlement ...
Twenty-five Years Ago 665
Government 670
l'lats and Additions 673
Schools 673
Religlous Institutions.
Manufacturing Interesta Banke ...
Baron Steuben Doty 684
Library Association William T. Whirry 688
Emmions Taylor ... 512
Carl Haertel. 514
William Wier ... 515
Squire Sherwood fase.
John Converse ...
Samuel Stephen Brannan 518
Andrew Dunn 520
Joseph Bailey. 521
Henry Merrell
522
526
Samuel K. Vanglın ..
John Pardee. 529
Andrew Sweany .. 529
CHAPTER IX.
Columbia County Press
Common Schools ..
531
Mrs. John HI. Kenzie +114
Henry Merrell.
409
J. T. Kingston .. 412
427
Ilugh McFarlane.
N. H. Wood. 430 4:12
436
CHAPTER X .- POATAGE CITY. 58€
Early Settlement.
Growth of Portage ... 5.88
Portage Thirty Years Ago.
Portage in 1860 .. 591
"Claim Twenty-one " 599 Village of Newport MH
Richard Freeman Veeder. 600
60I 601
Organization and Government ..
The Canal. 603
610
Religious Institutions. 612
Town of Pac fic. 812)
Town of Randolph 841
Town of Scott ... 853
Town of Springvale
Town of West Point. 800
Village of Wyocena.
863
Village of Pardeeville.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
Arlington PAGE.
Columbus, 1018
Courtland 955 Lodi. 1085
Caledonia. 1021 Leeds 988 Springvale.
Dekorrn
1056
Marcellon.
1007
Fonntain Prairie. 1689 Newport 946 Winnebago 939
Hamjulen
1064 Otsego. .1009 Wyocena 108]
1070
West Point
1002
1093
VIEWS.
Fort Winnebago ... PAGE.
Fort Winnebago, diagram. 343
F. W. Schulze, residence. 883
MISCELLANEOUS.
Wisconsin State Constitution
.. 287
.. 297
dent ...
.. 306-307
Population of the State. ..... .308
PAOE.
Errata.
Lowville. PAGE.
Randoladı .. PAGE.
Scott ... 1039
PAGE.
C. D. Stiles, residence ...
667
Gev. S. Tillottson, residence ... .....
757
PAOE.
U. S. Constitution
Geological Formations of Towns. 310
Watersheds .. 315
319
Altitudes. 319
CHAPTER IL. 320
Surface Features 327
Indian Occupancy 328
John Nicolet.
329
First White Man ..
333
Early Visits.
335
337
The Portage from 1793 to 1827. 339 Wianebago War .. 340
Fort Winnebago .. 347
CHAPTER III.
Black Hawk War .. 353
Episode of the Black Hawk War. 358
I'nited States Land Surveys, 360
United States Land Districts 364
Early Government of Columbia County Territory
366 Columbia Co. on Early Maps.
369
First Settler in the County.
371
Pioneer Life .. 372
Organization of the County 376
Establishing County Seat 381
First and Second Census
383
Early Highways 385
Territorial District Court and State Circuit Court ..
Territorial, State and Congressional
386 Representation. CHAPTER V .- PIONEER REMINISCENCES. 389
By Thos. L. Mckinney.
Mrs. Margaret C. Low 300
891
Satterlee Clark
Jolın T. De LaRonde .. 393
Robert L. Renm. 429
Amplius Chamberlain .. 439
Moses M Strong ... 441
Charles Whittlesey 442
Freedom Simons ... 442 G. W. Featherstonhaugh 445 CHAPTER VI.
Political Divisions, 447 County Officers, 1846 to 1880 447
Fox and Wisconsin Rivers' Improve- ment ..
Prubute and County Courts. 418
County Buildings 453
Agriculture ..... 454
Ferries and Bridges 633
637
Fire Department and Fire Record.
Banke
6.4.4
Wisconsin Editorial Association 64.5
646
The Schulze Band
PAGE.
484 Orders and Societies. Columbia Co. Bible Society Fish Colture. 655 656
Railroads. 4×4
Dark Deeds 485
Abstract Office. 493
495
Welsh Literary Movement
497
CHAPTER VHI .- ILLUSTRIOUS DEAD. Peter Panquette
499 Elbert Dickeson. 508
La Fayette Hill
John A. Brown ... 509
Jeremiah Drake 510
511
Joseph M. Doty 678
Hotels. 688 Jacob Low ... 513
Opera House. 689
Fire Department
690
Lodges and Societies $90
Local Reminiscences. 693
CHAPTER XII. 696
Town of Arlingtoo .. 698
Village of Randolph 719
Town of Fountain Prairie .. 747
Village of Fall River. 7522
Town of Hampden.
Town of Leeds. F54
Town of Lewiston 759
762
Town of Lodi .. 768
Village of Lodi
774
Village of Okee
CHAPTER XIV.
Town of Lowville 706
Town of Marcellou.
Town of Newport. 802
CHAPTER XV. 807
Town of Ot-ego. 833
Village of Otsego 837
Village of Rio, 837
Village of Doylestown. 834
Agricultural Sucieties
455
458
Potters' Joint Stock Emigration So-
ciety .........
465
Early Justice ..
Portage City. 997
875
1015 Pacific
PAGE.
F. H. Bolte, foundry and machine-shop .... 685
J. O. Eaton, residence and business block .. 883 Elijah Federley, residence. ..... 667
982
Lewiston
PAGE.
CHAPTER I.
Geological Formations of County. 309
Rivers ..
County Statistics .. 479
Artesian Wells
Curling ...
Mound-Builders ..
66I
Post Office.
674
511
512
Harrison S. Haskell. 517
518
Village of Arliogton
Town of Caledonia.
Town of Columbus 701
Town of Courtland.
Village of Cambria .. 714
528 Towo of Dekorra .... 726
Village of Poynette ...
692
Alfred Topliff
517
Thomas J. Emerton
Julin- Converse Chandler. 527
County Board of Supervisors. 548
546
Authors and Artists.
President Huyes and Party
550
War Record. 5,15
555
Roster of Volunteers.
580 Columbia County of To-day.
W'm. T. Whirry
588
The Guppey Plat and Veeder Claim
The Schools.
Manufacturers. 626
Kilbourn City.
Joseplı Kerr. 529 Village of Dekorra 731
Town of Fort Winnebago.
CHAPTER XIII. 737
Travel Now and Then
516 L'emeteries 691.
516
CHAPTER IV.
387 Photographing the Pioneers.
669
873
Vote of Wisconsin for Governor and Presi- PAGE.
Frontispiece.
1
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HISTORY OF WISCONSIN.
BY C. W. BUTTERFIELD.
I .- WISCONSIN ANTIQUITIES.
The first explorers of the valleys of the Great Lakes and the Mississippi and its tributaries. seem not to have noticed, to any considerable extent, the existence within these vast areas of monuments of an extinct race. Gradually, however, as the tide of emigration broke through the barriers of the Alleghanies and spread in a widely extended flow over what are now the States of the Northwest, these prehistoric vestiges attracted more and more the attention of the curious and the learned, until, at the present time, almost every person is presumed to have some general knowledge, not only of their existence, but of some of their striking peculiarities. Unfortunately, these signs of a long since departed people are fast disappearing by the never ceasing operations of the elements, and the constant encroachments of civilization. The earliest notices of the animal and vegetable kingdom of this region are to be found in its rocks; but Wisconsin's earli- est records of men can only be traced in here and there a crumbling earth-work, in the fragment of a skeleton, or in a few stone and copper implements-dim and shadowy relics of their handicraft.
The ancient dwellers in these valleys, whose history is lost in the lapse of ages, are desig- nated, usually, as the Mound-Builders ; not that building mounds was probably their distinctive employment, but that such artificial elevations of the earth are, to a great extent, the only evi- dences remaining of their actual occupation of the country. As to the origin of these people, all knowledge must, possibly, continue to rest upon conjecture alone. Nor were the habitations of this race confined to the territory of which Wisconsin now forms a part, At one time, they must have been located in many ulterior regions. The earth-works, tumuli, or "mounds," as they are generally designated, are usually symmetrically raised and often inclosed in mathematical figures, such as the square, the octagon, and the circle, with long lines of circumvallation. Besides these earth-works, there are pits dug in the solid rock; rubbish heaps formed in the prosecution of mining operations ; and a variety of implements and utensils, wrought in copper or stone, or moulded in clay. Whence came the inhabitants who left these evidences to succeed- ing generations ? In other words, who were the Mound-Builders ? Did they migrate from the Old World, or is their origin to be sought for elsewhere? And as to their manners and customs and civilization-what of these things? Was the race finally swept from the New World to give place to Red men, or was it the one from which the latter descended ? These momentous ques- tions are left for the ethnologist, the archaeologist, and the antiquarian of the future to answer- if they can.
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HISTORY OF WISCONSIN.
Inclosures and mounds of the prehistoric people, it is generally believed, constituted but parts of one system ; the former being, in the main, intended for purposes of defense or religion ; the latter, for sacrifice, for temple sites, for burial places, or for observatories. In selecting sites for many of these earth-works, the Mound-Builders appear to have been influenced by motives which prompt civilized men to choose localities for their great marts; hence, Cincinnati, St. Louis, Chicago, Milwaukee and other cities of the West are founded on ruins of pre-existing structures. River terraces and river bottoms seem to have been the favorite places for these earth-works. In such localities, the natural advantages of the country could be made available with much less trouble than in portions of the country lying at a distance from water-courses. In Wisconsin, therefore, as in other parts, the same general idea of selecting points contiguous to the principal natural thoroughfares is found to have prevailed with the Mound-Builders ; for their works are seen in the basin of the Fox river of the Illinois, in that of Rock river and its branches, in the valley of Fox river of Green bay, in that of the Wisconsin, as well as near the waters of the Mississippi.
While a few circumvallations and immense mounds, such as are common to certain other portions of the United States, are discoverable in Wisconsin, yet by far the largest number of earthworks have one peculiarity not observable, except in a few instances, outside the State. This characteristic is a very striking one The fact is revealed that they are imitative in form- resembling beasts, reptiles, birds, fish, man. All these, for convenience, are usually classed under the general name of "animal mounds," although some are in the similitude of trees, some of war clubs, others of tobacco pipes. Generally, these figures are in groups, though sometimes they are seen alone. For what purpose these earth-works were heaped up-they rise above the surface two, four, and sometimes six feet-or what particular uses they were intended to subserve, is unknown. It is, however, safe to affirm that they had some significance. A number resemble the bear; a few, the buffalo; others, the raccoon. Lizards, turtles, and even tadpoles, are out- lined in the forms of some. The war eagle, and the war club has each its representative. All this, of course, could not have been a mere happening-the work of chance. The sizes of these mounds are as various as their forms. One near Cassville, in Grant county, very complete in its representation of an animal, supposed to be of the elephant species, was found, upon measure- ment, to have a total length of one hundred and thirty-five feet. Another in Sauk county, quite perfect in its resemblance to the form of a man, was of equal length-a veritable colossus ; prone, it is true, and soon to disappear, if it has not already been destroyed, by ravages of a superior civilization.
In portions of Wisconsin, as well as in a few places outside the State, are found earth-works of another kind, but quite as remarkable as the "animal mounds," which, from their supposed use, have been styled "garden beds." They are ridges, or beds, about six inches in height and four feet in width, ranged, with much apparent method, in parallel rows, sometimes rectangular in shape, sometimes of various but regular and symmetrical curves, and occupying fields of from ten to a hundred acres.
The Mound-Builders have left many relics, besides their earthworks, to attest their presence in Wisconsin in ages past. Scattered widely are found stone and copper axes, spear-heads, and arrow-heads, also various other implements-evidently their handiwork. As these articles are frequently discovered many feet beneath the surface, it argues a high antiquity for the artificers. Whether they had the skill to mould their copper implements is doubtful. Such as plainly show the work of hammering, indicate an art beyond that possessed by the Red men who peopled America upon its first discovery by Europeans. In a few instances, fragments of human skulls have been found so well preserved as to enable a comparison to be drawn bet. een the crania of
21
THE INDIAN TRIBES OF WISCONSIN.
this ancient race and those of modern ones; the results, however, of these comparisons throw little, if any, light upon "the dark backward and abysm " of mound-building times.
The evidences of an extinct people of superior intelligence is very strikingly exhibited in the ancient copper mines of the Lake Superior region. Here are to be found excavations in the solid rock; heaps of rubble and dirt; copper utensils fashioned into knives, chisels, and spear and arrow-heads; stone hammers; wooden bowls and shovels; props and levers for raising and supporting the mass copper; and ladders for ascending and descending the pits. These mines were probably worked by people not only inhabiting what is now the State of Wisconsin, but territory farther to the southward. The copper was here obtained, it is believed, which has been found in many places, even as far away as the northern shore of the Gulf of Mexico, wrought into various implements and utensils. But there are no traces in Wisconsin of a " copper age " succeeding a " stone age," discernadle in any prehistoric relics. They all refer alike to one age-the indefinite past ; to one people-the Mound-Builders.
II .- THE INDIAN TRIBES OF WISCONSIN.
When, as early, it is believed, as 1634, civilized man first set foot upon the territory now included within the boundaries of Wisconsin, he discovered, to his surprise, that upon this wide area met and mingled clans of two distinct and wide-spread families-the Algonquins and Sioux. The tribes of the former, moving westward, checked the advance of the latter in their excursions eastward. As yet there had been no representatives of the Huron-Iroquois seen west of Lake Michigan-the members of this great family, at that date dwelling in safety in the extensive regions northward and southward of the Erie and Ontario lakes. Already had the French secured a foot-hold in the extensive valley of the St. Lawrence; and, naturally enough, the chain of the Great Lakes led their explorers to the mouth of Green bay, and up that water- course and its principal tributary, Fox river, to the Wisconsin, an affluent of the Mississippi. On the right, in ascending this bay, was seen, for the first time, a nation of Indians, lighter in complexion than neighboring tribes, and remarkably well formed, now well known as the MENOMONEES.
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