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ومر تز + أي
1800
Glass
Book.
& PO
THE
HISTORY
OF
DODGE COUNTY,
WISCONSIN,
CONTAINING
A HISTORY OF DODGE COUNTY, ITS EARLY SETTLEMENT, GROWTH, DEVELOPMENT, RESOURCES, ETC., ETC., AN EXTENSIVE AND MINUTE SKETCH OF ITS CITIES, TIIEIR IMPROVEMENTS, INDUSTRIES, MANUFACTORIES, CHURCHES, SCHOOLS, SOCIETIES, ETC., ETC., WAR RECORD, BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES, PORTRAITS OF PROMINENT MEN AND EARLY SETTLERS, ETC., ETC., ETC .; ALSO HISTORY OF WISCONSIN, CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES AND . OF WISCONSIN, CONDENSED ABSTRACT OF LAWS OF WISCONSIN, MISCELLA- NEOUS, ETC., ETC.
ILLUSTRATED.
CHICAGO :
WESTERN HISTORICAL COMPANY. MDCCCLXXX.
40185 204.
PREFACE.
The history of Dodge County is one which contains many features identical with the history of Wisconsin, the preservation of which is essential to the truthful record of the State's life. The publishers of this volume have fully appreciated that fact and have so arranged the order of compilation as to give each prominent characteristic due place.
There is no effort herein to reach literary excellence, but rather a decided attempt to capt- ure vagrant items of interest, and weave them together upon the thread of system. Many men will say that their own acts are not sufficiently expatiated upon, or commensurate credit given certain friends of theirs ; but the publishers have not aimed merely to please individuals. The work engaged in by them was of a higher nature. They have concentrated records for benefit of posterity, rather than for the selfish gratification of the vanity of certain parties.
In this volume, we believe we have given the present generation an invaluable reflex of the times and deeds of pioneer days, and to those pioneer men and women a monument far more lasting than cold marble. In order to be accurate, we have sent proofs of every page herein published to competent citizens of Dodge County, which they have corrected and approved.
The compilers desire to express their sense of obligation to the Press, the Pulpit and the Pioneers, for the cordial co-operation, and also to venture the hope that the product of their labors may not prove unacceptable.
It would be impossible to name all the individuals who have aided us in the preparation of this work, but it would be an injustice to not particularly thank HIRAM BARBER, Esq., of Hor- icon ; LUTHER A. COLE, Esq., of Watertown; Hon. E. C. LEWIS and RICHARD MERTZ, Esq., of Juneau; Hon. H. W. LANDER, Hon. D. C. GOWDEY, Hon. B. F. SHERMAN, THOMAS HUGHES, Esq., S. P. K. LEWIS, Esq., and J. E. HOSMER, Esq., of Beaver Dam ; Hon. BEN- TAMIN FERGUSON, G. W. BROWER, Esq., and J. L. BROWER, Esq., of Fox Lake; Hon. W. C. WHITFORD, State Superintendent of Public Instruction, and particularly to the officers of the 'State Historical Society, of Madison, for access to and copies of their valuable collection of historical books, newspaper clippings, correspondence, manuscripts, etc., etc.
THE PUBLISHERS.
CULVER, PAGE, HOYNE & CO., PRINTERS, CHICAGO.
.
CONTENTS.
HISTORY OF WISCONSIN.
PAGE.
Antiquities .... 19
Indian Tribes 21
Township System .. .146
Free Iligh Schools. 147
Wisconsin Territory. 41
Wisconsin as a State .. 52 52
First Administration.
Second Administration ... 57 59
Tlord Administration
Fourth Administration ... 62
Female Colleges .. 150 Fifth Administration .. 64
Academies and Seminaries
151
Sixth Administration,
Seventli Administration
67 69 TG
Agriculture ... 151 War of Secession Commenced ..
Mineral Resources 162 Eiglitlı Administration.
Ninth Administration.
Lead and Zinc .. 162
Statistics of Volunteers. 90 Iron 165 Drainage 232
Tenth Administration ... 92 ('opper ... 168 Eleventh Administration. 93 Gold and Silver Climatology .232 Isotherms 168 234 Rain Character 233 Brick Clays. 168
Twelfth Administration. 91
Thirteenth Administration. 07
Fourteenth Administration. 99
Fifteenth Administration 104 Sixteenth Administration. 109
Topography and Geology 110
The Archaan Age ... 112
Palcozoic Time-Silurian Age 115
11
Glacial Period
120
Climatology ...
121
Trees, Shrubs and Vines ..
128
134
Fish and Fish Culture .. 134
Large Animals-Time of their Dis:]- pearance ...
Mineral Point ..
State Hospital for the Insane .. 242
Northern Hospital for the Insane. .243
City of Milwaukee. 243
183
Health Resorts ..
044
183
Change of Diseases
240
Pulmonary Diseases 248
Conclusion. 184 Statistics 249
141 Lumber 185
191
Commerce and Manufactures ..
.198
State University ..
143
Agricultural College 144 Enrs .. 199 Nativity by Counties. .259
Normal Schools.
144
Lead and Zinc-Irun ....
200
Valuation of Property.
.260
Lumber.
201
Teachers' Institutes
146
Grain
202
Graded Schools
146
Commerce and Manufactures :
Pink and Beef .. 203
School Offices 147 Hops ... 204
State Teachers' Certificates 1447
Tobacco-Cranberries. 2015
Liquors ...
205
Miscellaneous. 206
Water Powers 206
Conclusion ..
208
The Public Domain. 210
230
Geographical Position. Physical Features Geology 231
230
Barometrical 234
Winds 235
Climatological Changes from Settling in the State 235 Influence of Nationalities .237 Occupations-Food-Education, etc. .238
Ratio of Sickness, Ft. Howard and Win- nehagu .. 239
Milwaukee, Lake Shore & Western. 180
Green Bay & Minnesota 1×1
Wisconsin Valley I81
182
138 Madison & Portage 182
Peculiarities of the Bird Fauna. .139 North Wisconsin. 183 Educational . 140
Original School Code ...
140
Agitation for Free Schools
141
Narrow Gauge.
183
Population, 1875, of Townships, Alpha-
Detically Arranged by Counties .....
219
Population by Counties. 258
Acreage of Principal Crops.
.261, 262
ABSTRACT OF WISCONSIN STATE LAWS.
PAGE.
Actions. ..........
Elections and General Elections .. .263
Arrest 2×3 Estrays ... 279
Attachment. .2×4 Exemptions .284
Marks and Brands 281
Adoption of ('hildren. 276 Fences 280 Married Women ... 2×3
Assignment of Mortgage .. .274
Forms of Conveyances
273
Stay Law .. 284
Forms of Mortgages 274 Surveyors and Surveys
284 Support of Poor. 282
Suggestions to Persons Purchasing Books by Subscription .. 285
Title of Real Property by Descent. 275
Intoxicating Liqoors. 271 Weights and Measures. 278
Judgments. 284 Wills. 276
Juristliction of Courts 277
Wolf Scalps 278
MISCELLANEOUS.
PAGE.
Wisconsin State Constitution. .....
.. 287
Vote of Wisconsin for Governor and Presi-
Population of the State ..
U. S. Constitution ..
.297
dent ..... 306-307
PAGE.
PAGE ..
Landlord and Tenant .. 28]
Limitation of Actions. 255
Assessment and Collection of Taxes 267 Assessment of Taxes. 268 Garnishment ..
Bills of Exchange or Promissory Notes ... 272
Highways and Bridges. 270
Hours of Labor
273
Capital Punishment. 278 Interest 277
Collection of Taxes .270 Commercial Terms 285 Common Schools 266
Damages for Trespass 2-9 Jurors. 278
PAGE.
PAGE.
Educational :
Teachers' Associations .. 148
Libraries 148
State Superintendents. 148
College Sketches.
149
Mannfactures
208
Commercial Schools 151 Health 230
Cement Rock
170
Limestone-Glass Sand 171
Peat-Building Stones. 172
Railroads 173
Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul, 173
Chicago & Northwestern .. 176
Wisconsin Central .. 178 Ilistory of Disease ... .238
Devonian Age ...
Western Union .. 179 West Wisconsin .. ISO
Sheboygan & Fond du Lac. .181 State Prison. 242
Education of the Blind. 241 Institute of Deaf and Dumb ... 241 Industrial School for Boys. 242
Faunn ...
School System under State Govern- ment ...
School Fund Income .142 Banking ..
Prairie du Chien & McGregor
Chippewa Falls & Western
PAGE.
PAOE. 308
.282
" Borrowed Money 267
Dairy Products 203 Pre-Territorial Annals. 29
iv
CONTENTS.
HISTORY OF DODGE COUNTY.
PAGE. 1
CHAPTER I .- Introductory, Topography, Geological Formatione, Glacial, Springs and Wells, Water Power, Iron Depos- its, Physical Geography, Earth Mounds, Indian Occupancy, The Black Hawk War, United States Surveys and Land Sales .. 309 CHAPTER II .- Early Settlement, Organi- zatiou, Names of County Officials, Au Interesting Letter from Jamee A. Warren, Territorial Government, Con- stitutional Conventions, State Govern- ment, Congressional. 321
CHAPTER III .- Political Geography, Horicon Dam Controversy, County Poor Farm, Honorable Mention, Illus- trious Dead, Relics of the Eighteenth Century, First Land Eutry, Etc., A Fourth of July Celebration, Some Sta- tistics, The Great Indian Scare ........... 341
CHAPTER IV .- The County-Seat Contro- versy, Burning of the Records, The New Court House, The Abstract Office, A Case of Embezzlement, Dodge County Agricultural Society, Health of the County, Ancient Relice, Dodge in the War .. 359
CHAPTER V .- Journalism in Dodge County ; Railroade, The Fond du Lac, Amiboy & l'eoria ; Dodge County Bible Society, The Schoole; Towos, Portland, Elba, Calamus, Westford, Fox Lake, Shields, Lowell, Beaver Dam, Trenton, Emmet, Clyman, Oak Grove, Burnett, Chester, Lebanon, Hustisford, Hub- hard, Williemstown, Le Roy, Ashippun, Rubicon, Herman, Theresa, Lomira ... 384
PAGE.
CHAPTER VI .- BEAVER DAM-The Gar- den City, Ite History from the Pens and Tonguee of Early Settlers, Growth, Manufactures, The Aborigines, Burst- ing of the Dam, Conflegrations, The Post Office, Hotels, Steamboats, Govero- ment, Schools, Churches, The Vita Spring, Banks, Perry's Car Coupler, Public Halls, The Race Course, The Fire Department, Societies, The New City Hall, Cemeteries 414
CHAPTER VII .- Fox LAKE-The Parent Settlement, Permanent Improvement, Organization and Village Roster, Early Settlers, The Post Office, Hotels, The Railroad, Baoks, Schools, Churches, Societies, the Old Settlers' Club, The Leke, Growth 465
CHAPTER VIII .- IIonICON-An Ancient Indian Village, First Settlement by the Whites, Graphic Peo Pictures by a Lady Resident, Permanent Growth, Manu- factories, the Railroads, The Churchee, Secret and Other Societies, The Post Office, Hotels, Cuafisgrations, Disasters on Horicon Lake, Government ......... 477
CHAPTER IX .- WAUPUN-First Settle- meut, Meaning of the word Waupuo, First Events, Growth of Waupun, Vil- lage and City Officers, 1857-1879, A Reminiscence, Churches, Waupon a Quarter of & Century Ago, Secret So- cietiee, Wanpun Pioneers, Manufac- tories, Banks, Old Settlers' Club, Wau- pun Library Association, Wisconsin State Prison, Waupun & Dozen Years Ago, Waupun Fire Company No. 1,
PAOE.
Dodge County Mutual Insurance Com- pany, A Contrast, Waupun Schools, The Post Office, Waupon Agricultural and Mechanical Association, Ceme- teries, Public Halls, Hotels, Fun in the Olden Time 492
CHAPTER X .- WATERTOWN-First Set- tlement, Timothy Johasoa's Narrative, The First Location in Dodge County, Luther A. Cole's Reminiscence, Growth of Watertown, Pioneers, Schools, Re- ligions, Manufactories, Hotele, Banks, Fire Department, Post Office, Sucieties, Government, Newspapers ....... 530 CHAPTER XI .- VILLAOES-Juneau, the County Seat; Town and Village Gov- ernment, The Post Office, the Public Schools, The Churches, Societies, Hotels, Manufactories; Hustisford, Early Settlement, Schools, Churchee, Manufactories, Professional Men, Hotels, Merchants, Miscellaneous ; Oak Grove, Giving it a Name, Post Office, Growth, Schools, Religione, Temperance ... 538
CHAPTER XII .- VILLAGES - Randolph, The First Deed, Government, First Thinge, Post Office, Manufactories, Hotels, Newspapers, Schools, Exports, Churches, Societies; Mayville, In- ducemente to Settlers, Post Office, Schools, Churches, Hotels, Societies, Mercantile, Village Government; Woodland, Reeseville, Irou Ridge, Burnett Junction, Rubicou, Portland, Neosho, Lowell, Daoville, Minnesota Junction 554
PAGE.
PAGE.
PAGE.
Allard, G. G .. 667
Eastman, Samuel 469
Ferguson, Benjamin 487
Rose, S. L.
414
Hawka, Eli 523
Rowell, J. S 613
Beers, George II. 361
Burtch, A 451
Chandler, G. W 595
Davis, John W 433
McFetridge, E. C. 577 Williams, J. J. 559
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
PAGE.
PAGE.
PAOE.
Ashippun 760
Hubbard
Rubicon ... 756
Hostisford. 723
Le Roy.s. 677
Trenton .. 710
Calamus. 6:3
Lomira 672
Theresa 681
Cly man 719 Elba 745
Lebanon 764
Waupon City 618
Lowell 733 Westford 687
Emmet, including Watertown 665
Oak Grove. 602 Williamstown 643
Fox Lake. 698
1
PORTRAITS.
Perry, J. W 631
Barber, Hiranı. 307 Billinghurst, Charlee. 325
Judd, Stoddard 343 Sloan, A. Scott 397
Lewis, E. C. 379 Swan, G. E 649
Lander, II. W. 541
Vao Brunt, D. C. 505
Herman .. 655 Portland 743 Beaver Dam 573 Burnett 748 676
Shields. 729 Chester 638
MAP OF DODGE Co.WIS.
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61
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LAC
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.
20
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 between the crania of
21
THE INDIAN TRIBES OF WISCONSIN.
this ancient race and those of modern ones; the results, however, of these comparisons throw iittle, 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.
This nation is of Algonquin stock, but their dialect differed so much from the surrounding tribes of the same family, it having strange guttural sounds and accents, as well as peculiar inflec- tions of verbs and other parts of speech, that, for a long time, they were supposed to have a distinct language. Their traditions point to an emigration from the East at some remote period. When first visited by the French missionaries, these Indians subsisted largely upon wild rice, from which they took their name. The harvest time of this grain was in the month of September. It grew spontaneously in little streams with slimy bottoms, and in marshy places. The harvesters went in their canoes across these watery fields, shaking the ears right and left as they advanced, the grain falling easily, if ripe, into the bark receptacle beneath. To clear it from chaff and strip it of a pellicle inclosing it, they put it to dry on a wooden lattice above a small fire, which was kept up for several days. When the rice was well dried, it was placed in a skin of the form of a bag, which was then forced into a hole, made on purpose, in the ground. They then tread it out so long and so well, that the grain being freed from the chaff, was easily winnowed. After this, it was pounded to meal, or left unpounded, and boiled in water seasoned with grease. It thus became a very palatable diet. It must not be inferred that this was the only food of the Menomonees; they were adepts in fishing, and hunted with skill the game which abounded in the forests.
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