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THE 1
HISTORY
OF
JEFFERSON COUNTY,
WISCONSIN,
CONTAINING
A HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, ITS EARLY SETTLEMENT, GROWTH, DEVELOPMENT, RESOURCES, ETC., ETC., AN EXTENSIVE AND MINUTE SKETCH OF ITS CITIES, THEIR 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.
LIBRARY O
CONGRESS
1896
F WASHINGTON
-
CHICAGO :
WESTERN HISTORICAL COMPANY.
MDCCCLXXIX.
F391 ,J4 16
average. Hoynes is
PRINTERS 18 &120 MONROE ST( CHICAGO O
CONTENTS.
HISTORY OF WISCONSIN.
PAGE.
Antiquities 19
Educational :
Township System .. 146
Free High Schools ... 147
Wisconsin Territory 41
Wisconsin as a State 52
First Administration 52
Teachers' Associations.
148
Second Administration ... 57 Libraries
Third Administration 53 State Superintendents
Fourthi Administration 62 College Sketches. 149
Fifth Administration. 64 Sixth Administration.
Seventh Administration 67
War of Secession Commenced 69 Agriculture
Eighth Administration. 76 Physical Features. Mineral Resources. 162 230 Ninth Administration 85 Lead and Zinc. 162 [5] Statistics of Volunteers .. 90 Iron. 165 Drainage 232
Tenth Administration. 92 Copper.
Eleventh Administration 93
Twelfth Administration. 94
Brick Clays.
168
Thirteenth Administration 97
Cement Rock 170
171
172 Fifteenth Administration 104 Peat-Building Stones.
109
Topography and Geology
110
The Archieao Age. 112
Chicago & Northwestern 176 Paleozoic Time-Silurian Age 115
West Wisconsin ISO
Milwaukee, Lake Shore & Western. 180
Green Bay & Minnesota 181
Wisconsin Valley 18I Industrial School for Boys. .242
Sheboygan & Fond du Lac. .181 State Prison .242
Mineral Point.
State Hospital for the Insane. 212
Northern Hospital for the lusane. 243
City of Milwaukee
243
Educational 140
Prairie du Chien & McGregor.
183 Health Resorts 244
Chippewa Falls & Western 183 Change of Diseases. 246
183
Pulmonary Diseases 248
Statistics 249
Population, 1875, of Townships, Alpha-
beticully Arranged hy Counties ...
219
Population by Counties
.. 258
Nalivity by Counties.
259
Acreage of Principal Crops.
.. 261, 262
ABSTRACT OF WISCONSIN STATE LAWS.
PAGE.
Actions. 283
Elections and General Elections, .263
Estrays ... 279
Exemptions
.284
276 Marks And Brands. .281 Adoption of Children 280 Married Women. 283 Assignment of Mortgage 274 Feces
Assessment and Collection of Taxes 267
Forms of Mortgages. .274 Assessment of Taxes. .268
Garnishment .. .284
Support of Poor. .282
Suggestions to Persons Purchasing Books by Subscription ... 2×5
Title of Real Property by Descent .... 275 Weights and Measures 278
Wolf Scalps 278
MISCELLANEOUS.
PAGE.
Wisconsin State Constitution .. .............
.. 287
U. S. Constitution ..... ... 297
dent. .. 306-307
PAGE.
Vote of Wisconsin for Governor and Presi-
Population of the State
........
PAGE. . 308
Dairy Products. 203 Pork and Beef .. .203
School Offices .. 147 Hops. 204
Tobacco-Cranberries. .205
Liquors 205
Miscellaneous.
206
Water Powers.
206
Mannfactures.
208
Conclusion ..
208
151 The Public Domain
151 Health 230
Geographical Position 230 Geology 23I
Climatology 232 Rain Character .233
Isotliermis
234
Barometrical 223.1
Climatological Changes from Settling in the State. 235 Influence of Nationalities .. 237 Occupations-Food-Education, etc ...... 238 Ilistory of Disease .... 23x
Ratio of Sickness, Ft. Howard and Win-
nebago
.239
Education of the Blind. 241 Institute of Deaf and Dumb.
Fauna.
134
Fish and Fish Culture ..
.134
Large Animals-Time of their Disap- pearance
Peculiarities of the Bird Fauna ..... .139 North Wisconsin 183
Original School Code ... 140 Agitation for Free Schools .141 Narrow Gauge
Conclusion.
184
School System under State Govern- ment ... 141 Lumber 185
School Fund Income. 142 Bankiog .. 191
Commerce and Manufactures. 198 State University Furs 199 143 Agricultural College .144 Normal Schools 144
Lead and Zinc-Iron ...
200
Valuation of Property ..
260
Lumber. 201 Teachers' Institutes 146
Graded Schools 146 Grain 202
PAGE.
PAGE.
Commerce and Manufactures :
Indian Tribes 21 Pre-Territorial Aonals.
State Teachers' Certificates. 147
148
148
Female Colleges. 150
Academies and Seminaries.
Commercial Schools
Winds.
235
Sixteenthi Administration.
Railroads 173
Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul. 173
Wisconsin Central 178 Devonian Age. 119
121
Climatology.
Trees, Shrubs and Vines. 198
Western Union .. 179 Glacial Period. 120
168 !
Gold and Silver
1681
Fourteenth Administration 99
Limestone-Glass Sand ..
Forms of Conveyances.
273
Stay Law.
28-1
Surveyors and Surveys 282
Bills of Exchange or Promissory Notes. 272
Highways aod Bridges .270 Borrowed Money 267
Capital Punishment .278 Interest
277
Collection of Taxes. .270 Commercial Terms .285
Intoxicating Liquors. 271
Judgments .. 284 Wills 270
Common Schools 266 Jurisdiction of Courts 277 Damages for Trespass. 279 Jurors. 278 :
PAGE.
PAGF
Limitation of Actions. 285
Attachment .. 284
Landlord and Tenant. .281 Arrest. .283
Hours of Labor
273
182
138 Madison & Portage. 182
iv
CONTENTS.
HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY.
PAGE.
Topography 309
Elevations 310
Water-Power of Rock River. 312
Springs 312
An Ancient Mariner. 404 Artesian Wells. 313
Geological 315
First Deed. 405
Growth of Watertown
Press First Settlers 318 405 Political Geography. 406 Schools
County as Represented on Early Maps
.. 319
Mound-Builders
319
Indian Occupancy.
.321
Black Hawk War. .324
United States Surveys and Land Sales .33}
General History.
Early Settlement 333
" The Ancient City "
Ilebron .....
335
Johoson's Migrations, etc
336
Fort Atkinson
339
Aztalan
.342
Lake Mills ..
346
Jefferson
347
Ixonia 348
Incidents of Pioneer Life ... .349
Wolves, Indians aod Trials.
349
Historical Facts
351
County Roster.
.351
County Buildings.
353
Criminal Causes ..
The Tempest's Track
.360
City's Indebtedness. 454
.464 Railroads
466 Water 458 Palmyra. .464
Landmarks
.464
Historical Items. 464 Lake Mills.
Cemeteries.
465
376 Jefferson 46G Aztalan ...
Original Settlement 466 Growth and Iniprovemeuts. 466 Town of Milford .. 566
396 Location of County Seat .. 468 Town of Ixonia 56G
Town of Oakland
567
472 | Town of Sumner. 567
Relics of the Red Race 567
PORTRAITS.
PAGE.
Blumenfeld, D
.415
Buchheit, William 433
Caswell, L. B.
.. 379
Rogan, Patrick. .. 326
Colonis, Henry .487 Ernst, Ang F 595 Clapp. J. D .... 523 Rogan, James .. .343 Green, Walt. S 631 Smith, Adams .. 469
Curtis, D. W .. 505
Hake, W. H.
649
Curtis, S. S.
.361
Stoppenbach, Charles. .703
Winslow, Joseph 559
Willard. II. B GS5
White, R. S
669
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHIES.
PAGE.
PAGE.
Palmyra.
653
Sullivan. 664
.. 674 Lake Mills. .701
Farmington 721 Milford .726 Hlebron. 727 Oakland 704 Ixonia
717
PAOE.
Luther A. Cole .402
A Mild Revenge .403
An Unequal Struggle 403
Banks. 483
Societies 484
Religious 485
Cemetery
491
492
495 Institute .. 496
Fort Atkinson 498
Early History. 498
501
The City's Progress 502
The Mormons. 502 Horse-Thieves. .502
The First Training. 502
Banks
.508
Manufacturing. 508
Societies. 510
Schools. 512
Press.
514
Post Office.
516
Churches
517
Cemetery
Town of Sullivan.
519
Town of Farmington
529 536
Hebron and its Surroundings
543
557
War Record.
377
Political History.
Watertown.
.. 400
Timothy Johnson. 40I
401
Fire Department.
475
Water-Power ..
Manufactories ..
476 477
Cole, J. W. .397 Ostrander, J. W
PAGE.
Jones, Thomas C
.. 613
Cody, James.
.451
Cole, Luther A
307
PAGE.
Aztalan
.. 724
Jefferson .637 ('old Spring. ... ... 678 Concord
Koshkonung 687
Sumner 711
Waterloo
.682
Watertown City .. 597
Watertown Township. .633
527
Teachers
.367
Dairymen's Association ..
.369
Agricultural Society
369
.538 Agricultural Productions
Agricultural Statistics, 1865-77.
Town Government.
441
The Village. 445
Incorporation ..
446
430
Banks
430
Hotels.
431
Fire Department. 432 Items of Interest. 502
Post Office .. .435 Town Meetings .. 504
Public Halls.
436 Village Roster .. 507
" Der Viehmarkt " 437 City Roster. .507
Secret and Other Societies 437
Musical and Singing Societies-Band .... 440
Local Militia ..
441
Government.
441
429
Water-Power
'Manufactories
424
Gas Company. 429 Bridge
Grain Elevators
Press 410 Post Office. 497
Churches
418
Schools .
407
First Death and First Birth 405
Climatology 318
.333
.. 335
The Fighting Finch Family.
Schools, Resources, Population, etc ..
.. 355 Location 454
519
Town and Village of Cold Spring ..
Waterloo .561
Official Roster and Town Organization .. 471 Village Charter ..
A Difficult Voyag-
PAGE
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Co1
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
IIISTORY 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 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.
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.
For many years after their discovery, the Menomonees had their homes and hunting
22
HISTORY OF WISCONSIN.
grounds upon, or adjacent to, the Menomonee river. Finally, after the lapse of a century and a quarter, down to 1760, when the French yielded to the English all claims to the country, the territory of the Menomonees had shifted somewhat to the westward and southward, and their principal village was found at the head of Green bay, while a smaller one was still in existence at the mouth of their favorite stream. So slight, however, had been this change, that the country of no other of the surrounding tribes had been encroached upon by the movement.
In 1634, the Menomonees probably took part in a treaty with a representative of the French, who had thus early ventured so far into the wilds of the lake regions. More than a score of years elapsed before the tribe was again visited by white men,-that is to say, there are no authentic accounts of earlier visitations. In 1669, Father René Menard had penetrated the Lake Superior country as far, at least, as Kewenaw, in what is now the northern part of Michigan, whence some of his French companions probably passed down the Menomonee river to the waters of Green bay the following year ; but no record of the Indians, through whose territory they passed, was made by these voyagers. Ten years more-1670-brought to the Menomonees (who doubtless had already been visited by French fur-traders) Father Claudius Allouez, to win them to Christianity. He had previously founded a mission upon the bay of Chegoimegon, now Chaquamegon, or Ashland bay, an arm of Lake Superior, within the present State of Wisconsin, in charge of which, at that date, was Father James Marquette. Proceeding from the " Sault" on the third of November, Allouez, early in December, 1669, reached the mouth of Green bay, where, on the third, in an Indian village of Sacs, Pottawattamies, Foxes and Winnebagoes, containing about six hundred souls, he celebrated the holy mass for the first time upon this new field of his labors, -eight Frenchmen, traders with the Indians, whom the missionary found there upon his arrival, taking part in the devotions. His first Christian work with the Menomonees was performed in May of the next year. Allouez found this tribe a feeble one, almost exterminated by war. He spent but little time with them, embarking, on the twentieth of that month, after a visit to some Pottawattamies and Winnebagoes, "with a Frenchman and a savage to go to Sainte Mary of the Sault." His place was filled by Father Louis André, who, not long after, erected a cabin upon the Menomonee river, which, with one at a village where his predecessor had already raised the standard of the cross, was soon burned by the savages ; but the missionary, living almost con- stantly in his canoe, continued for some time to labor with the Menomonees and surrounding . tribes. The efforts of André were rewarded with some conversions among the former ; for Mar- quette. who visited them in 1673, found many good Christians among them.
The record of ninety years of French domination in Wisconsin-beginning in June, 1671, and ending in October, 1761-brings to light but little of interest so far as the Menomonees are concerned. Gradually they extended their intercourse with the white fur traders. Gradually and with few interruptions (one in 1728, and one in 1747 of a serious character) they were drawn under the banner of France, joining with that government in its wars with the Iroquois ; in its contests, in 1712, 1729, 1730, and 1751, with the Foxes ; and. subsequently, in its conflicts with the English.
The French post, at what is now Green Bay, Brown county, Wisconsin, was, along with the residne of the western forts, surrendered to the British in 1760, although actual possession of the former was not taken until the Fall of the next year. The land on which the fort stood was claimed by the Menomonees. Here, at that date, was their upper and principal village, the lower one being at the mouth of the Menomonee river. These Indians soon became reconciled to the English occupation of their territory, notwithstanding the machinations of French traders who endeavored to prejudice them against the new comers. The Menomonees, at this time, were very much reduced, having, but a short time previous, lost three hundred of their warriors
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