The history of Jefferson county, Wisconsin, containing biographical sketches, Part 1

Author: Western historical company, Chicago, pub. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1879
Publisher: Chicago, Western historical company
Number of Pages: 714


USA > Wisconsin > Jefferson County > The history of Jefferson county, Wisconsin, containing biographical sketches > Part 1


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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-


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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.


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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