USA > Wisconsin > Columbia County > A history of Columbia County, Wisconsin : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people, and its principal interests > Part 27
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IMPROVEMENT OF SOUTHERN WISCONSIN POWER COMPANY
The great improvement under the control of the Southern Wisconsin Power Company at Kilbourn is the direct outcome of the old dam built by the Wisconsin River Hydraulic Company in the late '50s. The founder of the first water power and of Kilbourn was ruined by the destruction of the first dam by the infuriated lumbermen in 1859, and as the company had borrowed heavily from Byron Kilbourn, of Mil- waukee, president of the LaCrosse & Milwaukee Railroad, and the chief Wisconsin promoter of his day, all of its property at the river and in the village passed into Mr. Kilbourn's hands.
No attempt was made to repair the dam until 1866, when the Kil- bourn Manufacturing Company was incorporated for the purpose of utilizing the water power and developing manufactories on the eastern shore and Mr. Kilbourn made over to that corporation all his rights in that section of the improvement which he had obtained from the old Hydraulic Company. This corporation was largely financed by Mr. Kil- bourn, although his name did not appear in the list of incorporators. Vol. 1-17
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It was anthorized to raise the dam a sufficient height to complete the water power, not exceeding three feet above the low water mark of the river, which was considered safe for the passage of the lumber rafts. During the summer of that year the dam was raised about two feet, but this did not prevent the lumber interests from attempting to stop the work through the courts. Before the contention was settled, Byron Kilbourn died, and Byron H. Kilbourn, son of the deceased, obtained his father's interest in the new dam, as well as his real estate in Kilbonrn City. The younger Kilbourn and others completed a large mill on the east side of the river in 1872, and the Kilbourn Manufacturing Com- pany reconstrueted the dam so as to meet the continued objections of the lumbermen, but the spring freshet of 1872 gonged out the river
POWER DAM AT HIGH WATER, KILBOURN
banks below, and there was more trouble for the courts. In 1874 the United States Court assessed damages both on the Kilbourn Manufactur- ing Company and the mill company. The latter was let out of the diffi- culty by going up in flames during the fall after the spring verdict. The lumbermen had already purchased the west side of the dam of Mr. Kilbourn, and in June, 1876, they obtained possession of the other half.
The present mill was erected by E. D. Munger in 1883 and conducted by him about thirteen years. The dam went ont in 1889 and the mill was idle until Wilmot put in a new one in the winter of 1893-94. In 1896 the center pier of this structure was swept down the river. The "im- provement" remained in status quo until 1905, when the water-power
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was sold to the Southern Wisconsin Power Company. Preparations were at once made for a modern plant commensurate with the splendid natural advantages offered at Kilbourn. Work on the present improve- ment was finally begun in 1907 and the entire plant-dam, power house and all-was "opened for business" in August, 1909.
The general management of the controlling company consists of Magnus Swenson, Madison, president and general manager; E. J. B. Schubring, secretary ; G. C. Neff, Kilbourn City, superintendent.
An authoritative description of the hydro-electric development at Kilbourn, which is one of the great public works within the limits of Columbia County, was prepared by the Engineering Record, a publi- cation of national repute. From its description, published the month after the work was completed, the following is condensed :
"The Southern Wisconsin Power Company has placed in operation recently a 600-kw hydro-electric development on the Wisconsin River, near Kilbourn, Wis. About 84,000 kw-hours per day will be delivered from this development over a 70-mile transmission line extending to a connection with the system of the Milwaukee Electric Railway & Light Company at Watertown, Wis. The latter company will transmit the current about 50 miles to its distribution center in Milwaukee, thus making the total transmission distance at high voltage over 120 miles. The new plant will be operated in parallel with the existing steam stations of the Milwaukee Electric Railway & Light Company. Considerable power also will be sold locally and along the transmission line. It is proposed to increase the capacity of the plant later, since additional power can be obtained at the site during many entire years, and for most of the time every year.
"The character of the Wisconsin River is such that this stream is one of the most favorable in the Middle West for power development. The drainage basin above the site at Kilbourn covers approximately 7,800 square miles that contain numerous lakes and large tracts of sandy country, while most of it is wooded .. A steady run-off with a compara- tively limited variation between the minimum and the flood flows is con- sequently produced. The ordinary minimum flow is between 4000 and 5000 cu. ft. per second, and flood discharges of 40,000 to 45,000 cu. ft. per second may be expected most years, with an exceptional volume of upwards of 80,000 cu. ft. per second at long intervals. The minimum and maximum conditions are usually of comparatively short duration, however, and the average flow is well maintained.
"The development is at a 90-deg. bend in the river, where a series of rapids formerly existed. A dam has been built across the channel, which was about 350 ft. wide at the site, to develop a head of 17 ft. The
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power house, with its head-race and penstocks is in an excavation made in solid rock on the left-hand, or east bank of the stream, entirely outside of the channel. With the head, volume of water and pondage available, the present generating equipment can be operated throughout the year on a 10-hour or 14-hour basis, and during most of the year the flow is such that much more power can be developed. Hence, the installation of the proposed additional units is quite desirable, since the existing dam is sufficient to provide for them, and the expense involved in extending the headworks would be relatively small. At the same time these units would be of advantage as reserve. Furthermore, not only can all of the equipment of an enlarged plant be operated much of the year, but the existing steam plants in Milwaukee also are available for auxiliary power during periods of low flow.
"At the site the stream flows through a continuous formation of Potsdam sandstone, the bed and both banks being of this material. The original depth of the river at the site of the dam ranged from 25 to 35 ft., and its width was 350 ft., with both banks rising straight up to a height of 50 to 70 ft. from the edge of the water. These conditions, com- bined with the large volume of flood discharge, required the full width of the channel to be utilized at a spillway. The power house therefore had to be placed in the excavation in one bank, where it is protected from flood. This location of the power house at the angle of the bend of the stream also secured considerable advantage in head by separating the tail-races from the discharge over the spillway. At the same time it permitted the construction of the power house and head-works to be handled in the dry back of the cofferdam without reference to the flow of the river.
"The dam across the river is a concrete structure on a rock-fill timber- crib base. It has a total length of 400 ft., extending from a wide abut- ment wall adjoining the head works of the power house to an abutment built into the rock face of the opposite bank, and rises to a maximum height of 55 ft. above the bed of the stream. The timber-crib construc- tion was adopted for the base because the conditions presented by the depth of the stream, the sandstone bedrock, the volume of water con- fined between the narrow banks and a velocity 3 to 4 ft. a second in the channel rendered it impracticable to build any ordinary type of cofferdam to nnwater even part of the site. This crib work, which is 154 ft. wide parallel to the channel, was constructed in place. The con- crete dam, 48.5 ft. wide at the bottom, stands on the upstream end of the crib; the balance of the width of the latter provides an apron that receives the water discharged over the spillway.
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"In order to provide means of handling the flow of the river, the crib was built in two approximately equal parts, the first extending from the west bank to about midstream, and the second closing the gap. The midstream side of the first one of the two parts in which the timber base was built and the downstream end of the base are of the same construc- tion as the portion on which the concrete superstructure stands. The space enclosed in each part by the cribs around the three sides and the bank on the fourth side is filled with sand up to 10 ft. below the ordi- nary level of the water below the dam, which placed it at least 8 ft. below the minimum stage.
"The concrete superstructure of the dam is built as a spillway, with its crest 6 ft. below the level at which the headwater in the pond above it will be maintained. Concrete piers placed 25 ft. 10 in. apart in the clear rise from this spillway to a height of 24 ft. above the latter, thus providing 12 large openings, with a total clear width of 300 ft., through which is passed all of the flow not utilized in the power house. Each of these openings contains a large vertical steel gate designed specially as a crest of adjustable height, by means of which the water above the dam will be held at the stage desired. The lowering of the gates also will permit flood flows to be passed without raising the level of the pond beyond certain limits.
"The penstocks and the power house of the development occupy to- gether an area 143.25 ft. wide by 191.5 ft. long at the downstream end of the head-race, and are in an excavation that is a continuation of the one made for the latter.
"The penstocks are 78 ft. long and extend 21 ft. inside the power house. They are covered 8 ft. above the ordinary level of water in the head-race with a tight reinforced concrete roof. The portion of the sub- structure of the power house not included in the penstocks also has tight reinforced concrete walls built to this height. The superstructure of the building is of pressed brick trimmed in stone and covered with a roof of red Ludowici tile carried by steel trusses. Skylights of glass tile placed in the roof provide, together with ample windows, good interior lighting.
"On the downstream side of the interior of the building is a gen- erator room, 34 ft. wide, that extends the full length of the building, with a clear height of 44 ft. under the roof trusses. The flat roof of the penstocks forms the floor of the balance of the building at the rear, with a clear height of 24 ft. between it and the roof trusses. On this floor are placed the transformers, switching connections, switchboards and various auxiliary apparatus of the plant.
"The waterwheels are of a modified McCormick type turbine, built and installed by the Wellman-Seaver-Morgan Company, of Cleveland,
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Ohio. Each main generator is driven by six 57-in. turbines arranged in pairs on a single horizontal shaft."
FIRST STEAMBOAT AT THE DELLS
Although the romantic beauties of the Dells were known and enjoyed in the '30s, it was not until forty years afterward that any special
STEAMBOAT AT DEVIL'S ELBOW, WISCONSIN DELLS
effort was made to accommodate sight-seers, who desired to view the wonders of which they had heard but were too timid to row the river. As early as 1835 the steamboat Frontier, Captain D. S. Harris, made a trip up the Wisconsin River as high as the Dells, but did not attempt to pass through. For some years afterward steamboats made occa- sional trips as high as that point.
In 1850 the Enterprise, Captain Gilbert, reached the Dells, tied up in the eddy overnight, and the next morning continued on through them
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and as high up the river as Point Bass. The boat afterward made two or three trips to the same point. .
But until the coming of the Modocawando, in 1873, boating through the Dells was always considered in the light of a rather fearful adven- ture, owing to the swiftness of the current in high water and the numer- ous sandbars, above and below the Dells, in low water. In the year mentioned Captain A. Wood brought that steamer down the river from Quincy, Wis., with the design of making regular trips through the Upper Dells. Captain Wood and Captain Walton McNeel made trips for several seasons, both through the Upper and Lower Dells, and a little later Captain Bell, with the even better known Dell Queen, made regular voyages through the Upper Dells for many years.
For years past the accommodations for the use of craft of every kind have been ample, with the result that every nook and cranny of the famous region has become an open book, but none the less charming to the visitor whether he be a newcomer or an old-timer.
BANKS AT KILBOURN
The crowds of summer visitors, or the local merchants and substantial farmers and dairymen of the surrounding country, have good banking accommodations in the Kilbourn State and the Farmers and Merchants. The former was organized as a private institution in 1884, with Perry G. Stroud, a leading lawyer of the county, as president, and Thomas B. Coon as cashier. Its capital was $10,000. In 1902 it was organized as the Kilbourn State Bank. Its capital is now $20,000, its surplus and undi- vided profits $24,278, and its deposits $491,069, with W. S. Stroud, of Portage, son of the founder, president ; L. N. Coapman, cashier.
The Farmers and Merchants State Bank was organized in Febru- ary, 1910. It has a capital of $20,000 and deposits of $200,000, with Robert D. Barney as president and Alban C. Tennison, cashier.
THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
Less than three weeks after Kilbourn City was named, Rev. Stewart Mitchell, of the declining Village of Newport, preached the first sermon delivered at that point. The date was June 29, 1856. Mr. Mitchell was the Presbyterian pastor at Newport, and felt that the newly platted village, with its promising water-power, its newspaper and other evi- dences of progress, would be a better field for his struggling society than his home town, where property was depreciating and the residents were
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dissatisfied, if not discouraged. In the fall of 1858 he came to reside, the first communion of the Kilbourn Society having been held in April. In 1861 the church had so grown that the need of a permanent house of worship was earnestly discussed, and during the early part of 1862 the building at Newport was taken down and the materials brought to Kil- bourn for erection in the summer.
But the people were in the midst of civil war horrors and per- plexities, times were uncertain, and funds for the building of the pro- posed church were diffienlt to obtain. While the enterprise thus hung in the balance, it was lifted by Mrs. Harriet T. Smith, of Milwaukee, and Editor Holly, of the Mirror, the former of whom donated funds and the latter a building site.
In August, 1863, the church building was dedicated during a meeting of the Winnebago Presbytery, at which time Mr. Mitchell resigned the pastorate on account of the ill health of his wife. The edifice now occupied was built under the pastorate of Rev. A. V. Gulick, in 1891. The church now has a membership of sixty and is in charge of Rev. Oliver E. Dewitt.
THE METHODISTS
The Methodist Episcopal Church was organized in 1857 by Rev. William Mullen, among its organizing members being Silas Merrill and wife, John Kneen and Harriet Peabody. Mr. Merrill was first class leader. After worshiping for a time in the old schoolhouse, the little society purchased a small dwelling house, which was fitted up for religious purposes. Next, the old schoolhouse again; then an old store, when a regular church building was commenced. While that was under way, the Methodists used the hall of the Kilbourn Institute, but on Sabbath, January 31, 1868, dedicated their new church. The present membership of the society is 122 and it is in charge of Rev. D. J. Ferguson.
ST. CECELIA (CATHOLIC) CHURCH
The Catholics organized as St. Cecelia Church in the late '50s, their first building being erected in 1859. It was a little frame structure, which was afterwards enlarged, and the parsonage was built in 1871. These met the requirements of the parishioners until 1903, when the present edifice and parsonage-substantial red brick buildings-were erected. Rev. Nicholas Hanert took charge in 1907, and 100 families are under his jurisdiction.
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OTHER RELIGIOUS BODIES
The German Lutherans dedicated a church in 1876; the Episcopalians bought the old schoolhouse in 1875 and reconstructed for church purposes in 1896; in 1872 the Congregationalists built a church, which the German Methodists bought in 1880.
CHAPTER XVII LODI VILLAGE
THE BEGINNINGS OF LODI-I. H. PALMER AND THE BARTHOLOMEWS-
REV. HENRY MAYNARD THE SUCKERS SETTLEMENT BECOMES FAMOUS-SETTLERS OF 1846-FIRST M. D. AND D. D .- OTHER PHY- SICIANS-SOUTH VS. NORTH, BEFORE THE WAR-I. H. PALMER FOUNDS LODI-PROGRESS OF LOCAL SCHOOLS-VILLAGE CHARTER- WATER SERVICE AND ELECTRIC LIGHTING-THE METHODIST CHURCH- THE BAPTIST CHURCH-LODI LODGES-BUSINESS HOUSES-BANKS OF LODI-HERBERT PALMER, SON OF LODI'S FOUNDER
Lodi is one of the prettiest villages in the county, advantageously situated on Spring Creek, a tributary of the Wisconsin River. Although its site and the surrounding country are broken and picturesque, the territory tributary to it is productive and prosperous. The consequence is that Lodi is both a good residence town and the center of a solid trade. It is the largest center of population on the Chicago & North Western Railway in the county and has adequate transportation and banking facilities for handling both local and tributary trade.
THE BEGINNINGS OF LODI
The early history of Lodi and the surrounding country is thus told by a pioneer of the place: "After the lapse of more than half a century from the first settlement of Lodi, a new generation has sprung up, and new faces are thronging our streets.
"To these, perhaps, a few reminiscences connected with the first set- tlement of this place may prove interesting. Today there is but a rem- nant left of those who first staked their all on what is now the town of Lodi. Soon these, too, will vacate their places.
"The land in this vicinity was surveyed by the United States Gov- ernment in 1833 and prior to 1835. The first entries from Government
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were made by what is known as the Western Land Company, organized in Washington in 1836, for speculative purposes. Among the members of this company were John P. Hale, W. H. Seward and Daniel Webster- . hence the name of Webster bluff.
"The land located for this company was done through agents and mostly from Government surveys, and was N. E. 1/4 of Section 33, known as the Dwinnell farm; N. W. 14 of Section 34, known as the Joe Riddle farm; the N. W. 14 of Section 27, known as the old Dunlap and Freye farm; the whole of Section 21, being the Chalfant and Narracong farms, the S. E. 14 of Section 20, the Frank Groves farm, and a few other forty acres in this town and some lands in West Point.
"The question may be asked why the high prairie land of the Dwinnell farm and some others were selected and the more desirable water powers along the creek were left vacant. The answer is, the creek was erroneously located on the Government plats, on Dunlap's hill. Then came the financial crash of 1837, the like of which our country has not experienced-no, not to this day.
I. H. PALMER AND THE BARTHOLOMEWS
"The first to spy out the natural advantages of this section were I. H. Palmer, a noted Nimrod of that period, who made frequent incursions into this region in pursuit of choice locations, venison and bear pelts, but principally the latter; and M. C. and G. M. Bartholomew, sons of General Bartholomew of MeClain County, Illinois, who represented the district in Congress in about 1824, and who distinguished himself in the Black Hawk War.
"These sons being bred to a pioneer life and fond of adventures, sought out this village for the purpose of making themselves a home, and securing a competence by the sweat of their brows, which failed to materialize (the competence), by selling calico, coffee, and codfish in Illinois. They, too, made strong claims to superiority in marksmanship and often tried titles with Judge Palmer. Who bore off the belt in these contests legend fails to record.
REV. HENRY MAYNARD
"In the spring and summer of 1845 the Messrs. Bartholomew were joined by Rev. Henry Maynard, who although not an expert with a rifle was noted for pouring hot shot into sinners-indeed, he made the atmos- phere quite sulphuric at times. He was accompanied by his family, his wife being the first white woman in Lodi. The fall of this year the
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families of the Messrs. Bartholomew arrived. The same fall W. G. Simons, from Sauk prairie, located up the creek and shortly after was joined by his brother-in-law, Joshua Abbot. Freedom Simons came to Dane and afterward to Lodi.
THE SUCKERS SETTLEMENT BECOMES FAMOUS
"In the spring of 1846 the fame of the 'Suckers settlement in Spring Creek valley' having spread abroad, emigrants from Illinois and other parts poured in.
"Simultaneously in the month of May came Joseph Brown, Jacob Hurley and their families; Messrs. Bowman and family, including her stalwart son Adam; and John Foote. About this time came the Strouds, four brothers, all bachelors except Morrill, whose wife died soon after and whose grave was decorated by the soldiers for years as being that of Thomas Bunker, Jr. Other arrivals from Illinois were John Chance, Horace Andrews, Johnson Sowards and John Newberry. James Mc- Cloud located a claim and built a shanty this year where the brick house now stands.
SETTLERS OF 1846
"In the fall of this year G. T. Simons, a youth of eighteen, came from New York. Nature had given him a good physical organization. He could split more rails in a day, and run twenty miles quicker than any other man in Wisconsin. His brother Joseph came earlier, with W. G. Simons. James M. Steel came about this time, and was fol- lowed by his brothers, Edward and John, in 1850. This year (1846) Mr. Thomas with a family of unmarried sons and daughters located near Chrystal Lake, and other emigrants came from Canada and the eastern states-Ira Polley, H. M. Ayer, Dr. Drew, Alonzo Waterbury, Harlow Kelsey, John Newman, and Mr. Baldwin.
THE BLACHLEY SETTLEMENT
"It was this year that the nucleus of what was known as the Blachley settlement started in Dane county and afterward spread into Lodi.
FIRST M. D. AND D. D.
"Dr. Eben Blachley was the first regularly ordained D. D. and M. D. combined in one, to administer Calvinism and calomel-the fumes of
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brimstone and blue mass all worked out of the system by a small dose of spiritual consolation and a big dose of castor oil, followed by a Dovers powder to keep down internal disorders.
"But most of us survived, Herbert Eaton, two years old, a son of J. O. Eaton, a fine, delicate little boy, unable to withstand such potations, was laid away in the old cemetery at the corner of Section 27.
OTHER PHYSICIANS
"After a year or so other M. D.'s attempted to establish a practice. Dr. Catheart, after failing to find a remunerative market for his pills and powders, sought to earn his living by the sweat of his brow. He took the job of building a hotel for Freedom Simons on the corner where Briggs house now stands, in payment for an already accumulated board bill, and, finding the place too miserably healthy to succeed in his profession, he packed his pills and lancet and sought other localities. In the course of time he was followed by other M. D.'s at intervals-Ingals, Warren, Lake, Heath, and G. H. Irwin, all reasonably successful in alleviating the ills to which humanity is heir, the latter bequeathing to his posterity a place he so eminently filled.
SOUTH VS. NORTH, BEFORE THE WAR
"The first settlers here were of Southern extraction, originally from Kentucky and Virginia; hence their trend of thought, their principles and ideas took their cue from the South, while those from the northern and eastern states were of Puritan extraction, with different views and habits. Having eeked a scanty subsistence on the rugged hills of New England, they fell into habits of most rigid economy, condescending to little things in business transactions which gave them the name of being 'tight,' 'close' and 'picayunish.' All through the South and West, before the War, the term 'Yankee' was the most opprobious epithet that could be applied to a person."
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