USA > Wisconsin > Columbia County > A history of Columbia County, Wisconsin : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people, and its principal interests > Part 33
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42
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at Willard Hotel in Washington, or the Fifth Avenue Hotel in New York. Preachers of the Gospel also in those days were quite frequent callers at the country hotels.
"During the year 1853, business was good and my crops also were heavy, and by the end of this year, I was not only prepared to make a good round payment on the property I had bought," but he also bought other land and began thereafter using his credit quite extensively for the purchase and trading in lands in Columbia County. "The winter of 1853 and 1854 was a very cold winter, or rather, we had some very cold snaps, as they were termed. The cold weather did not check busi- ness, however, that winter, as the roads might almost have been said to have been continuously lined with teams, hauling supplies to and lum- ber from the pineries. During the early part of the year, 1854, for- tune seemed to smile upon us, business was good, and money flowed in freely. On the first day of April of the same year, our second child was born, another boy, which we named Samuel Andrew. We little dreamed, however, what was in store for us, for before the end of the year we met with the saddest bereavement we had ever been called upon to meet, in the death of this same little child which occurred on the fourteenth day of December, when he was only eight months and fourteen days old."
BUYS MORE LAND
January 4, 1855, Mr. Jamieson bought from Walter Irving near Mukwonego, two hundred acres in section twenty-seven of township eleven, range nine, paying fifteen hundred dollars, one thousand dol- lars in cash. This land joined the land he had previously bought from the executors of the Hoey estate. "I had also been able to make a sec- ond payment on my hotel property, and was satisfied that I could easily meet all demands as fast as they came due, as I had increased my live stock considerably, and already had enough, which if sold, would bring an amount sufficient to pay all my indebtedness. I did not relax my efforts, however, to accumulate, but on the contrary, it seemed that I was more determined than ever to secure enough, not only to pay off my indebtedness, but to improve my land as well. Business was good, the railroad had reached Madison, and immense quantities of goods were being carried from there to Portage and other points north, and the hotels on the road were nearly all doing a large business, I was very favorably situated to get a good share of it, being just one day's drive, or about twenty-six miles from Madison, and about half that distance from Portage. Many made it a point to drive from Madison to my
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place one day and the next day to go to Portage and return again that night. The goods and merchandise at this time were carried from Madi- son to Portage and the points north, until the railroads reached that place, then carried direct from Milwaukee, and by a route that did not lead by the hotel kept by me. Consequently when the railroad reached Madison, this vast amount of business was just so much added to that we had heretofore done, and a man keeping hotel under such circum- stances at that time on this road, must have been extravagant indeed or wanting in some other point if he failed to make money. . My
business, however, had not only greatly increased, but was also paying me well. The only difficulty I had to contend with was in the want of room. My buildings were altogether too small, and I was quite fre- quently compelled to send travelers on to other stopping places, while many took up with fare that was neither agreeable to them or pleasant to me, such as sleeping on the floor or in the barn loft, tying their horses by a straw staek or in an old log shed, etc. and as this condition of affairs seemed likely to continue, 1 began to think of increasing my means of accommodation by adding to the buildings I already had, or by erecting new ones that would be large enough to accommodate the wants of the traveling public. About this time, however, a cireum- stance occurred that materially interfered with my calculations, and for some time put an end to my carrying ont the contemplated im- provements."
RAILROAD FROM MADISON TO PORTAGE
In March, 1855, while working day and night to accommodate crowds of travellers, Mr. Jamieson was strieken with an inflammation of the eyes, which kept him in a darkened room five or six weeks. "Although they did not get well, and prevented me from going on with the contemplated improvements, our prospects for a railroad between Madison and Portage had also become somewhat flattering, and if this road should be built, I knew I would have to change the location of my buildings. During the autumn of this year I determined to make some preparation toward building, and selecting a site which I thought would be suitable in case the contemplated railroad from Madison to Portage was built, proceeded to get some stone hauled onto the ground with a view to getting a good start the following spring.
"During the past two seasons, I had considerably increased the improvements on my farm by breaking up and fencing, so that I had upwards of fifty acres under the plow in the fall of 1855, all of which was well fenced. Our third child, another boy, was also born on the
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seventeenth day of October of this same year, and whom we named William Wallace. My erops too were good and brought a good price, and aside from my eyes, which were not gaining much, everything was going well with us."
The building of his house progressed slowly, and in the meantime the two children were stricken with smallpox, but recovered and the condition of his eyes continued to improve a little. Finally he deter- mined to go abroad and consult a specialist in Glasgow, setting out with his family in October, 1856. However interesting his descriptions of the scenes and events connected with his return to the land he had left some nine years before, they must be omitted from this chapter. He arrived in Wisconsin from Scotland in May, 1857, and the journal will again be quoted for pertinent material concerning the advancement of Poynette and the county.
A BOOM FOR POYNETTE
On his return to Wisconsin, "A large force was at work on the rail- road that was to run through our place from Madison to Portage. Mr. D. C. Jackson, the contractor, had built a store and opened up with a fine stock of goods. Mr. Cave, who some year or two before had moved into the place, had built one the summer before which was filled and run by a Mr. Dunning, who had for a short time been engaged in the business some two or three miles south on the prairie. Mr. A. P. Smith wanted to purchase my hotel property upon which to erect a grist mill, and in fact everything seemed booming, and amidst all this boom and prosperity I would often hear men talk of the corruption of the mem- bers of the legislature.
COMPLETES NEW AND LARGER HOTEL
"The railroad, however, was just what we needed, and as it appeared that we were in a fair way to get it, I did not propose to grumble at the means that had been used by the railroad company to secure the land granted for the purpose of aiding in its construction. As busi- ness of all description was good, and times lively, my friends advised me to complete my new hotel building as soon as possible. And as this could be done much quicker by erecting a frame building than to wait' and build with stone, I finally concluded to put a two-story substantial frame structure on to the stone basement I had built the preceding summer. I moved into it on the tenth day of February, 1858. Some time previous to this I had sold my old hotel property to Mr. Augustus P. Smith for one thousand dollars, being the same amount I
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had paid for it, and on my leaving it he took possession and immediately commenced the construction of what has since been known as the 'Poyn- ette Lower Mill.' This name was given it in consequence of another mill being erected some two years after by a Mr. Fish from Canada, a little farther up the stream, which has since its erection been known as the Poynette Upper Mill.
RAILROAD WORK CEASES
"The year 1857, notwithstanding the auspicious opening of business in the spring, did not prove as favorable a year for business as the three years preceding it. The winter had been rather a severe one, and the spring was cold and backward. When we reached home, about the tenth of May, the fields were still red and the growing erops barely through the ground, nor was the harvest as abundant as some we had previously been blessed with. Prices too for all kinds of grain were lower than they had been and it was quite evident that the reaction in the times had set in. We were as little affected by this reaction, how- ever, as any locality, perhaps, in the state. The work was progressing on the railroads, and considerable money was being paid out for help which circulated quite freely among the people in our midst. Towards winter, however, the work on the railroads ceased, and was never again resumed by the Milwaukee and LaCrosse Company, although nearly three-fourths of the entire line was graded by this company that season. In fact, it is doubtful if they ever really intended to complete the road. Their object was to get the land grant, and as that could only be done by building twenty continuous miles of the road, starting at Madison, they perhaps thought that by making a show of complying with the law, the governor would yield to their wishes and grant the requisite certificates, enabling them to become possessed of the land. The cer- tificates were wisely withheld, however, and although the road had not been built the land granted for that purpose was still at the disposal of the state.
YET LOCAL IMPROVEMENTS PROGRESS
"The spring of 1858 opened up with less boom and bustle, but the improvements in our village which I have before mentioned, kept steadily on. The work on the grist mill was being pushed with all the charac- teristic energy and vim of the proprietor (Mr. Smith), and the store of D. C. Jackson was turning over a considerable quantity of goods under the superintendence of Mr. Rice, who had charge of Mr. Jack-
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son's interest in the place at that time. I had moved into my new hotel building, and was doing a fair business. On the twenty-eight day of February of this year (1858), our fourth child, also a boy, whom we named Addison Jackson, was born. The reaction which had set in in the previous year still continued and business became more and more depressed, until the complaint of hard times became quite general. Mr. Smith had crowded his mill to completion and just got it fairly started when the dam went out. This was a severe blow to Mr. Smith as he had exhausted all his means in erecting his mill, and it was with difficulty he could procure the necessary labor to rebuild the dam. He was not a man to get discouraged over small matters, however, and he went to work with a will and determination to repair the damage, and finally succeeded.
"The railroad from Milwaukee to LaCrosse had reached Portage the previous year, and hotel business on the roads from Madison to Portage was seriously injured on that account. All the goods and mer- chandise of every description that had before been carried over these roads from Madison by teams was now carried to Portage and even beyond that point to Kilbourn City, and other northern points, which the railroad had reached. There was still, however, considerable travel, and hotels located at convenient points continued to do a fair business, although times were considerably depressed and very far from being what they had been in the Crimean war times, and our prospects which but a year before had been so bright and flourishing were much dark- ened. The impetus our village had received from the commencement of work on the railroad had also been checked, and a general prostra- tion seemed to prevail in all departments and branches of business. We kept plodding along, however, and although we did not make money as fast as we had done when times were good, we were still making a little and put what we did make to as good a use as we possibly could.
ADMITTED TO CITIZENSHIP
"In the summer of 1859, I built a large and convenient barn, with a good stone basement, which I fitted up as a stable for horses, using the upper part for hay and grain. On the fourth day of October of this year, I made application to the Circuit Court of Columbia County to be admitted a citizen of the United States. (Here follows a copy of the document completing his naturalization.) It will be seen by the above dates that although I was admitted as a citizen of the United States in 1859, and my admission was duly recorded in the clerk of the court's office at that time, the above document did not issue from said
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clerk's office until the year 1869, for the simple reason that I had not called for it.
PLATS JAMIESON'S ADDITION
" I also platted a piece of land on the southeast quarter of the north- east quarter of section thirty-four, township eleven, range nine, which was named Jamieson's Addition to the village of Poynette; and com- menced selling lots for building purposes on the same. The first lot I sold was to Mr. W. Lefferts, who erected on it a small dwelling house where he lived for several years. It was afterwards owned and oecu- pied by Mr. A. Padley, subsequently by Mr. W. Turner and latterly by Dr. L. A. Squire. The price I received for the lot was twenty-five dollars. The next lot I sold was to James Oleson, who also built on it, and after various changes and passing through a number of hands, is now owned by Charles Delaney and kept as a hotel which is called the American Honse. This lot I sold for thirty dollars. The next lot I dis- posed of by making a present of it to Ira S. Allen, on condition that he would build and occupy said building as a dry goods and grocery store, which he did for some time. In fact, I disposed of all my lots on Main Street, between my hotel property and the Mill Pond, for sums ranging from twenty to thirty-five dollars, except one that I kept for some time, thinking perhaps that some person might want it for a place for the transaction of some kind of business, and which I sold some time after the sales before mentioned to Robert Robertson for one hun- dred dollars, and is the lot that is now occupied by Mr. Edmister as a hardware store. The lots sold to Lefferts, Oleson and Allen were all built on before, or by the end of the year 1860, and all the other lots on the west side of the same street, except that afterwards sold to Mr. Robertson, were built on within a year or two after that date.
RIVALRY OF NORTH AND SOUTH SIDES
"Quite a few buildings had also been erected on the south side of the stream during the years 1858 and 1859. Mr. John Campbell, who came from Scotland with me, had built a blacksmith shop and was doing a good business. He, like most others of that time, thought the south side of the stream would keep ahead in building, and it certainly looked so just then. I offered Mr. Campbell the lot for nothing, which I afterward sold to Mr. Lefferts, and I also told him if he would build on it, he might go into my woods and take what timber he wanted toward the construction of any building he might see fit to erect. But
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Mr. Campbell was perfectly satisfied in his own mind that the business part of the village at least would be on the south side, and there he determined to build. The south side of the stream did take the lead, and for a number of years kept it, but giving away lots, selling others cheap, and holding out other inducements, the north side kept moving slowly along, and although it did not for a number of years keep pace with the south side, quite a few buildings had been built there since the year 1856, the time when building might be said to have com- menced, up to 1860, during which year the mill before mentioned as the Poynette Upper Mill was built, and several dwelling houses were also erected, principally, however, on the south side. Messrs. Brayton and Tomlinson, a short time before had purchased the northwest quar- ter of section thirty-five, township eleven, range nine, and had a con- siderable part of it platted, although the plat was not recorded for some years after the platting was done. Brayton & Tomlinson's addition be- ing on the north side of the stream, and they also being anxious to sell lots and get people in to build, besides being reasonably liberal in their prices, we began to make quite a showing, although still behind the south side in point of numbers. On the eleventh day of December of this year, also our fifth child and first daughter was born. We named her Samantha Janet, for both of her grandmothers, Samantha, being the name of her grandmother on her mother's side, and Janet on the side of her father.
WAR TIMES IN THE COUNTY
"This year, 1860, is also memorable throughout the entire United States as that in which one of the most exciting presidential campaigns was conducted that ever occurred in its history. The people of Poy- nette were seemingly as deeply interested in the result as those in large cities, and took as lively an interest in getting up meetings and procur- ing speakers as though their political existence almost depended upon having their side properly presented. And when a meeting was held by one party, the other party had to get up one to match, or if possible to beat it. When the election was over and the result determined, the excitement seemed to die down for a time.
"It was only for a short time, however. For in the spring of 1861, when Fort Sumter was fired upon, the most terrible excitement pre- vailed that I had ever witnessed. It is impossible to describe the con- dition of public feeling on that occasion. For some considerable time it was positively unsafe for a man to suggest an idea, or offer an opinion, if it differed in any way, or suggested a different course from that
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being pursued by the authorities at Washington. Blind submission seemed to be the rule, and this was almost impossible by those who had foreseen the probable result of a change in the administration as it most certainly was expected by the great majority of the people of the Northern states, that the change meant a direct blow at the institu- tion of slavery, which at that time existed in the South. And although slavery had but few advocates in the Northern states, there was quite a difference of opinion as to the proper means to be used in getting rid of it. Quite a large and respectable party did not think it best to extend in blood and treasure the amount that would be necessary to abolish the institution by force, and would have preferred a different method, and the war of opinions and words was waged as bitterly and fiercely by those who remained at home as that waged by those at the front, actually engaged in lawful combat. It was a fearful time, and jealousies, animosities, and feelings of distrust and hatred grew out of this condition of affairs, that will probably take centuries to erase. And during the war, and ever since, life and property has been much more unsafe than it was before, and our social conditions suffered a shock, which it is doubtful if at the end of the present century will be entirely eradicated.
"In the midst of all this darkness and gloom, however, we occa- sionally met with spots of sunshine and humor. These humorous and amusing incidents occurred at a time when scenes and incidents of a very different and painful character were of almost daily occurrence. Around the postoffice in our little village the coming of the mails was watehed with much interest by all classes of the community, and much eagerness and interest in the distribution of the mails was manifested by those who had friends and relatives in the army. It is impossible to describe the anxiety, and hopeful yet dreaded expression of the countenance of those who happened to receive a letter, upon opening it, and the scenes at times witnessed here, and not only here, but through- out the entire length and breadth of the United States, were painful in the extreme, and in many instances might almost be said to be heart- rending.
SECURING VOLUNTEERS FOR THE UNION
"At the spring election of this year (1861), I was chosen chairman of the board of supervisors of the town in which I lived, viz., De Korra. This was the first time I had been called upon to serve the people in what might be termed a political capacity, and as this office was the highest gift that could be conferred by the inhabitants of a town upon
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one of their number, and as the chairman of the board of supervisors on each town in the county, at that time, as now, constituted the county board of supervisors, I felt highly honored, and determined to merit their esteem, if it were in my power to do so. There was many a dis- agreeable duty to perform, however, in connection with this office at that time, and among the most disagreeable of my duties, was securing volun- teers to fill the quota of the town. During the continuance of the war, I had this duty to perform some three different times, and although in each instance 1 was successful, the disappointments, promises made by men and no sooner made than broken, and the low, mean actions of com- mission men, who would promise you men when they had not a man to furnish, and when they had, would keep you hanging around in suspense to see if they could find some town that would offer a little more than they had agreed to furnish them to you for; and the continuous feeling of- now you have them, and now you don't-made it one of the most disagree- able and perplexing duties I was ever called upon to perform. In addi- tion to the men furnished in this manner by the town, which was not far from fifty, some two or three different drafts were made and several of our citizens were drafted. Very few of the drafted men, however, went into the amy. Most of them furnished substitutes, which were generally obtained for from two hundred to four hundred dollars.
RAILROAD PROJECTS 1861-62
"For some considerable time prior to the meeting of the legislature of 1861, it had become well understood that the Milwaukee & LaCrosse Railway Company had abandoned the intention (if they ever indeed had any) of building the road from Madison to Portage. And the leg- islature of that year annuled and repealed so much of the land grant act of 1856 as related to the building of the road from Madison and from Columbus to Portage, and the rights and privileges that were conferred on the LaCrosse Company were given to the Sugar River Val- ley Railroad Company. And that portion of the land grant applicable to the lines mentioned was also conferred upon the last named com- pany. Under this legislation quite a considerable work was done, and right of way secured between Madison and Portage, but jealousies and a supposed difference of interest sprang up between those living on that portion of the Sugar Valley Railroad, lying between Madison and the state line south, and those living in Madison, and north of said city. And the work was again suspended, and our hopes for the time being consequently blasted. During the year 1862 some considerable survey
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and other work was done, but not much toward completing the grading of the road.
LABOR AND CROPS IN WAR TIMES
"The fearful excitement caused by the war, and the growing demand for all kinds of farm produce furnished an abundance of labor for both the brain and muscle of the people of the United States. Labor of all kinds was in good demand, and commanded high wages. Crops in the western states were also good and times generally might be regarded as lively. Up to this time there had been but little farm machinery introduced in this section of the country, and with the excep- tion of a few headers and a very few reapers, that were used on the prairies, the harvest was mostly done with the cradle and rake, in the hands of men hired principally for that purpose. A great many of these men came from the timber regions and new parts of the country where little or no harvesting had to be done. It would seem as though this method of harvesting the erops must necessarily be both tedious and expensive, compared with the manner in which harvesting is done nowadays. But while it may have been more tedious, I am inclined to think that the expense was no greater than now. By reference to my books, I see that in 1862. I paid for cutting, binding and stacking, fifty-three acres of wheat and oats, the sum of seventy dollars, an aver- age of about one dollar and thirty-two cents per acre, and in the follow- ing year of 1863 I paid for entting, binding and stacking, one hundred and four acres, the sum of one hundred and forty-two dollars, an aver- age of a trifle over one dollar and forty-six cents per acre, and as our land was comparatively new in those days, crops were generally heavier than they are now; and I doubt if with all the modern improvements grain can be harvested nowadays for any less money than it was then. The principal objection to the old system is that men could not now be found to do the work in the time it is required to be done.
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