USA > Wisconsin > Dane County > Madison > A history of Madison, the capital of Wisconsin : including the Four Lake country : to July, 1874, with an appendix of notes on Dane County and its towns > Part 14
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for me, here to state, that on his coming to my house, Mr. WHITON, who was a sound lawyer and otherwise a most excel- lent man, took his initial step in temperance reform, and from which he never afterwards departed, thus proving, contrary to general belief, that a sensible being can reform from any evil. He was subsequently Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, in which eminent position he lived till his death, deeply lamented and mourned by all who had the pleasure of his acquaintance. It was notorious, in these early times, that very many of the leading men then in the Territory were hale fellows, well met,. and given not a little to inebriety, to which habit, in general, they adhered with hopeless tenacity; and to our sincere regret, candor compels us to say, that some of our best men, by this. indulgence, were driven down to a premature grave, and but. few of this class now remain as the wasted mementoes of the reckless past.
" Madison was now an incorporated village, and the facilities: for traveling and transportation having increased, the more careful and intelligent of her people saw the necessity of im- provement, put forth all of their energy and enterprise to ac- complish the same, although seriously opposed by the older settlers, whose minds had not yet become susceptible of pro- gressive impressions by reason of their unhallowed indul- gences. The capitol presented the sorrowful appearance of a state house under leaky circumstances, the court room of which was generally flooded after a rain. The Methodists occupied this room on Sundays, but the attendance was small, and the benefits smaller, if anything. Religion had not yet got a fair square foothold among the sinners, some of whom were sup- posed to be invulnerable to good morals, and odious in char- acter.
" Besides the ' National,' there were two or three other nota- ble hotels. The 'Madison,' kept for a time by a Mr. CLARK, and others. Another was the 'American Hotel,' run by the inimitable JEMMY MORRISON, of whom many amusing anec- dotes have been told. He had a number of good as well as some bad traits. He was friendly and good to those he loved,
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but a formidable enemy to those he disliked. The 'City Hotel' was kept by the famous A. A. BIRD; he was the man who, it was supposed, first saw the sun rise at Sun Prairie, throwing its luminous rays over the enchanting scenery of the embryo Madison, destined so soon to assume a position worthy of its location. He lived to see the day of its prosperity, and himself a poor man. We could name many persons and their many eccentricities, but in doing so we fear to do a wrong, of no benefit at this time. It must suffice to say, that Madison could boast in those days of a large number of inimitable to- pers, and being thus early baptised in liquid poison, she has grown up with a prolific increase of the seemingly incurable curse.
"The society at Madison, in an early day, was of a mixed kind, rendered somewhat sociable by necessity, as there were many quite dependent upon their fellows for the necessaries of life. There were some, however, who prided themselves upon being the aristocracy and élite of the village; but they, like all other things of human frailty, soon found their level in society by being driven to the want of those necessities which were incompatible with aristocracy in Wisconsin. The citizens were quite pleasant and sociable in their intercourse with each other; and, although many times the necessities of life were scarce and could not be had, still their wants were reasonably supplied by the courtesy and kindness of those who possessed them, and that, too, as a gratuity, without the hope of any return. Good preaching was out of the question, as the people were too poor to induce talented men to come hither. Such as we had, good or bad, had but little influence over consciences hardened by the peculiar traits of a pioneer's life. Merchandise and gro- ceries were purchased mostly at Milwaukee, and retailed at Madison at enormous prices. Farm productions of every kind were sold at ruinous rates, averaging a bushel of wheat or other grain for a yard of calico or cotton goods. Grists had to be taken to the Cambridge Mills, twenty miles distant, to be ground. It took a long time to regulate trade so as to be rea- sonable and acceptable to all concerned. As a whole, the peo-
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ple were all that could be reasonably expected from their man- ner of life, the want of moral and religious instruction, and the depression of the times. It was the invariable custom of those who came in here at an early day, to receive new-comers with open hearts and outstretched arms. They were not only made welcome in an ordinary sense, but were embraced and loved as brethren, although entire strangers to each other, and who, on being thus kindly received and recognized, soon felt themselves at home, and by perseverance and industry, obtained a foundation for future prosperity. The fact is patent, and cannot be denied, that very many of those of the first settlers having in their power all of the means to accumulate wealth, never saved enough to live comfortably, but died, as they had lived, poor and penniless, a sad reminder of the unerring truth, that 'the way of the transgressor is hard.'
"Occasionally, in the course of time, men of wealth and means, with steady habits and progressive ideas, would come and settle down in our midst, and thus, by littles, the character of the people for moral and intellectual stability, grew and was established in the then beautiful village, so early to become the loveliest city of the northwest.
" At the sessions of the Legislatures there was little of lob- bying done, because laws were easily obtained for legitimate purposes; legislators and constituents, at that time, not having been initiated in the art mobilier or the science of stealing from the public crib. Members and outsiders generally gav their waste time up to the indulgence of fun, frolic and high- cock-arorum! And no people more highly enjoyed life than did our solons and their constituents, and but for the native weak- ness of some of them, but little of an offensive character could have been justly charged against them. There were many no- ble geniuses among the early settlers at Madison and in its vi- cinity, in respect to whom, comparatively with our best citi- zens from other parts of the Territory, our people bore an en- viable position, morally, civilly and intellectually. They all aimed their highest interests, individually and collectively, the spare means they then possessed enabled them to do; and
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they had a pride in advising each other for the best, as matters and things presented themselves to their judgment.
" As a matter of fact, it may be stated, that from the least to the greatest intelligence among its citizens, all looked with em- phatic assurance upon the certain prospect of Madison becom- ing the Queen City of Wisconsin; and, whose growing beauty, charming scenery and delightful surroundings, were destined to outvie any possible competition. Some have lived to see the day, when these fond anticipations have been fully realized, and which enables us now joyfully to refer to our beautiful Madi- son, as our lovely "city set upon a hill whose light cannot be hid." We have often expressed the sentiment, and we have pleasure in repeating it right here, that whoever has heard of Madison, its unsurpassed beauty, grandeur and enchanting im- agery, and has ability and means to go there, should never die until he has secured the sight, and enjoyed the delights of its transporting rapturous scenes.
"There was a number of religious societies just fairly begin- ning to assume a position as such, and amongst whom the ladies were not wanting in their exertions to give pecuniary aid and prosperity to their several denominations, by the institution of sewing circles and fairs for the promotion of church objects, at whose meetings the male population were not backward in their attendance; and, for those times, were quite liberal in their weekly donations. As in all undertakings and projects of a be- nevolent and progressive character, women were the moving and untiring co-workers for accomplishing the objects of their noblest desires, so the ladies of Madison, in the infancy of their churches, labored and toiled with unremitting energy and per- severance, until their accumulations gave not only a foundation, but also, in some instances, a beautiful superstructure for their several congregations to worship in. We should give all honor and praise to these large-hearted and noble women, for their kind hearted and generous devotion; and but for whose love to God and good will to man, these consecrated structures would not now probably be pointing their spires and drawing the hearts of mankind up towards the " house not made with hands, eter-
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nal in the heavens." It should be a matter of sincere joy with those now living, that God has been graciously pleased to thus " give unto these noble daughters of the church, abundantly of the fruit of their hands."
"In 1845, Madison began to improve rapidly, and particular- ly so under the large management and ceaseless labors and im- provement of ex-Gov. LEONARD J. FARWELL. The times then seemed to be favorable for large and continuous improvements; but, as in 1836, in other sections of our country, when fortunes were made in a day, and lost as soon, by the immediate and un- expected revulsion of the times, so Madison, in its highest, hopeful assurance of continued prosperity, became checked in growth, by the sudden change of the times, and the sad reverses of fortune of her noblest and best friend. This check to its ad- vancement continued to bear with severity upon the city of our delights for a number of years; but, as all things terrestrial have their day of trial, if not of affliction, and finally rise supe- rior to all vicissitudes and emergencies, so Madison has emerged from the hazard of her once unfortunate condition, and risen majestically above all her fears and the frowns of her enemies, so that she has become, simply by right of her exalted position, " Monarch of all she surveys."
Maj. H. A. TENNEY writes:
"Early in June, 1845, after a boisterous trip upon the lakes, I landed at Milwaukee, then of more pretensions than propor- tions. It was a long, straggling village, almost wholly confined to the east side of the river. The low bottom on the west side, was in the main a mere swamp densely overgrown with tamar- ack. The houses, such as they were, may have numbered one or two hundred. Except a road laid out by way of Kilbourn- town, there was no means of access to the interior. The steamer landed at " Higby's Pier, carried far out into the bay. If the then mouth of the river was accessible to shipping, it was not often used. The place even then, in the intelligence, zeal and activity of its population, foreshadowed the modern city; but such elements as railroads, telegraphs, etc., of course entered into the calculation of no one.
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"Stages at that time left for Madison twice a week, and be- yond, once a week. The route ran round by way of Prairie- ville, Johnstown and Janesville, to avoid the dreaded "Rock river woods," the road through which was the terror of the early settlers.
" I reached the place about two hours after the semi-weekly stage had left, and not relishing the idea of waiting four days, I secured a horse from Moore & Co. (as I now remember the firm), and started on the shortest route for Madison at noon. After passing through an almost unbroken forest with scarce a house, at dark I stopped at what is now Summit, consisting of a wretched tavern, blacksmith shop and one or two farm houses. Roughing in the wilderness was not entirely new to me, hav- ing came from the forest region of Northern Ohio, but not liking the extremely primitive accommodations, I started very early next morning, supposing that of course houses would be found all along the way. It was near noon before I came upon a house where breakfast could be procured, but as there was no name to the place, I am unable to name the point. Going on, I passed into what to me was a marvel from its resemblance to the orchards of my boyhood, to oak openings - and finally out upon the prairies, even a greater curiosity. The illusions of the route everywhere surprised me. Looking about at the mag- nificent groves and cleared places, I expected every moment to come out upon farms and villages, only to be disappointed. In- deed houses at that time scarce numbered more than one to twenty miles, and the road was a mere blind path, which at times it, was difficult to follow, while an endless vista and sol- emn silence, was to me a new and wonderful experience. I reached BEECHER's old place in Cottage Grove about 6 P. M., and about 7, from the high grounds about four miles distant, obtained my first view of Madison and the Four Lake country.
" The spectacle was a vision so glorious, that it painted itself on my memory with a vividness that has never left it. Just previous to reaching the elevation I had been overtaken by a gentleman also bound for Madison, and when we reached the summit, both stopped our horses in involuntary surprise. Four
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Lakes lay spread out before us, brought out in strong relief by the declining sun just sinking in the west, shining like bur- nished mirrors. On all sides forest and prairie swept down in lines and patches unobstructed to their shores. Except the village, magnified a thousand fold as a central figure, there was no break in the scene - not a mark of human improvement. As this line of white beach sand glowing in the sunset stood in contrast with the dark, green foliage that encompassed it, while plain and level, precipice and peninsula, bay and gulf, were clothed in a brilliancy of outline, and a beauty beyond the power of description. Half an hour of twilight passed before our interest in the golden vision was satisfied. Madison seemed to be about two miles away. Our jaded horses and tired bodies did not allow of rapid movements, and we supposed half an hour would land us at a hotel. But darkness deepened over the scene. Hours passed - we concluded we must be lost - until finally we saw a light, and about 10 o'clock learned that we were actually in Madison. We stopped at the Madison House, then chief hotel for stage passengers. Col. A. A. BIRD seemed to be the presiding genius of the concern.
".In the morning, after breakfast, great was my surprise to find the hotel in the midst of an almost unbroken forest. Al- though a main street, it had but five or six houses in its whole length. The road - King street - was as yet covered with an almost unbroken sod, filled with stumps of trees, cut out only in the center, while walks were unknown, and their site cov- ered with a dense undergrowth. This description is true of every street on the site that any attempt had been made to open. Indeed, except three country roads crossing the plot there were no improvements of any kind. The capitol park had not been undergrowthed - its fences were carried through a dense thicket, and the southwest and northwest sides of the square were still almost unbroken forest, almost impassable.
" I remained four days in the place. Met J. A. NOONAN, Esq., who introduced me so all the Territorial officials - then Gov. DODGE, J."B. FLOYD, Secretary, Judges DUNN, IRVIN and MILLER, and others. While there heard SAM CRAWFORD'S
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maiden plea. I made long walks around the then beautiful beaches of the lakes. The shore line was nowhere broken by an improvement, nor was the house of a settler anywhere visible. Everything almost was in a state of nature, and the foliage so dense that, except the old capitol, it was rare a building was visible.
" When I first visited Madison in 1845, it was an insignificant hamlet standing in a dense forest thicket, without streets, av- enues, walks or improvements of any kind: too obscure coun- try roads excepted. There was not a mark of man's presence upon any of its surroundings. Prairies and groves came down to the lakes, as yet unbroken. There was neither mill nor fac- tory, nor indeed a strictly industrial pursuit of any kind. Gen- erally the whole region may be described as a magnificent and fertile waste.
" After a few days I went on to Galena, and arranged to set- tle at that point. In September, I returned from Ohio, where I then lived, and later commenced the publication of the " Ga- lena Jeffersonian," among the lead diggers. The incidents and curious experiences of my stay there would fill a volume. It was a period when three quarters of the whole western popula- tion were sick annually for months. I of course took the ague, and fearing I could not get rid of it while living on the Missis- sippi, gave up my office, and removed with my family to Madi- son in November of the next year, where I have ever since kept my home. It was not until 1855 that I was able to shake off the chills.
" There was so much and yet so little of importance in the early settlement, that it might be comprehended in a sentence, or swelled to a volume. One scarce knows what to say when so much may be said, and yet so little to the purpose.
" Madison was a hamlet - the country a wild waste. Popu- lation had but barely discovered it. There were three voting precincts - Blue Mounds, Madison and Albion. The town of Madison covered twenty-four townships then without name. The balance of the county was divided between the other two. There was but one German settler, X. JORDAN, and three Irish
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- THOMAS and MATHEW DUNN and PETER KAVANAUGH. It took four counties to make an Assembly District - Dane, Co- lumbia, Sauk and Green, and all the territory between the south line of the state in its central part to Lake Superior, for a Council district. Many years elapsed before towns received names.
"Game was profusely abundant. I repeatedly shot prairie chickens on the capitol square, and the hunting of quail there was common. The last deer killed within the site was in 1847 - an old buck whose way was over the University hill. He was so sagacious that he was not taken until hunted at times for three years. Bears were common, wolves innumerable, and other wild animals in proportion. In fish and fowls the pres- ent generation have not the faintest conception of the enormous profusion of that period. The way they were slaughtered at times in mere sport, was a wicked waste. In 1849 the Winne- bagoes camped near the present Insane Hospital. Spreading out over the country, they drove all the deer of all kinds to- wards the center and killed all - sparing none. They had over 500 carcasses, when a band of citizens went over and drove them off, but the deer never recovered from that fatal raid.
"Of the population of that period I have in various articles so often spoken as to have little to say. The community was almost a pure democracy, bound together by every tie of sympathy and friendship. Almost every social gathering was in common. The standard of respectability was education, honesty, honor, and an observance of the laws of good breeding. Six- pences did not count in men's estimation of each other; kind, generous and neighborly acts were taken as a matter of course. None were so poor or lowly as not to receive necessary aid and attention. We had no organized and secret societies to help each other, and therefore did it with scarce the asking, and without thought of obligation. The modern crystallizations of conceit and selfishness were unknown.
" Our politics in those days were red hot, but almost always good natured. When able to cast seventy-two votes on one occasion, the number was a matter of public boast. It will be
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seen from this, that a party could not divide much on candi- dates and succeed. Memory of those eventful canvasses is rich in comic incident, and laughable surprises. If we had warm differences at the polls, we made it all up in our private and social relations. We had no scandals, scarce any but imported divorces, no espionage or tattle of garrulous inferiority, no quar- rels of religious orders, no temperance societies, and but little intemperance. Our wants were few; our supplies of essentials always adequate. Fashions did not disturb us. It was not regarded as vulgar to have physical strength and good appe- tites. Indeed, none of the modern clap-trap, little affectations, small jealousies, and party dignity troubled us. We lived lives of activity and usefulness - putting away sham, and looking only to substance.
" We had one common school house, then located in the for- est, but I am unable here to name the street. Our jail was a log building, about 12X16, used part of the time as a shoe- maker's shop. Shortly after, by a united effort, a church was built for Rev. Mr. MINER, soon succeeded by Rev. Mr. LORD.
" The forests from the country were continuous across the city site, except where broken by a few scanty houses. Uni- versity hill was inaccessible from any direct road, overgrown with dense young timber, intermingled with gigantic oaks. The summit was the first burial place- a man killed by lightning in 1839. The grave was at the southeast corner of the present central building. In time, burial places increased to four - one on lots near or within the premises of Judge VILAS, one in the ridge south of the West Milwaukee depot, and the other the block near S. D. CARPENTER's place. All were at the time in a dense forest.
" Prairie fires annually crossed the site from one marsh to the other, going through the timber between the capitol park and Fourth Lake. Some of these exhibitions were on so grand a scale as to remind me of the great Chicago fire.
"Of literary entertainments we had few. It was the custom to patronize everything that came along to encourage others to follow. Our first circus came in 1848, while the legislature
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was in session, and adjourned the body without the formality of a vote. Social gatherings, from their freedom and intel- lectual cast, left little to desire. Fun and frolic was the chief characteristic, and more of it in a week than ten years now witness.
" A complete picture of primitive Madison would be a pic- ture of the Territory at large, whose political, if not intellect- ual center it then was. Each of its settlers had characteristic peculiarities of his own, which affixed a decided mark to him. These have never wholly disappeared. Mutual respect and for- bearance was the social as well as civil rule. It was a golden era, which once passed will never return."
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CHAPTER V.
VILLAGE AND TOWN ELECTIONS 1846-49 - WATER POWER - CELEBRA- TION, JULY 4, 1846 - PUBLIC CEMETERY - DR. C. B. CHAPMAN'S AND J. T. CLARK'S REMINISCENCES - ELECTIONS 1847 - HOPE LODGE I. O. O. F. - KNAPP'S ACCOUNT OF CAPITOL GROUNDS - L. J. FARWELL'S ARRIVAL - FIRST BELL IN MADISON -- ORGANIZATION OF BAPTIST CHURCH 1847- TRIAL OF GROSS FOR MURDER - ELECTIONS 1848- 49 - GROWTH OF VILLAGE, 1848 - STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY, 1849 - STATE UNIVERSITY.
At the session of the legislature in the winter of 1846, an act- was passed, abolishing the commissioner system of government, and substituting town organizations. By the provisions of this act, the towns of Albion, Rutland, Rome (now Oregon), Dun- kirk, and Sun Prairie, were set off as separate towns - the re- mainder of the county comprised the town of Madison.
On the 2d of March, the first charter election for officers of the village under the act of incorporation, took place, when the following persons were chosen: President, THOS. W. SUTHER- LAND; Trustees, PETER W. MATTS, E. B. DEAN, Jr., WM. N. SEYMOUR, ALONZO WILCOX and JAMES MORRISON; Clerk, JULIUS T. CLARK; Assessor, SIDNEY F. BLANCHARD; Treasurer, DAR- WIN CLARK; Marshal, ANDRUS VIALL.
The published statement of the receipts and disbursements of Dane county, from January 11, 1845, to January 9, 1846, were -receipts, $6,166.81; disbursements, $6,493.62.
The following persons were elected town officers at the spring election, April 7, 1846: Supervisors, JAS. R. LARKIN, EDWARD CAMPBELL and WM. C. WELLS; Town Clerk, J. DUANE RUGGLES; Collector, ANDRUS VIALL; Treasurer, DARWIN CLARK; Asses- sors, GEO. VROMAN, JOHN W. THOMAS and WM. LARKIN; School Commissioners, J. GILLETT KNAPP, BENJAMIN HOLT and A. H. TALCOTT; Fence Viewers, T. W. SUTHERLAND, J. Y. SMITH and E. B. DEAN, Jr .; Road Commissioners, J. M. GRIFFIN,
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THOS. RATHBUN and ABIRAM DRAKELY; Justices of the Peace, WM. N. SEYMOUR, NAT. WHEELER, BARLOW SHACKLEFORD and ALONZO WILCOX; Constables, ALBERT SKINNER, JOHN COT- TRELL, JAMES MOORE; Sealer, Squire LAMB. The vote for State Government was 200, against, 47. At the same time a- tax of two and half mills, on the dollar valuation, was levied for the support of schools, and the same amount for road pur- poses. At a meeting of the Board of Supervisors, June 1, a tax of five mills was levied for poor purposes, and $100 for incidental expenses, and on June 3d, tavern licenses were fixed at $5.00 in the country and $15.00 in town; merchants' licenses $10, and grocers' $100.
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