USA > Wisconsin > Sauk County > A standard history of Sauk County, Wisconsin, Volume I > Part 28
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The towns of Troy, Honey Creek and Prairie du Sae also contain a large Swiss element from the cantons of Graubunden, Zurich and Berne. The presence and labors of these emigrants have been of great benefit to
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HISTORY OF SAUK COUNTY
the dairy industries of Southern Sank County. Almost to a man, woman and child, these people are members of either the German Methodist or the German Reformed churches, and they are noteworthy for their indns- try and sobriety.
For many years the Quakers, or Friends, were very strong in the extreme northwestern part of the county, where the native American element has long predominated. For forty years there was a large Quaker settlement about three miles northwest of Ironton, in Woodland Township, but in 1888 it was almost obliterated on account of a whole- sale exodus to California.
PROPERTY VALUATION, 1880-1916
The assessors returns for 1880 gave a fair idea of the material wealth and resources of the different sections of Sauk County. The total value of real and personal property by townships was as follows:
Townships
Real
Personal
Baraboo
$ 951,190.00
$ 345,275.00
Total $1,296,465.00
Bear Creek
88,996.00
23,173.00
112,169.00
Dellona
99,209.00
24,692.00
123,901.00
Delton
160,817.25
39,607.00
200,424.00
Excelsior
180,915.00
44,323.00
225,238.00
Fairfield
127,956.00
35,987.00
163,943.00
Franklin
92,297.00
35,395.00
127,692.00
Freedom
222,220.00
54,007.00
276,227.00
Greenfield
182,032.00
43,396.00
225,428.00
Honey Creek
166,426.00
€2,997.00
229,423.00
Ironton
139,217.00
45,214.00
184,431.00
La Valle
113,570.00
29,304.50
142,874.50
Merrimack
164,025.00
48,414.00
212,439.00
Prairie du Sac.
294,908.00
133,002.00
427,910.00
Reedsburg
432,925.00 .
104,613.80
537,538.80
Spring Green
218,180.00
83,210.00
·301,390.00
Sumpter
178,740.00
46,581.00
225,321.00
Troy
330,733.00
75,072.00
405,805.00
Washington
110,888.00
34,587.06
145,475.06
Westfield
220,532.00
45,103.00
265,635.00
Winfield
110,125.00
25,760.00
135,885.00
Woodland
126,759.00
41,232.40
167,991.40
Total
$4,712,660.25
$1,420,945.76
$6,133,606.01
The figures taken from the assessment rolls of 1890 indicate the value of all property in the county, real and personal :
Civil Divisions
Real
Personal
Total
Baraboo City
$1,324,060.00
$ 406,420.00
$1,730,480.00
Baraboo Town
333,445.00
98,917.00
432,362.00
Bear Creek
139,273.00
55,199.00
194,472.00
Dellona
145,877.00
24,700.00
170,677.00
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HISTORY OF SAUK COUNTY
Civil Divisions
Real
Personal
Total
$ 150,315.00
$ 30,850.00
Excelsior
213,589.00
53,792.00
Fairfield
131,231.00
31,639.00
Franklin
19-1,678.00
62,775.00
Freedom
198,310.00
74,730.00
221,961.00
Honey Creek
482,890.00
108,650.00
590,540.00
Ironton
119,152.00
54,021.00
203,174.00
La Valle Village
23,975.00
8,159.00
32,167.00
La Valle Town
$9,899.00
28,595.00
118,494.00
Merrimack
163,883.00
46,342.00
210,225.00
I'rairie du Sac Village.
120,862.00
91,478.00
212,340.00
Prairie du Sac Town.
164,935.00
48,735.00
213,670.00
Reedsburg City
314,515.00
129,484.00
443,999.00
Reedsburg Town
235,279.00
38,720.00
273,999.00
Spring Green
241,240.00
94,240.00
335,480.00
Sumpter
281,065.00
80,719.00
361,784.00
Sauk City Village.
122,695.00
75,892.00
198,587.00
Troy
289,530.00
64,857.00
354,387.00
Washington
212,966.00
76,186.00
289,152.00
Westfield
233,994.00
72,389.00
306,383.00
Winfield
114,011.00
29,042.00
143,053.00
Woodland
167,325.00
50,963.00
218,288.00
Total
$6,416,297.00
$1,982,272.00
$8,397,679.00
The assessors' returns for 1900 show the following values of property :
Civil Divisions
Real
Personal
Total
Ableman Village
$ 38,245.00
$ 9,631.00
$ 47,876.00
Baraboo City
1,792,520.00
627,980.00
2,420,500.00
Baraboo Town
394,655.00
90,080.00
484,735.00
Bear Creek
136,827.00
36,803.00
173,630.00
Dellona
146,610.00
26,332.00
172,942.00
Delton
154,230.00
31,532.00
185,762.00
Excelsior
191,889.00
43,619.00
235,508.00
Fairfield
166,603.00
40,523.00
207,126.00
Franklin
202,814.00
60,357.00
263,171.00
Freedom
154,700.00
38,400.00
193,100.00
Greenfield
182,240.00
36,331.00
218,571.00
Honey Creek
482,474.00
109,570.00
592,044.00
Ironton
138,740.00
40,977.00
179,717.00
La Valle Town
146,465.00
25,577.00
172,042.00
La Valle Village.
79,055.00
26,258.00
105,313.00
Merrimack Town
146,880.00
37,487.00
184,367.00
Merrimack Village
40,870.00
17,598.00
58,468.00
North Freedom Village.
37,580.00
23,596.00
61,176.00
Prairie du Sac Town ..
168,135.00
25,419.00
193,554.00
I'rairie du Sac Village
213,040.00
113,887.00
326,927.00
Reedsburg City
560,893.00
235,464.00
796,357.00
Reedaburg Town
252,775.00
34,837.00
287,612.00
Spring Green Town
169,115.00
41,320.00
210,435.00
Spring Green Village
105,460.00
82,950.00
188,410.00
Greenfield
177,303,00
14,658.00
$ 181,195.00 267,387.00 162,930,00 257,153.00 273,040,00
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HISTORY OF SAUK COUNTY
Civil Divisions
Renl
Personal
Total
Sumpter
$ 296,820.00
$ 69,440.00
$ 366,200.00
Sauk City
142,955.00
60,679.00
203,634.00
Troy
314,838.00
64,494.00
379,332.00
Washington
255,829.00
54,825,00
310,654.00
Westfield
357,015.00
S9,181.00
446,196.00
Wintich
115,710.00
22,492.00
138,202.00
Woodland
167,063.00
60,262.00
227,325.00
Total
$7,753,045.00
$2,277,901.00
$10,030,946.00
The assessors' figures for 1910 show the following valuations of Sauk County property :
Civil Divisions
Real
Personal
Total $1,291,592.00 .
Bear Creek
760,404.00
193,170.00
953.574.00
Dellona
559,453.00
107,314.00
666,767.00
Delton
589,695.00
170,515.00
760,210.00
Excelsior
664,050.00
145,740.00
809,790.00
Fairfield
544,250.00
102,852.00
647,102.00
Franklin
920,201.00
257,924.00
1,178,125.00
Freedom
696,838.00
172,392.00
869,230.00
Greenfield
701,409.00
131,953.00
833,362.00
Honey Creek
1,046,315.00
244,250.00
1,290,566.00
. La Valle
593,303.00
162,250.00
755,553.00
Merrimack
493,047.00
119,239.00
612,286.00
l'rairie du Sac.
529,138.00
109,320.00
· 638,458.00
Reedsburg
954,574.00
176,125.00
1,130,703.00
Spring Green
612,856.00
128,768.00
771,624.00
Sumpter
1,044,169.00
208,505.00
1,252,674.00
Troy
1,052,140.00
247,270.00
1,299,410.00
Washington
711,357.00
215,994.00
927,351.00
Westfield
957,652.00
236,325.00
1,193,977.00
Winfield
601,020.00
131,745.00
732,765.00
Woodland
621,609.00
172,265.00
793,874.00
Ableman Village
207,964.00
52,168.00
260,132.00
Baraboo City
3,395,796.00
1,147,414.00
4,543,210,00
La Valle Village.
164,418.00
70,540.00
234,958,00
Merrimack Village
113,310.00
49,017.00
162,327.00
N. Freedom Village.
609,758.00
90,870.00
400,628.00
Prairie du Sac Village
525,305.00
206,838.00
732,143.00
Reedsburg City
1,412,856.00
596,686.00
2,009,542.00
Sauk City Village.
438,254.00
185,550.00
623,804.00
Spring Green Village.
436,295.00
197,075.00
633,370.00
Total
$23,556,713.00
$6,413,5G1.00
$29,970,274.00
.
Ironton
754,600.00
206,567.00
961,167.00
Baraboo
$1,114,676.00
$ 176,916.00
. .
The total true value of the real estate was, for the towns, $16,552,757; personal property, $3,817,403: total of all property, $20.370,160. The real estate of the cities and villages was valued at $7,003,956; personal property, $2,596,158; total of all property, $9,600,114. There were 164
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HISTORY OF SAUK COUNTY
automobiles in the county-120 in the cities and villages, of which 76 were owned in Baraboo and 23 in Reedsburg.
PROPERTY VALUATION IN 1916
Towns, Cities, Villages
Personal Property
Real Estate
Total Property
Baraboo Town
$ 245,242
2,145,360
$ 2,390,602 2,042,842
Dellona Town
130,864
1,062,368
1,193,232
Delton Town
346,437
1,019,074
1,365,511
Excelsior Town
185.675
1,393,000
1,578,675
Fairfield Town
126,037
906,820
1,032,857
Franklin Town
346,515
1,957,073
2,303,588
Freedom Town
195,401
1,600,600
1,796,001
Greenfield Town
166,451
1,267,640
1,434,091
Honey Creek Town
323,428
2,196,53%
2,519,960
Ironton Town
247,770
1,621,660
1,869,430
La Valle Town
205,018
1,320,316
1,525,334
Merrimack Town
217,803
989,880
1,207,683
Prairie du Sac Town
1,999,365
1,170,452
3,169,817
Reedsburg Town
232,771
1,884,760
2,117,531
Spring Green Town
177,882
1,314,478
1,492,360
Sumpter Town
243,253
1,944,478
2,187,731
Troy Town
329,982
2,261,432
2,591,414
Washington Town
316,398
1,682,726
1,999,124
Westfield Town
350,698
1,889,974
2,240,672
Winfield Town
206,262
1,281,446
1,487,708
Woodland Town
247,335
1,528,176
1,775,511
Total of Towna
$ 7,134,589
$34,187,085
$41,321,674
Ableman Village
$ 109,645
$ 313,0,52
# 422,697
Baraboo City
1,362,773
4,215,460
5,578,233
Ironton Village
18,941
87,776
106,717
La Valle Village.
87,296
263,192
350,488
Lime Ridge Village
59,762
197,906
· 257,668.
Merrimack Village
57,077
178,426
235,503
North Freedom Village
75,223
336,617
411,840
Plain Village
61,536
192,550
254,086
Prairie du Sac Village.
198,076
825,748
1,023,824
Reedsburg City
648,375
2,675,100
3,323,475
Sauk City Village
262,883
938,126
1,201,009
Spring Green Village.
203,232
573,720
776,952
Total of Cities and Villages.
$ 3,144,819
$10,797,673
$13,942,492
Total of Towns brought down.
7,134,589
34,187,085
41,321,674
Total of County.
$10,279,408
$44,984,758
$55,264,166
Bear Creek Town
294,002
1,748,840
Vol. 1-17
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HISTORY OF SAUK COUNTY FIRST EVENTS IN SAUK COUNTY
The first white men to see Sauk County were Louis Joliet and Father Marquette, 1673.
Berry Hancy procured the first claim and broke the first land in Sauk County, 1838.
James S. Albin was the first to bring his family to the county, settling near Sauk City, December 21, 1838.
Devils Lake was first seen by James S. Albin in 1839.
The first ferry at Merrimack was operated by Clicster Mattson.
The first mail brought into Sauk County was by William Funk in 1840.
The first county superintendent was I. W. Morley, cleeted in 1860. The first fair was held in the courthouse at Baraboo, probably in 1855.
The first store in Baraboo was opened near the Manchester mill by a man by the name of Grapel.
The first telephone in Baraboo was made of boxes and thread, stretched between the homes of Doctor Davis and Mrs. Clark.
Fay Locke was the first in the county to enlist in the Civil war.
"The first hops in the county were raised by Count Haraszthy at Sauk City, about 1843.
The first postal.savings bank was opened in Baraboo, April 1, 1912. The first county educational board was organized April 7, 1914.
The first car of ore from the North Freedom iron field was shipped, March 16, 1904.
The first moving pictures to be exhibited in Baraboo was November 12, 1897.
Mrs. Robert McCammon received the first parcel post package, in Baraboo, January 2, 1913.
Nels J. Nelson made the first aviation flight in the county at Baraboo, September 27, 1911.
Bill Money was the first Indian administrator in the county, appointed December 13, 1905.
Alfred Jones and James R. Campbell, Spring Green, were the first rural carriers in the county, May 14, 1900.
The first milliner in Baraboo was Mrs. Harrison.
First Unitarian (Free Congregational) Church was organized at Baraboo, February 16, 1861.
The first shoemaker in the Baraboo Valley was Edwin Johnson, Green- field, 1851.
First German M. E. Church, Baraboo, organized, February, 1872.
First services held in Trinity Episcopal Church, Baraboo, 1854.
Free Methodist Church organized at Baraboo, September 10, 1887. Presbyterian Church organized at Baraboo, February 26, 1851.
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HISTORY OF SAUK COUNTY
Lutheran Church founded in Baraboo, 1870.
First frame schoolhouse built north of the bluffs was in Lyons by R. R. Remington in 1849.
First frame school building erected in Baraboo, 1850.
First school taught at Baraboo by E. M. Hart, 1843.
Sauk County Humane Society organized at Baraboo, March 22, 1912.
C. A. Swineford was the first mayor of Baraboo.
First election in Village of Baraboo, April 2, 1867.
Archibald Barker took the first raft (lumber) down the Baraboo River.
First mill, a saw mill, was erected on the Baraboo River in 1839.
First town meeting in Baraboo, April 3, 1849.
First election in Baraboo Valley, 1842.
Colonel Sumner built the first hotel at Baraboo, 1847.
First justice of the peace in the Baraboo Valley was D. C. Barry. First undertakers in Baraboo were B. L. Purdy and Lewis Hayes. The first church bell in Baraboo was rung July 4, 1852.
First nursery in Sauk County was established by Harvey Canfield and son, W. H. Canfield.
James Maxwell erected first frame building in Baraboo.
John M. True was the first to file nomination papers under the prim- ary law, February 25, 1905.
First permanent settler at Baraboo was Abraham Wood, about 1839. First meeting of the Sauk County Historical Society was held June
2, 1905.
First paper printed in Baraboo was the Sauk County Standard, June 25, 1850.
James Webster kept the first tavern in the Baraboo Valley, at Lyons. Rev. James G. Whitford was the first minister to visit Sauk County.
Rev. James G. Whitford and Mrs. Sarah Sayles, first couple married in Sauk County, August 15, 1841.
Mrs. Mary J. Hill was the first convert to religion in Baraboo Valley. Methodists built the first church in the Baraboo Valley, 1850.
Ichabod B. Hill first person born in the Baraboo Valley.
Rev. Thomas Fullerton preached the first sermon in the Baraboo Valley, 1842.
The first wedding in the Baraboo Valley was E. M. Hart and Miss Evelyn Gibson.
E. M. Hart taught the first school in the Baraboo Valley.
The first drive of logs on the Baraboo River was in 1844.
The first dam on the Baraboo River was built by Wood & Rowan. The first person to attempt to settle at Baraboo was Archibald Barker. Mrs Hbao Peck was the first woman to eross the Baraboo bluffs, 1839.
Morrison was the first person to die in the Baraboo Valley.
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HISTORY OF SAUK COUNTY
Dr. Charles Cowles first physician to locate in the Baraboo Valley.
Turner's French and English Academy was first boarding school opened at Sauk City, 1854.
First Fourth of July celebration in the county was at Prairie du Sac, 1839.
First election in the county was in 1839.
First person drowned in Baraboo River was Frederick Blabon, July, 1844.
Charles B. Haney was the first white child born in the county, No- vember 30, 1839.
Count Haraszthy is said to have erected the first frame house in Sauk City.
First physician in the county was J. B. Woodruff, Sauk City, 1843.
The first newspaper published in the county was at Sauk City, No- vember 23, 1843.
William H. Clark was the first lawyer to locate in the county, Sauk City, 1842.
The first performance in the Al. Ringling Theatre, Baraboo, was Lady Luxury, November 17, 1916.
J. T. Donaghey was the first county highway commissioner.
Judge James O'Neill was the first to vote by mail, September 21, 1915.
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CHAPTER X
PROFESSIONAL MATTERS AND PERSONAGES
CIRCUIT AND PROBATE COURTS-JUSTICES OF THE PEACE-HOW 'SQUIRE BARRY SETTLED A LAW SUIT-FIRST CRIMINAL CASE-CHANGES OF CIRCUIT DISTRICTS-CIRCUIT AND SUPREME COURT JUDGES-PROBATE JUDGES JUDGE C. C. REMINGTON-JOHN BARKER-EPHRAIM W. YOUNG-PEN-SKETCHES OF EARLY PROBATE JUDGES JUDGE REMING- TON'S REMINISCENCES-SOME OF THE EARLY LAWYERS-JUSTICE OF THE PEACE ARMSTRONG-BILL BROWN-NELS WHEELER-C. C. REM- INGTON-COLONEL NOYES' START AS A LAWYER-LAWYERS OF A LATER PERIOD-THE PHYSICIANS OF THE COUNTY-DR. B. F. MILLS AT REEDSBURG AND BARABOO-"OF COURSE, HE DID NOT RECOVER"- DOCTORS COWLES, ANGLE AND CRANDALL-DOCTOR JENKINS-THE BARABOO MEDICAL ASSOCIATION-DOCTORS JONES AND WILLIAMS- LATER PRACTITIONERS-MORE OLD-TIME DOCTORS-DOCTOR JONES DIES-LIST OF TODAY-A FEW FACTS FROM DOCTOR NOYES.
The work and personalities of the professions always form an attrac- tive topic because it deals almost entirely with individuals; and every- body is drawn irresistibly to the personal equation. This especially applies to lawyers and doctors; to judges and their courts. The editor is largely sunk in his newspaper; the clergyman, in his church; but the attorney and the physician are all-in-all, and their surroundings and the media through which they work are considerations of most minor import. Even the judge, though he holds court, speaks primarily as an individual, subject only to the restriction of the laws and unhampered by any ex- terior organization.
CIRCUIT AND PROBATE COURTS
But before the lawyer can orate, or the judge deliver his decisions and opinions, the national and the state governments, under their re- spective constitutions, must provide the machinery through which they may express themselves. It is known collectively as the court. Specific- ally, the people of Sauk County are only closely and vitally concerned with the operations of the Circuit and the Probate Court; that is, they are obliged to go away from home to receive the benefit of the higher
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HISTORY OF SAUK COUNTY
courts, but the Circuit Court comes to them at stated intervals and the Probate Court is a fixture in their midst. Since 1855 the County of Sauk has been in the Ninth District of the Circuit Court, the presiding judge of which is now James O'Neil, of Neillsville, acting for Judge E. Ray Stevens of Madison. The terms commence the first Monday in March and the second Monday in September. Judge W. T. Kelsey, of Baraboo, has presided over the Probate Court for more than twenty-five years.
JUSTICES OF THE PEACE
It was some two years after Wisconsin was organized as a territory that the first settlements in Sauk County commenced on the Prairie and in the Baraboo Valley, and several months after the first permanent residents established themselves in those regions before the Territorial Government created the general courts which had legal jurisdiction over the county. The justices of the peace, however, and the probate judge attended to the modest adjudication of legal matters which vexed the residents of Sauk County during the earlier years; and it was several years after the local machinery was provided by the civil and judicial organization of the county, in 1844, before litigants really commenced to bring suits at law.
And even before the county was organized, the 'Squires had such duties to perform as marriages. One of the first of these officials was Lyman Crossman, of Prairie du Sac, who was appointed a justice of the peace in 1840. Having married two or three couples within the coming two years, he acquired the habit and was married himself.
HOW 'SQUIRE BARRY SETTLED A LAW SUIT
Don C. Barry was one of the justices of the peace at Baraboo, the first one in the valley, and claimed that the first law-suit in the Baraboo Precinct was brought before him. At one of the meetings of the Old Settlers' Association, Mr. Canfield tells how he settled it. "We hope that it will not offend our neiglibor, Archibald Barker," he says, "to repeat the story of the first lawsuit and duel fought in the Baraboo precinet, as related by D. C. Barry. Barry says that Captain Finley and Barker were continually having trouble which culminated in a lawsuit before him. After hearing their jangling until he got tired of it, he proposed, as the Captain was a Southern man (a Tennesseean) that he and Barker figlit it out and not bother him ; that he had a couple of pistols recently made out of a gun barrel by Hosey King that would make good duelling pistols. The Captain said that he was agreed. Barry gave Barker a knowing wink, and he consented, except he would not take one of those long pistols; he wanted his old shot gun. The Captain's back was up so high that he consented to that. provided the distance should not be too
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HISTORY OF SAUK COUNTY
long. It was arranged that they place their backs together and march to certain stakes set up for the purpose; then at the given word, wheel and fire. It was understood between the seconds, Levi Moore and D. C. Barry, that the weapons should be loaded with powder only. As agreed, they marched to the stakes and at the word 'wheel and fire,' Barker quickly wheeled and hallooed out, 'You are a dead man!' and blazed away with both barrels of his old shot gun. Captain Finley never even raised his pistol, but exclaimed 'Oh !' and for a moment thought he was hit. In a little while he saw the joke and the matter was all settled satisfactorily over a bottle of whisky. Thus ended one of the first law- suits, if not the first, in the Baraboo precinct." It may be added that the justice (Don Carlos Barry), while prospecting up the Baraboo Valley in the fall of 1844, discovered a lode of copper in section 1, the present northeast corner of the Town of Reedsburg, but that his "find" never yielded more than two tons of ore.
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FIRST CRIMINAL CASE
It is said that the first eriminal ease to really come to trial was before Justice Swallow at Reedsburg. The facts of the ease and its trial are narrated by Rev. S. A. Dwinnell, as follows: "On Sunday, October 5, 1851, two men by the name of Judson Baxter and William H. Reynolds, from the state of Wisconsin, came driving up into the village with a four- horse team attached to a lumber wagon. It was at four o'clock P. M., and just at the time our people were assembling at divine worship in the little schoolhouse on Walnut Street. Such a team was quite a novelty at that time in this part of the country-as nearly all the people drove oxen- and it attracted very general attention. Putting up their team at the Reedsburg hotel, kept by John Clark, they proceeded very soon to Jesse Leach's blacksmith shop, now the building of George Mead near the Central House, and got him to work for them. I remember very well the cliek of his hammer was very annoying to the worshipers at the schoolhouse. On Monday noon the two men started west on the newly opened state road to La Crosse. It was soon discovered that they had paid Leach for his Sunday work, as well as their hotel bill, in counterfeit coin, and that they had stolen a nail hammer and a small vise from Leach's shop. The necessary papers for their arrest having been made out by E. G. Wheeler, were issued from the office of L. B. Swallow, a justice of the peace, and placed in the hands of Constable A. F. Leonard. Just as night set in he, in company with Justice Swallow, set out on foot to overtake and arrest the culprits. Arriving at the cabin of Richards brothers, a few miles west of where Ironton now is, and making known their business, they found them ready to join in the pursuit; for they had received bogus coin from Baxter and Reynolds in change for a $5 bill which they had paid them for whisky the day before. After a long
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HISTORY OF SAUK COUNTY
search in the darkness, they finally found the men, about midnight, asleep by a fire under an oak not far from the prairie in the south part of what is now the town of Woodland. Each of them had a loaded Sharp's rifle and a large knife lying at his side. In accordance with a previous ar- rangement, two of the company seized the prisoners, while the other two bound them with cords before they were fairly awake. Finding no counterfeit coin in the wagon, the officers made a long but unsuccessful search for it in the vicinity, and then harnessing the team started for Reedsburg, where they arrived Tuesday afternoon. The prisoners at once dispatched Constable Leonard to Baraboo to summon witnesses and to engage attorneys for their defense. On Wednesday morning, October 8th, W. H. Clark and J. H. Pratt, two of the best criminal lawyers at that time in the county, appeared for the defense of the prisoners. There was no one to appear for the prosecution. The district attorney resided at Prairie du Sac, thirty miles away. Lawyer Wheeler had been called away and L. G. Sperry, who sometimes took charge of suits before a justice, was also absent. In this dilemma Mr. Leach came to me, desiring that I should act as prosecuting attorney. I told him that I never had conducted a suit before a justice in my life, and I did not like to under- take it. He said that there was no other person who could do it, and that unless I could engage in the work the prosecution must be abandoned. Under these circumstanees, I told him I would do the best I could to conviet the prisoners. I first arraigned them for theft, a jury was called and they were convicted. They appealed the case to the Circuit Court, a young lawyer of Baraboo by the name of Clark giving bail for them. The bail was forfeited and Clark was obliged to pay. They were next arraigned for uttering counterfeit coin. There was no difficulty in prov- ing their paying out the coin which we charged as bogus; but we had trouble in proving it to be spurious. The lawyers for the prisoners got a decision from the justice that each witness called to give his opinion as to the coin should first swear that he was an expert in the business of detecting counterfeit coin. Among other witnesses I called J. S. Strong, who testified that he had been accustomed to handling coined money for thirty years and had never had a spurious coin passed upon him yet. As he was unwilling to say that he was an expert, his testimony was rejected. I then ealled Dr. R. G. Williams, who testified that he was a practical chemist, and that he could test the coin by the use of sulphuric acid. He applied the test in the presence of the court and pronounced the coin, which had been passed by the prisoners, spurious. That point was then conceded by the prisoners' counsel. They then introduced a witness, who swore that he was a partner of George Hiles of Baraboo, that Baxter and Reynolds purchased goods at their store on the Saturday previous, and that he passed upon them counterfeit coin to the amount which he had proved that they had passed upon others. Upon that testimony the justice discharged the prisoners.
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