USA > Wisconsin > Sauk County > A standard history of Sauk County, Wisconsin, Volume I > Part 42
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
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 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58
Dionzoo by Google
395
HISTORY OF SAUK COUNTY
graduate of the Canfield nursery, commenced in a small way and worked up, and is now a leading man in the business, both in the tree line and fruit, with his great and beautiful orchard.
"A. G. Tuttle commenced a nursery business in 1858 and rapidly enlarged his orchard and small fruit aereage. He has introduced many varieties of new and hardy fruits, especially apples. From the fact of his taking the first premiums for many years on apples in succession, in both county and state fairs, this locality has been placed as first in the state for apple growing. William Fox's several state premiums upon grapes, successively, proves possibilities in that line of fruit eulture. At horticultural meetings there is much said about the causes that eon- tribute to hardiness, winter killing, etc., of our cultivated fruits.
NATURAL ADVANTAGES
"I believe that the soil and humidity of the atmosphere plays the greatest part in the whole matter. Plants, like animals, require food congenial to it. The cow, horse, sheep, goat, deer, moose, elk, etc., etc., require each its proper regime. In the oak family each variety is partial to and flourishes best on its God-given proper food. Red, black, white and burr oak get their best foods in different soils. Common observa- tion tells us of a white oak soil, a burr oak, etc. The linn, maple and elm get their best food from different soils. A proper prairie soil will not allow a tree to grow in it if left free to fight its own battles. How many times we have seen heavy timber growing up to a prairie line not four feet wide; the great trees leaning over the prairie side to get the most sunlight and, of course, dropping their fruit onto the prairie, yet in the lapse of time there is no eneroachment of trees on the prairie side. Babb's prairie in Sauk county gives a good illustration of this. Hence, with our cultivated fruits to flourish best and stand our winters best each must have its proper food and a good degree of humidity. I would not, however, ignore the fact that elimate has something to do with the condition of the cultivated fruit tree. Most fruit trees will stand a great degree of cold if there is moisture enough in the atmosphere. Pomological physiology should be elosely studied by him who deals in fruit raising and in schools it should be taught as much as animal physiology."
QUAKER SETTLEMENT IN THE LITTLE BARABOO VALLEY
Lydia M. Williams Cammack writes as follows from Ontario, Cali- fornia, in 1910, regarding the early history of Woodland Township and the Quaker settlement of the Little Baraboo Valley: "Away back in New York City a beautiful opera singer, of a wealthy family, became the bride of a popular young man. Life was roseate for them until the
Digweed by Google
396
HISTORY OF SAUK COUNTY
wine cup, the curse of all ages, held A. D. R. Mitchel in firm bondage. Determined that this disease (we now call it) should be broken, Mr. Nehemiah Austin, brother of Mrs. Mitchel, and his wife, Mrs. Lucretia Austin, planned an adventure for the two families into the wild and lonely forest of the Little Baraboo Valley. Mr. Austin and his wife chose a piece of land and settled where Ironton now stands, while Mr. Mitchel settled about three and a half miles west. These were the first houses between Reedsburg and the Kickapoo river (1847). During the next five years three or four other families chose land near these people. "In 1852 a few families of Friends (Quakers) from the aguey low lands of Indiana drove in covered wagons westward in search of a more healthful country and climate and for some unknown reason, perhaps because of the pure water supply, took up land in the Little Baraboo Valley ncar the Mitchel home.
FIRST SCHOOLHOUSE, POSTOFFICE AND HOTEL
The first schoolhouse in the valley was known as the Blakeslee school- house and was located about two miles east of the Quaker settlement. Here the matrimonial fates of many of the stable men and women of the community were decided.
"The first postoffice was established at Ironton and later one at a country place four miles west, called Oaks. This last was discontinued and one established beside the Quaker church, about three miles west of Ironton, named Friendswood. Later this was discontinued and the Oaks postoffice re-established.
"In the early days the townships of Ironton and La Valle were called the Marston Precinct.
"When immigration was most rapid into the valley, a sort of inn was instituted at the old Coryell place, kept by Mr. Sands, and called the Valley House.
"The earliest records of Woodland township date back to 1858. Mr. Horton was town clerk for thirty-seven years.
"The first burials, made in the little graveyard in the woods about half a mile east from Oaks Cemetery, were those of Nellie Davis, mother of Neil Davis, and Elizabeth Stafford, mother of Elizabeth Bundy.
"The winters of 1856 and 1857 are still remembered as the Cold Winters, the snow falling four feet deep and crusting. The temperature reached 46 degrees below zero. There was much sleet and the winter was long and the new settlers in their small log houses, with their stone fireplaces, had not a little exercising to keep wood in and cold out.
FARMS AND MEANS OF LIVELIHOOD
"The land throughout the valley was first taken from the govern- ment at $1.25 per acre and then sold or traded to others. The Bundy
Diguicodby Google
397
HISTORY OF SAUK COUNTY
place was bought from Mr. Aaron Benbow for a small wooden bucketful of gold, $1,000. The Williams place of 108 acres was bought of Levi Bunker for $1,000. In 1869 Mr. Stowe bought 80 acres for $200 and a double-barreled shotgun.
"Most of the families coming into the valley spent their money for land and depended on their own labor to clear up the farm and raise or earn a living; and if the family chaneed to be large, or had sickness, the pinchings of poverty were often felt. 'Store goods' were sparingly indulged in for food or clothing. Sheep were raised, and the spinning wheel, loom and knitting needles were kept busy. As much pride was felt over the new linsey-woolsey as over the finer fabrics later on.
."The discovery of ginseng growing wild in the woods was, to the early settlers, a source of a meagre income, as the commodity brought, in the market, six or seven eents a pound green, or twenty-five cents dry. Many wild adventures were related of evenings, caused by searching for the precious root. The many wild fruits and nuts found in the forests and along the creeks furnished the settlers with that which they missed from the eastern orchards. The maple groves in spring furnished the sweets and the gardens were supplemented by the wild greens. Very little marketing eould be done until after the railroad was built in the early '70s. Then the timber began to be valuable.
"By 1855 it was thought that a sufficient number of Friends had set- tled in the valley to maintain a Friends' meeting or church. Accord- ingly one was organized in the home of Jabez Brown and his father, who then lived in the little log house beside the creek, later owned by the Gray family. Thirty charter members were recorded, including four ministers. As Friends' ministers never received salaries in those days, and spoke only when the Spirit moved them, there was no thought of any embarrassment over the four preachers for the congregation of thirty. In 1856 a little log Friends' meeting-house was built about three miles west of Ironton and a Sabbath School organized a little later.
"UNCLE" JAMES STANLEY
"Death early claimed three of the original ministers and James Stanley, the saint of all the valley and the only man of whom none spoke ill, remained as shepherd of the flock for more than forty years, helped, of course, by others who came to the calling of preacher later."
The narrative continues by giving some of the good unele's favorite texts, among others, "Watch and pray, lest ye enter into temptation."
"This last text was once illustrated in an amusing way. Unele James always prayed with his eyes open and one day, during his prayer, he noticed that his horse was unhitched from the post. He abruptly left off praying, arose, walked out of the church, tied his horse, returned, kneeled, and went right on with his prayer as though nothing had occurred.
Igilized by Google
398
HISTORY OF SAUK COUNTY
LARGE CHURCH AND SCHOOL
"After the Friends had worshipped a number of years in the little log meeting-house they began talking of a new building, and during the '60s began the erection of a large two-story frame house, 60 by 30 feet, proposing to have a school in connection with the church. This was several years in building and its timbers hewn from logs were massive. It was built by the carpenters of the valley, John Williams and Solomon Cook putting into it much gratuitous labor."
NOTABLE TEACHERS
"There were several notable teachers among the Friends, Jabez Brown being the one of largest service and one of the ablest. He had been a student at Spiceland Academy, Ind., and soon after his arrival in the Quaker settlement, in 1855, became a teacher in the district school. He continued to teach for over fifty years, and many of his pupils fol- lowed in his footsteps.
"If Jabez Brown may be called the educational father in the church, his sister, Mary Cook, who became a minister, may be called the spiritual mother. She, and later her daughters, Antoinette Coryell and Ella C. Veeder, had great interest in the spiritual welfare of all, especially of those of the church.
"Antoinette Coryell was the moving spirit in the founding of the Friendswood Academy, which was opened October 6, 1884. After three years there was a wholesale migration of the Quakers of the Little Baraboo Valley to a locality near Whittier, California, and Antoinette Coryell transferred her activities in education thither.
A HARD TEMPERANCE TEST
The position of Friends on the temperance question has always been positive. "But when the price of hops was high, and many of the people were putting out hop-yards, the connection between the drinking of liquor and raising the commodity from which it was made, was quite obliterated to a few of the Friends, though the stanchest ones held to their principles and would neither grow hops nor let their children pick the hops. With money so scarce and hops so high-priced, this was a sore test. One of the pillars of the church finally yielded to the tempta- tion and planted out a yard, but his conscience was not clear over the matter, and while the price was still very high and his vines strong and healthy, he plowed them all up and joined the anti-hop people. This was a legacy in which his children delight. That fall (of 1868) hops went down from 60 cents to 3 cents per pound, and the year will long be remembered as the year of the Hop Crash. Many who had gone
Digazedby Google
399
HISTORY OF SAUK COUNTY
heavily in debt on the strength of the hop erop were not able to pay their debts, and some even lost their homes. After that, it was not hard to see that hop-raising was wrong.
SCATTERING OF THE COLONY
"The Jabez Brown family moved to Madison and from there seat- tered to the extremes of the continent, Melissa alone remaining in charge of the College Book Store. Three of the family are in the Brown Pre- paratory School, of Philadelphia, founded by the eldest son, Alonzo. One is in Portland, Oregon. The graves of our honored teacher and his wife are side-by-side in a quiet spot in the Madison Cemetery. Others of the church are scattered to almost every corner of America. The advantages of the West appealed to many, and Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska and Dakota became homes of some of them. The migration to California in 1888 took the mainstays of the church. But the few remaining mem- bers tore down the big church, and of its timbers built a smaller one near the Oaks schoolhouse.
A RE-VISIT TO THE OLD CHURCH
"Above the pulpit hangs that same framed motto that Monroe Hammer on his death bed bequeathed to the church-'In God We Trust.' In 1909, after eighteen years' absenee, the writer entered that little church one Sunday afternoon, expecting to see nothing familiar. I had but sat down when I recognized the very same old seats our fathers and mothers sat upon. I had but to elose my eyes to see each member of the olden time in his or her familiar place, and realize that in silenee we are still communing with our God."
PIONEER METHODISM By Rev. T. M. Fullerton
"Having been requested, as one of the pioneer preachers of Sauk county, to contribute some reminiseenses of early times, I very cheerfully comply. I have kept a tolerably copious journal, so that I am not com- pelled to rely on memory as to dates and events and persons to which and of whom I may have occasion to speak.
"It was my privilege to be one of those inevitable men on the frontier, a Methodist itinerant preacher, as early as the spring of 1841. I was not, however, the first of my class to visit Sauk county. That honor, I think, belongs to Rev. James G. Whitford," now of Volga City, Iowa.
. Mrs. Henry Teel, says John Crummer, preached the first sermon in Sauk County in May, 1840.
Dicedby Google
400
HISTORY OF SAUK COUNTY
It has been suggested to me that, possibly, Rev. John Crummer preceded him, but of this I have no knowledge sufficient to form a belief.
"Mr. Whitford, after spending a number of years of widowerhood, part of them near St. Paul, and an Indian and frontier missionary, very naturally desired to find a fellow sufferer of the gentler sex, hoping, as many do, that by uniting their sorrows they could bear them more joy- fully. Mrs. Sarah Sayles, the widowed daughter of Henry Teel, who had removed to the Bluffs on Sauk Prairie in 1840, attracted. During his visits here he preached to the few settlers that gathered for the pur- pose, and, I believe, formed the first class in Sauk County, but of the date, and of all the names he has no record. The class was formed at the house of Father Teel, still standing at the foot of the bluffs, which for several years was the place of meeting. Mr. Whitford and Mrs. Sales were united in marriage by Rev. Mr. Simpson, on the 15th of August, 1841, and this was probably the first marriage in Sauk County.
THE PRAIRIE IN 1841
"My first record relating to this county mentions meeting Rev. Henry W. Reed, now of Epworth, Iowa, Presiding Elder of the Dubuque District, and J. G. Whitford, on their way to Sauk Prairie, May, 1841, to hold a quarterly meeting. Mr. Reed was then presiding elder of the Platteville Distriet, Rock River Conference, which embraced all this region of country; and Mr. Whitford was stationed at Mineral Point, associated with this county circuit. I was his assistant. They left an appointment for me a few weeks from that time, and promised the people a preacher for the next year. I reached the Prairie on the 23d of June, 1841. The only road then from Mineral Point was by way of Blue Mounds, and the only vestige of habitation between Brigham's tavern and the river at about where the Lower Bridge now is, was Mr. Thomas' Station, near Cross Plains. All the supplies for the Upper Wisconsin pioneers were drawn on the military road leading to Fort Winnebago, now Portage City. Mr. Thomas had established a way- station for teamsters and travelers. From this road a way was opened from about the present Alden's Corners to the river. The crossing at Lower Sauk village was the only ferry then between the Fox and the shot tower at Helena. I copy the entry in my journal as made on my first visit on the above date:
" 'After riding through a heavy rain storm, on a very bad road, I crossed the river and got to Father Teel's at the Bluffs, just at dark. I have often heard of this prairie, but like the Queen of the South, I can say, "The half has never been told me!" It is on the west bank of the Wisconsin river, eight miles long and four wide, being about eighty-five miles from the mouth of the river. The lower part of it is about ten feet above high water mark, and it gradually rises until the northern
1
Dig zedby Google
. -
401
HISTORY OF SAUK COUNTY
part is fifty or more feet high. The soil is in places sandy, but very productive, and all adapted to cultivation. This was once the great headquarters of the Sac nation of Indians, and large fields of their corn hills are yet plainly visible. These were driven hence by the Winne- bagoes, and subsequently they gave place to the whites, some of whom first settled here about two years ago. There are now about 270 inhabit- ants on the prairie. A flourishing little village is commenced on the river.
" There is here a Hungarian Count-so he calls himself-who claims to have large quantities of money, and is expending it liberally in improvements. There is also an Englishman here who claims to have been a Lord in the old country. He is in partnership with the Count. They both look like savages, wearing a long beard above as well as below the mouth. And they are the great men of the place, and others adopt their customs, and make themselves as ridiculous as possible.'"
MUSCODA MISSION
"On Thursday evening, June 24th, I preached at the Bluffs from 1 Cor. 13, 13; Friday evening at the Lower Village, in an unfinished school house, from Rev. 3, 20; Sunday, A. M. at the Bluffs, and in the evening again at the village.
"At the Rock River Conference, held at Platteville, closing Sep- tember 2, 1841, I was appointed to Muscoda mission, in Platteville Dis- triet, Rev. Henry W. Reed, Presiding Elder. The mission embraced all the settlements on both sides of the river from Muscoda to Fort Winne- hago. Before the close of the year I had appointments at Muscoda, Blue Mounds, then known as Centreville, near Meeker's lead furnace (High- land, four miles north, was not even thought of then), Helena, Ridge- way, Blue Mounds, Sauk Village, Honey Creek Mills, Bluffs and Baraboo. It required three weeks to make my round, involving a travel of more than two hundred miles, for there were scarcely any roads.
"My first appointment at Honey Creck Mills, where several families had settled, was September 16, and the text was James, 4, 8, the meeting being at Mr. Gould's, and there were eighteen present. At this point we afterwards held the meetings at a Mr. Crain's, whose wife was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
"Finding the distance so great to go and return by way of the Mounds, I crossed the river at Helena, Mr. Alva Culver, who boarded the shot tower men, keeping a scow for the purpose, on the 30th of Sep- tember, and went up to Sauk on the old Indian trail. This route I traveled eight or ten times during the year. The trail was circuitous, bearing out from the river, and crossing several wet marshes, where my little Canada pony could not bear mne up. To avoid the inconvenience of dismounting in a quagmire nearly knee deep, and wading twenty Vol. 1-26
Igilized by Google
402
HISTORY OF SAUK COUNTY
rods, as I often did, I sought a better route. Sometimes I went up the river bank, but the logs and gorges, to say nothing of the bluffs coming to the water's edge, made that a difficult road. I tried several times to vary the former track, to split the difference between the impassable river bank and the swampy trail, but like almost all bargains on splitting the difference, I found myself badly sold. I settled down at last to the conviction that it is safe to follow the trails of Indians until civilized highways are made.
MR. WILSON MOVES TO THE CREEK
"There were no settlers in your county west of Honey Creek till the fall of 1841, or the spring of 1842. Mr. Wilson, the shot tower cooper, moved his family to the mouth of Wilson's ereek in the latter part of 1841. He was a well informed Scotchman, and had a family of well posted children. I stayed with him one night, when I was informed it was an established family order that, by turns, one should read history or some other solid work, of which he had a good library, each night, while all the others worked and listened. Hence the intelligence of the children was remarkable for a frontier family.
FIRST PREACHING AT SPRING GREEN
"Soon after a Mr. Turner settled about where Spring Green now is, and several young men took elaims on the prairie. On the 30th of May, 1842, I preached in Mr. Turner's house to the family and three young men who came in. My text was 'The time is short,' 1 Cor. 7, 29. That was undoubtedly the first attempt at preaching in Spring Green.
"In 1841 there was a temporary bridge built across Honey Creek at the mill which saved me trouble. Before that I had made my pony swim the ereek at the crossing of the trail, and had taken my baggage aeross on a log. Sometimes my pony concluded it was as easy for me to walk and carry that and me too. Once I walked immediately behind him for about seven miles. West of this bridge a Canadian, Mr. Brisset, with a young Yankee wife, settled in 1842. I spent one night in their eabin. Still west of him a mile or two, in a beautiful valley, after the burning of the grass, I saw a field of several acres of parallel ridges about five feet apart, very nearly straight, that must have been used many years before, for large white oak trees grow all among them. They were more artistic than any remains of Indian cultivation I have ever seen.
PREACHING AT BARABOO MILLS
"My first visit to the Baraboo Mills was October 5, 1841. Notice of my coming had not been given, and we therefore had no meeting. At
Dicedby Google
403
HISTORY OF SAUK COUNTY
that time the sawmill had been repaired, a new dam put in and some men employed. An old man, Dr. Draper, a member of the Baptist Church, was some way interested in the mill, and it was called Draper's mill. He invited me to come and establish meetings there. A Mr. Hill, from one of the New England states, had built a log cabin about ten or fifteen rods east of the mill, and boarded Mr. Draper and the hands. This mill was not far from half a mile above the ford on the Baraboo river.
"On the 16th of October, Tuesday evening, I preached in Mr. Hill's house to eleven persons, from 2 Cor., 5, 20; which was certainly the opening of the gospel for the first time in the Baraboo valley. None of those present professed to be Christians save Mr. Draper. After that my appointments were regularly filled there, except once, when the roads were impassable.
"On Sunday, February 6, 1842, I formed a Methodist elass at Bara- boo Mills, consisting of Solomon Shaffer, leader, Ollie Shaffer, and Parmelia Gilson, all of whom were Methodist immigrants, recently ar- rived. Mr. Shaffer was the mill blacksmith, and lived in a house newly built south of the mill. Mrs. Gilson and family had settled about a mile above the river, on the north side. Before I left the circuit there were one or two families moved in above the Gilsons, I think about five miles up the river. I visited them onee, but have no record of the names. My impression is that one of them was a Jones.
"On the 10th of April Mrs. Mary J. Hill, the woman of the house where our meetings were held, joined the class. She was the first con- vert to religion in the valley, having made a profession in the early spring of 1843.
"The unfinished schoolhouse at Lower Town, as Sauk City was then called, was very uncomfortable as a place for meeting; besides the people there were chiefly Germans and had little sympathy with our forms of religion. Early in the winter of 1841-42 we got the privilege of holding our meetings at the house of Mr. Skinner and thereafter had no services at Lower Town.
REV. PHILLIP W. NICHOLS, FIRST RESIDENT PASTOR
"About the first of April, 1842, Rev. Phillip W. Nichols came with his family to Upper Town, as a Presbyterian Home Missionary, under the auspices of the American Board of Commissioners for the Home and Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian Church. He had formerly been a Methodist itinerant preacher, but for reasons satisfactory to him- self and his church, his connection with that body was dissolved. He had connected himself with the Congregational body, but at that time in Wisconsin Territory, under what is known as the 'Union,' a minister of either the Congregational or Presbyterian Church could serve the other
Dionzoo by Google
404
HISTORY OF SAUK COUNTY
without change of ceclesiastical relations. So he was a Presbyterian pastor, but a Congregational minister. The scattered Presbyterian friends here had received him as a missionary, with an appropriation from the mission fund of four hundred dollars, they agreeing to furnish him a dwelling, fuel and provisions for one year, as their part. He was the first regular pastor for Sauk exclusively, for, although I preceded him, my parish embraced Grant, Iowa, Dane and Richland counties, be- sides Sauk and all the settled regions beyond. Again, his salary equaled $700 or more, while mine could, according to our law, be no more than $100. He had $100 missionary funds; I but $50, aside from which I only received during the whole year $0.92. He had a pleasant home with his family ; I boarded round like the schoolmaster of the times. He was a man of years of experience in the ministry and knew the incon- veniences of Methodist pioneering; I was inexperienced in both. It is therefore no wonder at our first interview, at the house of Mr. Skinner, after I had preached and called on him to close, he gave me and the audience to understand that he thought I had vast room for improve- ment. We first met April 13th-after which we alternated in holding meetings at Upper Sank.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.