USA > Wisconsin > An illustrated history of the state of Wisconsin : being a complete civil, political, and military history of the state, from its first exploration down to 1875 > Part 19
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At the general State election held in November, Nelson Dewey was elected governor, S. W. Beall lieutenant-governor, William A. Barstow secretary of state, Jairus C. Fairchild treasurer, and Eleazar Root superintendent of public instruc- tion. On the question of suffrage to colored persons, 5,625 votes were given for suffrage, and 4,075 against it. Charles Durkee, Orsamus Cole, and James D. Doty were elected mem- bers of Congress 1849-51. During the year 1849, the preliminary steps for the organization of the institution for the education of the blind were taken at Janesville. A school for the blind had been supported by the voluntary effort of the people of that place and vicinity. Its operations having been brought to the notice of the legislature, that body, by act approved Feb. 9, 1850, organized the Wisconsin Institution for the Blind, the object of which was declared to be "to qualify, as far as may be, the blind for the enjoyment of the blessings of a free government, obtaining the means of subsist- ence, and the discharge of those duties, social and political, devolving upon American citizens." The institution was to be under the charge of five trustees appointed by the governor, who were empowered to employ a superintendent and teachers necessary to conduct the school, and to perform other duties necessary for the proper management of the same. Like almost all the schools of the kind in the country, it opened free of charge to those who required its advantages. The funds for its support were for the first year derived from a tax of one fifteenth of a mill on each dollar of taxable property, since
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which time it has been supported by an annual appropriation. The institution was first opened on the first Monday of October, 1859, when eight pupils were admitted. The estimated expense for the year commencing Oct. 1, 1850, was fifteen hundred dollars.
The State superintendent of schools, Hon. Eleazar Root, was chosen by the people in 1849. He was nominated by the State central committee of both political parties, and elected without opposition. He was favorably known as a firm friend and devoted advocate of the cause of education. His first term consisted of one year. He was re-elected, his second term being two years. From his first report, issued in 1850, we learn that there were estimated to be 80,445 children between four and twenty years of age in the State, of which 46,136 were attending school ; that the average wages of male teachers per month were 815.22, and of female teachers, 86,92; that there were 704 schoolhouses, 359 being constructed of logs; and that there were ninety-six unincorporated private schools. During Mr. Root's administration, besides issuing a publication of the school-laws with notes and instructions, accompanied with suitable forms for conducting proceedings under them by the different school-officers, he gave much attention to the forma- tion of graded schools in various parts of the State.
The settlement of Wisconsin from the time of the organiza- tion of the State government was marked in a very extraordi- nary degree ; transcending all that had been witnessed in the creation of new political communities, by the peaceful migra- tion of men and of the arts, distancing even all previous expe- rience in the settlement of the New World. During the decade from 1840 to 1850, the population advanced from 80,000 to 205,000, while at the corresponding decades of its growth, Ohio presents an increase only from 45,000 to 212,000, and the corresponding increase of Indiana and Illinois was in a much smaller ratio. The migration to Wisconsin, unparalleled as it was in the experience of States, has not been the fitful result of the gambling mania which lured its hordes of victims to the Pacific coast: it has been the steady and persistent flow of men and capital, seeking permanent homes for them- selves and their families. Of those of this number may be
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named the German and the Scandinavian ; both nationalities soon becoming thoroughly Americanized in thought, feeling, and language. From these sources, Wisconsin derived large accessions of numbers, of wealth, and of enterprise, owing to its excellent advantages of rich, productive soil, at the nomi- nal government price of a dollar and a quarter per acre, its valuable mines of lead and other mineral, its forests of pine- timber, as well as the unlimited water-power of its streams for all the demands of industry.
The third session of the State legislature convened Jan. 9, 1850, and adjourned Feb. 11, 1850, after a short session of thirty-four days ; Hon. S. W. Beall, lieutenant-governor, pre- siding in the senate, William R. Smith chief clerk, and James Hannahan sergeant-at-arms. In the assembly, Hon. Moses M. Strong was elected speaker, Alexander T. Gray chief clerk, and E. R. Hugunin sergeant-at-arms.
The governor, in his message to the legislature, refers to the continued immigration to the State, to the work prosecuted on the Fox River, and to the contracts that had been entered into for the construction of the portage canal between the Fox and Wisconsin Rivers, and the improvement of the Fox River, Rapids des Père, and Rapid Croche, for the sum of 860,401; also refers to the necessity of a state-prison, the action of the board of regents of the university in proposing to erect one of the university buildings the present season, the business conducted by the Wisconsin Marine and Fire Insurance Com- pany in the issuing of certificates of deposit, which, in his opinion, were unlawful under the Constitution, and other sub- jects connected with the management of the financial affairs of the State.
The secretary of state reports the total receipts in the treasury the year past (1849), 858,059.94, and estimates the expenses for the year 1850, including deficiencies, 868,950.79 ; that the number of sections of university lands appraised is 634} acres, and the appraised value $117,691.46; total number of school-sections, 405 ; appraised value, exclusive of expense, of appraising, 8964,924.72; taxable property, 827,450,000. The board of regents of the university, in their report to the legis- lature, refer to the site selected as being one of great beauty,
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consisting of about fifty acres, bounded on the north by Four Lake (Lake Mendota), and that a portion of the residue of the tract had been surveyed, and laid out in streets and town-lots. Plans and estimates for the buildings were submitted; the principal features being a main edifice fronting towards the Capitol, three stories high, to be a hundred and forty feet in length, with an extreme depth of sixty feet, to contain thirteen public rooms, four dormitory buildings, two on each side of the main building, each to be four stories high, a hundred and ten feet in length, and forty feet in breadth, containing thirty- two study-rooms for the use of students. The plan as reported was adopted by the Board, subject to the approval of the legis- lature. According to the estimates of the architect, J. F. Rague, Esq., the buildings would cost nearly seventy thousand dollars. At a subsequent meeting of the Board, held in 1850, proposals were received for the erection of one dormitory building ; and the contract was awarded to Varney Parker for seventeen thousand dollars. The legislature in joint conven- tion, Jan. 20, elected H. L. Dousman, Caleb Croswell, and Albert S. Story, commissioners of the board of public works.
There appears to have been but little business of an impor- tant nature transacted at this session, though some three hun- dred bills passed both houses. A large part of the business was of a local character; such as the incorporation of plank- road companies, bridge companies, and laying out of roads. There were some twelve laws amending the revised statutes, four on locating county seats, twenty-two road-bills, sixteen on the subject of local taxation, twelve charters for bridge com- panies, seven in reference to Indians, fourteen plank-road charters, four amending the charters incorporating railroads, and about ninety appropriation bills. One act was passed fixing the salaries of the State officers.
The population of the State in 1850, as taken by the govern- ment, was 405,121, an increase, since 1848, of 94,575.
At the congressional elections held this year, Charles Dur- kee, Benjamin C. Eastman, and James D. Doty were elected members of Congress.
By an act of Congress approved Sept. 28, 1850, all the swamp and overflowed lands in the State were donated to the State.
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During the winter and spring of 1851, serious apprehensions of danger were entertained by many citizens residing north of the Wisconsin River, from the return of numerous bands of the Winnebago Indians to their old hunting-grounds ; and the military arm of the State was strongly solicited to protect our people, and remove them from the State. Gov. Dewey, not participating in these alarms, and desirous of obtaining cor- rect information relative to the presence and intention of these bands, employed an agent - unknown to them, and acquainted with their character - to visit the localities occupied by them, for the purpose of persuading them to leave the State, and quiet the fears of the people. The course pursued practically accomplished the desired object. This nation have since been nearly all removed from the State by the agent of the General Government employed for that purpose ; and it is believed that the mode adopted by the governor at the time of which we are speaking was effective.
The fourth session of the State legislature convened at the Capitol Jan. 8, 1851, and adjourned March 18, 1851, after a session of seventy days. In the senate, Lieut .- Gov. S. W. Beall was president, William Hull chief clerk, and E. D. Masters sergeant-at-arms. In the assembly, Frederick W. Horn was chosen speaker, Alexander T. Gray chief clerk, and Charles M. Kingsbury sergeant-at-arms.
Gov. Dewey, in his message, referred to the death of Pres. Taylor; said that the treasury and finances of the State were in a sound condition ; that all liabilities authorized by law to be paid had been promptly met, with a surplus at the close of the year; that the total receipts into the treasury since the organization of the State government were 8160,218.53, and the expenditures during the same period, 8152,969.61; bal- ance in the treasury Jan. 1, 1851, 87,248.92; that the estimated expenditures for 1851 were 880,193.69. He recommended some changes in the assessment of taxes, gave full statistics of the school and university lands, spoke of the necessity of a state- prison, and the system of literary exchanges proposed by M. Vattemare, which he highly approved. He also referred to the operations of the Wisconsin Marine and Fire Insurance Com- pany, which, he stated, were in " derogation of the express pro-
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vision of its charter, the constitution, and general law of the State." He referred to the question of " banks, or no banks," which was to be introduced for legislative action at the succeed- ing session, and expressed his opinion strongly against the banking system. He also referred to the Fugitive Slave Act, which was then agitating the public mind, and many other sub- jects of minor importance. The message is a lengthy docu- ment, and, like all that have emanated from Gov. Dewey's pen, is ably and carefully prepared. His recommendations were always entitled to proper consideration.
The first important measure of the session was the election of a United States senator to fill the place of Hon. Henry Dodge, whose term of office expired March 4. In a joint con- vention, held Jan. 20, a ballot was taken, and Henry Dodge re- ceived sixty-nine votes, James D. Doty seven, Alexander L. Collins three votes. Gen. Dodge was declared elected senator for six years, from March 4, 1851.
On the 26th of February, the two houses, in convention, elected A. Hyatt Smith, Alonzo Wing, G. Aigner, and J. Duane Ruggles, regents of the State University. Among the important acts of the session was one providing for the location and erec- tion of a state-prison, -a matter that Gov. Dewey had, in his previous message, strongly recommended.
Three commissioners were to be appointed by the governor, who should, at their first meeting, decide upon all sealed com- munications, specifying the advantages of certain localities, ad- dressed to them, and were empowered to purchase, or accept as a donation, on the part of the State of Wisconsin, and receive deeds for such lands, not to exceed, in the whole, twenty acres ; one of their number to be acting commissioner. The Board was required to procure plans for a prison to accommodate two hundred prisoners, with separate cells; such plan as adopted to be approved by the governor. Ten thousand dollars was ap- propriated for the purpose of carrying into effect the provisions of the act.
By this law, Messrs. John Bullen, John Taylor, and A. W. Worth, were appointed commissioners to determine the best point for the location of the new pris n. They examined Madison, Portland, Genesee, Horicon, Kaukauna, and Waupun;
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and on the 4th of July, 1851, a majority of the commissioners decided to locate at Waupun. Seymour Wilcox of Waupun donated twenty acres of land as a site for the prison buildings. On the 21st of July, 1851, a contract was made with James K. Smith for the construction of the main upright part of a tempo- rary prison, for 84,600. The commissioners estimated the sum necessary to continue the erection of a state-prison, and pay indebtedness, at $25,000, and also recommended the purchase of an additional twenty acres for the prison site.
On the 13th of February, the legislature, in convention, elected D. M. Loy, Timothy Burns, and Caleb Croswell, board of public works, B. S. Henning register of State land-office, and James Murdoch treasurer.
The judges of the Supreme Court on the 18th of June elected Hon. Levi Hubbell chief justice until the election in August, 1842. From the report of this Board, made in 1852, it appears that the offices of the register and receiver of the State land-office were opened March 20, 1851, since which time 8,194.73 acres have been sold. Amount still on hand belonging to the im- provement, and subject to entry, 36,231.21 acres; amount re- ceived for quantity sold, 810,363.59.
There were four hundred and seven acts passed, two joint resolutions, and fourteen memorials to Congress. Of the acts, seventy-two were appropriation bills, ten incorporating colleges and academies, twenty-seven charters for bridge companies, eighteen for plank-road companies, twenty-seven bridge com- panies and amendments to previous charters, fifty incorporating cities, towns, and villages, sixteen relative to counties, seven- teen ferries and mill-dam, thirty-six State and town roads, ten railroad charters and amendments to charters, and thirty amend- ments to revised statutes. A joint resolution of the legislature, rescinding a vote of censure on Hon. I. P. Walker, United States senator, March 31, 1849, was also passed.
In relation to the business of the session, one newspaper re- marks, " An immense number of new laws have been created, and pretty much all of the old ones altered or amended in some shape ; so that the presumption that every one knows the law is rebutted by a violent suspicion, at least, that they do not know any such thing. A number of unimportant ones have
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been passed. The principal measure of the session, the appor- tionment bill, was passed on the last day of the session, but was vetoed by the governor as unconstitutional. A bill for the im- provement of the State Capitol was also vetoed."
The trustees of the Institution for the Blind, in their second annual report, stated that the expenses for conducting the institu- tion for the year ending October, 1850, was 81,830. In pursuance of the law of March 15, 1851, they had caused a building to be erected, twenty-six feet in width and forty-two feet in length, of faced stone, which would accommodate twenty pupils. Dur- ing the year, eight pupils were in attendance. The dormitory building erected for the State University was completed during that year; and the first term of the year 1851-52 was opened in the new edifice, on the 17th of September.
The Democratic State Convention was held on the 19th of September, 1851; and the following persons were placed in nom- ination : for governor, Don A. J. Upham ; lieutenant-govern- or, Timothy Burns; secretary of state, William A. Barstow; treasurer, Edward Jannsen; attorney-general, Charles Billing- hurst ; and State superintendent of schools, Azel P. Ladd.
The Whig State Convention met on the 24th of September, and nominated for governor, Leonard J. Farwell; lieutenant- governor, James Hughes; secretary of state, Robert W. Wright; treasurer, Jefferson Crawford ; attorney-general, John C. Truesdell.
At the general election in November, the Democratic ticket was elected, with the exception of D. J. A. Upham for gov- ernor. L. J. Farwell, the Whig candidate, had a majority of 560 votes.
CHAPTER XXVI.
ADMINISTRATION OF GOV. L. J. FARWELL.
Events of 1852 -Governor's Message - Land Grant Difficulties - Legislation Statistics - A Cyclopedia of Events during the Year 1852.
THE administration of Gov. Leonard J. Farwell commenced on the fifth day of January, 1852; and, in accordance with the constitution, the legislature met on the 14th of January, at the fifth annual session.
Hon. Timothy Burns, lieutenant-governor, took his seat as president of the senate. John K. Williams was elected chief clerk, and Patrick Cosgrove sergeant-at-arms. In the assem- bly, James McMillan Shafter was elected speaker, Alexander T. Gray chief clerk, and Elisha Starr sergeant-at-arms. The legislature adjourned April 19, after a session of ninety-six days, - the longest ever held under the Territorial or State organi- zation up to this date. The governor, in his message, says that the expenses of the State for the fiscal year ending the 31st of December, 1851, provided for by permanent appropriations, in- cluding sundry prior indebtedness, was #101,885.98; unpaid appropriations and salaries for 1851, 827,985.88; and the esti- mated expenses for the year 1852, $109,283.29. He said that complaints had been made that loans of the school-fund had, in some instances, been made on insufficient securities, and recom- mended a commission to make examination of the title of land mortgaged, to ascertain whether the security was adequate. He also made the following recommendations : to memorialize Con- gress to cause the agricultural lands within the State to be sur- veyed, and brought into market ; to cause the mineral lands in the State to be surveyed, and geologically examined, and offered for sale ; to make liberal appropriations for the improvement of
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rivers and harbors. The question of "bank, or no bank," having been submitted to a vote of the people, and decided in favor of banks by a large majority, he recommended the neces- sary measures to carry into effect this constitutional provision, and urged that every safeguard and precaution be taken for the safety of the bill-holder.
Many important measures were introduced, and became laws, -a larger number than had been passed at previous sessions. Some five hundred and four bills were passed, and twenty-six memorials to Congress adopted. Among other acts was one for the completion of the improvement of the Fox and Wiscon- sin Rivers, by which act all the unsold lands granted by Con- gress, estimated to be about two hundred thousand acres, should be selected, and brought into the market at a minimum price, -not less than two dollars and fifty cents per acre, - the lands to be disposed of as the improvements progressed ; or "so much of said lands may be sold as will produce twenty thousand dollars, and until one-half of said sum shall be expended, when a further sale shall be made to re-imburse the amount expended; and the fact of such expenditure shall be properly certified to." This bill was vetoed by the governor, but was passed, and became a law, by a majority of votes of both houses.
An act was passed to provide for the organization of a sepa- rate Supreme Court, and for the election of justices thereof ; providing, that on the last Monday of September, after the pas- sage of the act, an election for one chief justice and two asso- ciate justices should be had, whose term of office should commence on the first day of June, 1853; the term of office of the chief justice to expire the last day of May, 1857, associate justice to serve until May, 1855, and the other until May, 1859; the terms of the two latter justices to be decided by lot. The salary of the chief justice and associates was fixed at two thousand dollars. A bill was passed to provide for the establishment of a commissioner of emigration for the State, in the city of New York. The salary of the commissioner was fixed at fifteen hundred dol- lars, and the sum of 812.50 to be expended in printing informa- tion of the State in the English, German, and other languages for gratuitous circulation. A bill was passed to authorize the
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business of banking ; a bank comptroller to be appointed, after the passage of the law, by the governor, to hold his office for two years, with a deputy comptroller, who should provide blank notes to be engraved and printed, and who should deliver the same to any "person, or association of persons, formed for the purposes of banking under the provisions of this act, on their duly assigning and transferring in trust to the State treasurer any portion of the public stocks of the United States, or any State stocks on which full interest is annually paid, said stocks to be valued at the average rate at which the stocks may have been sold in New York within six months previous to the time they are deposited with the bank comptroller." By the provis- ions of the act, railroad bonds of the State would be received by the State treasurer in lieu of public stocks, with certain pro- visos. An act was passed to apportion and district anew the members of the senate and assembly, by which the number of the members of the legislature was increased from eighty-five to one hundred and seven. Also the following : a bill to regulate licenses for the sales of ardent spirits, one to quiet tax titles, one to borrow the sum of fifty thousand dollars on the faith and credit of the State to defray extraordinary expenditures, and one to effect the completing of a documentary history of Wis- consin, and Gen. William R. Smith of Iowa County was by the act appointed to compile said history. Among the railroad incorporations was the Milwaukee and La Crosse Company, the doings of which company in subsequent years was the occasion of much comment. Of the number of bills passed, there were thirty-one plank-road charters, thirty charters for railroads, villages and cities, bridges and ferries, eighteen amendments to general and session laws, eight academies incorporated, twenty in reference to counties, nine to courts and legislation, fifteen change of names of towns and individuals, one hundred and ninety-two appropriation bills, twenty relating to schools and school-lands, and others not enumerated.
The most important subject acted upon, as before stated, was the bank question. The people had by a large majority de- clared in favor of banks; and most of their representatives came to the Capitol backed by positive instructions to take such pre- liminary steps as would secure the constitutional establishment
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of such institutions. The provision of the bill as to receiving railroad bonds as a basis for security of the circulating medium, it was thought would give an impetus to the railroad enterprises of the State. The provision, also, of individual liability was supposed to perfect the bill.
The trustees of the Blind Institution, in their report, stated that the building provided for by act of the legislature of March 15, 1851, was completed in May, 1852, and was furnished throughout, and fitted for the reception of pupils, on the first of June in that year.
The judges of the Supreme Court on the 7th of January, 1852, elected Hon. M. M. Jackson chief justice, who declined the position, when Hon. E. V. Whiton was elected.
On the 15th of March, P. H. Prame, William Richardson, and Andrew Proudfit were elected by the legislature a board of public works.
The Wisconsin Institute for the Education of the Deaf and Dumb was incorporated by act of the legislature, approved April 19, and was located on a valuable and eligible site near the village of Delavan, in Walworth County. The original site of 11-64 acres was donated to the State by Mr. F. K. Phoenix, a member of the first board of trustees; and in 1857 the trustees purchased twenty-two acres of land lying on three sides of the original site. The organization of the institution was effected in June, 1852. An appropriation of a thousand dollars per year for three years was made, and a contract entered into for a building thirty-four by forty-four feet in size, of two stories besides the basement and attic, to be completed by June, 1854. At the organization, the number of deaf-mutes in the State was a hundred and seventy-five. Eight scholars were then in attendance, who were temporarily cared for in a rented house.
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