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 21
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The steamer also brought the sheriff of Racine County, who arrested Garland and his accomplices for assault and battery. A writ of habeas corpus was issued from the United States Dis- trict Court. An understanding was finally entered into, that Garland should be forthcoming on Monday morning, and he was left with the United States marshal, to be delivered over at that time.
Such was the termination of the first attempt in Wisconsin to enforce the Fugitive Slave Law. Sherman M. Booth, editor of the " Milwaukee Free Democrat," took an active part in the rescue of Glover; and on the 8th of July, the grand jury of the
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United States District Court found a true bill of indictment against him, with two others, for being engaged in this case. On the 27th of May, 1854, while Mr. Booth was in confinement in charge of the United States marshal, he made application to Justice 'A. D. Smith of the Supreme Court of Wisconsin, in vacation, for a writ of habeas corpus, and a release from imprisonment. This application was brought before the Su- preme Court at its June session ; and on the 19th of July the decision was given. Each of the judges read an elaborately pre- pared opinion on both the purely technical points at issue and on the constitutionality of the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850. Chief- Justice Whiton disagreed with the opinion of Judge Smith as to the power of Congress to legislate upon the subject, but agreed with him that the law was constitutional, inasmuch as it conferred judicial powers on court commissioners, and deprived the alleged fugitive of a right of trial by jury. Judge Crawford read an able opinion, in which he held that power to legislate upon the subject was possessed by Congress and the States con- currently. The reasons urged on the subject of the judicial powers of the commissioners were not, he said, sufficient to cre- ate in his mind a belief that the law was unconstitutional. He considered the case of a fugitive slave as analogous to the case of a fugitive criminal, and that a trial by jury, not being pro- vided for the claim of the owner, did not invalidate the law. Judge Smith also read an opinion affirming the previous position assumed by him on the unconstitutionality of the law. The court were unanimous in the opinion that Booth was entitled to his discharge on the ground of irregularity in the warrant. The further history of this case, as found in the judicial records, will be referred to hereafter.
Among the matters that took place this year (1854) was one that created much excitement throughout the State, and had the effect, indirectly with subsequent events, to materially injure the Democratic party then in power. The following is believed to be the history of what is known as the "School- Land Fraud." In April, 1854, the leading Democratic paper, "The Argus and Democrat," announced as authority that all the school-lands subject to entry were purchased on the 20th of April at the appraised value. The amount included all in
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the market of the 16th Section, and five hundred thousand acre tract. James Ludington, president of the Bank of the West, was the purchaser. In reply to another newspaper's com- ments on this sale, this paper took issue as.to the number of acres included in the purchase, and stated the amount to be about one hundred and sixty thousand acres, instead of over a million, as had been published. Mr. Chapman, cashier of the Bank of the West, stated that the amount would be from one hundred and fifty thousand to two hundred thousand acres.
On the 1st of June following, it was announced that the parties interested had said "they never intended to take all these lands," they should take what they considered desirable, and leave the rest. The commissioners, in a published state- ment of May 19, state that Mr. Ludington made application to purchase seventy thousand acres of school-land, and was in- formed that such an amount would probably comprise nearly all, or quite all, that there was in the market; and he, in reply, stated he would take all there was for sale, and requested the papers to be made out. A thorough investigation of the books in the land-office showed that the amount still for sale was greater than was estimated; but the fact was not discovered until some weeks after the application was made, as it took that length of time to make the examination.
It was confidently affirmed by some parties, that no one was allowed to enter any lands, as the agents of Mr. Ludington were, through their agents, selecting the lands; and, until his pur- chase was completed, others would have to wait. On being informed of the amount of lands on sale exceeding seventy thousand acres, Mr. Ludington remarked that he would take the quantity applied for as above, and would pay for it accord- ing to the rules of the land-office. According to Section 32 of the Revised Statutes, every person making application for the purchase of any school or university lands should produce to the secretary of state an application in writing, describing the tract or lot which he proposed to purchase by the proper number of the section, township, and range, and the subdivis- ion of the section, and his name subscribed thereto, which application the secretary was to file and preserve in his office. The commissioners claimed that they acted in good faith; that
CROSSCUP
JUDGE DAVID NOGGLE.
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Mr. Ludington, after receiving the lists prepared by the office, proceeded to select about seventy thousand acres, and the remaining lands were put again in the market as rapidly as he could make selections, and the certificates could be prepared for him, and the lands entered in his name on the books; that no favoritism had been shown him, and that he was treated in all respects as other purchasers, and in accordance with the laws of the State. It was claimed, on the other side, that while Mr. Ludington may have deposited money to cover all the pay- ments required, a general deposit of money on a blank appli- cation was illegal and void; and that other parties desirous of purchasing for actual improvement found the land-office doors closed against them, and the officers helping a speculator make his application from their books; and that such a sale was an outrage on the people, and should not have been per- mitted by those whose duty it was to protect the people in their rights, and that the best interests of the State were seri- ously injured thereby.
The Milwaukee and Mississippi Railroad Company completed their road as far as Madison, in the month of May; and on the 23d a great celebration was held at the seat of govern- ment. The opening of this road gave an impetus to emigra- tion, and to the development of the country. When it is remembered, that, before this road was commenced, all the grain raised in this section of the State had to be drawn to Milwau- kec by teams, and that the expenses on the road often absorbed the price received therefor, it will be seen that it was a cause of congratulation that such an easy and cheap mode of trans- portation was available. In the summer of 1854, Prof. E. Daniels, State geologist, was superseded by Dr. J. G. Percival, by appointment of Gov. Barstow.
At the election, in November, 1854, C. C. Washburn, Charles Billinghurst, and Daniel Wells, jun., were elected members of Congress from this State.
Mr. Haertel, commissioner of cmigration, in his report says he entered upon the duties of his office on the first of May, 1853, and appointed John A. Byrne his assistant; that he had prepared a series of articles descriptive of Wisconsin, and its (lesirability as a place of residence in an agricultural point of
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view, its valuable mines, and inducements to emigrants to emigrate to this State. He received three hundred and seven- teen letters within eight months, making definite inquiries. During the same period, three thousand persons. visited his office at New York City, of whom two thousand came from Europe. The visitors were mostly Germans. Some thirty thousand of these pamphlets were distributed, and sent abroad. It is computed that the number of Germans arriving in Wis- consin in 1853 was between sixteen thousand and eighteen thousand; number of Irish between four thousand and five thousand ; and the whole number of emigrants to the State, from fifteen thousand to thirty thousand. In the year 1854, some fifteen thousand Norwegians and Swedes came to Wis- consin. They have maintained, at their own expense, an agent at Quebec, who attends to their transportation and location in the United States.
The regents of the State University, in their report, stated that the second dormitory building will be completed during the present season. Prof. S. P. Lathrop of Beloit College was added to the faculty as professor of chemistry and natural history in February; and, in September, Daniel Read was elected professor of mental philosophy, rhetoric, and English literature, though he did not enter upon the discharge of his duties until August, 1855.
Reference has been made to the passage of a law for the construction of a building for a hospital for the insane. In pursuance of this law, Gov. Barstow appointed S. G. Bugh, D. S. Vittum, and A. S. Sanborn commissioners ; and Dr. George R. McLane was appointed superintendent. The commissioners, on the 9th of August, caused to be published a notice for pro- posals for furnishing materials and doing the work for the erection of the lunatic asylum building, or such a portion thereof as the governor and commissioners might deem advisa- ble to have erected; proposals to be received and opened on the 20th of October, which was subsequently postponed until the first day of November, and the reception of the same until Oct. 20.
From the report of a committee of the legislature in 1855, it appears that two separate proposals were received by the
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commissioners, on or about the thirty-first day of October, 1854, one of which proposals was signed by Andrew Proudfit, and the other by Lamar and Resley, dated Oct. 31, on which last day the contract for the erection of the building was awarded to Andrew Proudfit, and the work was commenced. Upon the assembling of the legislature of 1855, however, the ques- tion was raised as to whether the commissioners had acted in conformity to the law, either in respect to the plan of the building, the cost of construction, or the manner of letting the contract; and the whole subject was, as before alluded to, referred to a select committee.
The committee made a voluminous report, and found that the plan adopted by the commissioners was much more exten- sive than had been authorized, and bore no particular resem- blance to the Worcester (Mass.) Asylum, which the legislature had adopted as a pattern. They also found that the work had been contracted by the piece, with no footings or statement of the aggregate amount; and, consequently, the total amount for which the State would be liable under the contract was entirely uncertain. The committee procured the assistance of archi- tects and builders, who made an estimate of the cost of the proposed structure, upon the basis of the rates agreed upon in the contract; and the result of their figures was 8452,140.42, while the cost of the Worcester Asylum, to which they were limited, was less than 8100,000. The result of the investiga- tion was, that the legislature annulled the contract. Mr. Proudfit had expended 827,102.26 on the work when it was suspended.
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CHAPTER XXIX.
ADMINISTRATION OF GOV. BARSTOW.
Events of 1855 - Legislation -General Progress of Private and Public Affairs.
THE eighth session of the State legislature assembled at the capital on the 10th of January, 1855, and adjourned April 2, after a session of eighty-three days. In the senate, Lieut .- Gov. James T. Lewis presided ; S. G. Bugh was elected chief clerk, and William H. Gleason sergeant at arms. In the assembly, C. C. Sholes was elected speaker, David Atwood chief clerk, and William Blake sergeant-at-arms. The Republican party had been organized in the preceding year, and a majority of the assembly were of that party.
Gov. Barstow, in his message, opens with an appropriate reference to the results of the past year as affording reasons for the people of the State to indulge in congratulations to an extent never before warrantable ; that there was a balance of 822,967.47 in the State treasury on the 1st of January, and that the secretary of state estimated the amount necessary to be drawn from the treasury during the following year, to meet accruing liabilities, at 8253,059.52, to meet which the resources of the State were estimated at $288,829.91; that the expenses of the State for the previous year, exclusive of the accounts of the school and other funds, were 8222,154.12. Of this amount, 880,000 is included in the extra appropriations of the previous year for the Deaf and Dumb, and Lunatic Asylums and for the State-prison ; and that the actual current expenses of the State were but a trifle over $140,000.
The condition of the school-fund he reported as highly flat- tering, - that there would be for distribution the following year 8142,431.29, or about ninety-three cents to every child in the
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State ; that the increase had been over a half a million of dollars ; and, in connection with this subject, he recommended the passage of a law restricting the sales of school-lands in limited quantities to actual settlers. In reference to banks, he stated that the bank comptroller's report gave the amount of bank circulation as 8937,592, which is secured by the deposits of stocks to the amount of $1,033,000, leaving a margin of 895,408 for depreciation and loss.
The governor also referred to the institutions of the State as being in a promising condition, and that all the public im- provements were being carried forward as rapidly as possible. The State-prison, he reported as nearly finished, and of a permanent and substantial character, being firc-proof, two hundred by fifty feet, four stories high, and containing two hundred and eighty-eight cells. He urged liberal provision for the deaf and dumb, and blind institutions; and reported that the State geologist, Dr. J. G. Percival, had prosecuted his labors with great energy, which had been confined, thus far, to the lead districts. The Fox and Wisconsin Improvement Company had pressed the work undertaken by them with energy ; and the expenditures as reported by the president after the transfer of the work by the State, and up to the 20th of December, 1854, were 8183,460.53; and that the sum estimated as necessary to complete the work was 832,388.84. He also referred to his former message, on the importance of making provision for the sale of the swamp and overflowed lands granted to this State by act of Congress, approved Sept. 28, 1850, numbering about 1,651,062 acres, and recom- mended that the lands should be sold, and a portion of the proceeds used in the erection of public buildings, such as the completion of the penitentiary, the construction of the build- ings for the various charitable institutions, and, at no distant day, of a new Capitol edifice, or the enlargement of the one then in use, which even then, owing to the insufficiency of room for offices, seemed to be demanded.
The superintendent of public instruction reported the whole number of children in the State over four, and under twenty years, at 155,125, an increase of 16,467 over the number reported in 1854; and the amount of money expended during
Digitizer
CHOSSEUP & WEST-SCPHLA.
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MON. ALONZO WING.
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and that there had been expended of the State appropriation 8497.10. This was a beginning of the successful efforts of Dr. Lyman C. Draper, its corresponding secretary. The society at this time occupied a small room in the basement of the Baptist church at Madison. Of the growth and prosperity of this institution, unsurpassed by similar organizations in the United States, reference will be had in the further progress of this work.
The legislature, at this session, passed one hundred general laws, four hundred private and local laws, and thirty-six memo- rials to Congress, which may be divided as follows: of the general laws, twenty were amendments to laws in force, three in reference to counties, eight changing the time of holding circuit courts, five relative to county courts, twenty changing names, six relative to school-lands, &c. Of the private and local laws, fifty-eight were amendments to railroad, plank-road, and insurance-company charters; eight to incorporate bridge compa- nies ; one hundred and forty-four charters to railroads, educa- tional institutions, and manufacturing companies ; ten authoriz- ing the erection of dams; twelve ferry-companies; eight in reference to Milwaukee City ; twenty-one organizing school- districts ; sixty-one for State roads; and twenty-eight in refer- ence to taxes. Among other bills passed of a public nature, was one to abolish the office of commissioner of emigration, and travelling emigrant agent; one to suspend the sale of school and university lands, except for purpose of settlement and cultivation ; an act relative to the rights of married women, providing that any married woman whose husband, either from drunkenness or profligacy, should neglect or refuse to provide for her support, shall have the right, in her own name, to transact business, receive and collect her own earnings, and apply the same for her own support, and education of her children, free from the control and interference of her husband; an act to repeal an act to provide for a State lunatic asylum, and to provide for a compromise with the contractor ; an act to provide for levying a State tax for the year 1855; an act to provide for taking a census of the people of the State; an act to provide for protection of swamp and overflowed lands, and to grant pre-emptions thereon.
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This session of the legislature was far from being harmo- nious : there was much party feeling displayed ; and the inter- course between the governor and the assembly was not a pleasant one. The assembly had a Republican majority ; and the governor was a Democrat. In a notice of the adjournment, the editor of " The Madison Democrat " says, " A body pos- sessing a less amount of talent never met at the capital. It came with professions of industry, economy, and short sessions upon its lips. An idler, more lavish, and dilatory body has not, since the organization of the State, assembled within the walls of the Capitol ; and the following is the result, in brief, of their labors, -an amount of local legislation unparalleled in the history of the State, a failure to enact a single law which will accomplish a reform in public affairs, time devoted to the pursuit of partisan and sinister objects to the total neglect of good and wholesome legislation, an amount of appropria- tions never before equalled in a single session, and a State tax of three hundred and fifty thousand dollars, seven dollars to every voter, and seventy-five cents to every man, woman, and child in the State."
This is pretty strong language. " The Madison Journal," in reply, says, " The legislature passed a prohibitory liquor law : the governor vetoed it. It passed a law to investigate the affairs of the State departments: the governor vetoed it. In short, with scarcely a single exception, every law to accom- plish a reform in public affairs found an unscrupulous and active enemy in the governor, and was either vetoed, or- what is still more outrageous - pocketed. And that, as far as the State tax of three hundred and fifty thousand dollars is concerned, the late legislature was not responsible for it; and, in every contingent expense of the legislature, that body has been the most economical, perhaps, that ever assembled here." From these two extracts, from the two prominent opposing papers at the seat of government, one can form his own conclusions on the merits or demerits of the session of 1855.
On the 1st of February, Charles Durkee was elected United States senator; and N. W. Dean, S. L. Rose, and Dr. A. L. Castleman, on 2d of April, were elected regents of the uni- versity.
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HISTORY OF WISCONSIN.
The United States District Court by its grand jury having found a bill against Sherman M. Booth and John Ryecraft in the matter of the rescue of Glover, a fugitive slave, the case came before the court in January, 1855. The parties were tried, and found guilty of a violation of the Fugitive Slave Law. The sentence of Mr. Booth was imprisonment in the county jail one month, and a fine of one thousand dollars, and costs of prosecution ; and, of Mr. Ryecraft, ten days' impris- onment, and two hundred dollars fine, without costs. On the 26th of January the defendants made application to the Supreme Court of Wisconsin for a writ of habeas corpus. On the 4th of February, the court pronounced its decision in favor of the application. Judges Whiton and A. D. Smith gave lengthy opinions on the case. Mr. Garland, the owner of Glover, commenced a prosecution against Mr. Booth in the United States District Court, for the loss of his slave. The case came up for trial on the 5th of July, at Madison, and was argued on the part of Mr. Garland by J. E. Arnold, and J. T. Mills on the part of Glover. The jury, under instructions and law given by the court, brought in a verdict of one thousand dollars, the value of a negro slave as fixed by act of Congress of 1850.
The Democratic State Convention for the nomination of State officers was held at Madison Aug. 31, 1845. The follow- ing persons were nominated: for governor, William A. Bar- stow ; lieutenant-governor, Arthur McArthur; secretary of state, David W. Jones ; state treasurer, Charles Kuehn ; attorney-general, William R. Smith; superintendent of public instruction, A. C. Barry ; bank comptroller, William M. Den- nis ; state-prison commissioner, Edward McGarry.
The Republican State Convention met at Madison Sept. 5, 1855, and the following ticket was nominated : for governor, Coles Bashford ; lieutenant-governor, C. C. Sholes; secretary of state, S. D. Hastings; attorney-general, Alexander W. Ran- dall; state treasurer, Charles Roesser; superintendent of public instruction, J. G. MeMynn ; bank comptroller, F. H. West ; state-prison commissioner, James Giddings.
The State census, as authorized by act of legislature, was taken this year: the result showed a population of 552,109.
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CROSSCUP & WEST-SC.PHRA
HON. LUCIUS S. BLAKE.
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HISTORY OF WISCONSIN.
Orsamus Cole was elected Supreme Court judge, at the election in April, over Hon. Samuel Crawford, the retiring judge.
A. C. Barry was appointed by the governor superintendent of public instruction, to fill the place of Hiram A. Wright deceased.
A very spirited canvass was held in November, resulting in the election of the whole Democratic ticket. The vote on Gov. W. A. Barstow was very close; but the State canvassers declared him elected by one hundred and fifty-seven majority.
CHAPTER XXX.
GOV. BARSTOW'S SECOND TERM.
Events of 1856-The Gubernatorial Fight - Barstow vs. Bashford.
IN reference to the fact that the board of State canvassers had declared Gov. Barstow to have received a sufficient number of votes to entitle him to a certificate of his re-election to that office, the newspapers of the day gave expressions to their opinions in decided language. The Republican papers intimate that there had been, for weeks after the election, unerring indi- cations that Gov. Barstow had friends at work, who would fur- nish the State canvassers the means of arriving at the decision they would reach, even though that decision should conflict with the honest vote of the State, and annul, so far as the can- vassers can annul, the real will of the people. To what extent they were privy to these labors, or instigated them, we have no means of knowing; but says one, though, possibly, unjustly, " No injustice is done them, when it is asserted that the grant- ing of the certificate to Gov. Barstow was a foregone conclu sion, and that the knowledge coming to them in their official character has been used for the sole benefit of their personal and political friends."
On the 7th of January, Gov. Barstow and the newly-elected State officers were sworn into office. Great preparations had been made to have an imposing celebration on the occasion. A. large party from Milwaukee came on by special train to partici- pate. There were five companies of the Milwaukee battalion, and two companies from Watertown. These companies, on their arrival, with the friends of the governor, marched in procession to his residence, where he and the other State officers entered a barouche, and were driven to the Capitol. Some two
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