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 64
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On the fourth Sunday after Easter, in 1843, a provincial council of bishops- was heid in Cincinnati, at which Henni attended, and received the appointment of bishop of the newly erected diocese. of Milwaukee. In the month of De- cember of the same year, the nomina- tion was confirmed by a Papal bull; and on the 19th of March, 1844, he was consecrated bishop in the old Xaverius Cathedral in Cincinnati, by Bishop Purcell, assisted by Bishop Miles, of Nashville, and Bishop O'Connor, of Pittsburg. On the 12th of April he. started for his new field of usefulness,. accompanied by Rev. Mr. Heiss, now bishop of La Crosse; and arrived in. this city at a late hour on the night of the 3d of May. The next morning he- was conducted to the small wooden. structure on Martin Street, next Jack- son, known as St. Peter's Church. This was his cathedral. At that time. the entire number of Catholics in the. village and its surroundings did not number two thousand. The entire. diocese numbered, probably, not over eight thousand inhabitants. There were but five or six priests in the ter- ritory, who officiated in block-houses,
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except Prairie du Chien, where the work of erecting a substantial stone edifice was commenced, in the hope that the bishop would locate at that point. In the following month of August, he paid his first visit to Green Bay, and from thence called on the Menomonee Indians on Wolf River, and, after a weary journey, reached the Chippewa Indians at La Pointe, Lake Superior, where Father Frederick Bar- aga had established a flourishing mis- sion. Under the able management of the bishop, the diocese began to im- prove both in numbers and prosperity. Emigration was settling in; and the church increased in communicants until it was found necessary to erect a larger place of worship. St. Mary's Clnich, corner Broadway and Biddle, this city, was built and consecrated in the summer of 1847. The number of priests had also increased to thirty ; and, in the fall of the same year, the corner- stone of the cathedral was laid with im- posing ceremonies. At the instance of the worthy bishop, a hospital had also been founded, and the Sisters of Clia- rity invited to take charge of it.
He left for Rome to see the Pope, in January, 1843, and reached France just as the Revohition took place in that country and carried its baleful infin- ences through Germany and Italy. The serions aspect of affairs through- out Enrope caused him to postpone his original intentions, which, if carried out, would have resulted in his being kept from his diocese for a long time. This change in his plans, however, gave him time to visit his birthplace. When Bishop Henni returned, he was received with great enthusiasm by the people of his diocese. The work on the cathedral was suspended in order that the funds might go to the erection of an orphan-asylum. A building was also purchased for the school sisters; and an association of the three Fran- ciscan orders settled below what is now Bay View, and founded the semi- nary at that point. St. Gall's Church was also erected for the accommoda- tion of the Irish Catholics; and Trinity Church for the Germans, who were settling in large numbers on the sonth side. To secure means to complete the cathedral, Bishop Henni undertook a voyage to Mexico and Cuba. In the fall of 1852 it was under roof; and on the 31st of July it was consecrated, on which occasion the Papal Nnncio Bedini, and other diguitaries of the church, presided.
Bishop Henni has lived to see his diocese of several thousand communi- cants grow until it numbers a hundred and seventy-five thousand Catholics, with two hundred and forty-seven churches. Of the present importance of the diocese it is unnecessary to speak, in view of the appointment of the venerable bishop to the archbish- opric, a worthy acknowledgment of his great zeal by the pope. The con- secration of Archbishop Henni took place in Milwaukee, on the 15th of May. 1875.
HON. JAMES ' H. LOCKWOOD. - James H. Lockwood was born Dec. 7, 1793, at Pern, Clinton County, N. Y., where he resided until his sixteenth year, and commenced the study of law; which he abandoned, and accept- ed a clerkship in a store. In 1814 he engaged as clerk to a sutler in Gen. Izard's army. In 1815 he was en- gaged to the sutler of the Rifle Regi- ment, then at Buffalo, and, accepting the situation, had the pleasure of rid- ing to that place on the stage which, with colors flying, bore to that city the welcome tidings of peace. The troops were ordered West; and, on the 15th of Angust, he arrived at Mackinaw. In 1816 he engaged In the fur-trade at the head of St. Peter's River; and in 1819 finally made his home at Prairie du Chien, where he spent the remain- der of his days. Hle filled various posts of honor and usefulness, among them that of judge of Crawford Coun- ty, when that county comprised all that territory lying north of the Wis- consin River. In 1826 he built the first frame-house in Prairie du Chien ; and this was the building occupied by Col. (afterward President) Taylor when he was commanding-officer at Fort Crawford.
At the request of the State Histori- cal Society of Wisconsin, Judge Lock- wood prepared for the second volume of their Collections an article on " Early Times and Events In Wiscon- sin," embodying the leading events of his Western life. He was for forty years a pioneer in the commerce, nav- igation, milling, lumbering, and lead trade of Wisconsin, and had the priv- ilege of seeing Wisconsin rise from comparative obscurity to the full stat- ure of a State, with nearly a million of inhabitants. And, having lived a long and honorable life, he fell like a shock of corn fully ripe. Ile was in the sixty-fourth year of his age. He died Aug. 24, 1857.
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HISTORY OF WISCONSIN.
NATHAN MYRRICK, the first white | Indians had been there about one settler at, and the original proprietor of, the town of "Prairie la Crosse," was born at Westport, Essex County, N. Y., July 7, 1822.
His ancestors, paternal and maternal, were among the first settlers of West- port. His grandfather was a soldier in the army of the Revolution. His fa- ther was a merchant, and the propri- etor of several milis, - woollen, saw, and grist mills ; and he represented the county in the legislature of the State several years.
Nathan was the second of three brothers. The youngest died at West- port; the next was killed in the Sioux massacre at Yellow Medicine in 1862; and the oldest resides in Minnesota. The subject of this sketch received his education at the academy at West- port, and was engaged in his father's business until his nineteenth year; when he left home for the "Great West," to, as the saying then was, " seek his fortune."
In June, 1841, he reached Prairie du Chien, and was employed as cierk in the post-office by B. W. Brisbois, where he remained until the November fol- lowing.
Conceiving that a fortune was not to be made in the position of clerk, and acting upon the proposition of "nothing ventured, nothing had," he purchased an "outfit" of goods for Indian trading. Seenring a boat of about forty tons burden, and assist- ants to act as interpreters and labor- ers, on the 7th of November he started up the Mississippi, using poles as the motive-power.
On arriving at La Crosse, he was struck with its peculiar adaptability as a "town-site," and determined to locate. There being no timber suit- able for building purposes on the prairie, and not having a team, he built his first house, a " double cabin," on the island opposite, and prepared for business.
The agency of the Winnebago Indi- ans was at " Turkey River," in Iowa. Although the Indians had ceded their lands east of the Mississippi, yet they retained a quasi claim, and were jeal- ous of white men settling so far north of Prairie du Chien.
month, when they made an attack on the building, riddling the door and windows with bullets. Myrrick had but one man with him at the time. They returned the fire, fortunately not killing any of the Indians. During the fray, Alexis Bailey, who was well known to the Indians, returning fromn the " upper country," accompanied by several teams, appeared upon the ground, which put an end to the attack.
During the winter, he prepared the timber necessary, shoved it across the river on a hand-sled, and with it, in February, 1842, built the first house on Prairie la Crosse. Moving his goods, and occupying his store, he became the first settler at that important point.
The original plat of the town-site was surveyed by Ira Brunson, of Prai- rie du Chien, in the summer of 1842. In 1851 it was re-surveyed, which somewhat changed the original survey.
Myrrick, in 1843, returned to West- port, and married Miss Rebecca E. Ismon. Proceeding to the city of New York, he purchased a large stock of goods, and in the fall returned to La Crosse.
Mrs. Myrrick was the first woman who graced the embryo city, and the family the only one resident for about a year. The first interment was a child of theirs, who died in 1845.
Myrrick's business energies could not be confined to "Indian trading." He early engaged in lumbering on the Black River, built a saw-mill, and, in 1844, run a raft of lumber to St. Louis, the first sent to that market from La Crosse.
In 1843, and spring of 1844, quite a number of Mormons were settled along the Black River, engaged in the manufacture of lumber for the Nauvoo market, leaving in the spring of the latter year. In the fall of the same year (1844), between three and four hundred returned to La Crosse, and settled in what is now known as the "Mormon Cooley." Mr. Myrrick gave employment to most of them in the pinery on the Black River, cutting steamboat-wood, &c. They remained until the spring of 1845, when most of them returned to Nauvoo in flatboats, which they built.
About two weeks after the " double cabin" was completed, the Indians, who had been to Turkey River to During the year 1841. two or three steamboats ascended the Mississippi with supplies for Fort Snelling and receive their annuities, returned; and about one hundred and fifty encamped on the island, near the store. The the lumbermen on the St. Croix. In
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1842 the little steamer "Rock River " | Illinois, and settled at a point twenty was run from Galena to Fort Snelling, making a trip once in two weeks.
In 1844 Scribe Harris put " The Otter " in the trade, run her for a year or two, when she was superseded by other boats.
A post-office was established at La Crosse in 1844; and Nathan Myrrick received the appointment of post-mas- ter, and resigned in 1846. He was suc- ceeded by E. A. C. Hatch, who had come out to La Crosse from Westport early in 1843.
The first election held was in 1844, for county commissioners. The whole country from Prairle dn Chien to the St. Croix was included in the county. Nathan Myrrick and H. L. Douseman, of Prairie du Chien, were elected.
In 1847 occurred the heaviest freshet ever known before or since along the Black River. Nearly all the mill-dams, booms, &c., were destroyed. Millions of feet of logs, timber, manufactured lumber, &c., were swept away; Mr. Myrrick losing upwards of twenty-five thousand dollars.
In January, 1848, he purchased of the United States the town-site of La Crosse; and In the spring of the same year he settled up his business, and moved to St. Paul, which has been his residence since, to this time (1875).
Idleness is not in consonance with his early training; and we find him still engaged in business on the fron- tier, - still pushing west. Since leav- ing La Crosse, he has had his trading- posts at Watab, Long Prairie, Traverse de Sioux, La Sueur, Pembina, &c.
In person, Nathan Myrrick belongs - as did his father and grandfather before him - to the " sons of Anak," being six feet four inches in his stockings. Genlal In his manners, brimful of kindness and hospitality, generous to a fault, often and again has he been the victim of misplaced confidence, as he will continue to be: so long as the " leopard cannot change his spots," so Nathan Myrrick cannot change his nature.
In all the vicissitndes of his varied and very extensive business, the writ- er, who has known hhn for nearly thirty years, has yet to learn of one, with whom he has had dealings, to deny him the title of "honest man."
COL. DANIEL M. PARKINSON. - Daniel M. Parkinson was born in Car- ter County, East Tennessee, Aug. 1, 1790, where he resided until 1818, when he removed to Madison County, I of Wisconsin.
mile east of St Louis. Remaining in that place two years, he removed to Sangamon County, and settled on Rock Prairie, four miles east of Springfield. Here he remained until the spring of 1827, engaged in farm- ing, when he removed to the lead- region of Wisconsin; and soon after settled at Mineral Point, where he became the third householder. In 1833 he entered a quarter section of land five miles south-east of Mineral Point, where he subsequently erected the residence in which he died. Mr. Parkinson took an active part in the Winnebago and Black Hawk wars. He was a member of the legislative assembly, 1836-38, 1840-1, the first of which was the first Territorial legisla- ture, which convened at Belmont. Mr. Parkinson's district consisted of what is now Iowa, Lafayette, Rich- land, and Grant Counties, and is at present represented by ten members. He was a member of the first Consti- tutlonal Convention, and in 1849 was a member of the first State legislature. He died at his residence in Lafayette County, Oct. 1, 1868, in the seventy- ninth year of his age. His portrait Is in the library of the State Historical Society.
HON. SIMEON MILLS. - He was born in Norfolk, Litchfield County, Conn., Feb. 14, 1810. In 1811 his father moved to Ashtabula County, and was one of the pioneer settlers in the dense forests of Northern Ohio, where the subject of this sketch was brought up at the laborious work of farming in a new country, acquiring, at the same time, a good common-school education.
At the age of twenty he procured a situation as clerk In a country store, and thereafter was engaged in mercan- tile pursuits, at different times, for several years.
In the summer of 1835 he came West, to Illinois and Wisconsin, spend- ing the latter part of 1836 at Mineral Point; and, upon the location of the seat of government of the Territory at the Four Lakes, determined to make that his future home.
On the 10th of June, 1837, he located at Madison, then a city of a single house; proceeded at once to the erec- tion of a small building of hewed logs, sixteen by eighteen feet on the ground, and, as soon as practicable, purchased a small stock of merchandise at Galena, and opened the first store at the capital
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HISTORY OF WISCONSIN.
At that time the white population | sylvania, Feb. 19, 1814. His parents of Dane County did not exceed three were blessed with a large family, while the supply of worldly goods was not abundant; but the children were given what, at that time, was deemed a good common-school education: they were also taught the all-important lesson of self-reliance. familles; and there was no mail or mail route between Madison and Mil- waukee; but, in the summer of 1837, Mr. Mills made a contract with the United States for carrying the mall between those points until Jnly, 1842.
On the 12th of August, 1837, Mr. Mills was appointed by Gov. Dodge the first justice of the peace in Dane County, and probably at that time the only one between Dodgeville and Mil- wankee.
In the spring of 1838 Mr. Mills re- moved his family from Ohio to Madi- son, where they have since resided, and are at this time, with a single ex- ception, the oldest residents of Dane County.
In 1839 Dane County was organized for county and judicial purposes; and he was elected one of the county com- missioners, and appointed elerk of the United States district court; which latter office he held for about nine years. He held the office of territorial treasurer when the State government was organized; and was elected the first senator of Dane County, and afterwards renominated, but declined to become a candidate for re-election.
In 1848 he was appointed on the first board of regents of the University of Wisconsin, and took an active part in the organization and commencement of that institution, by purchasing its site, and superintending the erection of its first buildings. In 1860, he was appointed one of the trustees of the Wisconsin State Hospital for the In- sane, and has been an active member of the board to the present time, taking a deep interest in the erection of its buildings, and the general manage- ment of affairs in and about the insti- tution.
He has been identified with public improvements, and contributed largely to the early growth and prosperity of Madison, investing all his gains in real estate, and the erection of buildings thereon, and making their care the business of his life.
His knowledge is practical, and his habits industrious and economical. He has aided in building schools, col- leges, and churches, and in developing the resources of a new country; has encouraged his fellow-men, by precept and example, to attain a higher eiviliza- tion.
In 1835 James, the subject of this sketch, at the age of twenty-one, started out for himself, and came to Wisconsin. The next season he rented a farm in Green County, and com- menced operations as a farmer. In 1841 he moved on to his own farm In the town of Albany, in that county, and was the first settler in that town. He was a successful tiller of the soll. In 1850 he opened the first store in the village of Albany, located one mile north of his farm. Largely through the influence of Mr. Campbell, the Sugar River Valley Railroad Company had been chartered, which provided for the construction of a railroad from the State line via Brodhead and Albany, to Madison.
In 1861 Mr. Campbell was a mem- ber of the assembly from the county of Green, and succeeded in getting the charter of the Sugar River Valley Road amended, so as to extend the line from Madison to Portage; and that portion of the congressional land-grant of 1856, which was given to aid in con- strueting a railroad between these two cities, was given by the legislature to this company. Mr. Campbell took a deep interest in the construction of this road, and in 1862 relinquished his mereantile pursuits, and devoted his whole attention to it. For a time the work progressed in a satisfactory manner; but in 1863, through con- flicting interests in the management, the Sugar River Valley Railroad Com- pany became involved in debt; and all work upon it was suspended, greatly to the injury of Mr. Campbell, who was a contractor for the building of the road. The property of this company was sold on an execution; and Mr. Campbell became the purchaser.
In 1870, the Sugar River Valley Com- pany having forfeited all claim to the land grant, Mr. Campbell procured from the legislature the charter of the Madison and Portage Railroad Com- pany, and a transfer of the land-grant to it. He then bent his whole energies to the construction of this road ; and, in less than one year from the passage of the charter, the road was completed
HON. JAMES CAMPBELL. - He was born in Susquehanna County, Penn- between the cities of Madison and
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Portage, being a distance of abont | he arrived in Fond du Lac. In No- forty miles. This work was met by vember of the same year he came to Madison, which was cver afterwards his home. As a resident of that city, Mr. Hopkins was ever foremost in pro- moting its best interest. He com- menced his career in Wisconsin as an operator in a telegraph-office. After accumulating a small amount of money, he invested it in lots in Madi- son. Continuing to buy and sell again, at an advanced price, he was soon in independent circumstances. He was active in organizing the Madison Mu- tual Insurance Company. In 1851 he drew up the charter of the institution, and procured its passage through the legislature, and was made its first secretary. He was a director and member of the executive committee of the company from the day of its organization to the day of his death, a period of nineteen years. many and scrious obstacles; but Mr. Campbell knew no such word as " fail," and, by the most persevering efforts, overcame them all. Under the circum- stances, it was a great accomplishment, and gave Mr. Campbell a high repu- tation as a railroad man. He still re- mains the president of the company, and has been engaged for the last three years in an effort to extend this road North and South, so as to connect the immense lumber-regions of Wisconsin with the extensive coal-mines of Il- linois. He has made two or three visits to Europe in this Interest, in the hope to raise money for the completion of this enterprise, and, no doubt, would have been successful in his en- deavors, but for the general depression in rallroad securities. He still hopes to accomplish this noble work at no distant day; and those who know Mr. Campbell best have but little doubt of his ultimate success. He does not willingly give up a favorite project.
As a citizen, Mr. Campbell is uni- versally respected for his sterling in- tegrity of character, and for his broad and liberal views on all questions of a public interest. Hc is true to his friends, and generous towards all who prove themselves worthy of his con- fidence.
As a business-man, he is clear in his perceptions, sound in judgment, and decisive in action; and, while modest and unassuming in his bearing, he is characterized by strong individuality of character, positiveness of opinion, and tenacity of purpose, that cause him to succeed where most men would fail. Mr. Campbell is at present a resi- dent of Madison.
HON. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN HOP- KINS. - He was born in Hebron, Washington County, N.Y., April 22, 1829. His carly life was spent on a farın. He received such an education as was afforded by the schools of his own town, and was deemed a good academic scholar .- Farming was not to his liking. He craved the more stimulating pursuits of the business- world. For a time he was clerk in a country store, and showed more apti- tude for this position than for farming. He next obtained a situation in a tele- graph-office, and soon became an ac- complished operator. At the age of twenty, having read of the great and growing West, he concluded to come to Wisconsin; and in October, 1849,
In 1855 Mr. Hopkins took an active Interest in the incorporation of the Madison Gas Company. He procured the passage of its charter, and a com- pany was organized; but the works did not prosper satisfactorily to most of the directors, and, at the end of the year, Mr. Hopkins leased the works for five years. At the end of this term he had become owner of most of the stock, which, through his skill in the management of the affairs, had been made to pay a good income. Mr. Hopkins continued to hold a large majority of the stock in the gas com- pany until his death; which amounted to a small fortune in itself.
Mr. Hopkins took an carly, active, and leading part in establishing the Soldiers' Orphans' Home, fraught with such untold blessings to the orphan-children of Wisconsin soldiers. He was a member of the board of trustees, from the commencement, so long as he lived.
Mr. Hopkins was a politician in the best sense of that word. In early life lic belonged to the great Whig party. On the organization of the Republican party, he became identified with it, and, during the balance of his life, was one of its leading members. He was private secretary to Gov. Bashford during the years 1856 and 1857. in the fall of 1861 he was elected to the State senate. In 1865 he was elected to the assembly of Wisconsin. This was not his highest ambition. Ile was desirons of obtaining a seat in Congress; and his first attempt in this direction was in 1862.
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HISTORY OF WISCONSIN.
In 1866 his name was again before the convention for nomination, in which he proved the successful can- didate. He was elected at the next fall election, by a large majority, and became member of the Fortieth Con- gress, from the second district of Wisconsin. Mr. Hopkins was re- nominated in 1868, without opposi- tion.
At the close of the first session of the Forty-first Congress, in the spring of 1869, Mr. Hopkins returned to his home in Wisconsin, with health much impaired. He made a trip to San Francisco, and visited many points in California, but returned with his health but little improved. At the assembling of Congress, in December, he was unable to resume his scat, and never after left his home In Madison. He died on New Year's Day, 1870. It can appropriately be said of him, -
" His life was gentle; and the elements So mixed in him, that Nature might stand up, And say to all the world, This was a man."
J. S. DOUGLASS, A.M., M.D., PH. D. - He was born in Westmoreland, Oneida County, N.Y., July 4, 1801. His father was a pioneer farmer of that county. His academic studies were pursued in the academy at Whitesbor- ongh, N.Y. During all his younger ycars, his health was very fceble, and on this account he was prevented from entering college. He, however, com- pleted a collegiate course without en- tering the college walls. Bnt, as a partial compensation, the Madison Uni- versity of New York, In consideration of thorough proficiency, conferred upon him the honorary degree of Master of Arts, and, in 1870, the additional degree of Ph.D.
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