USA > Wisconsin > Fond du Lac County > Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin, past and present, Volume I > Part 30
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Eliza Stewart, daughter of William Stewart, was the first white person born in the town of Byron. Her first appearance was made in the year 1840.
Mary Butler, who afterwards became the wife of F. Tallmadge, taught the. first school in Butler's corn barn in the summer of 1841. Soon thereafter a schoolhouse was erected on land donated by Patrick Kelly, and paid for by five men in the town. This schoolhouse also served as the first church.
Among the early pioneers not mentioned were William Stewart, D. W. Cruth- ers, D. C. Brooks, Franklin Nye, Emerson Fay, Joseph Noyes, C. B. Brown, B. R. Harrington, Alfred Bliss, J. M. Adams, N. C. Lewis, C. P. Phelps, D. D. Jones, Henry Bush, E. A. Cook, Delos Allen, D. D. Trelevan and George Rad- liff.
In 1845 a German woman entered the home of Joseph Nightingale in great distress, telling the family that she had just drank heartily at the spring near by, and lying down on a bench almost immediately expired. Her name and place: of residence were never learned.
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HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC COUNTY
The hamlet of Byron is a postoffice and station on the Wisconsin Central rail- way, located on section 27, about nine miles south of Fond du Lac. It has two general stores and saloons, a blacksmith shop, a meat market and an implement store.
South of Byron is a postoffice and station on the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul railroad on section 32, and is eleven miles south of Fond du Lac. This ham- let has an elevator, general stores, farm implement establishment, a creamery and blacksmith shop.
Hamilton is a postoffice and station on the Wisconsin Central railway on sec- tion 9 and is five and a half miles south of the city of Fond du Lac. There are important quarries and lime kilns.
WAUPUN
Waupun, by the act of 1842, was organized as one of the three towns which then comprised Fond du Lac county-Fond du Lac, Waupun and Calumet. The first election was held at Seymour Wilcox's house, which was then located in what afterwards became known as the north ward of Waupun city.
The pioneer settlers of this town exercised foresight and splendid judgment in selecting a locality for future homes. The climate is healthful, the soil very productive and the topography of the country beautiful and pleasing to the eye. Originally there was considerable marsh, most of which has been drained and the fertile soil composes well cultivated and productive farms, upon which are buildings which harmonize with the rapid progress of the country. At the time of the first settlements there were many tracts of very fine timber land and the community generally was well watered and drained by branches and tributary streams of Rock river. There are many schools in good condition, and churches, three of which are in the north part of the town, creameries and cheese factories. Grain-raising, fruit-growing, dairying, cheese-making and stock-raising are all profitable industries in the town of Waupun.
The first settlement in the town was made on the site of what is now the city of Waupun and was named by Seymour Wilcox in the fall of 1838. A more extended description will be given in the chapter relating to the city. Here also were the first mills, hotel, postoffice, church, school and store, and the city is practically the history of the town. The first settlement outside of the city was on Wedge's prairie in April, 1845, by Benjamin Cheeney. That same season J. C. Wedge and Warren Florida entered land in the same locality, of what has since borne the name of Wedge's prairie. In the following October Deacon James Judd settled with his family in the western portion of the town. White's prairie was settled by Solomon White early in 1845.
OAKFIELD
The first settler in Oakfield was Russell Wilkinson, who located south of the present city of Oakfield in 1840. At the time it seemed that he was very unfortunate in his selection of a home, for the Winnebago Indians were numerous about the Ledge and game was plentiful, but ignoring the things that were ready to the hand, they stole everything movable from Mr. Wilkinson, and ended their
UNION CHURCH AND MAIN STREET, WAUPUN
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relations with him by burning his house and its contents. This drove Mr. Wilkin- son with his family to Fond du Lac, where they remained as occupants in the house of Edward Pier, until 1843, when Mr. Wilkinson with his brother Robert, returned to his Oakfield farm and made a permanent settlement. By an act ap- proved February 2, 1846, this town was organized under the name of Lime, but it was changed to Oakfield, February 10, 1847. Here were found by the early settlers extensive and rich quarries of limestone, which suggested the name Lime, but beautiful oak openings suggested the name finally adopted. The lay of the land is equally divided between the high oak openings and prairie, and most of the marsh has been drained and is now tillable. The Ledge, which is very prom- inent, furnishes lime and splendid building stone. Here are also to be found beautiful springs and picturesque scenery, among the following being "Darl- ing's Gap," a wild spot near the village of Oakfield. It is most notable and at- tractive, having winding crevices, deep caverns, overhanging pricipices and vast domes of disintegrated rocks.
Russell Wilkinson, who had come to this county from Rensselaer county, New York, in 1840, afterward returned with his family to Fond du Lac, where he remained until the fall of 1843. He and his brother Robert were for some time the only white settlers in the vicinity. Eventually they were joined by John Wilkinson, John Beirne, S. Botsford and Messrs. Silvernail, Hubbard and Hazen. At the home of Russell Wilkinson, in April, 1846, was held the first town election on which occasion C. T. Rich was chosen supervisor and Lorenzo Hazen, clerk. Mr. Hazen was one of the leaders in forming the Washingtonian Society, a tem- perance organization, with branches scattered all over the United States.
Martha Wilkinson, daughter of Robert Wilkinson, whose birth occurred in May, 1844, was the first person born in the township. The first death was that of John Wilkinson, who was killed by a tree in 1846, and it is said that the neighbors, poor as they were, paid for the forty acres which Mr. Wilkinson had entered and gave it unincumbered to his family. In a year thereafter Russell Wilkinson died.
The first marriage was that of Thomas Burns to Elizabeth Stene, in 1844.
The first school was taught in 1845 by Marie Moore, afterwards the wife of A. Hubbard. The pupils gathered in a schoolhouse built the same year on section 14.
Rev. Harvey Bronson preached the first sermon in October, 1845, at the home of Russell Wilkinson.
The first church building was erected in 1852 on section 22 by the Congre- gationalists.
Avoca was the name of the first postoffice, which was established at the home of Isaac Orvis, who was appointed by the department to preside over it.
The first sawmill was built in 1844 by J. Allen, and in 1851. Henry Conklin built the first flouring mill on the east branch of the Fond du Lac river near the village of Avoca, the enterprise costing $12,000.
William I. Ripley opened the first store in 1845 on section 22.
In 1869 the first cheese factory was built in the town by Strong & Hammond. The Chicago & Northwestern railroad was built through Oakfield in 1852.
Scattered through the town are creameries and cheese factories. There are
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a number of good schools and churches, sufficient for those who care to attend them.
The village of Oakfield, which was first called Avoca, is situated on section 14 on the old plank road. Here the first mill was opened and the first postoffice established. The Rock River Valley Union railway, now a part of the North- western system, enters the town. The village was incorporated in 1903 and has a population of 522. There are three churches-Methodist Episcopal, Free Bap- tist and St. Mary's Episcopal. There are a number of industries, such as cream- ery, cheese factory, manufacturing of pressed brick, wagon-making, machine and blacksmith shops. There are grain elevators, a number of stores and a good hotel. For a town of its size the Oakfield public library, presided over by Kate E. Orvis, as librarian, is a credit. There is a bank, physicians and a well con- ducted public school. The fraternal societies of Oakfield are Oakfield Lodge, No. 158, A. F. & A. M., Oakfield Lodge, No. 174. I. O. O. F. and Oakfield Camp, No. 1814, M. W. A.
LAMARTINE
The town of Lamartine was organized February 21, 1847, and was named in honor of the poet and historian. It lies west of the town of Fond du Lac. It is bounded on the north by Eldorado, on the west by Springvale and south by Oak- field towns. Originally it was known as Seven Mile Creek, having been so named because of the settlement on the creek about seven miles from Fond du Lac. The first election was held at the house of Peter V. Sang. A. C. Everst was chairman, Thomas McGee and C. H. Warren were elected supervisors; P. V. Sang, clerk, J. H. Fancher, treasurer ; William McGee, assessor ; and C. E. Stowe, justice of the peace.
The first land claim in this town was made by Edward Beeson in 1837, and perfected by Peter V. Sang in 1840, but John Parker, Jr. was the first actual set- tler who came in 1842 and moved into a house which had been built by Peter Sang. Sang did not come until 1843 to take up his residence here and in 1848, in an article written for a Fond du Lac paper, he said : "It is but five years since I moved into this town and shortly after my arrival I was the only landholder in it. Now there are not over eight sections of vacant land in the township not owned by actual settlers."
Soon after becoming settled on the Sang farm, Mr. Sang became a boarder in the Parker family. The next settlers were John Parker, Sr., J. M. Loomis . and Samuel Bacon.
Among the important industries of Lamartine are sheep-raising and dairying. The soil is somewhat different from that of other towns, being of a whitish clay, mixed with black loam. The lowlands are deep, rich and dark, but the marshes are unfit for cultivation. The north portion when first settled was the most heavily timbered. The west branch of the Fond du Lac river flows across the northeast corner and a branch of the east branch takes its rise in the center of the town.
The marriage of Cyrus E. Stowe to Hannah M. Hooper, a stepdaughter of P. V. Sang, was the first to occur in Lamartine town. The first death was that of John Parker, Sr., which took place in September, 1844. In January, 1847,
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HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC COUNTY
S. Westfall was frozen to death while crossing the town to his home in Oakfield. At the time he was driving a yoke of oxen. Russell Northrup in the fall of 1847 taught the first school in a building that had been erected for that purpose on section 34.
Rev. Morgan L. Noble preached the first sermon in 1844, at the home of Peter V. Sang.
A postoffice was established in 1845 and was called Seven Mile Creek. Peter V. Sang was the postmaster and remained as such for twenty years.
The first store was opened in a building belonging to Peter V. Sang at Seven Mile Creek, in 1846, by William Hughes.
The Methodist Episcopal church was organized early in the history of Lam- artine town. It was presided over by Rev. Henry Requa, in 1856. The first meetings were held in the schoolhouse but in 1859 a building was erected at a cost of $700 and rebuilt in 1867 at a cost of $1,600. The first trustees were P. V. Sang, D. E. Hutchins, Asher Williams, C. H. Warren, Ezra Stearns and E. Humiston.
The Baptist church was organized April 15, 1848, at the home of Cyrus E. Stowe, but the first services were held in 1847 by Elder Burgess. Meetings were held in the schoolhouse on section 34 until 1861, when a church edifice was built on land donated by William Townsend and dedicated in 1863. The first trustees were A. L. Robbins, J. Fairbanks and E. E. Crowe.
Lamartine is about seven miles southwest of Fond du Lac and when it was known as Seven Mile Creek was the business center of the town. As a hamlet it has dwindled away in its population and the postoffice has been discontinued.
ALTO
This is the extreme southwest township in Fond du Lac county and is bounded on the west by Green Lake county, north by Metomen town, east by the town of Waupun, and south by Dodge county. In acreage it runs a little over a full congressional township, having 23,153.31 acres. The land is rolling, save with the exception of the marshes and sparse tracts of oak timber. The soil is of a yellow ashy color and is composed of clay, lime and sand. Its fertility does not compare with other towns in the county. The south fork of the Rock river passes through the entire depth of the town in its southern part, having two principal branches coming in from the north. The water is sluggish, however, and the channel muddy. Splendid crops of corn, however, are raised in various ยท parts of the town. The production of hay is among the chief industries, to which . must be added the manufacture of cheese of a very fine quality. There are a number of good schools and five churches in the community.
Francis D. Bowman, who came from Rochester, New York, in the fall of 1841, was the first settler in the town. He located on section 36, where for more than two years he did not have a neighbor. A daughter was born to him in 1842, and in 1844 a son. These were the first births to take place in the town. After the first season Mr. Bowman went to Ohio, bought a flock of sheep and drove his purchase all the way back to Alto. His wife accompanied him in a prairie schooner, driving the team. In all probability this was the beginning of
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HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC COUNTY
the sheep industry in Fond du Lac county but it should be here stated that Henry Conklin brought a flock of sheep from Ohio into the town of Empire about the same time or soon thereafter.
William Talcott is given credit for being the second settler, having come to the town in 1844. The same year came Silas Miller, a Methodist preacher. It was Mr. Miller who gave the name of Alto to the town. Dr. Green, Mr. Hillyer, Marcus Thwing and a few others also settled here in 1844. Martin Grider came with his family in May, 1845, but he had preceded his family in the fall of 1844 and had sowed a crop of wheat. The claim of Francis Bowman was sold in 1845 to F. F. Davis, who was afterward sheriff of the county. His daughter, Cornelia C., died in December, 1845. In the summer of 1846 Miss Angeline Booth taught the first school in the house of F. F. Davis. The first religious. services were also held at this place, Rev. Silas Miller preaching the sermon. Silas Miller built a sawmill on a branch of Rock river in the southeast part of the town in 1845, and it was in that year that quite a number of Hollanders set- tled in the town, and they were followed by many others of their nationality, until the population became largely Dutch.
The town of Alto was organized on the 6th of April, 1847, and the meeting was held in the schoolhouse near Miller's mill. Thompson Green was chairman and Benjamin Davis and Frederick Talcott, clerks. The officials elected for the town were : Chairman, M. Talcott ; supervisors, J. R. Matthews and William Tal- cott ; township clerk, G. W. Sexsmith; justices of the peace, F. F. Davis, G. W. Sexsmith and Henry Boardman ; assessors,
Daniel W. Briggs ; treasurer, Zephaniah Miller ; school commissioners, David Adams, T. Green and F. Talcott.
The question of giving the negro equal franchise with the whites was passed upon and the vote was against the black man. At the same election an anti- license ticket was carried by a majority of twelve. At a meeting held March 18. 1850, of which George W. Sexsmith was chairman, and Zephaniah Miller, secretary, the first school district was organized. The first officers were : George W. Sexsmith, director : A. McMasters, clerk ; and John L. Sargent, treasurer. A frame school building, 24x18 feet, was erected during the summer on section 23, and Clara F. Pierce taught the first school therein at $5 a month. The school taxes for that year amounted to $35.
The first church organized in the town of Alto was the First Reformed, or Ebenezer church. In 1856 land was bought in section 23 for a church edifice, on which the building was erected. It was organized as a Reformed church,. with forty-seven members. The first trustees were: N. Mensink, F. Beeuwkos, M. Duven, G. Duitman, G. Stilsel, C. Landaal, J. Straks, J. Landaal, L. Sligster and J. W. Kastein. This church, as will be noticed from the names of the mem- bers, was composed mostly of Hollanders. They first began settlements in the. town in the latter part of 1845. These people first held religious services in private houses but in 1848 erected a log church, 16x26 feet, which also served as a schoolhouse. A second Reformed church was subsequently built, mainly at the expense of Henry Bruins : also a Methodist Episcopal and Congregational church were built.
Alto village, lying in section 23, and about six miles north of Waupun, no. longer has a postoffice. There is a general store.
Baptist Church
Methodist Episcopal Church
Lutheran Reformed Church A GROUP OF CAMPBELLSPORT CHURCHES
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HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC COUNTY
MARSHFIELD
Marshfield is a full congressional township and is bounded on the north by the town of Calumet, on the west by Calumet and Taycheedah, on the south by Forest and on the east by Sheboygan county. It was organized in 1852 under the name of Kossuth, which it retained for three years, before being changed to Marshfield, the name being given to it by reason of the large tracts of marsh land within its borders. The first settlers were Germans and that nationality still holds the majority in population.
The first settler was Stephen Goeser, a German, who came to the town in 1841. He was soon followed by Anton Kramer, John Fuchs and John Loehr. At the first election held in 1852, Joseph Wagner was chairman and Otto Roll- mann, clerk. The first child born in the town of Marshfield was Joseph Fuchs, son of John Fuchs, in 1842.
The marriage of Anton Kramer to Mary Ann Brost, December 13, 1843, was the first to take place in the community, and the first death was that of Joseph Stump in 1843.
Rev. Casper Rehrl taught the first school at Mount Calvary in 1847. That same year the Catholics built a church on the same section.
The first postoffice, called Moria, was presided over in 1851 by John Blon- igen.
John Preuss built the first mill in the town. It was erected in 1859 and was located on Sheboygan river.
M. Bourgeous was the first to open a store at Mount Calvary in 1850.
There are two important villages in the town of Marshfield-St. Cloud and Mount Calvary. At the latter place, which is twelve miles east of Fond du Lac, was selected the site for the headquarters of the Capuchin Society of the Cath- olic church. Here is a magnificent church of the order of St. Francis, a convent and college. On the 15th of October, 1856, the place was chosen by two secular priests, P. Francis Haas and P. Bonabentura, through the advice of Rt. Rev. John Martin Henry, bishop of Milwaukee, for the foundation of the order. In March, 1858, the building of the church had progressed so far that the first east- ern wing, the dimensions of which were 27XIII feet, was occupied. Three years subsequent to this time the two priests, assisted by three lay brothers and others under the direction of P. Francis Haas as guardian, commenced to enlarge the building on the south side and laid the foundation of the church with the choir on the north side, which was completed in 1862. In 1864 the first college build- ing was erected and was opened under the patronage of St. Lawrence of Bord- eaux in November of that year. Another wing was completed in 1868, but was hardly occupied when the whole edifice was destroyed by fire excepting the aisle of the church and St. Francis chapel. The church and convent were again re- built and completed in 1870. The following year it was enlarged by St. Joseph's Family Hall and monument, which was opened on the 4th of July, 1872, and was again enlarged in 1873 by the addition of a new study hall and dormitory for the accommodation of students. Other additions and buildings have been erected since then and large amounts of money have been expended in enlarging, beautifying and furnishing the institution. The church property includes Holy Cross church, the Capuchin monastery, convent of Notre Dame and St. Law- rence college, Rev. Benedict Mueller is rector of the latter.
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HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC COUNTY
St. Cloud has a postoffice and is a station on the Chicago & Northwestern rail- road. It lies in section 25 and is eighteen miles northeast of Fond du Lac. The population in 1910 was 310. The village was incorporated in 1909. It has a general store, a manufactory of farm implements, elevator, lumberyard and cheese factory. The State Bank of St. Cloud, recently organized, has for its chief head Andrew Darnieder. F. J. Egerer is vice president and A. C. King- ston, cashier. It is capitalized for $25,000.
MT. CALVARY CAPUCHIN MONASTERY
It was February 2, 1849. when Father Caspar Rehrl, the pioneer missionary of eastern Wisconsin, gave orders to have all the farmers who wished to organize their own congregation meet in the house of John Blonigen. The meeting was well attended ; all agreed to buy the land ( forty acres) upon which the hill called Mt. Calvary, in the town of Marshfield, is situated. On the following day, Feb- ruary 3, 1853, the farmers cut logs for their first church (St. Nicholas), and in a month's time the logs were piled up and the church completed. In one of the log houses on Mount Carmel near by. Father Rehrl taught school, and until the church was under roof, held services. Later on, a young lady named Mary Guidinger, from Luxemburg, took charge of the school, under the name of Sister Cecilia. When she departed for Notre Dame Convent, Milwaukee, the school was neglected a year. Then the school sisters took charge of the school in 1852.
October 15. 1856, Father Gregory Haas and Father John Frey, having arrived from Switzerland in order to establish the Capuchin Order in America, paid the place their first visit. A glance to the hill convinced them that it was pre- pared by nature for a home of retirement. of prayer and study. While Father Haas was collecting in Europe, arranging matters with the ecclesiastical authori- ties and recruiting candidates, Father Frey undertook to build the new monas- tery during the summer of 1857. Calvary parish at that time extended eight to twelve miles in every direction and consisted of one hundred and sixty families, with about one hundred and fifty children in school. A Swiss father, whom Father Haas brought with him from Europe, invested the two beginners, De- cember 2. 1857. Today Mt. Calvary presents quite a different view : A spacious church, a complete monastery, a practical college, two halls and other necessary additional buildings form an imposing complexity of structures on the old Indian hill. And from this little place a province has grown up,-the Calvarian Prov- ince of the Capuchin Order, comprising seven convents and four hospices, with . seventy-three fathers, forty-eight brothers, eleven clerics and twenty-four scho- lastics.
No later than 1861 Father Haas founded a preparatory seminary under the patronage of St. Lawrence of Brindisi. Four Latin scholars were received. Their abode was in the northeastern corner of the monastery. The number of students having meanwhile increased, the order decided to make the institution permanent ; consequently, in 1864 the southern wing of the monastery was erected and adapted to college purposes. The fire, December 26, 1868, destroyed the young plantation, yet. after great sacrifices and through the extraordinary energy of Father Haas, it was reopened, November, 1869. Additions became necessary soon after and thus St. Joseph's Hall was built in 1871, on the southwest corner.
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In 1881 the present stately and spacious main building was erected and solemnly dedicated by Archbishop Heiss, December 1, 1881. In 1884 the Seraphic school was established for the special training of candidates for the Capuchin Order, and in the following year a commercial course was introduced. The preeminent aim of the college, however, always remained the preparation of Catholic young men for the holy priesthood, and therefore, in 1904, the commercial course was abol- ished.
In 1898 St. Thomas Hall was built for literary assemblies, dramatical and musical entertainments and gymnastic exercises. In 1894 a beautiful chapel was added to the western side of the college for the exclusive use of the students. It is furnished with artistic altars, numerous statues and tasty decorations. At pres- ent the college comprises a classical and philosophical course. The classical course covers a period of five years and embraces the study of Latin, Greek, Eng- lish, German, French, grammar, composition, rhetoric, literature, mathematics, history, geography, the elements of botany, zoology, physical geography and phy- sics. The philosophical course extends over two years. In the first year the classics are completed. The other branches taught are logic, general metaphysics, natural theology, ethics, history of philosophy, hermeneutics, church history, one of the natural sciences, Hebrew, bookkeeping and commercial law. Drawing may be taken once a week to acquire facility in the use of pencil and crayon in free hand sketching of landscape, portrait and architectural designs. Advanced stu- dents receive instruction in water color and oil painting free of charge, except for materials.
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