USA > Wisconsin > Fond du Lac County > Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin, past and present, Volume I > Part 35
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"In those times, in order to make you of the younger generation realize how primitive this state was, I will merely tell you how I got here. There was no railway, no Chicago & Northwestern to Fond du Lac, only rail from Chicago to Milwaukee, from Milwaukee by an old fashioned sidewheel steamboat to Sheboygan and thence across country by stage to Fond du Lac, passing through Taycheedah, as I afterwards learned, a village quite as lively and active then as the larger town three miles beyond. This village was where ex-Lieutenant Governor Beall lived, a prominent man in the politics of the country, who wrote the present constitution of the state on its admittance to the Union a short time before my arrival. And there flourished Pruss (called Prise) the storekeeper and an enthusiastic politician, and among prominent men there were Mr. Perry, father of your well known banker ; James Perry, one of the younger men of my time fifty-six years ago; and Spinks, the tavern keeper, and others of whom my memory is full, but of whom we cannot linger to speak. Just a word of the lovely, the gracious, the Christian woman, Mrs. Beall, whom many of the old and this later generation knew to love and venerate, a friend to all, the mother and with others, the founder of the Home for the Friendless.
"Forgive these notes by the roadway-and we at last reach Fond du Lac. We find a. Lewis House and a small livery stable and we find a driver, Bill Howe, later your constable, to take us to Governor Tallmadge, who lived, as I mentioned above, in an old log house of two stories, four miles across country. John met me cordially, as schoolmate would. His mother, an immensely stout woman, but evidently a lady in breeding and association, talked to me in most gracious words of social life in Washington, where she and her husband were evidently prominent. Governor Tallmadge was a short man, but stout of build and active in his movements. He and Senator Macy, whose great extensive grounds and house were but a mile away, were great friends both politically and commercially as I think that they were on the inside in many moves of the government.
MUSICIANS OF THE EARLY SIXTIES Washington Volunteer Fire Company, No. 1, Band
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"Macy was a large, pompous man, senator of the state. When he was home he entertained sumptuously and quite grandly for those times and plainly I remember one such a party in the winter when we who waited at Macy's for the parties from Fond du Lac, waited long and anxiously. It was snowing and blowing-nearly a blizzard. We began to have doubts of the safe arrival of the expected ones but at last at a very late hour, a snow covered, big sled load arrived; their story of being partially lost on the prairie was pitiable. It seems the snow, driven by the wind, was actually blinding. The driver lost all direc- tion and the horses refusing to face the storm, moved in a circle, and after an hour the half frozen ladies found themselves back near the old court house. The blizzard quieting by this time, the jolly crowd started again bravely and reached port and warmth. There among the jolly, determined company were Mr. and Mrs. Frank Moore, Mr. and Mrs. Curren, young Mr. Ruggles, who there was to meet his future wife, the pretty, lively Julia Tallmadge, then just back on vacation from her Milwaukee boarding school, and others,-the lively, active and brilliant young Bragg who has so lately passed away, who became a really famous and brave soldier and a most prominent lawyer. I do not remem- ber whether Mr. Eldridge, another prominent lawyer, was there. If he was, he and Mr. Bragg were friendly enough-no signs of future rivalry in law or politics.
"What a luxurious supper Macy gave us! An immense saddle of venison graced the head of the long table, the enlivening wine flowed freely, and after- wards came the dance, ending late at midnight, or rather, early morning, with the Virginia reel where I met my fate in Miss Bessie Beall as my partner. Old people to whom I am telling stories of old times, where have they and all the good times fled ? To true happiness I doubt not.
"I was much with John Tallmadge at the log house and Boardman, the young surveyor, was often there. I helped him in surveys and in laying out the paths of that fine piece of ground given by Macy & Tallmadge for a ceme- tery, and it was Tallmadge who was intensely interested and enthusiastic over Bulwark's famous novel 'Rienzi' who insisted that Rienzi should be the name of the cemetery. As he had some title in the land, his poetical name is in- scribed today over the arched gateway to the home of many of those I have been talking about, as it lives in history for all time.
"I could tell you stories of old times down to the '6os. Then came war, suffering, sorrow and death. But of this you well know. You have learned it in literature and what your fathers have told you. Many Fond du Lac residents sleep beneath the green sod of the south. Wisconsin has as much as any state in the Union contributed to the defense of the flag. Among those regiments which dwell especially in the memory of this locality are the Second, Sixth, Eighth and Thirty-second, and in the latter, of which I raised forty men in Company H, the record of the Thirty-seventh Wisconsin is also noteworthy. It was in this regiment that Colonel Beall's youngest son, Upton, a boy of seventeen, received the terrible wounds from which he afterwards died.
"Home, coming home, the center of life, of real happiness, the last word on the lips of the dying mankind to come back to such a lovely home as this. 'Why did I leave it?' was my first thought on marching through its lovely streets the night I arrived."
Vol. I-19
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HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC COUNTY
SOME PROMINENT FOND DU. LAC PIONEERS
"Some Prominent Pioneers," was the theme of an interesting paper read at Armory E. by H. C. Moore. Tuesday afternoon in connection with the home- coming program. Mr. Moore spoke as follows :
"It may not have been the good fortune of all here present to have taken a trip by automobile over the county of Fond du Lac, but to those who have been so fortunate there can be no wonder or doubt that the superb natural scenery, abundance of verdure, almost perfect drainage conditions, together with the richest of alluvial soil, was reason enough for the location of pioneers who had left very similar conditions in their castern homes, and that the ledge east of the present city should have been so largely taken up by former residents of the Hudson river country. The view from many of the high points over the Taycheedah and Fond du Lac prairies and across Lake Winnebago could not but remind them of their former handsome homes.
"I cannot resist relating my personal observations in a direct comparison of these scenes with the noted scenery of the Old World.
"On July 6, 1896, I was favored with a trip over one of the famous show places of the Old World, down the Rhine from Frankfort to Cologne, a beau- tiful, bright summer day, when the whole country was clad in its loveliest ver- dure, the terraced vineyards, the carefully cared for shrubbery and lawns, with castles in various conditions of decay or repair on nearly every prominent point or bend in a very crooked river, all combined to show a view worthy of many pleasing articles which have been published regarding this famous scenery.
"Just three weeks later I took passage on the glorious Hudson river from New York to Albany, the day being even more perfect than the one spent on the Rhine. The river in its magnificent breadth, the color of the water with the re- flected lights, the Palisades, the distant clew of the Catskill and Adirondack mountain ranges impressed me as far eclipsing anything I had seen in Europe.
"Now to the point of interest; just two weeks later I was at home in dear old Fond du Lac and over the ledge in an auto, where from the high points overlooking Lake Winnebago, skirted on the west with numerous cities and farms I was surprised to find a grand view of natural scenery-not surpassed anywhere. The following day skirting Lake Winnebago on a steamer, viewing the entire east shore could compare favorably with the Hudson, except that by reason of the greater expanse of breadth, the view was even more grand.
"I have made these comparisons to uphold the judgment, good sense and artistic tastes of the pioneers who were among the first to locate in Fond du Lac.
"I have a pardonable pride of being the grandson and namesake of one. who with his noble wife and eight children left their home on the scenes I have just described on the Hudson river, Poughkeepsie, New York, to become pioneers of Fond du Lac in the late summer of 1841,-Colonel Henry Conklin. perhaps remembered by a few here present, and of whom I will speak later. desiring to mention the pioneer in a chronological order, as to dates of coming to Fond du Lac.
"It will be impossible in an afternoon's talk to mention in detail all the pio- neers of Fond du Lac, therefore the early ones can be but glanced at. giving
Mrs. A. W. Chapman First Female White Child Born in Fond du Lac
Gustave de Neveu
Mrs. Harriet de Neveu
Joseph King
Charles J. L. Meyer PIONEERS WELL KNOWN IN FOND DU LAC COUNTY
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more time to a few who were active in starting and building up our beautiful city.
MOUND BUILDERS FIRST PIONEERS
"The first pioneers of whom we have any record were probably a semi- barbaric race, commonly known as the 'mound builders,' as is attested by vari- ous artificial formations and utensils, many of which have been found in Fond du Lac and adjoining counties. Next were the various tribes of Indians, then as early as 1634 it is believed that the first civilized man, a French voyageur and trader, set foot on what is now known as Wisconsin, followed by various missionaries and traders, down to the arrival of Father James Marquette in 1673.
"The French held possession until the fall of 1761, when the British came into possession and held until 1816, when the American forces arrived at Green Bay. These, generally speaking, were the earliest pioneers of more or less prominence.
IION. JAMES DUANE DOTY
"It is of individuals more intimately associated with the development of Fond du Lac and whose names and memories are familiar to some of you that I shall speak; intentionally omitting some of those who are to be the subjects of other speakers.
"The first of whom I can find any record is Hon. James Duane Doty, born in Salem, Washington county, New York, in 1799, appointed by President James Monroe, in 1823, judge of the district court covering territory embrac- ing all of what is now the state of Wisconsin. He first located at Prairie du Chien, removing later to Green Bay, where he resided about twenty years. He resided in Fond du Lac county, in the town of Empire, from 1844 to 1846, when he moved to Menasha, Doty's Island, where he died in 1865.
"In 1830 he was appointed one of the government commissioners to survey and locate a military road from Green Bay to Chicago and to Prairie du Chien, part of which road ran through Fond du Lac and is now known as Military street.
"He was active in the work of locating the capital of the state at Madison, was territorial governor from 1838 to 1841, when he was succeeded by Gov- ernor N. P. Tallmadge, whom I mention casually, as his life and associations with the state and county will be the subject of another speaker.
"Governor Doty, having been through the site of the present city in locating the military road in 1830, stands as the earliest pioneer, and being one of the original stockholders of the Fond du Lac Company in 1836 was largely inter- ested in the advancement and development of the city. The only monument of the record to his memory now here is Doty street. He was a man of broad, stalwart character, with nerve and energy to make a successful pioneer, to ad- vise and aid in constructing the foundation of a commonwealth, of which we are now proud.
"Though some of our early pioneers may have been attracted to Fond du
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Lac by the beautiful natural conditions, rich forests and fertile prairies, there were many who came to better their conditions of health and finance.
"I have in mind one who was born in humble circumstances on a farm in Pennsylvania in 1800, afterwards moving to Ohio, where as a young man he suffered poor health but was advised by his physician to try the bracing air of the northern lake region. George McWilliams came to Green Bay in 1830, and having been there little more than a year, he decided to return to Cleveland, Ohio, and right here was the turning point in his career which resulted in his being a pioneer of Fond du Lac.
"On the porch of the little tavern at Green Bay sat an elderly military of- ficer, General Brooke, at that time in command of the United States troops at Fort Howard, and in whose honor the first street laid in Fond du Lac was named Brooke street.
"He having observed a porter carrying a trunk to a boat, turned to young McWilliams and said: 'Whose trunk is that?' On being answered that it was McWilliams' and that he was about to leave the country, the general at once shouted to the porter and ordered him back to the tavern, saying, 'Mc, you are not going home; I want you here and have use for you.' He then ex- plained that he had received orders from the government for extensive im- provements in the fort, barracks and other buildings, and on the spot offered McWilliams the position of superintendent of construction, which post he ac- cepted and held for four years, during which time the fort and barracks were constructed practically as they remained until the troops were withdrawn from the post.
"In the year 1832 George McWilliams accompanied a small band of soldiers, guides and couriers with messages from Fort Howard to Fort Crawford via the east side of Lake Winnebago, passed through Taycheedah and Fond du Lac, camping one night near what is now known as Seven Mile creek. He made several trips over the road previous to becoming a stockholder of the Fond du Lac Company in 1836. It was largely through his information that the company lands were located, and from this date, as secretary of the Fond du Lac Company, his business connections began in Fond du Lac. Although he did not take up residence here until 1843, he might easily be called the earliest pioneer among those who afterwards made this their home. He located on a part of the tract 38, section 10, extending south of the company lands to Divi- sion street and west of Main street to Brooke street. Near the Main street. front in 1852 he built one of the finest houses then in the village, doing much of the carpenter work himself, and to his credit as a mechanic, the house with doors made by his own hands, is still in good repair, and as a most fitting coin- cidence is now occupied by a daughter and granddaughter of his old time pio- neer friend, Joseph King.
"When Wisconsin was organized as a territory in 1836 George McWilliams served as member of the first territorial legislature of the splendid common- wealth now the state of Wisconsin. He was one of the first justices of the peace appointed for the territory by Governor Dodge. He was a man of sound judgment. His investments were judiciously made and his undertakings uni- formly successful. He was active in promoting the early welfare of what is now the city of Fond du Lac, was the second mayor for two terms, was inter-
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ested in the banks, schools and churches, being one of the founders of the Epis- copal church which has since become the cathedral, with its many valuable ap- purtenances.
"In personality and manner he was a marked gentleman, seemingly rather austere and reserved, but enjoying the companionship of his friends to whom he became strongly attached and for whom he could not do too much. He passed the latter years of his life in his quiet home, where he died in 1883, and was buried by the order of the Knights Templar, with which order he had long been identified.
JOSEPH KING
"A very close friend of George McWilliams, coming as a pioneer at nearly the same time, was Joseph King. Though not prominent in public life, he was one of the makers of history of Fond du Lac, coming here in 1836, first as a farmer and later as a business man. I have the pleasure of his personal ac- quaintance and always thought that his genial smiling countenance and kind- hearted manner seemed to be well described by a quick enunciation of his name as Jo King (joking) was his habit as well as his name. His daughter, Mrs. A. W. Chapman, now living, bears the distinction of being the first white girl baby born in the county.
JOHN BANNISTER
"John Bannister, who came in 1836, was a surveyor and helped in laying out the original plat of Fond du Lac, was register of deeds in 1839-40, 1841 and 1845. His family consisted of a wife and three sons. The elder, John, who was the first white child born in the county, died before reaching maturity.
"In business life Mr. Bannister was quiet and unassuming. He built the first large shipping warehouse and dock on the river at Scott street, just north of the east end of the Scott street bridge and carried on an extensive shipping and forwarding business until after the entrance of the Fox River Valley Union railroad, soon after which the shipment by boats on the lake was practically deserted. I have not the date of his death but remember it as 1859.
DR. DARLING
"Mason C. Darling, the first mayor of Fond du Lac, who came here from Sheboygan in 1838, was the first practicing physician who located here. He acquired large properties in various locations near the Fond du Lac Company and was always in sharp competition with them, and having the better location was very successful in inducing settlers to buy his lots. He gave to the county the site for the court house for county purposes only. He gave away odd pieces of lots to his friends who helped to put up buildings, established the first bank, put up the first large brick block, which was for years known as Darling's block, built a fine residence and for years had the handsomest house in the city. He was firm and forceful but very kindly in manner and in a quiet way did much to start Fond du Lac on its way to the present beautiful city of homes. He moved to Chicago in 1854, where he died in 1856.
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GUSTAV DE NEVEU
"Gustav de Neveu was born in France in 1811. After having finished his education he embarked for America in 1834, returning in 1836 to reembark in 1838, coming directly to Fond du Lac. In 1840 he married Hariet P., daugh- ter of John Dousman of the Island of Mackinac, of whom it is said that he as- sisted in hauling down the British flag and hoisting the stars and stripes on the island at the close of the war of 1812.
"Mr. de Neveu was a man af literary taste and fine mental attainment. He was a genial host and with his wife made a home where every one was welcome and was finely entertained with true French hospitality. The family consisted of eleven children, two of whom, Misses Emily and Lucy, are still holding the reputation of the old home for hospitality and good cheer.
"I consider it an honor and pleasure to have had an intimate personal ac- quaintance with the entire family and think they class as one of the best develop- ments of pioneer energy and lovely spirit the county has produced. Mr. and Mrs. de Neveu have both passed away but their memory will ever be dear to their friends.
REUBEN SIMMONS
Reuben Simmons and wife, Louise Parker Simmons, first came in 1836, and in the winter of 1838-9 built their home in Empire, afterwards, in 1841, moving to the town of Fond du Lac, where with their children, one daughter and four sons, they remained during their lives. Of the sons many of you might have known Alonzo and Amasa P. The daughter, Eliza Jane, became the wife of J. P. Klock, a well remembered railroad man. His daughter now living is Mrs. Henry F. Whitcomb, of Milwaukee. Mrs. Levant Richardson, an adopted daughter, became the wife of A. H. Clark, who came to Fond du Lac in 1841. Of their children Mrs. Edward Kent, Louis H. Clark and A. H. Clark are now living.
COLONEL HENRY CONKLIN
"Colonel Henry Conklin and family came to Fond du Lac in 1841 and located on a farm on the ledge where now stands the beautiful property known as St. Mary's springs. The Colonel with his six boys cleaned the home lot and erected' a palatial log house. After establishing the home, the Colonel acquired large tracts of land in the towns of Empire, Byron, Fond du Lac and Oakfield, and with the boys went south to Illinois and Indiana and drove the first large drove of cattle and sheep into this part of the state, and within my recollection as late as 1855 they were still handling stock.
"Soon a grist mill was needed and the Conklins built the first one where is now Leonard's mill, and later another at Oakfield. The family having had educational advantages in the east, it was not surprising that one of the older boys, Edgar, should become the first school teacher in 1842. Henry and Robert were natural farmers, retiring later in life to live in the city. William D. be- came a lawyer and county judge. James T. was the first chief of police. Theo-
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dore, the only survivor of this family, spent most of his life as a miller. His twin sister, Frances, never married. The other sister, Eliza Mary, became the wife of Benjamin Franklin Moore and later the mother of ten children.
"Colonel Conklin was one of the four contributors to build the first school- house in the county, for which he furnished a bell taken from the steamer Ad- vocate on the Hudson river. He was one of the founders of the first Baptist church in Fond du Lac. His name was cast on the first church bell still held by the church. He was always found willing and anxious to take part in any move for the interests of the county and for his manly spirit of advancement was looked up to as a leader of men and respected and loved by all who knew him. After an active life he retired and came to this city, where he died in I868.
B. F. MOORE
"As a passenger on the same canal boat which brought the Conklin family in 184I was a young man destined to become one of the prominent pioneers of Fond du Lac. Benjamin F. Moore, born in Maine in 1819, possessed rugged sterling qualities of the country of his birth cut out of hard sound timber, without knots, sap or flaw-the stuff from which to make pioneers. The ac- quaintance started on the canal boat, matured and resulted in the marriage of Benjamin Franklin Moore and Eliza Mary Conklin, October 27, 1844.
"On arriving at Taycheedah in 1841, B. F. Moore with his uncle, J. L. Moore, established a store in an Indian trading post-at the time the only store between Green Bay and Milwaukee-and here the farmers might trade a bushel of wheat for a yard of print. These were the good old days when wheat was worth seven cents a bushel and calico was all made in Europe. In 1843 Mr. Moore started the first sawmill on the Wolf river near Shawano. In the early '50s he be- came interested in steamer transportation on Lake Winnebago, later, with John Fitzgerald of Oshkosh, owning all the steamers on the lake and running them with success and profit till railroad communication threatened the boat lines. He then sold out and Fond du Lac lost her water shipping interest.
"Mr. Moore was one of the organizers and first president of the Bank of the Northwest, now the First National Bank. He was a large holder of real estate and principal owner of the LaBelle Wagon Works. He was a successful business man and accumulated quite a large property which occupied his atten- tion during the later years of his life. He loved travel, was a great reader and deep thinker, an honorable, upright and just citizen, highly respected, a kind father, with a creed based on the principle of love for his fellowmen and faith in a God broad enough and good enough to care for all of his creatures in the universe. He died February 18, 1904, his wife having preceded him six months. Their family consisted of ten children, nine of whom are still living, and six, including myself, are now in the city.
CHIEF JUSTICE STOW
"After Wisconsin became a state, among the first acts of the legislature was a bill dividing the state into five judicial circuits, the fourth comprising Brown,
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Manitowoc, Sheboygan, Fond du Lac, Winnebago and Calumet, over which pre- sided our first circuit judge, Alexander W. Stow.
"The constitution provided that the circuit judges should also constitute the supreme court and that one of their number should be elected chief justice. Under this provision Alexander W. Stow was elected and convened the first session of the state supreme court at Madison January 8, 1849.
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