USA > Wisconsin > Fond du Lac County > Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin, past and present, Volume I > Part 36
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"Chief Justice Stow had the reputation of possessing keen talent, quick per- ception, honest judgment, full of natural humor and quite eccentric. Many laughable incidents have been connected with his personal and professional life. I will cite but one of many as an illustration. A case came before him for jury trial involving the foreclosure of a snap mortgage on a poor man's farm. With- out following the detail of the trial it resulted in a jury bringing in a verdict for the plaintive, thereby dispossessing the poor man of his title to the farm. On receiving the verdict of the jury the judge, after asking a few questions and deliberating a few moments, to the surprise of all connected with the case an- nounced that 'the verdict of the jury is hereby reserved and judgment of the court is rendered in favor of the defendant.' Then turning to the jury he stated that it would take more than twelve men to steal a man's farm before this court.
"The judge was for a number of years a resident of Taycheedah, later mov- ing to Milwaukee, where he died in 1854. He was one of a family of judges, his father a judge and member of congress from New York in 1812, two brothers, one of whom, Marcellus K. Stow, many of you can remember as a pioneer judge. who with his family resided on East Division street. His son, James W., and grandson, Marcellus, are now in the city.
J. B. PERRY
"There is probably not a resident of mature age in the city or surrounding county nor a home-coming visitor who has not in some manner known and trans- acted business with a gentleman who I think has the distinction of having been not only an early pioneer, but further of having served the longest continuous business career of any man now living in the city. . I take great pleasure in naming as such, James B. Perry, at present the president of the First National Bank, the oldest banking institution in the city. Mr. Perry as a young boy came with his father, Nathaniel Perry, to Taycheedah in 1842 and to Fond du Lac . in 1849, where he assumed the position of assistant register of deeds under Nelson Wood, the register. In 1854 B. F. Moore, A. G. Ruggles and others opened the Bank of the Northwest, which was later merged into the First Na- tional Bank. In May, 1855, Mr. Perry became associated with said bank from which time until today, more than fifty-seven years, he has been actively en- gaged in the general management of the bank business, which, by reason of a stable conservative policy, has successfully passed the various prosperous times of Fond du Lac as well as weathered the panics of 1857, 1873 and others, always steadily advancing in strength and prosperity. Having passed a successful business life and still holding the reins as president, he has relinquished the de- tail of the business to younger hands, passing it on to his son, Ernest J., who is now cashier.
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"In 1854 Mr. Perry married Clara, the daughter of William and Polly Carey, who with six schildren came to Fond du Lac in 1845. The only living members of the Carey family are Mrs. Perry and Mrs. H. K. Laughlin. Their brother E. A., commonly known as Ed. Carey, died in 1910."
IN DAYS GONE BY
At a recent meeting of the Fond du Lac Old Settlers Association Miss Alice Stearns, of the town of Springvale, contributed a very interesting paper of a distinctively local coloring. The sketch is well and entertainingly written and as to its undoubted historical value the reader is left to determine. It reads as follows :
"We love and reverence the pioneers as we love and reverence all good men and women for what they have been and for what they have done. It is well for us who live in times of luxuries and conveniences, made possible by the toil, thought, courage and heroism of the early settlers, to turn aside from the en- grossing pursuits of today and dwell upon the virtues and deeds of those who have formed from the wilderness and primeval soil, the county of which we are so justly proud.
"Many amusing and pathetic incidents are related of the ways and means. of transportation in the early days of this state. Rev. Dr. Miller, of Methodist fame, who landed at Racine in June, 1844, says: 'The Madison, a crazy old steamer that could lay on more sides during a storm than any other water craft that I have ever seen, landed us on a pier in the night and thence we reached the shore in a scow. At Racine we engaged a man to take us, six in all, with our trunks, to Delavan. The roads were almost impassable. The rains had fallen so copiously that the streams overflowed their banks, the marshes were full and the prairies inundated. We made an average of fifteen miles a day. Our vehicles stuck fast eighteen times between Racine and Delavan. Sometimes we found these interesting events would occur in the middle of a broad marsh. In such cases the gentlemen would take to the water, sometimes up to the loins, build a chair by the crossing of hands and give the ladies safe passage to the prairie beyond. To make the chair and wade ashore with its precious burden, involved a very nice adjustment of balances. If the three went headlong before they reached the shore, each received a generous coat of mail.'
"The following is the experience of our worthy secretary, A. T. Glaze, in reaching Fond du Lac from Milwaukee, August 24, 1850. Accompanying his uncle and aunt, Mr. and Mrs. Edward Beeson, then editor and proprietor of the Fond du Lac Journal, he left the American House, Milwaukee, at four o'clock in the morning, after payment of $3.50 each, in Indiana uncertainty, be- lived by some to be money. The stage company agreed to land them at Fond du Lac with certainty and reasonable speed. The arrival at Menomonee Falls at nine o'clock brought them to a glorious ham and eggs breakfast at Bancrofts, at three in the afternoon to dinner at Hall's 'half way house,' ten o'clock to Theresa, and as the party walked into the old Beeson home on Third street, where Guse's wagon shop now stands, the hands of the clock pointed to exactly 3:30 in the morning. Please reflect that most people who now cover the distance by public conveyance, grumble grievously if the time limit exceeds two hours by a
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single minute, but in this case it was just a half hour less than twenty-four hours and it was by no means a long trip at that time. The early boyhood days of Mr. Glaze were spent in Ohio with his grandparents, on the edge of the notori- ous 'black swamp.' He crossed that famous bog many times, but never did he see a more interminable labyrinth of mudholes, water, bogs and brush than they ran into in the Rock river woods, between Hall's and Theresa. With as experi- enced a driver as the well known 'Long Sam' while endeavoring to avoid a bad looking mudhole, the leaders of the four-horse team jumped a brush fence and a bad upset was the result.
"In 1844 a company of twenty-four from New York state, among whom were the Hazen brothers of the famous martial band of Springvale, landed at Mil- waukee in June. A team of three pairs of oxen was purchased, wagon decked, boxes and trunks loaded, when it was found that but three could ride. There were eight women in the company. Did they wait for a parlor car? No, indeed. They uncomplainingly took turns in walking. They left Milwaukee Monday morning and Saturday night found them within three miles of what is now Oak- field, the wagon stuck in the mud and the oxen too tired to travel further. One of the men remained with the team and the others bravely resumed their journey. Every rod seemed a mile to the weary, foot-sore company. After what seemed to be hours, the log cabin of Lorenzo Hazen came in sight and the company were gladly received. Too tired for supper, they took boots, bundles of clothing, foot rests, anything they could lay hands on for pillows, and with puncheon floor for feather beds, were soon oblivious to their surroundings. Three of the Hazen brothers were soon keeping house in single room shanties with puncheon floors and troughed roofs, which had the faculty of letting most of the rain find its way to the room beneath. Their furniture was home made and the good house-wives did all their work for one summer out of doors by camp fires. Their bread was baked in a kettle. As the summer of 1844 was very rainy, such outdoor work was no light task. For this story and many other facts, I am indebted to Mrs. Sanford Hazen, of Ripon, lovingly known as 'Aunt Susan.' Her courage, her bright, cheery manner of today tell us she was the life of this little company. The mud must not have seemed so deep, the bogs less numer- ous, the hills not so high or steep by the sunshine and cheerfulness of her pres- ence.
"In 1852 Mr. Wedge took a party of young people to Fond du Lac for shop- ping. It was dark when they started for home. About a mile from town the ", heavy wagon stuck, the horses gave a quick jump and the result was a broken whiffletree.
"This was rather a dark outlook for a party sixteen miles from home. The girls were carried to high ground, a lantern procured and the whiffletree spliced, but the party had had enough mud ride for one night and remained at the Two Mile House until morning. In early times Fond du Lac and vicinity was truly a veritable mudhole. A joke was perpetrated at the Lewis House one morn- ing, when the guests were horrified at seeing the toes of a pair of boots sticking out of the mud and Colonel Ewen was appealed to without result, but later on 'ye hostler' admitted that in a spirit of mischief he had placed them there.
"In the early days teaming, pleasure driving, racing and farm work were mainly done with oxen, and they were not to be despised either. On July 4,
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1851, while many were returning from the celebration at Ripon, an ox team ap- peared on the scene and ran by every team but one. Those who knew my father in those days well know he had a good team and headed the line. For miles he had to be on the alert to be sure that the oxen did not pass him.
"When Elder LeFever came to Rosendale, the family were invited to dinner at the home of Senator Bertine Pinckney. Mrs. LeFever was shocked at the idea of riding after oxen on her way to a senator's home to dine, but when once started she saw the amusing side and had a merry ride. They were received with all the courtesy due a coach and four. When Elder LeFever was a young circuit rider, near New York city, he was overtaken by a severe rain storm. Two young ladies were also overtaken by the rain and circuit rider. He bowed to the strangers who decorously returned the courtesy, and one quaintly re- marked : 'Don't you think it looks like rain?' To make a long story short, she afterwards became Mrs. LeFever.
"The resourcefulness of the pioneer often proved true the saying that 'necessity is the mother of invention.' During the first year of Mrs. H. D. Hitt's life in Wisconsin, she gathered some wild gooseberries on the ledge, and having flour and lard, decided to have a pie. No rolling pin was forthcoming, but pie she would have. In the emergency, her eyes rested on the camphor bottle. Eureka ! Pie she did have, the crust rolled out with a camphor bottle. This was too much for Mr. Hitt, and with fire in his eye he started for the wood pile. Selecting a fine stick of butternut of the proper size, he soon had a rolling pin which still remains in use in the family. I will pledge my word that it has rolled out crust for more good pies than any other family rolling pin in the county.
"July 4, 1852, mother thought she would have a pie for dinner and going to the garden gathered all the currants and all the gooseberries, and yet they were not enough for the pie. But pie she must and would have, so she gathered rose leaves, which added to the fruit, made the best pie we ever ate. As a substitute for apples for pies in the early times, the housewife sometimes boiled pumpkins in vinegar and sliced them for pies. Pumpkin molasses was also made by many in the emergency for table supplies.
"At the first banquet held at Ripon College, Mrs. Tracy, the dear mother of the college, wished to hear the address, which was given at Pedrick's Hall at four P. M. As she was matron she had to superintend serving the collation, as it was then called. She cut the cakes, put the cream into the twenty pitchers, locked all in the cupboard and hied away to the hall. After the address, she rushed back to serve, when, alas! the cream was sour. Filled with inventive genius, she sent one student to milk the college cow, which was then pastured on the campus, another to milk the cow owned by President Merriman and another to milk the cow owned by Mr. Mason. They certainly had plenty of fresh milk for coffee.
"Madam N. Hunter, of Ripon, the only living member of the Wisconsin Phalanx, is very interesting in reminiscences of pioneer life. She furnished the first mail sack in which the first mail was carried between Ceresco, now Ripon, and Fond du Lac. It was a pillow case and the lock was a tow string. The carrier did not have even a blazed trail to follow but used a compass as a guide.
"It was difficult for early settlers to obtain flour. They sometimes had to team sixty to ninety miles and the trip required from two to four weeks. Joseph
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Fairbanks, who was county surveyor in early times, and whom the people of Waupun always speak of as 'Uncle Joe,' on one of these milling trips was detained longer than he expected, and the supplies at home were running low. Finally Aunt Hannah used the last of her meal for a small Johnny cake, which she baked in a quart basin. Just as it was cool enough to eat, her sister-in-law came in to see if she had any food to spare. She said her children were crying with hunger and she had not a morsel to give them. Aunt Hannah broke the cake in two parts, giving her the larger piece. Then she divided the remainder between her two little boys and sat down to cry, utterly discouraged. At mid- night 'Uncle Joe' returned and she did not wait until morning for the cooking of a meal which was to her breakfast, dinner and supper. On the trip 'Uncle Joe stayed one night with a pioneer family. The hospitable settler gladly made a bed on the floor for the children and 'Uncle Joe' took the one vacated. He was congratulating himself on his good fortune, when right by his head a bell rang. The settler had tied his cow to that corner of the cabin and every time she moved the bell tinkled. About eleven o'clock the old chanticleer, roosting on top of the cabin, proclaimed that morning was come, and continued to proclaim until morning did come. There was not much sleep for 'Uncle Joe' that night.
"George Russell, of Brandon, used to enjoy telling this story. When they first came to Brandon they were very poor, having just money enough to pay for oxen and wagon with which they made their wedding trip. Their house was a pole shanty without a floor. Mrs. Russell, faithful helpmeet that she was, drove the team and he held the plow in the farm work. One day they heard of a rich settler who had come into the town. He was so rich that he had paid the government price for his land and also had a seventy-five cent coffee mill. . Now, Miranda,' said Mr. Russell, 'you must make their acquaintance, and in doing so you must take along a pan of wheat and see if they will let you grind it.' Miranda walked the three miles, ground the wheat and returned home in time to make a shortcake for supper, which they thoroughly enjoyed.
"Wild game was plentiful but as a general diet the people soon tired of it. In some localities pork was a luxury. Mrs. J. Amadon, of Waupun, invited her sister and family to spend Thanksgiving with her, and as a special inducement said to her: 'We will have hot biscuit and the best milk gravy I know how to make.'
"As we read the history of the Pier and Wilkinson families, first settlers in the towns of Fond du Lac and Oakfield, we can but wonder at the heroism and fortitude of the early settlers. Mr. and Mrs. Russell Wilkinson were the first settlers in Oakfield, their nearest neighbor being Edward Pier, of Fond du Lac. Crude log cabins, howling wolves at night, Indians constantly passing, peeking in at the windows or boldly walking into the house, and women of the family often left alone for days at a time, these were a few of the things it required cour- age to endure. Mr. Pier knew of their unprotected lives and always watched the Indians as they passed his place, to see if they had indulged in fire water. If such was the case, he sent a man to protect them. Once when Mrs. Wilkin- son was alone she saw some drunken Indians coming. She quickly barricaded the door and windows, then waited in terror for them to fire the cabin. They were on the roof, pounding on the door, howling and yelling. Suddenly it be- came quiet and she heard the bark of a dog. Then she heard a white man's
THE "SELF PROPELLER" FIRE ENGINE, ALEX WHITE, IN 1874
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rap on the door which she opened to find that Mr. Pier had sent a man to her assistance. History tells us that the Indians afterwards did burn the cabin while the family were at Mr. Pier's home. Two other settlers came into the town and an agreement was entered into that if the Indians attacked them, the firing of a gun was to be the signal for all to meet at the Botsford cabin. One night Messrs. Botsford and Bierne thought it would be a good joke to scare the Wilkinsons, and fired the signal gun. The women jumped from their ·beds, grabbed their infants and in their night clothes made speed for the fort, only to find that the rumpus was the result of a frolic. It is due the Indians to say that they were troublesome but not dangerous, unless they had taken an undue quantity of the white man's fire water, the same fire water that is still a disgrace to our country. We are glad to be able to say that public sentiment is stronger against the liquor traffic today than it was in 1850. May 1950 see every saloon, club house, every place where liquor is licensed to be sold, driven from our coun- try by the irresistible force of public sentiment.
"Mrs. Lyman Bishop tells how her sister outwitted the Indians. Mrs. Ban- nister had just made some fried cakes when a squaw came in but did not stay. Mrs. Bannister knew, however, that she would soon return with others. Under her log house was a place for tubs which were put through a trap door in the floor. She quickly put the pan of cakes through this door and covered them with a tub. Six Indians soon arrived, as expected, and looking through cup- boards and places where they thought they might be stored, failed to find the cakes. Mrs. Bishop was very much frightened and started for help. She for- tunately met a teamster who soon put the Indians to flight.
"Three hundred Menomonee Indians at one time camped on the farm of Thomas Boyd, in the town of Calumet. Adam Boyd, of Waupun, well remem- bers playing with the Indian children. One day as he entered the camping ground he noticed that the Indians were very much excited. Then a squaw took him into a wigwam and covered him with robes and blankets and told him not to move or speak. After what seemed to him hours, she uncovered him and told him to go. The Indians had been drinking and the squaw knew there was danger.
"In 1847 Edward Beeson owned a farm in the town of Fond du Lac in the Arthur and Crofoot neighborhood, and lived there with his family. The com- paratively innocent Menomonee Indians were numerous in the neighborhood and there were also some of the dangerous Winnebagoes, always in mischief. One morning early Mr. Beeson left home for Taycheedah to have a grist ground, leaving at home Mrs. Beeson and her then little son, John J., in after years the founder and editor of the Fond du Lac Reporter. Early in the forenoon Johnny was missing. He was searched for all over the place but could not be found. Mrs. Beeson was alarmed, fearing he had been stolen by the Indians, and promptly sought the assistance of such of the neighbors as could be reached. While the search among the Indians was in active progress, Johnny crawled from a straw bed behind a board Mrs. Beeson had placed against a tree for a hen's nest.
"Mrs. Lingenfelter, of Brandon, told me that in 1852, one hot summer day, she was resting on her bed, when whack! came something which struck her on the shoulder. She very soon found it to be a large snake that had fallen from
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the upper logs of the house. Privation, sorrow, loneliness, sickness and death were linked in the chain that bound these settlers very closely together.
"In 1846 William Galland, with his wife and family of six children, located in Lamartine. All looked bright to the family until the parents were stricken with typhoid fever. The care of the sick ones and the children fell upon the eight year old daughter. With the best she could have done the sick ones must have died had not Mr. Storey, a new settler, taken them to his own home to care for them. Mrs. Lyman Bishop, who came to Fond du Lac in 1845, and made her home with Isaac Brown, gives an account of sickness in the familes of two brothers by the name of Wright. They lived in quickly constructed shanties and three were stricken in one family and two in another. Mrs. Colonel Tryon gave up her home to one family. Mrs. Bishop did sewing during the day and watched nights. When it rained the watchers held umbrellas over the sick and put pans and plates on the beds to catch the water as it fell. Four of the five died, strangers in a strange land. Mrs. Bishop had the fever herself but grit pulled her through and she still lives in her home on Third street, a hale and hearty old lady of about eighty years. Coffins for burial of the dead were home made. Many still remember the loving services of Elder Vaughn in times of bereave- ment. He not only made coffins for the loved ones who had passed away but preached the funeral sermons and gave consolation to the surviving friends.
"Grateful ought we of this later generation to be for the attention given by the early settlers to education. Primitive indeed, were the buildings but the teachers were generally from good eastern schools. One student from an east- ern college thought it belittled him to be examined by a town board, but in order to teach had to comply with the law. Elder Brown, of Springvale, con- ducted the examination. They got along nicely until they came to algebra. A question was asked and the student replied: 'I think you would not understand if I should explain it to you.' This was too much for the good elder, and ques- tion followed question until the young man did not know 'where he was at.' Finally the elder told him he would give him a permit to teach if he would brush up on algebra. The primitive school buildings were also used for church services by the settlers who came sometimes many miles in the conveyances used at that time. Divine services were always well attended. One Sunday the schoolhouse at Rock river would not hold the people. They stationed them- selves at the doors and windows, when a little girl was heard to remark: 'Oh, mamma! just see how full the schoolhouse is on the outside.'
"Before our honored president had a box for his wagon he had what they called a buckboard with a chain underneath for a foot rest. As he was return- ing from church with Mrs. Hitt, who was holding a child in her arms, the board caught an obstruction and tipped, nearly throwing them to the ground; but Mr. Hitt did not intend leaving his wife in that fashion and seized her with one hand and held the mettlesome colts with the other until the vehicle righted it- self. Alas! her wedding dress had been caught by the chain and completely ruined.
"United States senator and afterwards cabinet minister, T. O. Howe, was. in his time one of Wisconsin's ablest and most popular men. In 1850 he was circuit judge and Fond du Lac county was in his circuit. While upon the bench he was noted for three things: knowledge of the law; clearness in his. charges to juries ; and determination in maintaining the dignity of the court.
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"The Fond du Lac county bar at this time consisted of Judge A. W. Stow, Judge C. M. Tompkins, J. M. Gillett, Robert Flint, C. A. Eldredge, Edward S. Bragg, D. E. Wood, F. H. Waite, John C. Truesdell, O. B. Tyler, W. H. Ebbets, I. S. Tallmadge, James Coleman, E. W. Drury, W. C. Dodge, A. W. Paine, Carson Graham, Jared Chapel, Amos Reed, Campbell McLean, E. Hodges, J. A. Eastman, M. C. Eaton, C. F. Davis, Samuel W. Beall, total twenty-five. With a population then of less than 2,000, now nearly 20,000, the difference is just about a half dozen. Ripon had Judge Seely, E. L. Runals, Jerre Dobbs, A. B. Hamilton and John S. Horner. Waupun had Eli Hooker and the then noted litigant, Rufus P. Eaton, could be found at Pipe Village, town of Calumet. Alas! of these thirty-two lawyers constituting the bar of Fond du Lac county, but two, Edward S. Bragg and Jerre Dobbs, remain here to recall legal events / of the past, all the rest having passed on to the other shore.
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