USA > Wisconsin > Winnebago County > History, Winnebago County, Wisconsin: Its Cities, Towns, Resources, People > Part 33
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The late T. J. Bowles settled in the town in 1849, and for near- ly thirty years was continuously re-elected its chairman and with great honor and integrity represented it in the county board.
The first school in the town was opened the first year of settle- ment, 1846, by Mrs. Alfred Thrall, near Pickett's. The first log school building was erected in 1848, near Fisk, and a school was taught by Miss Kimball. The Liberty Prairie Cemetery associa- tion was organized January 1, 1849, and a site donated by Hon. Armine Pickett. No spirituous liquors have ever been sold in the town and none of its citizens ever convicted of a capital crime. Eight-Mile creek, which runs through the town, takes its name from its length, contains numerous springs along its banks and it heads in a large spring. Near the line of Nekimi the creek is lost underground for a mile, when it reappears in a beautiful stream for three miles and again runs underground, until it appears near Rush lake, into which it flows. There are 20,000 acres in the town, of which 12,000 acres have been improved, and is valued at $1.200,000. The annual products are 3,500 bushels wheat, 134.000 oats, 72.000 barley. 33,000 corn, 8,000 potatoes, 2,000 apples and 4,000 tons hay. There is also raised 6,500 fowl. which produce 34,000 dozen eggs; and there are 700 horses, 2,500 cat- tie, 2,000 hogs. There are 3.000 sheep, which yield 34,000 pounds of wool. The 1.391 milch cows produce 48,000 pounds of but- ter.
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Dr. Increase A. Lapham, in his "Antiquities of Wisconsin," says: "Near a small stream, called Eight-Mile creek, in the town of Utica, on the land of Mr. E. B. Fisk (northwest quarter of secton fourteen, township seventeen, range fifteen) there is a mound called the Spread Eagle. It is of small dimensions, the whole length being only forty-six feet. There are two oblong em- bankments in the vicinity, and the house is built upon another called the Alligator, but its form could not be traced at the time of our visit in 1851."
One forty-acre piece of land belonging to Mr. J. L. Hunter, in the northeast quarter of the southeast quarter of section twenty consists of prairie land which slopes gently northward to the O. F. Miller farm across the highway. "In 1846," writes Mr. Pickett, "these lands were in a state of nature. Extending diagonally nearly across both of these forties for a distance of 120 rods in a southwesterly direction was a row of about thirty round mounds, each about twenty feet in diameter and two feet in height. Approaching this line of mounds at right angles from section twenty-one to the east was a long tapering mound. Its near extremity came to within 250 feet of the line of mounds and extended back in a northeasterly direction for a distance of 400 feet over Mr. L. S. Hunter and Mr. JJ. Roberts' land in section twenty-one, and was cut in twain by the highway between the farms. It was two feet in height and twelve feet in width at the extremity nearest the mounds and gradually decreased in width until it disappeared in the surrounding soil."
A mound is located in the southwest quarter of section twenty. Mr. Pickett reports that it is located near the apex of a hill about 100 feet in elevation, the highest land in the vicinity and over- looking the country for miles in every direction. A road which ascends the hill winds past the mound. It is oval in shape, three feet in height, thirty feet in length and fifteen feet in width. It has not been investigated.
Mounds are located on E. Bean's property in the southwest quarter of the northeast quarter of section twenty-five, a few rods south of the road which crosses the land. There are two or three quite prominent mounds in this group located on land which has undergone but little cultivation. They were originally about six feet in height. When Mr. Pickett visited the locality about 1900 they were still about four feet in height.
The Thada mounds are located on a farm now occupied by Mr. John Thada in the northeast quarter of the southwest quar-
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ter of section nineteen, about one mile east of the shore of Rush lake. There are four or five round mounds in the group, each about ten or twelve feet in diameter and at the present time not more than one foot in elevation. They are situated on rather low but ordinarily dry ground, still covered with timber. They have not been disturbed.
Town of Vinland.
The town of Vinland is fairly high above Lake Winnebago, at the shore, and gradually rising toward the west to about 150 feet elevation, presenting to the view toward the east the entire town with its clean, cultivated farms, handsome homes and the wide lake beyond with a panoramic view of the Clifton range beyond. The west part of the town was originally prairie and oak openings, entirely free from waste lands. The soil is a rich deep black loam, with clay subsoil, on limestone which outcrops toward the west at places. The eastern part of the town was originally a forest of hardwood, oak, maple, ash, hickory, elm, butternut and basswood. These lands are cleared now, except the wood lots, and contain a rich soil both for grain and vege- tables.
The population of the town of Vinland is 1,007, of whom 804 are native born, 738 being born in Wisconsin. Among those of foreign birth there are 119 native to Germany, twenty-one to England, and the same number to Switzerland, while eighteen hail from Denmark. There are 18,400 acres of land in the town, of which 16,000 acres are improved and valued at one and a half million dollars. The average of land sales shows a value of $93 per acre. Of products there were raised in 1905, 2,000 bushels of wheat, 116,000 oats, 52,000 barley, 46,000 corn, 16,000 pota- toes, 4,500 apples, and 5,000 tons of hay. Of stock there were in 1905. 700 horses, 2,500 cattle. 2,000 hogs, 300 sheep. From 1.913 milch cows are made 52,000 pounds of butter, and 7,500 fowl produce 47.000 dozen eggs.
There are more cheese factories and more cheese made in the town than in any other town in the county. The town con- tains ten cheese factories. These are the Vinland cheese factory at Allenville, Sam Boss factory at Clemansville, Schneider factory at Allenville, Germania cheese factory, the G. Hauter cheese factory, Allenville cheese factory at Allenville, Clemens Reuter factory, Faber cheese factory, Adolph
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HISTORY OF WINNEBAGO COUNTY.
returned to its Indian mother. Mr. D. C. Church became the owner of the Alvin Partridge farm, three miles west of Gilling- ham's Corner.
About one mile north of Allenville there were in an early day ancient garden beds. On Payne's Point there are several conical mounds and some cairns.
Town of Winchester.
The town of Winchester is rolling high, rich, tillable land. covered with wide, well cultivated farms. A village of 100 has gathered about the postoffice at Winchester, where there are two general stores, a blacksmith shop and hardware store. Rat river runs through the town. The southern line of the town is partly the shore of Lake Winneconne. The population is 1,003, of whom 795 are native born and 766 born in this state. Of the number born on foreign lands, ninety-four are native to Norway, thirty-one to Denmark and sixty-three to Germany. There are a total of 21,000 acres in the town, of which 12,000 acres are im- proved and valued at $974,000. The harvest yields 77,000 bushels oats, 8,000 barley, 3,000 rye, 34,000 corn, 30,000 potatoes, and 5,000 tons hay. There are on the farms 622 horses, 3,000 cattle, and 3,000 hogs. The butter from the creamery sold for $12,000. and the product of five cheese factories brought $40,000.
The average sale of lands show the worth per acre as $71. The Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran society erected two brick churches. The first settlement in the town of Clayton was made by Mr. Jerome Hopkins in the winter of 1847, followed in the spring by Mr. Samuel Rogers and family. Mr. James H. Jones came soon after, followed by Mr. Charles Jones, his father. Mr. James H. Jones was afterward honored with many town and county offices, and held the position of receiver in the United States land office at Menasha.
The school district was set off in 1849 and a log school erected. The first religious service was held by Rev. Frederick Partridge in June, 1850, and during the same year Rev. Mary became the first resident pastor, and his wife the teacher in the log school house.
At Clark's Point, and for several miles along the shore of Lake Winneconne, on the border of this town, the shore is an abrupt bluff about fifty feet high. On the top of this bluff at Clark's Point there are several effigies and round mounds located in the picnic grounds.
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Town of Winneconne.
The town of Winneconne is cut into on one side by Lake Winneconne, formed by a broad expansion of Wolf river as it empties from Lake Poygan. It covers about six sections of the town and adds greatly to its charm of border, and its boating and fishing. The confluence of the Wolf river with the Fox river occurs in the southern half of the town where the river silt has formed the only real marsh in the county. It is overgrown with the Folles Avoine, or Indian wild rice, which entices swarms of water fowl at all seasons of the year, making it the resort of sportsmen. There is a good channel for navigation of steam- boats on the Fox river. Its entire length from Green Bay to Portage, a distance of over one hundred and sixty miles, made possible over its entire route by dams and locks of the Improve- ment company and now maintained and improved by the United States government, whose engineers are in charge. The Wolf river is navigable for light draught steamboats as far up stream as New London, a distance of forty-three miles above Winne- conne.
The area north of the river rises abruptly to a height of about fifty feet, and toward the north line of the town by continued ridges and incline to an elevation of about one hundred and twenty feet above the lake. The panorama here presents a pic- turesque view of lake and river, with the finely improved and cultivated farms of this rich country seen over the region far and near. Ball Prairie occupies the elevated plateau and stretches away into Vinland. The name is derived from a string of thir- teen mounds, which appeared to the surveyors as large balls. They were about four feet high, conical in shape and could be seen at a long distance. On this elevation stands the Cross lime- stone outcrop. Fine springs are common in the town and flow- ing wells can be had by boring.
The lands of the town are everywhere a rich glacial loam, and the farms under a high state of cultivation, with large handsome dwellings and commodious outbuildings.
The old Tomahawk trail passed through the corner of the town and passed the Fox river at Big Butte des Morts, as described in another place in this work. The site was near the line of the town of Oshkosh, near Overton's creek, in that town. The first settlement in the county was made here at the site of the present village of Butte des Morts, as previously described, by the trad-
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ing post of Augustin Grignon, the exact location of which may have been just over the line in the town of Oshkosh. This post was under a license from the United States factor at Mackinac island, as the lands were then Indian lands, and no land title could be acquired. Augustin Grignon owned a large tract of land on which Butte des Morts is located, and at one time secured the location of the county seat at this village, and it was a strong rival to Oshkosh. Winneconne village was the site of the government blacksmith shop of the famous blacksmith, Joseph Jourdain, a site which he sold in 1849 to John Lawe Williams, the only son of Eleazer Williams, the lost dauphin.
Until after the treaty of Poygan no settlement could be made west of the river. For this reason the first rush of pioneers was over the lands east of the river and lake. The first settlers in the town was Augustin Grignon and wife, and L. B. Porlier and wife, all of whom are dead anad lie buried just over the line at Butte des Morts. The pioneer of the east was led by Samuel Champion and his son John, who, with Samuel Lobb, located in the town March, 1846. The following May Mr. George Bell and family arrived from Toronto, Canada. Mrs. Bell was the first white woman to locate in the town; and in the fall, when her husband suffered from ague, she harvested the crop of wheat, cutting the grain with the old-fashioned scythe; and in Sep- tember, when she was the only well person in the town, she yoked the oxen and, loading a grist into the wagon, drove it to Neenah, thirteen miles away, across the country, as there was no road. She returned the same night with the flour and grist, reaching home in the dark at midnight.
About three weeks after the advent of the Bell family, Mr. Greenbury Wright and family, and his brother, Dr. Aaron B. Wright, better known as "Little Doctor Wright," arrived from Ohio and selected a farm on the present site of the village of Butte des Morts. Greenbury Wright was born November 19, 1808, and died January 4, 1884. With his brother they were the second party of whites to settle in the town of Winneconne. He acted as first justice of the peace, elected in 1847, and was chair- man of the first town meeting in 1848. The first religious meet- ing in the town was held at his house in 1846 by Rev. Dunadate, a Methodist. As justice he performed the first marriage cere- mony in the town in 1847. He sold his land on which he first set- tled, which was a pre-emption in section twenty-four, and pur- chased his farm in section thirteen in 1865. Dr. Aaron B. Wright
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moved to Oshkosh, where he was one of the foremost physicians until his death April 2, 1886.
In the year of 1846 a large colony arrived, consisting of Julius Ashby, Lafayette McConifer, Stephen Allen, William Caulkins, Edwin Bolden, George Snider and George Cross. In the spring of 1847 Mr. John Cross, and in 1848 Mr. William Cross and fam- ily, all brothers, took up lands as neighbors. William was killed a few years later by the kick of a horse. The Cross family has always held a high position in the town. Mr. George Cross was a surveyor, millwright and miller by trade, and in his travels had picked up a wide acquaintance among public men, having become acquainted with Stephen A. Douglas, Gov. James D. Doty, Bishop Chase, a brother of Salmon P. Chase, and many other public men.
The first school house of the town was erected at Cotton's Corners in 1848. Two years later the people at the village of Winneconne erected a frame shanty sixteen by twenty feet, in which the first schoolmaster was William Mumbrue. This school house was used for religious meetings and other gatherings. There were in 1878 six school houses in the town, with 800 schol- ars and eleven teachers, including those in the villages. The population of the town is 655, of whom 547 are native born and 69 native to Germany. The town comprises 13,625 acres, of which 10,000 acres are improved, valued at $928,000. The crops raised in 1905 were 2,700 bushels wheat, 78,000 oats, 16,000 bar- ley, 45,000 corn, 10,000 potatoes, 2,900 apples, and 4,000 tons hay. Of live stock the town contained 494 horses, 2,200 cattle, 1,700 hogs, 803 sheep. Eleven thousand fowl produced 22,000 dozen eggs, and 1,394 milch cows yield 13,700 pounds of butter. The two creameries received $15,000 and the four cheese fac- tories $21,000 for their butter and cheese.
The town is rich in archeological data, and exhibits much evi- dence of long residence by aboriginals. There was no great hill of the dead or Big Butte des Morts at the place by that name or at any place about the lake of that name, and the origin of the name for these places is a mystery. There were low mounds on the site of the village of Butte des Morts, which is almost a mile up the Fox river from the large lake of that name. These low mounds are described by Hon. James G. Pickett as being one oblong mound about 150 feet long by twenty wide, and about five feet high, surrounded by several smaller circular mounds. All of these could be seen from the river. There is no such
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mound as described by Dr. I. A. Lapham in "Antiquities of Wisconsin," 1850; "near the head of this lake is the mound from which its name is derived on the north or left bank of the river." No such mound ever existed at any place about the shore of Big Lake Butte des Morts. The lake was first named, and the village was named from the lake several years after- wards. There was a graveyard on the site of the village of Butte des Morts, as the large amount of aboriginal artifacts unearthed in the gardens shows. Mr. Benedict of that place has recovered a fine collection of relics from these fields and gardens. It is not certain that the mounds from which Ball Prairie takes its name are artificial. No research report has been made on them.
The most interesting of all the aboriginal remains are the shell heaps which were about the shore of the lake and the river in the village of Winneconne, and extended and still can be found at intervals all around the east and north shore of Lake Winne- conne as far as the boom. In this town those on the southwest quarter of section ten are the best preserved, on the lands for- merly owned by Mrs. R. Lasley. These shell heaps are composed of sand and mussel shell native to the adjacent waters. The clams were eaten by the aboriginal and the shells dropped to the ground, and the circle or extent of the shell heaps is supposed to represent approximately the limits of the tent-shaped hoop and bark tepee of the native. As these shell heaps mark the floors of the living place of these ancient people, they now yield many lost implements and works of art once possessed by these stranger races. A limited search of these shell heaps has recovered a number of bone implements, decorated bones, fragments of pot- tery vessels, some decorated with cloth fabric, two ivory har- poons and several copper spear or lance points. Some of these heaps are still two feet high. Near these shell heaps are several cairns or stone heap burials, also stone circles, and the long abo- riginal corn rows, and some artificial depressions.
Butte des Morts Hamlet.
The plat of the village of Butte des Morts was recorded in the office of the register of deeds at Oshkosh July 5, 1848, Augustin Grignon proprietor. In March, 1871. the village of Butte des Morts was incorporated by an act of the legislature. These were the flush days of the riverside hamlet. The first postoffice in the town of Winneconne was located at Butte des Morts, in June,
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James L. Clark
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1849, with Augustin Grignon as postmaster. Mr. F. F. Hamlin erected the first frame building in the town of Winneconne at Butte des Morts, and occupied it with a stock of merchandise. In the same village the first saw mill was constructed and op- erated by Smith and Bennett in February, 1850, their saw logs coming from the Wolf river. It was first operated in August, 1850. The machinery came from Detroit by boat. The village now has a population of 120, and contains two general stores, a blacksmith shop, and a country hotel, famous for its duck din- ners.
The Village of Winneconne.
The village of Winneconne was first a blacksmith shop site, se- lected by the government under the Menominee treaty of 1836, in which it was spelled Wah-ne-kun-nah, at least that was the name given to the lake in the treaty, at the lower end of which the payments were to be made to the Menominee Indians of $20,000 per annum for the term of twenty years. This part of the treaty was subsequently modified. The place named was the site of the present village of Winneconne. It was on the west side of the river that Joseph Jourdain built his blacksmith shop as blacksmith at $400 per annum to the Indians. This was under authority of this same treaty, which reads: "Also to appoint and pay two blacksmiths, to be located at such places as may be designated by the said superintendent, to erect and supply with the necessary quantity of iron, steel and tools two blacksmith shops during the same term." Both of these shops were located on the west side of the Wolf river on the pres- ent site of Winneconne.
The writer has before him now what is possibly the first in- strument ever made between white men dealing with property on the west bank of the Wolf river. The name of the village is given as Waynaconnah. This deed is written by F. J. Woutman, who long acted as the private secretary of Eleazer Williams, the Lost Dauphin. It is made and signed by Joseph Jourdain, the nestor among Wisconsin blacksmiths. It deeds lands to John L. Williams, the only descendant of Eleazer Williams, who, if he had his own, would have been the Duke of Normandy, and the Dauphin of France. It is witnessed by Eleazer Williams, the re- puted Louis XVII, the lost King of France.
The deed gives to John Lawe Williams for $168.69 all the claim, right or title of Joseph Jourdain "to that parcel of land
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lying and being at Waynaconnah (where the blacksmith shop of the Indians now stands) on the west side of the Wolf river, containing 160 acres, more or less, together with a dwelling house, outhouses and improvements on the same." This war- rantee deed was made August 7, 1849. It was not acknowledged before a notary and was never recorded. These lands were held by John L. Williams for a good many years and platted as Wil- liamsport. He sold the land for a handsome figure and moved to Oshkosh. In "Prince or Creole" the author has collected all the data relating to this celebrated family.
The first settlement on the east bank of the river.on the site of the present village of Winneconne was made by Jeremiah Pritchett in 1847 by the erection of a log cabin. Two years later Mr. C. R. Hamlin converted the government blacksmith shop on the west side of the river into a residence and tavern. The same season of 1849 E. D. Gumaer erected a frame house, and at the same time Mr. Charles L. Gumaer and John Atchley were erecting frame houses. The Mumbrues erected a hotel the same season, and Mr. John Scott opened a general store, and Mr. H. C. Rogers opened a second store. The postoffice was es- tablished at the village in 1850, with Joseph Edwards as postmas- ter. This office was located by the aid of Gov. James D. Doty, who gave it the name of Wanekuna, or so he spelled the name, which was long before attached to the lake in the treaty of 1836. This same year Mr. C. Mumbrue built a chair factory run by horsepower, and the Hyde Brothers built a saw mill. The float bridge was put across the Wolf river in 1855 by a stock company under the management of Judge J. D. Rush. The present bridge was built in 1871 at a cost of $18,000.
The Ilyde Brothers built a steam saw mill in 1850. It is said that as log cabins were all the style those days, the saw mills at Oshkosh, Algoma, Butte des Morts with this new steam mill overstocked the market and broke down the lumber business and caused a failure of the mill.
The land on the west side of the river came into the market in 1852. In 1850 the Presbyterian church was organized by Rev. Robinson. During the same year the Methodists organized under Rev. J. C. Simcox, an English Wesleyan Methodist.
The village has always had water navigation, and for many years it has been served by a stage route from Oshkosh both summer and winter. The C .. M. & St. P. railway was built into the village in 1868. connecting it with the outside world. This
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is the terminal of this branch of the road. The village plat of Winneconne was recorded October 15, 1849, by Hoel S. Wright and E. Gordon, proprietors. The plat of Williamsport was not recorded until 1866. A company of capitalists from Ripon pur- chased the land of John I. Williams, unplatted, and recorded the Ripon plat in 1868. The village of Winneconne now has a popu- . lation of 1;042, and contains some handsome residences and numerous business and mercantile establishments. Mr. R. B. Crowe is the editor of the "Item." The Union Bank of Winne- conne has a capital stock of $10,000. W. K. Ridiout, of Oshkosh, is president, and George II. Miller, cashier .. There is also a flour mill and canning factory. The hotel is the resort of tourists, hunters and fishermen from the larger cities coming here for recreation and sport.
Town of Wolf River.
The town of Wolf River is named for the Wolf river. which runs through the town. cutting it in two parts, and remains un- bridged in the town. Lake Poygan's shore borders the whole of its south line. The Rat river runs through its eastern sections into the Wolf river. The town is well watered and contains rich black soil yielding large crops. There is a postoffice at Orihula, the name formerly given to the town and the hamlet formerly known as Merton's Landing, named for the first settler of the town, whose place was at that point on the Wolf river. It has a population of fifty, one general store and a blacksmith shop. Its railroad station is at Weyauwega, twelve miles away. There is also communication with the outside world by steamboat on the Wolf river. There is also a postoffice at Zitteau, and at Zoar, on the boom, William Spiegleberg's old station, once a very promising place because of the boomage of logs in the bay fronting the site. The population of the town of Wolf river is 902, of which 212 are born in Germany, and although 678 were born in Wisconsin, they are mostly of German descent. Of the total of 16,000 acres in the town there are 7.000 acres improved and valued at $700.000. The town grows annually 46.000 bush- els of oats, 11,000 barley, 6.000 rye, 29,000 corn, 40,000 potatoes and 4,300 tons of hay. The stock of the town is listed at 504 horses, 2,600 cattle, 1.600 hogs and 1.000 sheep. There are also 1.500 milch cows, which produce 28,000 pounds of butter, and 8,500 fowls, producing 28,000 dozen eggs. The sales of the seven cheese factories amount to $51,000.
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