USA > Wisconsin > Barron County > History of Barron County Wisconsin > Part 8
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The erection of expensive structures at Barron was likely to make certain the permanent location of the county seat there.
Therefore, the Rice Lake people believed that the time was ripe for an- other attempt at county seat honors.
At a meeting of the county board held in November, 1890, a petition was presented asking that the question of the change of county seat be submitted to the voters. This petition at that time contained a number of names greater than two-fifths of the number of names appearing on the poll lists of the last general election. The petition was referred to a committee and on Nov. 14, the committee asked for further time for consideration.
At that time the county board had 25 members, of whom 13 were friendly to Barron, and 12 to Rice Lake. The committee was therefore organized of men favorable to Barron. This committee examined the signatures to the petition, and the names on the poll list. Some of the signatures of the petition were stricken off for the reason that the signers did not appear on the poll lists. But even with these eliminated, the petition still appeared to contain more than the necessary two-fifths.
Friends of Barron at once set to work. As the result of this work, 196 persons who had signed the petition asked to have their names withdrawn. The committee eliminated these names, which brought the number of signa- tures below the necessary two-fifths.
On Jan. 9, 1891, the committee reported that they had examined the peti- tion, had stricken therefrom some names illegally there, and crossed out the 196 who wished to withdraw, thus leaving less than the legal number of names required to compel the board to submit the question to the voters. The com- mittee therefore recommended that the petition be denied. The recommenda- tion was accepted.
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HISTORY OF BARRON COUNTY
This action was carried to the Supreme court. The court held (La Londe vs. the Board of Supervisors of Barron County, 80 Wisconsin, 380), by a de- cision rendered in October, 1891, that as there were 2,573 names on the poll list, the list as acted upon by the committee on Jan. 9, 1891, had not contained two-fifths of those names, regardless of whether it had contained a sufficient number at the time of its presentation. The gist of legal questions involved was that the board was entitled to a reasonable time in which to examine the signatures of the petition, and that during the time of examination, voters who had signed the petition had a right to withdraw their signatures.
The question was therefore not submitted to the voters, and the matter of removal has not since been seriously broached.
The building of the county jail was also involved in this county seat struggle. At the meeting of November, 1890, the same meeting at which the county seat petition was presented, the board proceeded with the preliminaries of erecting a county jail. The Barron members hoped by increasing the in- vestment in county buildings in Barron to put another spike in the retention of the county seat at that place.
These Barron supporters managed to muster one more vote than the cus- tomary thirteen, and by a vote of fourteen to eleven, appointed a building com- mittee which was given full power to procure the building of a jail on the county property at Barron. Money was appropriated, and the chairman and county clerk authorized to issue county orders to the amount of the appropria- tion. The committee proceeded without delay to advertise for bids for furnish- ing material for the construction of the jail.
Jan. 9, 1891, the contract for building the jail was awarded to C. D. Coe, who at once started work. Work was stopped by the injunction proceedings brought by John La Londe. After a hearing, the Circuit court dismissed the complaint and dissolved the injunction, Aug. 11, 1891. As soon as word was received in Barron that the injunction was dissolved, Mr. Coe at once resumed work, and county orders were issued to him to the amount of $6,100. Mr. La Londe appealed from the decision of the Circuit court and one of the judges of the Supreme court issued a restraining order, upon which work was again stopped.
When the final decision was rendered by the Supreme court on Oct. 20, 1891, work was again resumed. At the November, 1891, meeting of the board, provision was made for the payment of the county orders previously issued, and Mr. Coe was instructed to continue with the work, the previous contracts being all confirmed.
Sept. 1, 1892, it was reported to the board that the work was completed. The structure, with improvements, is the present sightly jail and sheriff's residence.
The building of a new courthouse came up for consideration at the Novem- ber meeting of the board in 1899. The spirit was friendly, but many of the board believed that the time was not quite ripe for the actual building. How- ever, $5,000 was appropriated toward the project, and a building committee was appointed, consisting of Aristide Mero, J. P. Kohl, H. C. Dolittle, S. W. Sparlin, Andrew Gullickson, C. W. Moore, L. J. Breen and E. N. Bowers. Dec. 15, 1899, plans were submitted by F. D. Orff, of Minneapolis. Nov. 11, 1900, the board determined to borrow $30,000. Jan. 21, 1901, the contracts were let, and on May 28, 1901, the cornerstone was laid. The building was prac- tically completed in time for the meeting of the county board in November, 1901. The total cost was $38,070.80. The cost of materials had risen even during the period of building, and so at an expenditure of approximately $40,000 the county secured a building worth many thousand more.
The courthouse is built on a solid stone foundation, which above the ground is faced with dressed Portage Entry sandstone. The superstructure is one of native brick, faced with Menomonie pressed brick, and is trimmed with red sandstone. The main entrance is on the north side, facing La Salle street,
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HISTORY OF BARRON COUNTY
from which it is separated by a beautiful sloping lawn. A side entrance on the east faces the jail and affords easy entrance from that quarter. The interior is handsomely finished throughout with red oak.
In the early days there was a combined county and town system of look- ing after the poor. Transient paupers were cared for by the county, while each town looked after the paupers who were actual residents.
Jan. 17, 1884, the board decided that after April 1, 1884, the county should look after all the poor. G. C. Hodgkin was made superintendent of the poor. A committee, consisting of W. S. Grover, S. E. Washburn and C. S. Taylor, was appointed to purchase land for a poor farm. This committee purchased the northeast quarter of section 34, township 34, range 12 (Barron township), at $5 an acre, and forty acres in the southeast quarter of the southeast quarter of section 27, township 34, range 12, connecting the other piece of land with the Yellow river. Just north of this tract on the other bank of the river was the site of the first Barron county courthouse.
Jan. 7, 1885, it was voted to abandon the county system and return to the town system. But at the next meeting, Jan. 29, 1885, the board appropriated $2,000 for the erection of buildings on the farm. The building committee con- sisted of H. J. White and D. M. Monteith. Nov. 10, 1885, it was reported that the lower story was completed and the board voted to finish the building of the house and stables. Improvements have since been made from time to time until the county now has a pretty modern alms house, adequate barns and sheds, and a well cultivated farm, excellently stocked, and admirably equipped.
CHAPTER VIII.
COUNTY OFFICIALS.
The first officers of Dallas county, which soon thereafter became Barron county, were appointed by Governor Lucius Fairchild late in 1868 to take effect Jan. 1, 1869. The first regular county election was held in the fall of 1869. The following list of county officers has been compiled from the official records. The year given is the year of taking office, and each official mentioned served until the year given as the beginning. of his successor's term.
County Clerk. 1869, D. T. Boswell (appointed) ; 1870, Orville Brayton; 1874, W. S. Grover; 1876, N. M. Rockman (Jan. 3, 1879, Mr. Rockman resigned to become treasurer) ; 1879, Fred Telke (appointed Jan. 3); 1885, Stephen E. Washburn; 1887, C. N. Gunnison; 1889, Louis J. Breen; 1897, William M. Simp- son (died in office in 1901) ; 1901, Stone W. Sparlin (appointed Nov. 19, 1901, and later elected) ; 1905, Andrew Gulickson; 1911, Tobias T. Hazelburg (re- signed, to take effect Dec. 1, 1919, to become state prohibition enforcement of- ficer) ; 1919, F. S. Woodard (appointed Nov. 28, and later elected).
County Treasurer. 1869, James Bracklin (appointed) ; 1870, John Quad- erer; 1872, M. W. Heller; 1874, Hiram Sawyer (Mr. Sawyer refused to move his office from Rice Lake to Barron in 1875, it was found that he had not filed a proper bond, and his office was declared vacant); 1875, John Quaderer (ap- pointed Feb. 11) ; 1876, Washington Bird (upon Mr. Bird's leaving the county his office was declared vacant on Jan. 23, 1879); 1879, N. M. Rockman (ap- pointed Jan. 23) ; 1891, J. E. Horsman; 1893, George Parr; 1897, Charles Chris- tenson; 1899, Wilfred A. Demers; 1903, Charles W. Moore (died May 6) ; 1903, Bennie Johnson (appointed May 16, and later elected) ; 1907, K. Edward Thompson; 1911, George E. Carr; 1915, E. C. Cleveland; 1917, S. R. Pollock.
Register of Deeds. 1869, James G. Neville (appointed) ; 1870, William J. Smith; 1872, Aristide Mero; 1876, Walter Speed; 1882, Ole Christopherson; 1885, A. J. Barton; 1889, J. W. Stone; 1893, William A. Kent; 1897, Andrew G.
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HISTORY OF BARRON COUNTY
Strand; 1899, Willard L. Barton; 1903, Nels G. Gilstad; 1909, Charles D. Blassingham.
Superintendent of Schools. 1869, Oliver Demers (appointed, then elect- ed) ; 1872, A. B. Finley; 1874, Washington Bird; 1876, H. J. White; 1882, Samuel R. Finley; 1887, N. E. Carver; 1893, Dora M. Riser; 1897, Charles H. Museus; 1903, Thomas H. Lage; 1909, Lellen S. Cheney; 1917, Gertrude Wahl (Miss Wahl resigned in 1918) ; 1918, Mrs. R. L. Cuff (appointed Oct. 7); 1919, Regina Kohten.
Coroner. 1870, K. Whitman; 1872, T. W. Hickok; 1874, S. K. Young; 1876, J. G. Beckwith (did not qualify) ; 1877, N. Washburn; 1879, L. Paradise; 1880, A. F. Skinner; 1881, George C. Hodgkin; 1882, Herbert Lampman; 1885, George McLeod; 1887, C. W. Moore; 1889, Joel Richardson; 1891, William Small; 1897, William Hooker; 1899, Isaac Bull; 1901, Frank J. Fuller; 1903, John G. Wal- ters; 1905, George F. Tanner; 1911, A. S. Gustofson; 1913, T. Anderson; 1915, George F. Tanner; 1917, O. M. Sattre; 1919, J. H. Wallis.
Sheriff. 1869, Alex Beaton; 1871, E. L. Dolittle; 1874, Alex Beaton; 1876, A. J. Barton; 1878, William W. Dietz; 1880, A. J. Barton; 1882, J. N. Plato; 1885, Silas Speed; 1887, J. W. Stone; 1889, William W. Dietz; 1891, Silas Speed; 1893, Herbert M. Helliker; 1895, Fred S. Waterman; 1897, William W. Dietz; 1899, John M. Rassbach; 1901, John A. H. Johnson; 1903, John M. Rassbach; 1905, Hawkin Knutson; 1907, Christopher Kurschner; 1909, John H. Johnson; 1911, John M. Rassbach; 1913, Robert A. Phillips; 1915, Matt Olson (killed Jan. 25, 1916) ; 1916, A. I. Hulbert (appointed Feb. 2); 1917, Hans P. Borgen (removed late in 1917) ; 1917, John H. Johnson (appointed Nov. 28, elected for full term of 1919-20, served until July 1, 1920, and declared not eligible) ; 1920, A. W. McGeorge (appointed July 1) ; 1921, John H. Johnson (eligibility ques- tion still in the courts). Mr. Johnson, as noted, was appointed Nov. 28, 1917, to fill out Mr. Borgen's term. He served a year and one month under this ap- pointment. He ran for the office in the fall of 1918, was elected, and took office under that election, Jan. 1, 1919. Under the Wisconsin law, a sheriff is not allowed to succeed himself. Mr. Johnson's eligibility was called into question, and the courts declared him ineligible after he had served a year and a half of his elected term. In the fall of 1920, he again ran for the office, was elected, and started his duties under his election, Jan. 21, 1921. His eligibility was again brought into question under the same law. In February, 1922, the Supreme Court held that his election in 1920 was legal and he will hold the office the full term.
District Attorney. 1871, Robert McAuley; 1874, E. M. Sexton; 1876, John H. Ives (resigned May 25) ; 1876, Charles S. Taylor (appointed July 15, and three times elected) ; 1883, Harvey J. Sill; 1885, Fred B. Kinsley; 1887, Henry S. Comstock; 1889, Clarence C. Coe; 1891, H. G. Ellsworth; 1893, Harvey J. Sill; 1897, William N. Fuller; 1903, John W. Soderberg; 1911, Charles A. Taylor; 1917, John W. Soderberg; 1919, John L. Dahl; 1921, John W. Soderburg.
County Judge. 1869, Francis Finley (appointed, then elected) ; 1874, Harvey J. Sill; 1882, William P. Swift; 1890, Henry S. Comstock (resigned in the spring of 1901) ; 1901, Andrew F. Wright (elected in April to serve out the year) ; 1902, Charles W. Meadows (resigned in summer of 1917); 1917, An- drew F. Wright (appointed Sept. 1, 1917, and then elected to full term).
Surveyor. 1870, Orville Brayton; 1874, Washington Bird; 1876, Baptiste Quaderer; 1878, Hosea B. Brewer; 1882, D. A. Russell; 1895, John S. Colling- wood; 1897, D. A. Russell; 1899, Hosea P. Brewer; 1905, Harry J. Mitchell; 1915, J. A. H. Johnson.
Clerk of Court. 1871, John Kelly; 1874, W. L. Morrison; 1876, F. C. Connelly; 1878, Fred Telke; 1880, W. L. Morrison; 1885, Peter Wachter; 1889, Henry Radermacher; 1895, Stephen E. Washburn; 1903, John C. Beckwith; 1909, Dighton S. Grilley; 1917, Ernest V. Babcock.
Municipal Courts. The Municipal court of Barron county had its incep- tion Jan. 9, 1880, when the county board appointed H. J. Sill, William R. Smith
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and Charles S. Taylor to draft a bill embodying such a feature, and present it to the Legislature. The act was duly passed, and the First court created. In 1887 the Second and Third courts were created.
The First Municipal court meets at Barron. The first judge, Jerome F. Coe, was elected April 13, 1880. He was succeeded in 1892 by Clarence C. Coe, who served until 1900, when Fred B. Kinsley was elected. John W. Soderburg was elected in 1912. He was followed in 1916 by Charles A. Taylor. Judge Taylor was re-elected in 1920, and in the summer of 1921 resigned, being suc- ceeded by Fred B. Kinsley.
The Second Municipal court meets at Rice Lake. Franklin M. Angel was elected judge of this court April 14, 1887. In 1899 Lewis L. Constance was elected. James Robbins was elected in 1911, and re-elected in 1915 and 1919. At his death, C. A. Stark was appointed, and is still serving the unexpired term.
The Third Municipal court meets at Cumberland. Andrew F. Wright was elected judge of this court April 14, 1887. He did not qualify. William N. Fuller was elected in 1891, and re-elected in 1895. For some years the court did not function, the business being handled by a police justice. In 1907 An- drew F. Wright was elected. Judge Wright occupied the bench until Sept. 1, 1917, when he resigned to become county judge. R. B. Hart was appointed, and in 1919 was elected.
Circuit Judge. H. L. Humphrey, who held the first term of court in this county at Rice Lake in 1874, was judge of the Eleventh circuit from 1866 to 1877. The county was included in the Eleventh circuit by the apportionment of 1877. The judges have been: Henry D. Barron, 1877-1881; Solon H. Clough, 1882-1888; R. D. Marshall, 1889-1894; Aad. J. Vinje, 1895-1909; Frank A. Ross, 1910-1918; Frank A. Foley, 1919.
Barron County Bar. The Barron county bar is composed as follows; Clarence C. Coe, Barron; Arthur E. Coe, Barron; Laurence S. Coe, Rice Lake; H. S. Comstock, Cumberland; L. P. Charles, Chetek; John L. Dahl, Rice Lake; H. G. Ellsworth, Barron; W. N. Fuller, Cumberland; G. P. Gannon, Rice Lake; M. S. Hines, Rice Lake; R. B. Hart, Cumberland; Frank Lampson, Cumberland; E. Nelton, Turtle Lake; K. E. Rasmussen, Rice Lake; C. E. Soderberg, Rice Lake; J. W. Soderberg, Barron; C. A. Stark, Rice Lake; C. A. Taylor, Barron; A. F. Wright, Barron.
The first attorney to locate in the county was E. M. Sexton, who came in 1872. He was closely followed by H. J. Sill, John H. Ives and F. M. Angel. A new impetus was given to the legal profession of the county with the arrival of Charles S. Taylor, as district attorney, appointed by the governor in 1876.
Members of the Legislature. William T. Price, of Black River Falls, rep- resented this region in the state senate in 1870-71. In the latter year the ap- portionment placed Barron county in the Thirteenth Senatorial district. Its senators were: Joseph C. Thorp, Eau Claire, 1872-73; Hiram P. Graham, Eau Claire, 1874-75; Rockwell G. Flint, Menomonie, 1876-77. In 1877 the appor- tionment placed Barron county in the Twenty-fourth Senatorial district. Its representatives were: Dana Reed Bailey, Baldwin, 1878-79; S. S. Fifield, Ash- land, 1880-81; James Hill, Warren, 1882-84; Joel F. Nason, St. Croix Falls, 1885-88; Charles S. Taylor, Barron, 1889-94; James H. Stout, Menomonie, 1895-1910; George E. Scott, Prairie Farm, 1911-16; Al C. Anderson, Menomonie, 1917 to the present time. The county is now in the Twenty-Ninth Senatorial district with Polk and Dunn counties.
Barron County in 1870 was included in an assembly district embracing Ashland, Bayfield, Burnett, Douglas and Polk counties. The district was represented in the assembly by Samuel B. Dresser, of Osceola Mills. Following him came: Samuel S. Vaughn, Bayfield, 1871; Henry D. Barron, St. Croix Falls, 1872-73; Samuel S. Fifield, Ashland, 1874-76; Woodbury S. Grover, Prairie Farm, 1877; Canute Anderson, Grantsburg, 1878; William J. Vincent, St. Croix Falls, 1879; Lars L. Gunderson, Cumberland, 1880; George D. McDill,
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HISTORY OF BARRON COUNTY
Osceola Mills, 1881-82. By a new apportionment the counties of Barron, Bay- field, Burnett and Douglas were made an assembly district. Its representa- tive was Canute Anderson, Grantsburg. The districts were again reappor- tioned, and Barron, Bayfield, Burnett, Douglas and Washburn became one district. It was represented by Charles S. Taylor, Barron, 1885-88. In 1888, Barron County was made one district, and has since continued to remain so. The representatives have been: Charles W. Moore, Chetek, 1889-92; Sewall A. Peterson, Rice Lake, 1893-94; Jonathan J. Smith, Barron, 1895-98; Kapp E. Rasmussen, Rice Lake, 1899-1902; Henry C. Dolittle, Cumberland, 1903-04; George E. Scott, Prairie Farm, 1905-10; Andrew Gulickson, Stanley Town- ship, 1911-14; James R. Beckwith, Barron, 1915-16; Isaac J. Kvam, 1917 (Mr. Kvam died suddenly at Madison during the term of the legislature, Feb. 14, 1917) ; C. A. Beggs, Rice Lake, 1917-18 (Mr. Beggs was elected to fill out Mr. Kvam's term) ; Clarence C. Coe, Barron, 1919-20; John L. Dahl, Rice Lake, 1921-22.
CHAPTER IX
EARLY AGRICULTURE
Civilization gradually approached Barron County in the first half of the Nineteenth Century. The first permanent settlement in this region was made in 1828 when a saw mill was erected at the mouth of Wilson Creek, the present site of Menomonie. As early as 1839 three mills were in operation in the vicinity of Menomonie. St. Croix Falls was first settled in 1837, and Chippewa Falls in 1839. A saw mill at Eau Galle was built in 1840. A saw mill was built at Osceola in 1842 and a grist mill in 1848. Hudson was first settled in 1840 and the first farm opened there in 1841. Eau Claire was first settled in 1845. Settlers located at Pepin near the mouth of the Chippewa River in 1846, at River Falls in 1848, and at Arkansas in Pepin in 1852.
In 1848, Knapp, Stout & Co. started operations at Prairie Farm. In 1850, Levi Vance, who had been familiar with this region as an Indian trader as early at 1842, settled on section 5, township 31, range 13, just over the line in Dunn County near Prairie Farm. Others settled in his neighborhood. A little later farmers began to settle north of Prairie Farm village. Still later they began to come into the "oak openings" in Dallas Township, where the soil was more easily broken and tilled than was the land amid the trees and stumps in the heavily wooded portions of the county. With these be- ginnings the settlements penetrated further and further into the wilderness.
James Bracklin, speaking at Rice Lake, on July 4, 1876, gives Bank's neighbors as Ed. Delong, Mike Jones, George W. Jones and Thomas Snyder, and says they settled in that neighborhood in 1856. Banks, he says, after living a while on section 33, town 32, range 13 (Prairie Farm), moved outside the county to section 21, township 31, range 13, in Dunn County. Peter Deery, according to the same authority, settled in section 21, township 32, range 13, in 1859.
George W. Jones and John Banks both had children born in the county in the fifties, and there is some dispute as to which was the first born. Some gave the distinction to a daughter of Mike Jones, born in 1857. The first death was that of a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Philander Ball, near Barron, in 1863. Mrs. Ball died a few days later, the tradition being that she was poisoned by squaws jealous of her popularity. Mother and daughter were buried at Lousville, so called, in section 19, town 34, range 11, on the bank of the Me- nomonie River, about a mile north of the Soo railroad bridge east of Barron.
The census of 1860 shows but two families at that time living in what is
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HISTORY OF BARRON COUNTY
now Barron County. John Banks, aged 36, born in Ohio, and his wife, Par- melia, aged 31, born in Minnesota, had then four children: John, Jr., aged 9, born in Ohio; Almira, aged 6, born in Minnesota; and Benjamin, aged 4, and Frank, aged 2, both born in Wisconsin, and probably both born in the present Barron County. Banks' real estate is valued at $140 and his personal property at $65. George W. Jones, aged 34, born in Canada, and his wife Margaret, born in Wisconsin, had then three children: Susan, aged 11; Samuel, aged 8; and James, aged 3, all born in Wisconsin, and the last named probably born in what is now Barron County. The Jones real estate is valued at $275 and the personal property at $65. Banks and Jones are both classed as farmers. Thomas Snyder, aged 28, born in Pennsylvania, and Joseph Abair, aged 31, born in Canada, are both classed as permanent residents, and their occupation given as hunting. This census was taken Aug. 20, 1860. The region is spoken of as the town of Alden. It is probable that there were a few cabins in the woods overlooked by the census taker.
Gradually and slowly the settlement increased. A few of the settlers, as noted, came to establish farms, and usually settled in the oak openings where the land could be easily broken and tilled.
But some thirty years or so, the majority of the settlers were men who came here as employes of the lumber companies, and after working in the woods a season or so, selected a tract of land, built a cabin, made a small clearing, and thus established a home where their families could live, and where they themselves could do a little farming to help make a living during the seasons when they were not otherwise employed.
Much of the color and romance, the hardships and privations, the sorrows and joys, the hard work, the drudging toil, and the arduous and faithful labor which with the passing of the years brought success, and created prosperous farms from the unfriendly wilderness, is told in the biographical and family sketches found in this volume. Each family had its individual situation to meet, the memory of which will ever be held in precious remembrance in the heart of the descendants.
But in a general way, with individual variations, the experiences which these families underwent mingles in certain broad sweeps which makes up the real story of the making of the county.
As already noted in the chapter on the Lumbering Days, most of the Barron County settlers in the early years came first to Menomonie. Those who brought their families usually located them in that place, or near by in Dunn County, until they could look about.
Then they selected a location in Barron County. Some of the land was bought for credit or part cash from Knapp, Stout & Co. Some was preempted from the government at $1.25 an acre, some was taken under the homestead laws. Some was bought from the North Wisconsin railroad which had a large grant in this county. Some was purchased from Cornell University which also had holdings in the county. Some was bought from some older settler, who, through discouragement or restlessness, was ready to move onward to a new location.
Some of the tracts the settlers chose were in the pines, some were among the stumps, some in the "slashings," and burnt-over land, some in the hard- wood which was then considered a nuisance to be gotten rid of as speedily as possible. It was imperative that water of some sort, lake, stream or spring should be near by. Sometimes there was not even a trail leading to the loca- tion, and even the far-away tote road was little more than a rude track.
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