USA > Wisconsin > Buffalo County > History of Buffalo County, Wisconsin > Part 51
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The history of the city begins with the Colonization Society of Cincinnati, Ohio. This society was founded by a number of o ring men and others in said city, with the intention of procur-
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ing homes to themselves in the Far West, and attempted in 1854 a settlement in Kansas, which, however, was abandoned on ac- count of the troubles of the times in that territory. After this it was concluded to go to a more northern state, and, as appears from records, land had been purchased and part of the plat laid out in 1856. A proposition had been made to buy land close to Alma, but it was never ratified. Frederick Pfeffer and J. P. Moessinger acted as commissioners of the society, the latter being a surveyor, The colonization society had in 1854 as many as 178, and later at the division of the lots 228 members. There is a peculiarity in the lots of Buffalo Cit., that they are all laid out at right angles and conformable to the cardinal points of the compass, which oc- casioned along the slough on Front Street a number of inconven- ient little corners, that. could not very well be utilized. Mr. Pfef- fer, who has been for many years the President of the Society and is now since 1858 a resident of the city, explained this curiosity by saying, that there were too many surveyors in the society, who abhorred any deviation from government survey lines. The plat, I believe was begun by J. P. Moessinger and finished by Rob. Strohmann, who came up from Cincinnati for that purpose and remained in this county until he enlisted in the 34th Reg. of Infantry.
In 1858 the society built the saw mill which is mentioned in the chapter on Manufactures. In the same year Mr. Schaettle built a store and came with stock for the same, the brewery was also started. A number of houses were also built, and quite a number of settlers, partly from Cincinnati, partly from other parts, had arrived, as I found when in March 1859 1 came to the place. Fred. Laue had been there during the winter and had fixed on the site for the saw mill of Buecker & Co. for which April 10th, 1859, he brought up the machinery. Edward Gunkel kept saloon and boarding house. Joachim Guettinger, Caspar Huber, Her- man Protz, Ferdinand Horst, Adolf Rauch, Adam Hellmann, Henry Busdicker etc. had come from Cincinnati, Henry Erding from Baltimore, others from other places. The island at the cor- ner between the Buffalo City. Channel and the Mississippi was in- habited by Andrew Vogt, and Peterson Bro. It would be too te- dious to mention all the citizens. High hopes were entertained by most of them for the future growth and prosperity of the city
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and the society expended, among other things, a considerable sum of money to build a road across the Belvidere Bluff to the Wau- mandee. The surrounding country began to fill up. In 1859 Mr. Schaettle built a large house, designed for a store, dwelling house, saloon and dancing hall, and the lower sawmill went into opera- tion. The representation of the place by two members in the county board of supervisors brought out a decided opposition against the place, as may be learned from the chapter on organiza- tion. The city, however was always in funds, as the taxes were at that time regularly paid by almost every one of the owners of lots, most of whom resided at Cincinnati. In the niean time it was demonstrated by experience that navigation could reach the place only at high water. This was very inconvenient, but a ferry was established between the city and the settlement at Mount Vernon, Minn., about two miles below Minneiska, which in some measure remedied the deficiency. But although the number of settlers increased from time to time, there was also by and by a sensible decrease. In 1861 the city made some exertions to get the county seat, but with what result may be seen in the chapter on organization. In the course of time the owners of lots began to refuse or neglect the payment of taxes and houses began to be moved out of the town to neighboring farms. The want of com- munication by water crippled every enterprise, and of the orig- inal settlers but very few remain, while, however the population is now more numerous than twenty years ago. The charter is still in force, though the representation has been reduced to one member in the county board. The city has a good and large schoolhouse, a Catholic and a Lutheran church, one store, blacksmith shop etc. It is situated about one mile from the railroad station at Cochrane, but has a postoffice of its own, receiving its mail from Cochrane by ·special messenger, just as previous to 1860 from Fountain City.
Long as this sketch has grown, it might have easily been made much longer, but many items of interest may be gathered from other chapters, and from personal remarks in the appendices to the tables of Early Settlers and the lists of soldiers. The popu- lation of the city is now, as it has always been, entirely German, the few stragglers of other nationalities never staid long enough to deserve particular attention.
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TOWN OF BUFFALO.
The town of Buffalo contains at present the following land:
Township 19: Seetions 10, 14, 15, 23, 26 and 35 on Trempea- leau River, fractional, See. 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 27, 28, 29, 30 31, 32, 33 and 34 entire in Range 10.
Seetions 13, 14, 23, 24 and 25 arc entire, 26, 35 and 36 frac- tional on Mississippi and sloughs in Range 11.
Township 18: Seetions 3, 10 and 15 along Trempealeau River and 6, 8, 16 and 17 along the Mississippi are fractional, 4, 5 and 9, cut up by sloughs, are also fractional, in Range 10.
Section 1 in Range 11 is on the Mississippi and fractional.
Adjoining towns are Cross and Village of Fountain City in this, Trempealeau in Trempealeau County. The town is very hilly, rolling on the top of the bluffs, and well watered in the val- leys of which there are two Piper's and Plath's.
The town of Buffalo was at first the whole county, as may be seen from the act establishing the latter. It naturally grew smal- ler and finally, after the establishment of the town of Milton or Eagle Mills was reduced to the present size, if we add to it the land contained in the village of Fountain City. Within the present limits Charles Bippes was the first settler, first on the bluff, after- wards in the valley, which was named after him, but by a eor- ruption of the name is now ealled Piper's Valley. He came with his brother-in-law, Adam Raetz, in 1851, was at the first election chosen clerk of the county board, but never served, and has not lived in this county for many years. Henry Plath and Henry Heuer settled in 1854, Gottlieb Keller, Gottlieb Krause and Jacob Botzett in 1855 also Alfred Street, Fritz Thuemmel, Christian Diencr, Andrew Risser, William Multhaupt and Michael Schmiep. The settlement after this was quite rapid. The Greenbay Railroad runs through the eastern and southern part of the town, which oceasioned the establishment of Marshland Station and postoffice. The first marriage is said to have been that of Jacob Botzett to Christina Simon in 1856. The first death was the father of Wm. Multhaupt. The first birth was Henry Street, son of Alfred Street in the winter of 1857.
The population of the town is mostly German, but there are some Scoteh, Irish and Polish families and one American family. The southern part of the town is opposite the city of Winona, and
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much of the trade of the town is done in that place, a well built road leading across the bottoms. There is within the limits of this town a village plat near the railroad station of Bluff Siding, called Town of Colbert, which is recorded in Vol. 17, page 216, with which I am not further acquainted.
TOWN OF CANTON.
The territory contained in this town is Township 24 of Range 12. Before its organization the east half of it belonged to Naples the west half to Maxville. The surface of the town is full of hills, between which there are several valleys, from which the -treams run to the Big Bear Creek excepting North branch of Little Bear Creek. The soil in these valleys and on the slopes is well suited to agriculture. There are but few farms on the bluffs, where the soil is the same as usual in similar situations.
It appears that the northern part, adjoining Big Bear Creek was first settled, it being level and the soil rich. The so-called Tuttle farm is said to have been occupied by a man named Quackenbos in 1855. When Geo. Tuttle came is not known, but in 1862 he was a Justice of the Peace. I never knew him and the farm is now owned by David Gifford. In 1860 Lewis Kniffin and Julius Part settled in North Branch, T. W. Glasspool, sen., in the Glasspool Valley, Earl Ward and Thomas Inschcoe in the Big Bear Creek Valley. In 1861 Louis Owen, L. W. Keezar and J. V. Jones opened farms in North Branch Valley, in 1862 Geo. Kees in the same neighborhood. The first death is said to have been that of a daughter of Lewis Kniffin in 1862.
After several fruitless attempts the town was set off by the County Board in 1867 and organized in 1868, electing Jas. E. Walker chairman and T. W. Glasspool Townclerk The name of Page, or rather Paige, suggested by the leading advocate for the organization, was soon changed to Canton at the request of citi- zens and the suggestion of Mr. Glasspoole.
The population is about equally divided, consisting of Ger- man, Irish, Norwegians and Americans. Since the completion of the Chippewa Valley Railroad the trading of this town is mostly done at Durand, Pepin Co., where the settlers also have their post- office. Formerly most of the wheat went to Alma, sometimes by way of Modena, sometimes by way of North Branch and across the bluffs,
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TOWN OF CROSS.
The following land is at present contained in the Town of Cross:
Range 10: Sections 17, 20, 29, 32 and 33 on Trempealeau River fractional, 18, 19, 30 and 31 entire in Township 20.
Sections 3 and 4 on Trempealeau River fractional, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 entire in Township 19.
Range 11: Sections 1, 2, 3, 10, 11 and 12 of Township 19.
Sections 1, 2, 3, E } 4, E } 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, NE + 16, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 34, 35 and 36 of Township 20.
There may be some errors in regard to one or two forties, ad- joining the town of Milton or that of Buffalo, such small alteration having escaped my attention.
This town was set off, July 20th 1857, at the same time as the Town of Milton, of parts until then belonging to the Town of Buf- falo. Hon. Edward Lees, now of Gilmanton, was the first Chair- man, John Burt the first Townclerk.
The surface of the town is very much broken up. The bluffs are steep and most of the valleys narrow. Eagle Valley in the western part begins in the town of Glencoe, crosses a corner of Waumandee and finally ends in the town of Milton. There are in fact two valleys, one east of the last named, also beginning in the town of Glencoe. The two streams and the valleys join in Sec. 15, T. 20, R. 11, where the joint valley is widest. The valley next in size is Bohri's Valley, also consisting of two different valleys with a stream in each, the streams uniting a short distance before flow- ing out into Treampealeau bottom. Other, but smaller valleys are, Buehler's, Barths's Grover's etc. The soil in these valleys is rich black loam, on the bluffs it is more clayey, Peter Schank is considered the first settler within the limits of the present town of Cross and also the first farmer in the county, having settled on his farm in 1850, remaining for three years without a neighbor. In spring 1853 Andrew Baertsch settled in the town where he yet lives, the oldest in regard to settlement, of any man now living in the county, having come in 1847. In 1853, Philipp Menzemer and Geo. Zimmermann also settled. Rev. John Aldermatt also came in 1853. In 1854, Christ. Bohri sr. and his family, John Sutter, J. Camastral, Christian Buehler, Henry Keller and Fred_ erick Binder came, in 1855 Ed. Lees, John Burt, Wm. Burt and
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John More arrived, and in 1856 another numerous influx of set- tlers took place.
The first marriage was that of Caspar Wald to Anna Ambuehl, the ceremony being performed by Andrew Bacrtsch in German.
The first two deaths were those of Ambuehl and Cainastral, who died in summer 1854 of cholera which they had contracted in their journey from the East, where this disease was then raging. The first child born in Cross was Christian Baertsch, son of An- drew and Mary Baertsch. He was born Sept. 1st, 1853. There is a postoffice in, and of the same name as, the town, situated in Sec. 5, T. 19, R 10, kept byGottlieb Bohri, who also keeps a tavern. There are some six or seven Scotch families in the town, the re- mainder are Germans, except a few Polish families.
TOWN OF DOVER.
The territory of the town of Dover is Township 23 of Range 10. The town is bounded on the north by Naples on the east by Burnside, Trempealeau Co., on the south by Montana, on the west by Gilmanton. It was set off from the town of Gilmanton, of which it had been a part, at the annual meeting of the county- board of 1870, and organized at the next spring election, with A. J. Nims as chairman and W. H. Edes as townclerk. The surface of the town is very much varied, steep bluffs on the southern and northern boundaries with some hills through the center running east and west along Elk Creek and Bennett Valley Creck, north and south on Three Mile Creek. These creeks and valleys are de- scribed in Topography. The soil on both sides of Elk Creek in its middle course is sandy, but some of the side valleys even of the distance are productive. Bennett Valley is considered the best part of the town for agricultural purposes. This Valley received its name from the fact that Dr. Jesse Bennett, formerly of Foun- tain City had selected considerable land in it, for which he em- ployed Hon. Noah D. Comstock. The first settler in this town was certainly Samuel S. Cooke, a native of Franklin Co., Ohio, who came up in 1855 and purchased the Southeast quarter of Sec- tion 27, moving upon it with his family in June the year after. He lived in a perfect solitude, considering Patrick Mulcare of Glencoe as bis nearest neighbor, until after a while he found the " Loomis Settlement," as Gilmanton was then called, about seven miles west of his own location. Mr. Cooke was a great hunter
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and, although at times he and his family had to subsist on the products of the chase, he did not hunt for that alone, but also for the gratification of his passion. The reader is referred to the ap- pendix to Class II, List of Early Settlers, for further particulars. The brothers Marvin and James Pierce owned a considerable piece of land, north and east of Mr. Cooke, and spent two or three sum- mers upon it, but never remained during winter. This was be- tween 1856 and 60. The second actual settler was George Wooster, who located farther down, the next Edward Cartwrigh who located farther up Elk Creek, at the head of it. The first set- ler in Bennett Valley was W. H. H. Amidon, followed by Paul Smith, S. W. Bailey, Roderick J. Bailey, Squire Loomis, Theodore Lockwood and others. The Edes brothers beld the land on which Jos. Rast now resides long before they moved upon it. My first acquaintance with the surface of the town dates back to 1866-67, when I explored with the compass the eastern valleys. There were at that time but two Norwegian families about two niiles and a half to the north from Mr. Cooke's, John Paulsen and Ole Ever- son, and in Bennett Valley the Bartletts were the only family who lived above Paul Smith, that is east of him. I remember also that when out surveying with John Hunner, jr., we met a caravan of Norwegian immigrants, who were clambering across the bluffs and hills with their wagons and cattle. About that tinie the Davis relationship, quite numerous, began settlements on Three Mile Creek. The town afterwards filled up rapidly and finally set up for separate existence. At present the population consists largely of Norwegians with a few Americans and others.
VILLAGE OF FOUNTAIN CITY.
The territory included in the corporate limits of the village is as follows:
Township 19, Range 11: Sections 8, 16, 17, 21, 22 and 27 fractional on river and sloughs, 9, 10 and 15 entire.
In making out this description I discovered that Sect. 27 of this township is not included in the map of Fountain City, nor in that of the Town of Buffalo. (See Atlas.)
In writing the history of this village I propose to follow the same rule, which I have in general observed in all local histories, not to repeat what has been before related. Fountain City, under . its first name of Holmes' Landing, was certainly the place where
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settlement and political organization of this county began, and up- on which it was for some time concentrated. I think, however, that in previous chapters on Organization, Settlement, Pioneers, Manufactures, Education, Press, etc., I have related all that is interesting.
Among those who arrived soon after the pioneers, whose biographies will be found in the proper chapter, John Adam Raetz was one of the first. He is still a resident of the corporation. He was born in Gondelsheim, in the Grand Duchy of Baden, and came to America in 1847, first settling in Stevenson Co., Ill. He and his family landed on the 18th of May, 1851, at Wild's Landing, where now the stonehouse stands. For some time three families were crowded together until after some time they made a path to Holmes' Landing. He burnt the first lime at that place, which sold at $1.00 a barrel. At Holmes' Landing he lived together, or in the same house, with old man Peter Schank, and then made a settlement on what is now called Schumacher's Farm, where he built a small house in Oct. 1851, and passed a very severe winter. In the coming spring he lost all his cattle except two yoke of oxen, his money was gone, and with the exception of some thousands of fence rails and a few cords of wood, he had to relinquish his claim. Indians seem to have bothered them considerably, so that they were often scared, and many a night they could not go to bed. So far his own narrative. It strikes me as somewhat singular that not one of the early settlers still remaining in the place relates any thing of the Indian fight of which Hon. Augustus Finkelnburg gives such a vivid description in his centennial oration. I would not, of course, deny the truth of the story, and the informant of Mr. Finkelnburg may have drawn on his imagination, but it is also singular that even Thomas Randall in his History of the Chippewa Valley has little to say about the Indian fights and hostilities in the extensive region of which he treats. It must, however, be remembered that Sioux and Winnebagoes were quite near together in this neighborhood, and were as much at war as Sioux and Chippewas who lived further north. Adam Raetz was elected District Attorney at the election in November 1853, but it is reasonably certain that he never acted as such.
It is impossible now to ascertain the precise time when every individual settler arrived, but of the eighteen men who voted at
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the first election, the following fourteen were residents of Holmes' Landing at the time: John Buehler, Christ. Wenger, Caspar Wild, Andrew Barth, John Haeussinger, Jas. M. Pierce, Marvin Pierce, Adam Raetz, Henry Goerke, Adam Weber, Lawrence Dres- sendoerfer, Ulrich Kritzenthaler and Henry Funke. They must have arrived during 1851, '52 and '53, except those who were there before that time, for whom see Pioneers.
The year 1854 witnessed the arrival of Ferdinand Fetter, who afterwards became a leading citizen of the county, Justice of the Peace, Clerk of Circuit Court, and County Judge. Tony Burk, who came up from Le Claire, Iowa, told me about Mr. Fetter, when he returned for his family. Henry Teckenburg, who established the first regular and properly equipped store, after having bought out the stock of Henry Goerke, came in the fall of 1853. Gottfried Huber kept saloon and tavern in 1855 and later, and was in 1856 a Justice of the Peace. It takes everybody and everything to make the world, and it takes a great many to make even a village, and only very few of them will be afterwards remembered, and will remember much of their own life and circumstances during their young years, when they have grown old. The inquiries of the historian are sometimes baffled by this forgetfulness; some- times, too, he grows cautious, and even suspicious, in listening to stories, which in fact, or at least in appearance, seem to contradict each other.
The village proper was laid out as follows:
Plat of Fountain City recorded Vol. 1, p. 121, May 5, 1855.
1, p. 62, May 7, 1855. Plat of Waumandee
1, p. 187, May 11, 1855. Goerke's Addition
Pierce's 6 = 1, p. 176, April 2, 1855.
Truman's 66 1, p. 155, April 18, 1855. Buehler's
1, p. 177, Dec. 29, 1855. Patterson's " 66 4, p. 159, Jan. 27, 1858.
Fountain City Lower Addition, recorded Vol. 4, page 138, Feb. 11, 1856.
Bishop's Addition, recorded Vol. 4, p. 139, Jan. 1, 1858. Behlmer's 66 15, p. 391, June 22, 1869.
Barbara Fuch's Addition, rec. Vol. 27, p. 137, April 23, 1880. Some of these additions have been vacated, leaving however the more important ones still in force. The situation of Fountain
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City is very similar to that of Alma, but more favorable in having at least in the upper part a better chance for building and concentra- tion, and in having numerous springs which issue out of the bluffs on the slope instead in the bed of the river. The valleys as well as the bluff lands adjoining the village are settled by farmers. I have in the chapter on Transportation called attention to the graded roads leading to different parts of the village. The village was, as long as it belonged to the town of Buffalo the natural cen- ter of it. In the division of the town of Eagle Mills, Buffalo re- ceived the greater part, because it was in the interest of Fountain City to control the roads over which the trade of the Waumandee Valley had to come to the place. The incorporation of the village disconnected the lower and the upper part, and the legislature of 1870 in granting the incorporation also reorganized the town of Milton and defined the limits of the town of Buffalo.
A postoffice was established in the place in 1854 with Marvin Pierce as the first postmaster, who kept the office in Block 18, on lot 121. In tlie course of time the following gentlemen have held the office: M. Pierce, Henry Teckenburg, M. W. Hammann, F. Moeckel, R. W. Feigl, A. Finkelnburg, S. Karth, John Maurer, Tobias Voegele and the present postmaster J. B. Oenning. The postoffice is now, and has been for a long time, on lot 78, Block 11 in the center of the upper village.
Before the construction of the Green Bay railroad Fountain City commanded the trade of the Waumandee, Montana, Glen- coe, Cross, Milton, the southern part of Belvidere, and of Buffalo. Even from the town of Arcadia I remember to have seen farmers, who brought wheat and other products to Fountain City to market. The construction of that road and the inevitable boom of the new stations of Arcadia and Independence diverted much of the Mon- tana, some of the Waumandee and all of the Glencoe trade in that direction at least for some time. The Burlington and Northern railroad put the place like Alma, on a new footing. The results of it can not yet be positively stated. But so far the people have taken advantage of this new means of transportation and commu- nication by establishing new enterprises, which may make good use of it, and which are more extensively mentioned in the chap- ter on Manufactures.
There is one institution located at Fountain City which is
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alike a credit and an advantage to the citizens of the whole county, that is the
Fountain City Mutual Farmers' Fire Insurance Company.
Not having mentioned this company at any other place in this history, I give here the report of the Secretary, furnished at my urgent request, in full.
The Fountain City Mutual Farmers' Fire Insurance Company organized May 16, 1874, with 27 members, who were then insured in the aggregate of $28,630.00. On that day the first board of di- rectors were elected as follows:
John B. Oenning, Conrad Ulrich, Richard R. Kempter, Mathias Joehr, Leonhard Fried, Carl Ricck, Nicholas Philippi, Fred Hoh- mann and J. J. Senn.
This board of directors elected officers as follows:
J. B. Oenning, President; Leonhard Fried, Treasurer; John J. Senn, Secretary.
Each of these officers occupies the same position yet. The annual report of the Secretary shows the condition of the company as follows :
Amount insured since organization $3,014,181.70.
Amount of insurance in force on that date $1,403,451.00
Amount of losses paid since organization to that date $10,921.47, with 886 members at the close of the year 1886.
The cost of insurance in this company averages since organi- zation about 15 cents per one hundred per. annum. Its business is spread over the whole county; it insures farm property of all de- scriptions, except dwellings not provided with brick chimneys. Live stock is insured for every member in the whole county; that is, wherever the insurance law of the state permits it; implements needed away from the owner's farm are also insured everywhere. Buildings are insured at two-thirds of their value; personal prop- erty at its value. When losses occur and the treasury is empty, an assessment is made, and nine such assessments ha've been made since the day of organization. Aim and object of the company appear from the above.
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