USA > Wisconsin > Buffalo County > History of Buffalo County, Wisconsin > Part 53
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On the 8th of July 1867 the new town of Montana was set off, and organized 1858 at the town meeting held in the log school- house on Danuser's land, Peter Theissen was elected chairman and J. P. Remieh elerk. Both of them had come but the year before and hailed from the eastern part of Wisconsin. Before that time Caspar Meili, sen., Math. Hansen, Caspar Rupp, Michael Gebus and Jacob Weisenberger and Fred Zeller had been settlers for some time. The railroad land in the town had become open to entry and homesteads were taken up rapidly, so that in a short time the town was well peopled.
The first marriages in town were Conrad Christ to Maggie Florin and Andrew Florin to Susanna Sehamann. Ferdinand
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.
Hellmann, Justice of the Peace, performed the ceremonies on the same day and place. The first child born in the town was George Kindschy, son of Christ. and Elizabeth Kindschy. About schools, churches, etc., see the appropriate chapters. A postoffice was established in 1870. The first postmaster was Fred Zeller, after him Christ. Kindschy, jr., John Kindschy, John Meulı, Aug, Hel- wig, jr., and Mrs. C. Walker. The population of Montana is mostly German, with some few Irish, Norwegians and Poles.
TOWN OF NAPLES.
The Town of Naples is contained in Township 24, Range 10. It is in the northeast corner of the county, and bounded on the north by the town of Drammen in Eau Claire Co., on the east by the town of Albion in Trempealeau Co., on the south by Dover, on the west by Mondovi. The surface of the town is hilly along the southern boundary and these hills or bluffs send their spurs northwards towards Beef River, where they are rounded off, and the valleys between them shallow and wide. Along the northern boundary the hills are continuous and one spur extends to the neighborhood of Mondovi. Between this spur and the higher bluffs Bond's Valley is situated, which extends partly into the town of Mondovi. Along Becf River, more or less on both sides sandy plains extend, among the hills there is some swampy land, and the soil is only in a few places rich.
The present town of Naples is the eastern half of the old town of that name, from which the town of Mondovi was separated by a resolution of the countyboard at its annual meeting in 1881. By its organization at the town meeting in spring 1882 the new town with its old name went into its independent existence. The first chairman was Henry Adams, the first clerk L. A. Merritt.
The settlement of the town began at about the same time as that of Mondovi. Henry Adams came in 1855 and returned to settle in 1856. John LeGore also came in 1855. They were for some time almost the only settlers cast of Mondovi and south of Beef River. Both are yet living in the town. It is unfortunate, that there are no more authentic reports about other settlers, of whom many may have come soon after the above. In the absence of these reports I can only give the names of those whom I know by report to have been there a long time. Among them are John Pace, Obed Hilliard, M. S. Merritt, L. A. Merritt, Alexander
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Harvey, Joseph Bond, W. B. Rowe, H. Knapp, S. E. Hanscome, Adam Alt, J. E. Rosman and others, who came at different times. From the great number of Norwegians in the town, most of whom . went on homestcads, it may be concluded that before 1863 the population was not very numerous. Most of the earliest settlers were Americans. With regard to schools, churches etc. see the chapters on Education, Religion, Agriculture etc.
TOWN OF NELSON.
In the town of Nelson we find the following land: 1. All of the fractional Township 22, Range 13, from scction 1 to 24, as far as the scctions exist. 2. The whole Township 22, Range 14, of which there are but few sections, mostly fractional. 3. All of Township 23, Range 13. 4. All of Township 23, Range 14, that is situated east of the Chippewa River, The eastern half of the town, and almost all of Township 23, Range 13, is very hilly, with deep valleys, from which Trout Creek flows to Beef River, the other Creeks flow partly to Beef Slough, partly to Little Bear Creek. The western part, though level, is mostly swamp land, through which Beef Slough and its many ramifications extend. In Township 23, Range 14, there is a strip of sandy land, which is high above the slough and between it and the hills. Bluff lands and valleys show the same character as elsewhere in the county, but there is quite a considerable area of woodland in the town. The town of Nelson was established in July 1857, probably in about the same shape and extent which it now has, except that the western half of the present town of Modena also belonged to it. The northern mile strip, as it is now called, seems to have been apportioned to Maxville, but was added to Nelson in 1867, separated from it again in 1883, and returned to Nelson by a reso- lution of the county board at its last annual session. The town is bounded on the west by the Chippewa and Mississippi Rivers, on the south by the city and the town of Alma, on the east by the towns of Alma and Modena, on the north by the town of Maxville. It is the largest town in the county. Settlements of a desultory kind were probably commenced early along the Mississippi and possibly on the Chippewa, but the first settler of whom we know is Madison Wright, who came in 1848 and about whom see chap- ter on Pioneers. Next after him came Christian Schaeublin prob- ably in 1851. From a statement of Mr. W. H. Gates it appears
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that in 1852 he came to Nelson's Landing, but settled in Alma 1855. The greater part of the early settlers came in 1855 among them Hon. J. L. Hallock, Hon. John Burgess, Andrew Dewitt, Ira Lawrence, Hartman Kohlhepp, Peter Mathew. In the follow- ing year Erick Alma, Ole Hanson, John Christenson, Wilson Crip- pin and others began settlement; in 1857 , S. DeGroff, Luther Hewitt, Archibald Bell and H. H. Hurlburt, and others. After this period it would be tedious to enumerate all the new arrivals, but a good number of them will be found in the lists of early settlers.
The first birth is said to have been a child of Christian and Barbara Schaeublin. The earliest marriage on record to have been solemnized by Wilson Crippin, Esq., was that of Henry Case to Mary Gumbert Nov. 24, 1857, which would precede that of E. A. Warner and Mrs. Dickens by some weeks or months. Among the first deaths was a daughter of Ira Lawrence, who died of the bite of a rattlesnake.
The first election was held at the house of E. A. Warner on Sec. 8, T. 22, R. 13. There were only eight votes, and Wilson Crippin was elected chairman, John Burgess clerk and treasurer; this was in 1858. One of the most influential men of the town, though not one of the earliest settlers was Alexander Swim, a native of Illinois, who lived on the land afterwards owned and oc- cupied by Isaac Butler.
There are at present two postoffices in the town, Nelson and Misha Mokwa. The exact date of the establishment of Nelson post office I was unable to to learn, but as E. A. Warner was the first postmaster, it was not established before 1858 as he had come but a short time before. Nor can I give the exact date when it was transferred to Ed.Giebel, who at that time kept store near the old Farmers' Home Tavern. J. F. Butler, the present postmaster, was appointed July 28, 1886. The office is now kept in the village of Fairview near the railroad station of Nelson.
Misha Mokwa postoffice was established in 1871. Jas. W. Kelly was the first postmaster. After him the following gentlemen succeeded each other in the office: J. K. Latschaw, Robert Aitkin, J. B. Green, Jas. Imrie, Allen H. DeGroff and Wm. Chafee, who was appointed March 15, 1887. The office is kept in the village
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of Misha Mokwa, of which the plat was recorded April 10. 1873 in Vol. 20, page 22.
Besides this village there are now two others laid out in this town besides an addition. The first in point of time is Fairview, about half a mile northwest of Nelson station, the plat of which was recorded Sept. 5, 1884, in Vol. 33, page.
Smeltzer's Addition to this was recorded April 20, 1886 in Vol. 33, page 592.
The Village of Nelson is laid out adjacent to the station of the Burlington and Northern railroad. Misha Mokwa contains a gristmill, one store and one hotel besides other houses. Fairview has several saloons, one store and one blacksmith shop, Nelson one store, one hotel and two saloons, besides 'warehouses, depot, coal- magazine, and, I think, the schoolhouse of Dist. No. 5 and a Cath- olic church, which is not yet completed.
The plat of Nelson was recorded in Vol. 33, page 617, June 3, 1886.
The population of this town is very much mixed, but Germans and Norwegians constitute the majority of it, with the rest Americans, and some Scotch.
TOWN OF WAUMANDEE.
The territory constituting the present town of Waumandee is described as follows:
Township 20: Sections W } 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, W } 9, N 18, N} 17, NW # 16 of Range 11.
Sections 1, E } 2, 12 and N } 13 of Range 12.
Township 21: Sections 1, 2, 3, E } 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 except N } NW }, and thence all to 36 in Range 11. Sections SE { of SE { 13, 24, 25 and 36 in Range 12.
Before the formation of the towns of Montana in 1867 and Lincoln in 1871, the town of Waumandee embraced the Town- ships 21 and 22 of Range 11 with the eastern tier of sections in T. 21, R. 12 except Sec. 13, and also Sec. 25 and 36 of T. 22, R. 12. The two entire townships constituted the original town, the sec- tions on the west were annexed in the course of settlement in order to afford settlers communications on legal roads, which could not but lead into Little Waumandee Valley or else in the direc- tion to the main Waumandee Valley road. The northwest part of T. 22, R. 11, lay across the bluffs in Hutchinson Valley and Sec.
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5 and 6 were annexed to Alma, for similar reasons, as the sections on the east side of Belvidere had been annexed to Waumandee in former times. In the organization of the above named towns the northern township has been entirely taken away, but at the discontinuance of the town of Eagle Mills the parts in township 20 were added and retained at the reorganization of the town of Milton in 1870 by the legislature. The cause of this is stated in the chapter on Organization. Bluffs and valleys are described in Topography, but it is to be remarked that it is principally the lower course of the two Waumandee Creeks, which lies within the limits of the present town. The land in the immediate neighbor- hood of the creeks is frequently smampy though at present less so than formerly. Most of the soil in the valleys is excellent and as the valleys constitute the greater part of the town, it may by rights be said that in regard to agriculture this town ranks first of all towns of the county. A few farms within the limits of this town are on Bluffs principally in the southern and southeastern part of Township 21. They are of the usual quality of bluff lands. Wood is comparatively scarce within the town, but certainly not as much as in some towns farther north.
Settlements within the town in its former extension began in 1853 with Henry Mueller and M. Profitlich, but in 1854 the first settlers began work in the Big Waumandee Valley. Theodore Meuli seems to have been the first to build on the place now occu- pied by the family of J. C. Ganz. A few months later J. P. Runkel settled on his place and Ulrich Knecht in the same neighborhood also J. H. Manz. Robert Henry settled on Scotch Prairie, Carl Suhr and Fred. Schoepp in T. 20. It is possible that John Brin- golf came the same year. The following year Conrad Ulrich and his brother George and their brother-in-law John Schmidt, settled in the town, also John Kirchner and family, and Herman and Julius Altmann, Peter Tierney, Mathias Waters, M. Milan, and John Maurer and perhaps Christian Schoepp, sen., and family, also Robert Krause. I think Jacob Angst, sen., and family came also in that year. In 1856 John Benston, Adam Klingel, Christ. Mosimann, sen., John Richtmann, Chas. Hohmann, Henry Waelty, John Ochsner, Jacob Wirth and John Oertly. The latter settled in T. 22. In 1857 Robert Keith settled with a numerous family on Section 25, T. 21, R. 12, Jacob Hauert about half a mile south-
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west of him, John Neukomm in Schoepp's Valley, J. C. Ganz on Theodore Meuli's place, Mordecai Johnson on the bluff and Fred. Morgan in Eagle Valley, Peter Ruf in Little Waumandee, Zacha- rias Thaldorf in Oak Valley. Michael Sendelbach, Aug. Karnath and John Farner also came. In 1858 John Baer may have come to Waumandee, but I remember of his having in 1859 a small clearing just north of the line of Buffalo City on the slough, where he lived. Wm. Thompson came the same year, John Turton the next, also Conrad Ochsner and Wm. Heyden. To enumerate later arrivals would make this sketch tedious.
The first birth was John Tierney a son of Peter Tierney. He was born Jan. 25, 1856. John Waters makes the same claim. The first marriage was that of Herman Altmann to Caroline Kirch- ner in 1855. The death of Joseph Knecht occurred in the same year, so the Atlas says.
At the first election Robert Henry was elected chairman and town superintendent and Levi Card town clerk.
At that time there was no mill in operation in this valley or neighborhood and the earliest settlers were obliged to go to Rol- lingstone to get their grain reduced to flour. That they also had to get groceries and other necessary things in Fountain City or Alma was a matter of course. In 1862 Caspar Schmitz and his wife, now Mrs. Bach, came to the Big Waumandee and began to keep store and saloon near the Catholic Church, and things began ' to assume an air of civilization. The organization of the town was begun by a resolution of the county board March 13th, 1856 and perfected at the election a few weeks afterwards. It filled up rap- idly and about 1870-80 could boast of two stores, two taverns, sev- eral blacksmith shops in different parts etc. These were the flush times when crops were large and prices good. But though crops are not so abundant as in those times, farming is still remunerat- ive in the town, only it is more diversified.
There are two post offices in this town, Waumandee and An- chorage. Waumandee postoffice was established in 1857. J. H. Manz was the first postmaster and held the office until 1865, when he turned it over to John Kirchner, who in turn was followed in 1871 by his son Charles Kirchner, the present postmaster. An- chorage postoffice was established Feb, 12, 1868. Hon. Robert
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Henry was the first and is the present postmaster, having served now nearly twenty years.
A village plat of Waumandee is recorded in Vol. 20, page 120, which was done June 27th, 1871.
Concerning schools, churches, mills, roads and other things see the chapters on Education, Religion, Manufactures, Agricul- ture, Transportation etc.
Conclusion.
The history of each town is, as I am well aware rather short, and may to some people be unsatisfactory. But, after having treated elaborately of the county as a unit, I could afford to be short in regard to separate towns. Errors and ommissions may also be detected, but for some of them corrections may be found in the " List of Early Settlers," in the lists of " Soldiers," and some seeming contradictions may without much trouble be rectified by slight allowances one way or the other. It is impossible to men- tien every one, and some have perhaps been omitted, because I was afraid of falling into errors in regard to them. The reader will find that on the whole I have endeavored to be as impartial as possible. This is one of the reasons why the histories of the sep- arate towns were made so short.
From some of the towns very little information was furnished to me, but if I had made the history of one town so much longer than that of others, there would have been some of the citizens of the seemingly neglected towns who would have ascribed the dif- ference to partiality. Little as I am influenced by clamors of that sort, I wanted to remove the cause for it. In the compilation of these histories I have now and then been obliged to consult the Atlas of Buffalo County on historical points but have done so re- luctantly. I have characterized the kind of information in the Atlas as well as the History of Northern Wisconsin before, as col- lected by strangers and often of persons who overlooked the fact that their own knowledge was only traditional. Experience has taught me a lesson, during the compilation of this book, a lesson of caution, which increased my natural disposition to criticism, not for the purposes of rebuke and punishment but for the single and superior interest of truth.
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REMARKS ON MAP.
REMARKS ON MAP.
The map of Buffalo County annexed to this book is intended to show the general features, especially the creeks and rivers. The boundaries of the towns are incidentally introduced as well as the names. The numbers of the sections have been omitted so as not to crowd or darken it. Those who have been living here for some time must be supposed to have some understanding of the ar- rangement of sections in a township, and also of the relations of townships and ranges to each other. For these the explanations in the chapter on Topography is certainly sufficient. The num- bers of ranges will be found on the top, along the northern boun- dary line, those of townships on the right hand, partly close to the eastern boundary. The lines indicating railroads were only in- tended to give the approximate situation, since in a map on so small a scale much more could not be expected. The boundary lines are indicated by lines consisting of dashes and dots between them. Latitude and longitude are indicated according to the statements in "Topography."
The County Board of Supervisors of this county has, on ap- plication of a majority of residents, restored the much discussed Mile Strip, that is the northern tier of Sections in the Township 23 of ranges 13 and 14 to the town of Nelson, so that now the boundary line, indicated by dots and dashes, should be one mile north of where it is indicated on the map. This change could not be foreseen at the time when the map was made or when it was printed. I had not even a suspicion of it, or I might have taken courage to effect it on paper at once.
I may be permitted to give a hint to those who may wish the lines of town boundaries a little more conspicuous. One way of making them so is to follow them with red ink, filling the spaces between dots and dashes; another way is to follow them with dry colors in pencils red, blue etc., those, who understand the appli- cation of them, will use water colors.
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ERRATA.
ERRATA.
It seems impossible to get any book printed without some er- rors of the typographical kind, especially if the author is not pres- ent to supervise the proof-reading personally. But in nothing is the occurrence of such errors more annoying than in the misspell- ing of the names of persons. So, for instance, I find the name of Fred. Laue in almost every place where it occurs, perverted into Lane. Having, with the exception of only a few sheets, written all the manuscript with my own hand, and having revised every chapter twice and often three times, and being conscious of writ- ing unusually plain, I am disposed to charge all errors of the kind named to the printers, and request the readers to do the same, and he may be assured to do no wrong. In the following list of errors I have collected only such as might pervert the meaning or inten- tion of what I wished to say, and what I have written. Consider- ing the circumstances and the number of pages in the book I think yet that the number of " Errata" is not too large, but wish it were smaller.
a after the number of lines means from above; b means from below.
READ
INSTEAD OF
Page.
Line.
rounded
sanded.
23|11 a
Schachner's.
Schachuer's
11|24 b
corner.
comes
11 7 b
Laue's
Lane's
38 16 a
or
of
41
7 a
Tiliaceæ
Filiaceæ
56
Tilia
Filia
56
..
Plantaginaceæ
Plantiganaceæ
60
Cynoglossum
Cynolossum
62
convent
convict. 91 25 a
Rock River
Black River
144
4 a
Brebeuf
point
118/
7 a
paint.
as
121 13 a
or
tha
129|15 a
the
quarral.
139|16 a
quarrel.
"in power, and the one" is to to be inserted after the word "party" pioneers
168
4 b
prisoners
187
7 a
potent
275
5 a
patent
committe
286 17 b
counties
game ..
291
11 a
genus
C. H. and asterisk are not wanted
297
....
L. Kessinger 1881
L. Kessinger 1871.
321
Geo. Schmidt 1886
Geo. Schmidt 1876
321
men in it
men it
352 18 a
..
Bribeuf.
112 9 b
656
ERRATA.
READ
INSTEAD OF
Page. Lino.
Deetz
Dutz-
334 11 a
Fred. Laue
Fred Lane
353 9 b
F. Laue
F. Lane
406 5& b
- do.
do.
406
1 b
permanent
perminent
452
6.b
since
eince
455
4 b
became.
become.
457
6 b
Volksblatt
Volksblat.
460
8 a
Faedrelandet
Fardrelandet
46012 a
for it
forit ..
475
4b
Keckefoot
Keckeforth
487 No.65
Schamaun
Schamann
487 No.68
Xaver
Haver
488 No.96
Bollinger.
Bullinger.
491 No 168
Bodmer
Badmer.
492 No 186
those persons.
those, who are those person
519,1.16 b
Street
Streen
493 No 198
Goll
Gall .
521 M S
Doelle
Doelb
528 Co. L
Brenner
Bremer.
553|Co. I
Hemrich, J. M
Heinrich, J. M
564
Hemrich, John
Heinrich, John
564
....
Ehing
Elima
580
Hovland
Hooland
582
John A. Tester
Jonn A. Tester
614|19 a
laboring.
bo-ring
624 1 b
I.
1.
625 12 b
Edward Cartwright
Cartwrigh
631
Correction to Transportation p. 336.
The Chippewa Valley R. R. does not not belong to the Mil- waukee and Omaha but to the Milwaukee and St. Paul Company.
Correction to Soldiers.
Seventh Regiment of Infantry Company H. John Rosenow. Additions:
Christian Wenger (see page 232) died on his farm in the town of Alma on the 7th day of December 1887, nearly 72 years of age.
Addition to City of Buffalo, page 626: The postoffice in Buffalo City was established March 1858, with Chas. Schaettle, sen., as the first postmaster. The mail wa, carried by Caspar Huber, once a week, on foot, or in a skiff to and from Fountain City until regular service upon the route was instituted, which was probably in 1860. The subsequent postmasters were: C. F. Klein, Julius Brandecker, Aug. Gebhardt, John A. Stein and Nic. Weinandy the present postmaster.
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MINNESOTA ..
OF
Buffalo County ,
Wisconsin.
1887. By I Krosinger for the History of Buffalu G.
Winona County
BELVIDERE
MISSISSIPPI RIVER
باريس
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