History of Crawford and Richland counties, Wisconsin, Part 184

Author: Butterfield, Consul Willshire, 1824-1899. [from old catalog]; Union publishing company, Springfield, Ill., pub. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Springfield, Ill., Union publishing company
Number of Pages: 1298

USA > Wisconsin > Richland County > History of Crawford and Richland counties, Wisconsin > Part 184
USA > Wisconsin > Crawford County > History of Crawford and Richland counties, Wisconsin > Part 184

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with him on his grand march to the sea and through the Carolinas participating in the many important battles of that noted campaign. Ile was discharged with the regiment in JJuly, 1865, and returned to Green county, rented land and lived until 1872, when he came to Willow. He was married, Jan. 6, 1860, to Sallie Brayton, who was born in La Porte Co., Ind. Two chil- dren have been born to them-Frank E. and Mary P.

Jehiel W. Roberts settled in Willow town in November, 1875. He purchased timber land on sections 14 and 15, where he built a good log house and has cleared quite a tract of land. He was born in the town of Locke, Cayuga Co., N. Y., Jan. 2, 1815. He was there brought up on a farm, securing his education in the district school. At sixteen years of age, she was con- verted, and one year later joined the regular Baptist Church. When he was twenty years old, he commeneed to learn the cooper's trade, and a few years later went to Steuben county in the same State. He was there married, May 18, 1841, to Sarah Aun Smith, born in Steuben county, Nov. 29, 1820. From there they moved to Otsego Co., N. Y., where they lived two years, thence to Delaware county, re- maining there until 1853, thence to Wisconsin and settled in Koshkonong, Jefferson county, where the husband engaged in farming and worked at his trade. Hethere received license to preach in the Methodist Episcopal Church. He remained in Jefferson county until 1-75, when he came to Willow as before stated. At this time there was a M. E. class at Loyd, which he joined. When the greater part of the members had moved away, this organization became extinct, and he joined the Free Will Baptist Church at Ithaca, and was there licensed as a preacher in that denomination, Nov. 15, 1879. When afterward an organization of this character was effected at Loyd he took letters from Ithaca and became a member there. Mr. and Mrs. Roberts have six children - Edwin, Albert, Charles, Melissa, Wesley and George ('.

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John W. Willis settled on his present farm in 1879. It is located on section 13, of the town of Willow, and contains 160 acres, eighty of which are cleared and in a good state of culti- vation. It was formerly occupied by Rev. Timby, and is considered one of the choice farms of the town. Ile is native of Missouri, born in Lincoln county, May 8, 1830. In 1839 his father, James Willis, with his family, consisting of a wife and five children, came to Wisconsin and settled in Grant county, where they were among

the pioneers. Here the subject of this sketch spent his younger days assisting his father in clearing a farm. He was married in 1850 to Mary Jordan, a native of Posey Co., Ind. One year later, his father died and he took charge of the farm. In 1879 he sold his interest there and came to Richland county and located as be- fore stated. Mr. and Mrs. Willis are the parents of eight children-Mahala, Armilda and Serilda, twins, Castela, George M., Abraham, Melissa and John W.

HISTORY OF RICHLAND COUNTY.

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CHAPTER XXXV.

EARLY EVENTS IN RICHLAND COUNTY.

BY JAMES HI. WAGGONER.

A fervent "God bless you!" rings in my ears, | and I again witness a leave-taking of thirty years ago, as I essay, hastily, to recall incidents and events of the intervening period for the selection of a few for the History of Richland County. It was near the close of a beautiful day in June, at the home of my grandfather, in eastern Ohio-where my father was born and reared to man's estate. Good-bye had been said to brothers and sisters and other relatives, and to the companions and friends of youth and manhood. The last good-bye of a dutiful son to am aged and honored father was to be said and the final farewell of the father to be uttered. As they lingered at the gate, with un- covered heads, hand clasped in hand for the last time, the silver locks and benign counte- nance of the elder and the reverent deference of the younger conspired with the glorious sunset and the beautiful surroundings of a happy and comfortable home to make a picture which none could witness and forget. To my boyish mind, and to my senses of maturer years, it expressed the full measure of paternal and filial affection, subordinated to implicit trust in the Most ligh.

BIOGRAPHY.

Caleb Waggoner, the fifth son and one of twelve children of William and Sarah Jackson Waggoner, was born September 18, 1813. His father was a pioneer in Jefferson county, Ohio. The patent for the land, then covered with giant oaks, of which he and his sons in due time made a valuable farm and attractive home, was executed by President Madison, under date of which he cherished fond hopes. My father at

May 8, 1806. There were no schools in my father's childhood and only winter evening schools maintained in his advanced youth, and of books there were few; but he acquired a practical knowledge of the rudiments, which served him well in a long and useful life. When he attained his majority he had mastered the trade of wagonmaker, which was then more intricate and important than now, as every con- siderable village sustained a wagon and carriage factory, with a master mechanic at its head. He subsequently learned also the trade of watch- maker and jeweler.

In 1837, Feb. 9th, he married Nancy Jenkins, daughter of Solomon and Sarah Jackson Jen- kins, also pioneers, and who still survive him. They made a home in East Springfield, erecting a dwelling house which yet stands as a land mark of the village, and for some years my father successfully conducted a wagon and car- riage factory. Many of the older residents in that vicinity now proudly exhibit the work which came from his shop. Failing health however obliged him to relinquish his chosen vocation, and for a time before coming west he was engaged in merchandising in the village of Salem, a few miles from Springfield.

In the winter of 1853-4, a younger brother, who had been one of a small party to penetrate the wilds of Wisconsin to purchase government lands, returned, with glowing accounts of the western El Dorado. The glittering prospect was alluring to a man with growing family, for

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once bought of his brother one of the two tracts of land in Richland county purchased by the latter, and a few months later looked over his new possession and bought more land and sev- eral village lots in the then new plat of Rich- land Center. On July 2, 1854, about a week after the incident depicted in the opening para- graph of this article-he returned to the Cen- ter, with his family and personal effects, and from that day until he was summoned to the Beyond, of which he entertained cheering hopes and joyful expectations, it was his home. Of his participation in the carlier and rapid development of the village and county, more will be said elsewhere.

My father was not a man who could seem to be what he was not-not a man who could be plausible in defiance of his convictions. While he was ambitious of the approbation of others, he could not subordiate the promptings of right or duty to the acquirement of favor or regard. Perhaps he was sometimes over-jealous of his convictions or too tenacious of the right; but if a fault, it is rare enough to be regarded as a virtue. It however served to disqualify him for that public recognition which waits upon fortuitous circumstances and happy combina- tions and defeated his aspirations-two or three times expressed-to become county treasurer. Nevertheless, he was frequently assured of the esteem of his neighbors-in both his old and new homes-by being called to the discharge of the duties of the town and village offices, such as supervisor, assessor, justice of the peace, trustee, etc.

In domestic life, he was a model of tender- ness and consideration, and in social and busi- ness relations an exemplar of integrity and honesty. For half a century, he was a consist- ent professor of religion, most of that period a devoted member of the Presbyterian Church, and for nearly thirty years one of its ruling elders. ITis active interest and participation in the affairs of the Presbyterian Church of the Center dates back to its organization and the

erection of the neat little edifice which stands as a monument to the zeal and liberality of its handful of founders. His diffidence and abhor- rence of ostentation sometimes put him at dis- advantage, but he never faltered in his aim to do unto others as he would be done by. I con- template his whole life with reverential pride and profound satisfaction.

On the 13th of September, 1883, in company with his son William and the latter's little daughter Rena, he set out for a second visit to the relatives and friends still living in Ohio, and particularly to participate in a family re- union at the old homestead on the 19th of that month. There were present on that occasion seventy-five of blood kindred, of whom five were his brothers and four his sisters-the youngest of them being 54 and the oldest 78. My brother William and daughter and myself and wife and two daughters were among those so highly favored.

It was while he was yet enjoying the sweet communion with relatives and friends, but with the purpose of returning home the week fol- lowing, that he was unexpectedly stricken down. He died at the home of a brother, Dr. Joseph Waggoner, in Ravenna, on the night of the 15th of October, with expressions of love for all and firm reliance in the promises of his Re- deemer. He had passed the allotted three score years and ten by twenty-seven days-the last aniversary of his birthday having occurred the day before the ever-memorable family re- union. His son, William, was also present at his death, and nothing of which medical skill or fraternal affection was capable was wanting to prolong his days or contribute to the peace- fulness of the flight of his spirit. On the evening of the following Thursday, as the sun was going down, his body was laid at rest in the Richland Center cemetery, which he had been active in providing for such sad uses, after appropriate obseqnies, conducted by the pastor of the Church in the Center to which he had sustained much the same relations as did

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HISTORY OF RICHLAND COUNTY.

his father before him to that which for so many years stood in the churchyard where his body was laid at rest soon after the removal of my father to Wisconsin, and which we together visited only three short weeks before he was called to his eternal home.

COMING WEST-RICHLAND CENTER IN 1854 AND AFTERWARDS.

THE PREPARATION AND THE JOURNEY.

The families of the pioneers in Richland county know what it was to "come west." Every member was an active participant in the preparation. The experience was almost uni- versally the same. Sacrifices of property were cheerfully made; the auctioneer was permitted to sell, at any price, articles of greatest value in the new home, and persistently watched lest he should " knock down" a ponderons bureau or high-post bedstead; every available helper was employed in packing the reserved household effects, and the anguish of parting with aged parents and loved friends was assuaged by the bright expectations for the future.

The journey from Salineville, Ohio, to Rich- land Center, in 1854, was tedions and tiresome for my father and mother, with their four chil- dren-the youngest a babe and the oldest four- teen years of age. The railway was exchanged for the steamboat at Cleveland and resumed at Detroit, to be again exchanged at Chicago and again resumed at Milwaukee. A very rough track was then laid between Milwaukee and Madison, and from Madison the journey was concluded by livery. The midnight ride over the insidious corduroy, at Madison, be- tween the depot and the old United States Ho- tel, at the east corner of the capitol park, was a new experience, and sufficiently aroused us all to pass the remainder of the night in vigorous defense against a new found enemy-the mos- quito.

The journey from Madison afforded a succes- sion of surprises. Wild as were the sights at the outset, they were tame in comparison with

those nearer the Center. The rude log houses and the breaking-plows to which four yokes of stags were hitched-the latter urged on by honest yoemen well up in the vernacular of "Big Jack Small"-were as evidences of ad- vanced civilization, in comparison with the blazed and little-trodden track through the dense forest between Sextonville and the Center.

ARRIVAL AT THE CENTER.

The sun was receding from sight, behind the bluff which marks the western limit of the vil- lage, and the valley-with its half-dozen houses and profusion of hazel-brush and scattering diminutive oaks and poplars "arrayed in living green"-was a beautiful and impressive pros- pect. But there was an other sight in store for us, which surprised us most. It was Sunday evening, and we had left a land not only rich in its products and abounding with creature comforts, but had parted from a people indor- trinated in religious precepts, among whom reverence for the Sabbath was a cardinal virtuc. Here was gathered all of the available force of the new settlement-a score of men, half a lozen yokes of stags, and a joiner's kit-em- loyed in the construction and erection of a Liberty Pole, the first to bear our country's tlag, two days later, on the seventy-eighth anniver- ary of American independence, in the political capital of Richland county.

AS IT WAS ON JULY 2, 1854.

A dozen structures in all greeted the eyes of the new comers. They were the two public houses, (one the original part of the American House which was destroyed by fire in 1874, and the other the original part of the now larger Peck's Hotel, the former then kept by Ira S. Haseltine and the latter by Hascal Ilaseltine) ; the little store and dwelling of S. H. Austin, near the site of the brick dwelling yet known as the Austin House, now one of Mr. Walworth's collection of tenement buildings across the street ; part of the flour- ing mill, now used for other purposes, on the original or main channel of Pine river, and a

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frame made to serve the purposes of a saw- mill, close beside it; a rude blacksmith shop nearly opposite Austin's store and a small dwell- ing on the east side of the same block (that in which the Krouskop buildings stand), belong- ing to Ralph Neff ; the main part of the pres- ent Tom & Jerry store, then near the present site of Pier's wagon shop, used for county pur- poses ; the log house not long since removed by II. T. Bailey, stood nearly in front of his new dwelling, then occupied by David Stickland ; a smaller log house on the site of Mrs. M. C. Pease's residence, occupied by a hunter, by the name of Wilson, whose two children, after his death, some years later, were adopted by Albert S. Neff; the little cottage at the foot of the East bluff, until within a few years undisturbed, oc- cupied by Dr. L. D. Gage as a residence, and from which he also distributed Uncle Sam's mails and dispensed physic ; a smaller dwell- ing in the southwest, the home of Sidney Rose; and the dwelling opposite Hascal Haseltine's public house (lately moved a little south of its original site by Dr. Mitchell), owned and occu- pied by a Mr. Sheldon, a brother-in-law of the Haseltines.

A DISAPPOINTMENT.

When my father had decided to locate at the Center, he contracted wiith one Albert Stan- nard to construct the building but recently re- moved by II. T. Bailey to make way for his new store. It was to have been completed before our arrival, but part of the material only was on the ground. Father at once brought to the aid of the contractor, in the capacities, respectively, of excavator, mason and joiner and plasterer, that never-to-be-forgotten patriot and politician of Irish birth, Cornelius McCarthy; R. C. Haw- kins, whose pre-emption claim of a quarter-sec- tion east of the village father had bought; and Robert Akan, so long the owner of the fertile quarter-section at the mouth of Brush creek, and who was elected to the Legislature of 1856,-and the new home was soon made ready for occu- pancy. A couple of years later father bought

the improvement begun at the foot of the bluff by D. B. Priest, and completed it; and it was ever afterward his home, and is yet the home of my mother. The building first erected by him underwent little change, except from natural wear and decay, during the twenty-nine years it stood where Bailey's store now is.

An incident in house-furnishing in 1854 will illustrate the inconveniences of that period: The Casses, at the mills which soon afterward became the property of the Bowen's, and which bear the name of the latter, manufactured plain wood-bottom chairs. Father, William, Edwin and myself made the expedition on foot, return- ing with as many chairs as we could well carry. The rests were frequent, and particularly agree- able under the shade of the little trees in the vicinity of the Catholic Church site.

RAPID GROWTH OF THE CENTER.

Until the effect of the financial depression of 1857 became general, the population of "the little nest among the hills," as Amos Nudd described the Center, was rapidly increased by immigration, and its growth in buildings kept pace with the increase of population. Conspic- uous among the settlers of that period were D. B. Priest, James H. Miner, Amos Nudd, B. J. Tenney, George II. James, Alonzo G. James, Rev. J. H. Mathers, W. II. and A. L. Wilson, William Hill, A. S. Neff, Israel Sanderson, Daniel Rice, John S. Wilson, G. N. Matteson, A. C. Eastland, W. H. Downs, C W. Hunting- ton, L. Dillingham. Charles Nelson, Patrick Meehan, James Holden, James Moroney, J. S. Thompson, and others. Each filled a place and performed a part in the growth and development of the village.

C. WAGGONER AS A PIONEER.

It was in the earlier days of the Center that my father erected, besides the dwelling houses already mentioned, the two store buildings on what is now known as the Hill corner, the smaller of which he occupied for several years for merchandising. He was also one of the Ilargest contributors, if not the largest, to the

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IIISTORY OF RICHLAND COUNTY.

erection of the neat little edifice of the Presby- terian Church, which yet stands as a monument to the religious zeal and pecuniary generosity of the handful of Presbyterians who had become residents of the village as early as 1855-6. IIe was also actively identified with the efforts which resulted in the erection of the White School House-the crowning event of that pe- riod.

On leaving Ohio, it was his purpose to engage permanently in merchandising. With that view, the building he first erected was planned, and he forwarded a good assortment of dry-goods and notions for the trade of the new settlement. But my mother strenuously opposed that pur- pose, not without reason, and after disposing of the first stock, he bought and sold real estate for a time. As a merchant, in Ohio, he had been more generous to others than just to him- self. A larger number of guests were seated at our tables than at the tables of the village hotel -a circumstance which imposed heavy burdens upon my mother, besides absorbing the profits of trade. Ile bought and sold lands at small margins, and helped many of the settlers north of the Center to the best selections. 1 well re- member the advent of the Wagners, of Horse creek, between whom and my father's family- partly on account of the similarity of the names -perpetual good will has existed. They soon admitted into their name the additional letters, g-o, making it Waggoner, probably because it was so spelled by those who had become more familiar with father's name. I also remember the "flittings" of Elijah Barto, Moses West, and others, of whose services in the development of the county I would gladly make mention, but forbear, for want of time, and because others will probably discharge that duty. Imust how- ever remark that Moses West seemed to me so small in stature that I wondered what he could do with the monster trees that covered the eighty on which he settled.

The hard times of 1857 caught my father with a large amount of real estate-unimproved lands

and village lots-bought at the advanced prices made by the boom of the few years previous, from the effect of which he never fully recov- ered. With no productive property and little income from any source, he experienced for some years all that was meant by hard times. Money was scarce, taxes were high, and there was al- most universal despondeney. When buyers could be found at all, be sold from time to time tracts of land to pay taxes on what he had left until his holdings were materially lessened and of no greater relative value than when the hard times set in. In that crisis, the prudent and ex- cellent management of household affairs by my mother was invaluable, and served to tide us over to better times.

AN HISTORIC BUILDING.

One of the first of the buildings erected after our arrival was that known as the Pease & Baker store. It was put up near the middle of the west side of the same block, by J. S. Thomp- son, and was the model for subsequent improve- ments. It was christened by a 4th of July ball, which was attended by a large number of the pioneers of the county. many of whom are yet living to enjoy the comforts obtained by the labor of their own hands. As I remember it, it was a fascinating and much enjoyed social party.

The next remarkable incident associated with it was a county convention of the republican party, over which the now venerable, but then as white-haired, 'Squire Dixon presided. The struggle for the party favors was protracted until midnight, and every boy in the village, as will as his father, was awakened to deep anxi- ety concerning its labors. That convention made politicians of many persons who were thereafter more or less prominent in the poli- ties of the county.

A little later one J. J. Shoemaker opened in it-using every available nook and corner-a large and attractive stock of merchandise. His also was the genius which sent a steam saw- mill north of the Center, to a point he called

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HISTORY OF RICHLAND COUNTY.

Marysville, afterwards Janney's Mills, on Fancy creek. But J. J. Shoemaker was too large for the occasion, so to speak. His career was brief-too brief for his creditors, but profitable, it was thought, for himself. He "vanished" between two days, and the Richland Center eye hath not since seen or its ear since heard of him. "It's an ill wind that blows nobody good." The wind which brought J. J. Shoe- maker to Richland was probably not exceptional; yet no regret has been expressed that small shadows only of the genius he displayed have since darkened the horizon of the village. One of these appeared soon after his departure, and may be mentioned in this connection. That was Sam McCulloch, who figured as a grocer and dazzled the eyes of the girls. ( rnamented by the "stubs" which he coaxed from George Lybrand, he was a stunner, and possibly the girls obliged him to neglect his business so that the sheriff soon took charge of it for him. Ile "kept store" in the front room of G. H. James' house.

TWO SCHOOL HOUSES.

The first publie school was kept in the up- right part of the present dwelling of Alfred S. Fries, and was taught by a niece of I. S. Hasel- tine. The room-neither lathed nor plastered- was used for Sunday schools, religious services, and other public gatherings. Not a few stormy discussions over religious differences, or the policy of the new community respecting af- fairs of Church, took place there; and it is possi- ble that differences which divided the people for years after wards were first manifested there.

The second school house was the upright also-and also without lath or plaster-of the present dwelling of Mrs. Maria Lawrence. Judge Miner, then a new-comer, at the threshold of his useful and honorable career in Richland county, was the teacher of the school of the winter of 1855-6. 'The room was crowded to its utmost capacity with restless, fun-loving boys and girls-the future men and women of the village and county. That winter was cold, and

piles of wood were required to make the room habitable. The James boys and the Waggoner boys, Henry Wood and his sister, the children of Ira Haseltine, P. E. Brewer, "Jimmy" Mo- roney and "Johnny" Agin, the Huntington girls and the Nelson girls, and Leroy and Josie Gage, "Melick" Hankins and Matt. Neff, and others, were there, with less interest in their books, perhaps, than in the frolies natural to the surroundings. But the teacher skillfully bandled the incongruous elements and obliged each to drink from the fountains of knowledge. There were occasional rebellions, led by a dar- ing captain-"a little but old-looking fellow," with irrepressible tenacity of purpose; not wicked, but persistently mischievous, often with painful results to others. Oft repeated en- treaty and mild persuasion having failed, the schoolmaster at length summoned to his aid a bunch of well selected hazel brush, with the an- nouncement that all should be sacrificed in the interest of good order. The belligerent bade defiance, and made fight; but he succumbed ere the bunch was half used up, and became one of the most obedient of the school. That use of the rod was timely and salutary. Thereafter it was much easier to control that school.

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History of Crawford and Richland counties, Wisconsin, Part 184

Author: Butterfield, Consul Willshire, 1824-1899. [from old catalog]; Union publishing company, Springfield, Ill., pub. [from old catalog] Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Springfield, Ill., Union publishing company Number of Pages: 1298

Author: Butterfield, Consul Willshire, 1824-1899. [from old catalog]; Union publishing company, Springfield, Ill., pub. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Springfield, Ill., Union publishing company
Number of Pages: 1298