History of Dane County, Wisconsin, Part 100

Author: Butterfield, Consul Willshire, 1824-1899; Western Historical Co., Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Chicago : Western Historical Company
Number of Pages: 1304

USA > Wisconsin > Dane County > History of Dane County, Wisconsin > Part 100

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In the winter of 1821, Mr. Doty was at Washington, where Henry Wheaton procured his admission as attorney in the Supreme Court of the United States at the age of twenty-two years.

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HISTORY OF DANE COUNTY.

In the winter of 1822-23, Congress passed " an act to provide for the appointment of an addi- tional Judge for the Michigan Territory," and to establish courts in the counties of Michilimack- inac, Brown and Crawford ; the two latter counties embracing nearly all that is now Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota and Dakota. From the numerous applicants for the place, President Monroe selected James Duane Doty, of Detroit, for the new Judge. No more suitable appointment could have been made. With the exception of the two small settlements of Green Bay and Prairie Du Chien, the whole vast area west of Lake Michigan was an unbroken wilderness, and Judge Doty soon proved himself just the man to traverse, explore and expose its wild recesses to civilization.

In May, 1823, he was at Detroit, already on the way to his new circuit, accompanied by his wife, whom he had just married-the eldest daughter of Gen. Collins, of New Hartford, Oneida Co., N. Y. The lady afterward proved herself eminently qualified for the wife of one destined to the eventful career which subsequently marked the foot-steps of her husband. Gen. Collins, her father, was a prominent officer in the war of 1812, commanding the New York State Militia at Sackett's Harbor.

Judge Doty lost no time in entering on his duties as Judge-law-giver to a country suffi- cient in extent for an empire. He repaired forth with to Prairie du Chien; organized the ju- diciary of Crawford County, and opened court. It was no easy task to inangurate justice in these wilds; to create Sheriffs, Clerks and Jurors, out of half-breed Indian traders, voyageurs, and courriers du bois ; but the tact, talent and perseverance of the young Judge prevailed. It was done, and stood fast.

Judge Doty had thought to make Prairie du Chien his resting-place-his home ; but, the leading Indian traders, and one of great influence in the country especially, not regarding the establishment of courts within the precincts of his trade with favor, but with evident dislike, early intimations of a want of good neighborhood appeared between the leading traders, and the Judge of the U. S. District Court, to avoid which, as well as two find a more healthy loca- tion for his family, he determined on a permanent residence at Green Bay, to which place he soon removed, and made it his home for twenty years.

The Judge proceeded to organize courts in Michilimackinac and Brown Counties, where he found the inhabitants generally disposed to render every assistance in bringing a wild coun- try subject to law and good order. The terms were held with perfect regularity throughout the whole district ; he continued to discharge his onerous duties for nine years, and until superseded by Judge Irwin in 1832, when he turned over his judicature to his successor and retired to pri- vate life-if, indeed, his time and talents, devoted as they were thenceforward to the develop- ment of the resources of this new country, could, in any sense, be termed "private life."

Relieved from the cares and responsibilities of the judgeship and courts, he immediately commenced, on his own resources, a personal examination, by repeated tours, of the country that now constitutes Wisconsin and Northern Illinois. It was then inhabited and possessed by the aborigines. His sagacious mind saw the importance of conciliating these natives ; he visited every village of note, made himself acquainted with, and gained the good will of, the chiefs, and contributed, in no small degree, to the good understanding which followed between the Govern- ment and these savage tribes. In the course of these explorations, he traveled over the whole of the southern part of Wisconsin many times, often quite alone, stopping in the deep forest wherever night overtook him, tying his Indian pony to a sapling, and, with his saddle for a pillow, lying down under his blanket with as little concern as if in his own house.

In 1830, Congress made an appropriation for surveying and locating a military road from Green Bay to Chicago and to Prairie du Chien. Judge Doty and Lieut. Center, of the U. S. Army, were appointed Commissioners, and surveyed and located these roads during 1831 and 1832. Reposing from these labors and travels, Judge Doty projected a map of this Upper Country, from which, in the main, one was soon afterward-but before the surveys-con- structed for the use of the War Department.

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HISTORY OF DANE COUNTY.

Doty's talents for usefulness were now conceded and appreciated by all ; the people of the district of Michigan west of the lake elected him to the Legislative Council in 1834, in which he served with marked ability for two years. It was while he was a member that the Legisla- tive Council of that Territory began to agitate the question of a State Government, which he was first to introduce, and which finally prevailed.

Returning from the Legislative Council, he became an active operator in the public land sales, which were opened at Green Bay in 1835-36. He was applied to from all quarters by capitalists, to take agencies for the purchase of choice locations in the Green Bay Land District. Hundreds of thousands of dollars were placed at his disposal for investment, such confidence had they in his integrity and knowledge of the country, and its best points for future towns and cities. The result showed the confidence not misplaced ; many of the most populous towns and villages of the State to-day stand on sites selected at that time by him. One of these, as already shown, is the present city of Madison, of which he was, in every sense, the founder .*

THE CAPITAL LOCATED AT MADISON.

The Territorial Government was established by act of Congress, approved April 20, 1836, and the Territory of Wisconsin embraced within its boundaries all of what is now Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota, and a part of Dakota. Henry Dodge was appointed Governor, J. S. Horner Secretary, with Charles Dunn, Chief Justice. Other officers were also appointed. These persons took the prescribed oath of office July 4. A census was soon after taken, and the time of election appointed for October 10. The latter excited considerable interest, growing chiefly out of local considerations. The permanent location of the seat of government, the division of counties and the location of county-seats, were the all-absorbing questions ; while the views of candidates in relation to national politics had little or no influence upon the result. The Governor, by proclamation, appointed the village of Belmont as the place for the first session of the Legislature, and October 25 as the time for the meeting.

The great and paramount question of the session was the location of the seat of government. To this all others were subordinate and made subservient. The wild spirit of speculation which in the earlier part of the year 1836 had, like a tornado, swept over the whole country, and which, having invaded and unsettled the prices of every species of personal property, seized upon the unsold public domain, which was transferred by millions of acres from the control of the Government and the occupation of the settler to the dominion of the speculator, although on the wane in the last months of that year, was still omnipotent, and exerted a marked influence upon many of the members of the Belmont Legislature.

Numerous speculators-J. D. Doty among the number-were in attendance, with maps of pro- spective cities, whose future greatness was portrayed with all the fervor and eloquence which the excited imagination of their proprietors could display. Madison, Belmont, Fond du Lac and Cassville were the points which were most prominently urged upon the consideration of the members.

Nearly four weeks were spent in skirmishing outside the legislative halls, when, on the 21st of November, the battle was formally opened in the Council, and the bill considered in committee of the whole, until the 23d, when it was reported back in the form in which it became a law, fixing upon Madison as the seat of government, and providing that the sessions of the Legislative Assembly should be held at Burlington, in Des Moines County, until March 4, 1839, unless the. public buildings at Madison should be sooner comelted.

When the bill was reported back by the committee of the whole, and was under consider- ation in the Council, where the ayes and noes could be called, a spirited attack was made upon it, and motions to strike out Madison and insert some other places were successively made in favor of Fond du Lac, Dubuque, Portage, Helena, Milwaukee, Racine, Belmont, Mineral Point, Platteville, Grcen Bay, Cassville, Belleview, Koshkonong, Wisconsinapolis, Pern and Wisconsin City ; but all with one uniform result-ayes, 6, noes, 7-and the bill was by the same vote

* For a sketch of the subsequent career of Doty, see note at the end of this chapter .- ED.

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HISTORY OF DANE COUNTY.

ordered engrossed, and the next day passed the Council. In the House of Representatives, the opposition was not so formidable, and on the 28th the bill was ordered to a third reading by a vote of 16 to 10, and passed the same day 15 to 11-thus ending one of the most exciting struggles ever witnessed in the Territory of Wisconsin.

The two first sections of the bill, which thus passed and became the law of the Territory, were as follows :

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the Council and House of Representatives of the Territory of Wisconsin, That the seat of government of the Territory of Wisconsin be, and the same is hereby located and established, at the town of Mad- ison, between the third and fourth of the Four Lakes, on the corners of Section 13, 14, 23 and 24, in Township 7 north, of Range 9 east.

SEC. 2. Be it enacted, That until the public buildings at the said town of Madison are completed, that is to say, until the 14th day of March, in the year 1839, the session of the Legislative Assembly of Wisconsin Territory shall be held at the town of Burlington, in the county of Des Moisne, provided the public buildings are not sooner completed.

So Madison became the capital of the Territory before it was made a county seat, and before there was a single resident upon the lands which had been platted. The site, in its pristine state, was indeed unsurpassed. On each side was a beautiful lake ; in the center, an eminence whereon was to be erected the capitol ; but " the town " was a solitude ; even Dane County had not yet been created.

Concerning the lobbying of Doty to secure the passage of this law, a well-informed writer says : " The rapid settlement of the country beyond the Great Lakes, called for a new territo- rial government-a separation from Michigan. Congress passed the act creating the Territorial Government of Wisconsin in 1836. Henry Dodge received the appointment of Governor, and assembled the first Legislature at Belmont. One of the most important matters brought before that body, and to be settled by it, was the location of the seat of government. Doty, though remaining in private life, had not been idle, and especially was not uninterested in this matter of a capital for Wisconsin. There was great excitement over the matter in the Legislature. While others were planning, Doty was acting. He appeared at Belmont as a lobby member ; and almost before the solons knew of it, by his superior tact, had brought about a vote fixing the seat of government at Madison, the beautiful place where it now is. There was a good deal of sparring and fault-finding with Doty and his management at the time ; but all agree, now, that it was then, as it seems to be since, just the right place for the capital."

Another pioneer says : " Having been at Mineral Point and Belmont during the session of the first Territorial Legislature, in November and December, 1836, I will relate an incident or two in relation to the selection of Madison as the seat of government, which, so far as I know, have never found their way into print :

" The location of the capital was the all-important question before the Legislature, and a very animated and somewhat angry warfare was carried on between the friends of Milwaukee, Cass- ville, Mineral Point, Madison and many other places for the recognition of their favorite as the most eligible site for the future seat of government. J. D. Doty, of Green Bay, and Gov. Mason, of Mich- igan, had purchased a considerable tract of land of the United States between what was then known as the third and fourth of the Four Lakes, at $1.25 per acre, and Doty, with all the proverbial integrity and adroit skill that characterizes the modern lobbyist at Washington, was on hand with a beautiful plat of Madison to convince the members that it was far better to locate the capital in the interior than either on Lake Michigan or in the neighborhood of the Mississippi, where the population of the Territory at that time was mostly located. The most common and convincing argu- ment to secure votes in favor of his proposition seemed to be that by locating the capital in the interior it would promote the settlement of a large tract of country then without inhabitants, and when the whole territory was settled up it would be found to be exactly in the right spot. This, then, was the ostensible reason why a majority voted for Madison, but the records soon revealed the fact that a large proportion of the members had deeds of lots in their pockets of earlier date than the passage of the bill, which clearly indicated the real reason that influenced their votes.

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HISTORY OF DANE COUNTY.

" No matter now about the reason, the location of the capital at Madison has been univer- sally admitted as the best and most appropriate that could possibly have been made by every one except our Milwaukee friends, who were so shocked at the immorality of the proceeding that for more than thirty years they never once forgot to modestly ask for its removal.

"There had long been a feud between Gov. Dodge and Doty, which had ripened into personal hatred, so that the two were scarcely on speaking terms, and on that account it was feared by the latter and his friends that the Governor would stay proceedings by a veto. The Governor, however, regarded the location with favor, and gave the act his approval. Soon after the bill became a law, Doty called on Gov. Dodge at the executive office, and, with his blandest smile and in his most fascinating manner, said : 'Gov. Dodge, it will afford me great pleasure to present you with a deed of a few lots in the new capital of Wisconsin.' An electric shock could not have produced a more sudden and marked effect. Springing to his feet, with pompous native dignity and chilling deportment, with his right hand clenched and raised to give emphasis to his short, crisp sentences, he exclaimed : 'Judge Doty-when I want any lots in Madison, sir-I will call on you, sir-by G-d, sir !'

" The records do not show that he ever made the promised call. I do not vouch for the interview ; I only. know the story was currently circulated and keenly relished by those well acquainted with both parties."

STAKING OUT " THE TOWN."

The surveys made by the surveyor, Suydam, upon his visit to the Four Lakes, in company with Doty, in October 1836, preparatory to laying out "the town of Madison," were of little account. The platting was mostly done from the township plats of the United States surveyors, and of course none of the lots had been staked out, not even the public square. The first step to be taken, therefore, before getting settlers to move upon the site, was to survey the public square and some lots and blocks adjacent thereto ; as purchases thus far made were all in that vicinity. To do this work, Doty employed Moses M. Strong, a surveyor, residing at Mineral Point. Mr. Strong says :

"During the winter of 1836-37, I was employed by James Duane Doty to survey and stake off the capitol square, now usually designated ' the park,' in Madison, and some lots in the vicinity. On the 17th of February, John Catlin and I started from Mineral Point to per- form this work. We spent the first night at the house of John Messersmith, about twelve miles east of Mineral Point, where we engaged his son George to go with us. Before we again started, we were joined by Josiah A. Noonan, who desired to mave some surveying done in the same vicinity. I kept a diary while absent, and I find these entries therein :

"'February 17 .- Bought surveying-chain, shirt and gloves, and same day started with John Catlin for Madison, and stayed at Messersmith's. J. A. Noonan joined us, bringing a letter from J. D. Doty. Noonan will go with us to Madison.

"' February 18 .- Bought at Ebenezer Brigham's provisions for the excursion at $15, and went on to Steel's, on Haney's Creek, near what is now Cross Plains Station, on Black Earth Creek [town of Cross Plains, Dane County], Noonan and George Messersmith in company.

"February 19 .- Went to Michael St. Cyr's and finished Noonan's work on north side of Fourth Lake [now Lake Mendota], and slept at St. Cyr's.

"'February 20 .- Finished meanders on Fourth and Little Lake [the latter now known as Lakę Wingra].

"' February 21 .- Finished Noonan's meanders on Third Lake [now Lake Monona], and he paid me $70 for myself and Catiin. Then we commenced work for Doty at Madison.

"' February 22 .- Continued Doty's work at Madison ; camped there, and at daylight were driven off by a severe snowstorm. We went to St. Cyr's and spent the day.

"'February 23 .- Remained at St. Cyr's, because of the snowstorm.

"' February 24 .- Continued Doty's work at Madison, and went to St. Cyr's.

Thomas Barber,

BLACK EARTH.

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HISTORY OF DANE COUNTY.

"' February 26 .- Returned to Madison and finished all of Doty's work west of canal, [that is, west of the present East and West Canal streets], and then went to Wallace Rowan's and slept, having paid St. Cyr $13.50.'

" Rowan lived about twelve miles south of Fort Winnebago at that time, where now is Poynette, in Columbia County. He lived in the ordinary log house of those days. We slept on the floor. There was no appearance of his having just arrived there, though I cannot say how long he had been living at that place.

" From Rowan's we went to the Wisconsin River; followed down that stream to Helena, and thence went to Mineral Point. I am positive this was in February, 1837, both from my recollection and from documentary evidence in my possession."

Concerning this surveying and platting in Madison, J. A. Noonan, one of the party, says : " In the early part of February, 1837, I made an arrangement with J. D. Doty, at Green Bay, to go to Mineral Point and get a surveying party to go to Madison and meander the shores of Third and Dead Lakes [Monona and Wingra], with a view of platting the western addition to Madison and to stake out some lots in the main part of the plat near where the capitol now stands. At Mineral Point, I employed Moses M. Strong, John Catlin and George Messer- smith to go to Madison and do the required surveying. Mr. Strong was the sueveyor, the rest of us common hands. Mr. Messersmith took a sleigh and a span of horses from his father's barn, at Messers' Grove, four miles west of Heacox's house, and, with supplies obtained at Min- eral Point, we set out on our expedition.

" We followed the military road to Berry Haney's, at Black Earth, and went from there to St. Cyr's, and, crossing the Fourth Lake, struck the south shore a little west from where the university farm now is. I was on horseback, the rest of the party were in the sleigh. Before we had selected a camping spot, a severe snowstorm came upon us, and we put back to St. Cyr's and took a fresh start in the morning.

"It was very dark, the snow beating upon us fast, and, but for Strong's tact and experi- ence as a frontiersman, I do not believe we could have effected the crossing of the lake. The next morning we returned and made our camp on the marsh, and near a spring and running water, on Section 22. From the northwest corner of that section we took our bearings along the section line to the Dead Lake-more properly Duck or Wingra Lake. The last name I learned from Joe Pelkie, the early French settler, was the Indian name for that body of water, and I had it so entered on the map in that month, February, by Heading and Delaplaine, of Milwaukee. We meandered the Dead Lake to its outlet, and then commenced with the Third Lake at our line. We then changed our quarters to near the head of the Third Lake. I remember George Messersmith and I undertook to cut through the ice for water, and we had to cut from six to twelve inches deeper than the length of our ax handle. What we supposed would be but the work of a few minutes we found a wearisome job before we got through with it.

" After four days' surveying, the work for the party with which I was interested was done, and, provisions getting scarce, I started for Milwaukee by way of the First Lake [Kegonsa]. The first night I stayed with Pelkie and Armell, two French traders that lived with squaws on the east side of the First Lake. There I found plenty of forage for my horse and some excel- lent potatoes for myself. I made a hearty supper and breakfast of roasted potatoes and salt, and, with a large roasted potato in each pocket of my overcoat, I started in the morning for Fort Atkinson.'

THE FIRST HOUSE.

Madison had been platted; Madison had become the capital of the Territory; Madison had been (a small portion of it) staked out; but Madison was still without a house or an in- habitant !

The first house in Madison was built by John Catlin. This is his story :

"My first visit to Madison was in company with Moses M. Strong, Josiah A. Noonan and George Messersmith, early in the year 1837 (or in December, 1836), to survey out and find the lines of Mr. Noonan's lands, lying west and adjoining Madison. We found the snow very deep,

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HISTORY OF DANE COUNTY.

and after a hard day's work, wading in it, we camped at night between the Third Lake [Monona] and Dead Lake [Wingra], where we found some timber and a sheltered spot. With a good deal of difficulty we made a log-heap fire, and ate our snack, and after the fire had thawed the snow and warmed the ground, we removed it to a little distance and made our bed on the ashes. The weather was extremely cold, but we slept warm, and the next morning Mr. Noonan left us on horseback for Milwaukee. The snow being too deep to survey out and find the corners of the lots and blocks in Madison, and the weather extremely cold, we returned to Mineral Point to wait for milder weather.

"In February, 1837, I again visited Madison with Mr. Strong, who had been employed by James Duane Doty (who platted the town from the township plats without a survey) to sur- vey out some lots and blocks around the public square according to the plat he furnished, so that those persons who intended to build could find their lots. We found that the snow still covered the ground, and we stuck stakes in the snow, the ground being too deeply frozen in most places to receive them. We camped in the timber in the low grounds under the hill of Fourth Lake, and were compelled to abandon our work by a severe snowstorm, that so blinded us that it was with great difficulty we found our way across the Fourth Lake to the cabin of St. Cyr, where we stayed two days, until the storm was over. While there I made a contract with him to erect the body of a log house on Lot 3, in Block 90, where the post office now stands, which he put up in that month, but the house was not finished until spring.

" In the spring I drew the pine lumber to finish the house from Helena, on the Wisconsin River, at a cost of over $90 per thousand feet, and was so unfortunate, after its completion in very good style, as to have the inside burnt out before any one lived in it." *

The first master-builder then in Madison, or the first one to act as such, upon the site of what is now the city, was Michel St. Cyr, who lived on the northwest side of Lake Mendota at the time.

THE PECKS.

Eben Peck was born in Shoreham, Addison Co., Vt., in 1804, and was taken to Middle- bury, Genesee, now Wyoming Co., N. Y., by his parents when quite a child ; and on his return to Vermont in 1827, he established himself in business in Middletown, Rutland County. There he was married, February 24, 1829, to Miss Roseline Willard, a native of Middletown, born February 24, 1808; the wedding taking place in the house in which she was born, with her parents, grandparents and numerous friends and relatives present. . . In 1832 Mr. and Mrs. Peck moved to Middlebury, N. Y., and thence, in 1836, to Blue Mounds.

Mrs. Peck's mother was Julia Ann Burnham ; and her Grandmother Burnham, (wife of John Burnham, lawyer of the Bennington bar) was a sister of Isaac Clark, of Castleton, Vt., a soldier of the Revolution, known as Old Rifle, and who commanded a regiment in the war of 1812, making a successful expedition against Massequoi, Lower Canada, October 12, 1813; was a member of the Constitutional Convention, and Judge of the County Court; died at Cas- tleton January 31, 1822, aged seventy-three. Clark was the grandfather of Satterlee Clark, an early pioneer of Wisconsin, and for many years a member of the State Senate.

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History of Dane County, Wisconsin, Part 100

Author: Butterfield, Consul Willshire, 1824-1899; Western Historical Co., Chicago, pub Publication date: 1880 Publisher: Chicago : Western Historical Company Number of Pages: 1304

Author: Butterfield, Consul Willshire, 1824-1899; Western Historical Co., Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Chicago : Western Historical Company
Number of Pages: 1304