History of Dane County, Wisconsin, Part 91

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 91

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By an act approved March 11, 1848, the company was authorized to extend their road from Waukesha to Madison, and thence west to the Mississippi River, in Grant County; and the company was also authorized to increase its capital stock to $3,000,000 for that purpose. At a further meeting of the Board of Commissioners, held April 5, 1849, it was declared that $100,- 000 of the capital stock of the company had been subscribed in good faith, and that 5 per cent thereon had been actually paid. By an act of the Legislature, approved February 1, 1850, the name of the corporation was changed to " The Milwaukee & Mississippi Railroad Company." In February, 1851, the road was completed to Waukesha, a distance of twenty and a half miles, at a cost of $268,820.62, and on January 1, 1852, the road was completed to Eagle, eighteen miles farther ; the entire expenditure to that date being $652,313.72.

During the year 1852, the road was extended to Milton, sixty-two miles from Milwaukee, and the branch to Janesville was completed ready for operation. In December, 1853, the road was completed to Stoughton, and the grading, bridging and masonry between that point and Madison was partly done. During the same year, spiles were driven and a beginning made in building the railroad bridge across the west end of Lake Monona.

During the fall of 1853, the company selected their depot grounds in Madison, and a depot building was put under contract-the building to be one hundred and fifteen feet long by fifty feet wide, walls eighteen feet high, piazza and platform ten feet wide on each side ; to be built of stone, and to be completed by January 1, 1854. At the time the grounds were selected, they were covered with a thick undergrowth, and the whole distance between the freight depot and Lake Monona was a dense thicket of poplar, crab and plum trees.

The railroad bridge, begun the previous year, was finished in the spring of 1854. The first train of passenger cars came across it the 18th of May. The track, however, was not laid up to the depot until Monday, the 22d. The next day, Tuesday, the celebration took place. Never was a day more auspicious. The heavens were cloudless, the air warm but not sultry, and in the golden floods of sunlight the wide landscape of lake and forest and prairie, which formed the charming environment of the village of Madison, was " like a bright-eyed face that laughs out openly." This was considered an omen of the success and future prosperity of the railroad, and the enterprising, public-spirited men under whose auspices it has been thus far steadily pushed forward.

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There was a larger turnout from the country than was anticipated. By 10 o'clock, the streets were filled with teams, and the sidewalks crowded with people. A great many of them were men who had settled in the country at an early day, and had never seen a locomotive. By 1 o'clock P. M., the grounds about the depot were thronged with people anxiously obeying the injunction so common along railroads, to "look out for the engine." It was judged that at least two thousand persons from the country were about the depot and at the end of the bridge where the railroad crosses the lake. There were conflicting reports respecting the time when the cars would arrive, and the people had assembled rather earlier than they would other- wise, for that reason. Bright-colored parasols, ranged in groups along the shore, lent liveli- ness to the scene.

The train did not arrive until a little after 2 o'clock, and many were growing impatient at the delay. At length the unmistakable whistle of the engine was heard, and the long train, with two locomotives at its head, swept grandly into sight-thirty-two cars crowded with people. At the rear of the train were several racks, occupied by the Milwaukee Fire Companies, in red uniforms, with their glistening engines. Bands of music attended them, and, at intervals, as the train moved slowly across the bridge, the piece of artillery brought along by the firemen was discharged. It was a grand but strange spectacle to see this monster train, like some huge, unheard-of thing of life, with breath of smoke and flame, emerging from the green openings- scenes of pastoral beauty and quietude-beyond the placid waters of the lake.

From two thousand to two thousand five hundred people were on the train. On reaching the depot, they were welcomed in a brief address by A. A. Bird, the President of the day, which was responded to in an appropriate manner by A. Finch, Jr., the attorney of the rail- road company. E. B. Dean, Jr., and Thomas Reynolds were the Marshals. A procession was formed, and the multitude proceeded to the Capitol Park, where tables were spread and a dinner prepared. The completion of this road infused fresh vitality and energy into every channel of business.

The total cost of the road from Milwaukee to Madison, was $2,816,249.61. During the year 1854, the survey of the route from Madison to Prairie du Chien was completed, the line staked out and the right of way for the entire distance purchased. In 1855, the contract was let for the construction of the road, to be completed November 1, 1856. No portion of the track, however, was completed in that year, but the line was made ready for the iron as far as Mazo- manie. During the year 1856, the road was completed to within twenty-two miles of Prairie du Chien, reaching that place on the 15th of April, 1857, ten years after the charter was granted by the Territorial Legislature, and seven years after ground was broken at Milwaukee for its construction. The total cost of the road from Milwaukee was $5,588,739.99.

This railway enters Dane County in the town of Albion, passes through Dunkirk, Pleasant Springs, Dunn, Blooming Grove, Madison, to the city of Madison, thence, after leaving the city and the town of Madison, it passes through Middleton, Cross Plains and Black Earth, leaving the county from the town of Mazomanie. Its general course is northwest from the point of enter- ing the county to the place of leaving it. Along the line within Dane County, are the follow- ing stations, with their distances from the city of Madison : McFarland, six miles; Stoughton, sixteen miles ; Middleton, seven miles; Cross Plains, fifteen miles; Black Earth, twenty miles ; Mazomanie, twenty-three miles.

Madison Line of the La Crosse Division of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul .- The Milwaukee & Watertown Company was chartered in 1851, to build a road from Milwaukee to Watertown. It soon organized, and began the construction of its line from Brookfield, fourteen miles west of Milwaukee, and a point on the Milwaukee & Mississippi road leading through Oconomowoc to Watertown. The charter contained a provision that the company might extend its road by way of Portage to La Crosse. It reached Watertown in 1856, and was consolidated with the La Crosse & Milwaukee road in the autumn of the same year.

The " Madison, Fond du Lac & Lake Michigan Railroad Company " was chartered in 1855, to build a road from Madison via Fond du Lac to Lake Michigan. In 1857, it bought of

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the La Crosse Company that portion of its road acquired by consolidation with the Milwaukee & Watertown Company. Its name was then changed to " Milwaukee & Western Railroad Com- pany." It owned a line of road from Brookfield to Watertown, and branches from the latter place to Columbus and Sun Prairie, in all about eighty miles in length.

The Milwaukee & St. Paul Company succeeded to the rights of the La Crosse & Milwaukee and Milwaukee & Horicon Companies, in 1862 and 1863; and in the latter year purchased the property of the Milwaukee & Western Company. In 1869, it extended its Watertown line from Sun Prairie to Madison; the whole distance from the latter place to Watertown now being known as the Madison Line of the La Crosse Division of the Milwaukee & St. Paul road. The first passenger train from Milwaukee arrived in Madison over this road May 22, 1869.

This road, after leaving the city of Madison, takes a northeast direction to the village of Sun Prairie, traversing a portion of the towns of Blooming Grove, Burke and Sun Prairie, its course thence to the Jefferson County line is nearly due east, through the towns of Sun Prairie and Medina. The stations on the line of this road within Dane County, and their distances from the city of Madison, are as follows : Sun Prairie, twelve miles; Deansville, eighteen miles ; Marshall, twenty miles.

Madison and Portage .- In 1856-57, the La Crosse & Milwaukee Company partly graded a track for a railroad between Madison and Portage, as a part of its land-grant line, but with the collapse of that company the work was abandoned. In 1869, a new company was formed, which procured the right of way and grade of the old company. Principally through the efforts of James Campbell and R. B. Sanderson, the track was completed and the road opened, January 8, 1871, a large delegation of Portage citizens going to Madison by invitation on the first passen- ger train over the line. It was for a time operated by the St. Paul Company, under a lease, and in 1878 that company secured the ownership of the road, which now forms a part of its general lines.

This road, after leaving Madison, passes, in a northerly direction, through the towns of Burke, Windsor and Vienna, into Columbia County. The stations on the road, and their distances from the city of Madison, are as follows : Sanderson, seven miles ; Windsor, eleven miles ; De Forest, thirteen : Morrison, sixteen.

The Chicago and North- Western .- By an act of the Wisconsin . Legislature, approved August 19, 1848, the first legislative session under the State government, the Madison & Beloit Railroad Company was chartered. The route of this road, as contemplated, was up the valley of Rock River, from Beloit to Janesville ; thence to the mouth of the Catfish, and up that valley to Madison. A. Hyatt Smith, of Janesville, by whom the charter was procured, had originally proposed the construction of a railroad from Milwaukee to Janesville, and so through the south- ern tier of counties to the Mississippi River, with a branch on the lake shore from Milwaukee to Chicago, but, not meeting the co-operation which he anticipated, projected the Madison & Beloit road, looking to a connection at Beloit with a branch from the Galena & Chicago Union Railroad, then in process of construction westward from Chicago.

The Chicago, St. Paul & Fond du Lac Company procured from the Legislature of 1857, a renewal of an early grant of a charter to the Rock River Valley Union Company, for the exten- sion of its lines from Janesville to Madison, and thence to Lake St. Croix. Some excavations were made on this line south from Madison, but the route was abandoned, except as to portions of it which were subsequently used in constructing what is now the Madison Divison of the North-Western road.

After the amendments made in 1850, to the charter of the Madison & Beloit Railroad Company, by which Beloit was eliminated as a point on the road, and the name of the company changed to the Rock River Valley Union Railroad Company, as before described, another cor- poration was chartered with authority to build a railroad direct between Madison and Beloit. This was the Beloit & Madison Railroad Company, incorporated by act of the Legislature, Feb- ruary 28, 1852.

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HISTORY OF DANE COUNTY.

In the year 1854, a contract and lease were made between the Galena & Chicago Union Railroad Company and the Beloit & Madison Company, by which the latter was to build its road from Beloit to Madison. During the same year, the road was built and the iron laid seventeen miles, from Beloit to Footville, and the road was placed in operation to Afton, eight miles from Beloit, and was run in connection with the Galena road. Work on the line had reached Mag- nolia, three miles further, when it was suspended. The road and its property were afterward sold under foreclosure, and a new company organized, in which the Galena Company owned the principal portion of the stock, guaranteeing also the Madison & Beloit Company's bonds, and it took a perpetual lease of the road. In 1863 and 1864, work on the line was resumed. The con- solidation of the Galena and North-Western Companies occurred June 2, 1864, and the new com- pany prosecuted and completed the road to Madison, which was reached September 1, of that year.

The Baraboo Air-Line Railroad Company was incorporated in 1870, with authority to build a railroad from Columbus, Watertown, Madison, or any point intermediate, by way of the villages of Lodi, Baraboo, Ableman's Mills and Reedsburg, to Tomah, La Crosse, or any point on the Mississippi River above La Crosse. In 1871, the Baraboo Air-Line Company was consolidated with the North-Western Company, and the construction of the road northwest of Madison, or the Madison extension, as it was rapidly pushed forward toward Winona Junction, a distance of 129 miles. Aid was voted to the Air-Line road previous to the consolidation, and was paid to aid its construction as follows : City of Madison, $25,000 cash; Lodi, $25,000 bonds and $15,000 cash ; West Point, $5,000; Baraboo, $70,000 bonds ; Excelsior, $12,500 ; Freedom, $7,500; Greenfield, $5,000; Reedsburg, $25,000 ; Winfield, $5,000; Sparta, $63,000 ; Ridge- ville, $2,500. In this year the line was opened to Lodi ; in 1872, to Reedsburg ; in 1873, it was completed to Elroy, and through trains from Chicago ran to St. Paul over the North- Western and the West Wisconsin roads. In 1874, this line was completed to Winona Junction, and the whole is now operated as the Madison Division.

This road, in running north, crosses the extreme southwest corner of the town of Rutland in Dane County ; then, after crossing the northeast corner of Green County, at Brooklyn, again enters Dane in the town of Oregon. Its course thence to the city of Madison, through the towns of Oregon, Fitchburg and Madison, is almost due north. After leaving the city and town of Madison, its course is north westerly through the towns of Westport, Vienna and Dane, cross- ing into Columbia County from the last-mentioned town.

The stations on this road, within the limits of the county, and their distances from the city of Madison, are as follows : Syene, five miles ; Oregon, ten miles ; Mendota, five miles ; Wannakee, ten miles ; Dane, fourteen miles.

New Railroads in Dane County .- There are now two railroads in process of construction in the county by the Chicago & North-Western Company ; the Chicago & Tomah Railroad, and the Milwaukee & Madison Railway. The former enters the county from the west, in the extreme northwest corner of the town of Blue Mounds, runs through the northern part of that town and the town of Springdale, south to the center of the town of Verona, then northeast through the northwest corner of the town of Fitchburg, and terminates in the southeast corner of the town of Madison, where it strikes the Chicago & North-Western.

The Milwaukee & Madison Railway enters Dane County from the east, in the southeast corner of the town of Deerfield, runs westerly through the town of Cottage Grove, and thence through the town of Blooming Grove to the city of Madison. It is expected that both these roads will be completed during the year 1881.

THE GREAT REBELLION.

Treason, always despicable, even unto the eyes of traitors, never became more intensely odions than in 1861, when the climax of a conspiracy, long brewing, was reached, and the United States Government found itself face to face with an unholy and unrighteous civil war.

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The object of the South in attempting a separation of the Union was the erection of a g slave empire, encircling the Mexican Gulf; the duty of the North was clearly to prevent success of a scheme so monstrous and inhuman. The first movements of the Confederates 1 made under very favorable circumstances. They were in possession of many of the c national offices, and they very largely controlled the army and the navy. Their military 1 embraced three principal objects-the seizure of the forts and coast defenses, the capture of national capital and the possession of the Mississippi River. The South was, neverthel thrown upon the defensive from the beginning of the struggle, and very soon effectu beleaguered. It was the unfaltering aim of the North to bring the war to a close, with as I bloodshed as possible, by the capture of Richmond, the rebel capital, but the first forw movement terminated disastrously at Bull Run, on the 21st of July, 1861. This battle, h ever, was without military significance, since it did not secure the seizure of Washington by rebels. It taught the North the real nature of the terrific struggle in which they were engag On the day after the battle, Congress voted $500,000,000, and called for 500,000 volunte From that moment the rebellion was doomed. This act of President Lincoln and his patri Congress increased the nation's confidence in them to deal the righteous blow, and, at the s; time, struck terror to the hearts of the secessionists.

As is well known, the State of South Carolina passed an ordinance of secession on the 1 of April, 1861, and commenced open hostilities by firing from James' Island upon Fort Sum garrisoned by Maj. Robert Anderson and about seventy men. The fort was surrendered on 14th of April. On the day succeeding, President Lincoln issued his proclamation declaring Southern States in insurrection, and issued a call for 75,000 three months' volunteers, to ai suppressing the rebellion. In Wisconsin, as in all the other Northern States, the public p quickened under the excitement, and on every hand the national flag was displayed, pu enthusiasm knew. no bounds, and in city, town and hamlet, the burden on every tongue was a vigorous prosecution of the war.

On the 15th of April, an informal meeting was held at the Governor's office, in Madi! to consider events, Judge O. Cole in the chair, who made a speech full of patriotism and noblest sentiments. On the day following, Gov. Alexander Randall notified Capt. George Bryant that the services of the Madison Guards had been accepted, and he was authorizec fill up his company ; and on the same day the Governor issued a proclamation for the organ tion of the First Regiment of Wisconsin Volunteers. The enrollment of men for the Madi Guards began April 17. Twenty-eight names were enrolled, which number was, on the 2 increased to 118.

On the 17th, the Governor's Guards, commanded by J. P. Atwood, waited on Gov. R dall and tendered their services, which were accepted on the 18th. The company had sever three names enrolled.

On the evening of the 18th a large and enthusiastic meeting was held at the Asser room in the capitol, at which H. S. Orton presided. A committee, consisting of J. N. Jones B. Vilas, W. F. Porter, S. Klauber and Neely Gray, was appointed to receive from the citiz of Madison subscriptions for the support of such soldiers' families as should need aid. At meeting $7,490 was voluntarily subscribed.

On the 20th of April, the Governor commissioned J. F. Randolph, who had been Orderly Sergeant of the Governor's Guards, as First Lieutenant, to raise a new company fc second, or reserve regiment, and, on the 22d, he reported his company full.

On the 24th of April, the two Madison companies left for camp at Milwaukee, escorted the depot by the Fire Department and the Turners' Association.

In the organization of the First Regiment, the Madison Guards were known as Comp: E, and the Governor's Guards as Company K. Of the officers, Charles L. Harris, Lieuten Colonel; Harry Bingham, Assistant Quartermaster ; L. J. Dixon, Assistant Surgeon, Charles Fairchild, Assistant Commissary, were of Madison.

Cassius Fairchildo

DECEASED}

MADISON.

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HISTORY OF DANE COUNTY.

The officers of Company E were George E. Bryant, Captain ; William H. Plunkett and William H. Miller, Lieutenants; of Company K, Lucius Fairchild, Captain ; De Witt C. Poole and James K. Proudfit, Lieutenants.

On the 22d of April, a company known as the " Hickory Guards " was organized for per- fecting themselves in military tactics. Of this company, L. S. Dixon, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, was Captain.

The Randall Guards were fully organized April 27, with J. F. Randolph as Captain, and. A. A. Meredith and Nathaniel Rollis, as Lieutenants.

The companies comprising the First Regiment rendezvoused at Milwaukee Saturday, April 27. Of this regiment, Capt. J. C. Starkweather, of Milwaukee, had been commissioned Colonel; Charles L. Harris, of Madison, Lieutenant Colonel; David H. Lane, of Kenosha, Major; and Alfred R. Chapin, of Milwaukee, Adjutant.

The organization of the regiment was completed and it was mustered into the United States service on the 17th of May, and the War Department informed that it awaited marching orders. The troops remained in camp until the 9th of June, when, in obedience to orders from the Secre- tary of War, it left the State for Harrisburg, Penn., fully equipped by the State, with the excep- tion of arms.

The regiment was assigned to Maj. Gen. Patterson's Division July 2; led the advance on Martinsburg, participated in the battle of Falling Waters, in which battle Color Bearer Fred. B. Hutching, of Company E, Madison, was the first man wounded. Solomon Wise, of Company K, also of Madison, was taken prisoner. The regiment won a reputation for bravery and vetcran-like conduct excelled by no other.

After serving out the time for which it was enlisted, the regiment returned to Camp Scott, and was mustered out of service August 22, 1861. About eighty-five men of the Madison companies arrived in the city August 23, and, after an ample dinner at the Railroad House, formed a line, and, escorted by the Young American Cornet Band, the Governor's Guards, the fire companies and the Turners' Society, and accompanied by the State field-piece, marched to the front of the capitol, where a welcome address was delivered by Gov. Randall, after which the company dispersed. The remainder of the men were left at Milwaukee and returned home at their convenience.

The next day after the mustering-out of service of the First Regiment, its late Colonel, John C. Starkweather, was commissioned as commanding officer of the "Three-years First Regiment." The enlistment went on rapidly, and the companies began to rendezvous at Camp Scott, Milwaukee. Of the field and staff officers, Madison was represented by Harry Bingham, Quartermaster, and Dr. Lucius J. Dixon, Surgeon. The companies were organized in the counties of Milwaukee, Kenosha, Sheboygan, Fond du Lac and St. Croix. The regiment started for Louisville, Ky., October 28.

The Governor having determined to organize more regiments as a reserve for future calls, accepted the proposition of the State Agricultural Society, tendering the use of their fair grounds at Madison as one of the camps. These grounds were already inclosed with a high board fence, and had several buildings which might be fitted up for use until more substantial ones could be built. Carpenters and laborers were set at work on the 27th of April, 1861, under the direction of Maj. H. A. Tenney. William W. Tredway, of Madison, was commis- sioned Quartermaster General, and at once proceeded, in behalf of the State, to procure cloth- ing, camp and garrison equipage for the Second Regiment.

Simeon Mills, of Madison, was about the same time commissioned Paymaster General. The Second Regiment, S. Park Coon, Colonel, was ordered to move into " Camp Randall," at Madison, on the 1st of May. This regiment was first organized for three months' service, but, on the 7th of May, orders were received to recruit the regiment for three years or the war, and the Governor, wishing to gratify the enthusiastic desires of the companies who had tendered their services, proceeded also to organize the Third and Fourth Regiments. During this time, the ladies of this city performed a large amount of labor, done at a time when great suffering

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would have occurred if their timely assistance had not been rendered. The ladies of other cities and villages were also diligently engaged in the same benevolent work.

The Second Regiment left the State on the 20th of June, and proceeded to Harrisburg, Penn. One company was enlisted at Madison, the " Randall Guards," known as Company H, of which J. F. Randolph was Captain, A. A. Meredith, First Lieutenant, and Nathaniel Rollins, Second Lieutenant.

This regiment was called upon to suffer much of privation and hardship. They were in the " Onward to Richmond " movement ; participated in the skirmish at Bull Run, July 19, tock an active part in the memorable battle of July 21; and won a high reputation for bravery and soldier-like conduct. They were the last to leave the field at the finish; and their thinned ranks at roll call the next morning, proved the part they acted. As an evidence of what the Second Regiment had been through, it is sufficient to state that it left the State June 20, over one thousand strong, and, October 1, reported for duty six hundred and eighty-nine.

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History of Dane County, Wisconsin, Part 91

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