USA > Wisconsin > Eau Claire County > History of Eau Claire county, Wisconsin, past and present; including an account of the cities, towns and villages of the county > Part 34
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Previous to any settlement being made on the land on either side of the Chippewa river at or near the mouth of the Eau Claire
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river, or the land on either side of that stream, there was a rank growth of brush in nearly every direction. The whole country as far as the eye could see was in a wild state of nature. Not even a traek made by man was to be found, nor the rudest hut for a resting place. Yet this spot was to attract hundreds of pio- neers in a very few years from the time of the arrival of the first settler.
In the summer of 1845, Stephen S. McCann, from Spring Creek, named from a tributary of the Menomonie river, near Menomonie, and Jeremiah C. Thomas entered into a partnership and erected a plain shanty near the site of what was afterward the Eau Claire Lumber Company's water mill on the Eau Claire river. Stephen S. MeCann also built a cabin near the confluence of the Eau Claire with the Chippewa, which he designated as a warehouse, and another on the site of what was subsequently the American House. These structures were erected for the express purpose of establishing the right of the settler to an uncertain quantity of government land. McCann transformed the last- named cabin into a home for his family and moved into it. These were the first attempts at civilization in what was subsequently to be the villages of Eau Claire, and finally the present city. Thus it will be seen that Stephen S. McCann and Jeremiah Thomas were the first actual settlers in this region. The main object of this firm in locating at this place was to build a sawmill and manufacture lumber from the logs obtained from the pine forests on the Eau Claire river and its tributaries. The product could be easily and inexpensively Hoated down the Chippewa to mar- kets on the Mississippi river. They had not, however, the ade- quate means to launch such an enterprise, but were successful in starting two logging camps on the Eau Claire for the winter's work. In the following year, Simon and George W. Randall secured a half interest in the elaim of MeCann & Thomas at the mouth of the Eau Claire. They associated themselves together under the firm name of McCann, Randall & Thomas. The con- struction of a dam and sawmill was at once begun by them on the site of what was later on the Eau Claire Lumber Company's waterpower mill. The dam was completed in October, 1846.
Thomas E. Randall conducted the first religious services here. They were started in September of this year at the residence of S. S. MeCann, and were continued each alternate Sunday until the setting in of winter, when a severe illness prevented the con- tinuation of them. The first wedding in Eau Claire took place in the fall of the same year. The parties to it were George W.
FIRST CHIPPEWA BRIDGE
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Randall and Miss Mary LaPoint, of Prairie du Chien. The cere- mony was performed at the home (a very comfortable dwelling in those primitive times) of Mr. and Mrs. MeCann by Jacob W. Bass, of Chippewa Falls, who had received from the governor of the territory a commission as justice of the peace. The marriage was looked upon as a notable event in those days, and was made the occasion of unusual festivities. [ The bridegroom's brother, Simon Randall, found it desirable to go and do likewise in the same winter. Ile chose for his bride one of the Indian maidens of the forest, but however securely the nuptial knot was tied, they were not long to remain united. Death stepped in and claimed the young wife for its own a few months afterward. The funeral services were performed by Thomas E. Randall, and this was the first funeral that occurred in the settlement.
In the fall of 1845, the first preliminary step was taken to construct a dam and improve the "Lower Dell" of the Chip- pewa, a short distance north of its confinence with the Eau Claire. II. S. Allen and G. S. Branham were at that time associ- ated in business on Wilson's creek, in close proximity to the now city of Menomonie. They had by their lumbering operations accumulated considerable capital, and in the following winter prospected with the view to investing it in some more extensive enterprise than they had been engaged in. They associated with themselves Simon and George W. Randall under the firm name of Allen, Branham & Randall. After a thorough examination of all the numerous eligible locations, they fixed upon the lower dells as the best place on the river where logs could be safely handled in all stages of the river. Their plan of operation was to ereet a dam half the distance across the river, thence a side or wing dam near the raft channel to the head or upper reef of rocks on the dells, and by a low dam aeross to the opposite bank, raise a sufficient head of water without interrupting navigation for boats and rafts. Every arrangement was made to carry the undertaking to completion. Timber was got out near the Half Moon lake for the construction of a large sawmill there. Having proceeded thus far, the parties, who had personal interests to look after, separated to do so. Work was suspended on the supposi- tion that it would be resumed in the spring. The first news, how- ever, that came up the river when that time came was that the whole project had been abandoned; that the firm had dissolved, and that Mr. Allen, who was the head of it, had associated him- self with Mr. Bass at the falls.
The winter of 1846-47 was long remembered by the few resi-
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dents of the embryo village, owing to the intensely cold weather. Scarcely any snow fell, but the rivers were frozen to their beds. The spring was quite as remarkable for lack of rain, especially during the months of April and May. The evening of June 5 was, however, visited by one of the most terrible thunderstorms on record in the valley. The rain came down in torrents until the following morning was well advanced toward noon, accompanied by vivid lightning and heavy peals of thunder. The storm was reported by eye-witnesses to have been fearful. The Chippewa rose twelve feet and was covered with driftwood, logs and the debris of piers and booms from the falls. Thomas E. Randall, in his history of the Chippewa valley, says: "In my endeavors to save part of my boom, I was taken into the wild and surging current on it as it floated away. I have been on many log drives, and often placed in positions of extreme peril, but never has death stared me more directly in the face than while afloat on the frail boom-bent, crushed and broken, between masses of logs and driftwood. I could do nothing with it, and on and on it went, with the rapidity of a railway train, passing repeatedly under the branches of reclining trees. I lay flat on my face and clung to those strained timbers, well knowing that once in that boiling flood, no skill in the art of swimming could save me from a watery grave; but, as the fates would have it, my rickety craft shot like an arrow out of the current and went ashore at the eddy where Sherman's mill was afterward built."
By noon of that day every log, pier and boom on the Eau Claire was swept away by the fast swelling flood. In another hour the new double sawmill that had just been erected and was ready to be operated was borne almost bodily away by the resist- less current. . The results of the labor and savings of years were gone forever, and the firm of McCann, Randall & Thomas, with liabilities to meet, found themselves in a bankrupt condition. A dissolution of the partnership was the result. J. C. Thomas went back to the Blue Mill, and S. S. McCann engaged in farming on Eagle prairie above the falls. George W. and Simon Randall entered into co-partnership with Philo Stone and II. Cady. They built the mill on the Eau Claire in the winter of 1847-48.
Philo Stone and his brother Roswell Stone came from Ver- mont in 1838 and engaged in hunting on the river and adjacent country. The former was turbulent, but brave to a degree, small in stature and quick as lightning; he never avoided a contest, being always victorious. He had a full-blooded squaw for a housekeeper whom he trained to considerable domestic useful-
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ness. Sueh a course was quite common among the early white settlers. He had for a while operated a tavern at Dunnville, pre- viously belonging to Arthur McCann. New settlers were steadily arriving, and among them were J. J. Gage, James Reed and Captain Dix. They purchased the lower mill site and built a dam and mill where the Eau Claire Lumber Company's flouring-mill afterward stood.
Mrs. J. P. Stein, who lives about one mile north of the village of Cochrane, Wisconsin, it seems, was the first white woman who had a permanent residence and settled within the present limits or site of the city of Eau Claire, and her son, John A. Stein, who resides in this vieinity, is probably the first white child born there.
Mrs. J. P. Stein (nee Anu Elizabeth Bock) was born in the vil- lage of Rasdorf, near the city of Fulda Cur Hessia, Germany, April 17, 1818, where she obtained a fairly good common school education. In 1844, when 26 years of age, she decided to leave the fatherland, and landed in New York city the same year, . going from there via the Eria canal to Buffalo, New York, the trip taking one week on the canal boat. Here she received a posi- tion as eook for the family of Captain Day, an army physician, stationed at Detroit, Michigan, and later going with this family to Allegheny Arsenal, near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Here she made the acquaintance of J. P. Stein, who was a blacksmith holding a position in the United States arsenal there.
When the Mexican war broke out, Mr. Day was ordered to the front, and not wishing to aecompany him, she quit her position, and in company with Mr. Stein went west, locating in Fort Madison, Iowa, where they were married. This was early in the spring of 1848. They moved from Fort Madison to Galena, Illi- nois, and here they met a Mr. Knapp from Fort Madison, to whom Mr. Stein hired out and at once started north with him, Mrs. Stein remaining at Galena. They landed at Nelson, Wis- consin, where Mr. Gilbert kept a stopping place or hotel. Here Mr. Stein met a Mr. Cady, who was in search of a blacksmithı to work for a company which was erecting a small sawmill a short distance above the junction of the Eau Claire and Chippewa rivers, where later the water-mill of the Eau Claire Lumber Company was constructed. The company consisted of Captain Dix, who was at the head of it; Messrs. Cady, Gage, Swimm, Philo Stone, George and Simon Randall. Mr. Stein at onee hired out to this company, he as a blacksmith and mechanic, and his wife to do the cooking for the members of the company who were not married, one of the Randalls being married to a half-breed
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woman. Mr. Stein at once returned to Galena; started by steam- boat for their destination, landing at Nelson, Wisconsin, stop- ping with Gilbert until the company came down with a keel boat after them, it taking several days to make the trip up the Chip- pewa to the junetion. The company had built many log cabins, one of which they occupied. They landed on the seventh day of May, 1848, she doing the cooking, and Mr. Stein the black- smith work for the company. During the first summer, however, they built their own cabin and moved into it in the fall, and in this cabin their eldest son, John A., was born. His birth occurred November 1, 1848, and he, Mrs. Stein thinks, was the first white child born in the city of Eau Claire. She remembers no other settlements on the Chippewa at this time excepting one about twelve miles north of the then ealled "Allen's Mills" (the present site of Chippewa Falls). Mr. II. S. Allen then operated a sawmill where Menomonie now is. Fonr men from Prairie du Chien had built the mill at Chippewa Falls, and a Frenchman by the name of Brunat operated it. Mr. and Mrs. Stein, while living on the Eau Claire, acquired the Chippewa and Sioux languages, and did a lot of trading with the Indians, thereby making good money. They lived here until the fall of 1850, when they decided to give up their positions with the company and move to Wa- basha, Minnesota. The company being unable to pay them any money, they took their pay in lumber, which was rafted, and they, in company with a half-breed Indian by the name of Peter Ortobee, piloted a raft to Galena, Illinois, where they sold the lumber and came back to Wabasha, built a cabin and lived the winter of 1850 and '51, in the spring moving to the farm where she now resides and has lived ever since. Mrs. Stein relates many thrilling experiences during her two and a half years' resi- dence in Eau Claire, especially with the Indians, the Sioux and Chippewas being constantly at war with each other. She remem- bers well when, in the fall of 1849, the two tribes had a peace conferenee at Eau Claire, the tribes being engaged in great fes- tivities, during which both chiefs left their headdress in her care. Although 96 years of age, Mrs. Stein's memory is very good now (1914), and she would be willing to answer any ques- tions asked her in connection with her residence there. She says she has never met any of that company except Mr. Swimm, who visited them some time in the early sixties, he then being a farmer somewhere between Mondovi and Eau Claire. [The above is prin- cipally taken from Mrs. Stein's own story of her experiences.]
The lumbering business continued to gradually increase, but
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there was no communication with the outside world, except by water or private conveyance, until 1850, when a mail route was ordered by Congress from Prairie du Chien, and a post-office shortly afterward established in the village. This was an impor- tant event in its history, and gave an impetus to its early prog- ress. From this time to 1854, nothing of general public interest occurred in the settlement. Some changes, however, took place in regard to the ownership of the mill property. H. Cady sold out his interest in the mill on the Eau Claire to a young man named Swimm, and Simon Randall parted with his share to Mr. Pope and purchased that of Captain Dix in the mill on the lower dam. These new firms carried on business under the respective names of Gage, Reed & Randall and Stone, Swimm & Co. Like all other lumbering firms, these men were compelled to seek credit for merchandise, etc., during the winter months, while trade was at a standstill with them. Among others who furnished them with goods was a Mr. Sincere, of Galena, then the center of lumbermen's supplies. He had exacted the promise that his account should be liquidated out of the proceeds of the first raft that went down the river in the spring. Several other creditors held similar elaims, and Mr. Swimm found it necessary to ask Mr. Sineere to wait for payment until the second raft went down. Instead of complying with this request, le procured a warrant under the laws then existing in Illinois, and lodged his debtor in prison, although no fraud had been attempted. There he remained until his partners secured his release.
The Rev. Thomas Barland, a Congregationalist, who had set- tled on a farm two miles from the village in the fall of 1849, was the first man to conduct a regular Protestant church service in Eau Claire. The meetings were held in Gage & Reed's boarding- house (the site of the Eau Claire Grocery Company's building on Eau Claire street) during the winter of 1852-53. The same thing had been attempted by a Methodist minister named Mayne in the previous summer. A Catholic mission was, however, estab- lished on what was afterward known as the North Side, in 1850, a part of which was, a little later on, laid out and platted by Augustus Huysen and W. T. Galloway. The mission flourished and developed into St. Patrick's Church. This was the first sa- cred edifice built in Eau Claire.
In 1855, W. H. Gleason and R. F. Wilson negotiated with the owners, J. J. Gage and James Reed, for, and obtained, a half interest in the town plat of Eau Claire known as East Eau Claire. By agreement, it was immediately surveyed by the first-named
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HISTORY OF EAU CLAIRE COUNTY
parties and recorded at Chippewa Falls, the then county seat, as the village of Ean Claire, the first in the valley, with the names of W. II. Gleason, R. F. Wilson, J. J. Gage and James Reed as proprietors. Congress had, in Mareh, 1856, passed an aet donat- ing all the alternate sections of land embraced within certain parallels along the lines of certain proposed railroads therein deseribed in trust to the state of Wisconsin. One of these roads, commeneing at Portage City, was to extend to Tomah, and thence to St. Croix county. This branch was designated in the charter of 1857 as the Western Wisconsin Railroad. Ten years was the time fixed upon within which it was to be completed. The valley had to be erossed at some point, and speculators were everywhere on the alert to know where that particular point was to be, espe- cially as the general supposition was that the road would be eon- structed forthwith. Some of the wildest and most visionary sehemes ever gencrated in the mind of man owed their birth to this land grant, which was conferred upon an organization known as the Milwaukee & LaCrosse Railroad Company, at the head of which was Byron Kilbourne, of Milwaukee. Stoek was issued to the extent of several thousand dollars. The undertak- ing was boomed to the utmost extent. Various routes for the road were considered, some erossing the Chippewa from above and others below the falls. Reports were eireulated that sur- veys were being made in several seetions, and speculation was rife.
Early in the summer of this year, Stone, Swimm & Co. sold the mill owned and operated by them to Carson, Eaton & Downs, of Eau Galle. They immediately repaired and remodeled it, put- ting in the latest improved sawmill machinery, and invested lib- erally in pine lands on the streams tributary to Eau Claire. At this period there was not a dry-goods store, nor even a black- smith shop, nor any business, in fact, outside the manufacturing of Inmber, existing in the locality. The population was esti- mated at one hundred. Two houses only were owned in the village, and the whole volume of capital invested there did not exceed $20,000. Adin Randall eame from Madison and began the erection of the Eau Claire House. E. E. Shaw and Henry Huntington started a store on a small seale, afterward the Ameri- can House, and latterly the Hart House, and Chapin M. Seely ereeted a residence house, all on the east side. It was finished for occupation the following spring, and was the first plastered build- ing in Ean Claire. The first death and burial of a white man, William Reed, occurred in June, 1855.
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The year 1856 was quite an eventful one, and the new village, proud of its position, began to show unmistakable signs of pros- perity. New settlers came in, and there was a general movement forward. An added impetus was created when the legislature, having this year created the county of Eau Claire, selected this village as the county seat. According to the provisions of the act for the organization of the county, an election of officers was held on the last Tuesday of December, 1856, and the town board of the town of Eau Claire was constituted the county board until the next annual election. The town board was represented by C. M. Seeley, chairman ; E. W. Robbins and M. A. Page, super- visors. The officers elected were : treasurer, Adin Randall ; county clerk, C. F. Babcock; register of deeds, C. HI. Howard; clerk of the circuit court, Mr. Olin.
Gage & Reed disposed of their entire interest in the mills, pine lands and half the village plat to Chapman & Thorp, who, during the first year, entrusted the whole business to Gilbert E. Porter, of Michigan, a young man full of energy and capacity, who after- ward became a prominent citizen. The Eau Claire House was completed by Adin Randall and opened for business. The first bank was started under the free banking law with the title of the Bank of Eau Claire. W. H. Gleason was president, and C. II. Gleason cashier. Its principal manager was C. M. Seeley, who had had considerable experience in the matter of finance, and was to all appearance cautious and conservative in his business meth- ods. As a consequence confidence was inspired in the institution.
Daniel Shaw located a sawmill at what was called Shawtown, on the west side. He soon proved himself to be an important accession to Eau Claire, and his operations were among the first incentives to the growth of the west side to its present dimensions and popularity as a residence location. Ingram, Kennedy & Dole purchased the site for their first mill at this time, and a small mill was put up by Adin Randall. IIe had the west side platted in August of this year (1856) by Frank Moore and W. W. Spear, and recorded it as Eau Claire City, but it was more famil- iarly known as Randall Town for a number of years. The land was covered with brush at this time, without a finished building on it. By the fall of the following year about thirty houses had been erected, but further progress in this direction was ulti- mately checked for some time when it was discovered that Adin Randall had executed a mortgage on the whole of the land, and no title could be given to intending purchasers. Mr. Thomas E. Randall, in his story, says of him that he was "a strange com-
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position of reckless energy, of daring enterprise, with want of punctuality, or an adaptation of means to end. With many good business traits, he lacked some element of success that made him always unsafe, and lost to him the confidence of the business community."
Permission was given to Adin Randall by the board of super- visors in the following March to operate a ferry across the Chip- pewa river between the east and west sides of the city. Reed's Hall, which became famous by reason of the meetings held in it, was erected in 1857 and opened on September 15 of that year. It was burned down in April, 1869. The following winter, 1857- 58, a school was opened in what is now the second ward. This building was afterward known as the Universalist Church. The seed of the first Methodist Episcopal Church was sown on the east side in the fall of 1858, which also has to its record the ar- rival of the first Norwegian settler, S. A. Lund. The Eau Claire "Times" was started in August, 1857, and the Ean Claire "Free Press" in the following October. A number of efforts were made to establish similar enterprises about that time, but they lacked support. Another bank came into existence this year, that of Hall & Brother, who were non-residents. Its manager was D. R. Moon. This and the one previously mentioned were banks of issue. The terrible convulsions in the financial and commercial world that set in this year came with a crushing effeet on these institutions, and they were forced into liquidation. W. H. Glea- son, who was president of the Eau Claire Bank, and R. F. Wilson were proprietors of half the village on the east side. Flushed with suceess of their speenlations during the previous eighteen months, they were ambitious for fresh operations. Unfortunately for them and their connections, they acted precipitately on an unverified report that the Tomah and St. Croix Railroad would cross the Chippewa at O'Neil's creek, and invested $20,000 in lands at that point. A village plat had been laid ont and re- corded at Chippewa city, a few lots sold, a saloon or two started and a state bank. That was all. Byron Kilbourne's organiza- tion vanished into air, and, like the baseless fabric of a vision, left not a cent behind. The bank of Mr. Gleason, it was claimed, was compelled to suspend mainly by reason of the withdrawal of deposits to embark in Chippewa city property.
The firm of Chapman & Thorp had, early in the season of 1857, purchased the entire interest of Carson & Eaton in the Eau Claire mill, pine lands, power, etc., for $125,000, and began the construction of a steam mill on the site of their lower mill. The
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subsequent tightness of the money market forced them into pecu- niary difficulties, and they were only saved from bankruptcy through the temporary assistance of friends in the East. The first shipment of wheat from this point occurred this year. It is true that it was only a few hundred bushels, but in 1861 it had increased to 150,000 bushels.
A bill was introduced in Congress this year by C. C. Wash- burn for the creation of a new land distriet in and in close prox- imity to the valley, with Chippewa Falls as its headquarters. Just before its final passage, Eau Claire was offered as a substi- tute. A strong fight was made by the respective partisans of each village. Ultimately it was agreed to refer the point to the President of the United States, who decided in favor of Eau Claire. Dr. W. T. Galloway was appointed registrar, and N. B. Boyden receiver. The Methodist Episcopal Church inaugurated a school on the west side in 1857 known as the Methodist Insti- tute, and erected the necessary building, aided by a local sub- scription and a contribution from an eastern educational fund. It was conducted with considerable ability for several years, and did a large amount of good. The introduction of the public graded school system superseded its usefulness, and it was ulti- mately sold to the city and was occupied temporarily by the high school of Eau Claire.
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