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 56
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Sigvald Qvale. While the three men first mentioned died poor, and the last one so poor that his friends had to subscribe to help his family to subsist in the most modest way, Mr. Sigvald Qvale's history is one of a poor boy that solely by his own efforts and ability could build up a fortune in comparatively a few years. He was still a man in his best years when he was laid at rest in 1890, with nearly three-quarters of a million dollars to his credit. Norwegians are not as a rule builders of large for- tunes, and Mr. Qvale's achievements attracted wide attention. To this was also added his unassuming ways and his readiness to help people who were in need, and he understood probably because he had been poor himself the art of helping without hurting.
The Norwegians have taken a prominent part in our publie life. In the county the following offices are held by Norwegian- Americans: County clerk, John Nygaard; elerk of the court, Hans S. Lnnd; register of deeds, A. M. Anderson ; poor commis- sioner, Harry Anderson, and supervisors, Joseph G. Moe and E. Elbertson. In the city are the following: Councilman, John Sorlie ; members of the police commission, Louis Running; viee- president Board of Health, Dr. Chr. Midelfart; health officer, Paul Branstad; members of school commission, Albert Nelson ; Adolph Mellsness; truant officer, J. Ganstad. Public library : Librarian, Miss Lanra Olson; members of library board, John M. Sorlie and Waldemar Ager. Clerks, Emil Volkman, Altoona; 11. HI. Erickson, Drammen. Treasurers, N. Larson, Drammen ; George Erickson, Pleasant Valley. Assessors, E. M. Mickelson, Brunswiek ; O. M. Olson, Clear Creek ; Martin Bergh, Drammen ; O. G. Johnson, Pleasant Valley.
CHAPTER XLIII. CITY OF AUGUSTA.
By FRANK L. CLARK.
"In the beginning God created the heaven and earth. And the earth was without form, and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep."
Thus was the genesis of our earth announced. And out of these depths and this darkness there was reared by a mighty convulsion a Laurentian island, mountain high, rock-ribbed and forbidding. The waves of an almost shoreless sea beat upon its base. The eons passed and the mighty forces of creation added areas to the islands and at last a continent was formed.
Then the mighty glaciers came down from the north and by their resistless force plowed the mountains down and filled the valleys, piling up the rubbish of gravel, clay and sand. And the sun's rays came and melted the glaciers and the waters wove their way across the prospect, seeking the mother sea. A portion of the island thus first formed was the northern part of Wiscon- sin and, mayhap, one of the streams thus formed was Bridge creek, and upon either bank thereof was Augusta, nameless then, and trackless and homeless, but there, waiting for the coming of man.
Ages more rolled on, and then came man, created in the image of his Maker, marked with a duty, to conquer the earth and subdue the mighty forces of nature. Of what race was that first man, or of his color or condition, we know not, but, donbt- less, the generation which followed profited by the experience of those who had gone before. At length tribal relations were established. With these relations there was developed the spirit of warfare and of conquest, and warfare and conquest developed a race, copper-colored, and known as Indians. These were the people who inhabited the forest that had grown upon soil of northern Wisconsin, which the glaciers of ages long before had prepared for them.
And so the Indians inhabited Wisconsin. The Ojibways (later called Chippewas), one of the most numerous tribes or nations,
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had driven the Dacotahs and the Sioux to the westward and had made their home among the lakes and beside the rivers in that beautiful country, the Chippewa valley, and to the northward.
Then came the white man. Jean Nicolette had discovered Wisconsin in 1634, and those who followed him had journeyed into the interior of the state to the south and southwest from Green Bay, where Nicolette had made his first discovery of the state. French missionaries came, and the fur traders, and tra- versed the northern portions of the state and established posts and trading stations, but the woodsman's axe or the husbandman had not yet arrived. The country was then known as the North- west territory. The first division of this territory was made in 1800, when the territory of Indiana was formed, including what are now Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and a part of Minnesota. In 1808 Wisconsin and Illinois were made a terri- tory known as Illinois, and that part of this territory which is now Wisconsin was settled rapidly in the southern portion. In 1818 Illinois became a state, and Wisconsin became a part of Michigan and so continued until April 20, 1836, when an act of Congress was approved by President Jackson creating the terri- tory of Wisconsin. Meanwhile the Ojibwa Indians possessed the valleys and forests of that portion of the territory of which we are about to write.
Eau Claire county was organized in 1856. At Eau Claire there was already quite a considerable settlement in nearby localities. Farms had been opened up. Supplies for Eau Claire were brought by boat up the Chippewa river in the open season, but in winter they had to be brought overland by team. Sparta, in Monroe county, was the nearest railway station, and it was from that point that the necessary supplies were hauled over what became known as the "old Sparta road." This road from Sparta came through Jackson county and entered Ean Claire county south of Angusta at the old Beef river station and continued through what are now the towns of Clear Creek and Washington to Eau Claire. Now all of the foregoing has been preliminary to the purpose of the present writing. To the north of the old Sparta road was a beautiful valley through which flowed the elear waters of a fine stream to be known thereafter as Bridge creek. In this beautiful valley is now located the city of Augusta, the history of which is about to be related.
The town of Bridge Creek, in which the city of Angusta is situated, consists now of three townships and has an area of 108 square miles. The stream from which the town derives
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its name flows through the town in a northwesterly direction and marks a division line between two sections of country that are materially different in soil, products and character.
In the spring of 1856 several families had moved into the east end of the county and settled upon government land, but none of them on the present site of Augusta. Of these early pioneers we will tell later in connection with the history of the particular localities in which they located. That same spring, 1856, Charles Buckman and his good wife had come from Black River Falls, and upon their arrival pitched their tent on the ground that is the present location of the Park hotel, Augusta. Erastus Bills and his son, Sanford, also came and began the erection near what was later known as the Brewery hill. The Buckmans began the erection of the first dwelling, a log house, on the ground just west of where Cox Brothers' store now stands. About this time John F. Stone and L. F. Clarke came from Sauk county and they surveyed quite extensively and located the site of the first indus- try, a sawmill, on the ground where now stands the flouring mill of Finch, Wirth & Co. They then returned to the southern part of the state, and in September Mr. Stone returned with his fam- ily. A young man by the name of John C. Haeket, a carpenter by trade, came with them, and they built a house near the present location of the home of O. Wirth.
November 2, 1856, a little girl came to bless the home of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Buckman. They named her Emma, and she was the first white child born in Augusta.
Cupid also came that year and arranged the first wedding of a couple. On January 1, 1857, Mr. John C. Hacket, the young carpenter who came with the Stone family, and Miss Charlotte F. Stone, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John F. Stone, went to Eau Claire, then a thriving village twenty-five miles northwest, and were there married. The ceremony was performed by the Rev. A. Kidder in the parlors of what was then known as the Eau Claire House, a hotel kept by a man by the name of Drake.
These were the first white settlers of Augusta, and around them grew the hamlet that was later to be known as Augusta. Others followed them, and the joys and sorrows, the privations and hardships, the adversities and suecesses of pioneer life eame with them. Of these we shall speak hereafter.
The industrial and commercial life of Augusta began in the fall and winter of 1856-57. Already there were several pioneers located in the surrounding country, now Bridge Creek, Otter Creek and Ludington. Andrew Thompson was in what was
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known as Thompson valley-named after him-and it is said that he located there in 1854. However this may be, his shanty in 1856 was a fragile affair with one side wholly open, and he kept it warmed that winter by a fire on the open side. It is said that he nearly froze to death. Charles and Sonbrier Chadbourne and William and Lorenzo Bennett located in the valley in 1856.
A. G. Paddoek settled at Beef River station, keeping a stop- ping place there on the old Sparta road. C. II. Hale, Robert E. Scott, L. D. MeConley and Joseph Bride were in what is now known as Scott's valley, E. L. IIall, Robert Forsythe and James Woodbury had located a few miles west in Bridge Creek.
Simon Randall and family had come from Eau Claire and located on the place since owned by J. L. Ball, just west of the city, opposite the racetrack. The oldest son, Allen Randall, was the first white child born in Eau Claire county, having been born at Eau Claire, near the site of the Eau Clair Lumber Com- pany's upper water mill, on the north side, September 13, 1852. These early settlers were the neighbors of the first settlers of Augusta, the Stones, the Buckmans and the elder and the younger Bills.
During the fall of 1856 John F. Stone, with the assistance of John Hackett, built the dam across Bridge ereek at the site of the present dam, and during the winter built a sawmill on the ground across the creek from the present flouring mill. It was what was known as an English gate mill, one that did not require a large foree to run. In the summer of 1857 the first lumber was sawed from the logs that had been gathered on the banks of the stream above.
The first house built was in the summer of 1856, by Charles Buekman. It was a big log house, located on the present site of Albert Richard's store building, just west of Cox Brothers' store. In the fall of 1858 this house was burned and Miss Helen Dodge, a half sister to Mrs. Buckman, who was asleep in the house, was so badly burned in her efforts to escape that she died the next day. This was the first death in the settlement, and her burial was the first in the Augusta cemetery. A neat marble headstone now marks the spot. The second house built was by John F. Stone the same year, a log house on the present site of the O. Wirth residence. Erastus Bills and his son, S. E. Bills, built the third house, also a log structure, near what is now known as the Brewery hill.
The mill and the three big houses was all of Augusta in the spring of 1857. William Young and William Maas eame that
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year, and each built a house, the former the house now located on the corner east of the schoolhouse, known later as the Hutch house. This was the first frame house in Augusta. Mr. Maas built the house now occupied by Harvey Livermore. Mr. Maas was the first merchant and he kept his stock, a meager one at first, in an addition to his house.
John E. Perkins came that year from York state, and Harris Searl from Ohio, and Alfonso Beeman and family, and the embryo village began to develop.
Hardships there were many, and privations that would today weaken the hearts of many who think themselves sturdy indeed and brave beyond measure. The new houses were of rough inte- rior, and conveniences not numerons. Supplies were hauled from Sparta over roads that were new and at times well nigh impass- able. Coarse, plain food, but plenty of it, marked the bill of fare, but there was good cheer in plenty and many gay times were had to brighten the pioneer days.
Alfonso Beeman first settled in a shanty built of slabs on the land south of the depot now owned by Henry Russell. Later they built a house on the lots now owned and occupied by C. E. Bradford. Mr. Beeman broke up the farm owned by the late E. F. Perry.
A plat of the village was made this year, and boundaries thereof established as follows: from Buckman street on the south to Grove street on the north, and from Stone street on the east to Bills street on the west. Grove street is north of J. L. Ball's present residence and was never opened. A peculiar thing about the original plat is the fact that none of the principal business institutions of the present time are within its boundaries. A postoffice was established in 1857 and John F. Stone was ap- pointed postmaster. He kept the office in his house near the mill. Ile held the office until 1861.
In 1858 the logging industry and the sawmill prospered as greatly as the circumstances and the limited market would per- mit. James and Frank Alpin had arrived, the former a black- smith, and the latter a millwright and carpenter. James built the first blacksmith shop on the corner where H. R. Tripp's resi- dence now is. It was 16 by 16, scarcely big enough to get a pair of horses in. Mr. Wittee came that year and built a house on the premises later occupied by Fred Bann, in the Second ward. Per- haps there were others who came at that time, but the legends have failed to recite their coming. J. L. Ball came in 1859 from the state of Massachusetts. Harris Searl had made a deal with
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John F. Stone whereby he was to become halt owner of the waterpower and sawmill in return for which he was to build a flonring mill. Ile was a miller by trade and he hired Mr. Ball, who was a millwright and carpenter, to help him. They built the mill that season on the site of the present mill. It was a good inill, of the old French burr type and when it was completed Mr. Searl was the miller in charge. C. W. Morris and family came that year and moved into the house later occupied by E. W. Plummer, then just across the street from John F. Stone's. At that time there was an addition on the east side of the house and in this addition Mr. Morris opened the second store in Augusta. This addition was later moved away and is now a part of the house occupied by Louis Kohnke in the Second ward.
About this time Carilns and Carolus Stone, twin brothers of John R. Stone, came from Sank county and built a small build- ing on the ground where John Anderson's blacksmith shop now is. This they occupied as a tin shop, keeping a small stock of staple hardware. D. J. Bullis and family also came in 1859. He built a building on the ground where Wallace Brown's house now stands and started a boot and shoe repair shop. He intended to start a tannery the next year, but he was taken siek and died in March, 1860. It will be noted that with the exeeption of Mr. Maas' store all the business up to this time was elnstered around the mill.
A street had been laid out just south of where John Ander- son's shop now is and was called Main street, and it was the pur- pose of the first builders to make that the business eenter. But from 1859, thenceforth, the scene of mercantile activity was trans- ferred to what is now Lincoln street, at that time unknown, for that portion had not yet been platted.
Buekman's first addition to the city was platted and recorded in September, 1859. At this time there were only fifteen dwell- ings in the village. In 1860 the water power which drove the machinery of the flonring mill and sawmill combined became insufficient and a new steam sawmill was built on the north side of the pond, about where Aldrich's iee house now is. It was a rotary mill of much greater eapacity than the first mill and added much to the importance of Augusta, giving employment to more men.
John E. Perkins had built a dam at the site of the Hilts plan- ing mill, but no mill was built there at that time. The war came on and the growth of the village was retarded for a time. How- ever, there was some development and a railroad was talked of,
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but with no serious anticipation that it would soon be built. Joe Goodrich had come from the state of Maine and Jefferson Vic- tory and a family of sons and daughters had come from New York. Alfred Bolton, of whom no previous mention has been made, arrived in 1857.
Logging was being extensively done up the river and many of the people of Augusta were interested in these operations in one way or another.
Farms were being opened up and produce was being brought to market, most of it finding ready sale to the logging camps. Augusta was on the border between the timbered country and the rich agricultural lands to the south and west and was there- fore destined to be of considerable importance in the future growth and development of the country.
The dark cloud of war was coming, was already well above the horizon and the young village was searcely out of bibs and tuckers when brave hearts began to question whether they should go to their country's call. How well the question was answered will be told in a succeeding chapter. The history of the indus- trial development during the next three years is not easily told, for it is hard to establish fact and dates. Harris Searl was appointed postmaster to sueeeed John F. Stone and he moved the office into a building which he had built on the ground where W. F. Riek's saloon now stands. Charles Morren and family eame in 1861, from Dodge county. His brother Horace followed in 1862 and the younger brother, Ilarvey M., in 1863. Silas Perry, who was soon to become a factor in the growth of the place, had settled on an eighty-acre farm in the town of Lincoln, now a part of the W. H. Herrick farm. Buckman's first addition to the original plat of the village was made in 1859. Up to 1862 there had been no regular hotel. Travelers found accommoda- tions in the homes of the people and the want of a regular hos- telry was not seriously felt. In 1862, however, the first hotel was built. It was a frame building, two stories, and a very respect- able one for the purpose. It was built by Harris Searl and he was the first landlord.
Orrin C. Hall built a building on the corner, replacing a small building that had been built by J. C. Hackett for a residence. In the new building he put a stock of goods and began the busi- ness of merchandising. About this time the Russells and the Rickards came from Massena, St. Lawrence county, New York, and Augusta was a veritable new Massena. Harris Searl sold out his interest in the sawmill and grist mill to Mr. Stone, and
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D. C. Crocker, who married a daughter of Mr. Stone, took charge of the mill, a position which he held for many years.
Josephus Livermore, who had settled on a farm in Thompson Valley, moved into the village and went into the dry goods busi- ness with Harris Searl, occupying the little building where the postoffice was located. A building was built on the north side of Lincoln street, and Carilus and Carolus Stone occupied it with their tin shop and hardware business, J. C. Hackett taking an interest with them as a partner. A livery stable was started about this time by Charles Hardy. In 1865 Harris Searl built a building on the corner where the Victory Drug Company's store now is, and Ira Carter entered into a partnership with Searl and Livermore and they moved into the new building. Another building was built adjoining on the west and they occupied this with a stock of drugs and medicines.
The little building which Searl and Livermore had vacated was afterward bought by E. Ervin and moved into the lots now occupied by S. M. MeClotchie and used for a time as a dwelling. Later Mr. Ervin built the house that now stands there, and the little building was again moved to lots north of where the school- house now stands, and it is now a part of Mrs. Hammer's house. Shortly after this Mr. Livermore retired from partnership with Searl and Carter and began business in the Orrin Hall building, Mr. Hall having gone to the war. Henry Heard, who was one of the early settlers in Thompson Valley, moved to the village and became a partner in the business with Mr. Livermore.
Charles and II. M. Warren started a store in 1864, in a build- ing that had been built where Levy's store now is. They kept a general stock and did a large business. A meat market was started by a man whose name the oldest inhabitants do not remember. Jack Carter bought out the business and he was suc- ceeded by Rodney IIurlburt. C. P. Russell built the first build- ing on the corner where the Augusta State bank now stands. It was a frame building and he occupied it with a stock of notions and groceries. About a year previous to this Mr. Russell, having a notion that the business of the settlement would be transferred to the west end of the original plat, built a large building opposite where the school house now stands, to be used as a public hall. He changed his mind, however, and the hall never became a par- ticular factor in the affairs of the settlement. Later the building was moved up town and occupied by Rick as a saloon.
HIiram Blair built a residence on the ground now occupied by the city water tower, and later built an addition thereto, and in
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1870 opened the Sheridan House, which from that time was the leading hotel for many years. H. C. Vanlyn came from New York in 1867 and bought the residence property later owned by A. G. Cox on Lincoln street. On the northwest corner of these lots he built a building and the next year he and John F. Beebe put in a stoek of boots and shoes. The firm was Vanlyne & Beebe. On the east side of this was a little annex in which Cleve Niles opened the first barber shop. He afterwards sold out to John Booth and he to Joe Zimmerman in 1871.
Mem Victory, the eldest of the Victory boys, had been busy sinee his arrival from New York in 1859. He had worked in the woods in the winter and with a threshing outfit every fall and had an eye all the time for business. During 1868 he and F. D. Stone formed a co-partnership and went into the drug business in a building built by Hiram Blair, where the city hall now is. The partnership continued about a year when Alfred Bolton bought Stone out and the firm was Bolton & Victory, Mr. Bolton being the druggist and Mr. Vietory attending to the other duties. They continued together in business until Mr. Bolton's death in 1870, when John F. Stone bought the interest from Mrs. Bolton and the firm became Stone & Victory and so continned for more than a decade.
In 1867 Madison Searl built a store on the north side of Lin- voln street, and he with his brother Ambrose and a man by the name of Cook put in a stock of hardware and continued under the firm name of Cook, Searles & Co. until the store was destroyed by fire some years later. Fredrick Dittmer and family came in 1868 from Germany and started a shoe shop in a frame building where Acker & Halske's saloon now stands. Later when his son Gus became sixteen years of age they formed a partnership and put in a stoek of boots and shoes and did a thriving business. After the death of his father Gus closed out the business in 1894 to enter another line of work. W. II. Waterbury, who had lived on what is now the Walter Green farm, in Thompson Valley, came to the village with his family and made their home in the house which now stands east of the Park house and from that time until his death was aetive in business and political affairs.
In those days the farmers brought their grain to market, but as there was no railroads to haul it away the problem was a serious one. Charles Buckman had built a large building on the corner of Lincoln and Stone streets. Livermore, Heard & Water- bury used this as a warehouse in which to store the grain they bought. Warren Bros. also bonght grain at that time. The
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market for this grain was Sparta, the nearest railway point. The grain was hauled by teams and the trip occupied the time from Monday morning to Saturday night and the grain was exchanged for merchandise to be again exchanged for grain.
Silas Perry and family moved in from Scott's Valley in 1869, and with a man by the name of Turner he built a flat. The venture was not a profitable one and was later abandoned. In 1869 William and Lorenzo Bennett built the building now stand- ing on the corner of Stone and Buekman street, known then as Bennett's Hall. It was the largest building in the village. William Bennett started a blacksmith shop on the first floor, while the second story was a hall devoted to publie nse. Here was the scene of many glorious times, both social and political, and for many years was the only publie hall. In a third story there was a small hall which for several years was the meeting place of the I. O. O. F. About this time-1869-the first furniture store was started by a man named Tihbits in a building located where O. F. Braleger's hardware store now stands. Mr. Tihbits later sold the business to W. E. Goodnow.
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