USA > Wisconsin > Grant County > History of Grant County Wisconsin, including its civil, political, geological, mineralogical archaeological and military history > Part 38
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sold his interest to Mr. Alcorn. The Herald estimated the population of the town at about one thousand, one-third of the number in the village. In September there was considerable excitement about the loss of a three-year-old daughter of Albert Bark. When last seen she was near a well, and it was feared she had fallen in, but an examina- tion of the well showed that she was not there and the inhabitants all turned out in the search. After two days' search she was found sit- ting in the shade of a tree half a mile from home.
In this year George W. Ryland, afterward one of the most prom- inent men in the place, came in.
In 1854 Lancaster suffered from two of the dread plagues which had for years been expected : small-pox and cholera. The former soon yielded to energetic treatment; the cholera was much worse. The vil- lage was shunned by the inhabitants of the surrounding country. Two deaths occurred quickly after the first attack. The only physician in town was quickly worked to prostration. In this emergency two men came forward and worked heroically through the plague as am- ateur physicians and nurses : J. Allen Barber and William McGonigal. Mr. McGonigal had passed through an epidemic of cholera in Wingville and learned how to treat the disease.
Geo. W. Ryland & Co. (the Co. being Simon E. and John P. Lewis) opened a general merchandise store in the post-office building, where Joekel Brothers now have their stand. S. Hyde & Co. started a black- smith shop in December. Anton Schmitt came from Beetown this year and purchased of J. Allen Barber the grist-mill and attached farm on Grant River about three miles west of the village, keeping possession until 1869, when he came to the city and became a horticulturist.
In 1855 there were many improvements in the village. A new brick school-house was built. In May George E. Howe began a mer- cantile business that, with many changes of firm, has ever since been one of the leading business houses of Lancaster. The first store was north of the court-house. T. M. Barber was afterward taken into partnership and the firm became Howe & Barber. Afterward it was Howe & Burr; then Jas. A. Jones became junior partner; then Charles H. Baxter, Mr. Howe's son-in-law, became a partner. The firm is now Baxter & Draper. It has for nearly twenty years been located on the southeast corner of Madison and Maple Streets. Colter & Bradshaw a drug store in August, and in September J. B. Callis and John Pep- per began a general merchandise business in the store occupied by T.
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M. Barber on the corner of Monroe and Maple Streets. Mr. Ryland put up a large warehouse and Dwight Parker started another store.
The population of the township was 1,622, 8 of whom were col- ored. The population of the village was 445-less than one-third of that of Platteville. There 275 families in the township.
In December Daniel Banfill sold the Mansion House, on the north- east corner of Madison and Cherry Streets, to Luther Hyde, who had lately come from Vermont, and who kept it till his death, January 11, 1861. The house remained in possession of his family until it was torn down to make room for improvements, being conducted by his sons, C. Jehiel and A. E., and his son-in-law, Ira Bellows.
The Herald commented on the injury done to the place by the spec- ulators in land thus : "Soon after Lancaster was made a county seat, speculators entered all the good lands in the vicinity and held them at prices beyond the reach of incoming immigrants. In 1854 they be- came alarmed and sold at from $4 to $10 an acre. In 1855 all the lands in the vicinity are owned by actual residents. This spirit of spec- ulation left Lancaster behind in the mercantile and business interests, and it must take some time to come up. Last year many wanted to build in Lancaster, as well as in the vicinity, but it was impossible to procure materials, hence it was deferred to another season. It is to be regretted that this prospective demand for building was not seen as clearly a year or two ago as at present, and then Lancaster would be in a fair way to add to her population and wealth fourfold by next fall." And again: "The high price of lots around the court-house is causing the town to movedown into the valley toward Judge Colter's spring."
The immigration was considerable, but most of it was farmers who settled in the surrounding country. The county was then having a phenomenal development in agriculture and the fertile prairies of Lancaster township were rapidly filling up. Among these farmere was Calvin Curry, who settled on Section 35 and lived there until his death at an advanced age.
In February, 1856, the store of Callis & Pepper was destroyed by fire. The fire originated, probably, in a room over the store used as an office and bedroom. A large part of the stock was saved. With re- markable energy the proprietors cleared off the site and put up an- other building, which was so pushed as to be completed in April. George H. Cox was appointed postmaster in August. Late in the fall
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the small-por again entered the village and three deaths resulted from it; but it was soon stamped out and the panic subsided. A steam saw-mill was erected this year by Griswold & Meyer, with the inten- tion to add the machinery for a grist-mill. In November the railroad was completed to Boscobel and a tri-weekly stage line to the new rail- road station was established by Elliott A. Liscum. From 1854 to this time Lancaster had had its nearest connection with the railroad at Galena.
The famous panic of 1857 did not affect Lancaster as much as it did many communities, because the town depended more on agricul- ture than on manufactures and commerce for its prosperity, and wheat. which was then the staple, was in great demand and corn and oats also brought a high price.
In 1860 the log house known as the "Blockhouse," referred to on a previous page, was removed and a frame building put up in its place. The first story bad served as a store and the second story as a law-of- fice, as before stated. The first story of the new building was occu- pied as a store by Addison Burr, who did a large business there until his death in 1878. The second story was occupied as a law-office by J. Allen Barber and Barber & Clementson, until it was burned in the fire of 1888 The population of the township in 1860 was 1,960.
The war period, notwithstanding the fierce excitement of its be- ginning and the strained anxiety of its continuance, was one of con- siderable business prosperity, owing to the high price of produce, but there was little improvement to note in Lancaster. The population of the village in 1865 was 853, and of the township 2,111.
In 1866 J. C. and Lewis Holloway started a linseed oil mill there being a good deal of flax then raised in the county. The enterprise flourished for a time and then languished and was abandoned.
There was considerable building in 1869. Besides the new school- house and the woolen mill (which will be described under their appro- priate heads) the Phelps House, a large three-story brick building, was built on the site of the old Banfill House, afterward known as the Barnett Corner. This hotel was for some years conducted by Fred Phelps, and was afterward taken charge of by John Wright, and called the Wright House. In 1870 C. Horstman erected a large three- story brick building adjoining the Phelps House on the east and occu- pied it as a hotel called the Horstman House. In about ten years he sold it and Jesse Wagner and Israel Roberts conducted it as the Wag-
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ner House until Mr. Wagner's death a few years ago. It is now the Philipps House. In 1884 Horstman erected a very large three- story brick building on the corner of Washington and Maple Streets. The grounds occupied an entire square, of which it was the intention to make a park. It was called the Grand Central Hotel. It was de- cidedly a losing venture and soon passed into the hands of Mr. Horst- man's creditor's. In 1891 a branch of the Keely Cure was established in the house and continued some time. After that the hotel passed through various hands, and for the last three years has been conducted by Charles Stephens.
In 1870 the population of the township was 2,716.
In 1872 D. H. Budd erected a large brick building of two stories and basement on the west side of Madison Street north of the corner on which the Meyer-Showalter bank stands. It was intended as a factory for agricultural implements. Mr. Budd went to California in 1852 and returned in 1856 and put up a blacksmith and wagon-shop on Maple Street below Monroe, afterward occupied by Charles Belz. About 1862 he moved into a large stone shop by the side of which he built the brick block. Only the basement of this block was occupied for manufacturing. The first floor was occupied by the hardware store of T. F. Baldwin and the furniture store of James Woodhouse. In 1874 part of the second floor was occupied by the Advocate office and in 1876 the other part by the Argus office. The Herald office was in this building when it was destroyed by fire in 1888. Mr. Budd went to Kansas in 1878 and died there in 1893.
FIRES.
In March, 1872, a fire destroyed the "Callis Corner," and threat- ened to take the whole row of wooden buildings. The fire was dis- covered about 10 P. M. on the roof of a building, a part of which was occupied by Max Nobis as a barber shop, and was supposed to have caught from a defective flue. The loss in stock was about $6,000.
The greatest fire in the history of Lancaster occurred on the morn- ing of August 30, 1888. It started at 3 A. M. in a shed in the rear of the Jones Block, north of the court-house square. In a few minutes it spread eastward to Ivey & Webb's warehouse and next to Mrs. Reed's stable and the John P. Lewis building, occupied by Willey & Needham as a meat market. Continuing through other small buildings, it took Stone & Hassell's drug store and a wooden building in the rear of Budd's Block and north of Simison's store. Ressmeyer's harness-
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shop, north of Budd's Block, was nearly pulled away, and the firemen and bucket brigades, by desperate work, kept the Hyde & Hurley building flooded, and thus stopped the work of the fire in that direc- tion. The buildings totally destroyed were : Mrs. M. A. Reed's barn, value $150, insurance $100; J. P. Lewis's store building, value $3,000, insurance $2,000; W. P. Stone's building, value $1,200, insurance $750; J. Simison's store, value $1,500, insurance $1,000; the Mc- Donald Block, value $7,000, insurance $4,000; Knapp, Burgess & Ed- wards's saloon, value $2,200, insurance $1,500; the Budd Block, value $5,000, insurance $2,500. Other buildings were more or less damaged. The losses of the occupants of the buildings were large, al- though most of the goods were carried out of the stores. The fire was first discovered by Mrs. Reed from the light shining in at her bed- room window. The little hand engine, then the only means of throw- ing water, except by buckets, Lancaster had, had no effect in checking the flames. The total loss was estimated at $40,000.
The house of Richard Meyer, Sr., an old landmark of the city, was burned March 24, 1892, the engine being unable to check the flames, the cistern and hose being frozen.
On the morning of May 20, 1893, the new flouring-mill a little northwest of the railroad station, and a large barn on the opposite side of the street belonging to the Philo Stephens estate, were burned. The origin of the fire was unknown. It was first discovered by Mr. Morrell, a very feeble old man, but before the alarm could be given it was too late. The barn was said to have been built in 1846 by the hotel-keeper Burkholder. The mill is described in the next chapter.
On July 18, 1895, the excelsior factory was burned.
On the morning of December 23, 1897, about five o'clock, a fire was discovered on the roof of the frame building on Maple Street near Jef- ferson. The building was occupied by the Racket Store of John Burns and the dental office of Dr. John H. Reed. The alarm was promptly given and after considerable delay the engine was got out and began playing on the fire. Thanks to the waterworks, a good stream of water was available and the fire was put out without spreading to other buildings.
There was the beginning of a fire in the Methodist church on the night of June 23, 1897, but it went out without doing much damage. By some it was thought to be incendiary.
In the night of June 17, 1897, the barn of the Grand Central Ho-
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tel was struck by lightning and burned. The horses were saved only by prompt action.
In the afternoon of February 4, 1895, a steam boiler in the hase- ment of the store of Joseph Nathan & Sons exploded, doing consider- able damage and scalding Wm. Benn, Art Benn, and John Stephens.
MURDERS AND SUICIDES.
Few towns of its size have had so few great crimes to chronicle in the last sixty years as Lancaster. The two executions which oc- curred in the town were for murders committed elsewhere.
In early days there was a mysterious murder within the limits of the present town of Lancaster. Madison J. Mckay, a miner of Bee- town, started from his cabin, October 14, 1845, to go to Lafayette County. Nothing was heard of him until the next December, when Elijah Harelson found the body of a man about five miles south of Lancaster. The head was gone and the body mutilated by wolves or hogs. By the boots the body was identified as Mckay's. N W. Ken- dall accidentally found the head. There was a bullet wound in the forehead and what appeared to be a wound made with a club on the back of the head. A pistol of Chris Eversoll, one of Mckay's neigh- bors, was found near the body. T. M. Barber and Stephen Mahood found a trail along which the body had apparently been dragged. Mc- Kay was known to have had considerable money, estimated at from $700 to $1,800, when he left Beetown. Henry Richardson, a resident of Pigeon, but then absent, saw the accounts in the papers, came back. and on his evidence John M. Chandler was arrested and had a prelim- inary trial. There was much contradictory testimony and Chandler was committed. The grand jury stood eleven to one for indictment, but not being unanimous, Chandler was not indicted. He brought a prosecution against Richarson for perjury, but Richardson was ac- quitted and left the country. When seen afterward he appeared to have a haunting fear that Chandler was dogging him to kill him
Chandler afterward went to Hazel Green, where he resided until his death a few years ago, becoming a prominent business man and a highly respected citizen.
In August, 1893, the little daughter of George Moelle, residing near the scene of the murder. found fourteen gold English sovereigns in a ravine.near the house. The latest date on the coins was 1843. They were supposed to be a part of Mckay's money. About seven years before the Moelle girl's discovery W. H. Smith found a number of sil-
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ver coins-French, Spanish, and American, all being dated earlier than 1845, near the scene of the murder. If the murder was committed with a view to robbery, the fact that the murderer did not get all the money adds to the mystery.
On the 28th of April, 1893, John J. Humphrey, a business man of Lancaster, but long a resident of Patch Grove, committed suicide by shooting himself with a pistol. He had been a farmer and a merchant. It was supposed that business troubles preyed upon his mind so as to unbalance it. His life was insured for $9,000.
William Westing, an old citizen of the town, residing a few miles south of the city, committed suicide November 14, 1894, by shooting himself in the head with a shotgun. He had recently sold his old homestead and very much repented the transaction. This is the only known cause of the act.
A very sad suicide was that of Mrs. Lucy Strong, widow of Dr. F. E. Strong, which occurred March 26, 1899, and was accomplished by taking chloroform. It is supposed that grief on account of the recent death of her husband had distracted her.
VARIOUS MATTERS.
The population of the township in 1875 was 2,742, a gain of only 26 in five years. The village and surrounding country were still hand- icapped by the lack of transportation facilities. It was a cold day when Lancaster got her railroad, but it was a lucky day-the New Year of 1879. A "boom" immediately began. The census the very next year showed a population,of 2,810 in the township and 1,069 in the city. There was something of a reaction after a time, and then a steady growth set in and has since continued. The census of 1885 showed 3,333 in the township and 1.410 in.the city. In 1880 there were 3,289 persons in the township and 1,543 in the city. While the city was gaining the country was losing; but then, the population of the whole county was decreasing. In 1895 the population was 3,355 in the township and 2,174 in the city.
The equalized assessment roll of 1899 shows that the town con- tained 45,547 acres of land valued at $432,696; city lots valued at $210,000; personal property valued at $243,126. Of course, the as- sessed value was far below the real value. The town had 1,499 horses, 5,448 cattle, 2 024 sheep. and 4,154 swine.
During the year 1898 the public mind of Lancaster was divided between the Klondike gold-fields and the Spanish War. On the 26th
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of February a party of fifty-four men started from Lancaster to the Klondike, under the leadership of Daniel Needham, a lawyer of Lan- caster. The party came very close to being buried in an avalanche on one of the mountain passes. Considerable money had been invested in the expedition by people who did not go. Most of the members of the party came back in a year or so, one or two at a time. How much gold they found cannot be told, but it is safe to say, not half as much as they spent.
Lancaster contributed a little more than a third of a company to the army during the Spanish War, but the boys got no farther than Anniston, Alabama. The matter has been described on pages 393 and 394,
The town of Lancaster was organized in 1849. It is the central town of the county, a "double" town, that is, containing seventy-two square miles. In territorial times the justices of the peace were ap- pointed, and we find the following: 1843, Samuel Tompkins, Arthur W. Worth; 1844, John Boright; 1846, Jo W. Blanding, Sam E. Burks, Philo J. Adams; 1847, Horace Liscum.
Following is the roster of town officers from 1849 to the present time. The first named supervisor is the chairman.
TOWN OFFICERS.
1849-Supervisors, J. Allen Barber, N. M. Bonham, Abner Dyer; clerk, Jos. C. Cover; treasurer, Arthur W. Worth; assessor, Charles Blandford; supt. of schools, H. H. Lewis; justices, Philo J. Adams, Francis H. Bonham, H. S. Liscum, W. Y. Decker; constables, Dexter Ward, James Haire, William Walker.
1850-Supervisors, J. Allen Barber, Abner Dyer, Thomas Shanley ; clerk, Stephen Mahood; treasurer, Charles Blandford; assessor, Jesse Miles ; supt. of schools, John D. Wood; justices, John S. Fletcher, An- drew Barnett; constables, Dexter Ward, S. A. Quincy, Wm. Walker.
1851-Supervisors, Wm. N. Reed, Thomas Shanley, Thomas Weir; clerk, John D. Wood; treasurer, Philo J. Adams; assessor, Stephen Mahood; supt. of schools, J. C. Cover; justices, Andrew Barnett, H. S. Liscum; constables, Dexter Ward, James N. Borah, G. B. McCord.
1852-Supervisors, James Barnett, Joseph Bonham, J. B. Gillespie ; clerk, F. P. Liscum; treasurer, Fred B. Phelps; assessor, Stephen Ma- hood; supt. of schools, Robert Children ; justices, F. H. Bonham, H. R. Colter, Stephen Mahood; constables, Patrick Darcey, Dexter Ward, Lewis Laughlin.
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1853-Supervisors, James Barnett, Joseph Bonham, John B. Gil- lespie; clerk, F. P. Liscum ; treasurer, F. B. Phelps; assessor, Stephen Mahood; justices, H. R. Colter, Stephen Mahood; constables, Patrick Darcey, Dexter Ward.
1854-Supervisors, Nelson Dewey, Joseph Bonham, Abner Dyer; clerk, Stephen Mahood; treasurer, John B. Callis ; assessor, H. S. Lis- cum; supt. of schools, Joseph C. Cover; justices, Stephen Mahood, Dexter Ward; constable, William H. Foster.
1855-Supervisors, J. Allen Barber, Philip Kelts, Edmund Harel- son ; clerk, Stephen Mahood; treasurer, John B. Callis; assessor, An- drew Barnett; supt. of schools, William A. Holmes; justices, Joseph Bonham, George W. Luce; constables, Jared Barnett, Elliot Liscum.
1856-Supervisors, J. Allen Barber, Edmund Harelson, Stephen Mahood; clerk, Stephen Mahood; treasurer, John B. Callis; assessor, William N. Reed; justices, Wood R. Beach, Stephen Mahood, Frank H. Bonham; constables, Elliot Liscum, John Pepper ; supt. of schools, Joseph C. Cover.
1857-Supervisors, John G. Clark, Abner Dyer, Edmund Harelson; clerk, William E. Carter; treasurer, John B. Callis; assessor, Stephen Mahood; supt. of schools, J. C. Cover; justices, Frank H. Bonham, George Luce; constables, Philip Kelts, Elliot Liscum.
1858-Supervisors, John G. Clark, Edmund Harelson, Abner Dyer, Wm. E. Carter; treasurer, John B. Callis ; assessor, Stephen Mahood; supt. of schools, Wm. N. Reed; justices, Stephen Mahood, Wood R. Beach; constables, William H. Foster, William Hall, Nathaniel Luce.
1859 no record.
1860-Supervisors, J. C. Holloway, Wm. Richardson, J. B. Harel- son ; clerk, Joseph Holroyd; treasurer, D. H. Budd; assessor, H. A. Moore; supt. of schools, A. A. Drown; justices, Ira Bellows, A. Burr, L. O. Shrader; constables, Elliott Liscum, W. W. Ward, Wm. Walker.
1861-Supervisors, J. C. Holloway, Ira Bellows, J. B. Harelson; clerk, L. O. Shrader; treasurer, D. H. Budd; assessor, H. A. Moore; supt. of schools, S. W. Eaton; justices, Ira Bellows, F. H. Bonham; constables, Thomas Gow, Shaler Wells, John B. Callis.
1862-Supervisors, J. C. Holloway, Wm. Y. Decker, John B. Harel- son; clerk, L. O. Shrader; treasurer, D. H. Budd; assessor, Ira Bel- lows; justices, Addison Burr, Dexter Ward.
1863-Supervisors, Addison Burr, J. B. Harelson, Ira Bellows; clerk, John Raines; treasurer, D. H. Budd; assessor, Franklin Halbert; 27
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justices, F. H. Bonham, George Luce, D. Ward; constables, H. Hyde, Horatio Tiel.
1864-Supervisors; Addison Burr, Lewis Holloway, Wm. Ritter; clerk, James A. Jones; treasurer, D. H. Budd; assessor, Franklin Hal- bert; justices, Addison Burr, Dexter Ward.
1865-Supervisors, Addison Burr, Shaler Wells, F. H. Bonham; clerk, J. W. Blanding; treasurer, M. M. Ziegler; assessor, Franklin Halbert; justices, Geo. Luce, F. H. Bonham.
1866-Supervisors, Addison Burr, Shaler Wells, F. H. Bonham; clerk, J. W. Blanding; treasurer, David Schreiner; assessor, Franklin Halbert. The record for several years is defective as to justices and constables.
1867-Supervisors, Addison Burr, F. H. Bonham, Shaler Wells; clerk, Wm. E. Sloat; treasurer, George Sprague; assessor, Franklin Halbert.
1868-Supervisors, Wm. P. Dewey, Henry S. Keene, Shaler Wells; clerk, Wm. E. Sloat; treasurer, George B. Sprague; assessor, Henry Fox; justices, Addison Burr, J. W. Angell.
1869-Supervisors, Win. P. Dewey, Henry S. Keene, Shaler Wells; clerk, A. P. Thompson; treasurer, George B. Sprague; assessor, Henry Fox ; justices, F. H. Bonham, Daniel Proudfit.
1870-Supervisors, Wm. P. Dewey, Henry S. Keene, Shaler Wells; clerk, A. P. Thompson ; treasurer, Geo. B. Sprague; assessor, Franklin Halbert; justices, Addison Burr, Richard Meyer.
1871-Supervisors, George W. Ryland, James N. Borah, S. J. Gris- wold; clerk, David Schreiner; treasurer, George B. Sprague; assessor, Franklin Halbert ; justices, Henry S. Keene, Henry Bugbee.
1872-Supervisors, George W Ryland, F. H. Bonham, Wm. Wal- ker; clerk, F M. Durand; treasurer, T. A. Burr; assessor, Franklin Halbert; justices Addison Burr, Richard Meyer.
1873-Supervisors, Geo. W. Ryland, F. H. Bonham, Wm. Walker; clerk, R. E. McCoy ; treasurer, .T. A. Burr; assessor, W. W. Robe; jus- tices, Henry S. Keene, Wm. P. Rowden.
1874-Supervisors, George W. Ryland, W. P. Stone, Fred Divall; clerk, A. Michaelis ; treasurer, Charles A. Cox; assessor, W. W Robe; justices, A. Burr, Richard Meyer, Abner Dyer; constables, Charles Bennett, H. W. Case, Abe Decker.
1875-Supervisors, Geo. W. Ryland, W. P. Stone, Joseph Bailie; clerk, A. Michaelis; treasurer, Herman Buchner; assessor, W. W. Robe;
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justices, Henry S. Keene, Wm. Walker, T. F. Baldwin; constables, David Cutshaw, Daniel Decker, James Treloar, Jr.
1876-Supervisors, clerk, treasurer, and assessor same as previous year; justices, Addison Burr, T. F. Baldwin; constables, D. H. Budd, Daniel Decker, George Marlow.
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