History of Grant County Wisconsin, including its civil, political, geological, mineralogical archaeological and military history, Part 39

Author: Castello N. Holford
Publication date: 1900
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 813


USA > Wisconsin > Grant County > History of Grant County Wisconsin, including its civil, political, geological, mineralogical archaeological and military history > Part 39


Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).


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1877-Supervisors, John G Clark, W. P. Rowden, Joseph Bailie; clerk, A. Michaelis; treasurer, John M. Altizer; assessor, W. W. Robe; justices, George Luce, H. S. Keene; constables, David Cutshaw, James Loomis, George Marlow.


1878-Supervisors, clerk, treasurer, and assessor same as previous year; justices, Addison Burr, T. F. Baldwin; constables, Charles Ben- nett, George Marlow, Daniel Decker.


1879-Supervisors, George W. Ryland, W. P. Rowden, Henry.S. Keene; clerk, A. Michaelis; treasurer, P. H. Parsons; assessor, Frank- lin Halbert; justices, Henry S. Keene, E. S. Morse, David Schreiner; constables, Charles Bennett, Chauncey Pierce.


1880-Supervisors, clerk, treasurer, and assessor same as previous year ; justices, T. F. Baldwin, David Schreiner ; constables, Chauncey Pierce, H. P. Greene, George Hood.


1881-Supervisors, Geo. W. Ryland, Wm. P. Rowden, H. S. Keene; clerk, A. Michaelis : treasurer, Henry Smith; assessor, Franklin Hal- bert ; justices, H. S. Keene, E. S. Morse, Ed. M. Lowry.


1882-Supervisors, George W. Ryland, Wm. P. Rowden, Henry S. Keene; clerk, Aug. Michaelis; treasurer, James Woodhouse; assessor, Franklin Halbert; justices, T. F. Baldwin, E. M. Lowry; constables, George Hood, S. Mitchell, Chauncey Pierce.


1883-Supervisors, George W. Ryland, Wm. R. Kerr, Thomas Bee- tham; clerk, Aug. Michaelis; treasurer, James Woodhouse; assessor, Franklin Halbert; justices, E. S. Morse, H. S. Keene; constables, Geo. Hood, S. Mitchell, Joseph Schneider.


1884-Supervisors, clerk, treasurer, and assessor same as previous year; justices, E. M. Lowry, T. F. Baldwin, E. S. Morse; constables, George Marlow, A. Alexander, George Langridge, H. P. Greene.


1885-Supervisors, Geo. W. Ryland, Wm. R. Kerr, Thomas Tuck- wood; clerk, Aug. Michaelis; treasurer, James Woodhouse; assessor, Franklin Halbert ; justices, Henry S. Keene, E. S. Morse; constables, Caleb Taylor, George Marlow, Richard Huftil.


1886-Supervisors, Geo. W. Ryland, Wm. R. Kerr, Thomas Tuck- wood; clerk, Ang. Michaelis; treasurer, James Woodhouse; assessor,


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Franklin Halbert; justices, T. F. Baldwin, E. M. Lowry; constables, Charles Bennett, George Marlow, Caleb Taylor.


1887-Supervisors, clerk, treasurer, and assessor, same as previous year ; justices, J. A. Coombs, E. S. Morse, George B. Wheeler; consta- bles, George Marlow, Caleb Taylor.


1888-Supervisors, clerk, and treasurer same as previous year ; as- sessor, J. T. Howdle ; justices, T. F. Baldwin, George B. Wheeler ; con- stables George Marlow, Caleb Taylor, Charles Bennett.


1889-Supervisors, Delos Abrams, W. R. Kerr, James N. Borah; clerk. A. Michaelis ; treasurer, James Woodhouse ; assessor, Oscar Bid- well; justices, J. A. Coombs, Thomas Beetham; constables, George Marlow, Charles Bennett, Joseph Bennett.


1890-Supervisors, clerk, treasurer, and assessor same as previous year; justices, George B. Wheeler, Charles W. Hill, George Dyer, Louis Gelsbach ; constables, Richard Huftil, Charles Govier, John Pink.


1891-Supervisors, John Schreiner, Thomas Tuckwood, Wm. P. Richardson; clerk, A. Michaelis; treasurer, James Woodhouse; asses- sor, George Hannum ; justices, E. S. Morse, H. C. Bryhan, C. J. Wood- ward; constables, Fred Orton, Richard Huftil, George Marlow.


1892-Supervisors, clerk, treasurer, and assessor same as previous year; justice, Chas. J. Woodward; constables, Richard Huftil, James Walker.


1893-Supervisors, clerk, treasurer, and assessor same as previous year ; justices, H. C. Bryhan, Ralph Place; constables, T. D. Taylor, Richard Huftil, W. Hicken.


1894-Supervisors, Wm. E. Webb, Thomas Tuckwood, W. P. Rich- ardson ; clerk, A. Michaelis; treasurer, James Woodhouse; assessor, H. C. Bryhan ; justices, George B. Wheeler, Thomas F. Orton; consta- bles, John F. Taylor, Fred Orton, William Leise, Jr., George Dyer.


1895-Supervisors, clerk, treasurer, and assessor same as previous year; justices, George E. Taylor, Thomas Beetham ; constables, John F. Taylor, Fred Orton, John Rowden.


1896-Supervisors, clerk, and treasurer same as previous year; as- sessor, J. R. Place; justices, George B. Wheeler, W. F. McGonigal, Thos. Beetham, Louis Gelsbach ; constables, John Jarrett, George Marlow.


1897-Supervisors, clerk, treasurer, and assessor same as previous year; justices, V. H. Kinney, John Jarrett; constables, John Taylor, George Dyer, Ed Taylor.


1898-Supervisors, clerk, treasurer, and assessor same as previous


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year; justices, W. F. McGonigal, George B. Wheeler, T. F. Baldwin; constables, John Taylor, Albert Budworth, George Marlow.


1899-Supervisors, clerk, and treasurer same as previous year ; as- sessor, E. E. McCoy ; justices, V. H. Kinney, John Rowden; constables, John F. Taylor, George Marlow, George Jarrett.


1900-Supervisors, clerk, treasurer, and assessor same as previous year; justices, T. F. Baldwin, V. H. Kinney, David Schreiner, Robert Godfrey ; constables, John F. Taylor, George Marlow, George Jarrett.


VILLAGE OFFICERS.


1856-President, J. Allen Barber; trustees, John G. Clark, M. M Ziegler, Dwight T. Parker; treasurer, M. W. Wood; marshal, Dexter Ward; assessor, George E. Howe; clerk, William E. Carter.


1857-President, J. H. Hyde; trustees, D. H. Budd, Charles Lang- ridge, James Barnett; treasurer, George W. Ryland : assessor, Stephen Mahood; marshal, W. H. S. Palmer; clerk, William E. Carter.


1858-President, L. O. Shrader; trustees, John B. Callis, Charles Langridge, O. B. Phelps; treasurer, George W. Ryland; assessor, Ste- phen Mahood; marshal, Johr Pepper; clerk, William F. Carter. O. B. Phelps refused to qualify and E. G. Beckwith was elected in his place. W. E. Carter was removed for non-attendance and L. J. Woolley ap- pointed in his place.


1859-President, John C. Holloway; trustees, Charles Langridge, William Alcorn, George W. Ryland; treasurer, D. H. Budd; assessor, Stephen Mahood; marshal, John B. Callis ; clerk, L. J. Woolley.


1860-President, J. Allen Barber; trustees, George H. Cox, An- thony Crosby, L. A. Hyde; treasurer, M. M. Ziegler; assessor, Hiram Baxter; marshal, ohn B. Callis; clerk, L. O. Shrader.


1861-President, J. Allen Barber ; trustees, George H. Cox, F. P. Liscum, Joseph Barnett; treasurer, D. H. Budd; assessor, William Mc- Gonigal; marshal, John B. Callis ; clerk, L. O. Shrader.


1-862-President, J. Allen Barber; trustees, Harrison Redding, George H. Cox, George W. Ryland; treasurer, D. H. Budd; assessor, William N. Reed; marshal, Thomas Gow ; clerk, J. W. Blanding.


From 1863 to 1866, inclusive, there is no record.


1867-President, J. C. Cover; trustees, J. H. Hyde, J. W. Blanding, Henry J. Fox ; clerk, Joseph Bock.


1868-President, J. W. Blanding ; trustees, Henry J. Fox, Fred B. Phelps, J. W. Angell; treasurer, John P. Lewis; asseseor, William H. Foster; marshal, David Cutshaw; clerk, Joseph Bock.


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1869-President, P. H. Parsons; trustees, Lewis Holloway, Wil- liam Alcorn, V. F. Kinney, H. Redding ; treasurer, Addison Burr ; mar- shal, William H. Clise; clerk, A. P. Thompson; street commissioner, H. B. Fisher. Under the new charter the president performed the duties of police justice.


1870-President, George W. Ryland; trustees, Henry Fox, John B. Turley, Lewis Holloway, Henry Muesse; treasurer, D. H. Budd; marshal, Dexter Ward; clerk, A. P. Thompson; street commissioner, George Harton.


1871-President George W. Ryland; trustees, Henry Fox, Henry Muesse, Lewis Holloway, W. M. Powers; treasurer, D. H. Budd; mar- shal, Dexter Ward; clerk, David Schreiner; street comm'r, Joseph Joey.


1872-President, Henry Muesse; trustees, Robert E. Murphey, M. M. Ziegler, W. W. Robe, R. L. Hoskins; treasurer, D. H. Budd; mar- shal, Philip Kelts ; clerk, P. H. Parsons; street comm'r. H. B. Fisher.


1873-President, William McGonigal; trustees, Lewis Holloway, Charles H. Baxter, W. W. Robe, H. B. Fisher; treasurer D. H. Budd; clerk, A. R McCartney; marshal, Charles Bennett; street commis- sioner, William Richardson.


1874-President, Addison Burr; trustees, Charles H. Baxter, P. H. Parsons, V. F. Kinney, H. B Fisher ; treasurer, D. H. Budd : marshal, Thomas R. Cheseboro; clerk, R. E. McCoy; street comm'r, Franklin Halbert. For supervisors of village and city, see roster of County Board, Part II.


1875-President, J. Allen Barber; trustees, Franklin Halbert, Lew- is Holloway, John Schreiner, Henry Muesse; treasurer, Richard Meyer; clerk, A. Michaelis; marshal and street commissioner, S. Mitchell.


1876-President, J. Allen Barber ; trustees, John Schreiner, John Woolstenholme, Henry Muesse, Franklin Halbert; treasurer, Richard Meyer : clerk, A. Michaelis ; marshal, S., Mitchell; street commissioner, Franklin Halbert.


1877-President, J. Allen Barber; trustees. David Schreiner, Wil- liam H. Haynes, John Oswald, William Richardson; treasurer, Rich- ard Meyer; clerk, A. Michaelis; marshal, S. Mitchell; street commis- sioner, John Oswald.


By an act of the legislature of 1778 Lancaster was incorporated as a city. The first election under the new charter was held May 6, 1878, and the roster of officers from that date is as follows:


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CITY OFFICERA


1878 -- Mavor, A. R. Bushnell; council, James Woodhouse, George D. Ust. James Kilbourn, Joseph Nathan ; justice, James A. Jones; clerk, A. Michaelis : treasurer, Richard Meyer; marshal, S. Mitchell.


1879-Mayor, George Clementson; council, Fred B. Phelps, A. H. Barber, Henry Muesse, Alexander Ivey; justice, A. L. Burke; clerk, Charles Orton ; treasurer, Richard Meyer ; marshal, H. P. Greene.


1880-Mayor, John G. Clark ; council, Lewis Holloway, W. T. Or- ton, William P. Stone, Herman Buchner; clerk, A. Michaelis; treasur- er, Richard Meyer ; marshal, George Griffin.


1881-Mayor, John G. Clark ; council, William P. Stone, Herman Buchner, W. T. Orton, Lewis Holloway-the last two refused to qual- ify and John P. Lewis and John Street were appointed in their places; clerk, A. Michaelis; treasurer, Richard Meyer; marshal, S. Mitchell.


1882-Mayor, John G. Clark ; council, Joseph Bock, M. M. Ziegler, Edward Pollock, John J. Oswald; clerk, Aug. Michaelis.


1883-Mayor, Lewis Holloway ; council, August Huntemer, R. B. Showalter, J. J. Mckenzie, Charles R. Thomas; clerk, Aug. Michaelis. 1884-Mayor, council and clerk same as previous year.


1885-Mayor, Lewis Holloway ; council, Charles R. Thomas, Wil- liam E. Webb, William P. Stone, F. W. Bryan; clerk, Aug. Michaelis. Lewis Holloway resigned December 2, and John P. Lewis was ap- pointed in his place.


1886-Mayor, Edward M. Lowry; council, Amos E. Morse, Ru- fus Hannum, Charles Basford, Thomas.Orton; clerk, William F. Mc- Gonigal.


1887-Mayor, John Schreiner; council, Henry Muesse, Richard Meyer, Jr., Theodore Sherman, Richard Willis ; clerk, Aug. Michaelis.


1888-Mayor, Charles H. Baxter; council, Wm. H. Decker, John Baldwin, Thomas Willey, William Ziegler; clerk, Aug. Michaelis.


1889-Mayor, Reuben B. Showalter; council, John Carthew, Wil- liam F. McGonigal, Reuben Black, Henry Muesse; clerk, A. Michaelis. 1890-Mayor, Edward M. Lowry ; council, Robert Brooker, Her- man Buchner, C. Jehiel Hyde, Louis Wetter; clerk, A. Michaelis.


1891-Mayor, E M. Lowry ; council, John G. Clark, Charles Lish- erness, Henry Muesse, George McCarthy ; clerk, Aug. Michaelis.


1892-Mayor, Richard Meyer, Jr .; council, John S. Wright. Henry Muesse, Goerge Hannum, J. J. Humphrey ; clerk, Aug. Michaelis.


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1893-Mayor, Richard Meyer, Jr. ; council, Peter Henkel, H. Nehls, W. H. Decker, Charles Orton; clerk, Aug. Michaelis.


1894-Mayor, W. H. Decker; council, Montgomery Miller, H. G. Nathan, William Ziegler, George Q. Sykes; clerk, Aug. Michaelis.


1895-Mayor, council, and clerk same as previous year.


1896-Mayor, council, and clerk same as previous year.


1897-Mayor, W. H. Decker; council, Montgomery Miller, H. G. Nathan, William Ziegler, James P. Williams; clerk, A. Michaelis. 1898-Mayor,council, and clerk same as previous year.


1899-Mayor, Frank Schreiner; council, Henry Ressmeyer, Henry Muesse, E. E. McCoy, H. C. Watton; clerk, Aug. Michaelis.


1900-Mayor, council, and clerk same as previous year.


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CHAPTER II.


LANCASTER, SPECIAL HISTORY


Manufactories-Banks-Schools-Churches-Societies-Newspapers Hurricane.


MANUFACTORIES.


Lancaster has been handicapped in the matter of manufacturing by having no water power and no coal except what was brought from a distance at great expense for transportation, and until 1879 no railroad transportation, nor any other kind except by wagon.


The Woolen Mills .- The principal factory the place has had was the woolen mills. The company was organized June 20, 1869, with Addison Burr president, George W. Ryland treasurer, Richard Meyer seeretary, and J. C. Holloway, A. Burr, Douglas Oliver, Henry Fox, and Jacob Nathan directors. A building was erected near the Big Spring at a cost of $7,000 and the machinery of Douglas Oliver's mill at North Andover was put in. Another set of the most improved pat- tern was put in and some of the machinery was started that fall. A few hands were brought from New England as instructors for the Lancaster girls who were employed. The mill had a capacity for forty hands and 100,000 pounds of wool annually and cost $30,000. A man named Fuller was employed for superintendent, but after a few months' trial he was found incompetent and discharged, and Henry Fox was placed in charge, with T. A. Burr bookkeeper. The opera- tion was unprofitable, and in little more than a year the mill was sold by foreclosure and bought by some of the principal stockholders, who rented to Gledhill & Walker. In about a year they gave it up and J. C. Holloway and W. H. Clise rented it. In about six months Mr. Clise retired, and Mr. Holloway operated the mill till the end of the year. The mill then stood idle until it was purchased by Street Bros., Marshall & Co., in May, 1880. New and improved machinery was put in, and as Lancaster now had railroad transportation, it was hoped that the business could be carried on with profit to the owners and benefit to the city ; but the day of manufacturing on a small scale


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had passed, and the mill could not stand the competition of the great Eastern factories, and it was finally closed up.


Excelsior Factory .- In the fall of 1888 Messrs. Twichell & Osborn decided to put in a factory at Lancaster for the manufacture of excel- sior or wood-wool. White poplar. suitable for making this material, abounded in the vicinity and was of little value for any other purpose. The woolen mill building was purchased, and in December of that year the machinery was started. All went well, seemingly, until July 17, 1895, when the factory was burned, and never rebuilt.


Electric Light Plant .- In 1897 J. G. Harshberger procured a fran- chise for an electric light plant and proceeded to put up a power-house on the site of the excelsior factory, utilizing the brick smoke-stack of the factory, which was still standing. The work was completed and the city given the luxury of electric lights in 1898.


Water-works .- As the city outgrew the water supply from wells and springs the question of water-works was discussed. Whether to obtain the supply from a deep well put down into the sandstone, or bring it from the great spring near the Griswold Mill on Grant River. about three miles from the court-house. was a question on which the citizens sharply divided and which created considerable partisan feel- ing. It was at last decided to bring the water from the spring, which was named the Klondike Spring. The city issued bonds to the amount of $24,000 and the works were constructed in 1895 and 1896. They belong to the city.


Flour Mill .- The Lancaster Milling Company was organized in 1893, with a capital of about $8,000. The stockholders were John Schreiner, Ivey & Webb, Richard Meyer, Jr., Henry Muesse, Albert, Robert, Harry, and George Brooker, Charles H. Baxter, Joseph Na- than, W. J. Weir, and Thomas F. Orton. The mill was built a square northwest of the railroad station and steam machinery put in. It was just getting a good run of trade when it was destroyed by fire May 20, 1893. It was immediately rebuilt, and again burned Octo- ber 18, 1893, it is thought by an incendiary. It was again rebuilt on the same site and is now running.


BANKS.


In December, 1861, George W. Ryland and J. C. Holloway began a private banking business on the corner of Maple and Madison Streets. In 1864 the firm erected a large three story block of Miwau- kee brick on the corner just mentioned, the first three-story building


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erected in Lancaster. In May, 1871, the bank was located in a white brick building, adjoining the block just mentioned on Maple Street. The capital was $10,000. January 1, 1875, Mr. Holloway withdrew and Mr. Ryland continued the business alone until October, 1880, when Richard Meyer (who had long been the cashier of the bank) and Richard Meyer, Jr., became partners in the business, under the name of George W. Ryland & Co., and with a capital of $20,- 000. Business was con- ducted prosperously and with the confidence of the whole community. On May 1, 1887, Mr. Ryland with- drew. Subsequently the in- stitution became the Meyer- Showalter bank, Richard Meyer, Richard Meyer, Jr., Reuben B. Showalter pro- prietors, whose bank is lo- cated in the new brick build- ing on the northwest corner of Maple and Madison Streets. Another bank, the State Bank of Grant County, began business in October, 1888, with John LIEUT-GOV. GEO. W. RYLAND. Schreiner president, George W. Ryland vice president, Joseph Bock cashier. It is located on the east side of the public square. The Meyer-Showalter Bank has a capital of $25,000 and the State Bank a capital of $60,000.


SCHOOLS.


The first school in Lancaster was begun in the fall of 1837, by Miss Ann Locey, sister of Dr. Locey, of Platteville. It was taught in the log house first used by G. M. Price.


The proceedings of the County Board show that 74 pupils at- tended school in the precinct of Lancaster in 1839.


Miss Jane Ayers, who came from Rockville and lived several years in Lancaster, taught several terms beginning in 1840 in the old Price building, and afterward teaching in a building which stood back of


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the present post-office. She was followed by Francis Rigaud, who some say was a Frenchman and others a Cornishman, who had been in the English army. He taught in the northwest room of the court- house. Another school was kept in Bushnell Hollow, but by whom cannot now be learned. In 1843 J. Allen Barber, Nelson Dewey, and Daniel Banfill were appointed school board for the precinct of Lancas- ter, and through their efforts a school-house was built. It was a small frame building near the Mills residence. It served many years as a school-house and is now the kitchen of Mr. Kohlenberg's resi- dence. It was sold by the district in 1854 to Mr. Palmer for $305 .. There was much opposition to the building of this house, but its ne- cessity was soon recognized and everybody was satisfied. Who was the first person to teach in this building cannot now be learned. In May, 1845, Miss Ellen B. Chaffee began teaching there and taught one year and then went to Potosi. Probably her immediate successor was J. T. Mills, who was by nature and education a teacher, and his services gave great satisfaction. In time the school became too large for one teacher, and J. C. Cover was employed as an assistant. It was commonly said: " Mills was to do the teaching and Cover the whipping." Besides this school there were several "select" schools at different times and by different teachers.


In 1852 an academy school was started in the Congregational church with Prof. Demarest as teacher. The trustees of the school were Nelson Dewey. J. Allen Barber, D. R. Burt, and J. T. Mills. After several other teachers came Sherman Page, afterward Judge Page, of Austin, Minn. He was a strict disciplinarian and an energetic edu- cator. His school increased in numbers and it was decided to build an academy building. Subscriptions to the amount of $1,200 were raised and one quarter paid within a week. The building was com- pleted in August, 1858, 25X40 feet in size and two stories. Mr. Page was the principal. There was considerable dissatisfaction with him, and at last the ill-feeling broke out in a bitter newspaper war. The controversy originated in an account of some exercises in the academy written by a reporter for the Herald, and printed in that paper over the signature "Critique." Mr. Page resented some of the statements in the article and replied in a peppery article signed "Critique's Critic." The controversy raged some time in the Herald, Mr. Cover taking it up, when it became too hot for the columns of a family news- paper, and Mr. Page carried it on in the form of a periodical dodger


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with the head: "Footprints of J. C. Cover," and Cover replied in Herald extras. Mr. Page finally, about 1861, left Lancaster, and was next heard of here by an attempt to assassinate him at Austin, Minn., in 1877. In 1870 the academy gave way to the graded public school and the old academy building was transformed into a dwelling now standing on the corner of Oak and Monroe Streets. Among the teachers who succeeded Mr. Page in the "Institute " were Miss H. H. Eddy in the winter of 1862-63, D. Gray Purman, who began in the spring of 1863, John J. Copp in 1865, and Prof. Josiah Beardsley, who began teaching in the fall of 1866.


The "Institute" and the old school-house in the north part of town not furnishing sufficient school accommodations, a new house was built by Sherman & Walker, being completed in 1856. It was 50×35 feet two stories high. The building and plat cost $3,000. In 1868 a still larger building was erected in the south part of the town,


NORTH SCHOOL BUILDING, LANCASTER.


costing $15,000. It was just completed when, on June 13, 1868, a terrible gale swept over the city, laying the house in ruins. The green mortar of the new walls was, of course, not so strong as it would have become, but it was thought that the construction was also defec- tive. In a few days more the house would have been full of children, and the result too terrible to contemplate.


Many people of the town were now in favor of buying the old Congregational church for a school-house, but those who believed in building for the future were in the majority, and a new building was


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accordingly erected in 1869 at a cost of $20,000. In September, 1875, in addition to the graded school, a high school was opened. Prof. John Brindley was the first high school principal.


The High School building becoming crowded, another school. house was erected in 1899 in the north part of the city, between Jeff- erson and Madison Streets. The cost of the building alone was $7,- 000. With the cost of the lots, furniture, etc., the cost was $10,000. Besides the High School there are nine grades in the common school. The following is the corps of teachers: Principal, Prof. L. L. Clarke; assistants, Mr. R. L. Lyman; Misses H E. Ives, Gertrude Buck, Jessie Decker, Ellen Woolstenholme, Mary E. Smith, Mary Whitmore, Fan- nie Johnson, Sylvia Wheeler, Sadie L. Moses, Eva Boyes, Mary War- ren, Nettie Oswald.


CHURCHES.


The Methodist Episcopal Church .- Probably the first religious ser- vices held in this community were by itinerant Methodist preachers. J. T. Mills in his reminiscences stated that he witnessed religious ser- vices in a cabin in Bushnell Hollow soon after the village was laid out. John Wood, Richard Wood, and Enos P. Wood, the last the County Clerk, preached occasionally in the court-house and school-house dur- ing the forties. In 1848 a Methodist preacher named Smith seems to have resided in Lancaster, and there was occasional preaching by El- der Summers, the presiding elder of the circuit. A quarterly conference was held in Lancaster October 21, 1849, Rev. Elmore Yocum being the presiding elder and Rev. Benjamin Close the preacher in charge. At that conference it was decided to build a M. E. parsonage at Lan- caster and Benjamin Close, Benjamin E. Quincy, and Martin Teal were appointed a building committee. The first board of trustees was com- posed of James Henderson, Charles W. Long, A. E. Kilby, and Joseph Mckinney. The parsonage was not built. In the fall of 1850 Mr. Close was succeeded by Rev. J. W. Putnam, and he by Rev. Henry Wood January 18, 1851. During this winter money was raised tor a church building, which was begun in the spring and completed during the summer. It was dedicated November 16. It was a frame build- ing 12X24 and cost $800. At the time of the dedication there was a debt of $400. Mr. Brooks, of Lawrence University, Appleton, under- took to raise this amount by subscriptions, and succeeded. This was the second church built in the place. It was on Maple Street, near Adams. It was used by the congregation until 1877, and was after-




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