USA > Wisconsin > Grant County > History of Grant County Wisconsin, including its civil, political, geological, mineralogical archaeological and military history > Part 42
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Next to "Hardscrabble," the first mining settlement in what is now Grant County was made on the site of the present city of Platte- ville. Emanuel Metcalf came there in the spring of 1827 and found mineral thrown out of the hole of some animal, said to have been a badger, but more probably a coyote. Metcalf and his partner and son-in-law, Lewis, went to work and "struck a lead." Fred Dixon and his partner, Robert Roper, came the same spring, found mineral, and put up a sod cabin. Their lode was on the "East Ridge." About the same time James Danielson and his partner, Woodbridge, came and discovered a north-and-south lode on what was afterward called "Hell's Point." In the summer of 1827 Brigham, Thomas Shanley, and six others came and built a blockhouse on Blockhouse Branch, a short distance southwest of Platteville. About the first of July John H. Rountree came and looked over the ground, extending his tour of observation northward and westward as far as the site of Fenni- more.
In the fall of 1827 Joseph Dixon came and began breaking up a field about a mile and a half south of Platteville, and the next year he raised twenty acres of corn-one of the first two (possibly three) cornfields in the county. This old pioneer died in 1861, aged 66.
In the fall of 1827, probably in November, John H. Rountree and J. B. Campbell bought Metcalf's lode for a sum variously stated at from $1,200 to $3,600. The two partners built a sod cabin on the creek about two hundred yards southeast of the corner of Pine and Lydia Streets, and prepared to pass the winter. They worked on all winter and took out a large amount of mineral, but there was no fur-
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nace nearer than Galena, and the ore was piled up near the mine to await the building of a furnace. It is said that they took out $30,000 worth in a year. William Ruby and John McWilliams came with Mr. Rountree and remained through the winter. As soon as the opening of spring would allow the work to be done, Rountree & Campbell be- gan the erection of a log furnace, which they completed in about two months. It was located about half way between Rountree's residence and Virgin's mill of later times. They also built a large double log cabin as a residence for themselves and the miners employed by them. It was only one story, but the loft between the ceiling and roof fur- nished a sleeping-place for several men.
The first white women to live in Platteville were Mrs. Metcalf and her daughter, Mrs. Lewis. The next one was the wife of Frederick Hollman, who came in the spring of 1828, with four children. James R. Vineyard came with them. Mrs. Hollman became the landlady of Rountree & Campbell's big log house. The same spring Mr. Jones and his wife and three grown daughters settled in the new settlement.
In March Mr. Rountree opened a store, the first and probably for a considerable time the only one in the present limits of the county. The goods were brought from St. Louis via Galena. The store was in a log cabin near Mr. Rountree's atter residence.
In the fall of 1828 Jacob Hooser came to Platteville and was em- ployed by Mr. Rountree to burn some charcoal. He was a blacksmith and found plenty of work for a time.
On August 7, 1828, Mr. Rountree was married in Galena to Miss Mary Mitchell and brought his bride to his new residence. The first marriage in the new settlement occurred August 20, 1828. James R. Vineyard, afterward a prominent citizen, was married to Miss Mary Jones, one of the three young ladies previously mentioned. The cere- mony was performed by an itinerant preacher named Campbell.
Of course, all this time the new settlement had a name, but it was not at first Platteville. In the fall of 1827 it was called Platte River; in the spring of 1828. the name was changed to Lebanon; and again in a few months to Platteville. It has been supposed that the place was named for Alonzo Platt, a prominent citizen who came to the settle- ment in 1828; but this is doubtful. as Platte River was so named be- fore his arrival.
The first election within the limits of the present county was held at Platteville on the first Monday in August, 1828. The vote was for
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the State officers of Illinois, it being supposed that Platteville was in that State. There was a great fight between the Irishmen who came up from Irish Hollow and the "Suckers." James R. Vineyard, who killed his fellow-legislator Arndt at a session of the Council of Wisconsin Territory, was conspicuous in this battle; but the decisive charge was made by Major Campbell with a piece of the frame of a grindstone, with which he felled Irishmen as if it were a good knight's battle-ax.
By the fall of 1828 Platteville had about 150 inhabitants, but only five or six families. Two deaths occurred in Platteville this year : one was of a man from New Orleans, who arrived sick, and the other was of Mr. Jones, the father-in-law of Mr. Vineyard.
Before navigation closed that year mineral fell from $16 to $8 a thousand while provisions rose-flour being $15 a barrel, sugar five pounds and coffee three pounds for a dollar. The Finney Patch was discovered that year by the Clarks. They were prospecting one Sun- day and sat down to rest at the forks of an Indian trail. One of them carelessly struck his pick into the ground and on raising it he turned up "float," which was soon traced to the crevice. They sold the dis- covery to Finney & Williams, who raised, as is estimated, 1,300,000 pounds on the patch. Metcalf made another discovery thus : He found in a ravine bits of ore turned up by the hoof of an ox that had slipped on the muddy ground. This "float" he traced to a lode which he sold to Jonathan Meeker, a smelter of Galena. It produced half a million pounds of ore. It was called the Meeker Diggings. In the winter of 1828 Finney & Cresswell discovered a lode which they sold to MeClin- tock. It was called the Mcclintock Range and produced 700,000 pounds of ore. The same winter Dr. Davidson struck a streak on the Finney Patch that yielded 97,000 pounds.
Besides those already mentioned, Samuel Kirkpatrick, A. L. Orden, Alexander Willard, A. and W. Daugherty, B. B. Lawless, John Well- maker, Walter Rowen, William Morrison, Joseph Bremmer, M. M. Woodbridge, Jesse Harrison, Benjamin James, Frederick Reamer, Isaac Yocum, Thomas Densen, Israel Mitchell, William B. Vineyard, Clark Brothers, Dr. William Davidson, Isaac Hodges (afterward a prominent business man), David Seeley, and Farnam Johnson were among the inhabitants of Platteville in 1828. F. W. Kirkpatrick came in 1827.
The winter of 1828-29 was mild and open and work could be pros-
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nace nearer than Galena, and the ore was piled up near the mine to await the building of a furnace. It is said that they took out $30,000 worth in a year. William Ruby and John McWilliams came with Mr. Rountree and remained through the winter. As soon as the opening of spring would allow the work to be done, Rountree & Campbell be- gan the erection of a log furnace, which they completed in about two months. It was located about half way between Rountree's residence and Virgin's mill of later times. They also built a large double log cabin as a residence for themselves and the miners employed by them. It was only one story, but the loft between the ceiling and roof fur- nished a sleeping-place for several men.
The first white women to live in Platteville were Mrs. Metcalf and her daughter, Mrs. Lewis. The next one was the wife of Frederick Hollman, who came in the spring of 1828, with four children. James R. Vineyard came with them. Mrs. Hollman became the landlady of Rountree & Campbell's big log house. The same spring Mr. Jones and his wife and three grown daughters settled in the new settlement.
In March Mr. Rountree opened a store, the first and probably for a considerable time the only one in the present limits of the county. The goods were brought from St. Louis via Galena. The store was in a log cabin near Mr. Rountree's atter residence.
In the fall of 1828 Jacob Hooser came to Platteville and was em- ployed by Mr. Rountree to burn some charcoal. He was a blacksmith and found plenty of work for a time.
On August 7, 1828, Mr. Rountree was married in Galena to Miss Mary Mitchell and brought his bride to his new residence. The first marriage in the new settlement occurred August 20, 1828. James R. Vineyard, afterward a prominent citizen, was married to Miss Mary Jones, one of the three young ladies previously mentioned. The cere- mony was performed by an itinerant preacher named Campbell.
Of course, all this time the new settlement had a name, but it was not at first Platteville. In the fall of 1827 it was called Platte River; in the spring of 1828. the name was changed to Lebanon; and again in a few months to Platteville. It has been supposed that the place was named for Alonzo Platt, a prominent citizen who came to the settle- ment in 1828; but this is doubtful, as Platte River was so named be- fore his arrival.
The first election within the limits of the present county was held at Platteville on the first Monday in August, 1828. The vote was for
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the State officers of Illinois, it being supposed that Platteville was in that State. There was a great fight between the Irishmen who came up from Irish Hollow and the "Suckers." James R. Vineyard, who killed his fellow-legislator Arndt at a session of the Council of Wisconsin Territory, was conspicuous in this battle; but the decisive charge was made by Major Campbell with a piece of the frame of a grindstone, with which he felled Irishmen as if it were a good knight's battle-ax.
By the fall of 1828 Platteville had about 150 inhabitants, but only five or six families. Two deaths occurred in Platteville this year : one was of a man from New Orleans, who arrived sick, and the other was of Mr. Jones, the father-in-law of Mr. Vineyard.
Before navigation closed that year mineral fell from $16 to $8 a thousand while provisions rose-flour being $15 a barrel, sugar five pounds and coffee three pounds for a dollar. The Finney Patch was discovered that year by the Clarks. They were prospecting one Sun- day and sat down to rest at the forks of an Indian trail. One of them carelessly struck his pick into the ground and on raising it he turned up "float," which was soon traced to the crevice. They sold the dis- covery to Finney & Williams, who raised, as is estimated, 1,300,000 pounds on the patch. Metcalf made another discovery thus : He found in a ravine bits of ore turned up by the hoof of an ox that had slipped on the muddy ground. This "float" he traced to a lode which he sold to Jonathan Meeker, a smelter of Galena. It produced half a million pounds of ore. It was called the Meeker Diggings. In the winter of 1828 Finney & Cresswell discovered a lode which they sold to McClin- tock. It was called the Mcclintock Range and produced 700,000 pounds of ore. The same winter Dr. Davidson struck a streak on the Finney Patch that yielded 97,000 pounds.
Besides those already mentioned, Samuel Kirkpatrick, A. L. Orden, Alexander Willard, A. and W. Daugherty, B. B. Lawless, John Well- maker, Walter Rowen, William Morrison, Joseph Bremmer, M. M. Woodbridge, Jesse Harrison, Benjamin James, Frederick Reamer, Isaac Yocum, Thomas Densen, Israel Mitchell, William B. Vineyard, Clark Brothers, Dr. William Davidson, Isaac Hodges (afterward a prominent business man), David Seeley, and Farnam Johnson were among the inhabitants of Platteville in 1828. F. W. Kirkpatrick came in 1827.
The winter of 1828-29 was mild and open and work could be pros-
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ecuted above ground as well as below. Early in the spring of -1829 Pierre Teller came in and settled with his family two miles southwest of the present city. William Richards and his family and brother Daniel settled near Teller. Thomas Hugill, Ebenezer M. Orn, Thomas Cruson, Benjamin Good, and Benjamin Green were among the new comers to the settlement in 1829. Since the brief " Winnebago Fuss" of 1827, fear of Indians had passed away, and the Winnebago hunters wandered about the settlement without exciting any alarm. In 1829 a miner named Meredith, mining a few miles southwest of Platteville, received fatal injuries in a fight and a third grave was added to the new cemetery of the nascent city. This same year 1829 the first post- office in the limits of the present county was established at Platteville, with Mr. Rountree as postmaster. Whether the place was still sup- posed to be in Illinois cannot now be ascertained. Mr. Rountree was soon after appointed justice of the peace, and in fact, became a sort of Pooh-Bah for the young frontier .community.
The same year Scott Kirkpatrick planted a field of corn near the settlement-the second farm in the township.
In 1830 occurred the first birth in the new settlement, a daughter to Mr. and Mrs. J. R. Vineyard. The girl grew up in Platteville, was married in 1857, and went to California with her gold-hunter husband.
THE BLACK HAWK WAR.
In the spring of 1832 the inhabitants of the little frontier settle- ment were thrown into consternation by the news of the approach of Black Hawk and his band of Sauks. A company was hastily raised in Platteville and vicinity. A roster of this company will be found on page 267, Part III. A stockade and blockhouse were erected in Platteville. The stockade was about a hundred feet in diameter and the blockhouse, made of logs, was about twenty feet square. It was situated near where the Gates House now stands. Another block- house was built on Blockhouse Branch, on the farm of Ebenezer M. Orn, the one planted by Joseph Dixon in 1828. The Sauks, however, did not come very near Platteville and the war and its attendant alarms were soon over.
The tide of immigration that set into the Lead Region immediately after the Black Hawk War does not seem to have reached Platteville for a considerable time, for there is no record of more than two new comers to the place from 1829 to 1834. One was Dr. John Bevans, who came in 1832, and the other Sylvester Gridley, who came in 1831
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and in 1832 struck a lode which he sold to James R. Vineyard, and was afterward known as the famous "Vineyard Lead,' and produced two million pounds of ore. In the same year Teller & Richards dis- covered a lead that yielded a million pounds before it was worked out.
The year 1834 opened a new era of prosperity for Platteville. Among the new comers that year were William Long, Samuel Moore, (afterward a prominent business man), Irvin O'Hara, Wm. Martin. John Wiley, Henry Snowdon, Richard Waller, Robert Chapman, Benja- min Farmer, Miles Vineyard, Richard Bonson, Robert Bonson, Samuel Huntington, Richard Huntington, and Lorenzo Bevans. In October the lands west of the Fourth Principal Meridian were put upon the market, the land office being at Mineral Point, and the settlers of Platteville had an opportunity to buy the lands on which they had located. They do not appear to have been troubled with speculators.
THE FIRST SCHOOL-HOUSE AND CHURCH.
In the spring of 1834 a log building 18X26 was put up on Section 16 to serve as a church and school-house. In this building was taught the first school in the county, in 1834, by Samuel Huntington. Sam- uel Moore began blacksmithing in Platteville this year.
In 1835 another farm was broken up by Richard Huntington in Section 24, and one by Mr. Carpenter in Section 12. Among the new- comers this year were Edward Estabrook, James T. Murphy, Edward Hugill, Thomas Rowe, David Crockett, Robert Meyers, Jos. Chalders, J. W. Woodcock, W. W. Barstow, Thomas Lewis, James Bonson, George Snowdon, Neely Gray (afterward member of the territorial leg- islature), Abner Coates, William Blundell, N. D. French, and Dr. A. R. Locey and his sister.
The village of Platteville was laid off in 1835 by Mr. Rountree. That year Rountree's frame store building was erected on the site on which his brick store stood at a later date, the frame building having been burned. It was the first frame house in Platteville and the first building to be burned. The lumber was brought from Stewart Mc- Kee's sawmill on the Little Platte.
In 1835 Mr. Rountree put up the building afterward known as the Adamns Tavern, tor a hotel, which was kept by William Blundell till June, 1837, when Ezra Adams bought it. The first house on Second Street, which afterward became the most populous street in town, was a small log cabin which, during the forties, constituted the bar of the Platteville House. It was built in 1835 by N. D. French as
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a "grocery." Most of the buildings at that date were along the road running from Rountree's residence to his furnace. The rest of the town site was mostly a thicket of hazel brush. There were still few families in the place; most of the population were "old bach " miners.
The second person to be killed in the neighborhood was a boy, the adopted son of Benjamin Good, living two miles northeast of the vil- lage. The boy, in the summer of 1835, was out hunting cattle when he met another boy and a quarrel and fight ensued, in which young Good received injuries which resulted fatally. The young homicide was arrested and put in jail at Mineral Point; but he escaped by slip- ping past his keeper one day, and, as he afterward stated, hiding in a "sucker hole" till night, when he made his escape into Illinois and was never retaken.
In 1836 there were quite a number of new comers, among them John (afterward Rev.) Reynard, Leonard Coates, W. S. Coates, Thos. Cheseboro, Noah H. Virgin, S. O. Paine, James Durley, Wm. Robinson, and N. W. Kendall:
A formal celebration of the Fourth of July that year was held in a grove near the village. S. O. Paine and Lorenzo Bevans made speeches; toasts were given; the Declaration was read, and then the crowd feasted on a barbecued ox and other refreshments, solid and liquid. Some of the "boys" took in a disproportionate quantity of the liquid, and as a result jumped upon the festal board and danced a jig, much to the detriment of the dishes and remaining refreshments.
James-Durley discovered a "lead" this year. Mr. Rountree com- pleted the building of a sawmill this summer. By the beginning of 1837 there were about twenty families in the village and an unknown number of single miners, many of them transient. There were two stores, one kept by James Mitchell and Robert Bell, and the other by Mr. Rountree. In the summer of 1837 a Methodist church was built on Main Street in the village. A regular school had been established in 1836. In 1837 two partners, Nelson and Fortune, discovered a lode afterward known as the "O'Hara Lead." It promised little at first and Fortune sold his share to Nelson for a watch and thought he was doing well. Nelson sold to O'Hara for $800. The lode produced a million pounds of ore at a very small expense
The memorable panic of 1837 affected Platteville only remotely, the effect being principally felt in the low price of lead.
Among the new comers in 1837 were Elijah Bayley, John Orr,
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David Mayfield, and Robert Neely. Samuel Mitchell came this year and opened a farm on Section 15. Hanmer Robbins also came this year. This afterward prominent business man and legislator walked more than half way from New York to Platteville. John Huntington, came this year and opened the farm where he resided for more than sixty years.
Benjamin and Sanford Farmer opened a "grocery " on the corner of Main and Third Streets; Sylvester Gridley put up a store and resi- dence on the site long afterward occupied by Isaac Hodges's bank.
In 1838 the new comers to the village were Milton Bevans, Peter Bell, Bennett Atwood, Wm. C. Smith, David Kendall, Wm. McDon- ald, Ezra Hall, Washington Farmer, John Dickerson, Thomas Chap- man, Robert Snowdon, and, among others, Rev. A. M. Dixon, who became prominent as an educator. If there were any improvements in the village they have escaped remembrance. or record. Dr. John Bevans, who had left Platteville and lived three years in Mineral Point, returned and resumed practice in Platteville in 1838 or 1839. N. W. Kendall opened a store on Grocery Street and John Robinson settled on a farm near the village in 1838.
In 1839 the new comers whose names are recorded or remembered were Edmund Bell, Cyrus K. Lord, Isaac Lord, James Adams, and William Holloway. The first newspaper in Grant County, the North- ern Badger, was started in Platteville this year. An extended account of it will be found in the next chapter. That year Wiram Knowlton came from Prairie du Chien and settled in Platteville as a lawyer. He appears to have been the first to make a business of legal practice. S. O. Paine and C. K. Lord had settled in the place; but there appears to have been little call for legal advice by the primitive settlers. In the same year came Ben C. Eastman, also a lawyer, and later a member of Congress. In 1840 Lorenzo Bevans and George W. Lakin put their cards in the Badger as attorneys. James M. Goodhue came in 1842 and practised law in Platteville until January 1, 1844, when he went to Lancaster. Thus the village became all at once bountifully supplied with attorneys, after doing without for twelve years. But there was also less honesty. In earlier days mineral was left piled up at the mines for months and never stolen ; coats, picks, gads, drills, etc., could be left any place overnight in safety; but by 1840 this golden age was passing and before many years it had passed, and larceny became common.
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The physicians of this period were Drs. John Bevans, Joseph Basye, and J. S. Russell, all allopathists, and Dr. J. C. Campbell, eclectic. Dr. Russell died in 1857 and Dr. Basye in 1877. The developments in schools and churches will be described under those heads in the next chapter.
Among the new comers of 1840 were Timothy F. Barr, Jacob B. Penn, Robert Bell, Jacob W. Bass, James Bass, O. A. Boynton, David Gardner, and Henry C. Lane. The last set up a blacksmith shop in a log building on the site of Hendershot's store and built a frame house, part of which is still standing in the rear of Hendershot's store.
The merchants of the place in 1840 were O'Hara & Hopper, Gro- cery Street near Main ; J. W. & S. Bass, Mineral Street opposite the park ; Sylvester Gridley, David & N. W. Kendall, French & Baker, and L. W. Link, all on Grocery Street. There were three hotels, kept by Ezra Adams, John Bevans, and French & Milton. There were four fur- naces : those of O'Hara & Hopper, David Seeley, the Vineyards, and Carson & Morrison. The justices of the peace were James Durley, C. K. Lord, and Hugh R. Colter. Durley had been justice for three years. Alex. C. Inman was constable and had been for two or three years.
Among the residents of Platteville at that time was the since fam- ous Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth, whose husband (a relative of J. H. Rountree's second wife) was a tinner residing on Second Street. He had been rather "shiftless," but invented and patented a lamp from which he made considerable money, and abandoned his wife. She took to writing novels and succeeded, removing in a short time to New York, while the husband lived in California. Her tale, The De- serted Wife, is a sort of autobiography. She afterward lived and died in Georgetown, a suburb of Washington, D. C. She once told the ed- itor that the short time she spent in Platteville was the most wretched part of her life. Her husband, learning that she had become famous and wealthy, hastened to New York to effect a reconciliation; but she wanted no more of him.
The village of Platteville was incorporated by act of the legisla- ture approved February 19, 1841. The plat included all of Section 15, Town 3, Range 1 west. In the original survey in 1835 only nine- teen lots were laid out.
Elijah Bayley opened a store on Second Street in May, 1841; a few weeks later Isaac Hodges opened another store on the same street.
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Samuel & James Moore opened a store in 1841, in a frame building later known as "The Hole in the Wall."
The first fire occurred in the village on the night of January 29, 1843. John H. Nichols had recently opened a store in the frame building built by Rountree in 1835. George R. Laughton was keeping the store for Nichols, sleeping in the building, and barely made his es- cape when he was aroused by the flames. The circumstances pointed to incendiarism, and such was the excitement that the event created that a public meeting was held to adopt resolutions to express the indignation of the citizens at the supposed crime.
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