USA > Wisconsin > Grant County > History of Grant County Wisconsin, including its civil, political, geological, mineralogical archaeological and military history > Part 47
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Trinity Episcopal Church .- Before 1862 the limited number of Episcopalians in Platteville did not justify the establishment of a parish there and those of that faith worshiped at Lancaster and else- where. In that year Rev. L. C Millette established a mission at Platteville. At that time there were only two adult communicants of that faith in the place : George R. Laughton and Miss Wilhelmina Hooper. For a year or more services were held in the houses of mem- bers; then the Stone School-house was obtained as a meeting-place until the growing congregation was able to build a church. In 1863 Rev. C. H. Rice superseded Mr. Millette and remained until November, 1864. After an interim he was succeeded by Rev. Francis Moore. As early as 1863 attempts were made to raise funds for a church by
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subscription, but not succeeding, Mr. H. Kimball went East and raised the money. In 1865 the building was begun, but it proceeded slowly. A debt of $1,200 prevented the consecration of the church until Eas- ter Sunday of 1867, when money to pay the debt was raised. The building was formally dedicated in August of that year, Right Rev. Wm. E. Armitage preaching the dedicatory sermon. The edifice is of brick, of Gothic style, 40x70 and has a seating capacity of 250. The society has a parsonage which cost $1,800 and other church pro- perty the whole valued at $12,000. The church was soon again left without a rector or regular service until June 24, 1868, when the Rev. S. W. Frisbe took charge of the parish. Since then the church has had regular services. It has had the following rectors since Mr. Frisbe : the Revs. James S. McGowan, from February 23, 1874, to July, 1876 ; Samuel D. Pulford from November 6, 1876 to 1882; 1882-90, Rev. R. B. Whipple; 1891-92-Rev. Charles H. Lemon ; 1892-94-Rev. H. W. Perkins; 1894-Rev. W. B. Magnan; 1895-1900-Rev. Octavius Edgelow.
The Free Methodist Church .- This was at first a part of the. Mount Valley Conference and was organized as a separate charge in June, 1871, by Revs. Louis Bailey and G. C. Coffee. The original members were William Hart and his wife, John Capels, Mrs. Nasmith, Lizzie Capels, and a few others. For about a year services were held in residences and school-houses. In 1872 a frame church was erected on Cedar Street between Hickory and Chestnut Streets. It has a seat- ing capacity of three hundred and cost $1,000. The congregation has grown considerably. The pastors have been Revs. G. C. Coffee, C. E. Harroun, James Scott, John A. Murray, E. Z. Thwing, L. Whitney, D. M. Sinclair, - Travis, W. E. Parks, J. A. Bolton, - Doubleday, - Sutton, J. E. Coleman, George Endicott, John Turgeson, J.Knapp, and J. F. Thomson, the present pastor.
The Church of Christ .- This society was organized in 1847 by Rev. J. P. Lancaster. It was at first composed of Dr. James Campbell and his wife and mother, William Tibboot and his wife, J. W. Smelker and his wife, Messrs. Whitaker and Chatfield and their wives, and L. H. Wannamaker and his wife. Others were added in time. In 1865 the society bought the church building of the German Methodists for $500. Previous to that they held services at the houses 'of the mem- bers. The society has had the following pastors: Revs. J. P. Lancas- ter, Calvin Smith, Mr. Dixon, Charles Levin, John Sweeney, William
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Sweeney, Henry Exley, E. C. Bennett,. C. J. Mortimer, Mr. Searls, Mr. Monroe, and others.
The German Evangelical Church .- Platteville has always had a large German population, and a large proportion of them are Luther- ans. Before they had a church of their own they worshipped at the German Presbyterian church. In 1855 a society was organized con- sisting of A. Groath, H. Martens, Messrs. Johnson, Mehren, Gilbert, Knebs, and others and it employed Rev. S. Fritschel as pastor. Ser- vices were held in the Brick School-house. In 1856 Henry Carl donated two lots on "Dutch Hill." and the erection of a church was begun. It was completed in the spring of 1857, Rev. Grossman, of Iowa, preaching the dedicatory sermon. The building is of brick, 30X 50, with a seating capacity of 150, and it cost $2,800. In the spring of 1857 Rev. Mr. Burk came as pastor. He soon became unpopular by his advocacy of the private confession of sins and the use of an of- fensive form of absolution. Part of the congregation withdrew and employed Rev. C. Starck as pastor. Eight families stood by Mr. Burk and erected a church building for him on the lot opposite the old church. In 1859 a parsonage was built and in 1862 Rev. Dr. Neu- mann became the pastor and continued until 1868 when the society was left without a pastor. Revs. Bartlett and Thiele served short terms and after an interval without a pastor Rev. Reichenbacher came in July, 1870. Again factional troubles ensued and the society united with the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America. The tactional bit- terness was so great that on the night of July 17, 1875, the house of Mr. Reichenbacher was attacked by a mob, all the windows broken, and five shots fired through the door. Rev. Dr. Sveringham, President of the Wartberg Synod, came to Platteville in 1876, reorganized the congregation and procured the appointment as pastor of Rev. J. Sal- inger, who was succeeded in 1880 by Rev. C. Starck, who had before been pastor of the church. He remained until 1884 and was succeeded by Rev. E. O. Giesel, the present pastor. There is a parish school con- nected with the church, with from twenty to thirty pupils.
St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church .- This society was organ- ized April 17, 1876, by Rev. E. Naltz, then Vicar of the Wisconsin Syn- od, who held services in the Stone School-house. Before this date the congregation had formed part of the Lutheran Church of Platteville, but a difference of opinion on certain doctrines arose and many mem- bers seceded. A new society was formed, electing for trustees R. Barz-
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mann, W Goeke, J. H. Weise, A. Besers, A. Beutz, and F. Goeke. Work on a new church was begun in May, 1876. Being a frame house, it was finished the same season and dedicated, the services being by Revs. Ungrest and Stregenmeier. The edifice is on Broad Street, is 36X60, well finished and cost $4,000. In July, 1876, the congregation was incorporated and Rev. L. Jaeger installed as pastor and remained until August, 1878. He has been succeeded by Revs. E. Hoyer, M. Hin- sel, E. John, and E. Reul. The last one has been the pastor for the last three years.
The German Presbyterian Church .- This was organized in 1850 as the German Evangelical Church of Platteville. The original members were: Valentine Fitz and his family, John P. Kolb and his family, Christian Schlegel and his family, Heinrich Landsberg, John Carl, J. J. Brodbeck, Augusta Brodbeck, C. N. Doscher and his family, Maria Brucker, Maria M. Carl, Catherine M. Fert, and others. In 1850 the present church building was erected and John Bantley installed as pas- tor. The following pastors succeeded Mr. Bantley: Revs. Jacob Schwartz, John Van Derlass, John Fechudy, John Grab, Joseph Wit- tenberger, Lucas Abel, August Hilkeman, and W. R. Mundhenke, who came in November, 1899.
The German Methodist Church .- This society was organized in 1848 with Rev. H. Whitthorne pastor. During the next year a frame church building was erected near the corner of Cedar and Second Streets at a cost of $500, the lot having been donated by Major Roun- tree. In 1862 the building was sold to the Christian Church for $500 and a new church built at the corner of Furnace and House Streets, costing $3,300 for the building and $500 for the lot. The original members were John Spink, Rebecca Spink, A. H. Spink, Meta Spink, E. F. Nehls, John F. Nehls, Nicholas Nehls, Henning Nehls, Anna Nehls, Dietrich Boldt, Helena Boldt, Minnie Wellers, Henning Reige, Nicholas Niehaus, and some others. The following have been the pastors: Revs. John Braener, F. Henz, L. Kunz, Henry Voshall, C. Schuler, R. Fregenbaum, John L. Schaefer, F. Rinder, Charles Weinreich, E. Felz- ner, P. Hellweg, F. Fischer, C. Hess, F. Schmidt, J. Schmidt, John C. Miller, Charles H. Priebe, Daniel Pfaff, John F. Steiner, Louis J. Bren- ner, A. M. Brenner, and Gottlob E. Kienle, the present pastor.
SECRET SOCIETIES.
Melody Lodge No. 2, A. F. & A. M .- This is the second lodge of the order established in Wisconsin, and was organized February 15,
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1843, with the following officers : B. F. Kavanaugh, W. M .; Hugh R. Colter, S. W .; W. C. Fillebrown, J. W .; Louis W. Link, Sec .; J. H. Rountree, Treas .; Rufus Spalding, S. D .; John W. Wiley, J. D .; David Rich, Tiler. For nearly a year the lodge worked under a dispensation from the Grand Lodge of Missouri. For a few months meetings were held in the hall of the academy, when a log building built by Samuel Moore was bought and converted into a temple. It stood on the cor- ner of Mineral and Bonson Streets. Early in the year 1846 the grow- ing lodge concluded to build a hall and Samuel Moore, W. G. Spencer, and Joel C. Squires were appointed a building committee, a lot was bought on the corner of Court and Pine Streets, and on June 24, 1846, the corner-stone of the new temple was laid and the building was completed and dedicated the same year. It. was of brick, 24x40. The total cost was $2,200. January 17, 1844, the lodge was reorganized under a charter from the Grand Lodge of Wisconsin. The present of- ficers are: William Marcusson, W. M .; Loren Nye, S. W .; William Snowden, J. W .; A. J. McCarn, Sec .; J. H. Evans, Treas .; O. H. Ben- nett, S. D .; Charles Weittenhiller, J. D .; N. P. Rice, Tiler; Samuel M. Jones and George W. Briggs, Stewards.
Washington Chapter, No. 2, R. A. M .- This chapter was instituted August 14. 1844, under a dispensation from the General Grand Chap- ter of the United States to B. F. Kavanaugh, Moses Meeker, Marcus Wainwright, Ephraim F. Ogden, Thomas C. Legate, William R. Smith, Eleazer Smith, Hugh R. Colter, and Charles Knight. B. F. Kava- naugh was High Priest, Moses Meeker, King, and Marcus Wain- wright, Scribe.
Lily of the Mound Lodge, No. 6, I. O. O. F .- This lodge was insti- tuted January 6, 1846, under a dispensation by the Grand Lodge of the United States, to Edward Symmes, J. L. Marsh, A. M. Holliday, J. W. Basye, H. L. Bevans, and A. S. Bennett. The following were the first officers: J. W. Basye, N. G .; Edward Symmes, V. G .; A. M. Holliday, R. S .; J. L. Marsh, P. S .; I. Hodges, Treas:
On February 1, 1848, a charter was granted by the Grand Lodge of Wisconsin to R. Chapman, N. H. Virgin, R. Milton, John N. Jones, A. M. Holliday, and Noah Hutchens. . The following officers were elected : N. H. Virgin, N. G .; A. M. Holliday, V. G .; J. N. Jones, R. S .; Robert Milton, P. S .; N. Hutchens, Treas. The society remained in the Masonic Hall until 1858, when it fitted up a hall in the third story of Kellogg's building, corner of Main and Pine Streets. The present officers
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are: A. H. Nehls, N. G .; C. Graesser, V. G .; W. J. Funston, R. S .; Jos- eph Shepherd, Prem. S .; C. G. Marshall, Treas .; Charles E. Wright, R. S. to N. G .; Geo. S. Patterson, L. S. to N. G .; M. T. Camp, O. G .; H. C. Hinners, I. G.
The following are the officers of the Rachel Rebekah Lodge: Miss Kate Stein, N. G .; Mrs. L. Vanderbie, V. G .; Mrs. S. W. Traber, R. S .; Miss Hinkins, P. S .; A. A. Stevens, Treas .; W. J. Funston, R. S. to N. G .; Mrs. C. Horstman, L. S. to N. G .; Mrs. Hinkins, Warden; Mrs. Doscher, Conductor; Mrs. Shepherd, R. S. to V. G .; Mrs. Funston, L. S. to V. G .; Jos. Shepherd, O. S .; Mrs. Graeser, I. S .; Miss Hinkins, Organist.
Platteville Encampment, No. 47, I. O. O. F .- Was instituted De- cember 6, 1871, under a dispensation to Patriarchs B. F. Chase, John Grindell, J. L. Nye, Alexander Butler, B. F. Dugdale, Geo. M. Guernsey, S. M. Tracy, and E. M. Wilson. The first officers were: William Grin- dell, C. P .; C. H. Nye, H. P .; F. R. Chase, S. W .; S. M. Tracy, Scribe ; Alexander Butler, Treas.
Badger Lodge, No. 6, A. O. U. W .- This lodge was organized April 16, 1877, with these members: W. H. Beebe, G. D. Streeter, E. R. Friedrich, A. T. Davidson, H. J. Traber, J. H. Parnell, T. J. Hooper, H. H. Virgin, A. F. Bass, J. T. Munger, H. D. Thiele, and G. C. Hendy. The first officers were: H. H. Virgin, P. M. W .; G. D. Streeter, M. W. H. J. Traber, Overseer; J. C. Hooper, Foreman ; H. D. Thiele, Finan- cier; W. H. Beebe, Recorder. The present officers are: Frank C. Budd, P. M. W .; Charles N. Nehls, M. W ; George N. Nicklas, Foreman; Moses Petty, Overseer; Walter H. Hillary, Guide; Chris. H. Horst- man, Financier; Wesley F. Grindell, Receiver; Gustave E. Friedrich, Recorder; C. H. Knapp, I. W .; William F. Lonsberg, O. W.
W. T. Sherman Post, No. 66, G. A. R .- The post was organized in March, 1883, with thirty-one charter members and the following officers: H. J. Traber, Commander; W. H. Beebe, Senior Vice Com- mander; F. Libert, Junior Vice Commander ; H. H. Virgin, Officer of the Day; W. H. Funston, Adjutant; D. McGregor, Chaplain; C. Weitten- heller, Q. M .; M. T. Camp, Officer of the Guard. The present officers are: I. C. Smelker, Post Commander; Dr. E. E. Berry, Senior Vice Commander; Wm. Schneider, Junior Vice Commander ; W. F. Grindell, Chaplain; Dr. Loy, Surgeon; C. H. Wanemaker, O. D .; W. J. Funston, Adjutant; C. G. Doelz, Q. M .; S. W. Traber, Sergt .- M .; S. B. Spencer, Q. M. Sergt .; Wm. Craven, O. G.
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Connected with the post is the W. T. Sherman Women's Relief Corps, No. 75, with the following officers : Anna McGregor, President; Flora McCoy, S. V. Pres .; Maria Traber, J. V. Pres:, Lydia A Wood- ward, Secretary; Rosa Bennett, Treasurer; Oteria Wilson, Chaplain; Mary Snowden, Guard; Jane Petty, Ass't Guard; Nettie Hale, 1st C. B .; Alice Doelz, 2d C. B .; C. Schroder, 3d C. B .; J. Bondurant, 4th C. B .; Jennie Weittenheller, Press Cor.
Platteville Lodge, No. 125, Knights of Pythias .- This lodge was instituted July 23, 1894, with the following officers : B. T. Reed, P. C .; Herman Gasser, C. C .; B. Webster, V. C .; E. E. Burns, P .; T. O. Meltz- er, M. W .; C. H. Schnitzler, K. of R. and S .; M. S. Sickle, M. E. and M. F .; C. C. Grindell, M. A .; C. H. Gribble, I. G .; J. E. Fawcett, O.G. The present officers are : F. S. Knapp, C. C .; George F. Meyer, V. C .; J. W. McCarn, P .; C. A. Loveland, M. W .; F. H. Dugdale, M. E .; R. S. Heer, M. F .; C. H. Schnitzler, K. of R. and S .; M. B. Bishop, M. A .; Louis Thomas, I. G .; James Parish, O. G. The lodge has a commodious hall on Main Street.
THE MAIL.
The first post-office in the county was at Platteville and John H. Rountree was postmaster. His commission, signed . William T. Barry, Postmaster-General," was dated March 10, 1829. Mr. Roun- tree opened the office in a house on grounds on which his lifelong resi- dence was afterward built. No mail route was then established to Platteville, the mail being brought by private hand, when convenient, from Galena. In 1831 a semi-weekly stage route from Galena to Prai- rie du Chien via Platteville was established. Afterward the route was changed to run from Galena to Mineral Point. It was the best service Platteville had for many years. Not until the spring of 1854 could the American boast that Platteville had a tri-weekly mail from Galena by the express of Noah Hutchens. In the fall of 1855 Jud Hurd began competition with Hutchens and put on a daily stage between Galena and Prairie-du Chien and after a while obtained the contract to carry the mail. In 1835 the post-office was removed to Rountree's new store on the corner of Third and Main Streets. In 1838 Rountree was succeeded as postmaster by N. W. Kendall, who kept the office in his store on Grocery Street. About 1841 Sylvester Gridley was ap- pointed postmaster and kept the office in his store on the site of Hodges's bank forty years later. In 1845 Thomas Eastman was ap- pointed and kept the office in a building near where Wright's drug-
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store stands. In 1849 Dr. James Russell came in under Zach Taylor. In 1853 there was another turn in the political wheel and Hopkins Hurlbut came in and removed the office to Rountree's Block on the corner of Main and Bonson Streets. In 1857 John H. Rountree was again appointed and remained in office until 1861, when B. F. Wyne was appointed. For several years he occupied the present site of Bon- durant's confectionery store; in 1879 he removed the office to the cor- ner of Main and Third Streets, where it still remains on the site to which it was taken in 1835.
Willam Elgar held the office for four years from March 1, 1886, when he was relieved by Martin P. Rindlaub, editor of the Witness. Thomas Jenkins, Jr., held the office during Cleveland's second admin- istration and was followed by Benjamin Webster, the present in- cumbent.
THE FIRE DEPARTMENT.
Before the great fire of 1874 the means of fighting fire in Platte- ville was quite primitive. That disaster clearly showed the necessity of better means, and a meeting of the citizens was called to organize a fire department. A committee was appointed to organize a hook and ladder company. Another meeting was held May 18, 1874, at which a company was organized with the following officers: H. J. Traber, foreman; H. H. Virgin and John Grindell, assistants; A. W. Bell, sec- retary ; Thomas Shepherd, treasurer.
The truck was built by Alexander Butler at a cost of $600. It is about twenty-four feet long and completely equipped.
The company now consists of sixty men. W. H. Funston is forc . man and Richard Goodell secretary.
Mound City Engine Company No. 1 .- Ls it was evident that a hook and ladder company alone was not a sufficient defense against fire, in the fall of 1874 an engine company was organized with thirty members and John Grindell foreman. An excellent chemical engine was purchased and an engine-house built. At present the company has sixty-eight members. George Schramm is foreman and C. H. Grib- ble secretary. There are two hose companies made up from the hook and ladder company and the engine company.
A regular fire department was organized in 1874 with Alexander Butler chief, H. J. Traber and H. G. Chase assistants, John Grindell treasurer and W. J. Funston secretary. The present officers are : D. J.
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Gardner, chief; A. W. Hastings, secretary; L. L. Harms, treasurer ; I. C. Smelker and Peter Pitts, fire wardens.
PLATTEVILLE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY.
This society was organized in 1853 with George R. Laughton as president, Thomas Chapman treasurer, and C. C. Clinton secretary. The first fair was held May 20, 1853. For more than twenty years successful fairs were held, but bad weather during several successive fairs bankrupted the society and the mortgage on the grounds was foreclosed. The society was revived and several fairs, most of them only horse fairs, were held, after which the society was dissolved.
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES.
Among the pioneers and prominent men of Platteville Ben C. East- man deserves further notice in this work. . He was born in Strong, Maine, October 21, 1812, and came to Platteville in 1840, having lived in Green Bay during the preceding year. Although quite young, he at once took a prominent place as a lawyer and a politician. He was twice elected to Congress as a Democrat. If we may judge his oratory by his writings which are yet accessible, his style was florid and rather stilted, but for that very fault pleasing and effective with the frontiersmen of the Lead Region. He died February 2, 1857, too soon to leave the lasting mark on the history of the county which his talents promised.
Among the men who have been prominent in Platteville for a gen- eration, although not among the pioneers, is Hon. Jonathan H. Evans. In 1846, at the age of sixteen, he came with his father to Kendall, Lafayette County, and attended the Platteville Academy in 1851-52. In the fall of 1852 he became salesman in the store of Samuel Moore, and in 1864 he became one of the merchants of Platteville. Beginning in 1872, he was for many years a member of the Board of Normal Re- gents and three times President of the Board. He has been prominent in all the public enterprises of Platteville.
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CHAPTER V.
POTOSI.
First Comers-The Jim Crow Murder-Potosi's Growth-Latimer's Duel and Death-Potosi's Canal-The Town's Decline-Town Officers-Village Officers-Murders, Suicides, and Acci- dents-Newspapers-Schools-Churches-Socie- ties-Dutch Hollow-British Hollow- Rockville.
FIRST COMERS.
It is said that mineral was found in 1829 on the hill opposite the present Catholic church, at the foot of a tree which had been blown down, but nothing definite is known about it. In the same year Thomas Hymer built a cabin at the mouth of the hollow near the present railroad station, but did not remain there long. In the spring of 1832 William S. Anderson built a log cabin in the valley. Terrence Coyle had previously built a cabin near where British Hollow now is and lived in it with his wife and three children-one of them a son named Peter, who was afterward somewhat prominent there. In the spring of 1832 a number of miners came to the valley and located a mining camp there. The doings of this party are described by one of them, Hawkins Taylor, in a letter published in the Dubuque |Times in 1879: "A few days before I reached Galena the surveyors in Wis- consin discovered lead on a branch about two miles from the Mis- sissippi River where Potosi is located. The excitement in Galena was then very great over the new discovery and our party, that had got acquainted in the East, started for the discovery at once. Of our party were Sam Druen and Hayden Gilbert. We stopped one night at Gilmore's, near Sinsinawa Mound, and the next day we got to the mines. We made little shanties of logs, generally split, and covered with elm bark, and bunks two stories high. Our bed and covering was a thick Mexican blanket, but what good sound sleep we had! All of us were confident of striking a lead very soon. Each had a tin cup and we had a common coffee pot. Our meat was mess pork. We made our own bread. The huts were scattered for a mile along the branch, generally four men in a hut. There were about sixty miners in camp 89
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and only one quarrelsome man, an Irishman named Maloney, and his spite was against Free Williams, a peaceable man and weakly. In the midst of our happiness news came to us one evening that the Indians had defeated Stillwell on Rock River and were then making their way toward the Mississippi and would most likely pass down the Platte and rob the stores of De Tantebar at his town and Loren Wheeler at Gibraltar, and also take in our camp. Cox, then Sheriff of Grant County [it was Iowa County] had sent a messenger from Mineral Point to give us the warning. Within ten minutes of the time the news reached our camp more than forty miners were at Major Ander- son's camp. He had been an old Indian fighter and with one accord we went to him to be our commander and adviser. I learn that he died recently in Dubuque. There were some fifteen or twenty Irishmen in the camp who had come from Galena in skiffs and a pirogue. They had brought their provisions and tools in this way, and when the alarm was given they naturally went for the vessels, that were in a branch of the river about a mile from the camp. Maloney, the bully, got behind, and the last of the party had got out into the stream be- fore he got there, but he jumped in and was barely saved from drown- ing. Free Williams joined Stephenson's company of dragoons and made a brave soldier. By morning our party had dwindled down to thirteen. We then went to De Tantabar's on the Platte, and a man named Cornwell, a Virginian, and I went down to Wheeler's, who "had a horse and joined the dragoons." Finding that the Indians were in no hurry to come our way, we went back to our diggings. I have no record of the names, but we had with us then Major Ander- son, a man by the name of Hillis, Ham and his nephew, Theiskell, Ten- nesseeans; a man by the name of Cook, from Mississippi; Cornwell, and Nehemiah Dudley, from Vermont. Dudley was the ugliest man, I think, I ever saw, but, notwithstanding the antipathy that was then universal in the Mississippi Valley against Yankees, we all liked Dud- ley. I have never heard of him since I left the Mississippi, but I have often thought of him. We built a blockhouse of large hewn logs and kept a supply of provisions on hand in case of an attack by the In- dians. We mined through the day and slept in our blockhouse at night. It was on the high ground north of the branch, and I under- stood some years ago that there was a Catholic church near by, and that the old shanty I had lived in was standing near the church."
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