History of Grant County Wisconsin, including its civil, political, geological, mineralogical archaeological and military history, Part 52

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 52

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).

Christ Church .- Episcopal services were held in Hazel Green as early as 1856, but the mission was formally established in 1875, in re- sponse to the appeal of Dr. Kirby Kittoe, a pioneer of the place. The mission was of short duration. Dr. Kittoe removed to Darlington and no services were held from March. 1876, until June, 1878, when services were resumed by Rev. George H. Drewe, in Crawford Hall and the German Presbyterian church. In October, 1878, a building previously occupied as a bowling-alley was purchased and fitted up as a place of worship. In 1880 the congregation built a frame church 24×40, well-finished, at a cost of $800. Since then it has had the fol- lowing rectors: Revs. Steele, Knowlton, Green, H. W. Perkins, W. B. Magnan, D. Sutton and Octavius Edgelow.

The Primitive Methodist Church .- This congregation separated from the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1861. The seceding members were Thomas, Samuel, Christopher, and Robert Andrews, John Cox, John Martin, George Broderick, William Berryman, Peter Trewartha, Andrew Pierce, Joseph John, James T. Taylor, James Johns, Thomas Stillman, Richard Tregonning, and a few others. The new society bought a building put up by the Christian sect, which they occupied until it was destroyed by the cyclone of 1876. Another building 30X45 was erected on the old site at a cost of $1,500. Rev. Henry Lees was the first pastor and he was followed by Revs. Charles Daw- son, Joseph Hewitt, James Alderson, Jasper P. Sparrow, John Hern- don, John Johns, W. J. C. Bond, J. Harrington, and Thomas Jarvis.

The Methodist Episcopal Church .- The society was organized in 1845. Services were held in the schoolhouse until 1849, when a church building was erected at a cost of about $1,500. In 1856 the auditor- ium of this church was enlarged by an addition, making the building 30x66, with a seating capacity of 350. . The records of the church were lost in the cyclone of 1876. Following is an imperfect roll of the pas- tors since 1853: A. C. Hender, Wm. Summersides, Enoch Tasker, J.

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L. Williams, P. S. Mather, M. Dinsdale, John Knibbs, A. W. Cummings, Wm. Sturgis, P. E. Knox, W. Hall, J. Lawson, A. J. Davis, S. S. Ben- edict, James Harris, C. Cook, Richard Pengilly, D. M. Sinclair.

The German Presbyterian Church .- This society was organized in 1852. Services were held in the school-house at the lowerend of town until 1854, when the society built a church east of the Episcopal church at a cost of $500. Rev. John Bently preached the dedicatory sermon. The building is a frame 24x36.

The church has had the following pastors: Revs. John Bently, James Renakers, Jacob J. Schwartz, John Van Derloss, Bernard Van Derloss, Gottfried Moer, John Levier, Jacob Stark, Joseph Steinhardt, Mitchell Biddle, and Joseph Weittenberger.

SECRET SOCIETIES.

Sinsinawa Lodge, No. 16, I. O. O. F .- This lodge was chartered May 4, 1847, with the following members : N. Hennip, Wm. Brunt, E. W. Prentiss, G. E. Skinner, Charles G. Goff, W. H. Suttle, and Sylvan- us Jessup. The meetings were held in an upper room of "the Rock Store," until that building was destroyed by the cyclone of 1876. After that in conjunction with the Masons they purchased the Crosby store and fitted it up as a lodge-room The present officers are: J. C. Blair, N. G .; J. H. Wills, V. G .; J. H. Cox, Sec .; W. D. Jones, Treas.

Hazel Green Lodge, No. 46, A. F. & A. M .- The dispensation for this lodge was granted December 1, 1852. The first officers were P. H. Sain, W. N .; L. D. Phillips, S. W .; James Armiston, J. W .; T. W. Nash, Treasurer; John O'Connor, Secretary ; B. Wilcox, Wm. Dinwid- die, and D. Stiles, charter members. The lodge met in "the Rock Store" until it was destroyed, and then in a hall fitted up in conjunc- tion with the Odd Fellows, as before stated. The present officers are : Wm. Thomas, W. M .; J. C. Blair, S. W .; W. J. Andrews, J. W .; C. M. Andrews, Treas .; J. H. Cox, Sec .; John Oates, Trustee.

Hazelwood Camp, No. 2734, M. W. A .- This camp has the follow- ing officers : William Andrews, V. C .; Walter Pearce, W. A .; J. C. Blair, Banker; F. G. Pearce, Clerk ; M. W. Glassen, Escort; J C. Blair, Phy- sician; John H. Hillary, Watchman; John Kohl, Sentry ; Thomas Tre- ganza, Manager three years.

Rechabite Lodge, No. 53, I. O. G. T .- This was for many years a flourishing and successful temperance organization. It was organized October 10, 1860, with the following officers: W. C. T., D. Purman;

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W. V. T., Miss Lizzie Shilliam ; W. R. S., M. J. Skinner; W. F. S., F. A. Thompson; W. T., Mrs. Frances Schabacker; W. Chaplain, F. C. Frebil; W. M., John R. Ralph.

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES.

The following biographical notes on some of the pioneers of Hazel Green were read by James A. Jones at a meeting of the Old Settlers' Association :

"Jefferson Crawford was a native of Pennsylvania and a miner and smelter in Hazel Green. He was a man of strong and marked character, with a keen and close discrimination of character and a strong sense of right and wrong; social in his habits and hospitable in his nature; independent and self-reliant .; calm, cool, and dispassion- ate, yet not indifferent. He was an excellent story-teller and a prac- tical joker, with a sarcasm so keen that his best friends would hope he might not turn the edge of his jokes in their direction. He was a friend to the poor, a standby in trouble, and a model in generosity.

"John Edwards, a native of Cornwall, England, was also a resi- dent of Hazel Green. At the time of my arrival he was probably the wealthiest man in the couuty and was engaged in mining and smelt- ing. He had an iron constitution and an energy equal to his strength; with a strong will, he was stable in his purposes. He conducted an immense business, keeping his own books and never making a mistake.

"Louis Rood, a native of Vermont, was engaged in merchandis- ing, mining and farming. He was a resident of the southern part of the county for many years, when he removed to Monroe, where he died a few months ago, leaving a large estate. He was emphatically a public-spirited man, foremost in the aid of every measure of progress. Louis Rood was a man of firm and fixed principles, a friend to the poor and needy, and one of the best of neighbors. Long-headed and a shrewd calculator, he was gifted with more ability than was accorded to him by those not not intimately acquainted with him.

"Ezra Dorman and his son Dorlin B. Dorman, natives of Vermont, were merchants of Hazel Green. The father was about sixty years of age, yet about as full of energy as most men of twenty-five. Their honesty was proverbial. By strict attention to business they acquired a fortune and went to St. Anthony, Minnesota, to engage in banking. Many a poor family in the seeming hour of despair were quietly sup- plied by the Dormans with the necessaries of life, and others were en- couraged when the world looked dark and foreboding.

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HAZEL GREEN.

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"Captain Charles McCoy, a native of Scotland, also lived in Hazel Green and was probably one of the oldest citizens of Grant County. He was the owner of a large tract of mineral land. Up to an advanced age he remained a bachelor, but he finally married a ruddy young widow and seemingly lived happily, but died without issue. Although he was the possessor of a large estate, his income was so meager and uncertain that few men were more sorely pressed for ready money, yet no man in want ever appealed in vain to Captain McCoy, except when his own pocket was empty and he failed to borrow from others to meet the demand."

Hazel Green is noted as once the residence of the noted poet and geologist Percival, and his burial place. A sketch of Percival has been given in Part I. His grave was long neglected, but at last by the efforts of some of his admirers means was furnished to provide a modest granite shaft, which was set up in the Hazel Green cemetery a few years ago. It bears this inscription :

"James Gates Percival Born in Berlin, Connecticut September 15, 1775 Graduated at Yale College B A 1815 M D 1820 State Geologist of Wisconsin 1854 1856 Died in Hazel Green May 2, 1856 Eminent as a Poet Rarely accomplished as a Linguist Learned and acute in Science A man without guile."

One of the historical manufacturing plants of the township is Lightcap's mill, two miles west of the village. The building was be- gun in 1847 and completed in 1848 at a cost of $11,000. It is a stone building 32x54, four stories high, with an addition 18x40 one story high. It had three runs of stones. Like most other mills of the county, its business has disappeared.

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HISTORY OF GRANT COUNTY.

The first postmaster of the place, Jefferson Crawford, was suc- ceeded by Allen Preston, Dr. Mills, James A. Jones, J. M. Chandler, and then Jefferson Crawford again, who, at his death, was succeeded by his son Jefferson, who held the office until 1866, when Josiah Thomas came in and held the office until it became the football of partisan po- litical changes.

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CHAPTER VII.

BEETOWN.

Origin, Growth, and Decline of Beetown-The Cholera-The Flood -Town Officers-Schools, Churches, and Societies-The De Lasseaux Murder-Other Killings and Casu- alties-Slabtown.

ORIGIN, GROWTH, AND DECLINE OF BEETOWN.

This place became a mining settlement the same year as Platte- ville. In the early part of 1827 Cyrus Alexander, Thomas Crocker, James Meredith, and Curtis Caldwell found mineral in the cavity made by the overturning of a bee-tree On digging a little they found a nugget weighing 425 pounds. The lode thus discovered was called the "Bee Lead," and thus originated the name of the town. Tom Segar and Ben Stout came in and went to mining that spring. The "Winnebago Fuss" soon came on and the miners deserted the place.

In the fall of 1827 Henry C. Bushnell and his newly married wife settled at Beetown, and built a log cabin at the mouth of the little valley where the Cassville road leaves the Prairie du Chien road. A short distance from his house Bushnell built a log blacksmith shop which is or was recently standing.

In 1828 Guy Hackett (for whom Hackett Creek is named) built a furnace at Muscalunge about two miles west of Beetown Hollow, and also a double log cabin. He soon "went broke" and returned to Illinois. The same year Arthur L. Johnson built a log furnace in Bee- town Hollow and opened a store there. That year the first white child was born in the county-Dorothy J. Bushnell, daughter of Henry C. Bushnell and his wife. The Bushnells soon afterward removed to what is now Lancaster. The same year Solomon Arthur and his wife came in from Vermont and settled, he building a log cabin in which they lived-he till his death in 1846, and she five years longer. For five years Mrs. Arthur was the only white woman in Beetown, and she said she often had to live on parched corn, and often spent nights alone when her husband was absent. It is said that during the Indian

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troubles of 1831 and 1832 she spent some nights on a large rock on the neighboring bluff, fearing the Indians would come to the house and find her there.

In the fall of 1828 James Walsh came in and set up a blacksmith shop. Other comers that year were Capt. Robert Reed, Dr Hill, Robert Dougherty, Snyder and Fuller. Most of them left in the fall. Orris McCartney came in the spring but left in the fall and settled near Cassville on a farm.

Very few persons came in and fewer remained until after the Black Hawk War. The Arthurs had the place nearly all to themselves, hold- ing their ground even during the war. Arthur had a fort of his own- a drift in the hillside, from which he could have "stood off" many In- dians; but none came. After the war settlers began to come in. James Prideaux and his wife came in 1834, and soon afterward Matthew Edwards and his wife came in. Mr. Prideaux, although re- cently from England, was already a patriotic American, and gave a Fourth of July dinner in 1835, at which the Edwardses and most of the other guests were also English. Mr. Edwards opened a hotel and a store, The "Bee Town House," with a rude picture of a straw bee- hive on its swinging sign, was long a landmark in the old place.

In 1837 Edward Sprague settled on the edge of the prairie near the head of Beetown Hollow. The same year George (called Jody) and James Barmingham came in. The latter died of cholera (as did Matthew Edwards in 1850), and the former lived there a long time and finally went to Minnesota, where he died in 1887. In 1839 John Woodhouse, with several sons grown or nearly so, came to Beetown from Potosi. The same year James L. Woodruff settled there and went to mining. He was afterward a prosperous farmer. In 1839 the comers were Gideon Guire, the Perrin family. Franklin Haven, Jos- eph Norris, Fred A. Sprague, Michael Burns, John B. Turley; in 1840 the Garner family. The same year Hiram Hudson came from Pennsyl- vania and settled on his farm three miles north of the village, where his old red farm-house on the high divide was long a landmark. He lived to a good old age, while his widow survived him until 1892, when she died at the age of 91.

In 1840 the first school was taught by Edward Walker in a cabin near the old Arthur cabin. In 1843 William B. Brown and Samuel Alex (called Little Alex) opened stores. A post office was established this year with Samuel Varden as postmaster. He was soon succeeded

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by Samuel Alex. De Lassaulx (or De Lasseaux) built, this year, a bet- ter furnace than Beetown had previously had. The Galena Gazette of this year says : "Beetown embraces 880 acres of mineral reserve lands, 760 acres of which have been leased to ten individuals and firms as follows: Arthur St. John, 160; Brewer, 80; Days, 160; Shebles, 80; Dudley, 40; Bushnell, 80; Edwards, 80; Bonham, 80." About that time there was quite an effort to have the place called Edwardsville, but the shorter, more descriptive, euphonious, and distinctive name was preserved.

Among the new comers about this time were. Ben. M. Coates, Horace Catlin, A. R. Pond, Jeremiah Spencer, Cyreno and Goodpel Lamson, William Holford, and Lyman, Anderson, and Addison Benson.

In 1844 the six Barrs (three brothers, Frank, Cyrus, and Timothy, and their three cousins, James, Matthew, and Ira) came to Beetown. Some of them opened stores, and Cyrus taught school. Timothy Barr was the postmaster in 1847 and Frank in the early fifties.

Frank Barr, in an article in the Teller, gives his reminiscences of Beetown in 1844 as follows :

"In May, 1844, myself and two companions undertook to go from what was then called Snake Hollow to Bee Hollow, or Edwards- ville, now Beetown. In the woods seven or eight miles from Snake Hollow the road forked. Two guideboards, well executed by some skillful artist, probably Wilson, were nailed to a large oak tree and pointed in different directions. One said so many miles to Nip & Tuck and the other had a large hand and very long finger pointing in the opposite direction, and below it the picture of a large snake, coiled, the head elevated, mouth open, eyes gleaming like those of a demon, and apparently ready to strike. Near the hand and above the snake was: '71/2 m. to -. ' There were several bullet holes through the board, as though hunters had been shooting at the snake's head, which they had generally missed. We crossed Grant River a mile or so above where the Wilcox bridge is now located. Near Bee Hollow a young man was tending windlass. We talked with him a while, and he talked freely and wildly, saying that he had worked quite a while without luck until recently ; that he then had what he considered a good prospect, but others were attempting to jump his diggings and he expected trouble. That young man was Mr. Brewer, who was ex- ecuted in less than two years for the murder of De Lasseaux, the Bee-

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town smelter. The afternoon of the first day at Beetown was quite wet. Soon after noon two gamblers from Dubuque arrived upon In- dian ponies. They informed the landlord that they desired to open a bank and have a little game. I had noticed in one corner of the room a large tin horn some six or seven feet long, but I could not conceive what it was for. But presently some one thrust it through a window where a pane of glass had been broken, and blew a terrific blast which reverberated among the bluffs. The miners understood that wild bu- gle note as well as did the followers of Roderick Dhu the call of their chieftain, for presently they were coming from every direction, gener- ally on the run. No umbrellas nor rubber overcoats, but nearly every man had a shot-sack in his hand, containing Mexican dollars or French five-franc pieces. The room was soon filled and a table placed near the middle. The miners who desired to participate and could get near the table generally counted out a few Mexican dollars or five-franc pieces and placed them upon the edge of the table, and then the game began. It was new to me. Nothing but hard money was used. The game ran all night. They occasionally indulged in a fight, but no serious damage was done-nothing to show for it in the morning except a few black eyes and sore fingers. I was informed that by about one o'clock the gamblers had most of the money, but the miners chipped in and borrowed of each other and continued the contest till morning, and recovered most of the money lost in the fore part of the night.

"There was only one hotel in Beetown then, and that had the sign of a Scotch [straw] beehive, painted by Wilson. Twelve or fifteen persons were boarding there. We all slept in one huge chamber. Most of us, wrapped in Mackinaw blankets or buffalo robes, slept on the floor. The room below was a sort of store, where a few groceries, overalls, cider, whisky, and playing cards were sold, and it was fre- quently occupied all night for gambling purposes. When one of the miners or gamblers got "broke," he usually took a tallow candle and went up stairs and peered into the faces of the sleepers to see if he could find a friend who would loan him a sovereign or two, or a few five-franc pieces as a stake, so that he could renew the contest. This was often done four or five times in a night.

"The best dressed and most courteous person at that hotel was Samuel Varden, who usually acted as 'figure-head', as they called it- that is, sat at the head of the table and did the carving. He also acted as assistant postmaster. I think the mail came from Galena

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about once or twice a week, and frequently brought fifteen or twenty letters and almost as many newspapers. The letters were usually carried in the postmaster's hat, and the papers were put upon the counter of a small store where each individual would help himself. Our wash-place was a spring branch that crossed the street just below the hotel, where every morning we ranged ourselves on either side, and without washbowl, soap, or towels, performed our ablutions by scooping up the water in our hands, washing our faces as well as we could, and wiping them on our pocket handkerchiefs, if we happened to have any ; if not, upon our shirt-sleeves. There was no milk to put in the coffee, although the landlord had three or four cows running in the street in front of the house. We had good New Orleans sugar, and for the fourteen boarders about half a dozen pewter or block tin teaspoons. Each one took a spoonful of sugar and stirred it into his coffee and passed the spoon to his left-hand neighbor.

"One morning soon after breakfast Mr. Varden appeared on the street, dressed as though to attend a ball or party, with a 'boiled' shirt, as the miners called it, and a 'stove-pipe' hat. He desired me to walk with him up to his diggings. He said they were good, but had been jumped by Brewer and others, and he was determined to have his rights or wade in blood to his knees. Not knowing what might happen, I excused myself, telling him I desired to speak to a friend, and that I should be up in a short time. But before I got started, and after the lapse of only a few minutes, a man resembling Mr. Varden brushed rapidly past me, his 'boiled' shirt, 'stove-pipe' nat, and broadcloth coat terribly demolished and covered with blood; his eyes were nearly closed and his face badly discolored and swollen. He did not stop to ask me what I thought of the fight, or whether I got there in time to witness it, and never referred to the matter after- ward in my presence. He had met Brewer and was badly whipped."

Frank Barr was in early life a printer, a man of fine education and good talents. Neither he nor his brothers ever married, and they died and left him their property. He then, in the sixties, went to Lancas- ter and made it his home. His business was loaning his money and looking after it, and his recreation reading the periodicals and telling reminiscences of his early life. He was a great story-teller and exceed- ingly sarcastic. More than once in the latter part of his life he became insane and once attempted suicide by cutting his throat. He died at Hudson, Michigan, May 3, 1893.

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About 1845 Beetown became very prosperous and many stores were put in, among them those of Gleason & Kirkpatrick, Goodpel Lamson, H. C. Marsh, William Cole, James H. Brown, John B. Turley, Bazelle Rounds, John Welsh, Thomas Crocker, Mr. Phelps, Horace Catlin, and David Stewart, the last being opened in 1847. "Groceries" flourished greatly. In the latter part of the forties the word "saloon" began to come into use and the old "Eagle Saloon" was one of the first to put up such a sign, and a hall of loud revelry and high betting it was for several years.

About 1847 a furnace was built on the creek bottom near the lower school-house by W. O. Schmidt, who had as his principal business man a Swiss named Conradi, called by the Americans " Major Coonroddy." This person came to the lead mines as the clerk of John Flanagan, a government Superintendent of Mines, and was a pompous and not very popular person.

About 1870 a furnace was built by Chris Hutchinson at the mouth of Hull Hollow at the lower end of the village, and run by him until about 1883 and afterward by other persons until about 1890, when such parts of it as were worth moving were moved to Lancaster.

Among the comers in the forties was Adam Jamison, who came from Missouri and put up a good stone dwelling which yet stands. He lived there a great many years, being called "Squire" Jamison. He died in 1882. Thomas Platt came in from Potosi and built the brick house now occupied by John Patterson. He went to California and was killed in a mine in 1852. William Grant and his sons Hiram and James, the latter afterward a prominent citizen, came in 1846. In the latter part of the forties several settlers located on the prairie north of the village along and near the Prairie du Chien road, to make neigh- bors for the old pioneer- Hudson. Among them were Carter Hickok and his married sons Benjamin and John, M. B. Gillis, Dr. John Dodge, William Wright, Joseph Cooper, Mark Hadley, Jesse Wagner, Philan- der Stephens, and Josiah Pratt. Four or five of the then grown and married sons of John Woodhouse (John, Levi, Samuel, and Simon) about this time left the mines and opened farms about five miles north of the village, on and near the Prairie du Chien road. Most of these settlers were from Pennsylvania. Another old pioneer of the place was James Starrett, who came in 1844. He was a great hunter and when other hunters chased a deer and lost it they used to say : "That is Starrett's deer." Other comers in Beetown were several of the Ste-

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phens family, brothers of Philander-Ritner, Heater, Holloway, and lastly, Jesse; also a cousin, Almon P. Out in the hills east of Hackett Creek, Henry Roberts settled in 1848, and, I believe, one or two of his brothers-in-law, the Mileses. James Tindell came to the village in 1846, Jesse Brooks and William Beers in 1849, Robert Hicks in 1852.

Although Beetown had been a flourishing settlement for several years, it was not surveyed and legally laid off as a village until 1848, as it was built on mineral reserve lands to which a title could not be obtained by would-be lot-owners. But in 1848 two hundred acres in Section 30, Town 4, Range 4, having, in pursuance of an act of Con- gress, been entered by the Judge of the District Court of this district in trust for the use of the inhabitants of Beetown, Nelson Dewey, M. K. Young, and Clovis A. Lagrave were appointed commissioners to execute the trust, by causing the land to be surveyed into lots and streets, and to hear and decide upon claims to such lots. The village has never been incorporated.

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History of Grant County Wisconsin, including its civil, political, geological, mineralogical archaeological and military history, Part 52

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

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