History of Grant County, Wisconsin, Part 103

Author: Butterfield, Consul Willshire, 1824-1899
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Chicago : Western Historical Co.
Number of Pages: 1044

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INDIAN TROUBLES.

Early in April, 1832, news reached Platteville that the Indians had commenced hostilities, and were camped on Rock River, near Dixon, preparing for a campaign of extermination against the whites. As all are aware, this was the prelude to the Black Hawk war. Gen. Dodge. made requisitions upon all the settlements for troops, in response to which one company was organ- ized at Platteville by J. H. Rountree, who commanded, composed of the following: George Robison and J. P. Cox, Lieutenants ; J. H. Dixon, Cleland McMurry, Hiram Wells, Thomas Brooks, William Davidson, Irwin O'Hara, Frederick Holman, John Henderson, Allen Carpen-

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ter, James Hopkins, A. Rasdell, William Dean, Charles Lowis, John Van Wagoner, W. H. Farmer, Edward James, Verni Dawson, George Rosamire, Thomas Fitzpatrick, William Car- penter, Missouri Dixon, J. B. Lavine, D. McGaws, B. H. Duncan, John Barns, James Kaney, J. Sturtevant, Thomas Ion, Abram Travis and Daniel McMullen, Privates. This company was mustered into the service, and, after brief halts at Blue Mounds and Mineral Point, participated in the battles of Wisconsin Heights and Bad Ax, after which it was disbanded. For the purpose of more effectually furnishing a defense for those remaining behind, a stockade and block-house was erected. The combination was located on the property of Mr. Roun- tree, diagonally opposite the present site of the Gates House, and abundantly fulfilled its object. The stockade was circular in form, about 100 feet in diameter, and the block-house full twenty feet square. A squad of volunteers, under the command of Capt. Irvin O'Hara, manned its defenses, and defied the " wily foe," which, happily for those who composed it, remained at a distance from the outer walls of the fortress. With the close of hostilities, the people resumed the arts of peace. Swords were turned into plows and picks, and spears into pruning hooks, and through their agency was the attempt once more made to woo and win that fickle dame, called Fortune. The outlook was far from encouraging. When the war opened, as has already been hinted, lead and other products, upon the sale of which the people depended for support, was low, and the necessaries of life correspondingly high. Apprehension of the Indians and bounden fears of the future impelled a number to resign their possessions and citizenship and seek more congenial localities. There was no work of moment begun or concluded this year. The causes of progress and civilization, touched by the hand of an enemy, had shrunk before the advance of war and become the burial places of bright hopes, high ambitions and dead affec- tions, over which bitter disappointments, unyielding griefs and sorrowful memories were erected as monuments. In 1833, but very few, who had left the town, returned, and still fewer came to identify themselves with its success.

FIRST CHURCH AND SCHOOLHOUSE.

In the spring of this or the following vear, a building was erected on Section 16, to be used as a school and church. It was of logs, small and without ornament or finish, but the first in the township or county, and second in the State, especially for school purposes, the buildings at Prairie du Chien and Winnebago having preceded it a few months. The year 1834 ushered in better times. With what proved to be the dawn of happier days, the pioneers closed the eyes of the dead past, straightened its rigid limbs, and drawing the white sheet of oblivion over the pale corpse, left it to desolation and forgetfulness. The storm had passed away, the sun of promise shone out with glorious brightness, and the fierce winds of discouragement were hushed, while a rainbow of surpassing beauty sprang from the clouds and arched above the horizon of the future. In October, the land office was opened at Mineral Point, and occasioned no incon- siderable interest to be manifested in all sections of the country affected by its location. Very many hastened to the Point from Platteville, and large purchases were made by those who had anticipated the event, and entered lands during prior years. In adjoining counties trouble was experienced between settlers and new-comers, the latter largely made up of speculators and adventurers, growing out of disputes involving the question of title to lands claimed by actual settlers, but purchased as an investment by those who visited the sales on speculative business. In the town of Platteville, there was a commendable absence of this feature of pioneer life. No fierce discussions succeeded the purchase of land within its territory, no "wars or rumors of wars " besieged vendees, and no judicial arbitrament was necessaryt o define or quiet a title. Not- withstanding the inducements offered for immigration to the town, the arrivals for this and many subsequent years were by no means as large as were anticipated or deserved. Yet many came in, through whose brawn, industry and enterprise, mines were made to pay tribute to the wealth of the country, wild wastes transformed into productive farms, and puny settlements to extend their limits and graduate into towns and cities. When Themistocles was asked to play upon a musical instrument, he replied, "I cannot fiddle, but I can make a wilderness a great city," and

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HISTORY OF GRANT COUNTY.

the men of whom mention is made as the architects of civilization in Platteville, were counter- parts of Themistocles.

The settlers who came in during 1834 were in part made up of Henry Snowden, Richard Waller, Robert Chapman, Benjamin Farmer, T. R. Hugill, Miles Vineyard, Lorenzo Bevans, Richard Huntington, Robert Bonson, Richard Bonson, Samuel Moore and some others, not to omit mention of the arrival of a delegation of Cornish miners who came also this year, some of whose names are cited in the above list. The year, while not one of boundless prosperity, had, nevertheless, attended the town with a complement of encouragement, and with little to mourn as it paused upon the threshold of departure to contemplate its career, passed silently on the tide of time to the kingdom of obscurity.

What was true in 1835 in regard to the accession of inhabitants, the acquisition of wealth, the improvement of the town and the employment of auxiliaries to the promotion of any of these agencies as means to the development and building-up of the country, applies also to the years that followed in its wake for almost a decade. A saw-mill, begun by Mr. Rountree the year previous, was finished and commenced operations in 1836. It was located on Section 9, and was the first of its kind established in the town. Richard Huntington opened a farm on Section 24, which is now occupied by his son ; a man by the name of Carpenter also cultivated property lying in Section 12. Hon. Edward Eastabrook came in this year and located, as also did Robert Myers, J. Chalders, Thomas Lewis, Edward Hugill, D. Crockett, Thomas Rowe, James Bonson, George Snowden, Miss Ann Snowden (now Mrs. Samuel Moore), and probably a few others, nearly all bringing their families with them.

AN EARLY TRAGEDY.

During the summer, a tragedy occurred on the farm of Benjamin Good, located in the northeastern portion of the town, which occasioned more than a passing excitement. It seems that an adopted son of Mr. Good was in the timber searching for cattle which had strayed away, when he was accosted by a lad of his own age and challenged to fight. While the alterca- tion was in progress the former was assaulted and received injuries which resulted fatally within a week. The young murderer, whose name cannot be ascertained, was apprehended and taken to Mineral Point, where he was locked up. While thus in the toils, he succeeded by strategy in eluding the vigilance of the bailiff during the day, and could nowhere be found, although a vig- orous search was instituted. It was afterward learned that upon his enlargement he dropped into an abandoned mineral hole near the jail, where he remained until after sundown, and, emerging therefrom in the darkness of the night, made his way through the country to Southern Illinois. No effort was made to procure his return, and, when last heard from, he was a resi- dent of "Egypt."

PATRIOTISM IN 1836.

Residents of the town celebrated the anniversary of American independence in 1836, with ceremonials both tempting and patriotic, in a grove on the edge of the village. Here a stand was erected, from which either S. O. Paine or Lorenzo Bevans orated; the Declaration was read, and the company feasted on the barbacued carcass of an ox, with the attendant vegetable and inebriating condiments. With the conclusion of the exercises and after the dinner had been discussed, a minor number of the celebrants, bubbling over with their love of the ardent, forgot country, the battle of Lexington and associations suggested by the day, and became vociferously intoxicated. Some of them mounted the festal board, along which they pranced furiously, send- ing the dishes in one direction, the crowd in another, and creating a commotion that can only be compared to an Indian stampede. After prolonging this token of their appreciation until its variety lost its spice, the chief actors retired behind the scenes to recuperate, and the audience, encouraged at the prospect, resumed their more appropriate enjoyments.

HARD TIMES.

In 1837, as will be remembered, a financial panic swept over the country and left its mark upon the commercial world so pronouncedly that its effects were experienced for years afterward.

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HISTORY OF GRANT COUNTY.

The residents of Platteville, while only remotely affected by the visitation, were sensibly aware of its presence by the absence of mediums of exchange, and the high price at which commodities were held. There were few provisions, cereals or vegetables then raised in the town or county, and the people dependent upon foreign sources of supply were in nearly every instance compelled to pay cash for their purchases. To do this was not always possible ; lead was low, and in little demand, and the consequence was that some hardships and privations, though no suffering, was experienced. There were no improvements to speak of, of a private character, completed or even projected that year. In February, the county was organized, but this advance accomplished no change for the better. There was but one schoolhouse, and the educational opportunities were limited to about three months during the year. Among the cheerful evidences that the citizens still lived was the building and dedication of the first church edifice in this portion of the State. It was of frame, and considered for the times a pattern of architectural perfection and elegant accommodations ; occupying a prominent point of observation on Main street, it was the cynosure of admiration for citizens, and inquiry by strangers for many years. After serving its purposes for a continued period, the old church was removed to give place to a brick block, now in part occupied by Sanford & Chase, and the Rev. Wellington Weigley, who preached the dedicatory sermon, long since become a resident of Chicago, where he abandoned the " cloth," and pleads for the forgiveness of sinners for the more lucrative returns incident to an appearance before tem- poral courts with pleas in abatement and avoidance.

There was nothing beyond the ordinary rules of life occurring during the ensuing years (until the Mexican war) deserving of special mention. There were occasional arrivals of immi- grants, who came into the promised land eloquent with hope and happiness, and laid broad the foundations upon which superstructures of prosperity and felicity have since been erected. There were occasional departures, too. Some wandered off to the more distant frontier; while on some, Death daguerreotyped a smile as he gave life to another angel. Up to 1840, the trust and confidence of man, in these regions remote from business centers, and in the honor and in- tegrity of his neighbor, was as complete and unchangeable as the deductions of a mathematical problem. A man's word was, in those days, his certificate of character, and honesty a vital ele- ment in his composition. There were few cases of felony, and tribunals for the adjudication of criminal presentations were not esteemed as indispensable branches of government. By that year, schools had found abiding-places in the township, and the Gospel was "preached to the multitude." Postal and traveling facilities had advanced in a wonderful ratio during the thirteen years of the township's occupation, and communication was enjoyed with friends and the pub- lic at intervals remarked for their brevity. Stages then ran from Galena to Madison via Platte- ville, Mineral Point, etc., conducted by Frink & Walker, and afforded accommodations comfort- able if not luxurious. By that year, the lands in the town were all taken up and owned, mostly by occupants. Indeed, the sum of human happiness, as compared with what it had been in the earlier days of the venture, was an aggregation of features that defied discord and affliction. After this period, accessions to the population included representatives of a tyye of civilization found in thickly inhabited districts, where good and bad are commingled indiscriminately. As a result, to express it in the language of one who was prominently identified with the body politic at the time, "there was more hustling than before, and miners, instead of leaving their mineral scattered about indifferently, never dared to leave any out after dark." Mining remained in the van of occupations until the discovery of gold in California. Agriculture was not so much em- ployed as a means of livelihood even after that date. It required continued labor, and content with small returns, to become a farmer in those days. The improvements in farm machinery, which have since contributed so effectively to the breaking-up of the prairies, the cultivation of the soil and harvesting of the products were unknown quantities at the time of which mention is here made. Since that period, however, as is universally known, the population has become numerous, the absence of the unknown quantities supplied, and the wastes and " barrens " been made to blossom as the rose.

On the breaking-out of the Mexican war, the town had become an important and wealthy constituent of Grant County, in all respects mentioned, as also politically. In that behalf, it

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was about evenly divided between Whigs and Federalists, with a preponderance in favor of the former. In June, 1846, Gov. Dodge issued his proclamation, directing the enlistment of one regiment of infantry for service in Mexico, to which, however, no response is on record as hav- ing been made by Platteville residents. Wirom Knowlton, of the city, raised a company, of which he was appointed Captain, with Joseph Morrill and Charles Brisbois as Lieutenants. It was composed of men hailing from all parts of the county, and was ordered to Fort Crawford to do duty in place of regulars who had been transferred across the Rio Grande ; but beyond a few comparatively insignificant skirmishes with impertinent Indians, no brows were bound with vic- torious wreaths, or bruised arms hung up for monuments to the prowess and patriotism of volun- teers from Platteville. With the success of the Americans, Peace followed, and spreading its spotless wings over the scenes of war and desolation, inspired the victorious forces with ambitions appropriate and deserving of education.

THE CALIFORNIA FEVER.

About this time, gold was discovered in California, and there are very many still living, who not only remember and participated in the excitement that greeted the news, but were drafted into the army of argonauts which marched thither. The miners employed in digging throughout the township with one accord abandoned their " leads," eager to be piloted over the prairie, across the desert and through the canon, that they might snuff the salt air of the Western Ocean, and drag up the hidden wealth reserved for soldiers of fortune beneath the soil of a land that was kissed by her sparkling waters. The miners were not alone in their determination either. Representatives from every profession and occupation joined the column hastening from the Atlantic to the Pacific, leaving the marks of their bivouacs on the way in graves and skele- tons, and " blazing " trees on the route, which guided the advance of succeeding years in the contest for supremacy between civilization and barbarism. Yet the community survived the inroads made upon its resources-the township prospered-sleeping quietly under its great trees, and smiling with an air of perfect content upon those who abandoned its advantages in their pursuit of wealth, so few of whom wrested their object from its secret hiding-places. Among those who went out to seek fortune in that far-off region were Curtis Barker, James R. Vineyard, William B. Vineyard, Thomas Cruson, Dr. John Bevans, W. B. Bevans, C. D. Bevans, R. T. Verran, Jackson Basye, William Gross, Joseph Fink, Edmund T. Locke, Octa- vius Hollman, John Hollman, Fisher Bayley, T. J. Colburn, Adolphus Holliday, D. and M. Comstock, Charles Wright, E. M. Orn, Michael and John Stephens (twins, still living at an advanced age), T. Stephens, Henry Eastman, C. and T. Eastman, Robert Snowden, Milo Jones, Benjamin Green, James Moore and a large number of others, whose identity has been forgotten. Of those who went out, about sixty per cent returned, while a large proportion removed on the Pacific Coasts, and the remainder either died en route or subsequent to their arrival. When the excitement, consequent upon the prevalence of the gold fever was at its height, the township was organized under and by notice of an act of the Legislature, and placed under a form of municipal government adapted thereto. For the past thirty years, the township has made steady progress in all directions that would either mold the intelligence of citizens, or master the development of material resources. Yet in the haste to become prosperous, the pioneers and their descendants realized the fact that " man lives not by bread alone," and subscribed to the support of schools and churches, the base of civilization and democracy, for the education of the soul and mind. Including the city of Platteville, there is a total of twelve churches in the township, enjoying a generous support, and wielding an extended influence. It also sustains six schools, exclusive of three in the city, for which an annual tax of about three mills is assessed, producing an income of nearly $1,100, expended in their support. Up to 1850 say, the mines, as has been already stated, were vigorously and successfully worked. Two blast furnaces were required to prepare the mineral for market, and these were constantly employed. With the departure of gold seekers, mining diminished rapidly, and has never resumed its former promi- nence. One furnace was abandoned and fell into decay, while that run by Straw & Spensley

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HISTORY OF GRANT COUNTY.

is only worked about half-time. The mines in the Davidson estate, and those discovered three years ago on the Robbins property, principally furnishing the raw material. Agriculturally, the town made steady advance, though with not that gratifying progress which began in 1861, and continued until 1865, when all the arable land within its limits was taken up and cultivated with profit.

When the war between the sections became an established fact, when the unity of the Fed- eral compact was assailed, and dissolution, anarchy and ruin impended, the town sent among the first of Wisconsin soldiers into the field to repel the enemy and maintain the laws. Through the contest her citizens responded to each levy made upon them for men and money, until before justice was satisfied, before mercy was content, 500 soldiers and $25,000 were contributed and subscribed, that the star-lit folds of the National ensign should float aloft for the " Bonnie Blue Flag." After the war, the soldier died, the citizen was born again, and the heart that throbbed with the hot fever of battle, beat as gently as when in boyhood's happy day ; the child gazed into the near heaven of eyes, that were long since palsied by death.

The half-century, through the good and evil of which the town has lived, is filled with reminiscences to the manor born that rush upon the soul as a mighty torrent, over which a cloud has burst. They see the country a trackless wilderness, filled with danger, disease and death. They see the savage foe that once inhabited the wooded fastnesses, rioting in the ruin of settlers' homes with barbaric joy. They see him put to flight, dispersed, wiped out, and in his stead appears the videttes of civilization, the advance of that grand army of pioneers that joined issue with the prairies and the forests, and prevailed against them. They see the relics of another race and another age dissolve from view as bubbles upon the water. Huts and cabins give place to commodious mansions, forests to smiling fields. The prairies have become farms whereon the waving grain grows yellow in the sunlight, and the voice of the reapers is heard as they harvest the crop, before the noiseless snow wanders downward from the veiled heavens and wraps in folds of white the autumn leaves and stocks. But few remain of those who came in the flush of youth and health and hope to battle with the foes of life and happiness in a new country. Some, long before the morning of life had reached its meridian, fell by the wayside and were heard of no more; some had almost reached the haven of their hopes, but, like a ship dashed against an unknown breaker, went down to death and left no record of their departure. Many of them died poor, none of them died rich, but all have left behind them a legacy of noble lives. Lessons of patience in suffering, hopes in adversity and confidence and trust, where no sunbeams lighted up their pathway. All of them failed to win, with charming endeavors, the fickle goddess, Fortune, but all of them conquered in the battle of life, and stepped forth from the ranks of men, Christians and heroes.

TOWN OFFICERS.

1849-Benjamin C. Eastman, Chairman; George W. Lakin and J. N. Jones, Supervisors. 1850-John H. Rountree, Chairman ; Stephen O. Paine and John H. Durley, Super- visors.

1851-Charles W. Wright, Chairman ; Joel Potter and James Durley, Supervisors.

1852-Charles W. Wright, Chairman ; Titus Hayes and N. W. Bass, Supervisors.

1853-H. Hurlbut, Chairman ; H. Hutchins and Edward Eastabrook, Supervisors.

1854-John H. Rountree, Chairman ; H. Hutchins and Thomas Chapman, Supervisors. 1855-J. H. Rountree, Chairman ; N. H. Virgin and Joseph Robinson, Supervisors. 1856-John H. Rountree, Chairman ; J. F. Kirkpatrick and George J. Coates, Super- visors.

1857-N. H. Virgin, Chairman ; J. F. Kirkpatrick and John Stephens, Supervisors.

1858-Samuel Moore, Chairman ; S. O. Paine and John Stephens, Supervisors.

1859-Julius Augustine, Chairman ; J. F. Kirkpatrick and John Stephens, Supervisors.

1860-Allen R. Bushnell, Chairman ; George R. Laughton and Calvin Russell, Super- visors.

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HISTORY OF GRANT COUNTY.

1861-Edward M. Hoyt, Chairman ; John Huntington and Henry C. Lane, Supervisors. 1862-John H. Rountree, Chairman ; Thomas Chapman and Isaac Hodges, Supervisors. 1863-John F. Kirkpatrick, Chairman ; Thomas Robinson and Henry C. Miller, Super- visors.

1864-Isaac Hodges, Chairman ; Calvin Russell and Thomas Chapman, Supervisors. 1865-Isaac Hodges, Chairman ; Joseph Robinson and Carston Hinners, Supervisors. 1866-Isaac Hodges, Chairman ; Peter Pitts and Carston Hinners, Supervisors.

1867-68-Isaac Hodges, Chairman ; J. F. Kirkpatrick and Peter Pitts, Supervisors. 1869-Isaac Hodges, Chairman ; Peter Pitts and Carston Hinners, Supervisors. 1870-71-N. W. Bass, Chairman ; Robert Neely and Christian Grusse, Supervisors. 1872-N. W. Bass, Chairman ; Robert Neely and H. S. Rountree, Supervisors.

1873-N. W. Bass, Chairman ; Christian Grusse and Francis Rowe, Sr., Supervisors.

1874 to 1879, inclusive-N. W. Bass, Chairman ; Peter Pitts and Thomas Chapman, Su- pervisors.

1880-John McArthur, Chairman ; George C. Huntington and William Pruessing, Su- pervisors.

1881-John McArthur, Chairman; Frank E. Huntington and William Pruessing, Super- visors.

Clerks .- R. Hodgson, 1849; Thomas Eastman, 1850-51; B. F. Wyne, 1852-57 ; A. R. Bushnell, 1858; B. F. Wyne, 1859-64 ; Milton Graham, 1865-66; Charles W. Hill, 1867-68; W. H. Beebe, 1869; Joel C. Squires, 1870; E. A. Andrews, 1871; J. C. Squires, 1872-73 ; R. J. Huntington, 1874 ; C. W. Hill, 1875-79 ; W. R. Laughton, 1880-81.

Superintendent of Schools .- J. L. Pickard, 1849; Samuel F. Cleveland, 1850 ; J. J. Pel- atour, 1851 ; Titus Hayes, 1852; Hanmer Robbins, 1853; Thomas Perry, 1854-55; Han- mer Robbins, 1856-61. No return for 1862 or subsequently.

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History of Grant County, Wisconsin, Part 103

Author: Butterfield, Consul Willshire, 1824-1899 Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Chicago : Western Historical Co. Number of Pages: 1044

Author: Butterfield, Consul Willshire, 1824-1899
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Chicago : Western Historical Co.
Number of Pages: 1044