History of Grant County, Wisconsin, Part 89

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

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JEHIEL H. HYDE, M. D.

Although not one of the " old settlers " of Grant County in the stricter sense of the term, Dr. Hyde was so prominently identified with it for some fifteen years as to entitle his name to a place among those who have made their mark upon its society and institutions. He was a son of Luther Hyde, of Highgate, Vt., well known to many of the citizens of Grant County, who were formerly from that vicinity, and was born at Fairfield, in that State, July 29, 1812. His early life was spent upon a farm until he arrived at a proper age to pursue his studies, in preparation for professional life, for which he was always designed.

Turning his attention to the profession of medicine, he studied with Dr. Hall, of St. Albans, and attended medical lectures at the Vermont Academy of Medicine at Burlington, and was graduated at the University of Vermont in 1834. He commenced his practice at Hardwick, Vt., but soon afterward removed to Michigan. Here he was one of the pioneers, and endured the hardships and privations incident to the settlement of a new country in those days- remote from the appliances of our modern civilization, and subject to the influence of the mala- rial diseases for which that State at that stage of its settlement was noted. Here he pursued the practice of his profession for a number of years, and in 1839 married Sarah A. Bennett, of Leona, Mich.

Finding that his constitution could not withstand the climatic influences, he returned, in 1840, to his native State and practiced his profession at St. Albans and across Lake Champlain, at Potsdam, N. Y., for some nine years, his health becoming re-established. In 1855, he came to Lancaster on a tour of inspection, and a visit to his brother, already resident in that village. His professional services were at once in demand, even before he decided to settle here, which he did soon after, and speedily established a high professional reputation and a lucrative prac- tice. For many years Dr. Hyde was the leading surgeon of the large territory embraced in the limits of Grant County, and was often called upon to perform difficult operations, or to meet his professional brethren in consultation, in every part of the county. The roads were at that time in a very imperfect condition ; many miles of those he was compelled to travel at all hours of the day and night were mere paths through the woods. With such a practice, under such circumstances, exposure was inevitable, and in time led to the development of the hereditarv disease which finally terminated his life-pulmonary consumption. In 1867, his health began to fail and in the following year he removed to Minneapolis, Minn., where he spent a year, in hopes that the change of climate would prove beneficial in arresting the progress of the disease from which he was suffering. Finding that his hopes were not realized, he returned to Lan- caster in the spring of 1869 and purchased a residence, which, however, he occupied but a few

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HISTORY OF GRANT COUNTY.

months before his disease had run its course, and on December 7, 1869, he was called hence. He left no children, his immediate family consisting only of his widow and her niece, who had been adopted as a daughter. A number of his brother's family connections, however, are still resident in Lancaster and other parts of the county.

Dr. Hyde was in the front rank of his profession in Wisconsin, his surgical skill being perhaps unexcelled by that of any physician in the State. During the war he was employed in the Provost Marshal's Department at Prairie du Chien, in which capacity his thorough anatomical knowledge was of much service to the Government. He has appointed by the Com- missioner of Pensions to the position of Examining Surgeon, which position he held until phys- ical inability compelled his resignation.

Dr. Hyde was a high Mason, having attained to the Royal Arch degree and perhaps higher, and was well skilled in the mysteries of that fraternity and of high repute as a Master of the craft, having held the position of Master of Lancaster Lodge No. 20 for twelve years. The high estimation in which he was held by his brother Masons was well shown by the Platteville, Potosi, Beetown and Lancaster Lodges, and Grant Chapter of Royal Arch Masons, which, not- withstanding very unfavorable weather, attended his funeral in bodies, as also did many breth- ren from other parts of the county, and interred his remains with the impressive ceremonies of their order.

THOMAS PENDLETON BURNETT.

Mr. Burnett was born in Pittsylvania County, Va., September 3, 1800, and was reared from early childhood on a farm in Bourbon or Spencer County, Kentucky. During this time, he obtained such instruction as he could by the aid of an academy and private instruction from neighboring gentlemen, laboring with his own hands, and afterward teaching, to acquire the means of support while prosecuting his studies. "While reading law, he was favored with some minor offices, such as Constable, Deputy Sheriff, Sheriff, etc., from the fees of which he derived a scanty means of support." Soon after his admission to the bar, he settled at Paris, Ky., where, in the practice of his profession, he is said to have been brought in contact, and often into pro- fessional collision, with some of the ablest lawyers in that State. For two years he filled the ofice of District Attorney. After the accession of Gen. Jackson to the Presidency in 1828, Mr. Burnett, who had been a warm'partisan of the General, received October 15, 1829, the ap- pointment of Sub-Agent in the Indian Department, to reside at Prairie du Chein. An accident which occurred soon after, when he was laboring with characteristic zeal and courage to resist the progress of an extensive fire at Paris, and which resulted in crushing one of his legs, con- fining him to his bed or his room for seven months, and leaving him a cripple for life, de- termined him to accept the appointment, far as it was below his hopes, rather than attempt to regain his practice after his long illness ; and a severe domestic misfortune aided in procuring this decision. Arriving at Prairie du Chien in June, 1830, he found " but two or three Amer- ican families in the place, except in the garrison at Fort Crawford. The major part of the in- habitants, four hundred in number, were Canadian French and half-breeds, who spoke only French with some Indian languages, all of which were to him unknown tongues." Mr. Burnett was at first disappointed in the country, the people, and the duties of his office, but upon better acquaintance became strongly attached to them all. To the employments of his agency-the salary of which was only $500-he was permitted to add the practice of his profession, in which he soon obtained some business, including suits prosecuted in behalf of the Government. In 1834, his connection with the Indian Agency ceased, and he devoted himself more completely to the practice of his profession. Some question having been made as to the existence of a va- cancy in the office of District Judge, on account of the alleged non-residence of Judge Irwin, Mr. Burnett's appointment to the office was strongly urged upon the President ; but the latter did not recognize the existence of a vacancy. In January, 1835, Mr. Burnett was appointed by Gov. Mason, of Michigan Territory, District Attorney for the counties of Crawford, Iowa, Dubuque and Des Moines ; and he attended the summer terms of the courts in those counties; but finding it " inconvenient and unpleasant," tendered his resignation to Gov. Mason, Sep-

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HISTORY OF GRANT COUNTY.

tember 10, 1835. In October following, he was elected to the Legislative Council of Michigan Territory, which was appointed to meet at Green Bay, and, on the meeting of the Council in December, he was chosen its President; but the meeting, which was of doubtful legal validity, was a practical failure. Congress was, however, memorialized at this session in favor of a speedy organization of the Territory of Wisconsin ; and a memorial to the President of the United States in reference to the offices of the contemplated Territory, urged upon him the ap- pointment of its own citizens in preference to persons from other parts of the country. As it was understood that Gen. Dodge would be appointed Governor, Mr. Burnett was urged as a suitable person for the office of Secretary. "If the Secretaryship could not be obtained," we are told, " Mr. Burnett desired a Judgeship; " that is, he desired to be appointed one of the Judges of the Supreme Court of the Territory, and his friends in Congress, Col. Richard M. Johnson, of Kentucky, and Col. George W. Jones, then Delegate from Michigan Terri- tory, and through their influence Senators Benton and Linn, of Missouri, and Senators Wright and Tallmadge, of New York, earnestly, though unsuccessfully, sought to secure his appoint- msnt to one of the two offices named. About the same period, Mr. Burnett is said to have be- come a member of the Four Lake Company, organized under the lead of Gov. Mason and Mr. Doty, for the purpose of laying out a city in the Four Lake region, which should become the capital of the new Territory.

By the appointment of members of the First Legislative Assembly of the new Territory, as made by Gov. Dodge, upon the basis of a census taken in 1836, Crawford was allowed two members of the House of Representatives, but no member of the Council. The people of that county claimed that, under the organic act, each county was entitled to be represented in each House; and Mr. Burnett was unanimously elected by them to be a member of the Council. The full number of members authorized by law had, however, been chosen in other counties, pursuant to the Governor's appointment and proclamation, and very naturally Mr. Burnett's election was not certified by the Governor, nor was he admitted to the seat he claimed. During that session of the Legislative Assembly, Mr. Burnett was nominated by the Governor, and con- firmed by the Council, as District Attorney for Crawford County, but this was done without his knowledge, and he subsequently declined the appointment, on the ground that the Council " was not legally organized, and that it had not therefore the lawful authority to perform any valid and binding act." This characteristic protest echoed the displeasure of Crawford County at the fail- ure of Gov. Dodge to give them a representation in the Council. Whatever may have been the merits of their claim, it is needless to add that the objection of Mr. Burnett, if sound, would have been fatal to the validity of all acts passed by the First Legislative Assembly, which have, nevertheless, always been treated by the courts as valid. Upon the organization of the Terri- torial Supreme Court in December, 1836, on the motion of D. G. Fenton, Esq., Mr. Burnett was appointed as its official reporter, a position which he held until his death, some ten years later. The decisions of this court to the close of the term of 1840, were prepared by Mr. Burnett, and published in 1841 by the direction of the Legislature, as an appendix to a volume containing the acts of a regular and a special session of the Legislature. The decisions of 1842 and 1843 were published by Mr. Burnett in a separate volume in 1844.

In 1837, he had removed from Prairie du Chien to Cassville, in Grant County, and subse- quently moved to a farm in Mount Hope, on the line of the old military road from Fort Craw- ford to Fort Winnebago, which he had selected and embellished with taste and care for his per- manent home, and to which he had given the name of "The Hermitage." Field, garden and lawn were already taking shape under his eye and hand. A dwelling of stone was planned to take the place of the comfortable log cabin, which had been erected for temporary occupancy. In the winter of 1844-45, and again the succeeding year, Mr. Burnett had served in the Ter- ritorial Legislature as a member of the House of Representatives from Grant County, and upon the election of delegates to the first Constitutional Convention in 1846, he was chosen as one of the county's representatives in that body. Mr. Burnett had been confined at his home by disease for some months before the meeting of the Convention in October, and it was not until

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HISTORY OF GRANT COUNTY.

the 14th of that month that he took his seat. He was assigned a position as a member of the Committee on Corporations, where he served for about three weeks. October 25, he was re- called to his home by the intelligence of the alarming illness of his wife from typhoid fever. A wagon-ride of eighty-five miles, commenced after an exhaustive day's work, brought him to his home, only to be himself struck down with the fever. Himself, his wife and his aged mother, who had recently come from Kentucky to spend her last days with him, lay prostrated by the same disease, under the same roof and within hearing of each other. "The mother died on the 1st of November, the husband and the wife on the 5th, and on the 7th of that month, when the evening shadows fell on ' The Hermitage,' the bodies of the three reposed side by side, ' in a beautiful grave at the head of the garden,'" in a spot that the owner had chosen as the burial-place of the family.

On the 10th of November, his colleague, Hon. J. Allen Barber, announced Mr. Burnett's death to the Convention. That body, thereupon, adopted resolutions of . ondolence, respect and sympathy, to go into mourning by wearing crape on the left arm of each member for thirty days, and adjourned over one day out of respect to the memory of their deceased brother.

Mr. Burnett had acquired great prominence during his comparatively brief career. He was a worthy and valued citizen, eminently gifted, intelligent and useful. " His death created a profound and painful sensation over the entire Northwest, where he had been so well and favor- ably known."

CHAPTER VII.

GRANT COUNTY WAR HISTORY.

GENERAL HISTORY-SAVING THE COLORS-COMPANY C, SECOND WISCONSIN VOLUNTEERS-THE DRAFT-SKETCHES OF THE REGIMENTS-ROSTER-SOLDIERS MONUMENT.

GENERAL HISTORY.

Old Grant is proud of her war record, and well she may be; but before proceeding to the stirring events of those perilous years commencing at Sumter, April, 1861, and ending at Richmond in April, 1865, it is necessary to review briefly the political history of this section for the years preceding. Originally settled by natives of the Southern and Southwestern States, Grant county followed during the period of early political warfare the logica' sequence of this emigration and was politically Democratic. Free-Soilism and later Abolitionism, met with a chilling reception, those of that stripe of opinion, whatever they might think, indulging but sel- dom in the liberty of free speech on their new-born creed. Gradually the tide began to turn. At the Presidential election of 1852, the vote of Grant County stood Scott (Whig), 1,341; Pierce (Dem.) 1,379; a majority for the latter of 38 in a vote of 2,720.

Between this election and the Presidential election succeeding it, was born the Repub- lican party. The first vote of the new party being just eighteen in the whole county. Grant County began to feel the pressure of the new dispensation. She shook off the thralldom that had bound so many millions in the dust for ages, and at the election of 1856 rolled up a major- ity of 1,204 for John C. Fremont, the Presidential nominee of the young party, out of a total vote of 4,404, the returns showing Frement, 2,809; Buchanan, 1,419; Fillmore, 1,866. Still the light continued to spread. The new party repulsed, but victorious even in defeat, gathered itself for the second attack upon the rock-rooted sophisms and enormities behind which the monster idol, slavery, stood intrenched. Again the battle of the ballot-box is fought and Grant County returns a majority for Lincoln, the "rail-splitter of Illinois," of 1,955, out of a total vote of 5,534. Lincoln receiving 3,579 votes ; Douglass, 1,922 ; Breckenridge, the can- didate of the Southern Slaveholders, 33, and right here is found the secret, if secret it be, of that later outpouring which made " Old Grant " one vast camp.

At this time, however, the witches' kettle which was so soon to send its boiling hell-broth of treason in a blasting flood over the land was as yet only simmering. The plans of the con- spirators had not been perfected to that later ripeness which came so near accomplishing the task to which traitors had set themselves, of rending the glorious old Union in sunder, where- with they could patch up, for a time, at least, a slave empire around the Mexican Gulf, with the North as a dependent tributary. With cool calculation and a hypocritical knavery never excelled and rarely equaled, the leaders in the damnable plot laid their wires and quietly pre- pared for the rise of the curtain upon the first act of the terrible drama, which was to hold the boards for four long, weary years. Confident of their power, steadfast believers in the moral, physical, and intellectual supremacy of the South, the traitor council fondly expected that this, the first act, would also be the last. Blind in their self-conceit, puffed up by the power which they felt, even now, almost within their grasp, the would-be destroyers of the republic of Washington, Jefferson, Adams, and the fathers, failed signally in the'r estimate of the Northern people.

The proper moment having arrived, South Carolina led the way by the passage of a formal act of secession on the 20th of December, 1860, followed by the siezure of the forts, arse- nels and other property of the nation within the State. This action was speedily followed by

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HISTORY OF GRANT COUNTY.

other States of the South, and the North awoke to the stern fact that Rebellion, gaunt, fierce, and grim, stalked with traitorous feet through the length and breadth of the land.

Carolina's action had not gone unnoticed ; although deaf, the North was not blind, and at the session of the different Legislatures in 1861, resolutions more or less strong told the temper behind. At the session of the Wisconsin Legislature on the 9th day of January, resolutions denouncing the action of South Carolina and offering to the President " men and money " as might be required "to uphold the authority, of the Federal Government," were adopted and preparations made for the struggle which the more prophetic saw standing in the pathway of the future.

On the 14th of April, 1861, was received the news of the fall of Sumter and as one man the whole North sprang to arms. The nation was in danger. The Union assailed by vandal hands, and on all sides was heard but one cry-the cry to be led against the traitor bands who had thus dared to dim the luster of our star-flecked banner.

President Lincoln issued his call for 75,000 men on Monday, April, 15, and it was fol- lowed by Gov. Randall the next day, by a proclamation to the people of Wisconsin, authorizing enlistments.

Previous to the breaking-out of the war, a military company had been in existence, of which George B. Ryland-now Senator Ryland-was Captain, his First Lieutenant being John B. Callis. Immediately upon the reception of the President's call for troops, Richard Carter, a resident of Lancaster, but at the time serving as a clerk in the Legislature, started for home bearing the notice to Capt. Ryland that his company would be accepted for service. Stop- ping at Boscobel, Carter met Lieut. C. K. Dean, and that gentleman caused the circulation of notices of the call throughout the county, while his informant proceeded to Lancaster. Many of Capt. Ryland's company were not prepared to leave their homes and business at such short notice, and though that organization served somewhat as a nucleus around which to gather the in-coming volunteers, the companies that were afterward formed were organized upon a separate basis. The news thus reached Lancaster on the 18th of April, or two days after Gov. Randall had issued his proclamation. The whole county was at once ablaze with excite- ment, and by Saturday the 20th, men enough had been enrolled to form the required company. The question soon resolved itself down, not to ean we get men enough, but whether we will have a place for all the men we get.

A meeting was called at the court house at Lancaster, Saturday evening, April 20, to take action for the support and protection of the families of those who enlisted. The court house was full to overflowing. J. Allen Barber was called to the chair, and a series of spirited resolutions adopted. A committee, consisting of Ed Lowry, A. Burr and James Jones was appointed to raise money for the support of the families of the enlisted men and for other war purposes. Speeches were made by Judge J. T. Mills and D. McKee, the latter in behalf of the volunteers. A handsome rosette was then presented to the first enlisted man from Lancaster, this distinction falling upon George L. Hyde. He also, probably, has the honor of being the first enlisted man from Grant County.

It was necessary that all should report at Boscobel early Monday morning. Accordingly, volunteers from different parts of the county centered at Lancaster, meeting there at noon on Sunday, the 21st of April.

At 12 o'clock, the roll of the drum called those who had enlisted from Lancaster to " fall in," and they were then joined by the recruits from other towns, when they all marched together to the Congregational Church, where a short service was held by Rev. Mr. Eaton, after which they dispersed for dinner. The freedom of the city had been voted to the volunteers during their stay, and all joined in honoring the brave men who were about to set forth from Old Grant for the support of the nation. In the afternoon, they were taken in wagons from Lancaster to Boscobel.

At the latter place, on Monday morning, April 22, one week from the time of President Lincoln's proclamation, the first company of Grant County volunteers was organized, at 9

HAflinging LT. COL. 33º REGT. WIS. VOL. INFTY. PLATTEVILLE

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HISTORY OF GRANT COUNTY.

o'clock in the forenoon, by the election of the following officers: Captain, David Mckee; First Lieutenant, C. K. Dean ; Ensign, William Booth. At 12 o'clock, the Governor telegraphed Capt. McKee that his company was accepted, and must be ready to start at a moment's notice, to which the latter replied, " Old Grant is ready."

By 5 o'clock of the same afternoon, enough names had been enrolled to form another com- pany, and notice of this fact was at once telegraphed to Gov. Randall. His Excellency replied that the company would be officially received when properly organized by the election of officers, although Grant was really entitled to but one company under the ratio. "But," added the Governor, "as Old Grant seldom asks for favors, and never asks for anything but what is right, she is entitled to double glory and honors; let the second company be ready." And at 9 o'clock Tuesday morning, the second company of Grant County volunteers was organized. The officers chosen were: Captain, G. W. Limbocker ; First Lieutenant, William Britton ; Ensign, J. Bently.

Monday morning, May 5, Capt. McKee's company left Boscobel for Madison, where they were afterward assigned to the Second Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry. The first call had been for three months, but the strength of the rebellion was already beginning to be felt, and the members of the Second were informed that they were to be now mustered in for three years. One hour was given the companies to decide, all those not willing to enlist for this period were allowed to go. One entire company of the Second melted away under this refining process. The " Grant County Grays " lost thirteen men, standing second best out of all the companies composing the regiment, and was the first company mustered in, taking regimental position as Company C, and the color company of the regiment. As this was the pioneer company from the county, its experiences are here briefly noted.

On the 20th of June, the regiment left for Washington, and was the first body of three years' men to arrive at Washington. At Harrisburg, the regiment received its arms. Of the march through Baltimore, at that time apparently a solid den of secession sympathizers, the fol- lowing account is given by a correspondent of the Grant County Herald: "We arrived at Bal- timore about 11 o'clock at night, and after forming in line marched through the city in columns of sections for one and a half miles, the sidewalks being lined with people, including many of the most respectably dressed and behaved ladies. Before leaving Harrisburg, our guns had been loaded with ball and buck-shot, and at the Maryland line were capped and half-cocked, ready for instant use. The plug-uglies were all on hand, watching for a chance to wreak their vengeance upon us. We were continually insulted and tantalized by them during the entire march. They cheered for Jeff Davis and his brother gallows-birds, fired two pistol shots at or near us to provoke a collision, but we marched straight on, not a word being said save the words of command. They finally left us near the Washington depot, evidently not liking our firmness and determined aspect. I hear, through Lieut. Gov. Noble, that the general opinion among them was expressed by a secessionist there something like this: 'We could have whipped out any regiment that has gone through here except the Wisconsin Second, etc. We were all anxious and ready to pitch into them. * The fall of one man would have been sufficient, orders or

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History of Grant County, Wisconsin, Part 89

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