History of Grant County, Wisconsin, preceded by a history of Wisconsin, Part 133

Author: Butterfield, Consul Willshire, 1824-1899
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: [Chicago : Western Historical Co.?]
Number of Pages: 1050

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*The sketches herein contained were received too late for insertion in proper chapter.

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Gathering sheaves of testimonial from this wide field of obituary harvest, we shall find that J. Allen Barber, at the time of his death, and for many years prior thereto, had few equals in those qualities deemed essential in the institution of the highest manhood, or in the estate of the good and useful citizen. From these concurring evidences, there may truthfully be added to the record already given; that, though frequently honored with high political station, he had an intense dislike to all office-begging, and scrupulously avoided contaminating himself by this popular, and it is much to be regretted, profitable vice, one moment in advance of a strong and well-defined popular sentiment running in his behalf; that he was a friend and supporter of all rational public enterprises ; a free giver in charity, and as a creditor to worthy but unfortunate debtors, a marvel of indulgence.

And it may also be added that he was possessed of rare attainment in ancient and modern lore, and kept pace with all the developments of scientific research ; and was a man who held his family endeared to him by the ties of affection, constancy, kindness and liberality. We are able readily to understand how, by virtue of his correct personal habits, his professional honesty and fidelity, his love of liberty and regard for public justice, and his impatient hatred of every grade of meanness and corruption, he early won and lastingly held the esteem of all good citi- zens having knowledge of his virtues.

One, to have seen him in his most noble carriage, had but to hear him in conversation among friends ; or pleading at the bar; or, more conspicuously still, addressing a popular assembly on matters touching the rights of any oppressed person, however humble, or of masses of people, or, touching the maintenance of the honor and integrity of the Union .. Then the ordinarily hidden impulses of his nature would become strikingly manifest in his earnestness of speech and gesticulation, set off by the glow of his highly intellectual features.

This exalted trait in Mr. Barber's character is further shown-æsthetically in this case- by the designs and inscriptions embellishing that excellent work of art and patriotism, the soldier's monument, standing in the court house square at Lancaster, as he was one of the com- mittec who had this matter in charge when this work was done in 1867, his associates being Addison Burr, of Lancaster ; George R. Laughton, of Platteville ; J. C. Cover and Judge J. T. Mills, of Lancaster. The broken shackle, token of four and one-half millions of slaves made free ; the declaratory mandate of President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, that timely, giant stroke of a noble pen, which gives to this token its mighty significance, engraved upon the marble faces of Grant County's most honorable memento, speak also as well of the loyalty and humanitarian impulses of all the several members of this citizen committee.

True history, especially of a personal nature, affords grand incentives to all laudable ambition, and in this view it is not an unreasonable hope that the youth who may hereafter have their lots cast in Grant County, on reading this history of one of its earliest settlers, and learn- ing to what high degree of merit and esteem he managed to attain by his own unaided efforts within this field of labor, mainly, will find herein a fresh and an abiding incentive to highest possible endeavors in the way of usefulness and good citizenship, within and for the advantage of this same field of labor.

JOSEPH C. COVER.

Joseph C. Cover was born at Smithville, Fayette Co., Penn., February 1, 1819. From his childhood, Mr. Cover became attached to books, receiving this inclination from his mother, who was a great reader. His father possessed tastes directly opposite, and his son speaks of him as an inveterate hunter and lover of nature, often visiting the Alleghanies, living there alone days at a time, feasting on game and what wild fruits these mountains supplied. The subject of this sketch had an only brother, John, who was full of adventure, and when California became a part of the United States, he rushed to that region with the thousands that love of gold or novelty drew to that favored clime. Unfortunately he went into business at Panama, took the Chagres fever and died there in 1852, in his thirtieth year.

Mr. Cover migrated to Wisconsin and reached Grant County in April, 1846. He had a

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good common school and academic education, was a rapid thinker, and capable of reducing his thoughts to writing with great facility-with such a talent and with a deep interest in the polit- ical issues of the times, a pretty wide acquaintance with the leading men, and an industrious reader of their speeches, it was very natural for Mr. Cover, then a young man, to find his way into a printing office, read the exchanges, and write occasional articles for the press. It was such tastes that finally determined the course of his future life. A young man to become ' successful must discover his adaptation. We cannot make farmers, lawyers, doctors, merchants and editors to order. Failure or half success will balk a young man till he finds the theater of activity for which nature intended him. Mr. Cover was not adapted to a trading mercantile life, and a generous nature could hardly exact the payment of a debt, when the debtor com- plained of hard times. A feeble constitution unfitted him for pursuits requiring great physical exertion. His scholarship and tact would have secured him an honorable position as a teacher. He could not brook the confinement. In 1851, Mr. Cover purchased the Herald office and paper of J. L. Marsh, Esq., and as editor of that paper found a position and employment adapted to his tastes, and giving free scope to his mental activity. It would be no disparage- ment to other journals to affirm that no paper in the western part of the State has exerted a wider influence on public opinion than this sheet so long as Mr. Cover was its active editor. Mr. Cover was a member of the original Liberty party, and voted for James G. Birney in 1844. Both the political parties were astonished at the. persistence, strength, intellectual power and purpose of this strange party that threatened the extinction of one or both the then existing organizations. The Whig party was disintegrated after the defeat of Gen. Scott, and the Republican party was organized in 1856, inheriting the zeal and purposes of the Liberty party, but with larger national aims, embracing an entire programme of policy applicable to all branches of the government and all needed reforms. The columns of the Grant County Her- ald at that period showed abundant evidence of the industry, faithfulness and zeal of its editor in the cause of universal freedom. The Know-Nothing party soon disappeared with the organ- ization of the Republican party. The Republican party by insisting on the rights of human nature, equal rights without regard to race or color, removed to a great extent the narrow prej- udices which were the Know-Nothing stock in trade. The editor of the Herald saw the incon- sistency between Know-Nothingism and Abolitionism, and claims and that political rights belonging to manhood could not be forfeited by the accident of birth. The editor of the Herald not only endeavored to teach anti-slavery to its readers; he was always observant of public opinion. He became a personal acquaintance of almost every old settler in the county, and took an interest in horticulture as devoted as that of the " white-coated philosopher." He and his partner, N. C. Goldsmith, were the founders of the first successful nursery in this part of the country.

He wrote incessantly, not only for his paper, but essays, arguments, letters, addressed to his fellow-citizens on all sorts of topics, wherever there was a desire to interchange opinion. Perhaps in half the dwellings in the county there are yet seen written pages that testify to the interest that Mr. Cover felt in the welfare of his fellow-citizens, in the dissemination of his opinions.

His active years were devoted to his country's welfare in the moments of its greatest peril. Like all the old Abolitionists, he entertained a deep-seated religious faith that the historical intent and purpose of the war was the annihilation of the curse and crime of African slavery. He never faltered. Physically unable to shoulder the musket himself, his son, who had attained to manhood's estate, represented him in the chances of war. The pathetic and trustful remarks he published in the Herald when the young soldier bid him adieu, perhaps forever, expressed the feelings of many a parental heart in those cruel times.

But continuous labor for a quarter of a century, extending through the excitements, hopes, fears and anxieties of the rebellion, told heavily on Mr. Cover's health and spirits. A re-action and physical prostration followed ; he needed repose. He expressed himself to a friend that the tone of his system must be restored, or he must die. It was for this purpose that he

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resigned the editorial chair and accepted the consulship at Fayal. For several months after his arrival at Fayal, Mr. Cover continued to improve in health, but the second year of his residence the effect of the climate upon his system seemed to have become neutralized, and he again began to lose ground. In June, 1872, he sailed in the barque Fredonia, for Boston. His health seemed no worse during the first part of the voyage, and he varied the monotony of the voyage with the companionship of books. The final dissolution came suddenly and without warning, on the morning of the 4th of July, and the tired soul passed on to join the early friends gone before.

HON. CHARLES DUNN.

Although not a resident of Grant County for many years previous to his death, the name of Judge Dunn is so indelibly connected with the early annals of the county as to claim a loving remembrance in the chapter of distinguished dead.

Charles Dunn was born in Bullet County, Ky., December 28, 1799. His father was from Dublin, Ireland, and his mother, Amy Burks, was a native of Virginia. After having received a collegiate education at the best institutions of learning in that State, he commenced reading law with Mr. Worden Pope, of Louisville, continuing his studies with Mr. John Pope, of Frankfort. In 1819, he removed to Illinois, and finished his legal studies with Hon. Na- thaniel Pope, then United States District Judge for Illinois, and the following year was admitted to the bar. He commenced the practice of his profession in Jonesboro, Ill., and was married in 1821, to Miss Mary Shrader, of Missouri, the beginning of a companionship extending over fifty-one years. Four sons and one daughter-Mrs. Gov. Dewey-were the fruits of this union.

The young barrister was soon after appointed Chief Clerk of the Illinois House of Repre- sentatives, and in 1829 was appointed by Gov. Edwards Acting Commissioner of the Illinois and Michigan Canal, and, with his associates, surveyed and platted the first town of Chicago, the Commissioners superintending the first sale of lots in 1829. The sales were continued dur- ing the two succeeding years.

In 1832, Mr. Dunn entered the service, and was engaged during the Black Hawk war as Captain of a company he raised in Pope County, Ill. Capt. Dunn was severely, and it was thought mortally, wounded in what is now called the town of Dunn, in that county, by a cowardly sentinel, whom he, as officer of the day, was proceeding to relieve. There were three in the company-Capt. Dunn, the Sergeant of the Guard and the relief. When, as they approached the sentinel on duty, in his terror forgetting the customary challenge, fired at the group at a distance of about ten paces, severely wounding Capt. Dunn in the groin. He was taken to Fort Dixon, where he remained until the close of the war.

He served a short time as Assistant Paymaster, and then resumed the practice of his pro- fession. In 1835, he was elected a member of the Illinois House of Representatives, and served during the session as Chairman of the Judiciary Committee.

In 1836, upon the formation of the Territory of Wisconsin, Judge Dunn was appointed Chief Justice of the Territory, his associates being Judge Irvin and Judge Frazier, the latter being shortly after followed by Judge Miller. The bench, as thus composed, remained unchanged until the admission of the State into the Union in 1848. Judge Dunn was always esteemed a sound lawyer and upright judge ; he was a man of dignified appearance, and was generally ac- ceptable to the bar and the people of the Territory. His duties were quite onerous, as, during the greater portion of the time he was on the bench, his district was the most populous and important in the Territory, and produced the largest amount of litigation. But, notwithstand- ing all this, Judge Dunn performed his judicial duties with "ability, fidelity and integrity."

Of the convention which framed the constitution of the State Judge Dunn was a member, he being made President, pro tem., in the organization of the convention, and afterward ap- pointed Chairman of the Judiciary Committee. He took a leading part in the proceedings of that body, and his counsel was influential in shaping many of the provisions of the organic law of our State. As a speaker, he was concise and clear. "There was no eloquence in his man- ner of speaking, but his argument was strong and convincing. His speeches in this body were

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frequent but never long. He was always heard with pleasure, and generally with profit by members of the convention."

During the sessions of 1853, 1854, 1855 and 1856, Judge Dunn represented La Fayette County in the State Senate, serving as Chairman a portion of the time on the Judiciary Com- mittee. In 1856, the Judge was a candidate for Congress against C. C. Washburn, and he was also a candidate for the State Senate in 1870 against Hon. H. S. Magoon, who was elected.

In politics, Judge Dunn was always an able and true Democrat. A native of Kentucky, he retained Southern ideas of the slavery question, and opposed the Republican organization with all his power. While he was firm in his political faith, he treated his opponents with respect and fairness. In social life Judge Dunn was highly respected, and possessed qualities that rendered him very attractive and popular with his acquaintances. He was pleasant and instructive in conversation, and dignified and courteous at all times. He was without personal eccentricities, yet unlike other men. For years he continued to reside in the old capitol building at Belmont, the original capital of what are now four different States. His home was surrounded with extensive shrubbery and an excellent flower garden. With these, his books and his family, he passed his time, when not absent on professional business. He kept his body strong by constant exercise, spending much time with his gun, remaining for days in the woods, camping out in the autumn months. His annual deer-hunt was never adjourned, no matter what stood in the way. He kept his heart young by sunshine and regulated ambition. Judge Dunn was always averse to money-making outside of his profession, his usual remark being, " I tell you, my dear sir, these inoney-makers are not happy ; my little fees are sufficient to supply my wants, if my friends would not forget to pay me what they borrow." Judge Dunn died on the 7th day of April, 1872, in the seventy-second year of his age, at the residence of his sister, Mrs. David W. Jones, of Mineral Point. At the time of his death, he was the oldest member of the legal profession in the State, and was actively engaged in practice to the last.

At a meeting of the members of the bar of the Supreme Court, resolutions expressive of the extreme respect and reverence and esteem felt by all for their departed brother were passed, followed by addresses by leading members. At a meeting of the bar of the State, the Hon. E. G. Ryan (so soon to join his great cotemporary) said : " It was Judge Dunn's lot in life to fill many stations, professional and lay, executive, legislative and judicial. So far as I know or have been able to learn, these sought him rather than he them. He certainly intruded himself into none of them. There was a modesty in the man which was rare in its generation. I think that his own estimate of his own powers was below, not above the estimate of all who knew him well. And he was a thoroughly earnest man. He filled all his offices with a singular fidelity and zeal, as if each in its turn were the chief end of his life. To say that he filled them with ability would be faint praise. He did not achieve success in them by just escaping failure. He was a faithful officer ; his offices were never below him, but he was always above them. None of them gave opportunity of showing all that he was, of calling out the strength that was in him. They were all respectable, some of them were high. But his intellect, his culture, his general capacity, towered far above any station he ever occupied. We mourn for the untried powers which die out of the world with the young. Let us mourn for the world when it suffers great powers to die, unused in its service with the old.

" In his life Judge Dunn saw many men around him reach stations which he did not reach. Some of them rose worthily and usefully. Some rose only to show their own unfitness. With like pliancy or like artifice he, too, might have risen where his inferiors rose. But he was above these, and, standing below on the solid level of his own life and character, he ranked the supe- rior of the most and the equal of any of his cotemporaries. He might have ennobled many positions filled by them-none of them could have ennobled him.

" His character was solid, strong and resolute, but not stern or harsh. His stronger qual- ities were softened by great sense of humor and great kindness of heart. He was generous and trustful to a fault. His foibles, for, like all born of woman, he had them, all arose from his genial character, the warmth of his heart and the kindness of his temper. Strong in character

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among the strongest, he was, in carriage and manner, gentle among the gentlest. His culture was of a high order in and out of his profession. His knowledge of men and things, of the world and its ways, was profound. There were singularly combined in him the sagacity of a man of the world and the personal simplicity of a child. His sense of self-respect was unerr- ing, and never deserted, never betrayed him. It is little to say that he was the soul of honor. He could be nothing that is false or mean. He did not know what treason was. That which he believed, that which he loved, that to which he gave his faith, were parts of himself. He could not desert faith, or friend, or duty, without betraying his own life. Dishonor in him would have been moral suicide."

Hon. George B. Smith said, in a few remarks, " On the formation of our State govern- ment, he retired from the bench, and, from that time to his death, he was engaged in the prac- tice of his profession. His high character as a jurist secured for him an extensive practice in the western part of the State, and his benevolent and pure character made him, at all times and in all respects, the counselor and friend of a large circle of acquaintances. Although he died in the fullness of years, he died deeply regretted by all who knew him."

To conclude, in the language of another biographer, "He was endowed with moral and physical courage in a high degree ; he was polite and condescending but no compromiser. For one-half of a century he has made history.

"' Like a shadow thrown Softly and sweetly from a passing cloud, Death fell upon him.'"

JARED WARNER

was born in Canfield, Ohio, on December 6, 1811. He removed, with his father's family, to this county in the year 1838, where they made the first settlement in Millville, and built their first shelter on the banks of the Wisconsin River. They were towed up the Mississippi in a keel-boat, with several other families. These came not to make a fortune by speculating, or mining, or hunting, or gambling. They were among the first families that came to this new country to live here, to stay here, to die here. The school of " suckers " ascended the river in the spring, but swam south before winter. These families came here to make farms, build mills, and to test the fertility of our soil and its capacity to support a permanent population. That dull metal, known as "lead," has the honor of turning the attention of the enterprising classes in every part of the United States to the then Territory of Wisconsin. The idea of converting our great natural meadows into corn and wheat fields and spreading them out into a vast agri- cultural region, was hardly regarded as probable or possible. But cabins began to make their appearance, and small inclosures ran out into the prairies from thicket and grove; there were beaten paths to the nearest spring ; attempts were made to cultivate the apple and even the peach. The sod dug-outs and pole shanties were supplanted by more pretentious cabins, and the cheerful word "home " found its way in ordinary conversation. Mr. Warner and his father built the first pine saw-mill in this county, as we are informed. The small stream that discharges into the Wisconsin in the town of Millville became the center of a large business. Here Mr. Warner, then a young man, engaged in the lumber business without a rival, and few houses were built in that part of the country at that time that had not some of its material from his manufacture. He loved business activity-it was a necessity of his nature, and he had less delight in making money than in the pleasures of employment and the perfection of machinery. The cunning handiwork of the inventor always attracted his study and admiration. Mr. Warner was too much of a student, too fervently attached to ideas and opinions ever to become a millionaire. Having secured what he thought was a competency, he abandoned his saw-mills, settled in Patch Grove, where he bought a fine tract of land, built a comfortable house, im- proved a neat but not extensive farm and superintended its cultivation till the season before his death. Here he enjoyed years of comparative leisure, read books, periodicals and newspapers on all sorts of subjects, and developed those mental traits and speculative opinions that will

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cause his name to be remembered long after his lumbering and farming are forgotten. Boldly asserting the most unpopular opinions and advocating them with original arguments and illustra- tions, he compelled his oponents to read and study like himself, so that there are few neighbor- hoods anywhere to be found where the arguments for and against revealed religion, involving every branch of human knowledge, are more generally understood and examined. The majority of men and women must ever dissent from many of Mr. Warner's views on political and relig- ious subjects ; still he believed them to be better adapted to further human happiness than any other, and, when satisfied of the sincerity of the heart, we should pardon the aberrations of the head.

Mr. Warner had been a great sufferer for several months before his death, but seemed desirous of concealing, as far as possible, his failing condition. He had been much in public life ; a member of the Legislature, often in the County Board. He was Collector of Taxes in his town at the time of his death. In this business his intimate friends discovered his memory began to fail. He was original in his modes of doing business. He believed men were more likely to pay a debt when not bound to it by mortgages and securities. He often lent money without even a note of hand, making a memorandum of it in his account book. At his death some of his loans had been forgotten, but those he had accommodated readily come forward and told what they owed. On the day he died, he was observed in the morning to be writing on a sheet of paper. He placed this paper in an atlas, where it was accidently found afterward. He then went to his barn, about one hundred yards distant from the house, to turn out his horse and cow. Mrs. Warner, knowing his custom was to walk every day down to the post office and through the village, thought nothing of his absence. At dinner time it was found he had not visited Mr. Paul's. Miss Weed, who was then living in the family, immediately ran down to the barn. Mr. War- ner was lying on some hay as if asleep. She attempted to arouse him. She stepped back affrighted. Jared Warner was dead !

Mr. Warner thought an obligatory will might cause contention. The paper he had written in the forenoon was found to contain his wishes in reference to the division of his property.

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History of Grant County, Wisconsin, preceded by a history of Wisconsin, Part 133

Author: Butterfield, Consul Willshire, 1824-1899 Publication date: 1881 Publisher: [Chicago : Western Historical Co.?] Number of Pages: 1050

Author: Butterfield, Consul Willshire, 1824-1899
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: [Chicago : Western Historical Co.?]
Number of Pages: 1050