History of Grant County, Wisconsin, preceded by a history of Wisconsin, Part 86

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

USA > Wisconsin > Grant County > History of Grant County, Wisconsin, preceded by a history of Wisconsin > Part 86

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On one memorable occasion, a fracas of this kind happened at a gathering of this kind, when a tenderfoot, unused to border scenes and Western customs would have imagined the inno- cents were all about to be slaughtered.

Sam and Henry Redman were wild boys living in the vicinity, and when under the influ- ence of liquor, had no respect for the civilities of life. They were present, as they had often been before-dressed after a peculiar fashion of their own, wearing red flannel shirts, open at the collar, and without coat or vest. Around their loins was girt a miner's belt in which each

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HISTORY OF GRANT COUNTY.

carried a large hunting knife, ready to flay a deer or scalp a man as the occasion might present. The girls "swung to their partners" and whirled in the giddy evolutions of the waltz; while the strong, but gentle arms which encompassed their lovely forms, were ever ready to fell with ponderous blows him who dared to supplant them in the smiles of these angelic objects of their adoration.

" Love framed with mirth a gay, fantastic round:"

they smiled, perspired, and told the measure of their love with laughing eye and gentle pressure of the hand, when all at once the scene was changed. Big, loud, unmentionable oaths flew thick and fast and the place became suddenly blue with the profanity of the intruders. The girls, panting, trembling, and in utter dismay, fled from the room and were as quickly followed by their more courageous but not less discomfited companions. The candles were extinguished and for the nonce darkness brooded over the scene. The Redmans had sprung a coup d'etat and were the sole possessors of the place. They whooped, hallowed, danced, and sung their ribald songs and on the light being restored, revealed them brandishing their gleaming knives in the air; while, at intervals, with fiendish grin and lurid oaths, they would drive their glitter- ing points into the rough logs as if pinioning to the walls the victims of their hate. After a. time-when fear of sudden danger had subsided-some of the bolder of the German boys vent- ured to return and remonstrate with the outlaws-the outrage was condoned-a truce agreed upon-the Redmans were invited out to partake of a fresh glass of lager-the dance went on and once more " peace reigned in Warsaw."

A brawl or a personal encounter with the roughs who frequented the dancing parties which constitutes one of the chief amusements in the early settlement of the town, was no uncommon occurrence and often ended with serious results to some of the parties engaged.

But I pass to other and more important matters. Among the smelters of that day I re- member William T. Ennor, Joseph Pettey and Albert W. Emery, of British Hollow, and William Lightfoot and Thomas Pallier, of Potosi, only two of whom, Joseph Pettey and A. W. Emery are still living. The mining interest greatly declined after the discovery of gold in California, and the five years succeeding 1849 saw the lead mines of Wisconsin almost depleted of its min- ing population. Some returned in after years to explore their abandoned diggings, but mining as a source of wealth and employment has never regained its former importance.

James Alderson, during the fifties, made the first improvementupon the old mode of mining with windlass and tub, by the appliance of steam power and machinery and going beneath the water for the shining ore. He mined at " Adney Patch " near British Hollow, and succeeded in raising large quantities of mineral. This gave a new impetus to the business and attracted capitalists, in search of profitable investments, to the mines. A company organized in Pitts- burgh, attracted thither through their agents, purchased the Alderson diggings ; ran them for a few years with moderate success, when, tiring of their bonanza they re-sold to James Alderson & Co., who, after expending many thousand dollars in machinery and sinking shafts here and at other points, abandoned their works as unprofitable. Another company called the Graham Mining Company, organized in Milwaukee, and of which Hon. J. C. Hathaway, now of Beetown, was agent, purchased from Gov. Dewey, in the sixties, a tract of mining land supposed to be rich in lead ore, known as Preston Point, and commenced mining operations and continued with varied success down to the year 1879, when they, too, suspended operations and sold their lands for a mere nominal sum, having sunk not less than $50,000 in the enterprise. Practical miners were always of the opinion this company did not mine with that judgment which is the result of long acquaintance with mining operations, and hence their failure. Drifts, or tunnels, were run into the hill, for many hundreds of yards; the workmen tediously and expensively cutting their way through solid rock at a cost of $3 to $5 per lineal foot, to drain the main crevices of water and thus be enabled to reach and unearth the large mineral deposits there contained. They succeeded partially in removing the surface water, but never came upon any remunerative beds of ore. Their failure was a disappointment not only to themselves, but the community at large, who still believe untold wealth lies imbedded in our bluffs and hills ; and that at no very distant

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HISTORY OF GRANT COUNTY.

alay, its sources will be reached, their treasures revealed, and the glittering ore in untold million pounds reward the skill of man.

About the year 1850, or perhaps earlier, the great railroad projects leading out from the lake shore westward to the Mississippi, were being much discussed both through the public press and in business circles. The Galena & Chicago Union Railroad was the first to start the grand race for the banks of the Mississippi, which, after crossing Rock River in the year 1851, reaching Galena, where it remained a short time, in the year 1853, and was continued some- time during the year 1855. Dubuque was made the western terminus of the road mainly through the efforts of Hon. George W. Jones, then the accomplished Senator from Iowa. Milwaukee, fully awake to the importanceof railroad communication with the growing West, was making strenuous efforts to anticipate her more fortunate rival, Chicago, and reach first, with the iron horse what was regarded then as the ultama thule of trade-the banks of the Mississippi River.

The unparalleled immigration to and rapid settlement of Minnesota at this time gave the Upper Mississippi an importance unequaled in the history of the world. Everything and every- body seemed to be moving toward St. Paul and intermediate points ; during the summers from 1850 down to as late as 1858, the splended steamers of the packet companies were thronged with passengers and loaded to the guards with freight all bound northward to this new country, whose salubrious climate and prolific soil have not disappointed their then most glowing anticipations. Milwaukee, young, moneyless, and sinewless as she was, bent all the energies of an indomitable will to this great task and commenced grading and laying the iron track toward the setting sun.

Potosi, alive to the importance of securing the western terminus of this road, commenced a railroad project with the view of meeting the eastern road half way and escorting the iron horse to the river. Meetings were held, speeches were made, articles written and published in the columns of the Potosi Republican, Lancaster Herald and other local papers, all lauding the en- terprise and expatiating upon the benefits to be derived therefrom. By the united efforts of William R. Biddlecome and Robert M. Briggs, the members of the Legislature from the Potosi and Beetown districts, a charter was secured and the Potosi & Dodgeville Railroad Company became one of the most important institutions of the land. Briggs secured his election by promising his constituents it should be built by the way of Beetown with a double track "like two rows of brass buttons on a double-breasted vest." The books were opened and many shares of stock subscribed, but it is needless to add, the project was beaten by our more enterprising neighbors in the north part of the county, who mortgaged their farms for stock, and thus secured the location of the road in the Wisconsin Valley.

BY DANIEL R. BURT.

I first came to the country in 1835, after having made my location at Lancaster, or near where Lancaster now is situated; in 1835, I left that point in company with Lucius Ashley for the object of finding a water-power on Grant River to be used for manufacturing lumber for the improvement of the country, and where, if required, it could be shipped by water to any point on the Mississippi. We left with a horse on the 10th of December, 1835, the snow about four inches deep. Learning that it would be difficult to obtain forage for the horse, we left it with Mr. Fitzgerald, then living some three miles from Lancaster, on the Boice Prairie, and thence proceeded through the Platte timber, and examined the Platte River. Not being satisfied with the Platte, concluded to examine Grant, commencing our examination at the point where now stands the warehouse on Grant Slough, following it up to the first fall or rapid water, now Burton, where I subsequently built the aforementioned mills. We spent some two hours in searching for sec- tion lines without success, and darkness began to settle down upon us, and having eaten our last rations at breakfast, though we had killed a fine turkey, concluded we must try to find our way back to the point where we left our horse, having been three days out traveling over a por- tion of the country never before seen by either of us, without a track or trace of civilized man to guide us. Our three days of travel had led us to almost every point of the compass, zigzag, circuitous and of all directions. Ashley declared he had no opinion of the proper course to be

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HISTORY OF GRANT COUNTY.

taken and that I must pilot; accepting the proffered berth, we commenced our journey over a country broken up by deep ravines, and covered with timber of which we had never before seen, or without any guide to direct us. We had not traveled half a mile before the darkness and brush compelled a halt; breaking up some fine brush to lay my head upon for the night, the snow four inches deep and without anything to eat since morning, I laid myself down to rest for the night, leaving Ashley on guard-duty some twenty feet from me with a double-barrel rifle, and a small fire we had improvised, with instructions to awaken me at 12 o'clock to relieve him. . It commenced snowing about this time and was quite dark. The wolves having scented our turkey and our fire, approached rather unpleasantly near with their hideous howlings, and awakened Ash- ley's attention, if not his admiration, of their music, interesting him so deeply that he declined to be relieved through the night. Tying a handkerchief over my face, with a heavy overcoat and other heavy clothing, I slept through very comfortably, the snow having fallen about four inches through the night and covering me to that depth. I was not in the least disturbed in my sleep; with a large tree at my head, a large cudgel at my side, and a revolver in my pocket and Ashley on guard as above stated. The wolves parted company with us before morning; as soon as the day appeared clearly, we commenced our journey for the point we had left our horse, distant, as subsequent examinations have shown to have been about ten miles; the snow continuing to fall we reached that point at 9:45 o'clock, coming out of the timber directly on a line from the point of starting from the house. I cannot describe, the force that directed my course during the time and distance of this walk of ten miles, being on a direct line turning neither to the right or left to avoid obstructions, or to accommo- date by the topography of the country, I have said I could not describe the force that directed this journey, though I have an opinion, which, without demonstration, remains only an opinion. Be pleased to allow me briefly to notice two other incidents similar, if not parallel. I drove into the Territory of Wisconsin in June, 1836, a span of horses which were used and kept at my place at Waterloo through the summer and winter of that season. In the spring of 1837, after the feed became good, while ranging on the river bottoms, about the 15th of May they disappeared ; after hunting for them two days without success, I became impressed that they had left for Tecum- seh, Mich., from whence they had been driven a year before. I commenced my journey and hunt four days after they had been seen traveling, as near as I could judge, a direct course to the point named, a distance of sixteen miles, without any road, through an unsettled country; I crossed Little Platte, north of Platteville, there being a cabin at the ford, and the first one seen thus far on my route. I learned that my horses had preceded me three days, stopping but a short time and traveling East, I continued on stopping overnight at Belmont; starting early I continued my journey as near the same direction as possible, crossing the Pecatonica River; about eight miles further on I met two gentlemen of whom I learned that the horses had passed their cabin one-half mile distant about four hours in advance of me, and I became hopeful and pressed on, eight miles further, I came on my horses, caught them and commenced my return well satisfied, giving me food for reflection to determine how it was possible to strike their trails, lose it again, and then again and again lose and strike it, and at last ride directly on them, passing over an unsettled country and without roads, a distance between forty and fifty miles of a wilder- ness. Again, in June, 1840, I hired this same team to Samuel Ashley to make the jour- ney to Milwaukee, returning by Chicago; on his return stopping overnight eight miles east of Freeport. In the morning the horses were missing from the stable in a manner to impress him they were stolen. He spent three days in a fruitless search through the coun- try and returned leaving all at the place named. I listened and carefully noted every circum- stance of their loss and came to the conclusion that the horses were not stolen. I left the next morning for Freeport, and reached the house he had put up at about 1 o'clock the next day, examined the stable and the surrounding country ; spent an hour to determine what course to take, concluding at last to follow up a small river, as it was called then by the name of Yellow River, coming down from the west-by-south, and every mile I traveled became more impressed that I should find my horses. The first cabin that I passed in a distance of six miles.

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HISTORY OF GRANT COUNTY.

was off my route about one-fourth of a mile, and standing on an eminence. On approaching. I was impressed that I should learn something from my horses there. I rode up and meet- ing a man at the door, made the inquiry about the horses, and if any had been seen; he requested me to describe my horses, and when they had strayed; I did so quite minutely, and as soon through, he replied, "your horses are in my stable," where I found them, took possession and returned again well satisfied. I have given you one incident, showing the rude manner of cross- ing streams under pressing and difficult circumstances. It became necessary to communicate with the miners, who had lately settled at Snake Hollow; about the first of August, 1836, S. Ashley and myself left for that purpose, traveling the divide between Grant and the Mississippi. reaching Grant near where the ferry is now kept. The water, too deep to ford and about twelve rods wide, presented rather an unpleasant obstruction ; but the river must be crossed; we impro- vised a rude raft from a drift-pile, tied the logs together with grape vines, fastening another vine to the head of the raft, Ashley being properly seated with gun, ammunition and my clothes, I swam in and taking the grape vine between my teeth, commenced towing the raft, Ashley and his goods, he sitting as an impression figurehead to the craft, and safely and dryly landing, and in a few moments shot and killed a large buck weighing upward of 200 pounds. I must give an inci- dent in connection with an Indian of the Pottawatomie tribe. Subsequently to the first time I was visiting the place, to find section lines to enable me to locate for the mill, I was traveling on the ice of the river, and at some distance ahead I discovered a movement that impressed me that it was an Indian endeavoring to keep the tree between me and himself; I had no arms but a small revolver. I soon discovered that it was an Indian with a gun; on approaching opposite the tree he left it and came down on to the river, and walked with me about one mile; when approaching a tree near the river, he sprang upon the bank placing the tree between me and him; I did not feel overly comfortable until I had passed out of the range of his rifle, occasionally looking over my shoulder with peculiar feelings during the time. The next October, I met him again, took him home with me, kept him overnight and treated him friendly and kindly, and in two weeks he came back with his family, hunting and spending the winter near me. I pur- chased all the meat and fowl of him at 1 cent a pound. He remained off and on for three or four years; he was sometimes threatened by the hunters if he did not leave, but always came to me for protection. Usually having six or eight men working for me, he felt quite safe. He called himself Monamonquett. For a few of the first years of my residence at that place, it was splendid hunting and fishing; I have often seen herds of thirty deer feeding at a time, not sixty rods from the house, and in the winter when chopping timber between Grant and the Mississippi. the deer would feed on the tops of the fallen timber, often in herds of twenty. You could meet with flocks of turkeys, from ten to forty, by traveling a short distance in the timber.

There have been many large fish stories told, but never in quantity and ease of catch- ing have I ever heard anything equal to the demonstrated facts presented for the first years of my settlement. With a seine of twenty feet in length, I have caught a wagon load in thirty minutes and some of them weighing thirty pounds; from the ford up to the dam the river would be literally filled with fish. To throw a stone into the river at the point named, it would seldom fail of killing one or more, and by striking a spear into the water, not aiming at any, you would bring out from one to three fish. I spent twenty-two years at Waterloo, the largest portion of them were prolific with wild and exciting scenes, with pressing business bringing excitement and happiness, and, at this time, casting the vision backward over seven- ty-eight years, I consider this period of twenty-two years, the happiest portion of my life, and since removing to this place, East Dubuque, I have spent a portion of each year at that place. I have sold all of the 5,000 acres once owned in Grant County, with the exception of some- thing over 200 acres, and have now retired from business.

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SOME OF GRANT COUNTY'S ILLUSTRIOUS DEAD. JAMES GATES PERCIVAL.

This celebrated poet, whose works have given pleasure to so many of his fellow-creatures, was born in Kensington Parish, in the town of Berlin, Conn., as he quaintly gives it, " Tues- day forenoon, September 15, 1795." The poet traced his descent, on his father's side, " to James Percival, who, about 1706, moved from Barnstable, Massachusetts Colony, to East Haddam, Conn. He married the daughter of the celebrated Leydan Pastor, John Robinson. In England, . the family may be directly traced to the Barons of the time of William the Conqueror."

James Percival's boyhood was passed in this quiet eddy out of the busy current of worldly life, where he early became noted for his precociousness as well as for his quiet demeanor, which drew him entirely away from the usual boyish sports. "At this time, he lived," said an intimate friend, " in in a world of his own-an ideal world. He knew and cared very little respecting the real world of mankind. His cast of mind was highly imaginative."

In January, 1807, James suffered a severe loss in the death of his father, and shortly after- ward, James and another brother were placed under the charge of their uncle, Rev. Seth Hart, who kept a private boarding school at Hempstead, L. I. Here he remained a year, when he was placed under the tuition of the Rev. Israel B. Woodward, of Wolcott, a town adjacent to Kensington ; from here he again returned to Hempstead, and it was during this second stay that he gave vent to his feelings in poetry. After having spent the usual three years in preparing for college, in the early autumn of 1810, he entered as a member of the Freshman Class at Yale. Upon graduating, young Percival returned to Kensington, and, after some deliberation, deter- mined to commence the study of medicine, being drawn thereto both by the example of his father and, in a secondary way, by an interest in botany. He wavered between this and the law for several years, finally returning to his first choice, and completed his studies with Dr. Ives, at New Haven. "He had already acquired a wide reputation as a prodigy of learning, and for his facility in acquiring knowledge. When it was known that he had applied for a medical degree. there was considerable excitement about his examination. No one of the Medical Board dared to ask him questions out of his own province ; and they examined him for several hours, trying. if possible, to exhaust his knowledge. But he came out triumphantly from the ordeal; and it was said at the time that no student had ever been proved with such severe tests, and none had ever passed so brilliant an examination."

After taking his degree, Percival was engaged for a time as private tutor, and as a lecturer, in the Medical College, on Anatomy. About this time he became, also, interested in the study of language, and afterward spent some time with the Indians. He then commenced the practice of his profession at Kensington, but the prevalence of an alarming and malignant fever soon after his arrival, the mortality occurring so preyed upon him that he then and there gave up his practice.

In 1821, Percival launched his craft upon the uneasy and uncertain sea of letters. In this year, he published a " small, dingy-looking 18mo of 346 pages, containing the first part of his Prometheus ; " and a number of other forms. Its reception was most flattering. The title-page bore the following extract from Southey :

" Go, little book ; from this, my solitude, 1 cast thee upon the waters-go thy ways ; And if, as I believe, thy vein be good, The world may find thee after certain days."

Percival's name had already preceded him, and, in a quiet way, the whole edition was sold in a little over a year from the date of publication. A little later, while engaged as Curator of the Botanical Garden just formed by Dr. Ives, he was seized with the typhoid fever, and, upon his recovery, he accepted an invitation to accompany a botanical lecturer named Whitlow, to Charleston, S. C. Here he soon separated from his companion and remained in the city until March, 1822, when he returned to New York. During this time he published the first number

Geo. R. Frank

MUSCODA .

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HISTORY OF GRANT COUNTY.

of his " Clio," which was issued by the Babcocks in January, 1822; besides this, he employed his pen in versification for the daily press. The new volume was well received and added much to the author's previous reputation.

Of Percival's manners and presence at this time, the following account is given : "He is cold and diffident in his manners, yet steadfast in his feelings, frank and candid in the expres- sion of his opinions, and particularly averse to display and noisy approbation. * His passion for study, and the reserve and timidity of manner which characterizes him in mixed company, may naturally lead common observers to suppose he has little aptitude for social inter- course, and little delight in it. But this opinion is incorrect. * His range of topics extends to every department in morals, science, politics, history, taste and literature. On points on which he differs from others, he can be approached without the danger of offending even his strong sensibility. Arguments he seems to hear and weigh with much consideration, but his own opinions he maintains with great firmness. He rarely ventures mere assertions, and few, perhaps, are more uniformly in the habit of maintaining their opinions by particular facts and strenuous and elaborate reasonings. One peculiarity may be observed in his manner of con- versation, and that is, when he approaches a subject, he enters deeply into it, views it on every side, and pursues it till exhausted, if it be exhaustible."

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History of Grant County, Wisconsin, preceded by a history of Wisconsin, Part 86

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