USA > Wisconsin > Green County > History of Green County, Wisconsin. Together with sketches of its towns and villages, educational, civil, military and political history; portraits of prominent persons, and biographies of representative citizens > Part 80
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[Signed] " WILLIAM BROWN." The following is also taken from the records of the county board:
" Nov. 20, 1857.
" The committee appointed to superintend the construction of a fire proof building for the different county offices, beg leave to submit the following in addition to the foregoing report of the chairman of said committee now absent, he being sick and unable to attend the meeting of the board. The statement accompanying the report of the receipts and expenditures shows an amount of receipts of $1,600, and disbursements of $1,563, leaving a balance of $37 in the hands of the chairman, and would further report and beg leave to submit the plan and specifications, contract and bond as a part of their report, and would say that they have examined the material used, and have frequently examined the work in the course of its con- struction, and believe that Mr. Brewer has done a fair, honest and honorable job in the ereetion of said fire proof building, but has not com- pleted the job by the time the contract called
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HISTORY OF GREEN COUNTY
for it to be done. Your committee would recommend that the time may be extended to said Brewer for the completon of said job until the 1st day of January next, and further recommend that an order be issued to said Brewer for $400, being the full amount of the appropriation made at the extra session of the board last June, leaving a balance of $200 dne on the contract, for which no provision is made, said sum of $200 will more than doubly cover the amount yet needed to complete the job, and we recommend an appropriation of $200 to be paid when the job is completed, and we would further recommend that there be placed two stone conductors under the eave spouts to conduet the water from the building, and the committee herewith submit the accounts of the different members of the committee on fire proof building, all of which is respectfully submitted.
[Signed] " WILLIAM MUNSON, " RANSOM DRAKE, Committee.
This building is now (1884) occupied by the clerk of the board, the clerk of the court, the register of deeds and by the county court as a depository of his records. It was completed Jan. 1, 1858.
GREEN COUNTY JAILS.
The first jail in Green county was a log structure -- a very rickety affair. It was burned to the ground on the 2d of February, 1855, as appears by the following, from the Monroe Sentinel of Feb. 14, 1855:
"We omitted in onr issue last week to notice the conflagration of the Green county jail. The fire originated abont 10 o'clock A. M , of Friday, the 2d inst., and before assistance could be rendered the flames had burst through the roof, making the destruction of the building inevi- table. The jail proper was a log building. A frame addition on the north was occupied as a dwelling by a Mr. Annis. In this addition the fire originated from a pipe which passed through the roof.
"The brewery was threateningly menaced by the devouring clements, but was saved by the efforts of our citizens, who kept the roof and west end continually moistened with the con- tents of some large vats inside. Several barrels must have been used in this manner. We un- derstand that Mr. Annis saved most of his fur- niture."
The burning of this building led to the erec- tion of a stone jail. Concerning the erection of this building the Monroe Sentinel, of Aug. 1, 1855, says:
"The contract for building the new jail has been awarded to Messrs. Emerson & Condee, of this place. The known enterprise of this firm, and they fortunately have abundant means, too, will ensure the speedy completion of the jail. The contract specifies the 15th of Novem- ber next. There have been some alterations suggested by the contractors which it would be well for the building committee to consider. Under the contract, the roof is to be made of shingle. This is certainly an oversight. A cement roof would be vastly better, because more safe, and cost about the same. The con- tractors will put on a fire proof roof if the com- mittee approve. There can be no good reason for having a shingle roof on a building costing $4,500. A decided mistake is this shingle roof. A reversal of some other arrangements would be an advantage also."
This building was occupied until 1870, when the present jail was built and took its place. The record of the county board shows the fol- lowing entries concerning the incipient steps taken in the erection of the former edifice:
"May 23, 1855. "The committee on location of jail, through its chairman, Mr. Smith of Clarno offered a re- port as follows:
"The committee to which was referred the location of a site for a county jail beg leave to report, that after due consideration of the differ- ent locations proposed, would respectfully recommend that the site for said jail be located
576
HISTORY OF GREEN COUNTY.
on the old site on lands owned by the county of Green where the old log jail stood.
"Your committee would further recommend that the building committee be authorized to sell said old site and purchase another within the limits of the village of Monroe if thought advisable by the said building committee, pro- vided such exchange should not increase the amount in building said jail, but to the contrary, provided further, that such site should not be located upon the public square.
"ISRAEL SMITH, Chairman of Com.
"Report accepted and laid on the table voted to take up the report of committee on estima- tion of cost of draft and building. Voted to adopt the size for the jail recommended in the report of the above committee.
"On motion to build the jail of stone the ayes and noes were called the vote stood, ayes Messrs. Smith of Adams, Smith of Clarno, Smiley, Flood, Brown, Ball, Munson, Hurl- but, Jenny, Pengree, 10. Nays, Messrs. Clark, Leonard, Johnson, Roby and Green, 5; carrried.
"Voted that the walls be built of range work in the ordinary way, except that part of the second story which shall enclose the cells of the prisoners, and which shall be of blocks of range work running the whole thickness of the wall, and of the same length both on the out- side and inside.
"May 23, 1855.
"On motion of Mr. Smith of Adams, the fol- lowing resolution was adopted:
Resolved, That the height of the main wall of the jail edifice, from its foundation to the bottom of the first tier of joists be not less than seven feet, and its thickness not less than two feet, that from the bottom of the first tier of joists to the bottom of the second tier, the height be not less than nine feet six inches, and the thickness not less than twenty inches, and that from the bottom of the second tier of joists to the bottom of the third tier, the
height be not less than nine feet and the thick- ness of not less than eighteen inches.
"Voted to take up the report of committee on location.
"Voted to strike out all of said report after the re-consideration.
"On motion to adopt the remaining part of the report, Mr. Smith of Adams moved to amend by adding as follow: and that it be left to the building committee, either to erect that edifice on the ground on which it formerly stood or on any other lot within the village limits the public square excepted, as to them shall be deemed most advisable, and best adapt- ed to promote the public advantage.
"Voted to take up the report of the commit- tee on finance.
"Voted to adopt the report. Mr. Ball offered the following resolution which was adopted:
Resolved, That this board appropriate the sum of $3,000 for the use of the building committee to be expended in the construction of the jail, leaving such other amount as may be necessary for its completion to be appropriated by the board at its November session."
On the 24th of May, 1870, the county board determined to build a new jail and jailor's resi- dence"on the old jail site." The jail building com- mittee of the county board, by their final report showed that the cost of the new jail, including $1,800 "for the purchase of Beebe lots," was $25,405.69. This report was submitted, Nov. 25, 1871.
The jail is built of stone, brick and iron. The brick upon the outside are white. The sheriff's dwelling is about 40x20 feet, two stories. The jail part is two stories in height and contains eight cells. This part is of stone, brick and iron. The whole on the inside is encased with boiler iron. The cells are made also of boiler iron and are set inside of an inclosure of iron bars. There is a ward for females separate from the jail proper. This is likewise encased in boiler iron and contains room for six beds. No one has as yet broke this jail. The building
579
HISTORY OF GREEN COUNTY.
is heated by a furnace. The jail is located on lot 152, in Ly Brand's donation.
GREEN COUNTY POOR FARMS.
The first poor farm purchased in Green county was in the town of Mount Pleasant in 1861. It was used about sixteen years and then sold. Light is thrown on the transactions resulting in in buying of this farm by the following extracts from the record of the county board:
"Nov. 21, 1860.
"E. R. Allen made a motion that the sum of $1,500 be appropriated to purchase a poor farm.
"D. S. Sutherland moved to amend by insert- ing $2,000 instead of $1,500. The vote being taken on the amendment, eight members voted for the amendment and seven against it. The amendment carried, and the sum of $2,000 was appropriated for said purpose, this sum to be placed in hand of the superintendents."
"Dec. 21, 1860.
"Mr. Flood offered the following resolution, to-wit:
"Resolved, By the county board that $2,000 of the expected surplus in the treasury be placed at the disposal of the superintendents of county poor for the purpose of purchasing a county poor farm and defraying such other expenses as they shall deem proper in the performance of their duties as superintendents of the county poor.
"On motion, said resolution was adopted."
The following concerning the first poor farm and poor house is from the Brodhead Reporter of May 24, 1861:
"Hiram Rust, Esq., of Monroe, and D. Drake, Esq., of Mount Pleasant, were in town yester- day, and gave us a call. They are about pur- chasing lumber for the building on the poor farm in Mount Pleasant and were here getting prices from our lumber dealers. The building is to be of wood, with a basement of stone; three stories in height, including the basement; size of building 24x36 feet.
"The farm contains 130 acres of rich and pro- ductive land, pleasantly located in the town of Mount Pleasant. Cost of farm $2,900.
"From all that we can learn, having heard both sides, the pretended dissatisfaction on the part of some in the county with the action of the superintendents arises more from ontside causes than anything else. We he- lieve the superintendents aeted in good faith, and performed their duty as they understood it; and we believe farther that no better selection of a farm could have been made. They have kept within the limit of their means, and have made a judicious appropriation of them. They are candid and honorable men.
"The work on the building will be prosecuted as rapidly as possible, and the building ready for use in a few weeks."
"Nov. 15, 1861.
"Money drawn from the treasury for poor purposes by the county superintendents of the poor is as follows, to-wit :
Upon May 20, by county order. $250 00
" ' July 22, 250 00
Aug. 19, 500 00
Sept. 9, 750 00
Making in all. $1. 750 00 "With the above money the superintendents have built a county poor house 27x33 feet, two stories above the basement. The cost, separate from boarding the hands, amounts to $773.38 furnished with ten comfortable beds, twelve chairs, five stoves, dishes to feed twenty per- sons."
"Nov. 12, 1862.
"The superintendents of the county poor pre- sented the following report, which was adopted, to-wit :
"To the Hon. Board of Supervisors:
"The superintendents of the poor of Green county herewith submit, this their annual report:
"The county poor farm. 180 acres cost. ... $2.900 00
"Improvements thereon since purchase ... 850 00
"Amount of personal property .. 729 33
Total sin't of renland personal property $4, 479 53
31
580
HISTORY OF GREEN COUNTY.
EXTRACT FROM THE MONROE SENTINEL.
On the 20th of June, 1877, the county super- intendents of poor were instructed by county board to sell the old county poor farm "in the best possible manner."
The poor farm (a small part having previ- ously been sold) was disposed of March 1, 1878, by William Brown, Daniel Smiley and Cyrus Troy, "county superintendents of poor of the county of Green, in the State of Wisconsin," to Simon Brown, for the sum of $4,000.
On the 15th day of May, 1879, the county of Green purchased of Samuel Truax, "the north- west quarter of section twenty-seven (27) ; the west half of the northeast quarter of said sec- tion twenty-seven (27); also the east half of the southwest quarter of section twenty-two (22); all in township No. two (2) north of range No. 1 seven (7) east in said county of Green, and State of Wisconsin," for the sum of $12,000, as a poor farm. The new farm contains 320 acres, more or less, and is located in the town of Monroe, about two miles northwest of the city of Monroe.
When on the 21st day of June, 1877, it was determined by the county board to build a new poor house on the poor farm last purchased, it was resolved that it "should be built of brick, two stories high, not exceeding in cost $6,000." What kind of a house was built, and what was its entire cost, will more fully appear hereafter.
COUNTY INSANE ASYLUM.
On the 18th of November, 1881, $2,000 were appropriated to build an asylum for the chronic insane of Green county, on the poor farm, not to exceed in cost, $6,000. The building was let to Churchill, Dodge & Soaper, contractors, for $6,390. The building was completed in the fall of 1882.
The building is 34x68 feet ; is two stories in height ; and has a capacity for forty inmates. The number of the insane at present (1884) in this asylum, is thirty-six. R. C. Whitcomb, the overseer of the poor house and farm, is also overseer of the asylum, at this time (1884) and has been since its opening for patients.
581
HISTORY OF GREEN COUNTY.
CHAPTER XXIV.
LITERATURE-SCIENCE-ART.
LITERATURE.
In the domain of English literature, there has been, in Green county, no one in the past, nor is there one at the present time, who has achieved a national reputation nor even, per- haps, one co-extensive with the limits of the State; bnt several have written fugitive pieces of poetry published in the county papers of con- siderable merit; and there are not a few who, in prose, have done themselves equal credit. One book, however, has been written in Green county, of a high order of merit, and is deserv- ing of special commendation. It is the "History of Green County, Wisconsin," by Helen M. Bingham. It was published in 1877 and is a small 12 mo. volume of 310 pages. The author, in her excellent preface, says:
"In the effort to make this history correct, a great many letters have been written, and a great many visits have been made in the several towns. Assistance has been received from over 200 persons, more than one-fourth of whom came to the county before 1840, some of them before 1830. With all the avidity of Dryden's reaper, who
-- fills his greedy hands
And binds the golden sheaves in brittle bands,' . I have seized upon these individual gleanings from memory's field and bound them together." And thus she concludes:
"With just one plea in its behalf, the history is now submitted to the people of Green county. The plea is this: It is often said, though whether the saying originated with an unsuccessful his- torian cannot now be ascertained, that 'that people is most fortunate whose history is most
wearisome to read.' Will those to whom this history is the dullest and most monotonous of books have the charity to infer that Green is the most fortunate of counties?"
But the fair author is altogether too modest. She has written a book which is neither dull nor monotonous, and one which, it may safely be said, has been fortunate for Green county. It is the best county history, not biographical, written by any Wisconsin historian. The style of the author is terse and lively and her gener- alizations are marked with much more than ordinary ability. There is but one matter of regret connected with the publication of Miss Bingham's history, and that is, that so few of the citizens of Green county have purchased the book and attentively perused it. It is worthy a careful reading by all.
Helen Maria Bingham
was born in Monroe, Green Co., Wis., Oct. 10, 1845. She is the daughter of the late Judge John A. Bingham and Caroline E. Bingham, (nee Churchill) who is still living, and is a resi- dent of Green county. Dr. Bingham received her early education in Monroe. She afterwards attended the State University at Madison and Lombard University, in Galesburg, Ill., gradu- ating from the latter in 1867. She has tanght school not only in Wisconsin but in Arkansas, and was, at one time, an instructor, in her Alma Mater. She was, also, employed for awhile on the Janesville Gazette. She is the author of the "History of Green County, Wisconsin," published in 1877, mention of which has already been made in this chapter. In the fall of 1877, Miss Bingham went to Boston, and the succeed-
582
HISTORY OF GREEN COUNTY.
ing spring began the study of medicine. She gradnated from the Boston University School of Medicine, in June, 1881, with honors. In January, 1882, she established herself in the practice of her profession in Milwaukee, where she now (1884) resides.
EXTRACTS FROM THE MONROE SENTINEL. I .- Helen M. Bingham. [July 27, 1870.]
Helen Bingham, daughter of the late John A. Bingham, of this place, will take up the editorial pen and scissors for the Janesville Gazette, next Monday or Tuesday, as assistant edi- tor. Miss Bingham is a young lady of good taste, education, and, what is worth still more, is pos- sessed of that rare quality, good common sense. She will undoubtedly make an efficient and val- nable acquisition to the Gazette, as a writer and compiler of entertaining and instructive reading. We wish her success in her new vocation.
II .- A Card. [March 15, 1876.]
To MISS HELEN M. BINGHAM:
MONROE, March 1, 1876.
The undersigned residents of Monroe feeling confident of your ability to give an entertaining and instructive lecture upon some literary sub- ject of your own choice, extend to you a pressing invitation to do so at some future time, to be selected by yourself, for the benefit of the Young Ladies' High School Literary Society : A. C. Dodge, Edmund Bartlett, P. J. Clawson, .W. W. Chadwick, F. R. Melvin, J. Bolender, C. Payne, A. S. Donglas, H. Medbery, B. Dun- widdie, A. M. Wolcott, Z. HI. Ilowe, P. W. Puf- fer, E. M. Bartlett, J. H. Foster, H. W. Whit- ney, Lewis Rote, John C. Hall, William Mon- roe, J. B. Treat, Lewis MeKahn, S. W. Abbott, W. E. Noble, E. P. Treat, W. P. Woodworth, J. S. Harper, J. B. Galusha, J. II. Van Dyke, F. S. Parlin, C. A. Booth, N. B. Treat, William Gray, W. S. Wescott, J. S. Smock, II. N. Bradshaw, John Chadwick, I. T. Carr, A. W. Goddard, C. E. Adams, D. W. Ball, Henry Tschudy, George B. McLean, Henry Ludlow, William W. Wright. 1
Messrs. Dodge, Bartlett, Douglas, Chadwick, and others :
I thank you for the invitation of March 1. I am anxious for the society to succeed in the the work it has undertaken. Therefore, though I feel that you have done me an unmerited honor, I accept the invitation, leaving the time of the lecture to be determined by the society.
Respectfully, HELEN M. BINGHAM. Dated Monroe, March 13, 1876.
IIelen M. Bingham will lecture at the Uni- versalist Church, on Tuesday evening, March 21, upon the "Early History of Monroe." Miss Bingham has lived here all her life. Her father came to Monroe in 1841, and was the first county judge of this county.
SCIENCE.
The attention of the people of Green county, as well as of those of other counties of the State, have of late years been drawn more and more to the importance of a scientific education as one calculated not only to develop the powers of the mind, but easily to be put in practice. In this utilitarian age, mere theories go for little. What is demanded is that which is practical. Knowledge is perpetuated and aided by litera- ture ; systematized, by science. As one of Green county's representative men in a pro- fession dealing largely with scientific research, mentioned may be made of
Joseph T. Dodge,
who was born at Barre, Vt., May 16, 1823, and who is the son of Joseph and Azubah (Thomp- son) Dodge, both natives of the same place. The "Dodge" family in the United States is now very numerons, but believed to have a com- mon ancestor. A large branch of it has de- seended in a direct line from Richard Dodge, a native of England, who became a citizen of Salem, Mass., Ang. 29, 1638. A well authen- ticated family register, in possession of our sub- ject, shows him to be a lineal descendant of the said Richard in the seventh generation, the in- termediate links in the genealogical chain being
.
583
HISTORY OF GREEN COUNTY.
Joseph, a younger son of (Richard), born 1651; Joseph, Jr., born 1676; Elijah, born April 18, 1709. Thus far the family had continued to reside in Beverly, Mass., originally a part of Salem. Elijah married Dorcas Brown and removed to Winchester, N. H., where he died at a ripe old age, and where his wife also died, October 1809, aged 100 years and six months. He had three sons-Elijah, Joseph and Nathaniel Brown. The last named married Lydia Barber, in 1761, and removed to Barre, Vt., where he raised a large family, and died in 1823. One of his sons, Asa, born in 1770, married Abigail Blodgett, and became the father of Joseph, who was born in 1795, and who married Azubah Thompson, in 1818, and became the father of our subject, who perpetuates his name (which seems to have been a favorite patronymic with the family) affixing to it, however, the maiden name of his mother. Thus far the successive generations had been tillers of the soil and had by the sweat of their brows wrung a frugal subsistence from the rocky hill sides of their native New England. Their habits were simple, their lives blameless and contented; they were a hardy and long-lived race, blessed with physical vigor and vital force, and were not disobedient to the divine injune- tion regarding the perpetuation of their kind. On the maternal side our subject is descended from James Thompson, a native of the north of Ireland, of Scotch Covenanter stock, born 1671, who emigrated to America in 1712, in company with his son Samuel, born 1698, and settled in Holden, Mass. The latter was the father of Capt. Samuel Thompson, born 1735, who served in the Revolutionary War, four of whose sons and two of whose daughters afterward set- tled in Barre, Vt. The Thompsons also belong to the agricultural classes, and were mainly long-lived. The mother of our subject, how- ever, was an exception to the rule; she died at the age of thirty-three, and bequeathed to her son a slender frame but an active nervous organ- ization. Joseph Thompson Dodge attended the common district school till the age of sixteen. I na contract on the Missouri Pacific Railroad and
1839 he entered Newberry Seminary, where he was prepared for Dartmouth College, which he entered in 1841, but not enjoying the atmos- phere of the institution, he was honorably dis- missed by letter at the end of one year, and ad- mitted to Vermont University, from which he graduated with honors in 1845, ranking the first in his class in mathematics. During the latter part of his college experience he determined to devote his life to the profession of civil engi- neering, the various lines of railroad then in course of construction and in contemplation seeming to offer an inviting field in this depart- ment. The Vermont Central Railroad Com- pany, then being organized, afforded the desired opening, and he served an apprenticeship of three years as assistant engineer of this road, and until the completion of the work. The building of a railroad through this part of Ver- mont was, perhaps, the best school of discipline that an incipient in the art of enginery could have enjoyed, and proved to be an excellent recommendation to him in after life. In 1849 he was employed to make the preliminary sur- vey for a projected railroad from Montpelier to Bradford, Vt., by the way of his native town of Barre. Having completed this, he, in the fol- lowing autumn, removed to the west, and after visiting the principal cities of Illinois and Mis- souri, accepted a subordinate position on the macadamized roads of St. Louis county, in the last named State, his principal being J. B. Moul- ton, Esq., who has since played a conspicuous part in developing that city and the State of Missouri, and for nine months had charge of the work on the St. Charles road. In 1850 he engineered the Illinois Coal Company's railroad, from East St. Louis to Caseyville, III. Soon af- ter the completion of the track, however, all the bridges and embankments were swept away by the high floods of the Mississippi which oc- eurred in 1851. The disaster proved to be a serious loss to the company, and for a time laid an embargo on the work. In 1852 he obtained
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