USA > Wisconsin > Green County > History of Green County, Wisconsin > Part 12
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History of Green County. 189
the example of a determined matron who, rather than sign without a dress, had suffered " him " to lose a sale, and by the knowledge that sometimes in such cases the husband secretly paid for the dress himself. But history records few victories for human rights achieved at four o'clock in a winter night. It was hard to stand for a principle (or a dress), wheni three men were telling her that if she did not yield her husband would be killed; and just as the day was dawning, she wrote the words that to Mount Pleasant and Exeter were only an assur- ance of peace, but to the writer were two black warn- ings that she had prepared the way for a total loss of her time-honored tax.
In 1843, Robert Witter built a saw-mill on Little Sugar river, in the western part of Mount Pleasant. The mill was built for Chester Witter, who soon sold it, however, to Mr. Steadman, by whom it was sold to Mr. Truman. In 1845, John Williams, who had built Shobar's mill, the first mill on Richland creek, began to build a grist-mill on Little Sugar river, near the central part of Mount Pleasant. The next year was the " sickly year," when nearly all the inhabitants of the Sugar river valleys were victims of the "chill fever," a fever described as differing from ague in the absence of "shakes," well days, and appetite. All of Mr. Williams' family were sick, he died in August, 1846, and the mill was never finished. In 1845, Mr. Steadman was made a post- master on the mail route from Monroe to Madison. The most striking peculiarities of the surface in that part of the county are the mounds bordering "long hollow," a long
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History of Green County.
valley which extends from Mt. Pleasant far into Wash- ington. In reference to these mounds or bluffs, Mr. Stead- man named the office Monticello, meaning little moun- tain. A year or two later, he laid out, on the south side of the river, near the mill, a village to which he gave the same name. Jacob and Mathias Marty bought the whole village, vacated the greater part of it, and then extended it on the other side of the river. The only buildings in the vicinity of the village were the mill, the dwelling known as the mill house, and the house on Mr. Steadman's farm. . To induce him to set- tle there, the new proprietors of the village gave a lot to Mr. Peter Wilson, who in 1851 built the first house on the north side. The same year Sylvester Hill built a house which was both store and dwelling, and the Marty Bros. built a hotel. Several dwellings were built in 1852. O. R. Bacon's flour mill was built in '54 and Sweet- ing Taft's saw mill in '56. New stores and shops have since appeared from time to time to meet the demands of the two towns, Washington and Mt. Pleasant, from which the village draws its support, and with which it is steadily growing. Among the successors of Mr. Hill in the mercantile business in Monticello were George Campbell now of Portage, Garland and Noble now of Santa Barbara, Cal., and Messrs. Robert Godfrey, A. Jennison, R. Bridges, and O. R. Bacon. Prominent among those in trade there at the present time are A. Witter, S. Dunbar and J. Berkey. One of the few stores in the county conducted by a grange is at Monticello.
For a brief period beginning in 1874, Monticello
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History of Green County.
had a newspaper, the Monticello Items, published by Stair & Lane. A more successful enterprise is that un- dertaken in 1866 by the Monticello Manufacturing Company, a stock company organized with the follow- ing officers: O. R. Bacon, president; Thos. Scars, sec- retary; and Samuel Johnson, treasurer. The company built a woolen mill in 1866, and two years later another building was erected for a store house. Fourteen per- sons have constant employment at the mill, which con- sumes on an average twenty thousand pounds of wool in a year. Yarns, blankets, balmoral skirts, and all kinds of woolen cloths are made. There is also a saw mill connected with the woolen mill. The officers of the company are at present, Orrin Bacon, president; Thos. Sears, secretary; Benjamin Chenoweth, treasurer.
LARGEST FARMERS IN MOUNT PLEASANT IN 1876.
Names. No. of Acres.
Names.
No. of Acres.
R. Aylsworth, - 200
John Marty, - 300
Isaiah Babbler,
195
L. W. P. Morton, 277
Sarah Baker, 160
Samuel A. Newman, 160
R. Barlow, 165
Charles Parkins, - 200
Peter Bertram, - 200
Franklin Pierce, 2.40
Jud. Bowen, - 243
R. Pryce, 200
Joseph Chandler,
2II
Henry Rhiner, 240
Henry Cheesbro, - 160
James Richards, 190
W. H. Coates, -
170
Caspar Schindler, - 315
Thomas Conway, - 200
David Scars, 177
Richard Dooley, 2.40
Sears Brothers 200
John U. Elmer, 200
C. Silver, -
224
E. Fenton, -
473
Gideon Gillet,
413
John Gillett,
160
John Sutherland, - 280
Jesse Gist, 275
N. Swager, 241
E. B. Hilliard, 160
Siloam Tone,
332
Mary Hutchins, 240
Cyrus Troy, 210
John Huribut, 260
D. H. Walling, 179
John Jenny, 160
Cyrus Whittier, - 203
E. Layton, 160
Wm. Wood, 255
John Lewis, - 228
Artemus Silver, 224
Elijah Evans, 165
Anton Staffancher, 240
Dietrich Staffaucher, 200
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History of Green County.
LARGEST STOCK GROWERS.
Thos. &. Wm. Fenton. Jesse Gist, B. L. & Wm. Wood,
Gideon Gillet.
The Chicago papers gave Mt. Pleasant the credit of sending the largest flocks of sheep sent to Chicago in the spring of 1877. They went from the farms of B. L. and Wm. Wood and numbered I,Soo.
PROPRIETORS OF CHEESE FACTORIES.
Henry Babbler, Swiss Cheese. A. Staffancher, Swiss Cheese. John Marty, Swiss Cheese. J. U. Elmer, Swiss Cheese. Rheiner, Babbler & Co., Swiss J. & R. Regetz, Limburger Cheese. Cheese.
TOWN OFFICERS FROM IS49 TO 1877 INCLUSIVE.
CHAIRMEN.
HENRY ADAMS, 2 years.
JESSE GIST, 4 years. JOHN F. VAN SLYKE.
ARUNTHUS THOMAS.
THOS. FENTON.
JESSE GIST.
HENRY ADAMS.
G. W. BAKER, 4 years.
THOS. FENTON.
A. H. PIERCE, 3 years.
SAMUEL JOHNSON, 2 years.
F. K. STUDLEY, 2 years.
JESSE GIST, 2 years.
G. W. BAKER.
JAMES BRODERICK.
A. H. PIERCE.
CLERKS.
JAMES L. POWELL, 2 years. M. MARTY, (resigned, C. H. Woodworth appointed). ALONZO H. JENNISON. JAMES BRODERICK.
ALONZO H. JENNISON. F. R. DRAKE. CYRUS TROY.
HENRY ADAMS.
JOHN F. VAN SLYKE, 2 years.
W. E. NOBLE, 3 years.
B. C. BAKER.
S. JOHNSON. F. K. STUDLEY, 9 years.
DAVID SEARS, 2 years.
HENRY H. BISSELL, 2 years.
C. F. THOMPSON.
SPRING GROVE.
Among the pioneers of Green County were many single men, some of whom could hardly be called set- tlers. "My home was under my hat," said one who may be taken as a representative of the class. Yet they did good work in taming the wilderness, and, whether they went from to town and from county to county, as work and the hope of gain called them, or kept bache- lor's hall on their own land, they were an important element in the society of that time. Bachelors' parties were among the most enjoyable gatherings there were. Not infrequently, a dozen bachelors met in the evening at Smith & Enos' mill, or at some brother's cabin, and spent the night in fun and jollity. Occasionally, they went as far as Hamilton's diggings to hear the Colonel tell, in his entertaining way, of the great men he had . seen at Washington; and sometimes they had a party to which married men and their wives were invited. At one such party at Mr. Rust's, the floor was turned bottom side up after supper, "so as to have a clean, smooth surface " on which to exercise the light fantastic toe. Among the pleasantest parties of this kind in the east- ern part of the county, was that given by Mr. Lake to
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History of Green County.
celebrate the gathering of the first fruit from his or- chard, which was one of the first orchards in the county. Mr. Rust's blackberry preserves are still sweet in mem- ory, and those who have forgotten the flavor of Mr. Lake's apples still praise the hot biscuit he made for sup- per. But if these bachelors cooked well, they did not al- ways cook willingly. One acknowledges that he often went hungry because he had no time to cook. Mr. Asa Richardson used to carry his cream over to Mrs. Rust, preferring to do without butter rather than churn. Another, who proposed to a girl the evening he was introduced and married her the next time they met, ex- plains his haste by saying, " it was the way then to do things up pretty quick, and as I had to work out doors as much as any of the men, nobody needed a wife more than I did." The arrival of a young lady anywhere within fifteen miles was an especial promoter of the labors of hair cutting, shaving, washing, ironing, patch- ing, and darning among the bachelors. There were no photographers to catch the shadow of these self-made men, but an indication of the beauty and harmony to which they were expected to attain in their dress is given by a bit of the experience of a gentleman who in 1842 went with two companions from Monroe to see a newly arrived belle of Spring Grove. Despite much preparation, there were still three or four holes in his coat. His companions, who, like himself, are now well known all over the county, told him they could not in- troduce him in such a plight, and, under pretense of pinning up the holes, they managed to grasp the coat
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History of Green County.
so as to tear it into pieces small as those to which a freshman's garments are reducible in a rush. When thus bereft of his coat, no objection was made to intro- ducing him.
The first improvements in Spring Grove were made by an old bachelor whose name is thought to have been Church. In the summer of 1836. he broke, fenced. and cultivated ten acres which he sold the next year to Daniel Baxter of New York, who immediately went there to live. The next settler was Mr. Eli Kline from Indiana. In '37, he and his sons, John and Isaac, built a carding mill where the village of Spring Grove, of which it was the beginning, is now. For many years after this, the stream on which it was built, and which is now called Spring creek, was called Mill creek. [ In '37, French Lake bought his present home in Spring Grove. He is a Virginian, and, before com- ing to the Wisconsin mines in '27, built on his father's plantation the wall which gave to Gen. Jackson the name of Stonewall. The next year brought David Davis of Pennsylvania, who says it cost more money to move his family and household goods from Galena to Spring Grove than from Pennsylvania to Galena, and Samuel Myers of Indiana, who purchased an interest in the carding mill, and at whose house many of the elec- tions in Mill creek precinct were held. In 1838-9 Ste- phen Bowen, Archie Davis. Horace Griffin, Thos. Judkins, and probably Alford Blakely, and E. P. Pur- dy, came. The next homes were made by Jacob Ten Eyck, Adolphus Derrick, and James Kildow; Mr.
7
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History of Green County.
Ten Eyck's in 1839, the others in 1840. Mr. Kildow came to the county from Pennsylvania in 1837, and helped build Paine's tavern that year.
The carding machine was a great help to Mill Creek precinct, which included most of the territory included now in the towns of Spring Grove and Jefferson. Pub- lic opinion required settlers to wear homespun cloth, and all the wool in the county was carded at Kline's mill, to which was added, after a time, a fulling mill.
In the first years of its existence, the abolitionists made this precinct a principal field of their labors. Probably the first abolitionists in the county were Jacob Ly Brand and G. W. Rogers of Monroe. Perhaps the most active of them all was Hollis W. Button of Spring Grove. Mr. Button was originally a democrat, but while in Illinois in the winter of 1840-'41, chance led him to attend a meeting which brought upon him the suspicion of being an abolitionist, and he was mobbed by his democratic brethren. This treatment awakened in him a new interest in the anti-slavery agitation. He read anti-slavery books and papers, and soon became an abolitionist, laboring unceasingly to convert others. For several years the abolitionist made nominations for as many of the county officers as they had men to fill. " The first time this was donc," says Mr. Button, " we had seven votes and a half, all cast in Spring Grove." The half vote was the vote of a man who scratched all the names on the abolition ticket except Mr. Button's. It was very unusual for abolitionists to hold office in Green County. Even the office of road master was de-
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History of Green County.
nied them. One of their number was once appointed judge of elections, and half a day elapsed after the time had come for him to take the oath of his office before he was allowed to take it, the objection being that an abolitionist's oath was not to be believed. In August, 1845, the abolitionists, who then numbered thirty-one in the county, induced a Mr. Mathews of Racine Coun- ty to lecture to them at the court house in Monroe. A place of entertainment was found for him at the house of an influential and very worthy Baptist, but the host did not know, until he had kept his guest one night, that the subject of the coming lecture was abolition, and when he did know it, his conscience would not al- low him to keep Mr. Mathews an hour longer. Another abolition meeting was appointed for the next 4th of July, but, when those interested in it assembled, they found the court house fastened against them; where- upon Mr. Ly Brand wrote an account of the affair for an anti-slavery paper, and desired all the other aboli- tionists to subscribe their names to the article. This they refused to do, on account of some personal criti- cisms which it contained, and Mr. Ly Brand was so dis- pleased by the refusal that he never worked with them after that time. The strongest instrument in weaken- ing the opposition to their cause was a Methodist min- ister, by the name of McKey, from Janesville. Escorted by Mr. Button, he made the tour of the county as a preacher, and in this capacity gained great popularity. The field being made ready in this way, he went over the county again as an abolition lecturer, and from this
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History of Green County.
county he went to Wiota, where he was nearly killed by a mob. All his late admirers flocked to hear him, and many were converted to his views. Some of the churches were nearly broken up by the differences of opinion that followed the lectures, and there were Methodists that called McKey the devil's ploughshare that tore up the churches, and " big nigger Button " the devil. Not long after this the Rev. J. D. Stevens, the Presbyterian clergyman, made Monroe one of the sta- tions of the underground railroad. Now and then an abolitionist fell from the ranks. The first vote in Jor- dan for an abolition ticket was that of Davidson Covey, in 1847. The vote involved him in an argument which soon lead to blows. He whipped his antagonist, but afterwards changed his opinion of the measures of the abolition party, and said he was the one that ought to have been flogged. The next abolition votes in Jordan were cast by Lemuel and Miner Taylor. In'52 the aboli- tionists began to be numerous enough to be courted by both the opposing political parties, though an abolition meeting in Cadiz this year was attended by only about half a dozen men, and one of them showed his con- tempt for it by bringing a basket of corn which he shelled during the meeting. Among the leading abo- litionists at this time were James Kildow, Mordecai Vanderbilt and Wm. Wilford, of Spring Grove; J. W. Stuart and Donald Johnson, of Decatur; Wm. Mc Dowell and Joseph W. Smith, of Clarno; D. H. Mor- gan and Thos. Lindley, of Sylvester; L. Chamness and 'Thos. H. Millman, of Monroe; and Samuel Overmeyer,
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History of Green County.
of Albany. Many others who were opposed to slavery were not counted as abolitionists because they did not approve of all the measures of the abolition party.
In iSj4, what was called a temporary post office was opened in Mill Creek precinct. No mail route was open that way, but Mr. Kildow, who lived on section thirty, was anthorized to receive and distribute mails, and the settlers took turns in carrying the mail from Monroe to Mr. Kildow's house. In recognition of the great number of springs and groves in the precinct, Mr. Kildow called the office Spring Grove. In '8, when : mail route was opened from Rockford to Mineral Point, it was made to go by the Spring Grove office, and Mr. Kildow received a commission as post master, which he resigned in '57, in order to remove to the southern part of the town. The office then went west into Jefferson, where it was named Oakley, with which name it was moved in iSoo to its present resting place, the village of Spring Grove. The Peedee office, in the southern part of the town, was also established in 1800. For several years after Mr. Baxter went to Spring Grove he kept a store there, after which there was no store in the town until about ist7. The people traded with A. Ludlow, until he went into business in Monroe, and then with Geo. W. Hoffman, until he opened a store in Oneco. Then Mr. J. Hoffman opened the first store in the village of Spring Grove, which, though changing owners occasionally, still continues there with Mr. John Kelly's woolen mill, the child of Kline's fulling mill. There was formerly a good store and a tavern at Clar-
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History of Green County.
ence, a little village on Sand Prairie, near the north- east corner of the township. Around the Sugar River crossing on the Beloit road, there had been for a num- ber of years a settlement of Canadians, sometimes called Derrick's settlement, as the settlement of the im- migrants from the Wabash around Spring Grove was called Kline's settlement. Prominent in Derrick's set- tlement were the families of - Boslow and Dr. P. B. Springstead. Dr. Springstead's son and son-in-law, Chancellor Springstead and Wm. Sherry, built in 1841 the first house on Sand Prairie. Clarence was the child of this settlement. The first house was built in 45 by Wm. Sherry. For a number of years the vil- lage grew, and then, when Brodhead and Juda began to grow, it wasted away as an apple tree withers, and yellows, and dies, when a walnut begins to grow by its side, and by the time the railroad was completed the life of Clarence was gone. Like Decatur, the other village that died that Brodhead might be, Clarence had for some time borne a bad reputation. Counterfeiters had given it a notoriety that must have gone far to rec- oncile its best friends to its decline.
The report of the county clerk for 1877 shows that this year Spring Grove leads all the other towns in the most important crop in the county. Following is an extract from the report : .
Of Wheat-New Glarus has the largest No. acres, 927 6,600 "
Corn-Spring Grove "
Oats-Sylvester
3,131
Barley-Jefferson
252
Rye-Cadiz
584
Hops-Clarno
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History of Green County.
201
Tobacco-Decatur has the largest No. acres,
24
Flax Seed-York
313
Cultiv'd Grasses-Clarno "
3,357
Potatoes-Jordan
127 -
Roots-Exeter "
1
6
Apples-Clarno
2,600
Timber-Washington
4,417
Clover Seed, bush .- Sylvester, -
1
332
LARGEST FARMERS IN SPRING GROVE IN IS76.
Names. No. of Acres.
Names. No. of Acres.
Hugh Alexander,
410
Wm. Johnson, - 260
Frederick Arnsmeir, 325
Abram Knutson, - 272
James P. Atwood, - 200
Levi Knutson, - 191
*Pervine Atwood, - 706
A. J. Kreider, 160
David Austin, - 344
J. J. Kreider, 160
Norman Barker, 2.40
*French Lake, 962
S. L. Boyles, 200
Wm. Martin, ISO
John A. Brant, 215
W. W. Martin,
160
James H. Clemons, - 245
Sarah Myers,
IS7
*David Davis, 280
*J. J. Newman, 388
P. L. Dederick, 171
Asa Nichols, 240
F. H. Derrick, 207
Win. O'Neil, 240
S. B. Douglas, - 645
C. I. Putnam, ISO
F. Dreakey, -
160
Jesse Schrock, 160
Eli Frisbie, 160
Thos. Shaft, 216
J. B. Galusha, 403
August Schurd, 179
August Geise, 220
Benj. Stabler, 239
A. J. Goodrich, 160
Josiah Straw, 370
Jacob Haas, - 267
Jacob Ten Eyck estate, 657
Thomas Hamilton,
260
Daniel Vanderbilt, 260
Esther Hostetter, -
170
Chas. A. Warner, - IQE
Thos. A. Jackson, 160
John H. Woodling, 320
The first voting place in the town was Hostetter's mills.
TOWN OFFICERS FROM IS49 TO '77 INCLUSIVE.
CHAIRMEN.
J. W. KILDOW.
ABNER MITCHELL, 3 years.
J. W. KIL.DOW. DANIEL DUNWIDDIE, 2 years.
R. D. DERRICK, 2 years. E. R. ALLEN.
E. A. NEWTON, 2 years. DANIEL DUNWIDDIE.
DANIEL DUNWIDDIE, 2 years.
R. D. DERRICK.
J. W. KILDOW. W. W. MARTIN.
E. R. ALLEN, 6 years.
PERVINE ATWOOD, 2 years.
F. H. DERRICK, 3 years.
*Largest Stock Growers.
IS
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History of Green County.
CLERKS.
ALDEN FRISBIE. JOHN R. BUSSEY. A. D. TENNEY. E. R. ALLEN.
ANDREW BOYLES, 2 years. JOHN MYERS.
J. W. KILDOW, 3 years. THOS. A. JACKSON.
A. D. TENNEY.
L. M. KNOWLES.
A. S. DYE.
THOS. A. JACKSON, 5 years.
L. E. TOWNE, 3 years. WM. B. COOLEY.
WM. COLBY.
ANDREW BOYLES, 4 years. E. R. ALLEN.
JORDAN.
No reverence attaches itself to the modern Jordan. It may be a very good creek in its way, but the town which it waters has a bad reputation, for which both town and stream must suffer. No pilgrim stranger ever stands on this Jordan's crooked banks. If, per- chance, there be one who wishes to do so, he is whisked off by some one mindful of his county's honor to the Jordan prairie of Decatur; he is let down into mines in Monroe, and dragged to the top of the mounds in Mount Pleasant; he is made to admire the level land and fine crops of Spring Grove, and the undulating land and fine crops of York; but when his time and strength are gone, he has not seen Jordan. Green County finds her proverbially necessary skeleton in the closet, her black sheep in the flock, in this town. Josephus himself, could he hear the jokes and the cx- pressions of sympathy of which Jordan land and Jordan
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History of Green County.
farmers are the subjects, would lose all reverence for the historic name, and his next volume might bear upon its title page this warning addressed to would-be Jordan farmers:
Pull off your coat, and roll up your sleeve, For Jordan is a hard road to travel, I believe.
In 1865, that part of Jordan which borders on Skin- ner creek was declared to be a good oil country, and a great many with faith in the fitness of all things for some good believed the report. A man supposed to be acquainted with the Pennsylvania oil district visited the Skinner land, and warned the citizens that, if they hesi- tated, wise men from the east would step in before them, and occupy this newly discovered road to fortune. They did not hesitate. In March '66, the "Farmers' Oil and Lead Co.," a stock company having " power and authority to mine and dig for mineral, ore, and coal, and to bore and search for salt, oil, and petroleum," was incorporated. An engine was bought, and a bore forty feet deep was sunk. Meanwhile, oil was really found in one or two springs, and, though the incredulous in- sisted that a little investigation would show that some cruel joker had first found it in a Monroe grocery, land owners on both the Monroe and the Jordan side of Skin- ner felt that they were among earth's favored few. But this glorious summer was followed by a winter of dis- content. The company abandoned the enterprise and dissolved, and the price of Skinner land went down again, since which time there has been no popular hope for Jordan. But after all, there is something to be said
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History of Green County.
for the town. It is healthful. Among the oldest set- tlers in the town is Mr. John Stevens. He happened to camp there while he was taking his family from Missouri to the east, for health. A stay of one night so invigorated the invalids that a longer stay, a further re- newal of strength, then a home there and perfect health followed. Other settlers testify to a similar improve- ment of their health in Jordan, and one centenarian spent his last score of years there.
If people do not choose to farm in Jordan, other sources of wealth are open to them there. One of these is a fine hard limestone, which is almost a marble, and which only needs a railway to bring it into demand as a building stone. Lead is found in small quantities all over the town, and some shafts have yielded a large amount. One farmer struck a three hundred dollar bunch with his plow. The Indians mined extensively in Jordan, and had seven smelting furnaces just over the town line in Adams, where they carried the lead from northern Jordan on account of the natural conveniences there for washing it. In the stream on his farm, Mr. Wm. Soper has found hundreds of pounds which he thinks the Indians took there to wash. It is believed that the only natural cranberry marsh in southern Wis- consin is in Jordan. It is not large, but since its discov- ery, cranberry vines have appeared spontaneously in several other places in the town, and there is little doubt that the culture of cranberries in Jordan might be made, and will sometime be made profitable. In the western part of the town there is an inexhaustible bed of ochre,
History of Green County. 205
which has been found, by examination of a specimen sent to Ohio, to be identical with the ochre from which the excellent and well known Ohio paint is made. Along Jordan and Skinner creeks are wide beds of peat, from three to ten feet in depth. The peat is of an ex- cellent quality, but, except to a limited extent as a fer- tilizer, no use is made of it, for Jordan has too much good timber to be willing to dig for fuel. Had Jordan a fertile soil there would be nothing in the town to com- plain of. Good water is abundant. Jordan and Skinner creeks traverse the town from north to south, and Jor- dan farmers claim that there is an average of one spring for every forty acres in the town. There is properly no prairie, but the bottom lands are very wide and level, and the remark of the American Cyclopædia that the hills in Green County "are arable to their very summits," shows that the hills alone do not make Jordan a poor town. The under-drainage is so perfect that in case of heavy rains the roots in cultivated ground are sufficient to prevent the soil from washing, and the in- jury from drouths is comparatively small, because the soil does not bake like an undrained surface, and, being always porous, it easily absorbs the dew and vapors of the air.
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