History of Iowa County, Wisconsin, Part 101

Author:
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Chicago, Western Historical Company
Number of Pages: 958

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A canvass of the business interests of Mineral Point, made in May, 1851, revealed the fact that business activity had not been greatly retarded by the California fever, but very little build- ing was going on. This was, probably, partially because those miners who had left families here, were already sending back large sums of money for their support, which, as a matter of course, was spent at the counters of the merchants. There were then ten dry goods stores, selling, on an average, $13,000 worth of merchandise each month; four groceries, disposing of $3,500 per month of common edibles, and two drug stores that were selling about $800 worth of materials. The postage on letters received per quarter amounted to $481.81; the postage on outgoing let- ters, during the same time, was $454.81; while the amount on papers sent and received was $73.42. The Hotchkiss telegraph, which was then in operation, paid at the rate of $100 per month. The lead production was on an average 14,000 pigs per month, which weighed seventy pounds to the pig.

INCENDIARIES AND CHOLERA.

In October of 1851, the people were electrified, one night between 12 and 1 o'clock, by the cry of fire. Within a short time after the alarm was given, the streets were thronged with eager men, and, in less time, almost, than it takes to relate, the incipient conflagration was put out. During the time this was being done, two or three men were running about industriously burg- larizing private houses, showing that the fire was the work of thieves. The citizens were unused

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to this sort of thing, never having had such an experience before, and were up in arms almost to a man, striving to catch the rascals ; but, fortunately for them, they escaped ; otherwise, beyond a doubt, it would have been the privilege of the historian to describe a first-class lynch- ing sensation. The village, then being without any fire apparatus, was in no better condition to fight a severe fire than the city is to-day, and, consequently, many might have fallen an easy prey to the intentions of the knaves, had the fire once gotten fairly under way.

In 1852, the village experienced another severe attack of the cholera, which, fortunately, was the last visitation of that dreadful contagion.

Skipping an unimportant period, we come to 1856, the year from which dates one of the most prominent events in the history of the village, viz .: the arrival of the Mineral Point Rail- road. But, before mentioning that particularly, we will notice, in a general way, what imme- diately preceded it. One of the most important occurrences was the printers' ball and banquet, in commemoration of the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of Benjamin Franklin's death. The affair was gotten up in a style to do honor to the memory of the great statesman, philosopher and printer, and is spoken of as having been, without exception, one of the grandest social demonstrations ever made here.

THE ORDER OF 1,001

One of the celebrated institutions of " Auld Lang Syne " that deserves mention was the famous order of 1,001, founded by the joker brigade of the village, for the purpose of victimiz- ing the nincompoops or any one unsuspicious enough to be taken in. The thousand of the title was supposed to be expressive of the number of tricks that could be played, while the one rep- resented the candidate for initiatory honors.

The order is said to have been first started here by the three jocund Kelly brothers, Fran- cis Henry and Andrew Hewitt. Within a short time after its incipiency, it had acquired a remarkable fame, both far and near. Every one who was a member became a great advocate of the benefits to be derived by belonging to the order. It was anything and everything to be desired. As a secret organization, nothing equaled it, and nothing approached it (the last clause being strictly true).

To describe the various ceremonies gone through, as riding the goat, blistering the moon, killing time, heaving on the billows (of a bed blanket), etc., would require as much ingenuity as was expended in inventing them. Suffice it to say, the order did not last very long, as, owing to its very nature, it must needs die when its true character became known, and there were no more aspirants for its honors.

At about the time the 1,001 were flourishing, a sort of sub rosa, " night hawk " paper made its appearance occasionally, called the Golden Crown, which was devoted to the social affairs, which were generally unknown, or that those who were personally interested hoped would remain unknown. This sheet, like all such productions, lived a brief time then quietly subsided to give place to some fresh scheme for diversion.

LADIES' COLD WATER UNION.

On the 2d of May, 1856, a large number of the prominent ladies of the village met and organized a lodge of the Cold Water Union, No. 9, D. of T. (daughters of temperance). The officers elected were : Mrs. A. W. Bliss, P. S .; Mrs. A. A. Pierce, A. S .; Mrs. F. Smith, A. R. S .; Mrs. Mary H. Wright, F. S. ; Mrs. Amelia Cotterell, F .; Mrs. Deborah Brake, C .; Mrs. Ellen W. Priestly, A. C .; Mrs. Catharine C. Robb, G. This order was instituted for the purpose of promoting temperance principles in the home and social circles, but, like nearly all such institutions, eventually died out for want of support.

BUSINESS IN 1856.

Up to 1856, there were still ten dry goods houses, four groceries and two drug stores, selling ubout the same amount of goods per month that they were during 1851, and, besides, there were several other establishments, selling a proportionate amount of merchandise.

Af B. Alsofett M. D.

MINERAL POINT, WIS.

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HISTORY OF IOWA COUNTY.

The most prominent buildings in the village at this date were those of Messrs. Thomas & Co., John Milton's store on High street, and the store and warehouse of G. W. Cobb, on Com- merce street-these being three-story buildings, and of stone. Among the dwellings were those of M. M. Cotheran, William Lanyon, Henry Plowman, N. B. Boydon and George Priestly. Those structures and about sixty others had been erected during the past year, exhibiting the fact that the village had taken a new start. These valuable improvements were caused by the expected advent of the railroad, which arrived in the fall of 1856, and to obtain which the city and town of Mineral Point had made unprecedented sacrifices, anticipating that by this means the place could be made to hold its own in the rapid march of improvement then going on through the State. That the road has proved largely beneficial in some respects cannot be denied, but these benefits have nearly if not wholly been outweighed, in the estimation of a majority of the inhab- itants, by the effects of the bonded debt that was ineurred by them in favor of the railroad, and which eventuated in a ecurse of litigation and general strife that has proved a source of great expense both to the city and town. However, there is one consolation to be derived from the cup of bitterness, and that is, the road is here, and will not be moved away soon; and though the sacrifices made were great, matters might have been infinitely worse. Not to have had a railroad for many years after this one was built would have retarded the commerce and improvement of the entire country very materially, for it must not be forgotten, before this time every article had to be hauled in and out of the county with teams ; visitors were obliged to be satisfied with the necessarily slow movement incident to stage travel, no matter how great the hurry, and, taken all in all, the general inconvenience resulting from such a state of affairs was unquestionably very disadvantageous.

OLD BANKS.

After the old Mineral Point Bank failed, there was no banking institution until 1846, when C. C. Washburn and Cyrus Woodman established a private bank. They continued to operate until 1855, when, by mutual consent, the bank was closed and the firm dissolved, all bills against the institution being paid. After the withdrawal of Washburn and Woodman from business, an employe named L. H. Whittlesey continued the bank, and, in 1857, took in Joel C. Squires as partner, who was at that time Bank Comptroller of the State. The institution then became the Iowa County Bank, operating under State laws, with currency based on bonds. In January, 1860, the bank passed under the management of a company, with Joel C. Squires as President. In 1861, it became a victim to the depreciation of values on Southern lands and the all-prevail- ing "wild-eat " money, and failed. There were no dividends declared, after 1859, by this estab- lishment. Subsequent to the failure of the Iowa County Bank, B. F. Thomas did a banking business for three years or more ; then, after paying all demands in full, he closed the institution.

EDUCATION.

There is no surer index of the character and enterprise of a community than the public and private schools. They in reality reflect the sentiment and aspirations of a people, their hopes for the future and their condition in the past. They are the mile-posts on the road to moral and mental improvement ; the signs that mark the eras in the passage of time, from the intellectual infancy of a country to its maturity, in the various developments of civilization.

When viewed retrospectively, the change that has come over the educational systems of the country, as especially exemplified here, is something remarkable, as well as peculiarly suggestive with regard to the future. " What has been done, can be done again," and often with numer- ous improvements. Thus for the fifty or one hundred ensuing years, who can prediet what may not be achieved ? As all energies for good are cumulative, it may be hoped that then every individual here and everywhere throughout the country will be the recipients of a liberal edu- cation and its refining influences, and that ignorance and its concomitants, bigotry, cruelty and superstition, will scarcely find lodgment in a single heart or brain.

First School .- One of the very first schools in the State, and the first in Iowa County, was taught at Mineral Point in 1829. This temple of learning was a small cabin made of poles

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HISTORY OF IOWA COUNTY.

or sods, built to accommodate some one for a few weeks or months, as the case might be, then to be left for some needy successor, or to be torn down for fuel, and to give place for some more pretentious structure. The first teacher was a Mrs. Harker, who began to train the ideas of some seven or eight youngsters in the course which they should rightfully pursue, quite early in the spring of the year. What the text-books used were, remains a mystery, but if she was a New Englander, it would not be hard to determine (providing, of course, that there were any books at all). The children were principally from a family by the name of Nolton, with a little four-year-old by the name of White. Mrs. Harker after having continued this institution of learning for a short time, turned her charge over to a Miss Beulah Lamb, now Mrs. John Schillinger, of Wiota, La Fayette County, who conducted the school to its close, in the summer of 1829.

Boyer School .- In 1830, Robert Boyer opened a subscription for select school here, which is generally, though erroneously supposed to have been the first one taught in this section of the country. At that time the number of resident families had so largely augmented, that they could furnish about twenty pupils, thus making a very respectable number for so young a colony. The schoolhouse was a good sized log cabin, built in the usual style, with puncheons for a floor, but in all probability without desks, except such as were provided by resting the chin in the palms of the hands.

Boyer's school closed before the Black Hawk war, and from that time until 1834, there appears to have been no regular school, so far as can be ascertained ; then a school was started in a log building, which stood near Mrs. May's spring, by George Cubbage, who taught here for several years. The structure used was, according to tradition, built both for a meeting and schoolhouse, but at what time does not especially signify; it may possibly have been the cabin erected by the Rev. Roberts (spoken of elsewhere), or it may have been the work of the entire community. One of the scholars of 1835, in speaking of this school and the means of instruc- tion employed, says: "Nearly everything about the building was of wood; the seats were puncheon benches, and the desks, if there were any. were certainly nothing more at the best than puncheons fixed up in front of us. I remember that the seats were so high that several years of growth was required upon the part of the little fellows before they could hope to touch their toes to the floor. From those elevated perches we were constantly dropping all sorts of articles down through the yawning cracks, and receiving the benefits of lively drafts of air that found entrance where our playthings went out, but, notwithstanding those discom- forts, we were happy." Their time was employed then principally by blackboard exercises, or what would now be termed such. The blackboards were supplied by other but not less ingen- ious contrivances. Along two sides of the room were placed troughs, coming about up to the chin of a small boy, which were about eighteen inches wide, and filled with dry sand. This contrivance constituted the blackboard, and here, day after day, detachments of the Mineral Point youth used to marshal their forces and wrestle mightily with the difficult task of drawing A B in the sand, or limning the first elements of Cocker. One of the digits was the pencil used, and the erasers were ready at hand, being the fat palms of each lusty little scribe.

When the borough was incorporated in 1837, the school became, to a considerable extent, the protege of the village government, such appropriations being made from time to time as the finances of the place would guarantee. These funds, in connection with what was subscribed by the people independently, were generally sufficient to keep the school in operation the greater part of the time during the existence of the first corporation.

For some time previous to 1840, the propriety of building a comfortable schoolhouse was discussed by the town authorities, and finally in that year, after nearly half the people of the locality had begun clamoring for something to be done in the way of making improvements in the school facilities, it was decided to erect a new schoolhouse. The building, which was 26x30 feet in area, and 12 feet high, was constructed of stone and brick. It was erected and finislied, all but plastering, in the fall of 1840, at a cost of about $500, Joseph Turner and James Hugo being the builders. This edifice may be properly denominated as the first building thus

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HISTORY OF IOWA COUNTY.

far used, that was a really fit place to confine children during several hours of each day. The first school was taught here during the winter of 1840, by J. E. Heaton. The old schoolhouse was subsequently sold for the small sum of $15. In 1844, the brick schoolhouse was enlarged and improved to a considerable extent to provide room for the rapidly increasing num- ber of children, but the extra expenditure so exhausted the exchequer of the district or town, that in the spring of 1845, the school had to be suspended. The schoolhouse was rented very soon after at the nominal sum of $6 per month, and for a year or more following, the only schools in the place were strictly private, the town extending no support to them.

Previous to 1840, the old court house was utilized by different parties for school purposes, and even after, according to the exigencies of the times.

One of the teachers who taught here before 1840, was Dr. Losey, who held forth in the court house, having a large patronage. Another of the early schools was taught by C. C. Rynerson, in an old part log and part frame building, which stood on Lot 38, of Vliet's Survey. School was kept here for several years before 1850. The above schools, in connection with the school taught in the old brick schoolhouse, were, previous to the adoption of the State system of schools, the leading educational institutions of the place. There were also other schools at different times to suit the convenience of those who could find no other employment, and seized this method of occupation for a brief time. One school, of considerable importance, not mentioned, was taught by a Mr. Hollow, a preacher, in a small church erected about 1845, as described in the church history. The majority of the schools up to this date were compara- tively wretched affairs, especially in the accommodations afforded the little ones. Buildings that would hardly be considered fit to live in, in many cases were used for schoolrooms, and these were but poorly seated, ventilated, warmed and cleaned, the chief object being, seemingly, to get as much money out of the scholars as possible, and give as little in return as possible.

NEWSPAPER COMMENTS.

The Tribune of 1849, remarks that there were five schools in Mineral Point, two of them being spoken of as very good. One, taught by Mr. Moore, in the basement of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and the other, by Percival T. Millette. From the above, it will be seen that there was no dearth of schools, although less and better may have been desirable.

After the introduction of the State law respecting public schools, which became effective after the 1st of May, 1849, the subject of making general and extensive improvements in the schools here were publicly discussed, as appears from an article of June 10, 1849, in a local newspaper, and which is presented without comment :

" It is desirable that immediate steps be taken to aronse the people to a sense of their own interests, in relation to the education of youths under the present school system. The law has been in operation since the 1st day of May ; and, hitherto, there has been an apparent apathy on the part of our citizens on this subject, which is anything but desirable. The attempts of the Town Superintendents to discharge their duties are not seconded by the energies of the people themselves -- the parents and heads of families. This is much to be regretted, and, as a remedy, and to foster the good work of education, the Town Superintendents of Dodgeville and Mineral Point propose to their fellow-citizens that a county convention of the reverend clergy. Town Superintendents and citizens generally, and all who take an interest in the education of youth, and in the system of public schools as established by law, to be held on Thursday, 19th of July, at the court honse."

The result of this meeting was favorable.

The First Public School .- On the 1st of May, 1850, the first public school under the improved State law was opened, the attendance was quite large, there being about 200 pupils, and the accommodations provided are spoken of as having been very good. The funds raised by taxation not proving sufficient to meet the expenses of the schools, in 1851, the scholars were required to pay 25 cents per month, to be appropriated toward their teachers' salary. This new departure, so soon after the establishment of the new school system. although it might have been

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anticipated under preceding circumstances, did not meet with general approval, or, if it did, many of the people did not have the money to pay. At any rate, the school's attendance rapidly diminished, and, within the year, the schools were closed for want of funds to continue their. This method of aiding the schools was pursued with varying success for several years, and again, in 1854, the schools were closed for want of funds; but, probably, for no great length of time. One of the schoolhouses of 1855, is spoken of as having no chairs, while " the seats were rickety, and the floors interspersed with yawning gaps."

School Nuisances .- The Tribune, in an article of March 11, 1856, speaks of a movement on foot to start a people's union school, or college, and also says that there is a considerable talk about opening a denominational school under the management of the Methodist Episcopal Church. In this connection. it may be mentioned that a school was then running under the management of the Methodist Episcopal society. A correspondent of that date, in writing to the Tribune. having been connected with a teachers' institute here, and having examined the schools. describes a school kept in what is denominated " Carter's Shop," as " a nuisance." it being " a low, damp place, where ninety-five boys, from the ages of four to eighteen years, were huddled together." Another place is spoken of as a " dismal den." " with a cold, damp. poisonous atmosphere," which was under the Presbyterian Church, where nearly as many children were congregated. From the general tenor of reports concerning educational facilities at that time, they could not have been up to the average.

The Old Seminary .- The project for the starting of a denominational Methodist sehool, already mentioned, was properly the work of John Nolan, which finally resulted in interesting the General Methodist Conference, and the organizing of a Seminary Association, which became incorporated by an act approved March 20, 1856, with the following board of Trustees : Cyrus Woodman, J. E. Messmore, James Hutchinson, W. Wilcox, John Murrish, John Toay, William H. Curry, William Langdon, Samuel Thompson. M. M. Cotheran, Samuel Wheeler, Alfred Brunson, John Bracken, Robert Frazier, James Davenport, E. C. Jones, Albert Mc Wright, James Wallis, T. S. Allen, William Humber and Matthew Dinsdale.

The purpose of the organization is stated in the charter to have been " the establishing. maintaining and conducting an institution of learning.'

The first regular meeting of the Trustees was convened three months after the act of ineor- poration. A subscription was obtained, amounting to over $2.000, in aid of the enterprise.

On the 19th of February, 1857, Lots 1. 2, 7 and 8, of Block 93, Strong's Addition to the city, were purchased as a building site, and general arrangements were made soon after for erecting a substantial and commodious school building. In order to obtain sufficient funds to conduet the scheme to a successful issue, before the building arrangements had progressed to any great extent, the city authorities were indueed to lend their credit to obtain $5,000, the same to be secured by a mortgage on the building. This was accomplished under a provision of the city charter, obtained in the spring of 1857. After this, the house was rapidly pushed to completion. Mr. Nolan opened the school when the edifice was ready, and continued the school until 1861.

Previous to this, in 1860, the Trustees of the seminary, finding the institution not really profitable, and knowing that the city needed a good public school builling. made a proposition to sell the property to the city. Accordingly a citizens' meeting was held on August 20. 1860. and $2,500 were voted to pay off the outstanding expense incurred by the seminary authorities in erecting the building. over and above the $5,000 spoken of. Nothing further of moment was done until the 28th of January, 1861, when a bargain was finally consummated by the city pur- chasing the property. The Trustees in the meantime had secured an aet, approved February 9, 1861, by which they were authorized to dispose of the property as they saw fit, and thus enabling the city to buy.

The building as intimated, was not yet finished, so the first thing to be done was to com- plete the work before the institution would be fit throughout for occupancy. £ The first teacher employed by the city as Principal in the new school building was I. E. Pillsbury, one of his daughters being the first assistant.

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HISTORY OF IOWA COUNTY.

The following extraets made from an article published in March, 1859, exhibits the condi- tion of the common schools of the town at that time.

" Warren's School on Fountain street accommodated about forty-five scholars, which were progressing rapidly, but the building in which the school was taught was entirely unfit for the purpose. It was so situated that whenever a rain-storm came, large quantities of mud were washed in under the door, onto the floor, where it would have collected had it not found ready egress through the gaping cracks. It is spoken of as a disgrace to allow a school to be kept in a building not fit for human habitation."

In June of that year, the City Council purchased a brick building of Chas. Bracken, known as the Westminster (or Old School) Presbyterian Church, and fitted it up for a school-house.

A local paper at this time quaintly remarked : "Under the circumstances, this may be a wise movement, it being understood that the old schoolroom on Fountain street will be con- verted into a stable, for which it has been remarkably well adapted for a number of years."

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History of Iowa County, Wisconsin, Part 101

Author: Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Chicago, Western Historical Company Number of Pages: 958

Author:
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Chicago, Western Historical Company
Number of Pages: 958