History of Iowa County, Wisconsin, Part 111

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

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On the 7th of June. 1876. a meeting of the Directors was held at the Secretary's office, and the subscription books were opened. The subscription list began by those who were present, eight in number taking five shares of stock each, at $100 per share. M. J. Briggs and Mr. Ballwin were employed to canvass the country and obtain aid, and were authorized to negotiate for town and village bonds, to be given in exchange for railroad mortgages, to be paid or can- celed in fifty years, without interest, thus beating the law, which provides that no municipality shall vote aid without a consideration.

From that time on until the spring of 1877, the committee, better than whom it would have been hard to find, prosecuted their work with vigor : and, in the event, secured from the different towns along the route appropriations amounting to $133,000.

In September, 1876, at a legally appointed meeting, the village and town of Dodgeville voted the handsome sum of $57,500 aid. $14,000 of which was to come from the town. This voting 5 per cent of the taxable property of the town for a railroad was highly disagreeable to a great many, and an attempt was made by the town to become separated from the village, but not successfully. The condition on which the bonds were given was that the money was not to be paid over until the work was completed, or near enough done to insure a completion.

In the fall of 1877, the interest manifested and encouragement given along the route being so great, it was deemed judicious by the directors to contract for the building of the road, and to start the work as soon as possible. A proposition was submitted by E. Baldwin and W. H. Whitman, of Illinois, at that time to build the road, which taken up by the company and dis- cussed at various meetings, and finally, on the 15th day of December, 1877, the contract was let to them authorizing the building of the road within three years from January 1, 1878. The salient points of the contract, a very voluminous document, were that after the road was com- pleted, the contractors were to have the aid and own the "lion's share" of the road ; in other words. the road would virtually have belonged to them.

The work was begun, and about eight miles of grading done near Freeport, and nearly the same amount at Blanchardville. Much of this was done in payment of individual subscriptions, which were quite large in some cases, and very general. In fact, the whole country was thor- oughly alive and interested in promoting the work by every means, but the work of grading did not continue long. the contractors not having " long purses," and failing to get aid, were obliged to stop. In this connection, it may not come amiss to say that nothing has been done since in the way of actual work.

The contract was so drawn that the contractors could hold the company and trustees with whom the town and village bonds were consigned until the expiration of the contract, or until they chose to release them; consequently, when they stopped work, everything stopped. Eventually, another company was formed, of which we will speak later, to take the contract off the hands of the contractors, but this not being done as anticipated, on the 8th of September. 1880, Whitman & Baldwin proposed to release the company and the town and village bonds on condition that an extension of the contract be granted under the patent to continue until De- cember 31, 1881, and which should be considered as fulfilled by building the road no further than Blanchardville. This proposition was gladly assented to by the directors, and soon after

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HISTORY OF IOWA COUNTY.

a public meeting was held by the directors and a number of citizens, and the subscriptions were canceled. Then a bonfire was built on Iowa street, near the post office, and a funeral march taken to the spot where the bonds were solemnly cremated, and the people once more made happy.

Previous to the canceling of the railroad contract and subscriptions and burning of bonds, in the spring of 1879, Mr. Baldwin, as mentioned in connection with Mr. Briggs, to whom Whitman had made a contingent transfer of his rights, informed the citizens that for the want of funds, they could not go on with the work ; and that as the preliminaries were all attended to, and the work fairly begun, all that was now needed was capital to carry to a successful issue what had been started under such favorable auspices. In accordance with that state of affairs, they submitted a proposition that, for a certain amount of paid-up stock in the completed road, they would transfer their contract to any party or parties who would bind themselves to com- plete the road. The matter was at once taken up by a number of the capitalists of the place, who were anxious that the work should not be dropped at such a " stage in the game." Several meetings were held which finally resulted in the organization of a construction company, to be known as the Freeport & Dodgeville Railroad Company. A patent was secured, by consent of the old company, on the 14th day of May, 1879, with capital stock limited to $50,000. The incorporators and directors were S. W. Reese, Joseph Bennett, James Boberts, G. W. Burrall and Joel Whitman.

The first meeting of the company was held on the 24th of May following, when S. W. Reese was elected President : Joseph Bennett, Vice President ; Joel Whitman, Treasurer, and James Roberts, Secretary. By-laws were also adopted at this meeting.

By order of the board, stock subscription books were opened at the Secretary's office on Monday, the 26tb day of May, which were not to be closed until 250 shares of stock, at $100 per share, had been subscribed for. At a subsequent meeting, the shares were increased to 300 in number, 271 of which were eventually taken, under the condition that nothing should be paid in until the road contract had been assigned to the company. Thirty shares were taken by W. O. Wright, of Freeport, conditionally upon his being a member of the board.

Very soon after this, on the 8th of July, 1879, the Directors deputized Mr. Wright to go to New York to negotiate for money on the company's bonds, and for the purpose of contracting for building material. as rails, spikes, etc. While Mr. Wright was gone, the company decided to discontinue operations, owing to certain conditions not being complied with by the contract- holders and Mr. Wright. Thus ended the operations of the second railroad company formed in Dodgeville.

In the spring of 1880, Mr. Cobb, the Superintendent of the Mineral Point road, came here, and a meeting of the citizens was convened to take into consideration the voting of aid to assist in constructing an extension from Mineral Point to Dodgeville. At this time nothing decisive was done, although it was stipulated that $30,000 would be voted by the town and village. Sub- sequently, three Commissioners from the town and two from the village were authorized by the public to confer with Mr. Cobb, and to make terms, if possible, to get the road through. At this meeting, the Commissioners agreed to furnish $35,000 toward the enterprise, and. accord- ingly, an understanding was entered into that the road would be built. But from week to week the matter lingered along, and at last nothing came of the movement.

At this juncture the Chicago & North-Western road came forward and stipulated that if the Dodgeville people would furnish $25,000, they would construct a broad-guage from Madison to unite at this point with the narrow-guage road running through Grant County. They also stip- ulated to build a depot on the fair-grounds and to make that the place of transfer. Again the Dodgeville people came to the front ; and almost within twenty-four hours the required aid was pledged to be forthcoming, in case the funds voted in support of the Dodgeville & Freeport line were not demanded. About that time the Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad Company purchased the Mineral Point road. This naturally had the effect to change the tactics of the Chicago & North-Western Company, who then decided to construct a broad-guage road over their entire

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HISTORY OF IOWA COUNTY.

line, and to build the depot one mile north of the town, preferring to do that and sacrifice the town and village aid rather than build the road according to their first proposition.

During that season (1880), S. S. Merrill, Superintendent of the Millwaukee & St. Paul Railroad, came here and looked over the ground and country ; then offered to extend the road from Mineral Point for $10,000, evidently considering that it would be a profitable thing to do, now that there was a competing line coming here. This offer, however, was not taken up, the people prudently thinking that, after having run the gamut of railroad fiasco experience, it was just as well to let well enough alone, and to take such favors as fortune had at last brought to their doors, without money or price.

EDUCATION.

The first school in this section of the country was taught as early as 1833 or 1834, by Robert Boyer, who figures extensively in the early history of this part of the State as one of the first teachers in several localities. His school, and the schools for several years after his time, were taught outside of the village, and therefore are especially mentioned in connection with the town history. The first school in the village proper was taught by Mrs. Mary J. Ran- ger, who is still living here. Thirty-five years ago there stood where Peter Spang's residence now stands a small one-story frame building in which she (then Miss Carrier) taught her first quarter's school. This, like many others, was supported by the parents, who paid pro rata, Miss Carrier making her own terms. This old building is now in use as a dwelling-house. After her marriage, Mrs. R. taught in a room built by John Jenkins as a store, on Union street, which is now the Soden & Jones tailor-shop. Like other " school-rooms " in Dodgeville, it was rented, as the district did not build or own a schoolhouse until 1853. Mrs. Ranger also at one time trained the youthful idea in what is now the residence of E. H. McElhose. Her school-room was warmed by an old cook stove, and, as the winter was a bitterly cold one, much discomfort was the inevitable result. "I used to warm my feet one at a time by pushing them through the circle of shivering scholars," she says. This lady tanght in the village almost constantly until 1878, and is now succeeded in that capacity by a daughter. In 1846, the people raised money by subscription and built the old town hall, which afterward became the Wesleyan Chapel and then the Primitive Methodist Church. This building did service up to 1850 or later as a school- house. H. E. Foster, Emma A. Comfort and others taught here.

In the spring of 1849, the town of Dodgeville having been organized, Rev. A. S. Allen, the first Town Superintendent of Schools, organized District No. 1, which then extended to the Mineral Point line, three miles north, and being in width one and a half miles. This was after- ward extended west so as to include the whole or a part of the Van Metre survey. The first officers were Thomas Stephens, Director ; D. C. Evans, Treasurer, and J. D. Jenkins, Clerk. Various meetings were held during 1849 and 1850, on the question of building a schoolhouse, and at one time a tax of $1,700 was voted. This was afterward rescinded, and the district con- tinued to hire various buildings for school purposes up to 1833. That year, District No. 10 was set apart and organized with Chapel street as its sonth line, and the " Grove " and " Rock " Schoolhouses were both built, the one taking its name from the small timber surrounding it and the other from the material of which it was built. In 1850, the number of persons in the dis- trict, from four to twenty years of age, was 226. Text books-Goodrich's Readers, Colburn's and Adams' Arithmetics, Bullion's Grammar, Smith's Geography, Webster's Spelling-book, Fulton and Eastman's Penmanship.

The two districts existed independently of each other up to the fall of 1864, when J. Thomas Pryor, Jr., then Principal of the Grove School, succeeded in influencing the leading men of both districts to consent to a union. This was accomplished by action of the Town Board, which appointed a board made up of members of the former boards. The town hall was then hired and Merrill Fellows installed as Principal, while the two schoolhouses were used as primary and intermediate departments. This plan is still pursued, but with the high school department con- ducted under a curriculum of a very advanced and comprehensive character, and entirely su- perior to what at first existed. Since 1865, the Principals have been J. Thomas Pryor, Jr.,

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HISTORY OF IOWA COUNTY.

1866; M. T. Curry, 1867 ; Philip Eden, 1868 ; J. Thomas Pryor, Jr., 1869-74; - Frawley, 1875 ; J. H. Pike. 1876-77. In the fall of 1878, J. W. Livingston, a graduate of the Platte- ville State Normal School, was employed, and has since been retained as Principal. In the fall of 1879, he formulated the present course of studies, which course was approved and accepted by the district board. There are now seventy-three pupils in the high-school department and one assistant teacher, Miss Josephine Ranger. The grammar department is in charge of Miss Lizzie Sin- cox, who has fifty-four pupils. Frank M. Dyer and Miss Millie Robinson have charge of. re- spectively, the intermediate and primary departments of the Grove School. The " Rock " School is in charge of Charles Marks, in intermediate, and Miss Lela Mitchell, primary. There are now 560 children in the district that are old enough to attend school. The standing of the scholars in the different departments is considered very good, and the characters and attainments of the several teachers are recognized as being exceptionally excellent. When the new school- house shall have been completed, the general standard will doubtless be greatly improved by the improved facilities for good work that will then be afforded both to teachers and scholars.

POST OFFICE.

A post office was first established at Dodgeville by Postmaster General William Barry August 27, 1834, William Henry being appointed its first Postmaster. Mr. Henry kept the office in what was known as the "Dodgeville Store," from the fact that Henry L. Dodge occupied it at a later date and for several years. In October of 1834, Mr. Henry resigned, and was succeeded by Thomas Jenkins, who kept the office in his dwelling house. which stood a few yards to the west of Mr. Jones' bakery. Mr. Jenkins was followed by Henry L. Dodge as Postmaster ; while he held the office, it was again kept in the old store. Mr. Dodge resigned eventually, and T. M. Fullerton, a clerk in the firm of Beach & Rynerson, was appointed to the place, and kept the office in the store of his employers about 1844. After Mr. Fullerton, John Adams kept the " post offis " in the store of Hoskins, Thomas & Company. According to statements, Mr. Adams' ideas of civil service and conducting a post office were exceedingly crude, it being his custom to throw the mail into a heap in the middle of the floor, and let the people paw the matter over to their satisfaction in search of their mail. This method of business was finally stopped by a postal detective coming to the place, who, seeing how matters were going, asked the worthy Postmaster if that was the way he delivered the mail. In reply, Hos- kins informed him that it was none of his d-d business. As a result, there was a vacancy in the office soon after, which was filled by the appointment of Silas Wiles. Mr. Wiles did not hold the office a great while; but, owing to the inaccuracy of his accounts, was replaced by Bryce Henry, who kept the office in the William M. Todd store. During the summer of 1850, the office was kept by Doran Jenkins in his book store, one door north of the present office. Whether Mr. Jenkins acted as appointee or deputy, is not known.

At the time of the inaugural of Franklin Pierce in 1953, Louis T. Wheeler was appointed Postmaster, having the office in the building now occupied by Mr. Hocking. The office eventually passed into the hands of Dr. Burrall, who officiated as Postmaster until 1861. When S. W. Reese was appointed according to the political change of the times. Mr. Recse held the office until 1877, employing Thomas Hughes, G. W. Louis and Thomas Rogers as deputies, who kept the office in various places. After him, Joel Whitman became the Postmaster, holding the office until 1878, when Thomas Rogers, the incumbent, was appointed.

BANDS.

Dodgeville has ever been more attentive to mining than music. The first band was organized in 1855; the town board had charge of the instruments, which were bought by subscription. Josiah Paull was the leader of this band, which held together until about 1859. In 1860, during the excitement of the Lincoln-Douglas campaign, Thomas Bosanko formed a band, composed as follows: Thomas Bosanko, leader, E flat ; James Rowe, B flat ; James Letcher, B flat alto; F. Nankibell, post horn : William H. Letcher, E flat bass ; Henry Nanki-

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HISTORY OF IOWA COUNTY.

bell, E flat alto, and Glenfill, drummer. Within eighteen months a second band, led by William Clark, was formed; and, during the most memorable years of the civil war, Dodge- ville was alive with martial music. " The boys" of both bands went to the Lake Superior mines in the fall of 1863, taking their instruments with them. Several returned at the close of the war, however, and Mr. Clark was again made leader of a re-organized band. He was suc- ceeded in 1874 by James Letcher, who has since led the few who cling to the sounding cymbals. The present Dodgeville band needs recruits, and it is hoped that the recent formation of the hook and ladder company may create a new interest, and supply the needed help.

MINERAL POINT AND DODGEVILLE TELEGRAPH.

In January, 1879, the first steps were taken toward establishing telegraphic connection between this place and Mineral Point and the East, at the suggestion of A. S. Hearn, editor of the Chronicle, and Fred Phillips, manager of the justly popular United States Hotel, of Min- eral Point. These gentlemen circulated a subscription paper, and received such encouragement in the way of liberal subscriptions and a generally-manifested interest upon the part of many of the leading business men of both places, that what was first an unperfected seheme soon took shape to eventually result in the present line. The first subscribers to stock were F. W. Phillips, eleven shares; W. A. Jones, two; William T. Henry, one; J. M. Smith, one; Lanyon & Spensly, one; G. W. Cobb, one; W. H. Bennett, one; Wilson & Mellhon, one; P. Allen, Jr., one; A. S. Hearn, one: M. J. Briggs, one; S. W. Reese, three; Bennett, George & Co., three, and Thomas Blackney, one.

Articles of incorporation were drawn and filed on the 28th day of January, 1879, by Messrs. Phillips, Hearn and Briggs. According to these articles, prepared under the pro- visions of Chapter 86 of the Revised Statutes, the name shall be " Mineral Point and Dodge- ville Telegraph Company," with a capital stock fixed at $500. The officers to be a President, Treasurer, Secretary and Board of three Directors, to be elected annually by the stockholders, who shall perform the labors usually required of such officers. Each subscriber to stock becomes a member of the company, and retains his interest as long as he holds the same.

The first meeting for the election of officers and transacting general business was held on the 11th day of March, 1879, but there not being a sufficient number of shares of stock repre- sented, the meeting was adjourned until the 17th of the month, when Thomas Blackney took the chair, and business was opened by the election of the following officers: Fred Phillips, President; M. J. Briggs, Treasurer; J. M. Smith, Secretary, and Joseph Bennett, G. W. Cobb and S. W. Reese, Directors. Messrs Phillips, Briggs and Hearn were appointed a committee to draft by-laws, and the President was authorized to purchase the necessary mate- rials to construct and fit up the line, and to employ laborers and proceed at once to the con- struction of the same. Fifty per cent of the shares were required to be paid by the 1st of April following the meeting, and the remainder on or before the 15th of the same month.

The work of erecting the line was begun soon after, and continued without interruption until May 22, when it was completed ready for operating. The total cost of materials and con- struction and operators' instruments was $449. The first message was transmitted to the grocers of Dodgeville by W. H. Boyd, of Milwaukee, on the 30th of April, 1879. There are three local offices connected with the line-one at the depot and one at the United States Hotel, in Mineral Point, and one at Dodgeville. The President of the company is Fred Phil- lips, operator at Mineral Point, W. H. Thomas being the operator at the Dodgeville end of the line. Rates are fixed at 25 cents per ten words, with 2 cents each for extras. The number of messages transmitted the first year aggregated nine hundred and thirty two, amounting to $250.64. No dividends have ever been declared to the stockholders, as barely enough is real- ized to pay the salaries of the operators. However, the business men would probably employ operators and pay them more than the income received, were it not possible to keep the line in operation otherwise, as it has proved of great utility in various business matters.

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HISTORY OF IOWA COUNTY.

FIRES AND FIRE COMPANY.

Dodgeville has suffered but little in the course of its development from fires. That most terrible of enemies and warmest of friends has, with but few exceptions, through the judicious management of the Village Board and commendable prudence of the people, been restricted to the point of utility, and made to subserve the wants of the people rather than to create needs by its remorseless energy and fury.

There has been but one what might be termed conflagration. That occurred on the 5th of March, 1856, and proved very destructive. At noon, a fire broke out in the garret of a frame building used for a saloon by the firm of Hope & Lidicoat, on the west side of Iowa street, north of Division. There being no fire apparatus, the flames progressed very rapidly despite the efforts of the citizens, and within a few minutes this building was not only doomed to per- ish, but a large brick store standing next to it on the north, which was heavily stocked with general merchandise, was also ignited and shared the same fate. Adjoining this was a frame building owned by McCracken and Dr. Goodlad, and occupied as a drug store and dwelling. This also caught on fire, and was destroyed with the others. In order to stop the destruction. a house on the north of these, owned by John Parris, was torn down, while on the south, fortu- nately, there was a vacant lot covered with water, which stayed its progress in that direction, so that no further damage was done. The loss was almost total, as there was no insurance on the buildings and but little of the merchandise was saved. Mr. McCracken was a very heavy loser to the extent of $10,000, according to general estimates.

The burning of the Primitive Methodist Church, described in the church sketch, was another quite serious fire, and one that made a clean sweep, thus paving the way for the present handsome edifice.

The Dodgeville Hook and Ladder Company No. 1 is certainly one of the creditable insti- tutions of the village, and in its organization at a time when there was no apparent danger presents a fair index to the character of the business men who prefer " an ounce of preven- tion to a pound of cure," and propose to be prepared for emergencies and to be just a step in advance of any of their neighbors. The following is a sketch of the organization taken from their " By-Laws," and briefly describes just what has been done :

" Soon after the destructive fire at Highland, and pursuant to a published call for a mass- meeting at the court house, on Wednesday evening, December 1, 1880, a large number of bus- iness men and representative citizens met to devise some means for the better protection of our village in case a fire should happen to break out.

" The meeting was called to order by Mr. R. G. Owens. S. W. Reese, Esq., was then elected Chairman, who, in a few brief remarks, stated the object of the meeting.

" J. J. Hoskins was chosen Secretary.

" After some talk as to the best means of accomplishing the desired end. Mr. A. S. Hearn offered the following resolution, which prevailed :

Resolved, That we proceed to enroll and organize a hook and ladder company, and that the Village Board be requested to purchase the necessary apparatus for its equipment.

" Messrs. J. T. Pryor, Jr., R. G. Owens and A. S. Hearn were appointed a committee to present the proceedings of the meeting to the Village Board.

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History of Iowa County, Wisconsin, Part 111

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