History of Iowa County, Wisconsin, Part 79

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

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In 1861, application was renewed to the Legislature, and a bill was sanctioned whereby the voters were authorized to record their decision, and determine the vexed question on April 2, 1861. At that election, a majority of the voters declared in favor of removal. The event was signalized in an appropriate manner by the residents of Dodgeville, who received the information with manifestations of profuse joy, and heralded the advent of the county officers into their inidst, with a procession of fire-works and other demonstrations of delight. Pursuant to this declaration, the county records were removed to the new Dodgeville Court House in July of the s:une year. The first session of the Board of Supervisors in the new county building, convened on April 23, 1861. The court house had been designed only to accommodate the judiciary of the county, and the lower portion was furnished as a jail, with Sheriff's quarters. The County Clerk and Register of Deeds were temporarily lodged, according to the facilities afforded by the building. A separate fire-proof building was deemed a necessary adjunet, and, to indemnify the county for the cost of its construction, a committee composed of Joseph Lean, Samuel Hoskins, B. F. Thomas, Ben Thomas, Thomas Stephens, William Hendy, Richard Arundell, John R. Roberts, Charles Hope, George W. Burrall, Henry Madden and Messrs. Wheeler & Co., pledged themselves to ereet the building, and also to pay into the county treasury the sum of $3.000, conditional that they should receive a quit-elaim deed to all the county property in Mineral Point. This proposition was not entertained.

The title to a plot of land in Mineral Point, commonly known as "the publie square," on which the county buildings were situated, had proved a source of many misgivings to the County Board, who were now brought face to face with a problem even more difficult of solution than that of the county seat. A committee was appointed in July, 1861, to consult with the City Council of Mineral Point and arrange a settlement. All their peace offerings were indignantly scouted by the irritated citizens. who denied the county's title to the court house, as it was crected on the public domain, vested in the city of Mineral Point in trust for the people of that city. To avoid litigation, however, they were willing to pay $1,600 in four annual installments. This offer was not accepted by the committee, who offered, as a retroactive compromise, to divide the property, by running a line, northerly, at right angles with High street, along the easterly line of the court house to the jail alley ; the county to take the easterly half and Mineral Point the western half with all the buildings thereon. Objection was raised, and the Common Couneil refused to accede to the proposition. Then the county engaged the services of Hon. James H. Knowlton, of Chicago, to bring suit against the captious citizens for the full amount of the prop- erty. M. M. Cothren appeared for the city of Mineral Point, and Judge Duun, by power of

520

HISTORY OF IOWA COUNTY.

attorney, conducted the prosecution. The arguments were heard in the United States District Court, and, after a final hearing, a judgment was recorded adverse to the county. Defeated at all points, the County Board was fain to submit as gracefully as circumstances permittedl, and repair their many egregious errors by accepting, on May 25, 1868, a proposal from Mineral Point to pay $1,500, with $500 interest, payable in three annual payments, as settlement in full for the disputed title. This was the last act of antagonism and closing scene in the memorable county-seat feud.

COUNTY POOR HOUSE AND FARM.

Anterior to 1853, the system of hiring paupers and aged indigents to contractors prevailed to a great extent in Iowa County, which had not yet attained sufficient independence to provide directly for the maintenance and support of the non- productive class. Each town was responsi- ble for the welfare of all paupers within its prescribed limits. Secret transfers of the insane and poverty-stricken from the limits of one town to the more liberal precincts of another. provided a constant and endless source of recrimination.

In January, 1853, at the annual session of the Board of Supervisors, a committee was ap- pointed to examine into the respective merits of the town system, and the otherwise prevalent scheme of mobilization at the expense of the county. This committee, while admitting the pro- priety of a change, opposed the county assuming charge of the poor within its confines, owing to the great addition that would be necessitated in the annual assessment. Nothing further was accomplished toward ameliorating the pauper system until after the lapse of six years, when a resolution, presented by M. M. Strong, was referred to a special committee, who reported favor- ably. On this recommendation, the resolution was adopted, November 20, 1859, and is given herewith :

Resolved, That from and after the first day of June, 1860, all distinctions between county and town poor shall be abolished, and the poor, from and after that time, shall be maintained by the county, and, for the purpose of car- rying into effect the spirit of this resolution, there shall be elected, at the present session of the Board of Supervisors. three County Poor Superintendents, who shall hold office for the respective terms of one, two and three years, and who shall proceed to qualify in the requirements of the statute in such cases made and provided. Their duty shall be to ascertain, as nearly as possible, the number of paupers in the counly ; the condition of each ; how many require full support, and the number requiring partial support, and such other information as would be necessary for them to form an estimate of the probable expense of supporting the poor upon the poor house and farm system; and, on the first day of June, 1860, to take charge of the poor of the county. To make such arrangements for their maintenance and support as they shall deem best for the interests of the county ; and also that the County Treasurer be requested lo pay over to the County Superintendents all moneys that are or shall come into his hands, which are or shall be by law appropriated for the support of the poor. The said Superintendents are hereby instructed and directed to purchase an improved farm, not to exceed 160 neres, A portion of which shall be timbered land, and situated as near the center of the county as practicable. the price of which shall not exceed $4,000, to be paid in two annual installments, on June 1, 1861, and June 1, 1862.

The Superintendents elected at this meeting were Francis Little, II. Plowman and B. F. Thomas, who furnished bonds for $5.000.

The first appropriation was for $3,600, to meet the annual expenses. The Superintendents in June purchased the farin of Peter T'emby. The farin comprised 120 acres under cultivation, with a dense growth of timber covering 60 aeres, as it now remains. Stock and agricultural implements, valued at $1.200, were also purchased with the farm. Peter Temby was appointed the first Overseer of the Poor of Iowa County, and, in that capacity, continued in charge for some time.

On July 8, 1861. the following rules were adopted for the government of the County Poor House :

Every person becoming an inmate of this house is required to use respectful language to the superior and to each other ; to use no vulgar, profane, or disrespectful language, and, in all things, to be governed by the subjoined rules :

Each person must do such work as the Overseer finds them capable of doing. All lights to be extinguished by 9 o'clock. Each female must keep her own room clean and in proper or- der. No person shall absent himself or herself from the farm without the consent of the Over- seer. For the first violation of the last rule, the delinquent shall be punished ; on a repetition

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HISTORY OF IOWA COUNTY.

of the offense, he or she shall be expelled and shall not be re-admitted to the poor house for the space of three months, except upon an express order of the Superintendents. Any violation of these rules shall be punished by a bread-and-water diet, at the discretion of the Overseer.

Soon after the purchase of the farm, an addition was built to the large two-story stone house ereeted by Mr. Temby, and a separate building was constructed for the reception of insane paupers. The substantial 30x45 barn was built in 1863, at a cost of $1,000, and the quarters of the insane were further enlarged in 1872. Finding the accommodation for the lunatie class inade- quate to the demand, and incompatible with modern ideas of reform, a two-story building, wholly devoted to this class of unfortunates, was erected in 1878. The farm and almshouse presents every indication of thrift and comfort, and during its existence not a single complaint of negleet or mismanagement has been lodged against the Superintendent or Overseer, who personally supervise the affairs of the institution. There are now lodged and supported at the expense of the county thirty-eight paupers, seven of whom are classed as insane.

In 1867, Overseer Peter Temby was succeeded by Thomas Thomas, who. three years sub- sequently, was displaced by M. F. Rewey. At the annual session of the Board of Supervisors, held Jannary, 1881, the resignation of M. F. Rewey was accepted, and the present Overseer, Edward Perkins, was appointed.

CHAPTER VI.

MINERAL POINT RAILROAD.

COMPANY CHARTER. PROJECTED ROUTES-FIRST CONTRACT AND COMMENCEMENT OF THE ROAD- ELECTION RETURNS-CHANGE OF CONTRACTORS-MORE FUNDS RAISED AND ROAD COMPLETED -THE FIRST TRAIN COMPANY RE-ORGANIZED.

COMPANY CHARTER, PROJECTED ROUTES.

The Mineral Point Railroad Company was incorporated April 17, 1852. under the general laws of the State of Wisconsin, Chapter 415 The incorporators were Francis Vivian, Parley Eaton. Franeis J. Dunn. Cyrus Woodman, John Bracken. A. W. Comfort Henry Koop and John Milton, of Iowa County. Samuel Cole, Charles H. Lamar. John W. Blackstone, H. P. Ladd, Edward H. Gratiot, Charles Dunn, James II. Knowlton and Joseph W. Brewster, of La Fayette County.

The charter authorized the issue of capital stock to the amount of $500.000, divided into 5,000 shares of $100 each. The route of the projected railroad was optional, subject to a decis- ion of the shareholders, but was specifically to run from Mineral Point in either of the Towns No. 1 north, of the base line and east of the Fourth Principal Meridian in La Fayette or Green Counties. On June 5, 1852, a meeting was held in Mineral Point to decide on the most feasible route for the railroad. Parley Eaton was nominated Chairman, and G. D. Wilber. Secretary. A committee, consisting of the following names, was appointed to consider the question : John Bracken, I. S. Allen, James Noble, Cyrus Woodman, George W. Bliss. Theodore Rodolf. Patrick O'Dowd, Francis Vivian, Samuel Jenkins, Jr., H. Van Dusen, Thomas S. Ansley. Peter Toay, James Hutchinson, John HI. Vivian, Edward Coade, Levi Sterling. H. M. Billings, Amasa Cobb and George Goldthorp. The meeting then adjourned without taking any further action.

The railroad was projected under a ravishing prospectus. which, in figures of indubitable accuracy, outlined a brilliant future for the road. As a means of inter-communication with Interior Wisconsin and the mining regions, the line would, in all probability at no very distant dlay, assume the dignity and profits of a trunk line, which, after a period of incubation, was to extend from Wisconsin's metropolis-Milwaukee-to the turbid waters of the Mississippi. With a positive El Dorado of wealth opening before them. few citizens of Iowa County heeded the be- hests of sober consideration, but plunged wildly into the scheme ; not in a rash, speculative frenzy, but in a spirit of honest investment. In two weeks. $40.000 in stock were subscribed, and, in conformity with the charter, the first officers were elected. They were John B. Terry, President : David Morrison and John Loof borrow, Vice Presidents ; Josiah B. Chaney, Secre- tary ; and John H. Vivian, Assistant Secretary.

In a letter to this temporary board, Moses MI. Strong, a strong adherent of the project, as- sumed the privilege of advancing a few suggestions affecting the future well-being of the enter- prise. He submitted estimates illustrating the feasibility of building and equipping the road for $15,000 per mile, exclusive of stations and depots. The line was necessarily to start at Mineral Point, thence by the Rock Branch of the Pecatonica River, to the mouth of Little Otter Creek, down the P'ecatonica to the mouth of Wolf's Creek, to the State line.

Another route by Ames' Branch would carry the road on to the division ridge, six or seven miles north of the State line. By any route that would be adopted, it was agreed that so long as the road was in the valleys of the water-courses. a cheaper route with regard to embankment and

Fillmann.

MINERAL POINT,

525

HISTORY OF IOWA COUNTY.

excavation could not be found in the State, and it was considered probable that by a judicious survey, many bridges and culverts could be avoided.

Allowing for a heavy trail of fifty-eight pounds to the yard, it was estimated that the cost of construction would not exceed $12,000 per mile ; $3,000 was allowed for equipment, comput- ing the distance from Mineral Point to the State line at thirty-two miles; the cost on the original estimate would equal $480,000, exclusive of the cost of a preliminary survey, calculated at $1,000. In payment for construction, it was proposed to grant the contractor $4,000 per mile in cash, $8,000 first-lien bonds, and $3,000 in stock.

The receipts from freight, passengers, etc., were estimated at $58,675, based on the theory that the net cost of transporting freight was one cent a ton per mile, and passengers at three- fourths of a cent for the same distance.

Taking 22,000 tons of freight annually, at a net profit of $6.60 per ton. $35,200 Fifty passengers per day, for thirty-one days, @@ 75 cents each. 23,475

Annual net income .. .$58,675

Deduct interest of bonds for $250,000. 20,480

Total. .$38,195

This would leave an income of 16.6 per cent, based on a paid-up stock of $128,000, and $96,000 in the hands of contractors. The payment of a 7 per cent dividend would leave $22,- 095 as a sinking fund, and this sum applied to the bonds annually, would liquidate the entire amount in eight years. After expunging the bonded indebtedness, the whole income of $58,675 would be available for a dividend of 26} per cent. As a proof of the sincerity of his convic- tions, the subscriber to the foregoing flattering prospectus, authorized the temporary Board of ' Directors to enter his name for forty shares of the railroad company.

Such was the plausible statement presented to the inhabitants of the county, who, untu- tored in elements essential to a successful railroad, were influenced into accepting unquestioned, the face of the circular. They likewise supposed that the road would be inevitably extended from its northern terminus to Arena, where it would intersect the Milwaukee & Mississippi Railroad, thus placing the isolated Mineral Point line in direct communication with Milwaukee, and securing for it the transit of all business between Galena and Milwaukee.

On July 1, 1852, 760 shares of $100 cach had been subscribed by the inhabitants of Mineral Point, who, at that time, hardly exceeded twenty-five hundred strong. The first install- ment, as required by law, was paid up, and on August 28, 1852, the following officers were elected : President, Cyrus Woodman ; Francis Vivian, Treasurer, and Thomas S. Allen, Sec- retary. Owing to the subsequent resignation of Cyrus Woodman, another election was held October 22, 1852, to fill the vacant office. Moses M. Strong was elected President, and Col. R. B. Mason, of the Illinois Central Railroad, was appointed Chief Engineer. At this cleetion, 1,048 shares were represented by a truly representative body of citizens, whose average appor- tionment was five shares. A census of the vote disclosed the fact that there were present twenty-eight persons of one share each; sixty-one of five shares ; one of six shares; one of seven shares ; twenty-four of ten shares ; one of twelve shares; fifty of two shares ; twenty of three shares ; five of four shares ; three of fifteen shares ; five of twenty shares ; two of twenty- five shares ; one of thirty-five shares, and one of forty shares.

FIRST CONTRACT AND COMMENCEMENT OF THE ROAD.

After the preliminary survey, the Engineer's estimate was produced for $189,000, and pro- posals for the construction of the road were invited through the public press. The tenders for the work were opened on February 15, 1853, when twenty seven bids, including some from New York, and one from Connecticut, were opened. After comparing the different bids, and their respective stipulations, the Board of Directors awarded the contract to Messrs. Chamber- lain & Cook, who had just completed the Milwaukee & Mississippi Railroad to Janesville.

526

HISTORY OF IOWA COUNTY.

Three months subsequently, the first sod on the line of the Mineral Point Railroad was disturbed by the invading hand of enterprise. The day, May 30, 1853, was a gala day and a festive occasion for the residents of the dominating country, who flocked to Mineral Point to participate in the honor and glory inseparable from such an historic event. It is estimated that there were 800 strangers from the rural districts in the city. Early in the day, the male population of Mineral Point and the country contingents convened at the court house, where a procession was formed under the direction of Charles N. Mumford as Marshall, assisted by T. J. Otis and P. W. Thomas. Headed by the Mineral Point Brass Band, the populace proceeded to Section 2, one mile south of the village, where the time-honored ceremony of breaking ground was observed. Col. Abner Nichols, one of the oldest settlers in Iowa County, who assisted in raising some of the first log cabins in Mineral Point, turned the first soil. While accomplishing this feat, the assembled multitude rent the air with cheers and felicitations. Congratulatory speeches were made by N. B. Bayden, G. L. Frost, J. B. Gray, J. G. Messmore and Cyrus Wood- man. The oratorical efforts were "interspersed with soul-stirring music by the band." The ranks were re-formed, and the processionists returned to town, inflated with the importance of the new venturc.

In the absence of additional shareholders to absorb the balance of the stock, the company became pressed for money to carry out their plans. In this perplexity, a bill was drafted, suit- able to the desires of the Board of Directors, who submitted it to the Legislature for approval. The bill was entitled, " An Act to authorize the counties and towns through which the Mineral Point Railroad passes to aid in its construction." Through the exertions of H. H. Gray, of Darlington, a clause was inserted exempting the county of La Fayette from any application of the act. The bill was submitted to the Legislature by Levi Sterling, P. W. Thomas and W. H. Madden, and was eventually approved.

On the strength of this enactment, the railroad company proposed to exchange bonds with the county to the amount of $150,000. the principal and interest of which the company guaran- teed to pay, and as security issued to the county their bonds, convertible into stock secured by a mortgage on the road and all its equipments. This scheme was distasteful to the popular palate, and the cool reception accorded the proposition foreshadowed the defeat of the appropriation measure, if exertions were not directed to assuage the public feeling. The press was employed in disseminating friendly views ; eloquent orators and fluent speakers were engaged to address mass meetings of the voters. It was only at this critical juncture that the terms of the contract were divulged by a newspaper communication from the President of the railroad. The con- tractors were to receive $693.000 to put the road in first-class running condition. The pay- ments were apportioned as follows :

Stock of Company. $ 83 000

Railroad bonds secured by mortgage ... 310 000

Cash. $150 000

Towa County bonds. 150 000

Tolal. $693 000

Payments were to be made in ten cqual installments on proportionate amounts of each security.

By this contract, the Directors had, without the faintest vestige of authority, assumed the prerogative of bartering the county's credit, and relying on the support of the people to abide by their contract. At this election, every nerve was strained to carry the appropriation ; the tax-payers were conjured in the name of public spirit and enterprise to aid the railroad by voting for the subsidy. The question was submitted to the voters as one of vital interest, and it was even asserted that as the election went so would the continuance of the railroad be decided.

The momentous day eventually arrived, and the railroad was nobly supported by the com- munity, which, by a majority of 157, granted the concession demanded by the company.

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HISTORY OF IOWA COUNTY.

OFFICIAL RETURNS OF THE ELECTION.

AGAINST.

Mineral Point.

FOR. 1,007

...

Linden

156

Waldwick

Dodgeville

640

Highland

148

Arena.

Ridgeway

102

Clyde

Mifflin

Pulaski

Wyoming

...

Total.

1,345

1,188

Majority in favor of the railroad, 157.

By many the legality of the election was doubted, nevertheless, in consonance with the proceeding, 150 bonds of $1,000 cach were issued by the county, dated July 26, 1853.

Soon after the contracts for construction were entered into, the President went to New York for the purpose of making sale of the county bonds. Failing to dispose of them at a satisfactory price, he obtained temporary loans from the banks at Hartford, Conn., pledging the bonds as collateral security, by means of which payment was made for work under these contracts during the year 1853.

About the 10th of October, 1853, the President succeeded in making a contract with the Illinois Central Railroad Company and Galena & Chicago Union Railroad Company (now a part of the Chicago & North-Western Company), by which those two companies jointly agreed with the Mineral Point Railroad Company, that if the latter company would complete its road from Mineral point to Warren, and connect at that point with the Illinois Central, and would give its business, so far as was within its power, to the two Illinois companies, they would pay to the Mineral Point company annually, for twenty years after its completion, such sum (if any) as should be requisite to secure to it a net annual income of $56,000 over and above all expenses for operating and maintaining its road.

This was a valuable contract to both parties. The inducement to the Illinois companies was by aiding incidentally the credit of the Wisconsin company, to secure the construction of an im- portant feeder to their roads, and thereby to greatly increase their business. To effect this object, they could well afford, if the exigencies of the contract should require it, to rebate a portion of their net carnings and pay it to the Mineral Point Railroad Company, on business for which they were indebted to that company.

To the Mineral Point Company the contract was of inestimable value, as it was equivalent to a guarantee for twenty years of an income of 7 per cent net on $800,000, which was more than the estimated cost of the road and equipments, and placed the company in such a financial position, that its securities were entitled to command as high a price as any others of the sainc class.

The validity of town and county bonds issued in aid of railroads, although since frequently sustained by the Supreme Court of the United States, was then an open question, in consequence of which it was found impossible to make sale of the Iowa County bonds at a satisfactory price, and the railroad company consequently retained them, except so far as they were hypothecated as security for loans.

CHANGE OF CONTRACTORS.

In June, 1853, Chamberlain & Cook surrendered their contract, and arrangements were en- tered into with other parties at what was announced to be a reduced figure in cash, by which the company effected a saving of $40,000. The new contractors were A. Gates & Co. for the southern half of the road, and John M. Keep for the northern division. The former contract- ors had just completed some extensive improvements on the Illinois Central Road, and, being

528

HISTORY OF IOWA COUNTY.

experienced engineers, they won the confidence and reliance of the county. Mr. Keep could not advance any salient claims for distinction, save the possession of wealth and influence, he be- ing ostensibly a man of considerable capital.

At the annual meeting, the accompanying Board of Directors was elected : Moses M. Strong, Parley Eaton, Francis Chalvin, John M. Keep, Anthony Nancolas, John Bracken, John Milton, Robert C. Dyer and John Ross.

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History of Iowa County, Wisconsin, Part 79

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