USA > Wisconsin > Lafayette County > History of Lafayette county, Wisconsin > Part 89
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113 | Part 114 | Part 115 | Part 116
Those who came at this early day, as also subsequent arrivals, engaged in mining generally, a limited number reconciling themselves to the accumulation of wealth through the more tedious but more certain development of the agricultural resources latent in the town. A portion of the settlers engaged in both for the acquisition of the means of life, but the instances of pro- nounced success were scarcely measured by the number who thus employed their capacities. One of the more prominent in this connection was Col. Samuel H. Scales, one of the owners of the " Black- leg Diggings," upon whom Dame Fortune seemed to have smiled benignantly and aided in assuring a prosperity reputed to be fabulous. His labors in the mines were accompanied by returns rich beyond computation, while his success as a cultivator of the soil was equally as gratifying. The same can be said of John W. Blackstone and some others. But the great mass of the people, taking no thought of the morrow, failed to wrest fortune from the mines for future use, and were left, when their days of labor were over, with a surplus of that treasure which defies the moth of improvement or the corruption of luxury to any appreciable extent.
About the spring of 1830, James S. Woodcock was married to Annie Jones. The event occurred, it is thought, about the merry month of May, when the sun of spring bathes the rich landscapes and pleasant vales with golden light, while its gay beams danced over the waters of creeks and rivulets as they glided onward to the ocean. Upon one of these mornings of glorious
584
HISTORY OF LA FAYETTE COUNTY.
beauty-one of those calm, delightful days, found only beneath the voluptuous skies of that per, fect month in the year-the twain were consolidated into one, through the agency, it is believed of Hugh R. Colter, a Justice of the Peace, and took up the burden of life with the blessings of friends and neighbors to cheer them on their way. Though all around appeared so bright and joyous, the horizon of the future was shrouded with dark, portentous clouds of savage threatenings. The Black Hawk war was impending, and, almost before the guests had forgotten the occasion of their summons, the bride and groom were included in the force enlisted to repel Indian aggressions.
The records are silent as to what transpired during the interval that elapsed between 1830 and 1832, at which date hostilities between the settlers and that powerful chief were begun. The year 1827 is memorable in the history of adjacent settlements as being the period in which the first serious troubles were experienced between settlers and their Indian neighbors, culminating in the Winnebago war. The territory north of the ordinance line of 1787, except the mining districts in Jo Daviess County, Ill., and Michigan Territory, was in possession of the Indians. Early in that year, miners, adventurers and speculators, as is known, flocked hither in great num- bers and extended their explorations beyond the " Ridge" recognized as the line of the "five leagues square." Many rich leads were discovered on Indian lands, and miners persisted in digging there in direct violation of orders of the Superintendent of Mines. Frequent dis- putes occurred, and four Winnebago chiefs warned the Gratiots at Gratiot's Grove that they had best remove. But Red Wing and We-Kaw were surrendered by the Indians before any prolonged difficulties were experienced, and, with the death of the former in jail at Prairie du Chien, the " Winnebago war " ended. A treaty, as is known, was made with the Indians, by the terms of which a large tract of land was released by them to the settlers.
Peace succeeded, presumably uninterrupted by any event in White Oak Springs, calculated to intimidate the miners or farmers, who, prior to the Black Hawk war, labored diligently if not suc- cessfully in all cases until 1832. New-comers made their appearance presumably, and all interests combined to reward the operations that were undertaken. The reader is entirely familiar with the general history of events occurring in that year, but there are some facts and incidents con- nected with the war, and some phases of it known to residents of White Oak Springs then, that should be recorded.
When war threatened, settlers throughout the present limits of the town gathered as with one accord, determined to protect their homes, provide for the common defense and promote the general welfare. The old fort erected at Gratiot's Grove during the Winnebago war, and then commanded by Capt. Hollingsworth, was strengthened and occupied by a company of mounted rangers under the control of Capt. J. P. Beon Gratiot, also a company of infantry, of which Fortunatus Berry was Captain. This force remained under arms until August 20, 1832, when it was disbanded. Among those who sought the fort for protection were the families residing thereabouts, including that of Antoine Boyne, Paul Garber, Eugene Fournier, Joseph Kemp, William Powell and about forty others whose names have escaped the memory of the oldest inhabit- ants and consequently cannot be recited in verse or these annals.
At White Oak Springs Village two forts were put up, commanded by Capts. Colter and Clark respectively. The largest was built by S. M. Journey and others, and was 100x50; the other fort was about fifty feet square and suppled with every available means of defense. Long before either were ready for occupation, the inhabitants for miles around flocked to them as their refuge, and enlisted under the standard, above which the eagle of the Republic spread its golden wings and looked down upon that spirit of resistance manifested by the hardy pioneers, with the ban- ners of whose descendants it has flown from ocean to ocean, and from the snows of the North to the myrtle and orange blossoms of the South.
Among those who inhabited the forts were John Shultz and family, --- Hall (who was killed by the Indians), Henry Smith (brother-in-law to Col. Scales), John C. Thomas, John Ankeny and family, the two Scofield families, Henry Dougherty (who had married a half-breed), the Mason and Hawkins brothers, Elijah Charles, the Woods family, Samuel Warner, John B.
585
HISTORY OF LA FAYETTE COUNTY.
Woodson, J. S. Soules, - Lisle, Loyal C. Crandall, Sylvanus Bush, James S. Woodcock and wife, Conrad Lichtenberger and family, George Lott and family and many more, who were prompted by apprehension of danger to enroll themselves among the would-be secure. A block- house was built at Charles Mound, two miles southeast of the village of White Oak Springs. From May until October, the warriors patiently, mayhap nervously, awaited the onset of the Indian foe, which came not, however, though scouting parties were abroad in the town almost constantly, and doubtless saw the marks of the savage at every point. During these five months no effort was made to increase the returns of mother earth ; vegetation ran wild in the sunshine in the whilom haunts of men ; blocks of ore lay unbroken in the subterranean rock, and the furnace of the smelter grew old in the sunshine of the summer's day. With the defeat of Black Hawk's legions at the battle of the Bad Axe, the old order of things was resumed. The farmer returned to his furrow, the miner to his pick and gad, the gambler to his cards, and the outlaw to his devices.
In the winter of that year, the child of James S. and Annie Woodcock, was scalded so severely as to cause death in a few hours, shrouding a family in gloom and breaking the current of life in the settlement for the first time since its establishment.
With the suspension of hostilities, the echo of the woodman's ax was once more heard in the forest, the dead corpse of the miner's art was touched, and it rose upon its feet, and the blast of every furnace turned out abundant rivulets of molten lead, which awaited not long the demand of the consumer. Nature, the most hospitable friend of man, smiled upon the scene, and com- bined with art to reward her devotees. Her most beneficent processes were woven under smil- ing veils, and her vast wheel of endless life and splendid transmutations turned beneficently. The farmer labored tranquilly in his fields, plowing the soil and sowing the seed to reap the bounti- tiful harvest ; the miner with his spade - was one of God's levers of power, and the laboring classes in other spheres of life were the fulcrums. And so they always will continue to be, bright coronals that will sparkle with increasing luster until earth shall cease its revolutions and fall with languid lifelessness into the arms of dissolution.
VILLAGE OF WHITE OAK SPRINGS.
The first village of White Oak Springs was situated one-half mile southwest of the present village, and was begun as early as 1827. This village once contained stores, groceries, fur- naces, a fort, and about one hundred inhabitants, but of all its former greatness, only one house yet remains.
In 1834, the present village of White Oak Springs was platted by George F. Smith, and addi- tions were made up to 1837 by H. H. Gear and John Williams. It was located on one of the most beautiful and romantic sites naturally that could be chosen, though for the past quarter of a century it has fallen into decay, and but little is now left to indicate the renown for which it was many years famous. Yet, its prosperity and life departed, it still possesses many charms for one who desires retirement. This village, in 1836, contained 150 people; and in 1846, five stores, four saloons, three blacksmith-shops, three hotels, and claimed not less than 500 inhabit- ants. Now, its population, we regret to say, cannot exceed fifty.
Thenceforward, the progress of the town was rapid and gratifying. Immigration into the lead mines was more general than had been previously remarked, and the character of those who came into the town, in keeping with those who settled elsewhere, was decidedly cosmopol- itan, speaking nationally as also professionally. The mercurial disposition of the inhabitants found frequent expression in their removals from point to point as prospectors, and the amuse- ments they indulged were of a class that subsequent generations regarded as neither childlike nor bland. These included gambling, horse racing and athletic sports, in which the possession of superior physical proportions and prowess were gifts that almost invariably gained the day.
There are old settlers residing in La Fayette County at present who distinctly remember the race between the Hulings boys' quarter-horse Glass Eye and the mare Old Betsey, which
586
HISTORY OF LA FAYETTE COUNTY.
Col. Scales brought from Springfield, Ill. The race was a quarter-mile dash, and was run over the track then kept in order upon the Hulings farm. Glass Eye was a high-mettled racer in his day, and, for the distance entered, is said to have been without a peer on the Western turf. His owner was justly proud of his achievements, and offered to match him against all competi- tion. The challenge was accepted by Col. Scales, who entered Old Betsey, and the stakes, it is said, included every available resource, real and personal, possessed by either party. While pending, the utmost excitement prevailed, and the betting was general and liberal. An old set- tler, who was on the ground and witnessed the defeat of Hulings' horse, compared the excite- ment to that which prevailed at the famous eclipse which occurred forty years ago and upward. The heat between Glass Eye and Old Betsey was run early in the morning, and "finished almost before it was begun," in the expressive phraseology of one of the witnesses, resulting in the defeat of the Hulings entry, and vesting in Col. Scales the title to the Hulings estate, near White Oak Springs Village, which was included in the stakes.
Another feature of daily life here was gambling. Games of all kinds wherein cards are prime factors were ventured, and vast sums of money changed hands daily. Faro seems to have been the chiefest attraction to interested parties, and the betting indulged was always the limit. As an evidence of this fact, it is said that one of the prominent capitalists who flourished in those days patronized the sport liberally, and one morning before breakfast " cop- pered the deuce " for a thousand dollars, winning his bet. The sporting element, it is said, represented dispositions venturesome, cool, deliberate, liberal and equitable, a type of men who paid their way and distributed their winnings with a liberality that was extravagant to profusion. The absence of bloodshed, riot, fraud and dishonesty would indicate the existence of some claim to these characteristics with a class who are ordinarily prone to indulge practices poetic license has denominated "peculiar." If they ever sought the employment of "exterior influences " to win Fortune to their side, the records have failed to perpetuate the results. Amid this lawlessness, so to speak, moral influences were at work, and so leavened the little band of substantial, indus- trious, God fearing settlers that within the near future the transient consumer gave way to the permanent producer, and all became as clay in the hands of the potter for the advancement of educational and religious interests.
George Cubbage, who was captured by the Indians, and released for the consideration of five plugs of tobacco, opened a school, which was attended by Harriet and Cyrus Lichtenberger, the Hulings boys, Elizabeth Neville, Sarah Streeter, five of the Daves family and four sons of Elijah Charles. The Revs. Mr. Thomas and Aratus Kent preached sermons and pointed the way to salvation by routes of the most orthodox character. Laws were enacted and enforced, and quiet and order succeeded to chaos and moral vacuity. In 1849, the California gold fever attracted miners and the general floating population from their lares and penates in White Oak Springs and their absence was supplied by many who live to see fields ripe for the harvest, luxu- rious homes, and schools and churches dotting a landscape that was once barren and vacant.
During the past twenty years, the cultivation of the soil has been esteemed as a duty of paramount importance, to discharge which was incumbent upon all who solicited public confi- dence or private independence. The war called many of the citizens who had become identified with the material prosperity of White Oak Springs to the front. Many were left in their window- less chambers afar from the scenes of home, and are remembered as they sleep the sleep of sancti- fied rest in the South. Many came back with the scars of battle to commend them to the regard of friend and foe; and all, by their prowess and achievements, sent their names down the dim, mysterious aisles of the future shrined in a luster that grows brighter as the days lengthen into years, and the cause for which they fought or died becomes more firmly linked with the days that are gone.
For many years, the lead mines have not been vigorously worked. This is due to a les- sened demand for the product, which would not justify the investment of large sums in expen- sive machinery which the necessities of the situation require to be employed. But, when the occasion shall come requiring the utilization of these means, Blackleg, the Medory, and other
.
587
HISTORY OF LA FAYETTE COUNTY.
diggings will again be penetrated, and their hidden wealth be again made sources of bounteous revenue.
The town is well supplied with schools, where the advantages of education denied the early settlers are waiting the commands of all who seek these mediums of improvement. The town is generously populated by a thrifty, enterprising class of inhabitants, and the casual visitor to its beauties and advantages can but felicitate the enterprising and industrious at the promise that seeks their acceptance.
THE PRESENT VILLAGE.
A store and hotel, half a dozen residences, post office and grocery, with a population not exceeding fifty inhabitants totalize the latitude and longitude, with all the attendant concom- itants of the present village of White Oak Springs. The old village occupied a prominent site to the southwest of Samuel Dunbar's present corn-field, and, in early days, gave promise of wealth and commercial advantages which have never been realized. When the forts were built, a dozen log cabins comprehended the number of domiciles which afforded protection to heterogeneous collection of inhabitants. After the Black Hawk war, many who came to the forts for protection, remained as residents, and, in 1834, as already cited, the present village was formally laid out and platted. Very soon thereafter, A. V. Hastings and Hugh R. Colter opened hotels; Franklin Washburne and others, stores, and many whose names cannot be recalled, dispensed commodities from behind a bar, or proffered wealth from behind the faro-table. At one time the population of the village was estimated at five hundred souls, but during the forties the route of the stage road from Galena to Freeport was changed, and the village losing the patronage of travelers, was removed to its present site, where it has gradually disappeared, the residents removing, in some instances, with their houses to Darlington, Shullsburg, Scales Mound and elsewhere. This, it is claimed, is due mainly to the completion of the Illinois Cen- tral Railroad, by which stage travel was abandoned, and the dozen vehicular conveyances which were wont to halt at the village inn daily, with large numbers of passengers, were seen no more on the public highway, to the irreparable detriment of the town and its progress.
When mining was at its height, the town was alive with business and other evidences of prosperity, already quoted. The storeroom adjoining Dunbar's grocery was formerly occupied as a gambling-house, and nightly was its interior the resort of vigorous youth, of men grown old, men with wasted intellects, who had consumed their youth in folly, and looked forward to death and an unknown grave without a shudder. Here, also, came men who had flung away high gifts, high birth and high chances; men with eyes in which the wasted genius of a mighty mind looked out through the mists of a drunkard's sight, all here in the flicker of a tallow dip, betting their thousands or their last dollar with a nonchalance born of desperation, or the license of a Catullus.
Among these, it is related, was one who had once occupied an honorable position, and, as the son of a prominent official, had been afforded opportunities denied less fortunate civilians. But he fell from his high estate, and, drifting into the lead mines, became a confirmed inebri- ate. The elegance of a Sardanapalus yielded place to the abandon of a drunkard, and he that once emulated the virtues of the youth of Lacedemonia, became a hopeless wreck.
But all these scenes have taken wings unto themselves and departed to other fields.
To-day a schoolhouse rises above the site of the gambling-room, and a church of the Methodist sect, erected in 1865, wherein preaching is had semi-monthly, occupies a hill in view of what is left of the "deserted village."" These, with the post office of which Mr. Gilpatrick has been the official for thirty years, are the only evidences remaining of what might have been the portion of White Oak Springs. The mail is carried hither six times a week from Scales Mound and Shullsburg, on a stage which rests the weary traveler in his journeyings to the "city" of the past. School is taught on an average eight months in the year, and beyond a quiet home for the laboring and professional pilgrim after the heat of the battle, but limited inducements are offered to the visitor to remain permanently.
588
HISTORY OF LA FAYETTE COUNTY.
WHITE OAK CREAMERY.
An established enterprise for the manufacture of a superior quality of butter was organ- ized for business in June, 1879, by J. and A. Blackstone, George and Henry Proctor and William Walton, and is represented as engaged in a lucrative and gradually increasing business. The premises consist of a creamery proper, of frame, 50x25, and two stories high, supplied with eleven pans, and the machinery usual to that line of business. The building cost $1,750. Attached to this is an ice house and residence, also of frame, and sufficiently complete in details for the wants of the service. Eight thousand pounds of milk are utilized daily, which is subjected to a temperature of 50 degrees, and from the cream thus arising 350 pounds of butter is manufactured each 24 hours. The business of the creamery is chiefly with New York and Chicago factors, and so successful has been the undertaking that the enlargement of the creamery is contemplated during the ensuing season.
Three hands are employed, at a weekly compensation of $15, and the property of the company represents a valuation of $2,500.
TOWN OF MONTICELLO.
Monticello, the smallest town but one in the county, is composed of the south half of Town- ship 1, in Range 3 (except the west half of the northwest quarter and the west half of the south- west quarter of Section 19, and the west half of the northwest quarter of Section 30, in Township 1, Range 3), and also of Section 25 in Township 1, Range 2 east. It is bounded on the north by Shullsburg and Gratiot, on the east by Gratiot, on the south by Illinois, and on the west by White Oak Springs. This town was organized, February 7, 1850, by an Act of the Legis- lature of Wisconsin, procured by the active efforts in that behalf, of Richard H. Magoon. Pursuant to that Act, the first town meeting was held at Thomas Wiley's house, in April, 1850; at which meeting it was resolved, that no charge should be made against the town by any town officer, for any official service. This resolution was long faithfully adhered to by the officers of the town.
The surface of the country is gently undulating prairie, well watered by Apple River and Wolf Creek, with their branches. The southern portion of the town abounds in valuable beau- tiful groves, and the soil is almost uniformly rich and productive.
The settlements made here were begun at an early day. During the year 1828, Benjamin Funk and Thomas Wiley adventured from the lead mines of Missouri, below St. Louis, into Monticello, and, erecting a small, inconvenient log house on the present site of Thomas Wiley's homestead residence, began the battle for existence surrounded by savages and a wilderness wherein beasts of prey found an abiding-place. These gentlemen, it is believed, were the original settlers in Monticello, and for many years both watched its progress and endured the trials incident to its building-up. Capt. Funk years ago yielded to the inevitable, but Mr. Wiley still lives, a hale old man, in the enjoyment of that independence which follows industry and thrift. A witness of the trials to which all who ventured into the once unknown wilds of Wisconsin were subjected, he has survived to rejoice in the triumphs of succeeding years.
For a year, these two men were the solitary inhabitants of the territory now included within the limits of the town, being without neighbors or any of the accessories which in other localities served to deprive frontier life of many of its cheerless features. During 1829, Mr. Humphrey Taylor removed from Gratiot's Grove, where he had been conducting a boarding-house, and set- tled in future Monticello, locating on a farmn about two miles northeast of the cabin of Funk and Wiley. All of these settlers established themselves in their new abode to engage in farming. They had previously been identified with Gratiot's Grove in the capacity of prospectors and miners, but removed to engage in the occupation of farming, and succeeded in their several objects.
589
HISTORY OF LA FAYETTE COUNTY.
In 1829, R. H. Magoon, who had been smelting at the Blue Mounds, but had sold his furnace there to Ebenezer R. Brigham, and had become, in 1828, owner of land in Monticello, removed thither and erected a log furnace on his farm in the southern portion of the town, which was maintained until 1842-the only one ever built and operated in the vicinity.
The emigration during 1830 was comparatively numerous and of a substantial character, the arrivals including that of a man named Simpson, who broke land and made preparations for opening a farm some distance east of Funk's house ; Francis Clyma, removed from Gratiot's Grove to a farm east of Funk's, and some few others were added to the population.
During the Black Hawk war, the inhabitants participated in the fear of that blood-thirsty savage endured throughout the county, and employed the same means of defense elsewhere adopted. Benjamin Funk, Thomas Wiley, Francis Clyma, R. H. Magoon, with hands by him employed at Magoon's furnaces, and others to be thereby benefited, erected .Fort Funk, which was built of logs, and occupied a site about two hundred yards northwest of Funk's residence. It was completed in May, 1832, the dwelling and smoke-house of Wiley and Funk forming a part of its construction, and occupied by the settlers of the neighborhood. Before affairs had become extremely threatening, a company was formed of the male inmates, and R. H. Magoon was elected Captain, but declined in favor of Benjamin Funk, who was elected to that position. Magoon was elected a Lieutenant ; but, being satisfied that cavalry and not infantry was the arm to repress and expel the Indians, he resigned the position, and at once went to White Oak Springs fort, enrolled himself as private in Capt. Clark's company of mounted rangers, was next day elected Lieutenant of that company, and as such served throughout the war. Humphrey Taylor, Kingsley Olds, Francis Clyma and Lot Dominick divide the honors of being Lieutenants in Capt. Funk's company until it was disbanded. The company of Capt. Funk was made up of miners, among whom were Messrs. I. B. Cowen, Quinn, Leroy, Irons, Andrews, Weathers, etc., the settlers whose names have been mentioned, the deficiency in numbers being supplied from the male cohorts who visited the fort as a means of preserving their several scalps. Thomas Wiley and " Pony " Fletcher were appointed scouts, and roamed the surrounding country daily to ascertain by personal observation what the designs of the Indians might be. " Pony" Fletcher was a character, whose reputation was cosmopolitan, so to speak, in Michigan Territory and Illinois. After he had run the race set before him in Wisconsin, "Pony" removed to Stephenson County, Ill., where, after assailing a Justice of the Peace in Freeport, he married the daughter of "Widow" Swanson, in the town of David, and settled down to the life of a farmer. During the occupation of the fort, a young man, whose name cannot be remembered, died of camp fever, and was buried with mili- tary honors. But Indians avoided " Fort Funk," and, when peace was declared, the soldiers dis- persed without having fired a gun in defense of their homes, lives, liberties, or the pursuit of happiness.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.