USA > Wisconsin > Lafayette County > History of Lafayette county, Wisconsin > Part 94
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The first hotel at Old Belmont was kept by Col. John Moore, on the outskirts of the vil- lage.
The first house erected for hotel purposes in the limits of the village proper, was built in 1836, by John Atchison, and kept by Mrs. McArthur, a sister of Gov. Dodge. This building was subsequently occupied as a private residence, and was burned in 1839.
Here it was that the first post office was established in the precinct of Belmont. This office, named " Belle Monte," was located in 1836. John R. Coons was appointed Postmaster, and the mail was received and delivered at his store. He was succeeded, in 1841, by Nathan Olmsted, who continued here until 1846, when he was transferred to the "Cottage Inn " Post Office, then just established. The mails were received at the " Belle Monte " Post Office, from what was known as the " Blue Mound and Portage City Mail Route." Traveling over this route was a daily line of four-horse coaches, established in 1836, by John Frink and Martin O. Walker.
The school in the village was taught in 1836 by a Mr. Reigo, and was held in a house built for a boarding-house. Succeeding Mr. Reigo's school was the private school taught in the same place by a Congregationalist preacher named Isaac E. Heaton. The first district school established in the town was located here in 1842, and held in the house erected for the residence of the first Governor of the Territory. It was taught by Nathan Olmsted, whose salary was $40, paid by subscription.
618
HISTORY OF LA FAYETTE COUNTY.
The first store in Old Belmont was built in 1836, by John R. Coons, and occupied by him with a general stock of goods. He was followed by a number of other merchants, all of whom removed their merchandise and buildings to different business centers, soon after the unexpected action of the Legislature, in locating the future capital of Wisconsin at Madison.
COL. JOHN MOORE.
Col. Moore was born in the year 1784 (January 28), in the State of North Carolina, and emigrated to West Tennessee in the year 1802. While living in that State, he served in the war of 1812, under Gen. Jackson, and commanded a company as Captain, and participated in the memorable battle of New Orleans, having a brother and brother-in-law killed in that en- gagement. He afterward served as Colonel in the Creek (Indian) war, and was in the battle of the River Raisin and other engagements of that war.
He had the warm friendship and full confidence of Gen. Jackson, from whom he received expressions of high regard after he removed to this State (Wisconsin), while Gen. Jackson was President of the United States.
In 1819, Col. Moore was married to Miss Nancy Stallcup, of Sumner County, Tenn., with whom and one child, Elvira Jane, he moved to Jackson County, in the State of Missouri, in the year 1827, and settled upon a farm. In the spring of 1828, he removed to this county (La Fayette), and settled at what was then and afterward, for a long time, known as the Prairie Springs, but now known as the Col. Parkinson farm, five miles south of Mineral Point. At this place, Col. Moore erected a tavern and kept entertainment for travelers and boarders, until 1832, when he removed to Mineral Point, now in Iowa County, just at the commencement of the Black Hawk war, and was chosen Captain of the fort at that place, and had under his com- mand about sixty men. At the close of the war, he removed to a place on the Pecatonica River, now known as the Ansley farm.
From this place he removed to what is known at the present day as Old Belmont, in the year 1833.
Here, again, he engaged in the hotel business (which seemed to be well suited to his genial nature), and erected a large and commodious house. As a landlord, no man was more popular. His house was always filled with guests, who were always treated with the most bountiful fare and extreme good cheer. He continued in this business until a few years before his death, which occurred March 12, 1849.
Col. Moore, as a man, was warm hearted, genial in manner, kind and hospitable in nature, always surrounded by warm friends. In size and build he was almost a Hercules, being six feet two inches in stature, well and compactly built, weighing, in the zenith of his manhood, 240 pounds, with nerve and activity. He was a man of meager education, but of sound and practical sense.
His family consisted of five children-Elvira Jane, the oldest, now Mrs. Whitesides, of Bel- mont (a widow); Emily P., now Mrs. Cronin (also a widow); Alphonso W., now of Cassville, Green County ; Mary T., now Mrs. Eastman (also a widow); Sarah A., now Mrs. Peter Parkinson, Jr., of Fayette; Capt. John P., now of Fort Worth, Texas, who commanded Company G in the Third Wisconsin Cavalry during the war of the rebellion.
Col. Moore was a Democrat of the Jeffersonian and Jackson school, and was the compeer, in the pioneer days of this county, of such men as Gen. Dodge, Col. D. M. Parkinson, Col. William S. Hamilton, Col. Ebenezer Brigham, Col. James Collins, Judge John W. Blackstone, Gen. Charles Bracken, and many others of equal prominence, and shared the friendship and confidence of all of these men to the fullest extent.
At the time of his death, and for some years previous, he was a pious man, and indorsed the old Calvinistic Baptist doctrine.
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HISTORY OF LA FAYETTE COUNTY.
THE FIRST TERRITORIAL LEGISLATURE.
From a sketch prepared by Hon. Moses M. Strong, read before the State Historical Society in 1870, and from the Belmont Gazette for 1836, the following narrative is compiled, descriptive of the first Territorial Legislature:
The first important thing to be done to complete the formation of the embryo government was the organization of the Legislative Assembly. Preliminary to this a census was to be taken by the Sheriff, and an apportionment of members of the two branches made by the Governor among the several counties. That portion of the Territory which comprises the present State consisted of four counties -Brown, Crawford, Iowa and Milwaukee.
The appointment made by the Governor gave to the different counties representation as follows :
Members of Council.
House of Representatives.
Brown
2
3
Crawford.
0
2
Milwaukee.
2
3
Iowa.
3
6
Dubuque.
3
5
Des Moines
3
7
13
26
The time fixed by the Governor for the election was the 10th of October, 1836. The elec- tion excited a very considerable interest, growing, chiefly, out of local considerations. The permanent location of the "seat of government," the division of counties, and the location of county seats, were the questions that chiefly influenced the elections, while the views of candi- dates in relation to national politics had little or no influence upon the results.
Mr. John Atchison, an enterprising citizen of Galena, during the summer and autumn of 1836, having laid out a town plat between the two Platte Mounds, to which he gave the name of Belmont, erected there several buildings designed for the accommodation of the Legislative Assem- bly ; and the Governor, by his proclamation, appointed that place, and the 25th of October as the time, for the meeting of the first session of the Assembly.
A quorum of each House was in attendance at the time fixed for the meeting ; and the two Houses were speedily organized by the election of Henry S. Baird, President of the Council ; Edward McSherry, Secretary ; Barlow Shackelford, Recording Clerk ; Henry F. Fox, Engross- ing Clerk ; William R. Ross, Enrolling Clerk. Peter Hill Engle, Speaker of the House of Representatives ; Warner Lewis, Chief Clerk of the House of Representatives; Robert Cook, Enrolling Clerk of the House of Representatives ; James Barry, Recording Clerk in the House of Representatives ; T. A. B. Boyd, Engrossing Clerk in the House of Representatives. Each of the three branches of the infant government was now in working order, except that it re- mained for the legislative assembly to divide the Territory into judicial districts, and make an assignment of the Judges. This was speedily done. Crawford and Iowa constituted the first district, to which the chief justice was assigned, Dubuque and Des Moines the second, to which Judge Irvin was assigned ; and Judge Frazer to the third, consisting of Milwaukee and Brown Counties.
The first act passed by this first Legislative Assembly was one which privileged the members from arrest, and conferred upon themselves authority to punish for contempt. The next one, with the exception of that already referred to, establishing judicial districts, was "to borrow money to defray the expenses of the first session of the Legislative Assembly."
Three banks were incorporated, the Miners' Bank, of Dubuque, the Bank of Mineral Point, and the Bank of Milwaukee, all of which were organized and went into operation, and all failed and became utterly bankrupt, and one of them, the Bank of Mineral Point, with a loss to the community of over $200,000.
620
HISTORY OF LA FAYETTE COUNTY.
All of the territory south and east of the Wisconsin and Fox rivers was subdivided into counties, as they now exist, except that Ozaukee, Waukesha, Kenosha and La Fayette have been formed respectively out of Washington, Milwaukee, Racine and Iowa. In most of the counties the county seats were located at the same session. These questions, however, did not create much discussion, as the questions, where any existed, had been mainly decided at the elections, and the members had only to give effect to the expressed will of those citizens by whom they had been elected.
The protection of the lands donated to Wisconsin by the United States Government for school purposes, and the creation of a common fund, first called the attention of our public men to the cause of education. The first resolution on school matters ever introduced into the Leg- islative Assembly, was at this session, and referred to the report of a bill to "prohibit persons from trespassing on the school lands in the Territory, by cutting and destroying timber." A memorial to Congress was adopted, requesting that body to authorize the sale of the school sec- tion in each township, and to appropriate the money arising, toward creating a fund for the support of common schools.
The paramount question of the session was the location of the seat of government. To this, all others were subordinate and made subservient. The wild spirit of speculation, which, in the earlier part of the year 1836, had, like a tornado, swept over the whole country, and which, having invaded and unsettled the prices of every species of personal property, seized upon the unsold public domain, which was transferred by millions of acres from the control of the Government and the occupation of the settler, to the dominion of the speculator-although on the wane in the last months of that year, was still omnipotent, and exerted a marked influ- ence upon many of the members of the Belmont Legislature.
Numerous speculators were in attendance, with beautiful maps of prospective cities, whose future greatness was portrayed with all the fervor and eloquence which the excited imaginations of their proprietors could display. Madison, Belmont, Fond du Lac and Cassville were the points which were most prominently urged upon the consideration of the members.
Hon. James Duane Doty, afterward a delegate in Congress and Governor of the Territory, and more recently Governor of Utah (where he died), had resided for many years at Green Bay, as additional Judge of Michigan Territory. His frequent journeys in the discharge of his ju- dicial duties, in the different parts of the Territory, had rendered him familiar with its geography and topography, and had given him superior advantages for judging of the elegibilities of differ- ent points as sites for the capital of the Territory and future State.
Judge Doty fixed upon the isthmus between the third and fourth of the four lakes, and, in connection with Stevens T. Mason, the Governor of Michigan Territory, purchased from the Government about one thousand acres of land, in Sections 13, 14, 23 and 24, upon the common corner of which the capital now stands. Upon this tract of land, a town plat was laid out, called Madison, and, under the auspices of its founder, became a formidable competitor for the honors and advantages of being selected as the seat of government. Madison town lots in large num- bers were freely distributed among members, their friends, and others who were supposed to possess influence with them.
Nearly four weeks were spent in skirmishing outside the legislative halls, when, on the 21st of November, the battle was formally opened in the Council, and the bill considered in committee of the whole until the 23d, when it was reported back in the form in which it became a law, fixing on Madison as the seat of government, and providing that the sessions of the Legislative Assembly should be held at Burlington, in the present Des Moines County, Iowa, until March 4, 1839, unless the public buildings at Madison should be sooner completed.
When the bill was reported back by the Committee of the Whole, and was under consider- ation in the Council, where the ayes and nays could be called, a spirited attack was made upon it ; and motions to strike out Madison and insert some other place were successively made in favor of Fond du Lac, Dubuque, Portage, Helena, Milwaukee, Racine, Belmont, Mineral Point, Platteville, Green Bay, Cassville, Belleview, Koshkonong, Wisconsinapolis, Peru and Wis-
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HISTORY OF LA FAYETTE COUNTY.
consin City, but all with one uniform result-ayes, six ; nays, seven,-and the bill was, by the same vote, ordered engrossed, and next day passed the Council. In the House of Representa- tives, the opposition was not so formidable, and on the 28th the bill was ordered to a third reading by a vote of sixteen to ten, and passed, the same day, fifteen to eleven, thus ending one of the most exciting struggles ever witnessed in the Territory of Wisconsin.
This question having been disposed of, but little remained which was thought expedient to act upon at that session. A proposition for a commission to codify the laws was made ; but, as the opinion was prevalent that the Territory would soon be divided, it, and others of a similar character, met with but little favor.
The First Legislative Assembly, having enacted that the annual sessions should thereafter be held on the first Monday of November, adjourned, sine die, on the 9th day of December, 1836, having been in session forty days, and passed forty-two laws, about one-half of which were of a private nature.
VILLAGE OF BELMONT.
During the year 1867, the survey of the Platteville Branch of the Mineral Point Railroad was commenced, and, during the summer of 1868, had progressed to within nine miles of its destination, in the town of Belmont, which was to be, for a time, the terminus of the road. Forthwith a land company was organized, composed of George W. Cobb, William A. Garden, H. Robbins and Samuel Moore, who purchased from Edwin Johnson the present site of the village. Mr. Garden, civil engineer, next proceeded to survey and lay out into streets, avenues and squares, the land owned by this company, which they afterward named Belmont.
The first lot sold in the village was sold August 17, 1868, to Charles Mappes, now proprietor of the St. Charles Hotel, though the first actual settler was Samuel Miles. During the ensuing four months after the establishment of the village, lots to the value of $13,000 were disposed of, and at the end of the year, five months from the date of survey of the village, sixty-eight buildings graced the site of Belmont. The following spring the sale of lots was continued under favorable circumstances, but about that time a severe check was experienced, by the interfer- ence of parties in Platteville, who raised the question of title to the land belonging to the Belmont Land Company, and brought suit against the corporation. During the years 1869 and 1870, the cases involving title passed through the lower and Supreme Courts, resulting finally in a ver- dict of qualified title for the defendants. This drawback, at such a time, was so severe that the village never fully recovered from the effects of it. In the early life of the village, it was called " Belmont Station" and subsequently "New Belmont," to distinguish it from the old capital village of the same name; but it is now generally known as Belmont.
The first building erected in the village was built by E. H. Marshall, for a warehouse. Brown & Law built and occupied the first store in the village ; their stock was drugs and gro- ceries. A. R. Law, of this firm, was the first physician to engage in the regular practice of the profession of medicine in Belmont. Following the firm of Brown & Law came George Frost, who, in the fall of 1868, built a one-story building and stocked it with a general supply of goods. The building is now occupied by Cabinis, Jackson & Co. Calvin Goodfellow soon followed with a general stock of goods, and erected a building, which is still standing.
The first two-story dwelling-in fact, the first two-story structure of any kind-built in the village, was erected by William A. Garden, in February, 1869, and is still occupied by him as a residence. The first manufacturing establishment was a planing-mill and machine-shop, built in 1868, by John Richord, of Platteville. This mill was removed to Platteville, in 1870.
In 1868, David Jones erected and run for some years the blacksmith-shop now owned and occupied by William Hambly. Cyrus Robert was the first shoe-maker in Belmont. He came from Dodgeville, in 1868, and conducted a shoe-shop in the building now occupied by James Carbes, for the same purpose. Judge Charles Dunn was the first attorney to locate in the vil- lage, he having settled there in 1869. He died in 1870. In 1871, the present two-story school-building was erected at a cost of $6,000, since which time two teachers, a Principal and
622
HISTORY OF LA FAYETTE COUNTY.
assistant, have been continually employed, at salaries ranging from $40 to $75 per month. Pre- vious to the establishment of this school, the children of the village attended the district school adjoining. There are now 181 children of school age in the village. The teachers are Dr. L. H. Stevens, Principal, and Miss Mary Loofborrow, Assistant. The different Principals who have taught here, are Truman B. Neff, Charles Estabrook, John Cummings, Mr. Cline, Alfred L. May, Joseph Luce, W. F. Mayne, Miss Addie Johnson, William Davis and Dr. L. H. Stevens.
The first religious services held in the village were by the Protestant Episcopal form, and were conducted by Rev. Lyman Phelps, of Mineral Point. At this service, which was held in a carpenter's shop, Cora and Lee Babcock were baptized. The next meeting was held in the same carpenter-shop, by Bishop Armitage, the subject of his sermon being the very appropriate one of " Christ as a Carpenter." In the spring of 1878, a Protestant Episcopal Mission was organized in the village of Belmont, and in May of the same year the foundation was built and corner-stone laid for a chapel, which was never completed, owing to the removal of the mis- sionary incumbent. The mission was called "Holy Innocents," in memory of two children, Jen- nie, daughter of William A. Garden, and Jennie, daughter of O. E. Minor, who were buried in the cemetery connected with the church property.
The first child born in the village was a son of John Donnelly, who first saw the light of this world in the fall of 1868. The settlers promptly named the infant Belmont Donnelly. The death of this child was also the first to cast the gloom of sorrow over the peaceful village, he having died in the spring of 1869.
October 10, 1869, was a red-letter day for Belmont, it being the date of the arrival of the first locomotive and train of cars in the village. About this time, the station was located here, and Samuel Moore, of Platteville, appointed agent. In 1870, the branch was completed to Platteville. Mr. Moore took charge of the station at that place, and was succeeded in Belmont by J. J. Smith. Mr. Smith remained here until January, 1871, when the present agent, F. Neff, took charge of the station. The different telegraph operators here have been Mrs. Byron Wilcox, Miss Lizzie Jeffrey, Miss Anna Mates, and Miss Jennie Mates, the present incumbent.
The Methodist Episcopal Church was organized in 1868 with the following constituent members : Nancy Mills, John Fredrick, Mary A. Fredrick, Benjamin Trevarthan, Sr., Benja- min Trevarthan, Jr., Jane Trevarthan, Elizabeth Trevarthan, Mary Trevarthan, Catharine Tre- varthan, Henry Ellifeit, Isabel Fredrick, Julia A. Carrol, James Roberts, Anna Evans, William Miles, John S. Trump, Thomas H. Barber, Martha Barber, John Pritchard, Louisa Goodfellow. The first services were held in the schoolhouse by the Rev. William Cook, who was the first Pas- tor. The church edifice was erected during the pastorate of Rev. W. P. Hill, in 1869-70. The first Board of Trustees was composed of William Mates, John Mates, John A. Gowdie, Robert W. Brown, William Miles, Benjamin Trevarthan, S. Mills, John Fredrick and C. Goodfellow. The present members of the congregation are William Miles (Leader), R. W. Brown, Margaret C. Brown, J. Pritchard, John Mates, Catharine Mates, Benjamin Trevarthan, Henry Ellifeit, Eliza Rollins, Mary Tallady, William Hambly, Mary Hambly, Leonard Mates, John Bennett, Jane Bennett, Louisa A. Goodfellow, Lizzie B. Williams, George Brown (L. D.), John Barrett (Steward), Nancy Ellifeit, Thomas Martin, Mary A. Martin, William Mates, Ann Mates, Mar- tha Mates, Porter Ellifeit, Isaac Milton, Mrs. Milton, Miss De Long, Anna Evans, William Roy. E. J. Barber, Robert Dobson, Mrs. R. Dobson, Mattie Pritchard, Mollie Pritchard, Minnie Wassley, Leroy J. Barber, Mrs. Wassley, Rebecca Cook, Rev. William Cook, Pastor. Since the establishment of the Belmont Methodist Episcopal Church, the spiritual destinies of the society have been guided during 1868-69 by Rev. William Cook ; 1869-70, William P. Hill ; 1870-71, Edwin Bunce ; 1871-72, Edward McGinley ; 1872-73, John Knibbs; 1873-75, John Pressider ; 1875-76, James Sims ; 1876-78, Richard Pengilby ; 1878-80, Francis How- arth ; 1880, William Cook.
Belmont Lodge, I. O. O. F., No. 289, was instituted under dispensation, by Thomas H. Brown, G. M., of Milwaukee, April 8, 1879. The charter was granted June 5, 1880. The
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HISTORY OF LA FAYETTE COUNTY.
following were the charter members ; E. J. Bennett, William Hambly, Joseph Schollmeyer, Henry Albers, Louis Mappes, E. N. Benedict, Charles Blewath, William L. Jones and S. Hamphil. The officers since organization of the Lodge have been, April 8, 1879, Charles Blewett, N. G .; E. J. Bennett, V. G. ; E. N. Benedict, R. S. ; Ben Trevarthan, P. S .; William Hambly, Treas- urer. Same officers were chosen for the second term, January 6, 1880 : E. J. Bennett, N. G. ; E. M. Benedict, V. G. ; Ben Trevarthan, R. S. ; S. I. Stein, P. S. ; William Hambly, Treas- urer. July 6, 1880, E. N. Benedict, N. G. ; Ben Trevarthan, V. G. ; William Hambly, R. S. ; S. S. Stein, P. S. ; W. L. Jones, Treasurer. The lodge now numbers twenty-three.
A flax-mill was established in 1868, by Speilman, Pusey & Pischell. Soon after the estab- lishment of the mill, Mr. Pusey retired, and the firm was then known as Speilman, Dement & Pischell ; the business was continued under this firm name until 1875, when John Dement pur- chased the interest of his partners, and has since continued the business alone. The object of this mill is to reduce flax-straw into tow, which is shipped to Dixon, Ill., where Mr. Dement has it manufactured into bagging, and it is sold to Southern planters, who use it for baling cotton. During 1879, this mill used 1,500 tons of flax-straw, and required the services of sixteen men. The foreman and manager is Matthew Wasley.
The Belmont flouring-mill was established February 28, 1879, by Charles Simmeron, of Platteville. The present two-story building was then erected, and two runs of stone put in. The mill is run by a thirty-horse-power engine, and has a capacity for manufacturing two barrels of flour per hour. Three men are constantly employed, J. R. Adkison being foreman. This mill has usually been crowded to its utmost capacity with custom work, its trade extending for many miles in every direction from Belmont.
In the year 1868, after the laying-out of the village, Mr. Garden applied to the Govern- ment for the establishment of a post office at this point. The petition was granted in Septem- ber of the same year, and Mr. Garden appointed Postmaster. Until the railroad provided facilities, the mail was. received from Platteville by private means. The first office was in the building erected by Edwin Johnson, now owned and occupied by John Dickenson as a meat market. The salary of the first Postmaster here was $1 per month. In February, 1871, Nathan Olmsted was appointed Postmaster, but resigned in the fall of the same year, when Mr. Garden was re-appointed. and continued to serve until March, 1877, when he was succeeded by the present incumbent, George O. Brown. There are now received at this office five mail pouches a day, from Platteville, Warren, Darlington, Mineral Point and Calamine. The Bel- mont Post Office was made a money-order office July 7, 1873, and the first order was issued July 14, 1873, to Nathan Olmsted, of Belmont, in favor of M. S. Robeson, of Dubuque, the amount being $25. Since the establishment of the money-order office, 3,951 orders have been issued.
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