USA > Wisconsin > Langlade County > History of Langlade County, Wisconsin, from U. S. government survey to present time, with biographical sketches > Part 18
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ROLLING TOWNSHIP.
In Rolling Township the soil is somewhat heavier, less rolling and has fewer stone sand and is a better agricultural soil than Gloucester sandy loam else- where. Gloucester sandy loam in Upham Township is more gravelly than usual and the texture is variable within short distances. In places it is a loam or a gravelly loam while again it may be a fine sandy loam or gravelly sand. In the extreme northwestern cor- ner of Langlade County, in township 34, range 9, and in the extreme southeastern part, in township 32, range 14 east, and township 31, range 14 east, Glou- cester sandy loam is more stony, gravelly and rougher than usual and has a lower grade of agricultural value. In some places it is a gravelly sand. Excavations and well records show that the subsoil of sand and gravel extends to bedrock, and that the huge boulders occur to a depth of 20 to 30 feet.
The surface of the Gloucester sandy loam varies from rolling to rough and hilly. Over the greater part of this type of soil the surface is not too steep for cul- tivation, but there are exceptions to this where the topography is so broken and the slopes so steep that cultivated crops probably could not be produced with profit. In the vicinity of Edith and Rose Lakes, town- ships 32, range 14 east, and in the northwestern part of the county, township 34, range 9, except in sections 17 and 18, the surface is very rough and the land has not a high agricultural value.
The surface frequently appears as a series of paral- lel ridges varying in elevation from 15 to 40 feet above the intervening valleys and occurring from 20 rods to a quarter of a mile apart. These slopes are some- times very steep and in a general outline they have an appearance of eskers, but the material is not stratified.
The material composing the Gloucester sandy loam consists of glacial debris deposited over crystalline rock by the ice sheet. The supply of organic matter in this soil is low. There is a probability that little of the material forming this soil has come from the immediate region and it therefore has the same rela- tion to the underlying rock that a residual soil would have.
Gloucester sand, of minor importance, is found in the townships of Elcho and Ainsworth in small tracts. It is a light brown surface soil extending to about
eight inches. The material is loose, has an acid condi- tion and contains but little organic material. The sub- soil is a yellow medium sand. Fine gravel occurs over the surface occasionally and in the deep subsoil. Few stones appear on the surface and none hinder cul- tivation. No limestone material is present as the ma- terial composing this type of soil consists of glacial debris not transported from any great distance. Farm crops do not yield as much on this soil as on silt loam and fine sandy loam, potatoes doing the best.
GLOUCESTER STONY SAND ALONG WOLF RIVER.
Gloucester stony sand is found in small patches in northern Langlade County along the Wolf River. This is a loose, incoherent sand of medium texture at a sur- face depth of 8 to 10 inches. The amount of organic matter is very small. The subsoil is lighter as depth becomes greater. It is yellow in color. Stones are plentiful on the surface and boulders frequently ap- pear. Kames and eskers make up a great portion of the surface, which is very irregular and rough.
The material of which Gloucester stondy sand con- sists is glacial debris deposited as kames, eskers and probably as lateral and recessional moraines. The gravel, stones and boulders are largely of crystalline rock. No trace of limestone can be found and the soil and subsoil are acidic. It is of little value for agricultural purposes, but is well adapted for fores- tration.
The Spencer silt loam, a most important and exten- sive soil type, is confined to the western part of Lang- lade County where it occurs as one continuous tract in Summit, Vilas, Ackley and the western part of Peck and Upham Townships.
The surface of this type of soil to an average depth of 10 inches consists of a light brown or grayish silt loam with a reddish shade and contains a small amount of organic matter. The percentage of silt is very high and the soil has a smooth feel characteris- tic of silt loam. This soil is heavy and compact be- cause of the high clay content and at places approaches a silty clay loam in texture. The subsoil consists of a yellowish brown, buff or grayish silt loam which is heavier with depth and grades into a silty loam at 16 to 20 inches. Below this depth and at times above it the material is mottled with yellow, brown, bluish and reddish brown, indicating poor internal drainage. The lower subsoil below 24 and 30 inches has a red- dish brown color. There are but little stones on the surface. The amount of organic material is greater in the depressions. The depth to bedrock ranges from 4 to 50 feet. The surface generally is undulating and gently rolling. Elevation differences between high- est and lowest points do not exceed over forty feet. Slopes are long and gentle. There are some places where the surface is wet most of the time, but the natural surface drainage is fairly good.
This soil is formed from the weathered product of the ground-up rock left upon the surface early in the Glacial Period. It has been derived almost entirely
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HISTORY OF LANGLADE COUNTY.
from the old ingneous rocks which make up the under- lying formation through this part of the county. The soil has some of the characteristics of a residual soil. The small number of stones and boulders present is due to their disintegration and breaking up into soil during the long period that has elapsed since the old drift formation was deposited. This drift has been eroded and washed by streams and rains for so long a period that depressions in the surface have been largely drained or have been filled by wash from adjoining slopes. There are seldom any peat bogs, swamps or lakes in this section of the county. All the region is excellent for crops.
The level phase of Spencer silt loam is found in Ackley Township. In texture the soil is a silt loam, but it has a lower position and poorer drainage. The organic material is great. Drainage is not very good as the surface is so level and the texture of the soil so heavy that natural drainage is deficient. The most important consideration in the improvement of this soil is drainage after which the level phase is good for agricultural purposes.
Merrimac silt loam is an important soil from the standpoint of productivity and agricultural develop- ment. The most extensive tract in Langlade County is found in the southwestern part where there is an unbroken area covering approximately 150 square miles. Antigo, Deerbrook, Bryant, Elcho and Ormsby are all located in this tract. The surface of this soil is light brown or grayish brown, friable silt loam, which extends to an average depth of 12 inches. The content of the silt is high, organic material is very small, but the soil as a whole is in an acid condition. The subsoil is yellowish brown and at a depth of 22 to 30 inches it grades into beds of stratified sand and gravel. West of Antigo the silt covering in some places is five feet while in other places east of Anti- go, particularly, gravel and sand sometimes are turned up by the plow.
This soil is lighter east of Antigo than that west of the city. Where this type of soil is best developed there are few stones and but little gravel. However, on a small area two miles north of Ormsby, stones are thickly embedded in the soil. This surface is level or gently undulating and usually has a very gentle slope toward the water course along which it occurs. Streams that have cut through these areas have their channels 5 to 20 feet below the general level of the adjacent land. Flood plains along such streams are from a few rods to a quarter of a mile in width. East of Antigo and also north is a prairie-like plain in
which the elevation differences do not exceed 6 to 10 feet in distances of several miles. This country is commonly called "The Antigo Flats" and is very pro- ductive. The gravel and sand generally comes close enough to the surface in this part of the county to make for good drainage. The Merrimac silt loam is composed of alluvial material and is the result of out- wash plains and stream terraces by streams issuing from the ice sheet during the gracial period. Beds of stratified sand and gravel below the surface extend to a considerable depth, known to be as high as 58 feet at Antigo. The underlying rock is granite and the gravel found in this section is usually from gran- ite and other crystalline rocks. The fine surface soil is the result of the grinding action of the glacial ice formation and the action of water, weather and wind upon glacial debris. Stones and boulders were car- ried in by floating ice or by the advance of an ice sheet after the stratified material was first deposited. The area of this type of soil about Antigo is the larg- est in the state and is some of the finest agricultural land in the state.
Merrimac sandy loam, a type of soil of minor im- portance, is found in Langlade County northeast of Antigo in a narrow belt of 7 or 8 square miles. The surface soil is sandy loam to a depth of one foot. The subsoil is loose and coarser with depth. This soil warms up early in the spring and general farming produces fair yields from it. The parent material from which the type of soil was derived consists largely of crystalline rock with a small quantity of material from limestone.
Peat is found in small tracts through Langlade County and consists of vegetable matter in various stages of decomposition. Muck, consisting of well de- composed matter with which there is incorporated an appreciable amount of mineral matter, is also found in the county in small areas.
There are some ledges in eastern Langlade County along the Wolf River.
The most important weed pests in Langlade County are Canada thistles, quack grass and wild mustard.
Antigo is 922 feet above Lake Michigan and 1,483 feet above sea level. Summit Lake is 1,697 feet above sea level and is officially the highest body of water in Wisconsin. There is a small body of water just north of Summit Lake declared to be much higher than Summit Lake. Rib Hill, Marathon County, highest land point in Wisconsin, is 1,940 feet above sea level. Koepenick, Upham Township, Lang- lade County, is 1,683 feet above sea level.
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HISTORY OF LANGLADE COUNTY.
CHAPTER XXI. Antigo, the County Seat
Surroundings-Hon. F. A. Deleglise-Rich Timber Belt-Influx Of Homesteaders-Famous Run- away Election-Population-Village Plat-The Fight To Incorporate A City.
Within the memory of the older settlers of Antigo, was a time, not so many years ago, when the great Badger country north of a line running west of Green Bay was denominated by a howling wilderness. Two streaks of rust and a right-of-way, the iron trail of the new north, through densely unbroken forests, were the only evidences that civilized man had ever pene- trated a land so wild as to be practically worthless to humankind save to the sturdy woodsman and the hunt-
ly timbered, known as "the hills." From thence east, the land, to the county line, was heavily covered with basswood, maple, birch, rock elm with pieces of choice oak, ash, cherry and butternut scattered through other timber. From "the hills" to the east Eau Claire riv- er across the Antigo flats, now hailed as the most pro- ductive soil in the state, the timber was as thick and heavy as on the higher ground but not as valuable.
The city of Antigo was located on Spring River, a
STAGE ANTIGO WIS LOOKING WEST Photo TAKENIN 1882 Copyright NOT By A. d. Kings bury
HOW' FIFTH AVENUE, ANTIGO, WIS., LOOKED IN 1882. Only a path through the great forests was then evidence of pioneer settlers. This picture was taken just east of what is known as the "Belt line." Contrast this picture with a bird's eye view of Antigo in 1886 and the advancement of the village in that four-year period will be easily noted. Then turn to page 101 and compare with a Fifth Avenue scene taken in August, 1922-Forty years later.
er of game. If the captious critic and explorer of fifty years ago could stalk across this country today he would be amazed. Here he would find white flocks feeding upon a thousand hills; he would see scores of stately cities, with great rivers flowing beneath their walls; cities with the best accommodations, thriving and prosperous, railroads, manufacturing establish- ments towering toward the sky, churches, schools, libraries and scores of happy and contented people.
It was through this progressing section 45 years ago that the city of Antigo, county seat of Langlade Coun- ty, was staked by F. A. Deleglise, the surrounding aiding him materially in reaching that conclusion. The city was wisely located in the valley of the Eau Claire river, three miles east of it being an area of land, heavi-
branch of the Eau Claire river and originally was a mile and a half long, east and west, by a mile in width, north and south. The attention of homesteaders was first attracted to this country and its surroundings by the exceptional quality of its soil and its adaption to agriculture, then progressing under the Homestead Act. F. A. Deleglise located the site of Antigo in 1877 and later moved his family to it. With him came his brother-in-law John Doersch. They were then the only white men at or near what is now the city of Antigo.
The far sighted Mr. Deleglise at once set out to plat a town, his life ambition being to found a city. It was his purpose to build a town of 500 or 1,000 inhabi- tants and he felt that the amount of timber in the ter-
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HISTORY OF LANGLADE COUNTY.
ritory adjacent to his embryo village would in short time require a mill to cut it. Thus a rising inland town would grow from out of the wilderness. The country demanded it and would therefore sustain it. Mr. Deleglise was an able civil engineer and he had his own notions about platting the village and having it look well. And it may be added that his notions were good. Acting on his own theories he stuck a stake at what he presumed to be a good center, without re- gard for section lines, and covered it with brushes so as it would be unmolested by the new inhabitants ar- riving. In the meantime he spent much time perfect- ing his plat on paper.
When the founder of Antigo first arrived in the wilderness where he later plated the village of Antigo, the Milwaukee, Lake Shore & Western Railroad Com- pany were pushing their line north from Clintonville with the city of Wausau, then a small hamlet, known to be its objective. Beyond that, its course was a mystery. The first survey north from Eland Junction was not made until the fall and winter of 1879-1880.
F. A. Deleglise began his first survey of the intend- ed village of Antigo at the south end of what is known today as Virginia street on October 12, 1878, with the single assistance of his daughter, Virginia, who was born after the return of F. A. Deleglise from the Civil War.
The original plat of the village of Antigo was filed with the Register of Deeds, R. G. Webb, at 5.30 p. m., July 10, 1882, in the name of Mary Deleglise, wife of the founder of the city. Niels Anderson was the notary public who affixed his seal to the historic plat. B. F. Dorr and Charles Gowan were witnesses. The plat ran north and south from First to Tenth Avenue inclusive and east and west from Aurora street to Lincoln street, inclusive.
The first addition to the village of Antigo was made on March 16, 1883, when M. M. Ross was Regis- ter of Deeds and was called Daskam's addition. The second addition was Jone's first addition, made August 30, 1883.
It may be interesting to readers to know how the streets of Antigo within the original plat of the vil- lage received their names and why. This is explain- ed as follows :
THE CITY OF ANTIGO.
Antigo received its name from Nequi-Antigo-Seebeh, the Chippewa Indian name of Spring River, signify- ing balsam evergreen river from the balsam evergreen that bordered the river.
THE STREETS OF ANTIGO.
Aurora-East boundary of original plat-meaning dawn of day.
Watson-Named after an eminent Wisconsin astron- omer, discoverer of the planet Vulcan and others.
Virginia-Named after Virginia Deleglise, daughter born to F. A. and Mary Deleglise after the return, of the former from Virginia, where he had served un- der General Bragg in the Civil War.
Hudson-Named after Henry Hudson, discoverer of Hudson Bay.
Arctic-Most northern street in the Village of An- tigo.
Field-Named after C. H. Field to whose persever- ance mankind owes the laying of the Atlantic cable.
Milton-After the famous English poet, author of Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained.
Weed-Named after J. H. Weed's-the largest saw mill in Langlade County.
Superior-Leading thoroughfare, north and south- on highway to Lake Superior.
Clermont-In honor of Robert Fulton's steamboat, The Clermont.
Fulton-After Robert Fulton, inventor of the steam boat.
Edison-After the great inventor, Thomas A. Edi- son.
Reed-After the Vice-President of the M. L. S. & W. Railroad.
Morse-After Samuel F. B. Morse, inventor of the telegraph system.
Dorr-After B. F. Dorr, assistant surveyor of the village of Antigo in 1881-1882.
Lincoln-After Abraham Lincoln-emancipator of four millions.
Atlantic-After Atlantic Ocean.
Pacific-After Pacific Ocean.
The Atlantic was the block between Fifth and Sixth Avenues east of the Milwaukee, Lake Shore & Western railroad depot. The Pacific was the street between the same avenues on the west side of the depot. Both streets, Atlantic and Pacific and the territory between, included of course (the depot and its grounds), were called America. This no doubt signified that be- tween the Atlantic and Pacific was America, the con- tinent.
LONG PLANNED SETTLEMENT.
Regarding the founding of the city of Antigo, Mr. Deleglise said: "As early as 1857, I believed that there were openings in this neighborhood for several prosperous settlements. Looking over the map of Wisconsin, I came to the conclusion that the valley of the upper Embarrass river and of the upper Eau Claire river would afford sites for at least two central commercial points, one to be located in the Embarrass country and the other in the Eau Claire river coun- try."
Mr. Deleglise had in view a location within a radius of a few miles around the southeastern corner of town 27, range 13 east and another in the vicinity of section 15, town 27, range 12 east, as the eligible points in the valley of the Embarrass river. He also had in view a point at the fork of the Eau Claire river, known as the Ackley trading post,1 another at Bear Lake (now Elm- hurst) in town 30, range 11 east, also another on sec- tion 21, township 32, range 11 east and another near Mueller's Lake in township 31, range 12 east.
1. The city of Antigo should have been located at the forks of the east and west branches of the Eau Claire river. The Milwaukee, Lake Shore & Western Railroad Company originally planned to construct their road through what is now Ackley Township, Langlade County.
7
A BIRD'S EYE VIEW OF ANTIGO, SHOWING INDUSTRIAL, COMMERCIAL AND RESIDENTIAL SECTIONS AS THEY WERE IN 1886, ONE
A-Langlade County Court House and Jail. B-Public School (now Library grounds.) C-High School (now 2nd Ward School. ) D-Congregational Church. E-M. E. Church (now Polish Catholic.) F-Baptist Church. G-St. John's Church. H-Postoffice (Fidelity Bank Building. ) K-M. L. S. & W. Ry. Depot. N-Weekly News Item, (P. J. Millard, then Prop. ), (now Mrs. Ada Winter's Grocery.) O-Antigo Republican (corner Fifth Avenue and Clermont St. ) P-Spring Brook House, Teipner Bros., Props. R-Antigo House, Koelzer & Mullowney, Props. S-Spencer House, Ben Spencer, Prop. L-Opera House.
YEAR AFTER INCORPORATION AS A CITY. 1-J. H. Weed's Saw and Planing M 11 and Lumber Yard. 2-Antigo Planing Mill. 3-City Planing Mill, F. Herman, Prop. 4-Herman & Becklinger Saw Mill. 5-Excelsior Factory 6-Saw Mill, Kellogg & Kellogg (original Novotny Bros.
Mill, first mill in Antigo.) 7-R. M. Goodwin & Co., Broom Handle Factory. 8-W. D. Badger's Hub and Spoke Factory. 9-Johns & Kerling's Pioneer Iron Works. 10-J. E. Claney Building Factory. 11-M. L. S. & W. Ry. Round House. 12-F. A. Deleglise, Real Estate. 13-Bacon, Tollefson & Co., Grocers.
14-Irwin Gray, General Merchandise. 15-Hessel & Leykom Hardware Company.
16-H. C. Humphrey, Langlade County Bank. 17 and 18-F. M. Sherman & W. H. Dawley, residences. 19-J. C. Lewis Hardware Company. 20-Lynch & McCarthy, Lawyers. 21-W. W. Hutchinson, Real Estate 22-F. C. Meyer, Meat Market and Residence. 23-H. L. Ferguson, Dry Goods. 23-Olmsted & Duchac, Real Estate. 24-L. Mundlik, Books and Stationery Store, 25-A. D. Rice, Clerk Circuit Court-Residence, 26-H. A. Kohl, County Treasurer-Residence. .27-N. Bangs, Lumberman, Residence. 28-Thos. Lynch, Lawyer, Res.dence, 29-M. M. Ross, 2nd Mayor of Antigo, Residence. 30-Edward Daskam, Real Estate.
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HISTORY OF LANGLADE COUNTY.
After considerable deliberation, while at Appleton, in the summer of 1876, Mr. Deleglise mapped out the present plan of the city of Antigo and determined up- on its location as the point for the upper Eau Claire river valley. Most of the land was entered in the name of his wife, Mary Deleglise, in the fall of 1877, with $300 received from her parents. Entry was made upon a contract with the state. "We paid about $16 per forty acres down," said Mr. Deleglise.
The founder of the city built a log shanty on lot 13, block 35, of the future village and moved his family into it. Thus his was the first family and the first building in the original plat of the place. The first shanty, however in the neighborhood was that erected
and delay, as they could, the diversion of the lumber business.
Pioneers of Shawano had succeeded in inducing the legislature in 1879 to attach Antigo and New County to Shawano County for county and judicial purposes. This actually bound Antigo, hand and foot, to Shawano. Twenty miles of woods separated Antigo from the Wolf River country, where the town board of Langlade township met. The town board was also antagonistic to citizens of Antigo. This was unbearable and the settlers of Antigo thereupon devised a plan to over- throw the town board and elect officers with sympathy for Antigo and who would afford the city the op- portunity to grow that it was entitled to by law.
LUNCH
LOOKING EAST ON FIFTII AVENUE FROM EDISON STREET, ANTIGO, WIS., IN 1922.
Where the oxen slowly trudged in 1879, the mo lern automobile spins in 1922. The Pioneer "picked his way" through marsh and mud by the light of an oil lantern then. Forty-three years later Antigo's main street, lined with splendid brick buildings, and excellently paved, is illuminated by a beautiful orna- mental lighting system.
by Michael Weix in what is now Weix's addition to the city of Antigo. In 1878, there were just eighteen people, including laborers and transients in Antigo. The village of Antigo was originally included within the Town of Langlade, Oconto County. The nearest town officers were twenty-one miles away.
Mr. Deleglise engaged in lumbering operations and as a land and real estate agent having had control of 10,000 acres of land within a radius of ten miles of Antigo.
FAMOUS POLITICAL EPISODES.
During the early years of the settlement of Antigo, the people were apprehensive of trouble with their neighbor, the city of Shawano. Antigo was destined to rival and ultimately surpass Shawano as a business and commercial center. Shawano citizens believed that a great deal of the Wolf River lumber business would be diverted to Antigo. Consequently this serv- ed as an incentive to the people of Shawano to spare no means to prevent Antigo's prosperity and growth,
THE SURPRISE VOTERS.
The Antigoites kept very quiet on election day, thus leading the Wolf River party to think that Antigo citi- zens would not vote. The Antigo citizens, starting the day before election, in that fine spring of 1879, camped out during the night along the road and put in their appearance late in the afternoon of the fol- lowing day and won by superior numbers. The Lang- lade settlement was defeated by about six votes, their strength being divided by dissension.1 It has been said by an old pioneer that the Langlade settlers could have defeated Antigo by challenging the vote, which they did not do. The total vote was less than one hundred.
THE FIGHT TO INCORPORATE ANTIGO.
In 1883 an unsuccessful fight was made before the State Legislature to incorporate the city of Antigo. The defeat was due to dissension among the people of Antigo. Members of the county board not from the
1. If the Langlade voters knew of the approach of the Antigo citi- zens they would have temporarily buried their differences to save to the Wolf River region that political prestige which they held so many years.
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