USA > Wisconsin > Marathon County > History of Marathon County, Wisconsin and representative citizens > Part 14
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The following is a list of persons who enlisted from Marathon county and served during the war, far from being complete, but it contains all the names which could be collected after careful inquiry among survivors at this late day : Edw. Armstrong, S. Armstrong, William Averill, Fred Asch- brenner, - Braatz, - Brunow, M. H. Barnum, M. D. Brown, Carl Baerwald, Fred Baerwald, William Blair, B. Brabant, Robert Berry, D. P. Bentley, John Cooper, E. Christian, M. M. Charles, J. T. Callon, H. Calkins, Oscar Crampton, Thomas W. Clark, A. Carbono, Edw. Connors, Joseph Dere- silie, William Deutsch, W. W. DeVoe, Stephen Durkee, Michael DeJardine, Joe Doud, William Ebert, Joseph Eschenbach, David Fulkerson, John Feltis, Levy Fleming, Aug. Glebke, Fred Gilham, B. Gilham, P. Gifford, William Gruetzmacher, H. B. Gardner, Tunis Guyette, Bazil Guyette, William Gilbert, Aug. Hoff, - Horn, J. C. Hogarthy, S. Jahns, Edw. Knorr, Carl Kufahl, John Kufahl, Seb. Kirstein, Charles Klein, John Keefe, Jackson Keefe, Aug. Luedke, Ferdinand Luedke, J. W. Lawrence, B. F. Luce, Werley Luce, Pres- ton Lord, Burton Millard, - Mueller, J. Mollendorf, Charles Marquardt, Thomas McCormick, James Meservie, Joseph McEwen, Henry McLean, W. WV. Mitchell, Peter Mitchell, Jr., Peter Mitchell, Sr., James Mitchell, Aug. Nass, Carl Neumann, Edw. Nass, Knute Nelson, Joseph Noiseaux, Ole Ole- son, Elb. Parker, Alph. Poor, James Perry, A. Porter, Oswald Plisch, Wil- liam Plautz, Aug. Prechel, Com. Perry, Jonathan Pierce, Ch. Poor, W. B. Philbreek, O. A. Priest, Stephen Pauquette, Louis Potter, Joseph Pasha, F. Rollenhagen, A. Rollenhagen, George Reinhard, Sam Radezke, - Rues- tow, Joseph Robbins, Amy Rancour, Eugene Roberts, C. Riemer, Leander Swope, F. Sobatke, William Sobatke, Fred Schmidt, Aug. Seefeld, Carl Staege, William Steidmann, Aug. Schroeder, James Sigafus, - Shaugh- nessy, C. A. Single, R. Schilling, B. F. Single, Charles Tracy, F. Trantow, Napoleon Thayer, Andrew Tyrrell, Henry Tichnor, Fred Tyler, Moses Turner, D. B. Willard, John Whitmore, King Young.
The first year of the war brought the business nearly to a standstill, but it revived in the second year and advanced with every following year with rapid strides. Lumber was then in great demand on all points on the Missis- sippi, and brought good prices. Greenbacks had displaced state currency and
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if they were at a discount, they were at the same discount at every point in the Union and always a legal tender at face value. The increased demand for lumber, with corresponding good prices, brought enlarged saw mills and im- provements in the manufacture.
W. D. McIndoe was the first to replace his gang and muley saws with ro- tary saws, in the winter of 1862-1863, the first ones in the Wisconsin pinery. His example was soon followed, and in a few years every mill was operating with circle saws, which more than doubled the output of lumber. B. G. Plumer had succeeded B. Barnes in 1861 and acquired the Lyman mill in 1865, and both mills were running to their full capacity, Plumer operating his first mill, and the Lyman mill was rented to Brown and Fellows. The booms were extended to hold more logs, business was brisk generally for several years after the war, and an agitation for railroad connection began. At a public meeting in 1863 a delegation of five of the most prominent business men of Marathon county (John C. Clarke among them) was sent to Milwau- kee to interview Alexander Mitchell, then the president or manager of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad, to induce him to build that road from Berlin via Wautoma and Stevens Point to Wausau, and they were authorized to offer a bonus of $50,000 from business men of the county. Mitchell could not be convinced that there was business enough to warrant the expense, and gave no encouragement. Curiously enough, in speaking to him of freight, only such as would come to Wausau was mentioned, while freight from Wausau, such as lumber, was not mentioned at all. Evidently it was supposed that railroad transportation could not compete with the river route. Lumber had been rafted and sent down to the Mississippi so long by river that another mode of transportation was not even thought of at those times. Such is the force of custom and habit, which accommodates itself but slowly to great changes.
Meanwhile farming had progressed; some new settlers had come, not many, but there was an influx every year; the Wausau and South Line road had become fairly passable, houses and stores were being built and, in 1867, the ltunber output alone in Wausau had increased to about twenty million feet. Roads in the farming settlements had been made and the farmers had already some of their produce to sell, all of which had formerly been imported at great expense.
The mills were doing a large amount of custom sawing for people who engaged in lumbering. Wages for rivermen were high, bowsmen getting from $150 to $175; talesmen from $100 to $125 per trip, which on an aver- age was made between five and six weeks. Small shopkeepers, such as black-
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smiths, shoemakers, carpenters, and many of the farmer sons made at least one trip out in the spring, coming back with money which, as a rule, was well invested. Formerly the raftsmen were nearly all transient men, who brought no money back to this country. In 1867 there were a number of portable mills near Wausau, one owned by Dr. Wylie and Judson ; one by Wylie and Aucutt ; one by John Grey, and one by M. Stafford, and R. P. Manson had erected a large stationary steam mill on the west shore of the Wisconsin, near the mouth of Rib river. The portable mills nearly all exploded after a time, with more or less loss of life or personal injuries ; hardly one ran more than two seasons ; but they were displaced by better mills. A bridge had been built across the Rib river at Marathon City in 1861, which was of immense benefit to the farmer community in that town and town of Wien.
The town of Easton was created in the March, 1865, meeting of the board of supervisors; the town of Main established in 1866, and the town of Wien in 1867. A good bridge was built across the Wisconsin river at the falls in 1866 by Adam Young and J. Dern, resting on a substantial pier, with a roof over the bridge, in old-country fashion.
On July 1, 1867, the contract for a courthouse was let to August Hett for $7,500, which was to be and was completed so as to accommodate the circuit court in the fall term of 1868. Up to this time the circuit court had been moved from place to place; the first term was held in a vacant bowling alley; then at a hotel; then at the second story of the shop of N. D. Corey, which was fixed up as a hall, and where also school was taught for a while ; then at Forest Hall of C. A. Single, until it finally got into permanent quar- ters. Marathon county had now a courthouse and was beginning to feel its political importance.
Pine timber became valuable. The county had hundreds of thousands of acres of land, and was glad to sell the timber to receive something for stumpage.
On December 13, 1867, the county board fixed the price of pine stumpage at the following rates:
On tracts cutting 400,000 feet or more, within one mile from an outlet, $1.50 per 1,000 feet ; on tracts cutting 100,000 to 400,000, same distance, $1.00 per 1,000 feet; on tracts cutting 300,000, and within two miles from an outlet, $1.00 per 1,000 feet ; on tracts cutting from 100,000 to 300,000, within two miles, 75 cents per 1,000 feet, and for less, 65 cents per thousand.
In 1869, hardwood lands were sold by the county at 75 cents an acre ; one third could be paid in county orders, which were still at a discount of from 25 to 30 per cent. But signs of advancements and culture were seen every-
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where, and Marathon county saw now the glimmer of the dawn of prosperity.
In 1865, the Wisconsin River Pilot made its appearance in Wausau, a . weekly newspaper, which always championed the public interests of Marathon county. It was founded and owned by Valentine Ringle, a practical news- paper man, and sold by him in 1884 to E. B. Thayer. It exists to this day in all its pristine vigor. It has never missed a publication, and has never wa- vered in its allegiance to the Democratic party. J. W. Chubbuck edited the Pilot for more than ten years. It was a sprightly paper, advocating the principles of the Democratic party.
THE INDIAN SCARE.
Marathon county had a touch of the Indian scare which swept over the state of Wisconsin, when thousands of farmers fled to the larger cities, fol- lowing the Sioux war in Minnesota, which began with the terrible massacre of the people of New Ulm in the summer of 1862; but in Marathon county the panic was wholly confined to the village of Wausau. An incident happening near the village had caused some friction or unfriendly feeling between Indians and whites, and that, together with the more than ordinary number of Indians around the village, and the outbreak in Minnesota, caused apprehension of the possibility of a concerted movement of all Indians against the whites. A white woman complained that she had been assaulted while picking berries near the Wisconsin river by a young Chippewa, and claimed to have identified her assailant as the son of a certain chief or Indian headman. The sheriff with some assistants, visited several camps, and not finding the supposed culprit, demanded of the Indians that they should give him up for trial, assert- ing that they well knew his whereabouts. They indignantly claimed not to know where he kept himself and refused any assistance to capture him. That this occurrence left a sort of hostile feeling is evident.
The terrible news from Minnesota had recently reached the people here, and the whites feared for their safety. A meeting was consequently held at Ringle's Hall one evening to discuss the situation and prepare for a defense in case of an attack. although Mr. Aug. Kickbusch, who carried on quite a trade in furs with the Indians and knew many of them, gave it as his opinion that no harm was planned by them.
While debating was going on, an old man came running in the hall, nearly out of breath, with the exclamation, "They are coming down the river in canoes. I have seen their lights," which announcement stampeded the meet- ing, each man running home to arm himself. In a few minutes they met
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again on some corner-(the populated part of the village being still very small) some armed with guns, some with axes, more with pitchforks, and one had a scythe, and a portion of them was sent down to the guardlock as an advance guard to reconnoiter.
When they reached the guardlock they found the Indians in two bark canoes, spearing for fish, having lights of course.
Another party went down Grand avenue as far as the brewery, intending to keep watch on a large Indian camp on the east side of the marsh, which then extended from there for half a mile north, without seeing anything to justify suspicion. The movements of the Indians were carefully watched the following day and at night, and a patrol was sent at night across the river as guards. They proceeded slowly and carefully through the thick brush and timber which covered the ground, when all at once they heard some suspicious noises, cracking of dry twigs and grunts, and while investigating, were all at once almost scared out of their wits by hearing a breaking and cracking through the bushes, and some pigs jumped across their path. The grunters had been disturbed in their quiet night repose and were fleeing from the disturbers.
Having discovered nothing more dangerous, they returned and reported, and Wausau had a sudden recovery from the scare. The panic did not affect the settlement at all; they evidently had heard nothing of any supposed out- break, which again shows that news was traveling very slowly yet in Mara- thon county. The young Chippewa, however, whose misconduct, with its consequences, is said to have been the main cause of the feared Indian hos- tility, afterwards took service in the Union army.
OTHER INDIAN TROUBLES.
A fight with Indians, in which one of them was killed, occurred in Octo- ber, 1866, at a saloon at Keelerville kept by a man by the name of Aaron Forbes.
A party of Indians came there in the evening, demanded whiskey and got it ; then they wanted more, and got it, and got intoxicated and boisterous and wanted more, then were refused. The Indians then began demolishing the furniture, and the scared saloonkeeper ran for assistance to the mill boarding house of Mr. Gouldsbury. He returned with some of the men, ordered the Indians out, and upon their refusal, attempted to put them out. In the ensu- ing tussle and fight an Indian was killed (stabbed), which so aroused the Indians that the whites fled. The Indians proceeded to demolish counter and
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bar and everything in the saloon-liquor and bottles included; but there was probably not much of a stock in the little place.
Next day the Indians demanded that the white man who had killed their brother should be given up, but he had fled, and a hunt for him proved fruit- less. For awhile it looked as if the Indians were bent upon promiscuous revenge, but better counsel prevailed, and through influence of some of the white friends of the Indians, further trouble was happily averted. Public opinion was strongly against Forbes, who, it was said, had made it a practice to sell whiskey to the Indians, and he did not resume a business in Marathon county, but emigrated.
RAILROADS,
Railroads were now the topics of discussion, and when the Wisconsin Central began building its road from Doty's Island to Stevens Point, event- ually to Ashland, a strong effort was made to have the railroad go to Ash- land via Stevens Point and Wausau. By taking this route, the Central road would have lost a part of the land grant until it struck out west from Wau- sau again; but there were government lands yet in Marathon county, which in part would have reimbursed the road, besides getting all the traffic; but the men at the head of the Wisconsin Central were shortsighted and insisted they could not come to Wausau without extra compensation, but proposed running a spur from Stevens Point. They submitted an agreement, whereby the railroad agreed to build that road to Wausau, and give the county its common stock (worthless) in the amount of $250,000, in consideration of which Marathon county was to give $250,000 of its corporate bonds, payable in twenty years, with interest thereon at 10%-interest payable semi- annually, and besides furnish depot grounds at Mosinee and Wausau and right of way in Marathon county.
The bonds to be immediately issued after a favorable vote, to be deposited in "escrow" with a financial institution in New York or Boston, to be chosen by the Wisconsin Central Company, to be delivered by them to the railroad, after completion of the road to Wausau. A vote upon that proposition was taken on the 21st day of October, 1871. The village of Wausau voted almost unanimously in favor, there being only eleven votes cast against it, and also the towns on the proposed line of the road, while the vote in the farming communities was strongly against it.
The proposition to accept the railroad proposition was carried by about two hundred majority, mainly brought about by the vote in the village of
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Wausau. The only person of prominence in the whole county opposed to the proposition was the Hon. W. C. Silverthorn, then district attorney, but his words fell on deaf ears in Wausau. With the farmers it was different. They remembered that county orders were still at a discount from 25 to 30% ; that $12,500 interest payable every six months for twenty years would be a fear- ful drain on the resources of the county, saying nothing about the payment of the principal of $250,000 after twenty years, and besides securing the right of way and depot grounds. The hard common sense of these farmers re- belled against voting so large a debt, even then with no absolute certainty of getting the road without more sacrifices.
Consequently, when the proposition was carried, the town of Berlin, then the strongest farming community in the county, consulted Mr. Silverthorn, and as the result of that consultation, a suit was commenced by that town in the name of F. Sellin, Town Clerk, et al., and an injunction obtained in the circuit court of Winnebago county restraining the county authorities of Marathon county from issuing the bonds. These towns were later joined by five or six other towns. The case never came to a trial, the county not pressing for a trial, nor the Wisconsin Central Railroad. The road did not enter upon its work of building, evidently because no bonds being issued as yet, and it was doubtful whether they ever would be issued, and without a showing of a portion of the road built at least, the railroad company could not have much standing in a court; and perhaps, too, because the road could not get the money to build.
The case was adjourned over several terms, and in 1873, Mr. Silverthorn was elected a member of assembly. He procured the passage of an act, chap. 317, Laws of 1874, by which, among other provisions, any municipality hav- ing voted bonds in aid of a railroad, could under certain conditions vote again on the same proposition, and if the vote should be against granting aid, the former vote in favor of aid should thereby be rescinded.
This provision of the act was applicable to Marathon county and other municipalities similarly affected; the act was drawn up, in fact, to fit the condition of this county. Under this act a new election was held on June 13, 1874, and the proposition defeated by an almost unanimous vote. Thereupon and in order to remove any possible cloud or claim of the Wisconsin Central Railroad, arising out of the first vote, Mr. Silverthorn was instrumental in securing from the Wisconsin Central Railroad a disclaimer, which was filed and is recorded in the office of the county clerk of Marathon county, to wit: 9
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COPY FROM THE RECORDS OF THE COUNTY CLERK'S OFFICE
"Whereas, the county of Marathon, by a vote of the people of said county in the year 1871, agreed to issue bonds of said county, to the Wis. Central Railroad Co. to the amount of $250,000, in payment of a like amount of the common stock of said company at par, and to furnish the right of way through said county with certain depot grounds, and whereas, the said bonds have never been issued by reason of injunction issued in certain suits dismissed and now pending, and the vote by which said agreement was entered into, having been rescinded under and by virtue of Chapter 317 of the general laws of the state of Wisconsin for the year 1874.
"Now therefore, the Wisconsin Central Railroad Co. hereby fully and completely disclaims and releases to the county of Marathon, all liabilities that may exist or that may have existed under said agreement, and this may be filed on record in the office of the county clerk of Marathon county for the purposes therein expressed.
"Dated at Madison, Wisconsin, February 25th, A. D. 1875.
"WISCONSIN CENTRAL RAILROAD COMPANY [SEAL] "By CHARLES L. COLBY, "Vice President."
That disposed of the whole controversy for all times to come. All suits were withdrawn, each party paying its own costs, and Marathon county, not having been to any expenses, although defendant, by order of the county board, paid a small sum to the towns to help them pay their expenses, mainly attorney fees. The town of Berlin is entitled to the credit of having insti- tuted the proceedings, and Mr. Silverthorn to the credit of having taken hold of a very unpopular case at the time, leaving his vindication to the future. He carried the controversy through successfully and his vindication came sooner than expected. Meanwhile railroad agitation had been kept up and negotiations had been begun with another embryo railroad, the Wisconsin Valley Railroad, to extend their line of road from Tomah and Grand Rapids to Wausau. This road connected at Tomah with the main line of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad, and thereby furnished connections with a first-class railroad and other roads.
On the 3d day of March. 1873, by an order of the county board, a com- mittee was appointed, consisting of C. A. Single, Leonhard Guenther, and Michael Baumann to confer with Messrs. Remington and Whyatt, the rep- resentatives of the Wisconsin Valley Railroad, then at Wausau, in relation to the extension of their line of road from Grand Rapids to Wausau and Merrill. A proposed contract was reported to the county board the next day and consideration thereof postponed until March 15th next, to feel the public pulse ; but in anticipation of such a contract the county lands were withdrawn from sale.
On March 15, 1873, the county board met and after debate the agreement was somewhat changed and the following resolution adopted :
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"Resolved, That the railroad contract between the Wisconsin Valley Rail- road Company be, and the same is hereby accepted, and the chairman and clerk are hereby ordered to execute the same."
This resolution was adopted by the following vote :
Ayes : C. A. Single, R. P. Manson, John Schneider, David Roberts, Michael Baumann, Leonhard Guenther, John Baesemann, Henry Wilde, John Kufahl, Fred Rollenhagen, and James Hobart.
Nays: John Weeks, Charles Sales, and Peter Stelz. The three negative votes coming from the towns of Bergen, Jenny, and Wausau.
The following is a copy of the contract entered into on that date :
RAILROAD CONTRACT
"This Indenture made and entered into this 15th day of March, A. D. 1873, by and between the Wisconsin Valley Railroad Company and the county of Marathon, Witnesseth; "That for and in consideration of the agreement to be performed and kept on the part of the county of Marathon as hereinafter set forth, said Wisconsin Valley Railroad Com- pany hereby promises and agrees to build, construct and operate a first class railroad with all necessary equipments, turnouts, culverts, bridges, stations and depots, from Centralia in the county of Wood to the city of Wausau in the county of Marathon, said railroad to be completed and the cars run over the same for ordinary railroad business from Centralia to the city of Wausau before the close of the year 1874;
"That there shall be a station on said railroad in range 6 or range 7 in township 26 and said line of railroad shall touch at a point and have a station within three- fourths of a mile of Little Bull Falls in the town of Mosinee and from said point on the most feasible and direct route to the city of Wausau aforesaid, and have a station and depot at said city of Wausau within three-fourths of a mile of the courthouse on the east side of the Wisconsin river, provided the right of way is furnished free to said company one hundred feet in width within and through the limits of said city. That active operations shall be commenced upon the building and construction of said line of railroad within ninety days from the date hereof and the work thereon shall thereupon be finished to com- pletion to said city of Wausau from Centralia as aforesaid without cessation unless pre- vented by severity of weather and at all events with sufficient force and vigor to insure completion of said line within the time before mentioned. And upon the completion of said line of railroad as aforesaid the said railroad company shall issue to the said county of Marathon, 250 shares of the common stock of said company of $100 each, and being in the aggregate $25,000 of the capital stock of said railroad company and shall deliver to the said county full paid certificates thereof in due form, and for and in consideration of the premises the said county of Marathon hereby agrees to subscribe for and take the said shares of stock and to convey to the said Wisconsin Valley Railroad Company by ordinary form of quit claim deed all the right, title and interest which the said county may have in and to two hundred thousand (200,000) acres of county lands (so called) within said county as follows: Twenty-five thousand acres when said line of railroad shall be completed as aforesaid to the south line of said county of Marathon, as an advance for the line of road to be built and completed as aforesaid within the limits of said county ; seventy-five thousand acres when said line of railroad shall be completed as aforesaid to the point before mentioned in the town of Mosinee as an advance for the line of road to be built and completed within the limits of said county, as aforesaid, and the balance of
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one hundred thousand acres when said line of railroad is completed as aforesaid to the city of Wausau, in full for the building and completion of said line of railroad within the limits of said county of Marathon as aforesaid. And it is understood that there are now of said lands about one hundred and eighty thousand acres deeded to said county, with a large additional incoming list, sufficient to meet the obligations of this contract. But in case there should be a deficiency in the quantity of said lands, it is hereby further agreed and fully understood by the parties hereto that such deficiency shall be made up by the assignment on the part of said county to said railroad company of all the certificates of sale held by said county upon a sufficient quantity of lands within said county to make up such deficiency, and such lands shall be such as shall be soonest subject to deed. And it is further understood and agreed that said lands shall be from and after the 15th day of March, A. D. 1873, withdrawn from sale by said county and the same set apart for the purposes of this contract, and none of said lands are to be conveyed by said county to other parties. And it is understood and agreed that in case work on said line of railroad is not commenced within ninety days from the date hereof and the same prosecuted to com- pletion as aforesaid the said county may consider the building of said line of railroad abandoned and the obligations of this contract of no effect otherwise of full force.
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