History of Milwaukee from its first settlement to the year 1895, Part 36

Author: Conard, Howard Louis, ed. cn
Publication date: 1895
Publisher: Chicago and New York, American Biographical Publishing Co
Number of Pages: 840

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tion, and has been from the first among thie most active in its support. Some of these kinder- gartens are maintained by individuals, as the one on Broadway by Mr. and Mrs. Charles Catlin, the one on Clinton street by Mr. J. T. Gilbert and the one on North Water street, by the " Wheelock girls."

One of the most thorough and successful of the private schools at the present time in Milwaukee is that at 659 Marshall street. This school has been in operation for the past ten years under the direction of Mrs. J. E. Van Tassel. It numbers nearly one hundred pupils, and embraces all the departments from the kindergarten to the aca- demic. It is a girl's school, but boys are admit- ted to the kindergarten and primary classes.

The education of the child is an important and · leading feature in the Lutheran church. Lutheran congregations everywhere generally establish a school in each parochial district. While they willingly support the public schools, recognizing it as necessary to the public welfare, they at the same time insist that the education of their chil- dren shall be given within the church, and shall include moral and religious education as well as intellectual.

The oldest Lutheran congregation in Milwau- kee, when ministered to by the Rev. E. G. W. Keyl, established a school in connection with the church some time in the forties. The Evan- gelical Lutheran Synod of Wisconsin was founded in Milwaukee in December, 1849. The Rev. J. Muehlhaeuser, of the Gnaden-Gemeinde in Mil- waukee, was the first president. Mr. W. Weigle, one of the first teachers of the Gnaden school, is still in active service in Milwaukee.

There are other Lutheran synodical bodies rep- resented in Milwaukee.as the Buffalo synod and the Missouri synod, but most numerous of all is the Wisconsin, and of the twenty Lutheran parochial schools in Milwaukee about fifteen are of the Wis- consin synod. According to the report of these schools to the secretary of the School Board there are nearly six thousand children in attendance. Among the largest of these schools are Zion's school with six hundred and fifteen pupils enrolled; St. Martin's school with three hundred and ninety- eight pupils enrolled ; Immanuel school with four hundred and sixty-two pupils; St. Jacobi school with three hundred and twenty-six pupils; St. Marcus school with three hundred and fourteen ;

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St. Matthews' school with three hundred and thirty-six pupils; St. Peter's school with three hundred and three pupils; St. Stephen's school with three hundred and six pupils. These schools are mostly elementary. They are owned and controlled by the congregation to which they belong. In many of the schools a monthly fee of twenty-five cents is charged for each pupil. The branches taught are similar to those taught in the public school, with the addition of considerable religious instruction. In many of these schools no English was formerly tanght. Instruction in English is now almost universally given in the Lutheran schools.

A committee appointed by the synod lays out and publishes the course of study for the different grades of schools. In order to supply these schools with suitable teachers a normal department was established in connection with the Northwestern University, of Watertown, Wisconsin. The teach- ers of the Wisconsin synod hold regular quarterly meetings or institutes, and a yearly annual teach- ers' meeting is held in connection with the meeting of the synod. The teachers of the Wisconsin synod have the "Lutherische Schulzeitung" as their school journal. This has been in existence for about eighteen years, and is now edited by Dr. F. W. A. Notz and his colleagues of the North- western University, and is published at 310 Third street, Milwaukee.

Concordia College is situated near the western limits of the city between State and Wells streets. It was founded in 1881 by the Evangelical Luth- eran synod of Missouri, Ohio and other states. At that time Trinity-German Lutheran congrega- tion placed at the disposal of the college its school on Ninth street. Mr. C. Huth, C. R. M., graduate of the Concordia Seminary of St. Louis, was appointed professor in the spring of 1881. In September of the same year the college was opened with an enrollment of thirteen pupils. In the second year of its existence the number of pupils had so increased that a second professor was nec- essary, and a large building was erected for the accommodation of the school.

The Rev. E. Hamann was appointed to the chair of mathematics and natural science. Its present location was then purchased for nine thousand dollars, and a building was erected at a cost of sixteen thousand dollars, which was ready for occupancy in January, 1883. In the fall of the

same year the Rev. W. Mueller was made profes- sor of English language and literature. Two residences for the use of professors were built on the college grounds. In 1885 a dormitory was erected costing four thousand dollars, and Mr. O. Hattstaedt C. R. M., graduate of the Concordia Seminary of St. Louis, was made head of the German department. In the fall of 1885, Rev. C. H. Loeber, pastor of St. Stephens, was made pres- ident of the college. Although a six years' course had originally been contemplated, the course how embraced only four years, and graduates were com- pelled to pursue their studies for two more years at Fort Wayne, Indiana, before they could qualify for Concordia Seminary in St. Louis. In 1890, how- ever, the joint synod, which met in Milwaukee, ar- ranged a six years' course for the Milwaukee in- stitution. In this year a fifth class was organized, and in 1891 a sixth, and Concordia became a full grade college. The class of 1892 was the first to graduate from the full course. The Rev. C. Ross was chosen professor of Hebrew in 1890, and Dr. E. G. Sihler professor of classics and history in 1891. In 1892 Dr. Sihler resigned, and was suc- ceeded by Mr. Gottlieb Kroenig, professor of classics in Concordia Seminary, Springfield, Illi- nois. The grounds of the college includes some- what more than six acres. They are intersected on the south by Cedar street, and the southern portion contains the residences of the professors, now six in number. These grounds were secured and sold to the college at a minimum cost by John C. Koch -- the present mayor of the city-who had done much for the college in a business and pecuniary way. Concordia College is a classical institution, and aims to fit young men for the "advanced courses in the best universities of the country, as well as to instruct and preserve its charges in the true Christian faith as taught in the Evangelical Lutheran Church."* Instruction is given in religion, Latin, Greek, Hebrew, English, German, French, mathematics, natural science, music and drawing. The college has steadily grown since its foundation in 1881. For the year ending 1893 it had two hundred and twenty- one pupils enrolled, who were taught by seven teachers.

The Catholic schools include a large proportion of the children attending school in Milwaukee,

* See G. W. Mueller in Columbian History of Education in Milwaukee.

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having, as they do, an enrollment of about twelve thousand pupils. Their courses of study are simi- lar to those pursued in the public schools with the addition of religious instruction. Their schools have constantly grown with the city's growth, and if their teachers have not received the same technical training as those employed in the public schools, they enter upon their work with a zeal and devotion which makes their teaching effective.

They enter the profession not so much to gain a livelihood but rather to be of service in training the children of their church, not only intellectu- ally but morally and religiously, and expect their reward in the hereafter.

The Right Reverend August Zeininger, states in the Columbian History of Wisconsin, that English is now taught in all the Catholic schools of the state. Even in parishes composed en- tirely of those whose mother tongue is not the English, the latter language predominates in schoo !. In the majority of these English is the only language heard, excepting the instruction in religion and in the mother tongue."

From the report to the secretary of the School Board for the year ending 1893, we find twenty- six parochial schools with an attendance of about twelve thousand pupils. Among the largest of these schools are St. Boniface, with five hundred and ten pupils; St. Anthony's, with seven hundred and eighty-one pupils; St. Hedwig's, with eight hundred pupils; St. Hyacinth, with twelve hundred pupils ; St. John's Cathedral school, Brothers' de- partment, four hundred and seven pupils ; Sisters' department, four hundred and sixty-nine pupils; St. Josaphat's school, eight hundred pupils; St. Michael's school, nine hundred and fifteen pupils ; and St. Stanislaus' school, nine hundred and seven- ty-five pupils.

Many of these schools have been in existence from twenty-five to fifty years, including St. John's school, St. Gall's, Holy Trinity church, St. Mary's church school, St. Mary's institute, St. Joseph's school, and St. Stanislaus.

Marquette College is a Catholic educational. in- stitution, under the direction of the Fathers of the Society of Jesus. The college property includes the entire block bounded by State and Prairie, Tenth and Eleventh streets. It had its beginning as far back as 1848, when the Rt. Rev. John Mar- tin Henni, then bishop of the diocese of Milwau- kee, was given in trust the sum of sixteen thousand

dollars by Chevalier J. G. DeBoeye of Ant- werp, Belgium, to establish in his diocese an in- stitution under the direction of the Jesuits. In 1855 the school was opened in St. Gall's church, and there it struggled until 1864, when it be- came known as St. Gall's academy. In 1855 the bishop purchased a part of the present property with the money donated by Chevalier De- Boeye, and transferred it to the Jesuits, who pur- chased the remainder of the block in 1863. In 1864 a charter for Marquette College was obtained from the legislature, but it was not until 1875 that the Holy Name church parochial school was built on the present site. It was August 15, 1880, that the corner stone of Marquette College proper was laid. A year later the first of the college buildings was completed and opened for the use of students. A preparatory department, and the three lowest classes of the college course was opened with about one hundred pupils. A higher class was added each succeeding term and the first class was graduated. The degree A. B. was con- ferred upon thirty-three young men, and A. M. on seven. The attendance of the college has steadily increased, and is at present nearly three hundred.

The curriculum of studies is the same as that of other colleges of the United States under the di- rection of the Jesuits. It embraces two courses, the commercial and classical. The commercial course is completed in four years, and is calculated to impart a practical knowledge of those branches which are requisite for business life. The classical course is more comprehensive, and the main one. It is divided into departments : the academic, cov- ering a three years' course of thorough training in the rudiments of English and the classics, arith- metic, algebra and accessory branches ; and the collegiate, embracing three years of classics, En- glish, rhetoric, oratory and literature, and one year of mental and moral philosophy, English litera- ture, higher mathematics and sciences. The com- pletion of this course entitles the graduate to the degree of A. B., and fits him to enter upon any career of life. Thorough and systematic instruc- tion in Catholic doctrine is continued throughout both courses, while the study of German and French is optional.

The college has many societies for recreation and for physical, intellectual and religious devel- opment. To foster piety and religious spirit there are several important societies, the Sacred Heart,

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the Acolythical society and the Sodality. The 1863, three thousand florins from Louis I., King of college is still heavily in debt, and is dependent mainly upon the tuition fee of sixty dollars per annum from each student for its support.

Just outside the southern limits of Milwaukee stands a beautiful group of buildings on a large tract of land overlooking the lake and city, and it is one of the most picturesque spots in the vicinity of Milwaukee. The group of buildings includes (1) The Provincial Seminary of St. Francis of Sales; (2) The Catholic Normal School of the Holy Family and Pio Nono College; and (3) St. John's Institute for Deaf Mutes. The Provincial Semi- nary of St. Francis is an ecclesastical institution for the education of young men for the priesthood, and ranks among the most prominent of the Catholic seminaries in the United States. The seminary had its beginning through the efforts of the Rev. Joseph Salzmann and the Rev. Michael Heiss. It was open for students in January, 1856, and in the first year there was an attendance of twenty-five. The Very Rev. M. Heiss was the first rector, and Rev. J. Salzmann the first procur- ator of the seminary.

The first decade of the institution was a period of struggle, and the financial troubles of the time often imperilled the existence of the seminary. In 1868 Rector Heiss resigned, and the Very Rev. J. Salzmann succeeded him. He held the office to the time of his death in 1874. He was suc- ceeded by the Rev. Charles Waplehorst, who re- mained until 1879, and was followed by the Very Rev. K. C. Flasch, who had once been a pupil of the seminary. He remained until 1881, when he went to the Episcopal section in La Crosse. The Very Rev. A. Zeininger succeeded him and remained until 1887, when he was appointed chancellor of the archdiocese of Milwaukee, and the Very Rev. Rainer succeeded him and is still at the head of the seminary. More than six hundred priests have graduated from the seminary, includ- ing many of the prominent bishops in this country. Among them is Archbishop Katzer, of Milwaukee.

The Catholic Normal School of the Holy Family and Pio Nono College, has for its object the fitting of teachers for the Catholic parochial schools. "Until now it is the only institution of its kind in the United States." It owes its existence to the efforts of Dr. Joseph Salzmann, who received, in

Bavaria, and other sums from various sources for a Catholic Teachers' seminary in the United States. The corner-stone of the present building was laid June 12, 1870. It was dedicated January 2, 1871, and opened the same day with nineteen students. Dr. Salzmann was the first president and procur- ator of the institution. After his resignation, ou account of ill health, the position was occupied by the Revs. Theodore Bruener, William Neu, John Friedl, Charles Fessler and M. M. Gerend, success- ively. The institution has gradually improved in its appliances and numbers, and now has about one hundred and fifty students.

St. Jolin's Institute for Deaf Mutes was estab- lished through the efforts of the Rev. Theo- dore Bruener and was opened May 10, 1876. The present commodious building was erected in 1879. This is a diocesan institution, and deaf mutes of the diocese of Milwaukee are admitted without charge for tuition, if unable to pay. All others pay a small tuition fee. The institution has gradually grown in number and has done, and is doing very excellent work. Rev. M. M. Gerend was appointed to the protectorate of the institute August 15, 1889. By his recommendation shops were erected in February, 1890, for the manufac- ture of all kinds of church furnishings. This has admirably served as a source of revenue for the in- stitute, while giving industrial training to the boys. The work in the shops includes carving, cabinet making, carpentering, painting, decorating, gild- ing, drawing, designing, etc. At present the insti- tute has three departments, educational, industrial and domestic. Prof. L. W. Mihm has charge of the boys of the educational department, and the Sisters of St. Francis instruct the girls. The industrial department, where the boys are taught the various trades, is under the direction of Mr. E. Brielmaier, who has a high reputation as an archi- tect and altar builder. The domestic department, in which the girls learn household duties, includ- ing cooking and serving, is under the supervision of the sisters. The sisters giving the instruction to the girls belong to the convent of the Novitiate of the Third Order of St. Francis Assisi, of St. Francis. In the group of buildings at St. Francis are also St. Emilianus' Asylum and Boys' Home, a reformatory and orphans' home.

Joshua Starty

CHAPTER XXX.

ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE JUDICIARY SYSTEM.

BY JOSHUA STARK.

T HE-administration of justice during the first three or four years of the life of Milwau- kee was unique in character and strikingly illustrated the love of justice and good order characteristic of Americans of that period.

Until 1835, the eastern half of what is now the state of Wisconsin was known as Brown county, of which the county seat was Green Bay. In that year that part of Brown county lying south of the present counties of Sheboygan and Fond du Lac, and including an area of more than eighty miles square, was set off by the territorial legis- lature of Michigan as "Milwaukee County," with its county seat, at the mouth of the Milwaukee river. For judicial purposes, however, this dis- trict remained attached to Brown county until after Wisconsin became a separate territory. Milwaukee county at this time was virtually an unbroken wilderness of forest and prairie. The title of the native Indian tribes had just been ex- tinguished by treaty, by the terms of which the territory south and west of the Milwaukee river remained still in their rightful occupation. The lands in that part of the present Milwaukee county, described as Townships seven and eight, in range twenty-two, were surveyed in the winter of 1834- 5, and were offered for sale in August, 1835, at the government land office in Green Bay. The survey of the rest of the county was begun in the winter of 1835-6, and completed in 1837, but the lands were withheld from sale until February, 1839.

Solomon Juneau had maintained an Indian trading-post on the site of the present City of Milwaukee for several years prior to 1834. The first indications of a permanent settlement of the region manifested themselves in the latter part of the year 1834, when emigrants from the Eastern and Middle states began to arrive at the post and in its vicinity. Their number increased quite rap- idly in 1835, and the land sale of that year found many purchasers eager to invest in and about the future city. Anticipating the speedy organization

of the new territory of Wisconsin, and expecting that the lands about the Milwaukee settlement would be at once opened to occupation and pur- chase, and allured by reports of the extra- ordinary beauty and fertility of the region and the brilliant prospects of the infant colony at the mouth of the river, emigrants came flocking into the district in 1836 and 1837 in rapidly increasing numbers. Many located in Milwaukee, but the greater number struck out into the forest, and sought to establish by occu- pation and improvement a certain proprietorship -or priority of right-over portions of the public domain. Controversies, of course, quickly arose among these pioneer settlers. What amount of land each person should be entitled to claim, what improvements must be made to secure his claim, within what time such improvements should be made and similar questions quickly came up for settlement. Conflicts arose respecting the boun- daries of claims, and the possession of claimants was frequently disputed by those desiring to secure their land. Disputes of this sort grew more fre- quent and serious as people realized that there was neither law nor court to regulate the rights of parties and adjust their differences. There was no statute securing a right of pre-emption. The policy of the government on this question was not yet settled. The lands had not been offered for sale, and were not subject to entry. The settler could not buy until the government chose to sell, and his very occupation meanwhile was unlawful- a trespass upon the public domain of the United States. Congress gave no heed to the appeals of the settlers for an extension of the pre-emption laws to this territory. In this condition of affairs the people of Milwaukee and vicinity proceeded with wise deliberation to provide for themselves a remedy for the evils of lawlessness and violence which threatened them. They met at the court house in Milwaukee, March 13, 1837, and solemnly adopted a code of laws prepared by Byron Kil-

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HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE.

bourn-one of their number-which assumed in brief and clear terms to define the rights and duties of the settlers upon the public lands and to provide machinery for their adjudication and settlement.

By this code the county of Milwaukee-then including Waukesha county-was divided into precincts, each having its "precinct club." Com- mittees were appointed by these clubs to hear evidence and decide disputed claims. Aggrieved parties to such disputes were given the right of appeal to a "judiciary committee" of the county which sat in Milwaukee, and whose decision was final. A formal registry of claims was provided for, and Doctor I. A. Lapham-afterward eminent as a scientist-was appointed register, and served as such without charge until after the public land sale in February, 1839, when the settlers had their first opportunity to secure the title to their lands by purchase. Fifteen prominent residents of the county served as the judiciary committee.

Under this code of laws the county was settled and improved without serious trouble. These laws (so-called) and the decisions of the tribunals established by them, were implicitly obeyed, or were enforced with exemplary justice and rigor. Each man holding a certificate of the registry of his claim felt as secure in his homestead as if he had the government patent in his pocket. Under the protection thus afforded the forests were cleared away, fences were made, cabins, stables, barns, and even more stately structures were built; fields were cultivated, and considerable progress was made in farming and in many other industrial pursuits, while the settlers were waiting for an opportunity to purchase their lands from the gov- ernment. As a result, each of the settlers, whose claim was duly registered under the settlers' code, finally secured his land and his improvements without difficulty at the minimum price. In all this the only aid or support given to the pioneers of Milwaukee by legislation or the established courts, was that afforded by an act of the territo- rial legislature approved January 19, 1838, which gave to any person who might be settled on any of the public lands in the territory, where the same had not been sold by the general govern- ment, the same rights of action for the protection of his assession, to the extent of his claim, with- out proof of actual enclosure, as if he had the title in fee; provided, that such claim should not exceed in number of acres the amount limited to

any one person "according to the custom of the neighborhood " in which such laud was situated, and should in no case exceed three hundred and twenty acres, and that such claim should be marked out so that its boundaries could be readily traced, and that no person should be entitled to sustain any action for possession of, or injury to, his claim, unless he had actually made an im- provement "as required by the custom of the neighborhood " in which his claim was situated.

This experience of the pioneer inhabitants of Milwaukee county during the years 1834 to 1839, as above sketched, was strong evidence of their superior intelligence and high sense of right and justice, and angured well for the future of the district occupied by them, as a law-abiding and self-governing community. Without these rules and the orderly administration of justice under them, the settlers would inevitably have been ex- posed to the rude and violent conflicts which have so often disgraced the first years of settlement on our frontier.

Wisconsin became an organized territory July 4, 1836. The act of Congress creating the terri- tory provided for a Supreme Court consisting of three judges, to be appointed by the President, with the advice and consent of the Senate, for District Courts to be held by the judges of the Supreme Court, and for Probate Courts and Courts of Justices of the Peace. The jurisdiction of the several courts so provided for, both appellate and original, was to be prescribed by the legislature of the territory, except that the jurisdiction of jus- tices of the peace was not to be extended to con- troversies involving the title or boundaries of land, or where the debt or sum claimed should exceed fifty dollars. The territory was to be divided into three judicial districts, in each of which terms, of the District Courts should be held by one of the judges of the Supreme Court, at times and places to be prescribed by law.

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History of Milwaukee from its first settlement to the year 1895, Part 36

Author: Conard, Howard Louis, ed. cn Publication date: 1895 Publisher: Chicago and New York, American Biographical Publishing Co Number of Pages: 840

Author: Conard, Howard Louis, ed. cn
Publication date: 1895
Publisher: Chicago and New York, American Biographical Publishing Co
Number of Pages: 840