History of Milwaukee from its first settlement to the year 1895, Part 58

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

USA > Wisconsin > Milwaukee County > Milwaukee > History of Milwaukee from its first settlement to the year 1895 > Part 58

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

307

308

HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE.

25th, and Mr. Wells-making good use of his knowledge of navigation and mathematics-with the help of Mr. Kerr, became proficient in the science of surveying. The survey of some five hundred square miles, for which they received four dollars per mile, was completed the latter part of March, 1831, and the venture was a prof- itable one for Mr. Wells, although he was siek for several months thereafter as a result of hardships and exposure in the Florida swamps. In Sep- tember, 1831, he engaged in business at Palmyra, . Maine, having shipped thither a stoek of goods which he purchased in Boston.

At Palmyra he married Miss Marcia Bryant, daughter of Dr. Bezer Bryant, of Anson, Somer- set county, Maine, November 23, 1831. He con- ducted his business with success until the spring of 1835, and while a resident of Maine held at different times, the offices of justice of the peace, selectman, town clerk, assessor and overseer of the poor. Becoming impressed with the possibilities of development in the West, he came here in company with Mr. Winthrop W. Gilman, also a native of Waterville, and made considerable purchases of land and lots in Wis- consin and Milwaukee in 1835. Returning to Pal- myra after a time, he arranged to move his effects to Milwaukee, to the great regret of his Eastern friends, who regarded the departure from them of one who had been so public spirited as little less than a public calamity. This sentiment was embodied in a set of resolutions adopted at a mass meeting of his fellow-citizens, expressing in heart- felt words their tender and high regard for him as a friend and citizen. Accompanied by his wife he left his home in April and arrived in Milwau- kee on May 19, 1836.

He now turned his knowledge of surveying to good aecount in the young city-which was ex- panding in all directions-and soon became known as a trustworthy and enterprising citizen. Rec- ognizing his abilities, Governor Henry Dodge, on August 2, 1836, appointed him Justice of the Peace for Milwaukee county, comprising what is now Milwaukee, Washington, Ozaukee, Jefferson, Racine, Walworth and Kenosha counties. This was under the first organization of the territory of Wisconsin, which took effect July 4, 1836. On March 13, 1837, he was elected a member of the Executive Committee of the Claim Organiza- tion, formed to protect the "squatter" until he

could get title to his land from the government. In 1838 he was made one of the trustees for the East side of Milwaukee, and on 'September 4th of that year was appointed probate judge. In 1841 he was elected one of Milwaukee's first fire wardens, his associates in office being Alexander Mitchell and Maurice Pixley. Ile rendered effi- cient services as under sheriff in 1842, and on April 3rd of that year was appointed commis- sioner in bankruptcy, and held the office until the repeal of the bankruptey law. He also held the office of county supervisor and town sur- veyor. He made the first survey and plat of town lots on the South side in what is now the Fifth ward of the city of Milwaukee. He also surveyed and platted tracts in the First and Seventh wards.

But of all his varied services in those early days, that as a member of the Territorial Council to which he was elected in the fall of 1838, was perhaps the most important. His colleague was Mr. William A. Prentiss. Their district com- prised what is now Milwaukee, Waukesha, Ozau- kee, Washington and Jefferson counties. It was the first session of the legislature held at Madison, and in the absence of a state house, which was not yet ready for occupancy, the council convened in the dining room of a hotel. The body was composed of men of ability, whose work was of lasting good to the state. The territory had theretofore been governed under the laws of Michigan and the special work of these legislators was to enaet a code of laws suited to their own needs. Mr. Wells served on the com- mittee on territorial affairs, finances, ways and means, schools, territorial roads and enrollment. IIis efforts were especially directed to secure measures beneficial to his own city, and among the important measures whose passage he secured was that authorizing his county to build a bridge across the Milwaukee river. The right to bridge navigable streams was strenuously denied and much litigation ensued, but the enactment was fully sustained by the courts. He also secured the passage of a law as a protection to actual settlers and against non-resident land holders who had monopolized large tracts during the land ex- citement of 1836, for speculative purposes, to the effect that taxes should be assessed against the land alone and not against the improvements thereon. This law rendered necessary by the exi-

309

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL.

gencies of the times remained in force until the territory of Wisconsin became a state. This Wis- consin law proposed by Mr. Wells in 1839 was, probably, the first enactment of its kind. In later years, the idea has found favor, as a theory, with students of sociology. In 1884 a law was enacted in Australia by which a tax was levied upon the value of land without taking account of improvements. It remained unaltered after ten years of experience and it is said by an Austra- · lian writer, in a recent magazine article that "the idea has come to stay." It is quite likely that the writer has no knowledge of the fact that the idea of which he speaks originated in Wisconsin ter- ritory.

Another important service by Mr. Wells that should not be overlooked, was in preparing and framing the passage, through a legislature hostile to banking in any form, of the charter of the Wisconsin Marine & Fire Insurance Com- pany. The strength and legal exactness of that document were fully tested in 1844, when the leg- islature tried in vain to repeal it. Although elected for four years, Mr. Wells resigned at the end of his fourth session which closed August 14, 1840. His next public office was as commissioner from Wisconsin to the World's Exposition, held in the Crystal Palace at London, in 1851; while abroad he visited Scotland, Ireland, France and other European countries, and returned home in March, 1852.

In his political affiliations, Mr. Wells was origi- nally a Whig. After settling in Milwaukee the interests of the territory governed him in com- mon with his associates, and little regard was had for party distinctions prior to the organization of the state government. Since that event he has acted with the Democratic party, though not always supporting its measures. He opposed the Kansas-Nebraska policy of his party, and during the war of the rebellion was an earnest supporter of the Union cause. In 1852 he was elected, as against Mr. Durkee the nominee of the Free Soil party, and Mr. Durand of the Whigs, to repre- sent the First district of Wisconsin in the Thirty- third Congress which assembled on December 5, 1853. Here his course was characterized by de- votion to the interests of his state which had re- ceived but little attention from the general gov- ernment, and while he made no pretentions as a public speaker, his influence in the committee

room was marked. The following were among the early measures introduced by him :

"A bill giving right of way and granting alter- nate sections of the public lands to the state of Wisconsin and its grantees and assigns to aid in the construction of a railroad from Milwaukee to Prairie du Chien, on the Mississippi river."

"A bill giving the right of way and alternate sections of land to the state of Wisconsin and its grantees and assigns to further the construction of a certain railroad therein specified."

"A bill giving right of way and granting alter- nate sections of public lands to the states of Michi- gan and Wisconsin and their grantees and assigns to further the construction of certain railroads therein specified."

He also introduced a bill providing for the pur- chase of a site and the erection of a suitable build- ing at Milwaukee for a post-office and custom- house, and secured an appropriation of fifty thou- sand dollars for that purpose. During the same session he introduced a resolution instructing the committee on post-offices and post-roads to report a bill reducing ocean postage to a uniform rate of ten cents each on letters not exceeding one-half ounce in weight, and followed it by securing the passage of a joint resolution by the Wisconsin Legislature relating to cheap postage. He also introduced a measure relating to foreign and coast- ing trade on the northern and northeastern and northwestern frontiers. At the session of 1854 he introduced bills making appropriations for the improvement of Milwaukee, Racine and Kenosha harbors, and secured an additional appropriation of thirty-eight thousand dollars for the Milwau- kee post-office and custom-house. In appreciation of his great service, he was re-elected to the Thir- ty-fourth Congress, which opened December 3, 1855. The candidates for Speaker of the House were William A. Richardson, Lewis D. Campbell, Humphrey Marshall and N. P. Banks. It was a close contest, and day after day passed without any choice being made. The difficulty arose from the fact that it required a majority vote to elect. Mr. Wells, having regard for the good of the whole country, went quietly to work among his friends and secured eleven Democrats, beside him- self, who were willing to vote for a plurality rule. Such a rule was adopted on the 1st of February, 1856, after nearly two months of balloting, and, on the first ballot under the rule, Mr. Banks was

310

HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE.

elected. Mr. Wells' action in this matter won him the respect and confidence of the leaders in the House, and gave him great influence. Chiefly by his influence and efforts were secured the valu- able land grants for railroads in Minnesota in the Congress of 1855-57. At the end of his second term he declined to become a candidate again, though strongly urged to do so, feeling that his private affairs demanded his whole attention.

Much as his time has been devoted to public matters, Mr. Wells' position and service as a busi- ness man and citizen of Milwaukee must not be overlooked. Through his early purchases of land he became one of the most extensive dealers in real estate, and was from an early day a promoter of public improvements. In 1844 he built the present Kirby House, which was opened under the name of the City IIotel; from 1847 to 1849 he was a member of the firm of Dousman & Wells, engaged in shipping and storage, and also in buying and selling gram and other farm products ; during that time in 1848, he was one of the organizers of the Madison, Watertown & Mil- waukee Plank Road Company. From 1849 to 1856, associated with Mr. Horatio Hill, under the name of Wells & Hill, he conducted a large trade in grain and wool. Since 1847, when, in connec- tion with another gentleman, he built the large lumber mill at Escanaba, Michigan, he has been largely interested in the lumber trade, and be- sides his interest in this plant, he is at the present time (1895) a large shareholder in the N. Luding- ton Company; the Ludington, Wells & Van Schaick Company; the Peshtigo Lumber Com- pany; the H. Witbeck Company, and the I. Stephenson Company. In banking circles he has for many years been prominent. He was a stockholder and director in the Wisconsin Marine & Fire Insurance Company until its reorgani- zation under the state law ; for many years president of the Green Bay Bank, he held the same office after that institution became the First National Bank of La Crosse. He was vice- president of the old Board of Trade during its short existence, and for many years has been a member of the Milwaukee Chamber of Com- merce. He is now a director of the North western National Insurance Company, and has always favored all measures tending to the development of railroads in the northwest. The Northern Pacific Railroad had no firmer friend than he,

and as long ago as 1847, when a bill to incorpo- rate the Milwaukee & Mississippi Railroad passed the Wisconsin Legislature, he was named as one of the commissioners therein. Laboring under the greatest difficulties and in the face of countless discouragements, he, with his associates, accom- plished results that entitle them to the highest distinction as public benefactors. IIe served in a like capacity in securing the Milwaukee & Water- town Railroad, which afterward became the La Crosse Division of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. . Paul. He was president of the La Crosse & Milwaukee Railroad, and was also president and a director of the Southern Minnesota and of the St. Paul & Minnesota Valley Railroads.

For many years Mr. Wells has declined to take public office of any kind, but his interest in the wel- fare of his city and state has not abated. He is not a man of many words, but by uprightness and integrity in his dealings with his fellowmen, he has always held their high esteem and confidence. It is his pride to be numbered with the noble band of pioneers whose courage and devotion, together with their faith in its future, have done so much to make the wild territory which they first settled, the rich and important state which it now is.

JOHN HUSTIS, one of the young men who came to Milwaukee in 1836, who is still living and who during all the intervening years has been well known here as well as in other por- tions of Wisconsin, is still hale and well pre- served, although great cities have sprung into being since he became identified with Western history. Mr. Hustis was born in Phillipstown, Putnam county, New York, October 22, 1810, and is the son of Joseph and Elizabeth (Knapp) Hustis. His ancestors came from Ireland and settled at New Rochelle in New York state before the Rev- olutionary War, and his grandfather, Joseph Hustis, was a participant in the struggle which gained for the American colonies their independ- ence. What is also of interest in this connection is the fact that Uzal Knapp, the last survivor of Gen. Washington's military staff, was of the same family as Mr. Hnstis' mother and a second cousin of John Hnstis, the Milwaukee pioneer.

The father of John IIustis was a well-to-do New York farmer, and the son enjoyed first class educational advantages. After obtaining the rudiments of an education in the country schools of Putnam county, he attended for a time what

James This.As

311

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL.

was known as Fishkill Academy, then in charge of the scholarly and accomplished Dr. Westbrook. From there he went to Yale College, from which institution he was graduated with honors in the class of 1833. After completing his collegiate course, he entered the law department of Yale College, where he devoted one year to the study of law. In 1834 he returned to Putnam county, and continued his law studies at Carmel, from which place he went to Albany, where he was ad- mitted to the bar in 1836.

Immediately thereafter he came to Wisconsin and located in Milwaukee, where he began the practice of his profession. He found the active practice less agreeable to him, however, than the study of law had been, and after a time he aban- doned it to become interested in various real estate investments, which promised and eventually yielded handsome returns. In 1839 he purchased lands at the government sales, in different portions of the state, and established his home on a large tract of land which he had obtained on Rock river, on a portion of which the village of Hustis- ford has since been built up. Here he built flour- ing and saw-mills, taking advantage of the opportunity which the location afforded for the construction of a valuable water power. For some years after their erection he took personal charge of the operation of these mills, but later sold them to other parties, retaining the water power which has since been a steady source of income. His investments and early operations in real estate gave him a comfortable fortune, and during the later years of his life he has not en- gaged actively in business, but has spent a portion of his time in Milwaukee and the remainder on his farm at Hustisford, where he devotes himself to his books and to the quiet enjoyment of rural surroundings with which he has always been in hearty sympathy.

By marriage Mr. Hustis was identified with one of the oldest and most noted families of Wiscon- sin, and one also of historic renown throughout the United States. In 1839 he married Laura Ann, eldest daughter of Lewis Ludington who was youngest of the twelve children of Col. Henry Lud- ington of Revolutionary fame. Mrs. Hustis, who is still living, was also born in Putnam county, New York, and her father was among the most promi- nent of the Eastern investors who were attracted to Wisconsin in the early history of the territory.

JAMES SHERIFFS, a pioneer settler and mannfacturer of Milwaukee, spent the greater part of his life here, having arrived in the young city when little more than a boy, to become, in a comparatively short time, prominent in the iron manufacturing industry.

Hle was born in Banff, the chief town of Banff- shire, Scotland, September 22, 1822. Naturally ambitious and of an independent spirit, his schooling was limited by a desire to take up mechanical pursuits. He was accordingly appren- ticed to the ironmaker's trade, and served four years at the Banff Foundry, where he was taught the trade of moulding in all its branches. After completing his apprenticeship, he followed the custom of the country and journeyed through England, Ireland and France, working in some of the leading shops of those countries as a journey- man moulder. Inspired by the glowing accounts of the opportunities for success which awaited young men of enterprise and energy in America, he resolved to emigrate to the United States, and in April, 1847, landed in New York city. He traveled quite extensively after his arrival here, spending some time in Detroit, Chicago and St. Louis, before coming to Milwaukee. His first work here was in the old Menomonee shops of Lee & Walton, which were located on Reed street, where for many years afterward the old Union Depot stood.

While with Lee & Walton, Mr. Sheriffs was foreman, and under his supervision were made the castings for the first locomotive made in the West. This locomotive was known as an inside connected engine, and was built for and used by the Milwaukee & Mississippi Railroad Company.

Shortly after settling in Milwaukee, he opened a machine shop and foundry known as the Vulcan Iron Works-which still stands at the corner of Barclay and South Water streets- which he operated as sole proprietor up to the time of his death, July 18, 1887. It is now the property of the Sheriff's Manufacturing Company, to which corporation the foundry and machine shops were sold. At the outset of his business life Mr. Sheriffs realized that he must be the architect of his own fortune, and felt that to en- gage in business on his own account would develop his character and abilities if he had any. That he had character and ability is evinced by his subsequent successful carcer of thirty-three

312

HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE.

years. On three different occasions he suffered the complete loss of his shop and tools, but with characteristic enterprise he applied himself to the task of rehabilitation and soon had his works in operation again after each disaster. He devoted his time and energy largely to the building of marine machinery of all kinds, and in 1876 he constructed what was known as Sheriffs pro- peller wheel for steam vessels of all kinds. Vessels equipped with this wheel were conceded to be superior to all others for speed and other attainments, and not only on the lakes were these wheels extensively used, but they have been shipped to all parts of the world.

Personally, Mr. Sheriffs was a man of great firm- ness and decision of character, careful and deliber- ate in his judgments. He was at the same time a man of advanced and progressive ideas, thoroughly enterprising, sincere in every act, and a man who could win and retain the confidence of all with whom he had to do. He was a generous, public-spir- ited man, and contributed liberally of his time, en- ergy and means to whatever was conducive to the welfare of his city and the good of his fellowmen.

Although never an office holder, he was an uncompromising Republican in politics, and was often tendered official positions, which he always refused. He was, however, prominently identified with the party work, and on several occasions served as chairman of the Republican Central Committee, and was an able and forcible public speaker. He was a prominent Odd Fellow, being a member of Cream City Lodge No. 139, and was also an honorary member of the Marine Engi- neers Association No. 9.

Mr. Sheriffs was married December 6, 1850, to Miss Christina Duncan at Jerico, Waukesha county, Wisconsin. This union was blessed with six children, four sons and two daughters, their names being as follows : Thos. W., now manager, secretary and treasurer of the Sheriffs Manu- facturing Company; Jno. H., in the employ of the IIoffman & Billings Manufacturing Company; Janette E., now Mrs. Fred E. Carlton; Mary A., now Mrs. Jno. T. Llewellyn ; Jas. A., secretary aud treasurer of the Chicago Nickel Works, re- siding in Chicago, and George D., deputy clerk of the Superior Court of Milwaukee county.

Mr. Sheriff's was a leading member and one of the founders of the Hanover Street Congregational Church.

WILLIAM SALISBURY TROWBRIDGE, son of Calvin and Margaret (Packard) Trow- bridge, his wife, was born in New Hartford, Oneida county, New York, December 25, 1812.

The record of the Trowbridge family is con- tinuous from the time of the Norman invasion, when the ancestral Trow came to England with William the Norman, and, having distinguished himself in the capture of a bridge, during the battle of Hastings in 1066, received the second syllable of the present family name, together with a grant of land, from the crown, on which the manufacturing town of Trowbridge now stands in the south of England.

The common ancestor of the family in America was one Thomas, who emigrated from Taunton, Somersetshire, England, in 1636, locating first at Dorchester, in Massachusetts Bay Colony with his wife and sons, Thomas and William, a third son, James, being born in America. In 1639 he removed to New Haven, Connecticut, with his family and in 1644 himself returned to England, leaving his family in Connecticut. The family in America now large and widely scattered, seems to have furnished its full quota of marked indi- vidualities, with very pronounced English char- acteristics, together with a decidedly creditable range and quality of mental ability.

Calvin Trowbridge, in the seventh generation from Thomas, was a mill-wright and practical miller who owned and operated a flouring mill in New Hartford, where his son William spent his earliest years, and there wove into the web of his young life those first features of incident and romance which were the prophesies of the years to come.

When the boy was seven years of age, his father removed with his family to Vermillion county, Indiana, locating on the bank of Vermillion river, where they remained for about nine years, and where the boy's experience of pioncer life really began.

The unhealthfulness of the climate, together with the financial depression prevailing in the country at that time, proved so serious a consid- eration, as at last, to induce Mr. Trowbridge to abandon the idea of a permanent home in In- diana, and so in the autumn of 1827 they returned to New York, and New Hartford became again the family residence.

Entering now upon his sixteenth year, and hav-

313

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL.

ing become the eldest son through the death of his brother Horace, three years his senior, the youth was employed in assisting his father-whose vary- ing fortunes made such service most grateful- and, at the same time, he was looking toward his own future. At one time he was a student at an academy in Cazenovia, New York, but he com- pleted the course of study in civil engineering- which fitted him for his chosen occupation in life -- at the Liberal Institute in Clinton, Oneida county, New York.

The first practical use made of this new acquisi- tion was as one of a corps of civil engineers to sur- vey the line of the Ithaca Owego Railway, under the late E. H. Broadhead, chief engineer. This road was-if memory is not at fault-only about ten miles in length-a small matter in 1895-but this was the summer of 1833!

The last days of September, 1834, found the young man on the way from the place of his birth and early associations toward the site of the present city of Chicago.

If the tedious locomotion of those days is a weariness to us to think of, what must have been the actual experience. The previous journeys to and from Indiana had been made in the primitive style-in covered wagons, with their usual and often unique appliances for convenience and com- fort-a sort of nomadic life by no means unat- tractive to a youth. But here was an entirely new departure, and the goal of his ambition "a local habitation and a name," for himself. The battle of life had begun.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Milwaukee from its first settlement to the year 1895, Part 58

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