USA > Wisconsin > Monroe County > History of Monroe County, Wisconsin, past and present : including an account of the cities, towns and villages of the county [microform] > Part 20
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Plums-22 Wyant. 22 Cheney, 1 Grittlewood, 11 Surprise. 11 Hawkeye. 11 Forest Garden, 11 DeSoto.
Cherries-11 Early Richmond. Total number of trees set, 352.
Grapes-20 Moore's Early, 10 Campbell's Early. 10 Brighton. 10 Concord, 10 Moore's Diamond, 10 Worden, 10 Wilder.
Berries-1,584 Eldorado blackberries, 2,575 Gregg black rasp- berries, 1,957 Cuthbert and Marlboro red raspberries. Total, 6,516.
The handsome returns of over $6,000 upon five acres of land certainly places this industry upon the footing with the lands anywhere, as those in Oregon and Washington, which sell as high as $2,000 per acre. The question arises as to how a person contemplating fruit growing should get anything out of his young orchard before it begins to bear apples, and the answer is here given most definite and positively, for between the rows of trees were raised bush berries to the value of $207.86 per acre, showing that the income begins almost at once with the very first year's planting by using the space between the rows, which should always be done for producing an income.
While at the time of the publication of this work this industry has not begun to develop to a great extent, there is no question but that this county is capable of supporting more than double its population, and that fruit raising and intensified farming will be in effect during the next decade, and will double and treble the varieties of fruit, and any farmer properly located who will study the question of apple growing will. undoubtedly, make it a success. But success will only come with study and the use of intelligent methods. Let us hope that the future generations may see Monroe county one of the garden spots of this country, rich in its products of apples, plums, grapes and other fruits.
CHAPTER XXII.
TIIE COUNTY SEAT WAR.
While the title "War" may seem perhaps a little harsh, it is used in the sense that it is commonly used today to designate a contest or a struggle for supremacy ; for all along the years, ever since the county was first organized, we find running through the proceedings of the county board, cropping out at intervals, the disposition on the part of different portions of the county to remove the county seat from Sparta, and the disposition on the part of the inhabitants on the eastern side of the county, par- ticularly, to use every means in their power legitimately to have the county government located at Tomah. This has been a cause of more or less bitterness between the two cities, but this finally has been allayed to a great extent during the last few years as the establishment of permanent buildings has almost made it out of the question that any move of the kind would now be con- sidered. But it has been purely from a sense of loyalty to the home location and to the interests of the home town that this spirit has been manifested. This is entirely right and proper and has furnished a good many exciting incidents, both in and out of the sessions of the county board, at various times. It was mani- fested at the very outset in the organization of the county. While the bill was pending before the Legislature the citizens of Leon, which was then quite a little settlement, endeavored to have the county seat established there in the act which organized the county, and that is where the "war" began. Sparta people were up in arms and representatives were undoubtedly sent to the Legislature by both sides in the interests of the two different villages, but the Legislature in its wisdom finally decided that Sparta was the proper place for the county seat, and the law was passed making it such temporarily. But when it became necessary to spend money for county buildings the disposition to avoid erecting any permanent public buildings in Sparta, and undoubtedly with a hope that the future would bring some developments along the line of placing the county seat elsewhere. led members of the county board, particularly from Leon and
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from the eastern side of the county, to vote down appropriations for this purpose and to put obstructions in the way of any such move. At the session of the county board held Angust 15, 1857. the absolute necessity for a county jail being apparent, the fol- lowing resolution was introduced by Supervisor Esau Johnson, to-wit :
"Resolved, That we appropriate a sufficient sum of money to build a jail at Sparta."
Mr. Ringer, of Little Falls, offered the following amendment to the resolution, to-wit :
"That the amount termed be $1,500."
The amendment was lost by the following vote: Ayes-Ilunt- ley, Ringer, Isham, Alice, Stacy. Noes-Foster, Johnson, Miller, Gibbs, Butterfield, Lyon. The original resolution was then taken up and lost by a vote of the supervisors present, all of the mem- bers voting "no." W. W. Jackson, of Adrian, then offered the following resolution, to-wit :
"Resolved, That we deem the title to the ground on which the courthouse stands insufficient, and that we are unwilling to appropriate any money to the erection of any more buildings thereon," which was adopted by a vote of nine to five, and this ended the first round.
On November 26, 1859, at the annual meeting of the board of supervisors the following resolution was introduced :
"Resolved, That the sum of $1,500 be raised by the county to build a suitable jail for Monroe county, no part of said money to be expended until after a vote by the people of the county, be taken on a permanent location for county seat;" and this resolu- tion on being put to yea and nay vote was lost by a decisive vote.
As has already been narrated elsewhere, the first county building was erected at the moderate cost of $600, in block 4 of Damman's addition to Sparta, and that this site was after- wards deeded baek to Mr. Damman and the present block was selected by the county board for county buildings. The necessity for doing something to provide a courthouse came up at the meet- ing of the county board, which began on the 13th day of November, 1860. A committee on public buildings was appointed consisting of Peter DeCoursey, J. A. Gillman and W. T. Stevens, and the following resolution was presented to the board by Mr. DeCoursey :
"Resolved, That the sum of - dollars be raised by tax on taxable property of the county, to be applied in building a suit able building for a courthouse in and for said county." This
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resolution was referred to the committee on public buildings and at a later date in the session the committee reported in favor of the resolution and J. E. Ensign moved that the blank in the report be filled by inserting $5,000. E. A. Rice moved an amend- ment striking out the figures $5,000 and inserting five mills on the dollar on the taxable property of the county. Mr. Rice's amendment was lost and after some parliamentary sparring Mr. Gillman offered an amendment that $4,000 be inserted in the blank, which was carried; and then E. A. Rice moved the adop- tion of the report, and strange to say it was lost by the following vote: Yeas-J. E. Ensign, Mead. Mathews, Gillman. Noes- Hanford, Campbell, Cole, W. T. Stevens, Tolls, Enderby. DeCour- sey, Baker, Cary, G. F. Stevens, Haywood, Rowen and Rice, and the committee was discharged. Thus ended the third round. At that time there were nineteen supervisors on the board and the votes in favor of the courthouse came from the towns of Port- land. Angelo, Eaton, Little Falls and the village of Sparta, and the votes against it came from Glendale, Wellington. Wilton. Ridgeville, Leon, LeRoy, Tomah (town), Adrian, Greenfield, Lafayette and, strange to say, the town of Sparta. It will be seen by the distribution of this vote that several localities still had hopes and the combination was quite strong against the village of Sparta. But the need of a courthouse and jail became. as time passed. a great necessity, and a move was made in 1863 to call a special session of the county board. A request having been signed by the majority of the board of supervisors a special meet- ing was called September 4, 1863, and met at the village of Sparta, at which the following resolution was presented by Mr. J. Covey, who was then the chairman of the county board :
"Resolved. That the district attorney be requested to report to this board in writing what title the county has to the site upon which the building now stands and which is used for a jail :" and this resolution, upon a vote, was duly adopted, and it was subsequently moved and carried that the district attorney be instructed to put in no defense to the suit of J. D. Damman against the county of Monroe to recover the site on which the jail now stands, and accordingly, as has been related, the county clerk was anthorized to deed back the property, and at this meet- ing of the board a resolution was adopted by which the interests of W. F. Bard in the public square, opposite the Warner house, were to be purchased and have the same conveyed to the county. Soon after providing for the reconveyance of the old courthouse square back to J. D. Damman and providing for the purchase of
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the public square, where the buildings now stand, the county board again adjourned without having made any provision for the erection of a building, but had gone to the extent of procur- ing a site. But at the regular session of the board that fall. which began on the 10th day of November. the matter was brought up and furnished ammunition for considerable debate and parlia- mentary tactics. Mr. J. Covey again offered a resolution, which was as follows :
"While the county of Monroe for want of proper public build- ings has leased annually, at a large expense, a place for holding courts, and often to the very great annoyance of all parties con- cerned ; that for the punishment of criminals a still greater outlay has been necessary, the present jail being wholly insecure. un- wholesome and a disgrace to the age in which we have lived :
"Therefore. resolved, That there be levied on the taxable property of the county the sum of dollars for the purpose of erecting a suitable building or buildings for a courthouse and jail.
"Resolved, That in order to carry out the foregoing resolu- tion, lessen the burden of taxation that must necessarily arise from it, the sum of - thousand dollars be raised in the year 1863, the sum of thousand dollars be raised in the year 1864, and the sum of thousand dollars be raised in the year 1865."
It will be seen by the vigorous language used in this resolu- tion even in this day the spirit of "reform" was in the air, and "progress" was not to be denied. Supervisor Kendall, in order to settle things, moved to fill the first blank in this resolution by inserting the sum of $22,500. This was seconded by Mr. Covey and the yeas and noes were called for. It will be remembered that at this time the county board system had been abrogated by the Legislature and that the system of county commissioners was then established and the affairs of the county were governed by three commissioners or supervisors elected from the three supervisor districts in the county. The board at this time con- sisted of E. Kendall. J. Covey and J. Rood. The vote on this resolution was Kendall and Covey in favor and Mr. Rood against it, so that it was declared carried, and then Kendall moved to insert the sum of $7,000 in the first blank in the second part of the resolution, and this was also carried by the same vote. Move was then made by Kendall to put the sum of $8,500 in the second blank in the resolution, which was carried by the same vote, and then also moved to put $7,000 in the last blank. Then the whole
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resolution was adopted by the same vote: Kendall and Covey, ves ; and Rood, no.
The raising of funds being thus provided for the building of the first real courthouse in the county. A special meeting of the county board was called December 16, 1863, at which the bids for the erecting of a courthouse and jail were opened. the matter having been previously advertised. The contract was let to one W. W. Allis for $20,848.50.
The erection of the combined courthouse and jail, which was a substantial brick building, settled the county seat matter for some years. With the increase in population and consequent in- crease in the number of prisoners, at times, the attention of the county board members was called to the fact that the jail was too small, was "behind the times" in appliances; so that the old spectre which would not down, "Remove the county seat." again raised its head and the trouble began. In 1883 and 1884 there had been considerable fault found with the oil jail by the State Board of Charities and Reforms, which correspond to the State Board of Control at the present time, and while no direct action has been taken to condemn the old jail portion of the building. still the situation became quite acute as far as the location of the county seat was concerned, and eastern Monroe county realized that in order to accomplish anything it was necessary that a move be made to call a special election. as provided by the stat- utes, to remove the county seat from Sparta before any more expensive buildings were erected, thus making it a permanent location. The citizens of Tomah in 1885 determined to make one grand effort towards getting the county seat removed to Tomah from Sparta, and a committee of citizens was appointed whose business it was to procure names to a petition addressed to the county board asking that an election be called, and that the question of the removal of the county seat from the city of Sparta to the city of Tomah be submitted to the qualified voters of the county, as provided by law. This work was undertaken in the spring and summer. A thorough canvas was made, particularly on the eastern side of the county, and feeling began to run high with regard to the matter as the time approached for the meeting of the county board. The session in November was made mem- orable by reason of the fact that this contest was then to be taken up. The members of the county board were at that time as fol- lows:
Adrian, George P. Stevens: Angelo, E. W. Babcock ; Byron. George A. Boyington ; Clifton, A. N. Anthony ; Glendale, Leonard
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Johnson ; Greenfield, J. H. Gill; Jefferson, A. Heiser; Lafayette, George E. Hanchett; Lincoln, L. N. Sweet; Little Falls, H. H. Atchison; New Lyme, J. B. Scott; Oakdale, II. Rogge; Leon, Thomas Hobson ; Portland, E. M. Adams; Sheldon, D. M. Fulmer; Sparta, P. H. Moss; Tomah, W. B. Cassels; Wellington, J. P. Rice ; Wells, James Wells; Wilton, F. Gnewikow; city of Sparta, HI. II. Childs, N. W. Huntley, L. S. Fisher and W. E. Lee; city of Tomah, L. S. Benjamin, E. Bartels and I. H. Fish.
The session of the board opened with the lines tensely drawn upon this proposition, and it was not until Tuesday morning, November 17th, in the second week of the session, that the peti- tion for the removal of the county seat was presented by L. S. Benjamin. It was as follows:
"To the Honorable Board of Supervisors of Monroe county, Wisconsin : The undersigned legal voters of the county of Mon- roe, state of Wisconsin, whose names appear on some one of the poll lists on the last general election held in such county of Monroe, do respectfully petition your honorable body and ask that the county seat of Monroe county be changed from the city of Sparta to the city of Tomah, in said county; and that the question of the removal of the county seat be submitted to a vote of the qualified voters of Monroe county, as provided by law."
Dated September 1, 1885.
This petition was signed by about 2,400 names, and was re- ferred to the committee on petitions and elections, Fred Gnewi- kow, L. S. Benjamin, E. Bartels, George P. Stevens and L. S. Fisher.
Prior to the session of the board the Tomah committee had circulated their petition over in the towns of Little Falls and New Lyme, procuring a goodly number of signatures. This paper mysteriously disappeared, or rather, was never presented to the board with the other petitions. A petition was also circulated in Glendale and Wellington and vicinity. under the charge of Leonard Johnson. When Johnson brought it to the board session the paper had been badly water soaked. Johnson claiming he had fallen in the mill pond with it in his pocket. The names on this paper were in many instances undistinguishable, and the commit- tee, after working with microscopes, were compelled to discard a large number of names which were not legible. This, together with the petition that never was presented, discounted the num- ber of names to sneh an extent as to make the action of the board, which followed, possible. No report was made by the committee upon this petition until the next to the last day of the session,
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IHISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY
and then it came up for the final struggle in the shape of a ma- jority and a minority report. The majority report of the com- mittee was as follows :
"To the Honorable Board of Supervisors of Monroe county, Wisconsin-Gentlemen: We, the committee to whom was re- ferred the petition for the removal of the county seat of Monroe county, do report as follows :
"That we have carefully examined therein the signatures of 2,604 legal voters of Monroe county.
"That of such number the names of 2,107 appear on some one of the poll lists of the last previous general election held in said county on the 4th day of November. 1884, being more than two-fifths of the legal voters of said county of Monroe as deter- mined by the poll lists of said last previous election.
"That under the law by reason of the said petition it is the duty of the county board of supervisors of Monroe county. to sub- mit the question of the removal of the county seat of Monroe county to the city of Tomah, to a vote of the qualified voters of said Monroe county at the next general election.
"FRED GNEWIKOW, "L. S. BENJAMIN, "E. BARTELS, "GEORGE P. STEVENS. "Committee." "Dated November 24, 1885.
The minority of the committee, during the time which elapsed between the introduction of the resolution and the handing in of the majority report, had evidently been busy endeavoring to find a loop hole in the proceedings. The minority of the commit- tee consisted of one man, that donghty old warrior, L. S. Fisher, who made the minority report to the petition as follows :
"To the Honorable County Board of Supervisors of Monroe county, Wisconsin: The minority of the committee upon the petition for the removal of the county seat would respectfully report that they have carefully examined the petition and find on it the names of 2.107 persons whose names appear on the poll lists of the several towns and cities in Monroe county for the election of 1884.
"The minority of your committee would further report in favor of a postponement of the subject of the removal of the county seat for the following reasons :
"1. There are several petitions, whereas the law requires only one petition.
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"2. There are a large number of names appearing on the peti- tion which have been counted by your committee in order to make the total number 2,107, not less than 300 in all that were not signed by the persons they represent.
"3. There are a sufficient number of names on the petition that have been counted that did not agree with the names on the poll lists to reduce the total number below the aggregate required by law.
"4. That if an election is ordered it would be void for the foregoing reasons and subject the county to unnecessary costs and probably expensive litigation.
"L. S. FISHER.
"Dated Sparta, November 24, 1885."
Mr. Fisher then moved that the report of the committee on petitions and elections be referred to the district attorney, and it was so referred with the understanding that the district attor- ney should report on the following morning.
The following resolution was then presented :
"Whereas the petition signed by 2,604 of the legal voters of Monroe county, of which number the names of 2,107 appear on some one of the poll lists of the last previous general election held in said county on the 4th day of November, 1885, said last mentioned number being more than two-fifths of the legal voters of Monroe county, as determined by the poll lists of the said last previous general election, said petition asking the change of the county seat of Monroe county from the city of Sparta to the city of Tomah; therefore, be it
"Resolved, That the question of the removal of the county seat of Monroe county to the city of Tomah be submitted to a vote of the qualified voters of said county at the next general election, to be held in said county on the 2nd day of November, 1886.''
The board then adjourned until the next day and on the morning of November 25th the district attorney gave his opinion in writing upon the petition presented for the removal of the county seat. While the records of the meeting of the board do not contain the opinion, it undoubtedly was in favor of the minority report, for we find that Mr. Fisher moved that the opinion be received and placed on file, and then came the tug of war.
Mr. Cassels, of the town of Tomah, moved that the majority report of the committee on petitions and elections be adopted. Mr. Fisher moved that the minority report be substituted for the
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majority report. and upon the call of ayes and noes it was carried by the following vote: Babcock, Bovington, Heiser, Ilanchett, Hobson. Atchison, Scott. Hannkee, Adams, Fulmer. Moss, Wells, Childs, Huntley, Fisher and Lee, a total of sixteen aves. Noes-Stevens, Anthony, Johnson, Gill. Sweet, Spooner, Rogge, Cassels, Rice, Gnewikow, Bartels, Benjamin and Fish, a total of thirteen. Mr. Fisher then moved the adoption of the minority report. which was carried by the same vote precisely, sixteen to thirteen. It will be noticed that the votes which were against the petition came from Angelo. Byron, Jefferson, Lafay- ette, Leon, Little Falls, New Lyme, Portland, Ridgeville, Sheldon, town of Sparta, Wells and city of Sparta ; the votes in favor of the petition came from Adrian, Clifton. Glendale, LaGrange, Lin- coln, Greenfield. Oakdale, town of Tomah, Wellington. Wilton and the city of Tomah, so that the votes were lined up with regard to location principally, only that George A. Boyington, of the town of Byron, did not vote with the eastern side of the county.
And after some other matters of business this board ad- journed, and thus closed another chapter of the struggle over the county seat. It does not appear that the citizens of Tomah attempted in any way to invoke the aid of the courts or to make any further move at that time in the matter.
The proceedings were instituted under the provisions of sec- tion 655 of the revised statutes, and we find in the session of the Legislature of the year 1887 an amendment to that seetion was passed known as chapter 35 of the laws of 1887, which was, no doubt, a part of the plan to for all time settle the controversy as to the removal of the county seat in this or any other county. The amendment provided that where the county seat had been established for a period of fifteen years or more and that the county has erected permanent buildings of the value of not less than $10.000, that the same should not be removed nor should any application for the removal thereof be submitted to a vote of the electors of the county unless a petition signed by at least one-half of the resident freeholders of the county, as evidenced by recorded deeds in the office of the register of deeds of the county, in favor of such removal shall be presented to the county board: and it further provided that no election to change the county seat should be held for a period of five years after the year in which a courthouse or other county buildings costing $3,000 or more shall have been built and occupied for county pur- poses. In the provisions of this law it is not difficult to see the
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"fine Italian hand," to use a slang phrase, of that staunch friend of Sparta, Hon. J. M. Morrow, who was at that time one of the "third house" in the Wisconsin Legislature and a prominent man in the affairs of the state. It can very readily be seen that a petition of this character cannot be obtained in the county of Monroe or any other county without great difficulty in searching records and procuring names qualified to sign such a petition.
The old controversy, however, would not down, and in 1890 the State Board of Charity and Reform, after considerable fault found heretofore with the old jail, issued an order condemning it as unsanitary and unfit for use for the purpose, and this caused the revival, somewhat, of the old feeling over the county seat. In order to bring it to a head a petition was circulated in the spring of 1890 and signed by a majority of the county board, calling a special meeting of the board on May 7, 1890. At that session the county clerk read a notice served upon him by the State Board of Charity and Reform regarding the jail, and on motion of Super- visor J. M. Morrow, a committee was appointed consisting of Supervisor Morrow; Earl, of Tomah; Gill, of Greenfield ; Wells, of Wells, and Abbott, of Sheldon, and this committee on the fol- lowing day rendered this report :
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