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 23
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The large amount of travel on the road and the need of a resting place at this point. induced Petit to make a tavern of his dwelling and though the cabin contained but one room and a loft, the latter apartment having no floor, except such a one as was made of a few rough slabs made for this purpose, and put down loosely. There were few, if any, beds in the house and travelers wrapped their blankets about them and laid down upon the hard floor to be lulled to sleep. if that was possible. by the howling of the hungry wolves which often stuck their cold noses through the crevices between the logs and sniffed in anticipation of what a good meal they could have. if it were possible to get inside.
At this time supplies had to be brought from La Crosse, which then consisted of a land office and about a dozen houses, a hotel and one or two general stores. The varieties of food were few and the opportunities to get them were still fewer. and consequently Petit's bill of fare at the inn was very meager.
In August 1851 Edward Walrath arrived and at once made arrangements to settle and in October of the same year his father. Rev. Fredrick Walrath, a Methodist clergyman, and the remainder of the Walrath family became residents of this place. The elder Walrath entered a claim a mile or so south of Petit's but not having a honse built. in the fall he made arrangements and did share the Petit cabin with the owner. until such time as he could build one. The Petit cabin being seantily furnished. and Walrath having no place to store his household goods, they were used in common. but the combined possessions of the two
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families were not sufficient for the need of the inmates of the house and the guests. Great inducements having been offered by the state government to parties in search for homes by offering thirty years time at 7% interest within which to pay for land and the location of the land office in LaCrosse caused a great deal of travel by the way of Petit's tavern, which resulted in a gradual settlement of the land near by.
Richard Casselman also located here in 1851 and built a log cabin on the spot that is now the northeast corner of Oak and Water streets which he used as a blacksmith shop; his house was a little back of the shop towards the creek. William Kerrigan, the father of Mrs. W. N. Wells, was then a lad, apprentice to Mr. Casselman and came with the Casselmans to this place. J. D. Damman. Lyman Andres, A. H. Blake and Russell Hill came to Sparta about this time. Damman building a log house where the hotel Lewis now stands which was after- wards sold to Harron who kept a hotel in it. A. H. Blake built a log house on a little hill not far from Casselman's and Mr. Ilill located a dwelling farther to the west.
The Rev. W. H. Card. a Baptist clergyman, came in 1851 and preached the first sermon in Petit's house. Ed. Walrath, not believing the minister's assertion that he would hold services there that Sunday, went out trout fishing. When he returned Mr. Card was half finished with his sermon, and to save time, and to have dinner in season. Edward seated himself in the doorway and at the same time listened to the elder's remarks and cleaned the fish. The minister was somewhat indignant at his conduct as a lack of respect for himself and for the Sab- bath, and frowned upon the young man. After the services were over Walrath asked Mrs. Petit if she would cook the fish, to which she gave consent and notwithstanding his previous objection the minister ate heartily of the trout which were set before him at that meal.
George A. Fisk who died in 1866 came to Sparta in 1851 and married Catherine E. Walrath in 1857; Mrs. Fisk survived her husband a great many years and lived to a ripe old age, passing away October 20, 1910, and in connection with the early settlement of the village it will be of peculiar interest at this point to get in Mrs. Fisk's own words, an account of the first winter passed by she and her father, Mr. Walrath, in Sparta, where they arrived on October 10, 1851. A sketch of the first winter of her residenee in Sparta written by Mrs. Fisk will
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be read with special interest by all and more particularly by the elder residents of the city. She entitles it, "My First Winter in Sparta."
"In the spring of 1851 my father made up his mind to break up the old home and emigrate to Wisconsin. His children were getting the Western fever, one son and daughter had already left the home nest. It was more than father and mother could bear so the farm was sold and the goods were packed. That was the beginning. How well I remember the packing up. Three large dry goods boxes about as big as a small barn. it seemed to me, were bought. I remember father telling mother not to put in anything heavy. She had already packed her splint bottom straight back sewing chair. Mother made the remark to sister Sarah, 'I can't leave the chair I rocked all my babies in.
"In these boxes were stored all things needful. Among them was a red cherry bureau, part of her setting-out outfit, as it was called in those days, when young people took each other for better or worse. It was not very large and was packed full of dried fruits. Tucked in every corner of the box was bedding of all kinds, maple sugar, twenty-five yards of carpet and many other things. We took the packet on the canal as far as Buffalo. then across the lakes to Milwaukee and from there to my sister's home in Fond du Lac county where we spent the summer, while my brother Edward went to LaCrosse with a party looking for a homestead. On his return father bought a horse and what they called a Democrat wagon (first democrat ever in Sparta). a joke as well as wagon.
"There were some teamsters who wanted to see the wild west . and they offered to bring our goods through for their board and lodging. It took nine days. The way was long and most of it nothing but an Indian trail. Sometimes they came to what was called a swale or wet marshy ground. We would have to bridge it. Every wagon had a seythe and great forks fastened to one side. Father would call a halt, grass and hazel brush were cut and carried to fill the wet places before we could cross over. Sometimes the boys would want to rush things so as to hurry along, but father would build it safe for others that came after. We stopped one afternoon in Lemonweir Valley to pick cranberries. The farmer told father he could have all we could pick in three hours. We picked a barrel and the farmer furnished the barrel to put them in.
" We reached Sparta on the 10th of October, 1851, just as the
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sun was setting so beautifully as we drove down the hill near where the Old Ida House used to stand; across the little stream (Beaver Creek) to the old Globe Hotel. I have never since seen such a beautiful sunset. Father said to mother, 'It's like Para- dise.' The hotel had one window and a door with a wooden latch and buckskin string to lift it. Father was delighted with the out- look over the prairie. Not many trees then.
"He took up a claim beyond where the Milwaukee depot now stands. My father and brothers were carpenters so it did not take long to build a log cabin. We moved in our new home on the 15th of November without a chamber floor or window or door. Rag carpets and blankets were tacked over the places for windows and doors. That night came the first snow. It made us wish for our old home. The boys soon had doors and got windows from LaCrosse. The lumber came frm Black River Falls and it took three days to go and come.
"Then when the boxes were unpacked such a mine of wealth. Lots of warm bedding, a little sewing chair, red cherry stand and bureau, three flag bottom chairs, small book ease with Watt's sermons and Clark's Commentary and other books. twenty-five yards of rag carpet, a bolt of cotton cloth and curtain calico. yon could see your face in (the first ever in Sparta). lots of dried fruit, dishes and table linen. We were quite comfortable. We had an elevated oven cook stove. They were the style those days. The boys made some tamarack bedsteads for the chamber. The roof was shingled with shacks, all that could be bought at that time. It was a terrible cold winter and lots of snow. Some mornings mother would have to come upstairs and sweep up the snow before we would go to breakfast. Mother had tacked cotton cloth on the rafters over our beds.
"We only had one mess of potatoes all winter. A lady where father stopped when he went to Black River to preach gave him a half bushel. Mother said she would ent out the eyes and the rest she would cook. I never saw so many eyes in potatoes before or since. In the fall father bought two kinds of rutabagas of Mr. Frank Petit who lived four miles out and a lot of pumpkins. Grandma Petit told mother how to make pumpkin butter that was delicious. Those rutabagas were the loveliest things, all the apples we had that winter. Some were white.
"Brother Edward made a lovely conch out of those boxes. It had back and arms long and wide enough to sleep on when the preachers would raid us. We had so many boards for the
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sitting room, so many for the dining room and the rest for the kitchen. Our pantry was just holes in the logs. boards across and curtained with curtain calico, the same as the couch was covered with and everything matched. The sitting and dining rooms were carpeted. The boys made benches which were covered with curtain calico."
Mr. Walrath, a Methodist minister, began his missionary labors in the county by preaching his first sermon in Sparta in Novem- ber. 1851 ; his congregation consisted of five persons: after this he held meetings wherever the people would have him do so, journeying for miles through an almost travelless woods to hold services for some family who had sent him an invitation. Some- times going on horseback but oftener on foot. Truly a pioneer in the cause of Christianity. Occasionally the entire population of the valley would turn out and accompany him in a sleigh to some place farther on in the woods, and even then the sleigh would not be full. A Mrs. Parks, who resided six miles from Sparta, upon one occasion sent him word that she and her little ones could not walk down to Petit's to hear him preach and dared him to meet her and her family half way. And he did. The meeting was held, the parties each making a journey of three miles and back for the sake of enjoying the services. During many occasions this minister of the gospel was often pursued by wolves with which the forests abounded. He was, however. never injured by any of these blood-thirsty animals, and every one at that time was more or less annoyed by them. They surrounded dwellings and made the night hideous with their howlings, plundering whenever an opportunity offered, and to rid the nuisance the people resorted to traps as well as hunting them with guns.
A number of adventures are recorded with these animals and one concerns Captain Fisk, who. having been out in the country in company with the two daughters of Mr. Walrath. was returning after dark ; there were good roads and they were going along nicely when Mr. Fisk discovered they were being chased by five large wolves. He made no mention of the fact to the girls but whipped the horses to a faster speed but still the wolves were gaining upon them and matters were becoming serions, when the bolt that holds the whiffle-tree dropped out thus necessitating a stop. He sprang out to remedy the damage and fortunately found the bolt for which he was searching. and at that time the girls noticed how strange his voice sounded. and kept looking backwards. Following his glances to see what
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was the trouble they beheld the panting wolves almost within reach of their arms. It was a trying position, none of the party had a weapon of defense and their only hope was flight. The horses had not been frightened by the pursuance of the wolves but became so upon hearing the slight screams of the girls when they discovered their danger. Fisk sprang into the sled, urged the horses forward and struck backwards with his whip at the wolves ; if it had not been for the strong whip he had the wolves would certainly have jumped into the sled. Mile after mile they went in this way. It can be readily imagined that minutes were hours to the pursued party in this race for life. The wolves repelled by the whip tried several times to cut off the flight by attempting to get into the road and trip against the horses at the point of meeting; the constant blows with the whip, however, caused them to fall back, and the chase con- tinued. the wolves snapping their teeth and keeping close to the sled until the clearing was reached and the settlement ap- peared in view, and then only, did the wolves give up their pursuit. It was an incident long to be remembered by those who were engaged in it.
Other wild animals as well as wolves and also wild fowls of all kinds were plentiful in this region at this time; old settlers say that prairie chickens were so numerous that only partial crops of grain could be raised owing to the fact that these birds would devour every kernel of grain they could see and hang around the fields in great floeks. They were such a nuisance that they were obliged to destroy large numbers of them in self-protection.
The year 1852 brought many interesting events and Mr. Petit in this year laid out the old court house square and platted a number of lots around it; there being sufficient population in the village a meeting of the citizens was called and a resolution was passed to the effect that the village should have a name; there was considerable discussion as to how this name should be decided upon, but it was finally agreed that Mrs. Petit, the mother of the two Petit boys, should have the privilege of choosing the name and she gave it the name of "Sparta."
A little later in the same year Lyman Andrews built the first frame house in the city upon a lot given for the purpose by Mr. Petit, who was offering to give lots to all who would erect buildings upon them ; the lot was at the Northeast corner of the square and the building was erected, opened as a tavern and was called the Sparta Exchange. G. HI. Ledyard, a Portage
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man who had been peddling through this section of the country since its first settlement, opened a store in the log cabin at this time the first store in the village. The first building for use as a store was erected by C. Rathbun on what was then known as Cassehan's corner where the Greve's block was subsequently built. Samuel Fisk arrived in August and lived in the house with Casselman until he could build one for his family. This was located where the Chicago & Northwestern Railway depot now stands; George A. and W. M. Fisk were the sons of Daniel Fisk. In the spring of 1852 the first election of any kind was held in the village and seventeen votes were cast; R. J. Cassel- man, William Petit and Lyman Andrews were the committee of election; Sparta being at that time a part of the town of Leon in the county of LaCrosse.
In December of the same year Samuel Hoyt arrived and began looking for a home: he bought a lot from Mr. Harron for $16 and built a cabin upon it and subsequently Mr. Harron became dissatisfied and offered Mr. Hoyt the lot adjoining the other as a gift if he would purchase his oxen and farm so he could leave the place. Hoyt made the purchase and Harron moved away.
People at this time were constantly filing new claims through the land office in LaCrosse and taking up land and it was neces- sary, of course, to have witnesses to the fact of their residence on the land for a sufficient time to enable them to get title. William Petit, James Phillips, William King and William Kerri- gan it is related once went in company to the land office at LaCrosse. Returning they passed the cabin of a woman known as mother Paddock, who was noted for her masculine attributes. The old lady was the possessor of a dog which had a bad habit of running ont and barking at teams and Kerrigan, more for mischief than anything else, fired at the dog not thinking that he could hit it at so great a distance and it was his misfortune to wound the animal in the neck. A while afterwards E. Wahrath and E. Thompson passed that way and took dinner with her at which they saw the dog, which was then fully recovered with the exception that it had lost its voice. It would go all through the motions of barking but could not make a sound. Walrath, for a joke pointed to his companion and said : "Mrs. Paddock, here is the man who shot your dog." Going to the supposed offender with her fists doubled up and with a threaten- ing attitude the old woman said. "Sir, all that keeps me from
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cowhiding the man who shot my dog is that I believe him to have been drunk at the time, therefore not accountable for the act." Thompson got a little pale about the mouth and did not seem to have the usual relish for his dinner and after that both Walrath and Thompson failed to stop for meals at Mrs. Pad- dock's on their way to Sparta from LaCrosse.
This year the first logging was done on the LaCrosse river. No sawmills had as yet been built in this section and the logs had to be driven to Neshonoc. Kerrigan and the two Phillips brothers did the driving. A number of amusing incidents oc- curred in the log driving. It seems that Wilbur E. Fisk had started out with the company of loggers, but being inexperienced in log driving he could not keep his footing when on the logs in the water and he got on one log which began to roll rapidly and he began to dance trying to keep his feet. Faster and faster they went and getting frightened, sprang into the water and clasped the log with his arms; but the log had acquired such a momentum that he was whirled over and over in and out of the water with great rapidity and he was finally rescued with much difficulty nearly strangled and chilled to the bone. Hle did not continue any farther in the business but took the nearest road for home satisfied that he was not suited for log driving. Later in the same year a sawmill was erected in Angelo by Seth Angle.
The year 1853 brought many interesting events to the little village ; a post office was established and William Petit appointed and installed as postmaster and made Richard Casselman deputy, who used his hat for a post office. At the beginning there was only one mail each week and it did not amount to more than a few letters and one or two papers so that it was no great task to "distribute the mail ;" and as a rule those who wanted to get their mail went to Mr. Casselman and upon inquiring for it, he would take down the post office from his head and hand out the letter if there was one. Mr. Petit, however, had some difficulty with Casselman and appointed Lyman Andrews his deputy, who dignified the office by keeping it at the Sparta Exchange. Soon after this, Petit sold out his entire interest in the village to A. F. Bard and moved away while Casselman was appointed postmaster and served in this capacity for several years. A. II. and Hilton Blake during this year erected a saw- mill in the village on the bank of Beaver ereek and were it still standing it would be in the middle of Water street in the
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down town distriet. Court street was then called Maine and it bore that name until the erection of the court house on the court house square.
There were a few new comers during this year some locating in the village and some on farms near by. W. S. Newton established a hardware on Oak street early in May. Andrew Allen in September opened a store where Mr. Harron had former- ly kept a tavern: this year the medical profession made its how to the community in the person of Dr. George A. Milligan. who was most joyfully received by the inhabitants and was the first physician to locate in the county of Monroe. He is still living in the city of Sparta at a very advanced age having retired from practice a number of years ago: Maj. Morrison MeMillan arrived in 1853 and located on a farm in the village and afterwards became quite prominent in county affairs. Timo- thy Barker was also another of the settlers at this time. be building a two story house: in addition to these, there were probably eight or ten more new settlers in or near Sparta during this year.
The fine public school system of Sparta had its humble be- ginning in 1853 with the erection of a small board shanty about 12 x 16 feet in size, which afterwards served the double purpose of a school house and church. Miss Sarah Walrath was the first teacher regularly employed and opened the teaching under adverse circumstances but with the pluck and vim which charac- terized the earlier inhabitants.
During this year there was a miniature Indian war precipi- tated in the village which proved. however, to be almost entirely one sided but which brought the desired results. It seems that the Winnebago Indians. as had ever been the case. claimed all the territory to be theirs previous to the coming of the white people : this tribe at that time had degenerated somewhat. were very inferior to the Chippewa Indians who lived farther north, and the settlers invariably had nothing to do with the Winne- bagos but were annoyed by them at times, as they would steal. and in certain cases became quite impudent.
One instance, which aroused the people of the village. oc- curred in the summer of 1853, when an Indian came to the home of R. H. MeMann in Big Creek, about four miles from Sparta and demanded food of him and upon being refused. pointed his rifle at the farmer and threatened to shoot him unless it was produced. This so enraged Mr. MeMann that after- wards he made a complaint to the authorities in Sparta and
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the news having gotten among the people, a volunteer company was formed for the purpose of punishing the Indians; every man in the village and within two miles around volunteered his service and the company was organized, numbered about twenty-five men ; a camping party of about forty Winnebagos, to which the Indian belonged who had threatened Mr. MeMann, were camped about two miles from his farm; to this point marched the brave little army intent upon punishing the Winne- bago and inflicting a lesson which would be lasting. Upon arriving at the Indian camp, a demand was made for the Indian who had threatened MeMann and they were informed that he would be whipped as a punishment. To their surprise, the Winnebagos made no resistance whatever, but allowed the whites to take possession of the Indian and not only that, but to take their guns away from them which were fired off and stacked together. The Indian was stripped of his clothes and severely whipped by Mr. MeMann with a blacksnake. The red man, however, stood with folded arms and not moving a muscle on his body, proudly erect and disdained to show any sign of suffering. When McMann had inflicted sufficient punishment, the Indians were marched to the village and arranged in front of the Sparta Exchange where they were given food by the proprietor, Lyman Andrews; they all ate heartily except the Indian who had been whipped, he refused to touch the food. When the meal was done the settlers told the Indians to go and gave them to understand that they must stay away and never be seen in that part of the country again; this heroic treatment had its effect and it is related that there was no trouble with Indians afterwards, although one time soon after the people of the village had a serious scare from a rumor to the effect that the Indians were to massacre the whites in re- venge for this whipping; it proved, however, to be without foundation.
Eighteen fifty-four brought things of big interest to the people of the little village ; for during the winter a bill was pending in legislature to set aside the county of Monroe from LaCrosse county and a lively little contest was on as to where the county seat should be located ; whether at Leon, which was then quite a settlement, or at Sparta; the bill was finally passed and ap- proved by the governor March 21, and it provided that Sparta should be the county seat of the county and on the first Tuesday in April the first election was held at which the full quota of officers were elected and the records show that a total vote of
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seventy was polled in the entire county. Nearly all of the county officers were residents of the village of Sparta and con- tained many well known names.
A. Il. Blake was elected county judge, E. Walrath, sheriff ; Wilbur Fisk, register of deeds; John Barker, clerk of the court ; Samuel Hoyt, county treasurer; A. B. Cornel, district attorney.
This year brought several new settlers, all of whom it is impossible to enumerate, but among them early in July was George W. Root and family. Mr. Root bought the house of Lyman Andrews, then known as the Sparta Exchange. together with the stock of goods and continued the business, hiring Mr. Andrew's dining room table as a counter for a shilling a week. J. M. Sugden came up from St. Louis that year and built the first briek chimney in the village in Mr. Root's house. Sugden erected a paint shop on Water street, and it was at the time the largest building on that street; people called him crazy for putting up such a large house for a paint shop. Doctor Gage, in an article on the early settlers, says of Mr. Sugden :
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