USA > Wisconsin > Sheboygan County > History of Sheboygan County, Wisconsin, past and present > Part 27
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Holland is located in the southeastern corner of the county and is bordered on the east by Lake Michigan, on the north by Wilson and Lima towns, on the west by Sherman town and on the south by Ozaukee county. The soil is clay, sand, black muck and marsh. The land is gently rolling ex- cept in the extreme western part, where it is very broken and stony. A con- siderable quantity of law and swamp land abounds in the eastern and south- ern parts, some of which has been reclaimed. Before the settlements there was a superabundance of timber consisting of beech, maple, oak, elm, hick- ory, ash and basswood on the uplands, black ash, swamp elm, tamarack, cedar and butternut on the lowlands and hemlock near the lake. The local- ity is well supplied with streams and springs, the principal stream being Onion river. As the soil is very productive and the inhabitants principally Hollanders, intensely industrious, the farms yield bountifully and are among the best in the county. Stock-raising has been quite an industry here, also the cultivation of fruit.
The first actual settler in the town of Holland was Mr. Ellsworth, who moved into a frame house, built on section 25, by David Giddings, of She- boygan Falls, in 1841. G. H. Smith, with his family, arrived here in 1844 and settled near the lake in the southeastern part of the town. John Owens and a Wilcox family settled here soon thereafter. In 1845 a Mr. De Vos and Peter Zeweld were the first Hollanders to settle in the county. They were soon thereafter joined by G. H. Kolste, another Hollander.
Peter Zeweld and his father, Lawrence Zeweld, as above stated, came in 1845. They settled on section 24 and stayed there about a year, when it was discovered that the property could not be purchased from the government and accordingly one hundred and sixty acres were preempted on sections 35 and 36.
Jacob De Smidt came from Holland in 1845. At that time he purchased of George Cole eighty acres of timber land at $1.25 per acre.
The following families settled in the town in 1846: the Van Diests on section 19; John Caljon on section 18; De Lyzer, Van Dain and Vreihied
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on section 6; and G. Kolste on section 13. Peter De Lyzer settled on section 3 in 1846.
Quite a colony of Hollanders arrived in 1847, under the leadership of Rev. Peter Zonne. There were here in that year the following: Carl Ott, a native of Germany, who settled on an eighty acre tract of land; Jennes De Smidt, who was a native of Holland, and came with his parents, Abraham and Lucy De Smidt; Gilbert H. Smith arrived here from New York in 1847 and preempted a piece of government land. He became one of the most prosperous men of Amsterdam, where he established a fishery. Samuel F. Hickenbotham, a native of New York, purchased eighty acres of land on section 10 and settled thereon. Henry Walvoord, who also dated his resi- dence here from 1847, became one of the prosperous figures of this town. He served on the county board and in the general assembly. He also held other positions of trust. Peter Daane came with his parents, Peter and Peternella Daane from Holland in the spring of this year and settled on eighty acres of heavily timbered land, which the father had purchased from the government. Cornelius De Smidt came with his parents, Abraham and Wilhelmina De Smidt, from Holland and settled on section 35. Martinus A. Ketman also came in this year. He was accompanied by his father, Tony Ketman, who purchased eighty acres of land on section 35. Derk A. Vos- kuil is another Hollander who settled here in 1847. He purchased thirty acres of land and erected thereon a log house 16x20 feet, to which he brought his bride. Silas and Nancy Palmer, who were natives of New York, also were among those who came in this year ... They were the par- ents of fourteen children. William Higby, who was born in New York, also arrived in this year and preempted one hundred and sixty actes of land. He was a school teacher and in 1847 taught the Gibbsville school in Lima town. He was one of the pioneer pedagogues of Sheboygan county. Berent J. Wissink and his young bride, Teuntje Landewaart, landed in America from Holland in 1847 and coming to Sheboygan county, located in the woods in the town of Holland, building a cabin, which was their home for many years. In this cabin their son Gerrett was born in 1854.
Immigration to the town kept up in a steady stream in 1848. Among those to settle here that year were the Sprangers, Booland, Daane, Voskuil, Lemmennes, Drayer, Bleekink, Harmelink, Heyink, Van Baaden, Lemkuil, Meerdink, Kreunen, Ooterhuis, Berendschot, Claerbaut, Huisheere, Lema- hein, Hartman, Souffrouw, Brethouwer, Keetman, H. and A. J. Kolsta, Isaac De Smidt; William and Ransford Wonser, who settled on section 9.
Among others who came in the '40s were: John W. Stronks, and Grace, his wife, who came from Holland in the late '40s and purchased twenty acres of wooded land. Here Gerrett, their son, was born in 1852. Herman Wevers came from Rotterdam in 1849 and located in Holland town. In 1854 Mr. Wevers bought forty acres of land which he improved and added thereto. Thomas Koning, a native of Holland, arrived in the United States in May, 1849, and came direct to Sheboygan county. From Sheboygan he walked to the town of Holland and here worked at his trade as a carpenter until 1856, when he purchased ten acres of land. John Van Der Jagt and his parents, Cornelius and Martha, arrived in this town in 1849. Gert J.
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Hilbelink arrived in the town in the early '40s and a few years later was joined by his father, Aretyan. Gert settled on section 27. In 1850 he bought forty acres of land on section 26, where he took up his residence, having built thereon a log cabin.
The first school in the town was taught in a building on section 25, prob- ably the one erected by David Giddings and occupied by Mr. Ellsworth. A postoffice was established and named Cedar Grove, in 1848. S. Burr was the first postmaster.
The first birth in the town was a daughter of Mr. Ellsworth in 1842.
There were quite a number of English speaking settlers came to the town in 1847 and 1848 and settled in the north and western parts of it. At this time there were quite a settlement of Ohioans in the southeastern por- tion where the village of Amsterdam was wont to flourish. Here the set- tlers employed the greater part of their time in the summer fishing, and in the winter in hunting and trapping, there being an abundance of game. Am- sterdam was a village platted by G. H. Smith in 1852, and for some time quite a business was carried on in lumber, cord wood and fish, but as the timber disappeared and the fish became scarcer, Amsterdam began to dwindle away until it now has scarcely any existence. There are three other villages in the town of Holland, Oostburg, Cedar Grove and Dacada.
WISCONSIN MEMORIAL COLLEGE.
In the year 1847, a colony of pioneers from the Netherlands located in eastern Wisconsin, about forty miles north of the city of Milwaukee. Here, with tireless energy, unceasing toil and persevering zeal, they labored to clear the heavily-timbered land and build their homes. They found the soil to be very fertile, and in time Providence rewarded their diligence, answered their prayers, and blessed them with prosperity and peace. The settlement grew rapidly in numbers and extent, until at present it embraces almost all of Holland township, as well as other parts of Sheboygan county, and comprises the villages of Cedar Grove, Gibbsville, Hingham and Oostburg, while also a goodly number of Hollanders live in the city of Sheboygan.
The inhabitants of these communities, true to their wholesome Dutch breeding, have ever been a God-fearing and God-serving people, and have always been deeply interested in bringing up their children in quiet Christian homes, with a firm adherence to sound religious convictions and principles. They have also cherished the desire to educate their chil- dren to the best of their ability, and soon realized that their resources for higher Christian education were inadequate. Whatever resources along this line were at their command, were largely neutralized by their remote- ness, so that the need for a home school became more and more evident and pressing.
Meanwhile other minds and hearts were at work. In April, 1900, Dr. G. J. Kollen, president of Hope College, Holland, Mich., presented to the council of Hope College a plan for the establishment of an academy in
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WISCONSIN MEMORIAL ACADEMY, CEDAR GROVE
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eastern Wisconsin. The council, in its report, recommended the plan to the general synod of the Reformed Church. The plan was received with enthusiasm by the church at large and the people of the community, and immediate action was taken upon it. At every stated session immediately succeeding, the Classis of Wisconsin took favorable action for the estab- lishment of an academy, and since then has exercised direct supervision over it. The Particular Synod of Chicago warmly endorsed the actions taken by the Classis. In June, 1901, the general synod recommended the academy for aid to the board of education, and it is largely through the assistance of this board that the academy has been maintained. Thus the relationship between the church and the academy has been firmly established.
The enterprise in Wisconsin was locally led and earnestly promoted by the Rev. J. J. Van Zanten, pastor of the Reformed Church at Cedar Grove, at the time. Temporary instruction was immediately begun in the chapel of the church, under his supervision. Upon decision of the Classis of Wisconsin, Cedar Grove was selected as a permanent location for the academy, and steps were taken at once to incorporate the school, secure a site and erect a building.
Since then, regular instruction has been given in the classical and normal courses, equivalent to that given in these courses in any high school of the state. The number of students in attendance has nearly al- ways been between forty and fifty. At present, six classes have graduated, forty persons in all. About fifty per cent. of these graduates have contin- ued their education in institutions of higher learning, principally at Hope College. Owing to the youth of the academy, it has no long list of suc- cessful alumni to point to as witnesses of its worth, but the indications for such a list are very hopeful. Two of her graduates are at present study- ing for the ministry of the gospel, while fully one-third of them have taught with marked efficiency in the public schools of Sheboygan county.
In the Spring of 1909, the principal, Paul E. Hinkamp, personally sub- mitted a statement of the urgent need of improvements to the academy building, and plans for the accomplishment of the same to the board of trustees, the Classis of Wisconsin, and the general synod at Rochester, N. Y. In each case the plans were heartily endorsed. A subscription list was started to secure funds for this purpose, and met with quite general and liberal response. The plans called for the entire remodelling of the first floor, the completing of the second floor, the installation of a steam heat- ing plant, the equipment of a physical laboratory, and other minor im- provements. Work was begun immediately after commencement day, and continued throughout the whole summer vacation. The principal and Prof. Herman Renskers gave up their vacation for this purpose, and, with the assistance of the students, did a large part of the work themselves. At the opening of school in September, the faculty and students were greatly rejoiced to take up their work in the almost entirely new and much improved quarters. When all of the finishing touches were added, a re- dedication and public inspection day was celebrated, on November 19th, with much enthusiasm and gratitude. The present principal is W. P. Van
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der Laan and in place of Prof. Renskers is now Prof. E. C. Van der Laan. It may seem a mistake that these two men have the same last name, yet such is the case, though they are not related. The principal now has charge of the department of natural sciences and E. C. Van der Laan has the department of ancient languages and history. The president of the board of trustees is Rev. J. B. Straks of Gibbsville.
CEDAR GROVE
Cedar Grove is located on the northeast corner of section 26 and is a sta- tion on the Chicago & Northwestern railroad. Here a store was built in 1847 by H. J. Traas. The Presbyterian church. was organized in 1853 and a building erected for religious purposes about 1865. The first pastor was Rev. J. P. Zonne. The Dutch Reform church was organized in 1856. This organization erected a church building in 1861, which was replaced by a better and more commodious one in 1870. The first pastor was Rev. Van Leuwen.
A Dr. C. Van Altena located here in 1850 and probably was the first reg- ular physician in the town.
After the building of the railroad now known as the Northwestern, in 1872, the growth of Cedar Grove increased and business kept a proportion- ate pace therewith. A grist mill with three run of stones, was built in 1876 and an elevator in 1878. Previous to this, however, the Phoenix elevator had been built by G. A. Lammers. A cheese factory was in operation in 1880 by J. Van De Wall. The village was incorporated in 1899 and Gerrett . Zammers was elected the first president; Dr. James Van de Veen, clerk; and Adrian Fonteine, supervisor. Cedar Grove now has a foundry and bank, the latter having been established in 1901. The village has a popula- tion of 498.
OOSTBURG
Oostburg is also a station on the Chicago & Northwestern railroad and had no existence until the road was built and placed in operation in 1872. The village has a population of 380, and was separated from the town of Holland and incorporated as a village in 1909. Oostburg is in a flourishing condition, has a Christian Reform church, organized in 1875, grain elevator, grist mill, hotel, several general stores, cheese factory and a blacksmith shop.
DACADA
Dacada is located in the extreme southwestern corner of the town on sec- tion 31. It is an unincorporated village but is quite a trade center for that section of the town. There are three general stores, a hotel and blacksmith shop.
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Street Scene Steel Foundry Christian Reformed Church
Depot Public School State Bank
VIEWS OF OOSTBURG
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ST. NICHOLAS CHURCH
The parish of St. Nicholas at Dacada, was first established November 25, 1848, at which time the congregation was also given a resident pastor in the person of Rev. George Laufhuber. His successors were the Rev. Fathers De Becke, Deisenrieder, B. Smedding, Michael Obermueller, Hie- ronymus Berckman, John Stuchy, Fusseder, John Mehlmann, M. Retzer, Herman Joseph Muckerheide, T. Willer, Peter Schwaiger, August Zein- inger and John Huber. The Rev. Joseph Hamm had charge of the con- gregation from 1870 until 1892, when Rev. A. S. Leitner took charge.
Tuesday, April 9, 1912, the congregation of St. Nicholas Catholic church, witnessed the dedication by Bishop Koudelka, of Milwaukee. The handsome structure cost $20,000.
The congregation is composed of about one hundred and twenty-five families, or nine hundred and fifty-five communicants. There is a parochial school, with an average attendance of one hundred. The order of Catholic Knights of Wisconsin has a branch of about forty-five members in the con- gregation ; also the St. Nicholas Benevolent Society, of about sixty mem- bers, and the Altar Society with about ninety members. The parish is in a very flourishing condition.
WILSON TOWN
The first settler in this town was David Wilson, who came from Ohio in March, 1840, and located on section II. He built a log cabin and in :842 was joined by his family. The next settlers were James Osgood and his brother Leonard, who came in 1849 and located on section 14. Joseph Fairchilds arrived in the following year and located on section 14. These settlements were along the lake shore and were not made for the purpose of farming, but to engage in fishing, the lake abounding with many varieties of the finny tribe and the fisheries there established became profitable. The fish were packed in salt and for the first few years shipped to Cleveland and Detroit, where they were sold at an average price of $6 a barrel.
About 1846 all of the territory now comprising Wilson town was sep- arated from Sheboygan town and organized. The first town meeting was held at Graham's store in the city of Sheboygan and the name of Wilson was given the new organization in honor of its first settler.
Wilson is in the second tier of townships from the south and is bounded on the east by Lake Michigan, and on the north, west and south by the towns of Sheboygan, Lima and Holland respectively. The Northwestern railroad crosses the west part of the town from south to north, and the land is drained and watered by the Black river and tributary streams. The soil is a rich clay loam, producing excellent crops, and the inhabitants are mostly Germans, who have fine farms and are enterprising and prosperous. A great many of these farms are devoted to dairy purposes and not a few of the people still engage in fishing to a greater or less extent.
The first birth in the community was that of Andris Wilson, son of David Wilson, in 1843. The first marriage was that of James R. Brown
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and Louisa Wilson in 1844. The first death was that of Waterman Jackson in the fall of 1847.
The first school was taught in the winter of 1846-7 by Milo Chamberlin
Other early settlers in this town were Bartholomew Trumbla in 1840; Henry and Dorothea Herbst, Jacob Brehm, on section 4, in 1847; Carl Roehrborn, 1848; Carl Reich, 1849; Frederick Zimmerman, 1851 ; F. Boehm, 1852.
Haines W. Wilson died at Sheboygan, March 15, 1912, at the age of seventy-eight. He came to Sheboygan county with his parents in the early '40s and located in what is now Wilson town, named after his father, David Wilson.
GREENRUSH
The town of Greenbush was organized in the summer of 1845 and was named after a town in Vermont, and Sylvanus Wade was elected the first chairman of the town.
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Greenbush in point of area is the largest town in the county, having at- tached on the north one-third of the sections originally belonging to Russell. It is bounded on the west by Fond du Lac county, on the north by Russell, on the east by Rhine and Plymouth and on the south by Mitchell towns. The Sheboygan river cuts across the extreme northwest corner and the Mullet river crosses the town from section 18 to section I, passing through the village of Glenbeulah. The soil is a clay loam and is well adapted to all the cereals grown in this latitude. In localities there are large quantities of limestone. In the north part of the town the land is gently rolling and in the extreme north portion was the Sheboygan marsh, a great part of which has been drained and made tillable. The southern portion of the town is more broken and gives place to what is known as the Potash Kettle hills. However, there are many good farms, especially on the south portion. The principal lucrative industry is dairying and the manufacture of cheese, which has a ready market on account of its excellent quality. Early in the settlement a mixed population was found in the northern part, while in the southern sections German and Irish predominated.
The first permanent settler in the town of Greenbush was Sylvanus Wade, who came from Massachusetts with his wife and nine children, in 1844, first locating in the locality where the village of Greenbush now stands. Here he built a log cabin and opened a blacksmith shop and also plowed ten acres of prairie and in addition kept a hotel. There was no road cut through to Fond du Lac at that time and in the fall of 1850 the first plank road meeting was held at his home.
In 1845 several additions were made to the settlement. Among those who came and located in the town that year were Job Babcock, Orrin Lamb, Peter Nair and Charles Robinson. C. B. Coleman located on section 9 and Horatio Sparks on section 31.
Among those who came in 1847 were Russell Barrett, Samuel P. Cran- dall, D. P. Roberts, W. L. Williams, Jacob Stoddard, A. E. Stoddard, J. Stoddard, Dr. L. H. Carey, D. P. Brevier, H. and A. A. Lampheer, O. P.
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ONE OF THE STREETS IN GREENBUSH METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, GREENBUSH BAPTIST CHURCH, GREENBUSH
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Sampson, M. Albright and D. D. Hosford. Others who came in 1847 were: Henry C. Laack, who entered forty acres of government land, which he soon converted into a valuable and productive farm; Henry Dockstader, a New Yorker, settled on land now the site of the village of Greenbush, which was then a wilderness. He there opened a blacksmith shop and soon secured plenty of work, as he was on the line of the old plank road between Sheboygan and Fond du Lac, which became a great thoroughfare between the lake port at Sheboygan and the interior.
Galusha Mansfield, a native of Vermont, settled in the town in 1848. That winter he taught the first school in Greenbush, making his home with Milo Hard, who lived some two miles west of the village. Thomas and Catherine Sweet came from Canada in 1848 and settled on section 8. Mi- chael Sweet, who later became postmaster at Plymouth, was a son of this worthy pioneer couple.
James Shufflebotham was born in England and came to the United States in 1849, with his family. He settled in the town of Greenbush on a farm of eighty acres. William Hull, a Canadian by birth, also settled here in the same year.
Hazael P. Clark, with his wife, three sons and one daughter, settled on section I near the village of Glenbeulah, in 1850. The section was covered with fine timber and he erected a mill and engaged in the business of pro- viding lumber for his neighbors.
Captain Erastus W. Stannard settled in the town in 1851 and took a leading part in the community. He was supervisor and served in the gen- eral assembly from this district. In the same year John Andrew Smith also settled here. He was a veteran of the Mexican war. He assisted in raising a company which was mustered into the service of the United States as Company B of the Eighth Wisconsin Infantry, the famous "Eagle Regiment," of which he was made first lieutenant.
Rev. Mr. Ferguson, of Glenbeulah, performed the marriage ceremony for Job Babcock and Miss Clarissa Fuller in May, 1847. This was the first marriage in Greenbush. The first birth occurred in 1847. The child was a son of W. L. Williams. Deacon Trowbridge preached the first sermon at the residence of Sylvanus Wade in 1844, and the first school was taught in the summer of 1848 by Miss Betsey L. Roberts.
The town has good schools and churches, its people are progressive and the farms will compare favorably with any in the state. Its population in 1910, including villages, was 1,599.
Sunday, August 15, the sixty-first anniversary of the founding of the Christian church of West Greenbush was celebrated.
VILLAGE OF GREENBUSH
This trading point is located on the Mullet river in section 10 and was platted by Sylvanus Wade in 1848, being located on the plank road between Sheboygan and Fond du Lac. In its early days and before the building of the Chicago & Northwestern railroad, this village was of no inconsiderable consequence. It still retains a large trade, from a rich farming community
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and has a mill, cheese factory, hotel, two general stores, blacksmith shops and other utilities.
VILLAGE OF GLENBEULAH
The land upon which Glenbeulah stands was chosen as farms by a Mr. Pool and H. P. Clark. As is the case with Greenbush, the Mullet river flows through a portion of the village. In 1857 settlers and building in- creased in the locality and that year Stephen and J. T. Dillingham, Edwin Slade and Joseph Swift, having bought land and the water power, put up flouring and sawmill, to which was added a store. In 1859 Edward Apple- ton and Joseph Swift as agents for a company that had been organized, platted the land into village lots. It was about this time that the Sheboygan & Mississippi railroad was being constructed and in the spring of 1860 was completed to Glenbeulah, which for nine years thereafter was the road's western terminus. Here a postoffice was opened, February 7, 1860, having been removed from Elkhart. The village was given its name by Mr. Apple- ton in remembrance of his mother, who first name was Beulah, to which he prefixed Glen.
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