USA > Wisconsin > Sheboygan County > History of Sheboygan County, Wisconsin, past and present > Part 9
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"Meantime, the multitude, weary with excitement, bivouacked here and there, as beds, lounges and floors were obtainable. Gradually, as the night waned and morning began to break, sleep settled upon all and 'nary' an Indian appeared, even in dreams. At one o'clock A. M. we went home from watching by a sick child. All was still save the chirping crickets and the water falling over the mill dam.
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"After the excitement was over, the absurdities of the occasion were freely talked over. Men who went flying through the country without hats, on unsaddled horses, screaming at every farm house that the Indians were coming, were ready to laugh at their own ungrounded fears, or to declare that they 'were not frightened a bit.'
"One family in town had a child dangerously sick of diphtheria, whom they wrapped in blankets and carried to a neighbor's house. The excite- ment and extra warmth of coverings produced a change and the patient rapidly recovered. One man took the pork out of his barrels and buried it in the cellar. An acquaintance of ours, who had a cask of excellent currant wine, called in his neighbors as they were passing, and drank it, determined that the savages should not get drunk through any fault of his. Another family scattered their furniture over a 'ten acre lot,' hoping thereby to save some, at least. Another put their valuables in a well. One lady ran all the way to town, three miles, with a pumpkin pie in her hand. One good friend of ours turned her pigs into her garden, because the corn and vegetables would benefit her no longer and the pigs might enjoy one good meal before the Indians came. The scene was indescribably queer and probably will never be reproduced, so long as the world stands. "But this was not all; the same scene varied by circumstances, was enacted over a great portion of the state. The panic wave, starting in Manitowoc county from some trivial circumstance-we know not what- gathered strength as it traveled, rolling like a tide through Sheboygan, Ozaukee and Milwaukee counties. A gentleman returning from the latter city with a horse and buggy met the crest of the advancing breaker- people running, people on horseback, riding in all manner of vehicles, with but one word out of their pale lips-Indians! Houses were deserted with the fires burning and the dinner smoking on the table. The sick were snatched from their beds and many a scene of suffering aggravated by the terror to a fearful tragedy.
"In Sheboygan, as the panic stricken people came rushing in, as they supposed with the Indians at their heels, the city sachems took up the draw bridge at the river, thus rendering escape impossible.
"From Milwaukee, the Governor, who was in the city, sent out a com- pany of the Twenty-sixth Regiment then in camp, which got as far as Cedarburg, but returned to Milwaukee without having seen any Indians.
"Such is a bit of the history of the Indian panic-as baseless and sense- less, yet as complete a scare as the world ever witnessed. It is estimated that at least 40,000 persons left their homes in these counties on that day. These facts may seem overdrawn to any but those who witnessed this strange and inexplicable event. The only foundation for the panic, of which we are aware, was the fact that at this time the public mind was excited by the Indian atrocities at New Ulm and Mankato, and prepared to imagine the probability of such scenes here, without stopping to consider their utter impossibility. Beside, at this time, as we too well remem- ber, there was the realty of the great calamity, 'when men's hearts were failing them for fear.'"
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CHAPTER IV
SHEBOYGAN COUNTY
THE COUNTY CREATED IN 1836-ITS TERRITORY TAKEN FROM BROWN COUNTY -FIRST ELECTION HELD MARCH 4, 1839-THE NEW ENTITY GOVERNED BY A BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS CHANGED TO SUPERVISOR SYSTEM-FIRST TERM OF COURT IN SHEBOYGAN COUNTY-CREATION OF TOWNSHIPS-OR- GANIZATION OF THE COUNTY.
What is now the county of Sheboygan was owned by the Indians until taken possesion of by the French in the seventeenth century. It so re- mained until it passed to Great Britain as a result of the Seven Years war in 1763. At the close of the Revolutionary war, in 1783, it became the possession of the United States. In 1789 it was made a part of the North- west Territory, and in 1800 a part of Indiana Territory. In 1809 it was in- cluded in Illinois Territory and so remained until 1818, when it was at- tached to Michigan Territory. On April 20, 1836, it was included in the territory of Wisconsin. By the act of January 11, 1805, all territory east of the line due north from the south end of Lake Michigan to the northern boundary of the United States was constituted Michigan Territory. By the act of congress approved April 18, 1818, "all that part of the Illinois Ter- ritory which is situated north of and not included within, the boundaries described by this act (creating the state of Illinois) to the state thereby authorized to be formed, shall be and hereby is attached to and made a part of the Michigan Territory from and after the formation of the said state (of Illinois), subject nevertheless, to be hereafter disposed of by congress according to the right reserved in the fifth article of the ordinances as aforesaid."
Brown county, Michigan Territory, was given the following boundaries : "Bounded on the north by the county of Michilimacinac as established by an act of the governor of said territory of this date; on the east by the said county of Michilimacinac, and by the western boundary of the said terri- tory as the same was established by the act of congress, passed January II, 1805, entitled 'An act to divide the Indiana Territory into two separate gov- ernments ;' on the south by the states of Indiana and Illinois; and on the west by a line to be drawn due north from the northern boundary of the state of Illinois, through the middle of the portage between the Fox river and the Ouisconsin (Wisconsin) river to the county of Michilimacinac, into a separate county to be called the county of Brown, October 26, 1818."
"And I do establish the seat of government of the said county of Brown, Vol. 1-5
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at such point on the Fox river and within six miles of the mouth thereof, as may be selected by a majority of the judges of the county court of said county. LEWIS CASS,
"Governor of Michigan Territory."
The county court was ordered held on the second Monday of July of every year.
In 1824 a bill was drawn by J. D. Doty, dividing Michigan Territory into two separate governments, one of which was to be called Chippewa. One section was as follows: "That the seat of government of said Territory shall be established at or near the village of Munnominnee (so-called), on the east bank of the Fox river, eleven miles above Fort Howard (Green Bay). And the legislature of said territory shall cause the public buildings to be erected at such point near the said village as they deem most suitable; and five thousand acres of land located by the governor to be below the Grand Kaukalan, on said river, is hereby given to the said legislature for the use of the territory, the proceeds of which shall be applied to the erection of the said territorial buildings."
In May, 1832, Morgan L. Martin was councilman from the seventh district, composed of the counties of Chippewa, Michilimacinac, Brown, Crawford and Iowa. There was introduced in congress about this time a bill to establish the territory of Huron or Ouisconsin.
The act of December 9, 1836, fixed the seat of justice for Brown county, either at Navarino, Astor or De Pere, as might be decided by the voters.
On September 6, 1834, the boundaries of Brown county were fixed. All that part of Brown county to which the Indian title had been extinguished was attached to and constituted a part of the township of Green Bay. South of Brown county to the Illinois line was made Milwaukee county, which was attached to Brown county for judicial purposes. Approved September 6, 1834.
December 7, 1836, the county of Sheboygan was created, set off from Brown county and attached thereto for judicial purposes. The boundaries of the new county under the creative act of the legislature were described as "all that district of country lying within the present limits of Sheboygan county," and from its earliest organization, the county of Sheboygan has embraced the same territory as at present, and for the first ten years after its formation the town of Sheboygan occupied all the territory included in the county. Hence, as new towns were formed, they were all set off from the town of Sheboygan. It might be well here to state that Sheboygan has always been the county seat.
FIRST WHITE MEN IN SHEBOYGAN COUNTY
The first known presence of white men in Sheboygan county is shown by a narrative now in the collection of historical data of the Wisconsin Historical Society, at Madison. The narrative states that Jacques Vieau, in the employ of the Northwest Fur Company, left Mackinaw on one of his regular expeditions in 1795, with a supply of merchandise to explore and establish trading posts on the west shore of Lake Michigan. The goods
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HISTORY OF SHEBOYGAN COUNTY
were contained in a large Mackinaw boat heavily loaded, and manned by twelve men. Vieau, with his family, consisting of his mother, Madeline, Paul and Jacques, followed in a large bark canoe, in which was also camp equipage. His clerk was Mike le Pettéel. The first important camping place furnishing a good harbor was where Kewaunee is now situated. Here he established a "jack knife" trading post and left a man in charge. The flotilla paddled to various places on the lake and eventually landed at Sheboygan, where Vieau established a trading post.
In 1818 Governor Lewis Cass, then the chief executive of Michigan territory, while on an exploring expedition, landed here with his fleet of canoes. In the same year, William Farnsworth, a hunter, trapper and fur trader, lived here on the banks of the lake a few months and afterwards became the pioneer of the county. History also has it, that in 1818, Andrew Vieau, son of Jacques, built a hut on the east side of the river and to him was born a child at about that time.
THE FIRST ACTUAL SETTLER
From the records now at hand it is learned that William Paine and Colonel Oliver C. Crocker came to this locality in the fall of 1834 and built a sawmill at the first rapids in section 28. They then built two log houses, one in the city of Sheboygan, not far from the present location of the court- house, and. the other near the mill. The pioneers then began the construc- tion of a dam across the river at a point later known as the "Ormsbee Mill" property. After this work had been well on its way a large band of Indians assembled before the workmen and protested against the improvement, the gist of their grievance being that the dam would prevent the fish from ascending the river, and some time was spent in negotiations before the con- sent of the Indians could be obtained to go on with the work. Not long after its completion the waters tore part of the dam away, but soon thereafter the obstruction was repaired. Paine and Crocker, however, soon became dis- gusted with their undertaking and the locality and in September, 1835, dis- posed of their holdings to William Farnsworth, the trapper and fur trader heretofore mentioned. In the following November the government survey of the county having been completed, the lands were placed on the market and for that purpose the government opened an office at Green Bay. It was then that William Farnsworth became owner of a half interest in the vil- lage plat of Sheboygan, part of which he sold at a most generous profit. After purchasing the mill Farnsworth went to Chicago and engaged Jon- athan Follett and his wife to assist him in the embryo settlement. This worthy couple came to Sheboygan and Mr. Follett managed the mill, while Mrs. Follett supplied the comforts of life for the settlers, who took up their abode in the log house near the mill. Mrs. Eliza Follett was the first white woman to become a permanent resident of the county, and did not see an- other woman of her color until the following year, for at this time the only settlers in the county were those at the mill.
It is said of William Farnsworth that his wife, Marinette, was an Indian squaw, and that her birth place was on the present site of the city
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HISTORY OF SHEBOYGAN COUNTY
of Marinette. She had spent part of her time among the Chippewas at Sheboygan and while here Farnsworth wooed and won her. It was prob- ably about this time that Farnsworth committed some offense, which so angered the red skins that they gathered with the intention of killing him. Being aware of their intentions and feeling that only heroic measures should be adopted to save his life he sat down upon an open keg of powder with a lighted candle in his hand. The courage of the man and his unanticipated bravado so astounded the Indians that they conceived the idea he must be under the special protection of the "Great Spirit." Their anger was ap- peased and Farnsworth was never again molested by them.
Strung along the lake, however, was an Indian village, the habitations of which were constructed of bark. Mr. Follett entered land not far from the mill and on the left bank of the Sheboygan river, near the mouth of a stream known as Follett's creek, he built the first log farm house in the county. During the fall of 1835 a number of persons visited this county, some of whom later settled here and took quite an active part in the de- velopment of the community, prominent among whom were Silas B. Sted- man and David Giddings.
Early in the summer of 1836 Charles D. Cole and family settled on the present site of the city of Sheboygan, and about the same time A. G. Dye arrived at Sheboygan from Chicago under an engagement with William Farnsworth to build a warehouse. William Ashby entered the village on foot from Green Bay in the fall of 1836 and engaged in lumbering. In 'De- cember of that year the Gibbs brothers, James H., John D., and Benjamin L., settled in the present town of Lima. They were eight days cutting their way through the woods from Milwaukee, a distance of fifty miles.
At the close of 1836 Sheboygan had become a village containing fifteen or twenty buildings, including two stores, two warehouses and a blacksmith shop, which was increased somewhat in 1837. At that time the spirit of speculation became rampant and the prices of land and village lots took on such fictitious values that made a collapse in the progress of affairs in- evitable. At the close of the year 1837 the bubble burst and the young city was given a body blow. All business stopped. Those who could remove from the place did so and those who could not get out of the county settled on land previously purchased. It is said that at one time, in 1839, Mr. and Mrs. James Farnsworth were the only persons living in what is now the city of Sheboygan.
In the early part of 1840 the only persons living in Sheboygan county, of which any record has been preserved, were James Farnsworth and family and John Johnson and family, the last mentioned locating near the present cemetery at Sheboygan. Near the sawmill built by Paine & Crocker lived Albin Rublee, Adonikan Farrow and William Ashby. At Sheboygan Falls, where a sawmill and three houses had been built, were Colonel Silas B. Stedman, C. D. Cole, David Giddings, a shoemaker named McNish, and a Mr. Palmer. William Trowbridge and son Benjamin had located two miles west of the Falls. In what is now the town of Lima were A. G. Dye, J. D., E. L. and James Gibbs, Dr. Hoffman and Benjamin Firrman. These set- tlers had planted their stakes for homes amidst the primeval forests, in
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which little clearing had been done at that time. Their nearest neighbors on the north were at Manitowoc Rapids. On the south, with the single ex- ception in Washington county, there were no settlers nearer than within six miles of Milwaukee. The nearest inhabitants on the west were at Lake Winnebago. Supplies were mostly obtained in Milwaukee and brought in an Indian canoe. A little wheat was raised in 1840 but there was no mill to grind it. The blacksmith shop at Sheboygan, having been abandoned, that of Deacon Trowbridge's at Sheboygan Falls was the only one in the county. Nor was there a school or store in the county at that time. The financial crash of 1837, the direct heir of the publication of Jackson's famous specie circular, had done its work well.
By 1842 settlements in the county had increased very encouragingly. That year George C. Cole, a brother of Charles D. Cole, arrived. He found here Captain N. W. Brooks, wife and domestic; Stephen Wolverton with his wife, son and daughter; Joshua Brown and wife; John Glass and wife; Don Fairchild; David Wilson and family; Alber Rublee and family; David Evans and wife; Hiram G. Squires; William Ashby and wife; Aaron Rit- ter and family; Aldonikan Farrow; and Wentworth Barber. These were located in Sheboygan and along the lake in the town of that name. At the Dye settlement were Asahel G. Dye and family ; the widow Farmin and son Benjamin; Newell Upham and wife; Chauncey Hall and family; Wendell Hoffman and wife; Elizabeth Cady and brother Edwin. The Gibbs broth- ers, with their families, were at Gibbsville, in Lima town; Mr. and Mrs. John Johnson and children, George, Michael, Robert, John, William, Ann and Maria; Peter Palmer and wife; William and Leroy Palmer, and Allen W. Knight and wife. At Sheboygan Falls there were Albert Rounseville, wife and two children; Benjamin C. Trowbridge, wife and family; Alvira O'Cain, Maria Dieckmann, Seth Morse, Samuel Rounseville, Harmon Pierce, Nelson Bradford, and George O. Trowbridge. The seven persons last named lived with Mr. Trowbridge at this time. There were also here Silas Stedman and wife; David Giddings and wife; Charles D. Cole, wife, and George T., William H. and James R. Cole, his sons. William Trowbridge, his wife and sons, William S., James T., Thaddeus and John.
In 1840 the only postoffice in the county was at Sheboygan Falls. From an extract of the records at Washington it appears that William Paine was the first one to be appointed postmaster in the county. The office was then named by the authorities in Washington Chebowagan. Paine received his appointment April 18, 1836, giving way to his successor, Joel S. Fisk, July 21, 1836, who was succeeded by Charles D. Cole, November 25th of the same year. November 20, 1839, the office was discontinued, and not re- vived until October 25, 1844, when Samuel D. Ormsbee was appointed to the office by the Polk administration. Charles D. Cole was postmaster at Sheboygan Falls in 1840, having removed there from Sheboygan the pre- vious year. This settlement was the principal one in the county at this period, had the largest number of inhabitants and was the most prosperous.
From 1845 and on up to 1850 immigration into the county increased rapidly and many who took an active part in developing the county and its cities, building up its institutions and making for the community an enviable
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HISTORY OF SHEBOYGAN COUNTY
reputation throughout the state, settled here during those years and became prominent and influential citizens. Dr. J. J. Brown was one of the pioneers of this period. Others whom we are able to mention were Henry S. Auable, Evan Evans, Dr. S. M. Abbott, H. Conklin, E. F. Cook, A. H. Edwards, L. W. Davis, Judge William R. Gorsline, Thomas C. Horner, J. F. Kirk- land, General H. C. Hobart, Rev. H. Lyman, A. P. Lyman, Dr. Jairus Ran- kin, John Maynard, William Seaman, H. N. Ross, H. N. Smith, Judge David Taylor, D. C. Vosburg, J. R. Sharpstein, John H. Roberts, George M. Gil- lett, Frank Stone.
From the character of the names heretofore recorded on these pages, the reader will see at a glance that Sheboygan county was opened for set- tlement by native born American citizens. It was not until the latter part of 1846 that the sturdy and industrious Germans set their eyes upon this land of peace and plenty and began to settle here. However, a few Holland- ers had gone into that section which later became the town of Holland, in 1845, but the great influx of the foreign element, principally Germans and Hollanders, arrived in 1847 and 1848, many of those coming in the latter year being refugees from Germany, leaving the fatherland to escape the rigors and penalties of a revolution that swept their native country that year. The truth of the saying, "its an ill wind that blows no one good," was exemplified much to the benefit of this country when this people were compelled to leave their homes and firesides across the water to seek a haven and new homes in the United States. A great share of the German im- migrants came to Wisconsin and no better selection of that share could have been made than the ones who threw in their lot with those who rocked the cradle of the infant, Sheboygan. H. C. Heide, of Milwaukee, is given credit for starting German immigration to this section. A brother of his with Diedrich Logeman, George Thieman and Diedrich Bartels, were the first comers to the county and settled in the town of Sheboygan Falls. They were soon followed by many others until their number so increased that they became the predominant nationality in Sheboygan county and remain so to this day. The state immigrant agent in one of his reports states that during the summer of 1853, 13,400 immigrants landed at Sheboygan. Many of them are mentioned in the various articles relating to the history of the towns.
POPULATION OF THE COUNTY
In 1840, four years after the creation of Sheboygan county, the popu- lation totaled 133 people, which in 1842, had been increased to 227. In 1846 the population was 1,637. In 1847, the year in which the German im- migration into the county first began to show its strength, the population had increased to 5,580; in 1850, 8,370; in 1860, 27,082; 1870, 31,749; 1880, 34,260. For the last three decades the population is here given by town- ships and incorporations, the table showing a steady and gratifying growth:
1910
1900
1890
Cedar Grove village
498
327
Elkhart Lake village
499
464
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HISTORY OF SHEBOYGAN COUNTY
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Greenbush town
1,599
1,689
1,690
Herman town
1,913
1,940
1,998
Holland town
2,175
2,551
2,874
Lima town
1,847
1,949
1,921
Lyndon town
1,742
1,732
1,697
Mitchell town
969
974
1,012
Mosel town
884
88
863
Oostburg village
380
Plymouth city
3,094
2,257
1,503
Ward I
1,997
...
.....
Ward 2
1,097
.....
.....
Plymouth town
1,415
1,398
1,356
Random Lake village
408
Rhine town
1,183
1,285
1,612
Russell town
444
437
439
Scott town
1,33I
1,432
1,473
Sheboygan city
26,398
22,962
16,359
Ward I
3,708
Ward 2
2,045
....
.....
Ward 3
1,602
.....
. .. ..
Ward 4
4,271
.....
. . ...
Ward 5
3,156
.....
Ward 6
1,875
. ....
.....
.....
Ward 8
5,697
. ....
.....
Sheboygan town
2,289
2,181
2,117
Sheboygan Falls town
1,621
1,690
1,677
Sheboygan Falls village
1,630
1,301
1,118
Sherman town
1,489
1,813
1,736
Wilson town
1,080
1,078
1,044
1910
1900
1890
ORGANIZATION OF SHEBOYGAN COUNTY
. The county was created by an act of the territorial legislature, approved December 7, 1836, and organized only for county purposes, and, on the 4th of March, 1839, an election was held, in pursuance to a legislative act passed and approved the previous December, and officers chosen for the new bailiwick. Section thirty-three of this act provided that: "All that dis- trict of country lying within the present limits of Sheboygan county, shall be a separate town by the name of Sheboygan, and elections shall be holden in said town at the schoolhouse in Sheboygan, and at 'Giddings' Mill.'"
When first organized the county was separated from Brown county only for county purposes, but remained attached to the mother organization un- til 1846 for judicial purposes. On the first day of May of the year last above mentioned Sheboygan became a full-fledged county, with all the dig- nities and privileges thereto belonging.
The election for the first officers of the newly created county was held, no doubt, on the day and date designated by the legislature and it is to be
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Ward 7
4,044
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HISTORY OF SHEBOYGAN COUNTY
presumed, by the light of following events, that the men took up the duties and dignities of their offices and performed them well and diligently. But it is here that the historian is miserably handicapped in his endeavor to place before the public details so essential to a complete exposition of the proceedings of these early officials, their names and their characteristics. Very unfortunately and greatly to the loss of the county and lovers of local history, the records of all the offices of the county, with the exception of that of register of deeds, were destroyed by fire, in the month of January, 1860. The county clerk's office, with others at that time, was in the Otten block. Fire broke out in the building and everything was lost, placing the county at a great disadvantage and to considerable expense. It is known that the first governing body was composed of three commissioners and that the offices then provided for by law were filled by certain of the able men who early cast their lot with the pioneers of the community. It is also to be presumed that these men were leaders, as were their successors, and gave the best that was in them to strengthen the new and growing organiza- tion and further its interests.
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