USA > Wisconsin > Trempealeau County > History of Trempealeau County, Wisconsin > Part 16
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104
HISTORY OF TREMPEALEAU COUNTY
berlain & Browning, 6, 7 ; G. H. Smith, 8, 9, 22; - Doty, 8; - Bidwell, 9; C. Prefer, 14; John Martin, 23; Peter Ohls, 23; Terrance O'Neal, 20; John Hunter, 25, 35; William Dick, 25, 34, 36; David Cook, 25, 34, 36; John Thomas, 32; B. F. Heuston, 33; Douglas Hunter, 33, 34; John Irvine, 34; John Hunter, Jr., 35, 36; Richard Collins, 35; C. J. Boyce, 35; John Davidson, 36; Rob. Oliver, 36; George Shonat, 36.
Township 20, range 8. 1859-T. Dufficy, 25; P. Anderson, 27; B. Richardson, 33; University, 34; A. A. Arnold, 34; G. Y. Freeman, 34; C. Kennedy, 35; Daniel Kennedy, 35; John Cance, 36; George Gale, 36; M. Casey, 36; Martin Cullity, 36.
Township 21, range 8. 1859-Minard Allen, 1; John Hopkins, 1, 12; S. S. Rice, 1; Henry Lake, 24, 25; C. H. Hine, 25; H. Snyder, 25; I. B. Dunning, 24.
Township 22, range 8. 1858-Henry Stratton, 15; Hiram Stratton, 15; J. D. Sherwood, 21; A. S. Sherwood, 21; - Banks, 21; Clark S. Allen, 15; Alvah Wood, 11, 17, 20, 25; D. W. Wade, 2, 25, 36; F. W. & M. D. Ingalls, 11, 28; Ed. Wade, 28; Nathan Wood, 11, 26. 1861-D. W. Wade, 2, 25, 36; M. O. Ingalls, 2, 11, 21; Henry O. Gill, 2, 21; A. Wood, 11, 25; Cripps & Erwin, 11; L. D. McNitt, 14; H. C. Stratton, 15; Henry Freeman, 15; D. Wood, 17, 20; A. L. Sherwood, 20, 21; J. D. Sherwood, 21; - Prevear, 23; N. D. Comstock, 23; B. F. Wing, 24, 25; Oley Knudtson, 24; James Erwin, 26; --- Dowd, 26; E. F. Wade, 28; M. D. & F. W. Ingalls, 28; F. L. Dunbar, 30; C. C. Crane, 29, 16.
Township 23, range 8. 1861-George H. Hale, 32; C. S. Allen, 32.
Township 24, range 8. 1859-W. W. Wetmore, 13, 15, 17; J. H. Campbell, 1.
Township 18, range 9. 1855-William A. Cram, 1; Ryland Parker, 2; L. T. Kniffen, 2; D. B. Thompson, 2; Alex Hart, 2, 3; O. Whitcomb, 3; Wm. McDonah, 3; T. B. Edwards, 4, 11; Hollister Wright, 4; Mary A. Bright, 4; B. B. Healy, 5, 6, 9, 15, 16, 17, 20, 21, 22, 23, 25, 26, 27, 35, 36 ; Davil Monel, 5; Washburn & Woodman, 6, 13, 14, 23; Amos Whiting, 6, 13; A. Stevens, 7; D. O. Van Slyke, 9; - Martindale, 9; George Gale, 9; Ira Jones, 9, 10, 15, 22; Barney -, 10, 11, 14, 35; Jonathan Ramsden, 12; Joshua Rhodes, 12, 24; Ware & Belden, 12, 14; R. R. Worth, 13, 24; Aaron Houghton, 13; C. F. Legate, 14 ; Horace Stone, 14; John Phillips, 15; Wm. Hanson, 15; Ran- some Jones, 15; - Dean, 15; - Ellis, 15; E. R. Utter, 18 ; David Fbrun, 22; C. A. Stevens, 16, 22 ; Healy & others, 22, 23, 26, 27, 34; Geo. Batchelder, 16, 22, 26; C. S. Seymour, 23, 24, 25; B. H. Stewart, 24; J. P. James, 24; A. W. Shepard, 25; Francis Drugan, 25; Wm. John Nicholls, 25; Jacob T. Holmes, 25; T. W. Hill, 26; E. Winkelman, 26, 27; N. Brown, 26, 35; Isaac Noyes, 16, 26; Chas. Utter, 27; J. H. Hammond, 27; B. F. Heuston, 27; A. M. Weeks, 27; J. M. Levy, 27; Avery Wellington, 27; Moore & Carter, 35; Wm. & John Nicholls, 36.
Township 19, range 9. 1855-J. Knox, 19; A. Rhodes, 20, 21; John Rhodes, 21, 28, 29, 30; Hollister Wright, 21, 28, 33; Thompson & Hart, 23; O. Whitcomb, 23; B. B. Healy, 25, 32; M. Beboe, 26; Joseph Holmes, 26; A. Grover, 26; W. W. Nash, 31; Alva Wood, 31; Edmond Nash, 31; Wash- burn & Woodman, 31; Ryland Parker, 31; Moses Clark, 32; Jas. Wright,
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HISTORY OF TREMPEALEAU COUNTY
32, 33; D. A. Segur, 33, 34; W. Higbie, 33, 34; Parker Warren, 33; Justin Lee, 34; E. R. Utter, 34; James Reed, 34, 35; Chas. Perkins, 35; Michael Bebeau, 35; Chas. Cameron, 35; Leander Bebeau, 35.
Township 20, range 9. 1859-H. G. Tracy, 2; Jesse Penny, 3, 4; Jas. Broughton, 4; Walter Dewey, 4; R. C. Shelly, 5; George D. Dewey, 5; Collins Bishop, 5; Emily Bishop, 5; James Gaveney, 5; N. D. Comstock, 5, 7; R. L. Robertson, 6; Philip Hartman, 7; Nicholas Meyers, 7; Frank Zeller, 17; A. B. Bishop, 18; Shelly & Co., 18; A. M. Holcomb, 36. 1860-H. G. Tracy, 2, 3; Jesse Penny, 3, 4; Jas. Broughton, 4; Walter Dewey, 4; R. C. Shelly, 4, 5; George D. Dewey, 5; Collins Bishop, 5; Emily Bishop, 5; James Gaveney, 5; N. D. Comstock, 5, 6, 7; R. L. Robertson, 6; John Gage, 6; Phillip Hartman, 7; Nicholas Meyers, 7, 8; Casper Meyers, 8; Carl Zeller, 17; Frank Zeller, 17; A. B. Bishop, 18; Shelly & Co., 18; A. M. Holcomb, 36; A. C. Matterson, 4.
Township 21, range 9. 1857-Lyman Carpenter, 15; L. F. Griffin, 15; William Johnson, 28; R. Weller, 29. 1859-John Gage, 32; John Busby, 22; Thomas Busby, 22.
Township 22, range 9. 1864-Walter W. Wetmore, 11, 12; Giles Cripps, 12; Lawrence Bautch, 13, 24; Geo. Markham, 24; Chas. Lyne, 25.
Township 23, range 9. 1867-Daniel Borst, 33; Martin Borst, 34. 1868-John Zuza, 23; Daniel Borst, 33; Jeremiah Borst, 33. 1870-Gunn Heaterandett, 4; John Hunter, 19, 28, 30; Elizabeth N. Brooks, 24; John Allen, 24; Lucius M. Seldon, 28; Martin W. Borst, 28, 32, 33, 34; J. W. Borst, 33; O. A. Osgood, 33; Jas. Gaveney, 16.
Township 24, range 9. 1858-Wm. Henry, 10; Wm. Maxwell, 10; Albert Taylor, 11, 14; - Smith, 13, 22; James Chase, 14; Russell Bowers, 14, 23; David R. Chase, 22; Barden Cross, 23; - Wolsterhoon, 24.
Township 18, range 10. 1856-Avery Wellington, 1; Amos Whiting, 1; Seba Atwood, 1, 12; Wm. Y. Burns, 1, 12; Silvester Wellington, 1; B. B. Healy, 1; Lawrence Rooney, 1, 2; Chas. Smith, 12; Jonathan Nash, 2.
Township 19, range 10. 1856-G. W. & John Brewin, 25; B. B. Healy, 25, 36; Jonathan Nash, 36; Edmund Nash, 36; Isaac Nash, 35; Amos Whiting, 36; Jacob Holbrook, 36.
Township 20, range 10. 1859-Sarah McMaster, 1; John Bigham, 1, 2; Caleb Case, 1; John Gleason, 10, 11, 13; Thomas Simpson, 10; Phillip Hartman, 12; J. Kelly, 14; Ludwig Hensel, 14, 23; W. Kickhofer, 14, 23, 24; Milton Tucker, 15; Jas. Bigham, 21; Wm. Harlow, 22; Chas. Olbrecht, 23; R. L. Robertson, 1; Geo. D. Dewey, 1; N. D. Comstock, 2; David Bishop, 2, 10; Wm. Hyde, 2; Aug. Hensel, 3; Wm. Johnson, 9; A. Finkelnburg, 32.
Village of Montoville. 1855-Ira H. Hammond, block 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12; B. F. Heuston, 11, 12; Geo. Gale, 9 .; N. B. Grover, 8; A. M. Brandenburg, 8; Geo. Batchelder, 5, 9; Jas. Reed, 3, 8; B. B. Healy, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. Thos. Marshall, 3; Chas. Utter, 2; Healy & others, 4; Alex McGilvray, 1; John Salsman, 1; Isaac Noyes, 5; Hiley Cameron, 5.
Village of Trempealeau. 1855-B. B. Healy, block 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 ; Moore & Carter, 7, 3; Jas. Harris, 6; Geo. Batchelder, 1, 3, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13; B. I. Stewart, 12; Joshua Rhodes, 12; Chas. Utter, 1, 2, 11, 13; Geo. W. Kenworthy, 9.
CHAPTER IX
COUNTY GOVERNMENT
Trempealeau County was created by the legislature January 24, 1854, and a provision included in the act constituting the board of supervisors of Montoville, the board of supervisors of Trempealeau County until other towns should be created and town officers duly elected therein.1 Conse- quently, on March 11, 1854, the town board of Montoville, sitting as a board of supervisors of Trempealeau County, convened at Trempealeau, with Horace F. Owen as chairman and Isaac Noyes and William Nicholls as the other supervisors, and with Charles Cameron as clerk .? At this meeting the town of Gale was set off, with practically all of the present area of Gale and northward to the county line. The first town election was ordered held at the home of Benjamin F. Heuston, on April 4, following. All of the county not included in Gale remained in Montoville, which thus consti- tuted the present towns of Caledonia and Trempealeau and the west part of the county, north to the county line.
On September 12, 1854, B. F. Heuston was elected county judge, receiving 26 votes in Montoville and 8 in Gale. George Batchelder received 11 in Montoville and 12 in Gale. In November the following county officers were elected : Charles Utter, district attorney ; Ira E. Moore, sheriff ; George H. Smith, clerk of the court; Charles Utter, clerk of the board; A. W. Armstrong, registrar; Hollister Wright, treasurer; George J. Turton, sur- veyor, and William Adams, coroner. There were 44 votes cast, 36 in Monto- ville and 8 in Gale. George H. Smith appointed William M. Young deputy clerk and Hollister Wright made John Nicholls his clerk as deputy county treasurer.3
Gale township having been created and a chairman elected, the new board of county supervisors, consisting of George Batchelder, chairman of Montoville and B. F. Heuston, chairman of Gale, met at Montoville May 1, 1854. George Batchelder was chosen chairman and William M. Young clerk. Charles Utter was appointed county treasurer. Mr. Utter was also appointed to act with the commissioner from Jackson County to lay out roads from Montoville to Black River Falls by way of Trempealeau Valley and Beaver Creek, and one to Douglass Mills, now North Bend, in Jackson County. May 29, 1854, the boundary between Montoville and Gale was slightly readjusted. November 14, 1854, a meeting was held at the home of B. F. Heuston in Gale, but at once adjourned to Montoville. November 20, 1854, John Nicholls was appointed clerk in place of William M. Young, resigned. It would appear that George Batchelder was then looking after the criminal interests of the county, as on November 27, 1854, he was voted $16.50 for the prosecution, guarding and deposition of "Geo. the Murderer."
In the spring of 1855 B. F. Heuston was re-elected chairman of Gale
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HISTORY OF TREMPEALEAU COUNTY
Township and was accordingly continued as a member of the county board. William A. Cram took his seat as the member from Montoville. John Nicholls continued as clerk, being appointed in place of Charles Utter, who did not qualify. During the first two years of county government the board met sometimes at Montoville and sometimes in Gale Township or in Gales- ville. The county officials maintained their offices in their residences or their places of business. June 26, 1856, the clerk of the board was author- ized to have his office at his residence in Montoville, and the sheriff, clerk of court, registrar and treasurer were ordered to file with the clerk a statement of where their headquarters were to be found. The need of a courthouse, however, was apparent, and on June 11, 1855, the board, meeting at the home of William A. Cram, decided that a courthouse should be built at Galesville as soon as possible, and ordered the clerk to prepare plans for the inspection of the public, and to advertise for bids for a building 28 by 36 feet, two stories high. June 28, 1855, Isaac Noyes and Amassa P. Webb, of Montoville, were awarded the contract at $1,000, and the county appropriated $250 for the purchase of material. The work was to be finished on April 28, 1856, but when that date approached it was found that the building would not be completed within the time limit. Lumber had been hard to obtain, and some that had been carted to the site had been stolen. Accordingly, the contractors were awarded damages of $25 and the time extended to July 28.
The first meeting of the board in the new courthouse was held July 23, 1856. B. F. Heuston of Gale was still a member of the board. William Adams succeeded William A. Cram of Trempealeau. In the meantime the town of Preston had been created, November 21, 1855, consisting of all of the county north of the line between Townships 19 and 20, except that part in what is now Ettrick, west of the range line between Ranges 9 and 10; and the first town meeting had been held at the home of Ed. Reynolds, April 1, 1856. The first representative of the town on the county board was Simon S. Rice. John Nicholls continued to serve as clerk of the board. November 11, 1856, the board voted to allow the people of Galesville to use the courtroom as a schoolroom.
In the spring of 1857 the new board consisted of B. F. Heuston of Gale, Simon S. Rice of Preston and William Adams of Trempealeau. The previous board, on November 20, 1856, had created two new townships, Arcadia and Sumner. Sumner consisted of all of Township 24, Ranges 7, 8 and 9. The first town meeting was ordered held at Beef River Station April 7, 1857. Arcadia consisted of all the present town of Arcadia, except the strip in Township 20, range 8, and everything north of the present town- ship to the south line of Township 24. The first town meeting was to be held at home of David Bishop, April 7, 1857. The meeting at David Bishop's was conducted as ordered, but the one at Beef River Station was not held, and the board ordered a meeting for April, 1858. In the fall of 1857 the board consisted of J. R. Penney of Arcadia, A. R. Wyman of Gale, J. B. Dunning of Preston and Sam D. Hastings of Trempealeau. This board created the town of Caledonia, November 11, 1857, and ordered the first town meeting to be held at the home of Alexander McGilvray in April, 1858.
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HISTORY OF TREMPEALEAU COUNTY
The town consisted of all of the present town of Caledonia except the tier of sections in Township 18, Range 9. This action was rescinded March 2, 1858.
November 9, 1858, the board consisted of James M. Barrett of Trem- pealeau, A. R. Wyman of Gale, J. H. Chase of Sumner, in place of William Harmon; A. L. Sherwood of Preston and James Broughton of Arcadia. This board was informed by District Attorney Romanzo Bunn that the action of the board in rescinding the creation of Caledonia was illegal. But the town having failed to organize, a new date, the first Tuesday in March, 1859, was set as the time for the first town meeting. As early as November 13, 1858, the need of an almshouse was felt, and a committee consisting of James M. Barrett, A. L. Sherwood and John Nicholls was appointed to correspond with officials of various counties of the state in regard to methods of caring for the needy in a proper and economical manner. At the February meeting in 1859 W. H. Thomas sat as the member from Sumner. The board authorized the board of trustees of Galesville Uni- versity to use the upper story of the courthouse for classroom purposes for the summer term of 1859 in case the seminary building should not be com- pleted.
At this meeting the people of Trempealeau Village were reprimanded by the board for petitioning the legislature to submit to the voters the question of removing the county seat to that hamlet. The supervisors expressed the opinion that if the county seat were to be removed at all, it should be to some point near the geographical center of the county, and further stated that the agitation of the question at that time would create a great deal of needless trouble, expense and ill feeling.
Six townships being in existence in the fall of 1859, the board consisted of six members : J. T. Holmes of Caledonia, Ben. B. Healy of Trempealeau, Collins Bishop of Arcadia, A. A. Arnold of Gale, Ebenezer Thurston of Preston and W. H. Thomas of Sumner. November 15, 1859, A. P. Ford was appointed county drainage commissioner under the provisions of the general laws of 1858. This board did not authorize any new townships, and the board for 1860 therefore consisted of six members: George D. Dewey of Arcadia, J. T. Holmes of Caledonia, Henry French of Gale, Chester Bost- wick of Preston, William Silkworth of Sumner and James M. Barrett of Trempealeau. November 13, 1860, Chase and Lincoln Townships were created. Chase was to consist of all the present town of Albion and the west half of Unity. The first town meeting was to be held at the home of David Chase in April, 1861. Lincoln was to consist of Townships 22 and 23, Range 8, and Township 23, Range 9. This embraced nearly all of what is now Lincoln, all of what is now Chimney Rock, a small strip of Burnside and the western part of Hale. The first town meeting was to be held at the home of Alvah Wood, the first Tuesday in April.
These townships being duly organized and the election held, the board for 1861 consisted of eight members: George R. Davey, Chase; M. D. Ingalls, Lincoln ; D. C. Dewey, Arcadia; Eben Batchelder, Caledonia; A. A. Arnold, Gale; E. M. Reynolds, Preston; R. C. Fields, Sumner, and Delavan Bunn, Trempealeau.
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HISTORY OF TREMPEALEAU COUNTY
With this board the pre-bellum period came to a close. From one township, in 1854, the county had increased to eight. Settlements were springing up here and there, and farmhouses were dotting the landscape in every direction. Without exception, the members of the board had been men of ability. All had been men from the eastern states, with good district school educations, who had brought with them all the traditions of the New England town meeting, and who fully realized their responsibility as the founders of a future important county. The knowledge that they were laying a foundation for future years is everywhere apparent, and in many of the resolutions is actually expressed. John Nicholls, who was county clerk during this period, was a man of orderly mind, an excellent penman and possessed of considerable legal knowledge, so that the affairs of the county were well conducted and the records kept in an adequate manner. The successive boards had met with many problems. Taxes had to be laid on a people struggling with poverty in a new country, bills had to be paid out of a slender treasury, and every account was pared to its utmost limit, roads had to be laid out along routes which would reach the greatest number of the scattered settlements, bridges had to be constructed to accommodate the travels of the inhabitants of the county, and also to facilitate immigration. Towns had to be created, and the nature of the ridges and valleys made it necessary that frequent changes be made in townships already created, in order that the people who were geographically related might be placed also in convenient political units. Even at this early date there were poor who must be cared for, and the successive boards had been divided in their opinions as to whether this should be done with a township or a county system.
Strangers were constantly passing through the county, and many of these travelers were of an unsavory character. Unidentified bodies of murdered men were frequently found along the highways, and corpses were often washed up at Trempealeau, a mute testimony to the grim sternness of life on the Mississippi in those early days. The expense of disposing of these bodies had to be met by the appropriations of the county board.
Struggling as they were, with pioneer conditions, many of the settlers were unable to pay their taxes, claims were frequently deserted by restless pioneers who found it more convenient to seek their fortunes further than to meet their obligations here, and the problem of disposing of unredeemed tax titles was constantly before the board. The question of drainage was also an important one and was frequently considered.
But these farmers met all thése situations with clear brains and good common sense, and the affairs of the county were in a satisfactory condition at the close of this period in its history.
The new system of county government in Wisconsin went into effect January 1, 1862, and it was under this system that Trempealeau County underwent the great stress of the Civil War. The new board convened January 13, 1862, George Batchelder of Trempealeau representing the First District, A. R. Wyman of Galesville the Second and Henry Lake of Preston the Third. Batchelder had served on the first county board in 1854. Wyman had served in 1857 and 1858. Lake was a pioneer who had
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HISTORY OF TREMPEALEAU COUNTY
settled at the mouth of Lake Cooley in Preston Township and had already become prominent in township affairs. This board had to defend the exist- ence of Trempealeau County as a county. At its first meeting William A. Cram, the sheriff, reported to the board that he had been summoned before the Superior Court of Wisconsin to show cause why he had illegally per- formed the duties of sheriff in certain townships, George F. Haswell, repre- senting Buffalo County, alleging that Trempealeau County had been illegally created, and that a larger part of its townships were therefore still a part of Buffalo County. The board placed the matter in the hands of George Gale, through whose efforts the county was created, and in due time the organization of the county was confirmed by the Supreme Court.‘
The Civil War occupied the attention of the board for the next few years. Fortunately, during these years a considerable sum was realized from the sale of tax titles, and in spite of the numerous bounties paid to war volunteers, the financial standing of the county was not impaired. November 12, 1862, the county board voted to raise $3,000 as a part of the general tax fund, for a Soldiers' Bounty Fund, for soldiers from this county, and their families. December 16, 1862, it was decided to pay $4 a month for seven months to the wives and families of all non-commissioned officers, musicians and privates enlisting from this county. At the Decem- ber meeting the first bounties were voted. With this beginning, the board continued to grant $4 a month to families of volunteers throughout the war.
An ambrotype of the company of volunteers raised in Trempealeau County having been taken, the board on December 20, 1862, voted to present the picture to Galesville University.
Ettrick was created on December 16, 1862, and the first town meeting called for April 7, 1863, at the home of John Cance, in Section 36, Township 20, Range 8. This made nine townships in the county.
The board for 1863 was the same as the previous year. War-time problems increased. The bounty of $4 a month to families of volunteers was continued. November 10, 1863, it was voted to pay a bounty to each volunteer (or heirs) who had enlisted in the military service of the United States from this county during the Rebellion, and who should die in service or be honorably discharged. Later it was determined that in case the monthly bounty had been paid, that the amount of the monthly bounty should be deducted from the enlistment bounty. The first to receive this enlistment bounty was F. J. Miller, honorably discharged from the First Wisconsin Battery.
The unemotional records, with their lists of bounties paid to the rela- tives of those who died in battle, give to present generations a glimpse of the stress and tragedy of those days.
While the young men were fighting for the preservation of the Union at the front, those at home were gradually increasing the agricultural acre- age of the county. The board, realizing the importance of raising sufficient food, and appreciating the vital part played in the war by the farms, voted on December 23, 1863, to contribute $50 to the work of the Trempealeau County Agricultural Society.
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HISTORY OF TREMPEALEAU COUNTY
Burnside was created as a township December 29, 1863. It consisted of Townships 22 and 23, Range 9, the west half of Township 23, Range 8, and Sections 4, 5, 6, in Township 22, Range 8. This embraced all of what is now Burnside, except the little strip in Township 22, Range 8, all of Chim- ney Rock, all that is now Hale west of the line that equally divides Range 8, and a small tract that is now the southwest corner of Lincoln. The first meeting was to be held in April, 1864, at the home of Giles Cripps.
The board for 1864 consisted of E. Wilcox from the First District, Alex McGilvray from the Second District, and W. H. Thomas from the Third District. February 3 this board created Hale Township, embracing practi- cally the entire present township of that name, with the exception of some slight variations along the northwestern line of Pigeon Township. The first town meeting was to be held in April, 1865, at the home of D. S. Watson, Section 24, Township 23, Range 8. The bounty question continued to be a problem. At the time of the recruiting of Company C, Thirtieth Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, it had been generally understood throughout the county that every volunteer was to receive a bounty of $50. At the first meeting in 1864 the board therefore determined that the finances of the county were such as to justify a payment on account of $25 to all who had not already received that amount, either in person or through their families. The families that had received money in monthly payments amounting in all to less than $25 could receive the balance in cash, or request to have their $4 a month continued. Later in the year it was decided that widows of certain deceased volunteers should receive a monthly bounty of $4, just the same as though their husbands were still alive and serving at the front. November 15, 1865, 115 bounty claims were adjusted. It was during the administration of this board that the organization of the township of Chase was vacated, and the territory added to Sumner. The same board served in 1865, A. R. Wyman succeeding John Nicholls as clerk.
George Dewey from the First District, George H. Smith from the Second, and Edward F. Wade from the Third, constituted the board for 1866. This board attempted to construct a jail. Crime was increasing with the growth in population and the augmentation of travel, and the cost of remov- ing prisoners to the jail at La Crosse was a serious drain on the county's resources. November 15, 1866, it was therefore voted to raise $1,500 for the erection of a jail at Galesville.
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