USA > Wisconsin > Vernon County > History of Vernon County, Wisconsin, together with sketches of its towns, villages and townships, educational, civil, military and political history; portraits of prominent persons, and biographies of representative citizens > Part 42
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Poor Drake was found in Dr. Weeden's field, some three or four rods beyond where my wife was found. His head was terribly bruised and he lay as lifeless, apparently, as a corpse. Ile lived, however, until the eighth day after he was hurt, but I always understood that he passed away without ever giving a single sign of life. lle was taken to Tate's Hall, where so many other wounded and dead were taken. His aged father and mother lived on the second block west from me, and were both killed.
I learned from those who first reached the ruins of my place, that my little boy, Arthur,
was thrown into the cellar, where he was so com- pletely covered with the debris of the storm, that the people who were looking around could not see him. Some of his playmates finally came along, and as he looked up through the rubbish and saw them, he called to them. Men were then called and he was taken out.
There are a great many incidents connected, not only with the destruction of my home, but with the destruction of the finest portion of Viroqua, as it stood on the morning of the 28th day of June, 1865, and before the tornado struck it, that possess a sad, yet sacred interest to me, but it will not be proper for me to allude to them here.
The whole face of that portion of the village that was swept by the tornado was changed. Every well known landmark was gone. The familiar things that I had looked on every day were blotted out of existence. The fond care, the hopeful toil, the pleasant labors of years, vanished in a moment, and all that was left was memory. The track of the storm looked as though it had been the deep bed of a water course, for ages, from which the water had been suddenly drawn, leaving nothing pleasant for the eye to look on. Every where was cold, silent, gray ruin and desolation. Every green thing was gone from garden and from door yard, and dry, hard, scorched earth, alone remained. The ruins seem to be all plastered over with mud,and the scene of the ruins was most dread- ful and appalling.
XI .- A. L. RUSSELL'S STATEMENT.
I came from Sparta the day on which the disaster occurred. I noticed several times that it threatened rain before I arrived home. I reached my house about half past 3 o'clock. About that time there appeared to be a heavy shower gathering in the northwest and south- west. The clouds in the northwest had a white look, as if the sun was shining on them, but those in the southwest were intensely black- blaek as ink.
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HISTORY OF VERNON COUNTY.
When I came home (I had my wife with me) I left her at the house and I went to put out my horse. When I got back to the house it was unusually calm ; there did not seem to be any air stirring at all. The two storms seemed at this time to have come together in the west ; there was a great deal of thunder and lightning. My wife was standing in the door and called my attention to the whirling appearance of the clouds.
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About that time the wind commenced to blow hard from the east ; then, in a moment, it changed to the west. We were both in the house looking out at the west door. The storm seemed now to be approaching very rapidly ; every thing seemed to be lapped up as it came on. My wife suggested that we had better go out doors. I told her to wait a moment, to see which way the storm was going. I then told her there was nothing that could stand before that storm ; that she should get her heaviest shawl and that we go across the road to a
thicket. My house was in the extreme west end of the town.
We had barely reached the brush when the storm was upon us. We came near being eanght by a tree falling on us. We both then knelt down in the brush as close to the ground as we could get. By that time the wind blew so hard that the brush was all blown flat to the ground. We just got sight of the house as it was struck by the tornado. It was sucked right up into the clouds with a whirling motion ; but almost instantly it was total darkness. There was nothing to be seen but small balls of fire, which seemed about the size of a hen's egg. It was only a few seconds before it passed by.
Both my wife and I were badly hurt ; my wife soon became unconscious after getting her to a neighbor's house ; one of her wrists was fractured ; she has never got the full use of it since. I soon followed out on the track of the tornado, and the sight was appalling !
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HISTORY OF VERNON COUNTY.
CHAPTER XXV.
PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
There have been printed at different periods historical sketches of a part or of the whole of the county. These are reproduced in this chapter because of their value for comparison, as show- ing the changes which have taken place in the county, and its increase.
I. FROM THE WESTERN TIMES, SEPT. 6, 1856.
The fall emigration has commenced coming in, and new houses and other buildings are going up in all parts of the county. New vil- lages are springing up and new roads are being laid and worked. The crops, already harvested, are good. The corn erop, although much of it was put in late, will not be below an average erop. Potatoes are excellent and very abundant. In short, Bad Ax county is going forward in fine style with every description of improve- ments. The Messrs. Gilletts' and Mr. Goode's steam mills will make lumber more plentiful for building.
Land in this county, generally, we think, is very cheap, comparing the quality and con- venience to good markets, with other counties. And there is just as good land as ever a plow was used in, to be pre-empted yet, in the county, or entered as soon as the land office opens. And mechanics who wish to obtain good homes and plenty of business cannot do better than come to Bad Ax county. In Viroqua there are the very best kind of openings for a large car- riage shop, a jeweller's shop, a tailor's shop, a harness shop, a bakery, a machine shop and foundry, and many others.
And in Viroqua and vicinity are excellent locations for a paper mill ; dozens of good
locations for water and steam power of every description, and plenty of timber. Numerous springs are scattered over the county, from which flows, bright and sparkling, through trout brooks, plentiful supplies of the "nectar that Jupiter sips." On the ridge, where wells have to be dug, the water is generally obtained at less than forty feet on an average, and un- failing water has been obtained near this place (Viroqua), on top of a ridge, at a depth of twelve feet only.
Now is the time for those who wish to get good homes cheap, to obtain them in just as good a conntry as there is in the wide world.
Il .- BY GEORGE GALE, 1860 .*
Bad Ax county, notwithstanding its uncouth name, is an excellent county of land. The most part of the county along the Mississippi river is quite broken, being eut up by many large and small streams that flow west into the Mississippi, but the central part rises on to the high table prairie, and is now covered with fine farms under a good state of cultivation .. The eastern part of the county, including the Kickapoo val- ley, is covered with heavy hardwood timber. There is no poor soil in the county. The bluffs on the Mississippi and the heavy timber of the Kickapoo, are equally as rich in soil as the high prairie of the central portion, but it is not as thickly inhabited. The origin of the name of the county I will here give you as I obtained it from an Indian trader and sutler in the army, nine years ago.
* From the Galesville Transcript. The errors in this ac- count by Mir. Gale will be sufficiently apparent to the reader from what has been said in previous chapters. . We have not, therefore, attempted to correct them.
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HISTORY OF VERNON COUNTY
The Winnebago Indians at an early time, at- tempted to manufacture axes and arrow heads out of the rocks near the mouth of Bad Ax river, but the rock being too soft the articles manufactured proved to be worthless. From that time the Indians applied the name of Bad Ax to the bluff, and also the river or creek near the point. The Winnebagoes called the creek Mar-she-rah-she-shiek Ne-shun-ugh-arah, which literally signifies Ax bad little river. Notoriety was given to the name by the battle that was fought with the Sacs and Foxes by the United States army in 1832, two miles below the month of the Bad Ax creek. To perpetuate the memory of the battle, the State Legislature, at the organization of the county in 1851 applied to it the name of Bad Ax, with the Webster spelling, Ax, without a terminating letter-e of some authors.
The village sites of Bad Ax city, Victory, DeSoto, and some other points on the Missis- sippi river, had, for many years before the organization of the county, been occupied by Canadian Indian traders, who for many years were supplied with goods by Col. Dousman, agent of the American Fur Company, but as their residence was temporary, they are not generally recognized as the first permanent set- tlers of the county. The last of these traders who occupied these points at the ingress of the American population, was John Verdon, (called Battise), at Bad Ax city ; Mr. Patwell, at Vic- tory, and John Roberts, at DeSoto ; none of which are now residing in the county.
The first permanent American settlers, were Hiram Rice, Samuel Rice and John McCullock, who settled on Round Prairie, at what is now Liberty Pole, in the town of Bad Ax, in the summer of 1843. In the year 1846 their num- her was increased by the addition of John Gra- ham, Thos. J. DeFrees, Jacob, Johnson, John Harrison, Dr. Tinker and William C. Mc- Michael. In 1847 Moses Decker settled the present site of Viroqua, and in 1848 John War- ner settled at Warner's Landing. In 1847 and
and the following years new settlers came in rapidly and now Bad Ax county contains a more numerous population than any county north of the Wisconsin river, excepting only, the county of La Crosse. The county is well watered by the Bad Ax and Coon rivers, run- ning west into the Mississippi and the Kicka- poo, running south through the whole county having its source in the county of Monroe.
The new county was organized by an act of the Legislature approved March 1st, 1851, and the first election for county officers was held on the first Tuesday of April of that year. At that election, Thomas J. DeFrees was elected county judge, Lorenzo A. Pierce, dis- triet attorney, William C. McMichael register of deeds, and Orrin Wisel, clerk of the court.
The first term of the circuit court, Hon. Wi- ram Knowlton, presiding, was held in the old log school house at Viroqua, on the third Mon- day in May, 1851. The second term of the court was held on the fourth Monday of Novem- ber of the same year, at the same place, and by the same judge, at which latter term the writer attended as an attorney from La Crosse. This term beat the West for its rich scenes, many of which were so supremely ridiculous, that by common consent they never got into the papers. I doubt if any one will ever have the temerity to reduce them to writing.
The present county officers are Hon. J. E. Newell, county judge; C. M. Batt, Esq., district attorney ; William S. Purdy, clerk of the court; William H. Goode, sheriff ; J. M. Bennett, clerk of the board of supervisors ; James Low- rie, treasurer ; D. P. Allison, register, and Charles Pitcher, coroner. They are all very efficient officers, and are creditable to the county. At the general election last fall, Wil- liam C. McMichael was elected to the Assembly from the district composed of the counties of Crawford and Bad Ax, and made an influential member of that body. Mr. McMichael has held some of the county offices nearly all the time since the organization of the county, and con-
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HISTORY OF VERNON COUNTY.
tinnes to occupy a high position in the esteem of the inhabitants of that county.
The old log court house has now given place to a large commodious two story frame building, being the largest court honse in the sixth judi- cial district.
VIROQUA.
The land on which this village was laid ont, was first settled npon and improved by Moses Decker, in the fall of 1847. The name was de- rived from the name of a young squaw found in a novel, but had no reference to any of the ab- origines of this region of country. It was first laid out into village lots the 3d of Sept. 1852. A county addition was laid out the 13th of May, 1853.
Under the act of the 1st of March, 1851, the board of supervisors established the county seat at Viroqua, and subsequently, the question hav- ing been submitted to a vote of the electors of the whole county, this village was retained as the permanent capital of the county.
The village is located on the southeast quar- ter of section 31, and the southwest quarter of section 32, in township number 13, of range 4 west of the 4th principal meridian. Itis distant thirty-six miles sontheast from La Crosse, forty- seven miles northeast of Prairie dn Chien and twenty miles east of the Mississippi river. It is situated in a pleasant grove nearly surround- ed by prairies and upon high rolling land. As a healthy location it cannot be easily exceeded in the western country.
The village now contains a court house, jail, one bank, one postoffice, four dry goods and grocery stores, two blacksmith shops, two wagon shops, one cabinet shop, one steam grist mill, one school house, two churches, one harness shop, one boot and shoe shop, two hotels, one tailor, and several carpenter shops, five practic- ing lawyers, and two physicians, and a popula- tion of about 700 inhabitants. No spiritnous liquors sold in town.
DE SOTO.
This village is named after the distinguished discoverer of the Mississippi river, and is loca-
ted principally on section 15, township 11, range 7 west, on the east bank of the Father of Waters. The village is divided into the upper and lower town, the latter of which is in Crawford county. The original owners of the soil in the lower town were Joseph and Michael Godfrey, Canadian French, who sold out in 1855 to Gustavns Cheney, who purchased it for the Boston Company. That company have now a store, grist mill, boarding house, and the best and most extensive steam saw mill I have noticed on the Mississippi river. It is run with three engines, and besides many sin- gle saws, it has two gangs of twenty saws each.
E. B. Houghton, Dr. Osgood and Dr. Powers purchased the upper town in 1854 and moved there in 1855. Dr. Osgood put up the first frame building in the spring of 1855. Dr. Houghton put up the second house very soon after-the same spring. The village was laid out in the summer of 1855, by Dr. E. B. Hough- ton as its proprietor. The upper town of De- Soto proper, contains two stores, two warehouses, postoffice, one steam saw mill, one three-story public house, called the Bay State House, kept by Mr. C. II. Allen, and a few shops. The land- ing on the Mississippi is good.
This town has been the river deposit of a large amount of wheat for shipment during the past winter and does considerable business with the south part of Bad Ax and north part of Crawford. It was originally called Winneshiek, after the Indian Chief of that name who died at Lansing Iowa about 1848. The population of the whole village is about 500 inhabitants.
VICTORY.
This village is situated five miles above De- Soto, on the Mississippi river, and received its name from the victory which was obtained over the Indians at the battle of Bad Ax, which was fought only a mile below the village. Ira Ste- vens originally pre-empted the land in 1849, and entered it in 1860. He sold out part of his in- terest to Hon. William F. Terhune, John Ca-
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HISTORY OF VERNON COUNTY.
vana and H. M. McAuley, who laid out a small village plat July 21st, 1852.
George Gale, then of La Crosse, in the spring of 1853 purchased 105 acres of government land on the north side of the present village plat but sold it in 1854. for $1,000 cash, to Hon. John A. Rockwell, of Connecticut, who is the present proprietor thereof. The plat is located on the southeast quarter of section 28 township 1%, range 7 west.
The village has an excellent landing on the Mississippi, a postoffice, one store, one hotel, one blacksmith shop, one shoe shop, one school house and does considerable business as a ship- ping point of grain. It contains about 300 inhab- itants. Judge Berry is now the principal pro- prietor.
Bad Ax City, located on section 28, township. 13, range 7 ; Britt's Landing, on section 9, town- ship 13, range 7; and Warner's Landing on section 4, township 13, range 7; all contain good landings on the Mississippi, and are point, of some business with the back country.
Newton, located on the northwest quarter of section 23, township 13, range 6, is situated on the Bad Ax river, about nine miles from the Mississippi. It has mills, postoffice and hotel.
SPRINGVILLE.
The village was laid out in 1847, by John Graham, the proprietor. It derives it name from an enormous spring of water that comes out of the hill at that point. The water of the spring, alone, runs a grist mill a few rods be- low. This is a delightful little village of about 400 inhabitants, with the usual number of stores, shops, hotels, etc. Hon. James R. Savage is postmaster, and one of the principal proprie- tors, at this time, of the village.
The eastern part of Bad Ax county contains several villages of some importance, but your correspondent does not possess sufficient data to give them a proper notice at this time. The whole county is now rapidly recovering from the embarrassment of the hard times, and at no
distant day it will become one of the largest populated counties of the State. .
III .- FROM THE MILWAUKEE SENTINEL, NOV. 1860.
[The writer names the county Minnesheik. ]
Minnesheik ( Bad Ax) county lies on the Mississippi river, between the counties of La Crosse and Crawford, and also midway between the La Crosse and Milwaukee and Mississippi railroads. It comprises about twenty-seven townships of land, being over half a million of acres, a much larger area than either the counties of Rock or Walworth, and believe me, it contains just as good land as lies out of doors in the State of Wisconsin. I am well aware that, in saying this, I am saying a good deal, and many will think it hard to believe.
I have seen something of the counties of Dane, Rock, Walworth, Dodge and others of the many "garden spots" in good old Wiscon- sin ; but, after all, there is not a county in the State that contains any better land than Minne- sheik ( Bad Ax). Probably one-third of this is prairie, fine, rolling prairie, the soil being a rich clayey vegetable mold. Another portion, say one-third, is oak-openings and ridges covered with oak under-growth or " grubs." In many places farms have been opened up, and the cultivation of the soil reveals to us a clayey loam, well adapted to wheat; and on these broad ridges wheat does remarkably well.
The balance of the land in this county is timbered, and that pretty heavily. This is an advantage, as the timber is needed in other portions. The soil in the timber country is a rich clay loam, thoroughly impregnated with vegetable mold. When cleared of its timber, it produces as fine wheat, corn, potatoes, etc., as can be raised. The roots of the trees run deep, allowing of the plow being run close to the stumps.
The recent ( Federal ) census developes a heavier population than had been anticipated, the number being about 11,000 (11,007). Five years ago the counties of La Crosse and Bad Ax had each a little over 4,000 people (Bad Ax,
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HISTORY OF VERNON COUNTY.
4,823). Now, the former has 13,500 and the latter 11,500. Considering the absence of large towns, railroads, etc., coupled with its bad name, I think Bad Ax, or Minnesheik, has done well. Large portions of the inhabitants are from Ohio and the New England States, though in some parts there is a good sprinkling of Nor- wegians.
The great crop now is wheat, though the raising of stock is being taken hold of. There is not a finer region in the world for mixed husbandry ; grain, cattle, horses, hogs and sheep, cannot do otherwise than well here ; and I will venture the opinion that the hill sides and northern slopes of this county will yet become noted for their fruit, as well as for their sheep and cattle. The fine corn raised, of course, will tell you that before long pork will form a leading article of export.
For the year 1860 the surplus wheat of this county must amount to not less than 1.000,000 bushels. By some, it is estimated at a much higher figure. How to get rid of this is the main question now. Go in what direction you will, it takes from thirty-five to fifty miles of teaming to get to markets. The people, in thinking of this, are led to inquire if their condition cannot be bettered. They ask "why cannot we have railroad facilities ?" Their homes are between what is to be the terminus of Minnesota's railroad system at La Crosse, and the roads at the southeast. The people begin to see that it will be of some advantage to them to have a railroad from La Crosse to a favorable point of junction on the Milwaukee & Mississippi Railroad. They see that such a road would not only give them an outlet south- eastwardly for their produce, but that it would carry through their county a large stream of travel, and that thus their many advantages wonhl become known to the world about them ; their property would become enhanced in value and their position be one of importance in the State.
If Minnesheik county will be but true to herself, she can soon rank second to no county in point of wealth and population (I except, of course, Milwaukee), for she has elements within her limits to make her such, if she will but develope them ; and I believe if she will take the initiatory steps, capital will be induced to take hold and help her. She must, however, show others that she has confidence in herself.
There is, in Minnesheik county, an abun- dance of water power, which, taken in connec- tion with its fine timber, will give it a front rank as a locality favorable to manufactures of whatever nature, as well as for the purpose of flouring her vast crop of wheat.
Being on the highway between important systems of railway, a liberal charter for a rail- road was procured nearly two years ago. A company has been organized under this charter, which now proposes to survey the road and prosecute the work of its construction. It was proposed at first to build the southern half of the road from Viroqua to some point on the Milwaukee & Mississippi Railroad at or near Muscoda. This road constructed will provea very important feeder to the Milwaukee & Mississippi Railroad, giving it the business which now goes down the Mississippi or over the La Crosse road.
Will not the Milwaukee & Mississippi Rail- road interests see their interests in this matter and help in this work ? If some ontside help were to be furnished it is believed the counties of Richland and Minnesheik (Bad Ax) will take hold manfully and help to push the road along. That this road will ultimately be constructed there is but little doubt. The country throngh which it is to pass, needs it. Can Milwaukee help secure this trade to herself ? Will she do it ? Or, shall it be left to Chicago to furnish the necessary capital to develope this country, and thus, by affinity, secure this business to her- self ? These are matters worthy of the earnest consideration of the business men of Milwaukee,
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HISTORY OF VERNON COUNTY.
IV .- BY DR. LANSING, IN LANSING CHRONICLE FEB. 1869.
Viroqua, the county seat of Vernon Co., Wis., is pleasantly situated in the geographical cen- ter of the county, near the head waters of the Bad Ax and Kickapoo rivers. The nearest shipping points on the Mississippi river are De Soto and Victory, thirty miles west. The loca- tion is about equal distances from La Crosse, Sparta and Boscobel. The town is beautifully located at a point where the timber handsomely opens into prairie on either side, as if designed by the creator for a thriving, healthy and popu- lous city. The private dwellings are mostly very neat and tasty in design, and would not discredit the taste of places of much larger pretensions.
A fine public school building has been erected, large and commodions, possessing architectural beauty and attractions. Two very fine church edifices, with lofty spires, convince the stranger that a high sense of moral feeling pervades the community. The only thing that mars the beauty of the place is the court house. Nothing inspires an attractive feeling or an appreciation of the public spirit of a town more than the beauty and taste displayed in her public build- ings. But we are sorry to say in this the Viro- quians are somewhat deficient as can easily be tested by a look at the present court house and hall of justice.
The Vernon County Censor, a lively, first-class paper, edited by Priest & Nelson, is printed here, and we are pleased to note its usefulness and general circulation. Judge Terhune and Judge Graham are among the first lawyers of the place, and are looked upon as possessing legal talent not inferior to any in the State. Among her mercantile establishments we find J. Ilenry Tate, who, for the past few years has been do- ing a fine business; but hops and other specula- tions compelled him to go into bankruptcy. By the assistance of friends he has again com- menced business, and hopes in a few years to regain what he has lost.
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