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 53
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No more o'er these bluffs Shall thou roam with delight, Nor chase the wild deer With fleet step and light. Nor 'round the great council fire Recline at thine ease,
Nor smoke with thy kindred The calumet of peace.
No more shall thou fish In this bright, silver stream, No more shall the blade Of the tomahawk gleam; No more shall thine arrow The water-fowl cleave;
At the hidding of white men. All these thou must leave.
Oh! sad Winnebago, We grieve for thy fate, Thy wrongs by the white man Hath earned them thy hate. May the spirit thou worship Yet grant unto thee A portion with braves And home with the free.
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HISTORY OF VERNON COUNTY.
In the following poetical contribution to the ('ensor of Dec. 20, 1865, the enmulative meas- ures are striking, and the poetic images decidedly above mediocrity. It is anonymous and is entitled
SUNSHINE IN WINTER.
Sweet is the sunshine, The golden sunshine, When in the winter time, The cold winter time, Through long dreary days, Earth's dreary days,
Storm clouds on storm clouds- Such dark storm clouds- Have thickly veiled the sky, Veiled the whole sky.
Oh!it bursts gloriously, Most gloriously,
On our glad vision, Ravish'd vision,
Like a pure angel, A wing'd angel.
From Heaven's clear blue The sapphire blue,
The deep, deep blue above, Arched blue above!
It strikes on our heart-strings, Onr chil'd heart-string,
As the last zephyr, Eve's last zephyr.
Smites the silk cord, The silken cord,
Of alone, lone harp. A lost, lost harp,
Found among the flowers, Earth's sweet flowers.
And oh, the charming music, The soul's own music,
That laughs upon the air, The wintry air,
When the sweet sunshine, The charming sunshine,
Breaks from the storm clouds, Wrathful storm clouds, And floods the whole world, The whole, whole world!
Who in Vernon county does not know Wm. F. Terhune, one of the oldest of its lawyer and citizens? Few would suspect from his matter- of-fact way of talking that his thoughts ever
ran in a poetic groove; yet, he has published a number of fugitive pieces, of which he may well be proud. We select from the Vernon county Censor of April 21, 1874,
A WISHI.
When summer's sun pours down its ardent rays, And nature withers 'neath their scorching blaze,- See, 'mid the landscape, yonder crystal stream Glide on its way toward the deep ravine, Calm o'er their pebbled bed the waters go, No eddying ripples agitate their flow; While peaceful murmuring as they glide along, They blend with birds in sweet harmonious song; On each fair bank a fresher verdure blooms. There, sweetest flowers breathe their rich perfumes, Sunbeams, reflected from the surface gleam, And shimmering dance in gladness o'er the stream. Trace its bright course along the meadow's side, And breathe delicious coolness from its tide; Mark how the herds the crystal liquid lave, While verdure springs luxuriant near the wave; Gentle and calm, its lifc-diffusing flow Spreads soft enchantment through the vale below. So, do I wish with me would ever glide, 'Mid haunts of peace, life' fast descending tide, So, might it move in an unruffled stream,
Where blessings linger and enchantments gleam; So, might its waves, with lustred virtues shine, Reflecting brightness from their source divine; So, on its banks perennial flowers fair, Of worth and goodness bloom forever there; So, might it flow, my fellow men to bless With light and joy and increased happiness.
By far the most prolific of Vernon county pocts is the Rev. William Haughton. His contributions, at home and abroad, to varions papers, have been numerous. He is, indeed, a true poet. He has an exhuberance of fancy, and his style is picturesque and attrac- tive. He paints a pen-picture with a masterly hand. He has published a collection of his poems, entitled, "Sylvicola, or, Songs from the Backwoods." The book is a beautiful speci- men of the printer's art. It was published in 1878 at Viroqua, by Henry Casson, Jr.
The author's preface is brief and we give it entire:
PREFACE.
"I know not what may be the fate of this little book. 1 make no appeal to the hearts or
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HISTORY OF VERNON COUNTY.
sympathies of a kind public, well knowing that it must stand or fall on its own merits or demerits alone.
"I have been solicited to collect in book form the fugitive pieces already published in the local papers, and I have done so without taking time to correct faults. Many of these pieces were written in carly boyhood and published in the Canadian papers under the nom de plume 'Sylvicola.' So sweet is the impression left on my heart of their reception, that I have given as the title of my little book a name still dear to me. May these songs-faulty as they are-bring to your heart a tithe of the joy they have given mine.
WILLIAM HAUGHTON.
Viroqna, Wis., 1878."
From "Sylvicola," we select the following as a fair average of the whole:
'TWAS ONLY A SHELL.
'Twas only a shell by the river-side- A tiny and delicate shell; But'twas kissed by the lips of the tinted tide, As it slept where the pearly waters hide, And the sunbeam loved it well.
But alas for the gem with the delicate dye, 'Twas crushed by the foot of a passer-by; No more will it blush to the tinted wave In its sauded bed by the whispering cave.
'Twas only a flower by the streamlet's brim, And it grew in the valley deep; But 'twas kissed by the dews when the day grew dim In the melting fall of the robin's hymn, And the night wind sang it to sleep. But alas for the gem with its violet dye!
'Twas plucked by the hand of a passer by; No more will it blush to the tinted tide In its grassy bed by the streamlet's side.
'Twas only the heart of a lowly one -- A heart that was tender and true, So little were left when its trust was gone, Yet sweet was the hope that it leaned upon. And strong was the love that it knew. But alas for its life! On a cruel day A shadow fell and it withered away: 'Twas a faithless love-'twas a trust betrayed, And the broken heart of a lowly maid.
O red-lipped shell by the sanded cave! O violet gem by the tinted wave! O trusting heart of a lowly one! Away and away from my dreams you've gone.
Sad types, when the spoiler's hand is nigh, Or the careless foot of a passer by.
JOHN BROWN. [WRITTEN IN 1860.] Wail for the hero gone, O slave! Wail for the hero gone! Like a rock which the tempest breaks upon He stood, while the might of his heart alone Beat back the giant wave.
Weep for the hero dead, O slave! Weep for the hero dead ! Sublime was the dream for which he bled. Be a martyr's crown on the hoary head Asleep in a felon's grave.
Mourn for the hero lost, O slave! Mourn for the hero lost!
By that awful line in the landmark crossed Will freedom rise where the gage is tossed To burst thy bonds and saye!
Wake for the bold heart hushed, O song! Wake for the bold heart hushed, For the victim's blood that nobly gushed, For the captive wounded, chained and crushed, For a people's shame and wrong!
SUMMER SONG.
The breathing balm, the soft perfume Of beauty bursting into bloom ; The dewy morn, the starry night, The blending waves of shadowy light ; The clond of everchanging hue, The tranquil heavens so deeply blue, The blushing buds upon the spray- These are thy gifts, O, Summer day !
Sweet Spring, iu all her glory dressed- Young Summer leaning on her breast, Crowned with a wreath of opening flowers, Fanned by the breath of southern bowers ; The birds' wild carol from the bough, The haze upon the mountain's brow, The peace, the joy, the flooding light Thrill the rapt heart and charm the sight.
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HISTORYOF VERNON COUNTY.
What hand but thine, O, thou Supreme ! Could paint the sunbeam on that stream ? Could give the pearly dew its light, Or flood with gems the starry night ? Conld wake the myriad joys that throng In breeze or bower, or wild bird's song, More rapturous than a seraph's dream ? What hand but thine, O thou Supreme ?
Thou eomest in the rushing storm, When terrors robe thine awful form ; When quivering lightnings round thee meet And thunder crouches at thy feet ; When at thy beck wild tempests sweep And shriek along the howling deep, And the mad waves in terror rise, Their white lips pleading with the skies.
Less glorious, but how fair, art thou, When robed and crowned as thou art now; Not the wild anthem of the storm, Nor pitchy darkness round thy form, But light and joy and peace serene, - The heavens so blue, the earth so green. What hand but thine, O thou Supreme ! Could paint that flower or gild that stream !
He loves not heaven who loves not thee, O wealth of Summer scenery ! From whose cold breast no echoes start Responsive to thine own full heart. To me, that land where angels throng Is rich with verdure and with song, And every dream of heaven is bright With earth's dear love, its life and light.
William Clawater, of the town of Franklin, a member of the 6th Wisconsin in the Iron Brigade of the late war, has written (and is still writing,) some creditable poetry. The fol- lowing is especially to be commended :
MOUNT RENO.
'Tis morn, the night wind seems whispering rest, Hills dotting the valley,with borders of green. Huge frowning eliff's guard the gates to the west, Dark shadows o'erlapping the valleys between.
Bright rose the sun on that calm Sabbath morn, On South Mountain's top shimmering light,
By the farm-house and cottage green waved the corn, Where Hooker was resting the right.
On the left stood a gray, hoary giant, Battle-scarred by the storms and by time ;
Beneath its dark shade, rock-girt and defiant, Lay a path where the bravest might climb.
At its base lies a cordon that's deep, Rent banners inseribed "Gaines' Mill ;" No braver men, living or asleep, Than bore them at Malvern Hill.
Up from each flank moved the line, Their arms at a right shoulder shift, The center stands still as the pine, That covered the mountain and rift.
In the center's a deep yawning grave, Where Nature seems holding her breath, Palor whitens the cheek of the brave, As the eye scans this valley of death.
There's a deep wave of blood on the heart ; Describe it ?- it cannot be told ; Slow, aye, and worthless the peneil of art, Were it lightning aud letters of gold !
Now this death-chilling silence is o'er, Dark the cloud that foreshadows the hail,
The fierce storm that bursts with a roar, The rocks echo back on the gale.
The iron line rush to the charge, Bragg, Fairchild, and Gibbon are breasting the shell, No braver line trusting in steel, Than surged up that valley of hell.
Now, high above the roar of the guns, Piercing wave, 'tis the Southerners' yell Falling chill on the hearts of our sons, For it tells when the brave Reno fell.
The dark, gray rocks are now crimsoned with blood, Locked banners trail their folds o'er the dead ; Ehbing tides of the heart swell the flood, And each throb dye's the green heather red.
Darkens the mountain with Northern blue, Roll the Rebel gray like a fast-ebbing tide, Their darkened crime and their falser dream, Mingle earth and blood on the mountain's sit e.
With the dark blue lines came the flashing steel, Planting stars and stripes on the crown, And the haughty chivalry backward reel, The stars and bars with the sun go down.
Setting sun, 'twas thy last fading ray, That painted death's shade at the sever ; Round its brow twines the laurel and bay, And Mount Reno is famous forever !
HISTORY OF VERNON COUNTY.
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CHAPTER XXVIII.
THE SCHOOLS OF VERNON COUNTY.
From the time of the earliest advent of the families of French traders into the region now known as Wisconsin, to the year 1818, when that region became part of Michigan territory, education was mostly confined to private in- struction, or was sought by the children of the wealthier in the distant cities of Quebec, Mon- treal and Detroit. The carly Jesuit mission- aries, and-subsequently to 1816, when it came under the military control of the United States -representatives of various other religious de- nominations sought to teach the Indian tribes of this section. In 1823 Rev. Eleazar Williams, well known for his subsequent claim to be the Dauphin of France, and who was in the employ of the Episcopal Missionary Society, started a school of white and half-breed children on the west side of Fox river, opposite "Shanty-Town." A Catholic mission school for Indians was or- ganized by an Italian priest near Green Bay, in 1830. A clause of the treaty with the Winne- bago Indians, in 1832, bound the United States to maintain a school for their children near Prairie du Chien for a period of twenty-seven years.
THE ORIGINAL SCHOOL CODE.
From 1818 to 1836, Wisconsin formed a part of Michigan territory. In the year 1837 Mich- igan was admitted into the Union as a State and Wisconsin, embracing what is now Minne- sota, Iowa, and a considerable region still fur- ther westward, was, by act of Congress approved April 20th of the year previous, established as a separate territory. The act provided that the existing laws of the territory of Michigan should
be extended over the new territory so far as compatible with the provisions of the act, sub- jeet to alteration or repeal by the new govern- ment ercated. Thus with the other statutes, the school code of Michigan became the orig- inal code of Wisconsin, and it was soon form- ally adopted, with almost no change, by the first territorial Legislature, which met at Bel- mont. Although modified in some of its pro- visions almost every year, this imperfect code continued in force until the adoption of the State constitution in 1848. The first material changes in the code were made by the territo- rial Legislature at its second session, in 1837, by the passage of a bill "to regulate the sale of school lands, and to provide for organizing, reg- ulating and perfecting common schools."
It was provided in this act that as soon as twenty electors should reside in a surveyed township, they should elect a board of three commissioners, holding office three years, to lay off distriets, to apply the proceeds of the leases of school lands to the payment of teachers' wages, and to call school meetings. It was also provided that each district should eleet a board of three directors, holding office one year, to locate school houses, hire teachers for at least three months in the year, and levy taxes for the support of schools. It was further provided that a third board of five inspectors should be elected annually in each town to examine and license teachers and inspect the schools. Two years subsequently (1839) the law was revised and the family, instead of the electors, was made the basis of the town organization. Every
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HISTORY OF VERNON COUNTY.
town with not less than ten families, was made a school district and required to provide a com- petent teacher. More populous towns were di- vided into two or more districts. The office of town commissioner was abolished, its duties with certain others, being transferred to the in- speetors. The rate-bill system of taxation, pre- viously in existence, was repealed, and a tax on the whole county for building school houses and supporting schools, was provided for. One or two years later the office of town commission- ers was restored, and the duties of the inspect- ors were assigned to the same. Other some- what important amendments were made at the same time.
In 1840, a memorial to Congress from the Legislature, represented that the people were anxious to establish a common school system, with suitable resources for its support. From lack of sufficient funds many of the schools were poorly organized. The rate-bill tax or private subscription was often necessary to suppliment the scanty results of county taxation. Until a State government should be organized, the fund accruing from the sale of school lands could not be available. Congress had made to Wisconsin, as to other new States, for educational purposes, a donation of lands. These lands embraced the sixteenth section in every township in the State, tlre 500,000 acres to which the State was enti- tłed by the provisions of an act of Congress passed in 1841, and any grant of lands from the United States, the purposes of which were not specified. To obtain the benefits of this large fund was a leading object in forming the State constitution.
AGITATION FOR FREE SCHOOLS.
Shortly before the admission of the State the subject of free schools began to be quite widely discussed. In February, 1845, Col. M. Frank, of Kenosha, a member of the territorial Legisla- ture, introduced a bill, which became a law, authorizing the legal voters of his own town to vote taxes on all the assessed property for the full support of its schools. A provision of the
act required its submission to the people of the town before it could take effect. It met with strenuous opposition, but after many public meetings and lectures held in the interests of publie enlightenment, the act was ratified by a small majority in the fall of 1845, and thus the first free school in the State was legally organ- ized. Subsequently, in the Legislature, in the two constitutional conventions, and in educa- tional assemblies, the question of a free school system for the new State soon to be organized provoked much interest and discussion. In the constitution framed by the convention of 1846, was provided the basis of a free school system similar to that in our present constitution.
The question of establishing the office of State superintendent, more than any other fea- ture of the proposed school system, elicited dis- cussion in that body. The necessity of this of- fice, and the advantages of free schools sup- ported by taxation, were ably presented to the convention by Hon. Henry Barnard, of Con- necticut, in an evening address. Ile afterward prepared, by request, a draft of a free school system, with a State superintendent at its head, which was accepted and subsequently embodied in the constitution and the school law. In the second constitutional convention, in 1848, the same questions again received careful attention, and the article on education previously pre- pared, was, after a few changes, brought into the shape in which we now find it. Immedi- ately after the ratification by the people, of the constitution prepared by the second conven- tion, three commissioners were appointed to re- vise the statutes. To one of these, Col. Frank, the needed revision of the school laws was as- signed. The work was acceptably performed, and the new school code of 1849, largely the same as the present one, went into operation May 1st, of that year.
TILE SCHOOL SYSTEM UNDER THE STATE GOVERN-
MENT.
In the State constitution was laid the broad foundation of our present school system. The
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HISTORY OF VERNON COUNTY.
four corner stones were: (1) The guaranteed freedom of the schools; (2) the school fund created; (3) the system of supervision; (+) a State University for higher instruction. The sehool fund has five distinct sources for its ere- ation indicated in the constitution: (1) Pro- ceeds from the sale of lands granted to the State by the United States for educational pur- poses; (2) all moneys accruing from forfeiture or escheat; (3) all fines collected in the several counties for breach of the penal laws; (4) all moneys paid for exemption from military duty; (5) five per cent. of the sale of government lands within the State. In addition to these constitutional sources of the school fund, an- other and sixth source was open from 1856 to 1870.
By an act of the State Legislature in the former year, three-fourths of the net proceeds of the sales of the swamp and overflowed lands, granted to the State by Congress, Sept. 28, 1850, were added to the common school fund, the other fourth going into a fund for drainage, under certain circumstances; but if not paid over to any town for that purpose within two years, to become a part of the school fund. The following year one of these fourths was con- verted into the normal school fund, leaving one- half for the common school fund. In 1858 an- other fourth was given to the drainage fund, thus providing for the latter one half the income from the sales, and leaving for the school fund, until the year 1865, only the remaining one fourth. In the latter year this was transferred to the normal school fund, with the provision, however, that one-fourth of the income of this fund should be transferred to the common school fund until the annual income of the lat- ter fund should reach $200,000. In 1870 this provision was repealed, and the whole income of the normal fund left applicable to the sup- port of normal schools and teachers' institutes.
At the first session of the State Legislature in 1848, several acts were passed which carried out in some degree the educational provisions of
the constitution. A law was enacted to provide for the election, and to define the duties of a State superintendent of public instruction. A district board was created, consisting of a mod- erator, director and treasurer; the office of town superintendent was established, and provision was made for the creation of town libraries, and for the distribution of the school fund. The present school code of Wisconsin is substan- tially that passed by the Legislature of 1848, and which went into operation May 1, 1849. The most important change since made was the abolition of the office of town superintendent, and the substitution therefor of the county su- perintendency. This change took effect Jan. 1, 1862. * *
DEVELOPMENT OF SCHOOLS IN VERNON COUNTY.
From small beginnings indeed, education has developed in Vernon as in other counties, step by step, growth upon growth, ever widening and deepening to meet the wants of an increas- ing population, nntil to-day our schools stand abreast with the times, and are not far behind the foremost in Wisconsin.
Ilere and there some fifteen to twenty years ago the traveler might meet on some cross road or deep in the head of some cooley, the old- time log cabin, poorly lighted, largely ventilated, wretchedly constructed and furnished, where grown boys and girls with little children were taught from old fashioned and various text books, and often indeed, withont even these poor aids. Educated and trained teachers were hard to obtain. There was little attempt at classification or any uniformity of method. One teacher spent part of his term in pulling down the work which the former teacher had built up, or in carrying the pupil over the same ground traveled by his predecessor, leaving the boy or girl at compound numbers or at frac- tions, to begin again the same process on the re-opening of the school and arrival of the next teacher.
*** Educational History," by Prof. Edward Scaring, in the Illustrated Historical Atlas of Wisconsin.
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HISTORY OF VERNON COUNTY.
The programme and curriculum of these palmy days were the time worn reading and arithmetic in the forenoon; geography, reading and spelling in the afternoon. Language les- sons or grammar were seldom or never taught. Penmanship was a scarcity. The benches and desks were rude; the ceiling low; the floor rough and rickety. No outbuildings were visible and on the whole the aspect looked uninviting. Yet here and there some good, solid work was accomplished, owing, perhaps, rather to the de- termination and patience of the pupil than to the ability of the teacher and the aid of books, and out from even these poor schools have gone earnest hearted youths and maidens equipped and harnessed fairly for the struggle of life. So true is it that talent will finally manifest itself in spite of lack of aid from extensive sources.
Vernon county had several superintendents of schools in these days known as township su- perintendents.
By and by instead of the log cabin might be seen, along the public roads, here and there, the neat frame building; sometimes roomy and well lighted, with seats and desks in keeping, and occasionally a good blackboard and a map or two on the walls. Some system, too, was at- tempted in the examination of teachers, and also in the discipline of the school room. Sehol- arship became a necessary factor in the teach- er's fitness. The schools were more frequently visited; better order prevailed; the tests of suc- cessful work sought out both by superintend- ents and distriet boards, and the attention of the public now closely turned to the conditions of the schools.
The township system of superintendents closed and that of county supervisors begun.
One of the first, if not the first county super- intendent was Mr. Hartwell Allen, who held the office for some years. Mr. N. Wright, of Bloomingdale, carried on the work for two years, and Mr. O. B. Wyman, then of Hillsbor- ough, continued it for six years longer. These
gentlemen did earnest and successful work and helped to bring up the character of Vernon county schools to their present condition. At the elose of Mr. Wyman's term of office Mr. William Ilaughton, a former principal of Viro- qua High School and pastor of the Congrega- tional Church at same place, was elected and again elected to the office in the last county election.
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