USA > Wisconsin > Walworth County > History of Walworth County, Wisconsin > Part 137
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HISTORY OF WALWORTH COUNTY.
1850, he again became a resident of Geneva, and, in April of this year, he started, with G. S. Warren and others, for California. He returned in 1853 and bought an interest in the water- power at Genoa. In 1858, he again turned his steps toward the Golden West, and until 1872 his home was on the Pacific Coast. Since 1872, he has resided with his children in this vicin- ity, and for the past two years, with his son, in this village. Mr. Noyes was a man of excellent habits, of pure and upright moral character, and eminently a lover of his fellow-man, ready at all times to sacrifice himself to help others. Taking no thought for himself, he seemed to labor for the good of others. He was extremely gentle and kind to all with whom he associated, and at the same time utterly fearless, both physically and morally. His death creates a void in the circle of old pioneers, as well as in that of his family, which can never be filled.
ANDREW FERGUSON, the only surviving original proprietor, was born in Laurens, Otsego Co., N. Y., September 27. 1803. He was bred a farmer, and educated in the common schools. In 1822, he removed to Cooperstown, N. Y., and engaged in the shoe and leather business until 1835. During that period, he ran quite an extensive shoe manufactory and tannery.
In 1835, he came to Chicago and engaged in general merchandising with George L. Camp- bell and L. B. Goodsell, the latter being a brother-in-law. Their store was on the east side of Dearborn street, north of the Tremont House, toward the river. Here he remained about one year, at which time his attention and interest drew him to Geneva Lake, as has been elsewhere recounted. He took up his permanent residence there with his family in May, 1837, where he has continued to live to the present time (1882).
He became a public-spirited citizen, and did his full part in the early development of the town. He built the first frame building in the village of Geneva, in which he opened the first store. He was the first Postmaster, appointed in 1838, and held the office twelve years. He has served on the Board of Supervisors and in other positions of trust, as elsewhere shown in this history. He remained in trade for some twenty years, and then sold out to L. D. Hale, and, till 1860, confined his business to the cultivation of a tract of some forty acres of land, lying within the present limits of the village. At that time, he sold out and bought a farm in the adjoining town of Linn, to which he removed, and where he resided till 1866, at which time he returned to Geneva, where he still resides, enjoying a sturdy old age and the earned respect of his fellow-citizens.
Mr. Ferguson was married, April 24, 1824, in Cooperstown, N. Y., to Miss Lucretia Good- sell. They had five children-Mary, an infant, died in Cooperstown; Mary, Mrs. Daniel Austin White, of Whitewater, Wis., died September, ISSO; Henry, lately in trade in Geneva; Ann, died in Geneva in 1864; Charles, now a resident of Geneva.
The first wife of Mr. Ferguson died in Linn, April 3, 1869. He was married to Miss Mary L. May, September 2. 1873.
GEORGE W. TRIMBLE married the oldest daughter of Christopher Payne in 1832-33. He came with him on his voyages of discovery, and was with him during the spring of 1836 at Ge- neva. He sold out his claim and moved to Walworth in 1837. He was a resident of the vicin- ity for many years. In 1864, he had a farm in Linn, and bought Payne's mill in La Fayette when he left the State. He moved to Minnesota many years ago, where he now lives.
HON. CHARLES M. BAKER, deceased ; was born in the city of New York Oct. 18, 1804. His parents removed in 1805 to Bridport, Vt., and there he spent his early years in work upon a farm, in study and in teaching. At the age of 18 he entered Middlebury College, but was soon compelled by the failure of his health to resign his plans for a liberal education; he did not however abandon the pursuit of knowledge, but was through life a diligent and thorough student. After three years' study of the law in the office of Judge S. G. Huntington, at Troy, N. Y., he was admitted to the bar, and commenced prac- tice there as a partner of Henry W. Strong, brother of the late Marshall M. Strong, of Racine. Remov- ing to Seneca Falls, he continued a very successful practice for four years, when he was obliged to yield to his old enemy and abandon the profession. In 1838, he emigrated to Wisconsin, bringing his excellent wife, Marthia W. Larabee, his three children and his few worldly goods in a light covered wagon, in true pioneer style, intending to devote himself to farming. After some prospecting, he selected a farm on the south shore of Geneva Lake, and in December, 1838 he settled his family at the then infant village of Geneva, in a rough log honse, open to wind and storm. Ilis health improving, and the people demanding his services, he again resumed his profession. He was the first lawyer who settled in Walworth Co. In the fall of
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HISTORY OF WALWORTH COUNTY.
1839 he was, unexpectedly to himself, appointed as District Attorney. For thirty-three years, with some short intermissions, his home was at Geneva, where, by his ability, his integrity, and his untiring industry, he acquired a powerful influence, which he ever exerted for the promotion of religion, education, temperance and morality. He held many places of public trust and responsibility in town, county, Territory and State, and in all proved himself faithful and equal to the demands upon him; he was a member of the Territorial Council from 1842 to 1846 ; a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1846, and chairman of its Judiciary Committee ; and was one of the Commissioners to revise the statutes in 1848, and the one to whom was intrusted the revision of the most important laws, and the supervision of the publication of the completed work. In 1856, he very acceptably filled a vacancy in the office of Circuit Judge, but ab- solutely declined to be a candidate for that office at the ensuing election ; had he been more ambitious, or possessed less modesty and more self-appreciation, he might have grasped and filled any office in the gift of the people. During the war of the rebellion, he was a Commissioner in the office of the Provost Mar- shal of his district. His first wife died at Geneva, in June, 1843, leaving to him the care of four young children. The following year he was happily married to Miss Eliza Holt, of Madison, who still survives to mourn his loss. Judge Baker possessed talents of a very high order ; a clear and logical mind strength- ened and liberalized by extensive reading and observation, and a judgment characterized by great caution and discretion. His integrity and faithfulness to duty were above and beyond reproach or suspicion. In the profession of the law, he ever sought to promote justice and right; loved peace rather than litiga- tion; was a peace-maker and a trusted adviser, and preferred at all times the quiet walks of professional life rather than those which are more public and ostentatious-a field requiring no less of learning and ability, and offering equal, if not superior opportunities for usefulness to his fellow-men. His private life was one well worthy ofimitation ; he was a religious man, early in life a member of the Baptist Church, and later a member and an Elder of the Presbyterian Church, a leader in all its benevolent and reformatory work, and the right hand man of his pastor. His heart was full of kindness, love and sympathy for his fellow- men, and his life pure and abounding in noble and generous actions. He died of apoplexy, at his resi- dence in Geneva, on the 5th day of February, 1872, in the 68th year of his age. Thus passed away, after a life of great usefulness and honor, one of the purest and best of Christian pioneers.
THOMAS W. HILL (deceased) was one of the earliest settlers of the town of Lyons. The fol- lowing is a sketch of his life which has appeared before in print :
Thomas Warden Hill was born in the town of Swanton, Franklin Co., Vt., on the 9th day of Jan- uary, 1817 ; his parents removed from that place to the town of Lewis, Essex Co., N. Y., when he was but 5 years old ; here he met with the great misfortune of losing both his parents, while he was yet quite young, but fortunately he had an uncle, Joseph Wells, of the same town, who offered him a home and with whom he remained until he was 21 yeaas of age. Having now become his own master, Mr. Hill, in the fall of 1838, started for the far West, traveling the greater part of the way on foot, and arriving in Geneva on the 15th of October of that year. Taking no time for rest or recreation, but manifesting the same diligent and earnest spirit which characterized his whole after life, he on the very next day after his arrival, commenced working for R. W. Warren, continuing with him for some time ; he also, during the first years of his residence in Geneva, worked for A Ferguson on his farm and in his store and for C. M. Goodsell in the original grist-mill. Always temperate, prudent and economical in his habits, he soon found himself able to buy a farm, and in March, 1839, he purchased land in the present town of Lyons, two and one-half miles from Geneva Village, which afterward became his homestead, and was retained by him until his death. At the first town election in the spring of 1840, he was elected to his first pablie office, that of Constable and Collector. This was but a stepping-stone to numerous and more important positions to which his fellow-citizens subsequently called him.
In the spring of 1842, he united with the Presbyterian Church at Geneva, having become hopefully pious during a series of revival meetings held the preceding winter. On the 12th of February, 1843, he was united in marriage to Miss Lydia Ferris, and one year from that day they removed to the farm above mentioned, and remained there, with the exception of one year spent in Geneva, until 1868, industriously engaged in improving the farm and bringing it to ideal perfection, in friendly competition with his neigh- bor Reuben Rockwell, who preceded him by only a few months to the grave. Providence smiled upon these twenty-three years of industry ; his lands became largely enhanced in value, their bounds were en- larged, and his resources generally increased. In the spring of 1868, he again removed to Geneva Village and lived there until the spring of 1870, when he was selected to take charge of the County Poor Farm, and in that position he was retained until his death.
While living in the town of Lyons, he held numerous town offices, the most important being that of Chairman of Supervisors, which gave him a seat in the County Board of Supervisors. In that, as in all
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HISTORY OF WALWORTH COUNTY.
other public positions, he was recognized as a man of singular prudence and good sense, and his opinion was entitled to great weight in respect to all questions coming before the board. He was twice elected to represent this assembly district in the State Legislature, namely, at the sessions of 1853 and 1863, and filled that position with honor to himself and his district.
For many years, he was one of the County Superintendents of the Poor, and for more than eight years, as before stated, he had personal charge of the poor farm and of all the deranged and unfortunate recipients of public charity. In this most difficult place, he manifested uncommon patience and singular ability and fidelity to his trust.
Though he had received but a limited education in his youth, he had well improved his opportunities in later years, and was well informed in all matters of general importance.
His integrity in all his business relations was wholly unquestioned, and no man had any occasion to be his enemy.
During all his life after he united with the Church, Mr. Hill displayed the Christian graces in an unusual degree. Always firm in his adherence to the truth, and in his advocacy of that which was in his view right and pure, he yet had large charity for those who differed from him, and was eminently a peace- maker. Active, faithful and conscientious in the discharge of all his religious duties, he filled to universal acceptance of the offices of Superintendent of the Sabbath school and Deacon and Ruling Elder of the Church.
On the 26th of May, 1879, while engaged in superintending some improvements at his old home- stcad, he was stricken down by heart disease, and apparently expired in an instant and without a struggle.
FIRST THINGS AND OCCURRENCES.
The first things in Geneva were among the first in the county, and exceptionally early, if not the first.
Geneva Van Slyke was the first child born in the county. She was born between July 2 and 4, at Geneva. She was the daughter of Mrs. James Van Slyke, who lived in a log honse in Geneva at the time that Brinks' men drove Payne away and burned or destroyed his house. They took good care of Mrs. Van Slyke, and did not molest her. Her husband, as usual, seemed to be away from home when most wanted, and Geneva was born unattended by her father or a physician. Jason Payne, then a lad of fourteen years, was the only person recorded as assisting Mrs. Van Slyke in her sickness. Van Slyke put in an appearance the next day, but he seems to have been an unimportant element, except so far as being the parent of the child. Jason Payne remained the nurse. Mrs. Dr. Hemenway and her husband came over from Spring Prai- rie and saw the woman two days after the birth, and she was well looked after by the neighbors as soon as they arrived. The child grew well, and, when something over a year old, had a new christening, being named Geneva, by R. W. Warren, and presented by her godfather a village lot. She lived to be some thirty years old, and died unmarried. It is a matter of fact that Van Slyke was never around when he should be. At this birth he was absent. He was away when the Indians had their pow-wow near his camp in 1836, as is related elsewhere, and in the summary of his life, desired for this history, Van Slyke is still away. Nothing is known of what became of him. He seems to have been unlucky from the beginning-always in debt, always away when he ought to be present, and always present when he ought to be away. He was not of the family of Van Slykes now living in the county.
The first marriage was that of Charles A. Noyes to Nancy Warren. It occurred in Decem- ber, 1836. They were married outside the county limits, but were the first resident couple mar- ried.
The first frame building was erected by Andrew Ferguson, at the corner of Main and Cen- ter streets, in 1837. In it he opened the first store. He lived for a short time over the store. It was burned in December, 1844, and rebuilt by him during 1845-16.
The first schoolhouse was built in 1839, by private subscription, near the present engine house. It was the first frame schoolhouse in the county. Miss Auger taught the first school. A daughter of Mr. Deodat Brewster taught the second school in the new schoolhouse. Dr. John Stacy was the first male teacher. He taught in the winter of 1840-41.
The first saw-mill in Geneva was the first in the county. It was started in May, 1837.
In October, 1838, the first grist-mill was started. It was built by Charles M. Goodsell, and was the first built in the county. When first finished, it drew grists from as far north as
866
HISTORY OF WALWORTH COUNTY.
Milwaukee, from Kenosha (Southport), and from as far west as the Rock River. There was no other grist-mill within the area bounded by the points named. This first mill was nearly on the site of the present Red Mill. It ran until 1846-47. at which time it was rebuilt by R. W. Warren, who was the master builder, under Goodsell's employ, of the old mill.
The first post office was established in 183S. Andrew Fergusen was the first Postmaster. He held the office till 1849. His successor was James J. Dewey.
William Alexander was the first cooper-in 1839.
The first death was that of an old man who came to Geneva without friends or character, known as Cruiser. He was buried on a knoll east of the village, in the winter of 1837-38.
The first fatal casualty which occurred resulted in the death of William Casporus, who fell from the scaffolding while erecting the Mrs. Farnum house on Main street in 1838.
The first blacksmith was Jotham Curtis, in 1836, when he came temporarily to work on the mill. He was followed soon after by -- Townsend and ---- Whittley. Cornwall Esmond opened the first regular blacksmith shop about 1840.
D. W. Cook opened the first wagon shop in the town in 1838.
T. J. Hanna opened the first cabinet shop in 1845. Anson Turner, a cabinet-maker, worked at his trade as early as 1837, but had no store.
The first resident physician was Dr. O. S. Tiffany, in 1838. Dr. McNish came soon after, in 1839.
Lewis Curtis was the first druggist. He opened a drug store in 1839-40.
It does not appear that any permanent settlements were made in the town of Geneva dur- ing the year 1836 except at the outlet of the lake, where the village now is.
The settlers put up several log houses in addition to what Payne and Brink & Hodgson's men had built in the spring, and had completed the saw-mill at the close of the year. It was ready to start January 1, 1837. The winter of 1836-37 was severe, and one of the extremely cold suaps coming on after a heavy snow-storm had filled the canal and flume with snow, froze the water solid from flume to outlet. It did not thaw out so as to enable the mill to start till late in March, 1837. It was then, however, the first saw-mill built and set running in the county.
EARLY TAVERNS.
During 1836 and 1837, there were, strictly speaking, no taverns in the village. Everybody kept open house for strangers. That most widely known for its hospitality was the house of R. W. Warren. The first house built and opened for the purpose was the Geneva House (now the St. Donis), built by G. W. Warren. It was finished and opened by a grand ball, January S, 1838. For fifteen months, while it was building. the log house of Warren, which stood near the present site of the St. Denis, was the leading hotel of the place. It was not, however, able to accommodate half the travelers that came in in great munbers during 1837 and 1838. An- drew Ferguson opened his dwelling as a public house in 1837, and, during the same year, Greenleaf S. Warren built and opened a tavern on the present site of the Lake House.
Mr. S. A. Dwinnell gives an entertaining description of Warren's house, and the general state of affairs in Geneva, in the fall of 1836, when he made his first visit. It is as follows:
"On the morning of the 15th day of November, 1836, I set my face toward the north, from Belvidere, Ill., with a view of exploring Wisconsin. At 4 P. M., I entered Wisconsin at Big Foot Prairie, of 16,000 acres, where not a furrow had been turned, soon after which I left the Indian trail for the white man's dim track through the grass, and proceeded east on the sou h side of Big Foot Lake, which was from time to time in view. As night set in, snow fell plenti- fully. At lengthi, a welcome light from a distant window appeared, and I soon crossed a stream and a newly made mill-race, upon the north bank of which was a human dwelling.
" I had reached the 'Outlet of Big Foot,' as Geneva Lake, in what is now Walworth County, was then called -- having traveled, in solitude, thirty five miles without seeing a human dwell- ing. I knocked at the rude door of an equally rude log cabin, and heard the backwoodsman's welcome 'Come in.' As I entered, there seemed to be a poor chance for my entertainment. About a dozen men sat upon a backless bench before a hot fire of huge logs piled in the north end of the cabin. There was no chimney, and the smoke and sparks made their way through an opening left in the roof for that purpose. The floor of the cabin was the natural earth, and there
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HISTORY OF WALWORTH COUNTY.
was no chamber. The roof was made of shakes held in place by small logs laid upon the ends of them. Not a nail was in any part of the structure, I think. There were two chairs near the northeast corner of the room, in which two females were plying their needles. After an apology for the rude fare I should get, which I supposed was intended as a kind of bar against grum- bling, I was permitted to remain. The meals were plain, but bountiful and good.
During the evening, I wondered where they would lodge all their family and guests, as there was but one bed in the cabin, and no other room apparent. My fears were removed at bedtime, however, by finding that there was a small room adjoining, over the door to which was hung a blanket, which I had not distinguished from the clothing which hung in profusion around the room. In each corner of this sleeping room was a bedstead, which illustrated the truth of the proverb that necessity is the mother of invention; for it had but one leg, the rails at the other ends being inserted in the logs which composed the walls of the building. The bed was made of dried grass, called . prairie feathers,' and laid upon shakes instead of cords. A bedstead thus constructed was known by the name of ' catamount.' A slight covering for it, to which the clothes of the sleepers were added, furnished a more desirable resting-place than the wet ground on a cold, stormy night, of which I then had a recent experience. A comforter was spread upon us before morning in the shape of a mantle of snow, sifted through the shakes of the roof over our heads.
"I have been thus particular in describing this cabin because it was really a hotel, not much inferior to the best at that time in the Territory, between the little villages on the shore of Lake Michigan and those of the mineral region, of which Dodgeville and Mineral Point were the nearest-a distance of more than one hundred miles. It was kept by R. W. Warren, after- ward the proprietor of a much more commodious hotel, in what is now an important village, and rapidly becoming a noted watering-place.
" I found four other families in that little hamlet, which had all come in a few months be- fore, and were living in similar circumstances to the one just described. All were waiting for a saw-mill, which they were building, to commence operations before they finished their cabins. Some of the other pioneers scattered over the Territory I found in dwellings equally rude and primitive-a specimen of frontier life at that time in the far West."
In 1837, Payne had moved over to Duck (Como) Lake and started his mill. The lake, as has been stated, lies across the town from east to west, and makes a quite marked division. In early times, the region north of the lake was known as North Geneva, and the inhabitants there- of owed no allegiance to any village, although they were stanch and reliable citizens of the town.
The early settlers who came in prior to 1842 were as below stated:
John Dunlap, a man of means and character, who bought large tracts north of the lake on Sections 10 and 11 : he came as early as 1839. Deodat Brewster came in 1839 and took land on Section 2. Deacon Herrick settled on Section 16; his son, Jason, still lives on the old place. Oliver P. and Simeon Standish settled on Section 10; Simeon died many years since; Oliver is still alive. John A. Farnham, William Stork and Harrison Auger were in as early as 1840. Milo E. Bradley took land and moved his family onto Section 2 in 1838.
Thomas Mckaig came in 1836; he is still living in the town; he was a surveyor; platted the village of Geneva; was one of the first Justices of the Peace, and, after a residence of over forty-two years, commands the unqualified respect of the community in which he has spent the best years of his life.
Osborn Hand came in 1841; he bought his land on Sections 2 and 3, and built his first house on Section 3; he had been a school-teacher in the East, and from the beginning took an active part in the affairs of the neighborhood. A full biographical sketch appears elsewhere.
Mr. Hand wrote a short historical sketch of North Geneva, which was published in the Western Star November 4, 1846. From his article the following facts concerning that region at the date of publication are deemed reliable:
The lake (Como) makes a natural division of the town, nearly two-thirds of the area lying north of the lake. The inhabitants are all farmers-not a professional man or incchanie resid- ing there. In 1846, there were seventy-five families and five schools; in 1842, there were twenty families and no school. In 1846, there was raised north of Lake Como, in the town of Geneva, 30,000 bushels of wheat. The crops were generally abundant, and the settlers enjoyed good times.
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HISTORY OF WALWORTH COUNTY.
The town grew as the other towns of the county in number of population and in wealth.
In 1847, the population, by the local census of that year, numbered 1,238, including the vil- lages, and might be considered fully settled, as all the land had been bought from the Govern- ment, and only subdivisions could increase the number of freeholders of land.
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